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

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24690
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

The Watchdogs

Post by Jabroniville »

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THE WATCHDOGS
Created By:
Mark Gruenwald & Tom Morgan
First Appearance: Captain America #335 (Nov. 1987)
Role:[/b] Evil Censors
Leaders:
Watchdog Prime (aka Watchdog One or Top Dog)

-Gru's run on Cap featured a lot of commentaries on modern America in his mind (generally that's what MOST good Cap writers do, as a matter of fact)- The Watchdogs represented the forces of censorship and repression- YET ANOTHER evil Right-Wing Terrorist Organization, but with a focus on protecting young America's minds from the pornographic forces that threatened them. What was neat about this is that John Walker, the Cap sent to fight them, actually BELIEVED in a lot of what the group was saying- a very typically-Southern Conservative fellow, he WAS against porn, abortion, sex education, homosexuality, etc.! This actually made for an interesting bit, as you could tell the Watchdogs were utterly crazy and bigoted, but Walker himself was seen a bit more sympathetically, even though he was often portrayed as an inexperienced blowhard and a douchebag in his own right.

-The Watchdogs enjoy kidnapping people they view as immoral, and imprisoning them in a compound while wearing "dog collars" that shock them for improper thoughts- effectively brainwashing subversives (shit would that be a good comic idea for modern-day SJW-types). Unbeknownst to all but Watchdog Prime, they are YET ANOTHER group funded by The Red Skull to foment chaos. As a grassroots organization, they are forbidden from more esoteric weaponry by the Skull- it'd break their concept. The Watchdogs are infiltrated by Walker, who play-fights with his buddy Lemar Hoskins (playing a black pornographer- the Watchdogs aren't EXPLICITLY called racist, but the fact that it's a heavily-Southern organization of religious zealots and Walker "calls him out" for being black makes it pretty easy to jump to the conclusion that Walker is the more obvious infiltrator). Alas, when his identity as Cap is made public by a pair of ex-friends, Walker's parents are kidnapped and then murdered by the organization.

-On that note, a word of advice to villainous organizations: If pulling a "Gwen Stacy" with a hero's supporting cast, you need to make DAMN SURE he's one of those heroes that values human life. As a renegade soldier/ass-kicker, Walker is WAY TOO DANGEROUS to be pulling crap like that on, and so he went on a rampage that included murdering countless Watchdogs and SHOVING A RIFLE THROUGH SOMEONE'S FACE. The group mostly disintegrated, though showed up periodically after that, attempting to move west. Most writers ignore their existence these days, as the Sons of the Serpent are a bit more on-the-nose.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Feb 23, 2022 8:13 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24690
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

The Secret Empire

Post by Jabroniville »

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THE SECRET EMPIRE
Created By:
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: Tales to Astonish #81 (July 1966)
Role:[/b] Secretive Schemers
Leaders:
Number One I (killed fighting The Hulk)
Number One II (Richard Nixon)
Number One III (Professor Power)
Number Seven
Midknight (Moon Knigh's ex-sidekick)
Unknown Leaders

-The Secret Empire are pretty much only known for one Steve Englehart story, though they've been around since the Silver Age's peak. They were initially a subsidiary of HYDRA (much like A.I.M.), a criminal group designed to fund the terrorists and distract the law from them as well, but soon the original Number One broke away and formed a proper splinter group. It was pretty minor and was defeated early on against The Hulk, but soon Englehart wrote them in as a subsersive group trying to ruin Captain America's reputation while kidnapping Mutants for some purpose. When Cap cornered Number One in the White House, he revealed his face and committed suicide rather than face capture, sending Cap into a shock-spiral upon seeing just WHO this high-ranking Washington official was.

-The trick? This was written just after the Watergate Scandal, and the fans were CLEARLY being led to believe that this was in fact Richard Nixon as a subversive supervillain. Nixon, the Republican Bogeyman of Lefty Comic Book Writers' worst nightmares, was ALREADY an unpopular figure in America, so the revelation that he was actually engaged in illegal activities was the icing on the cake. So Englehart made him an actual terrorist supervillain who wanted to be a dictator... oh, Marvel made him DENY it, of course, but he publicly admitted elsewhere that no, this was Nixon.

-The Empire was mostly shattered, and became the minions of D-leaguer Professor Power after this- The Defenders beat him, as well as their agents Mad Dog & Mutant Force. They'd be used for a few one-shots against Moon Knight, Spidey and others, but have largely never mattered except for that one incident.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Feb 23, 2022 8:13 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24690
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Number One/Nixon

Post by Jabroniville »

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NUMER ONE OF THE SECRET EMPIRE II (Richard Milhous Nixon)
Created By:
Francis & Hannah Nixon
First Appearance: January 9, 1913
Role:[/b] The Archnemesis of the Left, America's Great Homegrown Super-Villain
Group Affiliations: The Secret Empire, The Republican Party
PL 0 (38), PL 3 (38) Defenses
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 0 AGILITY -1
FIGHTING 0 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Deception 10 (+10)
Expertise (Sailor) 1 (+4)
Expertise (Law) 4 (+7)
Expertise (Politics) 8 (+11)
Expertise (Subversive Criminal) 8 (+11)
Persuasion 3 (+6)

Advantages:
Benefit 6 (President of the United States), Equipment 2 (Pistol)

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

Defenses:
Dodge +0 (DC 10), Parry +0 (DC 10), Toughness +0, Fortitude +0, Will +6

Complications:
Motivation (Power)
Reputation (Unfriendly)- Even those close to Nixon didn't overly like him, and he was known to basically hate being around people. He was stiff and formal at all times, and was also rather ugly and furrowed, making him lose a lot of public empathy.
Enemy (Many)- Nixon, paranoid in his later years, kept a famous "Enemies List". Among the only names most people would recognize is actor Paul Newman's. Hunter S. Thompson was despondent to find out that he wasn't on the list. Nixon also did not trust Jews in general ("the bastards always turn on you"), and referred to Canadian President Pierre Trudeau as "an asshole" and a "pompous egghead" in his private tapes.
Hatred (Communism)- Nixon ran on very anti-Commie platforms early on, and often linked his Democratic rivals to the Soviets or suspected Communists.
Relationship (Henry Kissinger)- Kissinger, a power-hungry and schrewd man, was called a "psychopath" by Nixon for his indifference to human suffering, but was still Nixon's most-powerful ally, given that they both sought out American supremacy and their own survival.
Secret (The Secret Empire)- In Marvel continuity, Nixon was the leader of The Secret Empire, a subversive group seeking total power.

Total: Abilities: 10 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 3 (38)

-For someone my age, especially a Canadian, the first American President I knew of officially was Bill Clinton- I was too young & disinterested to know who George Bush & Ronald Reagen were during their reigns. Hell, Nixon was dead before I even knew who he was! So because of that, it's hard for me to grasp exactly HOW hated Richard Nixon was by some people. I mean, I'm aware of it on some kind of level, because things from the 1970s seem pretty virulent in their despising of the man, but I don't FEEL it the way I felt, say, the hatred for George W. Bush during HIS two reigns in the highest office. Naturally, both Nixon & Bush II managed to get elected to it TWICE (Nixon winning by the largest landslide in American history at 60% on his second run), making you realize just how often the media and the actual general public differ on many major points.

-Nixon himself is a pretty important figure in World History, and one of the biggest deals as President ever- his early career was notable for basically being full of hard work and being boring (a rep that'd always stick to him). He narrowly lost to JFK, but came thundering back (despite many believing his career to be over) in the late 1960s to unseat the Democrats, who were in disarray for numerous reasons (Robert Kennedy's assassination, Johnson refusing to run again under the spectre of Vietnam). While unfriendly, he was definitely canny, and had a knack for winning people over- he commented on the "silent majority" of socially-conservative Americans that hated hippies (even the "Liberal Media" generally only depicts them as stoners and frauds these days, so he may be right)... and hell, a certain MODERN President basically took advantage of the same thing, so there you go. Soon after winning a massive landslide re-election victory, he was accused of being a part of the Watergate scandal, and when it was proven he was part of the cover-up, he resigned from office rather than face certain impeachment. This was basically the liberating cry of the Left, but largely a despondent part of American History, as the "Dream" died for many people. I mean, a PRESIDENT being part of such a thing? This may be the one watershed moment that launched an army of cynics, if they hadn't already been out there.

-Nixon remains a popular figure of derision, even after his death- The Simpsons and Futurama, creations of noted left-winger Matt Groening ("Our show has pissed off Republicans, the NRA and the logging industry- we MUST be doing something right!"), both mock him frequently- he lends his middle name to Bart's loser of a best friend Milhouse, and he appears as the borderline-psychopathic supervillain President of Earth in the year 3000. He WAS a known statesman (he spent his later years travelling around the world) and befriended many world leaders, however, so it wasn't all bad. And most Presidents get it pretty good- Clinton is a philandering sex-addict in most depictions, Bush II is portrayed as legally retarded, and Reagan is shown as senile and almost nihilistically old-fashioned (though mainly during his Presidency in the '80s).

-This build represents the Nixon of Marvel Comics, which is basically the same as the real-world version, but with higher ranks in Deception & Criminal than Nixon would have likely had :). It's also a neat look in how overwhelmingly-powerful someone can be with quite low stats, especially Presence- charisma (or perceived charisma- I never quite "got" what anyone ever saw in Bush II) is such an attribute for a politician to have, so it's rather fascinating that Nixon was so dominant for years (Vice President for two terms, President for... almost two) while having quite little.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Feb 23, 2022 8:13 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24690
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Professor Power

Post by Jabroniville »

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PROFESSOR POWER (Anthony Power, aka Number One of The Secret Empire)
Created By:
J.M. DeMatteis & Herb Trimpe
First Appearance: Marvel Team-Up #117 (May 1982)
Role:[/b] Failed Villain
Group Affiliations: Mutant Force, The Secret Empire
PL 8 (107)
STRENGTH
1/8 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Deception 2 (+5)
Expertise (History) 4 (+8)
Expertise (Politics) 4 (+8)
Persuasion 4 (+7)

Advantages:
Benefit (Leader of the Secret Empire), Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"Powersuit" (Flaws: Removable) [44]
Enhanced Strength 7 (14)
Protection 7 (7)
Flight 7 (250 mph) (14)
"Electron-Beam" Blast 10 (20)
-- (55 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Powersuit Strength +5 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Electron-Beam +6 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +2 (+9 Armour), Fortitude +4, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Power)- Anthony Power believes that world peace can only be achieved if America conquers the world. Since no U.S. President will enact those policies, he naturally assumes that he must take over America himself to accomplish this.
Relationship (Michael Power- Son)- Michael went crazy in Vietnam, so Anthony attempted to combine Mentallo's power with Professor Xavier's to fix him- it backfired and Michael's mind was permanently destroyed.
Revenge (Professor Xavier)- Somehow, the above thing is the PROFESSOR'S fault in Anthony's mind.

Total: Abilities: 38 / Skills: 14--7 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 44 / Defenses: 13 (107)

-Talk about the most generic super-villain name in history- Professor Power is a classically-goofy early '80s villain that takes Ultraconservative politics to a whole new level- your classic right wing stereotype, he believes that world peace can only be achieved by America taking over the world. However, it turns out that he also wants to help out his son, whose mind was broken by the Vietnam war. He was your classic Marvel Team-Up villain, in that he was a half-assed goofball who was never meant for a long run, which made him an ideal random opponent for various characters whenever you needed a "Filler Issue" (see kids, in the days before writing for the trade and decompressed storytelling, writers often threw out multiple one-shots per year in between larger arcs). He also turned up as the leader of a new Secret Empire, fought The Defenders, and hated Professor X for being part of a situation that resulted in the destruction of his son's mind.

-He later tried to screw with the John Walker Captain America while going crazy after having his mind merged with that of his son's, but Walker, never one to f*ck around, just beat him to death instead of all that "capturing him for the next adventure" crap. He was resurrected by his loyal followers, in order to... tell more generic villain stories, I guess? Apparently all of his later stuff was DeMatteis (his creator) resurrecting him and re-using him multiple times to tell more weird stories after Gruenwald killed him for his Cap run. Because if there's one thing I've learned in all my years of researching Marvel characters, it's that mid-tier writers CONTSTANTLY liked to re-use their old villain concepts in every new book, no matter what.

-Professor Power is your standard Powersuit Villain, complete with Blasts & Enhanced Strength. Really generic build, despite the unique origins.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Feb 23, 2022 8:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24690
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Re: Jab's Builds! (WICKED!! Elphaba! The Wizard! FIYEERRRRROOOOOO!!! Glinda!)

Post by Jabroniville »

drkrash wrote: Wed Jun 14, 2017 1:48 am
KorokoMystia wrote: Wed Jun 14, 2017 1:43 am
drkrash wrote: Wed Jun 14, 2017 1:30 am To offer a comment on way back to the Virtua Fighter builds: the VF guys were dull builds because they are dull characters. I'm an unapologetic defender of fighting game stories; they're not brilliant, but they *matter.* If VF had a better story - or, ya know, a story - it might not be dead. And yeah, I know the hardcore will state how deep the fighting is, but VF is not a hot property anymore because the characters lack character.

On present topic: anyone recall any stories that plausibly tried to explain where mook armies got their mooks from?
Well, the other reason is that in games like VF, Tekken, ect. the characters are all basically the same build, mostly: Accurate Human-Level Martial Artists. At least Tekken has some wacky, off-the- wall characters and devils and dragons that shoot lasers.
To clarify, I wasn't complaining about Jab's builds, but rather that we could spend time discussing Street Fighter, while the VF builds generated nothin'.
Yeah, I got that. They were TERRIBLY uninteresting builds to actually make, too- basically just the same people with different Mental Abilities (some were spies; others were mere fighters). I'd imagine Tekken would be much the same way (albeit with minor variations, like "Robot Guy" and "Fire-Spewing Devil").

I think the next Fighting Game I'm gonna tackle will be WeaponLord, though I can re-post Primal Rage at some point, and include that Mystery Boss character.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24690
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Re: Jab's Builds! (WICKED!! Elphaba! The Wizard! FIYEERRRRROOOOOO!!! Glinda!)

Post by Jabroniville »

As for "Where they get their Mooks from", most people don't bother to explain that. I've only seen a few bits:

Marvel: The Taskmaster apparently trains them, mostly from criminals who know criminals and pay for the training.

Kim Possible: They are trained by a guy named Jon Hench, who hires them out via his HenchCo. company. Naturally, they are referred to as "Henchmen".

Ares has suggested that these mask-wearing guys who preach hatred against everyone who's not them, threatening people over perceived slights, and generally being disruptive would be recruited from the ranks of internet SJWs :).
Jabroniville
Posts: 24690
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

William Stryker

Post by Jabroniville »

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WILLIAM STRYKER
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Brent Anderson
First Appearance: X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills (1982)
Role:[/b] Religious Extremist
Group Affiliations: The Purifiers
PL 5 (53)
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 0 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Deception 4 (+8)
Expertise (Religion) 10 (+13)
Expertise (Terrorist) 5 (+8)
Insight 2 (+5)
Persuasion 5 (+9)

Advantages:
Benefit (Famous Church Leader), Equipment 2 (Gun), Fascination (Persuasion), Ranged Attack 4

Offense:
Unarmed +0 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Pistol +4 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +2 (DC 12), Parry +2 (DC 12), Toughness +2, Fortitude +3, Will +6

Complications:
Hatred (Mutants)- Stryker murdered his wife and infant son upon discovering his boy's mutant nature- he soon comes to believe that Satan himself is attempting to corrupt human souls in prenatal form- and that Mutants themselves are the devil's work. He wishes to eradicate mutants.

Total: Abilities: 24 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 8 (53)

-God Loves, Man Kills was a fairly well-known early Graphic Novel that struck a chord with X-fans- it contains William Stryker as a devout religious man who comes across as charismatic and deeply-moral, but preaches that Mutants themselves are Satanic and evil. In so doing, he creates a much more deadly threat to the X-Men than people in garish costumes who actually put the word "Evil" in their name- this is a REAL-WORLD kind of evil, and comes across all the scarier for it. I mean, there are people just like this in real life! There's a neat bit where his televised debate with Professor Xavier goes poorly, because as Scott notes, the Prof is well-spoken but quite ugly and goulish, compared to a much friendlier face like Stryker, who is also much more TV-savvy. Of course, the most memorable part of the book is still Kitty Pryde dropping the N-Bomb on her black teacher to prove a point.

-Stryker's plan is to kidnap the Prof and use his mental powers to kill every Mutant on Earth- apparently he knows, unlike most at the time, that Charlie was a Mutant. When he pulls a gun on Kitty in a fit of rage on live television, however, it's a HUMAN POLICE OFFICER to shoots him and arrests him, pointing out that he just threatened to kill a freaking child- one of Claremont's more poignant finales (he did this a few times as well- though the X-Men was a cynical, gritty book, Claremont was careful to not paint all humans as murderous bigots).

-Stryker vanished for decades, however (I think it was assumed he'd died), only reappearing in X-Treme X-Men as the lover of Lady Deathstrike (REALLY?). Kitty convinces the grudge-holding zealot that Mutants may NOT be evil after all. But that didn't last- he showed up soon after Decimation. It was HIS bomb that blew up a huge chunk of the ignored background X-Students on that infamous busplosion all those years ago. He also had Wallflower murdered, and the school invaded- an enraged Elixir shattered his skull with a fast-growing tumor. He was resurrected by Bastion as part of the Technarch, joining all the other Anti-Mutant Bigots that'd banded together, but he was sliced in half by Archangel. His current appearances have basically poisoned what was a very solid (if one-note) character.

THE PURIFIERS
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Brent Anderson
First Appearance: X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills (1982)
Role: Religious Extremists
Leaders:
William Stryker
Father Matthew Risman (murdered by X-23)

-The Purifiers are generic Mooks, but some of them are known to use more elite Vibranium-based weapons (extra damage in melee), and others gained Archangel's Techno-Organic Wings, forming The Choir.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Feb 23, 2022 8:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24690
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Damage Control

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

DAMAGE CONTROL
Created By:
Dwayne McDuffie & Ernie Colon
First Appearance: Marvel Comics Presents #19 (May 1989)
Role:[/b] Fixer-Uppers
Leaders:
Ann-Marie Hoag (owned by Tony Stark & Wilson Fisk as co-shareholders)

-Damage Control came about due to one of those moments when someone was like "hey, they blow crap up ALL THE TIME in New York with super-fights... how do they put all that BACK TOGETHER?" The answer of course being a special squad of construction workers- the best answer to those "hey, I just thought of something..." questions is ALWAYS something that you can get a real story out of. One of their major shareholders is Wilson Fisk, which led to various stories, but the few times the characters have gotten focus (usually through short Limited Series) it's usually been seen as a "Comic Book Sitcom" (this is pretty obvious from reading their quirky character descriptions- Dwayne McDuffie was notoriously-goofy as well). They spent about 10 years between major stories, but in Civil War, it turns out a CEO of theirs was responsible for giving Nitro some Mutant Growth Hormone, which is what set off the whole "Stamford Incident". This was in order to set off further damages that DC could then fix, earning more profits. Wolverine killed the CEO responsible. Personally, I would have preferred the Stamford Incident to just be one of those damn things that was probably always inevitable, as it kept the core of the story a little stronger... but that was like #10 on the list of things wrong with Civil War anyways.

-Damage Control has a varied, goofy cast that is really more a collection of quirks than stats- most are basically just Bystanders with talents in a particular form of Expertise, with the Executives & Owners being a bit smarter.

The Cast:
Ann-Marie Hoag- An elderly woman and smart businesswoman.
Robin Chapel: Traffic manager and Hoag's most-trusted employee. She & John have a love-hate thing as they're rivals. She eventually becomes the CEO.
John Porter: Account executive. Typically finds peaceful, practical solutions to incredible problems. Has a friendly relationship with Thunderball of The Wrecking Crew.
Albert Cleary: Comptroller and financial genius. Always calm, even while presenting bills to people like Doctor Doom (who was impressed enough to offer him a job, then not kill him when he turned the offer down). Never wrinkles his suit.
Bart Rozun: Former intern turned personal assistant to Ms. Chapel. Infatuated with Anne, and a good friend of Robbie "Speedball" Baldwin.
Eugene "Gene" Strausser: Technician who became a supervillain when DC fired him- he was rehired when Ms. Hoag took back over.

Search & Rescue Division:
Lenny Balinger: Leader of the division, a no-nonsense type. Looks like Lee Marvin, but thinks he looks like Paul Newman.
Tom Foster: Nephew of Bill "Black Goliath" Foster. Joins following World War Hulk.
Abigail "Visioneer" Dunton: Low-level psionic who uses her powers to locate civilians trapped in rubble.
Eric "Slaying Mantis" O'Grady: Actually the villainous Ant-Man, he was using this as a cover.

Other Employees:
Anne: Receptionist and object of Bart's affections.
Henry Ackerdson: The unpopular head of marketing who once came up with the idea to have the entire staff wear superhero costumes.
Robbie "Speedball" Baldwin: Speedball was once an intern.
Hercules: Marvel's Olympian God, working as part of his community service for a drunken rampage.
Frank "Monstro" Johnson: A firefighter and search & rescue guy. Actually super-powered, Monstro accidentally killed his wife and daughter because his newfound strength destroyed their house, and has been on the run ever since. Whenever he's discovered, he flees again.
Walter Declun: A ruthless corporate raider who bought out the company and manipulated supervillains into increasing property damage, which helped set off the Civil War. Had his head impaled by Wolverine for his crimes (after being fired when Tony Stark bought out his stock), but has resurfaced as a majordomo to Doctor Doom.
Jay: Head of security.
Marie Leahy: Account executive.
Kirk Eden & Jim Palmetto: Assigned to the Bronx to report on any damage caused by Ghost Rider.
Ray Lippert: Part of a rival firm that got bought out by DC; he stayed on.
Kathleen O'Meara: Vice-President and one-time love interest of Ben Grimm.
Vincent "Leap-Frog" Patilio: Former super-villain who was briefly employed here.
Rex "Edifice Rex" Randolph: Former employee who gained Cosmic Powers, but his anal retentiveness nearly destroyed the universe. Being fired by Ms. Chapel saved the day, because it made him stop.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Feb 23, 2022 8:16 am, edited 2 times in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24690
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

The TVA

Post by Jabroniville »

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THE TIME VARIANCE AUTHORITY
Created By:
Walt Simonson & Sal Buscema
First Appearance: Thor #372 (Oct. 1986)
Role: In-Universe Continuity Monitors

-The Time Variance Authority were created as an in-joke in Thor, as Walt Simonson made these in-universe continuity monitors into a group of clones, all resembling Mark Grunewald, Marvel's own Continuity Nerd. The TVA says that they monitor the multiverse, "pruning" timelines that are too dangerous to exist, as well as preventing people from traveling through time (Jesus, have they ever failed in THAT endeavor in the past ten or so years...). Naturally, they're opposed by Kang the Conqueror and others, and at the end of time, their final Director creates the "Time Keepers", who end up becoming the villains of Avengers Forever. They also appear in She-Hulk's joke-y book that explains away certain Continuity Errors (such as out-of-character actions being undertaken by Alternate Universe tourists).

-They're seen as powerful, but are more often than not used for comedic purposes, sort of like "Cosmic Bureaucrats", making sure everything is okay according to their rules & regulations. This often requires tons of oversight, and numerous employees in their cavernous headquarters.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Feb 23, 2022 8:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24690
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Roxxon

Post by Jabroniville »

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ROXXON ENERGY CORPORATION
Created By:
Steve Englehart
First Appearance: Captain America #180 (Dec. 1974)
Role: Strawman of the Oil Industry
Leaders:
Aleksander Lukin
Hugh Jones

-Over the years, Big Oil has become one of the biggest grand Boogeymen of the real world- they're effectively the dirtiest of the dirty corporate empires, owing allegiance to few nations, and often wielding enormous influence and power using their staggering wealth. All the nations of the world need oil, and thus Big Oil is essentially all-powerful. Their open use of extortion, pollution, and collusion to keep their prices high regardless of global effects (Chris Rock: "We invade a country with oil, but GAS COSTS MORE? That don't make no f**king sense!! Now I didn't go to no fancy school or nothing, but I'll tell you this right now- if I invade KFC, wings will be cheap at my house!") makes them as easy a villain as you're ever likely to find. The fact that almost everyone in politics (note: don't assume I'm just knocking the right here- American politicians have a tendency to be more openly-supportive of Big Oil on the right, but I know damn well tons of lefties are as well. How many sitting presidents kiss the ass of a regime like Saudi Arabia? Basically all of them) has SOME kind of link to Big Oil only makes it worse, because people are basically helpless- what are they gonna do? Not drive? Ever?

-And so we come to Roxxon Oil; Marvel's anti-corporate crusaders decided to fight back by ripping on them via an openly-evil, nasty Oil Corporation that actively fought against Marvel's super-heroes. And naturally, Steve Englehart, one of the main anti-corporate guys of mid-70s Marvel, was responsible for their creation in his highly-political Captain America run. Roxxon (sounds similar to Exxon, don't it?) wants total dominance in the energy field, and uses unethical and illegal means to gain more profits- they're even responsible for the death of Tony Stark's parents! They frequently hire or create superhuman agents- Killer Shrike & The Grasshopper are both ex-Roxxon employees. Roxxon Energy is basically like Central High in Archie Comics- literally EVERY SINGLE PERSON THERE is evil.

-In modern times, their boss, Aleksander Lukin, was killed and replaced with The Red Skull, and Roxxon itself has been folded into some other generic Evil Corporation's fold. Though really, Big Oil is even MORE HATED TODAY than it was in the 1970s thanks to numerous publicized oil spills (with fines numbering in the billions barely being a slap on the wrist, such is their wealth), so time could be perfect for a return to one of the most openly-oil-hostile parodies ever made. The irony of seeing a Disney-owned company's books taking potshots at an Omnipotent Corporation would be worth the price of admission alone.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Feb 23, 2022 8:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24690
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

AIM

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics, aka THEM)
Created By:
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: Strange Tales #146 (July 1966)
Role:[/b] Mook Army #2, Nerdy Henchmen
Leaders:
The Board of Directors/Imperial Council (7 members)
Baron Strucker
M.O.D.O.K.
The High Council (Andrew Forson, Graviton, Superia, Yelena Belova, Mentallo & Jude the Entropic Man)

-Second only to HYDRA amongst Marvel's Credibility-Lacking Mook Armies is A.I.M., the former scientific research wing of HYDRA. Splitting off onto their own, they've come to be another iconic source of aimless Henchmen, known for their recognizable "Buckethead" helmets and yellow uniforms. They're actually MORE dangerous than HYDRA, having created the first Cosmic Cube, a reality-warping super-device that soon became a recurring theme in The Red Skull's search for ultimate power. Alas, it turns out the Cube was actually a containment device for an otherworldly Cosmic Being, so the scientists weren't QUITE as smart as they'd wished (or else you'd wonder why the BETTER scientists out there hadn't invented the same thing). They also created The Super-Adaptoid and M.O.D.O.K., the iconic Giant Flying Head that soon took over the entire operation.

-In recent years, A.I.M. has actually gotten an upgrade in credibility- while the Bucketheads are as terrible as ever, they've bought an island and become their own nation (after speeding up time, allowing them to create a hyper-advanced empire in a short period). Andrew Forson seems to be in charge, and is smarter than the average forgettable Council Member, wearing a cooler-looking version of the standard beekeeper outfit- he's also using failed villains like Black Widow II and Superia as allies, which makes A.I.M. stand out a bit more. They've been a major recurring background threat in Hickman's current Avengers run, and really came off like major players.

-Hickman eventually paid it off by having Roberto "Sunspot" DaCosta, one of the more do-nothing Avengers (his powers really came off as sub-par on this time) actually have a Gordian Knot-cutting moment of brilliance, and just bought A.I.M., shifting all of its operations to a more positive branch. The more villainous types (like Andrew Forson & Superia) struck back and tried to kill him, but using the Avengers as aides, he took them out. Sunspot has starred in a pair of Avengers books that heavily feature his "Avengers Idea Mechanics" group, complete with heroic scientists and all sorts of stuff, so this idea has stuck for the most part, and is a pretty unique thing (the only "positive" Super-Science Corporation I've seen since Project: Pegasus stopped being a thing.

---

A.I.M. BUCKETHEAD- ABOVE-AVERAGE
Role:
Mook
PL 4 (46)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 1 (+2)
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Terrorist) 5 (+5)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+8)
Intimidation 2 (+2)
Technology 4 (+8)

Advantages:
Equipment 3 (Laser Guns), Ranged Attack

Equipment:
"Laser Gun" Blast 5 (Extras: Multiattack) (15)

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Laser Guns +3 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (DC 14), Parry +4 (DC 14), Toughness +2, Fortitude +2, Will +0

Complications:
Responsibility (Terrorist)

Total: Abilities: 30 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 2 (46)

A.I.M. BUCKETHEAD- STANDARD
Role:
Mook
PL 3 (30)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 2 DEXTERITY 1
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Deception 2 (+2)
Expertise (Terrorist) 2 (+2)
Expertise (Science) 2 (+5)
Intimidation 1 (+1)
Technology 3 (+6)

Advantages:
Equipment 3 (Laser Guns)

Equipment:
"Laser Gun" Blast 5 (Extras: Multiattack) (15)

Offense:
Unarmed +2 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Laser Guns +1 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +2 (DC 12), Parry +2 (DC 12), Toughness +2, Fortitude +2, Will +0

Complications:
Responsibility (Terrorist)

Total: Abilities: 20 / Skills: 10--5 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 2 (30)

-A.I.M. Bucketheads are smarter than other Mooks, but are largely just as terrible in combat. They're so iconically terrible that the SAGA Marvel RPG included "The Buckethead Rule", that said a hero could strike every single Mook in range in one attack if they dogpiled on him.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Feb 23, 2022 8:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24690
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Andrew Forson

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

ANDREW FORSON
Created By:
Jonathan Hickman & Ryan Stegman
First Appearance: The Fantastic Four #610 (Nov. 2012)
Role: Scientist Supreme
Group Affiliations: Advanced Idea Mechanics
PL 7 (102)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 8 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Deception 5 (+8)
Expertise (Science) 8 (+16)
Expertise (Criminal) 2 (+10)
Insight 2 (+6)
Perception 2 (+6)
Persuasion 3 (+6)
Technology 8 (+16)

Advantages:
Benefit 4 (Scientist Supreme of A.I.M.), Equipment 5 (Any Kind of Stuff), Inventor, Jack-of-All-Trades, Languages (A Few), Ranged Attack 4, Skill Mastery (Science)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Laser Guns +8 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +3 (+5 A.I.M. Leader Armour), Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Motivation (Power & Greed)- A.I.M. wants to rule the world, or just own all of it.

Total: Abilities: 66 / Skills: 30--10 / Advantages: 17 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 9 (102)

-Forson has become a major player in a short period of time, but has yet to do much stuff in the field, so this build is rather speculative. He's a genius well above your usual A.I.M. guy, nearly equaling the talent level of the major Sciencey-Superheroes like Tony Stark & Reed Richards, being only six ranks behind them in Science & Technology. However, as A.I.M. was bought out by Sunspot, Forson and his goons were easily beaten and made to look like fools.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Jun 15, 2022 8:35 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24690
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Monica Rappaccini

Post by Jabroniville »

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MONICA RAPPACCINI
Created By:
Fred Van Lente & Leonard Kirk
First Appearance: Amazing Fantasy #7 (2005)
Role: Scientist Supreme
Group Affiliations: Advanced Idea Mechanics
PL 6 (93)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 8 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Deception 5 (+8)
Expertise (Science) 6 (+14)
Expertise (Science) 2 (+16) -- Flaws: Limited to Chemical/Biology
Expertise (Criminal) 2 (+10)
Insight 2 (+6)
Perception 1 (+4)
Persuasion 3 (+6)
Technology 4 (+12)

Advantages:
Benefit 4 (Scientist Supreme of A.I.M.), Equipment 5 (Any Kind of Stuff), Inventor, Jack-of-All-Trades, Languages (A Few), Ranged Attack 2, Skill Mastery (Science)

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Laser Guns +6 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +4 (DC 14), Toughness +3 (+5 A.I.M. Leader Armour), Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Motivation (Power & Greed)- A.I.M. wants to rule the world, or just own all of it.
Enemy (MODOK)- Monica has led factions against MODOK's rule several times.

Total: Abilities: 60 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 15 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 6 (93)

-Monica shows up quite frequently in other bios, mainly because Marvel made a go out of having her be an important part of A.I.M. when she debuted. A brilliant inventor, she decided that the world was too corrupt to exist, and thus joined A.I.M. She turned out to be the mother of the female Scorpion (whom she'd manipulated and modified into becoming a super-villain), and finally became the organization's leader when MODOK went all nutty again. She was the target in the MODOK's 11 book- she bought an invention MODOK stole for a billion dollars, but it was a trick- he knew it was unstable, and the explosion destroyed her base. She was thought dead for a while, but popped up in Dark Reign and a few other stories. She has since been replaced as leader by Andrew Forson.

-Monica is basically a lesser version of Forson, who had more of a credibility push, and was more of a battlefield operative- Monica only leads from her base.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Feb 23, 2022 8:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24690
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

CoH

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

THE CHURCH OF HUMANITY
Created By:
Joe Casey, Chuck Austen & Ian Churchill
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men Annual #395 (2001)
Role: Racist Church-Goers
Leaders:
The Supreme Pontiff

-These guys heavily featured in a SUPREMELY-stupid story that involved a bunch of super-Christian bigots trying to slaughter mutants in a giant rip-off of William Stryker's Purifiers. These guys also got messed up in Chuck Austen's dumbest story, which featured Nightcrawler being used as a False Pope to set off a Catholic Rapture (apparently not realizing that Catholics do not believe in The Rapture). Their only major contribution to history (since later writers GLADLY ignored pretty much the entirety of Austen's run) was the death of Skin of Generation-X, who was the only "named" mutant to die when the Church crucified a bunch of young Mutants on the lawn of The X-Mansion (Jubilee & Magma survived).
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Feb 23, 2022 8:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24690
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

The Conspiracy

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

Kaballa.

THE CONSPIRACY
Created By:
Doug Moench & Walt Simonson
First Appearance: The Rampaging Hulk #1 (Jan. 1977)
Role: Conspirators

-The Conspiracy was formed for The Rampaging Hulk, a black & white magazine-format series featuring the Hulk, meant for a more mature audience. They were four super-villains who intended to gain the Bloodstone, and therefore become even more powerful. They killed Ulysses Bloodstone, taking his fragment of the gem, but the combined Bloodstone ended up pulling their souls into itself. The gem then became a giant crystalline monster animated by The Exo-Mind (a "malevolent personality" within the gem). Ulysses, briefly resurrected by the residual energies casting about, sacrificed his life in order to stop the thing, and the members of The Conspiracy died. Only one, Centurius, has since been shown to be alive.

-Curiously, I missed these guys when I was posting a Hulk set, and would have done the research and building all over again until I reached Atlan, at which point I went "no wait- I KNOW I've mentioned that before..." So I did some digging and found my old build of them.

-The membership of the group is pretty nuts, especially for a "mature readers" comic, unless they were deliberately trying to be weird to appeal to drug-using audiences.

Atlan- A sentient dolphin with "mystical powers". YUP, IT'S FOR DRUGGIES.
Bubbles O'Day- A female stripper (YUP) with mental powers from a Bloodstone fragment given to her by an admirer.
Centurius- A genius with your typical "is good at all kinds of science" skill-set. The only one with enough showings to get a proper build.
Dr. Judan Bardham- A cardiologist who was enlisted solely because his skills were required to extract the Bloodstone from Ulysses B. An EVIL CARDIOLOGIST, I guess.
Kaballa- A generic sorcerer who could Teleport and Summon. Was introduced in a Strange Tales back-up story in the '70s, fighting the Golem. Given his name, and his opponent, he was presumably of Hebrew origin.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Feb 23, 2022 8:18 am, edited 2 times in total.
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