William Lawton (ME-2)

"Sometimes a good fight accomplishes more than all the learning in the world."

"Power isn't itself good. Power is only good in what it's used for. Power is meant to be used to help those without it."

Early Life (Birth - 22)
"I am a lot of things; an agnostic, an atheist, which most people stopped listening there back in my hometown, but I'm more; I am a skeptic, a verificationist, an empiricist, sometimes an absurdist, and most importantly a humanist, but no one cared what I was; they cared about what I wasn't. I learned a long time ago, that I'll never be a normal person. I'll never be the person people think about and say 'I wonder how he's doing. I'll give him a call... 'I miss him' I'm the person who sat in the corner, listening to all the stupid around him; I'm the person you like when you need, but after you no longer need me: I no longer exist. I'm a specter, I know my place, and it's not around people."

William Byron "Will" Lawton, Junior was born in America in a time (though the place had the most to do with it) where philosophical bigotry, political staticism, and general hypocrisy ostracized any who wasn't a staunch Pro-Government, Pro-God, and Pro-Gun ideology, and Will was one of those who disagreed; he grew to believe that he was born out of his time, and that he lacked that something that made him a member of his generation. Will grew to be an incredibly intelligent and wise man, but at the cost of his social development; he became a blunt and pragmatic introvert who often used sarcasm to add humor to his life. He made efforts to become more personable, but every attempt was met with failure, especially with the opposite sex... into his late twenties he had never been on an official date (i.e. the girl wouldn't say it was one). He went to college, double majoring in history and philosophy. Will's first (and only normal) job was working at a movie theater, where he constantly cleaned the messes left by grown adults who either never learned to clean up after themselves or simply had no manners, he stayed with the theater for five years for three reasons: by the second year the job became second nature to him; free movies for a lover of cinema; and free movie posters. Will would summarize his life as "Two short decades where I learned most of what I know now, because I had the perception to learn from nearly every crappy thing that happened to me on a daily basis." He never disclosed details of the first twenty years of his life to people he met afterward, simply putting (and leaving) it that he did not enjoy the people that surrounded him, nor they him, and that fundamentally shaped him to idealize minimal interaction with other people (nonexistent if possible). This would carry into his adulthood. He would remember approximately ten people from his early adulthood fondly.

Fate Delivered
"Question Destiny - Change Reality - Be the Impossible" - Working Tagline

A Gap Year to End All Gap Years
Feeling directionless and for the first time in his life: unsure of what he wanted to do for the rest of his life, Will took a year off after graduating to travel the world. He traveled to many popular hot spots, but every place he went carried with it a deep history with philosophy, such as France, Greece, Japan, and despite many calls to avoid it, he traveled to Iran.

Some Have Greatness Thrust Upon Them
"I don't believe in fairy tales about alchemy, prayer, or the power of belief."

"you think you know how the world works, and that you know your place in it; You feel aimless, like you're life has no purpose, let alone a noble one. What if we told you: the reality you know, is only one of many."

"I'd tell you that sounds like a crock of shit, but I've had a long day, and you both look transparent, so I'm listening."

"You are looking at reality through a keyhole, and make no mistake, you are a bright young man: you've spent you're life trying to expand your knowledge: it's comendable, but materialism will take you no further."

A New Enlightenment
"These are more than mere symbols and incantations: they are an extension of your will: your essence. You must say it with purpose. With belief: With intention. With thoughts of your love and hate; compassion and avarice; rage and serenity. Only then will you know true power."

We Devise Our Own Demise
"Do you think I did this on purpose!; That I would be so self-centered and cruel as to rob you from another man?...I suppose that makes some sense, Gelos intentionally chose one of my deepest desires to replicate. He knew this would happen. Don't worry. I know just the way to fix this. Only problem is: I think I'll alienate my mentor; incidentally he's pretty scrict about the whole "not fucking with fundamental laws of reality" thing. I hope he can see it my way, or at the very least, forgive me for this mistake. Y'know this is the one thing in life I felt I had that was uniquely mine, that only I could do. I think I've found my place, and now, I may have to throw it away."

Order v Chaos: Dawn of the Impossible
"Reach out to them. Reach out with your feelings."

"I don't want to kill you, Gelos: you're unique and in pain. But that pain will roll over the Multiverse. So I will stop you, in whatever way I must."

Personality
'"His soul is that of a champion, his flesh the physical incarnation of a perfect balance between chaos and order." - Mamaragan& Galid'

Philosopher, Skeptic, Sorcerer
"There's a tranquility in magic: It is simply energy, to be harnessed by those with the will and knowledge to do so."

"The deeper I went into this, the closer I got to the Source, the more I realized Aristotle had yet another good point, one I didn't think of as good before: pure contemplation is profoundly useful; connecting to ultimate reality puts our place in it into perspective. I will say though: I was right, it doesn't matter one iota on ethics"

"So much I don't know. Each level of reality I peel back, and all I see is possibility."

Like every sorcerer before him, Will was skeptical that Mamargan and Galid were truthful when they claimed this fantastical world of magic and bending reality itself existed. He even doubted their existence in front of him: beginning to think of himself as insane. Once they displayed their power, Will was naturally intriqued. A new method of inquirly opened up to him, revealing a far more complicated picture of reality.

"The Lords of Order and Chaos, much like even the most brilliant of philosophers of my home... They think order and chaos is a inflexible dichotomy. Lords of Order think nothing should change: rules, rules, and even more rules, the Lords of Chaos think any semblence of organization is unnatural: They're both wrong. Things change constantly and always will, often with no rhyme or Reason, yet...if you listen...you'll hear the most beautiful hum across the multiverse. I'll change whatever I damn well please, and I will only change to help."

Cloak of Nabu
"I didn't choose the cloak life: the cloak life chose me."

Trivia

 * Character designed by Phil Cho.
 * Nom de guerre taken from, Doctor Impossible (New Earth).
 * Will must cast his spells by use of internal balance and internal focus as opposed to by use of symbols and incantations.
 * William is the anglicized form of the Saxon name Wilhelm; "Wil" meaning "of the will or desire" and "helm" meaning protection, typically understood as "Vehement Protector"
 * He actively suppresses any attempt to call him "Bill" or "Billy."
 * Charles-Wolmar Diderot is a triple reference:
 * Charles is French name meaning "free man";
 * Wolmar is the name of a character in Jean-Jacques Rousseau's novel Julie, ou la nouvelle Héloïse, the character is thought to be a reference to fellow philosophe Paul-Henri Thiry, Baron d'Holbach, an Enlightenment philosophe who wrote on atheism and materialism.
 * Diderot is the surname of Denis Diderot, who, like Baron d'Holbach, wrote on atheism and materialism.
 * Due to his penchent for sarcasm in response to the "supernatural" he encoutnered, Khalid sarcastically gave him the name Fahím, meaning "acute of understanding, an intellectual," but after their final fight and Khalid's expulsion into the newly created Phantom Realm, Khalid gave him the name Fārūq, meaning "the one who distinguishes between right and wrong."
 * His first presdential vote went to Bernie Sanders.
 * He hates the word "Caucasian," and refuses to refer to himself as one.
 * His voice is often described as "mechanical," "blunt," "smug," "harsh," "eerily calculative / level-headed," and "above all laconic," though it has also been described "imposing," "authoritative," and even "charismatic" by people he intends to lead. As he got older it would be describe as "tired."
 * According to Mamaragan and Galid, he is the first person to wear the Helmet that was almost unconcerned with the ultimate reality, and was far more preoccupied with ethics and what it means to be a good person.
 * He is one of the few beings to make realm of existence: the Phantom Realm/Zone.
 * He is the only finite being to accomplish this feat.

Author's Note
"Why me?"

"You were there."

Initially, The Spectre was going to be identical in origin to the other Will's all the way up to Checkmate, etc. In fact, he would happen upon the Helmet of Fate during a Checkmate mission, and they would demand him turn over the Helmet. In the moment he touches the Helmet, however, he would understand the unyielding power it offers, he'd refuse and thus starts his life as the  Sorcerer Supreme (Copyright Infringement Detected). After talking to Photon and explaining the Earth-35 trinity (Superwoman, Spectre, and Booster Gold). I explained to him that Superwoman is born a demi-goddess with more power than pretty much everyone she meets (Some are born great), Booster Gold is a legacy hero trying to earn his lineage (Some achieve greatness), then there's Will...who finds a helmet with untold power, and Photon just summed it up with "Some have greatness thrust upon them" That instantly put his arc into perspective. The Will of ME-2 is not chosen like the ME-6 version, nor did he earn it by sculpting his body and mind for war like Knight Owl: He was just there. He was an aimless normal person who found a way into a world of unfathomable power.

Links

 * Character Gallery
 * Kopius Few - Fate Delivered
 * Stephen Strange (Earth-9013)
 * Doctor Strange Teaser Trailer
 * Doctor Strange Official Trailer 2