Jab’s Builds! (Beaker! Sam Eagle! Miss Piggy! The Swedish Chef!)

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
Shock
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Black Tom! The Beast! Pacific Overlords! INVINCIBLE!)

Post by Shock »

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DominusExMachina
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Black Tom! The Beast! Pacific Overlords! INVINCIBLE!)

Post by DominusExMachina »

Ares wrote: Fri Feb 16, 2018 6:23 amYou know, Mark could actually be the perfect example of why superheroes NEED a secret identity and a normal life. Mark basically focused on being a superhero to the exclusion of all else, he spent most of his career being told by other people what to do, and his style of combat is exclusively about using overwhelming force. That works out in his version of the Invincible-Image-verse, but in the DC or Marvel universes I imagine he'd be in a lot more trouble.

Basically, since he never really had to spend time as a normal guy, he never got good at making up superhero excuses, thinking on his feet, or developing a supporting cast that helped keep him grounded. He also was just too happy to be led around by his dad, not-Nick Fury, Alan, Robot, Eve, and Dinosaurus, and when he rebelled against them, he often acted incredibly impulsive. And it wasn't like these people were mentoring him on how to be a proper superhero, they were just telling him what to do, and usually he did it. So he neither got actual training in superheroing from an experienced hero, nor was he mostly on his own and figuring stuff out for himself.

He also only ever fought guys on his level every once in a while, and since all of them were just different flavors of brick, he just traded blows with them until someone stopped moving. He never really had to develop any clever combat tactics, unique uses for his superpowers, brick tricks, etc. The only thing that saved him was that he was a Sayian-style alien (get a lot stronger with training and near death power-ups) in a superhero setting where every non-Viltrumite not named Alan tended to have static power-levels. If he'd been forced to stick with his original power level or grow into his power more slowly, he'd have had to become a much more balanced and clever superhero.

To give Mark some credit, he did spend some time trying to solve problems without violence. He talked one gadget criminal into using his science to help people, he talked down some interdimensional super alien into not draining the Earth of all its power, he talked down that one guy with the lightning powers who kept trying to kill him, etc. When he tried to be diplomatic he could often do some genuine good. The problem was that the series increasingly rewarded him for just beating the tar out of stuff, so he stopped trying to use diplomacy as much.

In essence, Mark should be a cautionary tale for other superheroes. He demonstrates why traditional superhero tropes exist.
Considering that in one issue, he openly chose his daughter in his original timeline over saving millions of lives in an alternate one...that, Ares, is an understatement...
Shock wrote: Fri Feb 16, 2018 1:39 pmImage
BEHOLD...the new "I can haz cheezburger"...

Anyhoo, while we're in somewhat of a bit of a lull waiting on Jab's next Invincible build, there's a thread I've started over in the Gamers Handbook section of the boards that I'm trying to promote (if anyone's interested in seeing the "seed", the link to it is here). If you have anything you want to add, feel free to leave a post.
Jabroniville
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Power Levels

Post by Jabroniville »

POWER LEVELS IN THE INVINCIBLE UNIVERSE:
* This is a source of a lot of frustration and thought, though some things are clear. There are two types of characters: A) Characters Who Matter In Fights and B) Characters Who Do Not. Characters Who Matter have high power levels and go between PL 12 and 15. Characters Who Do Not are typically PL 8-10 never have any effect. Even important characters like Immortal, Robot and Monster Girl are basically piss-poor combatants compared to, say, ANY VILTRUMITE.

* All of the Flying Bricks provide an interesting set-up, as their comparative levels are easy to figure out... after a point. Bulletproof and Black Samson are really low-level, and don't matter. Teen Mark is far weaker than any adult Viltrumite. By The Viltrumite War, we learn which ones are PL 12 and which ones aren't. A couple are high-level enough that Mark is fighting uphill the entire time. Thragg is of course more powerful than any of them.

* However, things get screwy at times. Allen the Alien powers up from a useless Flying Brick into the super-heavyweight of the hero side, eventually being revealed as stronger than Omni-Man (himself a high-tier Viltrumite). Battle Beast appears at the level of most adult Viltrumites... until he shows vastly more power in the end. The "Ragnar" monsters that are used in various fights go from one-shotting regular Viltrumites, and injuring the highest-tier characters in the series... to being one-shotted by everyone else even as they're doing one-shotting. Basically, after a point, Kirkman appears to be using random power levels, and everyone gets kind of jumbled up in the end. Conquest is supposed to be the raging bad-ass of the Viltrumites (second only to Thragg), yet one of the rank & file, uh, uses a particularly unprecedented kind of "Good Showing" on a Mark that's already beaten Conquest twice.

THE ROBERT KIRKMAN GRIEVOUS BODILY HARM TABLE:
* Similar to stories written by Garth Ennis, Robot Kirkman characters tend to suffer severe deforming fates. And as such, any time somebody fails a Toughness Save by more than five points, they have to ADDITIONALLY role on this table.

1) Popped Ear Drums- Auditory Dazzle.
2) Popped-Out Left Eye- Temporarily disabled.
3) Broken Teeth- Permanent dental damage.
4) Broken Fingers- Punches at -2 Strength.
5) Stomach Shot- Dazed.
6) Groin Shot- Stunned.
7) Broken Nose- Consisted bleeding- only visually impressive.
8-9) Broken Left Arm- Disabled in melee combat.
10-11) Broken Right Arm- Disabled in melee combat.
12) Broken Left Leg- Hindered.
13) Broken Right Leg- Hindered.
14) Broken Jaw- Disabled speech.
15) Broken Ribs- Hindered, -1 Strength.
16) Injured Neck- Stunned.
17) Concussion- Dazed with lingering health effects.
18) Injured Throat- Dazed in combat.
19) Badly-Scarred Face- Temporary appearance problem.
20) Popped-Out Right Eye- Temporarily disabled.

Anyone failing a Toughness check by more than ten points must instead roll on THIS table:

1) Burst Ear Drums- Permanently deafened.
2) Slashed Left Eye- Permanently disabled vision. Must wear an eyepatch.
3) Shattered Mouth- Permanent dental damage as all teeth are removed.
4) Removed Fingers- Punches at -5 Strength.
5) Impaled Stomach- Dying condition, bleeding out as their organs are exposed.
6) Groin Shot- Permanently unable to have children.
7) Removed Nose- Nose is a mere stump. Badly affected breathing.
8-9) Removed Left Arm- Disabled in melee combat.
10-11) Removed Right Arm- Disabled in melee combat.
12) Removed Left Leg- Hindered.
13) Removed Right Leg- Hindered.
14) Removed Jaw- Permanently-disabled speech.
15) Impaled Chest- Dying condition, bleeding out as their organs are exposed.
16) Broken Neck- Dead unless super-durable.
17) Smashed Skull- Parts of brain and skull exposed.
18) Sliced/Smashed Throat- Decapitated (dead) or unable to breathe (dying).
19) Horribly-Scarred Face- Permanent appearance change.
20) Slashed Right Eye- Permanently disabled vision. Must wear an eyepatch.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sat Feb 17, 2018 7:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
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mmmm... Debbie...

Post by Jabroniville »

ImageImage

DEBBIE GRAYSON
Role:
"Grounding" Character, MILF
Group Affiliations: None
PL 0 (19), PL 2 (19) Saves
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 0 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 0 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Real Estate) 2 (+4)
Insight 1 (+4)

Advantages: 
None

Offense:
Unarmed +0 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +0 (DC 10), Parry +0 (DC 10), Toughness +0, Fortitude +0, Will +3

Complications:
Relationship (Omni-Man- Husband)- Debbie and Nolan had been married for years when the series began, her keeping his identity secret. When he reveals that he never really loved her, and had meant to CONQUER the Earth, she is shattered emotionally for a long period of time.
Relationship (Mark- Son)- Debbie appears casual about Mark's career as the superhero Invincible, but grows to worry a lot more as he gets repeatedly injured and nearly dies several times.
Relationship (Oliver- Stepson)- Debbie adopts the infant Oliver when Mark brings him home ("You leave me a baby with no one to care for it, and now expect me to give him up? Like you didn't plan this."). She soon comes to care for him like a natural-born son.

Total: Abilities: 16 / Skills: 6--3 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 0 (19)

-Debbie was a pretty neat character. Mark's human mother, she has a very cavalier, "so what?" attitude to super-heroics at first, responding to Mark's suggestion that he might be getting his super-powers at last  with "That's nice" and immediately changing the subject. It was way different than the histrionic mother figures you usually get in Teen Hero books.

-Of course, that all changed with The Reveal, particularly that her husband considers her barely better than a PET, and never truly loved her at all. When Omni-Man beats her son half to death, Debbie falls apart, rarely speaks, and takes up heavy drinking, only growing worse when the audio of the battle is broadcast all over the world. After a few arcs, however, she's pretty much recovered, finds a new boyfriend, and willingly adopts her ex's new son. Back to form, she gets some pretty good lines surrounding Mark's relationship with Eve- always figuring out IMMEDIATELY when they're sneaking into his room and smirking to herself about it ("Studying. CHRIST.").

-Unfortunately, they kind of gloss over her reunion with Nolan. She tells him off when they meet up once more, and he leaves for The Viltrumite War, but then a little while later, they're just back together (Nolan had since realized that he loved Debbie all along, and he was just LYING to himself to convince himself that the mission was more important). At this point, she's little better than wallpaper in the series- just kind of sitting around and watching the plot happen. She primarily just ends up REACTING to things, witnessing stuff like the deaths of major characters, but not really getting focus again (no more drinking or anything).
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed May 11, 2022 8:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
Shock
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Black Tom! The Beast! Pacific Overlords! INVINCIBLE!)

Post by Shock »

Jabroniville wrote: Fri Feb 16, 2018 9:23 pm THE ROBERT KIRKMAN GRIEVOUS BODILY HARM TABLE:
Literal LOL.

That seems like a bit of a light penalty for losing a leg. I'd throw in a big penalty to defense as well. Maybe Vulnerable? Also, when it happens, I'd throw something like a Fort save vs the Damage DC or go unconscious or into shock or something. Most of the 2nd table should be fight enders.
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Ares
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Black Tom! The Beast! Pacific Overlords! INVINCIBLE!)

Post by Ares »

DominusExMachina wrote: Fri Feb 16, 2018 8:56 pm
Ares wrote: Fri Feb 16, 2018 6:23 amYou know, Mark could actually be the perfect example of why superheroes NEED a secret identity and a normal life. Mark basically focused on being a superhero to the exclusion of all else, he spent most of his career being told by other people what to do, and his style of combat is exclusively about using overwhelming force. That works out in his version of the Invincible-Image-verse, but in the DC or Marvel universes I imagine he'd be in a lot more trouble.

Basically, since he never really had to spend time as a normal guy, he never got good at making up superhero excuses, thinking on his feet, or developing a supporting cast that helped keep him grounded. He also was just too happy to be led around by his dad, not-Nick Fury, Alan, Robot, Eve, and Dinosaurus, and when he rebelled against them, he often acted incredibly impulsive. And it wasn't like these people were mentoring him on how to be a proper superhero, they were just telling him what to do, and usually he did it. So he neither got actual training in superheroing from an experienced hero, nor was he mostly on his own and figuring stuff out for himself.

He also only ever fought guys on his level every once in a while, and since all of them were just different flavors of brick, he just traded blows with them until someone stopped moving. He never really had to develop any clever combat tactics, unique uses for his superpowers, brick tricks, etc. The only thing that saved him was that he was a Sayian-style alien (get a lot stronger with training and near death power-ups) in a superhero setting where every non-Viltrumite not named Alan tended to have static power-levels. If he'd been forced to stick with his original power level or grow into his power more slowly, he'd have had to become a much more balanced and clever superhero.

To give Mark some credit, he did spend some time trying to solve problems without violence. He talked one gadget criminal into using his science to help people, he talked down some interdimensional super alien into not draining the Earth of all its power, he talked down that one guy with the lightning powers who kept trying to kill him, etc. When he tried to be diplomatic he could often do some genuine good. The problem was that the series increasingly rewarded him for just beating the tar out of stuff, so he stopped trying to use diplomacy as much.

In essence, Mark should be a cautionary tale for other superheroes. He demonstrates why traditional superhero tropes exist.
Considering that in one issue, he openly chose his daughter in his original timeline over saving millions of lives in an alternate one...that, Ares, is an understatement...
The thing there is that I can completely understand Mark's reasoning, and honestly can't fault him for it. Almost no parent would make that kind of choice, and by Mark's standard, those other people are already dead. I have a brother who I'm very close to, and who also has three little girls, a 6 year old and twin 5 year olds. And if you gave him the option Mark had, with the understanding that he'd lose even one of his daughters, he'd ultimately make the same decision. And frankly, I don't know that I'd do any different. Its effectively choosing the past over the future. Now, if it worked Marvel Universe style where it creates a branch in the timeline and the aliens can just send me back to my own time once I spend the equivalent time fixing the other timeline, then sure, I'd do it.
"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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Shock
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Black Tom! The Beast! Pacific Overlords! INVINCIBLE!)

Post by Shock »

Yeah, as a parent myself, I can totally understand that decision. But I'd be sick as hell afterwards about making that decision. Of course, Kirkman never had Mark dwell much on his mistakes so it's hardly surprising that this one didn't have any long term effects either.
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Ares
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Black Tom! The Beast! Pacific Overlords! INVINCIBLE!)

Post by Ares »

Right. In addition to the "Now I'm going to not hesitate to kill-WAIT WHAT AM I DOING" moment, that was one of the legitimate moral quandaries of the series. I would be pretty guilt ridden about not saving those people, but I'd also probably have to view it the same way of "going back in time to kill Hitler" type deals. I mean, if you change those events, you change a lot of others. How many people are not being born now because of your actions? How useful will your future knowledge be after a point thanks to all of those changes? And ultimately, whatever he does, it means sacrificing an innocent life, his daughter's life, to change something that's already happened.

If there's any threat to the world happening right this moment, I'd stop it in a heartbeat. But I'm not sure I'd be able to go back and change events that have already happened, especially when that means changing events that would cause other people to be born as well. I mean, Terra wouldn't have been the only child unborn from this.
"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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Shock
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Black Tom! The Beast! Pacific Overlords! INVINCIBLE!)

Post by Shock »

I think it's easier because those lives he's sacrificing are sort of abstract while his daughter was very real. Given a Gwen Stacy kind of choice where the consequences are right in your face is a different situation.
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HalloweenJack
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Black Tom! The Beast! Pacific Overlords! INVINCIBLE!)

Post by HalloweenJack »

I've only recently started reading Invincible online (it came out at about the time right before I graduated from college....and was never at the shop and after college I never had a comic shop) so I never got into it as it went along. But after reading it, I really like it. I need to pick it back up. Just good bits here and there ( I really like the scene where Mark's flying to Mars, takes out his sandwich to eat, but....kinda pointless by then)


I've always had an interest in using some of the characters in My Little Universe....in a way.

To try and cut down on the various heroes and such I had Invincible be from an a parallel universe. Due to shenanigans with Mojo collecting alot of AU heroes and villains to make them fight (at the behest of Monarch), Mark and other alternate reality beings (like say...V from V For Vendetta) get trapped in the MLU and with no way back home at present, have to make the best of it.

It'd be a stranger in a strange land thing, with places and even some people being familar....yet others not existing at all. For example there'd be other Image heroes like the Savage Dragon over in Chicago but no Guardians of the Globe. His mother would exist, but she's living a completely different life married to a totally different guy, which would sort of weird him out. Maybe even an MLU Atom Eve, but she's not HIS Eve ya know? That's not even the worst of it....say he sees the Immortal in the MLU....except things went somewhat differently....and who he knows as the Immortal is really this jerk by the name of Vandal Savage.

Mark would end up shacking up at the Baxter Building or working with the Future Foundation, with maybe a few others like the Tick or what not, hoping that Reed Richards will eventually be able to pinpoint which reality in the multiverse he and others came from and send them back.


and oh yeah, Viltrumites totally exist in the MLU.....but they were subjugated by the Arcosians (I.E. Frieza's people) ages ago.....but with the death of King Cold and the civil war between Frieza (who totally got his wish of immortality....though he's regretting that as he couldn't actually die after being cut up and such so he's stuck as a cyborg) and Kooler over who's going to run the empire, with resources spread thin, the Viltrumites have made a play for independence being led by this Thragg guy. And he's going to start sending out scouts across the universe to build on his new empire..,..maybe send the MLU's version of Nolan to earth.

Wackiness ensues.
Jabroniville
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The Mauler Twins

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

THE MAULER TWINS
Role:
Mad Scientists, Recurring Criminals
PL 8 (116)
STRENGTH
8 STAMINA 7 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 8 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Science) 8 (+16)
Expertise (Criminal) 2 (+10)
Insight 2 (+4)
Intimidation 4 (+6)
Perception 4 (+6)
Technology 8 (+16)
Vehicles 4 (+4)

Advantages:
Equipment 5 (Lab, Assorted Gear), Fast Grab, Inventor, Ranged Attack 8, Set-Up, Teamwork

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +7, Fortitude +7, Will +5

Complications: 
Rivalry (His Clone)- Each Mauler Twin assumes that he is the original, while the other is the clone. It's a pride thing. When it's proven which one IS a clone, it actually causes a major issue between them, with the "original" lording it over the clone.
Obsession (Producing a Clone)- The Maulers are apparently always compelled to create a new clone every time one dies (or is murdered). Always just the one.

Total: Abilities: 72 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 17 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 9 (116)

The Maulers... Mark's Most Recurring Enemies?:
-The Mauler Twins were recurring characters (arguably Mark's most constant villains) in Invincible, popping up every few isses with some new scientific whatsit that Mark breaks, soon pummelling both twins. Their whole gimmick was that a brilliant, gigantic, blue scientist cloned himself, but both disagreed over which was the clone and which was the original- their debates were increasingly smug about it. Their skills were used by both Angstrom Levy and Robot, with Robot wanting an organic body with his mind, and Levy wanting to absorb the knowledge of all of his multiversal counterparts. However, this last incident resulted in the death of one of the Maulers- the other was completely emotionless about it, simply cloning a new "brother".

-However, this led to a breakdown in their relationship. Since the "original" Mauler was scarred by the explosion from the Levy thing, it was very clear which one came first. And so this Mauler started bossing his clone around, treating him like garbage, and making him get lemonade- stuff like that. So a bitter Mauler Clone poisoned the original to death, then cloned an offspring- both realized that their relationship depended on it being UNKNOWN which was the original, so they decided that they should now argue over who was the "oldest generation" clone. Silly, amusing stuff.

The Maulers Get Mauled:
-Alas, after fifty-ish issues, the Maulers had run their course. When they built a super-device that took down the Guardians of the Globe and knocked Invincible back, they were confronted by Kid Omni-Man, who promptly shattered the lower jaw of one Mauler, then FLEW THROUGH HIS BODY, leaving a bloody mess behind. When the other Mauler was like "Okay yeah, I surrender", Oliver simply uppercutting his brain out of his skull. Oliver's cavalier attitude towards killing was thus proven, and it sparked a multi-issue debate within the comic, while basically everyone was like "yeah, we won't miss them, but yikes".

-It was a bit odd- these guys were arguably the most recurring threats in the book. Granted, they were pretty useless in a fight (Mark was easily beating both of them as a rookie), but they were fixtures in things as Recurring Minor Threats. They would've made solid henchmen to somebody... but the book was changing heavily to Space Themes, so they were probably expendable.

-Funny thing is, the Maulers actually RETURNED... and I FORGOT ABOUT IT. One pops up in Guarding the Globe impregnating hundreds of Kuwaiti women (actually getting them to sign contracts for it, too), and they later reappear in Invincible, but never matter to the plot again. It's a real sign of dementia on my part, because there's actuall 4-5 Mauler appearances between their deaths and the end of the book, and I managed to forget every single one of them. Granted, it's largely unimportant stuff, but still. They end up allying with Robot, because he gives them what they want, which basically means they no longer need to be evil.

The Maulers' Power:
-The Mauler's are pretty unique in that they mix mid-level Powerhouse with Scientist in their builds, but they're both pretty weak altogether. They're PL 8s because even when Mark was Newbie Invincible, he could still whup on both of them pretty good. They're basically good scientists and good Bricks, but not REALLY good at either. They take major inventions or gear to take on a really powerful hero, and Kid Omni-Man effortlessly one-shots both of them.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed May 11, 2022 8:53 am, edited 2 times in total.
Shock
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Black Tom! The Beast! Pacific Overlords! INVINCIBLE!)

Post by Shock »

The Mauler Twins are easily my favorite Invincible bad guy(s). And it's not close. They're sort of threatening but absurd at the same time, which matched the early tone of the book perfectly. One of the strengths of the book in general I think is how Kirkman managed to get personality into so many of the jobbers Mark ran up against with a small amount of dialog and the Mauler Twins are the bets of the bunch. The whole dynamic of grudging respect for each other only because they didn't know which clone was "superior" is pure genius.
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The Lizard League

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

THE LIZARD LEAGUE:
-The Lizard League were recurring Backgrounders in Invincible for a while- never getting any characterization, but being one of my favorite things- an homage to classic Jobber Villains. In this case, the League was an obvious take-off of The Serpent Society, albeit with only four members- King Lizard, Komodo, Salamander and Iguana. The latter three actually had really good designs, but sadly didn't get used much. They fought in the background a few times, but got a bigger role during a large-scale battle elsewhere, taking over a nuclear missile facility while all the powerhouses were fighting aliens. So a much smaller, weaker group of the Guardians of the Globe arrived to help- Rex Splode, Dupli-Kate & Shrinking Ray.

-Unfortunately, the battle went south in a hurry- Komodo quickly ripped to pieces ever Kate Clone he could find, seemingly exterminating her supply and killing her. Then he took a bite out of Ray as Rex threw down a huge burst that killed Iguana & Salamander. Komodo taunted a mourning Rex, then cruelly bit off his hand while he was charging an energy ball- while Rex screamed in pain, Komodo smirked... and then realized why you don't swallow EXPLODING OBJECTS as his head exploded. King Lizard then shot Rex in the head and nearly killed him, but was knocked down and defeated by the newly-arrived Brit. King Lizard was seen a couple more times in the backgrounds, but never mattered much again. Another arc in Invincible Universe featured him transforming some Guardians into reptiles, but he failed to turn them evil at the same time, and so they just turned on him and kicked his ass. Robot soon handily stopped his "make the Earth hotter" plan (which he pointed out wouldn't have worked anyways).

-The League don't really need, nor deserve stats, as they weren't even seen doing much. Komodo is pretty likely a +8/+8 Balanced Powerhouse, as he's able to make mush out of human-durability characters like Dupli-Kate & Shrinking Ray with ease, but not invulnerable to an internal explosion. King Lizard has no powers at all (despite being green-skinned), but carries a firearm. Salamander apparently has a venomous touch, but I never saw that in the comics- it's mentioned in the Official Handbook to the Invincible Universe.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed May 11, 2022 8:53 am, edited 2 times in total.
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The Elephant

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

THE ELEPHANT (Real Name Unknown)
Role:
Background Character

-Said by the title hero to be "just a lame rip-off of The Rhino", The Elephant is basically The Rhino if he wore an outfit with big ears, tusks and a trunk. He never says anything, and is just seen sitting around in jail at times. Other characters joke about him later. He actually gets a speaking role in Guarding the Globe, where Black Samson talks him out of robbing small-time shops- he ends up hiring him at the hair salon where he volunteers. Tragically, when Robot stages his revolution, the Elephant is present to see Black Samson executed, and he himself has his head blown off when he tries to run. And it turns out he's a scrawny, balding black man wearing a pendant shaped like an elephant's head. He's likely a PL 7 Powerhouse in his powered-up form.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed May 11, 2022 8:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Black Tom! The Beast! Pacific Overlords! INVINCIBLE!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Shock wrote: Sat Feb 17, 2018 12:26 am The Mauler Twins are easily my favorite Invincible bad guy(s). And it's not close. They're sort of threatening but absurd at the same time, which matched the early tone of the book perfectly. One of the strengths of the book in general I think is how Kirkman managed to get personality into so many of the jobbers Mark ran up against with a small amount of dialog and the Mauler Twins are the bets of the bunch. The whole dynamic of grudging respect for each other only because they didn't know which clone was "superior" is pure genius.
This is actually an interesting point, and something I kind of glossed over- the comic seemed SILLY at first. Very self-indulgent and "man, aren't superhero comics WEIRD?". But it mixed that silliness with a lot of seriousness- Omni-Man slaughtering the Guardians happened QUICKLY, and we had mass slaughter and tears by the second trade.

It creates odd situations when you read all this serious-minded stuff about people named "Kaboomerang" and a race of mustachioed males.
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