Jab’s Builds! (Sword of Sodan! Nightmare Creatures/Circus! Lawnmower Man!)

[Jabroniville]

I still find it funny that Timm forced Hawkgirl on the team because he liked her mask, but the character was almost entirely renovated by removing it.

HAWKGIRL (Shayera Hol)
Created By: Gardner Fox & Joe Kubert
First Appearance: The Brave and the Bold #34 (Feb. 1961)
Role: The Grouch, The Mole (For Thanagar), The Mary Sue (early seasons), Conflicted Warrior
Voice Actor: Maria Canals
Finest Moment: Killed Solomon Grundy, Ichthultu, her Mace stopped Faust in the Annihilator
PL 12 (184)
STRENGTH 4 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Aerobatics 10 (+14)
Athletics 5 (+9)
Deception 9 (+11, +13 Attractive)
Expertise (Thanagarian Warrior) 9 (+12)
Insight 5 (+8)
Intimidation 8 (+10)
Investigation 4 (+7)
Perception 4 (+7)
Stealth 2 (+7)
Vehicles 2 (+5)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Daze (Intimidation), Defensive Attack, Diehard, Evasion, Favoured Environment (Airborne), Fearless, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Nth Metal Weapons), Improved Smash, Power Attack, Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 7, Seize Initiative, Startle, Takedown 2

Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Attractive, Daze (Intimidation), Defensive Attack, Diehard, Evasion, Favoured Environment (Airborne), Fearless, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Nth Metal Weapons), Improved Smash, Power Attack, Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 7, Seize Initiative, Startle, Takedown 2

Powers:
"Thanagarian Physiology"
"Mind Shield" Immunity 2 (Mind-Reading) [2]
Flight 7 (250 mph) (Flaws: Winged) [7]

"Nth Metal Mace" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [31]
"Mace Strike" Strength-Damage +9 (Feats: Improved Critical 3, Penetrating 10) (22) -- (25)

• AE: "Mace Toss" Strength-Damage +7 (Feats: Penetrating 6) (Extras: Ranged) (Flaws: Must Go Get It) (Diminished Range -1) (12)
• AE: Deflect 10 (10)
• AE: Environment 2 (Light) (2)

Both Linked to Nullify All Magical Powers 13 (Extras: Broad, Simultaneous) (Flaws: Touch Range) (26)
-- (51 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Mace Strike +11 (+13 Damage, DC 28)
Mace Toss +10 (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +13 (DC 23), Parry +13 (DC 23), Toughness +5, Fortitude +8, Will +8

Complications:
Responsibility (Loves John Stewart, aka Green Lantern)
Guilt (Betrayed the Earth & the League to the Thanagarians)- Hawkgirl spend years as a mole to Thanagar, secretly scoping out Earth's defenses in case of a Gordanian invasion.
Guilt (Betrayed the Thanagarians to the League)- When Hawkgirl realized that Thanagar was going to destroy Earth to stop the Gordanians, Shayera sacrificed her people's plan to aid John and her teammates. This betrayal caused her people to lose the war, and got Hro Talok, her ex-lover, killed.
Relationship (Hawkgirl)- John fell in love with Hawkgirl while they were members of the Original Seven Leaguers. When her responsibility for the Thanagarian Invasion was revealed, he was crushed, but admitted he still loved her in the end. Now that he's with Vixen and Shayera wants him back.
Rivalry (Vixen)- Vixen is dating the man Shayera loves. Though she snarkily admits she might just poison her, she instead declares "en garde," and the two begin competing for his love.
Rivalry (Wonder Woman)- Diana never forgave Hawkgirl for betraying the League in the first place, and it took a long time for her to warm up to her teammate.
Relationship (The Flash)- She's the big sister he never had. Only, you know, short. If Wally risks his life, Shayera gets REALLY upset, though she bosses him around endlessly.

Total: Abilities: 72 / Skills: 58--29 / Advantages: 24 / Powers: 40 / Defenses: 19 (184)

-Man did I ever hate Hawkgirl at first. I mean, first off, she was added to the team just to increase the amount of women in the cast, which is fine (a team of six dudes and one girl makes for bad storytelling). However, the DC Universe has MANY female characters who are much better and more well-known than a D-League Girl Version of another hero (Black Canary would've worked just as well), but NNOOOOOOOOOOOO- Bruce Timm pulled a power-play on her because he always "thought her mask was cool". And I thought it was ugly and gave her a worse overall design. And then, in a season where Superman was consistently overpowered or injured so as not to make the rest of the team redundant, there was this palpable sense that they were pushing HAWKGIRL relentlessly, as she & her Mace were crushing things left (remember her deflecting a Planet-Killing Blast right back?) and right while "Superwussy" got electrocuted every other episode. Honestly, I just despised the character- it felt like she was Power-Geeked to justify her place on the team.

-So it took me a very long time to really like the character... but man, did they EVER pull it off in the end. It wasn't until Her Terminal Crankiness hooked up with GL at the end of Season Two that she got a little more serviceable. The addition of her mask-less face, which revealed her to be one of the most gorgeous women ever designed for a cartoon, did not hurt. I mean, WOW. Then they threw in the whole "Thanagarian" thing- the fact that she wasn't some star-lost soldier, but actually a SECRET AGENT. Hawkgirl was revealed to be an operative for her own people, with the intention to secure Earth as a Thanagarian outpost in their war against the Gordanians! Oh, and she was ENGAGED to someone- Hro Talak, the heroic leader of the invasion force!

-Now THIS was interesting- it gave her a legitimate reason to "betray" the Justice League, but a rational way to be torn between two worlds. Her clear guilt over breaking John's heart, and her distaste for what the Thanagarians were doing to Earth, was played off REALLY WELL. So you actually bought it, and forgave her, when she freed the League upon realizing that "For Thanagar to live, Earth must die!" via the Hyperspace Bypass. And it was quite heartbreaking when she quit the League out of guilt, swearing "I love you, John" as she flew away.

-So by her return in JLU, she was now a FANTASTIC character, and people wanted to see more of her. Many of the Leaguers forgave her... but there was still a lot of distrust. Especially Wonder Woman, who couldn't let bygones be bygones. Even though The Flash (her initial bickering partner, though they later became like brother & sister) took her side and forgave her, it took a quest through Hell for the two League Ladies to come to terms. I liked that because it provided nuance- Hawkgirl had rational reasons for doing what she did (I mean, it was her MISSION), and did the right thing for her team in the end, which DID royally screw over her own people. So it made sense that some people took her side, while others (even teammates) couldn't forgive the initial mistrust. And by the end, I think she was a very popular character- nobody was ever bitching about her being on the show anymore, and I remember a LOT of that at first. Even though her Mace was STILL super O.P.

-Hawkgirl is unavoidably cheaper than all her pals in the League's Big Seven, reflecting the fact that she only had one big weapon (whereas everyone else has several), which is Easily Removable at that, and isn't invincible or anything. It's a HELL of a weapon, though, as the Mace can hit equally as hard as Superman (watch the show- Supes punches stuff full-on and barely scratches it, and then Hawkgirl buzzes in with a mega-shot that does two or three times as much- only against villains does Superman seem to do more damage, implying that Hawkgirl Power Attacks CONSTANTLY), Penetrates the toughest defenses, can be thrown 50 feet, and can Deflect incoming fire with ease. AND it can nullify the effects of Magic just by touching it (Doctor Fate found this out to his chagrin). In addition to all that, she's an elite fighter with tons of Advantages, very Skilled (she had to bluff the League a LOT in the early days), remarkably strong physically (there is some evidence that Thanagarians as a whole are very strong compared to humans), etc.

-Thanagarians are immune to J'onn's Mind-Reading, so I put a Mind Shield-ish power up. It's so hardcore that J'onn had to use Extra Effort and tire himself out just to read a sub-level Hawkdude (that grim, ugly guy who seemingly was in love with Hro). Plus the Wings and stuff.

About the Performer: I've never heard of Maria Canals, and her career seems limited to mostly guest-shots, failed sitcoms, and "The Wizards of Waverly Place" for five years. She was also Paulina on "Danny Phantom".

[Jabroniville]

Green Lantern: I've got to admit, I didn't really see John as nearly a big deal as Jab seemed to. They basically took Hal Jordan from his most serious "By the Book Space Cop" days, made him a Marine instead of Air Force and made him black. They could have just as easily gotten a similar dynamic as John and Wally with Hal and Barry, making Hal his more Captain Kirk as a GL personality and Barry his more straight laced, serious, by the book type. Best thing I can say about John is that he created an interesting love triangle with Vixen and Hawkgirl.

Even then, the relationship with Hawkgirl really didn't wow me either, though there was a little build up towards it with things like the Christmas episode. Still, that whole relationship largely felt like they just wanted a romance on the show and those were the only two Leaguers they could really pair up. What makes it worse is Hawkgirl actually allowing the relationship to happen, since she's engaged at the time. During Wildcards, John flat out asks her what reasons they have to not be together, and Hawkgirl never once says "I'm engaged to someone else".

I do understand the desire to have some non-White members in the cast, and John was an easy fix for that, but it makes the DCU weird in that it's at once very faithful to the comics while still having some unique ideas, but then you get things like Hal Jordan and Barry Allen apparently not being heroes in this setting, while Green Arrow is still Ollie. It's a similar reason why the Nu-52 and Film Justice Leagues had Cyborg on the team, even though John Henry's Steel fit better as the Black Tech Guy.

Regarding GL, Hal & Barry were dead at the time, and the show was its own thing- the characters didn't matter, and they didn't want to include legacies or anything. Not the stories they wanted to tell, so why bother using them? Keeping Flash as the team joker was great for the team dynamic- Hal being Captain Kirk would have been nowhere near as fun (and would have flanderized him into a "Booster Gold"-style idiot FAST). John's personality allowed for him to not just be serious, but STODGY- even Batman & Superman could joke once in a while (albeit with Batman's very dry delivery). Though the Big Seven had a handful of issues that took QUITE a while to stamp out (J'onn was fairly boring, Hawkgirl too powerful/prominent, "Superwussy", etc.)

Also, I find the Hal/Barry dynamic incredibly dull and boring, so I'm very happy they didn't go with that. I understand that the pairing has a Doom Patrol Fandom going for it, but I don't think it was ever as popular or great as people seem to remember it being. Creating team tension, making bigger personalities, making things more fun- those are proper directives for a TV show especially. The Justice League comic exists in a world where all the Big Seven have their own books, so you don't need to have any character development or as much conflict- the cartoon existed in a vacuum, so needed more of that. It was the only place we could see these characters.

Booster Gold: Booster is one of those guys who I feel the Giffen/DeMatteis pretty much ruined for years, along with Blue Beetle, Guy Gardner and, to some extent, Captain Marvel. Giffen and DeMatteis pretty much turned the League into a joke, with Ted and Booster being the biggest offenders, while Guy and Cap got similar treatment. The thing with Booster is that Dan Jurgens created the guy to be humorous, but there were also layers to his character. He was someone hoping to get fame and fortune, but also looked at this as a chance to turn his life around, to make something of himself, and to be a genuine hero. DeMatteis and Giffen pretty much Flanderized him into a joke, and it wasn't until Dan Jurgens started writing the Justice League that Ted and Booster got some dignity back.
Unfortunately, because of the BWA-HA-HA League, most appearances by Booster in animation tend to play him up as being a one-note joke, with JLU and Batman: The Brave and the Bold even making him an outright idiot. Though I have to admit, the idea that people would mistake the white guy in the blue and gold outfit for the black guy named Green Lantern is hilarious, and the voice work for both Booster and Skeets was top notch.

Being a humorous idiot, again, makes the show more fun. It gives us some comic relief, and even has it mean more when Booster finally actually gets things right for once, and confesses that he's actually a failure who wants to be SEEN as big. It's depth and pathos in this goofy shell- it works. And is actually pretty much what you just described- this version is ALSO trying to turn his life around.

As for the build itself, you might want to just have all of the Growth into one powerset, but give it a partial/half-limit where every other rank doesn't add to his STR/STA, so that there's a reason for him to to his max height. Maybe give him one baseline rank of Growth without the STR/STA boost to represent his nearly 8 feet in height, but then give him 11 ranks of Growth with the half-limit where every other rank doesn't grant the STR/STA boost, so that at ranks 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 he gets a STR/STA bonus, giving him an incentive to reach his max height.

That's a bit of a complicated mess I'd rather not get into (too much math skipping ranks or whatever)- easier to just do it the DCA way, since it doesn't matter too much how big he is, except for visually.

It was also kind of weird how when they had Atom Smasher square off against a Longshadow clone, they had Longshadow be significantly larger than Atom Smasher, yet in the Darkheart episode I'd swear Atom Smasher was just immense, and could have easily matched Longshadow's height.

That's why artists hate growth characters- it's impossible to keep consistent without pulling out a ruler for EVERY SCENE, and doing the math to keep the characters consistent.

[Jabroniville]

HRO TALAK
Created By: Rich Fogel, Dan Riba, Dwayne McDuffie, Butch Lukic
Role: Hawkman Expy, Alien Leader, Extremist With Good Intentions
Voice Actor: Victor Rivers
Finest Moment: Beat up both Hawkgirl AND Green Lantern. Sacrificed himself to blow up a Gordanian Mothership.
PL 12 (188)
STRENGTH 5 STAMINA 6 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Aerobatics 8 (+13)
Athletics 6 (+11)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+12)
Deception 6 (+10)
Expertise (Thanagarian Warrior) 11 (+14)
Insight 5 (+8)
Intimidation 7 (+11)
Perception 5 (+8)
Stealth 2 (+7)
Technology 2 (+5)
Vehicles 5 (+8)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Benefit 5 (Thanagarian General), Daze (Intimidation), Diehard, Evasion, Favoured Environment (Airborne), Fearless, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Nth Metal Weapons), Improved Smash, Power Attack, Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 8, Seize Initiative, Startle, Takedown 2

Powers:
"Thanagarian Physiology"
"Mind Shield" Immunity 2 (Mind-Reading) [2]
Flight 7 (250 mph) (Flaws: Winged) [7]

"Nth Metal Axe" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [31]
"Axe Strike" Strength-Damage +9 (Feats: Improved Critical 3, Penetrating 10) (22) -- (23)

• AE: "Axe Toss" Strength-Damage +7 (Feats: Penetrating 6) (Extras: Ranged) (Flaws: Must Go Get It) (Diminished Range -1) (12)
• AE: Deflect 10 (10)
• AE: Environment 2 (Light) (2)

Both Linked to Nullify All Magical Powers 13 (Extras: Broad, Simultaneous) (Flaws: Touch Range) (26)
-- (51 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Axe +10 (+14 Damage & +13 Nullify, DC 29)
Thrown Axe +11 (+12 Ranged Damage, DC 27)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +14 (DC 24), Parry +14 (DC 24), Toughness +6, Fortitude +8, Will +10

Complications:
Responsibility (Thanagar)
Relationship (Shayera Hol)

Total: Abilities: 78 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 29 / Powers: 40 / Defenses: 21 (188)

-Hro Talak was originally going to be Hawkman, but DC said no- they didn't want Hawkman to turn out as a semi-villainous character in Justice League. So the writers went and made the character BETTER by contrast, and the freedom of separating him from Katar Hol (they simply made an anagram of his name) allowed them to give him several new aspects. A good general and a brilliant commander, Talak was set to destroy Earth to create their Hyper-Space Bypass. An evil act, but it was designed to defeat the all-powerful Gordanians ("for Thanagar to live, Earth must die") who actually WON the War against Thanagar when the Bypass was defeated. Most of the really good villains have a semi-reasonable excuse for their actions; it makes them more complex, or at least "real"- in this case, the actual loss in the war was a very, very big deal, and you could believe who Talak did what he did. He was complex enough that the would-be genocidal murderer of the entire human race was still given a hero's farewell, sacrificing his life to blow up a Gordanian mothership in the backstory of a later episode.

-Hro is basically like Hawkgirl in many ways, but is a notch stronger and tougher (he was able to shrug of John Stewart's punches EASILY), making him more dangerous. He's a smart commander and a good fighter, and at PL 12, he's enough to take on either Hawkgirl or GL in a fair fight and win (which he pretty much does- he's easily their equal, if not their superior).

About the Performer: Victor Rivers (also "Rivas") is a Cuban-born actor who's mostly been in bit parts, as well as "The Bold and the Beautiful" for a couple of years.

[Jabroniville]

PARAN DUL
Created By: Rich Fogel, Dan Riba, Dwayne McDuffie, Butch Lukic
Role: Sub-Commander, Vengeance-Seeker
Voice Actor: Elisabeth Peña
Finest Moment: Held her own against Vixen
PL 10 (162)
STRENGTH 4 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Aerobatics 8 (+13)
Athletics 6 (+10)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+11)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Thanagarian Warrior) 8 (+11)
Insight 3 (+5)
Intimidation 6 (+8)
Perception 5 (+7)
Stealth 2 (+7)
Technology 2 (+5)
Vehicles 5 (+8)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Diehard, Equipment 3 (Blaster +6), Evasion, Favoured Environment (Airborne), Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Nth Metal Weapons), Improved Smash, Power Attack, Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 8, Seize Initiative, Startle

Powers:
"Thanagarian Physiology"
"Mind Shield" Immunity 2 (Mind-Reading) [2]
Flight 7 (250 mph) (Flaws: Winged) [7]

"Nth Metal Weaopn" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [25]
"Weapon Strike" Strength-Damage +6 (Feats: Improved Critical 2, Penetrating 10) (18) -- (21)

• AE: "Weapon Toss" Strength-Damage +5 (Feats: Penetrating 6) (Extras: Ranged) (Flaws: Must Go Get It) (Diminished Range -1) (10)
• AE: Deflect 10 (10)
• AE: Environment 2 (Light) (2)

Both Linked to Nullify All Magical Powers 10 (Extras: Broad, Simultaneous) (Flaws: Touch Range) (20)
-- (41 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Weapon +10 (+10 Damage & +10 Nullify, DC 29)
Weapon Toss +11 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Blaster +11 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +5, Fortitude +7, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility (Thanagar)
Motivation (Revenge Against Shayera Hol)- Hro Talak was killed

Total: Abilities: 68 / Skills: 50--25 / Advantages: 22 / Powers: 34 / Defenses: 13 (162)

-Paran Dul was a Sub-Commander to Hro Talak in Starcrossed, and was little more than a Glorified Mook in that story, though the animators were impressed with the work of her V.A. (most Thanagarians had Hispanic Voice Actors, it turns out- I knew about Hawkgirl, but not the others), and gave her an episode of focus on later. She led a squadron of Thanagarian Rebels on a mission of assassination. Their goal: Murder Shayera Hol for High Treason after Talak died saving them all from the Gordanians. Dul was obsessive and dangerous, but was defeated in solo combat by Vixen after a brawl inside a flying ship (poor Vigilante was stuck flying).

-Paran Dul is a pricey PL 10, as she's about equivalent to good-level "JLU" character- Vixen wasn't noticeably more powerful. She's basically Hawkgirl Lite, packing a worse weapon (Hawkgirl's Mace is surely not standard-issue for the entire race- I figure her & Talak got the best of the deal, while the others are stuck with lesser, but still EPIC, weapons).

About the Performer: Elizabeth Peña played in mostly bit parts for most of her career, but starred in the brief 1987 sitcom "I Married Dora", as the titular character. Her Voice Acting credits peak with having played Mirage in "The Incredibles". And I finally know why we never found out what happened to Mirage- Peña died in 2014 of cirrhosis brought on by alcoholism.



KRAGGER
Created By: Rich Fogel, Dan Riba, Dwayne McDuffie, Butch Lukic
Role: Sub-Commander, Lusting-After-The-Leader Guy
Voice Actor: Hector Elizondo
Finest Moment: Took down BATMAN with a shock-stick.
PL 9 (144)
STRENGTH 4 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Aerobatics 8 (+13)
Athletics 6 (+10)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+9)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Thanagarian Warrior) 6 (+9)
Insight 3 (+5)
Intimidation 6 (+8)
Perception 5 (+7)
Stealth 2 (+7)
Technology 2 (+5)
Vehicles 5 (+8)

Advantages:
Equipment 3 (Blaster +6), Favoured Environment (Airborne), Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Nth Metal Weapons), Ranged Attack 6

Powers:
"Thanagarian Physiology"
"Mind Shield" Immunity 2 (Mind-Reading) [2]
Flight 7 (250 mph) (Flaws: Winged) [7]

"Nth Metal Weaopn" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [25]
"Weapon Strike" Strength-Damage +6 (Feats: Improved Critical 2, Penetrating 10) (18) -- (21)

• AE: "Weapon Toss" Strength-Damage +5 (Feats: Penetrating 6) (Extras: Ranged) (Flaws: Must Go Get It) (Diminished Range -1) (10)
• AE: Deflect 10 (10)
• AE: Environment 2 (Light) (2)

Both Linked to Nullify All Magical Powers 10 (Extras: Broad, Simultaneous) (Flaws: Touch Range) (20)
-- (41 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Weapon +8 (+10 Damage & +10 Nullify, DC 29)
Weapon Toss +9 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Blaster +9 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +5, Fortitude +7, Will +4

Complications:
Responsibility (Thanagar)
Relationship (Hro Talak)- Kragger is ultra-loyal to Commander Talak to the point of sycophancy. A look inside his mind reveals why: he appears as a statue with Talak, with Hawkgirl lying broken at their feet. He's in love with the guy.

Total: Abilities: 62 / Skills: 50--25 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 34 / Defenses: 12 (145)

-Kragger, a lower-level Thanagarian, was obsessively in love with Hro Talak, and really resentful of Hawkgirl. When he's part of the failed assassination mission against the Justice League, J'onn looks into his mind to figure out how to re-take the Watchtower. But since Thanagarians are Immune to Mind Reading, J'onn had to PUSH IT... he was injured in the process, but Kragger's mind was shattered as a result. He ended up a drooling, revenge-obsessed psycho by the end, wearing a Powersuit (giving him Strength 8 and Protection 4, though not against chest-bites from Hawkgirl).

About the Performer: Thanagarians tend to be portrayed by Latino-ish stars. Hector Elizondo has een actiong for years, typically in one-off roles and in theater. He was a favorite of famous writer/producer Garry Marshall, and is probably best known for being on "Chicago Hope" for years. He's been on Tim Allen's sitcom "Last Man Standing" since 2011.



THANAGARIAN SOLDIER
Created By: Rich Fogel, Dan Riba, Dwayne McDuffie, Butch Lukic
Role: Mooks
Voice Actor: Various
Finest Moment: Actually held their own against the League for a short while.
PL 7 (94)
STRENGTH 4 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Aerobatics 4 (+8)
Athletics 4 (+8)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+7)
Deception 1 (+1)
Expertise (Thanagarian Warrior) 6 (+7)
Intimidation 6 (+6)
Perception 2 (+3)
Stealth 1 (+5)
Technology 1 (+2)
Vehicles 2 (+5)

Advantages:
Equipment 2 (Blaster +5), Favoured Environment (Airborne), Great Endurance, Ranged Attack 3

Powers:
"Thanagarian Physiology"
"Mind Shield" Immunity 2 (Mind-Reading) [2]
Flight 7 (250 mph) (Flaws: Winged) [7]

"Nth Metal Weaopn" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [14]
"Weapon Strike" Strength-Damage +4 (Feats: Improved Critical 2, Penetrating 6) (12) -- (13)

• AE: "Weapon Toss" Strength-Damage +3 (Feats: Penetrating 6) (Extras: Ranged) (Flaws: Must Go Get It) (Diminished Range -1) (8)

Both Linked to Nullify All Magical Powers 5 (Extras: Broad, Simultaneous) (Flaws: Touch Range) (10)
-- (23 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Weapon +6 (+8 Damage & +5 Nullify, DC 23)
Weapon Toss +6 (+7 Ranged Damage, DC 22)
Blaster +6 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +5, Fortitude +5, Will +1

Complications:
Responsibility (Thanagar)

Total: Abilities: 48 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 23 / Defenses: 2 (94)

-Thanagarians are basically Elite Mooks, allowing them some great power over regular ol' Mooks. Some of them are even a match for some SUPER-VILLAINS.

-Hawk-Tech can be incredibly-varied, and includes high-powered Jet Fighters, a Shock-Stick that can take out Wonder Woman or J'onn J'onzz in one shot (Affliction 12-14), Bazooka-Lasers powerful enough to destroy a League Javelin in one shot (+12 Damage), energy waves that can Afflict any Earth-technology (like tanks or missiles) with the Paralyzed condition, a Gravity Beam (Hindered/Prone/Paralyzed Linked to Damage), a reflective shield (Sustained Protection with a Reflection Extra for +2), etc. As an army, they would steamroll any human forces with ease.

[Ares]

I rather liked the overall take on Thanagar in JL/JLU. Making them actually winged humanoids instead of just humans who wear artificial wings was a nice touch, their visual design was very cool, and they even came up with a plausible reason for why Hawkgirl's mace was so overpowered: Thanagarian technology had been primarily developed to fight supernatural monsters, eldritch abominations and other mystical forces. The struggle with said forces could even explain why the Hawks are so resistant to various forms of mind control and mind reading. It was a neat little retcon that helped explain away some of Hawkgirl's more ridiculous showings, like breaking into Fate's tower and even defeating Dr. Fate in combat (which should still never have happened).

Hro Talak was an interesting job where they had someone who was genuinely heroic, wanted what was best for his people, a courageous fighter, but was still willing to commit genocide if it meant saving his people. It's an understandable "If I have to pick between my people and your people, I pick my people" motivation that many people in power choose in difficult situations. But you can also understand DC's decision to say "No, you can't turn one of our heroes into someone trying to wipe out the human race". Because for all their nobility, the Thanagarians were willing to come to Earth, lie to everyone and blow it up to satisfy their agenda.

The Thanagarian invasion justified a lot of the League's more questionable actions during JLU, though those same actions later wound up justifying much of what CADMUS did in return. Having a space based super-laser makes sense when having it would have allowed them to take out the Thanagarian's city-sized doomsday weapon. Having a Justice League with nearly 60 members makes sense given they had a legitimate alien invasion that nearly destroyed the world. And the League certainly felt more justified in the measures it was taking in order to not be caught with their metaphorical pants down again.

There's also this unspoken bit of horror where we don't know how many other worlds the Thanagarians successfully pulled this stunt on. How many worlds, how many billions of lives, were wiped out in the name of their own survival? Even if they only did it to one other inhabited world, that's one world too many.

On the flip side, the Thanagarians are some really dense mix of STUPID and ARROGANT when they read up on Hawkgirl's report and figure "Oh yeah, we can totally pull this off on the world with the Justice League. They've only thwarted Darkseid numerous times, defeated Brainiac, overthrew Mongul, took down the Manhunters, have resisted changes made to the entire space/time continuum, taken out another alien invasion that tried this infiltrator trick on them and killed the very Lovecraftian Elder God we once worshiped. Pulling the wool over their eyes should be no problem". And the only reason the Thanagarians did as well as they did against the League was due to using the intel Hawkgirl gave them.

Naturally, the real tragedy here is that if the Thanagarians had just come and asked the League for help, not only would the League have happily helped them, they likely would have won. But by being a bunch of duplicitous douchebags, all the Thanagarians did was waste time and resources that eventually cost them the war.

As for Hro, he seemed to be an even match for Hawkgirl, but GL clearly won their fight when he had access to his ring. Hro was only able to disarm him via a suckerpunch while John was trying to take out the force field projector. With his ring gone, John is just a PL 6-ish military man who of course would lose to PL 12 alien warrior.

[Jabroniville]

HAWKMAN (Carter Hall, aka Joseph Gardner)
Created By: Gardner Fox & Dennis Neville
First Appearance: Flash Comics #1 (Jan. 1940)
Role: Adventuring Archaeologist, Worst Continuity Ever, Weird Stalker
Voice Actor: James Remar
Finest Moment: Rather than have everything he wanted, he instead absorbed his Darkest Thoughts back into himself.
PL 10 (148)
STRENGTH 3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 12 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Aerobatics 7 (+12)
Athletics 5 (+8)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Archaeologist) 7 (+10)
Insight 2 (+5)
Intimidation 2 (+4)
Perception 3 (+6)
Stealth 2 (+7)
Technology 2 (+5)
Vehicles 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Beginner's Luck, Diehard, Evasion, Improved Critical (Axe), Improved Smash, Power Attack, Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 9

Powers:
"Nth Metal Harness" (Flaws: Removable) [6]
Flight 7 (250 mph) (Flaws: Winged) (7 points)

"Nth Metal Weapons" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [26]
"Axe Toss" Strength-Damage +4 (Feats: Penetrating 6, Ricochet, Homing) (Extras: Ranged) (Diminished Range -1) (18) -- (20)

• AE: "Axe Strike" Strength-Damage +6 (Feats: Improved Critical, Penetrating 8) (15)
• AE: "Nth Metal Net" Snare 6 (Flaws: Limited to One Target -2) (Diminished Range -1) (5)

Both Linked to Nullify All Magical Powers 11 (Extras: Broad, Simultaneous) (Flaws: Touch Range) (22)
-- (42 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Axe +12 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Axe Toss +11 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Net +11 (+6 Ranged Affliction, DC 16)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +13 (DC 23), Toughness +4, Fortitude +6, Will +7

Complications:
Motivation (Thanagarian Stuff)
Relatoinship (Hawkgirl)- Carter believes that he & Shayera are reincarnated lovers, and he wants to be with her.

Total: Abilities: 68 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 16 / Powers: 32 / Defenses: 14 (148)

-Carter Hall is occasionally the butt of jokes in comics history (much less than Aquaman, of course), mostly thanks to his relatively weak powers (he can ONLY fly, whereas most heroes can AT LEAST do that), and the fact that his books always seemed to be quickly cancelled. DC's answer was to give him the 'Poochie Effect'; ie. everyone talking about how great he is, even when he wasn't there, and making sure all the fans knew he was important. Though his position in the Golden Age is slightly dubious (he was in EVERY ISSUE of the JSA comics, the only member to be so, and that's more thanks to him never warranting his own solo comic book like GL and Flash than anything else), subsequent writers showcased him as being this big important guy. Roy Thomas took his 'in every issue' quality and made him the leader/chairman of the team in the past, and gave him major props throughout the All-Star Squadron's run. Geoff Johns, whose fetish for Carter apparently runs deep, did even more to build up the Hawkman mythos. Though he got some props in his day, he was hopelessly out-of-date by the time Crisis hit, as he was now a contemporary of what was supposed to be his Earth-1 version, Katar Hol, and DC was so unsure over whether or not he'd live out the Crisis that Wolfman/Perez had him ravaged by a Shadow Demon (same way they offed the redundant Golden Age Green Arrow), with his survival in question, just in case. He turned out to be alive, only for DC to get rid of him first in Ragnarok, then in that infamous (for JSA fans) Monarch/Extant storyline. EVENTUALLY DC brought him back as a major character, but he ended up hooped by Johns leaving, and he disappeared again.

-The JLU Hawkman was of course an entirely different animal. Since HawkGIRL was the sole "Hawk" around for two seasons, and the DC heads nixed the writers' using Katar Hol (necessitating the invention of Hro Talak as the Genocidal War Hero & boyfriend of Shayera), Hawkman eventually became just some adventuring archaeologist who discovered that he & Shayera were star-crossed reincarnated lovers (though even the writers dispute this- Dwayne McDuffie refuses to believe in reincarnation, and associated the story as a dream/hallucination), changed his name to "Carter Hall", and followed her around like a dorky stalker. He only got play in two episodes that stood apart from the rest of the series- one where he stalks Shayera, and another where it's discovered that their "predestined love" started with a pair of Thanagarians who were torn apart by a dude who looked just like John Stewart. Though it was honestly kind of interesting to see what they did with him. He wasn't even a Leaguer!

-This Hawkman's a little odd, but fits as PL 10 framework alright. He's got Nth Metal weapons, though they appear to be MUCH weaker than Hawkgirl's. His Axe swings back into his hands, and he's got an Nth Metal Net (which caught The Gentleman Ghost), and he's a pretty good fighter all-around.

About the Performer: James Remar has been all over the place as an actor, typically playing villains. He was the violent, aggressive Ajax in "The Warriors", the murderer Ganz in "48 Hrs.", and Dutch Shcultz in "The Cotton Club". He was the unpopular successor to Christopher Lambert in "Mortal Kombat Annihilation", playing a goofy-ass, human Raiden- the '90s had been less kind to him, and he ended up in all kinds of B-Movies and one-off roles as backgrounders. His biggest recent role was as Dexter's adoptive father on "Dexter" for a number of years.

[Jabroniville]

I rather liked the overall take on Thanagar in JL/JLU. Making them actually winged humanoids instead of just humans who wear artificial wings was a nice touch, their visual design was very cool, and they even came up with a plausible reason for why Hawkgirl's mace was so overpowered: Thanagarian technology had been primarily developed to fight supernatural monsters, eldritch abominations and other mystical forces. The struggle with said forces could even explain why the Hawks are so resistant to various forms of mind control and mind reading. It was a neat little retcon that helped explain away some of Hawkgirl's more ridiculous showings, like breaking into Fate's tower and even defeating Dr. Fate in combat (which should still never have happened).

Man, I forgot the Fate thing. Did I mention that somewhere else in a character bio and missed it. I was trying to think of the ways Hawkgirl was O.P., but time has salved those wounds, I'm afraid. I remember her Mace being the secret to beating the Annihilator, Ichthultu, that Doomsday Weapon that blew up planets, and more. In the first season or two, Hawkgirl seemed WAY too strong.

Hro Talak was an interesting job where they had someone who was genuinely heroic, wanted what was best for his people, a courageous fighter, but was still willing to commit genocide if it meant saving his people. It's an understandable "If I have to pick between my people and your people, I pick my people" motivation that many people in power choose in difficult situations. But you can also understand DC's decision to say "No, you can't turn one of our heroes into someone trying to wipe out the human race". Because for all their nobility, the Thanagarians were willing to come to Earth, lie to everyone and blow it up to satisfy their agenda.

Yeah, it's hard to blame DC here, especially as Hawkman was on such tenuous ground as a character, with running gags about how short his books would last. "Hey, remember when he was a GENOCIDAL MONSTER in the cartoon?", back when JLU was extremely popular, would not have helped.

The Thanagarian invasion justified a lot of the League's more questionable actions during JLU, though those same actions later wound up justifying much of what CADMUS did in return. Having a space based super-laser makes sense when having it would have allowed them to take out the Thanagarian's city-sized doomsday weapon. Having a Justice League with nearly 60 members makes sense given they had a legitimate alien invasion that nearly destroyed the world. And the League certainly felt more justified in the measures it was taking in order to not be caught with their metaphorical pants down again.

I really enjoyed this bit of nuance to the series. So many people acting horribly, but understandably. The Thanagarians wanted to survive at any cost. The League needed to become stronger to defeat an equivalent threat. Cadmus was freaked out by THAT power surge. And because of mistrust, fear, and some genuinely bad apples, it spiraled.

On the flip side, the Thanagarians are some really dense mix of STUPID and ARROGANT when they read up on Hawkgirl's report and figure "Oh yeah, we can totally pull this off on the world with the Justice League. They've only thwarted Darkseid numerous times, defeated Brainiac, overthrew Mongul, took down the Manhunters, have resisted changes made to the entire space/time continuum, taken out another alien invasion that tried this infiltrator trick on them and killed the very Lovecraftian Elder God we once worshiped. Pulling the wool over their eyes should be no problem". And the only reason the Thanagarians did as well as they did against the League was due to using the intel Hawkgirl gave them.

There was a good scene that kind of exemplified their point of view, when they're shown forcing humans to build their space tech, and excuse it as "they can move things as well as any animal"- they legitimately consider humans a lesser form of life- animal and stupid.

[Jabroniville]

"Soooo-eeeeeee...."

THE RED TORNADO
Created By: Gardner Fox & Dick Dillin
First Appearance: The Justice League of America #64 (Aug. 1968)
Role: The Robot Hero, Wind User
Voice Actor: Powers Boothe
Finest Moment: Beating three versions of Wind Dragon simultaneously with one jet-stream
PL 11 (122)
STRENGTH 9 STAMINA -- AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 1
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE -1

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+8)
Intimidation 6 (+5)
Perception 6 (+6)
Ranged Attack (Wind) 3 (+11)
Technology 6 (+8)
Vehicles 5 (+6)

Advantages:
Benefit (League Member), Improved Disarm, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 7, Set-Up

Powers:
"Android Body"
Protection 11 [11]
Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
Regeneration 2 (Feats: Regrowth) [3]
"Datalink" Communication (Computers) 2 [8]

"Wind Powers"
"Tornado" Blast 11 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (33) -- [42]

• AE: "Tornado II" Blast 11 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Cylinder) (33)
• AE: "Tornado III" Damage 11 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (22)
• AE: Air Blast 11 (Feats: Precise) (23)
• AE: "Air Control" Move Object 11 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (Flaws: Touch Range) (22)
• AE: "Wind" Features 2: Nullifies Arrows, Blows Out Flames, etc. (2)
• AE: "Spinning Cyclone I" Affliction 11 (Fort; Impaired/Disabled/Incapacitated) (Extras: Area- 120ft. Cone +2) (33)
• AE: "Spinning Cyclone II" Affliction 11 (Fort; Impaired/Disabled/Incapacitated) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cylinder +2) (33)
• AE: "Wind Screen" Deflect 11 (11)
• AE: "Very Blustery Day" Environment 3 (120 feet) (Impede Movement 2) (10)
• AE: "Blowback Effect" Affliction 11 (Strength; Hindered & Vulnerable/Prone & Defenseless) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone, Extra Condition) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery) (11)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Tornados +11 Area (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Blowback & Cyclone +11 Area (+11 Affliction, DC 21)
Air Blast +11 (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +11, Fortitude --, Will +5

Complications:
Weakness (Magnetic Attacks)- Red Tornado is an android, comprised primarily of metal. He is more vulnerable to magnetic attack than others.

Total: Abilities: 30 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 94 / Defenses: 14 (163)

-OK, so Red Tornado's a pretty common recurring character in Justice League lore, but only got a few bit parts (and very few words to say- "Soooooey!") in the JLU cartoon. I LOVE the name- one of the cooler super-names in comics, really- but there's just not much to him that The Vision didn't do, and better, in Marvel's Avengers. Of course, despite the timing being almost impossible to make it so, you could argue that the latter is definitely a rip-off of the former (just look here- the similarities are UNCANNY), but then, DC just ripped off Lensman for its new Green Lantern, right down to the "Take up my weapon, Earthling" origin story, so it's not like comic writers were above blatant plagiarism. The use of Vision in the Avengers movies pretty much dooms Red Tornado to obscurity, not that the movies ended up using him much.

-Red Tornado definitely has one of the more rarely-used power suites in superheroing, which made him pretty notable in battle scenes (unlike, say, Commander Steel or Hourman), but his most notable occurence has him getting blowed up good by the returning Ivo's Android. He got better. Because, y'know, android.

-Red Tornado's a PL 11 guy, making him much tougher than the usual rank & file. He's still a bit limited outside his powers, having few Skills & Advantages and not being a good Melee fighter despite his raw strength, and he hasn't showcased too many variant Alt-Effects for his powers, but what was shown proved him to be very effective, and I just threw in some basic "Air Controller" type powers anyways. Beating three other Air Controlling Ultimen at once proved that he was definitely tough. And hey, EVERYONE lost to The Android when he showed up, so there's no shame in THAT loss (of course, Tornado's the only guy who got Laser-Vision'd in half and blown up... he got better). He's super-strong, can link to computers, can be rebuilt (and likely heal a bit, so I threw that in. The comic one could, anyhow), etc. He wasn't very charismatic, though (ESPECIALLY in this version), so he's got a swack of weaknesses, too.

About the Performer: Red Tornado was such a minor character that he was just played by Grodd's VA for one or two lines.

[Jabroniville]

AMANDA WALLER
Created By: John Ostrander, Len Wein & John Byrne
First Appearance: Legends #1 (Nov. 1986)
Role: Potential Big Bad, "Big Brother" Government Figure, The Manipulator
Voice Actor: C.C.H. Pounder
Finest Moment: Springing the League and melting Luthor's Super-Nano-Android.
PL 3 (96), PL 6 (96) Defenses
STRENGTH 1 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 3 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 5 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Deception 8 (+11)
Expertise (Computers) 5 (+9)
Expertise (Current Events) 8 (+12)
Expertise (Streetwise) 4 (+8)
Expertise (Super-Heroes) 8 (+12)
Expertise (Government) 10 (+14)
Insight 7 (+12)
Intimidation 9 (+12)
Investigation 5 (+10)
Perception 2 (+7)
Persuasion 8 (+11)
Vehicles 2 (+2)

Advantages:
Benefit 6 (Director of Cadmus), Connected, Contacts, Ranged Attack 7, Well-Informed

Offense:
Unarmed +3 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +2 (DC 12), Parry +3 (DC 13), Toughness +3, Fortitude +3, Will +8

Complications:
Responsibility (American Security)- All Waller does, she does for the security of the United States. And she will do ANYTHING for her country.
Secret (Numerous Conspiracies)- For one thing, Waller is supposed to be dead. There's also a lot of bodies buried, and she knows the hows and the whys.
Rivalry (Metahumans)- Waller does not like, nor trust metahumans. She knows they are a potential threat to national security.

Total: Abilities: 38 / Skills: 76--38 / Advantages: 16 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 4 (96)

-Amanda Waller was a huge thorn in the Justice League's side all through the first JLU season, being a super-powerful shadowy figure who took umbrage with the League's sheer might and power over the American people. She made some dangerous bedfellows (Lex Luthor, Doomsday, Galatea) in her quest to bring the League down, did a lot of lying, and was in many ways the PERFECT villain- better than even those assholes were- most comic book foes tend to just be Greedy Assholes or Dark Lord-types, but with Waller... you got the real sense that SHE FELT SHE WAS RIGHT. The villain should ALWAYS feel justified by their actions. So Waller was down in the dirt, making deals with absolute snakes (ones she KNEW to be evil), but you could 100% buy that she felt justified in doing so- the League had TOO much power, and could have been corrupted REALLY badly.

-Now, as fans, WE know that the League were good people. But Waller was also given many indications that they might NOT be. And an organized League with hundreds of superhumans under the direction of an alien in a Watchtower with a Kill-Satellite? You can buy that the U.S. government would be MORTIFIED. And importantly, Waller wasn't comically evil by any means- she knew Wade Eiling's idea of sending a nuclear warhead to take out Doomsday & Superman simultaneously was WAY over the line, and once she realized what Luthor was up to, she sprung the League and went to stop him. This made her one of the better antagonists in cartoon history, as she was definitely toeing the line between good & evil, doing what she felt needed to be done.

-I love the very concept of Waller- her appearance and her threat level are in utter contrast. At her core, she's a short, overweight black woman. Literally the most powerless type of person in America- a minority who grew up poor and is seen as both weak (an older woman) and sexually unappealing to almost everyone. She should have ZERO power... yet wields a near-unimaginable amount of it (even the PRESIDENT thinks she's dead!). It's fairly stupid how DC rebooted her into the standard Generic Comic Book Body-Type, as not only is she just one of HUNDREDS of identical-looking women out there, but it ruins the entire contrast of her power with her appearance.

-Not a powerhouse, this spark-plug of a woman is all about the Skills. She's not particularly likeable or nice, but has a ton of interpersonal skills, is able to scare just about anybody, and can manipulate with the best of them. The definition of "friends in high places", she's used her information to gain experts in virtually every field that are loyal to her, discover the secret identity of Batman (possibly via Hugo Strange- a Cadmus operative), controls a massive military organization with hundreds of available soldiers, has a direct line to the President, etc. All of that makes her precise Skills hard to determine ("Manipulate & Hide Records" isn't easily found), but Government, Current Events, Connected, Contacts, & Benefit pretty much cover all the bases as far as I'm concerned. She's highly dangerous, but in that way that's entirely roleplaying.

About the Performer: A woman practically born to play Amanda Waller, Caroline Christine Hilaria Pounder is a lifelong "Character Actress", appearing mostly on television in one-off shots. She was on "ER" for three years, but her biggest recurring role is Claudette Wyms on the FX cop show "The Shield"- here, her agent argued that the male role of Detectve Wyms should be played by HIS client, and the writers & producers eventually agreed- everyone was ultimately happy with her tough-as-nails depiction of a scrappy, moralistic, heavy-handed police detective. She was shown to be a tougher partner than her wimpy nerd ally, Detective Wagenbach, and a self-righteous thorn in the side of Vic Mackey and his "Strike Team". She was unafraid to go after her superiors (once walking into a room and suggesting her Captain's intervention in her case "was BULL SHIT!!" in a crowded room), but often let that sense of righteousness get the best of her.

-Her throaty, dramatic voice lent itself well to animation, where she was Desdemona on "Gargoyles" (Coldfire's mate), and of course, "The Wall" on "Justice League Unlimited". With the perfect amount of toughness, bitterness, "I do what has to be done" self-righteousness, and more, she was PERFECT. And being a physically, um... not uber-hot... black woman, she would have been ideal for a live action role as well.

[Scots Dragon]

About the Performer: James Remar has been all over the place as an actor, typically playing villains. He was the violent, aggressive Ajax in "The Warriors", the murderer Ganz in "48 Hrs.", and Dutch Shcultz in "The Cotton Club". He was the unpopular successor to Christopher Lambert in "Mortal Kombat Annihilation", playing a goofy-ass, human Raiden- the '90s had been less kind to him, and he ended up in all kinds of B-Movies and one-off roles as backgrounders. His biggest recent role was as Dexter's adoptive father on "Dexter" for a number of years.

James Remar has recently come back to DC, playing the mentor/pseudo-Alfred figure Peter Gambi in the live action Black Lightning series, where he's pretty good overall.

[Shock]

AMANDA WALLER
Finest Moment: Springing the League and melting Luthor's Super-Nano-Android.

I thought it was the end of one of the episodes where she calls Batman "Rich Boy" and surprises the hell out of him. How many people get to do that to Batman?

[Ares]

Hawkman: It is kind of funny how only in a superhero setting could a man possessing the ability humans have sought for hundreds of years, which we only just managed to achieve via very bulky machines in the last 100 years, and consider him lesser for "only" having that ability. Though to be fair, back when Hawkman was first created, they weren't handing out Flight to everyone like candy.

I've got to say, Geoff Johns did a nice job of tying the Hawk mythos together, and the idea of Carter as essentially a hybrid of Indiana Jones and Conan the Barbarian with some alien technology made for an interesting character concept, and once his weapons started having Nth metal in them as well, he became much more dangerous.

As for his inclusion in the show, I wasn't really a fan of the way the show included him, or the whole "John and Shayera had the true reincarnated love" thing. It just screws with a fundamental part of Carter and Shayera's comic book mythos, and if you were going to focus on the Hawks being 100% the Silver Age Sci-Fi Aliens rather than the combined version we got in Johns' JSA, then they shouldn't have included Carter at all and just resigned Hawkman to the same place as Hal Jordan, Barry Allen and Jay Garrick.

Side note, but Dwayne McDuffie's dislike of the reincarnation angle simply because he didn't believe in reincarnation strikes me as really, really stupid. By extension, did he believe in magic, aliens, ESP, Atlantis, Lovecraftian horrors, the Greek Afterlife, the Olympian gods, talking gorillas and all of the OTHER batshit insane aspects of the DCU? I mean, what you choose to believe or not believe in the real world is up to you, I'm not making a case for or against reincarnation. But it's something built into the character's backstory, it seems ridiculous to have an issue with reincarnation occurring in a fictional setting.


Red Tornado: I always liked Red Tornado. Like you said, he's got a cool name, I love wind powers, and he had the whole "trying to become human" thing going for him, only with a normal girlfriend and an adopted daughter that gave him some very different pathos than the Vision. The Vision also had one of my favorite heroic sacrifices in comics during the JLA/JSA team up that brought back the Seven Soldiers of Victory. In order to defeat the godlike Nebula Man, the League, Society and Soldiers worked together to construct the same weapon that had defeated the Nebula Man once before. Said weapon required the sacrifice of whomever used the weapon, as the first time around it was the Crimson Avenger's sidekick Wing that made the sacrifice.

Everyone starts trying to be the one to make the sacrifice. Superman says that he should go because he's invulnerable, but it's pointed out the weapon could kill even him. Both Green Lanterns each offer to do so, Dr. Fate tries, and everyone is basically making arguments for themselves being the one to make the sacrifice, or shooting down someone else's argument because they don't want them to die.

It's only when someone turns and sees that the weapon is GONE that they also realize the Red Tornado is missing as well. In the weapon's place is a note that essentially reads,

"By the time you find this, I will have engaged the Nebula Man in battle. It was said that nothing living can withstand the power of the weapon I now wield. But I am merely a machine. Perhaps of all of us, I have the best chance of surviving the weapon's detonation. If not, then nothing will be lost but some circuits and gears. If I am successful, I will see you all soon. And if I am not, remember me. Your friend, the Red Tornado."

It's simple, sappy, probably even a little cheesy, but I love it. The rest of the heroes make a dash for the door to try and help Reddy, but they see the explosion of the weapon going off, and believe their friend is dead. Luckily for the Tornado, he did manage to survive and the blast simply shunted him into Earth-1, where he joined the Justice League.

And yeah, I loved that scene where he took on trio of Wind Dragons and took them all on with one hand. They clench their fists and visibly increase their power and Reddy . . . does nothing. He remains in the same position, never even breaks out the other arm, and just sends them all flying.


Amanda Waller: Waller is a great example of the dividing line between an Antagonist and a Villain. Lex Luthor is a villain. The Joker is a villain. Darkseid is a villain. Amanda Waller is an Antagonist. She's not out to take over the world, she exists to fight what she perceives to be a dangerous threat to her country. She's a patriot willing to do every dirty, illegal thing to keep her home safe. She's very much in the same vein as Harold Smith of CURE from The Destroyer novels, willing to break American laws if it means preserving the nation.

It helped that she had, from her perspective, reasons to fear the League, that she was horrified by some of the more insane actions of CADMUS, and very importantly, that she wasn't STUPID. When Waller received new information that made sense, she ACTED on it and adjusted her world view accordingly. By the time of the final season of JLU she had actually chilled out quite a bit and was okay with the League.

It's what makes Waller someone fans enjoy even if she's being antagonistic towards the heroes, while someone like Maria Hill is decried for being such an unlikable, stupid moron.

[Jabroniville]

RAMPAGE (Dr. Karen "Kitty" Falkner)
Created By: John Byrne
First Appearance: Superman #7 (July 1987)
Role: Powerhouse, Background Villain
Voice Actor: Susan Eisenberg
Finest Moment: uhhhh....
PL 10 (97)
STRENGTH 10 STAMINA 10 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Criminal) 4 (+4)
Intimidation 8 (+8)

Advantages:
Chokehold, Fast Grab, Improved Hold, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 6

Powers:
Impervious Toughness 7 [7]

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +10, Fortitude +10, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)
Responsibility (Monstrous Appearance)- Rampage is all yellow and stuff, and couldn't pass for a normal person.

Total: Abilities: 62 / Skills: 16--8 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 7 / Defenses: 10 (97)

-Rampage is just a filler, background villain in JLU, being a minor villainess created in John Byrne's run on the Super-books. She just kinda hung around with Luthor, betrayed him to Grodd, then got killed by Killer Frost. She wasn't really anything- if they took the "Giant, Grouchy Super-Strong Giantess" gimmick and put it on a hot chick, I'm sure fans would STILL be talking about the character, and she'd be a major villain . Not judgin'.

About the Performer: Rampage is so minor she's just played by Wonder Woman's VA.

[Jabroniville]

Hawkman: It is kind of funny how only in a superhero setting could a man possessing the ability humans have sought for hundreds of years, which we only just managed to achieve via very bulky machines in the last 100 years, and consider him lesser for "only" having that ability. Though to be fair, back when Hawkman was first created, they weren't handing out Flight to everyone like candy.

I've got to say, Geoff Johns did a nice job of tying the Hawk mythos together, and the idea of Carter as essentially a hybrid of Indiana Jones and Conan the Barbarian with some alien technology made for an interesting character concept, and once his weapons started having Nth metal in them as well, he became much more dangerous.

As for his inclusion in the show, I wasn't really a fan of the way the show included him, or the whole "John and Shayera had the true reincarnated love" thing. It just screws with a fundamental part of Carter and Shayera's comic book mythos, and if you were going to focus on the Hawks being 100% the Silver Age Sci-Fi Aliens rather than the combined version we got in Johns' JSA, then they shouldn't have included Carter at all and just resigned Hawkman to the same place as Hal Jordan, Barry Allen and Jay Garrick.

Yeah, this is one of those things where you can 100% understand DC going "No- no, you don't turn one of our most tenuous recurring superheroes into a genocidal killer, no matter what the reasons." They could have just ignored Carter, especially as it weirded up the entire backstory with an unnecessary side-thing featuring a John Stewart-like random side-dude in the same tale. The whole thing felt unnecessary except to add more to John/Shayera.

The JLU writers were very good at discarding all that didn't fit, so there were many predecessor heroes not a thing in this show's universe. The entire Golden Age was gone, with only a handful of their heroes (like Wildcat) as contemporary guys. They didn't really "need" a Hawkman.

Though... Shayera in the pink dress. I guess that makes it worth it.

[Jabroniville]

About the Performer: James Remar has been all over the place as an actor, typically playing villains. He was the violent, aggressive Ajax in "The Warriors", the murderer Ganz in "48 Hrs.", and Dutch Shcultz in "The Cotton Club". He was the unpopular successor to Christopher Lambert in "Mortal Kombat Annihilation", playing a goofy-ass, human Raiden- the '90s had been less kind to him, and he ended up in all kinds of B-Movies and one-off roles as backgrounders. His biggest recent role was as Dexter's adoptive father on "Dexter" for a number of years.

James Remar has recently come back to DC, playing the mentor/pseudo-Alfred figure Peter Gambi in the live action Black Lightning series, where he's pretty good overall.

Ah, yeah. Not having watched any of those shows, I never know who's important . Plus when doing the Actor Bios, I kind of have to pick and choose the biggest or most notable deals I can find. And the terrible human Raiden is possibly the funniest one I could find, lol.