Iron Lad

No one knows anything about Nathaniel Richards. He is in no databank yet. Iron Lad? A couple sightings as a crime-fighter.

Background
Nathaniel Richards was born in a perfect world. Humans in the 40th Century had achieved harmony with themselves, defeated all their enemies, eliminated disease, conquered death, discovered virtually all the secrets of the universe. In his perfect world, people lived to attain self-perfection, to find love and enjoy perfection. For Nathaniel, it was horrendously boring.

An ambitious genius, Nathaniel craved challenge. He also greatly admired the heroes of the past: the warriors, the scientists, the explorers. He was particularly fascinated by the 'super-heroes' of the 20th and 21st Centuries.

His fascination by the 'barbaric' past, his superior intellect and his arrogance made Nathaniel few friends. He was way ahead than his peers and childhood friends in his studies and work. And despite all their culture, high moral standards and educational improvements, teenagers could still be jealous, bullying and jerks.

Nathaniel had no problem confronting bullies and jerks in the most abrasive, arrogant way a teenager with a superiority complex could. He never lacked courage and he never had a lot of common sense to spare. Unsurprisingly, he got in a few confrontations with the local jocks. Not violent ones, though, that would have been almost unthinkable for the hyper-civilized 40th century society. Until he that one time...

Nathaniel was almost 17, he got into a fight, a real fight, with a boy his age called Morgan. There were punches, he was knocked flat and took his stimuloid prototype robot. Nathaniel retaliated electrifying the mini-robot. Morgan aimed a kicked to the face. A very dangerous kick because Morgan was wearing metal flying shoes and they had a sharp edge.

Time stopped.

Kang the Conqueror, infamous temportal war criminal appeared. Nathaniel knew him, of course, Kang was a time-travelling criminal that had conquered and ruled regions of Earth between the 20th and 39th Century. His exploits in parallel timelines were often even more terrifying. Whole star empires had been toppled, conquered, or created because of his actions.

And Kang unmasked, showing Nathaniel they were one and the same. Kang explained he had decided to prevent one of the most bitted events of his life, when he was badly maimed by a bully and even with the medical technology of the 40th Century he almost died, spent a long time in the hospital and had his parents go through a lot of grief and hardship. Kang showed Nathaniel his deeds, his past, which was also his future. He gave him his armor and encouraged to kill the bully and start his glorious career earlier and better.

But Nathaniel was horrified. He was maybe not the nicest boy in the world, but lacking Kang's bitter injury experience, his years as a god-pharaoh in Egypt and the decades, maybe centuries of ruthless conquests, what Kang showed him didn't look glorious but monstrous. He turned the armor against Kang and fled. Acting almost without thinking, he time-jumped.

The next few weeks were strange for Nathaniel. Terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. He was lost in time, and he expected Kang would be chasing him, so he kept moving through time and parallel timelines, learning to use the armor and surviving by his wits and technical skills. Finally he devised a plan. He would flee to the 21st Century, the great Second Heroic Age where Kang was defeated many times, he would become a hero, master the armor and recruit allies, and then he would defeat Kang, and prevent his own dark future.

Personality
A year ago Nathaniel was a bored genius teenager. Too smart for his own good, too arrogant. And bored out of his mind. He had few friends, and felt he needed none. He was studying to become a scientist, already in his way to an advanced degree despite being only 16. But mastering sciences was just somewhat interesting, everything important had already been discovered by previous scientists, and the few fields of science where some advancement could be done, such as time travel, were heavily regulated or forbidden. How envious was he of the great men of the past! Particularly of the heroes of history and legend 2000 years past.

Because Nathaniel Richards, born in last years of the 40th century of Earth, had the spirit of an adventurer, perhaps even a hero. The blood of both Reed Richards and Victor Von Doom, 70 generations removed, had produced again the kind of man that would challenge the gods themselves for power and knowledge. Unfortunately, all the gods had long surrendered all their secrets to humankind. Nate was born in a perfect Utopia. Humankind had mastered the universe and themselves, defeated disease, death, war and social unrest. No, a year ago nothing mattered much.

That was a year ago. Kang's visit and revelations have shattered Nathaniel worldview. Much of his arrogance is gone, replaced with paranoid worry. He is a young man facing the first setback in his life, and it is a problem of monumental, epic proportions. Can he stop himself from becoming the greatest super-villain of history and legend? If it was just him against the world, it would be fair challenge he would gladly accept. But it is him against himself!

For young Nathaniel now ethics, actions and consequences have become a matter of the utmost importance. What actions, what path leads into Kang the Conqueror? What options does he have that do not involve suicide? (Which he has also considered). Did Kang start trying to do good? Is it better to do nothing? Is he being manipulated into a one-way path by his future self? Doubt is a new emotion he does not enjoy the least. But backing down from a challenge is something he is unable to do. He will defeat Kang, no matter the cost. He will become a hero, not a villain.

Nathaniel has immense drive, an almost unmatched intellect, he is arrogant and confident (right now a little less than a year ago, but still quite a lot by most standards) and does not really believe laws apply to someone like him, and he can also be very ruthless. As a matter of fact, he has already almost all the traits needed to be Kang the Conqueror. He is lacking a disregard for human life and the coldness, heartlessness of a man willing to have millions die to fulfil his ambitions. Nate still has a conscience, and lately he is listening to it with unusual attention.