OOC INFORMATION
Name: Everett
Contact: wolfnoir @ plurk
Are You Over 18?: Yes
Other Characters: Juno Steel, Ash Williams

CHARACTER INFORMATION
Character Name: Clinton Francis Barton, aka “Hawkeye”
Age: Early 30s
Canon: Marvel Comics (aka Marvel-616)
Canon Point: Post-West Coast Avengers (2018)
Character Information: Here

Personality:

“You cowboy around with the Avengers some. Guys got, what, armor. Magic. Super-powers. Super-strength. Shrink-dust. Grow-rays. Magic. Healing factors. I’m an orphan raised by carnies fighting with a stick and a string from the Paleolithic era.

So when I say this looks “bad”? I promise you it feels worse.”

When you have to summarize a character who has seen countless iterations with dozens of writers and interpretations, it can be pretty damn difficult to outline their personality in a succinct manner. For the sake of this app (and to stop myself from going insane over the ridiculousness that is Marvel comics), I’ll be mostly focusing on Clint’s characterization in the Hawkeye (2012) Aja/Fraction run.

There are a few things that the average citizen could probably glean about Hawkeye from a surface-level glance. The first thing, of course, is that he’s an Avenger, and the second is that he’s really, really good at shooting a bow and arrow. But you don’t become an Avenger just by being good at something--you have to be the best. Luckily, Clint is the best archer in the world, matched only by his mentee, Kate Bishop, who happens to share the Hawkeye moniker. It’s a little confusing at times, admittedly.

But just being the best at archery doesn’t make you a hero. Clint has a solid moral foundation that guides his actions as an Avenger. No matter what, Clint will always try and do what is right--which usually means beating up the bad guys and saving the good guys. It doesn’t matter with what laws are put in place--if the laws are wrong, that means it’s his job to defy them and do right. Clint cares strongly about the people in his community--after all, unlike the other Avengers, he’s just an ordinary guy without any sort of powers of his own. He knows what it’s like to feel helpless and unable to defend yourself in a bad situation. This extends beyond just physically protecting people in times of crisis. When witnessing the mob trying to force people out of their apartments by increasing their rent, Clint proceeded to buy the entire apartment building and put them under his protection.

Once he’s dedicated himself to a certain task, there’s nothing that can stand in his way. Hell, when Russian tracksuit mobsters continued to threaten the apartment building, he put himself on an almost twenty-four hour watch to scare off any potential troublemakers. As a result of this headstrong nature, however, he has a tendency to butt heads with Captain America, who tends to be a stickler for the rules. But when you want results, Hawkeye is the guy you call. Although he may occasionally rely on some tactics that are seen as underhanded or otherwise ill-advised by other superheroes, Clint remains very firm in his ‘no killing’ rule--a resolution he made after he finally escaped the influences of his criminal past. Even when it comes to dispatching bad guys, he refrains from actively killing them, instead preferring to eliminate the threat they pose or leaving them with irreparable body damage.

(Arguably, this is probably worse than actually killing someone, but...comics.)

When you’re the only person on an all-star superhero team without any powers, you tend to get pretty good at thinking on the fly and relying on unconventional tactics to keep yourself alive. It also helps to have been raised by a bunch of carnies. When faced with a bad situation, Clint is pretty resourceful and can use whatever is at his disposal to get out of that situation. When the mobsters launched a final assault against Clint and the residents of the apartment building, he organized the residents to protect themselves--grills filled with hot coals to throw down upon the attackers, a furniture barricade to block off the stairs, and other improvised weapons. Additionally, in his spare time, Clint works on inventing a variety of trick arrows to line his quiver, such as acid arrows, smoke arrows, and so on and so forth.

But we’re not just here to talk about Hawkeye, hero and Avenger and all around a good guy. We’re also here to talk about Clint Barton, a regular human being, and what he does when he's not busy being Hawkeye. In all honesty, outside of his hero shtick, Clint Barton is a disaster of a man. Then again, you don’t get raised by a circus ringmaster who trained you and your brother to be criminals without having some lingering issues.

When in conversation with most people, Clint tries to keep a friendly, laidback attitude. He’s frequently seen snacking on food during stakeouts, chatting with his neighbors (and even offering to set up his TV so that his neighbor’s kids can watch a holiday special), and attending barbecues on the rooftop of his apartment building. He doesn’t want his status as a hero to distract from the fact that he’s just an ordinary person, and he regularly pokes fun of himself for being the guy with the bow and arrows. However, that self-deprecating humor has some insight as to what Clint actually thinks of himself. As much as he likes to joke, Clint frequently feels as though he has to push himself to his limits in order to justify him being an Avenger--or, just a hero in general.

If he isn’t operating at peak performance, then that means he’s not the best, which means he doesn’t belong on the team. As a result, he has a tendency to make rather impulsive decisions, throwing himself directly into danger and suffering frequent injury. Clint almost always has bandages scattered across his body, either as a result of him getting into trouble or by pushing himself too hard. When he’s in particularly depressive periods, he throws himself into his work, pushing himself to extremes in order to prove to himself that he can be a hero. Because if he isn’t doing good, then what good is he for?

Sure, Clint Barton is the best archer in the world, but when compared to someone like the Hulk or Captain America, it’s hard not to feel inferior in skill. Thus, it can be hard for him to accept help from others when he needs it. He has a stubborn habit of trying to accomplish things by himself, even when people offer him help repeatedly, whether it be dealing with a gang of Russia mobsters or trying to untangle the wires on his cablebox. As a result, he can be prideful to a fault. A few minutes after Clint gets wheeled out of the hospital for breaking most of the bones in his body, he immediately discards his wheelchair in the middle of the street and tries to take a taxi. Additionally, after Clint is deafened permanently, he refuses to sign with his brother, attempting to pretend that everything is normal and that he doesn’t need help. It takes some time to slap some sense into him, but once Clint gets dragged out from his depression hole, he begins to realize that he has a whole community to support him and begins to cautiously accept the help of others.

At the end of the day, Hawkeye is a hero for the people. He’s the hero you call when you have a mob threatening to push you out of your apartment, the man you call when your house is getting flooded, and the guy you invite over to your rooftop barbecue to chill. Although his lack of actual super powers might cause one to overlook him in favor of the other Avengers, Clint cares deeply about his community and will fight tooth and nail to protect it. And, really, that’s the mark of a true hero.

5-10 Key Character Traits:

• Protective
  
• Heroic
  
• Determined
  
• Selfless
  
• Resourceful
  
• Impulsive
  
• Stubborn
  
• Laidback
  
• Self-destructive

Would you prefer a monster that FITS your character’s personality, CONFLICTS with it, EITHER, or opt for 100% RANDOMIZATION? Fits!
Opt-Outs: Troll, Pooka, Simulacrum, Arachne, Gargoyle, Minotaur, +Werebear (Juno Steel) + Shade (Ash Williams)

Roleplay Sample: One and Two