Rockit Racer, Superhero (A to Z, R)

Well, it looks like you get more superheroes after all!  With R, my mind went to Rockit Racer, who cameoed back in Freedom Five, Issue 14, and I just thought was a fun character who deserves to be expanded on.  I do my best to cast a wide net for the source and backgrounds of heroes for my campaign as heroes can come from anywhere and often do.

Rockit Racer, Speedster Hero of Miami

Quote: Rocket Racer is on the way!

You are no match for my rocket-powered speed!  Surrender now before someone gets hurt.  And that someone is you.

Le zumba el mango!

Description: Rocket Racer is a young Cuban-American man, he wears a black leather jacket and gloves, heavy jeans and over-engineered shoes with a dark blue domino mask with sunglass lenses to conceal his face.  He always has a transistor radio on his belt playing rock and roll from one of the local Spanish language stations.  He has slicked-back black hair and darkish skin, not that you can see much of it with his custom.  He speaks English with a faint Cuban accent and he is equally fluent in Cuban Spanish.  Rockit Racer‘s voice has a distorted ‘buzz’ to it from his speed powers (which conveniently helps to maintain his secret identity).  He uses his ability to vibrate and blur his image to keep photographers, especially those his dislike, from getting a good picture of him.

He is brash, cocky and often acts before thinking, as you would expect from a teen superhero with speed powers.  He is trying to get to be more tactical in the use of his powers but he still often acts on his first idea, trusting in his speed to get him out of trouble.

His secret identity is Vivion Falcón, he was born in Cuba but raised in America.  He is a normal athletic teenager, helping out at his family’s automobile repair shop after school and helping his uncle and brother at the local community radio station.  He does his best to dress as averagely as possible, wearing coveralls when working in the shop.  He has several radios, including two in the auto shop, and he is always listening to rock and roll, to his father’s despair, as his father is a rumba fan.

He gets teased because he tends to move and talk a bit slowly, as he overcompensates when slowing himself down, but he takes it with good humor.  He lets his Cuban accent out more when being Vivion to further distance himself from his heroic identity.

Background: Vivion, like many others, came to America with his family fleeing the Castro regime.  It was a hard life but his father’s skills and his mother’s perseverance helped pull them out of poverty into a respectable middle-class (for Cuban expatriates) lifestyle.  Both he and his brother, Alvaro, expressed parahuman abilities which they keep secret.  Alvaro‘s ability is significantly less flashy, he can innately hear radio waves and broadcasts and is beinning to learn how to broadcast them.  While Vivion‘s ability was speed.  They made a pact to work together to protect their community and new home.

Alvaro works in the local radio station managed by their uncle and uses it to convey information to the Rockit Racer by coded phrases or just breaking news reports broadcast over the radio.

Presenting this Character: Rocket Racer is a straightforward, young hero.  Brash, adventurous, and prone to rush into danger first and work out what to do next.  So far, his powers have saved him but how long will his luck last?  He is really trying to do his best as a hero, as an American, and for his family and community.  If those come into conflict, it is hard to know which way he will jump.

Vivion on the other hand comes across as clumsy and eager to please, very much an American teenage for all of his accent.  He know far more about rock and roll music and American automobiles than most teenagers.

What can he do?: Rockit Racer is a classic speedster, fast, able to react to danger before it is actually becomes a danger, able to do mundane tasks with incredible rapidity.  You know, the standard package.  His costume provides some protection from physical harm.

Vivion is a competent automobile mechanic and can do basic repairs on electronics, plus his vast knowledge of American cars and rock and roll.

Who might know him and why: Rockit Racer is well known in Miami, especially among the Cuban community.  Though the police consider him one step away from being a vigilante and his relationship with them is strained.

Vivion is recognized by most people in his school but he does not have many friends.

Plot Hooks: Something has happened to Rockit Racer and Alvaro, desperate, is using his ability to broadcast on secure “hero only” frequencies is hope of getting help in finding him.

The heroes need a speedster and the only one available is Rockit Racer.

Notes: His name is reported as Rocket or Rock-It in the papers as well, but he prefers Rockit.

Obviously, for a 1960s/early 1970s set superhero adventure.

Image Sony TR-730 transistor radio by Joe Haupt from Wikimedia Commons and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.