Strident (Christopher Tait)

Backstory and Personality:
Strident's civilian name is Christopher Tait. He is the oldest child of three and grew up with his family in the city. He likely had his powers manifest at a very young age because even as a child he was incredibly loud. His parents had no idea that he was blessed with supernatural abilities and instead assumed that he just didn't know how to be quiet. They spent quite a lot of time and effort into teaching him to control his volume over the years he spent with them.

However, he was never able to fully control his volume and this began to become a bigger and bigger problem as he got older. They were a modest family only just scraping by with both parents working full time jobs. They lived in small apartments because they were all they were able to afford and got many noise complaints from their neighbors because of his volume. They became very practiced at packing all of their things and moving because of being kicked out when these complaints got significant enough.

Over time and constant effort it began to improve. Christopher was old enough at this point that he had come up with a solution to the problem in an attempt to avoid all of the chastising and raised voices it cause in the household. He decided that since he was unable to control the volume of his voice he wouldn't talk at all, it seemed to be the only real way to avoid being too loud. He stopped hanging out with friends that would rile him up and make him too loud and began to pick up quieter hobbies to fill up his time. He even distanced himself from his baby brother, Daniel, to keep himself under control.

This plan wasn't sustainable forever however. Eventually his sister, Chantelle, was born and he was so excited to see her for the first time. In his excitement he lost control again, worse this time from lack of practice. When they examined his sister's hearing years later when her parents were concerned because she hadn't begun speaking yet it was discovered that this moment had severely damaged her hearing. She had to live the rest of her life from this point on with hearing aids.

Strident's parents no longer had the strength or patience to deal with him anymore and sent him to a superhero research facility that promised to keep him safe and help him learn control. He lived there until it was time for him to come to Surrey Ridge. His family did come to visit him on most weekends but he never ever felt like he was a part of it again.

He is in his first year at Surrey Ridge and is so far enjoying it and hoping that it will be a place that he can belong. He has been quickly inducted into the Wolf Pack and is enjoying his time very much with his new friends. He has brought a lot of his hobbies here to calm himself when he needs to and is trying very hard to be a worthy hero.

During the attack on the school by Schism he is feeling quite unsure if he belongs here. He is worried about hurting his fellow students and is considering leaving the school for their sakes.

Appearance:
Christopher is shorter, standing at about 5'4" and is a little heavier-set. He has curly blonde hair and green eyes. He has no idea how to manage his hair so it is chaotic, isn't cut evenly, and probably creeps into his eyes. He typically wears striped polo shirts and khakis which he wears with a belt.

Powers and Abilities:
Strident is able to amplify the power of sound waves. This ability is still out of his ability to minutely control. In certain circumstances it is also highly intuitive for him to use. These two facts mean that if he gets excited and forgets to be conscious his powers, they will naturally amplify the volume of his voice, sometimes to harmful levels. This has proven particularly problematic for Helena whose hearing is far more sensitive than that of the other students. A part of his training at Surrey Ridge includes expanding his control over these powers in order to avoid harming people unintentionally.

He is also able to amplify the volume of sounds originating outside himself as well, and if he becomes very attuned to his powers, he may be able to alter the wavelengths of sound in other more subtle ways.