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

[M4C8]

Wrestling fans have known The Rock can sing for years :

The Rock serenades Vickie Guerrero: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVEIzd2jkgg
The Rock serenades Stone Cold: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zae_VcHDKYw

I remember a scene in Journey 2: The Mysterious Islands where he sings.

I'm looking forward to the Thundercats builds (assuming it's the original series)

[Jabroniville]

TAMATOA
Played By: Jermaine Clement
Role: One-Off Villain
PL 11 (115)
STRENGTH 10 STAMINA 12 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Expertise (History) 2 (+2)
Expertise (Singing) 12 (+12)
Intimidation 6 (+6, +10 Size)
Perception 2 (+2)

Advantages:
Chokehold, Diehard, Equipment (Glittery Gold), Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Claws), Improved Disarm, Startle, Takedown

Powers:
"Huge Size" Growth 8 (Str & Sta +8, +8 Mass, +4 Intimidation, -4 Dodge/Parry, +1 Speed, -8 Stealth) -- (30 feet) (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [17]
"Crustacean Shell" Impervious Toughness 9 [9]

"You Can't Expect a Demi-God/To Beat a Decapod... (Look it up!!)" Extra Limbs 7 [7]
"Giant Pincers" Strength-Damage +2 [2]
"Immortal Sea Creature" Immunity 4 (Aging, Drowning, Cold, Pressure) [4]
"Eyes Cannot Fix on Location" Senses 1 (Radius Sight) [1]
Features 1: Lights Up In The Dark [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Pincers +10 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +12 (+5 Impervious), Fortitude +12, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation ("I'd Rather Be SHINY!")- Tamatoa is vain about his appearance, and insists upon being anything but the "drab little crab" he once was.
Disabled (Lazy Eye)- Tamatoa cannot concentrate on speaking if someone can't pick an eye to focus on- both cannot be looking at the same thing.
Disabled (Cannot Roll Over)- Tamatoa cannot right himself if thrown onto his back.
Responsibility ("Are You Trying to Get Me To Talk About Myself?... Because I Will GLADLY Do So! In SONG Form!")- Tamatoa LOVES to talk about himself, and his vanity is easily appealed to.
Enemy (Maui)- Maui ripped off one of Tamatoa's ten legs years ago, and the crustacean carries a grudge.

Total: Abilities: 32 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 41 / Defenses: 23 (115)

-Tamatoa is another one-off threat in the movie, and is an ancient monster that carries around Maui's Magic Fishhook as the perfect cap to his treasure horde. The heroes have to enter the "Realm of Monsters" via a giant portal into a dark part of the ocean, sneak up, and grab the Fishhook thanks to Moana's distraction. Tamatoa gets one of the movie's best songs, a David Bowie-inspired number that was written when the master performer died- Jermaine Clement does a pretty good Bowie impersonation, especially when the lights fall and he turns into a 1970s-blacklight acid sequence. This is all we really see of him (aside from a quick gag in the end credits), as he effortlessly beats on Maui thanks to his in inability to get the Fishhook working again, but is eventually knocked onto his back, preventing him from acting further. The closest thing to a "Villain Song" we're gonna get, since none of the other bad guys get dialogue.

-Tamatoa is vastly powerful, being a gigantic Coconut Crab who's powerful enough to effortlessly take down an unarmed Maui. Only a couple of weaknesses hold him back.

About the Performer: Jermaine Clement is most famous for being a member of Flight of the Conchords- a comedy musical act. Having only seen part of one episode, I didn't really "get" much of their act. They moved from BBC radio to TV. He's been in varied stuff, mostly lower end, but was the villain in Men In Black 3 (which I honestly forgot was a thing), and a side character in the Rio children's films.

[catsi563]

It just hit me but there isn't really a villain in Moana that fits the typical Disney mold of such things. Even Teka is more an antagonist in the literary sense then an actual villain, and obstacle to overcome to reach the conclusion same with TamaToa hes an obstacle but not a true villain persay.

[kirinke]

And Teka is more of a victim than anything else. Both Maui and Moana were trying to undo the damage Maui did.

If anything, Maui was the real villain, if only by stupidity and pride. A large part of the movie was him redeeming himself in a way.

[Jabroniville]

TE KA
Played By: N/A
Role: The Big Bad, Environmental Disaster
PL 12 (212)
STRENGTH 12 STAMINA -- AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 4 (+12)
Intimidation 12 (+12, +20 Size)

Advantages:
Diehard, Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Smash, Power Attack, Startle, Takedown 2

Powers:
Growth 16 (Str & Sta +16, +16 Mass, +8 Intimidation, -8 Dodge/Parry, +2 Speed, -16 Stealth) -- (120 feet) (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [33]

"Living Liquid"
Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
Protection 14 [14]
Regeneration 8 (Feats: Regrowth) [9]
Insubstantial 1 [5]
Movement 1 (Slithering) [2]

"Lava Monster"
Lava Aura 12 Linked to Weaken Toughness 6 (Extras: Reaction +3, Affects Objects) [78]
"Ball of Lava" Blast 12 (Feats: Accurate 4) (Extras: Penetrating 6) (Flaws: Distracting) Linked to Weaken Toughness 10 (Extras: Affects Objects, Ranged) (52) --

• AE: "Explosive Lava" Blast 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Distracting) Linked to Weaken Toughness 6 (Extras: Affects Objects, Ranged, Area- 30ft. Burst) (44)

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Lava Aura +12 (+12 Damage & +6 Weaken, DC 27 & 16)
Ball of Lava +8 (+12 Ranged Damage & +10 Weaken, DC 27 & 20)
Explosive Lava +10 Area (+10 Ranged Damage & +6 Weaken, DC 20 & 16)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +14, Fortitude --, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Destruction)- Te Ka is destroying the entire living world.
Weakness (Water)- Te Ka cannot touch the water, lest it cause him tremendous pain and cause his limbs to fall off. He must take a few rounds in order to regrow lost body parts if this happens.

Total: Abilities: -32 / Skills: 16--8 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 191 / Defenses: 27 (212)

-Te Ka is basically our villain, but more of a "Natural Disaster" than an acting, speaking bad guy- it just kind of screams monster-noises and then throws lava, which is about the depth of its character. Maui is terrified of facing it, even WITH his Magical Fishhook... and when he finally does, disaster strikes- this thing is powerful enough to injure Maui VERY badly, even if their PLs are technically tied. With his Hawk Form, Maui can outmaneuver the thing, fly in, and hack away with his weapon, but the creature inevitably reforms.

[Jabroniville]

PIXAR ANIMATION STUDIOS:
-Like I said, I'll handle Pixar here after the Disney movies. Last time, I ran them contiguously, but I figured the studio's different enough to ignore that.

Pixar got its start in 1979 as part of the Lucasfilm Graphics Group, but spun off in 1986 thanks to Steve Jobs. Focused on computer animation (then a BRAND-NEW thing), they slowly built up a reputation with some of the best people around, before teaming up with Disney in the early '90s to produce Toy Story, the world's first fully-CGI Feature Film. And HOLY CRAP, did this change the entire game. Toy Story, critically-beloved and state-of-the-art, was basically the Snow White of a new generation, and completely altered movies forever.

With brilliant idea men like John Lasseter, Brad Bird and others at the helm of various projects, Pixar soon became known for one word: QUALITY. If you saw a Pixar film, you were getting their best. So while Disney was mired in the dregs of the fading Renaissance, Pixar was churning out hit after hit. And with that, CGI movies became a byline for "quality" in and of themselves, to the point where CGI films now did stunningly better than Traditional Animation- a trend that would eventually kill the latter in features for good in the United States. So despite some studios creating garbage with random-ass humor, they still did amazingly, and people kept going to see Ice Age, Madagascar and other stuff, while even well-made stuff like The Princess and the Frog disappointed.

Pixar got so much respect that they actually became a major THREAT to Disney... and sank Michael Eisner's career at the same time. See, Eisner was playing hardball in contractual negotiations with Pixar (over the number of movies they owed to Disney), and Pixar threatened to split... which spooked the company's shareholders, who called for Eisner's head. Soon, he was gone, and a deal was negotiated- Disney BOUGHT Pixar (for more than they paid for either Marvel OR Star Wars- think about THAT), but promising a "separate but equal" thing. Instead of Disney altering Pixar, Pixar altered DISNEY, as Lasseter in particular headed the animation division, throwing in Pixar's creative processes to a languishing studio. What soon happened was a series of bigger and bigger hits... and oddly, DISNEY would start outshining PIXAR as a direct result of this boost.

Pixar is still highly known for quality filmmaking, with stuff like Inside Out and Coco doing very well... but stuff like Cars and repeated sequels has hurt the brand. While everyone kind of understands that Cars is a HUGE money-maker in terms of merchandise, and so it's incredibly profitable to keep going, the damage it does to Pixar's BRAND is similar to what the endless "DVD Sequels" did to the Disney Brand in the early 2000s (Bambi II and others).

[Jabroniville]

But Jab, Aren't You Going To Build Woody/Buzz/Rex/Riley/Joy/Sadness/Flick/Sulley?:
-No, and here's why.

Pixar films, unlike Disney films, tend not to be based around exceptional people. They are, more often than not, about ordinary beings thrown into extraordinary circumstances. Ragtag bands of "Regular Joes" (ie. Bystanders) who now have to go on a dangerous quest. The toys in Toy Story are only inches high, would lose fights to nearly any living creature, and really only interact with each other. Crossing the STREET is a danger. At best, they have pretty good Presence. That's... not really stattable. MOST of Pixar's films are like this. WALL-E is just a simple Robot. Marlin & Dory are just typical fish. Riley is an ordinary girl, while Joy & Sadness themselves don't have any powers or anything. Remy is a Rat with little fighting ability, but excellent knowledge of cooking.

The movies' STRENGTHS are that they reflect this normalcy very well, and put titanic obstacles in front of these simple beings- crossing an ocean to find one's son is difficult enough for ANYONE, much less one of the smaller fish in the ocean. Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut... not really stattable.

The exceptions, of course, will be statted. The Parr family, a certain Scottish Princess, and some other characters from those movies. The other characters I'll just mention in the descriptions of the rest of these, which will contain the same template I used for the Disney films.

[Jabroniville]

TOY STORY (1995)

A huge series of films, and arguably one of the most influential movies of all time in the first one's case. All three are phenomenal, with the first one being HILARIOUS (the whole Buzz/Woody fistfight with plastic bouncing and Woody's hand getting caught in Buzz's helmet is one of the funniest bits ever), the second having the saddest bit EVER, and the third hitting you with a wall of nostalgic-sadness right at the end. When Andy meets that little girl and there's the toys... I mean... DAMN.

They're also very good in setting up a pretty simple dynamic that you accept almost immediately- that toys are actually living beings, but have to pretend to be static whenever humans are around. Funnily enough, nobody EXPLAINS this, nor mentions why it's so important. And oddly, Buzz Lightyear, who DOESN'T THINK HE'S A TOY, also doess this without question. The big reveal at the end, with Woody freaking out the goulish Sid, is thus the PERFECT cap-off to such a thing, though oddly this conceit is never used in later films.

It's a bit funny to look at the first one, which is largely a Rivalry Comedy about Woody and Buzz, as it's so broad and less serious. Buzz is clueless about being a toy, and his disappointment is the big "sad" moment. Woody coming to terms with this rival for Andy's affection is also treated as somewhat comic (like in the montage set to Strange Things, by Randy Newman). The animation of the children now looks HORRIBLE, and everything's based off of the childish reactions of the main character (Woody). It actually gets a good performanace out of Tim Allen as the self-important ass, Buzz, and Tom Hanks manages to be likeable despite being a complete jealous basket-case. There's some terrific comedy in stuff like "You are a sad, STRANGE little man- you have my pity", and the sight gags are fantastic. The cast of interesting-looking characters with great voices, and the inventive nature of the concept, kept the movie big. Toy Story was a HUGE hit, and made instant icons out of all of these characters. Even one-offs like the three-eyed green aliens have become recurring symbols.

[Ares]

You could do a hypothetical build of what Buzz would be as a Space Ranger. I think he had his own animated series that was supposedly the same cartoon as the in-universe Toy Story Buzz series.

[Jabroniville]

TOY STORY 2 (1999)

-Only the third Pixar movie made, this was intended to be Straight-To-DVD, but was "too damn good!", and got upgraded to a feature. This time, the series' more central conceit takes place- instead of being about a rivalry over a kid's affections... it's about the ABANDONMENT of said affections. Woody is stunned by meeting a trio of characters from an old TV show his "doll" starred in- it turns out they're COLLECTOR'S ITEMS, and about to be sold (a guy voiced by Wayne Knight steals Woody). And Woody seems to balk... until he realizes that Andy will get older and some day abandon him, as the female character Jessie sadly explains, via the SADDEST MONTAGE EVER, as she is eventually dumped underneath a little girl's bed, waiting YEARS to be picked up again... and before she can get too happy with the reunion, finds herself dumped at the side of the road along with some other "Free" trash.

This becomes the new "Thing" about Toy Story- nostalgia and the abandonment. Woody has to choose between a few more years with his beloved Andy, and a lifetime of worship while sitting in a box in a collector case. And the other conceit of the franchise takes hold, as the toys spend all their time wandering around on rescue missions, with their personalities more set in stone.

This movie did even better than the first, and was EXTREMELY respected, thus securing the Pixar brand name.

[Jabroniville]

You could do a hypothetical build of what Buzz would be as a Space Ranger. I think he had his own animated series that was supposedly the same cartoon as the in-universe Toy Story Buzz series.

I was in college when that show came on, and my dorm only got 17 channels, meaning I could never get that one. Or, tragically, Kim Possible.

[squirrelly-sama]

You could do a hypothetical build of what Buzz would be as a Space Ranger. I think he had his own animated series that was supposedly the same cartoon as the in-universe Toy Story Buzz series.

I was in college when that show came on, and my dorm only got 17 channels, meaning I could never get that one. Or, tragically, Kim Possible.

Words cannot express how sad this sentence is.

[Jabroniville]

TOY STORY 3 (2010)

-Coming along MANY years later, Toy Story 3 finished off the "tale of Andy", as the toys sat unused in his toy chest for years, before they're ready to be given away. Here, they're trapped in a kids day care, run by ANOTHER abandoned toy- a stuffed bear named Lotso, who found himself forgotten somewhere, and then "replaced" by a new, clean Lotso. This makes him the movie's villain, as the toys get stuck there and have to do various "Toy Adventures", much like the second movie. The ENDING, though, is the big attention-getter- Andy gives away his toys to the neighbor girl... and shrinks back when she reaches out for Buzz & Woody, his "special" best toys. That LOOK he gives, and her confused reaction... it's blistering stuff. And when he calmly, sincerely gives them away, then adds a sad "thanks, guys" as he drives off... there's a reason people described the full-on adult hysterics in theatres when this one came out.

Before Frozen came out, THIS was the #1 Animated Movie of all time when adjusted for inflation. It's still extremely respected.

[Jabroniville]

You could do a hypothetical build of what Buzz would be as a Space Ranger. I think he had his own animated series that was supposedly the same cartoon as the in-universe Toy Story Buzz series.

I was in college when that show came on, and my dorm only got 17 channels, meaning I could never get that one. Or, tragically, Kim Possible.

Words cannot express how sad this sentence is.

I was sooooooooooooo insanely into that show when I was in school. It was torturous. I had to wait till ABC’s One Saturday Morning block for the only episode that week, and watch the one DVD set I could find. I had a similar issue with Undergrads.

[Jabroniville]

Toy Story- Reception & Cultural Impact:
-The whole Toy Story trilogy is an amazing piece of business, with them getting more and more sad & dramatic as time went on, thus improving Pixar's image in the eyes of others. Woody & Buzz were classics, and have appeared on toy shelves & Disney Parks for YEARS afterwards. Even the side characters, like Wallace Shawn's T-Rex, John Ratzenberger's pig, Don Rickles' Mr. Potato Head and Jim Varney's Slinky-Dog have become major icons, seen all over. Hell, the movie even made the GREEN ARMY MEN into characters at the parks! Even Jessie & Bullseye, introduced later, are big. Meet & Greet "Head Characters" have been common for years now, and once fell to the ground if you shouted "Andy's coming!"- unfortunately, an increasing number of guests who learned this, plus new regulations for Characters (ie. no falling to the ground while in costume, for health and safety reasons), put a stop to this. So expect a lot of doofuses to incessantly shout "ANDY'S COMING!!!" to Head Characters whenever they make their first vists, until a handler tries to politely tell them that "they don't do that any more".

Most Disney Parks now feature one notable "Toy Story Land" as well, and their rides are some of the busiest, especially the notorious Toy Story Mania shooting gallery ride, which sees 3-hour waits at Tokyo DisneySea and multi-hour waits in Califonia Adventure & Hollywood Studios as well.