Pat Rollins

Spoiler Warning! This article reveals details from Season 1 or Season 2. Read at your own discretion.

Pat Rollins
General
Nickname(s)	The Crooked Man The Lightning Guy (by Wendy)
Age	39
Gender	Male
Occupation	Engineer
Eye color	Blue (in normal form), Black (when possessed)
Hair color	Brown
Relationships
Romances	Kerry Phillips ♰ (former) Nicole Warren (crush; in love with)
Friends	Mark Warren ♰ (best friend; formerly) Nicole Warren (formerly) Dion (formerly)
Enemies	Nicole Warren Dion Warren
Production
Seasons	1 & 2
First seen	“ISSUE #101: How Do You Raise a Superhero?” (TV series)
Portrayed by	Jason Ritter (TV series)

Pat Rollins is a main character of Raising Dion and serves as the main antagonist of Season 1 and secondary antagonist of Season 2.

In the Netflix Original, he is portrayed by Jason Ritter.

Summary

Pat helps Nicole keep Dion’s powers a secret. He is “a comic-book-reading scientist who worked with Mark, his best friend. After Mark's death, Pat makes a big effort to be there for Nicole and Dion, and loves them like family.” He bonds with Dion and considers himself to be the boy's surrogate father.

In the episode “ISSUE #108: You Won't Like Him When He's Angry,” he is revealed to be “The Crooked Man”—the man who creates storms to absorb and kill people with powers. It is also revealed that his powers are slowly killing him, hence the real reason he is interested in Dion.

Biography

Pre-series + season1

Pat and Mark first met in eighth grade during the Statewide Robotics Competition, which Mark won. Later, he convinced Pat to join him at BIONA and the two became partners.

In 2010, Pat and Mark were sent to Iceland by BIONA to study the Aurora Event. In Iceland, Pat met a girl named Kerry Phillips, and the two got into a relationship. During the Aurora Event, Pat insisted on staying inside the yurt and monitor the equipment he and Mark had set up, while Mark joined the other people outside to get the best view. At the height of the event, however, Pat lost radio contact with Mark and left the yurt anyway. Outside, he got hit by multiple fragments from the meteorites. As a result, Pat developed lesions that never fully healed and, over time, began to slowly kill him, the same way how the meteorites had caused the land itself to decay.

In the years after Iceland, Pat and Kerry stayed in touch, but Pat's condition worsened. On June 6, 2014, while Kerry was visiting him in his apartment, she tried to end her relationship with Pat since she felt it was going nowhere. When Pat tried to stop her from leaving, she revealed to have gained psychokinetic powers from the Aurora Event, and accidentally set Pat's arm on fire. This, in turn, woke up Pat's own powers, and he transformed into his alter-ego, the Crooked Man, for the first time. He killed and absorbed Kerry.

After realizing that absorbing other super-powered people could halt the slow decay of his own body, Pat began to hunt them down all over the world. On August 12, 2017, he went to New Orleans to try and kill Charlotte Tuck, but unbeknownst to him Mark was also there. Mark saved Charlotte from Pat, but instead got absorbed by Pat.

After Mark's death, Pat became a loyal friend to Nicole and Dion, trying to help them in every way he could while keeping his own powers a secret from them. He even developed feelings for Nicole and hoped that one day he, Nicole, and Dion could be a family. Pat discovered Dion had inherited Mark's superpowers when he saw the boy teleport in front of, and then away from, a speeding car. He thus became Nicole's confidant in keeping Dion's powers a secret. At his suggestion, Nicole gave Dion Mark's old watch to help him keep his powers in check.

When Pat took Dion to BIONA for a day, Dion spotted lab L5, and the test animals held there and used his powers to get Suzanne Wu’s keycard so he and Pat could enter the lab. In the lab, Pat discovered how deeply involved in the investigation of the Aurora BIONA truly was. Among other things, he found that BIONA was tracking several people that were in Iceland, including a farmer named Walter Mills. Acting on this knowledge, Pat choose Walter as his next victim and absorbed him. Shortly afterwards, Pat was promoted to scientist by Suzanne, and officially given access to L5; something Pat had tried to achieve for a while now but was always denied. Suzanne informed Pat that the Aurora Event was causing Iceland to slowly decay and collapse and that BIONA was trying to prevent this. She also alerted him to the fact that a fox they kept in L5 had mysteriously healed. Pat realized Dion had healed the fox and could potentially heal him, but kept this to himself for now. Pat eventually told Dion about how he healed the fox, and since Pat himself was suffering from migraine Dion immediately tried to heal Pat too. It backfired, and Dion himself got sick, to the point he had to be hospitalized. While Dion was in the hospital, Pat convinced Nicole to give him Marks' research data (which she had found on an SD card hidden in Mark's watch) in the hopes to find something to help Dion. With the data, Pat discovered that Dion, like all people affected by the Aurora Event, needed two times the normal iodine concentration. He gave this news to Kat Neese, and she was thus able to save Dion with an iodine injection.

Things took a turn for the worse when Pat began to suspect that Nicole had a relation with Rashad (he first noticed there was an extra plate on the dinner table in Nicole's apartment, and later saw her and Rashad dance at The Lewis Company), and feared that his dream of being with her would never become true. He confronted Nicole about his findings, and they got into an argument that ended with Nicole forbidding him from seeing Dion. When Pat went to Nicole's apartment to see Dion anyway, he found himself confronted by Charlotte (who, unbeknownst to him, had been helping Nicole with Dion). Pat transformed into the Crooked Man again and this time managed to kill her. During their fight, Nicole got home and fled the city with Dion.

Pat eventually tracked Nicole and Dion down to their cabin at the lake, but Dion escaped him by teleporting to the science fair he was supposed to attend. In the cabin, Nicole and Pat got into another argument, during which Pat confessed to being the Crooked Man and killing Mark. He wrecked the cabin and followed Dion to the science fair, determined to get the boy to heal him now that any chance of him and Nicole getting together was gone. Nicole got to the fair just in time to warn Dion about Pat's true nature. Pat became the Crooked Man again, and fought Dion, but was defeated and seemingly killed by Dion and Nicole with an improvised lightning rod. The Crooked Energy left Pat and moved to another host after his body reformed.

Season 2

However, the fight had not killed Pat. With the Crooked Energy gone, he had just enough power left to once more reform his human body, though it took him a full day to do so. With his powers now seemingly gone, and everybody believing him to be dead, he made his way to another town and hid there.

In "ISSUE 201: A Hero Returns", he made his way back to Atlanta after seeing a news clip of a form of the Crooked Energy killing a person. He went to BIONA to warn them about what he saw, claiming to have reformed and showing regret for his past actions, but Suzanne Wu ordered guards to lock him up in L5, and had David Marsh run tests on Pat to see if he was truly powerless now. David learned that Pat still had some Crooked Man energy left in him, something that even Pat didn't know about, but kept this secret from Suzanne. Instead, he had Pat secretly come with him to investigate a Sinkhole near McKoy Park Elementary; a plan Pat reluctantly agreed to. At the hole, Pat was able to sense a dark energy in the ground, which reacted to his own Crooked Man energy. The two got caught in the act by Suzanne however, who had Pat locked up again, but not before Dion learned about Pat's return thanks to Brayden warning him about Pat being near the school.

Pat in the future

After Nicole got infected by spores from the plants in the sinkhole, she convinced Suzanne that Pat might be the only one able to find a cure due to his knowledge of Marks' work and his connection to the energy from the sinkhole. With great reluctance, Suzanne thus allowed Pat access to Biona's lab. With help of Janelle Carr, Pat is able to isolate the P-DNA that gives superpowered people their abilities, and even discovers this DNA can potentially be given to others. After Biona brings in a team of experts to take over the research, Suzanne has Pat locked up again. This makes Pat realize he will never be forgiven for his actions as the Crooked Man, and drives him once more to take drastic measures. He injects himself with all the P-DNA strands Biona has, and falls into a deep coma. He then woke up from it and got new powers, such as metal manipulation, telekinesis and more that are still undiscovered. Using these new powers, he easily overpowered the guards at Biona. Soon afterwards, the Crooked Energy, having been rejected by Brayden and needing a new host to survive, sought out Pat, and Pat accepted it back. He then left Biona along with David Marsh, who offered him a partnership.

A scene set after the credits of "ISSUE 208: Who You Are" showed Pat at some undetermined point in the future, where he had dyed his hair blonde and was commanding a robot army in an attack on Atlanta. He found himself confronted by the now adult Dion.

Personality

For most of season 1, Pat comes across as “smart and successful.”. After Dion's father dies, who he loved as a brother, he becomes a surrogate father to Dion. He spends time with him and tries his best to be there for both Dion and his mother, Nicole (who he has feelings for). Pat has the stereotypical sidekick personality: an intelligent, cute nerd with boundary problems. He gets bullied and undermined constantly by those around him, and it is suggested Pat was jealous of Mark. But any jealousy aside, he still loved Mark and felt genuinely bad about accidentally killing him. Pat looking after Dion and Nicole, for a large part, came from this guilt, and him trying to fill the hole he unintentionally left in their lives by killing Mark.

However, there is a much darker side to Pat that slowly becomes clear throughout the season. Underneath his goofy exterior, he feels overlooked, like he's not getting his chance, and like people are taking him for granted. He has problems with boundaries, which seem to be both the cause and the origin of his problems in keeping a girlfriend. He "comes on too strong" to those he feels love towards and gets possessive about them, as he did with a previous girlfriend and with Nicole near the end of Season 1. His fear of being rejected leads him to try to control those he cares for by making them do what he believes to be right according to him. These anxiety problems seem to be exacerbated by his powers or by the control over others his powers give him. 

After being rejected by Nicole, and with his powers killing him, Pat eventually gives in to his desperation for a cure and reveals his true colors; that of a killer who will do what's necessary to survive. After Nicole unmasks him as the Crooked Man, he drops any attempt to be a supportive father figure to Dion and takes Nicole hostage to force Dion to heal him. 

In Season 2, he is initially back to being the nice guy he was at the start of Season 1, with him showing regret for his past actions. However, in ISSUE 206: 36 Good Hours, it becomes clear that his inability to handle rejection and him feeling entitled to have things are still present. Being taken off the P-DNA research by Suzanne is the final edge, and he once more gives in to his dark side.

Powers & Abilities

Pat transforms into the Crooked Man

Pat fires lightning

Pat knocks over a van

• Storm Mimicry: While merged with the Crooked Energy, Pat is able to physically transform into meteorological ions and become an entity composed of storm clouds and electricity, usually taking on a humanoid shape.
  • Flight: Pat is able to fly and travel through air when he transforms into his storm cloud form. He can cover great distances this way in a relatively short time span.
  • Size Augmentation: Pat is able to grow to a massive size around 12-15 foot tall giant when he turns into storm cloud-like being.
  • Superhuman Strength: Due to his gigantic size, Pat's strength has immensely increased. He was strong enough to knock over a van and throw people around.
  • Possession: The Crooked Energy is able to physically inhabit and possess others when in his storm cloud form. After being defeated by Dion with the use of a lightning rod, The Storm found and took control over the body Brayden Mills, meaning the entity is separate from Pat and has no original human form.
  • Atmokinesis: Pat is able to physically generate meteorological ions from his body to create powerful and destructive storms over large yet localized areas around him.
  • Electrokinesis: Pat is able to generate and manipulate electrons to produce electricity and lightning to use them offensively against others. The electrons he produces also contours the outline of his body when in his giant storm cloud form, which he can use to shock and immobilize his targets upon making physical contact with them, though usually when he is capturing and in the process of absorbing other super-humans. He can use this ability at will after injecting himself with the serum he created.
  • Ion Absorption: When Pat is in his storm cloud form, he is able to drain other superhumans of their ions and ionic-based powers to increase his own powers and sustain his health. The storm entity first makes physical contact with the superhuman, restraining and lifting them up with its electricity, before seemingly disintegrating their bodies. It is unknown if Pat is only able to do this with other superhumans or if he can do this with normal humans as well.
    • Ion Spirit Trapping: Apparently a side effect of his absorption powers, once Pat has absorbed another superhuman of all their ions, they transform into spirit-like beings that remain attached to Pat. These spirits are only able to manifest when Pat is in his storm cloud form and unknown if Pat is aware of this or not.

From injecting himself with P-DNA

• Metal Manipulation: It is implied that he can manipulate metal after he gets injected with the serum he made.
• Telekinesis: Pat can use telekinesis, this was first shown when he made to guards shoot each other with their cryogenic weapons.
• Electrokinesis: He can create, shape and manipulate electricity, a form of energy resulting from the movement of charged particles, such as electrons or protons.
• Nuclear Blast: Pat got nuclear energy from the P-DNA, first down when he busted the glass door open.

Weaknesses

How Pat sees the world when he is The Crooked Man

When Pat was transformed during the event he was also hit with bits of radiation and it has been slowly killing him ever since, most likely through radiation poisoning. He is able to hold this process off by absorbing other super-powered people, hence why he hunts them down.

He feels an entitlement because of his kindness and constant selfless consideration for others; he believes that all of his feelings should be reciprocated to him which causes all the women he falls in love with to find him overbearing.

Pat doesn't have full control over himself when he is in his Crooked Man form. The first time he transformed, he told Kerry that he couldn't stop what was happening. He never intended to kill Mark (Charlotte Tuck was his target, he didn't know Mark would be there too, or even that Mark had powers), but couldn't stop himself once he got hold of Mark.

When Pat is in his Crooked Man form, his eyesight becomes severely limited, to the point that he can only see other superpowered people (which, to him, stand out as glowing figures in an otherwise all dark world). Normal humans become invisible to him. Nicole exploits this weakness in the final fight between Pat and Dion to sneak up on him with an improvised lightning rod, which allows Dion to defeat Pat. 

Relationships

• Dion Warren: For most of season 1, Dion is very close to Pat and looks up to him as a substitute father. Pat, in turn, helps Dion with his powers, using his wide knowledge of various comic book heroes. Dion's image of Pat is shattered however when he finds out Pat is The Crooked Man and the one who killed Mark. Dion is eventually forced to fight and seemingly kill Pat.
• Nicole Warren: Pat was a good friend to Nicole, and always willing to help her out. Deep down, he has feelings for her and hopes she will someday return them. This first became clear when he kissed her after a night of playing pool. She, however, didn't want to go any further than being just friends.

In other continuities

• In the comic book, Pat makes two brief appearances. According to Nicole, he and Mark loved making movies at any chance they had. When the two of them where making an introduction video for Biona, Nicole kept ruining it with her antics in the background, which annoyed Pat but got her the attention from Mark. This version of Pat has glasses; something his tv-counterpart lacks. It is unclear of this version of Pat has powers or if he was somehow responsible for Mark's death in this continuity.
• In the short film, Pat is played by James Clark. Like in the mayority of Season 1, he is on friendly terms with Nicole and aware of Dion's powers. The film does not reveal if he is secretly empowered and/or evil, like he is in the Netflix show.

Comic book Mark and Pat recording a video

Pat in the short film

Trivia

• In "ISSUE #108: You Won't Like Him When He's Angry, Charlotte Tuck mentioned that at least 7 people who were at the Aurora Event had gone missing after a freak storm, meaning Pat killed them. The following of his victims are known:
  • Kerry Phillips, June 6, 2014
  • Dr. Morton Lungstad, May 22, 2018.
  • Jill Noonan
  • Mark Warren, August 12, 2017
  • Walter Mills
  • Charlotte Tuck
• The name "Crooked Man" was given to him by Dion in "ISSUE #106: Super Friends". Other characters have referred to Pat's villainous alter ego as Lightning Man, Lightning Guy, or The Storm.
• For most of season 1, it was unclear whether "The Crooked Man" is simply another form of Pat or a separate entity possessing Pat. In "ISSUE #109: STORM KILLER", Pat was shown to be unable to control himself when he first transformed into The Crooked Man and killed Perry. Pat also claimed he didn't want to kill Mark but simply "couldn't stop" in New Orleans, suggesting The Storm/Crooked Man may have certain degrees of sentience and self-awareness and actively tried to absorb other powered people. Regardless, Pat likely had at least some control over his alter-ego, as shown in the last two episodes of season 1, that he could transform back and forth between his two forms at will, and was able to use The Storm as a mean of transportation to get himself to the Warren lake cabin and summon the power of electrical current to create a blast that destroyed the cabin. Due to the fact that Crooked Man was able to possess Brayden, it is most likely a separate entity. This was confirmed to be the case in season 2, where this entity is given the name Crooked Energy.
• Pat is shown to be the most powerful person in the series, absorbing many of the powered people. The only thing that was able to defeat him was the combined efforts of Dion and Nicole.
• Pat is one of four characters that appear in all continuities of Raising Dion, the others being Dion, Nicole and Mark.