Polaris is an Inkling from Canvas, who was once hosted by Dr. Julian Belfourd and is now hosted by Kenny Baxter. He made his appearance in Harbington Heroes.
Background[]
Polaris was always meant to be a hero.
Created early on in Empress Osoth's reign, Polaris had great potential as a warrior for Osoth's armies. He was carefully crafted with the express purpose of turning what would be most planets' weapons against them by manipulating the material they were most commonly made from: metal. In the Empress' twisted view, Polaris was instilled with the ideology that he was fighting for the betterment of Inkling-kind, and that by waging Osoth's war of conquest he would pave the way for his fellow Inklings to find new hosts and live thriving lives.
He was often given to Osoth's commanders to use as a soldier, and he followed their orders as he would the Empress herself without question. Over the many, many years of the campaign, Polaris was instrumental in dismantling the resistance of numerous civilizations. He was the most effective on primitive worlds who relied on the minerals of their terrain to forge weapons. With his help, many Inklings found new hosts, and Osoth's quest for the perfect specimen continued at a steady pace.
When Tempus fled Canvas and Osoth found herself in need of a new reconnaissance specialist, the Inkling Enforcer Vor was selected to take his place. Osoth granted Vor a small number of elites to serve under his command as the first frontal force of continuing invasions. Polaris was to act under Vor's command, and he did so dutifully. It did not take long, however, for Vor's intent on usurping Osoth to become clear.
Initially this caused strife in Vor's ranks, but the Enfrocer was quick to stomp out any possible fires that may have come up. In so doing, Vor revealed the ultimate truth of Osoth's rule: there were no heroes, only pawns. He gave his underlings the choice between continuing to progress Osoth's insane tyranny, or to rest it from her and take Inkling-kind in a new direction. Polaris ultimately decided that he wasn't going to be used as a tool of death and destruction any longer, and worked with Vor to set up Osoth's downfall.
This quest brought Polaris to Earth, where Echelon revealed herself and her rebel forces to fight Osoth on her arrival. Vor's plan was to allow Echelon and Osoth to destroy one another so that he could sweep in and take control when the dust settled. In this plan, Vor was to spare the humans the inconvenience of being bound to Inklings, as he believed his race brought nothing but dismay to the worlds they imposed upon. Polaris, having wiped out entire armies and left them for dead, was inclined to agree.
Echelon's victory over Osoth was more absolute than Vor had foreseen. She and her allies were too well-off to be swept away, too integrated into their human hosts to spare the Earthlings from getting involved. Things became more complicated, and so Vor shifted his focus instead to manipulating the humans into turning on the Inklings, to use faux-diplomacy to drive them out. Polaris helped to this end, wanting nothing more than to avoid taking the life of another host who had no reason to suffer at the hands of his race. He aligned himself with the human force known as Eos, a terrorist task force set on removing the Inkling presence from Earth.
What Polaris hadn't realized was that Vor had long given up on Inklings finding any peace. Vor had planned to simply eliminate each and every Inkling from existence, including Polaris himself. Once this became clear, Polaris wanted no part in the mad Inkling's plan, and made no effort to save him from being defeated by Echelon. In the event, Polaris left his host, Dr. Julian Belfourd, and escaped to a new host, Kenny Baxter. He avoided detainment by Echelon and her allies and accompanied his host back to Harbington where he would reassess his priorities.
Still longing to be the destined hero to his people, Polaris reshaped his outlook on Inklings and decided, ultimately, to act alongside Echelon and her interests. When Epheral landed on Earth and began an invasion on Harbington, Polaris saw the opportunity to protect both Inklings and their new human hosts. He found Kenny to be slow to trust, but through the use of his powers he worked with the boy to pull him out of danger and fought back against Epheral's deadly prana constructs.