Dauntless
<infobox> <title source="name"><default>Dauntless</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>
Tom Kahn<ref name="Tom Kahn"/>, known as Dauntless, was a member of the Brockton Bay Protectorate, with the ability to slowly grant powers to items in his possession.
Personality
Dauntless was widely considered a rising star, a popular hometown hero in Brockton Bay. His power and its implications were widely known.<ref name="6.7"/>
Relationships
Wife
Is presumably married as he is enquiring about divorce, it is unknown if the couple has any children.<ref name=R2/>
Armsmaster
Because of his meteoric rise to fame, he was resented by Armsmaster; his power allowing him to easily advance in the Protectorate where Armsmaster struggled to get where he was by diligent effort.<ref name="I15"/><ref name="6.7"/><ref>Armsmaster gives up everything, including family, friends, for the sake of the mission.
Dauntless doesn't need to build or train, he just gets the power, rank, and family. - Wildbow on Discord, archived on Spacebattles.</ref> It was widely acknowledged that Dauntless might eventually replace Armsmaster as head of the team.<ref name="I15">Interlude 15</ref> Nevertheless, he was willing to wear earbuds so only Armsmaster could communicate with him, preventing Tattletale from speaking to him.<ref name="6.7">Tangle 6.7</ref>
Appearance & Equipment
Dauntless wears a white and gold costume with a golden helmet in a Greek or Spartan style, alongside his empowered items.<ref name="6.7"/>
Arclance
A spear that looks as if it is made of white lightning. The weapon could extend as far as he needed, elongating faster than the eye could follow. It was something between a solid and an energy, combining traits of both; people struck by it experienced a taser-like electrical charge in addition to the physical force.<ref name="6.7"/>
During the Battle at the Gallery, it was too weak to noticeably affect Bitch's dogs. Taylor likened it to using a taser on an elephant. However, it was strong enough to accidentally shatter glass.<ref name="6.7"/>
It was durable enough to parry a block from Circus' sledgehammer.<ref name="6.7"/>
Kid Win based his spark pistol, which shot "hard electricity", on data Armsmaster collected on the "hard light" used by Dauntless and Purity.<ref name="9.4">Sentinel 9.4</ref>
Shield
His shield, fixed to his left forearm, was a metal disc about the size of a dinner plate, surrounded by rings of the same energy that made up the spear.<ref name="6.7"/>
It could widen into a bubble-shaped forcefield of white energy ten feet wide around him. The field was seemingly able to "eat away" at Grue's darkness in some fashion. It made a loud sizzling, crackling sound. The field created a painful arc of electricity when it brushed against Regent's hand.<ref name="6.7"/>
He was able to raise it fast enough to deflect Circus' thrown knives. It "popped" when Ballistic used his power to smash cars into it so fast they were impossible to see, but not before stopping the car and holding it aloft long enough for it to roll off the top.<ref name="6.7"/>
Boots
His empowered boots made his feet look as if they were encased in white crackling energy when worn.<ref name="7.7">“According to the news and my, um, inside source,” Lisa spoke, referring to her power, “Purity hasn’t stopped. She’s doing strafing runs across the Docks. She moves too fast for anyone but Dauntless or Velocity to catch, and she hits harder than both of them combined. She’s knocked down four more buildings while we’ve talked, I’m pretty sure. How long before she happens to knock over our hideout?” - Excerpt from Buzz 7.7</ref> They allowed him to fly.<ref>Dauntless – A member of Brockton Bay’s Protectorate team, Dauntless can charge objects with his power, granting them permanent benefits. Accruing these benefits over time, he’s created boots that can fly, a spear that can create massive arcs of controlled electricity and a shield that generates forcefields, among other powers. - Cast (spoiler free)</ref> According to Tattletale, they made him fast enough to follow Purity while flying, faster than any of the other Brockton Bay Wards or Protectorate except Velocity.<ref name="7.7">“According to the news and my, um, inside source,” Lisa spoke, referring to her power, “Purity hasn’t stopped. She’s doing strafing runs across the Docks. She moves too fast for anyone but Dauntless or Velocity to catch, and she hits harder than both of them combined. She’s knocked down four more buildings while we’ve talked, I’m pretty sure. How long before she happens to knock over our hideout?” - Excerpt from Buzz 7.7</ref>
Armor
It was rumored that he had enhanced his armor with his power, but this wasn't visibly evident. He was briefly stunned when Grue landed full force on his helmet. When Circus hit him in the chest with her sledgehammer, he was seemingly knocked unconscious.<ref name="6.7"/>
Given that Wildbow has stated that he was empowering "three or four" objects, and would eventually have become almost as durable as Alexandria, it can be surmised that he was indeed charging the armor.<ref name="WOG1"/>
Abilities and Powers
Dauntless can empower items by infusing them with a little bit of power each day, permanently enhancing them. He wields a spear, shield, and boots all enhanced with this ability (see above). It is widely suspected that he would eventually equal or even surpass the Triumvirate,<ref name="6.7"/> but no one was certain if his power would eventually level off.<ref>But they don't know that for sure. What if Dauntless hit a hard cap? Or his upgrades started plateauing? - Wildbow on Reddit</ref>
Dauntless is constantly "charged" with energy, which builds up over time; every 20-30 hours it reaches a peak, allowing him to dump the excess charge into an object. This does not take as long to build up if his power is used often, and if he is engaged in field work.<ref name = "PM1">Dauntless is a striker/trump. The two aspects are irrevocably linked, thus the slash. In briefer terms, he'd simply be a trump - he gives himself powers, in an indirect fashion. If his shard had manifested differently, he wouldn't have the need for 'totems' - objects linked to the manifestation of his power. He'd simply grant himself the power.
But the striker rating is because it's touch-based. It would be a very low rating - in a fight against a civilian, being able to grab something and empower it would maybe make a bit of a difference, but the resulting power is so weak it's questionable.
Give him a few months of regularly empowering said object, however, and you have a rather potent ability. - Private message by Wildbow, archived on SpaceBattles</ref> His power is more effective if he charges the same object regularly; he compromises by focusing on three or four and cycling between them. When he dumps the charge into an object, it is briefly supercharged for a few minutes before levelling off at a point better than before.<ref name="WOG1">Dauntless can imbue objects. He can't consciously control what the imbuement does, but the passenger will generally make it something he can work with and likes, albeit with a tendency to destructive, combat-oriented effects. It also ties into the object itself. A shield is going to have protective effects, boots lean toward mobility, etc. It works with his subconscious in this regard - he won't be surprised when he sees what powers pop up.
He feels power moving through him and it wells up over time. Once every 20 to 30 hours he'll hit his peak, and feel distinctly uncomfortable until he can dump the charge into an object, boosting its efficacy for a short time (minutes) then leveling off at a point better than the last. It's sort of an uphill battle to get workable results from the object, as the charge initially makes the objects breaker-like with an emphasis on durability, then starts producing associated powers - by the 20th charge it'll start hitting the ceiling in terms of durability and start giving him raw output in terms of results and boosting the involved powers.. Charging an object is easier (and trends him closer to the 20 hour mark than the 30 hour mark) if he doesn't wait too long between charges, so he has three or four that he maintains and cycles between. It's also easier if he's engaged in field work.
Items require the charge that flows through him in order to operate. Someone couldn't pick up his spear and use it.
The way items develop, they form a starting point. Maybe after the 20th charge, he can push his power into the spear, and it flashes, goes full breaker, and turns into a semisolid laser, flashing out in either direction. Terrain isn't damaged and struck individuals and metal objects crackle with electricity, like a weak taser hit.
After the 400th, he could extend it into a full semienergy object that he could swing through the front half of a building a quarter mile away, wide enough to fill a room, could make it flash to blind everyone that could see it/him, and augment thrusts in melee range with a sort of 'matter if matter would do more damage, energy if energy would do more damage' pseudo-sting effect (though not nearly so universal).
In terms of rate of return, you could estimate that had he survived to the Scion fight, he'd have been just under Legend in terms of raw power level. Not as durable as Alexandria, but close. Not as mobile or versatile long ranged as Legend, but pretty damn mobile and still an artillery powerhouse. - Private message by Wildbow, found on Sufficient Velocity</ref>
He selects what the imbuement does subconsciously; it is always tied to the object itself, and he is never surprised to learn what it does, but there is a bias towards direct combat applications. Objects gain general durability and physics-immunity at first, and then begin to gain other abilities after the 20th charge.<ref name="WOG1"/> It took around a month for him to develop a new power to the point where it would impact a confrontation.<ref name=R1>Except if you fought Dauntless under tinker rules, you'd fail pretty hard. He can't really be separated from his gear, standard tinker countermeasures won't work, and his ability to choose the direction in which he develops over multiple engagements isn't nearly as pronounced as tinker's would be. If you were to separate him from his gear (keeping in mind that it binds to him on a breaker-state-like-level) then he wouldn't be able to 'tinker' his way up to potency if given resources. It would be months or years before he was a relevant threat again, just like we're talking about months of time to develop a new ability that would impact another confrontation. - Comment on Reddit</ref>
His items cannot be used by someone without this "charge", preventing them from being stolen or used against him.<ref name="WOG1"/><ref name=R1/>
Had he survived until Gold Morning, he would have been almost as powerful as Legend. Not as mobile or versatile at range, but fast and an artillery powerhouse, and almost as durable as Alexandria.<ref name="WOG1"/> It is implied that he could eventually grow powerful enough to annihilate a large area, similar to a nuclear bomb.<ref name="WOG2">So, question. What eventuality is this tightly packed biome of custom-made living things placed there for? Remember the long-term agenda, too. Conflict. What if he's there because the entities wanted something out there to generate chaos in the event that a Bakuda or a US army or a Level 9001 Dauntless annihilated the area and most of the local population? - Wildbow again on Spacebattles</ref>
History
Background
Dauntless was present when Shadow Stalker's case was looked over by a special committee. After the committee granted Shadow Stalker a probationary status amongst the Wards, he approached Alan Barnes and asked for legal aid.<ref name="I19.z">Interlude 19.z</ref><ref name=R2>Sleeper, Dauntless, and Oliver have their own snippets written, sitting on a defunct Wildbow hard drive somewhere. Not as primary characters, for Dauntless or Oliver, but enough fragments of stories that they've talked in or shared parts of themselves in that I know who they are. Dauntless is admittedly confused a bit with Triumph in some drafts, just as far as background, etc- this leads to slight incongruencies and patches in my memory- I can't remember if Dauntless or Triumph are the ones who approach Alan Barnes to ask about divorce. In early drafts I tried writing a purely mundane character, Dauntless'/Triumph's daughter, who has to deal with the fact that their parent is a superhero. Now of course, Triumph gets hammered out in-story, Dauntless is left as a bit of a blank, so it's not too hard to just shuffle it off, but small mistakes happen. - WB on Reddit</ref>
Story Start
After the Battle at the Gallery, Dauntless appeared the opposite side of an alley that the Undersiders were hiding in, cutting off their escape route. He used his shield's forcefield to block Grue's darkness before advancing. Tattletale tried to tell Dauntless how Armsmaster hated him before Dauntless tapped the side of his helmet, revealing that he was wearing earbuds and could only hear Armsmaster. He advanced again and his shield touched Regent's hand, shocking him before Regent made him stumble and fall to the ground.<ref name="6.7"/>
He raised his spear to impede the Undersiders, shooting lightning at them, before Grue brought his feet down on Dauntless' head. He recovered after the Undersiders escaped the alley and then shot Brutus and Angelica. Finding that ineffective, he tried aiming his Arclance at the Undersiders themselves only for Regent to disrupt his aim. Entering the garage, he stopped behind Armsmaster.<ref name="6.7"/>
Dauntless moved to retreat after the arrival of the Travelers and Circus but was blocked by Sundancer. He enclosed himself in his forcefield bubble to deflect Circus' knives before wrapping a second forcefield around a car that Ballistic used his power on. The forcefield gave away and the car dropped a scant foot away from Dauntless. He parried Circus' sledgehammer with his Arclance and then tumbled away from her when she breathed flame, bringing up his shield to block the flames.
Ballistic launched a car at Dauntless whose shield failed as Dauntless reeled. Dauntless tried to parry Circus with his Arclance, but Circus sidestepped around him before driving their sledgehammer against his chest.<ref name="6.7"/>
Post-Leviathan
Dauntless was grabbed by Leviathan alongside Alabaster and Jotun, and the Endbringer flicked them into the center of a time distortion bubble. He wasn't able to escape before he was frozen in time.<ref name="8.3">Extermination 8.3</ref> He later had his name placed on a memorial to honor those that had fallen.<ref name="8.8">Extermination 8.8</ref>
Post-Echidna
The bubble was turned into an impromptu memorial.<ref>Imago 21.5</ref> With no sign of being freed.<ref>A few hundred thousand years in the future, when the bubble pops. When humanity is long gone… - Comment by Wildbow on Imago 21.5</ref>
Early-Ward
The Protectorate successor organization, The Wardens, have been committing resources to freeing people like him from imprisonment.<ref>“The Wardens didn’t ask us before they signed off on this, yet they have people devoted to idiotic things like rescuing people from time bubbles and loops. - Excerpt from Interlude 5x II</ref>
Trivia
- A version of Dauntless appeared in Eden's vision of the future; a hero named Clarent, who wielded a longsword and grew stronger over time. He was identified as Dauntless in the tags.<ref>Interlude 29</ref>
- Had Dauntless survived, he would have been given his own team in a smaller city with a new department, likely St. Louis, Lexington, Pittsburgh, Stockton, or Anchorage.<ref>Dauntless, should he survive, gets his own team in a smaller city with a new department, a rising star in a growing department: the city in question would likely (going by the PRT master reference document) be St. Louis, Lexington, Pittsburgh, Stockton, or Anchorage. -
What If Leviathan Attacked Somewhere Else?</ref>
Fanart Gallery
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Image by YunYunHakusho on Reddit -
Image by babylonsheep on SpaceBattles.
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Image by YunYunHakasho
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Image by babylonsheep on SpaceBattles.
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Image by babylonsheep on SpaceBattles.
References
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