Sparkles is the leader of the Corax of the British Isles.
Biography[]
No one knows what Sparkles' real name is. He's ravenbreed, and delights in playing to the worst stereotypes of his kind — specifically, the corvids' legendary obsession with shiny objects. Legend has it that some poor fool once showed Sparkles — in homid form for the first time — a cartoon wherein the hero outwitted a crow who kept on shouting for his "Sparklies!" Apparently, Sparkles was so amused and/or appalled that he took his name from that cinematic masterpiece, and has been going by his nom de animation ever since.
Sparkles is part of the flock that makes the Tower of London its base of operations, and is universally acknowledged as the ringleader of that merry band of idiots. When not showing off for tourists or dive-bombing assorted tour guides and Beefeater guards, Sparkles also coordinates all of the Corax of Britain into a highly disciplined (if not always sober) information-gathering force, and his contacts extend up into Scotland and across the Irish Sea as well. If anything supernatural happens in the British Isles, Sparkles knows about it within the hour, and the Corax response (if one is demanded) is underway shortly thereafter.
There are only two reasons for Sparkles to drop into homid form (he actually prefers to read the paper in bird shape; he'll perch behind someone reading on a park bench and do an over-the-shoulder read). One reason is to meet with one of his near-infinite information sources, most of whom would be rather disconcerted to discover they're swapping news with a bird. For these folks, Sparkles has a variety of guises he'll adopt: drug dealer, band promoter, music magazine reporter, police informant, and he'll often go through four or five fictional identities in a single afternoon.
The other reason Sparkles takes off the feathers is that he's an absolute stone-cold ska fan, and if there's a good show (or even a not-so-good one that promises an energetic pit), he's there. He's even taken a turn or two behind the mike, but his bands always fall apart as more pressing business interferes with the rehearsal schedule.
Appearance[]
In his native form, Sparkles is an astonishingly large raven. On those infrequent occasions when he switches to homid, Sparkles keeps his hair short and spiky, and has a series of tattoos in knotwork patterns up both arms. He's thin, but wiry, and wears round glasses with mirrored lenses.