Tonati

HISTORY
Yaretzi was born in Mexico City. When she was a baby, her parents moved to Colonial Bay because her father'd been offered a job as a computer programmer. By the time she'd reached high school, he'd gotten his doctorate and become a professor at the local univeristy... and Yaretzi's interest in computers had blossomed. As she began high school, Yaretzi was re-introduced to her paternal grandfather, who'd moved to Colonial Bay from somewhere in Mexico to spend time with his son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter... because he'd been diagnosed with cancer and had, at most, a few years left. Emil Acama, her grandfather, quickly became a very central part of Yaretzi's life, and she grew to love him dearly, which made his passing all the more heart-breaking for her, when it came during the summer before her sophomore year. While he'd been a part of her life, however, he'd given her a gift that'd been passed to him by his grandfather: the Amulet of Huitzilopochtli, which he taught her to use to become Tonati, a solar-powered superbeing.

POWERS
Yaretzi is able to, by calling out "Tonatiu!" (the Aztec word for "sun"), transform into a solar-powered superbeing named Tonati whenever she has the Amulet of Huitzilopochtli in her hand. The transformation occurs all but instantaneously, and is accompanied by a flash of light that momentarily obscures her form, leaving Tonati's form in its place. Although Yaretzi prefers to always keep the amulet on her person, this isn't even necessary. The amulet is mystically and spiritually bonded to her, meaning that she can summon it to her hand, from any distance, from and to any place, without fail... with a simple act of will. In fact, when she first calls out the incantation that is required for the transformation to occur, the amulet appears in her hand. The amulet doesn't exist when she's taken the form of Tonati, as it and the magic contained within it become a part of that form - the source of Tonati's powers. The same effect occurs, but in reverse, when she transforms back into Yaretzi.

As Tonati, she has greatly increased abilities. She's more agile, hardier, able to hold her breath for very long periods of time, move more quickly, and even fly, as some examples of her superhuman capabilities. In the simplest terms, she's a 'paragon' metahuman type. In addition to these things, she's also able to channel solar energies, either in a tight beam that emits from her hands or a coronal sort of emission from every part of her body. She can even channel the energy into her physical body, greatly increasing her physical strength.

Of note, all of Tonati's abilities, in addition to being 'solar' in effect, are also magical effects.

ORIGINS
Yaretzi's grandfather moved up to Colonial Bay when she was 14 years old, just starting high school... and revealed to her that he was Tonati, a superhero quite well-known in Mexico and Central America as a Protector of the People. He also revealed to her, and her parents as well, that he was dying of cancer... and this was his excuse for coming to Colonial Bay, to spend his last years with his loved ones. He had a mission, however -- to pass on his family's heredity power, the power of the Aztec Sun God, Huitzilopochtli, to his granddaughter. Gifting her with the necklace he'd worn for so many years, a miniature Aztec calendar wheel, he taught her how to use it to transform herself into Tonati, and spent the next year and a half, before he became too weakened by his disease, teaching her the basic uses of Tonati's powers. He told her that the Amulet of Huitzilopochtli, the amulet he'd given her, was a gift from the god himself back in the days when the Aztec Empire was at the height of its power, and had passed from generation to generation of their family... until it came, finally, to her.

SKILLS / TALENTS
Yaretzi is a fairly typical high-school computer nerdette. She has a natural musical talent that most know as 'perfect pitch', but she's just never been interested enough in music to study it. Her ability to perform mathematical calculations at rapid speed, however, has lent itself well to her interest in computers and related sciences. Born in Mexico City, she came with her parents to Colonial Bay when she was only a baby, and grew up as much a native of the city as anyone who'd actually be born there.

While Spanish was her first language, is the language she speaks at home with her family, and she's completely fluent with it, English is her primary language, and it's English with which she has idiomatic proficiency and which could truly be called her "native" language. Nonetheless, she has a (very) light Mexican accent when she speaks in English.

PERSONALITY
Yaretzi's a computer nerdette. This gets her picked on at school, sometimes, although not as badly as a boy of her 'type' would be. She's neither tall nor thick-bodied, pretty well just 'average'... and being as she's also a bit of an introvert, she's just not very well-known or popular around Colonial Heights High School ... well, until someone wants some math tutoring! Of course, when someone's asking her for help with math or computer-related things, she's in her element, and her shyness melts away in those situations, her skill at public speaking shining forth.

Lately, she decided that she needed a little more 'physical exercise' in her life, because she thought it'd help her live up to her promise to her grandfather. To that end, she made the attempt to join her school's cheerleading squad -- and succeeded. Now, suddenly, the somewhat introverted, quiet, and somewhat shy girl's gotten a bit of a boost to her popularity... a side-effect of her choice that she didn't think far enough ahead to truly take into account.

COMPLICATIONS
The only person who knew about Yaretzi's ability to use the necklace (a miniature Aztec calendar wheel) she was given by her grandfather to become Tonati was her grandfather, and he passed away shortly after teaching her the basic uses of the powers that come with the transformation - the transformation he used to act as a Protector of the People in Mexico and Central America for many decades before his passing. His last words to her were to ask her to promise she'd use the powers of Tonati for good, as did his entire adult life. Yaretzi, of course, agreed.

Yaretzi's only 16 and just starting her junior year at Colonial Heights High School, and her parents don't know about her grandfather's gift to her... so she's got a really hefty Secret Identity situation to worry about, in particular because her grandfather, as he taught her how to use Tonati's powers, also told her of how his wife, her grandmother, was killed by his enemies when they discovered who /he/ really was. Yaretzi's parents are her only family, and she plans to protect them... as much as a teenager-come-superheroine is able, and this means keeping her identity as Tonati a very closely-guarded secret.

NOTES OF THANKS
A note of thanks to the player of Hunter for the Photoshop work on an image that was almost used for Tonati.

A note of thanks to the player of Anthony_Quinn, for helping me with the understanding needed to make this character.

Thank you to ElementJax, who created an original piece artwork that helped to inspire Tonati and for the unique Tonati artwork that graces this page. Please visit this artist on deviantart to see more of her wonderful artwork.