Lord Recluse is the leader of Arachnos, a huge organization of supervillains, and is the most powerful supervillain of City of Heroes/City of Villains.
History
Past
Lord Recluse was once Stefan Richter, a wealthy technocrat and Austrian American son of Rudy Richter. His father took in young Marcus Cole (who would become Recluse’s archnemesis, the Statesman), after Marcus’ mother died in childbirth and his father drank himself to death. Stefan and Marcus quickly became close friends and served together in World War I. But it was during this time that Stefan was exposed to mustard gas and while he was lucky enough to survive, it badly damaged his lungs and made him chronically ill. Hoping to find a cure, Stefan and Marcus set out to find the Fountain of Zeus and managed to steal an ancient Greek scroll from a museum in London. They headed to an ancient Greek island known as Praxidae, the home of the Well of Furies and below that, the Fountain of Zeus. They located the island and both drank from the fountain, gaining god-like powers and curing Stefan. But before they left the island, Stefan and Marcus found an artifact, a box that glowed with a blinding light, which seemed to be the source of the Fountain’s power, that was apparently Pandora’s Box. When they opened it, the stored creativity of all humankind was released and its power began a Golden Age of superheroes.
Becoming Lord Recluse
However Pandora’s Box’s opening was explosive, resulting in a cave-in and Stefan was washed away into the open ocean. As he swam for shore, he became intoxicated by his newfound powers, envisioning himself as a god among men that would pave the way for technological science. Billy, a friend, went searching for Stefan and when he found him, he tried to drag Stefan out of the water. But Stefan, consumed by his vision and determined to embrace his new destiny, grabbed Billy by the throat and snapped his neck with ease, before tossing his body into the sea. Stefan climbed into the boat Billy had used and returned to civilization, ready to begin his new future of evil and villainy. Stefan proceeded to join a shady organization called Arachnos, whose leader at the time was a mysterious figure called only the Weaver. Stefan became head of the American branch, which was based in Paragon City in Rhode Island. He began to rise through the ranks of Arachnos and eventually took the name Recluse. As Stefan began to focus his new dark powers, he started suffering from physical changes. His eyes started to have an almost allergic reaction to bright lights and changed to glowing red, burning with evil. Stefan started developing a back hump, which eventually gained eight large arachnoid arms and he enhanced them with powerful claws made of a highly strong metal known as proto-steel.
Lord Recluse fighting the Statesman
All of this helped Stefan as he tried to emulate Tartarus, an ancient evil demigod. With his transformation complete, Stefan Richter was no more; Lord Recluse had been born. Recluse began to battle the Statesman, Marcus Cole’s new superhero alter-ego, but was sent into hiding. During this time, he had the Weaver assassinated by Red Widow, usurping him as the leader of Arachnos.
Lord Recluse's headquarters
Lord Recluse then established his base on the Estoile Islands, which gained the nickname, Rogue Isles, an archipelago off the American east coast. He launched a successful military coup, declaring the Isles to be the domain of Arachnos and began working on forming his empire. Recluse continued to operate from the Rogue Isles, which he ruled with an iron fist as he prepared for world domination.
Personality
Lord Recluse recruiting a new supervillain into his fold
Lord Recluse is completely devoted to evil and villainy and his ultimate goal
Statesman remembers Stefan Ritcher as he once was.
is to take over Paragon City and destroy the Statesman. He dreams of leaving the world consumed by crime, violence, and chaos and becoming ruler of the ensuing empire of villainy. Recluse is always working towards his goals, using methods such as breaking supervillains out of jail so they will join Arachnos.
Powers
Lord Recluse has superhuman strength, speed, and stamina and eight armored arachnoid arms on his back. His intellect is greatly increased by the Well of the Furies so much so that he is considered the most intelligent being on the planet. Lord Recluse is practically immortal thanks to the Well of Furies, like the Statesman, and while the two of them could live for many millennia, it’s not certain how long they will stay alive. Lord Recluse is a Mastermind archetype and thus can summon and control henchmen, but he can control far more than other villains of this type. Since his powers come from the same source as the Statesman, Lord Recluse may also be an incarnate archetype. As leader of Arachnos, he controls a huge amount of minions and supervillains and uses them to launch many attacks against Paragon City.
Trivia
- Lord Recluse's name was the nickname of David "Zeb" Cook, who was the former creative director behind City of Villains at Cryptic Studios. Cook left Cryptic Studios in 2006 and the nickname was given to Serdar Copur.