Editing Chubster

{{quote|Chubster?<br><br>It means fat. A funny sort of fat. He was that sort of guy. To poke fun at himself. And he chose the name because he was frustrated all the good names were already taken.|[[Vellum]] and [[Auroch]]|[[PRT: Department Sixty-Four]]}}
{{Infobox character
| name = Ben Cothran
| image = Chubster_large_black.png
| imagecaption = Illustration by [https://scarfgirl.deviantart.com/ Scarfgirl] on DeviantArt
| alias = The fat man<ref name="PRT67 eFamily">“Who is the fat man?”<br><br>“My dad.”<br><br>“Oh. Sorry, for my calling-”<br><br>“It’s fine. He ''was'' fat.”<br><br>“Why am I looking at this?”<br><br>“Keep going. You might have to go a bit. Photo… sixty or so.”<br><br>“Oh. He is a hero?”<br><br>“He was. He’s dead.”<br><br>“Oh.”<br><br>''Ah. The personal touch.''<br><br>“You are a orphan?”<br><br>“No. I have my mom, and her boyfriend. But… I know what it is to lose a parent. To feel lost, a little out of control.”<br><br>“Yes.” - [[PRT: Department Sixty-Four|Department Sixty Four]], [https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/13551770 PRT Quest thread i p67]</ref>
| gender = Male
| age = <!-- age at the beginning of the story -->
| family = Unnamed wife (Ex?)<ref name="PRT67 eFamily" /><br>[[Charley Cothran]] (Daughter)<ref name="PRT67 eFamily" />
| post-timeskip = <!-- age after the Timeskip  -->
| occupation = <!-- civilian job, if any -->
| classification = [[Brute]] (Speculative)
| alignment = [[Heroes|Hero]]
| status = Deceased
| team = [[Protectorate]]
| previous team =
| base of operations = [[Los Angeles]] (Speculative)
| web serial = [[Extermination 8.3]]
}}
'''Ben Cothran''',<ref name="PRT67"/> was a hero known publicly as '''{{PAGENAME}}''', a name he picked out himself.

==Personality==
Ben was the sort to poke fun at himself,<ref name="PRT67"/> but he did have a serious side believing that he was doing good in the world as a hero.

===Relationships===
He had a good relationship with his daughter Charley, known to the public as [[Auroch]]. He inspired his daughter to believe in the ideals of the Protectorate, becoming a [[Ward]].<ref name="PRT67"/>

===Skitter===
He never actually met Skitter being unconscious at the time and what happened shortly afterward. Their brief encounter would affect the young villainess in the months that followed.<ref name="12.5e1">I was indirectly responsible for the deaths of others.  I’d looked at the information on the capes who’d died during Leviathan’s attack and found Chubster, the fat man I’d failed to save.  Innumerable others had died because we hadn’t been able to stop Bakuda, giving her the chance to attack the city, killing forty-three people and inflicting horrific injuries on dozens more in the process.  When Thomas, the man from the [[Merchants]], had been bleeding to death, I’d given the order to leave him there to die. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/07/10/plague-12-5/ Excerpt] from [[Plague 12.5]] </ref>

==Appearance & Equipment==
Chubster was an overweight man,<ref name="PRT67 eFamily" /><ref name="PRT67">“If they were going to force you to join? I’d never stay. I’d never let them mess up my memory of my dad, okay? I couldn’t do that. I ''believe'' in what I’m doing.”<br><br>“Yes. And you believe I should be joining the American heroes?”<br><br>“No. I think you should do what works best for you, and maybe that means you don’t. Maybe it means you do, because that helps you avoid jail or time in the hospital, it gives you a job and a lot of help at a time you need that help.”<br>[...]<br>“Can I ask? His name?”<br><br>“Ben. He was Ben. As a superhero, he went by Chubster.”<br><br>“Chubster?”<br><br>“It means fat. A funny sort of fat. He was that sort of guy. To poke fun at himself. And he chose the name because he was frustrated all the good names were already taken.” - [[PRT: Department Sixty-Four|Department Sixty Four]], [https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/13551770 PRT Quest thread i p67]</ref> who wore armor as part of his costume.<ref name="8.3"/> [[Wildbow]] speculated he might have worn white armor with a navy blue bodysuit underneath.<ref name="Discord eDesc">'''englishexpert:''' Hey WubbleBubble, what exactly does Chubster look like? I've been going over the wiki and Extermination 8.3 but the only things I could find were that he was overweight and wore armour. Old enough to be a dad and have a daughter at 18 so I'd speculate late 40s to mid 50s age wise, but I can't find much else on him. Any facial hair? Would he have his hair cut short (related; would his hair blowing around count as "movement")?<br>I could copy the color scheme of Auroch's armour with the justification of a homage to her father but there's no description of him from the neck upwards.<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' Chubster is armored, which was part of why he was so hard to move at the Leviathan site.  He wasn't a major cape in a major area so he didn't get a lot of branding attention, so you could assume he'd get a pretty 'Default PRT' type thing, with accommodations for breadth of beltline.  They tend to like colors with positive or law & order associations and strong visual contrast, so white armor with a navy blue bodysuit underneath might work.  Some functionality, so raised collar to protect the neck would work.  He's not super strong, though, so it wouldn't be anything heavy (and full plate isn't as heavy as we imagine but you don't want to add stress to joints if someone's already heavy, from a work health standpoint).  Just extensive & more lightweight, highlighting silhouette. - Conversation with Wildbow on Parahumans Discord</ref>

==Abilities and Powers==
Chubster gained durability and an ambient momentum dampening effect at will, tied to consequent loss of mobility.<ref name="list">Chubster '''Gained durability and ambient momentum dampening effect at will, tied to consequent loss of mobility.''' - [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pgn9rgYutpBqJg1lSBP3NHnq9WK4ToLq9K4ys_I4cRc/htmlview parahumanList], bolded edit by Wildbow.</ref> Essentially the slower he moved, the tougher he became, with a similar kinetic dampening field around himself while using his power.<ref name="IRC1">[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/13555387 Comment by Wildbow on IRC, not archived<!--technically hearsay but this is being grandfathered in-->]</ref> This made it difficult for him to receive CPR when he was unconscious.<ref name="8.3">[[Extermination 8.3]]</ref>

His daughter [[Auroch]] had similar abilities.

==History==
===Background===
Ben was a natural trigger, setting out to be a hero he became a member of the [[Protectorate]]. He chose the name Chubster partly as a joke, supposedly because "all the good names were already taken".<ref name="PRT67"/>

===Story Start===
Chubster participated in the [[Battle against Leviathan]], the first [[Endbringer]] battle where the [[Protectorate]] had the chance to gather their forces before the Endbringers strike.

After the defending capes evacuated following [[Leviathan]]'s opening attack Chubster was knocked out by a wave sent by the beast. A fellow cape with a shotgun gave him CPR. Eventually the teen-aged villain [[Skitter]] took over for the departing shotgun cape, attempting to give him CPR, though she was hampered somewhat.

Hearing that another wave was incoming Skitter tried to move Chubster but proved to be too weak, given a split second to make her decision the villain choose was forced to abandon him in order to flee to safety from the incoming wave, and Chubster was killed.<ref name="8.3"/>

===Legacy===
His daughter would take his death hard but would eventually recover.<ref name="PRT92">[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/13817621 PRT Quest thread i p92]</ref>

==Chapter Appearances==
{{Appearance/Ben Cothran Worm}}

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