Jab’s Builds! (Lawnmower Man! Samus Aran! Metroids!)

[Horsenhero]

Personally, since they introduced Magni, I'd like to see them introduce his brother Modi, god of berserks...if only to have Modi school Wolverine when Logan gives one of his "I'm the best there is at what I do" quips. Having Wolverine meet the god who literally defines berserk fury would be an interesting one off.

Plus it would fit in with my fervent belief that Wolverine can never get his ass kicked enough.

[sirjolt]

If I remember my mythology correct, Magni's big deal was that he was vastly stronger than any other Asgardian, even his father.

There was a myth about one immense giant that fought Thor, supposedly the largest and mightiest giant of the time (he also may or may not have been some artificial construct made of stone). During the fight, the giant threw an immense stone at Thor, but Thor responded by throwing Mjolnir at the stone, smashing through the stone and caving in the giant's skull. Unfortunately, the immense giant fell on top of Thor, and was so heavy that even with his belt of strength he was trapped beneath it. The other Asgardians did everything they could to try and move the giant off of Thor, but couldn't budge it.

Then comes Magni, a young child at the time, who casually lifts the giant off of Thor's body, and berates his father for taking a nap underneath a fallen opponent. Magni was essentially to the Norse what Hercules was to the Greeks: the strongest guy around without question. And since he was just a kid in the myths, he seems like prime fodder for an Earth-based hero in the modern era.

In those stories, Thor also claims that Magni will grow up to be stronger than anybody. I always found that odd since it seemed he was already there. Unfortunately, the original stories never really go back to him at all.

[Jabroniville]

I still love the 1960s "jailbird" pants.

THE ABSORBING MAN (Carl "Crusher" Creel)
Created By: Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: Journey Into Mystery #114 (March 1965)
Role: Dumb Mook
Group Affiliations: The Masters of Evil, The Lethal Legion
PL 11 (215), PL 13 (215) with Adamantium or Uru
STRENGTH 4/11/12 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -1 AWARENESS -1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+8)
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Criminal) 4 (+3)
Expertise (Boxer) 3 (+4)
Intimidation 9 (+9)
Ranged Combat (Thrown Ball) 4 (+8)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Crushing Pin, Diehard, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Ball) 3, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 4, Startle

Powers:
"Property Absorption"
"Magic Ball & Chain" (Feats: Indestructible) (Flaws: Easily Removable) [7]
Strength-Damage +3 (Feats: Reach 2, Variable 2- Any Damage Descriptor He's Absorbed) (Extras: Penetrating 8) (Flaws: Penetrating Limited to With High-Strength Metals Absorbed) (11 points)

Regeneration 4 (Feats: Regrow Limbs) (Flaws: Requires Parts Held Against Each Other) [3]
Variable 19 (Any Effects of a Material or Individual) (Feats: Selective) (Extras: Reaction +3) (Flaws: Limited to Objects & People Touched, Reaction Extra is Uncontrolled) [134]

"Sample Power-Sets"
"Adamantium"
Enhanced Strength 8, Protection 14 (Extras: Impervious 25), Immunity 10 (Life Support), Strength 4 (Limited to Resisting Movement) -- (69 points)

"Uru"
Enhanced Strength 8, Protection 14 (Extras: Impervious 25), Immunity 10, Thor's Lightning Blast 15 -- (94 points)

"Titanium"
Enhanced Strength 7, Protection 9 (Extras: Impervious 15), Immunity 10, Immovable 4 -- (54 points)

"Stone or Lesser Metals"
Enhanced Strength 6, Protection 7 (Extras: Impervious), Immunity 10, Immunity 5 (Fire & Heat Damage), Immovable 2 -- (43 points)

"Particulates"
Insubstantial 2 (Feats: Subtle, Selective), Slithering, Sand Blast 11, AEs: Suffocation 10, Snare 7, Burrowing 6 -- (39 points)

"Building"
Growth 14 (Str & Sta +10, +14 Mass, +7 Intimidation, -7 Dodge/Parry, +3 Speed) -- (48 feet) (Flaws: Limited to Non-ST & STA Growths Past Rank 10) -- (24 points)

"Gases"
Insubstantial 2, Immunity 10, Flight 2, Suffocation 10 (Flaws: Touch Range) -- (64 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Absorbed & Unarmed +8 (+8-12 Damage, DC 23-25)
Ball & Chain +8 (+8-15 Damage, DC 23-30)
Growth +8 (+14 Damage, DC 29)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +4 (+10-18 Powers), Fortitude +7, Will +4

Complications:
Relationship (Mary MacPherran)- Creel is married to Titania.
Enemy (Thor)
Reputation (Moron)- Creel has been described as "Mentally Deficient", and was actually the poster-boy for "Intelligence 1" on the Series II Marvel Cards. Everyone generally knows that he is an imbecile.
Vulnerable (Over-Doing It)- Creel often tries to bite off more than he can chew- he was thought-dead after absorbing some energy from The Sentry.

Total: Abilities: 30 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 13 / Powers: 144 / Defenses: 14 (215)

The Absorbing Man: As Strong As Steel, and Almost As Smart:
-Basically a big, dumb thug from Hell, he became an instant nemesis of Thor, but gravitated to the rest of the Marvel Universe, bothering nearly every hero in it over the years. His whole schtick is that he can be crazy-powerful, but is stupid as hell and easily fooled, and needs to actually touch the right objects to gain all his powers.

-Carl Creel gained his powers by drinking some potion left for him by Loki, and the escaped convict (complete with ball and chain!) gained the powers to absorb the properties of anything by touch. Thor can only defeat him by changing the properties of their battlefield to helium using his hammer- Creel absorbs it and dissipates. When Loki rescues him, he goes against Asgard and Odin himself (!!), defeating an entire legion and then absorbing all of Odin's energy blasts, towering over everyone! He is only beaten when Odin tricks he and Loki into grabbing some Rod of Rulership that sticks both of them to it, and he teleports them away.

-He later appears to battle the Hulk, but is beaten when he absorbs too much radiation from the Hulk, turning him back into Bruce Banner- this collapses the mountainside the Hulk was holding up. Over the years, The Absorbing Man has gone on to become a major-league Journeyman Villain- he actually rarely fights Thor any longer, and instead pops up on groups like the Masters of Evil (including the one that takes over Avengers Mansion), takes on Spider-Man or Captain America (where he tried to grab hold of the Shield), and get involved in the Secret Wars. This led to him meeting the female powerhouse Titania, turning the pair into Marvel's Most Romantic Thugs. Despite his evil nature, he'd show the occasional bit of kind-heartedness, such as when he saved New York from a nuclear blast by copying Cap's Shield, declaring to former teammate Crossbones that he was not a murderer.

Post-1980s Carl:
-Carl & Titania are married in the 1990s, and he helps her through a bout with cancer and her fear of Spider-Man- despite their jerkish natures (and the fact that she's a scorching hot hoochie-mama and he a gross-looking hairy pig-man), they are devoted to each other. A few more adventures sees things like him being beaten by absorbing Victoria Hand's cold accidentally, becoming one of The Serpent's minions when he grabs a magical weapon, and being "inverted" during AXIS into becoming a super-hero. Most recently, he infamously got beaten up by Jane "Thor" Foster for complaining about feminism, and appearing during Standoff (in the Pleasant Hill prison) and Secret Empire in background roles.

The Power of the Absorbing Man:
-Carl Creel is a devastating powerhouse if he touches something like Thor's Hammer or Captain America's Shield, but is more often limited to the "Standard Metals" form, putting him at PL 10 most of the time. Generally speaking, Creel is an idiot through-and-through, just smashing up anything in front of him and being hard as hell to hurt, and the whole trick to beating him is convincing him to turn into helium (and he rises into the atmosphere), water (where he drifts apart and goes crazy), or something silly like that with an obvious weakness. Since he's got almost nothing for brains or Skills, it usually isn't too hard. His Ball & Chain are highly-damaging, but lack power unless he's touching the right thing.

-The saddest thing about Creel is that he has one of my absolute favourite concepts for a power-set ever: Object Mimicry is incredibly visually-cool (a plus for a status visual medium like comics), gives a ton of options and a ton of potential power... but is also intensely limiting, since you have to keep stuff AROUND you to use it properly. So it requires a lot of quick thinking and smarts. It's actually one of the best powers you could ever give a solo hero... which is why it's such a shame that only a bonehead like Creel really has the power, short of little-used types like the various Amazing Men.

-His power is the old Object Mimicry, which was just Variable with a Flaw attached to it. Creel has over the years shown the ability to add extra subjects to himself, but this provides little in-game benefit (being rock AND metal doesn't make you more durable than either), so it's quite simple, but very expensive. His ordinary forms are basically Metal or Brick-themed ones, making him a PL 11 powerhouse who's nothing to sneeze at. But if he touches Captain America's Shield, or worse, THOR'S HAMMER? Well, then you've got a problem on your hands. With the right material, Creel can be nearly unstoppable and impervious to all harm (+13 damage does nothing if he's made of Adamantium), Insubstantial, able to control energy or water, suffocate people, and more- just use your imagination. Of course, The Absorbing Man HAS none, but that's kind of the point to him. He usually ends up in the weaker Stone/Metal Form, since Titanium isn't always freely available on the city streets.

-At times, he's seen copying objects just from being touched by them- this would be the Reaction Extra, a +3 Extra. However, this is very rare- in his debut, he absorbed the lead from prison guards' bullets, and once absorbed Odin's power from Energy Blasts thrown at him! So I threw the Extra on, but made it Uncontrolled, leaving it half-price (still about 30 points).

[Jabroniville]

there was a story or two in some canon that in the previous Ragnarok cycles that Amora was Idunn as well.

But that's previous Ragnarok cycles....and ya know....sometimes that sort of thing can work like with Those That Sit Above In Shadow and all....but overall I don't like the multiple Ragnaroks

Weird. Yeah, I find the whole "Ragnarok Cycle" thing odd, too. Is that part of the original myths? Because I always found it odd that the Norse seem to KNOW how their Gods will die. It brings up one of those "well don't the Gods know about it too, then?" moments.

[Jabroniville]

THE THERMAL MAN
Created By: Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: Thor #168 (Sept. 1969)
Role: Ultimate Kill-O-Bot, Implacable Foe
-The thing that bothers me is... how was SOME RANDOM SCIENTIST able to create a thing that is almost literlaly invincible, and could take our the combined efforts of Thor, Balder and the Warriors Three? Like, even Doctor Doom or Reed Richards couldn't do this. The Thermal Man gives the impression that he'd have to be the creation of an ancient Galactic Empire, Galactus himself, or a high-end otherdimensional force. Him being some Earthborne robot makes it insane. But honestly... this whole thing is just a giant Plot Device- giving the hero an impossible threat to fight (one that counters Thor's biggest attribute- his raw power) and force him to use his wits to get the thing away from the field of battle.

I thought the EXACT SAME THING when I was reading stories involving this guy. The Thermal Man was like if someone had managed to make a Destroyer out of science. Ultron WEEPS at the thought of never being as bad ass as this guy was. Unbeknownst to everyone, the greatest roboticist of all time was some one-shot guy from China. Which, I mean, there's no reason the greatest scientist in Marvel couldn't be from China, India, Japan, Russia, Africa or what have you, but you think the guy would have been involved more than just "built the most dangerous robot ever, was killed". Though come to think of it, that's almost precisely how Mr. Atom and his creator's story went.

I mean, I get that science is as much a plot device as magic in comics, and but Thermal Man here should have had some unique, one of a kind rare power source and probably have been coated in Adamantium or some such.

One thing that might make it more "okay" is if this guy WAS super, insanely-brilliant, and that his quick death meant his brilliance couldn't be shared with the world.

Or he just happened to hit on a lucky strike with the "regenerating Atomic Pile" thing, and nobody else thought to copy it, because... well, why create a robot you yourself couldn't stop? Or maybe it's too dangerous for someone like Ultron to utilize (the "powers down in the cold" thing is a big weakness).

[Davies]

Weird. Yeah, I find the whole "Ragnarok Cycle" thing odd, too. Is that part of the original myths? Because I always found it odd that the Norse seem to KNOW how their Gods will die. It brings up one of those "well don't the Gods know about it too, then?" moments.

Most of the myths that I'm familiar with have Odin, at least, knowing that the gods will die -- and in some of them working to prevent it in ways that bring it about. Of course, it's impossible to know how much the notion of Ragnarok was influenced by the fact that, when the Eddas were written down in the 13th century, widespread belief in the gods had died.

I think the story that used the Enchantress as Idunn was just inspired by the author not knowing that Idunn had already appeared as a separate character, tho.

[Jabroniville]

Alright, I think I forgot to make a list of all the "New Builds" in this set. Well here they are :

Angela
Bor
Cul- The Serpent
Dargo Ktor
Fafnir
Frey
Freya
Frigga
Garm
Gorr the God-Butcher
Heimdall
Hela
Hoder
Idunn
Kelda
Laufey
Magni
Mimir
Red Norvell
Sera
Sigyn
Thialfi
Those Who Sit Above In Shadow
Tyr

Villains:
The Dark Gods
The Dark Man
Desak

Civilians:
Jake Olson
Susan Lynde

Villains:
The Thermal Man
The Enchanters Three

Which is actually... a lot of guys. I'm quite surprised at how many of these were new names, given that I was pretty thorough last time I statted the Asgardians.

[L-Space]

there was a story or two in some canon that in the previous Ragnarok cycles that Amora was Idunn as well.

But that's previous Ragnarok cycles....and ya know....sometimes that sort of thing can work like with Those That Sit Above In Shadow and all....but overall I don't like the multiple Ragnaroks

Weird. Yeah, I find the whole "Ragnarok Cycle" thing odd, too. Is that part of the original myths? Because I always found it odd that the Norse seem to KNOW how their Gods will die. It brings up one of those "well don't the Gods know about it too, then?" moments.

In the original myths Ragnarok was a future event that was going to kill most the gods and reset the world, but I don't believe it was ever a "cycle" that was supposed to happen again and again.

[catsi563]

Funny story on Creel I was in a friends M&M game where my Atlantean water controller and team had to face off against a new MOE. two of the villains were Creel and Monster version of Tiger Shark.

My water controller uses a little subtle misdirection by tossing a snowball at the back of creels head while Tiger Shark is behind him. Creel rolls a natural 1 on his sense motive check and promptly turns and wallops Tiger Shark out of the fight.

[M4C8]

THIALFI
Created By: Dan Jurgens
First Appearance: Thor #43 (Jan. 2002)
Role: Speedster
PL 8 (99)
STRENGTH[/b] 6 STAMINA 6 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 6 (+12)
Expertise (God) 2 (+4)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Perception 3 (+5)
Persuasion 2 (+4)

Advantages: 
Equipment (Weapons +2), Evasion, Great Endurance, Improved Intitiative 2, Move-By Action

Powers:
Immunity 2 (Aging, Disease) [2]

"Speed Enow to Outrun an Arrow" Speed 8 (500 mph) [8]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Weapons +8 (+8 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +4

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

Complications:
Responsibility (Asgard)

Total: Abilities: 60 / Skills: 16--8 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 10 / Defenses: 15 (99)

Thialfi in Mythology: Thialfi and Roskva are two mortal siblings who are servants of Thor, after Thialfi betrayed Thor's hospitality by sucking the marrow from the bones of a goat he'd eaten, thus making the creature lame in one leg when Thor resurrected them the following morning. In the "Utgard-Loki" story, Thialfi races against a being that is later revealed to have been Thought itself.

-Thialfi, a minor character in the myths, did not appear in Marvel until 2002, as Thor never really had need of a servant. He began life as a human boy who was orphaned by Viking brutality- Thor shamed Odin into helping the child, owing to the Gods' responsibility in the sins of their worshippers. Odin used the Odinforce to transform Thialfi into an Asgardian- the speediest of them all. Among Odin's orders were that Thor would take Thialfi as a close friend when the boy came of age- this happened when Odin died and Thor became ruler of Asgard. Tensions struck among some of the old guard over this, but Thialfi eventually proved himself. However, he was cast into a future-world ruled by a dictatorial Thor, and was killed by a guardian Wolf when he attempted to slay the Thunder God. The character has never reappeared.

-Thialfi is a decent fighter, but a background character and one-note Speedster.

Is he a speedster in the myths? if not then it's weird they Marvel him so when they already had Hermod

[Jabroniville]

I did do the footrace against Thought, so I'm guessing that's where Jurgens got the idea from. Otherwise I think he's supposed to be a mortal.

[Horsenhero]

THIALFI
Created By: Dan Jurgens
First Appearance: Thor #43 (Jan. 2002)
Role: Speedster
PL 8 (99)
STRENGTH[/b] 6 STAMINA 6 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 6 (+12)
Expertise (God) 2 (+4)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Perception 3 (+5)
Persuasion 2 (+4)

Advantages: 
Equipment (Weapons +2), Evasion, Great Endurance, Improved Intitiative 2, Move-By Action

Powers:
Immunity 2 (Aging, Disease) [2]

"Speed Enow to Outrun an Arrow" Speed 8 (500 mph) [8]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Weapons +8 (+8 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +4

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

Complications:
Responsibility (Asgard)

Total: Abilities: 60 / Skills: 16--8 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 10 / Defenses: 15 (99)

Thialfi in Mythology: Thialfi and Roskva are two mortal siblings who are servants of Thor, after Thialfi betrayed Thor's hospitality by sucking the marrow from the bones of a goat he'd eaten, thus making the creature lame in one leg when Thor resurrected them the following morning. In the "Utgard-Loki" story, Thialfi races against a being that is later revealed to have been Thought itself.

-Thialfi, a minor character in the myths, did not appear in Marvel until 2002, as Thor never really had need of a servant. He began life as a human boy who was orphaned by Viking brutality- Thor shamed Odin into helping the child, owing to the Gods' responsibility in the sins of their worshippers. Odin used the Odinforce to transform Thialfi into an Asgardian- the speediest of them all. Among Odin's orders were that Thor would take Thialfi as a close friend when the boy came of age- this happened when Odin died and Thor became ruler of Asgard. Tensions struck among some of the old guard over this, but Thialfi eventually proved himself. However, he was cast into a future-world ruled by a dictatorial Thor, and was killed by a guardian Wolf when he attempted to slay the Thunder God. The character has never reappeared.

-Thialfi is a decent fighter, but a background character and one-note Speedster.

Is he a speedster in the myths? if not then it's weird they Marvel him so when they already had Hermod

In the Norse myths he's "fleet of foot", but the Norse rarely stuck explicit labels on the various personages in the myths. That being said, he barely lost a race to the physical embodiment of thought, so it's safe to say he's a speedster.

[M4C8]

THIALFI
Created By: Dan Jurgens
First Appearance: Thor #43 (Jan. 2002)
Role: Speedster
PL 8 (99)
STRENGTH[/b] 6 STAMINA 6 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 6 (+12)
Expertise (God) 2 (+4)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Perception 3 (+5)
Persuasion 2 (+4)

Advantages: 
Equipment (Weapons +2), Evasion, Great Endurance, Improved Intitiative 2, Move-By Action

Powers:
Immunity 2 (Aging, Disease) [2]

"Speed Enow to Outrun an Arrow" Speed 8 (500 mph) [8]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Weapons +8 (+8 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +4

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

Complications:
Responsibility (Asgard)

Total: Abilities: 60 / Skills: 16--8 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 10 / Defenses: 15 (99)

Thialfi in Mythology: Thialfi and Roskva are two mortal siblings who are servants of Thor, after Thialfi betrayed Thor's hospitality by sucking the marrow from the bones of a goat he'd eaten, thus making the creature lame in one leg when Thor resurrected them the following morning. In the "Utgard-Loki" story, Thialfi races against a being that is later revealed to have been Thought itself.

-Thialfi, a minor character in the myths, did not appear in Marvel until 2002, as Thor never really had need of a servant. He began life as a human boy who was orphaned by Viking brutality- Thor shamed Odin into helping the child, owing to the Gods' responsibility in the sins of their worshippers. Odin used the Odinforce to transform Thialfi into an Asgardian- the speediest of them all. Among Odin's orders were that Thor would take Thialfi as a close friend when the boy came of age- this happened when Odin died and Thor became ruler of Asgard. Tensions struck among some of the old guard over this, but Thialfi eventually proved himself. However, he was cast into a future-world ruled by a dictatorial Thor, and was killed by a guardian Wolf when he attempted to slay the Thunder God. The character has never reappeared.

-Thialfi is a decent fighter, but a background character and one-note Speedster.

Is he a speedster in the myths? if not then it's weird they Marvel him so when they already had Hermod

In the Norse myths he's "fleet of foot", but the Norse rarely stuck explicit labels on the various personages in the myths. That being said, he barely lost a race to the physical embodiment of thought, so it's safe to say he's a speedster.

Ah, thanks.

[Jabroniville]

JAKE OLSON
Created By: Dan Jurgens & John Romita, Jr.
First Appearance: Thor #2 (Aug. 1998)
Role: New Human Identity

-Jake Olson was part of the Post-Heroes Return-era Marvel- an attempt to shake up the Thor character. He was a human being- a paramedic who died, and was "crafted" into being a new mortal identity for the Thunder God, in order to help him hide from the "Dark Gods". Odin later split them up to gain more access to Thor, but this was a mistake- losing a "human host" removed Thor's empathy towards humanity, leading him to become a cold, uncaring Allfather when Odin died and Thor took his place. This only got worse when Thor killed Jake when the latter, disagreeing over Thor's intrusion into world affairs, attacked him with Mjolnir. Only time travel was able to save Jake, who hasn't appeared since 2004, since he and Thor were re-merged.

[Ares]

I want to say there was some subplot where it turned out the real Jake wasn't that good a guy, and when Thor was forced to assume Jake's life he actually was a better Jake than the real deal. It's actually kind of creepy how often that sort of thing happens in comics, heroes and villains just assuming the lives of conveniently dead civilians. It basically turns superheroes into the old spriggans of faerie folklore.