Trainwreck
<infobox> <title source="name"><default>Trainwreck</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><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> Trainwreck was a member of the Archer's Bridge Merchants.
Personality
Is coarse but can be polite to those he respects. Barked at Taylor though they were allies at the time, audacity of asking for his help in the middle of a battle and a chance that it could blow his cover in the Merchants. Would likely have gotten along with Rachel.<ref name="R3"/>
Appearance
Trainwreck has a round face, small eyes, unwashed greasy hair<ref name="cast"/> tied into a ponytail, and acne-scarred cheeks.<ref name ="6.7"/> As Trainwreck, he wears steam-powered armor while his upper face is covered by a metal mask and goggles. Would later receive a gunshot wound. He lacked proper limbs but could shape and mold his body into pseudo pods and similar when he was not using a suit.<ref name="I21c1"/> This combined with possible embarrassment over his appearance lead to hygiene issues.<ref name ="11.7"/>
Abilities and Powers
Trainwreck is a case 53 tinker who needed to build himself a body, lacking proper limbs of his own.<ref name="R1">Comment by Wildbow on Reddit</ref> He was able to slowly shape and shift his bloblike body into working, if slow moving, pseudo-pods and could generate energy he could use to power his tinker devices.<ref name="I21c1">Trainwreck was very similar to the Merchants’ Mush, but without the ability to reintegrate into a human form, and the parts couldn’t necessarily move easily. That said, he was his own power supply. He had tinker knowledge that he used to give his body workable joints and more complicated engineering/weapons. - Comment by Wildbow on Interlude 21</ref> It is unknown if works powered by him were specially resistant to electro-magnetic pulses or slimier anti-tinker countermeasures.
He is best described as a "crude" specialty tinker,<ref name="R3">Trainwreck - Crude bodysuit/armor combat-resource tinker & case 53. - And yet another comment by Wildbow on Reddit</ref> who can work with scrap and develop something that works surprisingly well from what should be inferior components.<ref name="R2">Another comment by Wildbow on Reddit</ref> His gear is fairly limited, he is almost incapable of making anything 'fancy', but he can build it fast, build it durable, and he can build it from parts as common as a rusted old car.<ref name="SB1">Then you get someone like Trainwreck, who doesn't have access to outside ideas. He's a case 53 tinker who needed to build himself a body. That example power 'crude tinkering' I noted before? That's his. He can work with scrap and develop something that works pretty damn well. His gear is fairly limited, but he can build it fast and he can build it with parts from a rusted old car. - Comment by Wildbow on Spaccebattles</ref>
In practice Trainwreck largely stuck to using a single set of 'Crude' power armor that he maintained, though he could create other gear and weapons.<ref name="I21c1"/> This suit gave him enough strength and durability to defeat Armsmaster when he caught the protectorate hero by surprise.<ref name="6.7"/> When he operated as a cape he drove the suit without needing to use proper limbs. His suits limbs do not actually enclose any part of him allowing people like Faultline to sever them with a touch.
History
Background
Trainwreck is a Case 53 - an amnesiac with physical alterations as well as powers, who woke up in a strange city with no memories. Inn this warped Tinker's case he would settle in Brockton Bay’s Trainyards, where he eked out a living as a homeless supervillain,<ref name="cast">Trainwreck – An unwashed, greasy man who wears a crude, steam powered suit. Essentially a homeless solo supervillain, he is initially based in Brockton Bay’s Trainyards. - Cast (spoiler free)</ref> trying to build a non-existent reputation.<ref name ="6.7"/>
Story Start
After the Undersiders led Armsmaster and Dauntless into a garage, Trickster teleported Armsmaster to Trainwreck. Trainwreck grabbed Armsmaster and slammed him against the hood of a car. Armsmaster managed to fight his way free where he fought against Trainwreck and Genesis until Trickster swapped out his Halberd for a car bumper. Trainwreck grabbed Armsmaster and started beating him against the car.<ref name ="6.7"> I could see the machine-guy’s face, a heavy cheeked caucasian with acne-scarred cheeks and long hair pulled back into a greasy ponytail, the upper half of his face covered in a metal mask and goggles, and now I could place him. He was Trainwreck, a fairly thuggish villain that hadn’t made much of a name for himself. I couldn’t say whether that was a suit or actually his body. For all I knew, he was some sort of coal-driven cyborg, or an unfortunate individual that’d been transformed by his powers much in the same way Newter and Gregor had. - Excerpt from Tangle 6.7</ref>
Trainwreck then dumped a bloody and beaten Armsmaster next to Dauntless. He then examined his fellow tinker's Halberd before crushing it and dumping the remains over the fallen heroes.<ref name="6.7"/>
Post-Leviathan
Taylor and Lisa were on a mission of mercy that took them to the Merchants festival of blood, where Trainwreck was part of the festivities.<ref name ="11.5">Infestation 11.5</ref> When Faultline's Crew staged an ambush to steal valuables from the merchants Trainwreck was held at bay by a new addition to the Crew.<ref name ="11.6">Infestation 11.6</ref> Taylor enlisted Tranwreck's help in cracking through barrier's created by Labyrinth of the attacking Crew. He did this quickly after some gripping and returned to fighting members of Fautline's Crew.<ref name ="11.7">Infestation 11.7</ref>
Later attended the Truce meeting at Crater lake, where the local capes decided what to do about The Nine.<ref name ="12.2">Plague 12.2</ref>
He was killed alongside the other Merchants by the Slaughterhouse Nine,<ref name="cast2">Trainwreck (Deceased) – Few details have been provided, but Trainwreck has a mechanized suit or mechanized body with enhanced strength. Was working undercover in the Merchants on Coil’s behalf before being killed by the Nine. - Cast Page (In Depth)</ref> dying at Shatterbird's hands.<ref name ="I12">Shatterbird stepped back from the ruined husk of a massive suit of steaming armor and started flying their way, accompanied by a cloud of bloody glass shards. - Excerpt from Interlude 12</ref> This wound up complicating Coil's later plans.<ref name ="16.10">I needed a heavy metal suit that could carry a package, and Trainwreck died at an inconvenient time. - Excerpt from Monarch 16.10</ref>
Trivia
- If Coil had been unable to recruit Bitch for the undersiders Trainwreck could have been slotted into the team as the resident heavy hitter.<ref name="SB2">Or, simplifying it, Bitch gets caught earlier on, pre-Undersiders. She gets therapy, her problems are identified and handled, and she winds up on the side of light. A member of the Boston Wards. When the ABB start going nuts in Brockton Bay, she's among the heroes that volunteer to head into town (helped by the fact that she doesn't have guardians nailing her down in one place, as is the case with many Wards).
The Undersiders probably have another heavy hitter - and Trainwreck is one option for Coil to slot into the team. Über (with Leet joining as a matter of course) would be another.
Butterfly effect at work. Dog Shaped Butterfly?
- What if 2</ref>
- Had he lived, Trainwreck would likely have been put with the Undersiders once his role in the Merchants became unnecessary.<ref name="R3">The rest of the group remain as Coil's playing pieces on the board, holding their own against Armsmaster's Protectorate with Coil's help. The group alters and takes on Trainwreck (who becomes an uneasy acquaintance of Rachel) as well as some hired mercenaries from Boston and New York. - What if</ref>
References
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