Mantis

Mantis (Scenesys ID: 1671)
Quote
"Many know this one, under many names. She touches many lives. But she is ever this one."
Profile
Full Name:	Mantis
Gender:	Female
Species:	Human/Cotati Hybrid
Theme:	Marvel (FC)
Occupation:	Adventurer
Citizenship:	Vietnamese / Cotati
Residence:	Mobile
Education:	Privately Tutored by the Priests of Pama
Status:	Approved
Groups:
Other Information
Apparent Age:	28	Actual Age:	28
Date of Birth	22 June 1998	Actor:	Jade Xu
Height:	168 cm	Weight:	52 kg
Hair Color:	Black	Eye Color:	Green
Theme Song:

Profile

Allegedly the Celestial Madonna, Mantis doesn't believe a word of it. She has chosen to lead the life she wants instead of that which was laid out for before her. From her beginnings in space to being placed on Earth with false memories. She learned the truth and took to the stars but is now returning home to Earth. (OOC Note: Mantis is based off the comics version, not the Guardians of the Galaxy second movie. They are very different.)

Sheet

Description

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Standing at 5'6", she isn't imposing in height but there is something about how she carries herself. Mantis appears to be of Asian descent, yet her features are almost too sharp, with high cheekbones. She could have been sculpted by an artist considering that symmetry of her face. Her body is womanly with an underlying strength without being overly muscled.

There are two things that stand out about her physical appearance. Atop her head, extending out from within her black hair, are a pair of antennae. Additionally, at times, her skin will be green instead of the normal human coloration. These mark her as something more than human.

Her clothes can be demure or daring, depending on her mood and the situation.

History

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Mantis was born on Earth to human parents. Yet, she didn't remain on her home planet. It was believed by a sect of Kree that she was the Celestial Madonna, destined to give birth to their Celestial Messiah who would save universe. The Priests of Pama convinced her parents of her importance in this role and she was turned over to the Priests to be raised.

The priests began her training immediately. They also altered her, blending the plant type Cotati with her human genes to create a hybrid. This gave her access to telepathic abilities she would not have had otherwise. They also trained her in martial arts. These arts had been perfected through thousands of years on multitudes of worlds. All of it was taught to their future Madonna and she excelled at the physical aspects. Her mind and her body grew strong, but she never was socialized really, giving her a rather different point of view from most beings.

When she reached her eighteenth birthday, the Priests decided she needed to enhance her knowledge by living as a human on Earth. This would give her more understanding of how to deal with people as opposed to 'book learning' so to speak. They wiped her memory so there would be no confusion, then gave Mantis altered memories.

She believed she had been raised on Earth by her parents, Gustav Brandt and Lua Nguyen. She believed she had a normal life and upbringing, training in dance. She had a job as a dancer at a gentlemen's club in Vietnam, the country she was actually born in 18 years before. She lived this life for three years, then the priests believed it was time for her to fulfil her destiny.

Her memories were returned to her. She was told she must join with the Cotati and bear a child. Mantis scoffed at this idea and refused, believing that someone destined to be mother to a Messiah would be someone not like her but more pure and perfect. So, she turned her back and set out into the world to live her life as she chose, although that question mark is always in the back of her mind.

She spent a little time on Earth acting as a hero, beings she respected for taking a stand. She also has taken to space more recently. She's had quite a number of adventures on her own and with others. She's even faced off against Thanos who sought her out because of his belief she was the Celestial Madonna. The conflict ended with Thanos retreating but his hatred for her is deep now. She also ended up as the Grandmaster's Champion for a time before a rebellion led to her escape from that place and her friendship with Korg, one of the revolutionaries. Since that time, she has joined up with the Ravagers and is doing her best to keep as far from the Priests and her alleged destiny as possible. Most recently, she traveled back to Earth in her own ship along with the Asgardians but ran into difficulties and her craft crashed, leaving her back on her birth planet for now.

Personality

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Mantis has an easy-going personality that is rather Zen like. She is comfortable with herself and her place in the world, as she perceives it. Things she does not believe in, she dismisses, such as that Celestial Madonna nonsense. She isn't one to cause strife or conflict, but she does have a bit of a protective streak. This has been seen when she witnessed someone getting slapped and her temper flared, leading to her taking down the man who had done it. She is not intimidated or frightened and she has complete confidence in her skills. She tends to be rather overconfident, which stems from her being just that good when it comes to her abilities and skills. This can come across as arrogance, so she tries to keep her ego in check when dealing with others.

Abilities

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ASTRAL TRAVEL
Mantis is able to remove herself from her body and travel astrally. She is extremely powerful and can actually travel vast distances, even to other galaxies in a short amount of time. While in this form, she has no substance and cannot manipulate anything physically. Only those with psionic abilities are even able to see her when she is in this form. However, she can use her telepathy to transmit an image of herself into their minds so she can be seen but this is reliant on if the person she is trying to reach is resistant to telepathy. Mantis also has the ability to create a body for herself at the location she travels to if there is flora in that location. (See Plant Form Ability) She has actually been able to trespass astrally in locations that Thanos stated could only be reached by gods. Her ability is truly unsurpassed.

CHLORIKINESIS
When in a plant form, Mantis is able to control plants around her within a distance of about twenty feet. She can make them do her bidding, much like Poison Ivy. She's been shown to alter their actual structure at will, although that takes immense concentration to do so. Mainly, she can use to it have plants move or act following her will. She cannot use this power when she is in her normal form, only in her Plant Form.

EMPATHY
Mantis can sense the emotions of other beings around her. This is something that just happens, not really a thing she turns on and off. Her range is anyone within fifty feet. Emotions are not like thoughts and are difficult for people to block without specialize training. Mental telepathic blocks don't work on emotional states, in most cases. Mostly, she can just sense emotions and know how people are feeling. However, truly powerful emotions such as a blind rage would cause her to feel the emotions instead of just sensing them. Additionally, she is immune to empathic manipulation by others.

PHYSICAL CONTROL
Her training with the Priests of Pama has given her a level of physical control that is beyond anything a normal human can reach. She is at the peak of physical perfection. All her physical traits are enhanced, from strength to speed, stamina and durability, etc. She has been able to hit Quicksilver while he was using his powers. She can take hits from superpowered beings such as Thanos himself and survive despite having no inherent powers that make her more durable. She simply has complete muscular control and that allows her to perform feats that seem superhuman. She can heal herself as quickly as Wolverine, able to recover from a broken bone in a day and minor lacerations almost instantly. More severe wounds can take less or more time depending on what they are. However, she can't grow back any limbs should they be removed. With this training, she can control her heartbeat, respiration, blood pressure, and so forth as well.

PLANT FORM
When Mantis astrally travels to another planet, she is able to create a new body out of the vegetation from that world. This body looks just like her normal one, except it has green skin. Otherwise, she's the same. Mentally and physically, powers intact. She can live indefinitely in one of these forms. If she were to ever be killed, either in plant form or her real body, she would be able to astrally project herself out of that body, so she won't die. Then she would have to form a body out of plant life to have a physical form once again.

PRECOGNITION
Mantis is able to see into the future. She sometimes knows things before they happen. This is not a controlled power. She can't choose to look into the future for something specific. Instead, it is random and happens without warning. Sometimes it is glimpses that are confusing, other times very detailed. She cannot allow herself to act on those precognitive events or she can alter things that are supposed to happen. It's a fine line to tread.

TELEPATHY
Mantis has been shown to have a variety of telepathic abilities. Mainly, this is used for communication with others mentally across distances. Her telepathy has a range of fifty miles. She can speak to others, read minds, manipulate senses and the typical stunts associated with telepathy. It is always a battle of wills and if the person has training that can block her out. Someone like Xavier or Jean Grey, she would not be able to pierce their mental shields and they likely would be able to breach hers.

Skills

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DANCING
When she was placed on Earth with false memories of having been born there, Mantis was a dancer, of the exotic variety. She was false memories of dance training that was rather extensive. Of course, at the time, she found a job that paid the bills quite well. She would be considered on par with a professional dancer and is trained in a wide variety of styles.

MARTIAL ARTS
Mantis was trained by the Priests of Pama. Their knowledge of martial arts has been added to for thousands of years. All of that knowledge was shared with Mantis who excelled at this artistic form of combat. She is one of the most skilled martial artists in the galaxy. Her form generally uses nerve strikes and leverage but in truth, there is far more to it. It is a combination of multiple alien cultures all formed into a single martial art. She has taken out Thor with a single blow, despite having no super-strength. She has fought toe-to-toe with Thanos and won. While she has training with weapons, she prefers to fight hand-to-hand and is brutally effective at it. One of her finishing moves is the Death Grip of the Mantis. This strike can be used to kill or simply knock out an opponent. It utilizes either her arms or legs in a choke hold while she is behind her opponent. The hold is unbreakable when done properly.

PILOT
As a space pirate, Mantis is a skilled pilot of spacecraft. She won't know how to pilot more obscure vessels or be able to do so if they require eight limbs, bit if it follows a "normal" setup, she can at least figure it out. Ships she is familiar with, such as her own and the general design of most Ravagers vessels, she is an expert. She's able to avoid pursuit, traverse asteroid belts, utilize weapons systems with accuracy, and any number of stunts.

PIRACY
Mantis is a space pirate. As such, she is well versed in analyzing other ships for attack. Once aboard, she can quickly assess the best items to steal or salvage for a minimum of lost time.

THEFT
Piracy is one skill. Theft on a personal level is another. Mantis is able to pick a pocket or break into a building if she needed to. She has a range of technological devices that can help in this area as well but she has basic lockpicking, security and other skills that let her get in and out of places retrieving objects for herself or clients.

Resources

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CONTACTS
The Ravagers have a lot of contacts. Some are legitimate and good people. Others are criminals, such as those who fence their stolen goods. These people can sometimes be called on for various reasons, but they won't be putting their necks out.

Mantis also has some contacts she has made through her travels and her time on Earth as a hero. She can call on them perhaps depending on the circumstance.

RAVAGERS
As a member of the Ravagers, Mantis lives by their codes and rules. She can call on them in times of need and they can do the say should they need her assistance.

SPACE PIRATES
The Ravagers are not the only pirates in space. There are many others. They sometimes work together and other times against each other. Other pirates are always good for information. They have a certain code they follow as Pirates. Although some might say the code is more what you'd call "guidelines" than actual rules.

TECHNOLOGY
The Ravagers have access to a variety of tech, from translators and weapons to computers and gadgets. Many of these devices are designed to allow them to break into secure locations by bypassing locks, security systems and cameras. While they won't be getting into the Collector's Museum without him knowing, Nova Corps might be in their abilities. Not easy, but maybe.

UNIVERSAL TRANSLATOR
Mantis has a universal translator that lets her understand and speak alien languages. This includes all common languages but some more obscure or newly found ones may not be in the device.

Weaknesses

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ALIEN APPEARANCE
In her normal body, Mantis has two antennae on her head, which makes her an obvious alien. Or at least different. When she astrally projects herself to another planet and creates a body for herself out of the plant life, her skin is green. There is no hiding that she isn't human.

ASTRAL PROJECTION
When Mantis astrally projects her consciousness, her body is left behind. This means her body is vulnerable and can be destroyed. While she won't die if that happens, it would be very inconvenient since she would be reliant on making a new body out of plant life.

CELESTIAL MADONNA
Mantis is the Celestial Madonna, destined to mother a child who will take his place as a space savior. However, she doesn't believe it. She knows her personality and her flaws. She does not feel that she is the type of person who should ever be a Madonna and thus, she denies her role. She has chosen to ignore it for now, but it is something that she will have to face someday.

EMPATHY
Being an empath can be difficult. Strong emotions can sometimes overwhelm Mantis, causing her to react and potentially ruining her focus. It can also mean she adopts those emotions in dealing with those around her. She does not get overwhelmed by something like anger, but blinding rage would get past her defenses, for example.

PLANT FORM
When Mantis creates a new body, she must have plant life to do so. Were she to astrally project herself to a location with no flora, she would only exist in her astral form with no substance and no ability to affect objects around her. She couldn't open a door or pick up a spoon.

Additionally, being in a body created from plants makes her more susceptible to dehydration and fire. She would also need access to sunlight on a daily basis. On an alien world where the flora exists in a Red Sun, that is what she would require and so forth.

TEMPER
Mantis doesn't like bullies. She doesn't like people mistreating others in any way, particularly those unable to protect themselves. Unfortunately, when she sees such things, she gets upset and her temper can flare. If that happens, she tends to act without thinking about repercussions.

THANOS
There is a hate/hate relationship between Thanos and Mantis. She has faced him in one-on-one combat and won. To say this irks him would be an understatement. He would love to see her destroyed.

THIS ONE
Mantis does not use the word "I" very often. Instead, she calls herself "This One." This stems from being a hybrid with the plant like Cotati, a race that identifies in the same way.

WANTED PIRATE
Mantis is a member of the Ravagers, a known group of space pirates. As such, she is wanted on several planets and in several systems for her crimes. There are warrants for her arrest. There are also some bounties out for her, put up by those who chose not to go to the authorities since their own hands were dirty.

Logs

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Title	Date	Scene Summary
Guardians of the House of Ill Repute	December 13th, 2019	The Guardians visit an 'establishment' on Contraxia. Peter and Rocket make up.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Interception on Contaxia	December 6th, 2019	Summary needed
A Celebration of You	November 27th, 2019	Heroes and vigilantes from around the galaxy attend a party on Xandar Prime.
Guardians of the Cesear	November 27th, 2019	Oh, the same ol' same ol' for them durned guardian brothers.
Guardians of the Evidence Locker	November 21st, 2019	The Guardians of the Galaxy are broke and kind of in debt to the Ravager Yondu Udonta. Rocket hatches a brilliant plan: rob the evidence locker of a Xandarian garrison on the border planet of Ataxes III. They're cops, so they MUST have the best contraband, right? This plan surely can't fail, and it definitely won't have reprecussions for the Guaradians down the road.
Guardians of the traveling Pants	November 20th, 2019	The Guardians go to Knowhere, Grails there, Lobo shows up, everyone leaves really happy and eternal friendships are forged.
Guardians of Quill's Dumb A**	November 19th, 2019	The Guardians guard Peter's life from himself and his own idiocy.
Guardians of the Milano's Bank Account	November 19th, 2019	Gamora does her Red Dead thing, while Peter Mantis and Rocket have a game of table tennis.
Guardians of the Feelin'	November 16th, 2019	The crew of the Milano are intercepted by Yondu, whom they owe a lot of credits and/or drugs. Sans Quill, Rocket takes control of negociations and stages an unsuccessful mutiny with the arrival of Gamora. Drax's sudden unexpected arrival and expert diplomacy skills aid Mantis' gift giving forethought into a smooth transition back into normalacy. I. Am... Groot.
Not Space Losers	May 31st, 2019	Summary needed
Behold. My stuff.	August 20th, 2018	In which Thor realizes that Mantis is an evil villain dead set on revenge.
Coffee Run	August 12th, 2018	4 curious people meet in a coffee shop!
The Grand Champion	July 22nd, 2018	Some time ago, on Sakaar, Thor and Mantis battle for the amusement of the Grandmaster
Treasured Advice	June 14th, 2018	Yondu assists Mantis with her puzzle.
I might have a small case of... being Asgardian.	April 10th, 2018	Mantis convinces Loki to kill people.
Are you not entertained	April 9th, 2018	Bjorn fights Thor while the Guardians, and friends, eat popcorn
On Adventures and the Excitement therein.	March 24th, 2018	Mantis, Korg and Hzt meet Yondu. Business is discussed.
On a Road to Knowhere	March 15th, 2018	Mantis, Korg and Hzt are getting ready to head out into space from Knowhere.
Beldar-eki, of Knowhere. Pleased to meet you.	February 24th, 2018	Loki needs an impartial party to help with a decision. Enter Mantis.

Cutscenes

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Gallery

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