Jab’s Builds! (Beaker! Sam Eagle! Miss Piggy! The Swedish Chef!)

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
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Woodclaw
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Cosmic Carnage! Blistik! The X-Men! Iceman!)

Post by Woodclaw »

Bobby suffers of the same problem of his old pal Johny Storm (unsurprisingly since their are insanely similar in terms of personality), both were introduced as the team joker and/or immature best friend, but Boddy got the short end of the stick. Since F4 is a family-based book, Johnny's antics are generally on point, he's that insufferable brother and best friend that every family has. Bobby, on the other hand, is just one guy out of a team that usually number at least 7 main characters, making him utterly forgettable.
It doesn't help that, apparently, Claremont had no idea what to do with him. Out of the original team, the two characters that Claremont used less were Beast (who was tied up with the Avengers for a long time, but appeared occasionally) and Iceman (who more or less never appeared until Inferno). The result of not being even considered by the man who almost single-handedly redefined the team... well that's a comic death sentence.
For me the biggest problem with Bobby is that out of the original team he's... utterly normal. Hank is a mental and physical polymath, Warren is rich and has some pretty crazy backstory, Scott and Jean were the alpha couple of the team and full-time superheroes, Bobby was just a normal-ish kind of guy with the only weird bit of having an Irish Catholic dad and a Jewish mom.

Having Bobby being a closet homosexual doesn't really anything to his character. In fact, I believe it kind of undermines some of his past problems with the opposite sex. After Emma Frost possessed his body, pulling some insanely powerful tricks, the subtext seemed to be that Bobby wasn't able to reconcile the idea of being so utterly violated (basically mind-rape) and yet feeling that Emma showed him how much he had been holding back.

On the subject of ice control in general. It's a cool (no pun intended) power set, but it's a very busy one. Fire and lighting control are often much easier on the penciler because they don't have to worry about drawing blocks or constructs in the background of every panel.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Cosmic Carnage! Blistik! The X-Men! Iceman!)

Post by M4C8 »

I've always liked Bobby although I only started reading comics in the early to mid 90's so I can't really assess his earlier appearances. I actually do like his power upgrades for the most part (such as his ice body), I like the idea that he's an Omega level mutant even if, like many other supposedly Omega level mutants it's rarely acknowledged/shown. And yes making him gay was completely unnecessary, especially given all the existing gay/bi characters associated with the X-Men.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Cosmic Carnage! Blistik! The X-Men! Iceman!)

Post by drkrash »

Yeah, Jab's notes on the history as a whole made me realize that many of the modern writers seem to be missing the point of mutants as victims of prejudice by doubling down with a focus on gay mutants (of which there *seems* to be more by ratio than in the wider MU). By adding another layer of "identity," it seems to lessen the strength of the metaphor. I dunno.

I'll add my voice to the "Bobby as gay is stupid." Jab suggests he isn't an *important* character - true - but he is one of the oldest. And the reveal didn't come across as, "We're making sense of Bobby's relationship problems over decades," which *might* have been an OK reveal, but rather, "We want to put a retcon shock into the original X-Men team that will get people talking." It added nothing to the story, and his first flings after that were boring too.

I like the idea that his "realization" has something to do with Emma messing around in his mind.
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Xorn (Original)

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

XORN I (Kuan-Yin Xorn)
Created By:
Grant Morrison & Leinil Francis Yu
First Appearance: The New X-Men Annual #1 (2001)
Group Affiliations: The X-Men
Status: Killed by Wolverine
Role: The Mole, Super-Terrorist, Retroactively-Added Character
PL 14 (225)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+4)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+8)
Deception 10 (+12)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+8)
Insight 2 (+3)
Intimidation 8 (+10)
Perception 7 (+8)
Ranged Combat (Magnetic Blasts) 4 (+12)
Technology 6 (+10)

Advantages:
Benefit (Mutant Leader), Improved Critical (Magnetic Blast) 2, Improved Initiative, Languages (Chinese, English, Others), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Active Star Inside His Head"
Immunity 11 (Aging, Life Support) [11]
Immunity 20 (Mental Effects) [20]

Flight 6 (120 mph) [12]

Force Field 11 (Extras: Affects Others, 30ft. Burst, Impervious 19) (56) -- [79]
  • Dynamic AE: "Magnetic Energy Blast" Blast 14 (Feats: Split) (Extras: Penetrating) (43)
  • Dynamic AE: "Wide Area Blast" Damage 14 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone, Penetrating) (43)
  • Dynamic AE: "Line Area Blast" Damage 14 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Line +2) (43)
  • Dynamic AE: "Metal Storm" Blast 14 (Extras: Multiattack) (Quirk: Requires Metals -2) (41)
  • Dynamic AE: "Metal Trap" Snare 14 (Quirk: Requires Metals -2) (41)
  • Dynamic AE: "Mass Trap" Snare 14 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (56)
  • Dynamic AE: "Magnetic Lifting" Move Object 15 (Feats: Precise, Increased Mass 3- 12,000 tons) (Extras: Perception Range) (Flaws: Limited to Metallics -8) (42)
  • Dynamic AE: Nullify Electronics & Machinery 14 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Sustained +2) (Flaws: Touch Range) (43)
  • Dynamic AE: "Shape Metal" Transform Metals to Metals 15 (Feats: Increased Mass 5- 800 tons) (36)
  • Dynamic AE: "Metal Everywhere!" Environment 4 (Impede Movement 2) (9)
  • AE: "Solar Eruption" Damage 14 (Extras: Area- 120ft. Burst +3) (56)
  • AE: Healing 8 (16)
Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Magnetic Blast & Metal Storm +12 (+14 Ranged Damage, DC 29)
Area Blasts +14 (+14 Damage, DC 29)
Metal Trap +13 (+14 Ranged Affliction, DC 24)
Mass Trap +14 Area (+14 Affliction, DC 24)
Thrown Object +12 (+15 Ranged Damage, DC 30)
Initiative +7

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +4 (+15 Force Field), Fortitude +7, Will +7

Complications:
Secret (Not Magneto)- Xorn has been duped into thinking he is Magneto, and thus has all of Magneto's personal Complications. Such as...
Motivation/Obsession/Responsibility ("Mutant Power!")- Magneto is at the forefront of the Mutant Power movement, and it's most symbolic militant activist. Magneto despises normal humans, and has at times seemed almost genocidal. Deep down, he fears the kind of horrors that inflicted his Jewish countrymen will befall mutants, and he's been proven right several times, so he's not just blowing smoke up people's asses.
Power Loss (Magnetism)- Magneto can lift a variety of non-ferrous objects by manipulating the tiniest of metallic substances, but some objects are beyond his capabilities.
Relationship (Quicksilver, Polaris & The Scarlet Witch)- Magneto is controlling and dominant towards his children, yet also protective. They view him with a mixture of awe and displeasure.
Relationship (Rogue, Lee Forrester, Magda)- Magneto doesn't have a Masters Degree in Pimping like Xavier does, but he does pretty well for himself.
Relationship (Charles Xavier)- The best of friends in a past life, both have since fallen into a massive schism, with Xavier favouring the "Open Hand" approach, and Magneto the dreaded "Closed Fist".
Responsibility (The New Mutants)- Despite his harsh exterior, Magneto truly cared for his young charges at Xavier's School, and was devastated when Doug Ramsey turned up dead.

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 44--22 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 122 / Defenses: 17 (225)

Xorn- Cool New X-Man to... Wait, What?:
-aahhhhhhhhhh XORN. Only in comics can you get situations like this, so full of Retcons and half-assed weird explanations. See, Xorn was introduced by Grant Morrison as the new X-Man on the block (many new writers get the opportunity to add a guy or two to the team's mythos, with... questionable results most of the time), and many fans seemed to like him by my recollection. He had a cool, evocative new look by artist Frank Quitely and some interesting powers- the kind of wild stuff Grant was good at creating, like "Having a sun for a brain". In his debut, he prepares to commit suicide by removing his mask, which would have destroyed the Earth, but Cyclops manages to convince him to live on and join the X-Men. He goes on to help out various people, prove to be an optimistic and hopeful character, and even help out the "Special Class" of weirdo mutants. But Morrison revealed what he'd planned all along, which was that "Xorn" was really MAGNETO in disguise. Mags got addicted to the Mutant Power-Boosting Drug "Kick", murdered Jean Grey, and set off a massive terrorist attack in New York City, killing THOUSANDS and enslaving the human population. Filled with rage over Jean's death, Wolverine decapitates Magneto to end the threat.

-The problem? The fans FREAKED, and Marvel was upset, too. See, Magneto wasn't some insane, deluded psychopath destined to copy Hitler's exact tactics (Erik set up crematoriums & concentration camps for humans), nor was he a drug addict or an indecisive putz- Morrison had created a VERY big event that had SOME links to the Magneto people loved, but he'd misunderstood a key aspect of the character. Magneto wasn't supposed to be some dependent loser, and the whole "he's doing what Hitler once did to his own people" thing was supposed to be a sad irony more than a "HAW HAW HE IS GASSING PEOPLE!!" black-comedy thing. Magneto was one of the most well-rounded characters in all of comics, and despite Morrison's insistence that he was a "mad old terrorist twat" (and written much like a Crazy Antagonist), there was a lot more to him than that. And so as soon as Morrison left, they got to changing things...

The Fix Is In:
-Literally only months later, Marvel pulls the quickest Mulligan in comics history by having the real Magneto show up in Excalibur, explaining that Xorn was never Magneto at all. Writers Chris Claremont & Chuck Austen cobbled together the explanation that Xorn was indeed a real guy, but had fallen under the power of a being known as "Sublime" and had merely copied Magneto's appearance and deluded himself into believing he was the Master of Magnetism, and so all that crap was done by Xorn, and Xorn was dead. This was... DUMB, but at least explained the wild miss in characterization. And then Austen introduced a BROTHER named Shen Xorn, which allowed X-writers to put the popular Xorn character back on the team... sort of. Then both Magneto & Shen Xorn are de-powered on M-Day. This whole thing was needlessly confusing and goofy, and I don't even see either Xorn referred to EVER these days, likely because of how big of a mess this was.

-Marvel, of course, muddied the waters a bit- Wanda was told during House of M that her powers may have been responsible for the whole thing, as she'd maybe been messing with reality unknowingly. Avengers editor Tom Brevoort, finding this stupid and off-handed, suggests a different version when all the energies of the de-powered mutants empowers The Collective, who gives Magneto his powers back and seems to have the consciousness of the first Xorn. Xorn I says that he took Magneto's form since he felt that mutants would follow him. Then the whole Collective is tossed into the sun.

-Power-wise, Xorn I is basically a less mentally-capable Magneto who shares most of Mags' powers, plus a Burst Area effect of doom (implied to be able to incinerate the planet, but I'm not sure if that was something he could actually do, since that was Xorn-As-Magneto-As-Xorn bluffing), and some Healing. His brother Shen Xorn wasn't given much use, and bios are short on his full capabilities, but he has a Black Hole in his head that would allow him to pull anything inside it, even light. So... Move Object/Affliction/Concealment, or something. Plus minor Telepathic powers, the extent of which aren't commented on.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Tue Aug 09, 2022 10:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Cosmic Carnage! Blistik! The X-Men! Iceman!)

Post by Shock »

Iceman was probably my favorite of the 3 characters in Spiderman and his Amazing Friends. Which is odd because since Spiderman got the role of wisecracking guy, Iceman got relegated to butt monkey a lot of the time. But he was the one having fun being a hero and 6-8 year old me liked that.
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Xorn (Shen Xorn)

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

XORN II (Shen Xorn)
Created By:
Chuck Austen & Salvador Larocca
First Appearance: X-Men #157 (July 2004)
Group Affiliations: The X-Men
Status: Alive
Role: Retconned Character, Healer
PL 12 (159)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+4)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+8)
Deception 10 (+12)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+8)
Insight 2 (+3)
Intimidation 8 (+10)
Perception 7 (+8)
Ranged Combat (Magnetic Blasts) 4 (+12)
Technology 6 (+10)

Advantages:
Improved Initiative

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Active Black Hole Inside His Head"
Immunity 11 (Aging, Life Support) [11]
Senses 8 (Energy Awareness- Radius, Ranged 2, Acute, Life Detection- Ranged & Radius) [8]

"Warping Gravity Fields" Move Object 12 (Extra: Perception-Ranged) (36) -- [40]
  • AE: Mind-Reading 10 (20)
  • AE: Healing 12 (24)
  • AE: "Vibrate Particles To Speak Other Languages (... what?)" Comprehend 2 (Languages) (4)
  • AE: Sucked Into A Black Hole" Movement 3 (Dimensional Travel) (Extras: Attack 12, Area- 60ft. Cone for 12 Ranks) (30)
Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Mind-Reading -- (DC 20)
Black Hole +12 Area (+12 Movement Attack, DC 22)
Gravity Field +12 Area (+12 Movement Attack, DC 22)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +4, Fortitude +7, Will +8

Complications:
Motivation (Peace)- Shen seeks to help and heal others.

Total: Abilities: 62 / Skills: 44--22 / Advantages: 1 / Powers: 59 / Defenses: 15 (159)

-So Shen Xorn's entire reason for being is to explain away a retcon- that Xorn was, in fact, a real person and not Magneto. Appearing to dress exactly like the cool-looking first Xorn (his twin brother), he helps out the X-Men and seems to be a good guy, and has powers the opposite of his brother's (a black hole in his brain instead of a sun)... but is promptly de-powered on M-Day. Finally, Shen Xorn is re-powered off-panel in a manner that is not revealed (sigh...) and is one of many mutants targeted by the new Dark Riders, who are doing their "survival of the fittest" thing by wiping out all mutants with Healing powers. Now living in seclusion in Tibet, he kills Barrage and proves his "fitness" by surviving against the others, and they all instead have tea. He aids the X-Men in their conflict with the Inhumans. Later, during Secret Empire, Shen is seen leading "New Tian", a sovereign nation created for mutants somewhere in California. However, he is a mere puppet ruler, controlled by Emma Frost via her telepathy. He disappeared at story's end, and popped up being hunted by a new "Cabal" of evil X-characters (Miss Sinister, Emma Frost, Bastion, still-evil Havok, etc.), and was attacked when he refused to join them. He sacrificed his life hoping to stop them, believing that all his other attempts to help people had ended in tragedy- Bastion went down with him. He and his brother were then resurrected by "The Five" in Hickman's new run on the X-books, as part of Xavier's plan for "Mutant Ascension".

-Shen has some pretty weird, poorly-explained powers, consisting of using a black hole in his head to... heal, speak other languages, and read minds? Okay, then? Oh, and he can also move stuff around or suck people into a black hole (at one point sending the Juggernaut & Nocturne into the Mojoverse).
Last edited by Jabroniville on Tue Aug 09, 2022 10:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Cosmic Carnage! Blistik! The X-Men! Iceman!)

Post by Ken »

Anyone else ever read "Incredible Hulk" Annual #7? Anyone else find that comic and the idea that Iceman is gay more than a little incongruous? Bisexual, maybe; but not homosexual.
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Kavita Rao

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

This is supposed to be the SAME CHARACTER. God DAMN you, Greg Land!

DR. KAVITA RAO
Created By:
Joss Whedon & John Cassaday
First Appearance: The Astonishing X-Men #1 (2004)
Group Affiliations: The X-Men Support Team
Role: Background Character
PL 3 (43), PL 6 (43) Doctor
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 0 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 0 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 5 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Science) 8 (+11)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+15) -- Flaws: Limited to Biology
Persuasion 3 (+6)
Technology 2 (+7)
Treatment 11 (+16)

Advantages:
Skill Mastery (Treatment), Ultimate Treatment Skill

Offense:
Unarmed +0 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +0 (DC 10), Parry +0 (DC 10), Toughness +0, Fortitude +0, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility (Doing Good)- Kavita attempted to cure mutations in people to save and enrich lives, especially after witnessing mutants kill innocent people by accident, and seeing a mutant girl commit suicide.

Total: Abilities: 26 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 2 (43)

-Kavita Rao showed up as the benefactor of Joss Whedon's great idea: "The Mutant Cure" (which of course became irrelevant very soon after, when M-Day happened). A brilliant doctor and geneticist, she was a great antagonist because she wasn't even CLOSE to evil- she wanted to "cure" mutants because she saw the damage they could inflict, and wanted to save the mutants themselves from further pain. However, her ideals were a bit iffy when she called mutations a "corruption" and "a disease", and so it became a major issue for the X-Men, as mutants everywhere swarmed her research centre as soon as the word got out. After Whedon's run, she joined the X-Men as a Moira MacTaggart for the new generation, which was kind of nice because she wasn't just some Token Minority, and you kind of need background characters and GOOD human people in the X-verse sometimes- Moira's death kind of left a hole in that regard (though her character had gone about as far as it could have in comics).

-Kavita appeared as a side-character in a few X-Books, and was told to kill Hope Summers after seeing a dark future... however, twists abounded- the dark future was a fake created by Graydon Creed who wanted the "Mutant Cure" virus, while Kavita herself was AWARE of the deception, and revealed her copy of the virus was a fake. Unfortunately, new X-writers take over, and neither of the big ones used Kavita after a point, leading to her falling into disuse. Many artists being unable to draw an older, un-hot woman (Greg Land in particular made EVEN HER look like all his usual porno babes) probably didn't help, and now Moira's back.

-Kavita's easily Hank McCoy's equal in terms of genetics & medicine, but lacks even rudimentary fighting skills, so fits in as a solid NPC.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Tue Aug 09, 2022 10:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Blistik! The X-Men! Iceman! Xorn!)

Post by Ian Turner »

Ah the Xorns, with the mutant power of... hold on, let me get my Mad Libs out...

I have a [A - nebula!] in my [B - right eye socket!] that lets me [C - control plants!].

And my sibling has a [star] in his [brain] that gives him the power to [do anything Magneto can do, plus healing, for no damn reason at all]. Glorious absurdity.

A - celestial body
B - body part
C - power that has not a damn thing to do with A or B
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Blistik! The X-Men! Iceman! Xorn!)

Post by Goldar »

Ian Turner wrote: Thu Jul 09, 2020 9:34 am Ah the Xorns, with the mutant power of... hold on, let me get my Mad Libs out...

I have a [A - nebula!] in my [B - right eye socket!] that lets me [C - control plants!].

And my sibling has a [star] in his [brain] that gives him the power to [do anything Magneto can do, plus healing, for no damn reason at all]. Glorious absurdity.

A - celestial body
B - body part
C - power that has not a damn thing to do with A or B
True. I have always hated the Xorns from the beginning--I was like why? Why are they being forced into the story/why are they here?

And to beat and kill Jean in Phoenix Form? Totally unacceptable. Jean as Phoenix can withstand Firelord cosmic level attacks. Plus, Jean's Phoenix level TP at such close range would have been able to read his treacherous thoughts of a "planetary stroke electromagnetic pulse". None of that made any sense, either. :evil: :x
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Ord

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

ORD, FROM BREAKWORLD
Created By:
Joss Whedon & John Cassaday
First Appearance: The Astonishing X-Men #1 (2004)
Role: Two-Arc Villain
Group Affiliations: The Breakworld
PL 11 (163)
STRENGTH
8 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 12 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Expertise (Breakworld Warrior) 8 (+8)
Technology 5 (+5)
Intimidation 8 (+8)
Perception 4 (+4)
Vehicles 3 (+7)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Diehard, Equipment 5 (Blasters), Fast Grab, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Cutting Blade), Power Attack, Precise Attack (Close/Concealment), Ranged Attack 6, Startle, Takedown 2

Powers:
"Enhanced Breakworld Physiology"
Regeneration 5 [5]
Senses 2 (Extended Hearing, Ultra-Hearing) [2]

"Breakworld Armour" (Flaws: Removable) [37]
Flight 3 (16 mph) (6)
Protection 3 (Extras: Impervious 7) (10)
"Deflecting Gauntlets" Deflect 10 (Extras: Reflection, Redirection) (30)
-- (46 points)

Equipment:
"Breakworld Energy Blasters" Blast 7 (Extras: Multiattack) (21) -- (22)
AE: "Breakworld Blades" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Improved Critical, Penetrating 6) (9)

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Blades +12 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Blasters +10 (+7 Ranged Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +8 (+11 Armour), Fortitude +9, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility (The Breakworld)- Ord is a loyalist to Powerlord Krunn. He will treat threats to his world quite seriously.
Responsibility (Temper)- The Breakworld is a society of warriors who know nothing but loyalty and violence. Ord tends to react with his fists.

Total: Abilities: 72 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 21 / Powers: 44 / Defenses: 12 (163)

-Ord ("From Breakworld") was a big-name villain in Joss Whedon's first Astonishing X-Men arc, and he even got to house the ENTIRE X-Men roster in a single round of combat, reflecting Cyke's Optic Blasts, slashing Wolverine and KOing the others. Of course, immediately after that, he got the "post-debut" de-push which involved him losing to the team again, then getting beat a few more times over the next issues (good ol' New Villain Stink), and finally, a semi-heroic death saving The Breakworld at the end of Whedon's run. Kind of a serious loss of "Bad-ass" appeal, as Joss got more and more into having him grumble about how bad stuff kept happening (making a bad-ass appearance at the X-Mansion... when the team isn't home and it's just the students; getting magnetically stuck to the ceiling and then the floor in a S.W.O.R.D. ship; "Is that Dragon thing behind me again?" followed immediately by Colossus beating the ever-loving piss out of him) and his unfortunate lot in life. The Breakworld has since appeared once more, with the refugees of the now-more-peaceful society dealing with what happens when your dictator is dethroned ("I do not wish for more of Krunn's cruelty, but at least there was ORDER."). But hey- he was a fun character while he lasted.

-I hemmed and hawed over making Ord a full-on PL 11, considering he only Pwnd the team once, but hey, it was a hell of a job, and he was still a threat afterwards. With his armor, Ord can shrug off Cyclops' Optic Blasts, and his cutting blades can hurt Colossus noticeably. He loses badly once the entire team gets going, but hey- half of them are PL 11 professional superheroes themselves (the only non-PL 11s on the Astonishing squad are Kitty & Beast). So Ord is tough as hell, can deflect & reflect energy blasts very quickly, can fight multiple people at once, and is generally a beast in combat. He's a little light on the brain power (Agent Brand called him "the dumbest alien I've ever met"), but he doesn't need it.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Tue Aug 09, 2022 10:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Blistik! The X-Men! Iceman! Xorn! Ord!)

Post by Jabroniville »

The "Frozen II Making-Of" immediately has Jennifer Buck (the director/producer) say that the sisters "feel real to me". It reminds me of how someone described Chris Claremont and his X-Men, and how he treated them as if they were real people.

And how Christopher Priest, by contrast, spoke of his people as COMIC BOOK CHARACTERS, and how he found it silly when others got worked up over them.

And then I think of why Chris had 100 times more success in comics than Priest did, and why Frozen made billions.
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Hazard

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

HAZARD (Carter Ryking)
Created By:
Fabian Nicieza & Art Thibert
First Appearance: X-Men #12 (Sept. 1992)
Role: Forgotten Character, Filler Story Arc
Group Affiliations: None
PL 10 (86)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Persuasion 4 (+6)
Ranged Combat (Plasma) 4 (+8)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Plasma Generation"
Plasma Blast 8 (Feats: Split) (17) -- [18]
  • AE: "Plasma Eruption" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Uncontrolled) (10)
Flight 6 (120 mph) [12]
"Bionics" Protection 2 [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Plasma Blast +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Plasma Burst +10 Area (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +5, Fortitude +5, Will +3

Complications:
Responsibility (Uncontrolled Power)- Carter cannot control his powers well- powerful bionics are used to help regulate them. He will occasionally erupt with a destructive burst of plasma.

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 8--4 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 30 / Defenses: 10 (86)

-Now here's an odd guy I've never actually heard of or seen before, and missed while searching for random other characters to build- and he's from the '90s X-Men series! However... Hazard clearly comes from that dead-zone between the Image Guys leaving, requiring Marvel to scramble and fill a couple of issues. Fabian Nicieza, co-creator of the X-Force series, teamed up with a few other people to try and make something out of the mess Jim Lee & others left behind (a "tumultuous time", the Communications major carefully describes it as being), and the result was a couple of issues of "filler" until they created a proper story. Apparently the filler was both to give Jim a break, and be "just in case" the Image thing went through.

-So Carter Ryking is the son of a man who worked with Brian Xavier (Charles' father) and Kurt Marko (the Juggernaut's father) in a research project into mutants way back in the day. Carter was developing mutant powers he couldn't control, so was sedated and given bionics in attempts to control them. He remained at the hospital for years until his father died, at which point he killed the nurses handling him and sent his father's work to Xavier. He appeared to abduct Xavier and bring him to the facility where their fathers had worked, by the X-Men gave chase, and Cyclops damaged his energy-absorbers. As this was pure filler (not even drawn by the book's regular artist), he disappeared, was given a random backstory bit in Nicieza's Gambit book (implying a link to Mister Sinister as part of Gambit's own backstory), and was revealed as having been de-powered on M-Day.

-Ryking later appeared much later, in the same X-book that featured his debut- now retitled X-Men: Legacy, it detailed all of the unused side characters in the X-line. The loss of his powers had driven him insane, and Professor X sought him out to recover his own lost memories. Carter mysteriously died while being sedated, but allowed Xavier to read his mind- one of his memories included that their fathers had all worked alongside Dr. Milbury, the identity of Mister Sinister.

-Hazard is a highly-limited Plasma Blaster, using bionics to control and regulate his powers. Physically, he is no match for the X-Men, and loses as soon as they catch up to him- his only "saving grace" is the omnidirectional nature of his powers.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Tue Aug 09, 2022 10:05 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Spiral

Post by Jabroniville »

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SPIRAL ("Ricochet" Rita Wayword)
Created By:
Ann Nocenti & Arthur Adams
First Appearance: Longshot #1 (Sept. 1985)
Group Affiliations: Mojoworld, Freedom Force, The Sisterhood of Mutants
Role: Really Really Annoying Character to Build, Deus Ex Machina
PL 12 (320)
STRENGTH
4/6 STAMINA 6 AGILITY 7
FIGHTING 14 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 6 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Acrobatics 7 (+14)
Athletics 5 (+11)
Deception 6 (+10)
Expertise (Science) 8 (+14)
Expertise (Space Traveller) 4 (+10)
Insight 2 (+6)
Intimidation 3 (+7)
Perception 5 (+9)
Persuasion 3 (+7)
Sleight of Hand 4 (+8)
Stealth 5 (+12)
Technology 8 (+14)
Treatment 2 (+8)
Vehicles 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, Benefit (Ambidexterity), Diehard, Equipment (Swords), Evasion, Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Swords), Improved Disarm, Improved Grab, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 8, Ritualist, Seize Initiative, Takedown 2, Tracking, Uncanny Dodge

Powers:
"Six Arms" Extra Limbs 4 [4]
"Cybernetic Arm" Enhanced Strength 2 (Flaws: Limited to One Arm) [2]
"Lots o' Punches" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Split) [2]
Features 1: Always Knows If Someone Speaks Her Name [1]
Immunity 5 (Mind Control) [5]
Leaping 1 (15 feet) [1]
Speed 1 (4 mph) [1]

"Super-Cheesy Magical Might"
Teleport 15 (Feats: Change Direction & Velocity) (Extras: Accurate, Easy, Extended, Portal +2, Selective) (122) -- [131]
  • AE: "Stun Blast" Affliction 12 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Ranged, Cumulative) (36)
  • AE: "Immobility Blast" Snare 12 (Feats: Reversible) (36)
  • AE: "Depowering Beam" Affliction 12 (Fort; Impaired/Disabled/Transformed to Powerless) (Extras: Ranged, Cumulative) (36)
  • AE: Movement 4 (Dimensional Travel 2, Time Travel 2) (Extras: Portal +2, +2 Size, Selective) (28)
  • AE: "Out of Phase With The Timestream" Insubstantial 4 (20)
  • AE: "Magic Disguise" Morph 3 (Any Humanoid) (15)
  • AE: Blast 12 (24)
  • AE: "Dimensional Spiral" Concealment (All Senses) 10 (20)
  • AE: "Mirror Spiral" Deflect 13 (13)
Offense:
Unarmed +14 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Cyber-Arm +14 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Lots of Arms +14 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Swords +14 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Lots of Swords +14 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Magic Blast +12 (+12 Ranged Damage, DC 27)
Stun/Immobility/Depowering Beams +12 (+12 Ranged Affliction, DC 22)
Initiative +11

Defenses:
Dodge +16 (DC 26), Parry +16 (DC 26), Toughness +6, Fortitude +8, Will +8

Complications:
Prejudice (Obvious Metahuman)- With six arms, Spiral cannot pass for an ordinary human.
Enemy (Longshot)- The former stuntwoman fell for the alien, but she was kidnapped by Mojo and made to hate him.
Enemy (Mojo)- Though she works for him, Spiral despises Mojo for the way he acts towards her, and for what she became under his orders. She often disobeys orders.
Power Loss (Magic)- Spiral requires dancing and gesturing to utilize her Magical powers- without the ability to move, she cannot cast spells.

Total: Abilities: 98 / Skills: 64--32 / Advantages: 27 / Powers: 147 / Defenses: 17 (320)

Spiral- Weirdo Rarely-Used Side Character:
-Spiral is a great big bag of annoying- in her initial appearances she was REALLY powerful, but in modern times she's just mildly cheap- merging a super warrior with a Magic Girl PLUS throwing in Teleportation, and you've got somebody who basically exists to give her teams ludicrous advantages in combat. I always hated the character, though- I thought she looked dumb, and her presence in any story I read as a kid just meant that I would understand NONE of it- her backstory and characterization were so convoluted and complex that a newbie reader had no hope of following anything. Her distinctive appearance and character led Chris Claremont to use her a lot in his '80s run on the X-Men, but once he was gone, Spiral basically disappeared except for a few random shots here and there. Except of course for the Fighting Game, which bizarrely used her as a key villain! This wasn't SO bad, as the game hit most of the major names (Magneto, Juggernaut, a Sentinel), and she certainly has more credibility as a villain than SILVER SAMURAI does, but they still skipped out on SABRETOOTH and APOCALYPSE for her!

Spiral's History:
-Spiral debuted in Ann Nocenti & Art Adams's Longshot Limited Series, followed one issue later by a human stuntwoman "Ricochet Rita", and months later, Spiral appeared in Chris Claremont's X-Men, so it was clear this was a character to watch. The two characters were meant to be separate at first, appearing simultaneously in a few books, but Spiral was hinted to be an ex-lover of Longshot's with a pathological hatred for him. Hell, it was actually FABIAN NICIEZA who made them the same person, which is way later than I expected. So Rita was a woman who befriended Longshot when he first appearerd on Earth, soon falling in love with him. Rita went with him to the Mojoverse, but both were immediately overwhelmed and mind-wiped- Longshot forgot all about Rita, and Rita was held captive for years and transformed into the loyal, subserviant Spiral, then sent back in time to explain Rita & Spiral being different people.

-Spiral was thus a six-armed Magical Cyborg who did dances to utilize any power imaginable. Trapped in the past for failing to kill Longshot, she joined Earth's Freedom Force, working with Mystique's crew for her own ends, defeating the X-Men singlehandedly more than once, then helping the Force beat both Avengers coastal branches. She also ran the "Body Shoppe" in the pages of Wolverine, selling cybernetic parts to amputees and villains alike. She thus transformed Lady Deathstrike into her current, clawed form, as well as turning Cole, Macon & Reese into upgraded cyborgs, and even putting cybernetic eyes into Psylocke's original body, allowing Mojo to use them as cameras to spy on the X-Men. Finally, she & Mojo teamed up to turn Psylocke into an Asian woman- first by transforming her body; then explained as them swapping her mind with that of the assassin Kwannon. The reasons why Spiral left them each with half of Betsy Braddock's original telepathic powers, and programmed them to have personality traits of each other, are unknown aside from "FOR THE EVULZ".

Post-Iron Age Spiral:
-Spiral oddly fell away from comics just as X-Men: The Arcade Game became a big hit, using her alongside other visually-distinctive characters like Silver Samurai, Omega Red, and a Sentinel over more famous villains like Sabretooth, probably because the designers liked how they looked and how they might play. Like, she was involved in the "Crimson Dawn" thing that gave Psylocke new powers, but nothing much came of it, and at one point teamed up with the Viper to give Karma's young siblings extra powers, but they were foiled by the Beast & Cannonball. She once turns the X-Men into "X-Babies", but they defeat Mojo anyways. All minor stuff.

-She was the central villain in Rob Liefeld's Shatterstar Limited Series, having conquered an alternate universe and killing everyone but X-Force, and was raping Sunspot I guess, but Shatterstar defeated her. She then joined the Red Queen's "Sisterhood of Mutants" and engaged in some random stuff for that minor arc, largely not being as devastating as she used to be. And then, for some reason, she was exiled back on Earth by Mojo, and became a superhero on Storm's X-Force. Yeah, I dunno, either.

-So overall, Spiral is a total mess. A bunch of convoluted stuff and random "Because Whatever" story twists, and she's mostly a Deus Ex Machina to explain why things are the way that they are. Why is Psylocke now Asian? MAGISCIENCE! And then Claremont leaves Marvel and no other writers really bother that much with her, and she becomes even more of a nonsense character and never does anything that's really important.

Spiral's Powers:
-This build is built mostly off of Wikipedia, and partially because I read Taliesin's build way back in the day and copied some junk, because Spiral did VERY little in most comics I had- she just kind of said a bunch of vague stuff and manipulated events. She's PL 12 because she used to house entire Avengers squads before they settled her power levels down, but she was still very annoying for anyone to fight. So she's PL 11 defensively, PL 12 offensively.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Tue Aug 09, 2022 10:05 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (The X-Men! Iceman! Xorn! Ord! Spiral!)

Post by catsi563 »

Still remember when she and Freedom Force fought the Xmen during the adversary arc. Shed done a spell to blind dazzler by melding destinys mask to her face. Later she tried to undo it but couldnt because the magic was all messed up Colossus didnt believe her and made his displeasure known by nearly squeezing her head from her shoulders
Dr. Silverback has wryly observed that this is like trying to teach lolcats about Shakespeare

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