Kaiser

<infobox> <title source="name"><default>Kaiser</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>

Deceased

</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>

Max Anders, publicly known as Kaiser, is the CEO of the Medhall Corporation in his secret identity and the leader of Empire Eighty-Eight in his public.

Personality

Like his son Theo, Max Anders does not believe in Empire Eighty-Eight's ideology. Instead, as head of an organization he inherited from his father, Kaiser uses his ideological "chops" as a powerful tool to manipulate others.<ref>Actually, Kaiser doesn't buy into that ideology at all. He pretends to, and uses it to manipulate others.

One of those facts that I can't quite recall if I shared it in the story or not. So many words to dig through when fact checking. - Comment by Wildbow on RPG.net</ref>

Possessed of much self control, every movement and action Max Anders makes is calculated and controlled, rarely letting anything slip past his defenses. He is not as brave as he thinks himself, however, especially when in a situation that he does not dominate.<ref name="5.5"/>

Kayden Anders, his ex-wife, believed that he would keep his word on a promise to her despite his manipulative personality and her personal dislike of him.<ref name="I3.5">Interlude 3.5 (Bonus)</ref>

Another notable personality trait is hinted at when he jokingly admits to liking cats over dogs <ref name="5.2"/>. This was later confirmed as true by his son <ref name="I26a">Interlude 26a</ref>.

Appearance

Max is a handsome man, thirty-five or so and physically fit. His eyes are a "brilliant" blue.<ref name="I3.5"/>

As Kaiser, his costume consists of a suit of elaborate armor with a crown of blades. Given the nature of his power, he creates a new costume for each occasion.<ref name="I3.5"/><ref name="5.1"> Hive 5.1</ref><ref name="5.5"/> The armor sometimes gives off a scrape of blades when he moves.<ref name="5.2"/>

Abilities and Powers

Max's power allows him to create metal objects – blades, beams, bludgeons, sheets, tubes, spears, needles etc – which extend from solid surfaces around him.<ref name="List">Max Anders Kaiser Can produce metal blades, barriers or rods from any solid surface E88 - Parahuman List; bolded edit by Wildbow</ref> He has a large range where he can use his powers. The blades summoned are described as iron or steel, seemingly interchangeably.<ref name="5.9"/><ref name="8.3"/><ref name="I3.5"/>

His power creates a rippling energy effect as it creates metal, and at least sometimes creates a metallic grinding sound.<ref name="5.9"/>

Kaiser can pull an astonishing amount of material into existence without regard for conservation of mass.<ref>Agitation 3.11</ref> It is usually created fast enough to injure the unwary, even when creating a column the size of an 18 wheeler;<ref name="5.9"/> although his ability proceeded very slowly when he attempted generating a massive blade 20 feet across,<ref name="5.9"/> and was noticeably slower when he summoned a thicket of solid columns of steel rather than blades to block Leviathan's path.<ref name="8.3"> Extermination 8.3</ref> He could manifest a spear with enough force to penetrate Lung's armor.<ref name="5.9"/>

Kaiser can shape complex structures, including walls of blades,<ref name="5.9"/><ref name="8.3"/> pyramidal traps,<ref name="5.9"/><ref name="8.4">Extermination 8.4</ref> and his own costume,<ref name="I3.5"/> by creating large numbers of overlapping blades or columns which extrude from each other to form a larger whole.

He was limited by the Manton effect, rendering him unable to generate metal inside another person's body. But he would be able to give someone metal armour like he did for his sister.<ref name="I5">Taliesinskye and Psychogecko are pretty on target. Though Kaiser’s power wouldn’t prevent him from growing armor -on- someone (which is essentially what he did when he trapped Lung in the pyramid of blades, only it was a more offensive use). - Comment by Wildbow in Interlude 5</ref>

History

Background

A second generation parahuman that inherited his position from his father.

Max was a baseball star in high school, and introduced Kayden Anders to white supremacist ideas.

He married Heith and had a son, Theo; she was killed by the Teeth in a turf war in the 'bad old days'. Later, he married Purity, with whom he had a daughter, Aster. He promoted Purity to his second-in-command when they married. When she divorced him as well, she left the Empire Eighty-Eight.<ref name="7.4">Buzz 7.5</ref><ref name="I3.5"/>

Later, when the Slaughterhouse Nine first visited Brockton Bay, he met eyes with Jacob who would later say that he was one of the very few who did so.<ref name="I11b">Interlude 11b</ref>

Story Start

He met with Kayden Anders and convinced her to rejoin the Empire on the condition that she would become his second in command. He also promised her that he would give her the Empire in a year if she still wasn't satisfied with his methods.<ref name="I3.5"/>

Max later met with the Undersiders, Faultline’s Crew, Coil, and the Merchants to talk about how they would deal with the Azn Bad Boys. He denied Skidmark a seat at the table, calling him and his gang deranged losers he wouldn't listen to. He then agreed to the truce that Coil proposed.<ref>Hive 5.1</ref>

When Bitch threatened to visit Hookwolf's dogfighting ring, he asked the Undersiders if it was a declaration of war. He agreed to put the issue aside to uphold the truce though warned them that the Empire would need restitution<ref name="5.2">Hive 5.2</ref>.

Max, Fenja, and Menja later met Skitter, Bitch Newter, Sundancer and Labyrinth at the lighthouse. He informed them that the attack would begin in five minutes before telling them to move out, taking a few steps back when Bitch enhanced Brutus<ref name="5.5">Hive 5.5</ref>.

Together with Fenja and Menja, Max then went to circle around the ABB warehouse. He created a line of blades to prevent the ABB from escaping before drawing the attention of the guards. <ref>Hive 5.6 </ref> He followed Lung and created a narrow beam which Lung avoided. <ref>Hive 5.8 </ref>

Max told Skitter that he had the situation in hand, but asked her what she would do after she told him about Lung's power. He formed a barrier between Lung and Skitter before creating a block of steel to shove Lung into the ground when he tried to jump. He then created a pyramid of criss-crossing blades around Lung to trap him before directing the blade he had been forming at him.

When Lung escaped, he used a metal spear to throw Lung towards Bitch's dogs before using his power on Lung's men. He then used a shaft to push Lung towards Sundancer's orb and then created a spear to impale Lung. He fell unconscious after he was smashed against the wall by Lung.<ref name="5.9">Hive 5.9</ref>

Post-Leviathan

Kaiser was killed by Leviathan. However, his death was a result of Armsmaster deliberately maneuvering him into position to that the field would be clear for him to use his secret weapon. This was never publicly acknowledged, but Armsmaster was unofficially incarcerated.

Legacy

Empire Eighty-Eight would collapse into warring factions, and his own son would become a hero, diametrically opposed to the ideology that Max had used all his life.

References:

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