Invented Original Characters: Thomas Caldwell

Growing up my dream job was to be a comic book artist/writer. But with very little artistic talent that dream died pretty quickly. Now I do my best to bring my characters to life using apps like factory of heroes, swordmaker, armormaker and you doodle. They don't always turn out looking very good but I get more excited about the concepts and stories behind the characters than how well I can make the character look good. Sometimes my characters are from cultures I am not a part of because I think it fits their story or other aspects about them. I am not a cultural expert but at the very least I hope no one is upset by me using aspects of cultures I'm not a part of and find interesting. That said below is my idea for Thomas Caldwell, head of an evil organization that creates vampires.

Thomas Caldwell was born in the United States of America but considers himself British like his father. He is head of the "The Complex", a mysterious organization who operates from the American east coast because they either caused vampire panic of New England or investigated it. Their main lab is hidden deep in a cave system inside a forest in Maine. Thomas' organization uses vast resources to study, traffic and genetically engineer vampires. Most of their effort to weaponize vampires has been the creation of the flea-men and related experiments. The flea-men are vampires made through science rather than magic as DNA from the tick vampires of the America's was used to create them. The decision to make them flea like and call them flea-men instead of flea vampires was made to prevent the flea-men from considering a rebellion and starting there own vampire sects like the other types of vampire. Though they typically have less exploitable weaknesses than other types of vampire they are typically easier to kill than most vampires.

The real danger with flea-men is the effect they can have on warm blooded creatures if they can attach to them. They use their strong legs to pounce on people and latch on to them. When this happens the person becomes feral and more dangerous over time. With that in mind Caldwell started the "M2 Project" where flea-men are attached to mammals deliberately to make horrible monsters.

Thomas has semi-secretly used his organizations' resources to make himself more powerful with the aims of being immortal but in a way he is his own biggest hurdle. Due to his extreme vanity he is unwilling to undergo experiments that he fears will take away from his appearance that he values so greatly. So while he undergoes expirements that make him stronger, more durable and seem youthful, his strongest forms are transformations he can does temporarily before he returns to his idealized version of himself. With that in mind it is unclear how old Caldwell is (or how long he's been head of "The Complex") aside from the fact that he's much older than he looks and is paranoid and insecure about death and aging. To manage his transformations he uses serums that he doses out based on how long he thinks he will need extra power but even when the effects wear off he is superhumanly strong and has some of his abilities.

His obsession with survival and longevity led to the study of sea life like crabs and octopi which can regrow their limbs and it is reflected in his transformations and abilities. Most often he uses large crab claws to violently tear apart his enemies or tentacles to ensnare them. He aspires to be even more powerful than the strongest vampires.