RAWR! Welcome back for another frightfully Halloween themed Character Spotlight! What’s scarier than your fears? YOUR FEARS MADE MANIFEST! Imagine being able to do that? What would you do with such a power? Trauma knows what he’d do. It may surprise you. How? Let’s find out!
Terrance Ward was born from the union of his mother with the extra-dimensional entity, Nightmare. It would become apparent that something was unique about Terrance’s existence when as a teen he would terrify his mother by becoming her greatest fear with no control over his powers. This would land his mother in an asylum and the father who raised him would grow distant. When the Superhero Registration Act came into effect, Terrance was shipped off for training in his powers.
Now a part of The Initiative, Terrance was in superhero boot camp. His first day does not go well because when you show off your powers and it results in one person going into a terrified attack and accidentally killing another student, things have not gone well by most standards. To help him better control his powers, Dani Moonstar of the X-Men would train him. He would eventually learn to master his powers, able to go toe-to-toe with heavy hitters like the ones the Hulk returned with to Earth with after being shuttled off into space for exile.
While Terrance was quite capable in the battlefield, he realized his powers were better suited in helping others in a different way. Using his powers as therapy tools, he would allow others to confront their fears in a safe environment. This also let him understand what was worrying those around him so he could also find other solutions if that could help.
When Terrance, along with other Initiative trainees and co-workers find out that the student who died on Terrance’s first day, MVP, was cloned for military purposes by H.A.M.M.E.R. Not only this but that their most powerful clone has gone rogue and murderous, Terrance assists in stopping him.
Terrance begins treating the former hero turned anti-hero, Penance under strict demands and threats from Norman Osborn to keep him from truly recovering. Just to keep him in fighting form but never fully overcome his many mental issues with guilt. This exhausts Terrance but the other option is his mother is killed. Terrance becomes exhausted and starts to sleep more.
Turns out that it wasn’t just his anxieties and stress causing Terrance to sleep, but his biological father. Well as biological as one can get when your father is the lord of dreams and master of nightmares. Using his son’s weakened condition, Nightmare begins to possess his sleeping son to do his bidding. Terrance is able to fight his father off and with the assistance of other heroes, keep him at bay.
When the end of H.A.M.M.E.R. and Osborn’s regime, heroes begin to form new super teams. Terrance is asked to join some but feels he works better as a support and wishes to continue his work as a therapist. Currently, it is unknown what is happening with Terrance, we can only hope he is still out there helping those who need it.
There you have it! Trauma is a pretty cool character. I always like it when a powerful being learns that they can provide much more than just a strong hit but a healing touch. Terrance can do far more by sitting and listening to someone than he can probably ever do with his powered punches. It may not look as cool, but it sure is powerful. See you next time!
Suggested Reading:
Avengers: The Initiative
Dr. Bustos
drbustos@comicattack.net