Ben Russell

This page is about the Phase 2 incarnation of the character. For other uses, see Ben (disambiguation).

PHASE 2

Benjamin "Shatterstar" Russell
Portrayed by Bartek Borowiec
Codename:	Shatterstar
Affiliations:	Generation X
Birthdate:	September 9, 2005

Journal:	xp_shatterstar
Player:	Conner

To shatter the very stars...

Shatterstar is a young mutant with poor control of his powers and an OSDD system who is coming to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters to find stability and learn control.

Details

Character Journal: xp_shatterstar

Real Name: Benjamin Wayword Russell

Codename: Shatterstar

Aliases: Shatterstar, Benji, Gaveedra, 'Star

First Appearance: May 14, 2023

Date of Birth: September 9, 2005

Place of Birth: Boston, Massachusetts

Citizenship: American

Relatives: Unknown Father, "Ricochet" Rita Wayword (mother), Ginny Wayword Russell (aunt, deceased), Liam Russell (uncle)

Education: Some high school

Relationship Status: Single

Occupation:

Team Affiliation: TBD

Roommate: Liam Nelson

Biography

Childhood

Benjamin’s mother went mysteriously and suddenly missing when he was young enough to not really remember her. He was raised by his mother’s sister Ginny and Ginny’s husband Liam in their Manor Crossing apartment in Boston. He grew up a very intense kid, having a lot of trouble in school and with other kids. He often relied on his aunt’s low-level telepathy to communicate effectively and to help with his emotional regulation. Benjamin had some problems with bullies but had a few friends too, especially his friends from fencing and swordsmanship classes. (He became sort of obsessed with Arthur Centino’s filmography as a kid after watching Longshot for Survival and liked the sword stunts best).

Then came January 1, 2015. He was just nine. He and his Uncle Liam were watching yet another Arthur Centino film with his Aunt Ginny on the phone in the other room when suddenly she burst into flames. Reflexively, Benjamin grabbed his Uncle’s arm and they ended up miles away from Manor Crossing. The first time, the only time, Benjamin ever teleported was the moment his aunt died during M-Day. It got hard for him after his aunt’s death- from her not being there, the knowledge he was a mutant, the guilt that he got his powers when everyone else died from theirs, and the quiet resentment his uncle had that Benjamin hadn’t let them die with his wife.

Benjamin started to get even more into swordsmanship, anything to get out of the apartment- no longer Manor Crossing, which had severe fire damage from Ginny’s death. Not only swordsmanship, but fighting in general. He also started thinking of himself as Gaveedra-Seven, just like a minor gladiator character once played by Arthur Centino. Having already had minor symptoms, this developed into full on OSDD-1b. In short, Gaveedra became his own altar and began fronting more and more, especially once they hit high school. Gaveedra found that, unlike Benjamin, he had heightened speed, agility, strength, and senses. Gaveedra could also heal just that bit faster, though that could have been sheer luck. He was also very, very good at fighting and very bad at social cues and “being human”. He was very involved with EMA*, Kenjutsu, and Iaido- anything that let him have the heft of a sword (and didn't kick him out for being overzealous).

Teen Years

Russell ended up in and out of hospitals and threatened over and over with juvie throughout high school. During this time, Gaveedra started going by Shatterstar after a mean-spirited comment about the body’s birthmark and on a therapist’s suggestion to separate himself from the character he was based on. After running away one too many times and one too many fights, Shatterstar actually did get them sent to a juvenile detention center for a period while waiting for beds to open up at a specialist hospital. This detention center had a culture of fighting in an almost gladiatorial way, a failing of the Massachusetts juvenile detention system. He kept having his transfer to a hospital denied because of all the fighting he got involved in. Here, Shatterstar found that, if he absolutely had to, he could generate a vibratory shockwave, though he would be extremely drained after. During juvie, Benjamin stopped fronting completely, though he occasionally commentates in the headspace.

Finally, the court system insisted he be transferred to the Weismen Institute, a hospital specializing in plurality. Unfortunately while having to do trauma work there, Shatterstar started struggling with his vibratory powers and his senses. It was suggested, under a referral from David Haller at the Muir Island Research Facility, that after he was discharged from the Weisman Institute he should go to the Xavier Institute, where he may be able to get help with control of his powers.

Early Days At The X-Mansion

2023

Shatterstar arrived at the mansion on May 14, 2023 after being picked up in Boston by Darcy Lewis, Quentin Quire, and Madin. He soon met with David Haller, who got him into powers training both with he and Theresa Cassidy. Shatterstar also somehow stumbled into etiquette lessons with Hope Abbott. He also eventually started shooting lessons with Kevin Sydney. After a rocky start with Haller, Shatterstar (and Benjamin) have come to respect the older man highly after lessons on psychic shielding and revealing their systems to each other. He even met his hero Arthur Centino (who knew his mother, Rita) and came to an almost mentor/mentee relationship with him. Most surprisingly to Shatterstar, he actually made friends- chief among them Rictor. He also became extremely close to Terry, seeing her as something of a mother figure. Terry gifted him a Cassidy Family sword for his 18th birthday. Kyle Gibney was able to convince Shatterstar to finish his highschool education. When Liam Nelson came to the mansion, the younger boy became Shatterstar's roommate.

He quickly found that Xavier's had become his home, despite his initial reluctance to come.

After the flooding of District X during November 2023, Shatterstar assisted in clean up efforts. Around this time, Shatterstar also came across a forcefully integrated Haller and immediately knew something was wrong with his mentor. Haller's later involvement with taking down Radha Dastoor caused the older man to have a lot of psychic backlash and even enter a catatonic state. While Haller was catatonic, some of the mansion was haunted by apparitions. Shatterstar, or rather Benji, was the first to figure out these apparitions were the ghostly forms of some of Haller's alters. When Haller gets out of catatonia, Benjamin confronts Haller in the tradition of scared, angry teenagers which caused Jack to step in and declare that Haller is "not [Shatterstar's] father". The psychic backlash also affected Arthur's psychometric powers, causing Arthur to leave memories attached to objects. Shatterstar received one Arthur's memories of his mother, Ricochet Rita. Later, Shatterstar gives Arthur a photograph of Rita as a Christmas gift.

Also during December 2023, there was a trespasser to the mansion. Among the destruction, Shatterstar had a wall thrown at him, but was fine due to Illyana Rasputin portalling the two of them out of the way. Shatterstar later met the trespasser, Hope Summers, and explained what was and was not acceptable in the mansion.

2024

In early January, District X was attacked by a collection of sources, including both Clan Akabba cultists and members of Friends of Humanity. A F.O.H. group attacked the District X Community Centre where Shatterstar had been teaching a swordsmanship class. Shatterstar and Rictor worked together to cover the youth group's escape, and Shatterstar was ready to kill a man who was brutalizing Rictor. 'Star and Rictor ended up combining their powers to make a large, controlled shockwave that sent the F.O.H. scrambling. The incident, especially how easily violence came to him in true combat and how unbothered by nearly killing someone he was, hung heavily on Shatterstar's mind. While he became aware that he very easily could kill, he also decided that he really didn't want to be "a killing thing"- while being aware that he'd rather have the responsibility fall on him than his friends.

Physical Characteristics

Height: 6'3

Build: Lean, muscular, but slightly underweight

Eyes: Blue,. Left eye is slightly cloudy

Hair: Chest length auburn hair, often worn in a ponytail with two small braids

Other Features: He has a port-wine birthmark over his right eye that looks sort of like an eight pointed star. Sometimes he outlines this or darkens it with makeup. He also has some scarring, especially around his knuckles, from fighting.

Powers

Enhanced Ability: Shatterstar has heightened speed, agility, senses (particularly hearing, sight, and balance), and strength. It edges between peak human ability and edging into superhuman. For example, he can run a marathon in under two hours or deadlift a little over a thousand pounds. Think “peak human athlete, then add steroids”. This could probably be increased with training.

Shatterstar has 20/10 vision and the ability to see decently in the dark. He has hearing akin to a dog’s. He has perfect balance processing. He’s also a little more sensitive to touch than the average human, having slightly more touch sensors. The senses in particular can lead to bad sensory overload, and Shatterstar isn’t always good at pacing himself and often pushes past his stamina.

Shatterstar also heals on the fastest side of normal, though that could be sheer luck. For example, if he broke a bone it would heal in 3 weeks as opposed to four, and if he had an average sized scab it would heal in half a day to a day. He does NOT have the ability to regenerate anything.

Vibratory Shockwave: He can also produce a vibratory shockwave. Think of a wave of solid sound. However this exhausts him and leaves him faint and dizzy for hours. Maybe the shockwave power would work better with some sort of anchor as well…? It can be sustained for half a minute and at it's full extent of powers could be used to break down a metal door. Only Shatterstar has shown the capability for this, not Benjamin.

Teleportation': He has teleported once, but that was with someone else as an “emotional anchor” to visualize another location and he passed out for four hours after. This anchor must teleport with him. He has a current range of forty miles. While they’ve never tried teleporting again, and it’s unclear if only Benjamin can do this. If he does ever do it again he’ll need an emotional anchor or get lost in the between space, which could be potentially very dangerous.