Tue, 26 Apr 2011 10:29:59 GMT

Name: Det. Spencer Lucas Rourke
Age: 32
Occupation: Homocide Detective (Jurisdiction under the Bristol County Police Department), Forensics Specialist (Outside advisor), Former Lab Technican & Assistant to Dr. Orson Lawson (Forensic pathologist based out of Boston, Mass.), Former Criminalist for the Boston Police Department
Sexuality: Heterosexual
Power: Lie Detection

Personality
Positive Traits: Straightlaced, honest, objective, analytical, caring, hard-working, fair, sense of humor (that occasionally rears it's head), calm, collected, well mannered, polite, relentless, driven, law-abidding
Negative Traits: Skeptical (believes you should follow hard facts as opposed to emotions), overprotective, can come off as unemotional, obsessive, workaholic, pessimistic, over protective, anal retentive, introverted, can be extremely sarcastic
Strengths: Level-headed, doesn't really have a temper (except when it comes to his ex-wife), understanding people
Weaknesses: His daughter, his ex-wife, gets too attached to the victims he's assigned to, anything involving blood & gore, quick to judge people and often sticks to that assessment (even if it isn't right)
Brief Summary: There are two different sides to Spencer Rourke. On one hand he's one of the nicest and most sincere people you'll ever meet, the guy that you'd want on your team. Attentive to detail and sure to catch what anyone else would miss, he's always looking out for everyone's best interests. Even thought some may describe him as a stoic figure, if you can get a smile out of him you're assured that he won't bore you to death with his pessimistic out look on life. His greatest weakness is his daughter and anyone who watches an interaction between the two would quickly realize that he'd do anything for that little girl.

On the other he's obsessive to the point that he lets the details get to him a bit too much. He doesn't really have a good way to cope with stress and often immerses himself into his current case, but makes sure that he never lets himself get to far lost into the dirty underbelly of crime he's immersed himself in for the sake of those around him. For the most part he keeps to himself the exception of this being his family. It has been said in passing that he has a tendency to come off as intimidating then again that's the impression he's going for. After his divorce from Dawn he slid right back into his shell, the bit of wiggle room he'd gained gone as he became wary of the actions of others.

History
Family: Franklin Rourke (father), Faith Rourke (mother), Kayla Rourke (older sister), Regina Rourke (twin sister), Dawn Bassler (ex-wife), Holly Rourke (daughter)
Brief Summary: There was nothing extraordinary about the Rourke family. Franklin was a stocked shelves at the local grocery store at nights, Faith was a substitute math teacher at Worchest High School. They had their first child, Kayla, and then three years later came the twins, Regina & Spencer. They weren't an extremely wealthy family, but they were by no means poor. The kids never gave Faith and Franklin much trouble; they got good grades, participated in afterschool programs, went to church and stayed out of trouble. What more could a parent ask for?

It was in junior high that Spencer got his first taste of what would become his morbid obsession with the dearly departed. He was assigned a book report of a subject of his choosing and while wandering through his school's library happened upon a book on Forensic Toxicology. Going home that night he had finished the book, and his book report, before going on to read all that his school library and the local library could offer on anything even remotely related to his new favourite subject. By the age of thirteen there was no doubt in his mind that he was one day going to become a Forensic Pathologist. He was hooked.

During his sophmore year of college he began taking night classes and summer courses at the local community college, taking as many classes as he could, and by the end of the summer after he graduated with his Associate's degree. He immediately set off to continue his education, getting his Bachelor's degree in biology at North Eastern. Through contacts he had made over the years (read: persons in the field he had annoyed incessantly) he managed to snag the position as a lab technician to Dr. Orson Lawson. Spencer packed up his things and moved to Cambridge to live with his older sister Kayla, the commute to Boston well worth it. Even though he was unexperienced, Dr. Orson saw that the young man had potential and enlisted his services. Absorbing the information handed to him like a sponge he would continue his education even further getting his Master's degree, specializing in Criminology and Forensics. It was when he was twenty-five that he got offered a job as a criminalist for the Boston Police Department's forensics department, a chance that he quickly took up. He still was brought in as a consultant to Dr. Lawson, but knew that he would have the chance to get those more interesting cases he read about in such a position.

Spencer loved his job, he really did, but somewhere along the way he became unsatisfied with sitting in a lab all day long. He was helping figure out things that could potentially help people, but he felt the urge to directly help people. About a year into his stay at the Boston Police Department he entered their police academy-- his eyes set on one day becoming a homocide detective. He knew that it would be a long and treacherous road, but that had never dissuaded him in the past. Gritting his teeth he joined the ranks as a rookie cop and plowed head first into his job... that was until he was distracted by a one, Dawn Bassler. The two immediately hit it off despite their difference in age, he calming down her wild ways while she brought him out of his stoic shell. The two were married and a year after had a daughter, Holly Rourke. This had never been a part of his plan, he had been so into his job that Spencer never even imagined this coming about, but it was just something else to tend to. Managing his fledling career as a police officer, taking care of a family and raising a special needs child became the things that his life revolved around.

But it would appear that Dawn did not share his views on what should come first and couldn't seem to understand that her workaholic ways were putting a strain on the their marriage or their family dynamic. When Holly was two Spencer filed for divorce, the hardest choice of his life, and sole custody of his daughter. He put in a request to transfer to the Bristol Country Police Department, located in the town that his twin sister, Regina, had moved to years before to start a family of her own. Continuing on in the hopes of one day obtaining the title of homocide detective his life now revolved around his job and his daughter. For a time he nearly fell victim to the same trap Dawn had, immersing himself so into his work that his daughter would often stay with his sister's family. It didn't take long for him to realize what he was doing and he would shake off the after effects of the divorce, striving to always be there for his daughter.

It was only in the past year that he finally was bestowed with the title he had worked so hard for-- it was also around this time that Dawn moved back to her hometown, Bristol. The two have not made any sort of reconciliation but have stayed on amiable terms for Holly's sake. The latent powers bestowed upon the citizens of Bristol were also given to Spencer, in the form of lie detection. A late bloomer one would say; he's only recently come into his powers and doesn't realize why he can tell when someone is lying, doesn't know why he can automatically know the truth when in the presense of another, but he's taken it in stride. If nothing else it's made getting to the bottom of quite a few of his cases alot easier.

PB: Gary Dourdan

For RP Samples see the application of Evalyn Rose Carter-Vaughn

Det. Spencer L. Rourke