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

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Jabroniville
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The Orb (Shannon)

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

THE ORB I (Drake Shannon)
Created By:
Len Wein, Ross Andru & Don Perlin
First Appearance: Marvel Team-Up #15 (Nov. 1973)
Role: Forgotten '70s Villain
PL 9 (106)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+6)
Athletics 4 (+6)
Deception 1 (+5)
Expertise (Stuntman/Carny) 4 (+7)
Intimidation 1 (+5)
Perception 2 (+5)
Stealth 1 (+5)
Technology 1 (+4)
Vehicles 8 (+13) -- (Flaws: Limited to Ground Vehicles)

Advantages:
Equipment 2 (Motorcycle), Favoured Environment (Riding Motorcycle), Ranged Attack 3

Powers:
"Orb Helmet & Stuntman Uniform" (Flaws: Removable) [24]
"Hypnosis" Mind Control 9 (Extras: Area- Visual Perception) (Flaws: Touch Range -2) (27)
  • AE: Laser Blast 8 (16)
  • AE: "Hand Missiles" Blast 7 (Feats: Indirect 2, Ricochet 2, Homing, Split 2) (21)
"Nice Leather" Protection 1 (1)
-- (30 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Hypnosis +9 Area (+9 Affliction, DC 19)
Laser Blast +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +3, Fortitude +4, Will +2

Complications:
Prejudice (Horribly Disfigured)- Drake Shannon badly injured his face after crashing his motorcycle in a race with Crash Simpson. He is horrifying to look at, and must constantly wear a mask or provoke terrible reactions in other people, most of whom will turn away in disgust.

Total: Abilities: 58 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 24 / Defenses: 6 (106)

-The Orb is a guy I'm familiar with because he appeared in a comic book reprint I own of his Marvel Team-Up debut- he's the old partner of Johnny Blaze's mentor (Crash Simpson), who lost the rights to the motorcycle stunt show Blaze now owned after losing a motorcycle race. Swerving to injure Simpson, Drake Shannon then accidentally crashed himself, but skidded for 25 feet RIGHT ON HIS FACE. His scars were GORY, and fascinated me as a young kid- you just didn't SEE faces like that in comic books at the time! His outfit is part-goofy/part-iconically awesome, so I'm of course a huge fan of it- love the giant eyeball head-thing. He threatened Ghost Rider a couple times (always having some vague link to a vague group called They Who Wield Power- no idea why these powerful guys would want to screw with GHOST RIDER of all people), but was killed by one of Plantman's simuloids in a Hawkeye story (but he later appeared in the background of a Deadline story in The Bar With No Name, and was confirmed as alive by the writer- however, this appears to have been Retconned into having been the first appearance of the second Orb). Naturally, like 8-Ball, his iconic appearance means he's perfect for those "shows up in group shots" scenes.

-The Orb is a simple Bike Show Stuntman with EEEEEEVIL intentions, giving him a Hypnosis power and a basic Energy Blast. He's got that plus some Missiles coming from his fingers, though he's not terribly effective (Johnny Blaze wasn't that tough in the 1970s). But he's kind of unique- though I think there was some Indie Comics character who looked JUST LIKE HIM who came before.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Mar 16, 2022 1:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
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The Orb (The New One)

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

THE ORB II (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Bill Rosemann & Guy Davis
First Appearance: Ghost Rider #26 (Oct. 2008)
Role: Joke Villain
PL 7 (62)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+4)
Deception 2 (+2)
Expertise (Criminal) 3 (+3)
Vehicles 1 (+6)

Advantages:
Equipment 5 (Motorcycle, Repulsor Ray), Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Giant Eye For A Head" Senses 2 (Microvision, Extended Vision) [2]

Equipment:
"Repulsor Ray" Blast 7 (14)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Repulsor Ray +7 (+7 Ranged Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3, Fortitude +4, Will +2

Complications:
Prejudice (Eye for a Face)- The second Orb literally has a giant eyeball for a head.
Quirk (Chatty)- The second Orb talks CONSTANTLY, much to the consternation of his allies.

Total: Abilities: 38 / Skills: 8--4 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 2 / Defenses: 11 (62)

-The second Orb is more of an annoying one-note Joke than a real character, with no given origin beyond "Mercenary Super-Villain". He was apparently BORN with his head looking like that, and was nearly killed (a nail through the eye/head), but turned up alive later on to annoy his teammates and Ghost Rider. He wasn't very good with his gun (he talked about being good with it, but never actually hit anybody), and didn't show much of anything- I'm even guessing about his improved eyesight (it seems to make sense, given his concept). Another Orb was seen later with a group of henchmen, talking about rolling around in eyes, and he was somehow able to "see" the identities/quirks of the Red Hulk & She-Hulk (probably some sort of Mind-Reading/Penetrates Concealment thing).

-And in fact, he reappears during Original Sin- it started strong and with some fun stuff (hell, it features THE ORB as a recurring character), but later turned into an awful piece of crap. It spent way too much time on the stupid "Nick Fury secretly saves the world from Alien Invaders... by hiding out on asteroids and shooting individual people with a Sniper Rifle". He's treated like a completely-wimpy, whiny joke the entire time, but thanks to his Eye-Themed powers, actually ends up with the eye of Uatu the Watcher imbedded in his freakin' chest, giving him unknown extra powers.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Mar 16, 2022 1:25 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Manticore

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

MANTICORE (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Jim Shooter & Don Perlin
First Appearance: Ghost Rider #27 (Dec. 1977)
Role: Forgotten Villain
PL 7 (91)
STRENGTH
2/6 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Deception 3 (+4)
Expertise (Criminal) 3 (+4)
Intimidation 2 (+3)
Perception 2 (+3)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 4, Startle

Powers:
"Mechanical Legs" Speed 3 (16 mph) [3]

"Manticore Costume" (Flaws: Removable) [31]
Enhanced Strength 4 (8)
Protection 4 (Extras: Impervious 7) (11)
Claws +1 (Feats: Split) (2)
"Prehensile Tail" Extra Limb 1 (1)
"Tail Laser" Blast 8 (16)
-- (38 points)

Equipment:
"Repulsor Ray" Blast 7 (14)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Suit +7 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Claws +7 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Tail Laser +6 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +3 (+7 Armor, +4 Impervious), Fortitude +4, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Greed, Bionic Legs)- Manticore initially seemed to fight and commit murders in order to get a pair of bionic limbs to replace his uglier, mechanical ones.
Disabled (No Legs)- Manticore needs cybernetic legs in order to walk.

Total: Abilities: 38 / Skills: 10--5 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 34 / Defenses: 9 (91)

-Manticore is a foe of the first Ghost Rider, but literally only had that one appearance for more than twenty-five years, disappearing until a casual mention in the post-Civil War era (he was still imprisoned). He's appeared in only one other issue since then. Marvunapp has a hilariously-detailed thing obsessing over a tiny, half-mentioned detail about whom created what as far as Hellcat & The Cat's suits went, but needless to say, it's a one-off comment from 1977, so it's so ridiculously-minor that even *I* would be embarrassed to have that conversation.

-In any case, Manticore was hired on to bring the Hellcat costume back to its creators- he planned on luring the Avengers (of whom Hellcat was a member) by murdering Hawkeye and the Two-Gun Kid while they worked on a ranch. Hawkeye & the Kid were captured, and Johnny Blaze got involved- Hawkeye managed to fire an energy-disrupting arrow into Manticore's armor, which took him out of the fight. It turned out that he was a cyborg- his legs were entirely mechanical.

-Manticore reappears years later working for Roxxon and trying to steal some Savage Land Vibranium- he retreated, along with a few other villains (Killer Shrike, a few Mandroids, etc.).

-Manticore is a strictly minor-league one-off villain, so I'm leaving him at only PL 7. He's strong and tough in that suit, but falls apart without it, and is a total Jobber Villain.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed May 03, 2023 7:24 am, edited 3 times in total.
Jabroniville
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Centurious

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

CENTURIOUS, THE MAN WITHOUT A SOUL (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
J.M. DeMatteis & Bob Budiansky
First Appearance: Ghost Rider #74 (Nov. 1982)
Role: Forgotten Villain
PL 10 (176)
STRENGTH
3/6 STAMINA 4/6 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+7-10)
Deception 6 (+10)
Expertise (History) 10 (+14)
Expertise (Criminal) 4 (+8)
Insight 4 (+8)
Intimidation 3 (+7)
Investigation 4 (+8)
Perception 4 (+8)
Stealth 2 (+6)

Advantages: 
Beginner's Luck, Jack-Of-All-Trades, Ranged Attack 5, Ritualist, Startle

Powers:
"Immortal, Soulless Monster"
Immortality 10 [20]
Immunity 3 (Disease, Poison, Aging) [3]

"Magical Boosts"
Enhanced Strength 3 [6]
Enhanced Stamina 2 [4]

Fire Blast 10 (20) -- [26]
  • AE: "Earth Control" Move Object 8 (Extras: Perception-Ranged) (Flaws: Limited to Earth) (16)
  • AE: "Air Control" Move Object 8 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (Flaws: Limited to Away) (16)
  • AE: "Telekinesis" Move Object 8 (16)
  • AE: "Levitation" Flight 5 (60 mph) (10)
  • AE: Illusion (Visual, Hearing) 6 (18)
  • AE: Mind Control 5 (20)
Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Magical Boosts +10 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Fire Blast +10 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Mind Control -- (+5 Perception-Ranged Affliction, DC 15)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4 (+6 Boosts), Fortitude +5 (+8 Boosts), Will +7

Complications:
Enemy (Zarathos)- Zarathos threatened the Amerindian Centurious's lover centuries ago, and he sold his soul in order to fight the demon.

Total: Abilities: 76 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 59 / Defenses: 11 (176)

-Centurious, despite showing up in my notes a lot, is a later Ghost Rider villain, showing up only right before the end of the first run of the character. He is a servant of Mephisto who hates Zarathos, and thus fights Johnny Blaze a lot. He had bartered his soul to Mephisto millennia ago to save his wife from Zarathos, and thus now lives on as a soulless monster. Using a Soul Crystal that could trap people, he used it on Johnny, but GR freed himself, eventually sticking Centurious and Zarathos into the thing, locking them in eternal battle. Thus endeth the original Ghost Rider run.

-Centurious returned years later to vex the Danny Ketch version of Ghost Rider, having given supernatural powers to Reverend Styge, the third Sin-Eater. He ends up being a big "Background Villain", leading many GR foes, but is finally killed by Blaze. He reappears decades later as one of the generic goons backing up The Hood during Siege, which goes against a lot of prior stuff, but then, "The Hood's Army" tended to just be a thing artists just threw whomever at. I think Centurious's horribly-plain appearance holds him back- I'm not even sure what they were going for with his visual design.

-Centurious is experienced and ageless, packing a lot of talent into a PL 9-10 body. His magical power makes him rather versatile, though he tends to be less of a combatant, and more of a behind-the-scenes manipulator.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Mar 16, 2022 1:25 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Set! Chthon! Cyttorak! Devils! Ghost Rider! Manticore!)

Post by Ares »

Jabroniville wrote: Wed Aug 02, 2017 3:05 am Tony Isabella controversially wrote a long arc which featured a guy named "The Friend", who was clearly meant to be Jesus Christ Himself, helping Blaze in his adventures. Isabella had planned to allow Blaze to accept Jesus into his life, giving him the strength to overcome Satan, but he claims that Jim Shooter (there's that name again) put the kibosh on that story, "ripped it to pieces" and had art redrawn. The Friend was revealed to be not Jesus, but a demon in disguise. "To this day, I consider what he did to my story one of the three most arrogant and wrongheaded actions I've ever seen from an editor", says Isabella. Now, I'm thinking that Shooter was concerned about prosletyzing in comic books, or was afraid of writers pushing their own religion on the books.
I can sort of see both of their points. Tony likely felt that if you have a Satan/Devil analogue, then having a holy/divine analogue to balance it out. And I can understand why a writer would be pissed about his story not only being canceled, but be completely inverted and corrupted. This is something where I can understand the complaint about Jim micromanaging.

At the same time, I can understand Jim wanting to avoid bring real world religion and politics into a story, where both believers of multiple faiths and atheists might be offended. An editors job is to protect the integrity of the characters and company, make a good story better and that a bad story never seea daylight, and to keep a company out of trouble. So I can understand his point.

This is something that could have likely have worked with more of a compromise. Like, don't make The Friend clearly Jesus so as to not piss people off, but don't undermine the writer by making him a demon. Just make the Friend a vague representative of a "Higher Power" there to give Johnny a chance to cast out the devil inside him who picked a form Johnny might be comfortable with.

Though it's hilarious hearing Jim stop a story to avoid controversy. Can you imagine the absolute bitch fit the current Marvel writers would have if they were told to keep their political leanings, ideology, identity politics, and similar stuff out of comics?
"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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Re: Jab's Builds! (Set! Chthon! Cyttorak! Devils! Ghost Rider! Manticore!)

Post by Jack of Spades »

Ares wrote: Thu Aug 03, 2017 1:27 am Though it's hilarious hearing Jim stop a story to avoid controversy. Can you imagine the absolute bitch fit the current Marvel writers would have if they were told to keep their political leanings, ideology, identity politics, and similar stuff out of comics?
Can you imagine how much sales would improve if they just wrote good stories instead?
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Re: Centurious

Post by Ares »

Jabroniville wrote: Thu Aug 03, 2017 12:00 am ImageImage

CENTURIOUS, THE MAN WITHOUT A SOUL (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
J.M. DeMatteis & Bob Budiansky
Not a fan of the look, but I've got to say, I like the name. Though I think Centurious sounds more like a hero's name than a villain's, basically being "Centurion" with a little flavor.
"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."
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Set! Chthon! Cyttorak! Devils! Ghost Rider! Manticore!)

Post by Ares »

Jack of Spades wrote: Thu Aug 03, 2017 2:57 am
Ares wrote: Thu Aug 03, 2017 1:27 am Though it's hilarious hearing Jim stop a story to avoid controversy. Can you imagine the absolute bitch fit the current Marvel writers would have if they were told to keep their political leanings, ideology, identity politics, and similar stuff out of comics?
Can you imagine how much sales would improve if they just wrote good stories instead?
Now that's just crazy talk you're spouting, Jack.
"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."
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Re: Ghost Rider (Blaze)

Post by Ares »

Jabroniville wrote: Wed Aug 02, 2017 3:05 am
Image

GHOST RIDER II (Johnny Blaze)- Modern Version
Created By:
Roy Thomas, Gary Friedrich & Mike Ploog
I've got to say, Ghost Rider is a character who could get by solely on his look alone. Jab's not wrong, the notion of a guy named "Johnny Blaze" who turns into a Spirit of Vengeance that looks like a biker with an exposed skull surrounded by flames is just awesome. Riding a motorcycle made of Hellfire? Equally awesome.

That said, it seems like they attempted to turn him into more of a Spectre-class Spirit of Vengeance that can theoretically get revenge on anyone, fighting someone like frickin Lucifer. He apparently actually defeated Dr. Strange as well, when you'd think Strange would be the LAST person GR would want to mess with.

I can see him being something of a problem to write, tho. His most popular stuff had him dealing with street level crime, but his overall concept would seem to be geared towards supernatural threats. He could work in a book based more around Supernatural, where Blaze is always on the move, constantly being drawn to places where the supernatural side of things is preying on people, has to research what's going on, and eventually put a stop to the monster. Be a way to explore the supernatural side of the MU. He could potentially work on a team book, maybe get guys like Blade and Moon Knight involved, having Marc get back in touch with his original concept of a werewolf slayer. Moon Knight being a guy who seeks justice but especially justice on the creatures of the night would be something that could work.
"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."
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Re: Centurious

Post by Jabroniville »

Ares wrote: Thu Aug 03, 2017 3:19 am
Jabroniville wrote: Thu Aug 03, 2017 12:00 am ImageImage

CENTURIOUS, THE MAN WITHOUT A SOUL (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
J.M. DeMatteis & Bob Budiansky
Not a fan of the look, but I've got to say, I like the name. Though I think Centurious sounds more like a hero's name than a villain's, basically being "Centurion" with a little flavor.
Yeah, the word "Centurion" basically means "Professional Soldier in the Roman Army", as one of a "century" (around eighty men... oddly not one-hundred), so it gives off a military vibe to me. Which doesn't really fit the character at all, as he's obviously taking "Century" in the English meaning (one-hundred years). Reading the name, I kind of assumed he'd be a robot. I was pretty surprised to look him up and see what I found.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Set! Chthon! Cyttorak! Devils! Ghost Rider! Manticore!)

Post by Scots Dragon »

Ares wrote: Thu Aug 03, 2017 1:27 am Though it's hilarious hearing Jim stop a story to avoid controversy. Can you imagine the absolute bitch fit the current Marvel writers would have if they were told to keep their political leanings, ideology, identity politics, and similar stuff out of comics?
Well without it we wouldn't have... um... any of the comics we have now, actually. People tend to forget that the Jewish immigrants from Europe, one of whom lost a father to criminal violence, creating an indestructible and explicitly immigrant character (with a Hebrew name and drawing from Moses parallels) who opposed forces of tyrannical capitalism was not only a thing but something that led to basically the entire superhero genre as we know it.

Image

Nothing new under the sun, after all.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Set! Chthon! Cyttorak! Devils! Ghost Rider! Manticore!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Scots Dragon wrote: Thu Aug 03, 2017 6:33 am
Ares wrote: Thu Aug 03, 2017 1:27 am Though it's hilarious hearing Jim stop a story to avoid controversy. Can you imagine the absolute bitch fit the current Marvel writers would have if they were told to keep their political leanings, ideology, identity politics, and similar stuff out of comics?
Well without it we wouldn't have... um... any of the comics we have now, actually. People tend to forget that the Jewish immigrants from Europe, one of whom lost a father to criminal violence, creating an indestructible and explicitly immigrant character (with a Hebrew name and drawing from Moses parallels) who opposed forces of tyrannical capitalism was not only a thing but something that led to basically the entire superhero genre as we know it.

Nothing new under the sun, after all.
The "they told an immigrant story" is more of a scholarly take on their work after the fact (I don't believe either said explicitly that's what they were doing; though Siegel WAS the son of Jewish immigrants who fled the pogroms in Russia), though it can certainly be seen that way- Superman was the "idealized immigrant", as Garth Ennis later pointed out in Hitman, though in a way that seems contrary to a lot of modern thought about ideal immigration- Superman WANTED to conform, adapt and join the melting pot.

Similarly, the whole "his father died to violence; creates invulnerable man" thing was only thought of a fair bit later. I'd hardly say the entire genre depends on writers putting their ideologies down, however- Superman bounced around in a lot of ways before Siegel & Shuster really came up with the final idea, and it's questionable just how much any of their biases went into it.

But yes, writers/editors of the day often put their ideologies in print. The biggest one was arguably Martin Goodman, who, as a Jew, felt that the Nazis needed to be talked about more. His "Timely Comics" were thus instructed to have heroes beating up on the Nazis. Various heroes also battled corruption (ie. the evil capitalists you mention... though really- "Greed = Bad" is a pretty universal sentiment... until the '80s).

Though I'm with Ares in deriding how a lot of modern comics has become way too strict and dogmatic in its biases. Sure, almost all art is based around the creator showing people how they see the world in some way, but looking back at the '60s, '70s and '80s, writers were actually capable of things like subtlety and not being overly preachy. Compare Chris Claremont's openly feminist Carol Danvers to the stuff she'd doing nowadays, and it's STILL night and day. Going over the top only creates a backlash, and (probably more importantly, if you're a comic book company) loses sales.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Set! Chthon! Cyttorak! Devils! Ghost Rider! Manticore!)

Post by Scots Dragon »

Jabroniville wrote: Thu Aug 03, 2017 6:50 am Though I'm with Ares in deriding how a lot of modern comics has become way too strict and dogmatic in its biases. Sure, almost all art is based around the creator showing people how they see the world in some way, but looking back at the '60s, '70s and '80s, writers were actually capable of things like subtlety and not being overly preachy. Compare Chris Claremont's openly feminist Carol Danvers to the stuff she'd doing nowadays, and it's STILL night and day. Going over the top only creates a backlash, and (probably more importantly, if you're a comic book company) loses sales.
Except that the story that's lost most sales for Marvel lately has been Secret Empire, while the push towards diverse books has resulted in a far greater readership, with the explicitly feminist and positively-portrayed Muslim Ms. Marvel being a pretty clear example of that. Especially in a day and age where Muslims are being met with unwarranted hostility over the actions of a group of extremists largely active in the Middle East, despite the fact that white supremacist violence is far more common and a far greater source of terrorist actions in the west.

It's also telling how people call out supposed left-wing biases, but very few people are willing to call out the identity politics inherent in making nearly every single character a straight white male. Or the identity politics inherent in the complaints which are made whenever a given character is presented as anything other than a straight white male.

And I have to ask, where is the top?

Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear was labelled as going 'over the top' and 'pushing an agenda down peoples' throats' because of these pretty limited lines of dialogue;
Mizhena: I am Mizhena, faithful of Tempus. Praise the Lord of Battles!
Charname: Mizhena? That's an unusual name. I don't think I've heard it before.
Mizhena: I created the name myself several years ago. My birth name proved unsuitable.
Charname: What was wrong with your old name?
Mizhena: When I was born, my parents thought me a boy and raised me as such. In time, we all came to understand I was truly a woman. I created my new name from syllables of different languages. All have special meaning to me, it is the truest reflection of who I am.
This resulted in a gigantic controversy where death and rape threats were levelled at one of the lead writers, Amber Scott, and the worst people on the internet went on a multi-week screeching contest. All because of forcing the SJW agenda of 'there is a transgender person', with one common complaint being that it didn't fit the Forgotten Realms setting. This resulted in perhaps the most hilarious bit of fake geekery when people shared a statement from Ed Greenwood, who claimed that it did fit the setting, and the complainers thought he was one of the Beamdog designers and not, y'know, the person who created the Forgotten Realms to begin with.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Set! Chthon! Cyttorak! Devils! Ghost Rider! Manticore!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Marvel recently made the news when one of their sales reps explicitly said that retailers were telling him that the "diversity push" was failing, so the rise in sales has DEFINITELY not occurred. He was of course attacked from both sides merely for reporting what he'd been told and what he'd observed, because "OMG this is just an excuse to get rid of diverse characters!" and "You're saying that 'aw gee we TRIED diversity, but I guess our fans are too RACIST AND SEXIST to buy it!'", both of which were nonsense.

Personally, I'm a fan of both diverse characters (note: not replacing older ones with minorities en masse) and Ms. Marvel, which was feminist but never PREACHY about it (I called it "Small f feminism", as opposed to the stuff coming from other books)- the writer is quite smart, and even called out a lot of Marvel's "diversity push" for going out of its way to "kill off or shame the originals", which helped cause that particular backlash. And nobody ever rampages feminist ideology across that book the way we've seen in the new female Thor book.

I'm seeing nonsense from all sides (yeah, the backlash against a trans character in a video game? DUMB DUMB DUMB DUMB). And yeah, I'd rather not every hero be the same white dude- that's BORING. It was the way it was because... well, the books were started in an era where the expected audience was straight white males, and that's ALL it was expected to me. The road to shift things has been long and arduous, and takes more than simply shaming and knocking anyone who enjoys their characters the way they were (nerds HATE change).
Especially in a day and age where Muslims are being met with unwarranted hostility over the actions of a group of extremists largely active in the Middle East, despite the fact that white supremacist violence is far more common and a far greater source of terrorist actions in the west.
Yeah... they win in numbers of incidents, but random acts of terror by Muslims are killing a hell of a lot more people in sheer numbers, especially worldwide.

This particular avenue of discussion though? NO NO NO NO NO. Totes off-topic, please God no. I'll ask Ares to erase it if it continues (that's one of the moderation things he enabled here; rather than Ronin Army's "Moderator comes in and swears at people for not holding to his ideology" system which is what caused the board-break in the first place. So no... drop the Muslim aspect.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Zarathos

Post by Jabroniville »

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ZARATHOS
Created By:
Roy Thomas & Gary Friedrich
First Appearance: Marvel Spotlight #5 (Aug. 1972)
Role: Elder Evil, Super-Powered Entity
PL 15 (422), PL 16 (422) Within Hell
STRENGTH
16 STAMINA 18 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 12 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 6 AWARENESS 6 PRESENCE 5

Skills:
Deception 9 (+15)
Expertise (History) 8 (+16)
Expertise (Magic) 16 (+22)
Expertise (Hells) 10 (+16)
Insight 6 (+12)
Intimidation 11 (+16)
Perception 6 (+12)
Persuasion 6 (+12)
Stealth 10 (+13)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Benefit 5 (Demon Lord), Chokehold, Daze (Intimidation), Diehard, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Magic) 2, Last Stand, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 9, Ritualist, Startle, Well-Informed, Withstand Damage

Powers:
"Immortal Entity"
Regeneration 8 (Feats: Regrow Limbs) [9]
Immunity 22 (Aging, Life Support, Sleep, Heat & Flame Effects) [22]
Immortality 2 (2 weeks) [4]
Speed 2 (8 mph) [2]
Power-Lifting 4 (25,000 tons) [4]
Flight 8 (500 mph) [16]
Senses 7 (Darkvision, Detect Magic- Ranged, Acute, Analytical) [7]
"Master of Tongues" Comprehend 4 (Languages 4) [8]

"Nigh-Unkillable"
Impervious Toughness 19 [19]
Regeneration 14 (Feats: Regrow Limbs) [15]

"Variable Size"
Features 5: Increased Mass 5 [5]
Shapeshift 1 [8]

"Extra Power Within His Dimension" Damage +1 (Extras: Area- 120ft. Line +3) (Flaws: Limited to Within Hell) [3]
Note: Every power in the Magic Array is boosted this way (by 1-2 ranks).

"Demonic Powers"
Mind-Reading 14 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Effortless) Linked to Communication 5 (Mental) (Feats: Dimensional) (Extras: Area) (69) -- [77]
  • AE: "Hellfire Stream" Damage 17 (Extras: Area- 120ft. Line +3) (68)
  • AE: "Hellfire Burst" Blast 15 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (45)
  • AE: "Hellfire" Blast 19 (Feats: Dynamic, Extended Range 2, Penetrating 10) (50)
  • AE: Move Object 14 (Extras: Perception Range) (42)
  • AE: Mind Control 13 (52)
  • AE: Movement 6 (Dimensional Travel 3, Time Travel 3) (Feats: Increased Mass 5) (Extras: Attack) (23)
  • AE: Teleport 15 (Feats: Increased Mass 5) (Extras: Extended, Accurate) (65)
  • AE: Nullify Magical Effects 15 (Extras: Broad, Simultaneous) (Flaws: Limited to Within His Realm) (45)
Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+16 Damage, DC 31)
Area Attacks +15 (+15 Damage, DC 30)
Blast +11 (+19 Ranged Damage, DC 34)
Blast Within Hell +11 (+21 Ranged Damage, DC 37)
Area Attacks Within Hell +16 (+16 Damage, DC 31)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +18 (+10 Impervious), Fortitude +18, Will +14

Complications:
Motivation (Gathering Worshippers & Might)
Weakness (Trapped)- Almost all of the Elder Gods are trapped within their own dimensions, having been beaten years ago by The Demogorge. Despite their great power, they are usually bound to their dimensional boundaries.
Enemy (Ghost Rider)- Zarathos despises Ghost Rider.
Enemy (Centurious)- Mephisto's soulless pawn has a lifelong hatred of Zarathos.

Total: Abilities: 136 / Skills: 82--41 / Advantages: 27 / Powers: 199 / Defenses: 19 (422)

-Zarathos is infamously the being that empowers Johnny Blaze, creating the Ghost Rider. He starts off as a vaguely-lesser demon, often controlled by Mephisto, who binds him to Blaze. He attempts to take control of Blaze several times, but is finally defeated and the hero is freed when the two compete, and another of Mephisto's minions gets involved (Centurious, an old enemy of Zarathos). He is used as a pawn of The Beyonder in a bet with Mephisto (he wanted to have Zarathos corrupt Spider-Man, and prevent him from saving The Kingpin from an assassin). He becomes a threat again in the '90s, but the Midnight Sons (his old vessel Johnny Blaze, plus the new Danny Ketch Ghost Rider) oppose him. Blaze & Zarathos were later linked once more (but were more at peace with each other), and he was last seen possessing the new, lady Ghost Rider before Blaze took on the curse once more.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Mar 16, 2022 1:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
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