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Ronin One Shot Character Bible

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RONIN (working title)

Series Pitch And Information/Concept Package for DC Comics Character/One Shot/Limited Series

By Daniel Kalban

©2014 Daniel Kalban

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PLOT PITCH

The One Shot follows Ronin/Dr. Joseph Kane, teen prodigy turned New York based vigilante, starting from literally his first night of work, where he takes on a group of thieves who just robbed a bodega and proves that he still has a lot of work to do. While recovering from his injuries the next day, Joseph talks to his much younger brother and their bodyguard, as they are the only two who know his secret. Joseph fakes being ill, a lie his father seems to accept as we find out Joseph was very sickly as a child. Later that day, Joseph meets with Brooklyn DA Adrian Chase, who makes him aware of an investigation into his family’s company. Someone has stolen experimental non-lethal weapons (specifically shockwave generating guns), remake them into lethal ones, and have been selling them in Gotham through the Falcones. Chase implies that someone within Kane Industries is responsible, and is “interviewing” Joseph at home at Joseph’s father’s request to keep any potential scandal away. When asked where Joseph has been the last five years, Joseph lies and says he was traveling for his health; a series of quick flashbacks shows he was actually training. After DA Chase leaves, Joseph, with the assistance of Sam and Brighton, discover that the stolen weapons were sent from a Kane Industries warehouse, supposedly earmarked for a fictitious Special Crimes Unit of the Gotham Police. When Ronin investigates, he’s attacked by the warehouse’s foreman, who uses a LexCorp battlesuit. Ronin is repeatedly hurt as he is incredibly outmatched by the mech. However, he outsmarts the foreman and uses one of the experimental weapons to destroy the mech. He interrogates the foreman, who reveals he was hired by a man calling himself “Diogenes”. The foreman is then shot by an unseen assailant, and Ronin narrowly escapes being killed as well. Unfortunately, the fight in the warehouse came to the attention of the Teen Titans, who arrive to investigate. Ronin, wanting to keep his autonomy, creates a distraction, steals one of the guns (for lack of a better term) and escapes. Back at his bunker, while being sewn up by Brighton, Ronin takes apart the gun and finds a WayneTech chip in it. He is confident that Bruce Wayne isn’t behind it, and when pressed by Sam reveals he had figured out Bruce’s secret a long time ago. Batman himself watches video footage of the fight sent to him by Red Robin and declares Ronin to be “not ready”. As the one-shot ends, Joseph shows Sam a newspaper article from years ago, when he was kidnapped by Penguin and later shot when Batman and Robin tried to rescue him. It’s implied that he figured out the secret identities during this kidnapping, and the kidnapping also sent him on his present path.

This one-shot can either set up a limited series OR his appearances in other books (where I’ll gladly be the junior writer of the series). These series include (with plot points):

-Teen Titans: Joseph Kane becomes one of the Titans’ foremost public supporters, while trying to reduce the influence of the Green Team upon them. As Ronin, he is a friendly rival and their cases often cross paths or are the same case from different angles.

-Superboy: Joseph Kane works as a consultant at STAR Labs from time to time, and as himself and as Ronin occasionally assists Superboy.

-Grayson: Joseph Kane (as himself, as Ronin, or both) works to assist Grayson in bringing down Spyral, though in Joseph’s case he wants Dick to be Nightwing again. Both work to find a way to undo Dick’s reveal to the world, but Joseph also wants to take them down because his hacking has shown Spyral is not good for the world. Alternatively, Dick becomes Joseph and Sam’s bodyguard (Brighton should retire during the Batman arc, see below) to investigate him for Spyral, only for the two friends to join forces against Spyral in the end.

-Batman: This is the big one, and I’d personally like to save this for down the line. When Batman and Ronin investigate the weapons, it leads to them clashing as Ronin wants his autonomy and do things his way, while Batman definitely knows better AND suspects Joseph Kane to being behind the plot. A fight leads to a reveal (perhaps hinted in other titles) that Joseph is unknowingly a metahuman with powers that, after that fight, are shown to be sporadically active. Teaming up to take on various Gotham crooks that suddenly appear in New York, with the assistance of Robin, the Teen Titans, Dick Grayson, etc; the endgame has them going after “Diogenes”, who turns out to be Hush. Hush kidnaps Joseph’s brother, and the final fight takes place in a ruined warehouse over the Gowanus Canal. Hush is defeated, and escapes by plunging into the canal. In the aftermath, Bruce offers Joseph a job at WayneTech, with an important caveat: in secret he would help Batman as an information gatherer and hacker to earn “proper” training. After some arrangements by Bruce to make sure that happens, Joseph agrees. Both he and Sam (as Joseph feels he can take better care of his little brother than their parents) prepare to move to Gotham…..

In the case of the Batman idea, it could be part of the limited series idea, or could, again, happen much later on after Joseph/Ronin has established himself in the DCU.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHARACTER INFORMATION

JOSEPH KANE/RONIN

(Note: Yes, I’m aware that there is a Marvel hero with that name, I WASN’T aware of it when I named him that! Optional replacement names include Geist and Sparrow)

Age: 19

Height: 5'8-5'9

Weight: 155lbs

Hometown: Brooklyn, NY

Base of Operations: NYC

Hair: Blond

Eyes: Brown (alternatively Blue or Grey)

Occupation: Head of R&D, Kane Industries

Joseph Kane was born to Henry and Beth Kane in Brooklyn NY. Joseph's father was the CEO of Kane Industries, one of the largest corporations in New York that was founded by his father, Bernie Kane. Joseph early on showed his brilliant mind, and soon his parents had him constantly study towards being a doctor. At the same time, Joseph was a sickly kid, which was often made worse by the fact he was often kept inside to concentrate on his studies. His grandmother, a Broadway actress and director, often took Joseph out on trips throughout the city so he could feel like a normal kid. One of these trips was Haly's Circus, which was performing at Coney Island. There, Joseph made friends with one of the performers, Dick Grayson, who was a couple years older than him. While they rarely saw each other in person, Joseph and Dick often emailed and called each other to keep in touch. Dick often told Joseph that he needed to be more confident and find some purpose other than what his parents wanted.
When Joseph was 12, he graduated med school. However, due to insurance concerns for his age and emotional health, he wasn't allowed to practice. This was a blow to Joseph, who now had the joy of having a little brother, Sam, come into his life (he already had two twin sisters).

A few months after Dick Grayson was taken in by Bruce Wayne and became Robin, he invited Joseph to visit him in Gotham, having missed Joseph's graduation. Joseph convinced his parents to let him and so Joseph and his bodyguard went to Gotham City. However, Joseph felt something funny was going on...when Dick and Bruce would vanish into thin air at night, leaving him alone to his own devices.....

Joseph at this point had begun an interest in heroes, especially Batman and Robin since to him they meant the peak of human achievement. So when Bruce and Dick would disappear, Joseph would have his bodyguard, Brighton, drive him around Gotham, hoping to get a look at his heroes.

Unfortunately, he would meet them in less than pleasurable circumstances....

The Penguin caught word of Joseph's visit and kidnapped him while he was walking in Robinson Park with Dick. He held Joseph hostage in the Iceberg Lounge, where Joseph was tortured. Batman and Robin appeared to save Joseph. While Joseph watched the fight, he calculated the movements of Batman and Robin...and he made a discovery: his friend Dick Grayson was Robin, and that meant Bruce was Batman. Robin freed Joseph and told him to make a run for the door. Unfortunately, Penguin shot Joseph in the shoulder. Joseph fell to the floor, bleeding; his last memory before losing consciousness was of Robin's face, apologizing.

When Joseph awoke in the hospital, Dick and his bodyguard were by his side. Dick tried to calm down Joseph by giving him a few books. However, a newspaper article slipped out of one of them; the Penguin was avoiding charges for kidnapping Joseph. Joseph lost his anger for the first time; raging against an unfair system that let criminals and madmen get off easily while the weak and helpless suffered. Joseph stated he wanted to change that, somehow. Dick tried to calm him down and told him to rest. Brighton and Joseph had a private conversation later. While they talked, Joseph had an epiphany; he knew he was very fortunate and that not everyone had what he had. He knew someone needed to fight injustice for the little guy. And then he saw one of the books Dick left there was a book on martial arts. Joseph then vowed to become a hero. Brighton was hesitant, but after Joseph asked him to train him, he agreed to help his client.

Brighton, for years, had been trying to let Joseph's parents train his young charge to improve Joseph's health. With a little convincing from Joseph after he got back from the hospital, his parents relented. Joseph's plans went into motion. After a year of basic training under Brighton, he went abroad to further his own training for five years before returning home to put plans into action.

Personality:

Joseph is an optimistic humorous person, though albeit occasionally cynical and sarcastic. He’s fiercely loyal to those he care about. He also has a stubborn streak a mile wide, and due to his childhood illnesses, he fiercely wants to keep his independence now that he’s older and much healthier. He’s also occasionally irreverent, for example, not above calling Batman “Pointy Ears” to his face. He does dote on his little brother though. He also has the love of the theatrical. When it comes to interacting with other heroes, Ronin can be quite Machiavellian in order to keep his autonomy, or to point them in the right direction WITHOUT compromising his own agendas. Deep down, he does want to have connections with other heroes, due to his lack of friends growing up; but at the same time he doesn’t want to risk them trying to shut him down.

Abilities/Skills:

-Genius Intelligence: Ever since he was a very little kid, Joseph’s been quite brilliant. He’s able to absorb information very readily and put it to use. He got his doctorate in medicine at 13, and has been known to dabble in other fields of science (though he is proficient in them, he is not an expert; though he has enough knowledge of them to head R&D and design technology). This aids his crimefighting when it comes to solving cases and creating technology, but it can also give him “tunnel vision” and make him less aware of his surroundings.

-Martial Arts Proficiency: Focusing on Karate, Krav Maga, Jeet Kun Do, and Muay Thai, Joseph is highly proficient in those martial arts and is proficient in several others, though again NOT an expert in those. This gives him considerable martial arts skill against regular opponents; against metas and much more powerful opponents, he has to fall back on the oldest trick in the book: cheat!

-Tech expert/Master hacker: Joseph designs his own technology for his civilian job AND his crimefighting. He is also a hacker, which comes in handy for getting intel.

-Metahuman powers: NOTE! Most of this applies to the above Batman arc. These include enhanced strength, speed, durability, healing, etc; HOWEVER, this is usually triggered by high levels of stress and can makes him emotionally unstable during the first manifestation in a fight against Batman. Afterwards they are VERY sporadic; one can argue his only metahuman ability that is permanently “on” is his intelligence. (The reasons for his powers  is presently a secret I want to keep under my hat)

-Marksmanship: As Ronin, Joseph uses specialized throwing knives. He, however, is nowhere near the Bat-family’s level of proficiency; though he is pretty accurate.

-Gymnastics: Used for movement and getting around the city. Highly proficient, not Olympian.

GEAR

As Ronin, Joseph wears specialized body armor that is light enough to move, but tough enough to take hits. His mask, linked to a holocomputer in one of his gauntlets, has various viewing modes that can be adjusted by touching hidden buttons on the mask. Ronin has a utility belt which contains, in part, the following:

-Throwing knives
-A grapnel
-Capsules for explosions, distractions, etc
-“Jitterbugs”: small silver disks that when they are thrown and land on a target, release an electric charge
-Bolos
-Evidence Bags
-A baton-like club, about 1.5x the length of an eskrima stick, collapsable
-More TBD

He also has a high powered motorcycle he keeps in “The Way Station” (see relevant section)

SAM KANE

Age: 8 or 9

Hometown: Brooklyn, NY

Base of Operations: NYC

Height: 4'3

Weight: 56lbs

Hair: Blond

Eyes: Blue

Alias: N/A (for now)

Occupation: Student, Hacker

Bio:

Sam was born to Henry and Beth Kane, and grew up idolizing his big brother, who was away for most of his young life. Sam is one of two people to know that his brother plans to be a crimefighter, a fact he learned when his brother gave him a puzzle to hack. Joseph taught Sam all he knew about hacking, originally as a bonding exercise as he traveled the world. Sam was very glad to see his brother be home for good; their parents were often too busy to give him all the attention he needed and his twin sisters considered him an annoying pest at best. The bodyguard his parents hired was a drunk, and often Sam would go home from school alone. One day, shortly after Joseph got back, Sam went home from school alone and was locked out of the house as a storm came up. When Joseph found him, he was crying on the stoop, as he was afraid of storms and felt abandoned. Joseph fired Sam’s bodyguard on the spot and vowed to be the one to take care of his little brother. Brighton then became Sam’s bodyguard as well.

PERSONALITY

Sam is a sweet, outgoing kid, who looks up to his big brother. He is an avid reader and loves playing with his Old English Sheepdog puppy, Barkley (named after the Muppet). He’s not that confident or assertive, and is victimized by bullies. When/should he meets Damian, the older boy bullies him as well. Strangely enough, once Joseph and Sam move to Gotham, he and Damian should become good friends…. Sam wants to help his big brother anyway he can, he also idolizes other heroes and has scrapbooks filled with articles.

SKILLS/ABILITIES:

Hacker: Not as proficient as his big brother, but enough to assist him.

JACK BRIGHTON

Age: 40s

Hair: Black

Eyes: Blue

Height: 6’3

Weight: 200lbs

Base of Operations: Brooklyn, NY

Profession: Former Special Forces, Bodyguard to the Kane family

BIO

Formerly a special forces operative, Jack Brighton was injured and given a honorable discharge. He was then immediately hired by the Kanes to be the bodyguard for their sickly son, Joseph. The two grew close; years later, Joseph will remark that Brighton was more of a father to him than his own. Brighton wanted to give Joseph some training, thinking it would help him with his illnesses, but his ideas were ignored until Joseph begged his parents to let Brighton do it in light of his nearly being killed by the Penguin.  He was the first to hear of Joseph’s plans, and while he initially had reservations, he knew Joseph had his heart in the right place. He even accompanied Joseph on his travels, helping with the pretext of Joseph “traveling for his health”. When they returned to Brooklyn, Brighton helped Joseph set up his base and continues to train him.

During the above mentioned Batman arc, Brighton does retire, but talks to Bruce before he does so.

SKILLS/ABILITIES

-Special Forces Training
-Physical Trainer
-Tech expert
-Explosives expert
-Martial Arts expert

 

 

SUPPORTING CAST

This includes:

-Henry Kane: Joseph and Sam’s father, as well as the father of the twins. Strict, hard working, expects his son to be the same. He’s the CEO of Kane Industries.

-Beth Kane: Joseph and Sam’s mother, as well as the mother of the twins. She wants to spend more time with her children, but she also serves on the boards of numerous organizations, as well as being VP of Public Relations at Kane Industries

-The Twins: Joseph and Sam’s twin sisters, younger than Joseph, older than Sam, presently nameless. Typical girls in their early teens. Look more like their parents than their brothers do….

-Bernie Kane: Joseph and Sam’s grandfather. Chairman and CEO Emeritus of Kane Industries. Jovial, outgoing, practical vaudevillian. Wants the best for his grandsons and feels that Joseph needs to expand his horizons.

-Gladys Kane: Joseph and Sam’s grandmother. Famed actress of stage and screen, as well as an activist for Actors’ Equity. Loving, maternal, Joseph gets his sense of humor and love of the theatrical from her. She doesn’t approve of how her son treats her grandsons.

-Various Kane family servants, one of whom Brighton is dating (and eventually marries).

-Various Kane Industries employees.

-DA Adrian Chase: Brooklyn’s overzealous District Attorney, going after the gangs (could become Vigilante after Joseph leaves NYC)

 

 

THE KANE FAMILY MANSION

Basically the same building as the Montauk Club and takes its place in the DC Universe. Joseph has his private lab AND his base built under the mansion.

THE WAY STATION

While constructing his private lab, Joseph found an abandoned and sealed off part of the Grand Army Plaza train station under the family mansion. He quickly converted it into his base, including a ramp that leads to a hidden entrance under the Grand Army Plaza fountain. Joseph named it The Way Station, as it was his own private outpost (actually, its named after a Doctor Who themed bar here in Brooklyn). It includes an armory, a place to store his motorcycle, an additional small lab for crime lab work, a small library, a trophy case area, and a large computer. It can be accessed from within Kane Mansion from a secret entrance in Joseph’s lab; and as he only allows Brighton and Sam in there, his family can’t snoop.

Just the character bible to go along with my pitch script fav.me/d7v77l0

Having a couple people go over said script, and even edited it a bit too.

This would accompany the pitch script, just to show what I'm planning overall....

Content belongs to me
Joseph Kane/Ronin, Sam Kane, etc belongs to me (until I sell them to DC XD and I better get creator's credit)
Batman etc belongs to DC Comics
© 2014 - 2024 Dkalban
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Foxy-Knight's avatar
Very impressed by the one shot idea, has that classic special feel to it which sets up Joseph into a few other titles which I think is rather sound, expanding your field. I may have to do something like that myself.