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

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
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Ares
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Cyborg! Argent! Joker’s Daughter! Jericho!)

Post by Ares »

greycrusader wrote: Thu Jan 24, 2019 5:46 am I'd reduce the Noticeable Flaw on Jericho's power to a Quirk, because he was able to possess unconscious targets and "awaken" them for the purposes of moving and fighting but they were still unaware, which let Joseph speak "through" them. Yes, it was a really wonky power, and always seemed to work without fail, except where the plot demanded otherwise. And yes, Jericho was an UTTER Gary Stu (the male version of the Mary Sue), though this was mollified a bit by the character being an utter glass canon, having the WORST George Perez-designed costume I can remember, and having (obviously) very limited dialogue and presence in the stories.

Yes, I agree Duela had potential-I always liked the Card Queen monicker personally, and killing her off just when she had been given a rather cool origin story WAS a terrible waste of perfectly good character. If she ever did come back, Duela is maybe the ONLY DC character where I think it would actually be cool for a writer to explore all her goofball, conflicting background material-is she insane, a temporal anomaly, a fraud, or all three? But given her role in the DCU is now basically filled by the FAR more popular Harley Quinn, a comeback is very remote.

All my best.
Yeah, modern DC has basically turned Harley Quinn into fem-Deadpool, when Duela would fit that role better.

Harley to me is suppose to be one of two things:
- A) A disturbing examination of toxic relationships, someone who can't bring themselves to escape from a bad partner. She to some degree allows herself to go along with these terrible things, and thus has some culpability in them, but she's more someone to be pitied than anything. Her relationship with Poison Ivy is similar, where she attaches herself to people with stronger personalities, but the dynamic changes on whether she feels romantic attraction (the Joker) or a more sisterly/BFF relationship (Ivy).
- B) Someone who actually manages to break out of such a relationship and reclaims some control over her life. There's been several instances where Harley has shown the chance to reform, and her being a trickster-style heroine with a clown theme could make for an interesting hero, especially since she has real need of a redemption arc and always has the fear of meeting up with the Joker again.

Having Harley as some solo character running around, getting into wacky Deadpool-style shenanigans while alternating between hero and villain just doesn't work for me. Fans of the character can't have it both ways. Either she's someone who's involved with a very bad person and shares some culpability in the things he does, or she's someone who has crossed a bridge in her life and is trying to make up for her past.
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Jabroniville
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Raven! Danny Chase! Red Star! Changeling! Cyborg!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Ares wrote: Thu Jan 24, 2019 6:10 am And once again, it's interesting to hear a writer say they didn't just "get" a certain character. Damage only had a handful of appearances by that point, so it should have been easy to either read them and get to know the guy, or he's new enough that you can tweak him to have a more interesting personality. It's like John Byrne complaining about Alpha Flight not having interesting personalities, when as their creator, he could have made them as interesting as he wanted. It's such a non-issue that I'm surprised to hear writers keep using it.
Sometimes, this just happens. If you've ever read stuff by serious, high-end writers, even THEY have issues with it. Ken Levine talks about a story on The Tortellis (a Cheers spinoff), where he and his writer partner struggled to come up with a story involving the characters- they didn't quite "get" them. They found that the show's creators- talented writers all- ALSO had that same problem! They were stuck for ideas a few episodes in!

Unsurprisingly, the show didn't last. This happens to even the best of them- sometimes you create a character and they just don't "speak" to you. Devin seemed to have a handle on quite a few characters in her run, flawed as it was, but this was a team of 10-12 people. Damage was just unlucky. Geoff Johns, of course, turned him into Edgelord/Vanity Smurf.

Similarly, the Sailor Moon writers, despite having YEARS to figure it out, always struggled with the Mamoru/Tuxedo Mask character once he started dating Usagi. Mainly because they spent so much time keeping them apart, once they finally got together for real, they were like "... shit, how ARE they together?" The lovey-dovey stuff in the manga was handled so much differently in the cartoon that they didn't know what to go on.
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Bushido

Post by Jabroniville »

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LOL, someone did all that work on his pinup and THAT'S the ending the character got.

BUSHIDO (Ryuku Orsono)
Created By:
Geoff Johns & Ben Raab
First Appearance: The Titans Annual #1 (2000)
Role: Background Character, Martial Artist
Group Affiliations: Titans L.A.
PL 8 (94), PL 10 (94) Against Demons
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8/10 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Athletics 4 (+6)
Persuasion 2 (+3)
Expertise (Samurai) 6 (+7)
Perception 3 (+5)
Insight 3 (+5)
Stealth 4 (+8)

Advantages:
Defensive Attack, Equipment 3 (Samurai Armour, Flintlock Pistol), Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 7, Seize Initiative

Powers:
"Magical Possessed Weapons" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [9]
"Shuriken" Blast 3 (Extras: Multiattack) (Diminished Range -1) (8) -- (11)
  • AE: "Naginata" Strength-Damage +3 (Feats: Reach 2, Improved Critical 2) (7)
  • AE: "Katana" Strength-Damage +3 (Feats: Improved Critical 2) (5)
  • AE: "Anti-Demonic Ward" Affliction 10 (Will; Entranced/Compelled/Controlled) (Extras: Cumulative) (Flaws: Limited to Leaving/Fleeing Actions, Limited to Demons) (5)
"Spirits Guide His Fighting" Enhanced Fighting 2 (4)
-- (15 points)

Equipment:
"Samurai Armour" Protection 1 (1)
"Flintlock Pistol" Blast 5 (Feats: Improved Critical) (11)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Spirits Guiding Strikes +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Naginata/Katana +10 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Ward +10 (+10 Affliction, DC 20)
Shuriken +9 (+3 Ranged Damage, DC 18)
Pistol +9 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +9 (+11 Spirits, DC 19-21), Toughness +3 (+4 Armour), Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Heroics)- Bushido took a vow to become an honorable hero after his mother died, thus fulfilling a long line in his family.

Total: Abilities: 50 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 9 / Defenses: 10 (94)

-Bushido's only appearances are in side-projects of Titans-related stuff. A descendant of other defenders, he uses weapons imbued with the souls of their prior owners and acts as a defender of Japan. He helped save Beast Boy from possession by a Tengu, and then showed up in the "Titans West" mini part of a Secret Files book, but otherwise didn't do anything. He barely got his membership card laminated before Superboy-Prime cut him in half with his heat vision, as one of three Titans casualties in Infinite Crisis- since Geoff Johns is apparently the man who created him, I guess he felt like sacrificing one of his underused concepts as a token death.

-A weak PL 8 (more like 7.5) Bushido can cut up losers pretty good, and can Ward out Demons, but he's just not that tough. The "souls of prior owners" gives him greater accuracy with these weapons, but he's a pretty low-end Martial Artist/Weaponmaster build.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Fri Jun 24, 2022 3:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Cyborg! Argent! Joker’s Daughter! Jericho!)

Post by greycrusader »

Ares wrote: Thu Jan 24, 2019 6:21 am
greycrusader wrote: Thu Jan 24, 2019 5:46 am
Yes, I agree Duela had potential-I always liked the Card Queen monicker personally, and killing her off just when she had been given a rather cool origin story WAS a terrible waste of perfectly good character. If she ever did come back, Duela is maybe the ONLY DC character where I think it would actually be cool for a writer to explore all her goofball, conflicting background material-is she insane, a temporal anomaly, a fraud, or all three? But given her role in the DCU is now basically filled by the FAR more popular Harley Quinn, a comeback is very remote.

All my best.
Yeah, modern DC has basically turned Harley Quinn into fem-Deadpool, when Duela would fit that role better.

Harley to me is suppose to be one of two things:
- A) A disturbing examination of toxic relationships, someone who can't bring themselves to escape from a bad partner. She to some degree allows herself to go along with these terrible things, and thus has some culpability in them, but she's more someone to be pitied than anything. Her relationship with Poison Ivy is similar, where she attaches herself to people with stronger personalities, but the dynamic changes on whether she feels romantic attraction (the Joker) or a more sisterly/BFF relationship (Ivy).
- B) Someone who actually manages to break out of such a relationship and reclaims some control over her life. There's been several instances where Harley has shown the chance to reform, and her being a trickster-style heroine with a clown theme could make for an interesting hero, especially since she has real need of a redemption arc and always has the fear of meeting up with the Joker again.

Having Harley as some solo character running around, getting into wacky Deadpool-style shenanigans while alternating between hero and villain just doesn't work for me. Fans of the character can't have it both ways. Either she's someone who's involved with a very bad person and shares some culpability in the things he does, or she's someone who has crossed a bridge in her life and is trying to make up for her past.
In fairness to DC, modern-day Harley IS mostly portrayed as you describe in the second paragraph-while she started out as an antihero (or alternating hero/villain) right after the nu52 reboot, this has been phased out. The character is written as basically decent and caring in her own series, and completely independent of the Joker. She is still shown to be prone to falling back into bad habits (lying, impulsive decisions, not-quite-honest behavior, etc.) but falls on the side of the angels. I agree DC has decided to take her stories mostly into goofball, over the top territory, and recently started doing the "meta"-narrative stuff too.

But yes, Duela (and that alone could be a decent superhero name) would be really appropriate for all sorts of demented stories which could plumb both the fun and absurdity of Silver Age and early Bronze Age material without regard for continuity.

All my best.
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Cyborg! Argent! Joker’s Daughter! Jericho!)

Post by KorokoMystia »

Bushido kinds feels like he came straight out of Rifts Japan. I think there's some potential there, since samurai are cool, and..we really could use a notable heroic samurai character in comics (unless Katana counts?), since as much as I like Silver Samurai (yes, really), he's a jobber.
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Cyborg! Argent! Joker’s Daughter! Jericho!)

Post by Ares »

Bushido kind of felt like Johns had just read Dark Horse Comics featuring King Tiger and decided to insert the character into DC. I also suppose he decided to include him in the massacre of Superboy Prime since he was butchering so many other characters he might as well offer up one of his own, similar to Marv Wolfman and Kole.

It's a shame because he was one of DC's few Japanese based superheroes (along with Katana, Dr. Light II and Rising Sun), and he had a cool concept. Being a demon hunter from a family of demon hunters with a multitude of weapons could have been really cool, though I would have tweaked the concept a little. Each weapon could have had unique abilities, each having its own personality and specialty, each offering different advice, etc. Sort of like Stjepan Šejić's Witchblade series.
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Cyborg! Argent! Joker’s Daughter! Jericho!)

Post by KorokoMystia »

Ares wrote: Thu Jan 24, 2019 5:50 pm Bushido kind of felt like Johns had just read Dark Horse Comics featuring King Tiger and decided to insert the character into DC. I also suppose he decided to include him in the massacre of Superboy Prime since he was butchering so many other characters he might as well offer up one of his own, similar to Marv Wolfman and Kole.

It's a shame because he was one of DC's few Japanese based superheroes (along with Katana, Dr. Light II and Rising Sun), and he had a cool concept. Being a demon hunter from a family of demon hunters with a multitude of weapons could have been really cool, though I would have tweaked the concept a little. Each weapon could have had unique abilities, each having its own personality and specialty, each offering different advice, etc. Sort of like Stjepan Šejić's Witchblade series.
That concept sounds kinda like Devil May Cry’s Dante, funnily enough, since he’s a demon hunter with a large array of different sentient weapons.
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Terra

Post by Jabroniville »

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TERRA I (Tara Markov)
Created By:
Marv Wolfman & George Perez
First Appearance: The New Teen Titans #26 (Dec. 1982)
Role: Geokinetic, The Judas
Group Affiliations: The Teen Titans
PL 12 (200)
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Deception 13 (+16)
Persuasion 6 (+9)
Intimidation 4 (+7)
Investigation 2 (+4)
Expertise (Mercenary) 4 (+5)
Perception 5 (+7)
Insight 4 (+6)
Stealth 4 (+6)
Ranged Combat (Earth) 4 (+11)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Benefit (Markovian Princess), Fearless, Improved Critical (Earth Attacks) 2, Improved Initiative 3, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 5, Seize Initiative, Startle, Taunt

Powers:
"Suffocating Snare" Affliction 10 (Strength; Hindered, Vulnerable & Dazed/Immobile, Defenseless & Stunned/Incapacitated) (Feats: Reversible) (Extras: Ranged, Cumulative, Extra Condition +2) Linked to Blast 6 (Extras: Concentration Duration) (69) -- [95]
  • Dynamic AE: Snare 12 (Feats: Obscures Senses, Reversible, Dynamic) (Extras: Perception-Ranged) (Drawbacks: Requires Earth -1) (50)
  • Dynamic AE: "Area Snare" Snare 11 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (45)
  • Dynamic AE: "Earth Control" Move Object 13 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Perception Range) (Flaws: Limited to Earth) (27)
  • Dynamic AE: Borrowing 8 (Feats: Dynamic) (9)
  • Dynamic AE: "Toss Sand" Dazzle Visuals 8 (Feats: Dynamic) (17)
  • Dynamic AE: "Earth to Mud" Environment 5 (Feats: Dynamic) (Impede Movement 2) (11)
  • Dynamic AE: "Groundstrike" Affliction 12 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Ranged, Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery, Limited to Grounded Targets) Linked to Blast 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited to Grounded Targets) (39)
  • Dynamic AE: "Shockwave" Damage 10 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Target Must Be Grounded) (11)
  • Dynamic AE: Earth Blast 11 (Feats: Dynamic) (Feats: Extended Range 2) (25)
  • Dynamic AE: "Flinging Boulders" Blast 8 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Multiattack) (25)
  • Dynamic AE: "Stone Shape" Transform Stone to Stone 12 (Feats: Dynamic) (25)
  • Dynamic AE: "Stone Shield" Create 10 (Extras: Continuous) (30)
  • AE: Magma Blast 11 (Feats: Indirect) (Extras: Perception Range) (35)
"Stone Shields" Enhanced Advantages 5: Defensive Roll 5 [5]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Suffocating Snare +11 (+10 Ranged Afflicton & +6 Ranged Damage, DC 21 & 21)
Snare +11 (+12 Ranged Affliction, DC 22)
Area Snare +11 (+11 Ranged Affliction, DC 21)
Groundstrike +12 Area (+12 Ranged Affliction & +10 Ranged Damage, DC 22 & 25)
Earth & Magma Blasts +11 (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Flinging Boulders +11 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +3 (+8 Stone Shield D.Roll), Fortitude +6, Will +7

Complications:
Secret (Spy)- Terra is not a super-heroine at all, and her backstory is mostly a lie- she is actually an agent of The Terminator, and seeks to give up the Titans to him.
Responsibility (Sociopath)- Terra is insane, and can be driven into a furious rage with just the right amount of antagonizing. She once nearly killed Changeling because he taunted her during a practise battle (and this was while under cover), and finally went completely bonkers when she tought The Terminator had turned on her (he was being controlled by Jericho). She went so fully-nutso that she brought the H.I.V.E. Headquarters down on herself.
Enemy (The Teen Titans)- Terra despises the Titans for their goody-goody nature, stating "I just want to kill 'em all". She carries a special enmity for Raven, who nearly sniffed out Terra's secret with her empathic powers, and demanded that she be the one to bring Raven in.
Relationship (The Terminator)- Tara & Slade Wilson are TOTALLY getting it on, despite her being sixteen and him being an old man. You may commence shuddering.

Total: Abilities: 42 / Skills: 46--23 / Advantages: 17 / Powers: 100 / Defenses: 18 (200)

The Judas Contract:
-Oh, Terra. Such a beautifully done storyline. Marv Wolfman frequently comments with absolute glee how easy the comics fans of the 1980s were to lead on. See, the Titans at the time were always being compared to the X-Men, and Wolfman was often accused of ripping them off (Chris Claremont even denied the link- he merely stated that both books were once lower-tier runs now made popular with new creative teams). So he realized that by adding an awkward-looking teenage girl to the Teen Titans book, she would be compared to the sweet-natured awkward-looking Kitty Pryde, who had debuted only a few months earlier in The X-Men, and fans would automatically assume she'd turn out the same- a happy, spunky "Normal Girl" teen character. The half-sister of the Outsider known as Geo-Force, she was illegitimate royalty, giving her a bit of a rebellious attitude.

-By introducing a mouthy, ignorant, physically-flawed (buck teeth, flat-chested and short) girl onto the Teen Titans, he realized that fans would quickly grow on the little brat as an endearing sort of funny character, thus making it a perfect storyline when she's revealed as a spy all along, working for the man trying to capture them for the H.I.V.E. ("Not a traitor" Marv points out, "because she'd been working for Slade THE ENTIRE TIME"). She acted like a snot, but the youngest Titan Changeling took a liking to her, and they had an adversarial flirtation that resulted in Gar falling head over heels for her. The other team members found her annoying, but powerful and with some potential- her jabs at them were met with equal teasing. Meanwhile, Raven was the only one who had her doubts, but because she could not trust her own empathic powers (due to Trigon's growing influence over her), she could not be sure. For MONTHS fans refused to believe that Terra was actually evil all along, and searched for reasons and excuses why she was just being used by The Terminator. Never mind that in her last moments, she absolutely went INSANE with rage, trying to smash up her boyfriend, the Titans, and the entire H.I.V.E. base, merely because she was pissy and fooled into thinking Slade had betrayed her.

Terra Goes Bad:
-Terra, of course, was working for Slade the entire time... AND was his lover! The sight of this teen girl in a skimpy dress and wearing lipstick is as shudder-inducing and off-putting as anything in comics- they make it PERFECTLY clear that the two were banging ("if you got the STAMINA for it, you can thank me later" she says!). With Slade in charge of delivering the Titans to H.I.V.E., Terra works as his "mole", intercepting the entire team, learning their secrets, and more. The Titans are EASILY defeated, struck down in their homes where they least expect it (hilariously, Changeling is brought down by fake fan mail with poisoned postage stamps). Terra, pissed off over Raven's mistrust ("Witch- YOU I'm savin' for myself.") absolutely goes to war with her- Perez, in a masterwork of design, showcases Titans tower being ripped apart by stone... AFTER THE FACT. All we see is the aftermath of what nonetheless looks wordlessly like an epic battle for the ages, as stone pillars crisscross every room in the Tower.

-Terra helps the Terminator beat the Titans, but her growing madness (Slade frequently doubts himself for teaming up with her, as her power and personality seem to be way too out of control for someone was calm as himself) gets the best of her- she feels betrayed by Slade (who was possessed by Jericho, unbeknownst to her), and IMMEDIATELY turns on him, lashing out at him alongside the other Titans. Some people criticized Wolfman for basically stating that Terra was insane and thus "by fault of no one but herself, she is insane" was a rotten person, who deserved her fate, but hey- it was the early 1980s, and it's not like people go "well you have to forgive The Joker & Carnage, because they can't help being nuts".

-In any case, mad with rage, Terra brings the entire H.I.V.E. Headquarters down on herself- the Titans and the Terminator escape. But she does not. We see her dead body on-screen, cradled by a shaking Changeling, mourning and in disbelief.

The Aftermath:
-To say this story had repercussions for years is an understatement. The team never recovered from the "betrayal", always wondering if the next new member would be another one. Changeling especially was messed-up, falling in love with the rebellious young girl quickly, and he went into Terra-like bouts of rage at the Terminator frequently until they finally had a man-to-man about it. The creepy sexual nature of the relationship was more or less swept under the rug (it was probably part of their "handsome older man" thing Wolfman & Perez were trying to target towards teen girls reading, but comes off as SOOOOOOOOOOO gross today)- his push as an anti-hero in the '90s doesn't really work with that in his past.

-And to their credit, DC never REALLY brought Terra back. A second "Terra" appeared with the Team Titans, but Marv was smart enough to make this some parrallel universe/clone dealie, so it didn't crap on the initial story, but we had this weaker, wussier, less-interesting Terra II running around Titans pages for a while. She eventually got killed by Black Adam in 52 to the cries of none, at which point we got a new Amanda Conner-drawn ultra-chesty dark-haired cutie instead. A retcon many, MANY years later indicated that the original Terra went nuts because of Deathstroke (as he was now called) giving her a serum. The cartoon managed to use Terra as more of a "Manipulated Innocent" thing, which was more fitting for some fans, who found Wolfman's "it's her fault that she's nuts" thing a bit... negative towards people with actual mental problems.

-DC's "New 52" introduced the original Terra on The Ravagers, a team that included Beast Boy. She is now a good-natured character, which of course wrecks the whole appeal of the character in the first place. Instead, she's just Some Snarky Chick- more or less the character she was "disguised" as in the original comics.

-The Judas Contract remains the high water mark of the Teen Titans run, and is still a legend to this day. It's legitimately VERY harrowing, exceptionally creepy, and features a fascinating villainess whose legend is all the greater because she debuted and flamed out so quickly. We never got the "Endless Terra Arcs" so similar to what makes other comic book villains drop in significance. The arc was re-done in the Teen Titans cartoon, making teen girls happier by making Terra much more sympathetic- a legitimate pawn of Slade who is tragically frozen in stone by the end.

Terra's Powers:
-Terra is a dominant, terrifying PL 11-12 build, mainly because she's got incredible range, can demolish an entire base in a few rounds, defend herself adequately, and hit an entire team with her attacks. While kicking around on the Titans, she was more of a PL 9 or a 10, but that was all fakery: this is her pure, unadultered form. Note that she's physically a wimp, however, and Gar Logan was able to trounce her in melee by Form-Shifting over and over again (at one point knocking her face into the snow by Beaver-Tailing her into it). Without her Stone Shield, she's basically an easy target, but her range meant that most of the Titans could never even get close to her. Also, she's one HELL of a liar- I mean, she's so good at lying that she kept DICK GRAYSON (P.S. Slade should totally know who Batman is if he's not stupid, since Terra told him all the Titans' Secret I.D.s) in the dark as to her motives. Though that's a good point on Deception in Comics versus Deception in Games- in the comics, bluffs nearly ALWAYS work. In M&M terms, it's basically like the heroes failed 9 million Insight Saves in a row as they knew this character for months. One hell of a GM Fiat.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Fri Jun 24, 2022 3:04 am, edited 1 time in total.
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KorokoMystia
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Cyborg! Argent! Joker’s Daughter! Jericho! Terra!)

Post by KorokoMystia »

Yeah, from what I recall, the cartoon version of Terra was popular enough that they teased her return (a girl looking like her showed up in the finale), though I think it was confirmed to not actually be her.
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Cyborg! Argent! Joker’s Daughter! Jericho! Terra!)

Post by Spam »

I've never felt that Terra had to be insane. I just saw her as an evil little bitch. I think people fall back on insanity too much to hide from the true evil in the world. Not all evil people are insane, some are just people choose to be the way they are.
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Cyborg! Argent! Joker’s Daughter! Jericho! Terra!)

Post by Ken »

I don't recall them ever saying that the fan mail Gar was responding to was fake. Only that the glue on the envelopes he was using to reply to said mail was drugged. In fact, if the fan mail was legit, that makes the plan that much more insidious.
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Terra (Clone... maybe)

Post by Jabroniville »

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TERRA II (Tara Markov Clone, but actually not)
Created By:
Marv Wolfman & George Perez
First Appearance: The New Teen Titans #26 (Dec. 1982)
Role: Geokinetic, Heroic Clone of a Villain
Group Affiliations: The Teen Titans, The Team Titans
PL 10 (165)
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Deception 2 (+5)
Persuasion 3 (+6)
Intimidation 2 (+5)
Investigation 3 (+5)
Perception 3 (+5)
Insight 2 (+4)
Stealth 2 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Earth) 3 (+10)

Advantages:
Improved Critical (Earth Attacks), Improved Initiative, Ranged Attack 5, Seize Initiative, Taunt

Powers:
"Suffocating Snare" Affliction 9 (Strength; Hindered, Vulnerable & Dazed/Immobile, Defenseless & Stunned/Incapacitated) (Feats: Reversible) (Extras: Ranged, Cumulative, Extra Condition +2) Linked to Blast 6 (Extras: Concentration Duration) (64) -- [88]
  • Dynamic AE: Snare 10 (Feats: Obscures Senses, Reversible, Dynamic) (Extras: Perception-Ranged) (Drawbacks: Requires Earth -1) (42)
  • Dynamic AE: "Area Snare" Snare 9 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (28)
  • Dynamic AE: "Earth Control" Move Object 13 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Perception Range) (Flaws: Limited to Earth) (27)
  • Dynamic AE: Burrowing 8 (Feats: Dynamic) (9)
  • Dynamic AE: "Toss Sand" Dazzle Visuals 8 (Feats: Dynamic) (17)
  • Dynamic AE: "Earth to Mud" Environment 5 (Feats: Dynamic) (Impede Movement 2) (11)
  • Dynamic AE: "Groundstrike" Affliction 10 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Ranged, Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery, Limited to Grounded Targets) Linked to Blast 8 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited to Grounded Targets) (59)
  • Dynamic AE: "Shockwave" Damage 9 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Target Must Be Grounded) (10)
  • Dynamic AE: Earth Blast 9 (Feats: Dynamic) (Feats: Extended Range 2) (21)
  • Dynamic AE: "Flinging Boulders" Blast 8 (Feats: Dynamic) (17)
  • Dynamic AE: "Stone Shape" Transform Stone to Stone 9 (Feats: Dynamic) (19)
  • Dynamic AE: "Stone Shield" Create 9 (Extras: Continuous) (27)
"Stone Shields" Enhanced Advantages 5: Defensive Roll 5 [5]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Suffocating Snare +10 (+9 Ranged Afflicton & +6 Ranged Damage, DC 19 & 21)
Snare +10 (+9 Ranged Affliction, DC 19)
Area Snare +8 (+8 Ranged Affliction, DC 18)
Groundstrike +10 Area (+10 Ranged Affliction & +10 Ranged Damage, DC 20 & 25)
Earth & Magma Blasts +10 (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Flinging Boulders +11 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3 (+8 Stone Shield D.Roll), Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility (Looks like Tara Markov)- Terra is often shamed by her similarities to a very evil person.
Relationship (Changeling)- Terra has feels for Garfield, who is of course conflicted, having fallen for her predecessor.

Total: Abilities: 42 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 93 / Defenses: 11 (165)

-In the 1990s, Marv Wolfman teased the "Return of Terra"- a sure sign that he was floundering and wanted to re-ignite the once-popular Titans book. However, this Terra is a girl from the future who was given similar powers and appearance to the original. Going back in time to help kill Donna Troy and her unborn child along with the other Team Titans, she ends up stuck in our time with her fellow Team Titans. She becomes attracted to Changeling, but he rebuffs her cruelly, since... y'know... she LOOKS LIKE AND IS NAMED TERRA. When the Team Titans were killed off in Zero Hour, both Terra and Mirage are spared. Marv Wolfman was soon dumped from DC comics, leaving the character "orphaned"- the 1999 Secret Files issue reveals that she is legitimately a genetic match for the original Terra, but her half-brother Geo-Force lies and tells her that she is not- hoping to spare her the pain of the discovery.

-Despite being seemingly quite important, Terra II never gets up to anything interesting- she does a few background shots here and there. In JLA/Titans she yells at a drone that "You've got the wrong girl!", and she helps the other heroes against Superboy-Prime. Finally, she is slain when Black Adam punches through her chest in 52, Yet Another Dead Titan.

-The character's origins were unexplained until MUCH later, in the 2008 Terra miniseries, featuring a new character, from the underground world called Strata. Terra II is revealed to have been sent to Earth in order to set up peaceful relations- her appearance was changed out of a misguided belief that she'd be more accepted if she "reminded them of one of their own". Unfortunately, the element used to give her more powers caused her total memory loss. Which is a funny way of writing out a character who was never popular.

-Terra II is basically the same character as the first, minus most of the Skills & Advantages, and a dramatic power-down to PL 10.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Fri Jun 24, 2022 3:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Cyborg! Argent! Joker’s Daughter! Jericho! Terra!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Man, I can never predict what's gonna draw comments. I had Raven & Terra all planned out as major talking points, but they got like 1/8th of what HAWK AND DOVE of all things did :).

For another thing to talk about, here's some fun facts about Robin Hood:

* It's believed to be an early pseudonym for a number of brigands and criminals, who use variations of the name all over England. The folk tales likely spring from this source of a communal "Robin Hode/Hood".

* Will Scarlet hails from some of the early tales, but has never had a consistent character.

* He was initially just a criminal, often a murderous one, but the people he killed were often rotten.

* The "Robin of Locksley" thing was not added until the Elizabethan Era (300+ years later), by a playwrite who wanted to appeal to the upper classes by introducing the whole "nobleman" thing. Because the nobility liked the whole "a noble person = goodness" aspect, when before, the tales were usually about a common man visiting tortures upon cruel lawmen.

* Friar Tuck & Maid Marian were not added to the tales until 300 or so years in; Tuck is basically a medieval "stock character"- the corrupt cleric.
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Cyborg! Argent! Joker’s Daughter! Jericho! Terra!)

Post by Woodclaw »

Jabroniville wrote: Fri Jan 25, 2019 6:42 am Man, I can never predict what's gonna draw comments. I had Raven & Terra all planned out as major talking points, but they got like 1/8th of what HAWK AND DOVE of all things did :).

For another thing to talk about, here's some fun facts about Robin Hood:

* It's believed to be an early pseudonym for a number of brigands and criminals, who use variations of the name all over England. The folk tales likely spring from this source of a communal "Robin Hode/Hood".

* Will Scarlet hails from some of the early tales, but has never had a consistent character.

* He was initially just a criminal, often a murderous one, but the people he killed were often rotten.

* The "Robin of Locksley" thing was not added until the Elizabethan Era (300+ years later), by a playwrite who wanted to appeal to the upper classes by introducing the whole "nobleman" thing. Because the nobility liked the whole "a noble person = goodness" aspect, when before, the tales were usually about a common man visiting tortures upon cruel lawmen.

* Friar Tuck & Maid Marian were not added to the tales until 300 or so years in; Tuck is basically a medieval "stock character"- the corrupt cleric.
Also, the first version of Marian was a fat peasant woman that pestered Tuck, she didn't became Robin's love interest until the late 18th century.
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Jabroniville
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

The Team Titans

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
The unfortunate part of that was we had no idea that what they wanted was DC Comics' X-Force, DC management at the time, saw Team Titans as this answer to Rob Liefeld's X-Force, and what we wanted to do was something much more character-driven [and] self-aware, something more like Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol. So from literally the first issue, it was a struggle editorially to the point that the book just fell apart on us completely, and a long-term story that we had planned got condensed to four issues. Then Zero Hour came along and undermined everything anyway.
-Marv Wolfman on why DC can never have nice things
TEAM TITANS:
-The Team Titans are a particularly disastrous portion of Titans history. A bunch of kids from an alternate future who've come to the past to kill Donna Troy before she can give birth to Lord Chaos (the wiper-outer of their world), the kids eventually made good with the Teen Titans and became super-heroes of a sort, living out of a farmhouse owned by Donna & Terry Long. For some reason, these loser '90s characters actually got THEIR OWN BOOK for a time (though it WAS the early '90s, and by taking a page from Marvel's playbook, EVERY B.S. nothing character was getting their own book back then), but Wolfman left it quickly due to creative differences, and went to focus on his two books- The New Titans and Deathstroke.

Eventually, during the Zero Hour event, it was revealed that the Team Titans were mostly from a false timeline created by Hank "Monarch" Hall to act as his own personal sleeper agent assassins. When Monarch is defeated, his false futures are erased, killing every member of the team but Deathwing, Terra II (who would eventually, YEARS LATER, be revealed to be a creature from an underground society surgically altered to look like Terra... for some reason) and Mirage. THEY were left alive because they were forged by The Time Trapper to be sleeper agents against Monarch in his Extant form. Because COMICS... ARE... WEIRD.

The Roster:
Redwing- Flying Girl.
Prestor Jon- Technopath.
Battalion- Strong Gun Guy.
Killowat- Blaster.
Dagon/Nightrider- Superhero Vampire.

They also had some other teammates who appeared for a panel or two- I'm guessing they were killed in their own timeline, or were left there or something:
Anvil- Super-Strong black guy.
Aurora- Flying Blaster girl.
Crystal- Crystalline girl.
Droom- Short, stocky guy with a gun... this team looks kind of like The Guardians of the Galaxy, actually. I wonder if they're an homage.
Hellbore- An Image-like guy, he had a skull face and was apparently the "ruthless" member of the team.
The Silver Shield- Created... silver shields.
Metallik- A large metallic being created when five heroes (Axe, Backbeat, Bongo, Bass & Fusion) merge.
Wonder Boy- Guy in a HORRIBLE yellow star-covered costume.

There's also Deathwing, thought to be a Dark Future Version of Dick Grayson. He is attacked and corrupted by Raven during his time in the past, becoming her assistant. He even rapes his old teammate, Mirage, resulting in her pregnancy and eventual daughter! He is revealed to have been a sleeper agent by the Time Trapper, and not actually Dick Grayson at all (retconning Wolfman's idea), but he hasn't been seen since Zero Hour, despite the HUNDREDS of Grayson appearances since then.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Fri Jun 24, 2022 3:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
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