[Character] Phoenix

[phoenix]

φοινιξ

The nova that has taken the Ancient Greek name φοινιξ, meaning and sounding similar to the modern English Phoenix, and usually translated as such, was once known as Stratos Mercurio, a young real estate agent in Thessaloníki, Greece. When a group of armed men went to rob his office at gunpoint and ended up shooting him, presumably by accident, his body burnt to ash in flames, from which seemingly coalesced the winged, feathered form that was going to be his from then on. Stratos blocked the exit with his newfound control over fire and calmly called the local police for them to come and pick up the gang which had already surrendered in fear.

After reportedly refusing Utopia aid at least twice (it is still unclear whether this was out of an unvoiced suspicion about the organization, because he was already organizing a deal with the government, or simply out of stereotypical Greek anarchical views) he signed on with the Greek Government as the municipal defended of Thessaloníki. This proved rather controversial, first due to his clearly inhuman appearance, and then because the government had much less control over him than what they'd thought they would. In fact, Phoenix tended to be rather vocal with his views, which were the talk of the country and, indeed, even of N! and other international networks, for all the time he was serving the public.

He tended to speak quasi-religiously of the 'rebirth' that novas suffered during eruption, many times implying a strong distinction between the human race and novas, which earned him the label of Teragen sympathizer, even though he has publicly condemned the "actions of Teragen terrorist elements" and has explained his philosophy as being "quite different from the irresponsible and amoral content of the Null Manifesto". He is reluctant to freely explain his views to non-novas, many times with the excuse that "those who have only been born once would not understand", but it is probably related to Zoroastrianism, religion he had reportedly held an interest in before erupted and to which he converted a few years after. This was also frowned upon by the Orthodox Christian majority of Greece, and caused his public approval ratings to waver lower than what would be usual for a municipal defender that is also supernaturally charismatic and, indeed, very nearly morally untarnished.

His views, budget cuts by the Greek Government, a greater reliance on Project Utopia and the relative absence of any kind of problems in Thessaloníki were probably the factors that ended up forcing (although he officially holds it was a completely voluntary decision) him to resign and, in one of his most controversial moves, set up residence in the upper half of Mount Olympus, responding to cries against his "megalomania" and "styling himself as a god" he has only said that he is not "making his home on the tip of Mount Olympus like the gods, simply living on the slopes of a mountain like any other". Why the Greek government granted him the land in the first place is unknown, but it is thought that many people in the government and, indeed, in many places in Greece and in the world, owe him favors of one kind or another.

Phoenix has the general appearance of a well-tanned Mediterranean man in his early 20s, with the great exception that he has absolutely no hair on his body. Instead, feathers of colous from crimson to golden sprout from the back of his head and forming lines down the sides of his arms and behind his legs, and over the two great wings that cover his back. The plumage is beautiful, and he is also attractive like only a nova could be, but the full effect can be rather off-putting for someone not used to dealing with Tainted novas.

His best known powers are the control of fire, spectacular regenerative and healing abilities, and the ability to flawlessly know when he is being lied to. Although not a terribly old nova compared to some of the major players, he is much more dedicated to the nova condition and training his powers than most except maybe elites, so he has considerable levels of power at his disposal.