Chris Kennal (Cataclysmic Gerosha)

Chris Kennal / Purge-Flare is an antihero in The Gerosha Chronicles of Dozerfleet Comics, featuring most prominently in Blood Over Water but also in Sodality. He plays the largest role in that series in its fifth season: Vindication. He was originally created by the Dozerfleet founder and by Star Power Marketing and Entertainment founder Chris Wilson for the Classic Gerosha miniseries version of Blood Over Water, intended for the Ferris Access Channel and Dozerfleet Studios. Chris Wilson also portrayed Chris Kennal in that early version.

Early history
Chris, born in 1982, grew up with a mixed family background in northern Georgia; learning pyrotechnics from his cousin Jamal and military tactics from his grandfather, Terrence "Roji" Kennal. With half his family religious and the other half not, Chris was often confused about what his purpose in life could be. However, he often saw Jamal finding "cheap-easy" ways to indulge in many things forbidden, igniting a hedonistic urge in Chris to do the same.

Chris was always uneasy that eventually, Jamal's careless methods would catch up to him. Gangs began moving into Chris' neighborhood, prompting him to move out. He was repeatedly bullied, and even witnessed his cousin Anisha being arrested on drug charges. Police wanted to take him in, in spite him not possessing drugs and not being aware of Anisha's. However, he and Anisha both talked the officers into leaving him alone. The way they treated him regardless of this instilled in Chris a long-standing dislike for police - and determination to never get caught.

Things began falling apart for him in 2005, when he came home to discover that Roji had been raped and murdered by home invaders. Those home invaders were later discovered to have been members of the Kerpher Gang, and police were unable to catch them. The police captain in particular spat on Roji's coffin where Chris could see him do it, with Chris barely able to withhold the urge to exact vengeance. Later that same year, he was almost hit and killed by a car driving 200 MPH in a 25 MPH zone. However, he was rescued by a small boy that could fly. Over time, he tried to convince himself the whole incident was just a bad dream.

Jamal was able to get Chris connected with Mark Stefflin, and the two of them quickly became best friends. Both of them in 2006 took a job working for Bob Lusital at the Sleet Mountain Lower Northern bottling plant. While living in the Big Rapids area, Chris also got to know Mark's twin brother Aaron Stefflin - though Mark and Chris seldom spoke of Aaron at work. Jamal feared that Chris spending time with Mark was having a bad influence on Chris, even as Jamal began shaping up his own behavior. Aaron likewise feared that Chris was a bad influence on Mark. In Big Rapids - far away from the gangs in Georgia - Chris felt he could safely discover himself. He began living out all sorts of hedonistic ambitions, the likes of which he learned from Jamal. He was not deterred when Jamal was later killed in a drive-by shooting.

Blood Over Water
Main article: Blood Over Water (novel)

Chris and Mark climbed up the career ladder fairly quickly. They would often go up to Mark's cabin and enjoy the boating - loose women. In spite this lifestyle of drinking, partying, and sex; the two both harbored feelings toward fellow Sleet Mountain employee Ashley Phillips. Things changed rapidly when Sleet Mountain CEO Bob Lusital announced his retirement. Clyde Spendelworth, a member of the executive corporate board who had some rumors flying that he had some unsavory friends, managed to seize for himself the position of new company CEO. Not long after that, Bob went missing.

Clyde, trying to hide his real agenda and his ties to Gleeful-N-Young, lured Chris into helping him with a cleanup fraud scandal, along with co-conspirators George Lawence and Mark. When Vance Lingolin refused to be a part of anything pertaining to the scandal, and even threatened to expose everyone else, George was sent to assassinate him. Mark began to grow suspicious that Vance may have been murdered, especially when Aaron began complaining of Monica Shelly arguing that this was so.

When bribes didn't work, Mark did some investigating. He discovered the illegal activities that Clyde was engaged in that were in addition to the cleanup fraud that Sleet Mountain's bottling plant was guilty of. He tried to inform Chris, who acted concerned but also compliant. Mark tried but failed to steal some of the incriminating evidence of Clyde's involvement in the Gleeful-N-Young brothels. Instead, he made do with stealing a manilla envelope containing folders full of confidential files about how Clyde was circumventing regulations and deceiving the EPA.

From there, Clyde decided to perform a power play on Chris. He peered into Chris' past in order to find every possible way to blackmail him, and found enough dirt to do so. Chris, being weak and greedy, agreed to go along with Clyde's plan. George and Kyle Tugrass broke into Ashley's house and stole evidence that she'd had an affair with a minister. They used that to blackmail her into visiting Mark with the intent that she'll talk him out of exposing the company. Meanwhile, Clyde convinced Chris to follow Ashley there and kill Mark. Doubting himself the whole time, Chris went through with the assassination plot - Clyde having by this point successfully poisoned Chris against Mark.

Chris stalked Ashley and then waited until Mark and Ashley were busy having sex; then stormed the bedroom and shot Mark straight through the forehead. At gunpoint, he forced Ashley to assist him in hiding the evidence. However, he wasn't counting on Mark's twin brother Aaron getting involved. When he learned that Aaron had done his own investigating and now knew too much, Chris was forced to have to decide between friends and coworkers. He managed to steal some incriminating evidence against Clyde and the brothel, after being tricked into setting up Ashley to be kidnapped and taken to a brothel. He staged a plot with George and Kyle to assassinate Aaron and Monica, but then betrayed and murdered George and Kyle. He followed the evidence to find Ashley, and rescued her. At this point, he was wanted in connection with at least 28 homicide investigations. Chris vanished soon after, never to be apprehended by authorities as he went about his quest to destroy Clyde over what was done to Ashley.

There were rumors that one of the women he met on the beach was pregnant with his child, but he was unable to stick around long enough to learn the truth about whether he was a father or not.

Birth of the Purge-Flare
Chris eventually gets smart about his quest, after saving Ashley and supplying Aaron with sufficient evidence to bring down Sleet Mountain. He ups his firepower after stealing some technology from Lambrelli Labs, allowing him to use some of the same suit gear that Navyrope was given by Seth Lambrelli.

He makes upgrades to the suit following the revelation that Extirpon exists, and goes around as the "Purge-Flare." With this suit, he seeks to imitate some of Extirpon's abilities and impersonate the anti-hero. Chief among them is the purple flame execution, made possible with customized flamethrowers. Authorities grow uncertain whether to hunt for Chris, or the goons Chris is targeting. When the United States collapses in 2018, Chris goes deep underground. He takes a day job as a rancher, assuming his moonlighting job as Purge-Flare less and less often. This especially becomes true when it becomes known to authorities that Purge-Flare and Extirpon are two separate entities. Without an organized American FBI left to hunt him, he rests in the knowledge that he is not as likely to ever go to prison as he would have otherwise.

Sodality
Main article: Sodality (series)

Chris eventually runs into the Sodality of Gerosha, namely Ciem and Earwig, when they seek his help in dealing with Victor Nanale. He periodically finds himself lending them assistance, at least until they are able to retrieve the real Extirpon and convince him to officially join their number. With Candi able to assume the Ciem identity again after Frank is born, Michelle relinquishes the mantle and instead becomes her own heroine: Feruga. She convinces Chris, Jordan Reddlewick, and Jordan's wife Celia "the Taterbug" Winehart-Reddlewick to join her in moving to Italy upon invitation from Angelo "Cocklebur" Abrami, thus forming the Sodality of Florence and granting all members a chance to start over from their old lives in Toklisana. He briefly has an affair with Michelle, but goes back to being solo when he realizes things would never work out between them in the long run. This sends Michelle into Angelo's arms, though she attempts also to keep that a secret from her teammates.

When the Kirby Act is put into effect in Toklisana, more than half the members of the Sodality of Gerosha are turned into political prisoners. However, Botan the Plant-Man, the Gray Champion, Pilltar, Anna and Pablo Ramirez, Extirpon, and Black Rat manage to escape to Italy. They team up with Purge-Flare and with Sapphire King to form "Team Spaghetti Liberation," tasked with battling the Society of the Icy Finger and preventing them from harvesting a crop of Marlquaanite rubies rumored to be buried deep underground in Mozambique somewhere. This crop contained enough power to threaten both Earth and Phaelon, prompting the Phaemer Village Peacekeepers to join Spaghetti Liberation as well. In spite being far less powerful than Eric, Chris opts to handle the firepower end of missions and let Eric handle the stealth end. This is because as the only black member of Spaghetti Liberation, Chris stands out in Italy about as much as Keet Kabo. He and Eric switch roles in Mozambique, for much the same reason.

Chris also joins the Sodalities of Gerosha and Florence on Phaelon to battle the Phaletori-Icy Finger alliance and turn the tide in the Second Battle for Dephinapolis, preventing that city from being destroyed yet again after it was almost destroyed by Gosmerid once before. Following the mission on Phaelon, Chris heads back to Earth - where he promptly vanishes.

His teammates were not so fortunate. Celia was sent to prison in Texas for a time for burglary, before returning home to Italy after having secured safe passage for her mother Madeline. Both Celia and Jordan were placed under house arrest for a time, though Jordan was able to find work as an agent for Italian authorities while the women cared for the house. Angelo and Michelle were both also placed under house arrest, their support teams helping them out until they could resume normal operations.

Swappernetters
Main article: Swappernetters

Wishing to keep the mythos of the Purge-Flare alive, Chris laid low until the heat dissipated - and he felt Purge-Flare could operate freely again. After the ban was lifted on Sodality operations five years later; nearly everyone was present at the Great Sodality Reconvention - except for Purge-Flare, Slip-Sadie, Pillcenary, and the five main Phaemer Village Peacekeepers. By then, there was talk of a revolution to reclaim Arkansas from the Icy Finger when it was clear that Tabitha Pang and the Swappernetters would need all the help they could get. The Florentines returned after the meeting, convinced that they and Chris needed to tend to affairs in Italy that were brewing. The McArthur and Freneti families were unable to provide assistance for Tabby's revolution either, though most of the other Geroshans who were still active found ways to help out.

Blood Over Water miniseries Chris Kennal (Earth-G5)
Chris and Mark had worked together at Sleet Mountain for an unspecified amount of time. Somewhere along the way, CEO Clyde Spendelworth got greedy and decided that it'd be easier to pollute a pond nearby the bottling company's property rather than actually spend the money on legitimate waste disposal. (Since the Gleeful-N-Young brothel network didn't exist in this timeline, Clyde's only motive was money.) By engaging in some fraudulent paperwork, Clyde was able to trick the EPA. As such, Sleet Mountain saved itself millions of dollars. He and a small inner network of conspirators stood to benefit directly from this scheme. It is also unknown how long Clyde and the others were engaged in their plan, as Bob Lusital effectively didn't exist in this timeline.

Clyde initially called three employees in from Sleet Mountain to partake with him in the conspiracy; and to share in the embezzled funds acquired through cleanup fraud: Chris, Mark, and George. All of them initially went along with the plan, though only out of fear. Mark, deciding that he didn't want to be responsible for such felonious behavior, revealed in confidence to Chris that he wanted no part of the conspiracy; and that he wouldn't accept any money.

Knowing how close Mark and Chris were to each other, Clyde decided to have George spy on them. George's eavesdropping revealed that Mark wanted out; and Clyde agreed with George that this was too dangerous: Mark had to die for even suggesting wanting out! George soon hired a hitman, in the form of Vance Lingolin, to off Mark. But Vance wound up in an accident in which he himself wound up dead. This failed assassination attempt tipped off Mark that somebody wanted him dead, and he took measures to secure some confidential folders - hoping he could take them home and expose the company's plan on an off day.

Fearful, Clyde ordered Chris go to Mark's house and personally kill him off; luring a newcomer named Ashley Phillips into the conspiracy. Fully aware that she was not someone whom Mark knew very well, Clyde suspected Ashley's ruse to trap Mark would work. He then gave orders to Chris to give orders to Ashley on how to set a trap. Together, Chris and Ashley successfully killed Mark; but they ransacked his house in vain trying to find the "Confidential" folder. Soon afterward, Ashley was never seen again.

What none of them counted on was that Aaron would grow curious as to why Mark didn't call him back on his phone; and that Aaron would go to the apartment and find Mark's folder. Behind Chris' back, Clyde had George lure into the conspiracy his business partner Kyle. Kyle was to be there just in case Chris tried to double-cross everyone.

Chris spends the rest of his time keeping half an eye on Aaron, in the hopes that Aaron doesn't get too close to solving the mystery. Things take a turn for the worse when George and Kyle try to set a trap for Mark (whom they believe Aaron to be, due to the events in Part 2.) This results in them capturing Aaron, and inadvertently exposing everything to him. Amidst their attempt to murder Mark, assuming Chris failed his job, Aaron escapes. This forces Chris to reveal to the other two conspirators that Mark had a twin named Aaron. Also, fearing that they won't trust him, Chris decides that he must earn George and Kyle's trust by agreeing with them to kidnap and murder Aaron.

Secretly, Chris decides that Aaron was an innocent outsider who shouldn't have to die; but he decides he must go along with the plan until the time is right to stage his redemption. He is tempted to simply kill Aaron and call it good; but then he realizes that the innocent outsider Monica has been inadvertently dragged into the mess. Unwilling to murder an outside innocent with a family, Chris decides to trick George and Kyle into believing he will go along with Aaron and Monica's execution-style murders. At the last minute, he decides to knock them out instead - and misfire his gun. He takes advantage of George and Kyle being distracted as an opportunity to betray and murder both of them. He leaves Aaron an apology note for everything, flees with his share of the money, and vanishes. The end credits reveal Chris to be "still at large." His later involvement in the affairs of anyone in Candi's life are never explored in this timeline, since there was no Sodality of Gerosha (or Florence) for him to join in Classic Gerosha.

Comprehensive Chris Kennal (Earth-G6)
This version of Chris had a virtually identical history to that of his Classic Gerosha counterpart. As such, he is never mentioned as joining the Abolished. It is unknown if anything of significance after the Blood Over Water timeline ever did or would happen to him.

Percolation Chris Kennal (Earth-G7.2.1)
See also: Percolation (Gerosha Chronicles), Percolation: Legends, Percolation Purge-Flare

The version of Chris / Purge-Flare that features in the Gerosha Crossover Gaming Universe gets xeroxed a seemingly infinite number of times by a time-traveling BEP dubbed the "Percolation," which causes copies of characters to "percolate" between one universe and another. It usually involves the Marlquaan, but will replace Marlquaanites' bonds with bonds to whatever cosmic force is its equivalent in whatever new universe the clones get sent to. Otherwise, Chris "Prime" gets to experience a life history similar to his mainstream Cataclysmic Gerosha counterpart. In the Percolation fanfic series, however, one of Chris' clones finds himself living inside the world of Marvel: Avengers Alliance on Facebook. This clone Chris joins the other clones of the Sodality of Florence to establish a version of their team in Earth-12131 Italy, where they occasionally find themselves working with the Avengers. More information on this version of Chris is available on the MAA Fanfic Universe Wiki.

Miniseries characterization
Chris is portrayed as being a (usually) calm, rational, calculating individual. He is understood as being very close friends - almost like a brother - to Mark and Aaron. All the same, he is very unscrupulous and greedy when it comes to money. He is also portrayed to be a bit cowardly, fearful of double-crossing Clyde while his goons George Lawence and Kyle Tugrass are still alive. He is, however; willing to resort to deception, fraud, and even murder to get his hands on a little extra cash. He likes to believe that he can have it all: close friends and family on one hand; while living in greed and villainy on the other.

Novel characterization
Chris has always been greedy and hedonistic, but he's not entirely without a conscience. In this version, he is more conflicted about the decision to betray and murder Mark. He is views as a sort of "Judas" figure, almost immediately regretting his decision to betray shortly after making it. When he realizes what a creep Clyde truly is, however, Chris takes the money only to secure his life in exile. He begins plotting little by little how he will bring down Gleeful-N-Young, and the whole of Clyde's empire; making that his new reason for living in life. He is insecure about letting anyone know his true feelings about any particular subject, and is good about putting on a false face. He is shown in this version to be at least as competent as his miniseries counterpart, and an even more efficient killer. His raid on Gleeful-N-Young took genuine heroics and skill; whereas the miniseries version only took cheap shots. That being said, this version is more prone to the use of violence than his predecessor. He is willing to blow Mark's head off, rather than merely strangle him like before.

This Chris is portrayed as more lecherous than his miniseries counterpart also. Even so, he has his limits. He insists that Ashley put her clothes on before helping him clean up the evidence of Mark's murder, though he does comment on her nude figure. He also finds the Gleeful-N-Young brothels that Clyde secretly is affiliated with to be repulsive, given the young ages and slavery that go on in them. However, he is not above having a one night stand with any drunk woman who appears interested in him.

Personality in miniseries
The character of Chris Kennal began as the brainchild of actor Chris Wilson, who portrayed him in the miniseries. The character's existence emerged every bit as much out of necessity as anything else, in spite at-the-time accusations of narcissism. Someone was needed to play the part of the tall, smooth-talking, friendly associate and company insider whom Aaron trusted. Kyle was all pumped to play a bad guy, and Chris' directorial vision ruled that there had to be two main bad guys plus a CEO villain. Therefore, the Dozerfleet founder was to be cast as George Lawence. This meant that Zach had to fill in as Clyde, with only his obscured back side being shown in order to obscure the fact that it was Zach playing the part. Initially, there were plans for instructors Clayton Rye or Nathan Meadows to play the part of Clyde. Both either declined or were unavailable.

Even as such, Chris didn't show up on screen until the second episode. The first episode featured only two actors: Zach, and a Ferris DPS officer. While Zach played the part of Aaron Stefflin, the officer played as himself. Chris argued that it would be good practice for Zach throughout the miniseries' run, as they needed the star to be the most convincing actor. Chris was as self-conscious and concerned as everyone else in development that his own acting skills were not very great. The Dozerfleet founder's attempts to alleviate the casting issues by sending ads to theater students proved fruitless, thereby forcing everyone in the crew to also serve as cast. Most students, Chris included, preferred being behind the camera to being in front of it.

Chris hinted around the middle of production of Part 2 that he intended for his character to be playing both sides in the struggle. By the end of Part 2, as planning commenced for Part 3, Chris made it clear his character would be a bad guy. However, a final plot twist was worked into Part 4 so that the episode could end happily. This was to be the end of all such efforts to show Chris as riding the fence. But Part 5 took the twists and turns further, on class instructor Nathan Meadow's objections that the original ending made Chris "look too cold-blooded." In spite the actor's protests, several shots at the end were re-shot to portray Chris as being slightly remorseful about having committed three homicides. The original ending seemed to contradict Part 4's ending, showing Chris as having little to no remorse and caring only about his own fate. Outtakes of both ending versions can be viewed on the blooper reel.

Personality in novelization
The novelization works harder to make Chris a bit more complex of a character, giving him a fleshed-out backstory and making his motivations relatable. He is tortured this time about the decisions he makes, resulting in his betrayal of Mark seeming more tragic, and his desire for redemption sincere. His quest to save Ashley near the end also carries with it the torment he feels that he is trapped: no amount by his own efforts at redemption will ever be enough; since he has to commit additional murders in order to pull off Ashley's rescue. The miniseries version, however, appears to have only a tinge of remorse at the murders he committed, and is otherwise happy to get his money and leave.

Personality in Sodality
The toll taken on his soul by his remorse in Cataclysmic Gerosha is credited for his decision to become the Purge-Flare, which shows in regard to how kind he is to the Sodality when he encounters them and yet, how ruthless he is when helping them be rid of their common enemies in Clyde and Victor. His decision to join the Sodality of Florence further reveals that he has gained enough foresight to know that he has no real future with the Sodality of Gerosha, and that he senses the Kirby Act coming before anyone else does - in spite having no reason to.

He has grown a sense of loyalty not seen before, and cares deeply about his teammates in ways he didn't before. However, he still puts self-preservation near the top of his priorities list. He appears to have mostly abandoned his love of wine and women, though he does have an affair with Michelle. His humility is attributed to his years of experience in being Purge-Flare, as he would have been busy being such for about 17 years by the time the Vindication timeline catches up to him. Since he is about 27 in 2009 when Blood Over Water takes place, he'd be around 44 in Vindication.

Appearance
It's stated that the Purge-Flare outfit evolves over time, as Chris comes up with improvements to it. However, Chris Kennal's out-of-costume appearance has always been modeled after the appearance of the real-life Chris Wilson. His trademark modified fireman outfit is a combination of various costume parts extracted from The Sims 3. His Mark III Purge-Flare outfit, however, is designed in-universe by Dolly Malestrom to be a modified, masculine take on the latest version of her Earwig armor. In reality, it was a blend of costume bits from Sims 3 modified to take advantage of Into the Future expansion pack material. A variation of this is used in The Sims 4, using a modified alien suit.