Sol-Ar

David Clemmons was the stereotypical nerd throughout his school years. He was skinny, unathletic, and always had his nose in a book. His studious habits assisted him in completing a Master's Degree in Abnormal Psych, specializing in the Criminal Mindset. A native of Paragon City, David naturally applied for a job at the University and was pleasantly surprised when they hired him. He has worked his way up to full professorship, teaching mostly criminal justice courses and abnormal psych classes focusing on the criminal mind.

During the Rikti War, David did what most other powerless citizens of the city did: He tried to stay out of the heroes' ways as they fought the threat. He longed to help out, but he was sure that his limited field of knowledge and lack of physical ability would be of no use to anyone besides his students. But, being a civic minded individual, he still volunteered his time to assisting in charity functions and supporting the local heroes of the city whenever he could. His particular 'politics' towards metas didn't make him popular with his boss, the Dean of the criminology department who made no secret about resenting metas and 'heroes', but David didn't care. He felt they did important and selfless work, and should be applauded for their efforts, not resented for their abilities.
The Dean's stiff nosed attitudes towards David changed from indifference to almost blatant hostility when the most important even in David's life occurred: He became a hero himself. David's absentmindedness actually led to the events that resulted in him living out a childhood dream:
He had been walking home from teaching late one May evening, enjoying the sunshine caressing his face as he went through the familiar neighborhoods. When he passed through one old back lot that he had traversed hundreds of times before, he noticed the sunlight glint off something in the ground across the way. Curious, David approached the object, noticing a piece of metal stuck in the dirt at his feet. Kneeling down, David had cleared off the dust as best he could, and noticed strange markings on the object. The more he rubbed, the more he uncovered, until it became apparent that the object in questions was some sort of missile left over from the clashes during the Rikti War. Excitement coursed through David, and he let his fingers reach under the missile, attempting to pry it up from the dirt that held it...and that is when his life changed forever.

What David had no way of knowing was that the weapon in question was an experimental Rikti Radiation Bomb. It was designed to destroy any organic matter its light touched upon detonation, but it never had a chance to reach its intended target. While streaking across the sky, it had been knocked off course by one of Paragon City's heroes, her radiation beam striking the bomb and scrambling its internal machinery and programming. The bomb had crashed 'harmlessly' into the old lot David had discovered it in, buried and waiting for someone to find it...and David had activated it by touching it.

A flash of light had soundlessly exploded out of the bomb blinding David and lighting up the sky. The silent explosion was bright enough to temporarily over power the sun, and draw the attention of the nearby residents. When they arrived, they found David unconscious and the object he had been touching a melted slag stuck in the ground.

They had immediately called for medical aid, and David was rushed to the hospital. Doctors were baffled by some of the readings they were getting off of his body, they were unable to make heads or tails of his vital signs. His body seemed to be expending tremendous amounts of energy, but his heart rate remained steady throughout the entire process. They also noticed that after the first few hours, David seemed...taller, and slightly more filled out.

They couldn't find any way to halt the progress of whatever was happening to him, or to wake him up. David remained unconscious for two whole days while his skeletal and muscular system underwent radical alterations. When he finally woke up, he was more shocked than anyone else to discover the differences in him: He now stood slightly over seven feet tall, and weighed over 400 lbs of solid muscle! He was grateful that the process had left him with the normal proportions of a man, so he simply looked like someone who had spent their entire life in a gym...lifting freight trains for exercise.

Further tests proved that even stranger changes had taken place on a basic cellular level within David's body. The Rikti weapon had, instead of emitting light and destroying his organic matter, reprogrammed his DNA and cell structure to absorb light and other energy wavelengths to turn them into energy for his body to use. Some benefits of this change were immediately apparent: David now found himself to be super strong and almost entirely impervious to pain or injury.

Although concerned with the changes to himself, he knew he had to use these new found abilities to aid his fellow citizen. Donning a costume, David decided on the hero name of Sol-Ar, dedicated to the fact he could absorb solar radiation to power himself, and set out to help Paragon City. Over the course of his career, David's abilities have strengthened and several new powers have cropped up. It seems that with more and more energy being absorbed into his being, his body channels that excess energy to new and varied abilities.

He still taught over at Paragon City University, but has now become the pet project of his boss, the Dean, who is looking for any excuse to fire him. As his exploits have become better know however, his class attendance has exploded, making him one of the more popular professors on campus. As an added bonus, he can now include personal examples of the criminal mind at work for his students based upon the cases he has handled.

In recent times David has moved into The Whitmoore Apartment Complex, to be closer to other heroes and find some security in his 'home'. He feels the work he does at the University with young people is as important if not more so than what he does in his tights, and continues to teach enthusiastically. He has also become romantically involved with another Whitmoore resident, his neighbor Dr. Helen Markov who is also known as the hero Steel Magnolia.

Among his students at Paragon University are Dani Jones/Winter Kills and Seph Jenkins/Psi Kore.

Description

David Clemmons/Sol-Ar stands a little over seven feet tall, and weighs roughly four hundred pounds. He gives the impression of a person who is bursting with health, looking like he spends a vast amount of time lifting weights from his musculature, although he still has the overall appearance and proportions of a normal man. His black hair is cut short and parted to one side, and his brown eyes are hidden behind a pair of glasses when he is in his civilian clothing. Normally found wearing grey business suits when he is teaching at Paragon City University, he relaxes around his apartment in tshirt and jeans. While in costume, Sol-Ar has tights that are blue across the chest and arms, with white stripes down along his ribs. His chest has a red starburst pattern, surrounded in yellow to highlight it, and his bottom tights are blue along the legs with white briefs. His metal belt is white with a yellow buckle and he has flared/folded over white gloves and boots. The entire costume is finished off with an ankle length red cape that has a full mantle, held in place with a golden brooch.