Dr. Mrtav
Real name: Josip Abramovic
Age: 43
Height: 5’10” (178 cm)
Hometown: New Sarajevo, Titan
Dr. Mrtav is one of the more dangerous Condemned. Not because of his prowess in battle, but because of his personality and charm. He is very charismatic, and has a way of manipulating people into doing what he wants. This gives him a lot of power over his enemies. He is usually able to procure weapons not normally allowed in The Arena. How, you ask? Through the usual methods: bribery, intimidation, and quid pro quo deals among other inmates.
Josip Abramovic grew up in New Sarajevo, Titan. His grandparents were winemakers, using what little moisture they could harvest to grow grapes and make wine. His parents did the same, and he decided that he was above that. He had ambition. He wanted a career in medicine.
If anyone could have gone to medical school, it was Abramovic. His exam scores were among the highest in his class. In his school, he was insatiable. Every day was a new opportunity to learn more about the human body. He was fascinated by the way the nervous system responded to stimuli. That, and the effects of classical conditioning. The human mind was a fascinating thing to him, and he wanted-no, needed to know everything. It wasn’t long before he was in his residency, treating patients. Abramovic took particular interest in treating addicts and patients with a compulsion to do unusual things. In his mind, the only reason this happened was because of external stimuli and a conditioned response that had been worked into them. This was his golden opportunity! It was a chance to do something amazing. To cure the mind of its own conditioning and imprint something new!
Madness and genius are separated only by degrees of success. Unfortunately for Abramovic, he was not successful. His attempts to cure his patients ended in utter mental breakdown or death. For Abramovic, there was a lot of death. Too many patients died in suspicious ways. The Titanic Medical Board started investigating why patients at their hospitals were dying. Who treated them at the hospital? None other than Josip Abramovic.
All these dying patients caught up to him. It was only a matter of time before he’d be taken in and charged for their deaths. But he knew he was in the right. He was helping them! Sure enough, that was his response when the police asked him about his charges. He talked about his theories about the brain. How we can deprogram unwanted behavior with the right stimuli.
The only problem was the stimuli. He was outright torturing and poisoning his patients. Abramovic was a butcher, and his tools were pain, fear, and manipulation. Patients would do anything to escape the hell he put them in. Instead of helping them, he was driving them to their deaths.
To nobody’s surprise, he didn’t graduate. Josip Abramovic was charged with dozens upon dozens of murders. Given a life sentence for his role. Initially, he was considered a low security inmate. This guy couldn’t be that dangerous. Nobody knew what he was capable of. It wasn’t until he started manipulating other inmates and prison guards that people started taking notice.
He got his nickname in prison. Dr. Mrtav was a name given by one of the New Balkan gangs. At first, Abramovic hated it. But when people started dying, just like in his hospital, the name spread like wildfire.
Eventually, his victims in prison caught up to him, too. His security status shot up like a rocket. Before he could blink, Dr. Mrtav found him in one of the highest security wings. He was too dangerous to be allowed around others. When The Condemned Protocol was enacted, it was the warden that recommended he enter The Arena. There, he could ply his trade, and open up some new bunks along the way. Initially, he wasn’t allowed his preferred tool. But Dr. Mrtav loved his poisons. And if he was going to enter The Arena, he was going to need his poisons.
A little bit of manipulation later, he had what he needed. Abramovic finally embraced the mantle of Dr. Mrtav. He was able to experiment, to refine his process. And refine, he did! Now, Dr. Mrtav is a dangerous, deadly Condemned that will ruin you if you’re not careful!