WinterMan
Winter Man is probably the single most popular superhero in the Chicago Press fictional universe. He dons a mask and uses a special "freezing gun" to fight injustice. In real life, he is Owen Nguyen, an orphan in his twenties still recovering from years of abuse. Winter Man is not only his heroic alter-ego, in a lot of ways he is a symptom of Owen's psychological ills. More, since he doesn't restrict himself to tracking down criminals but injustice in general he is viewed with profound suspicion by the official police.
Nguyen came across his extraordinary weapons by accident, when he intervened to prevent the mugging of an old man. The man was Professor Viktor Wayne, an inventor who invited Nguyen home in gratitude, treating him like a son. At the time, Nguyen was sixteen, and was astonished at Wayne's inventions. It turned out the people paying for the "freezing gun" was a corporation eager to use it as a weapon against competitiors. When the professor wouldn't reveal the gun's location, they killed him. Young Nguyen avenged him, using the gun and several other inventions Professor Wayne had given him for safekeeping: (a) Goggles that let him see in the dark, (b) A lightweight bullet-proof suit that also insulated against poisons or extremes of temperature, (c) A cloak that emits a camophlaging mist.
