- "I'll never turn evil because I have morality. No matter what, I'll always fight the evil in this world, no matter who it hides in."
- —Sam Fakashami, 2/18/2018
Samuel "Sam" Fakashami (ファーカシャミサミュエル) is the young superhero Shadow Boy. The son of an ex-EPF Colonel, Sam gained provenance over shadows after accidentally absorbing ultraviolet light spectrometers. Sam became a superpowered vigilante, pledging to fight crime and evil wherever he found it. He partnered up with Gamma Girl, fighting crime by her side and vice versa. Like his new step-father Clark Flat, Sam is a patriot and a bona fide American hero with strong left-wing convictions, which counter Flat's fastidious conservative ideologies and often lead to political discussions alongside fighting crime.
After moving from Echo City to Neo Arcadia, Sam grew detached from his new step-father during his crusade against organized crime. When the streets grew quiet, Sam was offered membership to the Arcadian Rebels, and he soon accepted.
In the future, Sam maintains a healthy relationship with his adoptive father and goes on to mentor his daughter Nadia in the use of her shadow powers.
Biography
Early Life
Adoption
Sam Fakashami was born to James Fakashami and Hun Ōrodan in Echo City, Massachusetts, but was given up for adoption as an infant before they were killed by the leader of a criminal syndicate. He was adopted by EPF Colonel Clark Flat. Sam kept his biological parents' name to honor them.
Sam wanted to honor his paternal grandfather, "No Dive Dijomori" one day. Dijimori was a kamikaze pilot during the Battle of Midway.
War Never Changes
TBA
Becoming Shadow Boy
Powered Up
As a child, Flat took a young Sam to work one day. Sam's inquisitive nature led him to an EPF experimental physics lab, where he was exposed to ultraviolet light spectrometers, and gained the superpower to control shadows. The accident also dyed his hair blue.
Unbeknownst to his step-father, Sam practiced to master his superpowers.
Meeting Gamma Girl
TBA
Joining the Rebels
Sam officially joined the Arcadian Rebels in March 2018, long after being offered by the vigilante Almanac.
New Body
In early May 2018, Sam left behind traces of his regenerative DNA for Almanac to employ and create a new "Sam." After exposing the DNA to a protein gel, Sam's DNA slowly regrew into a new body. Almanac slowly restored his memories.
Partnering with Police
Sam pledged allegiance to the Echo City Police Department to prove his dedication to justice. Along with that came the CIA, FBI and the President.
Losing his Powers
On May 13, 2018, Sam lost his powers due to a government pager trapping him in a bubble with radiative moon rocks.
Future
- "It's us, but in the future; we can change in any way we want."
- —Sam Fakashami
The Sole Shadow
- "The name's Shadow. Sam died in the war."
- —Sam Fakashami
By 2033, Sam is a much more seasoned superhero. Coarse and hardened, Sam is a more mature vigilante.
Personality
- "I just want to know why, besides the fact that I'm an asshole and arrogant, but, you can't be perfect. The sooner you accept that, the better off you will be. I've accepted that I'm not perfect."
- —Sam Fakashami
Sam is a smart young man who wants to help people, but cannot help but become arrogant at some times to the point where he attacks friends for what he thinks is right, or to prove a point, attacking Evan Broxton immediately as he and Rock took Ben Jacobson away from Autumn Stone and back to Saint Kenway's Hospital. He is often silly around friends, but takes vigilantism seriously. As Shadow Boy, Sam is courageous and capable, being able to come up with clever strategies due to his scientific expertise. He frequently annoys his enemies with fast-talking humor and quipping.
Sam has had a sense of honor since he was young, as he chose to keep his biological parents' surname when he was adopted by Clark Flat, simultaneously symbolizing he will remain a Fakashami, or a person devoted to justice (in this case, bringing down his parents' killer). He cares deeply for his friends and humanity and general, claiming to be willing to take a bullet for anyone (although he can handle being shot).
Sam shares his step-father's patriotism, vowing to fight for the American way and justice, freedom and democracy. He is often very vocal about his patriotism, siding with Democratic perspectives and ideals. He thinks himself a compassionate Liberal who believes in tolerance and acceptance, and thinks of Republicans as close-minded reactionary gun nuts. As a Democrat, he believes the government can have a meaningful and positive role in people's lives, and it's not just everyone for themselves. He even went as far as to say people are "idiots" without the government. Furthermore, he believes medical care should be a basic right, and he will often defend Barack Obama, a bleeding-heart Liberal. He personally believes that Democrats look toward the future while Republicans look to the past. He severely counters his step-father's Republican beliefs.
- "I used to be an immature, idiot savant, but now I'm a mature, war-scarred veteran who's proven himself."
- —Sam Fakashami (2033)
In 2033, Sam is a very cynical, suspicious and battle-hardened person, having witnessed profuse bloodshed coupled with losing Gamma Girl. He's resorted to wielding submachine guns, and refuses to use his shadows because he realized that using them put him in the light, and the only way to become a shadow was to stay in the dark.
Physical Appearance
- "We're all superheroes, we look good in our own way. I'm cute in a dork way, like Travis Miles from Fallout 4."
- —Sam Fakashami
Sam is a young teenager with blue hair. He rarely changes outfits, often remaining in his superhero attire and only really takes it off to wash it.
Powers and Abilities
- "Then this is a job for the spectacularly ultra supermega awesome not-a-virgin pretty-lit Shadow Boy!"
- —Sam Fakashami
Powers
- "My shadows are endless."
- —Sam Fakashami
Sam's "Shadow Wave"
- Darkness Manipulation: After accidentally being exposed to and absorbing ultraviolet light spectrometers in an EPF experimental physics laboratory, Sam gained the ability to control darkness, or "shadows," which he describes as limitless. Sam can emit both short and long-range concussive blasts which deal damage to enemies by shaping shadows into a fluid beam. He can also create shadow constructs, including gigantic shadowy fists and dark, tangible force-fields, and once made a "shadow blindfold" to blind an enemy archer. He can also manipulate beings of darkness, such as "Shadow29616." Sam's also capable of throwing explosive shadow spheres. By 2033, Sam's shadow waves/blasts are powerful enough to punch through ten opponents, kickstart explosions, and incinerate opponents.
- Darkness Mimicry: Sam can transform himself into a shadow, whether it be another person's or an object's, to blend in for stealth purposes. Additionally, Sam can "borrow" shadows of people and objects and add them to his own shadowy state to increase his stature.
- Intangibility: In shadow form, Sam can phase through solid objects. As he does so, an aura of bluish-black light envelopes the part of his body that is being phased through solid matter.
- Psionic Resistance: Sam can block mind control with his shadows, and inflict charm to the point of making the enemy lust after his body, as well as Make the enemy temporarily brain dead. Unable to Enact Attacks or Even Think.
- Molecular Absorption: Sam can expand into mere molecules with his shadows and reform over a body, completely absorbing their skills, knowledge and powers. or use his molecules to attack the enemy and split them apart into molecules as well.
- Illusion Manipulation: Sam can trap people in illusions that can harm them physically despite only being mental due to his shadows.
- Night Empowerment: Sam claims to be "extra" powerful at night.
- Pain Suppression: Sam can suppress the physical pain in other people by coating them with shadows.
- Fire Manipulation: Sam can produce fireballs for attacks.
- Implosion Inducement: Sam can command fire to implode things as large and dense as a specially-made tank.
- Ice Manipulation: Sam can fire blasts of icy energy from his hands that can freeze enemies on contact, radiate cold energy from his body, and create objects from ice out of thin air.
- "I'm strong in the day, but I'm extra powerful at night."
- —Sam Fakashami
- Superhuman Strength: Sam's physical strength was boosted to considerable superhuman levels that allow him to perform a number of feats. His strength alone is sufficient enough to easily throw a fully-grown man across a room, knocking Autumn Stone out of consciousness by lightly tapping her with a shovel, and cracking a wall by throwing a dart at it, by throwing it so hard it broke the sound barrier and thus split the wall in half. Sam often incorporates his inhuman strength into his fighting style to gain an advantage over average human criminals. His overwhelming strength indicates Sam has a natural talent in weightlifting, as he's shown to be able to withstand significant weights placed upon him.
- "Heroes never break!"
- —Sam Fakashami (2033)
- Superhuman Durability: Sam's bones, muscles and organs are tougher and more resistant to impact force than a normal human, allowing him to cash hits from mildly superhuman opponents with minimal injuries, combined with his ability to recover faster than a normal human would. A bullet once deflected off of his thick head. Another great example of his durability is when he stayed conscious after being Tased by Autumn Stone, as well as surviving being smashed through multiple thick concrete walls from an overwhelming ki blast delivered by Andrew Lavellan and healing instantly.
- Superhuman Speed: Sam can move faster than an ordinary human and is adept at dodging quickly. At full capacity, Sam is fast enough to dodge bullets at point-blank range by moving at the speed of light. In combat, Sam's been able to throw five punches in one second. On more than one occasion, Sam's shown to be fast enough to catch a bullet. By 2033, Sam is fast enough to tackle the likes of the speedster warrior Minato.
- Superhuman Agility: Sam is superhumanly agile, able to perform jumps and leaps of great heights and distances. The superhuman strength in his legs is what allows him to accomplish this; he once leapt across an entire room with the use of his agility.
- "I can go all day, jerk."
- —Sam Fakashami
- Superhuman Stamina: Sam's musculature produces fewer fatigue toxins during physical activity than the musculature of an ordinary human and his body eliminates the excessive build-up of fatigue-producing chemicals in his muscles, granting him exceptional endurance and lung capacity, greater than of normal humans. He once went three days without sleeping during a mission in Washington D.C.
- Superhuman Reflexes: Sam's speed allows him to react to situations extremely quickly in battle. Such examples include dodging bullets and hits, but he has his limits, as he has taken damage before, such as when Crack Shot quickly fired a round from his Governor into Sam's leg, although he quickly regenerated from this.
- Regenerative Healing Factor: Sam can rapidly heal and regenerate from harm faster and more extensively than normal humans can recover from. He once recovered from being burnt to near-death, and his limbs can re-attach. Sam's new body heals even faster than it did before, but it slowed down eventually.
- Energy Blasts: In unison with Gamma Girl, Sam can combine his dark energy with Gamma's light energy into a concussive ray of pure energy to deal damage with opponents.
- Electricity Manipulation: The ray of energy Sam and Gamma Girl emit gives off yellow arcs of electricity which appear as lightning and are capable of shocking, disorienting, and waking others. Since participating in experiments conducted by Cody Nakamura, Sam gained the ability to control this electricity on his own.
Former Powers
- "I don't walk, I fly... or float."
- —Sam Fakashami
- Flight: Sam used to be able to fly.
Abilities
- "No one dies on my watch."
- —Sam Fakashami
- Skilled Combatant: After fighting crime for sometime, Sam's style of combat developed into a somewhat instinctive and improvised technique that emphasizes the use of his superhuman strength and shadows. Despite his inexperience, Sam defeated several crimelord goons, but he requires coordination if he ever wants to be a ninja. For the time being, Sam is proficient in basic Boxing, Action Shooting, Weightlifting, Gymnastics and Wrestling. Though he is far from fully mastering Ninjutsu, he has a natural aptitude for some of its disciplines, including Taijutsu, Shurikenjutsu, Shinobi-Iri, Bōryaku, and Intonjutsu.
- Skilled Acrobat: Due to his youth and superhuman speed, Sam is very capable of navigating through environments that require quick reactions and movements. His agility makes him naturally talented in gymnastics, and combined with his superhuman leaps, he can easily jump across rooms in single bounds or do standing backflips.
- Skilled Marksman: Sam can accurately fire his shadow-based attacks at his enemies, and is also shown practicing with throwing Shuriken with precision. He also knows how to properly wield a pistol. By 2033, Sam is proficient in using submachine guns.
- Stealth: With the shadows, Sam can effectively hide himself from enemies. If he chooses, he can even become a shadow for even more advanced stealth capabilities. He has read up on Russian spying strategies, which have benefited him on missions involving reconnaissance.
- "War isn't about who's right. It's about who comes out on top. In war, there is a reason why it is despised. There is no gray. War... war never changes."
- —Sam Fakashami
- Gifted Intelligence: Sam is a young polymath, often referring to himself as an "idiot savant," and his adoptive father has stated that he goes beyond his own class in terms of intellect. He is a bright young man who excels in school, particularly in history class (the feudal history of medieval Japan and World War II being some of his areas of expertise) and civics. Of his own admission, Sam has an IQ of 120 and a high GPA, which allowed him to graduate from high school early. His intellectual talents extend to competent planning and scheming, detective, mechanical, networking, interrogation, minor medical (able to patch up gunshot wounds) and linguistic skills. Sam also has a great memory (having memorized pi up to 40 decimal places) and, as Shadow Boy, can also come up with witty and incredibly annoying quips and references, much to his allies and enemies' vexation. Almanac has remarked on Sam's intelligence, referring to him as a "junior Kierkegaard;" a great mind. One of the reasons for his basis on this was how Sam impressively solved a Rubik's Cube in quick succession. Sam is also well-read and somewhat versed in Egyptian mythology.
- Skilled Engineer: Sam has technical know-how and mechanical prowess, which allowed him to construct his suit and goggles, and is skilled with modifying gadgets to better suit his unique style. He's also adept at working with cars, specifically his own Corolla HDM as well as the Shadow Gremlin. Sam wants an engineering degree (presumably from MIT) which would require the completion of 144 units of grad work and an original thesis, both of which Sam is capable of. He was able to rig a seismograph to read spikes in certain anomalies, as he's familiarized himself with sophisticated laboratory equipment, and to also build an injury-specific pressurizer and his own miniature "Shadow Cameras."
- Skilled Investigator: In the daytime, Sam is a skilled freelance investigative reporter. Sam acquired detective skills from Detective Leo Clark, and is a capable scout for missions involving spying and advanced reconnaissance due to his stealth capabilities, keen eyesight and brutal attitude. Sam has received compliments from his step-father on his powers of observation.
- "Strategy is key."
- —Sam Fakashami
- Skilled Tactician: Sam is a capable tactician, shown to be able to make plans before missions and even complimenting the strategic abilities of his step-father and Almanac due to his knowledge on war and military science. He's able to calculate outcomes and analyze combat situations for solutions.
- Skilled Interrogator: Sam is competent at extracting information from suspects and enemies, occasionally applying his brute strength to forcefully acquire said information. He can also be deceptive and diplomatic, as he made an interrogation with Solaris appear as a simple conversation.
- Skilled Hacker: Sam is a prodigy hacker, being skilled in handling computer programs and networks. He was able to quickly bypass a criminal's computer's security systems.
- Skilled Driver: Sam has his learner's permit for driving. He is very skilled at navigating his car through terrains while simultaneously performing tricks, such as a Tokyo Drift.
- "Hai, watashi wa gakumon-kaide shika shiyo shite imasen."
- —Sam Fakashami
- Multilingualism: Sam is very talented with using his vocal skills; he speaks his native Japanese, fluent English, and some French, Latin, Spanish, and German. He'll often make inspirational, extensive speeches, monologues and prayers (especially at funerals) with interspersed languages, such as "Ad victoriam" at Ben Jacobson's funeral or "Heiwa kankaku de yasumu" at Sam Aran's funeral. He can converse with his idol, Lance White, in his native Japanese, as well as fluidly convey his points of freedom, honor and country very skillfully.
Equipment
Attire
Sam's suit in a shadow box, kept in his adoptive father's house.
- Shadow Boy Suit: Sam's spandex suit has a very protective and durable titanium weave that can deflect bullets. To a lesser extent in regards to protection, the suit has skateboard kneepads.
- Goggles: Sam's custom goggles have a hidden camera that record everything he sees.
- Utility Belt: Sam keeps shuriken on his utility belt at all times, as well as his birth certificate and a myriad of weapons and gadgets, such as a radar, a miniature Geiger counter, shuriken, knives, a Glock, a Rapidus SMG, grenades, bolas, a breathalyzer, and miniature "Shadow Cameras."
Weaponry
- Shuriken:
- Knives:
- Glock:
- Bazooka:
- Rapidus SMG:
- Grenades:
- RU1555:
- Bolas:
Future
- SMG:
Transportation
- Shadow Gremlin: Sam's car is an old AMC Gremlin with a pinto engine.
- Corolla HDM: Sam inherited this car from his parents. He heavily modified this, equipping high-caliber machine guns/turrets within the car. Sam retains this car by the year 2033, with it functioning perfectly.
Relationships
Family
- "No Dive" Dijomori † - Paternal Grandfather
- Grandmother †
- James Fakashami † - Father
- Hun Ōrodan † - Mother
- Clark Flat/Flag - Adoptive Father
- Dallas - Anonymous Adoptive Grandfather, Liberatee
- Nadia/Shadow Gal - Future Daughter
Allies
- Amy/Gamma Girl - Girlfriend
- Liana - Good Friend
- EPF
- Arcadian Rebels
- Jason Kade/Almanac - Friend
- Steel Sentinel † - Friend
Trivia
- Sam is the Alphaverse rendition of Club Penguin's "Shadow Guy."
- Sam is a Liberal, much to his step-father's chagrin.
- Sam is a fan of the Final Fantasy series, Fallout 4 and Skyrim.
- Sam watches Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones, Family Guy, The Cosby Show, Saturday Night Live, Regular Show, and Batman (1966).
- Sam's favorite movies are Casablanca, Flashdance, and Baby Driver.
- Sam's favorite snacks are Cheetos and Twinkies.
- Sam reads KonoSuba, and identifies with the character Kazuma.
- Sam listens to Fleetwood Mac, dark metal rock, and his favorite song is "She's a Maniac" from Flashdance. His theme song as Shadow Boy is Marilyn Manson's cover of "Tainted Love" by Soft Cell.
- Sam potentially has an Earth-5621 counterpart, "Shadow Mind."
- Sam programmed his Siri to refer to him as "ShadowBoi."
- Sam's favorite ice cream is rocky road ice cream.