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

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
User avatar
Ken
Posts: 3460
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 10:40 pm
Location: Sycalb, Madiganistan

Re: Jab’s Builds! (Exiles! Master Men! Baron Bloods! Sin!)

Post by Ken »

But does her father pay her? I mean one hears about the wages of Sin....
My Amazing Woman: a super-hero romantic comedy podcast.

When the most powerful super hero on Earth marries an ordinary man, hilarity ensues.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Mother Superior

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

MOTHER SUPERIOR (Sinthia Schmidt)
Created By:
J.M. DeMatteis & Paul Neary
First Appearance: Captain America #290 (Feb. 1984)
Role: Evil Jailbait, Psychotic Teenage Girl (well, more psychotic than normal anyways)
Group Affiliations: The Red Skull's Employ, The Sisters of Sin
PL 10 (174)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+10)
Athletics 4 (+5)
Deception 5 (+8)
Expertise (Nazi) 7 (+10)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 4 (+7)
Investigation 3 (+6)
Perception 3 (+6)
Persuasion 4 (+7)
Ranged Combat (Guns) 2 (+10)
Stealth 2 (+6)
Technology 2 (+5)
Vehicles 1 (+5)

Advantages:
Beginner's Luck, Benefit (The Red Skull's Daughter), Defensive Roll, Equipment 4 (Guns & Stuff), Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Guns), Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 5

Powers:
Teleport 8 (Feats: Dynamic) Extras: Extended, Accurate) (33) -- [41]
  • Dynamic AE: "Telekinesis" Move Object 10 (21)
  • Dynamic AE: "TK Bolt" Blast 10 (21)
  • Dynamic AE: "TK Field" Force Field 7 (Extras: Impervious 9) (16)
  • Dynamic AE: "Telepathy" Mind-Reading 8 Linked to Communication (Mental) 2 (25)
Insubstantial 4 [20]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Guns +10 (+4-6 Ranged Damage, DC 19-21)
TK Bolt +10 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +2 (+3 D.Roll, +10 Force Field), Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Motivation (Evil & Mayhem)- Sin's pretty screwed up.
Relationship (The Red Skull)- Synthia is her father's daughter, despite being a "failure" for being born a girl. She worships him, looks up to him, and resents him all at the same time.

Total: Abilities: 60 / Skills: 46--23 / Advantages: 18 / Powers: 61 / Defenses: 12 (174)

-Synthia's run as "Mother Superior" was as a rather powerful lady, I'm assuming. I never read a comic with her in it, but this is what I guess her power levels were at.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Fri Aug 19, 2022 7:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Sister Pleasure

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image
Image

SISTER PLEASURE (Real Name Unknown, aka Raunch)
Created By:
J.M. DeMatteis & Paul Neary
First Appearance: Captain America #294 (June 1984)
Role: Evil Kid, Afflicter
Group Affiliations: The Sisters of Sin
PL 8 (89)
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE -1 AWARENESS -1 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+5)
Deception 2 (+6, +8 Attractive)
Expertise (Nazi) 3 (+2)
Intimidation 2 (+2)
Perception 3 (+2)
Persuasion 2 (+6, +8 Attractive)

Advantages:
Attractive, Daze (Persuasion), Ranged Attack 2, Teamwork

Powers:
"Pleasure Centre Touch" Affliction 10 (Will; Fatigued/Exhausted/Asleep) (Extras: Cumulative, Sustained) (30) -- [31]
  • AE: "Cast Sleep" Affliction 8 (Will; Fatigued/Exhausted/Asleep) (Extras: Cumulative, Area- Visual Perception) (24)
Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Sleep +8 Area (+8 Affliction, DC 18)
Pleasure Touch +6 (+10 Affliction, DC 20)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +2, Fortitude +4, Will +2

Complications:
Motivation (Brutality)- Sister Pleasure just likes to mess with people.
Responsibility (Kid)- The Sisters of Sin are all actually young girls in reality, and prone to youthful mistakes and stupidity. They can also be de-aged back to youths fairly easily (somehow).

Total: Abilities: 32 / Skills: 14--7 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 31 / Defenses: 14 (89)

-Sister Pleasure is the Team Slut of the squad (though in later appearances, they're shown playing Strip Poker with each other, and SIN is a member, so I'm assuming it's kinda a requirement for membership), using her powers to make people fall asleep by an over-loading of the "pleasure centres"- okay, she has the Orgazmirator from Orgazmo as part of her powers. And she's jailbait. A dangerous, dangerous combo.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Fri Aug 19, 2022 7:32 am, edited 2 times in total.
greycrusader
Posts: 1179
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 11:25 pm
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Re: Jab’s Builds! (Exiles! Master Men! Baron Bloods! Sin!)

Post by greycrusader »

Are you also going to be covering the Battle-Axis too, Jab? The ones who fought the Invaders in the 1990s series, based on public domain characters? Dr. Nemesis, Human Meteor, Spider-Queen, Strongman, and Volton?
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Re: Jab’s Builds! (Exiles! Master Men! Baron Bloods! Sin!)

Post by Jabroniville »

greycrusader wrote: Fri Oct 16, 2020 3:28 am Are you also going to be covering the Battle-Axis too, Jab? The ones who fought the Invaders in the 1990s series, based on public domain characters? Dr. Nemesis, Human Meteor, Spider-Queen, Strongman, and Volton?
Yup! When Brothersale listed those random characters I hadn't heard of, I looked up Spider-Queen and found the others. But they're stuck at the very end because I don't wanna screw up my posting order any more than I already have :).
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Sister Dream

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

SISTER DREAM (Real Name Unknown, aka Hoodwink)
Created By:
J.M. DeMatteis & Paul Neary
First Appearance: Captain America #294 (June 1984)
Role: Evil Kid, Illusion-Master
Group Affiliations: The Sisters of Sin
PL 8 (72)
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE -1 AWARENESS -1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+5)
Deception 6 (+6)
Expertise (Nazi) 3 (+2)
Intimidation 2 (+2)
Perception 3 (+2)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 2, Teamwork

Powers:
"Hypnosis"
Illusion 8 (Vision & Hearing) (24) -- [25]
  • AE: Affliction 8 (Will; Entranced/Compelled/Controlled) (Extras: Perception Range +2) (Flaws: Vision-Dependent) (16)
Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Hypnosis +8 Perception (+8 Perception Affliction, DC 18)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +2, Fortitude +4, Will +2

Complications:
Motivation (Brutality)- Sister Dream just likes to mess with people.
Responsibility (Kid)- The Sisters of Sin are all actually young girls in reality, and prone to youthful mistakes and stupidity. They can also be de-aged back to youths fairly easily (somehow).

Total: Abilities: 24 / Skills: 16--8 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 25 / Defenses: 12 (72)

-Sister Dream (later given the even-worse name "Hoodwink") can Hypnotise people, and has Illusion-based powers. Not too interesting (particularly since Mother Night, the group's commander, has the SAME POWERS), and the giant hood does nothing for her design.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Fri Aug 19, 2022 7:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Re: Jab’s Builds! (Exiles! Master Men! Baron Bloods! Sin!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Watching another pair of Kim Possible episodes, one of which is fairly important-

Coach Possible sees Kim take over the Tweebs' soccer team, which proves disastrous as Kim is actually the Coach from Hell. She runs them into the ground, destroying their love for the game, because she's so insanely competitive and obsessed with winning. One of those things where they humanize the "Flawless" main character a ways more. Though it's not the greatest episode; the sheer highlight is MRS. POSSIBLE doing the "Puppy Dog Pout", which is the best ever. And for the riffs on the "Suck E. Cheese's" gags. Naturally, Ron adores both the childish mentality and the "burnt pizza smell".

The Seniors, with Junior playing lead, kind of mimic the same thing, as Senior keeps needlessly interfering with the scheme to make it more evil, wrecking Junior's ideas. Ultimately, of course, Junior's entire idea was to make an standard disco, so I guess Senior was in the right.

Pain King vs. Cleopatra is the "Wrestling One", and one I actually missed when I first saw the show, I believe. It has Andrew "Test" Martin as one wrestler, and Bill Goldberg as the other, and both actually play the "regular guy" thing very well. It's the "Growling wrestler" thing they oddly suck at! This one's very "Filler"-y, but notable for two reasons:

* The Jackal is actually one of the most powerful villains in the entire series- if they hadn't taken the Talisman away, he'd probably have just killed everyone. He had vast, unfair powers.

* It's the debut of Monique, Kim's "Black Best Friend" and a character who adds Mandatory Disney Channel Diversity (a huge thing, even now) and gives Kim a female to talk to. Monique ends up being kind of a generic character, usually there to blurt out quips or respond sarcastically to Ron, but they play up a rivalry here, with Ron being jealous of Kim... hanging out with her two days in a row. Fearing the end of their friendship, he is as mopey as he was in the near-series finale (where Kim got a boyfriend), but thankfully it turns out he gets along with Monique, as both are fans of wrestling and Bueno Nacho. Though "Monique & Ron are Buds" kind of goes away really quickly, as she just teases him after this point, I think.

Curiously, twelve episodes in, I think Kim's crush Josh Mankey only appeared in the first episode. Talk about a flat character archetype.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Sister Agony

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image
Image

SISTER AGONY (Real Name Unknown, aka Slash)
Created By:
J.M. DeMatteis & Paul Neary
First Appearance: Captain America #294 (June 1984)
Role: Evil Kid, Scrapper
Group Affiliations: The Sisters of Sin
PL 7 (75)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE -1 AWARENESS -1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Athletics 3 (+6)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+9)
Close Combat (Claws) 1 (+9)
Deception 2 (+2)
Expertise (Nazi) 3 (+2)
Intimidation 5 (+5)
Perception 5 (+4)
Stealth 2 (+6)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 3

Powers:
"Razor-Sharp Claws" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Split, Penetrating) [4]

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Claws +9 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4, Fortitude +6, Will +2

Complications:
Motivation (Brutality)- Sister Agony just likes to kill people.
Responsibility (Kid)- The Sisters of Sin are all actually young girls in reality, and prone to youthful mistakes and stupidity. They can also be de-aged back to youths fairly easily (somehow).

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 4 / Defenses: 13 (75)

-See, they really missed the damn boat on this character. "Sister Agony" is a somewhat decent name and all, as it's creepy and evocative, as well as being descriptive. "Slash" is a pretty good name as well. But combining the two would get you SISTER SLASH, which is a WAY cooler name! That would totally fit as an '80s Metal group, and totally make her a sweet character.

-In any case, she's just a weak PL 7 character, using Claws as her main schtick, without any of the usual extras that most Claw Guys utilize (like incredible Stealth, Enhanced Senses, or Regeneration). In general, these "Sisters of Sin" are weak-ass supporting characters, mean to be Synthia/Mother Superior's allies. It'd be a challenge to Cap mainly because there's five of them at once, and in this game and in both real life & comics, outnumbering your foe counts. She's still notably dumb-looking, wielding what appears to be chicken feet as a set of weapons.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Fri Aug 19, 2022 7:34 am, edited 2 times in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Sister Death

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

SISTER DEATH (Real Name Unknown, aka Torso)
Created By:
J.M. DeMatteis & Paul Neary
First Appearance: Captain America #294 (June 1984)
Role: Evil Kid, Powerhouse
Group Affiliations: The Sisters of Sin
PL 8 (73)
STRENGTH
9 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE -1 AWARENESS -1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+4)
Deception 3 (+3)
Expertise (Nazi) 3 (+2)
Intimidation 7 (+7)
Perception 1 (+0)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 3

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +8, Fortitude +8, Will +2

Complications:
Motivation (Brutality)- Sister Death just likes to hurt people.
Responsibility (Kid)- The Sisters of Sin are all actually young girls in reality, and prone to youthful mistakes and stupidity. They can also be de-aged back to youths fairly easily (somehow).

Total: Abilities: 50 / Skills: 16--8 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 10 (73)

-Sister Death (aka "Torso", and seriously, that's possibly the worst super-villain name I've ever heard) is the Powerhouse of the team, either being a giant Evil Nun, or a Dominatrix-looking butch chick. Your standard brutalistic female character- she'd fit in rather well with The Grapplers.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Fri Aug 19, 2022 7:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Crossbones

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image Image Image
Image

CROSSBONES (Brock Rumlow, aka Frag)
Created By:
Mark Gruenwald & Kieron Dwyer
First Appearance: Captain America #359-360 (July & Aug. 1989)
Role: Elite Henchman, Cap's Personal Punching Bag
Group Affiliations: The Skeleton Crew, The Thunderbolts
PL 10 (145)
STRENGTH
4 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 13 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+9)
Deception 6 (+8)
Expertise (Criminal) 8 (+8)
Expertise (Brainwashing Techniques) 8 (+8)
Insight 4 (+5)
Intimidation 7 (+9)
Investigation 6 (+7)
Notice 5 (+6)
Stealth 3 (+8)
Vehicles 5 (+8)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Chokehold, Close Attack, Contacts, Diehard, Equipment 5, Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Favored Foe (Patriots), Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Knife, Unarmed 2) 3, Improved Hold, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Ranged Attack 9, Startle, Taunt, Tracking

Powers:
"Friggin' Strong" Strength-Damage +1 [1]

Equipment:
"Body Armour" Protection 1 (1)
"Pair of Automatics" Blast 7 (Feats: Split) (Extras: Multiattack) (Inaccurate -1) (21) -- (23)
  • AE: "Standard Setting" Blast 6 (Feats: Split) (13)
  • AE: "Poisoned Knives" Strength-Damage +1 (Extras: Ranged 5) (Diminished Range -2) (4) Linked to Weaken Stamina 4 (Extras: Progressive +2, Ranged) (Diminished Range -2) (14)
Offense:
Unarmed +13 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Knife +13 (+5 Damage & +4 Weaken, DC 20 & 14)
Guns +12 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +13 (DC 23), Toughness +5 (+6 Armour), Fortitude +8, Will +6

Complications:
Motivation (Violence)- Rumlow is a thug, plain and simple. He likes to hurt people, maim people and kill people, and enjoys torture.
Enemy (Captain America)
Enemy (Diamondback)- Brock brutalized the poor girl when she was younger, and continued to torment her in her adult years.

Total: Abilities: 68 / Skills: 56--28 / Advantages: 33 / Powers: 1 / Defenses: 15 (145)

Crossbones- The Ultimate Mook:
-Crossbones was a regular occurence in Cap's monthly book for years under Mark Gruenwald's pen, as he was the Red Skull's "Top Flunky" (in Captain Germany's own words), often sent out in field missions against Cap & others, where he'd do a good job of holding the Avenger off before eventually going down, not to mention being a constant source of anguish for Diamondback (Cap's partner and love interest), since he'd brutalized her in the past. He was a nasty piece of work, but I liked him as a kid because he had BY FAR the coolest costume among the villains in the Marvel U at the time, with a bad-ass white skull motif and these giant Ron-Lim-sculpted arms. Guy LOOKED like a fighter, and that goes a long way towards impressing a young male reader (I mean, most comic book guys have the same general physique- Crossbones was HUGE). Ol' Brock didn't actually have a lot of wins over major-leaguers, but he was known to brawl with Daredevil, Bullseye & Cap- elite company. The character vanished for most of the Post-Gru era until he got a big push in the same role under Ed Brubaker, as well as a role in stuff like Thunderbolts

-Brock was eventually given some backstory- it turns out that he was part of a group of mercenaries who invaded Arnim Zola's base, and he impressed the Red Skull himself after challenging the villain to a fight- though he was beaten, the Skull decided to train him personally, turning him into "Crossbones". He would go on to do the Skull's bidding in many Cap comics, including shattering the Bloodstone to prevent Baron Zemo from being controlled by it and doing untold damage, fighting Daredevil & Bullseye as part of a war against the Kingpin, and more- his fights against Cap were Batroc-like in that he'd do some damage and provide a decent threat, but would ultimately end up losing. Enlisting a psychic, he found the Skull in the bunker where Magneto had dumped him to starve to death, saving his boss's life. However, things soon went awry- the Skull was again captured under Crossbones's watch (by Captain Germany), he was a paid minion of Marco Sanzionare's who attacked and nearly lost to NFL SUPERPRO before tossing out a venom-touched knife and running away), and he was fired for questioning the Skull's decision to enter a partnership with Viper.

-Crossbones, trying to win back favor, kidnapped Diamondback to lure Captain America into a trap, but she outwitted him. He was able to kill Cutthroat (who had replaced him as the Skull's right-hand man), Diamondback's brother, and saved her with a blood transfusion when she nearly died (so he could use her as bait- his original plan), but was badly wounded by shrapnel when Cap & Falcon invaded the base- he was imprisoned and vanished for more than ten years in the comics, as Gruenwald left the book and quickly died. He was last seen as a generic face in the crowd imprisoned on The Raft, breaking out along with dozens of other super-villains.

Crossbones Returns:
-Ed Brubaker's legendary Cap run swiftly created a new squad for the Red Skull, with Crossbones in a major role. Former Skeleton Crew acts were killed, but Brock discovered the Skull's daughter, having been deprogrammed into being a nice, normal girl, and quickly tortured her into breaking the programming and becoming the evil "Sin" once more. Entering into a relationship with the teen girl (Crossbones is TRUE scum), he helps kill Captain America, and he's cleverly brainwashed to prevent giving up any information as to the villains' scheme. Crossbones is finally grievously wounded, shot by Bucky, who has become the new Cap. He subsequently joins the new Thunderbolts during one of the odd periods where the book's team is run by Luke Cage and a bunch of TOTALLY evil whackjob villains- cleverly, Luke puts him on the team because he's so horrible that the other villains would unite AGAINST him, instead of just trying to break ranks and kill Luke himself. He gains some energy blast powers via corrupted Terrigen Mists for whatever reason- as expected, he soon proves uncontrollable, murdering a police officer and trying to abandon the team when he thinks it's about to be shut down. He is beaten and captured by the returning Steve Rogers.

-Crossbones escapes during a jailbreak and hurts some former Initiative kids (throwing a grenade at Gravity to cover his escape- Geiger, the female Doc Samson-type, grabs the grenade and is badly injured, covering his escape), then... kinda just becomes a generic backgrounder in some stories. He joins HYDRA, pops up on the Pleasant Hill prison (where he nearly kills the elderly Steve Rogers until Kobik de-ages him back to his physical prime, and Cap wins), then joins the Army of Evil during Secret Empire, running a super-prison along with Sin.

-Crossbones is thus in an odd position as a villain- someone defined not by his rivalry with a hero, but by his subservience to a BIGGER villain. In a sense, he is the ultimate Mook- just a simple, humble minion who knows his place. 'Bones never goes for the top position, never betrays his master, etc.- he simply does what he's told. But he's not some honorable, loyal lapdog- he's just a big, dumb menace a lot of the time. Gladly allying with a Nazi because of how tough he is, being so awful that even other VILLAINS dislike him (he's abused in super-villain prisons), banging the Skull's teenage, skull-faced daughter, etc. His backstory under Gru, where he murdered Diamondback's brothers and possibly raped her as a young girl, alluded to this as well. He's equal parts a fun, aggressive threat and a one-note character- lacking all depth, Crossbones is just a cool-looking Mook at heart.

Crossbones' Skills:
-Crossbones is a weak, under-pointed PL 10, coming up to about 9.5, which is just enough to give Cap pause for a bit, but not enough to really every stand a chance at winning in a fair fight. He's strong as hell for a human being (Strength 4 equals 800 lbs. of lifting power), a good fighter and grappler, and has several nasty tricks (poisoned blades), but he's never been good enough to take a real hero on and win- he's PL 8.5 unarmed, and PL 9 with a Knife, with PL 9.5 Defenses. The way he's statted up, he could give Cap pause, and give Frank Castle or Daredevil one hell of a fight (both are PL 10s), but he's WELL beneath all of them in versatility, and would still generally lose the fight (which he always does). Though he did beat up NFL Superpro once, by feigning injury and then blading him with a knife doused in cobra venom. But who COULDN'T beat up NFL Superpro?

-As a Thunderbolt, he briefly gained some kind of Face Blast power, which is kind of dumb, but whatever. It was likely there just ot give him a power boost, lest he get overpowered by his team of super-humans.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Fri Aug 19, 2022 7:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Davies
Posts: 5080
Joined: Thu Mar 23, 2017 10:37 pm
Location: Edmonton, AB

Re: Jab’s Builds! (Baron Blood I & III! Sin! Crossbones!)

Post by Davies »

I sometimes think that Bane, to some extent, is a commentary about what someone like Crossbones could be if he had more ambition. They certainly physically echo each other ...
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Cutthroat

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

CUTTHROAT (Daniel "Danny" Leighton)
Created By:
Chris Claremont, Michael Nasser & Rich Buckler
First Appearance: Marvel Team-Up #89 (Jan. 1980)
Role: Forgotten Villain
Group Affiliations: The Skeleton Crew, The Savage Crims (street gang)
PL 8 (107)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 5 (+11)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+11)
Close Combat (Knives) 1 (+11)
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Criminal) 5 (+6)
Intimidation 4 (+4)
Investigation 4 (+5)
Perception 6 (+7)
Ranged Combat (Knives) 4 (+12)
Stealth 5 (+11)
Vehicles 3 (+6)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Damaging Escape, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Equipment 6 (Arsenal of Blades, Body Armour), Grappling Finesse, Improved Critical (Knife) 2, Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 5, Takedown, Uncanny Dodge

Equipment:
"Body Armour" Protection 2 (2)

"Rocket Gun"
Blast 8 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst on 6 Ranks) (22) -- (25)
  • AE: Dazzle Hearing 6 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (18)
  • AE: "Adamantium-Edged Knives" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Improved Critical) (Extras: Penetrating 4) (7)
  • AE: "Throwing Knives" Strength-Damage +1 (Extras: Ranged 3, Multiattack 3) (Diminished Range -2) (5)
Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Knives +11 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Throwing Knives +12 (+3 Ranged Damage, DC 18)
Dazzle +6 Area (+6 Affliction, DC 16)
Rocket Blast +8, +6 Area (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +3 (+5 Body Armour), Fortitude +6, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)
Enemy (Crossbones)- Crossbones is actually Brock Rumlow, the thug who brutalized Daniel & Rachel Leighton when they were younger.
Relationship (Mother Night)- Cutthroat hooked up with Night while one of Red Skull's agents.

Total: Abilities: 50 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 24 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 12 (107)

-Mark Gruenwald's run on Captain America was fascinating. While not being uber-heavy on legendary storylines and events, it was one of the most in-depth looks at the world of Super-Heroes & Super-Villains I've ever seen, with unbelievable amounts of thought put in to everything. It was one of the few books that used the Avengers as an actual organization with support staff, characters & planning (like when Cap requests assistance through his Secretary, who patches him through to various other Avengers or allies), and one of the few to show the VILLAINS' side of things, as they had to plan, team up, and do things together. Take the Skeleton Crew. Formed by the Red Skull, he frequently had to plan, scheme, etc., using them as his flunkies. Occasionally upon losing a member, he'd go recruiting. Danny here joined up as such by killing two other low-end costumed super-villains- Mangler & Deathstroke- in a locked room. Prior to this, he was a one-off Marvel Team-Up guy- he was hired in lieu of Arcade to kill Spider-Man, but Spidey & Nightcrawler teamed up to fight him, and then Arcade himself interfered, helping them win!

-Following this, Cutthroat was given some hard, physical training by the Taskmaster, using Captain America-centric weapons and moves to better prepare him for life as a Cap enemy. Along the way, we find out that he's the brother of Diamondback- both had been previously victimized by Crossbones. He also slowly fell for Mother Night, herself mooning over the Red Skull. When Crossbones returned to the Crew, Cutthroat, feeling threatened (I don't think he knew Brock had hurt his sister), tried to murder 'Bones in his sleep, but the villain was warned by Mother Night for some reason, and so Cutthroat ironically had his own throat cut. So much for HIM. Having all that backstory only for that quick ending was one of those things Gruenwald went for that few writers ever did.

-Thanks to some messed-up accidental continuity, Cutthroat turned up alive on The Raft when Electro broke out all those super-villains during the Avengers' opening run in the 2000s. Oddly, despite Cap mentioning him in the "Bios" section of a TPB, his link to Diamondback would never get brought up, and he'd just be a background villain used in group shots of The Hood's gang. That'll happen when you're a really generic guy with blades as your gimmick. He never even got any respect in Cap's OWN book (which theoretically would have used him as an upcoming elite threat, but instead turned him into a Jobber who was easily killed). He's also one of VERY few comic book characters to have a significant case of male pattern baldness.

-Cutthroat is pretty bare-bones. Just a martial artist-type fighter who's really good with Blades, he makes PL 8 offensively pretty easily, but is fairly low-pointed, failing to make many heroes quake in their boots. It makes sense- Crossbones KILLED HIM despite their history, and he's just an un-powered human as well, so even Hero Points couldn't save his Suck Force from making him lose. I'm not even sure if he ever squared off with Captain America himself, but I don't see him ever winning that fight.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Fri Aug 19, 2022 7:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Machinesmith

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image
Image

MACHINESMITH (Samuel "Starr" Saxon)
Created By:
Stan Lee & Gerry Conway
First Appearance: Daredevil #49 (Feb. 1969- Saxon), Marvel Two-In-One #47 (Machinesmith)
Role: Tech Guy, Journeyman Villain
Group Affiliations: The Masters of Evil, The Skeleton Crew, The Shadow Council
PL 9 (180), PL 10 (180) Possessor of Tech
STRENGTH
8 STAMINA -- AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 6 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Athletics 3 (+11)
Deception 4 (+5)
Expertise (Science) 10 (+16)
Expertise (Criminal) 1 (+7)
Intimidation 3 (+4)
Perception 5 (+7)
Technology 12 (+18)
Vehicles 4 (+7)

Advantages:
Chokehold, Equipment 5, Fast Grab, Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Improved Disarm, Inventor, Ranged Attack 6, Skill Mastery (Technology), Ultimate Technology Skill

Powers:
"Robotic Body"
Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
Protection 8 [8]
Speed 2 (8 mph) [2]
"Robotic Senses" Senses 2 (Infra & Extended Vision) [2]

"Possess Machines" Affliction 10 (Tech Skill of Creator; Entranced/Compelled/Controlled) (Feats: Subtle, Insidious) (Extras: Ranged, Concentration, Cumulative, Possession) (Flaws: Limited to Machines, Instant Recovery) (30) -- [33]
  • AE: "Telescoping Arms" Elongation 3 (Flaws: Limited to Arms & Legs) (1.5)
  • AE: "Rocket Launchers" Blast 8 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst at 6 Ranks) (22)
  • AE: Mind Reading 10 (Feats: Subtle) (Extras: Cumulative, Effortless, Sensory Link) (Flaws: Limited to Machines -2) (Quirks: Must Have Link to Tech Used or Sensory Link is Touch Range) (30)
Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Launchers +9 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +8, Fortitude --, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility (The Red Skull)- Smithy is most-often seen as an agent of the Skull, and is a loyal henchman.

Total: Abilities: 56 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 19 / Powers: 75 / Defenses: 9 (180)

Starr Saxon- Generic Inventor to Casual Kill-O-Bot:
-Machinesmith is mostly known to me as a recurring background character in Mark Gruenwald's run on Captain America. Initially a forgotten, lame Daredevil villain, "Starr Saxon" later actually BECAME a robot after breaking his neck, and he later became the Red Skull's key Tech-Guy. There, he was kind of a casual-talking type of guy, and lacked a sense of "Moustache-Twirling Villainy". Despite linking himself to a NAZI, Saxon was meant to be depicted as gay, and other books have basically implied or corroborated this. He rarely appeared once Gru's run was over, but suddenly popped up in MANY more recent stories, effectively becoming a constantly-seen unexpected Journeyman Villain!

-Starr Saxon's origin story is that at 14, he discovered an abandoned Doombot and took it apart, learning robotics as he did so- in a clever move, he used his expertise to fashion a criminal empire out of building robotic assassins for hire or Kill-O-Bots for others to use. This brought him into contact with Daredevil, as he was hired to kill the hero. Discovering DD's secret identity, he kidnaps Karen Page to serve as bait, and blackmails DD in order to secure his escape. He also builds a Magneto robot that became a recurring thing over the years, as the 'bot believed itself to be the real deal. Saxon disguises himself as Mister Fear in his next contest against DD, but he's knocked from his flying hovercraft, and breaks his neck.

-Of course, he later reappears, but unlike most villains, DIDN'T fake his death- his dying body is found by his own robots, and his brain patterns are downloaded into a computer, allowing him to control a variety of android bodies. Now calling himself "Machinesmith", he is hired to defeat the Fantastic Four in Marvel Two-In-One- he brainwashes the Thing into attacking them, but he fights Jack of Hearts instead and the two team up and defeat Saxon, revealing his robotic nature.

Machinesmith- Skeleton Crew Member:
-After this, Machinesmith becomes a recurring Cap foe, once attempting to end his own life (his programming wouldn't allow him to commit suicide, so he was luring heroes into fighting him), then simply being a hired gun- he was employed as the primary machinist of the Red Skull's "Skeleton Crew". He was often treated as a very casual, responsible member of the team, often acting as a shoulder to cry on for Mother Night, who mooned over their boss. As Gruenwald leaves Cap and the Crew is dismantled, the Skull is killed and "Smithy" tries to enact a "killswitch" plan- attempting a nuclear holocaust. However, he is beaten. He showed up in a few other stories, fighting the New Warriors, Cap again (he removed the Super-Soldier Serum from Cap's body temporarily), and more. In modern times, he has appeared on the Shadow Council and affiliated with the Masters of Evil as a low-tier pawn. Cap tricked him into entering a robot body that he couldn't transfer his mind out of, and it was destroyed. Sharon Carter herself later deliberately resurrected him to find out why Steve Rogers was slowly reverting to his original, weaker form- when he solved the problem, the Machinesmith was given his freedom... but Sharon wiped his memories, negating his threat.

-Naturally, he showed up later, but in the humorous Scott Lang Ant-Man series, being one of many halfway house villains teaming up in Lang's "Ant-Man Security Solutions" company. And even MORE naturally, this is ignored as he's a generic baddie in Secret Empire, then shows up in Iron Man 2020 as one of many robotic/tech-themed villains getting involved. It's actually kind of funny, but I think the character has been used more in 20 years than he was at any time other than under Gruenwald- he just seemingly fits as a "Random One-Off Technological Villain"- more interesting to fight than the Tinkerer or Fixer, and more disposable and easy to beat than Doctor Doom or another high-tier inventor. Just a perfectly-fine "Journeyman Villain".

Machinesmith's Powers:
-Smithy is expensive, but lacking in power- he's mainly an Inventor-type. Note that Possessing technology is basically like Possessing regular people (thankfully M&M has started just making it a +1 Extra to Mind Control instead of that ass-backwards complicated "Insubstantial/Invisible" thing), only you're opposed by the complexity of the machine- an assembly-line nothing can be possessed easily, but something like Iron Man's armor would be tougher. He can also use "Mind-Reading" of a sort on technology. He's also got some powers in his actual Robot Body.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Fri Aug 19, 2022 7:45 am, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
Ares
Site Admin
Posts: 4963
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:40 am

Re: Jab’s Builds! (Baron Blood! Sin! Crossbones! Machinesmith!)

Post by Ares »

The nice thing about Machinesmith is that it'd be really easy to explain the contradicting Machinesmith stories lately: some of the Machinesmiths we've been seeing are old back up bodies, and when his mind was placed in a body it couldn't transfer out of, it triggered a failsafe to download the last copy of his brain into a new body. And when he died, the same failsafe was triggered a second time. And then a third when his brain was wiped. Basically, anytime his mind was prevented from connecting to his primary computer system where his back-up brain was stored, the failsafe got triggered. So now there's a half-dozen Machinesmiths out there, each evolving into their own character. Could make for a very fun story.
"My heart is as light as a child's, a feeling I'd nearly forgotten. And by helping those in need, I will be able to keep that feeling alive."
- Captain Marvel SHAZAM! : Power of Hope (2000)

Want to support me and Echoes of the Multiverse? Follow this link to subscribe or donate.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

The Sleeper

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image

THE SLEEPER
Created By:
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: Captain America #101 (May 1968)
Role: Kill-O-Bot
Group Affiliations: The Skeleton Crew
PL 9 (93)
STRENGTH
10 STAMINA -- AGILITY -1
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -1 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE --

Skills:
Perception 4 (+4)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 7

Equipment:
"Robot"
Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
Protection 7 (Extras: Impervious 9) [20]
"Blaster Rays" Blast 10 (Feats: Split) [21]

"Natural Size" Growth 4 (Str & Toughness +4, +4 Mass, +2 Intimidation, -2 Dodge/Parry, -4 Stealth) -- (12 feet) (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [7]

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Blaster Rays +7 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +12

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +11 (+5 Impervious)), Fortitude --, Will +0

Complications:
Weakness (Machines)- Robots are more vulnerable to electrical and magnetic-based attacks.

Total: Abilities: 2 / Skills: 4--2 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 74 / Defenses: 8 (93)

-The Sleepers are quartet of Nazi Robots that were left in storage after World War II, and brought back in modern times to serve as disposable Kill-O-Bots in random stories. In the Stan & Jack original tale, Captain America is able to stop a bunch of robots from destroying the world- a "doomsday" the Red Skull promised if he could not rule the world. The heroes destroyed three robots, and the most powerful one was thrown into suspended animation- it of course came to life in modern times. A "Sonic Crystal" rendered it intangible, ending its threat. Cap and the Falcon stop another one used by the Skull. Another was used as the Machinesmith's "muscle" in the Skeleton Crew in Mark Gruenwald's run on Cap- it was a big, silent robot that just did the boss's bidding.

-Sleepers could go intangible at first, but have since lost that ability. Like most Kill-O-Bots, they're boring to read about and boring to build, and can have pretty much any powers, whenever.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Fri Aug 19, 2022 7:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
Post Reply