Jab’s Builds! (Whomp 'Em! Plumbers Don't Wear Ties! ToeJam & Earl!)

[Ares]

My understanding is that Warlord was heavily inspired by a lot of Edgar Rice Burroughs fiction, notably his John Carter of Mars and Pellucidar settings. The former featured a contemporary military man being thrust into an alien environment where he proceeded to become a near-naked, sword-swinging, gun toting Warlord. The latter featured similarly contemporary heroes winding up in a lost world located beneath the Earth's surface. Grell then tossed in some Conan-style Swords and Sorcery tropes for good measure.

It was fun stuff, and it was notable to me at least for being the first time Young Ares saw someone die realistically in a comic book, at least that I can recall. It was especially jarring for a kid who grew up on all of those Saturday Morning Cartoons where the heroes wielded swords yet never killed anyone. "Wait, you mean those really sharp bits of metal could kill people if you stabbed them with the pointy end?"

[Ares]

I'll also admit that Vigilante and Shining Knight were two of my Red Guardian characters on the show, though that was at least partially due to me already liking the Seven Soldiers of Victory concept. I was introduced to the crew via Roy Thomas (who else?), specifically an issue of the All-Star Squadron that focused on the team. A bunch of non-powered heroes where the most powerful guy was the knight with the magic sword and flying horse? It was oddly fun and cool, and not something you see outside of the Bat-Family.

Sir Justin is also fairly unique in that he's fought both Pre-Crisis Superman and Pre-Crisis Captain Marvel. With Superman, Justin actually WON their fight, though it was clearly stated to be due to his sword, weapons and gear being magical in nature. Against Captain Marvel (who is resistant to magic), Sir Justin managed to hold his own briefly. His lance shattered on Cap's chest, but the impact actually dazed the Captain. Then when Sir Justin hit Cap with his sword, Cap blocked it with his forearm, and there was this kind of 'blade/cross duel' thing where lightning was crackling around the blade and both of them were pushing back and forth for a moment, until Cap pushed the sword back enough that he could punch Sir Justin with his free hand. Sir Justin went flying and his horse had to fly around to catch him, and it was later shown that Sir Justin was recovering in a hospital, the punch apparently having broken several of his ribs. Still, given he took a full on punch from a Pre-Crisis Captain Marvel who was under Nazi mind control, he managed better than 90% of most superheroes could have.

The JLU writers seemed to have a lot of fun with the pair, their odd friendship being very entertaining in both Task Force X and Patriot Act. Having just watched Task Force X, I don't really consider that a low showing for the pair. Vigilante was holding his own against Deadshot when it came to shooting and seemed looked to be Lawson's superior in a fist fight. Vigilante actually had most of the bad guys captured at one point until Capt. Boomerang stepped in, and the only reason Flagg was able to beat him up was due to sucker punching him while he and Deadshot had each other covered and dead to rights.

Shining Knight might deserve full on PL 10 status. He was actually deflecting bullets with this sword from Deadshot and there were at least two points where Sir Justin had an opponent dead to rights before someone else interfered. The Annihilator caught him as he was about to finish one opponent off and slammed him into the ground so hard that he was embedded in the metal flood, but he was still awake and up and fighting. Heck, they never really managed to beat Sir Justin, all of Flagg's spin kicks and jump kicks just ticked him off and knocked him backwards. The best they managed was locking him in a room, which he then punched so hard that he was deforming the metal with his fists. And his sword was basically the only thing in Patriot Act that managed to hurt General Eiling's mutated form, so much that Eiling made a point to avoid it afterwards.

But like I said, the Seven Soldiers in general and Sir Justin in particular have always been favorites of mine, and I'm glad JLU had so much fun with them. It's also why I ignore anything Morrison did with his Seven Soldiers concept, given what he did to Vigilante and tried to do to Sir Justin.

[Jabroniville]

THE KEY (Real Name Unknown)
Created By: Gardner Fox & Mike Sekowsky
First Appearance: Justice League of America #41 (Dec. 1965)
Role: Blaster, Background Villain
Voice Actor: None
Finest Moment: Helped steal the Spear of Longinus.
PL 9 (114)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 6
INTELLIGENCE 5 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+6)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+7)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Criminal) 3 (+8)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+9)
Insight 2 (+5)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Perception 5 (+8)
Ranged Combat (Key Blaster) 3 (+12)
Sleight of Hand 8 (+14)
Stealth 8 (+11)
Technology 7 (+12)

Advantages:
Equipment (Whatever He Needs), Evasion, Ranged Attack 3

Powers:
"Key" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [8]
Blast 6 (12)
Enhanced Skills 4: Sleight of Hand 4 (+18) (Flaws: Limited to Unlocking) (1)
-- (13 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Key Blaster +12 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)

Total: Abilities: 60 / Skills: 52--26 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 8 / Defenses: 15 (114)

-The Key's one of those odd background guys that just never went anywhere- the goofiness of Silver Age DC is quite weird at times. He "Unlocked the rest of his brain's potential" (based off of false pseudo-science- we use significantly more than 10% of our brains) and used a Key Blaster. He was supposed to be a bigger deal on JLU, but the writers gave up on their original idea to have him be a drone created by Brainiac. Thus, he was a one-shot villain who was later killed by Killer Frost alongside the rest of the Grodd-loyal crowd. A comic book version would likely have Perception and Senses through the roof.

[Jabroniville]

BLOCKBUSTER (Mark Desmond)
Created By: Gardner Fox & Carmine Infantino
First Appearance: Detective Comics #345 (Nov. 1965)
Role: Powerhouse, Background Villain
Voice Actor: Dee Bradley Baker
Finest Moment: uhhhh....
PL 9 (86)
STRENGTH 10 STAMINA 10 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -2 AWARENESS -2 PRESENCE -2

Skills:
Expertise (Criminal) 4 (+2)
Intimidation 11 (+9)
Perception 2 (+0)
Stealth 1 (+2)

Advantages:
Chokehold, Fast Grab, Improved Hold, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 5, Startle, Takedown

Powers:
Impervious Toughness 7 [7]

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +10 (+4 Impervious), Fortitude +10, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)
Responsibility (Monstrous Appearance)- Blockbuster is huge, and couldn't pass for a normal person.
Enemy (Netflix)

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 7 / Defenses: 13 (86)

-Blockbuster is a low-tier Batman villain (so minor that he escaped the "Bat-Embargo" that disallowed Bat-characters from joining the JLU final seasons), a scientist who turned himself into a mindless brute with a potion... okay, that's perilously close to Marvel's Mister Hyde (who debuted about two years prior), but then both guys are just homages to the novelized Mr. Hyde anyways. But then AGAIN... the two look very similar. I'ma call it a rip-off on DC's part, not that this minor-leaguer is important enough to worry about. He's just a background character on JLU anyways. He's more or less the same as Rampage, but he's slower and stupider, only making PL 9 overall. He was offed by Killer Frost & Darkseid.

About the Performer: Dee Bradley Baker is basically a new generation's Frank Welker, doing animal voices in countless shows- he's Momo in "Avatar", Perry the Platypus in "Phineas & Ferb", Waddles in "Gravity Falls", and more. He is also Klaus in "American Dad!".

[KorokoMystia]

So I'm supposed to be getting the JLU/Fatal Five movie some time, but Canada Post suuuuuuuuuucks and it isn't here yet (along with the check I'm supposed to be getting for the glasses I bought in frickin' May), so hopefully I'll still be able to build those characters when the time comes. If not, I'll delay them until if and when I get that movie. As I've hated absolutely every DC movie they've made except for New Frontier (Red Hood, Supergirl, Earth-2, Death of Superman, etc., can all suck my ass), I wouldn't be looking forward to it except it IS the old crew of JLU stars.

Following that, there'll be:
* Another Marvel Jobber Villain group- this one just three people, but ones missing from my list until this point.
* The Injustice Society, as I realized I'd done 2nd Edition builds for these guys wayyyyyyyy back in the day, but had never translated them to 3rd Edition!
* Marvel- The Letter "D"- FINALLY finishing this long project I embarked up on several years ago, when Spectrum compiled a list of people I hadn't statted.
* Double Dragon in its various incarnations. While I've posted DD builds twice, this will also include TWO Fighting Games that came out regarding the series, thus adding to my list.

Oh yeah, Double Dragon! I'm looking forward to that. While most of the later characters probably aren't that great, I would like to see the second and third games covered, even if just for guys like Burnov and the "Mysterious Warrior" (final boss of the NES version of II) from the second game, and the extra playalbe characters from the third game. Also, surprisingly, there was a Double Dragon IV released a year or two ago, and in a "Megaman 9-10" 8-bit throwback style too.

As for the DD fighting games, there's three: Double Dragon V (based on the cartoon), Double Dragon for the Neo Geo (which apparently is supposed to be loosely based on the horrible live action movie, but really only uses a few characters from it and is otherwise unrelated), and Rage of the Dragons, if you count that.

[Spectrum]

Billy Zane was also the first voice for the Kingdom Hearts villain Ansem, before being replaced by Richard Epcar (who is also the voice for Mortal Kombat's Raiden) later.

And the villain in the Demon Knight movie.

[Ken]

I prefer to just say "Soldiers of Victory". Besides the fact that the name wasn't used consistently, there's also the fact that a typical story in Leading Comics (which often said "Five Favorite Features" on the covers) had somewhere around 9 "soldiers", plus the horse.

[Ken]

THE KEY (Real Name Unknown)
Created By: Gardner Fox & Mike Sekowsky
First Appearance: Justice League of America #41 (Dec. 1965)

The Key was one of my favourite JLA villains growing up. It helps that the first Justice League of America comic I ever owned was #110, which had the Key as the bad guy in the lead story. He turned up again in #150, which was the first comic I purchased with my own money. And then in #191 which was the second issue that I received in the mail when my subscription to JLA kicked in.

Now that said, he was also the villain in JLA #163, which was one of the two issues where George Roussos inked Mike Sekowsky, and, damn, that was a BAD fit. I mean a lot of people dislike Sekowsky's pencils; I don't. I appreciate his layouts and compositions and the task he was given, and the actual quality of his comic art is largely dependent on the inker. Sekowsky inked by Sid Greene is beautiful, as is Sekowsky inked by Dick Giordano (Giordano inked Sekowsky on Wonder Woman during the mod era). Sekowsky inked by Bernard Sachs is pretty good. Sekowsky inked by Joe Giella is okay. Sekowsky inked by Roussos is painful.

[Spectrum]

There have been a couple of good DC animated movies in the last few years.

I strongly recommend
Batman and Harley Quinn- and even has Timm as the director
Batman: Assault on Arkham was also really good, but not DCAU quality.

[FuzzyBoots]

THE CREEPER (Jack Ryder) Steve Ditko
Finest Moment: Making THE JOKER say he's a lunatic.

Naw, the bit at the end of this clip is his greatest moment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjRCUhds0hU

^_^ Wondering whether you mean one-punching Batman, or asking for the phone number...

[HalloweenJack]

Warlord was big enough at one point they had an action figure line trying to compete with He-Man.

I had two of those. The Warlord toy itself and the guy in the second row on the far left.

[FuzzyBoots]

When you do Double Dragon, don't forget the relatively recent remake / retool, Double Dragon Neon. I don't think it will change their stats, but it did add more characters.

[KorokoMystia]

When you do Double Dragon, don't forget the relatively recent remake / retool, Double Dragon Neon. I don't think it will change their stats, but it did add more characters.

Oh yeah, I nearly forgot about that one (not sure how).

It's got some amusing new enemies and bosses (including a pair of malformed Billy and Jimmy clones named "Bimmy and Jammy", a reference to the infamous "Bimmy and Jimmy" typo from Double Dragon 3);
And the main villain is this ridiculously hammy skeleton dude that sounds like somebody doing a Skeletor impression:


Wierldy enough though, pretty much all the original DD enemies fromt he first game are included except for Wlily himself. Like, they could've at lesat used him as a "false final boss" or something.

[Jabroniville]

GREEN LANTERN (John Stewart)
Created By: Dennis O'Neil & Neal Adams
First Appearance: Green Lantern #87 (Dec. 1971)
Role: The Military Man, The Straight Man
Voice Actor: Phil LaMarr
Finest Moment: Regaining his former powers and kicking the crap out of Despero
PL 12 (229)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+6)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (United States Marine Corps.) 10 (+13)
Expertise (Intergalactic Spaceman) 8 (+11)
Insight 4 (+8)
Intimidation 7 (+9)
Perception 4 (+8)
Stealth 4 (+7)
Technology 1 (+4)
Vehicles 6 (+8)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Benefit (League Member), Defensive Attack, Diehard, Evasion, Fearless, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (GL Blasts) 2, Improved Critical (Rifle), Improved Smash, Interpose, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Ranged Attack 10, Set-Up, Teamwork, Ultimate Will Save

Powers:
"Green Lantern Ring" (Flaws: Removable) (Feats: Restricted to Fear-Overcomers, Unbreakable) [99]
Create 13 (Feats: Precise) (Extras: Impervious 13, Movable 12) (51) -- (73)

• Dynamic AE: Blast 12 (Feats: Precise, Penetrating 10) (35)
• Dynamic AE: "Multi-Blast" Blast 10 (Feats: Penetrating 5) (Extras: Multiattack) (35)
• Dynamic AE: "Area Blast" Damage 12 (Feats: Penetrating 8) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (32)
• Dynamic AE: "Area Blast" Damage 12 (Feats: Penetrating 8) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (32)
• Dynamic AE: Snare 12 (Feats: Reversible) (37)
• Dynamic AE: Snare 12 (Feats: Reversible) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (Flaws: Touch Range) (37)
• Dynamic AE: Move Object 12 (24)
• Dynamic AE: Immunity 7 (Heat, Cold, Pressure, Radiation, Vacuum, Suffocation) (Extras: Affects Others Only, 30ft. Burst, Ranged) (21)
• Dynamic AE: "Boosted Field" Force Field 3 (Extras: Impervious 15, Affects Others 12) (30)
• Dynamic AE: "Flashlight" Environment 1 (Light) (2)
• Dynamic AE: "Ring Sensors" Senses 7 (Detect Energy & Life- Ranged & Analytical, Communication Link- Central Power Battery) (7)

Immunity 7 (Heat, Cold, Pressure, Radiation, Vacuum, Suffocation) (7)
"Standard Force Field" Force Field 7 (7)
"Universal Translator" Comprehend 4 (Languages 4) (8)
Flight 8 (500 mph) (16)
Movement 4 (Space Travel 3, Environmental Adaptation- Zero-Gravity) (8)
Enhanced Advantages: Benefit (Quick Change) (1)
Features 1: Can Change Clothing (1)
-- (121 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
GL Blast +12 (+12 Ranged Damage, DC 27)
Multi-Blasts +12 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Area Blasts +12 Area (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Snare +12 (+12 Ranged Affliction, DC 22)
Area Snare +12 (+12 Affliction, DC 22)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +3 (+10 Force Field, +13 Boosted Field), Fortitude +6, Will +12

Complications:
Power Loss (Recharge Rings)- Green Lantern Rings must be recharged every day or so.
Power Loss (Will)- Green Lantern Rings depend upon the Will of their wielder. If John fails a Will Save (such as from being intimidated or mentally-screwed with), he will drop Constructs and Force Fields.
Relationship (Hawkgirl)- John fell in love with Hawkgirl while they were members of the Original Seven Leaguers. When her responsibility for the Thanagarian Invasion was revealed, he was crushed, but admitted he still loved her in the end. Now that he's with Vixen and Shayera wants him back, he has a decision to make. He is stubbornly refusing to accept that he is the mere pawn of destiny.
Relationship (Vixen)- John is currently dating the beautiful, exotic Vixen. She's now friendly with Hawkgirl. This is upsetting.
Responsibility (Green Lantern Corps)
Reputation (Hard-Assed Marine)- John is the biggest stick-in-the-mud on the League, making even Superman and Batman seem happy-go-lucky at times.

Total: Abilities: 58 / Skills: 52--26 / Advantages: 27 / Powers: 99 / Defenses: 19 (229)

-Green Lantern was a fantastic character in this show. Sort of played up as the boring yes-man of the team, he was a notorious drill sergeant who annoyed everyone whenever he took charge, but they all ultimately respected his credentials. Like Hawkgirl, John had to "earn" his place on the team to many fans (Batman, Superman, WW, The Flash... those guys have CRED- they're the most famous heroes ever), and through frequent displays of power and tactics (without being over-powered), he quietly became a big deal. It says something when the animated representation of a character essentially overtakes their comic book version, as this one surely did (John was an architect, not a Marine, prior to this point in comics continuity- DC basically retconned him into a Marine because of this show). Talk about turning basically an enforced decision (ie. you HAVE to have a black guy on the team!) into a huge positive, as John stands out more than regular ol' Hal Jordan ever could on this squad, becoming my favourite overall GL just through the show.

-And then there's the HAWKGIRL thing. After flirting for half a season, they hook up after the Royal Flush Gang arc, then break up horribly in Starcrossed, the brilliant finale of the "regular" incarnation of the series. Army man John is torn, especially when Shayera ends up with Hro Talok, but he tries to hide his emotions. In the end, he finally admits he loves her, just in time for her to fly off into the distance, quitting the League because she allowed the Thanagarians to invade Earth. And then they don't see each other for a while, and when she finally comes back into his life, he's with Vixen, an obvious "Paolo" (a reference to the Friends character who interrupted the obvious and fan-demanded Ross/Rachel pairing). The only problem was... the writers and fans both liked HER, too!

-Now, here kind of came the problem- the JLU writers insist that they loved Vixen too much to just "dump her" and hook John up with Shayera again, but I call LAME-SAUCE on that one. They totally should've hooked back up at the end of the series instead of being all wishy-washy. It ends up being this big unanswered question on the show, especially after we find out that the future hero Warhawk is THEIR SON. It's a bit mature that John's like "But I'm with VIXEN now", despite acknowledging his love for Shayera, but it ends things on a bit of a sour note, considering John/Hawkgirl was such a huge part of Justice League. We simply end with the two women going "en garde" in their attempts at winning John once and for all.

-John's another super-heavyweight, a PL 12 Blaster with a powerful Force Field, and one of the greatest weapons I've ever statted up in terms of sheer potential. He's brave, physically strong, has decent mental stats, and his Willpower is second-to-none (being +12, plus Ultimate Will Save and Fearless). The Ring requires some explaining... It has a +7 BASE Force Field, but he can amp it up to +10 as a Dynamic Alternate Effect from his other offensive powers. It's got alot of the standard comic book stuff on it, from the Snares to the Area Blasts and the Create portion that takes up most of the cost, being the most-expensive power. Most of his powers are limited to having to pick-and-choose how many Points he's putting in any one thing (ie. he's not meeting his Defensive caps if he's going all-out with his Blasts).

-Green Lanterns can also have their Constructs & Fields broken by failing Will Saves (Despero leaves John almost permanently like this), and I would imagine that Rookie Corpsmen lack John's total power. +12 isn't so great, but this is the JLU version of John, where his Blasts aren't THAT overwhelmingly powerful. He can Power Attack for +17 Damage if he needs to. He's one of the most-versatile Leaguers- Vandal Savage declares him "the most difficult" to kill, and Green Arrow specifically mentioned John as "the most powerful" when he scolds Brainiac-5 for saving Supergirl from a brain-washing plot instead.

-Other stuff (told you their rings are complicated): They lack the comics' "GL Database", but still have massive scanning capabilities (Analytical Ranged Energy Sense, basically), and unlike comics GLs, then don't have Variable Descriptor 2 on their Blasts (meaning they can't shoot 'fire' or 'radiation' or whatever- it's just the same green energy). Ummm... is that it? I think so. Stupid GL Rings. It's like the GM's hugest headache ever ("crap, how many pp do you have in Force Field right now?" "uhhh... 22, if I include the guys in my Field at range" "So can you use a +4 Blast?" "I dunno, I'll check my calculator"). Oh yeah, and no Yellow weakness at all, either.

About the Performer: Phil LaMarr is one of the most decorated voice actors alive, playing "That Black Guy" in EVERYTHING, usually playing a deep-voiced guy. His biggest roles to nerds are as Samurai Jack, Hermes Conrad on "Futurama", and John Stewart on "JLU", but he's been in just about EVERYTHING- an experienced VA with a resume that contains a lot of "Assorted Voices". He has a natural penchant for comedy (he was on "MadTV" for a number of years), but his voice means he plays a lot of stoic, unemotional guys with baritones.

[Jabroniville]

VIXEN (Mari Jiwe McCabe)
Created By: Gerry Conway & Bob Oksner
First Appearance: Action Comics #521 (July 1981)
Role: The Alternate Love Interest, Ms. Fanservice, Animal Hero
Voice Actor: Gina Torres
Finest Moment: Managing to avoid wardrobe malfunctions with THAT outfit; Also, maintaining fans despite the whole John/Hawkgirl thing
PL 10 (169)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+9, +10 Big Cat)
Athletics 3 (+5, +13 Big Cat)
Close Combat (Natural Weapons) 3 (+13)
Deception 2 (+6, +11 Attractive)
Expertise (Fashion Model) 5 (+7, +12 Attractive)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 2 (+6)
Perception 4 (+7)
Persuasion 3 (+7, +12 Attractive)
Stealth 2 (+8)
Vehicles 3 (+3)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Attractive 2, Benefit (League Member), Daze (Persuasion), Diehard, Evasion, Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Grab Finesse, Great Endurance, Last Stand, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 3, Startle

Powers:
"Animal Powers"
Variable 8 (Animal Powers) [56]

Sample Powers:

• * "Gecko" (Enhanced Agility 1, Acrobatics 2, Athletics 6, Wall-Crawling 2, Regeneration 2- Regrowth, Senses 1- Low-Light Vision, Enhanced Dodge & Parry 1) (15 points)
  * "Anaconda" (Enhanced Strength 4, Enhanced Stamina 2, Improved Hold, Senses 2- Infravision, Scent) (15 points)
  * "Big Cat" (Enhanced Strength 3, Enhanced Stamina 3, Enhanced Agility 1, Acrobatics 6, Athletics 5, Perception 3, Improved Initiative, Uncanny Dodge, Prone Fighting, Seize Initiative, Speed 3- 16 mph, Leaping 2- 30 feet, Claws +2- Improved Critical, Senses 5- Low-Light Vision, Acute & Extended Scent, Extended & Ultra-Hearing) (38 points)
  * "Cheetah" (Enhanced Strength 1, Stamina 1, Agility 1, Acrobatics 4, Athletics 5, Perception 3, Leaping 1- 15 feet, Claws +1, Speed 5- 60 mph, Senses 5- Low-Light Vision, Acute & Extended Scent, Dodge & Parry 2) (28 points)
  * "Elephant" (Enhanced Strength 5, Damage +2, Speed 1- 4 mph, Enhanced Stamina 6- Impervious 5, Withstand Damage, Improved Critical- Unarmed, Features 5: Increased Mass 5, Senses 3- Acute & * "Extended Scent, Extended Hearing, Accurate Ranged x2 Touch- Limited to Half-Perception) (36 points)
  * "Electric Eel" (Extended & Acute Scent, Electrolocation- Detect Electrical Signals- Acute, Accurate & Ranged, Swimming 2, Immunity- Drowning, Affliction 10- Fort; Dazed & Vulnerable/Stunned & Prone/Incapacitated & Paralyzed- Cumulative & Extra Condition) (40 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Big Cat +13 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Elephant +11 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +5 (+10 Big Cat)

Defenses:
Dodge +13 (+15 Cheetah, DC 23-25), Parry +13 (+15 Cheetah, DC 23-25), Toughness +4 (+6 Anaconda, +7 Cat, +10 Elephant), Fortitude +6 (+9 Cat, +12 Elephant), Will +7

Complications:
Relationship (John Stewart)- Even though she knows John still loves Hawkgirl, she cannot simply give up. Even if she knows how a book ends, she's got to "see things through".
Rivalry (Shayeral Hol/Hawkgirl)- They both love the same man, but are cordial about it. "En garde."

Total: Abilities: 62 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 17 / Powers: 56 / Defenses: 17 (169)

-Vixen showed up in the mid-portion of JLU's first season, as the "Paolo" (I love you, TV Tropes... though that name changed to something else because it only makes sense to watchers of Friends and Lizzie Maguire) of Green Lantern. So named for the Friends character that was hooked up with Rachel when she & Ross were "meant to be", that name fits ol' Vix perfectly. Not that she was as AWFUL as most Paolos tend to be. She was perfectly nice, if an obvious Bad Grrrl who was a bit more lusty and chesty than your usual heroine (not that Hawkgirl was Princess Peach or anything). The writers apparently fell in love with the character and decided to leave the end result of the GL-Hawkgirl-Vixen triangle up in the air (though the existence of Warhawk in the future kinda points out a specific result), but really, I think most of the fans liked Hawkgirl more. Even the boob lovers. Personally, I think it might have made a good cap-off to the series to have John & Hawkgirl end up back together, especially after she asked Batman to "Tell me about my son."

-Vixen, though, REALLY came off well, with her animal-based powers being showcased with this great animal silhouettes popping up from her necklace totem thingie- a great visual shorthand for what was going on. I think her run on this show helped Vixen gain popularity in the comics (Dwayne McDuffie went from JLU to a run on the JLA comic, bringing Mari with him), which eventually led to some success in DC's TV shows, I guess (I don't watch them). Gina Torres' sex-laced dialogue ("Mari!?! Do you know what I could DO to you with this?" "Promises, PROMISES...") probably did as much good to help her popularity as her Uber-Cleavage design.

-Variable, the basis for "Animal Mimicry", is one of the more expensive powers in the game, and really deserves to be. As a result, it's almost a weakness on some characters (unless a player gets REALLY creative), as Vixen here spends 56 points for what gives her a maximum of 40 pp to play with, which means her other stats will inevitably suffer. But even then, she's a very capable heroine, with TONS of options in combat (falling on someone with an elephant's weight, the Rhino's charge, Cat-like claws & agility, Wall-Crawling, Grappling power like a Snake, fixing a broken arm in seconds like a Gecko, etc.), and fully PL 10 when she wants to be. It's not easy to fight somebody who can be an Accuracy-Focused PL 10 one minute, and a Damage-Focused one the next.

About the Performer: Gina Torres is most known to nerds for playing Zoe in "Firefly", but she was on "Suits" for seven years, and is getting her own spin-off in "Pearson"- both shows being on the low-tier USA Network (but being well-known for introducing the world to Megan Markle, now Prince Harry's wife). Though I found her a bit overrated looks-wise (her lips look like they've had a LOT of work done, though I think that might just be bad makeup, checking Google), she was remarkably gorgeous as CAPCOM in Disney's "Mission: SPACE", so I can definitely see it now. She was a trained singer, but couldn't afford college, so she chose to go into acting. She was married to Laurence Fishburne for a number of years, divorcing in 2017.