Gray Boy

<infobox> <title source="name"><default>Gray Boy</default></title>

<image source="Image"></image> <image source="image"></image> <group><header>Basic Information</header> <label>Civilian Name</label> <label>Aliases</label> <label>Gender</label><default>Unknown</default> <label>Death</label> <label>Age</label><default>Unknown</default> <label>Post-timeskip</label> <label>Ward start</label> <label>Relations</label> <label>Family</label></group> <group><header>Professional Status</header> <label>Occupation</label> <label>Classification</label> <label>Unique Features</label> <label>Alignment</label>

<label>Status</label><format>

{{{status}}}

</format>

<label>Location</label> <label>Teams</label> <label>Previous Team(s)</label> <label>Base of Operations</label></group> <group><header>First Appearance</header> <label>Worm Debut</label> <label>Ward Debut</label></group> </infobox> Nicholas, better known as Gray Boy, is a member of the Slaughterhouse Nine.

Background

Gray Boy has been described as "Cauldron's biggest mistake". He was used by King as a threat more terrifying than death to the enemies of the Slaughterhouse Nine.

Gray Boy was closer to a Labyrinth in full-on powers mode than anything else. Using powers indiscriminately, staying within an area. King was effectively immune to him, and used this to introduce himself and start leading him around. King had only a flimsy hold over him, but Jack had a stronger hold<ref>Comment by Wildbow on Spacebattles</ref>.

Cauldron permitted Gray Boy because he was the closest thing to a weapon they had against Scion since Eidolon. When the Slaughterhouse Nine started picking up and more parahumans started getting removed from the fiend than Gray Boy was theoretically worth, they moved in. Manuevering Glaistig Uaine into taking him over, so the power would still be in play<ref>Comment by Wildbow on Spacebattles</ref>.

Personality

Gray Boy seems to be dangerously unstable, even for one of the Nine. Bonesaw speculated that it would be very much like him to freeze someone just because he could, and that Jack had only asked for one clone of him because he could only keep one under control.

Appearance

Nicolas is prepubescent in appearance, older than ten but younger than fourteen, with neatly parted hair and a private school uniform, complete with glossy black shoes. He also has a monochrome effect surrounding him, occasionally flickering with his body looking in a different direction.

Abilities and Powers

Nicholas is able to trap people within time loops. The loops are bubble shaped and their borders are inviolable, the only being known to have ever successfully broken one being Scion. During these loops, the only changes to the victim are from what he inflicts on them (such as a cut or burn) and in the progression of their thoughts. Pain inflicted on the victims is repeated over and over again. Gray Boy can modify the time between loops, extending them to give victims time to speak full words or shortening them to more quickly repeat the initial burst of pain from a wound.

The loops last for an unknown amount of time, as no loop he has created has ever stopped. Gray Boy said that it was theorized that his loops would last “Until well after the sun goes out, [...]". However, he was mistaken; they would only have lasted a few thousand years<ref>[hhttp://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/13653258 Comment by Wildbow on Spacebattles]</ref>.

Gray Boy can affect an area roughly 5' across and 8' high<ref name="IRC-1">Answer by Wildbow on IRC, archived on Spacebattles</ref>.

His power also makes him effectively immortal, constantly restoring his body to the exact condition it was in when he first got his powers, including what clothes he was wearing at the time and, as a consequence, preventing him from physically aging. He is also brought back far enough in physical location to prevent him from simply dying again from being trapped, as evidenced by how his body was restored next to an object that had completely crushed his body. Only Glaistig Uaine and Foil have managed to bypass this effect, Glaistig Uaine by stealing Gray Boy's power in the brief time that he was dead and Foil due to Sting trumping restoration effects.

A quirk of his power is that looped things, including Gray Boy himself, are heavily desaturated, giving him his namesake monochrome look.

History

Gray Boy was cloned by Bonesaw. He stepped out of the cyrostasis chamber clothed and dry before he greeted Jack Slash, the consequence of the clone receiving powers having instead revived the original Gray Boy, bringing him back along with the clothes he wore when he first got his powers. He approached Bonesaw who kissed him on the cheeks and called him her little brother before he told her that he thought they would be inseparable. He then squeezed her hand and, when Bonesaw looked at him, he winked at her. <ref>"Worm" Web Serial, Interlude 25</ref>

Trivia

In previous drafts of Worm, Gray Boy was usually an independent villain. Some versions of him would shunt people into the future, during which they experienced sensory deprivation, rather than looping them; he began sending people thousands or millions of years when he was "broken mentally" during that story.

His power was inspired by Wildbow thinking "What's a horrible thing you can do with [time power], as a variant?"<ref>Comment by Wildbow on Spacebattles</ref>

References

<references/>