Maxwell

Basic Stats

Name: Maxwell Freischutz
Species: Field Mouse
Gender: Male
Height: 3.5 inches
Weight: 35 grams

Theme Song and Meaning

Learning to Fly by Tom Petty

I chose this song for a number of reasons. 'It started out on a dirty road' speaks very much to Max's roots as a field mouse. The idea of learning to fly was more than just freedom from being on the ground. It meant freedom from predation and vengeance against some of his airborne foes. However, it also meant freedom of communication as Max had a vision for flying couriers that could rapidly move from one colony to the next with news and even warnings.

Origin and Background

Half Lab Mouse

Max is a mix of lab mouse and wild field mouse. His lab origins can be traced back to an error in a university mouse colony where a longevity study and a memory enhancement and restoration experiment were crossed. A large liberation due to a local animal rights group spread these enhanced mice to the local wild population which then lead to the intelligent, long-lived mice like Max.

The real advantage these mice had came in the form of inherited novels detailing the lessons learned by the prior generation. Every mouse had to copy these down on their own and then add to them. As a result, mice like Max have a knowledge of herbalism that allows them to make potent toxins against their foes. Max also knew of electricity and small engines, the later of which inspired him to look towards flight as a tool.

The Storm

A pivotal moment in Max's life came when a sudden spring storm separated him from his mate and his children. Forced to forge on alone, he invaded the Red Black Manor and used it as a base of operations where he hassled Morticon and used the wallaby's home against him. Eventually Max's intentions became known, and rather than try to exterminate the resourceful mouse, he was hired for some odd jobs for the SED. Later events would lead him to Negumi, a mouse-like being with a space faring vessel that took Max on as part of her crew under the nickname of Pocket Mouse due to Max's tiny size and ease of being hidden in a breast pocket.

Flying Mice

Max eventually became the owner of a single engine model aircraft that he outfitted with manual controls and a series to poisonous spears. Learning the secret of flight, he used it against an own that lived in the local area and had preyed on his kin. The dead owl was found riddled with poisonous darts. The plane and Max suffered a sour fate as they crashed and Max nearly lost his life. He eventually rebuilt the plane only to find one of his children had survived the storm as well, and unto her he gifted the plane. Seems some things ran in the family, and she had already outfitted her colony with a gas powered RC car in a similar manner as Max used the plane. Once in Negumi's care, however, Max was given a far more advanced jet-like aircraft, and since he has been learning not only to fly such craft but to control an entire spacecraft.