Everyone's takes on the "iconic" characters.

[simonmark6]

I don't know about other people, but one of the things that made a real impact on me when I first discovered Twilight 2000 at University was the impact the flavour characters had on my imagination. I quickly pictured a group of disprit characters trying to survive in a chaotic environment. Up until then, PCs had tended to be like game pieces, they had personalities and histories but never really seemed real.

I realise that some of this was because TW2K was the first game set in the "real world", or GDW's take on the near future at least. This made PCs and situations seem more real to me.

Anyway, the purpose of this thread is to see if others have already, or would like to stat out and expand on the back stories of the "iconic characters" (to steal a D&D term). I would be interested in seeing people's takes on these characters and how they would have to alter the rules to create such PCs. A backstory would also be interesting.

As far as I can see, there are 10 characters mentioned in the V2 rulebooks:

The narrator, Monk, a mechanic with a high initiative
Carson, the Major's driver, described as a demon behind the wheel
Gordon, a female engineer
Jones, the Welsh sniper/interpreter
Wood, the medic, described as being a pre med student, presumably a term of Undergrad Uni with a chem/biol major and then conscription
Griffith, the master scrounger
Bobbi Lee, who needs no introduction...
Sgt Anderson, the ancient Vietnam Vet
Alvarez, no info
The Major, leader of the band

I'll kick off with my countryman, Jones the sniper:

Name: Gethin Jones aka "Jones the sniper"
Nationality: Welsh
Gender: Male
Service Branch: Infantry
Age: 33
Weight: 76kg
Throw Range: 20m
Initiative: 4
Rank: Corporal
Rads: 28
Load: 30kg

Strength: 5
Mechanic 1/6
Rifle 9/14
Unarmed MA: 3/8
Thrown weapon: 1/6
Autogun: 0/5
Grenade launcher: 1/6

Constitution: 5
Swimming: 1

Agility: 6
Ground Vehicle, Wheeled: 3/9
Stealth: 2/8

Education: 5
Computer: 1/6
Electronics: 1/6

Charisma: 4
Welsh: 10/14
English: 10/14
German: 4/8
Polish: 2/6
Instruction: 1/5
Leadership: 1/5
Persuasion: 1/5

Intelligence: 6
Farming: 5/11
Tracking: 2/8
Observation: 4/10

Signiature Weapons or Kit:
L42 rifle
HK-69 grenade launcher

Backstory
Gethin was born on a small hill farm in Mid-Wales near the market town of Llandeilo. His father was a tennant farmer who worked in a valley's pit in order to supplement the farm's meagre earnings. Gethin's father was determined his son wouldn't follow him underground and encouraged him to do well at school. Unfortunately, Gethin wasn't academically gifted and preferred the outdoor life. He was, however, reasonably gifted at languages and passed his O level in German.

At the age of sixteen he left school and joined his father on the farm. This was supposed to be a stop-gap measure until he had enough qualifications via night school to go to University.

Then the miner's strike left Gethin's father without a regular income and once the strike was over, the farm had been repossessed by the owner. This broke Gethin's father's heart and he died soon after. Gethin was left without a job or a home and decided to join the Army whilst he decided what to do with his life.

He joined the Royal Regiment of Wales and found that he really enjoyed the life. His outdoors skills meant that he was more adept at fieldcraft than his urbanite peers and he was directed toward the unit's sniper/scout unit. Gethin recieved training in stealth, reconnaisence and communications (electronics). His knowledge of German made him a popular companion when he was stationed in Germany and he realised the benefits of knowing local languages. A long standing girlfriend also spoke Polish and he picked this up just befor ethe war started.

During the war he served with the RRW through the early years and the siege of Warsaw. He was loaned out to another unit as a sniper/scout during the Baltic push and was separated from his unit. He met Monk shortly after and was absorbed into the group.

If anyone is interested in a different take on Jones, or trying their hand at any of the other characters, I'd love to see them here.