Chimera the Big Bad of "The Fire Master Doctor Flame" Series, and Lion-Gal's cult leader mad scientist father.
----- Chimera’s Backstory Juan Estevez was a high-strung but brilliant scientist working for a biological GMO company, obsessed with genetic splicing—especially anything animal, especially cats. After months of ethically-sketchy “paid test subjects” and repeated failures, he tried to reinvent himself as a family man. While working in California he met a Japanese waitress, Eriko Masami; they married, had a daughter, Angelina, and moved to Puerto Rico chasing the dream of a quiet, happy life. Juan adored Angelina with a fierce, hovering kind of love… the kind that looks sweet until you realize it’s a cage with flowers on it. That cage snapped shut the day Andres Santos entered their world. Juan had heard rumors about Andres and his family—dark arts, late-night rituals—and he despised the boy on sight. When Juan learned Angelina was dating him, he went to war over it. Things boiled over when Andres sneaked into the house one night, got caught, and punched Juan in the nose—leaving both his face and his pride permanently damaged. Then the company threatened to cut funding. Panicking, Juan falsified success reports while secretly continuing the work at home—eventually experimenting on himself. The results weren’t just physical; they corroded his mind, turning “family” into “property,” and “love” into “control.” By Angelina’s 16th birthday, Juan claimed he could hear a higher power calling him back to California. He uprooted his family, built a small occult congregation, and began splicing followers into their “destined animals.” Eriko fled in terror, promising to return for Angelina—then vanished from his life for years. When Angelina finally tracked him down and witnessed a public transformation, she ran for her life… and after that, Juan disappeared. No one knows where he went. They only remember the name he left behind: Chimaera.
