The Arctic Fox

Vasili Barinov has not led a kind life. In 1936 his parents sold him to the Soviet government, who in turn shipped him off to a Siberian nauka gorod, or science city, facility dedicated to creating the perfect soldier. Vasili and five hundred other children from across the USSR were crammed into camps where they were brutally disciplined, experimented upon, and subjected to a rigorous training regimen. All of the candidates either starved to death, succumbed to the freezing temperatures, or were murdered by their peers. All except for Vasili, the program’s only survivor and only success.
The Soviet scientists had turned the young man into a living weapon. The chemicals and conditions he’d been exposed to pushed Vasili to the peak of human ability. He was physically perfect, incredibly intelligent, exceptionally trained, and ruthless. The program was a success. Vasili chose the code name Arctic Fox for himself and was given his first mission: to eliminate all evidence of the camp he had been raised in, so that no one could replicate the process. The Arctic Fox was then handed off to the Red Army where he made his debut on the bloodstained battlefields of World War II. Vasili was instrumental in pushing the Nazis out of his Motherland, winning battle after battle against the fascist horde.
After the war, Vasili became an agent for the fledgling KGB and embarked on a storied career. The Arctic Fox popped up in Cold War hotspots around the globe. He performed assassinations, led revolts in capitalist nations, facilitated defections, and sabotaged American military operations whenever he could. Vasili worked for decades, aging very slowly thanks to his chemical modifications. He eventually took a wife and fathered a son. He was a national hero and for a time he was happy.
Unfortunately the Arctic Fox attracted the ire of Dmitri Bratislav: a power member of the Communist Party. Dmitri was jealous of Vasili’s fame and succeeded in framing him as a traitor to the party. The KGB tried to kill Vasili on a mission in Vietnam, but he survived their betrayal and fought his way back to his family. His home had been burned to the ground, his wife had been murdered, and his son was being taken to Moscow for reeducation. Vasili rescued his son and the two of them fled to America.
The son blamed Vasili for the death of his mother and refused to stay with Vasili once they arrived in Emerald City. Vasili kept his distance from his son, but vowed to provide for him all the same. The Arctic Fox set up shop in Emerald City as a mercenary and has taken a few jobs in the last thirty years in order to keep himself, his son, and his granddaughter comfortable.

Physical Description

Special abilities

The Arctic Fox is a super-soldier with decades of field experience and superhuman physical abilities. He is proficient with all manner of weaponry, explosives, and martial arts. The Arctic Fox has a healing factor that allows him to quickly recover from even the most grievous of injuries and gives him the physical appearance and condition of a man roughly half his chronological age.

Apparel & Accessories

He wields a pair of sophisticated wrist-mounted launchers that fire a wide variety of projectiles and he uses his portable blizzard generator to make any terrain feel like the snow-covered conditions of home.

Specialized Equipment

He is a master tactician who can turn any situation to his advantage, and if things go against him, he’s smart enough to know when retreat is the wisest option.

Mental characteristics

Intellectual Characteristics

Vasili Barinov is a grim man, as cold and uninviting as the Siberian tundra that created him. He has never gotten over his nation’s betrayal and finds it difficult to trust anyone. He is in his late eighties and has a lifetime of experience that he can call upon in the field.
There are very few things that he hasn’t seen and he usually works an anecdote into conversations with his adversaries. The Arctic Fox doesn’t let anything get in the way of his mission once he’s accepted it. The only thing he really cares about any longer is providing for and protecting his remaining family.

Social

Contacts & Relations

The Arctic Fox doesn’t really have allies per se. He has respect for other mercenaries and has a long list of underworld clients and associates. Those he considers his real friends are his comrades from operations in WWII and the Cold War, but most of them are dead or dying.
The United States government and its agencies are on the lookout for the Arctic Fox because of his long history confounding their own efforts overseas, but they have no idea the former KGB agent is operating on their soil with impunity. If they knew, they’d certainly make attempts to bring him in. The Arctic Fox butted heads (not publicly) with the Liberty League decades ago, and he’s not remembered fondly by the remaining Nazi supervillains.