Sunspot |
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Portrayed by Steven Cole |
Statistics |
Full Name |
Roberto Renato da Costa |
Age |
22 |
Height |
5'6" |
Build |
Short and Muscular |
Eyes |
Brown |
Hair |
Black |
Factions |
X-Men (Red Team) |
Occupation |
Entrepreneur |
Alignment |
Hero |
Claim to Fame
The successful young scion of Da Costa Industries, and de facto head of the company's operations in North America.
Reputation
As Sunspot, Roberto puts in occasional appearances as a mid-tier X-man. He is well-liked there, but not a central player. In business, Roberto is seen as something of a prodigy, but he has managed to make a lot of enemies along the way, particularly among unscrupulous moguls with underworld connections.
Publicly Available Dossier |
Name: |
Roberto Renato da Costa |
Codename: |
Sunspot |
Born: |
October 3, 1992 (age 22) |
Abilities: |
Super strength, force blasts |
Team Role: |
Corporate management |
Nationality: |
Brazil/US dual citizenship |
Likes: |
Soccer, sunshine, swearing in Portuguese |
Dislikes: |
Secrecy, nights in, cold weather |
Biography
Born the scion of Da Costa International, Latin America's preeminent industrial multinational, Roberto da Costa expected the hardest moment of his life to be choosing between a career in professional sports and one as the head of his father's corporation. Instead, as a teenager, he found himself fleeing Brazil, his girlfriend murdered by blackmailers and his own life upended by his newly manifested mutant abilities.
Roberto found a home at the Xavier Institute, as part of the cohort of students sometimes referred to as the "New Mutants." When he graduated, several parts of DCI that his father had held in trust for him transferred to his ownership. Still resentful of his father's unsavory business dealings, Roberto saw this as an opportunity to disentangle his family from them. He liquidated many longstanding investments before they matured, drawing the attention and ire of his father, who assumed Berto was hocking family assets to pursue a leisurely playboy lifestyle, and the same shady businessmen whose deals with his father he had just ended.
Reinvesting the resulting capital, however, allowed him to expand DCI's influence in North America, and despite his youth he is now recognized as the de facto head of the company's operations there. The demanding lifestyle of a jetsetting industrialist has certainly pulled Roberto away from his friends more than he might like, but he hopes to balance his obligations to the company with his loyalties to his friends — not to mention the ideals of his teenage years as a costumed hero.
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Character Details
A puckish charmer with a fierce sense of loyalty, Roberto has been known to get his back up when he feels he is being condescended to.
Solar Powered |
Roberto's mutant ability allows him to absorb and store energy from light. Sunlight offers the ideal 'diet,' although he can draw on artificial light sources as well, with varying efficiency depending on how well they approximate sunlight. There's an upper limit to the amount of power he can store. Given pleasant weather, an hour of sunbathing a day will be enough to keep his batteries topped off.
Certain alien suns (Asgard's, notably) have been shown to supercharge Roberto's abilities, in much the same way that Superman benefits from Earth's yellow sun. |
Sunspot Form |
Roberto's solar metabolism always gives him a slight benefit to his strength and speed, but he can also kick it into a high-energy state, maximizing the rate at which he both absorbs and burns off energy. When he does so, his body projects a pure black field that absorbs all light, as well as a bright, mottled corona of solar energy. In daylight, the increase in absorption offsets the energy drain of the corona itself — Roberto can stay in Sunspot form indefinitely, so long as the sun is up.
The Sunspot form is highly resistant to light- and radiation-based attacks, such as lasers, infrared beams, and blinding flashes. It is also moderately resistant to heat, fire and plasma, which get swept up into Roberto's own protective corona. Roberto must be in Sunspot form to access his higher-level abilities. |
Super Strength |
At all times, Roberto enjoys a slight physical boost from the passive effects of his solar metabolism. In Sunspot form, he is capable of incredible feats of strength. He can lift objects up to 30 tons and punch through metal plates. This superhuman strength is one of the passive benefits of his transformation, and in daylight, its drain is usually offset by the boost in absorption. However, if Roberto pushes himself far beyond the usual limits of his superstrength, he can start to dip into his energy reserves. |
Coronal Effects |
Roberto's Sunspot form emits a fiery corona that he can manipulate to achieve certain effects. All of these techniques drain his solar battery, even in sunlight: the more advanced the effect, the greater the drain. The simplest is heat emission: he can raise the temperature of this energy field to that of fire, allowing him to scald or ignite objects he is touching. Another simple ability is to release a burst of solar radiation when he strikes someone. This can exploit a target's vulnerabilities (e.g. ice structures to heat, vampires to sunlight), but against a normal human target will simply cause sunburn.
With more focus, Berto can generate thrust from his corona. Technically, this allows him to fly for short distances, but that technique is so draining that he avoids using it. More practical uses of his coronal thrust are extra running speed or to control or cushion a fall. Another advanced technique is creating solar energy blasts. These focused emissions of coronal energy are powerful, but draining. Assuming no other drain on his energy supply (unlikely in combat) about a dozen blasts will use up his full energy reserve. |
Business Acumen |
Roberto's father always expected him to take over Da Costa Industries, and trained him from a young age in the etiquette and techniques of high-level commerce. These years of training, plus Roberto's natural likability, also make him a gifted manager, recruiter, and negotiator. |
Capoeira |
Roberto has had some training in capoeira, the traditional Brazilian fusion of dance and martial arts. Like many young men, he found it an exciting thing to try in his early teens, and it was a hobby until he moved to the States. This training contributes to his fighting style, not to mention his moves on the dance floor. |
Wealth |
Roberto is the scion of a wealthy industrialist, and has been entrusted with a significant chunk of the family business and its attendant fortune. He has spent his years since graduating from the Xavier Institute developing Da Costa Industries' holdings in North America. The business, mostly based in manufacturing, shipping, and mining, isn't as glamorous as the cutting-edge technology or staggering super-science that forms the backbone of many walthy heroes' corporations, but it is nonetheless highly profitable. |
Futebol |
At one point, Roberto was considered one of the most promising young soccer players in Brazil. The manifestation of his mutant powers, the murder of his girlfriend, and his flight to the Xavier Institute put an abrupt end to that, but the young man never lost his love for the beautiful game. He keeps himself in match shape with a strictly monitored diet and workout regimen, and frequent practice keeps his skills and stamina at their peak. This has an obvious effect on his fighting style: he uses advanced footwork and feints learned on the field to mislead opponents, trip them up, and dodge their attacks. |
Photosynthetic |
Roberto depends on sunlight not only to fuel his powers, but to power his body. If he uses his powers too much without replenishing his reserves, he can lose access to his powers and become lethargic, delerious, or even catatonic. If he is kept without light for too long, he can begin to 'starve' for it. Furthermore, if he is restricted to artificial light sources for over a week, he can start to suffer from various maladies, comparable to nutrient deficiencies. |
Arrogance |
Roberto's privileged upbringing, good looks, and overachievement have left him more than a little vain. Although not hot-headed per se, he is easy to goad into 'proving himself' and viciously resents anyone he perceives as condescending. He'll overreact whenever he feels someone isn't giving him his due. |
Business Adversaries |
Owing to unsavory business connections that Roberto discovered as a teenager, he has long had a fraught relationship with his father, Emmanuel da Costa. The two are old-school and honor bound about it, preferring one-upsmanship behind closed doors to outright hostility, but the same cannot be said about those unsavory connections, whose attempts to blackmail Emmanuel led directly to the death of then-teenage Roberto's girlfriend, Juliana.
When Emmanuel later entrusted a portion of Da Costa International to Roberto — expecting the boy to crash and burn spectacularly — one of the first things the younger da Costa did was liquidate all holdings he saw as 'tainted' by his father's compromises. This earned Roberto the enmity of the same high-powered businessmen. Any number of powerful, shady, rich moguls have a grudge against Roberto now, and just as many see his youth and inexperience as an opening to fleece him. |
Relationships
X-Men: Red Team |
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Sam Guthrie: Best Friend
Sam and Roberto became fast friends during their time together at Xavier's. The Red Team was a tougher sell for Sam than the rest of the New Mutants, but Roberto can be pretty persuasive when he wants to. |
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Illyana Rasputina: Teammate
Although 'Berto was pretty scared of the demon queen when they met, today he has absolute trust and real affection for her. He'll have her back to the end, and he knows he can expect the same in return. |
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Amara Aquilla: Teammate
Amara, another New Mutant, gave Roberto the idea to form the Red Team as a corporate-sponsored, public face of the X-men. |
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Doug Ramsey: Teammate
Doug is another good friend from Roberto's student days, and a founding member of the Red Team. |
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Bobby Drake: Teammate
Bobby Drake, ice powers. Bobby da Costa, fire powers. Clearly they had to either be nemeses or a double act. |
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Audrey Wallace: Teammate
Roberto was sticking his neck out a little by recruiting Audrey, but she has given him good reason to take pride in that decision. |
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Mike Drakos: Teammate
Mike's talents have proven invaluable for both Red Team's missions and the acquisition of Roberto's Sweet Ride NĂºmero Um. |
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Simon Hall: Teammate
Roberto did his best to pull Simon out of his shell when they were classmates at Xavier's. In a way, recruiting him for the Red Team is a continuation of that. |
Xavier's |
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Nancy O'Neal: Friend
Nancy's frustration with the protectiveness of the Xavier Institute echoes with some of Roberto's own experiences as a student. |
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Kitty Pryde: Former Classmate
Kitty was the class overachiever, Roberto the class troublemaker. They got along better than you would expect, and diverging paths since graduation have done nothing to diminish their mutual respect. |
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Kurt Wagner: Mentor
Kurt's positive attitude and steadfast refusal to hide himself from the world were important formative influences for Roberto. |
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Hank McCoy: Former Teacher
Hank hasn't taken to the concept of the Red Team as readily as most of the X-Men, but Roberto readily accepts the challenge of proving themselves to the scientist. |
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Scott Summers: Former Teacher
One can only imagine the friction between teen troublemaker Roberto and authoritarian teacher Scott. But in the years since, the man seems to have adjusted easily to treating 'Berto as a peer. |
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Ororo Munroe: Former Teacher
Storm's calm demeanor and gentle nature may be qualities Roberto can never hope to possess, but he admires them nonetheless. |
Allies |
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Maria Hill: Verbal Chess Opponent
Negotiating an understanding with SHIELD was one of Roberto's first challenges on the road to establishing the Red Team's legitimacy. He quickly learned to respect Hill's no-bullshit attitude and hard practical thinking. |
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Jericho Trent: Instigator
Illyana's familiar always seems to be turning up with trouble on his heels. Roberto loves trouble. |
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Reed Richards: Typical Scientist
Like every other scientist Roberto has ever met, Reed has a tendency to drag superpowered individuals into parallel dimensions where they can be attacked by races of vicious bug people. Where these guys find time to cover up the existence of Bigfoot, he'll never guess. |
Family |
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Emmanuel da Costa: Father
Emmanuel's high expectations for his son's success have morphed into a behind-the-scenes rivalry between their two fiefdoms within DCI. |
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Nina da Costa: Mother
Roberto is deeply fond of his mother, and developed his taste for adventure accompanying Nina on her anthropological expeditions. |
Character Gallery
Logs
Sins of the Future #4: Havoc
February 27th, 2016: Members of the X-Men follow up on a lead they had found in New York City concerning the sisterhood. When they arrive at the estate, they detect a mutant presence in great pain; it was Alexander Summers and The Sisterhood was preparing to use him as a living weapon that would destroy a large portion of the Eastern Seaboard. If the X-Men didn't act quickly, Gotham, Metropolis and New York would be lost.
(log: 20150227-sins-of-the-future:havoc | tags: cable havok iceman lunair lux marvel-girl metal sinsofthefuture sunspot x-men | posted: 27 Feb 2015 18:31)
Sins of the Future #2: Reflection
February 23, 2015: The X-Men Red Team as well as a student from the Institute help the NYPD investigate a grisly murder, drawing them into a vast conspiracy far bigger than any of them. (Emits by Rachel)
(log: 20150223-sins-of-the-future:reflection | tags: cypher iceman lunair lux magik marvel-girl metal sinsofthefuture sotf sunspot x-men | posted: 24 Feb 2015 07:38)
The Cure, Finale (X-men/Fantastic Four Teamup)
February 15, 2015: The X-men and Fantastic Four travel to the N-Zone to find the elements needed to prevent the dreaded affliction to Mutants from spreading.
(log: 20150215-the-cure-finale-x-men-fantastic-four-teamup | tags: beast cyclops fantastic_four kitty_pryde lux mimic mister_fantastic phoenix sunspot the_cure thing x-men | posted: 16 Feb 2015 03:45)
Girl Bachelor
February 12, 2015: Nancy takes Roberto and Bobby out to celebrate getting her Bachelor's degree.
(log: 20150212-girl-bachelor | tags: deadzone iceman sunspot | posted: 13 Feb 2015 05:04)
X:4:X The Plan
February 9, 2015: The X-men meet with Reed and Ben to hear about a terrible sickness infecting mutant kind.
(log: 20150209-x:4:x-the-plan | tags: beast cyclops fantastic_four longshot mimic mister_fantastic nightcrawler phoenix sunspot thing x-men | posted: 10 Feb 2015 03:45)
Humanity and other species
February 7, 2015: A few young mutants and one young Kryptonian end up on the wrong side of a Friends of Humanity protest at the Central Park reconstruction effort.
(log: 20150209-humanity-and-other-species | tags: lux nyc quicksilver sunspot supergirl x-men | posted: 09 Feb 2015 22:59)
Architects and Army Brats
January 30, 2015: Roberto and Doug welcome newcomer Audrey and visitor Clarissa to the Red Team offices. Roberto proves inept at basic reception work, to no one's surprise.
(log: 20150130-architects-and-army-brats | tags: cypher lux sunspot venus x-men | posted: 31 Jan 2015 14:59)
Tactical Snowball Training
January 27 2015: Things are getting dark and dangerous once more… but there's always tactical snowball training.
(log: 20150127-tactical-snowball-training | tags: aspect lunair lux nyx sunspot u-s-agent x-men | posted: 28 Jan 2015 11:01)
Worlds Apart
January 21, 2015: Doug tries to introduce Kida to Berto and likely gets more awkwardness then he bargained for.
(log: 20150121-worlds-apart | tags: cypher sunspot tattoo | posted: 25 Feb 2015 01:25)
No Swords in Berto's Bed
January 20 2015: Illyana needs some help sleeping and dragoons Berto. Then Jericho and K'nert arrive.
(log: 20150120-swords-in-berto-s-bed | tags: aspect k'nert magik sunspot | posted: 21 Jan 2015 04:49)
Basketball NYC Style
January 19, 2015: A Basketball Game in Central Park and Audrey is targetted
(log: 20150119-basketballnycstyle | tags: human_torch iceman lunair lux sunspot vorpal zatanna | posted: 20 Jan 2015 11:40)
Friends Abroad
January 15 2015: Bobby Storm and Roberto catch up a bit
(log: 20150115-friends-abroad | tags: iceman storm sunspot x-men | posted: 16 Jan 2015 11:48)
Reaching Out
December 1, 2014: Kate visits X-Men Red to ask for their cooperation with her new outreach program.
(log: 20141201-reaching-out | tags: cypher hawkeye_ii simon-npc sunspot | posted: 02 Dec 2014 05:47)
Enemies of the Friends of Humanity
<November 23, 2014>: Roberto comes to talk to the Titans about a common problem.
(log: 20141123-enemies-of-the-friends-of-humanity | tags: sunspot titans vorpal x-men x-men:red | posted: 23 Nov 2014 19:45)
Dam Problems
November 23 2014: Bobby brings a new situation to the attention of Sunspot and Gambit
(log: 20141123-dam-problems | tags: gambit iceman sunspot x-men | posted: 24 Nov 2014 01:54)
A+ Would SHIELD Again
November 19, 2014: Cal seeks out Roberto's opinion on working with SHIELD.
(log: 20141119-a-would-shield-again | tags: mimic sunspot x-men | posted: 20 Nov 2014 01:38)
Trafficking Redux
November 16 2014: Returning to the scene of an incident with Iceman, Sunspot and Cypher become acquainted with Robin and Oracle
(log: 20141116-trafficking-redux | tags: batfam cypher gotham iceman oracle robin sunspot x-men | posted: 20 Nov 2014 12:14)
Demons are not pets
November 04 2014: Jericho, Nancy and Roberto plant trees in Limbo. It all goes quite well until someone forgets that demons are not pets.
(log: 20141104-demons-are-not-pets | tags: aspect deadzone k'nert sunspot | posted: 06 Nov 2014 03:27)
Full House
October 30 2014: Bobby and Nancy catch up, with a visit from Berto and a cameo from Kori
(log: 20141030-full-house | tags: deadzone iceman outsiders starfire sunspot x-men | posted: 31 Oct 2014 11:45)
Conspiracy Theory Pogs
September 24, 2014: Temporary intruders from another reality become lost in this reality. Various heroes and bystanders get caught up in their shenanigans.
(log: 20140924-conspiracy-theory-pogs | tags: batwoman corvinus gotham green_arrow power_girl sunspot superman zatanna | posted: 26 Sep 2014 14:05)
After Work Special: Club Edition
September 20 2014: Two Bobby's meet at a club at the end of the work day.
(log: 20140920-after-work-special:club-edition | tags: iceman sunspot | posted: 29 Sep 2014 08:51)
Sanity Break
September 16, 2014: Bobby and Nancy come to see Roberto and make sure that he's not cracking under the stress of recent events.
(log: 20140916-sanity-break | tags: deadzone iceman sunspot | posted: 19 Sep 2014 00:34)
Greenland Debriefing
September 15, 2014: Jericho and Lunair fill out after-action reports for Agent May. Roberto comes along to keep Lunair out of trouble and get May's opinion on the X-ers' performance.
(log: 20140915-greenland-debriefing | tags: aspect lunair shield sunspot the_cavalry x-men | posted: 17 Sep 2014 13:29)
Westchester Blues: Back Yard
September 12, 2014: The X-men deal with one wing of the Hydra attack in the forest behind the Xavier Institute.
(log: 20140913-westchester-blues:back-yard | tags: aspect gambit metal rogue storm sunspot vorpal x-men | posted: 15 Sep 2014 01:10)
Briefings and Considerations
September 11 2014: Jericho stops by to chat with Berto. Shortly thereafter, Illyana stops by too.
(log: 20140911-briefings-and-considerations | tags: aspect magik sunspot x-men | posted: 14 Sep 2014 06:43)
Feng Shui
September 9, 2014: Kitty and Doug help Roberto move his new furniture into his apartment.
(log: 20140909-feng-shui | tags: cypher shadowcat simon-npc sunspot x-men | posted: 10 Sep 2014 18:49)
The X-Men go to Macy's
September 7, 2014: A group of X-Men members, from both Blue and Red teams, decide to go on a shopping trip to Macy's.
(log: 20140907-x-men-macys | tags: cyclops kid-omega lunair metal psylocke sunspot x-men | posted: 07 Sep 2014 22:15)
Nesting Instinct
September 6, 2014: Mike, Nancy and the Nesters show up to help Roberto clear the wreckage out of his home.
(log: 20140906-nesting-instinct | tags: deadzone metal nesters-npc sunspot x-men | posted: 08 Sep 2014 20:45)
All Bleed Red
August 25 2014: X-men Red Team members gather at the Da Costa building to discuss many things.
(log: 20140825-all-bleed-red | tags: iceman magma phase simon-npc sunspot x-men | posted: 26 Aug 2014 10:06)
Cultural Exchange
August 24 2014: Bobby, Berto and Mike meet her Majesty Queen Mera
(log: 20140824-cultural-exchange | tags: aquawoman iceman metal sunspot x-men | posted: 26 Aug 2014 05:52)
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