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

[Davies]

It's funny how people keep acting like "there have been in the past" somehow makes up for "there aren't in the present". While the character clearly has a chip on his shoulder, Tony's patronizing attitude in that scene doesn't come off as any better. ("I think you're full of $#!+, but let's work together anyway"? Come on.)

[drkrash]

It's an awkward story all around (and I think it's a pretty sucky one too). The Avengers claimed they didn't work with quotas; Triathlon gets chosen by pressure to fill a quota. iron Man comes at that scene poorly, but everyone who legitimately tries to engage Delroy at the beginning gets their head bitten off.

[Woodclaw]

It's funny how people keep acting like "there have been in the past" somehow makes up for "there aren't in the present". While the character clearly has a chip on his shoulder, Tony's patronizing attitude in that scene doesn't come off as any better. ("I think you're full of $#!+, but let's work together anyway"? Come on.)

It's an awkward story all around (and I think it's a pretty sucky one too). The Avengers claimed they didn't work with quotas; Triathlon gets chosen by pressure to fill a quota. iron Man comes at that scene poorly, but everyone who legitimately tries to engage Delroy at the beginning gets their head bitten off.

The entire Triune storyline was chockful of references to older Avengers stories (unsurprisingly given Busiek's loves for continuity). The Triathlon situation was very a much a replica of what happened when Henry Gyrich forced Falcon on the team to fill a "black quota" and appease the Civil Rights Movement. In actual fact, before Triathlon was admitted, the founding members contacted other characters to fill the spot and they all refused on the ground that they were Avengers, not "Black Avengers" (T'Challa actually used those exact words).
The weird thing about Delroy is that before being put into the team he was a lot more helpful and, generally, accomodating. As soon as he was on he started biting every hand as if he had something to prove. As far as I can remember the only character that was able to tell him to fuck off was Hawkeye, but more or less when Delroy became an Avenger, Clint became the leader of the Thunderbolts (another Busiek title).

[Jabroniville]

THANE ECTOR
Created By: Bob Harras & Ron Lim
First Appearance: The Avengers #334 (June 1991)
Role: Space Conquerer
Group Affiliations: The Brethren
PL 10 (175)
STRENGTH 10 STAMINA 10 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Expertise (Space Soldier) 6 (+9)
Insight 2 (+5)
Intimidation 2 (+6)
Perception 2 (+5)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Leadership, Ranged Attack 6

Powers:
Speed 10 (2,000 mph) [10]
Quickness 8 [8]
Eye Blasts 10 [20]
Morph 4 (Any Form) [20]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Eye Blasts +10 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +3

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

Complications:
Secret (The Brethren's Origin)- Thanes are meant to tell stories to their people about their legacy as great warriors- none are to know the truth of their history as living weapons of The Celestials.

Total: Abilities: 94 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 58 / Defenses: 9 (175)

-Thane Ector is a member of The Brethren, a group introduced in Bob Harras' much-maligned "Leather Jacket Era" Avengers (noted for its obvious attempts at mimicking the X-Men's success... by copying their fashion sense. The D-Team roster and weird, overly-complex storytelling left sales in tatters before Kurt Busiek rebooted the whole thing post-Heroes Return). The Brethren were created by The Celestials, after the introduction of the Etnerals & Deviants on Earth- they were used as a living weapon by Arishem the Judge, sent to exterminate all life on the worlds that were "judged" unworthy. Eventually, they were abandoned by the Celestials and left to wander the universe, before being kidnapped by The Collector. Only the Thane and his brother are meant to know the truth (in their species, two sons are told the truth, and one becomes the new Thane, while the other goes mad from the revelation).

-Thane Ector frees his race from The Collector, and they immediately invade Earth, fabled as the first planet to fight off Galactus- Ector apparently easily defeated Captain America while his army saw off The Avengers (seriously- Earth heroes have beaten The Collector 50 times, yet an ENTIRE RACE he captured can now see them off in a straight-up fight?)- he told a captured Sersi of their origins, but it turns out that The Collector LET them escape, as he wanted them to destroy Earth so that he could collect the remainder of the species. He slew The Brethren, leaving the base bacteria from which they were created to fly around and destroy everything in their path. Sersi convinced the Thane and his mad brother The Fool to form a new Uni-Mind and fight The Collector- the resulting battle destroyed the entire species, and Thane Ector thanked Sersi with his dying breath. Weird, WEIRD story.

-As a one-shot villain, little is known of Thane Ector, but he beat Captain America in his first outing, and has vague levels of physical capabilities (including Super-Strength, and Speed enough to outrun an injured Quicksilver once). I chose to make him up as a balanced PL 10 Space Warrior, which is actually quite an effective character type.

[Ares]

It's funny how people keep acting like "there have been in the past" somehow makes up for "there aren't in the present".

It doesn't need to make up for it because it isn't a problem. The only concrete objection anyone could have to the Avengers is that they refuse to accept a member based solely on their race, sex, orientation or what have you. Clearly they have in the past, the same people involved in deciding the rosters then are in charge now, so the idea of the Avengers being discriminatory is ridiculous.

The idea that there is a minimum requirement for X number of people with X number of traits is silly, both in and out of universe.

In universe the number of superhumans is relatively small, the Avengers rarely hold try outs, instead usually recruiting people based on proven performance in the field, past history with the team, or very specific reasons, such as government intervention or a replacement put forth by a leaving member. By and large, the Avengers are meritocratic, accepting members based on the moral quality, skill, powers and competence of those that were around at the right time. The Avengers do not care about a person's genitals, orientation, their species, or even if they're organic or not. They care solely about whether you're of legal age, of good moral quality and good at your job. And when people like Dr. Druid or Rage failed to meet those standards, they got booted off.

Out of universe, whomever is writing a book has complete control over who is on the team (outside of editorial mandates, which can suck), which is how it should be. I'm of the opinion that writers and artists should be able to create what they want to create so long as it is within the legal bounds of the law, and then you let people vote on what they want with their wallets. How racially diverse a team is or how cheesecake/beefcake the art style is should be completely up to the writer and artist, because they're trying to tell the stories they want to tell. Kurt Busiek could easily have had a more racially diverse Avengers team, but he set up the team he did specifically because he wanted to use this storyline to introduce new faces to the Avengers like Triathalon and Silverclaw.

There was nothing wrong with the Avengers originally being an all white team with one female member in 1963. It was Stan's decision to add their first black member 5 years later, during a time when that decision was much more controversial. The 70s saw their first Asian member, and from then on we got more radially diverse members as the writers saw fit. It happened naturally, with no prompting, and is how it ought to be.

There's a reason why, in universe, the Avengers treat diversity quotas as a bad thing.

While the character clearly has a chip on his shoulder, Tony's patronizing attitude in that scene doesn't come off as any better. ("I think you're full of $#!+, but let's work together anyway"? Come on.)

Is that how you read it? Because to me:



This is Iron Man being very respectful and mature in that situation.

Tony had completely justifiable reasons for being against Triathlon's inclusion. They weren't about his race, they were about the organization he was a member of. An organization that had been hostile to the Avengers, and of which there was evidence that said organization was responsible for the protests and bad PR the Avengers had been receiving.

Iron Man had circumstantial evidence for this and suspicions, but no solid evidence. Duane Freeman, the team's liaison at the time, pointed this out, and Iron Man withdrew this objection. Triathlon heard all of this, however and made a big stink about Iron Man being prejudice.

So here, while the Avengers are in the middle of a dangerous mission, where the success of said mission and their very survival could depend on the team trusting each other, Iron Man tried to clear the air. He acknowledges that he could very well be wrong, he's clear that he doesn't have any problems with Triathlon personally, and he'd like them to have a clean slate, get to know each other as people, and be able to count on each other in the field.

That is remarkably patient and reasonable given Iron Man's feelings on the Triune of Understanding, the circumstantial evidence they have and the grief that group had likely caused the Avengers. It's Triathlon that has a big chip on his shoulder, and condescendingly slap Iron Man's hand away, making the issue about Triathlon's skin race rather than the actual issue Iron Man had. Rather than acknowledge the actual issue, Triathlon pulls an Anita Sarkeesan with "everything is racist, everything is sexist, etc.".

This was solidified later when it turned out that, yes, Iron Man was 100% right, the Triune WAS responsible for all their problems, and there was evidence their founder used mind control to make Duane and Triathlon more hostile towards them. When Duane died, his brother told Iron Man how much Duane respected him for backing down until solid evidence could be found, and how he was a good man.

So Tony comes at this from a place of having rational concerns, but is willing to admit he could be wrong, wants to give Triathlon a clean slate, to be professional, and to not get anyone hurt. Triathlon sees racism where none exists, and holds onto his outrage until someone has to literally gets in his face and tells him what an idiot he's being later on.

[Ares]

THANE ECTOR
Created By: Bob Harras & Ron Lim
First Appearance: The Avengers #334 (June 1991)
Role: Space Conquerer
Group Affiliations: The Brethren

Thane Ector was kind of interesting as an antagonist, being a somewhat noble person who hated what his species actually was and was constantly trying to make them better than fate had allowed them to be. But you'd get silly shit like him giving in to his "germ" nature and eating sludge from a sewer, clearly disgusted with himself.

Powerwise he seemed very capable. He did defeat Capt. America, though I believe that was at least partially due to a sneak attack. He was strong, seemingly stronger than Iron Man, but not as strong as Hercules. Herc knocked Ector down on his ass with two hits, but Ector responded by blasting Herc with eye beams that knocked the wind out of him. So he clearly had some power to him, but I don't think he was quite on Herc's level.

Actually a good comparison might be Ikaris of the Eternals.

[HalloweenJack]

I didn't mind Deathcry actually. I kinda liked her budding romance with Hercules, but I thought it was really odd that Herc actually got flustered around her when she'd make a move on him.

I mean it's Hercules. You know he'd hit that like the fist of a horny demigod.

Well, at the time he was in mourning.

oh yeah, that Taylor gal

[Jabroniville]

SILVERCLAW (Maria de Guadalupe "Lupe" Santiago)
Created By: Kurt Busiek & George Perez
First Appearance: The Avengers (vol.3) #8 (Sept. 1998)
Role: Token Minority, Failed Newbie, Shapeshifter
Group Affiliations: The Avengers
Avengers Grade: D-Level
PL 8 (125)
STRENGTH 0 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+7)
Athletics 4 (+4)
Deception 2 (+2)
Expertise (Survival) 7 (+8)
Expertise (Religion) 6 (+6)
Insight 2 (+3)
Intimidation 5 (+5)
Perception 5 (+6)
Stealth 3 (+6)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Natural Weapons), Improved Hold, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Takedown

Powers:
"Shapeshifting to Jungle Creature Were-Forms"
Variable 9 (Flaws: Limited to Jungle Creatures) [54]
"Goddess' Chosen" Immunity 1 (Aging) [1]

Example: Jaguar
Enhanced Strength 4 (8), Stamina 2 (4), Agility 2 (4)
Enhanced Skills 16: Acrobatics 2 (+9), Athletics 6 (+10), Intimidation 3 (+8), Perception 3 (+9), Stealth 2 (+8) (8)
"Animal Senses" Senses 5 (Low-Light Vision, Acute & Extended Scent, Extended & Ultra-Hearing) (5)
Speed 3 (16 mph) (3)
"Improved Musculature" Strength-Damage +1 (1)
"Natural Weapons- Claws & Teeth" Strength-Damage +2 (2)
"Cat Agility"
"Climbing Skills" Enhanced Skills 4: Athletics 4 (+14) (Flaws: Limited to Climbing) (1), Leaping 2 (2)
"Silver Sheen" Protection 3 (3)
-- (44 points)

Other Forms: Puma, Anaconda, Cheetah, Cockatoo, Giant Sloth, Monkey

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Unarmed as Animals +9 (+1-7 Damage, DC 16-23)
Initiative +7

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +3 (+5-8 Animal Forms), Fortitude +6 (+7-9 Animals), Will +4

Complications:
Responsibility- The Chosen of her Goddess mother Peliali, Silverclaw is often targetted by those who require the power of Gods.

Total: Abilities: 32 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 55 / Defenses: 12 (125)

-Consider Silverclaw another failed Busiek add-on to the team. Boy, in retrospect, despite his amazing run, he didn't add alot of good members to the team, did he? Almost all of them ended up retired or in Marvel Limbo, or both. Silverclaw, Triathlon, Justice & Firestar all have kind of farted around, despite varying attempts to make them legit. This one I chalk up to George Perez' influence as lead penciller- animal powers are dead giveaways (Perez obviously loves drawing animals- hence Changeling of the Teen Titans in that group). Silverclaw was added as Jarvis' sponsor child from Costa Verde in South America, having lost her father when she was a girl- her mother was the Goddess Peliali. A modern girl with modern tastes, she nonetheless used her demi-goddess shapeshifting powers to help the Avengers against Moses Magnum's terrorist forces, after first being forced to help them.

-She studied at Empire State University in the U.S., but returned to Costa Verde when Kulan Gath arrived and sought to sacrifice her mother, needing a "God Sacrifice" for a magic spell. She manages to convince her people to renew their faith in Peliali (they'd been converted to Christianity generations ago), allowing her to gain the power necessary to fend of Gath's super-blade- Gath himself is killed by the force he'd attempted to utilize, but Peliali herself soon dies. This story sees Silverclaw become a Reserve Avenger, and thus pops up in the background of things like Maximum Security and the "Kang War" that ends Busiek's run. After this, the character naturally vanishes without either of her creators around to use her (never mind that she was only in a couple arcs in the first place)- she appears during Civil War being brought in by Carol Danvers. She was most recently seen as a captured pawn of the Puppet Master, but was freed by Carol.

-Silverclaw's a basic Animal Shapeshifter (I used Variable without the Move Action boost the "Shapeshift" power has- I don't think she's that fast), usually gaining strength and the like from her transformations. She's no big-league ass-kicker, but she's a good standard PL 8, good on offense and defense. She can do more damage in Anaconda or Giant Sloth forms, but that makes her larger and slower- she gains around 40-45 points of powers based off of the forms she takes

[Davies]

It's funny how people keep acting like "there have been in the past" somehow makes up for "there aren't in the present".

It doesn't need to make up for it because it isn't a problem.

Of course it's not.

[Jabroniville]

Okay, now I see how he was a sex symbol. It's not clear from reading bios.

NOH-VARR (aka Marvel Boy III, Captain Marvel III, Protector II)
Created By: Grant Morrison & J.G. Jones
First Appearance: Marvel Boy #1 (Aug. 2000)
Role: Wild Renegade Warrior, Crazy Guy, Journeyman... Hero?
Group Affiliations: The Dark Avengers, The Kree Empire, The Young Avengers
Avengers Grade: D-Level
PL 11 (248)
STRENGTH 10 STAMINA 10 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 6 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+12)
Athletics 6 (+12)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+12)
Expertise (Kree Soldier) 7 (+13)
Expertise (Science) 8 (+14)
Intimidation 8 (+8)
Investigation 2 (+2)
Perception 10 (+10)
Sleight of Hand 8 (+12)
Stealth 7 (+13)
Technology 8 (+14)
Vehicles 6 (+10)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Beginner's Luck, Evasion, Extraordinary Effort, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Initiative 2, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 8, Startle, Takedown 2, Uncanny Dodge

Powers:
"White Running" Immunity 20 (Dazzle Effects, Stun/Fatigue Effects, Mental Effects) (Flaws: Sustained +0) [20]
"Triple-Jointed" Immunity 1 (Pressure) [1]
"Able to Eat Anything" Immunity 1 (Poison) [1]
Regeneration 4 (Flaws: Source- Requires Food) [2]
Movement 3 (Wall-Crawling 2, Sure-Footed) [6]
Speed 5 (60 mph) [5]

"Biologically-Active Saliva" Affliction 8 (Will; Dazed/Compelled/Controlled) (Feats: Reach 2) (Extras: Progressive +2) (Flaws: Limited to if Saliva is Still Touching Them) (18) -- [20]

• AE: "Fingernail Toxin" Affliction 8 (Fort; Fatigued/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Cumulative) (16)
• AE: "Fingernail Spike" Damage 10 (10)

"Variable Weapon" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [26]
Variable 6 (Types of Weapons) (42 points)

Equipment:
"Body Armour" Protection 1 (1)
"Kree Blaster" Blast 7 (Extras: Multiattack) (21) -- (22)
"Grenades" Blast 7 (Feats: Triggered) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Reduced Range -1) (21)

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+10 Damage, DC 22)
Fingernail Spike +12 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Toxins +10 (+8 Affliction, DC 18)
Blaster +12 (+7 Ranged Damage, DC 22)
Grenades +7 Area (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +14

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +7 (+8 Armour), Fortitude +10, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibilty (Kree Agent)- Noh-Varr is a loyalist Kree, and also does not get, nor like, human beings.

Total: Abilities: 92 / Skills: 78--39 / Advantages: 21 / Powers: 80 / Defenses: 16 (248)

Noh-Varr- "Oh, it's that guy":
-... I really, really know nothing about this character. He sorta just came & went quietly in some Morrison-written limited series in the year 2000, and didn't show up again until Bendis' modern era, where he became a Dark Avenger and did a bunch of random stuff in random books as a kind of "Filler" character. He's kind of an insane Kree spy/soldier guy who hated people, but is now kind of a hero or something. Bios of him online basically showcase a guy that seems like he was designed by a commitee of imbecilic 9-year-olds who added every power they could do him. Or Grant Morrison just injected a shitload of acid into his eyeballs and went to town... nah. That could never happen.

-In any case, Marvel Boy was a six-issue Limited Series coming out in the year 2000 for the "Marvel Knights" line at Marvel- a showcase for popular, edgy writers & artists doing inventive stuff (it was popular- and favored- enough that it got Editor Joe Quesada a big promotion). Noh-Varr is a Kree ensign aboard an interstellar schooner called "The Marvel", which is going across many alternative dimensions. He fights an evil sentient Omni-Corporation and a Multi-Trillionaire (oh yeah, Morrison was writing, alright), which results in him being the sole survivor of The Marvel- gaining powers in the process. He ends up in the Marvel Universe, where he gives the corporation's secrets to its rivals. Eventually, he is captured by S.H.I.E.L.D., and declares war on Earth and the whole human race. The book featured a lot of experimental, cinematic work by J.G. Jones, and Morrison went out of his way to depict the character as a sex symbol of sorts.

Post-Morrison Noh-Varr- Captain Marvel III & Protector:
-When Morrison quit Marvel, his character was "orphaned", but picked up by Brian Michael Bendis, who had The Illuminati try to convince him, while in custody, to drop his obsession with killing humanity. They tell him of the legacy of Captain Mar-Vell... but he just gets mind-controlled by the cruel prison warden and he brutally beats the Runaways & Young Avengers on his order. Eventually, both teams assault the prison and beat Noh-Varr, and the Vision reverses the brainwashing. He declares the prison to be the "Capital of the New Kree Empire", but is spurred on to fight the hated Skrulls during Secret Invasion, impressing people enough to get placed on Norman Osborn's "Dark Avengers" as the new Captain Marvel. Inspired by a good-natured Skrull (yes, another one) who thought he was Mar-Vell, he tries to be heroic, but is stunned when Karla "Ms. Marvel" Sofen casually reveals that their whole team are criminals- he bails. Every issue I have featuring him around this time features him as a confused, somewhat emotionally-stunted individual, constantly in a daze.

-Noh-Varr goes on the run from the Dark Avengers, fighting the Sentry, befriending a human girl named Annie, and being given some Nega-Bands by the Supreme Intelligence, who declares him "Earth's Protector". And then, with Carol Danvers deciding that SHE'S the new "Captain Marvel", Noh-Varr takes the most horribly generic codename in history- "Protector". He fights an evil future-version of Annie, then joins the Avengers, using some Kree technology to allow the team to view some possible futurse. He engages in the fights against the Revengers and the Apocalypse of the future, fights in Fear Itself, and Avengers (vs) X-Men... where he betrays the Avengers to the Supreme Intelligence, who tells him to absorb the Phoenix Force using Thor's Hammer- he gets Thor to do it, then sends the Avengers to certain death, fleeing for the Kree Empire. When he realizes that his boss is keeping the energy and not using it to save Earth, he turns on him, but is confronted by the Avengers, who take the energy and boot him from the team- he is told never to return to Earth, and is stuck fleeing the Kree.

Marvel NOW!:
-And then things take another weird turn (I think there was a writer switch), as Noh-Varr reconciles with the Young Avengers, re-takes the name "Marvel Boy", and begins a relationship with Kate Bishop (REALLY? Miss Sarcastic Snarker gets with the insane alien weirdo?). Now, he's a classic "Fish out of water" character, using high-tech stuff but also being unable to "get" human culture. They also go out of their way to portray him as a male sex symbol- a rarity in Western comics (this explains the Kate thing, as she's the only one who'd make sense dating him). When three ex-lovers (including Annie) show up as part of a villain team, he breaks up with Kate to be with one of them (Oubliette), but it turns out they're guilt-based constructs- he's left to crawl back to Kate, who just ain't having it. He finally gives up, and decides to do something else- he asks the Inhuman Royal Family for help in rebuilding the Kree Empire in Al Ewing's Inhumans books. He has apparently since joined the Guardians of the Galaxy.

-This character is just... un-gettable, for me. It seems like 3-4 different writers all have different ideas regarding the character- Grant Morrison wanted some enfant terrible Wild Renegade who could be in goofy, drug-addled stories and declare war on humanity, while Bendis wanted some emotionally stunted little boy who needed to throw off the control of others. Then they decide he's gotta be the new Captain Marvel until they take BACK that name, give him the most hopeless name ever, have him BETRAY THE AVENGERS and get barred from Earth... only to show up as the "Alien Outsider" character on Young Avengers before getting taken from that book and going elsewhere. It's like everyone wants to use Noh-Varr for some reason, but has no idea what he IS, so he's just kind of... a village bicycle character who just kind of ends up in weird places.

Noh-Varr's Weird Powers:
-I've never so much as seen this guy fight, and his powers all come from Wikipedia & ComicVine, so this is the best I got. He can make his fingernail grow super-big and explode if put inside some guy (?- only happened once, so I'm declaring that a Power Stunt... not sure which overly-nice GM allowed it though), he can mind control people if his spit is in them (gross), and he's immune to anything sensory-based as long as he can pay attention and make sure of it. He's sort of a PL 11 ass-kicking melee guy with a death-weapon capable of creating several different kinds of damage (a spike, a regular Blaster, and a SUPER blast that burned THE SENTRY somehow), and he's enough to beat all of the Young Avengers in seconds. He's a full, HUGELY expensive elite fighter, which is something I wasn't expecting- but yeah, he's incredibly skilled, fighty and has a ton of varied powers. Currently he also has a pair of Nega-Bands like Mar-Vell's, but they also Teleport and probably make him even MORE expensive. What a thoroughly unpleasant character to have to build. If I didn't already say I was gonna stat all the Avengers, I'd have skipped him completely.

[Davies]

Bringing this guy into the standard Marvel Universe was a mistake on the level of Bob Haney deciding that Wonder Girl (who was Wonder Woman as a girl) would be a great member of that Teen Titans book he was writing.

[Goldar]

Okay, now I see how he was a sex symbol. It's not clear from reading bios.

NOH-VARR (aka Marvel Boy III, Captain Marvel III, Protector II)
Created By: Grant Morrison & J.G. Jones
First Appearance: Marvel Boy #1 (Aug. 2000)
Role: Wild Renegade Warrior, Crazy Guy, Journeyman... Hero?
Group Affiliations: The Dark Avengers, The Kree Empire, The Young Avengers
Avengers Grade: D-Level
PL 11 (248)
STRENGTH 10 STAMINA 10 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 6 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+12)
Athletics 6 (+12)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+12)
Expertise (Kree Soldier) 7 (+13)
Expertise (Science) 8 (+14)
Intimidation 8 (+8)
Investigation 2 (+2)
Perception 10 (+10)
Sleight of Hand 8 (+12)
Stealth 7 (+13)
Technology 8 (+14)
Vehicles 6 (+10)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Beginner's Luck, Evasion, Extraordinary Effort, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Initiative 2, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 8, Startle, Takedown 2, Uncanny Dodge

Powers:
"White Running" Immunity 20 (Dazzle Effects, Stun/Fatigue Effects, Mental Effects) (Flaws: Sustained +0) [20]
"Triple-Jointed" Immunity 1 (Pressure) [1]
"Able to Eat Anything" Immunity 1 (Poison) [1]
Regeneration 4 (Flaws: Source- Requires Food) [2]
Movement 3 (Wall-Crawling 2, Sure-Footed) [6]
Speed 5 (60 mph) [5]

"Biologically-Active Saliva" Affliction 8 (Will; Dazed/Compelled/Controlled) (Feats: Reach 2) (Extras: Progressive +2) (Flaws: Limited to if Saliva is Still Touching Them) (18) -- [20]

• AE: "Fingernail Toxin" Affliction 8 (Fort; Fatigued/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Cumulative) (16)
• AE: "Fingernail Spike" Damage 10 (10)

"Variable Weapon" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [26]
Variable 6 (Types of Weapons) (42 points)

Equipment:
"Body Armour" Protection 1 (1)
"Kree Blaster" Blast 7 (Extras: Multiattack) (21) -- (22)
"Grenades" Blast 7 (Feats: Triggered) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Reduced Range -1) (21)

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+10 Damage, DC 22)
Fingernail Spike +12 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Toxins +10 (+8 Affliction, DC 18)
Blaster +12 (+7 Ranged Damage, DC 22)
Grenades +7 Area (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +14

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +7 (+8 Armour), Fortitude +10, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibilty (Kree Agent)- Noh-Varr is a loyalist Kree, and also does not get, nor like, human beings.

Total: Abilities: 92 / Skills: 78--39 / Advantages: 21 / Powers: 80 / Defenses: 16 (248)

Noh-Varr- "Oh, it's that guy":
-... I really, really know nothing about this character. He sorta just came & went quietly in some Morrison-written limited series in the year 2000, and didn't show up again until Bendis' modern era, where he became a Dark Avenger and did a bunch of random stuff in random books as a kind of "Filler" character. He's kind of an insane Kree spy/soldier guy who hated people, but is now kind of a hero or something. Bios of him online basically showcase a guy that seems like he was designed by a commitee of imbecilic 9-year-olds who added every power they could do him. Or Grant Morrison just injected a shitload of acid into his eyeballs and went to town... nah. That could never happen.

-In any case, Marvel Boy was a six-issue Limited Series coming out in the year 2000 for the "Marvel Knights" line at Marvel- a showcase for popular, edgy writers & artists doing inventive stuff (it was popular- and favored- enough that it got Editor Joe Quesada a big promotion). Noh-Varr is a Kree ensign aboard an interstellar schooner called "The Marvel", which is going across many alternative dimensions. He fights an evil sentient Omni-Corporation and a Multi-Trillionaire (oh yeah, Morrison was writing, alright), which results in him being the sole survivor of The Marvel- gaining powers in the process. He ends up in the Marvel Universe, where he gives the corporation's secrets to its rivals. Eventually, he is captured by S.H.I.E.L.D., and declares war on Earth and the whole human race. The book featured a lot of experimental, cinematic work by J.G. Jones, and Morrison went out of his way to depict the character as a sex symbol of sorts.

Post-Morrison Noh-Varr- Captain Marvel III & Protector:
-When Morrison quit Marvel, his character was "orphaned", but picked up by Brian Michael Bendis, who had The Illuminati try to convince him, while in custody, to drop his obsession with killing humanity. They tell him of the legacy of Captain Mar-Vell... but he just gets mind-controlled by the cruel prison warden and he brutally beats the Runaways & Young Avengers on his order. Eventually, both teams assault the prison and beat Noh-Varr, and the Vision reverses the brainwashing. He declares the prison to be the "Capital of the New Kree Empire", but is spurred on to fight the hated Skrulls during Secret Invasion, impressing people enough to get placed on Norman Osborn's "Dark Avengers" as the new Captain Marvel. Inspired by a good-natured Skrull (yes, another one) who thought he was Mar-Vell, he tries to be heroic, but is stunned when Karla "Ms. Marvel" Sofen casually reveals that their whole team are criminals- he bails. Every issue I have featuring him around this time features him as a confused, somewhat emotionally-stunted individual, constantly in a daze.

-Noh-Varr goes on the run from the Dark Avengers, fighting the Sentry, befriending a human girl named Annie, and being given some Nega-Bands by the Supreme Intelligence, who declares him "Earth's Protector". And then, with Carol Danvers deciding that SHE'S the new "Captain Marvel", Noh-Varr takes the most horribly generic codename in history- "Protector". He fights an evil future-version of Annie, then joins the Avengers, using some Kree technology to allow the team to view some possible futurse. He engages in the fights against the Revengers and the Apocalypse of the future, fights in Fear Itself, and Avengers (vs) X-Men... where he betrays the Avengers to the Supreme Intelligence, who tells him to absorb the Phoenix Force using Thor's Hammer- he gets Thor to do it, then sends the Avengers to certain death, fleeing for the Kree Empire. When he realizes that his boss is keeping the energy and not using it to save Earth, he turns on him, but is confronted by the Avengers, who take the energy and boot him from the team- he is told never to return to Earth, and is stuck fleeing the Kree.

Marvel NOW!:
-And then things take another weird turn (I think there was a writer switch), as Noh-Varr reconciles with the Young Avengers, re-takes the name "Marvel Boy", and begins a relationship with Kate Bishop (REALLY? Miss Sarcastic Snarker gets with the insane alien weirdo?). Now, he's a classic "Fish out of water" character, using high-tech stuff but also being unable to "get" human culture. They also go out of their way to portray him as a male sex symbol- a rarity in Western comics (this explains the Kate thing, as she's the only one who'd make sense dating him). When three ex-lovers (including Annie) show up as part of a villain team, he breaks up with Kate to be with one of them (Oubliette), but it turns out they're guilt-based constructs- he's left to crawl back to Kate, who just ain't having it. He finally gives up, and decides to do something else- he asks the Inhuman Royal Family for help in rebuilding the Kree Empire in Al Ewing's Inhumans books. He has apparently since joined the Guardians of the Galaxy.

-This character is just... un-gettable, for me. It seems like 3-4 different writers all have different ideas regarding the character- Grant Morrison wanted some enfant terrible Wild Renegade who could be in goofy, drug-addled stories and declare war on humanity, while Bendis wanted some emotionally stunted little boy who needed to throw off the control of others. Then they decide he's gotta be the new Captain Marvel until they take BACK that name, give him the most hopeless name ever, have him BETRAY THE AVENGERS and get barred from Earth... only to show up as the "Alien Outsider" character on Young Avengers before getting taken from that book and going elsewhere. It's like everyone wants to use Noh-Varr for some reason, but has no idea what he IS, so he's just kind of... a village bicycle character who just kind of ends up in weird places.

Noh-Varr's Weird Powers:
-I've never so much as seen this guy fight, and his powers all come from Wikipedia & ComicVine, so this is the best I got. He can make his fingernail grow super-big and explode if put inside some guy (?- only happened once, so I'm declaring that a Power Stunt... not sure which overly-nice GM allowed it though), he can mind control people if his spit is in them (gross), and he's immune to anything sensory-based as long as he can pay attention and make sure of it. He's sort of a PL 11 ass-kicking melee guy with a death-weapon capable of creating several different kinds of damage (a spike, a regular Blaster, and a SUPER blast that burned THE SENTRY somehow), and he's enough to beat all of the Young Avengers in seconds. He's a full, HUGELY expensive elite fighter, which is something I wasn't expecting- but yeah, he's incredibly skilled, fighty and has a ton of varied powers. Currently he also has a pair of Nega-Bands like Mar-Vell's, but they also Teleport and probably make him even MORE expensive. What a thoroughly unpleasant character to have to build. If I didn't already say I was gonna stat all the Avengers, I'd have skipped him completely.

I am glad you profiled this guy since I know nothing about him.

I saw a fight with him and Ms Marvel against Valkyrie. I think he hit Val while Carol punched Val at the same time and then Carol punched Val again and knocked her out. I figured he must be at least a 10 strength in order to pull this off so quickly with Carol, so it was great to see your profile match my estimate (but of course, your stats are impeccable!).

[greycrusader]

Bringing this guy into the standard Marvel Universe was a mistake on the level of Bob Haney deciding that Wonder Girl (who was Wonder Woman as a girl) would be a great member of that Teen Titans book he was writing.

Noh-Var honestly should have just remained an oddity character from Morrison's mini-series, because despite multiple attempts to reinvent him, he's still a footnote, even to the Young Avengers. I actually read his debut book, and it was just...sort of there. It had some of the same beats that worked for Morrison elsewhere, but this time they just felt flat and forced. The material and story were mildly interesting without being engaging.

And yes, since then writers have tried to find some use for him, by essentially changing his personality and motivation again and again. But a bland costume and worse code name, combined with a hodgepodge of powers which make no thematic sense are too many hurdles to overcome. I'm not sure why so many writers want to use him, though at least its not as bad as the Sentry situation (what IS it with Marvel and this character who has NO fandom and is actively disliked by readers?).

All my best.

[Ares]

It's funny how people keep acting like "there have been in the past" somehow makes up for "there aren't in the present".

It doesn't need to make up for it because it isn't a problem.

Of course it's not.

It isn't. Because the diverse line ups we've had in super teams were a result of the creators having the freedom to choose the line ups they wanted. Diversity happened naturally over time, and half the time we got teams that lacked diversity, it was specifically so the creator could add more diverse members to the team, such as when Larry Hamma and Kurt Busiek added Rage and Triathlon.

If you want to argue that it's a problem that creators have an actual choice of the members they want their teams to have, and that there should instead be mandated quotas of how much of X can be on a team and how much of Y has to be on a team, feel free to do so. But that's a slippery slope that can lead to further mandates.

Myself, I will always argue for creator freedom working in conjunction with editorial oversight that strives primarily to protect the integrity of the characters the creators are in charge of, and to help the creators tell the best stories possible. Because that situation created some of the best stories in comics and created diversity naturally.

[Ares]

Bringing this guy into the standard Marvel Universe was a mistake on the level of Bob Haney deciding that Wonder Girl (who was Wonder Woman as a girl) would be a great member of that Teen Titans book he was writing.

Except that gave us Donna Troy, who is an absolute blessing. Whereas Noh-Varr should have been included with folks like Next Wave, the Sentry and Gwenpool, who should never have been allowed into the mainstream Marvel Universe.