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

[Jabroniville]

THE WEAPONER
Created By: Tony Bedard & Ardian Syaf
First Appearance: Green Lantern Corps #49 (Aug. 2010)
Role: Elite Weaponmaster
Group Affiliations: Qward, The Sinestro Corps
PL 13 (71)
STRENGTH 5 STAMINA 6 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 12 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 5 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 3 (+8)
Expertise (Weapons) 10 (+15)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 5 (+8)
Perception 5 (+8)
Persuasion 3 (+6)
Stealth 1 (+5)
Technology 8 (+13)

Advantages:
Equipment (Hammer +3), Improved Critical (Hammer), Ranged Attack 8, Takedown

Powers:
"White Light Shield" (Flaws: Removable) [77]
Variable (Any Weapon) 12 (Extras: Move Action) (96 points)
(Sample Powers: Blast 14, Strength-Damage +9- Inaccurate, Nullify 14, Snare 14)

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Hammer +12 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
White Light Weapons +10 (+16 Damage, DC 31)
White Light Blasts +12 (+14 Ranged Damage, DC 27)
White Light Snare +12 (+14 Ranged Affliction, DC 24)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (+7 Shield, DC 16-17), Parry +6 (+7 Shield, DC 16-17), Toughness +4, Fortitude +6, Will +2

Complications:
Responsibility (Qward)
Enemy (Sinestro)- The Weaponer seeks revenge against Sinestro for setting off a series of events that results in the destruction of Qwardian society.

Total: Abilities: 84 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 77 / Defenses: 7 (71)

The Weaponer- The Personification of New Villain Stink:
-I actually remember this guy, though not so much what he did. I had to go and re-read the GLC issues that feature him- he's sort of a living Retcon, though not one that breaks anything. He's a Weaponer of Qward- one of the beings responsible for the creation of Sinestro's first Yellow Power Ring in the backstory. As this was pre-established canon, all this story did was explain that THIS was the guy responsible for forging it. However, it's pointed out how bad things got for Qward since then- their living god, the Anti-Monitor, was killed fighting the Positive Matter Universe, Qward fell into discord, and finally it was taken over and its people enslaved by the Sinestro Corps in their desire for more Rings. As the Weaponer was the chief man who started it all, he took the brunt of the blame, and was exiled. Resenting Sinestro, he used a weapon he discovered (a construct of the White Light of Creation, created by Geoff Johns around Blackest Night) and kidnaps Soranik Natu, the daughter of Sinestro, in order to lure him in for some revenge.

-So in the story, the Weaponer gets the mandatory "New Villain Stink"- he easily defeats both Natu and her boyfriend, Kyle Rayner. Then when a band of allies arrive, he effortlessly beats Boodikka, Hannu, Kyle, John Stewart and even GANTHET, as his weapon can shapeshift repeatedly for any given situation. Sinestro, refusing to help his daughter (even after Kyle tries to fight him bare-handed and loses- this amuses Hannu greatly "I knew there was a reason I liked you, kid"), instead sends the Sinestro Corps, who again threaten all of Qward- the remaining Thunderers are infuriated further with the Weaponer. However, the Weaponer is himself crushed by Sinestro, and a massive fight takes place between GLs, Sinestro Corps, Thunderers & the Weaponer (as there's a truce in place, the Corps may not use their Rings on each other, but are using other gear instead), and the Weaponer stands with his people, who rally around him.

-So anyways, despite losing the first round, the Weaponer fights back and impresses Sinestro with his savagery and control of the White Light. And then in a pretty cool ending, he defeats the man yet again, but offers him a Yellow Ring, giving him full props. And Soranik notes this is the darkest part of Sinestro- that he corrupts people. The Weaponer, still stinging from his exile, accepts and joins the Sinestro Corps, then goes off. Annnnnnnnnnnd never appears in any significance again. He's in a couple more stories after that, but nothing's written down online and he's a minor guy after all that hype. His reasoning was a bit solid, and his mannerisms somewhat interesting (he was polite, if merciless, to the Green Lanterns, as they were merely a means to an end, but would SNAP if Sinestro was brought up), but it was some blatant "New Villain Stink" with him just wiping out a whole squad of heroes. The arc itself is... okay. It's spread out a bit too much (something like eight issues, though he's in the backstory for the first bit involving Cyborg Superman forcing Ganthet to work on Alpha Lanterns, but there's a sense of Tony Bedard trying to flesh out the universe and create an interesting and uniqute "One-Off Threat". Not his fault it didn't really go anywhere.

The Weaponer's Power:
-The white netting the Weaponer found has been attached to his shield, rendering him extremely powerful, as it is versatile as hell, effectively becoming any kind of weapon imaginable. Using it, he was able to use Ganthet's power against him, ensaring him. Boodikka has her chest-plate (containing her Alpha Lantern battery) smashed, making her bleed out energy. Hannu is simply overpowered and crucified on the ground, giant energy-pegs hammered through his limbs. John Stewart's weapons require eyesight, so the Weaponer creates a whip to strike his eyes, then blinds him with energy-ropes. This is a highly-powerful Variable weapon that makes him PL 13 overall (beating that many PL 12-13 guys at once makes one around a PL 15, just about)

[Jabroniville]

KRONA
Created By: John Broome & Gil Kane
First Appearance: Green Lantern #40 (Oct. 1965)
Role: Accidental Destroyer

Krona- Universal Origin Story to Mega-Villain:
-Going way, WAY back to the Silver Age, Krona was depicted as an obsessed scientist who accidentally created a dreadful thing- in his desire to see the origins of the universe itself, Krona went in the face of prophecy and observed it via a viewscreen in front of his horrified colleagues on the world of Maltus. On the monitor, a hand of creation rose from beneath a growing starfield, but soon everything erupted- the machine exploded and what was to be a single universe was scattered into a Multiverse, complete with an Anti-Matter Universe in opposition to our own. As punishment, Krona is transformed into pure energy and sent to wander the cosmos forever. This finally provides backstory to the Guardians of the Universe- they are athe descendants of these Maltusians, having evolved from bald ripped guys into tiny floating dudes.

-This origin is again seen during the Crisis on Infinite Earths, and Krona is thus deemed the accidental creator of the Anti-Monitor. However, he does not reappear... until JLA vs. Avengers, in which Kurt Busiek & George Perez justify their massive crossover with Krona as its main villain! Now an extremely powerful Mad Scientist again obsessed with creation, he invades the Marvel Universe and destroys Galactus in his search for knowledge. He confronts the Grandmaster, who witnessed Marvel's "Big Bang", and the Grandmaster cleverly stalls him by staging a game between DC's Justice League & Marvel's Avengers. Krona cleverly switches which man benefits from which team, but Captain America, Batman & The Atom realize the nature of the game and let the JLA (Grandmaster's team) win. Grandmaster is blown up, but not before he traps Krona, locking him to a "multiversal junction point" using all the items from both universes gathered together.

-Enraged but continuing his insane mission, Krona prepares to merge the two universes together, destroying both to create a beginning that he himself can witness. The heroes are briefly fooled into acting like everything is normal in their "combined continuity" (something I'd still pay to see be a regular thing, complete with Earth-switching and team rivalries & meet-ups), but eventually discover the truth from the dying Grandmaster- they storm Krona's citadel, and finally every hero ever fights every villain ever in the ultiamte main event... and because it's partially a Marvel story, the weakest hero possible saves the day, as Hawkeye & The Flash barge in and Hawkeye fires the arrow that takes out Krona's machines, sucking him into a "Cosmic Egg". Both universes thus separate.

BUT WAIT!:
-Busiek, his story highly acclaimed, decided to use Krona again in his Trinity series, which had a Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman team-up theme. Despero takes the Egg, and Krona is freed, betraying Despero and others. He fights basically every hero in the DC Universe, actually destroying the Earth, but the Trinity survives thanks to temporary god-like powers and defeats him. He is imprisoned "For All Time", which turns out to be for a couple of years, because he's one of numerous old characters gobbled up by Geoff Johns's desire to use EVERYBODY in the DC Universe. He appears as a mysterious agent gathering all of the Emotional Spectrum Entities, and says that this was his job in his days on Maltus, before the Guardians exiled him. He takes all the Entities and reveals that he was the one responsible for the destruction of Sector 666 back in the day, and launches an attack on Oa. Eventually the four Earth GLs and Sinestro combine, killing Krona despite his power over all Emotional elements. Atrocitus, the sole survivor of 666, uses his corpse as a "confidante" in a weird bit, and it's temporarily controlled by a demonic intelligence before being stopped.

-So overall Krona is a very unique part of DC's backstory, but once Kurt Busiek got a hold of him it seemed like Johns got jealous and messed about with the guy, too. He's gone from a hopelessly naive scientist to an out-and-out super-villain destroyer, willing to wipe out billions in his quest for knowledge and power. But Johns's tales weren't really to the character's benefit, and he's kind of faltered since then.

Krona's Powers:
-Krona seems to have the powers that the other Guardians have, but was later enhanced by Nekron. His genius, however, is the truly dangerous part. In JLA/Avengers, he had gained energies from all the universes he had destroyed, leaving him able to take out beings like Galactus and Grandmaster with ease thanks to powerful machines. Though his arrogance and disregard for others is usually his downfall... especially if a certain archer shows up with a TNT arrow. In the Johns stuff, he gains power over the entire Emotional Spectrum. So Krona might well have different powers every time he's encountered.

[Jack of Spades]

Krona also did a turn as a minion of Nekron, leading an army of undead to destroy the boundary between life and death. It was one of the few times I can remember the Guardians taking the field in the silver age, and the source of my "they're powerful, but they can't fight very well" assessment.

[Ken]

KRONA

Missed one...



But seriously...

[Jabroniville]

VOLTHOOM, THE FIRST LANTERN
Created By: Geoff Johns & Ethan Van Sciver
First Appearance: Green Lantern Annual #1 (Oct. 2012)
Role: The First Lantern

Volthoom- The Guy I Forgot About:
-Ugggggggggghhhhhh "VOLTHOOM". I hate that name. It's like "Barsoom" or "Dooku"- just one of those silly-sounding names that immediately turns me off of something and makes me unable to take it seriously. So much so that I apparently forgot all about this guy, as I only have the vaguest memory of reading something about a disgraced "First Lantern" in Geoff Johns's stuff. This is when I had REALLY checked out on his run, so bear with me, as this is all Wiki-research (I refuse to read that part of his run again).

-So Geoff Johns, being Geoff Johns, is all "Hey, let's retcon in the First Lantern"- the first being in the multiverse to wield a Power Ring, said to have nearly unlimited strength. He was born on Earth 15, where he and his mother discovered the Emotional Electromagnetic Spectrum- some aliens invaded and destroyed Earth 15 as he escaped using a "Travel Lantern" he and his mom had made- she died in the invasion. He went to different Earths in the Multiverse to find a solution to bring back his Earth, but was left frustrated as various scientists could only do things he didn't care about. The sorcerer Mordru of Earth 3 created "The Ring of Volthoom" out of the man's soul, but he left after an argument- this ring went to the Crime Syndicate villain Power Ring.

Volthoom's Travels:
-Finally, Volthoom found Earth 0, the "Main Earth", and located the Maltusians- the predecessors to the Guardians of the Universe. When the Maltusians poured all of their emotions into a "Great Heart", a ring came out of it- one that Volthoom donned to become the first Green Lantern. He enacted law & order everywhere he went, and the Maltsusians gave him the Great Heart, implanting it into his chest so he could use the entire spectrum. He planned on using this to save his world, but the spectrum ended up driving him insane. The Maltusians destroyed his Travel Lantern in an attempt to secure their inventions by preventing his escape, and he went mad with revenge, killing thousands of them. Seven "Proto-Green Lanterns" stopped him, ripping the Great Heart from his chest, and Volthoom was imprisoned in the "Chamber of Shadows", writing him out of their history. Several Guardians, also erased from history, stayed behind to guard this "unbreakable" chamber.

-Then, in modern times, the now-evil Guardians used Volthoom's DNA to create a horde called the "Third Army" to replace the GLs. The Army was stopped by the Corps, but the Guardians made a dumbass move and drained power from Volthoom, accidentally freeing him. Every Lantern in every Corps opposed him, and ultimately Nekron killed him after Hal separated Volthoom from the Emotional Spectrum. In the end, the Guardians charged with watching his prison remained and were installed as the new, non-evil Guardians to back up the GLC. I remember NONE of this. After the New 52 era began, Volthoom returned, unable to permanently die. He tricks Frank Laminski into taking the Phantom Ring and switches minds with a Guardian.

Volthoom's Powers:
-Volthoom has complete control of the Emotional Spectrum, so likely powers similar to the Phantom Lantern, but at much higher levels. He is also immortal, can phase, grow large, regenerate almost insantly, teleport, and more.

[Jabroniville]

And with Volthoom, I am FINISHED the Green Lantern builds! That was an interesting look at some of the odd, mostly forgotten guys from his rogues gallery. The 60s ones are REALLY BAD- comes off like the creators just didn’t know how to make memorable villains- just unique conflicts for Hal to Variable Power his way out of.

And now I look forward to never having to stay out all 20 Corps powers in different amounts and Alt-Effects ever again . Until they decide to invent a 4th Edition, I suppose.

Next up- stuff more in my typical wheelhouse, as I re-write and transfer more profiles over to Echoes! It’s JOBBER VILLAINS TIME! As both the forgotten X-Villains the Externals and the mighty ZODIAC CARTEL come to town!

[Davies]

VOLTHOOM, THE FIRST LANTERN

The Earth-3 bits were established in 1964, apparently. The name is a slight deformation of Vulthoom, a monstrous deity from the works of Clark Ashton Smith.

[Jabroniville]

THE EXTERNALS:
-Welcome to that horrible morass of evil that all comic book readers fear to tread... the realm of The Liefeld. The Externals (or High Lords- they could never settle on a permanent name, which was very confusing for the narrative... Jim Shooter would not approve)... that's gotta go down as one of those weird things in comics- an idea that was such an obvious knock-off that when the whole lot of them were discarded, it came off like a quickie legal decision.

Basically, the latter-day New Mutants issues had been given a massive shot in the arm by this wild, untested Liefeld kid, and so he was given his way and allowed to introduce just DOZENS of new characters. As I stated with the Upstarts set, Marvel seemed to want to get rid of all the villains from Claremont's run and replace them with new guys, giving them all big (if misaimed) pushes. In Rob's case, X-Force suddenly found themselves facing the gigantic Mutant Liberation Front, alongside the slow building of Weapon: P.R.I.M.E. And then THIS douche comes along...

Gideon & Co.:
Gideon appears as an "Old Friend" of Sunspot's whom we've never seen before, sporting mutant powers and a giant green ponytail, as well as arms covered in banded metal for some reason. He is immediately revealed as a bad guy, having Sunspot's father killed (wiping out a semi-important character to New Mutants lore)- Roberto inherits his father's company, but the unprepared kid is immediately taken in by Gideon, who plans to train him in the ways of business. And it turns out, through a pretty bizarre storytelling trick, that this is all because Gideon suspected Roberto was one of Gideon's kind- immortal mutants called "Externals", who sought to control the world through business means, since they had ages to set up their schemes. Past important, immortal characters such as Selene and even APOCALYPSE were explained as being unaffiliated members of the same group. And that this was some big deal to find a new one. Gideon thus spends many of the first couple years of X-Force training a reluctant Sunspot in the ways of business and warfare, at times impressed by how much the boy has learned. HOWEVER...

It turned out to be Cannonball, not Sunspot, who was the "New Immortal" (they are "born" by being killed- they then raise from death and never age thereafter)- this being the reason Cable had decided to enter Earth at this precise timeline, because the rise of a new "High Lord" was supposed to be the key to changing Cable's horrible future world ruled by Apocalypse. When Gideon discovers this, he casually has Roberto beaten and tortured via machines that test out his solar absorption abilities. Crule, another External with a Toyetic design, is sent after Cannonball, but badly beaten and nearly crippled. Gideon is uncaring, but when 'Berto is sprung by X-Force (Cannonball, his best friend, has to promise Gideon not to interfere in his business anymore, and Gideon tells him where Sunspot is), he gains all-new powers... and by this point, Liefeld was gone and they were going an entirely different route with a lot of X-stuff anyways. So Gideon is given a RAPID de-push.

So first of all, Gideon introduces us to Saul, who's even older than he is, and we learn that the Externals are actually DYING- the new Legacy Virus cooked up by the new X-writers can, in fact, kill them. Saul & Gideon watched their ally Nicodemus burn himself out with flames and die, terrifying both. So the horrified Gideon & Saul realize they need to get Cannonball on their side because he is supposed to be their "last hope" or whatever. And so Saul assaults and abdcuts three members of X-Force- Siryn, Warpath & Boomer- holding them hostage unless Sam joins them. Sam, beholden by his promise... decides to send the OTHERS to rescue their allies (thanks to some all-new gear found in the crashing of Cable's warship Graymalkin), figuring this doesn't technically break his promise ("I didn't interfere. The OTHERS did"). Worst of all for Gideon & Saul, they're simply knocked on their asses by an APC crashing through the wall of their mansion (they don't have cameras up? Or goons to warn them?) and beaten in a single panel each- Rictor shake & bakes Saul while Sunspot calls dibs (in a panel & dialogue arrangement that's always irked me- Ric gets the first line and says "the old man is mine" first, and THEN Sunspot is like "That's alright, just as long as... GIDEON'S MINE!")- Gideon is one-shotted by him, and then manhandled as their friends are rescued.

And I mean they KICKED HIS ASS. See... Gideon had been given a solid little push in the Liefeld years, but he still managed to get his ass handed to him more than once (Black Tom one-shot-KO'd him), and once Liefeld left the books and Fabian Nicieza took over full writing duties, the Externals concept fell by the wayside. So with that, the Externals are just laughably reduced to nothing as a threat. A few issues later (right near the end of my first collecting phase), the Externals calmly come to Cannonball's family home and plead with him to hear them out. Absalom is introduced, also dying of the Legacy Virus, while Saul & Gideon give some backstory as to their own origins.

Truth be told, this story (in X-Force #37) was actually quite well done, and made some good points on the part of Sam Guthrie, who ripped on the Externals for doing nothing of value with eternal life, while he knew men who'd done far more, with much less time. Art by Paul Pelletier, long before I noticed his work on The Titans (he was the guy who drew a SUPER-hot Argent), and when he did stuff in Marvel's Cosmic & Hulk lines more recently.

The Immortals Die:
-You'd think that was leading to something big, but then you'd forget that comics changes creative teams a lot by the mid-to-late-'90s, which would result in the whole thing being RAPIDLY dropped, as X-Force runs into a room one day to see Selene (an External who was NEVER seen hanging around the others- the '90s involved the X-Books dropping almost all of the 1980s-era villains), stealing the life energy of ALL the surviving Externals (Saul, Gideon, Crule, Absalom, etc.), then taunting Sam that he was NEVER immortal all along! Which of course doesn't explain that one time he get his guts ripped apart by Sauron and healed within a half an hour, but that's comics for you. Storyline dropped, Gideon's never seen again, The End.

This was SO poorly-done and rapid-fire that TO THIS DAY, you will find fans who claim that it was done to appease the lawyers for the Highlander franchise, who were allegedly going to sue Marvel. It's been proven wrong since, however. Still funny, though.

The Immortals Un-Die:
-Strange things can happen over the ages. Cannonball's immortality went ignored, but he was shot a few times once and the Beast comments on it (MAYBE being joking). Apocalypse & Selene both get called "Externals" once in a while (though Selene has to absorb life energy to stay young). HOWEVER, very recent comics have revealed that all the Externals had, in fact, survived! "As it turns out, apparently the only way of effectively killing an External is by destroying their hearts, but when that happens the life-force of the slain External is channeled into the others making them virtually all powerful"... which is even more like the Immortals of Highlander fame. But it turns out that if even two Externals survive, then the rest will return. And this is proven later when one is killed and reborn as a baby.

All the dead Externals are summoned by Apocalypse, now accepted as one of their number, to Krakoa, and the mega-villain has Selene, Gideon & Absalom turn on Saul, Candra, Nicodemus & Crule (aka the ones comics wasn't using), using their life energy to fuel the crystals that allow teleportation capabilities on Krakoa.

So yeah, these completely discarded, failed '90s villains have had this weird new lease on life as minor background villains. Comics. Are. WEIRD.

[Davies]

<cricket noises>

[KorokoMystia]

It's always so intersting to see how many characters and plot points were just..dropped by creative team changes.
It's also bizarre that these forgotten failed 90s villains ended up being brought back so many years later.

[Jabroniville]

GIDEON
Created By: Rob Liefeld & Fabian Nicieza
First Appearance: The New Mutants #98 (Feb. 1991)
Role: Power-Copier, Rich Bastard, Behind-The-Scenes Manipulator
Group Affiliations: The Externals, Ophrah Enterprises
PL 10 (190)
STRENGTH 3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 5

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+7)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+11)
Deception 7 (+12)
Expertise (Business) 10 (+14)
Expertise (History) 6 (+10)
Expertise (Sailor in Columbus' Voyage) 2 (+6)
Insight 5 (+8)
Perception 6 (+9)
Persuasion 4 (+9)
Stealth 4 (+7)

Advantages:
Benefit 5 (Wealth- Billionaire), Chokehold, Daze (Deception), Diehard, Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Languages 2 (Many), Ranged Attack 8, Takedown, Taunt

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Copying Power Signatures"
Variable (Powers of Others) 8 (Quirks: Requires 2-5 Rounds to Activate -2) [56]

"Immortal High Lord External"
Immunity 1 (Aging) [1]
Regeneration 4 [4]

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Stolen Strength +11 (+xx Damage, DC xx)
Stolen Powers +10 (+xx Ranged Damage, DC xx)
Initiative +3

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

Complications:
Motivation (Wealth)- Gideon is greedy as sin.
Responsibility (The Externals)- As the head member of a secret enclave of Immortal Mutants, Gideon has many responsibilities.
Obsession (Sam Guthrie)- The revelation of a new High Lord in Sam "Cannonball" Guthrie filled Gideon with hope- he was prophesized as the one who could "save" the Externals from an unknown future. His methods for gaining access to the boy would include kidnapping, torture and manipulation. All the worse that he got the wrong guy originally.
Enemy (Sunspot)- Gideon manipulated Roberto da Costa as a young man, and eventually had him trussed-up and tortured, all because he thought Bobby was the External (it was actually teammate Cannonball). This made him a very angry, very powerful enemy in Sunspot.

Total: Abilities: 66 / Skills: 50--25 / Advantages: 22 / Powers: 61 / Defenses: 16 (190)

-Gideon is one of those guys set out right away in Liefeld's New Mutants run to be a Master Villain/Big Bad to X-Force, leading Sunspot away to become a junior super-villain and feud with his old teammates. He has Roberto's father poisoned to death, then gives 'Berto the "bad news" and decides to become his mentor. Along the way, his casual, "Whoopdeedoo", "Y'know" brand of speaking gives way to more "Fabian Nicieza Villain" dialogue, as he is much more stoic and humorless thereafter, talking in a very pretentious manner. And so we get a few X-Force issues where he trains Sunspot in the ways of business and war, and it seems like things might lead to a head. Though one of the early issues of the book sees Black Tom Cassidy humiliate Gideon by one-shotting him with his shillelaugh- it's weird to devalue your new villain like that. Meanwhile, Nicieza also wrote him in The New Warriors, where he WRECKS HOUSE over that team, using his Power-Copying abilities to beat the squad down.

-The "Gideon Story" gets super-weird as time goes on. It turns out he spent years befriending Roberto and then training him because he thought Roberto was a "High Lord" like he was. But then Cannonball is revealed to be the immortal one, and a furious Gideon has Bobby imprisoned and tortured mercilessly, given solar powers until he nearly dies. And this experimentation just powers Sunspot up, so he returns with all-new powesr. When Gideon and his old friend Saul, who'd by then been introduced, were having chats, X-Force arrives and wipes the floor with them, Gideon taken out too quickly to copy anyone's power-sets. And after this humiliation, he never recovers.

-Gideon is next seen explaining his origins to Cannonball, pleading with him to help them discover the cure for the Legacy Virus that can even kill them. Turns out he was on the Santa Maria that sailed to the Americas all those years ago- getting scurvy on the ship, he was tossed into the cargo hold with other dying men, and mysteriously arose the next morning, none the worse for wear. He since went on to become a powerful businessman. But then the next time we see him he's being sacrificed by Selene, who steals his life energy, and that's that. The character doesn't appear again until VERY recent history, actually getting to survive- he's convinced to turn on four of the little-used Externals by Apocalypse, and their life energies are absorbed. He now stands as an ally to Apocalypse, Selene & Absalom.

-Gideon is more of a Mastermind than a Powerhouse, being a rich boy with a base and whole industries working for him. His "Stealing Genetic Matrixes" power (that also worked on robots, somehow) is a classic "Liefeld Power" (ie. he couldn't think of one easily, so he designed a costume first and a power-set second- this happened with almost ALL of the "Image Guys"), and isn't very tough anyways (40 pp of new powers is decent, but not much compared to plenty of other similar characters), since X-Force easily routed him before he could react. He's generally not much in a fight, and depends upon other beings' presence to do ANYTHING.

[Jabroniville]

CRULE
Created By: Rob Liefeld, Fabian Nicieza & Marc Pacella
First Appearance: X-Force #12 (July 1992)
Role: The Scrapper, Wild Man
Group Affiliations: The Externals
PL 9 (125)
STRENGTH 5 STAMINA 6 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 7 (+12)
Athletics 7 (+12)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+11)
Close Combat (Claws) 1 (+11)
Deception 5 (+5)
Expertise (Criminal) 5 (+5)
Expertise (History) 6 (+6)
Insight 4 (+4)
Intimidation 7 (+7)
Perception 8 (+8)
Stealth 5 (+10)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Chokehold, Daze (Intimidation), Diehard, Equipment (Gear), Evasion, Fast Grab, Fearless, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Grab, Improved Initiative, Improved Smash, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Close/Concealment), Prone Fighting, Ranged Attack 4, Startle, Takedown 2, Tracking

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Enhanced Physiology"
Leaping 1 (15 feet) [1]
Senses 4 (Low-Light Vision, Acute & Extended Scent, Extended Sight) [4]

"Immortal High Lord External"
Immunity 1 (Aging) [1]
Regeneration 4 [4]

Equipment:
"Hair Whip" Damage 3 (Feats: Reach) (4) -- (5)

• AE: "Clawed Gauntlets" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Split) (2)

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Clawed Gauntlets +11 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +9

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +6, Fortitude +8, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Dealing Death)- Crule is one sick bastard -- Gideon last saw him in charge of the ovens in a Nazi concentration camp, and it's stated that he's a savage who enjoys dishing out torment.
Responsibility (The Externals)- As a member of a secret enclave of Immortal Mutants, Crule has many responsibilities. He ignores most of them, but he's still linked to the others.

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 58--29 / Advantages: 23 / Powers: 5 / Defenses: 14 (125)

-Crule is a purple-skinned member of the "Rob Liefeld School of Super-Powers", meaning that his exact abilities were never really clear- he's your everyday Scrapper Archetype, with a mix of the Wolverine rip-off gear: Claws (on gauntlets or natural?), sharp teeth, various pointy things, and a physical, berserker fighting style. He's stated to be praising Ishtar, meaning that he could be among the OLDEST of the Externals, but he was so animalistic and savage that it didn't matter. He was hired by Gideon to kill Cable (since Cable had Cannonball), but ended up fighting X-Force instead, and they easily defeated him (I mean, he's ONE GUY), with Shatterstar & Feral slicing him up, and Rictor blasting him out of their stolen S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. This put him in a body-cast for MONTHS, and he was next seen willingly helping the X-Forcers to hunt down Gideon (since he hated the other Externals anyways)- the team reciprocated by dumping him in the Pacific Ocean, in one of those "only in comics" scenes (Sam was beside himself at the team's explanations" "What else were we to do?" "What if he'd recovered and attacked us?" "The cast he was in floated, so we figured--"). He was casually offed like the rest of the Externals, and similarly dies when the group is resurrected in modern times.

-Crule's your everyday PL 8.5 Scrapper, and isn't actually that BAD, considering his only win is against a surprised, non-Blasting Cannonball, and Shatterstar & Feral made short work of him. Rictor's Vibe Blast knocked him hundreds of feet down to Earth, and his Regeneration was REALLY slow in healing him. His "1990s Vague Mutant Powers" syndrome rears itself, as various sights claim him to be a Strength/Speed/Claws/Senses guy, and I have no reason to disagree (he WAS visually tracking X-Force, in any case). His only other fights involve getting beaten down by Gideon (who copied his Genetic Template), and murdered by Selene.

[Jabroniville]

SAUL (Garbha Hsein)
Created By: Rob Liefeld, Fabian Nicieza & Marc Pacella
First Appearance: X-Force #10 (May 1992)
Role: The Mentor, Asian Stereotype
Group Affiliations: The Externals
PL 10 (149)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 5 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 8 (+10)
Expertise (Business) 4 (+8)
Expertise (History) 10 (+14)
Insight 4 (+9)
Intimidation 6 (+8)
Investigation 3 (+8)
Perception 4 (+9)
Persuasion 3 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Blasts) 2 (+10)
Stealth 4 (+5)
Technology 4 (+8)

Advantages:
Beginner's Luck, Benefit 5 (Wealth- Billionaire), Diehard, Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Blast) 2, Languages 2 (Many), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 6, Ultimate History Skill, Withstand Damage

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Plasma Blasts, Plus Magical Abilities"
Blast 10 (Feats: Split) (21) -- [24]

• AE: "Energy Wave" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (20)
• AE: "Energy Wave" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (20)
• AE: Teleport 8 (16)

"Mystical Senses" Senses 2 (Detect Magic, Ranged) [2]
"Mystical Flight" Flight 4 (30 mph) [8]

"Immortal High Lord External"
Immunity 1 (Aging) [1]
Regeneration 4 [4]

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Plasma Blasts +10 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Area Effects +10 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3, Fortitude +7, Will +7

Complications:
Responsibility (The Externals)- As a member of a secret enclave of Immortal Mutants, Saul has many responsibilities.

Total: Abilities: 48 / Skills: 52--26 / Advantages: 21 / Powers: 39 / Defenses: 15 (149)

-Saul was Gideon's mentor-figure of sorts, a VERY old-looking Asian fellow who was old enough to have met a young-looking En Sabah Nur before he became Apocalypse. He found the big Celestial Ship, but Nur stole it from him, leaving him for dead. Revealed as an External, he just hung around with Gideon to speak in those random old mentor-ly phrases about the future and junk, and he was shown to be rather powerful, despite getting his ass kicked easily against an opponent that was ready for him. He one-shot blasted Warpath, Siryn & Boomer with a huge burst, but he was pretty easily taken down by Rictor & Shatterstar later on. Saul was crucified and sacrificed by Selene, more or less discarding him entirely, followed by the rest of the Externals. He's revealed to have survived in modern times, killed by a future Gideon for a strange purpose, but returns with all the other Externals- he, Nicodemus & Candra are killed by the agents of Apocalypse, who use their bodies to fuel the "External Gate" that brings Krakoa to Otherworld.

-Saul is powerful enough to one-shot three superheroes (including the super-durable Warpath) with a sneak attack, but is a Glass Cannon, unable to take a lot of punishment outside of that- Rictor easily finishes him in one shot. He inexplicably shows the ability to turn into a DRAGON in a recent book, acting like he's just been learning magic all this time or something.

[Jabroniville]

ABSALOM (Corey Flynn)
Created By: Rob Liefeld, Fabian Nicieza & Marc Pacella
First Appearance: X-Force #10 (May 1992)
Role: Butt-Munch
Group Affiliations: The Externals
PL 8 (131)
STRENGTH 5 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Athletics 3 (+8)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Expertise (Cowboy) 4 (+6)
Expertise (History) 5 (+7)
Insight 2 (+3)
Intimidation 6 (+7)
Perception 3 (+4)
Ranged Combat (Pistols) 4 (+10)
Stealth 1 (+5)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Benefit (External), Chokehold, Daze (Intimidation), Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Spines), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 4, Startle

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Spine Growth"
"Spines" Strength-Damage +3 (Feats: Reach) (Extras: Reaction +3 for 8 Ranks) [28]

"Immortal High Lord External"
Immunity 1 (Aging) [1]
Regeneration 4 [4]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Spines +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +5, Fortitude +9, Will +4

Complications:
Responsibility (The Externals)- As a member of a secret enclave of Immortal Mutants, Absalom has many responsibilities.

Total: Abilities: 56 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 33 / Defenses: 15 (131)

-Absalom is basically a nobody character, but he had a unique one-issue soliloquy at one point. He debuted with a group of other Externals (Gideon, Nicodemus, Saul & Burke), all talking about Gideon's mistake in choosing Sunspot as the new High Lord, and his decision to set Crule against X-Force. He was antagonistic there, but didn't really do anything other than that. A later issue (MUCH later... after thirty issues, you could be forgiven for having no recollection of the guy), he was dying of the Legacy Virus (the Externals had already lost Nicodemus & Burke to it by this point), explaining his past as a cowardly thief in the Wild West days, and how he'd shot an aged Caleb Hammer (an old forgotten Marvel Cowboy hero) in the back when he refused a duel. He was doing this "grappling with his own imminent death" thing, was ultra-grouchy (to be expected), and was killed with the rest of the gang by Selene.

-Absalom returned in modern times with the other Externals, and shockingly SURVIVED BOTH STORYLINES, which is pretty mind-blowing given how minor a character he was. Gideon had temporarily killed a couple of the others in a search for power, and later Apocalypse sacrificed some to fuel the "External Gate", but needed four to survive, and Absalom lucked out and was chosen.

-Absalom is a pretty forgettable "Scrapper" design. He's also a Wild West cowboy.

[Jabroniville]

CANDRA
Created By: Howard Mackie & Lee Weeks
First Appearance: Gambit #1 (Dec. 1993)
Role: Femme Fatale
Group Affiliations: The Externals, The Assassin & Thieves' Guilds of New Orleans
PL 10 (166)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+6)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+8)
Deception 7 (+10)
Expertise (History) 5 (+8)
Expertise (Criminal) 8 (+11)
Insight 5 (+8)
Perception 6 (+9)
Persuasion 5 (+8)
Stealth 4 (+7)

Advantages:
Benefit 2 (Wealth), Daze (Deception), Diehard, Fast Grab, Languages (Several), Ranged Attack 8

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Telekinesis"
Move Object 10 (Feats: Precise) (21) -- [22]

• AE: "TK Bolts" Blast 10 (20)

"Molecular Activation of Genes" Variable (Random Powers) 4 (Extras: Affects Others Only +0, Ranged) [32]

"Immortal High Lord External"
Immunity 1 (Aging) [1]
Regeneration 4 [4]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Telekinesis +10 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +3

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

Complications:
Motivation (Wealth)- Candra is greedy as sin.
Responsibility (The Externals)- Candra does not meet with the other Externals, though she is one.
Vulnerable (Jewel)- All of Candra's energy is in some jewel (to prolong her longevity or something). When it got blown up, she died.

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 46--23 / Advantages: 14 / Powers: 62 / Defenses: 15 (166)

-Candra is a big-time Gambit opponent (back when his popularity was at its peak, and he earned his own solo series- remember THOSE days?) who was tenuously linked to the rest of the Externals by virtue of being Immortal (though she allegedly used her Telekinesis to control herself molecularly enough to avoid aging). She had great power over both the Guilds in Gambit's hellhole New Orleans home (the Thieves & Assassins' Guilds- she was a power-broker for both groups), and her costumes seem to alternate between "Generic Body Armour" and "Selene-Level Skankotron". She was an External, but not really one of the group- she'd rejected them and wanted to make her own way. She had a spell cast that removed her immortal heart and made a gem out of it, giving her more power.

-Her online bios are TRULY massive, implying that the writers just used her again and again in an attempt at giving Gambit a "signature" villain. Given Marvel's lack of top-tier lady baddies, I would approve, but this so clearly never "took" and she never showed up elsewhere. She & Gambit had a tempestuous, but flirtacious, relationship, alternately trying to kill each other and then sleeping together (Gambit was one of MANY "male fantasy" characters of the time). When Selene killed all of the other Externals, she briefly considered escaping to the Ultraverse, but Gambit convinced her not to. She is discarded very casually in a story where she searches for her "Heart Gem"- Storm is now the central character instead of Gambit, and Cyclops, who was tracking Storm, just walks in and shoots the Gem while Candra is holding it, disintegrating them both by accident. Fairly ignominious and "we weren't gonna be using this character anyways".

-Candra returned with the other Externals, revealing they could never die so long as a few lived, but Gideon sacrificed her for greater power. When she was reborn again, she became a recurring foe of the Scarlet Spider (Kaine in new gear and hanging out in New Orleans)- Gambit & Belladonna Boudreaux both showed up for those stories as well. Candra was ultimately killed with the recently-reborn Externals to fuel Apocalypse's "External Gate" on Krakoa.

-For stats, I took generic Telekinesis, made it Precise, and allowed her to "Activate Genes" which is sorta like Fabian Cortez's ability to amp up others' powers- Affects Others Variable, allowing 20pp worth of abilities (I thought I was super-clever for coming up with this, but then checked the rules and they flat-out tell you that's how to build the power... *sniff*...). No idea how it really worked in practice, though- this is pretty much a Wiki-built build.