| Introduction
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xxxxxLuke's personality is a complicated, patchwork quilt. He grew up running with the wrong crowd, and saw a lot of people get hurt. This weighs on him, and motivates most of what he does today. However, he works very hard to shield that motivation from the world at large. He won a lot of money in his settlement for the wrongful imprisonment, and is primarily funneling his income back into improving Harlem for the youth, but he lives large to hide that fact. He does good, because that's his true nature, but he doesn't want anyone to /know/ he's doing it.
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| History
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xxxxxOriginally born Carl Lucas, Luke grew up on the mean streets of Harlem, running with a gang called the Bones. They got up to petty crimes for the most part until their late teens. At that point they decided to rob a bank, a plan which went bad quickly. Luke's best friend and leader of the gang shot a security guard who was nearly killed, winding up paralyzed, and Luke was the only one caught and convicted for the crime. He took the rap and didn't rat out his friend.
xxxxxWhile in prison, Luke was constantly tormented because he wouldn't conform to prison culture and politics and was constantly in trouble for fighting - both with inmates and guards. Luke was harassed mercilessly by the head guard, especially when he overheard Luke's old girlfriend on her last visit. She was leaving him, for the friend Luke had protected by lying about who shot the guard. After several years, it had all gotten to be too much. The head guard was standing by, allowing a group of inmates to gang up on Cage when Luke broke. His powers finally manifested, and he sprang into action. Suddenly their blows landed on iron-hard skin, and Luke rained blows down on the men, before moving on to the guards who had stood by and let this happen. He left them all bloody and beaten. Then, he ran. He punched through the concrete walls and escaped into the night. He tracked down his old 'buddy' and got him to admit he had framed Luke in the first place so he could steal his girlfriend and maintain unquestioned control of their gang. Needless to say, Luke took the gang apart, and hauled them all to the downtown precinct office, turning himself back in at the same time.
xxxxxSeveral months later, with a lot of help from various people and authorities, it was proven that Luke's original conviction should be overturned, and he was officially exonerated. He was awarded a substantial sum for his wrongful imprisonment suit and nowadays, he is the Hero for Hire. He helps people where he can as a combination Body Guard or Private Investigator, but almost always to get paid. He funnels a lot of his money back into the poor communities of Harlem, but doesn't want people to know that's where it goes so he puts a lot of effort into living large as a new celebrity.
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| Powers
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xxxxxHard Case:
Luke has mutated to become incredibly tough and strong. He could easily shrug off a tank blast, then tear that tank apart with his bare hands, and have something to say about his ruined shirt. He can withstand most kinetic weapons, and average energy weapons (tasers and lasers). He has no special defense against non-physical weapons like masers, aural attacks, magic or psychic attacks. He is also vulnerable to adamantium weapons.
xxxxxSkin and Bones:
Luke has developed incredibly tough skin and bone structure. Nothing short of adamantium can pierce his skin, and if something does get through, his skin and bones reknit themselves very quickly. The major drawback to this ability is that Luke's accelerated recovery does not extend to his internal organs, and even with adamantium scalpels, it is remarkably difficult for a doctor to address any lingering internal injuries. If not fatal, internal wounds eventually do regenerate, but at a very slow rate (essentially like a normal human), during which time he feels the pain of his injuries like anyone else would. It's doubtful that his healing ability would regrow a lost limb or organ, beyond just sealing off the damage done, but that's never been tested.
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| Connections
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| Gallery
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| Luke Cage
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| Codename
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Luke Cage
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| Birthdate
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April 17th, 1983
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| Species
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Mutant
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| Affiliation
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Citizen, Heroes for Hire
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| Powers
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Super strength and toughness
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| Occupation
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Body guard and P.I.
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| Alts
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Aloke Suresh, Thea Garretson, Kaori Takahashi
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| RP Hooks
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| Famous - Luke has just emerged victorious from a very high profile case. He broke out of prison, caught the guys who framed him, and won his freedom at a retrial, but at the cost of the whole world knowing he's a big, strong, tough mutant. At least he won big bucks in the counter-suit for wrongful imprisonment."
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| Boxer - Between his actual boxing experience, his life long, street-level self-defense, and his constant fighting in prison, Luke has become a truly formidable opponent. He's not the biggest, the fastest, or the toughest, but he does know how to leverage the strength he has to maximize his advantage.
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| B&E - Luke knows how to get in and out of a place if he needs to. He's no good at picking locks, but he does know where to lean on a hinge, where to look for cameras, how to case a joint, and how to time things to coincide with a guard shift.
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| Streetwise - Luke grew up scrapping in gangs, spent time in juvie and eventually prison, learning the jive every step of the way. Luke may not have the smoothest play out there, but he knows the black markets, he knows the business of the streets, and he knows how to get things off the books. He also knows which gangs run where, and which neighborhoods are run by which crime families.
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