Characteristic

Cost

END

Cost

3

Cost

Cost

10

3

3

5

-1

9

7

4

3

3

3

20

10

15

20

15

10

15

1

1

1

1

1

5

15

20

Since he was born in Palm Springs, Florida, Thomas's childhood memories prominently feature the Daytona 500 races. Growing up alongside such luminaries of the "Road of Thunder," he became insterested in speed, and the mechanics behind the cars' thunder. He pursued many avenues of interest, bouncing from college to technical insitute--seeking knowledge of automotive power in hopes that one day he could build and race the ultimate in racing cars.

Luck made its way to Thomas as an offer to test-drive an experimental fuel turbine for DaimlerChrysler. It was the peak of his career; he studied the motor as extensively as the scientists would allow him, and became intimate with its quirks and peculiarities. The Florida sun shone down on him as he took the wheel of the vehicle, "FTest-1" as Thomas called it, at his childhood stomping grounds, the Daytona International Speedway.

But his luck would run out soon.

It was at the apogee of his endurance test run that the turbine exploded. The momentum of FTest-1, already at peak speeds, threw Thomas through the explosion and activated his latent ubergene. Already flying at high speeds, he somehow continued to run nearly as fast--and through the wall, the stands... even through the ticket booths! After his initial momentum ebbed and he stumbled to to a stop, Thomas discovered to his surprise that, despite a badly burned jumpsuit, he was hardly hurt from the multiple collisions he endured.

Even though the fuel turbine's design was later proved to be flawed from the beginning, and the project canceled soon after, the company went ahead and tried to woo him for safety testing of its automobiles. But Thomas wouldn't be moved from his passion--the speed and glory of the Thunder Roads. Yet the cars no longer held his full interest now that he could run as fast as they, and was naturally far more durable. So he began a short solo career in superheroics, soon realizing to his dismay that he could not gather a paycheck from people's admiration.

When he heard that Hero City was looking to fill its roster, he figured that he had nothing to lose, and signed up.

His luck may have changed again, and for the better.

Since he's a speedster with incredible durability, "CrashTest" is a very apt name for him. He can alter the fundamental amount of "work" that put into things. Basicaly, he alters the speed of the vibrations in the molecules of his body, or anything he touches, turning the extra energy generated from heat into work and vice-versa. It's derived from basic physics--take a look at the law of conservation. Unfortunately, he responds badly to temperature change--he can handle heat, but cold slows his own molecules down. Thus, he tends to stay away from colder places whenever possible. The excess energy that he generates also disturbs his sleep from time to time.

He is capable of boosting his own kinetic momentum, giving him both increased speeds and reflexes. He can also drain away kinetic energy in most things, including incoming attacks, forcing them to stop, and sometimes reversing its kinetic momentum. One of his favorite tatics to to "push" his opponents away from himself by transferring his own kinetic motion into them at the point of impact.

As CrashTest, he wears a blue/white armored version of a racedriver's outfit, sans decals and logos save for Hero City's and TestTrack's. Certain points of his outfit have the classic crash test dummy "mark" as a gesture to his name's origin.

As just plain ol' Thomas, he wears a sterotypical outfit--jeans, shirt du jour, and sensible shoes. His concession to vanity, weather permiting, is his favorite fake bomber's jacket, which is covered in multiple decals from various race courses he's visited in the past.