Dean Stansfield, known publicly as Gallant, is a member of the Brockton Bay Wards and the on-and-off again boyfriend of Victoria Dallon.
Personality
Comes across as a natural gentleman, which may have been influenced by his ability to see people emotions in a way no one could hide.
When in costume he pretended to be a tinker in public by wearing 'secondhand' power armor. He thought he would be able to deal with the damage that Glory Girl's projection ability was doing to to her sister Panacea.[3]
Relationships
He had a good relationship with Vicky even if they were on again off again broken up patching things together or any number of changes.[4]
Moved in the same circles as the Anders family, living in the Towers area and likely knew Theo.[5]
Liked spending time with Vista despite the school girl crush she had on him.
His father expected him to start helping with the family business.[6]
Appearence & Equipment
As Gallant, Dean wears futuristic set of silver and gunmetal colored power armor with an aesthetic grounded in the medieval past.[7] This tinker made suit had recessed lights under the plates. This power-suit was created by Kid Win[8] and maintained for him by Armsmaster.[9] Functionally it is largely similar to Armsmaster's own power-armor, but much of the enhanced strength this stripped down version offers is geared toward letting Gallant move around freely despite its heavy weight. It allowed him to survive a tousle with Hellhound's enhanced dogs with only a broken rib.[10][11] What strength it does give him allows a large advantage in CQC.[5]
Abilities and Powers
Gallant's powers were purchased from Cauldron.[12] Thanks to them Dean is an empath capable of generating concussive blasts of energy that can alter emotions in addition to packing a punch.[9] He was somewhat versatile in how he used this energy being able to lob cannonball sized orbs or shoot them from his fingertips in tight beams.[5]
He is capable of inflicting specific emotions on his opponents with these blasts. The effect is unreliable when used on individuals like Hellhound, who are not neurotypical.[10][5] Tattletale pointed out that being hit multiple times could be debilitating from the constant emotional switches.[13]
Dean is also capable of sensing the emotions of those around him,[11] though he seems to have issues distinguishing between them. Glory girl's aura potentially made her unreadable by Gallant's aura vision.[14]
As an emotion manipulator he would be resistant to, and interfere with, other emotion manipulators. His presence would confuse the emotional topology that Cherish senses as well as being able to harm her with the concussive aspect of his blasts, though not the concomitant emotional manipulation. Further he could target those who were affected by Cherish's emotional manipulation, either dismissing the effect or leaving people debilitated like he can do when blasting people with multiple emotions at once.[15]
History
Background
Dean is the heir of some company or the other, would later gain powers.[12] While going to Arcadia High Dean met and started dating Victoria Dallon. Dean was potentially nearby when she triggered and gained her powers,[16] as such her aura may be influenced by his powers.[12]
His family kept horses, he took his girlfriend riding a few times.[17]
Story Start
Dean was a member of the Brockton Bay Wards.
Was seen at the cape gathering for the defense against the coming Endbringer, holding hands with Glory Girl.[18]
He was killed in Leviathan's attack on Brockton Bay.
His final thoughts were of Victoria and with a flash of foreboding he remembered that he had not told anyone how close to a mental breakdown Amy actually was.[3]
He passed in the hospital.
Post-Leviathan
His passing left Victoria distraught, Vista was not faring much better.
Fanart Gallery
References
- ↑ No, wait, that had been a few days after Dean had reminded me of the brute rule. I’d been studying it with more interest because Dean was turning eighteen before long, and we were worried he’d get moved to another city, even with his family situation being what it was. I’d seriously been considering joining the Wards and then the Protectorate, so I could follow him. - Daybreak 1.5
- ↑ Blaster/master. - Comment by Wildbow on Reddit
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Gallant knew, he was aware of where Amy was at and where she was going. He also knew that pushing her too hard or too fast would end in disaster. He gently raises the subject, she reacts badly, he backs off. She avoids him, he continues to act friendly in the hopes that when things start getting bad, she can get past her jealousy of him and reach out. He couldn't read minds, but he could get enough of a sense of where she was emotionally to plot this all out pretty damn well. Left alone, it's very possible he could have walked her through it. But life isn't that simple.
He plants the seed, he offers his help, but then the city gets chaotic and busy and Amy is off helping people who were affected by Bakuda's bombs and he's patrolling the streets and off doing jobs and they only see each other in passing.
Then Leviathan comes, and in Gallant's last moment, he thinks of the girl he genuinely cares about and he has a flash of fear, a moment of regret that he didn't leave a message somewhere to let someone know what was going on with Amy. - A rebuttal by wildbow on Reddit - ↑ “I knew I didn’t have a chance with him. He was way older, he was rich, handsome. He was dating Glory Girl, or they were just getting over a breakup, or he was starting to patch things up with her for the millionth time. There was never a good time to talk to him one on one, unless we were out on patrol together, and I dunno what I would have said if there had been a chance.” - Excerpt from Sentinel 9.3
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Gallant's armor? More details on style? Does it enhance strength? Do anything else?
The armor is primarily protective, with some cosmetic features. Think stylized medieval armor with lights recessed in the midst of it, to give him more of a 'gleaming' look, highlighting edges. The armor is basically a super-reduced version of Armsmaster's, which is a smaller-scale version of Defiant's (which is tanky and bulky). It primarily offers enhanced strength, but 80% of that boosted strength is going towards just allowing Gallant to move around easily with the armor and equipment. Between gauntlet and armor, he can throw a pretty mean punch.
Does Gallant decide the emotions he inflicts? It seemed random with Rachel, but you say otherwise on the cast page.
He decides the emotions. Rachel's wiring is screwed up.
How do his blasts work in terms of dimensions? Are they flashes of light that appear at the target location or are they projectiles?
The blasts take the form of nebulous blobs of light that fly out. Bowling ball sized. Somewhere between a bowling ball and equivalent amount of water in hardness. He can concentrate it to narrower beams 'lasers' by using fingers instead of full hands.
(No question, just adding myself)...
It's alluded to, but he's tied into some of the local business by way of his wealthy dad. He'd easily cross paths with Theo in the hoity toity events (given similar backgrounds/locations - they live in the Towers), and is generally very wealthy.
-- Answers to questions asked by an artist who did a picture I like. I gave him free reign to bug me. - Wildbow on Spacebattles - ↑ “Hm. Gallant won’t be able to leave for Boston. Too many logistical issues,” Hannah glanced at the computer. She couldn’t say more.
“You can speak freely,” Colin spoke, “Dragon has either read the record in question, or she’s reading it as we speak.”
“Gallant has local responsibilities, and is expected to start helping with his father’s local business enterprise,” Dragon spoke, giving truth to Colin’s words, “Miss Militia is right, he’s a local fixture. And his girlfriend is here.” - Excerpt from Interlude 7 - ↑ Gallant – Member of the Boston Bay Wards, wears a costume with pieces of power armor and medieval stylings. Can shoot out blasts of energy that cause little damage but inflict a concentration of whichever emotion he decides. - Cast (spoiler free)
- ↑ It’s not customary for tinkers to design things for teammates. If they do, it’s on a relatively small scale, simple. Kid Win making Gallant’s armor, for example. - Excerpt from Drone 23.5
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Gallant (Deceased) – Generates concussive blasts of energy that alter emotions in addition to packing a punch. Boyfriend of Glory Girl. Wore a silver and gunmetal powersuit that was being maintained by Armsmaster. Perished in the Endbringer arc. - Cast (in depth)
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Bitch got to her feet before Judas did, but only managed to take a single step before one of Gallant’s blasts clipped her. I winced. His light blasts were charged with energy that made the people struck feel a particular emotion. Gallant could blast you with one that made you hopeless, scared, sad, ashamed…
Bitch screamed, and it was a long and primal noise, filled with rage. I was still inside the bank, watching things unfold through the window, barely able to hear it, and it still made my skin crawl. So he’d shot the dangerous psychopath with a blast that made her angry. Someone would have to explain that one to me at a later date. - Excerpt from Agitation 3.10 - ↑ 11.0 11.1 The pair went to Gallant’s alcove, and she sat him down on the bed before laying a hand on his shoulder. She pulled her hood back and furrowed her brow.
“You don’t have a punctured lung. You’ve got one fractured rib, but you’re not even in that much pain. Why-”
“I lied. I wanted to talk to you, alone,” he took her hand.
She scowled and pulled her hand back like he’d bitten her. As if to make doubly sure he wouldn’t grab her hand again, she folded her arms.
“You know I can sense emotions,” he said, “Everyone’s emotions, like a cloud of colors around them. Can’t turn it off. It’s just how I see the world.”
“Victoria mentioned that.”
“So you’re an open book to me. I know you’re scared. No… you’re terrified, and that’s why you’re not talking.”
She sighed and sat on the bed, as far from Gallant as she could.
“I never wanted these powers. I never wanted powers, period.”
He nodded.- Excerpt from Interlude 3 - ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Hpflylesspretentious:You know, I've been wondering for ages what Gallant's trigger was. Thinker/Blaster/Master is an odd combination. i wonder what would cause that. I don't think it's been mentioned anywhere.
Wildbow:$=c - Comment by WildBow on Reddit Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "R4" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ His thing is these blasts of light. Getting hit by one feels like a punch in the gut, but the blasts also mess with your feelings. Make you sad, make you scared, ashamed, giddy, whatever. Not that bad unless you get hit by a bunch in a row. Don’t.” - Excerpt from Agitation 3.3
- ↑ Maybe he's interested in her because he can't get a perfect read on her - comment on the IRC Archived on Spacebattles
- ↑ Having emotion manipulation usually appends a degree of emotion manipulation resistance. They'd probably both be pretty darn resistant to one another. That would include Gallant fuzzing Cherish's emotion map. His blast could theoretically knock her on her ass but wouldn't do much more than that (and against those she was controlling, would probably dash whatever effects were present to the winds, or sufficiently confuse/paralyze them to stop whatever Cherish had them doing).
When I say 'pretty darn resistant', I'd really say that the 80-100% resistance they had would veer one way or the other depending on how in concert they were with their passenger at the time of the encounter. - Comment by WildBow on Reddit - ↑ Darchiasq:
It's not breaking SoD that Gallant is a bud off Glory Girl, but it seems very unlikely. I think Gallant has been a cape too long for that to be possible. Another big argument for Aegis being a Cauldron cape is that his powers majorly changed his physiology, which is a telltale sign of being one. However, I don't think it's unlikely that he could be an Eden natural trigger, like Leet and String Theory.
Andrew Greaves:
It occurred to me, belatedly, that something like the reverse might be possible.
We know that Glory Girl is a second generation Cape, and the origins of her force field power are rather obvious. But what about her empathic aura? Where did that come from?
It's well known that second Triggers involve polling any other Shards within range and such, but does this also happen with first Triggers? Could Gallant have already been a cape and nearby when she Triggered?
Of course, she could have also second Triggered with him nearby at some point. Incidentally, as a second gen, I'd surmise that her second Trigger would be psychologically comparable to a first gen's first Trigger.
Wildbow:
You're thinking along the right lines, re: the source of her aura, Andrew. - Comment by Wildbow - ↑ - Excerpt from Pitch 6.4
- ↑ Extermination 8.1
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