Nice Guy

<infobox> <title source="name"><default>Nice Guy</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>

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<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> Nice Guy is a former member of the Slaughterhouse Nine.

Abilities and Powers

Nice Guy's power makes people incapable of perceiving him as a threat. Even if he commits violent acts, those observing him see him as a harmless bystander<ref name="26.1">Sting 26.1</ref> His power is more effective if he has line of sight with his victims,<ref name="26.6">I turned and started to fire before the individual in question could step through the doorway. By the time I made the conscious decision and started squeezing the trigger, the individual in question was emerging. The bullet made contact, passing through their head.

A life taken. A hostage killed. But I couldn’t afford to take any chances.

No.

I shook my head a little.

A Nice Guy, not a hostage.

He needed to focus on people to use his power. That focus was far weaker if he couldn’t see someone. My voice would be another vector, as well as knowing my location. - Excerpt from Sting 26.6</ref> Those he was unable to focus on however were resistant.<ref name="26.1 e3">Imp appeared as she booted the bleeding man in the small of the back. He rolled down the stairs, leaving spatters and sprays of blood as he made his way down, and then collapsed in a pile of bodies. He started screaming, a gurgling sound.

I could see Chevalier and the others staring in shock, adopting fighting stances, unsure of how to proceed. It looked like Chevalier was talking to someone, gesturing with his free hand. Was it Revel, on the comms?

“My schtick,” Imp spat the words at the dying man.

I could mark the moment he died, because the blanks in my perception began to fill in.

Nice Guy, I thought. I’d badly underestimated the severity of his power. I’d known he would be in their roster, had kept it in mind throughout, even told myself to be ready for him, and then the moment we ran into him, well, he was another face in the crowd. The connection wasn’t possible. - Excerpt from Sting 26.1</ref>

People seeing him for the first time don't immediately identify him as a threat.<ref name="26.1 e1" /> Even when redirected to focus on him he is not effectively immune to notice or ire. <ref name="26.1 e2">“No, to her right.”

I looked past the man and set my eyes on Golem.

“I’m more inclined to think you’re a voice in my head that’s fucking with me, than to suspect Golem’s up to something, but-”

“Oh hell,” Revel said.

“I got this. Taylor, do me a favor, give the order to ‘go dark’.”

“Go dark,” I said. - Excerpt from Sting 26.1</ref> Even people fully aware of him and actively on guard for his appearance would not be able to recognize him as a threat.<ref name="26.1 e3" />

The original Nice Guy may have been able to use his abilities more deftly than what was seen.<ref name="26.3c1">Though it’s somewhat justified in this instance as they don’t retain their full memories – only cobbled-together personalities and histories. - Comment by Wildbow in Sting 26.3</ref><ref name="I26e1">The entity observed the ongoing conflict. No less than five seconds after it had been trapped, two figures had emerged from a doorway between worlds. The entity could see the paths forming, trace them back to the source. Another world, a living world without a shard occupying it.

They engaged the eight with their own perception abilities, intervening to assist a group of others. As a pair, they opened fire with guns, then waded into hand to hand combat.

The entity looked at the male, and it saw the connection to the same shard as the eight. His connection was stronger, more mature. - Excerpt from Interlude 26</ref>

History

Background

Nice Guy joined the Slaughterhouse Nine and died at some point during his time as a member.

Post-Timeskip

Nice Guy was one of the many templates Bonesaw used to create her clone army. One was left behind in Killington to insure a message was delivered,<ref name="26.1 e1">Rachel and Golem worked together to move the tarp aside.

A television.

“The tape’s already in the machine, you can hit play to start it,” the man sitting at the edge of the stairs said.

“Wait, Weaver, stop. Who was that?” Revel asked.

“Who?” I asked. “What do you mean?”

“Look to your right.”

I did. The other tarp, more corpses, the man who was now standing at the edge of the stairs, the little crenelation at the top of the stair’s railing, then beyond that, cabins, restaurants, hotels and motels, the rest of the town, and mountains in the background.

“Not sure I get what you’re saying,” I said.

“What’s wrong?” Grue asked.

“I don’t know. I’m getting communications from Revel, and she’s acting funny.”

“Here,” the man said. “Let me get that for you.”

The others stepped out of the way as he approached me, Golem, and the television set. He reached for the play button.

I caught his wrist.

“He’s dangerous,” Revel said.

“I beg your pardon?” the man asked.

“Attack.”

Attack?

I shook my head a little, releasing the man’s wrist. “I appreciate the offer, sir, but let’s be safe and make sure this isn’t a trap.”

“Can’t argue with that,” he said, smiling.

“This is what hell is like,” Revel said. - Excerpt from Sting 26.1</ref> ad likely to cause additional mayhem. Instead he had his throat slit by Imp. Later another was accidentally shot in the head by Weaver.

It is unknown what happened to the seven remaining instances of Nice Guy. It is possible that they are all dead given that Cauldron eventually deployed The Number Man and Contessa to deal with select Nine members.<ref name="26.5">Sting 26.5</ref> Further Khepri did not notice any remaining copies when she was collecting capes.<ref name="Speck 30.4">I found members of Bonesaw’s Slaughterhouse Nine. Clones who’d fled, or who’d been left behind, lurking in dark corners, or simply hiding. A Mannequin, two Damsels that were keeping each other company, a Night Hag-Nyx hybrid, and a Crawler-Breed hybrid. - Excerpt from Speck 30.4</ref>

Given his powers however it is hard to be sure.

Trivia

• Nice Guy was based on an earlier concept for Imp.<ref name="I13.5c1">One of the people who didn’t make the final cut was called ‘Nice Guy’.
  The basis behind his character was that he was the guy you’d never suspect, who faded into the background, and faded from your attention, until you didn’t even realize he was attacking you.
  Sound familiar? - Comment by Wildbow on Interlude 13.5 (Donation Bonus)</ref><ref name="26.1 e3" />

References

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