Eclipse (Teejay Singh)

Origins
Ever since he was first able to focus his eyes on anything, English-Pakistani Teejay Singh has been a huge nerd. From staring at the TV and crying when his favourite shows weren’t on as a baby, to collecting and hoarding posters, props and memorabilia from TV and movies as a young adult, he has always had a slightly obsessive personality when it comes to pop culture.

Whether this comes from a minor rebellion caused by a tricky relationship with strict parents who wanted him to focus on his schoolwork, or just because he thinks the stuff he loves is cool, fandom has always been a haven for him. And while his tastes have changed numerous times over the years, there is one thing that he has always, and will always love, and that is the 1930s pulp fiction hero known as The Eclipse.

Based on a real vigilante who operated in the shadows of Starkweather in the first half of the 20th Century, The Eclipse was an enduring pop culture franchise which spawned TV shows, movies, video games and endless amounts of memorabilia over the years. It concerned Franklin Bloom, an adventurer who was killed at the moment of totality during a solar eclipse and granted superhuman abilities by a representation of the Norse moon god Máni. He returned to his hometown and used his newfound powers to fight crime and injustice wherever he saw it. This character always served as an inspiration to Teejay, and after a mugging on the way home from school one day an idea began to grow in his mind.

He started to believe that he could be a vigilante, meting out justice to the criminals who plagued his hometown, in the mould of the Eclipse. His best friend Aiden Hansen informed him that he was crazy, and that anyone trying to be a vigilante these days would end up dead, but Teejay wasn't convinced.

Over the following weeks, he began to train physically, and something strange started to happen. He began to experience odd phenomena, like a doodle of the Eclipse in his notebook suddenly changing to look like him, or his DVD of The Eclipse TV show getting stuck on a loop of an inspirational moment in the show. He dismissed these as being down to the lack of sleep his school and training regime had caused, but they still seemed strange.

Emergence
Deciding that it would be fitting to go out on his first patrol on the night of a total eclipse, Teejay pulled together his makeshift costume and headed out into the night. He had previously identified a small pocket of criminal activity near his favourite coffee shop, and moved to confront these low-level miscreants.

Unfortunately he had not spent enough time preparing for this first patrol, and in the ensuing confrontation he was stabbed in the gut and left for dead in a warehouse on the outskirts of Monolith. The criminals managed to get away as Teejay bled out, his heart stopping at the exact moment the eclipse reached totality.

In this moment he was transported to an ethereal realm where he encountered the moon god Máni, who had taken the form of the Eclipse from Teejay's favourite TV show. He had a conversation with Teejay where he informed him that there were two choices from this point: either he could go back to the warehouse as he was before and his life would be over; or he could accept the mantle of the Eclipse and dedicate his life to fighting injustice and evil in the world.

He took the obvious choice, and was granted powers relating directly to the lunar cycle. His strength, speed and stamina were increased, he gained the ability to create blasts of silver lunar light and could even teleport using shadows: these powers waxed and waned with the lunar cycle, at their most powerful during a new moon and their least at a full moon.

Taking on the mantle of Eclipse, Teejay has continued to fight crime, while also continuing to work in a comic book shop during the day. Over time, he has told Aiden his secret, allowing him to become an ally and occasional driver, and has waged a mostly successful war on crime in Monolith.

Personality
Teejay has always been shy, introverted and more interested in fictional worlds than he ever was in his reality. He always preferred to hide himself away in his bedroom, bury his nose in a book or lose himself in a movie or TV show than to interact and socialise with other people, finding them difficult to relate to. His friendship with Aiden Hansen, which has been a constant in his life since primary school, has helped him to come out of his shell somewhat, but he is still reserved and often awkward when meeting other people.

He also has something of an obsessive personality, and once he is interested in something he is all in on that idea, devouring everything he can that even remotely relates to it. He is a voracious reader of books and comics, he constantly has the TV in his bedroom on and his collections of pop culture memorabilia and merchandise borders on 'hoarder' status.

This obsessive element of his mindset actually helped him to prepare for his new life as the latest host of the powers of the Eclipse, as once he got the idea in his head he became laser-focused on achieving his goal. Similarly, once he was granted his new superhuman abilities, his in-depth knowledge of the character meant that he was able to pick up his new skills and abilities with relative ease.

Since gaining his powers and operating on a nightly basis as the Eclipse, Teejay has grown more confident and comfortable in his own skin. While he still prefers his own company, he is able to manage confrontation in a far more effective and proactive manner than he ever was before, although he has become a little too comfortable with lying to his family and friends about his nightly whereabouts.

Superhuman Abilities
Since taking on the mantle of the moon spirit known as the Eclipse, Teejay has gained a variety of superhuman abilities, some of which are unique to his iteration of the legacy hero.
 * Superhuman Physical Attributes - With the power of the Eclipse, Teejay is far stronger, faster and more agile than he was before, able to move in a smooth and acrobatic manner, with surprising speed and considerable physical strength.
 * Combat Prowess - Previously having no combat training to speak of, Teejay has been able to reach back into the memories of the Eclipse's previous hosts and tap into their combat prowess to use as his own. Owing to the large number of previous hosts, he now has access to a wide range of fighting styles, although he prefers to stick with close-quarters martial arts.
 * Moonlight Manipulation - Teejay is able to use his connection to the lunar cycle to channel moonlight for a variety of purposes, including generating blinding flashes of silver light and more tightly focused beams of energy which he can use for offensive purposes. He has also developed the ability to create pale 'holographic' images by shaping the moonlight, something no other host of the Eclipse has been able to do previously.
 * Shadow Manipulation - As the Eclipse was born from a confluence of moonlight and shadow, Teejay is also able to manipulate shadows and use them for a range of effects. He primarily uses the ability to wrap himself in a cloak of darkness which helps him move around unseen, but can also teleport himself and others between pools of shadow and even shape the shadows to confuse and disorient his opponents.
 * Immortality - The power of the Eclipse grants Teejay functional immortality as long as he is bonded with it, and this also increases his physical durability, meaning he can withstand far more physical injury than a normal human, and recover twice as quickly.

Weapons and Equipment
At first Teejay was adamant that he would not carry weapons as he never wanted to kill anyone and felt that he was far more likely to do so if he carried weapons. However after becoming aware of a range of non-lethal weapons, he has taken to carrying a pair of short batons when he goes out on patrol, which he frequently utilises both as close-combat weapons and as projectiles, proving effective at incapacitating enemies when thrown.