Xander Smith, The Howling Beast, is the headhunter and executioner of Legion Realm. A highly-skilled killer, Xander leads his own unit inside of Legion Realm and is the only member that clashes with Nimbus. Once an ordinary Ultfinite mutant, Xander served in the military to give his family a sense of shelter and protection. His former comrade was Lightstreak, all until a disastrous operation in the war between mutants and androids that led to his sister’s disappearance through a riot as a result of his military’s irresponsibility. Xander devotes himself to his vengeance on both those who can’t follow their own rules, and civilians who can’t maintain order. Labeling himself as one who fights for underdogs and intends to set ablaze whatever stands in his path. Modifying himself into a bio-weapon through the Tidal Cataclysm virus as a supersoldier for Nimbus. He serves as Lightstreak’s rival and a mercenary.
– Personality –
In contrast to his environment, Xander is notably cheeky, using a nonchalant sense of humor to navigate tense situations. He holds himself in high regard, viewing himself as a bringer of justice. Prior to joining Legion Realm, he was labeled “a Nosoimones in human skin” due to his ruthless efficiency during his time in a military unit. He harshly enforces his own interpretation of justice, adhering to a strict personal code that once earned him admiration for his ethics. With that conviction, he can easily draw others into his cause, claiming he fights for the “underdogs.” He harbors deep resentment toward authority figures who fail to follow their own rules. Though he carries himself with a confident stride, he is easily provoked by sharp jabs or threats against what he holds dear. When pushed far enough, his mask slips, and he becomes more impulsive. In anger, Xander is foul-mouthed and no longer restrains himself, said to be brutally relentless in combat, comparable to Antares. He does not let go of grudges easily; when wronged, he believes the only way to satisfy his anger is to deliver it back in kind.
Xander possesses sharp survival instincts shaped by his military experience, able to detect when others are lying, hesitating, or about to draw a weapon. He knows when to act methodically and when to strike without warning. In his eyes, if an outcome brings success, it is justified. Perfectionism means little to him, results are what matter. This makes him less of a long-term planner and more of a cunning strategist in the moment, skilled at manipulating his environment to his advantage. He adapts quickly when situations spiral out of control, viewing rigid structures as predictable and therefore exploitable. He is more than willing to break protocol if it secures him the upper hand.
Central to Xander is his sense of loyalty to those he considers family, labeling them his pack. Lisa, his sister, is a source of reassurance knowing he has something to move forward for. Being the “light” of his life. Once someone is in his pack, Xander becomes ruthless towards anything that threatens them. To harm one of his own is to harm him more than any wound can inflict on him. He avoids harming those he considers weak and/or vulnerable, being one of the reasons that he clashes with Nimbus. Despite standing on opposing sides, Xander believes in Elpis’ quest for freedom, convinced that freedom and order can coexist. However, he struggles to justify how such an ideal could ever become reality, especially in the presence of Lightstreak, his nemesis. Xander harbors deep hatred toward Lightstreak, viewing him as the embodiment of authority without a dream truly his own. While Lightstreak genuinely believes in his own cause and Xander’s, that conviction only intensifies Xander’s anger; in his eyes, someone who endured a similar past yet chose to conform has no right to dictate what is noble. Causing either to question who is truly innocent if anyone is equally capable of exacting violence on others.
Xander has little respect for authority like Nimbus, being self-interested and selectively loyal. If someone benefits him and his pack, he follows them, albeit not with true respect. To gain true respect, an authority figure must act without hidden agendas and hold themselves to the same consequences they impose on others. The two clash multiple times due to Xander’s willingness to go against his orders if their interests oppose each other, earning him punishments yet is kept due to him being valuable.
– History – Past –
Xander was an abnormal wolf-like Ultfinite born from ancient crossbreeding between Lux Order angels and humanity alongside his younger sister Lisa. Unlike most Ultfinites, Xander developed rapidly, possessing unnatural physical strength, razor-sharp claws, and predatory instincts from childhood. His sister, in contrast, was frail and sickly, often struggling with feelings of inadequacy due to her weak body. Despite this, Lisa remained the emotional center of Xander’s life. To him, she represented warmth, normalcy, and a future beyond violence.
At the time, the Nebulous Sential carried out periodic purges against Ultfinite populations under the justification of containing the spread of the Tidal Cataclysm virus and restoring humanity’s dominance after the Genesis War. During one such purge, the Sential discovered Xander’s settlement. Rather than allow his family to be exterminated, Xander surrendered himself willingly. He offered to serve the military under the belief that if Ultfinites could prove themselves useful and disciplined, coexistence between species could eventually become possible. In exchange, the Sential promised protection and containment for his family. Instead of executing him, the Sential transformed Xander into a military asset.
Through painful surgeries and forced augmentation, his body was modified with cybernetics and experimental biological enhancements. Though the procedures left his body internally damaged, Xander accepted the suffering willingly. To him, pain was a fair trade if it protected those he cared about. However, his growing strength caused fear amongst other soldiers. Many saw him less as a comrade and more as a restrained animal waiting to snap. Xander responded by isolating himself, wrapping his claws, avoiding unnecessary violence, and enduring insults without retaliation.
The only soldier who truly noticed this restraint was Lightstreak, a younger android recruit. While others feared Xander’s nature, Lightstreak recognized that Xander constantly fought against it. Despite possessing the strength to overpower most soldiers effortlessly, he intentionally held himself back around civilians and comrades alike. Over time, the two became close friends. For the first time, Xander genuinely believed peace between Ultfinites and Armigers might be possible.
As military operations intensified, however, Xander gradually became disturbed by the corruption spreading throughout the Sential. Raids meant to suppress insurgencies increasingly destroyed civilian districts. Soldiers abused their authority. Innocent people suffered while commanding officers justified the destruction as necessary collateral. Lightstreak openly criticized these abuses and filed reports against corrupt superiors, while Xander focused on protecting civilians directly during operations whenever he could.
Outside the battlefield, conditions within Ultfinite districts deteriorated under the pressure of war. Resources became scarce, criminal activity spread, and desperation consumed entire communities. Lisa worked tirelessly assisting refugees and displaced civilians despite her fragile health. Xander disapproved of how often she placed herself in danger, but Lisa rejected being treated like someone who constantly needed protection. Though the two loved each other deeply, tension gradually formed between them. Xander became increasingly overprotective, while Lisa feared becoming emotionally trapped beneath his shadow.
Meanwhile, Xander’s reputation within the military continued growing. Civilians trusted him more than commanding officers. Younger recruits admired him openly. His willingness to confront corruption directly began threatening the authority of the Nebulous Sential itself. Eventually, the Sential concluded that Xander’s influence had become dangerous. Under the guise of “mutual trust” and stabilization, the Sential introduced the Gleipnir Program: restraint systems designed to suppress Xander’s mutation permanently. Though suspicious, Xander initially refused to submit unless one of the Sential’s own willingly placed themselves in danger as proof the restraints were temporary. To Xander’s shock, Lightstreak volunteered. Trusting him completely, Xander agreed.
The moment the restraints activated, Xander realized the truth. Gleipnir was never temporary. The restraints tore into his nervous system and bound him permanently. The Sential had no intention of treating him as an equal, only as a weapon too dangerous to leave uncontrolled. In blind rage and betrayal, Xander lashed out violently and tore off Lightstreak’s arm before being subdued. The incident destroyed the trust between them.
Imprisoned beneath the Gleipnir restraints for years, Xander watched the Genesis War escalate further while stories of the “Howling Beast” spread throughout both Ultfinite and Armiger territories alike. Some saw him as proof coexistence was impossible. Others viewed him as a victim of the very system he once defended. Eventually, the Sential released Xander during the height of the war out of desperation for military strength. To Xander, the hypocrisy was undeniable. The same institution that feared him now demanded his violence for survival.
Xander later joined Lightstreak during a major operation to reclaim Eden, a fertile region untouched by much of the surrounding devastation. Eden represented hope that the war could still end before total collapse consumed the world. However, during the operation, Xander uncovered hidden Sential research tied to biological weapon development using remnants derived from the entity known as Nimbus. Horrified by what he discovered, Xander chose to sabotage the facility himself rather than report it through official channels. That decision became the greatest mistake of his life.
The sabotage destabilized experimental weapon systems already damaged during the battle. Toxic nanites and corrupted technology spread uncontrollably throughout nearby districts, triggering catastrophic chain reactions across the region that would later become known as the Plains of Dis. Though Xander attempted to contain the disaster and evacuate civilians, the destruction spiraled beyond anyone’s control. During the chaos, riots and faction warfare erupted throughout nearby Ultfinite settlements.
Lisa remained behind helping civilians evacuate despite evacuation orders. Amidst the violence consuming the district, she disappeared. By the time Xander found her, it was too late. Her death shattered him completely. For Xander, the realization was unbearable: despite all his strength, all his sacrifices, and all his loyalty, he had still failed to protect the one person he cared about most. Worse still, part of the catastrophe traced back to his own actions.
Outraged civilians blamed Xander for the destruction, seeing him as another reckless military monster whose violence had destroyed their lives. Desperate and grief-stricken, Xander tried explaining himself, admitting he had made mistakes and never intended for the disaster to escalate so far. The crowd rejected him completely. To them, intentions no longer mattered. Armed civilians attacked him using stolen chemical weaponry, burning through his flesh while screaming that he represented every failure that had ruined their lives.
Broken and abandoned beneath the ash-covered sky, Xander finally reached a horrifying conclusion:
The world did not reward restraint.
Mercy did not protect the innocent.
People only valued strength once they needed violence to survive.
As his mutilated body lay dying, the Tidal Cataclysm virus violently adapted throughout his system, reacting with the experimental modifications forced upon him years earlier and the remnants of corrupted weapon technology spread across the battlefield.
Against all logic, Xander survived. When Lightstreak finally confronted him afterward, the man he once knew was gone. Xander no longer believed systems, ideals, or coexistence could protect anyone. In his eyes, the world’s greatest weakness was expecting morality from people who abandoned it the moment fear took hold. He declared that he would no longer waste himself protecting those unwilling to protect each other. Lightstreak argued that Xander’s hatred was consuming him and that he was allowing tragedy to justify brutality.
Xander rejected this entirely. To him, violence was no longer cruelty. It was responsibility. The two fought brutally, leaving Lightstreak permanently scarred even after subduing Xander. Imprisoned once again, Xander was eventually approached by Nimbus, who revealed conspiracies surrounding the Nebulous Sential and argued that governments built without humanity could never truly value human life.
Though Xander despised Nimbus initially, one truth lingered in his mind: The Sential had only feared violence until it became useful. Nimbus later manipulated Xander further by promising the possibility of restoring Lisa through experimental means. Desperate, grieving, and increasingly consumed by his worldview, Xander attempted to seize Nimbus’ power for himself and failed utterly. After being humiliated and defeated, he was absorbed into Legion Realm.
Yet even then, one part of Xander’s old self survived. Remembering Lightstreak’s words about carrying burdens alone, Xander began gathering abandoned soldiers, survivors, mercenaries, and outcasts beneath him. He called them his “pack.” Within Legion Realm, Xander envisioned creating a brutal form of order where loyalty mattered more than status, species, or ideology. In his eyes, peace could only exist when predators were crushed without hesitation by people willing to become monsters first.
– Abilities –
Xander, as a Nosoimones, possesses a body augmented and mutated by the Tidal Cataclysm virus. This mutation has warped him into a literal arsenal of weaponry, with his primary ability being the generation of weapons from his silver-like blood iron. Numerous weapons are stored throughout his body in the form of iron structures. From this blood iron, Xander can regenerate broken weapons, form new blades from his own flesh, reshape weapons mid-combat, and absorb external metal to expand his arsenal. His bones contain folded weapon material, his muscles shift to release them, and the iron within his blood continuously generates additional weaponry while also serving as ammunition.
He commonly shapes his iron into crescent-styled blades that grow stronger during the nighttime. His metallic constructs reflect light along their surfaces, creating searing edges as they cut through objects. These constructs can also reflect energy-based attacks, redirecting them along with incoming projectiles. His strikes ignore conventional defenses, bypassing them due to the reactive nature of his blood iron, which destabilizes energy barriers and armor upon contact. Thus, his impacts leave wounds that are difficult to heal with conventional means.
Each of his fingers can be dismembered and fired as bullets with scorching impacts, though they must regenerate afterward. He can also launch spinning sulfur wheels as long-range weapons. When detached, his flesh serves as a form of gunpowder, marking enemies as flammable once his blood comes into contact with them. This makes them highly susceptible to explosive reactions when struck by his iron attacks, functioning similarly to flint striking steel. Blood droplets can harden into razor shards or detonate into metallic fragments, turning small wounds into hazards. Superheating the metal on his weapons with sulfuric properties causes his iron weapons to become molten blades which cauterize wounds, spraying out iron droplets with each strike.
He can also create explosives from sulfur compounds synthesized in his bloodstream and fused with his blood iron, using a remote mechanism in his fingertips to deploy and control them from a distance. These bombs are marked with a radioactive symbol that expands when they detonate. They can also form into a massive organic sack that splits into rings of explosions and smoldering embers. This organic sack is extremely sensitive to attacks and can detonate after only one to three hits. It can also burn down into a molten sphere, which Xander uses as a shield.
Xander fights using a combination of kickboxing and dagger combat. Two large cannons mounted on his back allow him to fire missiles or energy beams, or to repel himself through the air as thrusters. His arms are enveloped in a flaming aura that enhances the speed and ferocity of his clawing attacks, while the weight of his limbs contributes to his mobility. By opening his mouth into four separate parts, Xander can emit a howl to create a concussive blast of sound.
Xander’s body can undergo five stages of evolution by forcing the iron in his blood to boil into explosive properties. However, this process exposes more of his vital points and causes him to become increasingly animalistic. The blood iron in his body becomes more photoreactive to moonlight. Exhaust ports are embedded throughout his body to vent the volatile iron within him. His neck also houses heat canisters and a tank gas turbine that allows him to emit a flamethrower from his mouth.
Stage 1: Oparon – Xander becomes more canine-like, adopting a bent posture as his legs lengthen and his back-mounted cannons transform into hound-like heads. He propels himself by firing plumes of ignited iron from his exhaust ports. His exhaust jets allow for rapid dashes, and his cannons track targets like hounds hunting prey. On contact, his claws leave explosive sparks on the enemy that detonate after a delay.
Stage 2: Daidonra – Xander grows a detachable tail probe that functions like a whip, capable of releasing rolling waves of explosions. This tail stores explosive charges, where whipping it releases chain detonations and can plant bombs with the tail like a stinger. A device within his cellular structure becomes activated, causing harsher mutations
Stage 3: Garbuko – His skin sharpens into numerous spikes that can be launched at enemies as homing missiles. When destroyed, these spikes explode into smaller blasts of sulfuric acid. These spikes can also serve as detachable armor or shields. Over time, the broken spikes regenerate via blood iron.
Stage 4: Amon – Xander’s body opens into furnace-like cavities as his iron blood reactors reach critical output. Weapon growth accelerates dramatically, allowing him to generate artillery-scale explosives and magnetic weapon storms.
Stage 5: Moloch – His body completely ignites, forming a wolf-like face with horned extremities, multiple tails, and three Cerberus-like heads. Xander enters a deranged mental state as his vital points become fully exposed. Adrenaline drives his body into extreme overheating, turning his blood iron into unstable metal infused with plasma properties.
– Weapons –
Freki and Geri: A set of dual guns. Normally, they’re mounted on Xander’s back as shoulder cannons, but can be detached for him to hold them by hand. When charging, the guns transform by infusing into Xander’s arm, turning into a large cannons that can fire red-colored laser beams, being able to decimate buildings with it’s heat. Freki, the white-colored gun, is used for explosive shots that disperse on hit. Geki, the black-colored gun, is used for rapid dart shots that infect enemies, corroding them.
Gleipnir: Xander’s former chains used to bind him, now wielded as a set of whips. Attached to these chains is Xander’s dagger, covered in nitrogen and granting it a flammable edge.
Xander also deploys a variety of mutated mechs, such as Scorn, a crocodile-themed tank, and Vespa, a hornet-themed jet.
– Trivia –
Xander was originally named Armada in Proto-BMC and had retained his arsonist motif, being the only member of the M7 to be from a past concept.
Xander originally had a dragon-based motif, associated with fire, when he used explosives to represent the crime of arson. This version of Xander was named Meltdown.
Xander shares similarities with Elpis, as they share similar beliefs and a sister who’s central in their internal circle. To the extent that there’s occasional jokes about him being a more extraverted Elpis.
Xander references myths associated with the wolf Fenrir, from Norse mythology. Lightstreak is his equivalent to Tyr, and his guns are named after a pair of wolves also in Norse mythology.
Xander’s rally chant for his intro (“Prepare to storm in from the SOUTHSIDE!”) was inspired by the Wolf Squadron encountered during the creator’s time in U.S. Air Force Basic Military Training. Although the Wolf Squadron was known for being less disciplined and less consistent with military procedures than the creator’s own squadron, the Gators, they stood out for their exceptionally high morale and loud, energetic cadence. Their chow hall chant, particularly the phrase “Prepare to enter the dining facility from the SOUUUUUTHSIDE!”, imitating a wolf, left a strong impression on the creator and inspired Xander’s wolf-themed battle cry. According to the creator, he and his squadron wanted to imitate the Wolf Squadron’s cadence. That all ended when their Military Training Instructor jokingly remarked that the Wolf Squadron “never wins any trophies” and humorously compared “One wolf, feast!” to sounding like “One roast beef.”
– Gallery –
Add comment