Jab’s Builds! (Miss Piggy! The Swedish Chef! Sweetums! Gonzo!)

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
Jabroniville
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1950s Cap

Post by Jabroniville »

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CAPTAIN AMERICA IV (William Burnside, aka The Grand Director)
Created By:
Steve Englehart & Sal Buscema
First Appearance: Captain America #153 (Sept. 1972)- First appeared in Young Men #24 (Dec. 1953) retroactively
Role: Retcon Hero, Crazy Mirror Image Villain
Group Affiliations: National Force
PL 12 (161)
STRENGTH
7 STAMINA 7 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+8)
Athletics 4 (+11)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 4 (+15)
Close Combat (Shield) 3 (+14)
Deception 4 (+7)
Expertise (Soldier) 3 (+5)
Expertise (Teacher) 2 (+4)
Intimidation 9 (+12)
Perception 4 (+4)
Ranged Combat (Shield) 4 (+12)
Vehicles 3 (+5)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Chokehold, Daze (Intimidation), Diehard, Equipment 3 (Assorted Gear, Protection +1), Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Great Endurance, Improved Aim, Improved Critical 3 (Unarmed, Shield Bash, Shield Toss), Improved Defense, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 6, Startle, Takedown 2

Powers:
"Super-Soldier Serum Enhancements"
Speed 3 (16 mph) [3]
Leaping 2 (30 feet) [2]
Immunity 2 (Poison, Disease) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [1]
Regeneration 2 [2]

"Rip-Off of Captain America's Mighty Shield" (Feats: Restricted to Those Trained) (Flaws: Easily Removable) [14]
Enhanced Advantages 2: Evasion, Withstand Damage (2)
"Shield Toss" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Dynamic, Ricochet 3, Split 2) (Extras: Ranged 9) (Diminished Range -1) (16) -- (19)
  • Dynamic AE: "Shield Bash" Strength-Damage +3 (3)
  • Dynamic AE: "Bouncing Shield" Strength-Damage +0 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable 7, Selective 7) (14)
  • Dynamic AE: Enhanced Dodge 2 & Parry 2 (Extras: Sustained +0) Linked to Enhanced Strength 2 (Flaws: Limited to Resisting Movement) (6)
-- (21 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +15 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Shield Bash +14 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Shield Toss +12 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Bouncing Shield +7 Area (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +10

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (+14 Shield, DC 24), Parry +11 (+13 Shield, DC 23), Toughness +7 (+8 Chain-Mail), Fortitude +11, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Patriotism)- Inspired by Captain America himself, William Burnside is devoted to his country, though far more fanatical than the other Caps.
Responsibility/Involuntary Transformation (Insane)- The Super-Soldier Serum in his body drove Burnside insane, and he frequently suffers from delusions or alternate personalities.

Total: Abilities: 76 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 27 / Powers: 22 / Defenses: 15 (161)

The "1950s Cap":
-The "1950s Cap" as he was known for decades (nobody bothered to give him a real name until recently) has an interesting story. See, Timely/Atlas Comics tried to renew their old Captain America & Bucky characters in the 1950s alongside their other popular Golden Age heroes, turning him into "Captain America- COMMIE SMASHER", but non-DC super-heroes were kind of low-sellers compared to all the Westerns & Romance Comics of the age. Thanks to low sales, despite scenes of Cap brutalizing Soviet agents and a Communist Red Skull, the feature was cancelled. When Cap finally came back for real in the 1960s, it was apparent that the "50s Cap" run never happened, as Steve was frozen in ice by the end of the war- Stan Lee had effectively written out his own stories to tell a better one.

-Then, decades later, we got the TRUE story from Steve Englehart: those issues WERE canon, but it wasn't Steve Rogers & Bucky Barnes- just a new "Replacement Cap" who was crazy into Rogers and decided to look and act just like him (even getting surgery for that purpose). The government wanted to revive old heroes to fight the "Red Menace", and he & his partner (Jack "Nomad" Monroe") went crazy thanks to some screwed-up versions of the Super-Soldier Serum given to them- they become jingoistic racists who beat anyone simply for having different opinions than themselves (the comparison to the political situation at the time should be obvious). Their bosses put them in suspended animation for years- they are thawed out by an unnamed agent who has them fight Captain America & the Falcon, but they lose and are returned to their suspended state. Follow-up retcons explained away the two "1945-49" Caps as well.

Racist, Crazy Cap:
-Later, writers Roger McKenzie & Jim Shooter revive the character, putting him under the psychiatric care of the evil Dr. Faustus, who brainwashes him into becoming the white-clad "Grand Director", leading of The National Force, a Neo-Nazi group. When the real Captain America faces him, he undergoes a mental breakdown, realizing the perversion of the identity of the man he respected so much- he curls into a fetal position and sets himself ablaze. And thus, this Cap is done away with, never having gotten a real name.

-And then, with the real Steve Rogers dead in Ed Brubaker's run, the character RETURNS. Now called William Burnside, he's been revived by Faustus & the Red Skull, healed of his wounds, and send him against Bucky-Cap. He instead escapes and goes off on his own, but grows disgusted with the current culture of the United States- becoming further twisted, he joins the racist Watchdogs, and captures Bucky-Cap, forcing him to act as his Bucky, complete with the old costume. He looks identical to Steve Rogers, but he's super-strong and extremely aggressive, and usually more than poor Barnes can handle. He was believed dead after Bucky shot him, but turned up as a crazed vigilante before Captain America himself arranged for a faked-death and some mental help. Ultimately, the character was absolved of some blame, and taken away for his own good. To probably be revived as a madman by some OTHER writer.

-In short, the character's entire purpose is kind of to be a symbol of "Wow, the U.S. was messed up in the '50s, huh?", as Anti-Communist fervor led to McCarthyism and other cases of hysterical overreactions. This Cap is seen as a brutal politically-biased aggressor who committed various horrible acts, then turned crazy to justify any kind of a story- twice now, he's been shown to represent 1950s-style racism exaggerated into full-bore Nazi proportions, wearing a white costume evoking the KKK.

The Super-Strong, Mega-Evil Cap:
-William Burnside is a monster- he's less well-trained than Steve Rogers, but as Bucky-Cap himself notes: "He's stronger than Steve. And FASTER." This boosted speed allows '50s Cap WAY more accuracy than he'd normally get (this is kind of weird for me, because I associate "Fighting" stats with "Fighting Skill", but really, being able to hit someone before they can hit you is the DEFINITION of a good fighter- in real life, speed and power are just as important as technique, if not moreso), and he can bull-rush fighters on Bucky & The Black Widow's level with ease, and does WAY more damage when he hits. He tends to go All-Out with crushing punishment, and the PL 11 Bucky-Cap has his work cut out for him against this PL 12 monster. I would imagine even actual Cap would have a hell of a challenge against this guy. His only flaw is that he's "only" PL 10.5 to Parry, and PL 11 to Defense- he's a fast fighter, but tends to walk into punches more than somebody his speed normally would. Similarly, he needs the Shield to hit all his caps.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Fri Aug 19, 2022 1:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Ares
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Batroc's Brigade! Bucky! Winter Soldier! 1950s Cap!)

Post by Ares »

William Burnside seems like one of those characters that should either just embrace his evil nature or be treated as a somewhat tragic villain, misguided and possibly redeemable. But the poor guy seems to get broken out just whenever they want an Anti-Cap.

Regarding Zaran, it's a bit annoying that they Mark just decided to turn one of Shang's enemies into a jobber for Cap. A lot of his enemies make perfectly solid villains if used right.

Zaran as a concept is pretty cool, but it's clear he needs some kind of makeover. It's really stupid that a guy called "the Weapons Master" is mostly known for having a truckload of "throwing sais" that resemble neither throwing knives or sais. He'd benefit from some kind modular or collapsible weapons, custom designed so he can make the most out of his skills and adapt to the situation. Like he might take a page from Mockingbird and have some escrima sticks that he can combine into a bo-staff, which could also become a spear, but maybe also have the escrima sticks be able to turn into tonfa as well. maybe go one step further where they have a concealed chain and can become nunchaku, or when used as a full on staff can become a tri-sectional staff. Maybe a pair of long knives/short swords where the blades can extend to full sized swords. Give him throwing knives for deadly ranged combat, bolos when he needs to incapacitate, maybe even some smoke bombs and the like. Also maybe play up the hidden weapon angle where he's always got some weapons hidden on him and is almost impossible to disarm.

Look-wise, he needs some kind of makeover. Maybe update the mask to where it looks like a hybrid of traditional Chinese and Japanese masks, but it leaves his jaw exposed the same way as his old mask, but with a more stylized look. Kind of like Kyle Rayner's crab-mask, but it attaches to a hood that covers his hair.

As for Machete, in retrospect it should be easy enough to make that kind of character work with Batroc's Brigade. Even if Zaran is there and is technically better at using bladed weapons than Machete, Machete can still be really skilled with his particular weapon and have a lot of non-combat related skills you'd expect from a guerrilla fighter: he's got a wide range of Ranger-esque outdoorsman and tracking skills, he's got a good head for hit and run tactics, he's a good skirmisher, etc. In essence, if Zaran is a more up front and straightforward martial artist, then Machete fights more like a Rogue/Ranger hybrid with a bit of Ninja thrown in there. He'd be the guy to help plan out the missions, have the escape routes prepared, etc.

I'd also bring back Ferdinand Lopez, just say that rumors of his death were greatly exaggerated. And that the replacements being his "brothers" were more that they served along with him during his revolutionary days and weren't his actual blood brothers.
"My heart is as light as a child's, a feeling I'd nearly forgotten. And by helping those in need, I will be able to keep that feeling alive."
- Captain Marvel SHAZAM! : Power of Hope (2000)

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Jabroniville
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Nomad (Jack Monroe)

Post by Jabroniville »

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LOL what an absolute piss-biscuit of a character design.

NOMAD III (Jack Monroe, aka Bucky III)
Created By:
Steve Englehart & Sal Buscema
First Appearance: Captain America #153 (Sept. 1972)
Role: Jerk-Ass Hero, Forgotten Legacy Character, Weary Vigilante World-Traveller
Group Affiliations: N/A
PL 9 (125)
STRENGTH
4 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 12 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 8 (+14)
Athletics 6 (+10)
Deception 5 (+6)
Expertise (Streetwise) 6 (+7)
Intimidation 6 (+7)
Peception 4 (+6)
Stealth 1 (+7)
Treatment 1 (+2)
Vehicles 5 (+7)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Equipment 3 (Assorted Weapons), Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Ranged Attack 8, Startle, Takedown

Powers:
"The Super-Soldier Serum- Absolute Peak Human"
Speed 2 (8 mph) [2]
Leaping 1 (15 feet) [1]
Immunity 2 (Poison, Disease) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [1]
Regeneration 2 [2]
"Hitting Power" Strength-Damage +1 [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Guns +12 (+4-6 Ranged Damage, DC 19-21)
Initiative +6

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +5, Fortitude +7, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility (Man Out of Time)- Jack Monroe was born in the 1930s or '40s.
Responsibility (Insane)- The process that gave Jack Cap-like stats also left him insane. He appeared cured once he was thawed out of suspended animation, but it reared it's ugly head near the end of his life.
Relationship ("Bucky")- Jack cared deeply for a toddler he took from a drug-addicted mother.
Enemy (The Slug)- Nomad's key foe for a while was the obese crimelord of Florida.

Total: Abilities: 70 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 17 / Powers: 7 / Defenses: 10 (125)

Jack Monroe- Forgettable Backgrounder:
-Man, I disliked this douchebag even BEFORE I found out he was a legitimate asshole in the stories. When I got into comics, he was a Punisher rip-off travelling around the country with a baby dressed like Bucky strapped to his chest, and I thought he was dumb even THEN. Then I get into Mark Gruenwald's Cap run, and all this butt-pipe does is complain about D-Man sucking up to Cap, and repeatedly taunt the poor guy, who isn't even fighting back. What kind of a super-hero also acts like an insane bully?

-Jack started out as the Bucky of the 1950s (when Steve Englehart retconned the brutal anti-Communist adventures of Cap as a replacement because Steve Rogers was frozen), but went crazy- he and Cap IV were subjected to a variant Super-Soldier Serum process that left out important aspects of Dr. Erskine's original (lacking the important Vita-Ray component), leaving them insane as a result. Cap IV became The Grand Director, a lethal dictator-like figure, but Jack Monroe is killed fighting him- Cap & Daredevil take out the villain. J.M. DeMatteis resurrected Jack, and he gains the "Nomad" identity, taking the name Steve Rogers took during a four-issue stint where he drops the Cap name after Richard Nixon offs himself after being revealed as the leader of the Secret Empire. The two formed a partnership for two years starting in 1983- Cap books tend to partner him up with others a lot- as a solo hero, he kind of needs a fight-worthy supporting cast. Sharon Carter, The Falcon, D-Man, Nomad, Diamondback, etc.

-The two heroes fight the Sisters of Sin, Baron Zemo, the Red Skull, and others, and they voluntarily split up after he has a successful mission against Madcap (new writer Mark Gruenwald states that "Nomad made Cap seem old" since Cap had to take a mentor role, instead of acting like an "active, vital superhero"). Later, he battles the Slug, then joins Cap during The Captain, feuding with D-Man in a one-sided nature (it's largely just Jack ripping on a pathetic, innocent victim)- they team up with the Falcon & Jack's new girlfriend and fighting partner, a newbie superhero named Vagabond, who seems to show an interest in D-Man, to Jacks' chagrin. When the trio are captured during the Serpent Society's invasion of Washington, D.C., and imprisoned by the Commission (the nasty government figures who made Cap step down), Nomad abandons D-Man & Vagabond to prison, running off with Sidewinder. He later splits with Cap, disgusted that Steve wants to turn himself in to the Commission. Gru indicates in the letter pages that this is the previous psychosis slowly returning.

Nomad- Inexplicable '90s Series:
-And then, in a hopelessly "Me, Too!" notion that floods an already over-crowded market with MORE books, Jack becomes the inexplicable solo star of Nomad, now featuring him as a grim, gritty, "Sunglasses & Trenchcoat" guy, complete with guns and permanent stubble! Like, this was HILARIOUSLY transparent- a way to make a new book out of current trends, and use the notion of a former background character as an excuse to not write an origin story. The book's "High Concept"? That Jack kidnaps an infant girl from her drug-addicted mother, nicknames her "Bucky", and brings her on the road with him- Jack is now a murderous vigilante, slaughtering drug dealers while the Commission scrutinizes his every move and becomes a recurring nuisance. Fabian Nicieza wrote this book, and it's probably the weakest of what was normally a "pretty good" assortment of X-Men, X-Force and The New Warriors- this was an "issues of the day" comic, largely ripping off the famous Green Arrow & Green Lantern run, with Nomad dealing with AIDS, homelessness and hate crimes.

-Along the way, Nomad stops being as obsessive and "self-destructive", and becomes more laid-back, especially once he discovers "The Undergrounders"- a community of people across America who help out those down on their luck. Marvel briefly teases that Nomad & Bucky could be HIV-positive owing to their backstory and dealings with the Undergrounders, but never pulls the trigger. A testament to how minor this book is, he has only the briefest interactions with The Infinity Crusade (said to be "literally hanging out with Forge" on Wikipedia, and later fighting an Evil Duplicate of Gambit, who got lost on the way to the big conflict) and The Midnight Sons. Bucky's mother shows up being brainwashed into an assassin that tries to kill him. Finally, the book is cancelled during the Comic Book Crash of 1994, lasting 25 issues, and Nomad is thought killed off- slain during a fight with a Nazi militia in his hometown (his father is revealed to have been a Nazi sympathizer during the war).

-Nomad thus disappears for a couple of years, but pops up again as the Scourge of the Underworld in Nicieza's Thunderbolts run- it's shown that his death had been faked and he was now brainwashed into acting as the villain-killer by Henry Gyrich. He is eventually freed from Gyrich's control by the T-Bolts, and vanishes from comics again (the Heroes Reborn Bucky has since taken the name "Nomad"). The character is then given the most ignominious death in Ed Brubaker's Captain America run- he relapses into psychosis, and is then shot by the Winter Soldier (the Golden Age Bucky) as part of the Red Skull's plans. It at least turns out that the infant "Bucky" has since been adopted and is safe.

So What the Hell?:
-This guy's really just incredibly weird- the "1950s Cap" story was a great tragic tale that's also a neat "continuity trick", and it seemed like Jack was just kind of along for that ride because that Cap also had a "Bucky" working with him. And then they kill him off in a brave sacrifice, making it even more tragic- good story, right? But then I guess Cap needs a SIDEKICK again, and so Jack throws on Cap's old "Nomad" costume and that's a thing for a year or two. And then Gruenwald clearly doesn't give a shit about him, writing him as a complete ass-bucket, but OH NO, Marvel needs to FILL THOSE RACKS at the comic book shops, and so here's Nomad, featuring the most stereotypical 1990s Gun-Toting Vigilante in history, just slapping the trendy new "self-hating, aggressive vigilante" persona onto an old character to get some of that sweet "Punisher money". It was cloying and sad, despite Nicieza apparently using it as his "Modern Issues" book. And then after that he's just a mind-controlled nutjob, with even great writers like Busiek & Brubaker finding nothing for him but screwing him around. He's been dead for years by this point, but who knows when the next writer will casually decide we need Jack back?

Nomad's Powers:
-Jack Monroe has Cap-level physical stats, but is a much lower-tier hero, fitting in alongside The Falcon, D-Man & Vagabond, or teaming up with The Punisher. He's PL 8 physically, PL 9 with ranged weapons like a gun. He used Throwing Stun-Discs when he was a tights-wearing hero, but he was a Gun Guy during his '90s solo book.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Fri Aug 19, 2022 1:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
Scrollreader
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Batroc's Brigade! Bucky! Winter Soldier! 1950s Cap!)

Post by Scrollreader »

Was there someone crying out for the Nomad legacy to be filled? I mean, sure you need a Captain America or Batgirl. I get it. And I might even buy a Cap as Nomad action figure, if I was a kid. (God knows I salivated over all the costumed batman variants which had no canonicity at all). But it was an incredibly brief thing, and the costume wasn't even that good.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Batroc's Brigade! Bucky! Winter Soldier! 1950s Cap!)

Post by Davies »

From what I've been able to reconstruct, there was a demand for Cap to have a partner again in the 1980s, so J.M. DeMatteis brought back the 50s Bucky (who'd been killed previous) and had him decide that that identity didn't suit him anymore, and, being impressed by what he'd been told about the time that Cap had rejected his own iconography, took up the Nomad name. Almost as soon as he showed up, though, Monroe was manipulated into playing a role in bringing about the 'ultimate conflict' between Cap and the Red Skull which took place in Captain America #300, poisoning Cap with drugs that undid the super soldier formula's effects on him.

So this particular character has a long history of being used and manipulated, even in his own book.
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."
Jabroniville
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Nomads

Post by Jabroniville »

NOMAD I-V:
-*SIGH*... yes, there are five Nomads. Even THIS can't go five minutes without somebody popping up using the name.

NOMAD I (Steve Rogers, aka Captain America):
-Following Cap's disillusionment with his country when it turns out that the President of the United States is secretly a member of the Secret Empire, he throws off his old costume and becomes the wandering "Nomad", wearing a very generic, man-cleavage-baring costume. This big event actually only lasts four issues (Cap realizes he can support his country without blindly following its government), and yet it becomes a 50-year trend.

NOMAD II (Edward Ferbel):
-This guy shows up in 1981, and is given the costume & gear by the Red Skull in order to discredit Captain America. He is killed two issues later by the Ameridroid when he fails.

NOMAD III (Jack Monroe, aka "1950s Bucky"):
-Jack, the third Bucky, is now an adult, having been thawed out from suspended animation after falling psychotic. He acts as a Rookie Hero, with Cap as his mentor, for two years of the Captain America title, wearing his old "Nomad" costume and using the throwing discs and other gear. He periodically returns to the book until 1989, when he is refashioned by Fabian Nicieza into a trendy, gun-toting vigilante who is discovering America. He is eventually killed off, revived, then killed off again. He remains by far the best known Nomad.

NOMAD IV (Rikki Barnes):
-The Bucky of the Heroes Reborn universe eventaully ends up on the mainstream Marvel Earth, and takes the name "Nomad" from the now-dead Jack Monroe in a 2009 comic, so as not to step on any toes.

NOMAD V (Ian Rogers, aka Leopold Zola):
-Ian is a brand-new character- the infant son of Arnim Zola in "Dimension Z", an Earth ruled by Zola himself. Captain America rescues the child and raises him as his own, renaming him Ian. He is thought to have been accidentally killed by Sharon Carter, but pops up on Earth-616 as the new Nomad, wearing a costume and shield like Cap's. He is now the defender of Dimension Z.
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Vagabond

Post by Jabroniville »

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VAGABOND I (Priscilla Lyons)
Created By:
Mark Gruenwald & Paul Neary
First Appearance: Captain America #325 (Jan. 1987)
Role: D-League Ally, Wannabe Super-Hero, Failed Villain
Group Affiliations: The Scourges of the Underworld
PL 6 (95)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 1 (+5)
Athletics 4 (+6)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 4 (+9)
Expertise (Streetwise) 3 (+3)
Insight 4 (+4)
Intimidation 2 (+3)
Perception 2 (+2)
Ranged Combat (Rifle) 2 (+8)
Stealth 1 (+5)
Vehicles 3 (+3)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 6

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +3

Complications:
Motivation (Justice)
Relationship (Phil Lyons)- Priscilla was close to her brother, and strove to rescue him from his drug-dealing lifestyle.

Total: Abilities: 30 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 32 / Defenses: 14 (95)

-A really, REALLY low-level human fighter, Priscilla Lyons was a hot chick who decided to start hanging around super-heroes after Nomad got involved in her life (in more ways than one), and tried to save her brother Phil from a life of drug-dealing. Things didn't work out for Phil, but Pris hooked up with Nomad and got trained by D-Man (what HE could teach someone, I don't know). The group helped Captain America fight the Serpent Society (though her only accomplishments were getting the Armadillo to turn himself in, and tickling Black Racer into submission), but Nomad got pissy over Vagabond seeming to crush on D-Man and bailed on them.

-Later, she attempted to gain superhuman powers from the Power-Broker, but was forced by Dr. Karl Malus into turning on him- she managed to undo the villain and have U.S. Agent arrest him. Despite this, she later became part of the "Scourge" organization, becoming kitted out to murder super-villains. Her first assignment: The Matador. However, she couldn't bring herself to kill him (he stared her down and desperately explained that he had reformed, and was now helping his sister raise her children), and she ran off instead. Angered, the Scourges put a hit out on her, which resulted in her calling the Avengers West Coast for help- U.S. Agent, bored at a party (he was antisocial as always), was first-responder and a set of dominoes was knocked down that resulted in the entire organization being put out of commission. She hasn't appeared since- Gruenwald created her, and interest in her basically died with him.

-Priscilla is a ridiculously low-level superhero- the Heroic equivalent of a typical Scourge victim, really. She's PL 5.5 on offense, and PL 6 on defense, and generally needed to be helped out by Nomad, D-Man and U.S. Agent.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Fri Aug 19, 2022 1:44 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Batroc! Bucky! Winter Soldier! 1950s Cap! Nomad!)

Post by Shock »

Jabroniville wrote: Sun Oct 11, 2020 12:38 am tickling Black Racer into submission
Has to be in the running for worst performance in a superhero fight ever right? I mean, at least Guy Gardner got one-punched by (the goddamn) Batman.
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Rikki Barnes

Post by Jabroniville »

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RIKKI BARNES (Rebecca "Rikki" Barnes, aka Bucky V, Nomad IV)
Created By:
Jeph Loeb & Rob Liefeld
First Appearance: Captain America (Heroes Reborn) #1 (Nov. 1996)
Role: Distaff Counterpart, Mega-Convoluted Repeatedly Forgotten Character
Group Affiliations: The Young Allies, The Exiles
PL 8 (109)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 7 (+12)
Athletics 8 (+10)
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Government Agent) 2 (+4)
Insight 2 (+4)
Investigation 3 (+5)
Perception 3 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Discs) 2 (+11)
Stealth 2 (+7)

Advantages:
Equipment 3 (Kevlar +2, Throwing Discs- Blast 3- Multiattack, Ricochet, Pistol +5), Evasion, Improved Defenses, Ranged Attack 6

Powers:
"Nomad's Vibranium-Photonic Shield" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [3]
Enhanced Parry 2 & Dodge 3 (5 points)

"Vibranium-Soled Boots" (Flaws: Removable) [8]
Movement 2 (Wall-Crawling) (4)
"Move Silently" Enhanced Skills 4: Stealth 4 (+11) (2)
Leaping 3 (60 feet) (3)
-- (9 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Throwing Discs +12 (+3 Ranged Damage, DC 18)
Pistol +10 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (+12 Shield, DC 19-22), Parry +10 (+12 Shield, DC 20-22), Toughness +2 (+4 Kevlar), Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Responsibility (Girl Without A World)- Rikki hails from the Heroes Reborn universe, but was taken from it years ago and plopped onto Marvel's Earth, with no known family or anything. She frequently feels untethered and like she doesn't belong.

Total: Abilities: 60 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 11 / Defenses: 11 (109)

Rikki Barnes- The Original Character in "Heroes Reborn":
-Rikki Barnes is one of those bizarre-ass side characters who pop up in Marvel from time to time, who are complete throwaways yet are oddly chosen as someone's "Baby" and become heavily-pushed by one writer or another- and all for someone who remains utterly obscure and mired in failed book after failed book! And then killed off, but immediately resurrected so THAT story meant nothing, and got traded from book to book once more, now that she's a lesbian heroine! She debuted as the "Bucky" in Heroes Reborn- she was established as the granddaughter of the that version of the WWII-era Bucky. When her brother joined a group loyal to the Red Skull, she got involved and became Captain America's student in order to fight them. When Heroes Return came out and all the established Marvel guys returned, Rikki stayed behind to watch over what became known as "Counter-Earth". Eventually, when Onslaught returned to kill the heroes again, Rikki sacrificed her to stop him... and ended up in the main reality Earth!

-The story gets odder, as she ends up meeting the 616-version of her brother, and learns she was stillborn on this Earth. With Bucky I now the new Captain America, Rikki became the new "Nomad" (fittingly taking the name used by the THIRD 616-Bucky). This was apparently in a solo book that I've never heard of, as it had all sorts of stuff with the "brother" (who felt rebuffed by her rejecting a romantic overture, since... y'know, he was sort of like her brother- he thus got manipulated into helping some bad guys and was shot & killed)- the Black Widow was frequently shown watching over her. This led to a new series called Nomad: Girl Without a World, written by Sean McKeever (who'd just quit DC acrimoniously over their shitting all over and wrecking his Teen Titans run), who then segued her to The Young Allies, a "Teen Hero" book back when Marvel was spamming out around two a year in hopes of finding something that "clicked".

The Young Allies:
-Unfortunately, the book was IMMENSIVELY unsatisfying, with ludicrous ideas like "The Bastards of Evil" (shitty pretend-children of various super-villains engaging in terrorist activities like killing thousands of people in Manhattan- something that would never happen during times of strong editorial oversight, as this would be 9/11 times FIFTY in real life). She teamed up with Araña, a new Toro, Firestar (as the token "established adult hero"), and more, but the book rapidly vanished. In Onslaught Unleashed, the psionic entity reveals that she was a mere construct- the real Rikki had died in the Negative Zone, and this Rikki was created as a store for his energies, allowing him an "anchor point" to return to existence. Horrified, she fights back, but has her teammate Gravity kill her to ensure that Onslaught can not return. A heroic ending that is likely a writer going "Shit- they're never going to use her again, are they? Well I'll just kill her".

-And so of course she pops up in a new version of Exiles following Secret Wars. This book is cancelled even faster than Young Allies was, and she "dies under unrecorded circumstances" (lol, OFF-PANEL?), but is brought to another reality, and she's turned up in a couple of lesbian relationships since then, Because Diversity Is Law on new books, but... I dunno what anyone was going for here. A constantly-resurrecting reality-hopper now? What's going on? And then suddenly she's back to the main universe, and she joins the Future Foundation, forming a relationship with Julie Power!

-This whole thing is just... INSANE. Like, you have a Heroes Reborn OC and you want to use them, which is fine. But then she pops up and you give her the loser gimmick of "Nomad" and toss her in some guaranteed-to-fail books because you're trying to capture the "Teen Heroine" thing before Ms. Marvel successfully did so. But then that all dies and so you kill the character off... only for the next writer to pop in with her on Exiles, they kill her off a couple OTHER times in that so that she can "Quantum Leap" into other realities, and then she's back in FF because you wanted to give Julie Power a girlfriend? THIS IS SO FREAKING WEIRD. Why does a character this minor have a bio this insane?

Rikki's Powers:
-Rikki is a minor PL 8 heroine with Throwing Discs, a gun, kevlar, and some Vibranium stuff (including nifty boots that she hasn't used in a long time).
Last edited by Jabroniville on Fri Aug 19, 2022 1:45 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Batroc! Bucky! Winter Soldier! 1950s Cap! Nomad!)

Post by Ares »

I always felt kind of bad for Jack Monroe, because when he first started as Nomad he was a decent enough character. We got to see the whole "man out of time" thing again, but this time with a guy who wasn't Steve Rogers. Gruenwald originally wrote him as a guy who was sincerely trying to adapt to the modern times, but was having difficulties and felt directionless (adding an extra layer to the whole Nomad name). But over time Gruenwald really ramped up the jerkass aspect of the character, until Jack decides to just let the Serpent Society break him out of jail. When Steve eventually tracked Jack down a few hours later, Jack was drunk off his ass and Steve decided he had other stuff to focus on. After that, Jack basically exited the Cap book and went on to do his own thing. I don't know of if Gruenwald just got tired of the idea that Cap needed a partner or what, but at some point he just wrote Jack out of the story, and from there he went on to be Punisher-lite.

It's a shame, he basically wound up becoming the Jason Todd of Cap's partners, and he could have easily been turned into a Winter Soldier-style character. Thinking about it, Jack would have actually made a lot more sense as the Winter Soldier, since he had experience with firearms, they could have done something to reactivate aspects of the flawed Super Soldier Serum within him, possibly using mind control to overcome the mental problems, etc. Not only would this have made a lot more sense, but it would have left the original Bucky alone and given Steve something to genuinely feel guilty over. Bucky's death wasn't Steve's fault. Steve could be argued to bear some responsibility for Jack ending up in the situation he did, motivating Steve to try and rescue him. And then Jack could take up Steve's mantle when Steve died, and do his level best to live up to Steve's example and get his head back together.

One weird gripe of mine is that I hate the kind of masks Nomad and Johnny Quick have, where it covers a good chunk of the face but stops halfway down the neck. It just looks wrong for some reason, and I feel that if you're going to have a mask that doesn't connect to the neck of the costume, make it a domino mask.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Batroc's Brigade! Bucky! Winter Soldier! 1950s Cap!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Ares wrote: Sat Oct 10, 2020 8:25 am William Burnside seems like one of those characters that should either just embrace his evil nature or be treated as a somewhat tragic villain, misguided and possibly redeemable. But the poor guy seems to get broken out just whenever they want an Anti-Cap.

Regarding Zaran, it's a bit annoying that they Mark just decided to turn one of Shang's enemies into a jobber for Cap. A lot of his enemies make perfectly solid villains if used right.
One thing I notice frequently in Gru's Cap run is that his love of Cap is such that Cap tends to curbstomp HORDES of villains, often at once, to establish how great he is. How many times did he easily defeat someone like Blackbird or whatever? The Serpent Society seem to exist just for this reason (winning only via numbers), and at that point, Machete & Zaran were un-used guys and were "free", so I imagine their role is much the same thing. They were simply jobbers to feed to Cap's greatness.

Gru, however, tended to leave the big-name villains alone, using Cap's curbstomping of the rabble to establish guys like Crossbones, the Red Skull and others as much more dangerous.
Zaran as a concept is pretty cool, but it's clear he needs some kind of makeover. It's really stupid that a guy called "the Weapons Master" is mostly known for having a truckload of "throwing sais" that resemble neither throwing knives or sais.
Yeah, using more weapons instead of just a tiny handful would be better. Hell, they could make a big deal of him having his own weapons-shop, having hidden stores of gear to use, etc. Have him disarm the hero and use his own gear just as effectively- it could make for a fun battle against Daredevil or someone else reliant on weapons. But alas- just a jobber. Too bad Shang-Chi didn't have powerful editors, lol.
I'd also bring back Ferdinand Lopez, just say that rumors of his death were greatly exaggerated. And that the replacements being his "brothers" were more that they served along with him during his revolutionary days and weren't his actual blood brothers.
It's pretty clear Gru saw NOTHING in that guy- I'm pretty sure he's the one who offed Machete in the first place.
One weird gripe of mine is that I hate the kind of masks Nomad and Johnny Quick have, where it covers a good chunk of the face but stops halfway down the neck. It just looks wrong for some reason, and I feel that if you're going to have a mask that doesn't connect to the neck of the costume, make it a domino mask.
Oh god I didn't even notice that- yeah, that is DREADFUL. Just a complete fashion faux pas. I mean, the Nomad costume is entirely just the most generic kind of superhero gear, adding a random cape and big epaulettes or whatever those circles are, a mask that doesn't fit anything, and a weird plunging neckline with asymmetrical man-cleavage. It's really weird.
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Nomad (Ian Rogers)

Post by Jabroniville »

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NOMAD V (Ian Rogers, aka Leopold Zola)
Created By:
Rick Remender & John Romita, Jr.
First Appearance: Captain America #1 (Jan. 2013)
Role: Utter Mary-Sue, The Hero's Son
Group Affiliations: N/A

-Oh man, this guy was SUCH a Mary Sue. I mean, absolutely, embarrassingly so. Ian Rogers was born Leopold, the infant son of Arnim Zola, in the alternate universe "Dimension Z", which was ruled by Zola- Cap takes the boy and raises him as his own son in a massive eleven-year war against Zola's forces, renaming him "Ian". In this MASSIVE, twelve-issue arc of Captain America, Rick Remender (who LOVES "Villain's Sons Turned Good" arcs as much as he loves "Alternate Timelines so I can f*ck around" stories, Captain America deals with the repercussions of Zola's rule. My friend read it, and said the book was agonizingly long-winded and way too decompressed, ending up being rather boring. At the end of the story, Cap & Ian defeat Zola, but Ian is accidentally shot and apparently killed by Sharon Carter.

-My only sighting of Ian was after the story ended, in which the character reappears in the mainstream Marvel Universe, running in and beating the shit out of a bunch of established characters to justify the writer FAP-FAP-FAPPING over how awesome his cool new "toy" is. Like, they straight up "Mantised" him into establishing himself by beating on other heroes- something that most modern writers should be too knowledgeable to try.

-In any case, Ian now shows up, with his physical abilities just a BIT above Cap's, and wearing a similar costume and using a Discus Shield, and helps out as the new "Nomad". During AXIS, he helps Cap & Spider-Man rescue Loki in Las Vegas, and subsequently becomes the defender of Dimension Z.

-Nomad V is probably a PL 10-11 version of Cap- higher physical abilities but not as much skill or experience.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Fri Aug 19, 2022 1:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Nomad (Edward Ferbel)

Post by Jabroniville »

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NOMAD II (Edward Ferbel)
Created By:
J.M. DeMatteis & Mike Zeck
First Appearance: Captain America #261 (Sept. 1981)
Role: Forgotten Replacement
Group Affiliations: N/A

-This guy is a mere eyeblink to history- Edward Ferbel was convinced by the Red Skull to take on Captain America's discarded "Nomad" persona and costume. This was to lure Cap to the Skull, and also besmirch his identity. Ferbel engaged in a series of staged fights, believing himself to be legitimately defeating his foes. Cap, concerned over a new Nomad appearing, investigated and Ferbel latched himself onto Cap and started "working" with him. Cap's responsibility was a poor mix with Ferbel's fame-hungry attitude and glory-hogging, he was gunned down by the Ameridroid. This led to public sentiment that Cap failed to act in time to save his "partner". This whole thing took place in only three issues.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Fri Aug 19, 2022 1:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
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The Red Skull

Post by Jabroniville »

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THE RED SKULL I (Johann Schmidt)
Created By:
Joe Simon & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: Captain America #7 (Oct. 1941)
Role: The Big Bad, The Nazi
Group Affiliations: The National Socialist Party of Germany, The Skeleton Crew, A.I.M., HYDRA, ULTIMATUM
PL 10 (200)
STRENGTH
5 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 5 PRESENCE 5

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+11)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+14)
Deception 8 (+13)
Expertise (Business) 7 (+11)
Expertise (Nazi Party Leader) 6 (+10)
Expertise (History) 7 (+11)
Expertise (Criminal) 8 (+12)
Expertise (Science) 2 (+6)
Insight 4 (+9)
Intimidation 8 (+13)
Investigation 2 (+7)
Perception 6 (+11)
Persuasion 5 (+10)
Vehicles 2 (+5)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Benefit 2 (Reputation & Wealth), Precise Attack (Close/Concealment), Chokehold, Connected, Contacts, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Diehard, Equipment 5 (Guns, etc.), Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Disarm, Leadership, Ranged Attack 9, Taunt

Powers:
"Dust of Death Poison Cigarette" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [24]
Weaken Stamina 10 (Extras: Area- 15ft. Cloud, Progressive +2) (40 points)

"The Cloned Body of Steve Rogers- Absolute Peak Human"
Speed 2 (8 mph) [2]
Leaping 1 (15 feet) [1]
Immunity 2 (Poison, Disease) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [1]
Regeneration 2 [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +14 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Guns +12 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Dust of Death +10 Area (+10 Weaken, DC 20)
Initiative +6

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +13 (DC 23), Toughness +5 (+6 D.Roll), Fortitude +9, Will +10

Complications:
Motivation (Power)- The Skull desires power over anything else- be it via Nazism, criminal empires or the Cosmic Cube.
Motivation (Cleansing Society)- Schmidt despises weakness and impurity, and seeks to eliminate it from society. Be it religions, minorities, Mutants or simply decadent America, the Skull wishes to demolish them all.
Enemy (Captain America)- For decades, the Skull's key nemesis has been Captain America- the symbol of freedom itself.
Prejudice (Nazi)- The Red Skull is such an asshole that even OTHER ASSHOLES don't like him. The Mandarin, The Kingpin, Doctor Doom and others have all voiced their disgust at being linked to such a man. Never mind what MAGNETO feels...
Hatred (Minorities, Women)- The Skull specifically seems disgusted with women, having ordered his daughter killed for the crime of being born a girl.
Power Loss (Super-Soldier Serum)- The Red Skull often inhabits the cloned body of Steve Rogers, giving him Cap's physical benefits. In his normal body, he is ST 3, STA 4, AGI 4, and FIGHTING 9 (+12 Unarmed).

Total: Abilities: 88 / Skills: 72--36 / Advantages: 29 / Powers: 30 / Defenses: 17 (200)

The Red Skull- The Most Abhorrent Villain In Comics:
-The Red Skull's got a permanent place as one of comics' greatest villains by the simple virtue of being a real damned Nazi when most villains are just vague "evil" people, no matter their origins or motivations. I mean, he WAS FRIENDS WITH FRIGGIN' HITLER. That's the kind of real, comprehendable, legit evil that people can actually grasp and understand- not some "I got powers so now I rob banks" stuff. That he's the recurring arch-nemesis of one of Marvel's top heroes doesn't hurt, as that's basically a permanent sort of A-list ranking for any villain. He was such a good villain that even the Kingpin, Magneto & Wizard, actual supervillains who've killed hundreds between them, were disgusted to be working with him. He's so evil that THE JOKER turned on him in a crossover, finding him abhorrent. During the '90s, a recurring theme in the Captain America comics by Mark Gruenwald saw the Red Skull's day-to-day operations with his Skeleton Crew, which is extremely unusual for comics. Because really, most villains just pop in, fail, and then vanish for a while to recover their reputation for a big return. THIS GUY was scheming and plotting for years at a time, in the same book as his arch-enemy!

-The Skull's only flaw is that he can be a bit... over-used, as far as Cap villains go. He's head and shoulders above the others, with Zemo & Strucker essentially being "Red Skull Lite" save for a few differences (Zemo's got a boost because of his link to the Masters of Evil), and so most Cap writers just go to the Skull, meaning that he can be rather omnipresent. But like I said- the man has credibility as a villain, and fits into the Marvel Universe despite having no real super-powers of his own- a recurring theme is his attempts to gain the Cosmic Cube, giving him ultimate power (pretty much the most horrifying thought imaginable). Oddly, he's actually the SECOND Red Skull seen in comics- the original appeared in Captain America #1, but was killed a short time later, and was Retconned into having been an agent of Schmidt's. He's still chronologically the first so he gets to be "Red Skull I" still, though.

The Red Skull- Golden Age Foe:
-Like I said, the first Red Skull was actually a guy killed off in his first appearance, but the creators must have seen potential in him, like Batman's Joker, and just brought him back, saying the first one was just an agent of his dressed in the same gear. He became a recurring menace- a hideous monster who represented the Nazis that Captain America fought. His backstory would be revealed only decades later- a bitter orphan who hated the world, he grew up a thief and murdered a girl when she fought back after he tried to rape her- he was terrified, but grew ecstatic at the adrenaline rush killing another person gave him. Adolf Hitler himself discovered him as a bellhop and recruited him to spite an incompetent underling, and the boy soon impressed the Fuhrer with his ruthlessness and savagery (a further Retcon establishes that Schmidt had set the situation up himself). He was given the title "Red Skull" and made to be the fearsome wing of the Nazis, while Hitler remained the popular, beloved leader- the Skull led terrorist, espionage and spycraft missions- it was later established that the "Captain America Program" was founded entirely to counter him!

-The Red Skull opposed Cap in the Golden Age, but was curiously absent from the Silver Age comics for a few years- Cap would return and instead face Baron Zemo as a newly-created "Nazi opponent from the War". The Skull had worried Hitler with his clear ambition and thirst for more power, but was beaten trying to pull off a doomsday device to destroy the world when it became clear that the Nazis would lose- he was trapped in suspended animation for decades, much like his great foe. It wasn't until 1966 that the Skull truly returned, now with a constant running gimmick- he constantly sought the omnipotent power of the Cosmic Cube- a device that could make your thoughts reality. He is thought killed at the end of the arc, falling to his death trying to capture the falling Cube, and the character disappears for years.

The Red Skull Returns:
-The Skull returns years later, and now engages in various story arc as a recurring foe- he kills off an imposter "Communist Red Skull", battles other super-villains (in a fun running gag, other villains find him disgusting and want nothing to do with him- even THEY have standards), switches brains with Cap once, and then switches Cap's brain with Hitler's. You know, good old-fashioned comic book stuff. For years, he vexes Cap, and even the silly stories don't seem to harm his credibility- the whole "Nazi" thing seems to keep him permanently relevant as a Cap foe. Finally, he finds himself aging badly, the gas that left him in suspended animation finally wearing off- full of hate, he decides to give his old foe the same treatment, and the two elderly warriors fight to the finish. Demanding Cap kill him, the Skull is instead spared- disgusted, he curses Cap as his body shuts down.

-It would not be until Mark Gruenwald's run on Cap that the Skull would return, but he did so in a big way- the end of The Captain, in which he is revealed to have been behind the Commission's firing of Cap and the replacement John Walker- all to harry his foe and discredit him. He rejects the National Socialist belief system of Hitler as "a relic of the past" and embraces when he thinks are America's modern ideals instead- greed, nihilism and power for its own sake. He funds various organizations that weaken the American spirit (the Watchdogs- a conservative talking-point group, and the Scourges of the Underworld, who kill super-villains) and then reveals that he lives on... in a clone of Captain America's own body! Now with the Super-Soldier Serum running through his veins, he is a powerful physical threat as well! Walker, himself furious and defending Cap, fires the Skull's "Dust of Death" back in his face to permanently disfigure the villain once more.

Gruenwald's Red Skull:
-The Skull continues on to be a recurring threat in Cap, actually getting an ongoing deal as a guy who's in many issues, often doing his own thing. He rarely encounters Cap, and instead founds "The Skeleton Crew"- a gang of bad guys and Jobber Villains who do their own thing in the backdrop. In a fantastic bit of business, he is part of Acts of Vengeance, where the other villains talk shit to his face about how he sickens them (when WILSON FISK thinks you're a piece of shit...), and Magneto, a victim of the Holocaust, does exactly what you'd expect. Gruenwald has Magneto beat up and humiliate the villain, tearing into him and finally abandoning him in a bunker, where he's expected to starve to death- a fitting end for such slime. And Gru dives deep into how this affects Schmidt- going crazy (well... craziER), losing his composure, physically dessicating, etc. And only the thought of his hated enemy draws him back... and hilariously, when the dying Skull sees Cap's face for the first time, his renewed hatred actually SAVES HIS LIFE, as he finds the will to fight back and recover owing to the pity his foe feels for him ("I hate you for being more GOOD than I am EVIL!"). Because only the Red Skull could survive certain death through the sheer force of his evil.

-He is briefly captured by Captain Germany, who seeks to execute the Skull for being a hateful terrorist and Nazi leader who shames Germany as a living embodiment of their past sins, but escapes thanks to the backup plans of his agents like Arnim Zola and the Machinesmith. As Gru winds down on his run, the Skull is undone various other times, like when his top minion Crossbones brings Cap down on their hideout by kidnapping Diamondback (Cap's girl at the time), and most of his allies (like the Viper at this point) fall around him. He is even beaten in a solo fight against the Kingpin, getting squished while both men are in their tighty-whities. As much as Gru gave Cap props in that book, he was certainly no "Jim Starlin" about his villains- the Skull was allowed to lose a LOT.

The Later Red Skull:
-The Skull is later given a semi-fitting end- he and Cap are forced to team up to stop a Cosmic Cube-powered Hitler, but the Skull traps Cap within the Cube and tries to take over the world- Cap severs the villain's arm, causing the Cube's power to disintegrate him. In Hell, he's forced to serve as a bellhop for non-European immigrants, but again his willpower is so great, and so evil, that he escapes. Gaining Cube-like powers in the process, he teams up with Michael Korvac, but Korvac absorbs his power. This eventually leads to Ed Brubaker's legendary Captain America run, in which the Skull is assassinated by the Winter Soldier, then inhabits the body of Russian agent Alexander Lukin, and goes on another scheme. He recruits old allies Crossbones and Sin (his own daughter- a minor character in the '70s), engineers the death of Captain America, and more. Things are undone by Sin's incompetence (the Skull wants to place himself in the unborn child of Sharon Carter & Steve Rogers, but Sin causes her to lose the baby), and Lukin's body is killed by Sharon- the Skull thus inhabits a robot, failing to take over Steve's body when he returns, and is blown up by missiles at the end of the storyline. He is thus still technically dead, though a few clones have since popped up and taken his place in varying stories.

The Red Skull's Powers:
-The Red Skull's a dangerous combatant, especially in the cloned body. A cloned body of Cap's with his own memories, meant to give the Skull a more threatening physical presence, pays off in spades here, as he casually hits 88 points worth of Abilities, which is crazy. He's good enough in combat to do some damage to Wilson Fisk of all people, though Kingpin ended up winning that fight handily (Skull is more accurate, but Fisk is stronger and tougher, and used his weight to win. Also, I should point out that the image of The Kingpin and The Red Skull in their underwear will be with me till the day I die).

-He's also extremely skilled, a great manipulator, good at hand-to-hand combat (though he lacks most of Cap's martial arts Advantages) or at shooting (+12 to hit with firearms), and has some moderate Super-Powers from the Serum flowing through his veins. But make no mistake- you're probably not going to be fighting Schmidt in hand-to-hand: you'll be fighting his Minions, his Skeleton Crew, fighting through the deathtraps in his maze, and trying to expose him as the REAL identity of a beloved politician that seems to be the perfect candidate for President. He's very much a "Labyrinthine Plot" kind of villain. The "Dust of Death" has been used often enough to be a worthy addition to a Skull build, costing 24 points and being extremely lethal as a last resort, should you actually engage him.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Tue Mar 14, 2023 8:09 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: The Red Skull

Post by Davies »

Jabroniville wrote: Sun Oct 11, 2020 7:50 pm He was given the title "Red Skull" and made to be the fearsome wing of the Nazis, while Hitler remained the popular, beloved leader- the Skull led terrorist, espionage and spycraft missions- it was later established that the "Captain America Program" was founded entirely to counter him!
Which fact, along with the way that both the Sub-Mariner and the Human Torch were initially seen (in Namor's case accurately) as menaces, explains a lot about the way the Marvel Universe has been since the very beginning.
Jabroniville wrote: Sun Oct 11, 2020 7:50 pm but was beaten trying to pull off a doomsday device to destroy the world when it became clear that the Nazis would lose- he was trapped in suspended animation for decades, much like his great foe.
The account of the Skull's attempt to escape Berlin somewhat echoes the attempted escape of Martin Bormann, who was often suspected of having gotten away, until his body was discovered in 1973 and confirmed as his in 1998.
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