Lucas Woodrow

Captain Rapture, real name Lucas Woodrow, is a self-titled "savior of the sea". In reality, he is a deranged, heavily spliced lunatic.

History[]

Origins[]

Lucas Woodrow, aged 8 at the time, grew up in Manhattan, New York. He was an avid comic reader, so much so that his life revolved around the stories he read. He idolized the superheros he read about and wished more than anything that he could live in a world where it was possible to be as powerful as those he idolized. He would often rant about his obsession to his parents, despite their disapproval, they indulged him, hoping it was a phase that would pass.

In 1949, Woodrow now at age 10, his mother and father, both renowned geneticists, were sent a pamphlet to join the ranks of the great Rapturians. Despite the protests of their son, they accepted immediately. Woodrow's parents thought the move a great opportunity for their careers as well as having the added benefit of exposing their son to a world where he could aspire to something more than just being a comic book hero. They would soon find out they only exacerbated his obsession.

Life for Woodrow in Rapture, in the beginning weeks, was a dream come true despite his previous reservations about leaving the surface world. The key aspect that attracted him about Rapture was ADAM, his dream had finally come true, a world were superheros were possible. Woodrow was naturally too young in the eyes of his parents to start splicing and even though his parents directly worked with several plasmids they refused to let him use any of them.

For a while, he coped. He made friends, saw the sights, enjoyed the shows and took in the hedonistic atmosphere around him. Although, it only distracted him for a short while.

Splicing[]

Woodrow's obsession with splicing became obvious to his parents, on his birthdays all Woodrow wanted was a plasmid. His parents refused to even consider. They worked first hand using human guinea pigs to test their plasmids and they saw the horrible side-effects that came with them. His parents even refused to splice beyond tonics that improved their performance at work.

Woodrow's parents became bitter as a result of his obsession, they blamed themselves but projected their anger onto Woodrow. They began ignoring Woodrow, putting work before him. Woodrow for a time ignored his quest to splice, noticing its effects on his parents. He desperately wanted their attention but seeing that he would not get it his obsession came back with a vengeance.

In 1953, Woodrow now 14, a bitter youth, saw his parents career as the perfect way to accomplish his goals. Woodrow, as a result of his parent's lack of affection, had become quite conniving, clever and meticulous. The guilt that previously prevented him from interfering with his parents work was now gone, and his goal was all the much closer.

Woodrow started following his parents to work, he memorized the keypad codes and stole a spare keycard. After the genetics lab where his parents worked at had closed he would sneak out of his home and enter the lab. There he found another impediment; the plasmids were locked in a large vault with a sign that read "CAUTION:PLASMIDS ARE EXPERIMENTAL, DO NOT SPLICE". The sign did not bother him so much as the fact that he had to find a way into the vault.

Breaching The Vault[]

The vault could only be opened using a genetic key or by using the emergency override switch (which was designed to lock down the vault in case of breaching but would do the opposite if it was already closed) in the C.E.O's office. The emergency override switch was out of the question because he knew from reading the company's protocol manual that it would trigger an alarm and lock all the office doors. His parents had the genetic key, but as their company contract required it was to be kept in a medium security safe (punishment for breaching this provision was jail time and a heavy fine). He realized the vault was a lost cause but he was not about to give up trying to splice.

Breaching The Vault Pt.2[]

Lucas Woodrow wasn't a violent person. He preferred to avoid conflict whenever possible because he thought himself above the pettiness of squabbles. This said, Lucas Woodrow did not do what he did out of rage but as a means to an end.

In the summer of 1953 Woodrow had gotten hold of a revolver. His Russian schoolmate had brought it in to show off to his peers but apparently word had gotten around and he needed to ditch the gun to avoid trouble, and a beating from his father. Woodrow gladly took the gun off his hands and warned his fear-stricken schoolmate that if he revealed that Woodrow had done him this favor that he would use the revolver to kill his mother and then come for him.

The acquisition of the revolver gave Woodrow a great tool with which to further his goal. Woodrow laid down his plan:

First he was to report to the police and spread a rumor of splicer activity in the area.
Next he would choose a moment where his mother was vulnerable and take her hostage.
He would then threaten his father, saying that if he was not brought the plasmids of his choice that he would kill his own mother
After his father had brought back the plasmids he would shoot his parents, himself positioned at the door as to make the appearance of a hit-n-run type shooting.
He would then hide in the closet until the cops arrived.
When questioned by the police he would mention his suspicions that his parents were involved in providing people with stolen plasmids.
After the cameras at his job were reviewed they would assume that they were killed over a bad business deal.

After waiting three weeks for the revolver business at school to be forgotten he executed his plan, and it went smoothly.

He hid the plasmids and tonics(Incinerate, Winter Blast, experimental variations of Sports Boost, muscle strengthening tonics, and a few other assorted plasmids and tonics) in the walls of his room, which he had re-plastered and painted afterwords. He did not splice yet, waiting to see what would happen to him in regards to housing, inheritance, etc. Despite the aforementioned events Woodrow had no remorse. Since realizing that his parents had lost affection for him, a more hedonistic side, that had been planted in him ever since his arrival to Rapture, had come out. He believed that those who were not on his side only existed to impede his happiness and he held his happiness as the most important goal of them all. In reality, he had evolved from simply just wanting to emulate his heroes, he had grown from simply having his life revolve around the idea of super-humans. Lucas Woodrow wanted to have his own power, he wanted to command respect, he wanted to have the attention of amazed bystanders and the adoration of those he could help with his power, he craved this type of attention more than anything now.

Aftermath[]

After the investigations were over and done with, and the housing and inheritance issues were resolved Woodrow was finally told his fate. Woodrow's parents left all their money to him, as well as their home but since Woodrow was not old enough to live on his own his inheritance was to be untouched until he reached the age of 16, until then he would live with the person his parents had entrusted him with, in their will; his family's close friend Timothy Grey.

Living with Mr. Grey wasn't bad at all in the eyes of Woodrow. Grey would stay out of his way, not out of indifference but as a man who had no family of his own he didn't know how to deal with what he thought was a grieving teenager. Woodrow was given his own room and much more privacy than a teenager should be allowed, which was perfect since he wanted to splice immediately.

Woodrow a week after moving in with Grey, left in the middle of the night to his former home and retrieved his plasmids, then hid them in a chest in his current room. He spliced the day after, and didn't stop.

Four Years Later[]

Captain Rapture, costume courtesy of Randy Irwin.

Throughout a four year period after the death of his parents Woodrow became increasingly more delusional due to splicing. It was only a month or two after the events of the New Year's party that Woodrow's mind had been spliced beyond recognition, and his body even worse.

Lucas Woodrow previously was a skinny average height child but after the continued splicing he had become broader, taller and with considerable more muscle mass, resembling a zombified Superman to be accurate. His mentality had gone drastic changes as well. Woodrow once a supremely intelligent individual had devolved into seemingly a parody of an actual superhero. When he saw a threat to "justice" he would quote one-liners from comic books he read and jump into battles causing superfluous amounts of destruction, even if his enemy had died from a few blows.

There was no doubt in anyone's mind that Woodrow, who now refused to answer to anything except Captain Rapture (and would kill anyone who called him by his actual name, fearing that they'd reveal his "secret identity"), was ridiculously powerful but he was just as stupid. Splicer's looking to get around him would often warn him of a nearby "bank robbery" or another fabricated crime and as word spread Captain Rapture became the butt of many jokes although he perceived such jokes as actual praise for his good deeds.