Libertarian Avenger
| Libertarian Avenger | |||||
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| Defender of Liberty | |||||
| Creator: | David 2/BattlerockX | ||||
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| First Appearance: | "Guardians of the Dawn Spotlight" #5 | ||||
| Game: | City of Heroes | ||||
| Personal Data | |||||
| Real Name: | Alexander Wentworth | ||||
| Known Aliases: | Alex Wentworth | ||||
| Species: | Human | ||||
| Age: | ' | ||||
| Height: | ' | ||||
| Weight: | ' | ||||
| Eye Color: | ' | ||||
| Hair Color: | brown | ||||
| Biographical Data | |||||
| Nationality: | American | ||||
| Occupation: | Businessman, District Attorney | ||||
| Place of Birth: | Paragon City | ||||
| Base of Operations: | Paragon City | ||||
| Marital Status: | single | ||||
| Known Relatives: | unnamed parents, Andrew Wentworth (uncle), unnamed aunt | ||||
| Appearances | |||||
| Guardians of the Dawn Spotlight, Guardians of the Dawn AFTERMATH, The Guardian Powers, Guardians of the Dawn GRADUATION, Furia and the Guardians, The Justice-Knights, Guardians of the Dawn 2012 Special | |||||
| Known Powers | |||||
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| Known Abilities | |||||
| ' | |||||
| Equipment | |||||
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Libertarian Avenger is a registered hero and a former member of the supergroup known as the Guardians of the Dawn.
He is currently serving as District Attorney for Paragon City, having been elected by the majority of the voters in a special election.
Character History
Alexander "Alex" Wentworth is the great-great-grandson of the founder of Wentworth's Fine Consignment, the premiere trading house in Paragon City. Although not a direct heir to the Wentworth Dynasty, Alex was still provided for through a generous trust fund that was set up on his birth.
"Celebunaughty"
When Alex turned 18, he began to hit the nightclub scene with a vengeance. Even though the drinking age is 21 in the United States, Alex was often seen drunk in other countries, including the casinos in the Rogue Isles. The social media quickly adopted a new buzzword to describe him: "Celebunaughty".
The amount of money in Alex's trust fund was more than enough to provide for his globe-trotting ways as well as to enable his budding gambling addiction. It is said that Alex could spend anywhere up to a hundred-thousand dollars in any given weekend.
Arrest and Incarceration
In December of 2003, while enjoying his twenty-first birthday in Paragon City, Alex was arrested and charged in the kidnapping and assault of a college girl named Hanna Gordon. Deputy District Attorney Edward T. Vance uses the publicity to demonize Alex, pledging to crack down on other so-called "Trust Fund Brats", and to arrange that Alex be held in jail without bail. Taking control of the prosecution, Vance meets with Alex to offer him a deal whereby he would plead guilty to the charges in exchange for a light sentence. Alex, however, believed that he would be exonerated, and refused any sort of deal, insisting instead on his day in court.
Vance used his political and legal skills to keep the trial postponned indefinitely, urging Alex to accept the deal. After a year of incarceration, and with no hope at getting bail, the presiding judge ordered Alex to be moved to the Zigursky Penitentiary until his trial, which Vance promised Alex would "never happen". Vance also manipulated the correctional system to put Alex in general population instead of the special "high-risk" wing where other long-term suspects were held awaiting trial.
There, Alex encountered a small group of prisoners who were also framed by Vance and were forced to accept "the deal". They warned Alex that "the deal" was actually a trick and that by pleading guilty, he would be given a life sentence.
The endless incarceration and the fear that he could spend the rest of his life in prison forced Alex to re-evaluate his life. He started spending more time in the prison's library, learning more and more about the legal system and how easily it has been abused and manipulated by people like Vance. He discovered that there were plenty of people like him who didn't have the money needed to fight people like Vance, that were incarcerated for crimes they did not commit. He began to work out, developing his muscles as well as his mind. He also realized that his childhood love of archery would come in handy, as he crafted a makeshift bow and arrows to defend himself against the numerous prison riots.
While Alex remained in prison, awaiting a trail that would be indefinately delayed by Vance, Alex's father managed to track down Hanna Gordon, who was supposed to be under Witness Protection, but instead was being incarcerated against her will in a mental institution, thereby assuring that she would never be able to testify in trial. The Wentworth family arranged for her release, and eventually she was able to come to her senses and testify under oath that Alex was not the man who attacked her.
New Life
Upon his vindication and release in 2006, Alex discovered that his family's intervention had consequences for him.
Alex had to sign away any future claims to the Wentworth Family fortune. He could not be seen in any of the Wentworth's Fine Consignment stores. He would have no connection whatsoever to the Wentworth name, and survive only on what little money was left from his trust fund after the legal expenses were paid for.
The notoriety of the case, even after his name was cleared, also caused many of his former friends to disavow him, cutting him off from the social circles that used to dominate his life. This, however, he considered to be a good thing as he had made new friends among the relatives and acquaintances of those whose lives were destroyed by "The Trust" (as Vance was now referred to), and because he was seeing life without the haze of alcohol and the rush of gambling.
Alex began to volunteer his time with the Paragon Libertarian Society, an organization that was trying to clean up the abuses of government by removing some of the restrictive laws imposed on the city after the Rikti Invasions. Although he could not financially support them, he did work with the legal aid attorneys and organize efforts to help vindicate others unjustly facing prison. Thanks to his efforts, libertarian-themed billboards began to appear in Paragon City.
Fortune also smiled upon him as the one investment he was able to make prior to signing away his claim to the Wentworth fortune (a start-up company known as Architect Entertainment) quickly took off, giving him the much-needed money to not only survive, but to follow through with his other project.
Hero
Alex realized that he wasn't content with just organizing efforts to vindicate those falely accused of crimes. He had seen first-hand the abuses of power and wrongful manipulations of government. He couldn't just sit back and let it happen to anyone else. Using the money and skills at his disposal, he crafted an outfit that would disguise him and make better use of his archery ability.
Using the PLS as his inspiration, he began calling himself the Libertarian Avenger, using his skills and the knowledge he picked up from the prisoners in the Zig to go after corrupt cops and prosecutors. After an encounter with the registered superhero Jimmy Hellfighter and the special police officer Captain Paragonna, he was brought into the Guardians of the Dawn supergroup.
Eventually Alex realized that he could do a lot more with the Guardians if they were allowed to prosper. He worked with co-leaders Captain Paragonna and Midnight Arachnia to serve as the group's financial sponsor, providing the financial resources through his shares of AE.
District Attorney's Office
(see also District Attorney Election of 2011)
Following the announcement of a special election to fill the vacated office of Paragon City's District Attorney, Alex realized that the only way to prevent Vance from getting the position would be to run for it himself.
He ran his campaign on a simple message of change, pointing out the long list of prosecutorial abuses that went on for years, and how his time since he was falsely charged opened his eyes to what needed to be fixed. It was a message that hit a cord with several citizens, many of them either victims of or knew someone who was also victimized by the DA's office.
At the end of July, with two weeks before the election, Alex was the victim of an assasination attempt, being shot in front of a political rally being aired live on PNN. He survived the attack only thanks to the timely arrival of Daybright. Although the Kheldian arrived too late to stop the shooting, her arrival caused him to turn at just the right time for the bullet to miss his heart.
He was released from the hospital just days before the special election. Between the campaign and the assasination attempt, he won by a virtual landslide and was sworn in twenty-four hours after the results were certified.
As District Attorney
As Paragon City's District Attorney, one of his first and somewhat controversial decisions was to keep Vance on as Deputy District Attorney. The rationality behind it was "keep your friends close and your enemies closer", as well as his belief that Vance could do more good if his skills as a prosecutor were kept on a tight leash.
His second decision was to ask City Hall to appoint a liaison to coordinate the testimony of registered heroes and ensure evidence was collected according to all current regulations. The City Representative appointed Faith Karl for that task.
He gave Noble Son a position as a junior prosecutor. However, he refused to offer the same courtesy to Alice Banks, since she made it clear that she would use that position to begin a new witch hunt on heroes. When Banks managed to find a way to bypass his office and launch her own Citizen Grand Jury, he made it clear that his office would not aid her in any way.
A minor scandal arose when word spread that Alex personally dragged an arrested member of the Crey Police Services to the Zigursky Prison. Thankfully Blue Steel personally vouched for Alex's handling of the suspect and the matter was deemed justified.
Over a year into Alex's term as District Attorney, city officials moved to change the position again from elected back to appointed. A non-binding vote of confidence was introduced in 2012 which Alex won with eighty-percent of the voters. An increase in criminal convictions and purging of corrupt police officers was often cited as the reasons behind the overwhelming support.
Leader But Not A Hero
Following the assasination attempt, Alex discovered that his pectoral muscles were badly damaged and could not be completely healed. Since these are essential for drawing a bowstring, Alex could no longer serve as the Libertarian Avenger. But there was still a calling for him with the Guardians.
Even though the group was "officially" disbanded, the Guardians continued on as a "ghost group", but it needed both a leader and a sponsor. Alex's finances secretly continued to support the group, but with Maximus Rex now working with the Vanguard and Captain Paragonna on a tight oversight following her return to active duty, the group would still need a leader.
Alex agreed to serve as the "leader" of the ghost version of the Guardians, even though most of the operations would be handled by Icon Powers. Since the only three "active" members of the group at first were Cap, Galatea Powers, and Lyon Powers, the running joke within the group was that they were "Alex's Angels".
Alex continued to serve as the "leader" of the Guardians even after their reinstatement until events forced Icon Powers to formally retire and leave Paragon City. Then he resumed his career as the Libertarian Avenger, but only in name, and only until he could find someone that could take Icon's place as operations manager for the Guardians.
Eventually he was able to pass the job on to Ryder Lightning, another seasoned Guardian who was also in semi-retirement, allowing him to once again "retire" the Libertarian Avenger outfit, even though he continued to consult with Ryder on the group's activities.
Powers and Abilities
Libertarian Avenger's primary ability is Trick Arrows. He can utilize a variety of specialty arrows designed to incapacitate or impair an opponent.
His secondary ability is Archery. He is a skilled archer, capable of using any kind of bow-and-arrow.
In his Libertarian Avenger outfit, he makes use of a compound bow with laser sighting, as well as a laser-guided eyepiece that is synchronized with the bow. His wizard-style moustache and goatee are fake, used to further disguise his appearance and allow him to enter all Wentworth stores without being recognized. He also uses a voice disguiser when in his outfit.
In his civilian attire, he uses a reproduction of a Vanguard hard-light bow which can be stored in his pants pockets. A small cache of arrows are held in his vest pocket.
Post-AFTERMATH
Following the attempt made on his life, Alex discovered that the bullet that almost killed him tore through his chest muscles. This has made drawing a bow nearly impossible. As a result, he is physicially unable to act as the Libertarian Avenger.
But even though he could not act as a hero, he still could lead heroes, thus he would wear a modified long-sleeved version of his hooded outfit when having to appear in the Guardian base.
Related Information
He made his first appearance in the "Guardians of the Dawn Spotlight" Issue #5 (2009). He also made a brief appearance along with Jimmy Hellfighter in "The Justice-Knights" #9, which was later expanded on in the "Guardians of the Dawn 2012 Special".
