REBEL YELL

PERSONAL DATA

HISTORY

Davis Stewart Miller was born in Mississippi to a proud Southern family. Growing up he heard tales from his great-grandfather about the "War of Northern Aggression" and learned about honor and quality of a Southern gentlemen, traits his grandfather and father also emphasized. As a child young Davis idolized these men and their stories of Southern pride and honor, but the young boy also had a secret. As a child he had learned that he could stun small animals and knock around small rocks by shouting, but because of his family's Fundamentalist beliefs the young Davis thought that meant he had been touched by the Devil so he hid this from his family.

Shortly after his thirteenth birthday Davis' view of his family and its heritage changed forever. One night Davis snuck out of the house to follow his father and grandfather. He saw the pair meet up with some other men and watched from hiding as they donned white robes and hoods and headed into the part of town where the black families lived. Davis followed and watched from hiding as the group proceeded to spread gasoline around a Church used by the black families and set it alight. This horrified Davis, but not as much as what he saw next. A black man had spotted the flames and come to investigate, and Davis' father and another two men with him grabbed the man and started to lynch him from a nearby tree.

From his hiding place Davis shouted "No!" and, to his surprise, his father and the other men were knocked off their feet. With the rope around his neck gone slack when the men were knocked down, the black man was able to flee; the rest of the robed men were too busy trying to see what had hit their friends to chase after him. Davis panicked and began to run and the robed men, including his father, heard the noise and began to chase after him. As Davis ran through the woods he suddenly realized that his feet were no longer touching the ground; he was flying! Davis flew up into the top of the tallest tree he could see and hid there as the men ran by underneath. Once they had passed by Davis shakily flew home, sneaking into his room and pretending to be asleep.

The next day Davis tried to think about what he could do. He heard his father ranting about how the "n****r" had gotten away from them the night before by using some kind of Voodoo, and that the blacks were a threat to the whole town and he and his friends would do something about it. Davis was terrified, but knew he had to do something. He couldn't go to the local police; the sheriff had been one of the robed men with his father the night before. Instead the next day Davis skipped school and hitchhiked to Jackson. There he contacted the FBI and told them what he had seen (but not about his apparent super powers) and also about what he heard his father say the men were planning to do.

The next day the FBI arrived and arrested all the men Davis had been able to identify including his father, grandfather, and the sheriff. When his family learned that it was Davis that had called the FBI his mother was furious and cursed him and threw him out of the house. Realizing he could not stay in town anymore, and that he was in danger, Davis ran away. He hitchhiked north, eventually making it to Nashville where he lived on the streets earning money on odd jobs. After a couple of years on the streets Davis was working as a busboy at a bar (having lied about his age) when the owner heard the teen singing and offered him a job as a backup singer in the house band.

With the backup singer job Davis was making enough to get off the streets and into a rooming house. He started getting a few other singing gigs, and even busked for tourists, to make a few more dollars. While he was saving money from his jobs Davis started practicing with his super powers, which he had not used since that night at the church years earlier. He began using his powers in secret when opportunities arose, doing things like stopping muggers or stopping dangerous drivers when it looked like they might hurt someone. He would also use his powers to defend anyone he thought was being oppressed, actions that sometimes put him at odds with the law.

By the time he turned eighteen Davis had saved enough money to buy a car, settling on a beat up old 1970 Dodge Challenger. After refurbishing the car Davis decided to hit the road and began driving around the Southern States. He would work odd jobs, including the occasional singing gig, in order to make money while looking for opportunities to use his powers to help people. Over time Davis developed a reputation and the media began to refer to him as the Rebel Yell. After a few years Davis took his drifting out of the South and began driving cross country, still looking for people to help.

At one point his wandering took Rebel Yell to Superior City where several of its heroes had disappeared. He helped some of the remaining heroes against a variety of threats, including battles against the Graveyard Shift and helping thwart a plot by the Crime Cartel to rig the city elections. During this time Davis met another drifter, the nature-powered Flora. He was smitten with the attractive young woman and the two then traveled together for a short time. Ultimately the two proved to be too different to work together and parted ways, leaving Rebel Yell to continue his cross-country crusade on his own again.

POWERS & WEAPONS

Rebel Yell can project a powerful sonic beam with his voice. A shout from the hero can bend metal and shatter stone; because of its strength Davis is careful when using his powerful voice against living targets unless he believes they are tough enough to withstand it. Rebel Yell also has the power to fly, though he rarely uses it outside of combat. His skin is also incredibly tough, strong enough to deflect small calibre bullets.

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