Complexity: 1

Summary & Strategy: 

TBD

Bio

Gary Mason's a guy who's been through the ringer for doing the right thing, then doing the wrong thing for what he thought were the right reasons. Back when he was still human, Gary was a blue-collar Joe: hard-working, friendly, give you the shirt off his own back. With an illustrious career in the Duskveil Falls Department of Sanitation, he was nevertheless well-liked and good-hearted, and served as union steward for the Local 638.

When Gary discovered extensive corruption behind all manner of hazards, injuries and even deaths, he tried to do the right thing - and turned aside attempts to bribe him to the contrary. So, an 'accident' was arranged that was meant to make an example out of Gary post-humously. Problem was, he lived, and crawled out of the Bayou and toxic runoff a changed man. A mutated croc-man, to be precise. Yeah he knows the difference between crocs and gators, we'll get to that.

Taking on the moniker 'Gutterback' after papers coined him such, Gary went on to sow disarray to continue what he believed to be fighting the good fight, despite the collateral. He and his gang didn't knock off corner stores or rob working-class families, but instead targeted corrupt officials and contractors, urban renewal projects hiding nefarious activities and most of all, Strauss Enterprises.

Unfortunately, a lot of harm was done at his hand, and unbeknownst to Gary, he was being manipulated and misled by some of the very same villains he'd meant to bring down. In trying to bring greater attention to the rot of the city and its perpetrators, Gary, as Gutterback, was a veritable villain himself.

After a few weeks of terrorizing the city, Gary and his gang were brought down by the Twilight Vigil: vigilante heroes who worked to patrol and protect the vast sprawl of Duskveil Falls. Gutterback was taken into custody, swiftly sentenced by, incidentally, one of the corrupt judges he was after, then carted off to Grimhaven Isle's supermax penitentiary - one of the few suitable prisons for convicted 'supervillains.'

Gary'd had every intention of serving out his time: whether he'd meant to or not, he'd hurt innocent people in his pursuit of trying to take down those furthest from innocence. Among the burgeoning population of villainous inmates at Grimhaven, a number of unrepentant inhabitants extolled Gutterback's brief spree of chaos - but Gary only felt all the more disgusted with how little good he'd managed to accomplish.

One dark and thoroughly stormy night, Gary was mustered for the visit of 'legal counsel' he hadn't requested. He'd expected some sleazy lawyer from the syndicate here to pressure him - but he hadn't expected a full-on devil. For reasons he couldn't fathom, none of the guards or other inmates seemed to notice, treating her as any ordinary human attorney - but devil she was, brimstone and everything.

Karma, as she introduced herself, had taken an interest in Gary after another villainous menace to society had rendered her 'services' as a contract devil. Apparently a rogues' gallery was forming up a team of 'supervillains' and struck a deal with Karma to spring Gutterback from prison to join their ranks. However, that did not equate to a contract with Gary himself, so she'd come to get a measure of him in kind.

Gary was, to put it lightly, distrusting of the prospect of bargaining with an actual devil - to say the least of having no intention of wreaking more havoc as a villain himself. Karma explained at some length that her role on the mortal plane was markedly more neutral, as an 'arbiter' for human and inhuman affairs in the rapidly changing world.

No souls on the line, as it were - but there were always costs to be paid sooner or later for gains. However, Gary was no stranger when it came to contract negotiations for the Local 638 - and the two of them got down to discussing a deal after certain assurances.

In short, Gary'd be freed, but not in service of returning to chaos and crime: instead, he wanted to take up the kind of mantle the weirdos of Twilight Vigil and other costumed vigilantes in combatting the sorts of villains seeming to multiply week by week.

What he gave up for that? That's personal, client-'attorney' privilege, you know how it is? Cop out?! Nah there's plenty of cops out there already.

All that mattered in the end was that Gary Mason was back in action - but not as Gutterback, but Gatorback, and he intended to be a hero and do as much to redeem himself and protect the innocent as he could.

That he was technically mutated from a crocodile and not an alligator was not lost on Gary, but a lot of people didn't know the difference and it was closer to his previous moniker.