Ripclaw

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Ripclaw
Publisher Top Cow Productions First appearance Cyberforce #1 (1992) Created by Marc Silvestri
Characteristics Alter ego Robert Bearclaw Affiliations Cyberforce Abilities A metamorph, Ripclaw is able to assume animalistic characteristics.

Ripclaw is the name of a comic book character from Top Cow Productions. He is also a member of the Cyberforce.

[edit] History

Not much is known concerning Ripclaw's past. Many people believe that he is with the Apache tribe. Although it is true that he spent much of his youth with the Apache, it is also true that he spent just as much, if not more time, with the Cheyenne. He has also lived among the Navajo and the Lakota Sioux. He is in fact descended from a primitive woodland tribe that lived thousands of years ago in what is now the Northeastern United States. He lost both parents at an early age and was raised primarily by a powerful shaman who taught him how to use his special talents.

Again, he has a murky past, but one thing that is known is that he spent a lot of time at Cyberdata as a S.H.O.C. He had lost his hands long ago, having them replaced by Cyberdata, which gave him cybernetic replacements. Robert was also romantically linked with Misery before she betrayed his team and he joined Cyberforce.

Ripclaw is definitely the strong, silent type, the quintessential loner, not very sociable, no fun at parties, but definitely the guy to take if you are going on a hike through the woods. He's highly intelligent, very well-read, and eminently knowledgeable especially with regard to past and present Native-American cultures. He has a strong sense of right and wrong and embodies all the classic virtues of honor, sincerity, respect and compassion. The other members of Cyberforce often look up to him for moral guidance and emotional support.

[edit] Crossover Appearances

Outside of his own short lived on-going series and cyberforce, Ripclaw has been seen in a number of other comics. He was seen in The Darkness dating Jackie Estacado's former love interest. Another major appearance for him has been his reoccurring team-ups with WildC.A.T.S. member, Warblade, a superhero with very similar powers. He was also the main villain in the JLA/Cyberforce crossover between DC Comics' Justice League of America and the Cyberforce which was published in 2005.

[edit] Powers and Abilities

Ripclaw is a cybernetically-enhanced Native-American metamorph who has the ability to assume certain animalistic attributes, most notably the teeth and claws of a bear. This physical transformation defies any kind of scientific analysis, but seems to involve some sort of manipulation of unstable molecules. One of the most amazing aspects of this unique ability has been the miraculous discovery that was made after the tragic loss of both hands. The bionic replacements Ripclaw received from Cyberdata became so much a part of him that they too could assume the appearance of claws just like his real hands had done. Ripclaw is also able to enter another plane of existence -- one that he interprets as being a world in which spirits dwell. It is not known how he is able to accomplish this, but it seems to involve some sort of heightened sensitivity which allows him to sense things just beyond the physical boundaries that define what we know as reality. He can get psychic impressions from what he considers the spirits. This psychometric like ability allows him to gain impressions from things, such as a murder weapon.