"Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay to mould me man? Did I solicit thee from darkness to promote me?" -- Paradise Lost
A Promethean are living constructs, stitched together from the corpses. They are the result of the mad obsession of Dr. Victor Frankenstein, who combined esoteric alchemy and science to "pierce the tissue between life and death". They were one normal, living people before Dr. Frankenstein dug up their graves, collecting their bodies and stitching together what he needed.
Through a combination of surgical procedures, preservative techniques and an infusion of electricity powered by harnessing the electrostatic power of lightning, these once-dead have risen anew as the inhuman, disquieting Promethean.
While there have been various attempts to repeat Dr. Frankenstein's creation, these have either resulted in disaster or lesser creations that pale in comparison to the original's work. There are only two "true" Prometheans known to exist: Adam, the villainous original, and Evelyn, his intended bride and World War II heroine.
History
The story of Frankenstein's creation became popularized through Mary Shelley's famed novel, but has long been a legend into itself. While there are many different accounts, all versions agree on the point that Dr. Frankenstein's single-minded desire to conquer death and create life led him to create a monster instead. In turn, the monster blighted his existence.
Frankenstein intended his creation to be beautiful, a new Adam; a complete, perfect man born in innocence. What he made was an abortion, stitched together from human corpses. The abomination was fierce but cunning. Escaping his confines, Frankenstein's monster traveled abroad but found that his choices, however, were limited. Everywhere he went, he tried to make contact with humanity and each time found himself shunned and attacked. Eventually, with nowhere else to go, he returned to hound Frankenstein, begging the scientist to make him a mate, a bride.
Frankenstein failed to finish the Bride, destroying the half-finished body before giving it life. Enraged, the Creature swore revenge and Frankenstein and his fiancee fled. This left the Creature even angrier and more bitter than before. He shortly thereafter caught up to the doctor and killed Frankenstein's fiancee. The two would hunt one another for the next twenty years, until Victor grew too old and his monster caught him. He threatened the Doctor to make him his bride and to finish the experiment this time or else innocent people--good people--would die. And their deaths would be on Frankenstein's hands.
This time, Victor finished the Bride, who he named Evelyn. But seeing that she was good and pure and innocent, he knew that he could not allow Adam to take her. He was old, however, and knew that even if he could hide Evelyn, he wouldn't live forever. Eventually, one way or another, Adam would find Evelyn and corrupt her. He could not allow this to happen.
When Adam returned to take his Bride, Frankenstein ambushed his creation and set off a series of explosives that brought down almost the entire castle. The doctor was killed in the explosion and Adam sent into the lake, washed away with only fragmented memories of what had come before.
It is unknown what happened to Evelyn.
Nature & Psychology
A promethean is constantly and painfully aware of the gulf that separates them from mortals. They tend to have short fuses and are easily driven to acts of violence as an immediate solution to the problems at hand, though they usually end up regretting acting so rashly. However, they are also capable of acting with a zeal and resolve that puts many others to shame; they rarely give up on a goal they think of as important.
Prometheans are passionate creatures, prone to great emotion. They feel deeply and can sometimes be overwhelmed by their emotions, be they positive or negative. This emotional intensity can sometimes lead the Promethean to violence, as their uncontrollable emotions cause them to lash out.
Despite the method of their creation, Prometheans tend to be incredibly intelligent, absorbing information like a sponge. They are unusually articulate and tend to be well-read. However, despite this, they possess a sort of innocence. They do not truly understand humanity and lack a special something that humans can subconsciously sense.
Lesser Prometheans
Many attempts have been made to recreate Dr. Frankenstein's work, though they all fall very short of the real thing. A Lesser Promethean, even in the best case scenario, is even more imperfect than the originals. They are often, slow and shambling, mute, robotic, mentally deficient or need continual work and replacement parts and organs to continue operation; or some combination of the above.
These creations rarely last as long as the original two and are not as difficult to kill.
Characteristics
These creatures possess an aura of unease that Dr. Frankenstein referred to as "The Disquiet". Observers get a feeling that there is something physically wrong about them, though no deformity is actually visible. Eyes may be odd colors, two limbs may be of differing sizes or their features may not match in general, reflecting the method used to create them. This disquiet usually drives others to regard them with fear and hatred.
Creation
Nobody is entirely sure what process is used to create a Promethean. The only known components are rites that require body parts from several corpses be put together to form a human body. Then, after a number of surgical procedures and preservative techniques, an arc of lightning jolts the new Promethean to life.
The specifics, however, are unknown to this day.
Powers & Abilities
- Born of Lightning: Lightning rose the Promethean up from the grave and it is through lightning that a promethean finds renewed strength and vigor. They are completely immune to electricity and can use electric currents to heal their injuries. In addition, if they absorb a large amount of electricity at once before their bodies can process it, they can offensively channel the excess from their bodies.
- Construct: As a Construct, prometheans do not need to eat, sleep, drink or breathe. They are also highly resistant to poison and immune to disease.
- Erudite: Prometheans are surprisingly well-read, eloquent and intellectual.
- Immortal: Prometheans do not appear to age.
- Superhuman Durability: Due to the methods used in their creation, a promethean has increased density and as a result are highly resistant to physical injury. Some call them bulletproof and they aren't far off.
- Superhuman Stamina: Prometheans literally cannot get tired. At all.
- Superhuman Strength: A promethean is not only stronger than the average human, they tend to be stronger than most other supernatural beings. Their sheer strength outclass even most older vampires; Evelyn, who was known to be less physically powerful than Adam, could still dead-lift a half-ton.
Weaknesses
- Adamantine: This rare metal, forged from a rare mineral found in a meteor, can easily pierce the hide of a promethean, like a hot knife through butter.
- Berserker Rage: Due to their heightened and uncontrollable moodswings and emotions, Prometheans are known to enter violent episodes. However, Adam in particular had the habit of flying into episodes of berserker rage that left only destruction and misery in his wake. Evelyn, for unknown reasons, did not suffer from these episodes.
- Death's Scythe: Death's scythe can kill literally anything.
- Fire: A promethean possesses a supernatural fear of fire, which causes them to panic, recoil and counter. They cannot step over a burning fire. It burns their flesh more easily than a human's; they catch fire like dry paper.
- Higher Beings: God, angels, demons, etc, can kill a promethean.
- Hunter's Knife: The Hunter's Knife can kill almost anything supernatural. Leon Bianchi has no doubt the knife could be used to kill a Promethean as well.
- Made by Machines: Prometheans do not heal from injury naturally like a human. Instead, they must either be patched up or exposed to a live electrical current in order to recover.
- Magic: Prometheans are susceptible to magic in all of its forms.
- Psionics: Despite being constructs, a Promethean still has a mind and a sort of spirit, making it susceptible to both mind-affecting abilities and psychic tracking, such as psychometry.