Dead Eye (Hero)
Code-name: Dead Eye
Full Name: Dan Peyton
Faction: N/A
Dan Peyton was a born leader. Growing up in suburban Pulp City, he found that other children were drawn to him and did the things he suggested. Tall and lanky, blond and blue-eyed, he excelled in all things at school. As a student, he got straight A’s; he was prom king and class president; and he always had the prettiest cheerleader for a girlfriend. But he was most distinguished as an athlete. Dan was a four letter man in all four years of high school (in football, basketball, baseball, and curling). All the top universities scouted him for their teams and tempted him with full scholarships and unwritten bonuses offered by rich alumni. But Dan rejected them all, and took a full academic scholarship to the prestigious University of Pulp City (he scored 1599 on his SATs, so he’s not as perfect as he seems).
At UPC, Dan concentrated on football, where his uncanny ability as quarterback to call the right play at the right time, the pinpoint accuracy of his passes, and his strong right arm earned him the nickname ‘Dead Eye’. In his senior year, he led the ‘bar codes’, as the UPC teams were unofficially known, to a national championship, defeating Ohio State in the Lysol (“Keep Your Toilet Fresh”) Orange Bowl. First pick in the NFL draft, he negotiated a trade to the Pulp City Pirates because he loved his hometown. In his rookie season, Dan lived up to his nickname and reputation; he broke all records for pass completions, touchdowns, and yards passed. Dead Eye’s future as the greatest quarterback ever seemed assured.
Everything was perfect. That is, until that fateful day in his second season when the corrupt team owners approached Dan with a deal. For years, the owners had made a fortune betting against their own team, and now they saw the opportunity to win more. With the local boy-hero filling the stadium and with his reputation as the most accurate and strongest passer in the game, the Pirates might actually start turning a legitimate profit as they won more and more games. But if they lost those games that the gambling odds makers said they should win, the owners would win more if they bet on the Pirates’ opponents. Thus, they went to Dan and offered him part of the action. He instantly refused, and continued to refuse to throw games just to enrich himself.
The owners decided on a different course.
In the most important game of season, the one to determine divisional champions, the owners laced Dan’s Pulporade with a drug that would drain his strength, and the more he used his right arm the more his arm was affected. Dan felt something wrong, but his will was so strong that he overcame the numbing effects of the drug, and Dead Eye passed his team to victory. Enraged, the owners increased the drug for the next game, but the Pirates still won. This continued through the rest of season and into the playoffs and up to the Super Bowl. The dose for the Super Bowl would have killed an ox, but Dan’s magnificent, last second, seventy-five yard pass, just before he collapsed to the ground, saved the game. The furious team owners had Dan tested for drugs, and when the results came back positive, the NFL banned Dan for life from the game he loved.
Completely dishonored and labeled a traitor in the Pulp City Planet, Dan feared to walk the streets of Pulp City. Moreover, the drugs continued to weaken and wither Dan’s throwing arm, the damage already done as he had fought off the debilitating effects of being secretly drugged. The toxin had spread in response to increased exertion, killing nerves and destroying muscle. Then a mysterious sponsor (claiming to be behind at least a couple of Supreme ‘rebirths’) offered Dan redemption. He could equip Dan with a bionic arm that would be even stronger than his real one. Dan jumped at the chance and promised to use his arm to battle the corruption that destroyed his life. ‘Dead Eye’ as he was only known as from then on never speaks about the details of the deal, but his deeds tell the story.
Alone, Dead Eye, slightly disillusioned but full of grit, and nigh on indestructible, wields a massive array of power. Faster than ever, strong and witty, the name of Dead Eye strikes fear in the hearts of all threats to Pulp City (and in other parts of bodies of those who have no hearts). He is at his best in leading a team of Supremes who know his true story and trust Dan limitlessly.