Astro-Man

History
From an early age, Steve Hiromatsu was told strange stories of unexplainable events, by his grandmother. She constantly warned him that he must never have more than a single child, so that it may learn to appreciate the brotherhood of humanity. For 200 years, his descendants had never had more than a single child.

His grandmother often took him stargazing, and like many of his descendants, Steve had become an astronomer. One day, while working in his lab with his good friend Hassan Al-Talib, a strange feeling came over Steve, and Hassan rushed to his aid. Suddenly, a shockwave rolled through the lab, collapsing it on top of them both. Steve, feeling more energized than ever, freed himself from the debris, and then hefted 3 tons of concrete off of Hassan. Within seconds, he found himself in a hospital with Hassan unconscious in his arms. He had no idea how he had gotten to the hospital, which was 5 miles from his lab. He only knew that it was where he wanted to be.

The story seemed similar to others which his grandmother had once told him about. He went to her and told her his own story. That is when she let him know, that his lineage was not of this earth.

200 years ago, on a planet called Viro, a race of conquerors had sent agents throughout the universe to raise an army that would dominate all the inhabited worlds. Each agent was genetically constructed to resemble the inhabitants of the worlds they were sent to, but each was raised on Viro and trained to conquer. Each possessed special genetic coding which would allow them to manipulate unusual waves of energy, once the code was triggered by a burst of the energy from Viro. When the first of the Hiromatsu line arrived on earth, he became a great samurai, and was prepared to help his fellow agents conquer the earth. Then he fell in love with a human woman, and realized that he could not bare to allow his fellow humans to become slaves of Viro. He traveled the world and assassinated the other agents of Viro. And he vowed that his lineage would remain small, so that if the powers he was promised were passed on, there would not be enough descendants for Viro to exploit.

Although Steve's grandmother was not part of the line, Steve's mother was, and an attempt to activate her powers had killed her. Now Steve was the sole descendant of the agents of Viro left on earth. He studied the energy which now coursed through his body, and discovered that it was unlike any energy known to human science. For it's unearthly nature, he called the waves of energy Astro-Waves. But he was not the only person who had detected this strange energy. His friend Hassan desperately wished to harness the energy's strange properties. He believed it was a key to wealth and glory. But Steve would not share his research, for fear that the energy could be dangerous in the wrong hands. New agents of Viro were already at work on Earth, under the direction of General Kalthar, and Steve was forced to assume the identity of Astro-Man, so that he could use his abilities to combat them. Hassan felt scorned that Steve would not share his research and that he flaunted his abilities as Astro-Man.

What Steve did not know is that there had been many attempts to activate the agents of Viro, over the centuries, but none of the energy pulses was ever strong enough. Kalthar had ordered a blast of the energy to be detonated that was so powerful, it killed nearly all life on Viro. Only a few survivors remained on Kalthar's flagship, and he was the only one left who had been engineered to manipulate the same powers as Astro-Man. Now, Kalthar wishes to rebuild Viro on earth and has vowed to turn Astro-Man into a loyal agent of Viro...or destroy him.

Powers and Abilities
Astro-Man's body courses with energy he refers to as "Astro-Waves" He is able to channel this energy in a number of specific ways, but can not focus it on more than one task at a time. He can project the energy from his body to propel himself through the air at supersonic speeds. He can also project the energy from his body as concussive blasts, powerful enough to crumble a concrete wall. By focusing on the energy within his own body, he can use it to reinforce and boost the energy within the cells of his muscle giving him massive superhuman strength. When focusing on this ability, he can lift in excess of 100 tons.

Astro-Man's body naturally reserves enough energy to protect itself from physical harm at any given time. A network of living energy fields protect every individual molecule of Astro-Man's body, making him virtually indestructible. The only time in which this protective energy does not protect him on this level, is when he actively wills the energy beyond his own body. He may do this to create a wider force field around himself, or around another object within his line of site. This is the only time at which Asto-Man is vulnerable to normal physical injuries.

Asto-Man is also able to detect any Astro-Waves within his vicinity, and even use the waves as a kind of radar, allowing him to sense objects he can not see.

In his civilian identity, Steve is a brilliant astrophysicist.

Personality
Steve was raised with a strong since of duty to helping mankind, and he has a very strong appreciation for the wonders of the universe. He often looks up at the stars when he is under stress, and even during the day, he tends to be lost in his dreams of distant galaxies and black holes. He is often considered something of a space cadet. As a scientist and as a superhero who has seen many strange things, he is not quick to dismiss even the craziest notions, and therefore sarcasm and irony are sometimes lost on him. He sometimes finds it hard to tell when someone is kidding. That isn't to say he doesn't have a sense of humor, but strangely, his astrophysics jokes don't seem to be as popular with others.

Relationships
Dr. Sharon Santiago is a veterinarian and environmentalist who has dedicated her life to the preservation of all of earth's lifeforms. She adores Astro-Man for helping to protect not only life on earth, but life on other planets as well. However, her relationship with Steve Hiromatsu is a little colder. They went to school together, but she does not understand his obsession with the cold and desolate reaches of space, when true beauty can be found in the delicate lifeforms of the earth. Where Steve is calculating and scientific, Sharon is spiritual and passionate. Only as Astro-Man does Steve seem comfortable demonstrating his own passion for Sharon.