Jab’s Builds! (Miss Piggy! The Swedish Chef! Sweetums! Gonzo!)

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Jabroniville
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Domino! Feral! X-Man! X-Statix! The Hellions!)

Post by Jabroniville »

X-Cutioner's Song- Part Seven (X-Men #15):
* It's ANOTHER full issue of fighting, as the X-teams clean up the MLF (Wildside & Tempo are now off the table entirely. Naturally, so is Kamikaze, what with the whole "separated head" thing). Now, Reaper (wearing a completely different costume than last time- did Andy Kubert just decide to invent his own?) appears ready to kill both Gambit & Quicksilver (sure enough, he proclaims them both "Feebs", as per the usual with him). However, Havok rolls well on a "Smash/Sunder" attempt, wiping out the Scythe, while Psylocke "Awourgs" him with the focused totality of her telepathic might. This kind of starts a trend for the issue, as the MLF is outgunned AND outmanned against this elite squad- a bunch of PL 10s outnumbering PL 8 weaklings is UUUUUUUUUUGGGLY. Boom-Boom (who was freed along with Sam to help fight the MLF... I guess they're seen as trustworthy enough) helps her out "I know how tough it is- for all that NINJA trainin'- t'spot those sneaky four-armed guys" as her Time Bombs hurt Forearm, setting him up for Psylocke's... ninja kick? What IS this guy's durability? He fights Warpath all the time and loses, but he should be tough enough to take a kick to the head.

Meanwhile, poor Dragoness is STILL fighting those three X-ladies from last time, in the most brutal overkill I've ever seen. Seriously, ANY ONE OF THEM could beat her with ease, and instead Storm zaps her, Polaris holds her steady (using the metal wings Dragoness wears), and Rogue punches her "right outta her bat-wings!" Dragoness falls boobs-first on the ground (OUCH), while Thumbelina and... Slab? SLAB is in this storyline? Respond to this- Thumbelina complaining that "she was my only friend in the FF!" while Slug, her brother and a member of Mr. Sinister's Nasty Boys team, tries to drag her out of there. Instead, Iceman easily ices both of them, and they're out of the fight.

Sam & Boomer then hustle in and confront Rusty & Skids, who haven't been seen in EONS- the cap-off to their New Mutants run was them being recruited by the MLF, but now they're clearly brainwashed minions. Hilariously enough, Boomer tries to talk some sense into Skids, who straight-up Ninja Kicks her in the face, breaking her jaw (an injury that takes several issues to heal). Skids is drawn with hilariously tiny "Image Comics Feet" by Kubert here, I might add. Skids submits when Boomer threatens to throw a Time Bomb into her face "point blank" (or "poind blang", I guess). Sam, meanwhile, figures out the brainwashing (they are acting ENTIRELY insane) and just punches Rusty out. Rogue handles some more Mooks, but then STROBE shows up, makes a snarky remark and blasts Rogue outta the sky. AND IT WORKS- Rogue, who previously had just flown through Boomer's Time Bombs while joking, it one-offed and BADLY damaged by the experience- later issues show her being blinded for more than a week by this attack. Polaris easily defeats her by forming her metal costume around Strobe's face (yeesh- points for style, lady).

Oh yeah, and there is MORE FIGHTING!! Stryfe decides to attack "The Tomorrow-Killer", assaulting Apocalypse's base. Foxbat is downed the second Stryfe arrives, breaking down the walls in an Egyptian hideout. "Psynapse and Tusk are easily disposed of with a brush-stroke. Gauntlet, for all his displays of machismo, is equally ineffective." Stryfe then takes out some Tusklings, Barrage and finally Harddrive, each one defeated without Stryfe even throwing his hands around to attack- Kubert just kinda shows the Dark Riders flying around while Stryfe poses dramatically (Greg Capullo does the same next issue- unlike most Telekinetics, I guess Stryfe's powers are invisible). Finally, he confronts Apocalypse...

This story is a strange combination of things. It's largely "filler", as it's just the gang beating on Stryfe's grunts. It's also the cap-off for the MLF arc on New Mutants/X-Force, because this once-huge group of guys gets COMPLETELY demolished and humiliated, and we never see a few of these characters again. Kamikaze, Strobe & Thumbelina are gone for good after this. And ones like Dragoness sit on the shelf for more than a decade following.

(Roster: MLF/Thumbelina, Rusty & Skids, Strobe; Slab) (Total: 58)

Part Eight (X-Force #17):
* Stryfe beats up Apocalypse for five pages, crying the whole time about how he was an "abandoned child!", calling Poccy "Father of PAIN, son of the MORNING FIRE!" and then saying "Yes, master of the timestream, destroyer of my past AND my future- it is *I*". Reading stuff like this reminds me of when I was first reading these books, thinking Fabian Nicieza was some kind of Claremontian Wizard of Words because of how he made these guys talk... but the years have not been kind. This stuff just REEKS of late Grade School faux-philosophical ramblings, and is easily Fabe's biggest weakness as a writer. Look through his X-Force or X-Men stuff long enough, and you'll find all of his baddies talk like Neil Gaiman wannabes, or like effete rich boys. Apocalypse takes a beating, figures out Stryfe's identity (sorta), and then escapes by hitting a Teleportation Beam in his base and leaving.

Stryfe freaks out (using Cable's "STAB HIS EYES!" catchphrase- must be a "future thing"), but at least gets the Dark Riders out of the deal, since he proved himself superior to Apocalypse ("we follow you"). Trading the huge MLF for THESE goons doesn't seem like a solid bet, really. Cable dishes some backstory on Stryfe, and around here I pretty much figured out the whole deal as a kid- Stryfe & Cable share the same face, Stryfe keeps whining about family and being abandoned, and Cyclops has been talking about his infant son Nathan a bunch, and how he was lost in the timestream. So even eleven-year-old Jab had pretty much figured out by this point that Cable was Nathan Summers, and Stryfe was a clone who thought HE was the original.

Cable also reveals his backstory, and how he was attempting to unseat Apocalypse's Clan Chosen in his timeline, while Stryfe was an anarchist fighting both those in power and Cable's "Great Rebellion".

Meanwhile, the after-effects of the X-Teams/MLF fight is revealed, as the MLF is taken out of the fight, but so are several X-people: Boomer, Gambit, Rogue & Quicksilver are all injured from the battle. You also notice funny things with the art, as every artist has his own version of what Charles Xavier's medi-pod thing looks like, what the Techno-Organic Virus is doing to him, and what X-Force's "jail cells" look like. And then our cliffhanger- APOCALYPSE is at the mansion! And he's on THE X-MEN'S SIDE!!

This one's mostly exposition and development. Not a bad idea, really, to have a bit of a "breather".
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Batgirl III
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Shatterstar! The X-Treme! Domino! Feral! X-Man! X-Statix!)

Post by Batgirl III »

Jabroniville wrote: Sat Jan 28, 2017 7:26 am Yeah, I dug that aspect of the book. One of my favorite things about superhero comics is the "take one power and see what you can do with it" effect. My major issue with the LOSH is the amount of dominance from Mon-El (who can't be taken out easily, like Ultra-Boy can)- the Superpower Lottery affecting only a couple members of the team can be a hindrance.
Mon-El and Laurel Gand (M'onel and Andromeda, if you want to be pedantic. And I do.) are the worst in this regard, especially during the "Archie Legion" period of the title... Which is strange comsidering that the two are being used as "stand ins" for Superboy and Supergirl in this version of the Legion.

I think it's just due to the series seeing such a shift in tone. In the Silver Age, Superboy and Supergirl were ridiculously overpowered compared to... Well, everyone but Superman himself. But because of the way the books were written and the nature of the stories told, we all sort of look past that.

The Bronze Age saw the LSH books shift in tone, especially once you get into the Levin/Giffen years and "The Great Darkness Saga." Then the Crisis on Infinite Earths comes along and new editorial manadates mean that the Legion can't have Superboy in it, but that it never could have had Superboy in it...

For whatever reason, Mon-El just doesn't "work" for most readers as Superboy's replacement. I've never liked him in this period either... But Incant help but think that I would probably not have had a problem with Clark had he been in these stories.
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Jabroniville
Posts: 24693
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Empath

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

Behold: one of the most douchey, soul-destroying things a comic book character has ever done. Casually forcing a pair of innocent people to rape each other for weeks, to the point where they were shattered by the experience.

EMPATH (Manuel Alfonso Rodrigo de la Rocha)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Sal Buscema
First Appearance: The New Mutants #16 (June 1984)
Role: The Supreme Royal Dick of the Universe, The Manipulator, Mind-Controller
Group Affiliations: The Hellions
PL 11 (125)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 1 (+4)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+6)
Deception 5 (+8)
Expertise (History) 2 (+4)
Insight 4 (+6)
Intimidation 1 (+4)
Perception 2 (+4)
Persuasion 2 (+5)
Stealth 1 (+4)
Vehicles 2 (+2)

Advantages:
Benefit (Wealth), Defensive Roll

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Emotion Manipulation"
"Focused Control" Affliction 11 (Will; Entranced/Compelled/Controlled) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Cumulative, Sustained +2) (Flaws: Distracting) (Noticeable- Glowing Eyes -1) (54) -- [56]
  • AE: "Crowd Control" Affliction 8 (Will; Entranced/Compelled/Controlled) (Extras: Area- 120ft. Cone +2, Cumulative, Selective, Sustained +2) (Flaws: Distracting) (Noticeable- Glowing Eyes -1) (47)
  • AE: "Focused, Intense Control" Affliction 7 (Will; Entranced/Compelled/Controlled) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Cumulative, Progressive +2) (Flaws: Distracting) (Noticeable- Glowing Eyes -1) (34)
"Emotion Detection" Mind Reading 10 (Flaws: Limited to Emotions) [10]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Focused Control +10 (+10 Perception Affliction, DC 20)
Crowd Control +8 Area (+8 Affliction, DC 18)
Intense Control +7 (+7 Perception Affliction, DC 17)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +2 (+3 D.Roll), Fortitude +4, Will +4

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Reputation (Evil Dick)- Empath is purest, evilest dickishness in it's most concentrated form, and everyone knows this.
Relationship (Magma)- Magma is attracted Empath for some reason, and he likes her back.
Power Loss (Concentration)- Empath requires concentration to use his powers. If he's focused on one individual, and another slaps him or otherwise hurts him, he will likely lose all power over his thrall.

Total: Abilities: 34 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 66 / Defenses: 12 (125)

-Oh dear sweet God in heaven, WHAT A TOOL. Seriously, very few characters in the history of comics were as unlikeable and downright-rotten as this no-good-son-of-a-bitch. First off, he was a rich Spanish egomaniac who bragged about his family's lineage. That's already a dick move. But he's also an Emotion Manipulator at a high level, who frequently used it to screw with people. And REALLY mess with them, too- not just the typical "get them to attack their friends for a second" junk.

-At one point, he casually makes a group of kids terrified of one of their friends, so that they will always associate them with terror, and thus avoid them forever, breaking the friendship. Just because they were playing "Mutant Hunters". Then he made various female members of his team fall in love with him for shits & giggles (worst part was that Roulette ACTUALLY LIKED HIM, and Empath just screwed with her for fun). Then he weakened Magneto's resolve to make him give the New Mutants over to Emma Frost, and when the X-Mansion's staff (Tom Corsi & Sharon Friedlander) noticed him, he laughingly made them fall desperately in ecstacy with each other, to the point where they spent three straight days on an orgy-bender that left them emotionally and spiritually broken and shamed. And they didn't gloss this over as some minor thing- they were MESSED-UP. Only Emma calling in The Avengers, and the need for a peaceful solution, prevented Magneto from exterminating Manuel then and there.

-This is a guy who ENJOYED using his power to dangerous effect, and loved to manipulate and ruin people. It got so bad that the New Mutants, in revenge for the Tom & Sharon incident, scooped him up out of bed, threw him into LIMBO; taunted him with a faux-Moonstar that he manipulated to "love" him until she revealed herself to be a sharp-toothed Nightmare-Fuel-inducing demon. Warlock threaten to Transmode him, saying that though he was not human, he was certainly closer than Empath (when WARLOCK THE PACIFIST is seriously considering murdering you, you are a prick). And finally, Sunspot nearly beat him to death before the team realized that this revenge business just made them feel dirty; like they'd just crawled into the pit WITH Empath.

-And after this, the Hellions came to the rescue, but pretty much went "yeah, he deserved it" and let the New Mutants go free. HIS OWN TEAMMATES DIDN'T LIKE HIM. Then Thunderbird punched him out for being a tool, telling him to stay in line. This guy was so nasty that Professor Xavier himself said in a bio-file that he was possibly the living definition of evil. He once even tried to rape his teacher (hint: Emma Frost is a more powerful telepath than Empath is. It did not end well), and repeatedly gloated to himself that he would get even with her some day. Despite all this, he managed to have the New Mutants' Magma fall for him ON HER OWN, and she left her team to be with him. They would both be written out of the New Mutants book, still together, and break up only off-panel (it would be revealed that Magma had discovered that Empath was slowly manipulating her emotions, and that he was part of Selene's plan to mind control the people of Nova Roma).

-His Royal Douchiness even got to survive the Hellions massacre- he was mysteriously absent from the latter part of the issue, but only popped up years later during the "Younghunt" Upstarts-based storyline (he briefly aids the others, but still finds himself without Magma's love (her anger over his manipulating her and her people was too great for them to ever be together again), then went into Comic Book Limbo for ANOTHER decade-and-a-half, popping up in the new X-books, as a villain (naturally) again. He's still an unlikeable tool, and Magma still might carry the torch for him (ain't it always the way, fellas?). However, she ended up going on a few dates with Mephisto, perhaps realizing that it was a step towards honesty for her. Empath showed up in a few brief arcs in recent years, being controlled by the Red Queen and her Sisterhood, and he got his ass kicked by Pixie a few times, her Souldagger "Shattering his consciousness".

-Young Empath is still powerful, much moreso than all of his teammates, but is nonetheless a really weak fighter otherwise. He's PL 7, 8 & 10 in his respective Powers, and PL 5 on Defense, plus his powers are Distracting, as virtually every time he used them in the comics, he got smacked by somebody else- he's just easier to hit while using his powers (mostly he's standing still), which is virtually the definition of "Distracting" as a Flaw.

ImageImage

Haha- Magik, who's immune to Empath's powers, basically jumps on him and flirts, threatening to send him to the hellish Limbo, while gleefully-pointing out that she's EXACTLY evil enough to do so. Magnificent.

EMPATH (Manuel Alfonso Rodrigo de la Rocha)- Hypothetical Elite Version
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Sal Buscema
First Appearance: The New Mutants #16 (June 1984)
Role: The Supreme Royal Dick of the Universe, The Manipulator, Mind-Controller
Group Affiliations: The Hellions, X-Corporation
PL 12 (165)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+8)
Deception 9 (+12)
Expertise (History) 2 (+5)
Insight 5 (+8)
Intimidation 3 (+6)
Investigation 3 (+6)
Perception 4 (+7)
Persuasion 5 (+8)
Stealth 3 (+6)
Vehicles 4 (+4)

Advantages:
Benefit (Wealth), Defensive Roll, Ultimate Deception, Ultimate Persuasion

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Emotion Manipulation"
"Focused Control" Affliction 12 (Will; Entranced/Compelled/Controlled) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Cumulative, Sustained +2) (Noticeable- Glowing Eyes -1) (71) -- [73]
  • AE: "Crowd Control" Affliction 10 (Will; Entranced/Compelled/Controlled) (Extras: Area- 120ft. Cone +2, Cumulative, Selective, Sustained +2) (Noticeable- Glowing Eyes -1) (69)
  • AE: "Focused, Intense Control" Affliction 10 (Will; Entranced/Compelled/Controlled) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Cumulative, Progressive +2) (Noticeable- Glowing Eyes -1) (59)
"Emotion Detection" Mind Reading 10 (Flaws: Limited to Emotions) [10]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Focused Control +12 (+12 Perception Affliction, DC 22)
Crowd Control +10 Area (+10 Affliction, DC 20)
Intense Control +10 (+10 Perception Affliction, DC 20)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +2 (+3 D.Roll), Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Obsession (Being an Asshole)- He can't stop!
Reputation (Evil Dick)- Empath is purest, evilest dickishness in its most concentrated form, and everyone knows this.
Relationship (Magma)- Magma was attracted Empath for some reason, and he liked her back. Their current relationship is on odder ground.
Power Loss (Concentration)- Empath requires concentration to use his powers. If he's focused on one individual, and another slaps him or otherwise hurts him, he will likely lose all power over his thrall.

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 44--22 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 83 / Defenses: 16 (165)

-Empath's power levels are nuts compared to the rest of his team- in upgraded form, he manipulates emotions as a PL 12 character, but notably only for one power in his array. He's got three distinct Control-based Affliction effects- a Focused one (+12, Sustained), a Crowd-based one (+10, Cone Area- he kind of has to be looking that way or something), and an Intense form of Control (the one Tom & Sharon got- +10, Progressive so he doesn't have to be around them). This is truly horrific stuff, so it's a good thing he's a PL 6 Defensively, and a weenie otherwise. Like most Psionic-types, he's a Glass Cannon.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sun Jan 30, 2022 6:04 am, edited 1 time in total.
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catsi563
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Domino! Feral! X-Man! X-Statix! The Hellions!)

Post by catsi563 »

You Know Id almost argue that he should have a phobia complication with Magik because that scene was basically him pissing his pants at the mere IMPLIED prospect of her taking him on another ride through the theme park of infernal amusements that is Limbo.

He was so terrified if I recall that he couldn't even look in her direction for many issues to come
Dr. Silverback has wryly observed that this is like trying to teach lolcats about Shakespeare

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Jabroniville
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Roulette

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

Yipes! Call me old-fashioned, but a fifteen-ish year old girl should NOT know how to dress like that! Or STAND like that! Or ACT like that!

ROULETTE (Jennifer Stavros)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Sal Buscema
First Appearance: The New Mutants #16 (June 1984)
Role: The Bad Girl
Group Affiliations: The Hellions
PL 7 (117)
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Athletics 2 (+2)
Close Combat 2 (+7)
Deception 5 (+8)
Expertise (Street Smarts) 4 (+5)
Insight 4 (+5)
Investigation 3 (+4)
Perception 6 (+7)
Ranged Combat (Luck Discs) 2 (+6)
Sleight of Hand 2 (+6)
Stealth 3 (+6)

Advantages:
Defensive Roll, Improved Aim, Improved Defense, Improved Initiative, Improved Smash, Power Attack, Seize Initiative, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Luck Discs"

"Basic Good Luck" Enhanced Advantages 2: Luck 2 [2]

"Red Discs- Good Luck"
"Force Attacks To Miss" Enhanced Dodge 4 & Parry 4 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst, Affects Others, Selective) (32) -- [37]
  • AE: "Stuff Falling Into The Way" Protection 3 (Extras: Sustained +0, Affects Others, Area- 30ft. Burst, Selective) (12)
  • AE: "Falling Onto Soft Things" Movement 1 (Slow Fall) (Extras: Affects Others, Area- 30ft. Burst, Selective) (5)
"Black Discs- Bad Luck"
  • AE: "Stuff Falling Onto Others" Blast 8 (Feats: Indirect 4- Any Direction) (Extras: Penetrating) (29)
  • AE: "Stuff Falling Onto Groups" Blast 7 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (21)
  • AE: "Cause Trips" Affliction 7 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Ranged, Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery) (7)
  • AE: "Haywire Powers" Affliction 8 (Fort; Impaired/Compelled/Controlled Powers) (Extras: Ranged, Cumulative) (24)
Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Stuff Falling +6 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Stuff Falling +7 Area (+7 Ranged Damage, DC 22)
Cause Trips +7 Area (+7 Ranged Affliction, DC 17)
Haywire Powers +6 (+8 Ranged Affliction, DC 18)
Initiative +7

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (+11 Good Luck, DC 17-21), Parry +7 (+11 Good Luck, DC 17-21), Toughness +2 (+3 D.Roll, +6 Good Luck), Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Relationship (Empath)- Roulette likes the guy for some reason, though he just uses her because he's a bastard.
Power Loss (Luck Discs)- Roulette's powers work by creating little Energy Discs in her hands and throwing them to hit targets. This is generally easy, but if she is restrained or is forced to drop a Disc, she will lose the option of starting up a new power attempt.

Total: Abilities: 38 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 39 / Defenses: 13 (117)

-Roulette was an interesting character with cool powers- she could create "Luck Discs" that cause bad things to befall her enemies, and good things to aid her teammates. She was smart, sneaky and a little conniving- a perfect "Bad Girl" for The Hellions. She had a thing for Empath (the impression was given that she really liked him, but he just toyed with her emotions because he's a supreme, royal dick), but was a bit jovial towards The New Mutants at the same time, just with an Illyana-esque snarky vibe to most of her comments (in one issue, she basically seduced Doug with a sexy dress and then got him wasted on liquor). Basically, Roulette is a born troublemaker and rabble-rouser, and willing to manipulate others for the sake of having fun. Between her powers and her personality, a lot could have been done, but alas, she's gone. And she doesn't get a lot of use even in retrospectives.

-Roulette's a pretty handy girl to have around on your side, especially with the right combination of Alternate Effects. Her Discs were tricky to figure out, but the old Probability Control (which I was thinking of bringing back just to use for her) actually didn't seem to do the job once I really thought about it... it's more just a combination of Alt-Effects. For Bad Luck, she's got a Blast that can come from anywhere (she tosses a Disc near someone, causing a bookcase to fall, a floor to give way, etc.), affecting either one person or a whole group; an Area Trip (Empath once ran by, and slipped on a puddle of water), or a Power-Controlling Affliction effect (it seems to do the job just as well- kinda like Mind Control but less so)- in the comics, people would suddenly have their powers screw up, or pull a muscle in their back while trying to use a mutant ability.

-For Good Luck, she can Slow her and allies' Falls, Protect entire groups by having a wall luckily fall between them and an attack, OR create a massive Good Luck field that'll protect others defensively, essentially giving them supreme Active Defense. Boosting the Dodge and Parry of everyone around you makes for a really, REALLY good person to have on your side.

-However, she's not hitting all of her caps at once by a long shot- she meets Defensive Caps only while using Good Luck on herself (either boosting Toughness or Defense- that part's pretty handy), but if on the same round she needs to do some damage, she really can't. She's got to go with either attack or defense-heavy on each round, so she's best at sticking with her team and protecting them, then lashing out for the occasional attack, unless she manages to Seize Initiative and do some damage right away (a common thread with her was rushing in and getting the first attack off via a sneak attack or something).

-I was a bit tickled to read one of the Power Profiles officially-released and see more-or-less the same Power-Set I'd created above used for their section of Probability or Luck Control. I forget where it was exactly, but the powers were almost identical. It's possible the writer and I had the same idea, but I have just enough of an ego to hope that they just saw my build and just copied it directly :). I know someone else on the old ATT once had an entire "Blow up a Planet" power copied wholesale by an M&M designer before.

ROULETTE (Jennifer Stavros)- Hypothetical PL 10 Version
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Sal Buscema
First Appearance: The New Mutants #16 (June 1984)
Role: The Bad Girl
Group Affiliations: The Hellions
PL 10 (150)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Athletics 2 (+3)
Close Combat 3 (+8)
Deception 6 (+10)
Expertise (Street Smarts) 6 (+8)
Insight 4 (+6)
Investigation 3 (+5)
Perception 6 (+8)
Ranged Combat (Luck Discs) 5 (+10)
Sleight of Hand 3 (+8)
Stealth 4 (+8)

Advantages:
Defensive Roll 2, Improved Aim, Improved Initiative, Improved Defense, Improved Smash, Power Attack, Seize Initiative, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Luck Discs"

"Basic Good Luck" Enhanced Advantages 3: Luck 3 [3]

"Red Discs- Good Luck"
"Force Attacks To Miss" Enhanced Dodge 5 & Parry 5 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst, Affects Others, Selective) (40) -- [46]
  • AE: "Stuff Falling Into The Way" Protection 5 (Extras: Sustained +0, Affects Others, Area- 30ft. Burst, Selective) (20)
  • AE: "Falling Onto Soft Things" Movement 1 (Slow Fall) (Extras: Affects Others, Area- 30ft. Burst, Selective) (5)
"Black Discs- Bad Luck"
  • AE: "Stuff Falling Onto Others" Blast 10 (Feats: Indirect 4- Any Direction) (Extras: Penetrating) (34)
  • AE: "Stuff Falling Onto Groups" Blast 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (30)
  • AE: "Cause Trips" Affliction 10 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Ranged, Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery) (10)
  • AE: "Haywire Powers" Affliction 10 (Fort; Impaired/Compelled/Controlled Powers) (Extras: Ranged, Cumulative) (30)
Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Stuff Falling +10 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Stuff Falling +10 Area (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Cause Trips +10 Area (+10 Ranged Affliction, DC 20)
Haywire Powers +10 (+10 Ranged Affliction, DC 20)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (+15 Good Luck, DC 20-25), Parry +10 (+15 Good Luck, DC 20-25), Toughness +2 (+4 D.Roll, +9 Good Luck), Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Relationship (Empath)- Roulette likes the guy for some reason, though he just uses her because he's a bastard.
Power Loss (Luck Discs)- Roulette's powers work by creating little Energy Discs in her hands and throwing them to hit targets. This is generally easy, but if she is restrained or is forced to drop a Disc, she will lose the option of starting up a new power attempt.

Total: Abilities: 50 / Skills: 46--23 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 49 / Defenses: 18 (150)

-A PL 10 Roulette is actually REALLY dangerous- able to do a lot of far-reaching damage, and even mess up the powers of others at a PL 10 level.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sun Jan 30, 2022 6:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Catseye

Post by Jabroniville »

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CATSEYE (Sharon Smith)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Sal Buscema
First Appearance: The New Mutants #16 (June 1984)
Role: The Animalistic One, The Dark Mirror Villain (to Wolfsbane), The Weird One
Group Affiliations: The Hellions
PL 7 (122)
STRENGTH
1/5 STAMINA 2/5 AGILITY 3/6
FIGHTING 5/7 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+5)
Athletics 2 (+3)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+9)
Expertise (Survival) 5 (+8)
Insight 8 (+11)
Perception 3 (+6)
Persuasion 4 (+4)
Stealth 3 (+6)

Advantages: 
Animal Empathy, Beginner's Luck, Eidetic Memory, Jack-of-All-Trades

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Violet Cat Form" 
Morph 1 (Violet Housecat) (Feats: Metamorph) [6]

Enhanced Strength 4 [8]
Enhanced Stamina 3 [6]
Enhanced Agility 3 [6]
Enhanced Fighting 2 [4]
Enhanced Skills 4: Acrobatics 2 (+10), Athletics 1 (+10), Perception 4 (+10), Stealth 1 (+10) [4]
"Friend to Cats" Enhanced Skills 2: Persuasion 4 (+8) (Flaws: Limited to Cats) [1]

Enhanced Advantages 16: Evasion, Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Natural Weapons) 2, Improved Grab, Instant Up, Power Attack, Prone Fighting, Startle, Takedown 2 [16]

"Natural Weapons- Claws & Teeth" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Split) [3]
Speed 4 (30 mph) [4]
Leaping 2 (30 feet) [2]
Movement 1 (Wall-Crawling) [2]
"Prehensile Tail" Extra Limb 1 [1]

"Animal Senses" Senses 5 (Low-Light & Extended Vision, Extended & Acute Scent, Tracking- Scent) [5]

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Unarmed Cat Form +9 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Natural Weapons +7 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +3 (+6 Cat Form)

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (+8 Cat, DC 15-18), Parry +6 (+8 Cat, DC 16-18), Toughness +2 (+6 Cat), Fortitude +4 (+8 Cat), Will +5

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Responsibility (Cat)- Catseye may be in fact a mutant CAT who can take HUMAN form, and has spent the first dozen years of her life as a cat. This defines her interactions with others, and gives her a distinct speech pattern. She has a natural "chase instinct", and will chase people for fun.
Responsibility (Friendly)- Catseye tends to view most people on friendly terms at first, even people who are supposed to be enemies (such as Wolfsbane) or unpopular (Firestar). Except for Empath. Even CATSEYE can tell that Empath is a dick.
Relationship (Wolfsbane)- Catseye has a camraderie with Rahne, and does not understand why the "Furfriends" need to be enemies.

Total: Abilities: 34 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 68 / Defenses: 7 (122)

-Catseye is one of the neatest and most tragically-underutilized characters in the history of comics- easily my favorite member of the Hellions. Her origin (or potential origin, as it's rather murky) is fascinating- she's a mutant with the power to turn into a Cat, which isn't so special... but she lived her entire life as THE CAT, and as such, effectively acts more like a feline than a human being- her HUMAN side is effectively the "Mutant Power", and comes unnaturally to her. This means that she was likely abandoned by her family as an infant (many Mutants have lifelong physical oddities- such as Nightcrawler's fur), at which point she had "Mowgli Syndrome" and was brought in the city streets. It was in this form that she was discovered by Emma Frost. Emma took control of her schooling, and the girl learned to speak, behave, etc. within a single year, and she ended up on the Hellions team as their "Animal-Powered" member to counterpoint Wolfsbane in team fights. 

-But instead, she & Rahne became great friends, as sweet ol' Sharon was purely innocent, and didn't see why they had to be adversaries- Rahne actually felt at ease around Sharon, as her wolf form was the only way she felt free from human troubles. Hell, she liked her teammate Empath the least- recognizing immediatley that he was a bad person. Her unique speaking patterns (sample dialogue: "Catseye feel heartgood to see small red-fur friend-- been forever since last romp! Smoothskins boring-- we go play by ourselves, yes?"- nowadays she'd just talk like a LOLcat) helped to make her further unique, alongside the fact that she was a giant violet kitty. Her origin, dialogue, physical appearance (her human form has violet hair and a tail) and very nature are all absolutely-unique as far as I can tell. Even her "Catgirl" nature stands out amidst other Catgirls, as she can do weird things like walk on ceilings and use her hands while being a Violet Lioness. And despite being female, she has a MANE.

-Sadly, Catseye did the least out of most of her crew, probably due to being the hardest to write (that kind of dialogue style would be extraordinarily-difficult to write long-form) AND to draw (comics has numerous examples of otherwise-good artists drawing terrible renditions of animal-people), so aside from making pals with Wolfsbane and threatening to eat Empath (she did that a lot), she didn't get up to much. Her only appearance outside of The New Mutants is a one-off in The New Warriors, where she surprisingly-defeats NIGHT THRASHER, who at this point was getting a bit of a New Character Push (fighting The Punisher on a solid level).

-This lack of use, along with her meaningless off-panel death (seriously, that may be the dumbest thing about the Hellion massacre- only a couple of them got to die on-panel, and the rest were just assumed to be dead until Necrosha, when their corpses got re-animated... well it's the dumbest thing aside from a bunch of good villains being killed off to make THE FREAKING UPSTARTS look important), makes her one of the biggest character-wastes of the '90s. There is seriously so much more you could do here that it's ridiculous. So while I'm quick to poke fun at the foibles of comic book fandom- in particular Doom Patrol Fandoms and Red Guardian Characters- people obsessing over minor acts that were never a big deal... I want there to be a Catseye solo book and I will fight anyone who says different.

-Catseye is a PL 7 Scrapper-type build, being like most of the Claw-based super-characters out there, but with a few unique bits (Morphing & Wall-Crawling are pretty unique, even for this bunch). Despite appearing Leonine in form, she gets no Growth, nor incredible strength- she was never that much stronger than a normal person, and was consistently drawn rather small- barely Leopard-sized. Unlike Wolfsbane, she could use her hands in Animal Form (I saw her hang from the ceiling, grab a New Mutant, and bang them against the roof to K.O. them in her first appearance), and often has a Tail in Human-Form (though this seems to be variable). She's fast, skilled, hard to hit, and like Rahne, gains a TON of Advantages with a cat-like fighting style. She's basically a type of Martial Artist build in a sense, with the way she fights.

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CATSEYE (Sharon Smith)- Hypothetical PL 10 Version
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Sal Buscema
First Appearance: The New Mutants #16 (June 1984)
Role: The Animalistic One, The Dark Mirror Villain (to Wolfsbane), The Weird One
Group Affiliations: The Hellions
PL 10 (155)
STRENGTH
1/6 STAMINA 2/7 AGILITY 3/6
FIGHTING 8/10 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Athletics 2 (+3)
Close Combat (Natural Weapons) 2 (+10/+12)
Expertise (Survival) 5 (+8)
Insight 10 (+13)
Perception 3 (+6)
Persuasion 4 (+4)
Stealth 3 (+6)

Advantages: 
Animal Empathy, Beginner's Luck, Eidetic Memory, Jack-of-All-Trades

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Violet Cat Form"

Morph 1 (Violet Housecat) (Feats: Metamorph) [6]
Enhanced Strength 5 [10]
Enhanced Stamina 5 [10]
Enhanced Agility 3 [6]
Enhanced Fighting 2 [4]
Enhanced Skills 7: Acrobatics 3 (+12), Athletics 2 (+11), Perception 6 (+12), Stealth 3 (+12) [7]
"Friend to Cats" Enhanced Skills 2: Persuasion 4 (+8) (Flaws: Limited to Cats) [1]

"Cat Fighting Style" Enhanced Advantages 16: All-Out Attack, Diehard, Evasion 2, Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Natural Weapons) 2, Improved Grab, Improved Initiative, Instant Up, Power Attack, Prone Fighting, Startle, Takedown 2 [16]

"Natural Weapons- Claws & Teeth" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Split) [3]
Speed 4 (30 mph) [4]
Leaping 3 (60 feet) [3]
Movement 1 (Wall-Crawling) [2]
"Prehensile Tail" Extra Limb 1 [1]

"Animal Senses" Senses 5 (Low-Light & Extended Vision, Extended & Acute Scent, Tracking- Scent) [5]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Unarmed Cat Form +10 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Natural Weapons +12 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +3 (+10 Cat Form)

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (+13 Cat, DC 20-23), Parry +11 (+13 Cat, DC 21-23), Toughness +2 (+7 Cat), Fortitude +5 (10 Cat), Will +7

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Responsibility (Cat)- Catseye may be in fact a mutant CAT who can take HUMAN form, and has spent the first dozen years of her life as a cat. This defines her interactions with others, and gives her a distinct speech pattern. She has a natural "chase instinct", and will chase people for fun.
Responsibility (Friendly)- Catseye tends to view most people on friendly terms at first, even people who are supposed to be enemies (such as Wolfsbane) or unpopular (Firestar). Except for Empath. Even CATSEYE can tell that Empath is a dick.
Relationship (Wolfsbane)- Catseye has a camraderie with Rahne, and does not understand why the "Furfriends" need to be enemies.

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 78 / Defenses: 17 (155)

-For PL 10 Catseye's stats, I couldn't think of stuff to cut (this is why I never try to do what Kreuzritter does anymore), and instead just left her five points over. She's the best, so she gets away with it.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sun Jan 30, 2022 6:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Domino! Feral! X-Man! X-Statix! The Hellions!)

Post by Batgirl III »

I know most Roll Call builders constantly harp on about how we don't like to use it much... But Roulette should definitely have the Attractive Advantage.

She's extremely pretty, like most comic book women and teens, which isn't enough to merit the Advantage. But she's clearly adept at using her looks to manipulate and befuddle people who find her alluring. She's fairly manipulative all around, but I think she has a distinctly easier time swaying men than women.

Your mileage may vary.
BARON wrote:I'm talking batgirl with batgirl. I love you internet.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Domino! Feral! X-Man! X-Statix! The Hellions!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Batgirl III wrote: Sat Jan 28, 2017 11:43 pm I know most Roll Call builders constantly harp on about how we don't like to use it much... But Roulette should definitely have the Attractive Advantage.

She's extremely pretty, like most comic book women and teens, which isn't enough to merit the Advantage. But she's clearly adept at using her looks to manipulate and befuddle people who find her alluring. She's fairly manipulative all around, but I think she has a distinctly easier time swaying men than women.

Your mileage may vary.
she's really too young to get the most out of that Advantage. Hell, the only time she sorta does ends with Doug Ramsey (who, as a teenager, should be under the effects of "Attractive 2" with every female) slapping her.
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The Hellions II

Post by Jabroniville »

THE NEW HELLIONS (Third Group):
* A one-off band of baddies formed by King Bedlam and sent against X-Force, who were needing another "Mutant Liberation Front"-like Rival Group in their lives. Never really amounted to much, despite using Feral (now evil) and Magma (mind-controlled) as members, in addition to a resurrected Tarot.
Bedlam
Feral- Former X-Force member, now a nutso psychopath (well, MORE of a nutso psychopath)
King Bedlam- Creates Telepathic "Static".
Magma- Brainwashed.
Paradigm- Techno-Organic creature.
Switch- Body-switching.
Tarot- Briefly-resurrected by King Bedlam for this storyline.
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King Bedlam

Post by Jabroniville »

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KING BEDLAM (Christopher Aaronson)
Created By:
John Francis Moore & Jim Cheung
First Appearance: X-Force #87 (March 1999)
Role: Forgotten Villain
Group Affiliations: The Hellions
PL 9 (136)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

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

Advantages: 
Leadership, Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Psychic Interference"
Immunity 20 (Mental Effects) [20]
Affliction 9 (Will; Dazed/Stunned/Paralyzed) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Selective) [36]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Psychic Static +9 Area (+9 Affliction, DC 19)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Motivation (Power)
Relationship (Tarot)- The two are lovers, and inextricably-linked.

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 56 / Defenses: 13 (136)

-I feel like I should have done a build of this character before, as I've statted "other Hellions" in the past, and statted Bedlam (a forgotten X-Force character from the era where NOBODY was reading). King Bedlam actually debuted during The Age of Apocalypse event, and was introduced "properly" into the mainstream 'Verse later- he's a mutant who killed his own parents, and was then separated from his brother Jesse (X-Force's Bedlam). He declined Emma Frost's offer to join her original Hellions, even though Tarot was in love with him- the two lovers' souls had then become "inextricably-bound" to one another, resulting in her reincarnation after being killed by Trevor Fitzroy.

-He resurfaced years later with The New Hellions, threatening to unleash "The Armageddon Man", and Jesse turned on him after realizing that Christopher would sacrifice ANYONE for his cause. He failed in his goal, and was basically never seen again and turned out to have been de-powered following M-Day. I'd chalk up his disappearance to John Francis Moore- his creator- basically disappearing from comics not too long after he left X-Force. He left Marvel ENTIRELY after that, as well. And when that happens, the obscure villains just wither away. I've never even heard of him, but he wrote the dreadful X-Men 2099 book, as well as Doom 2099).

-King Bedlam is pretty simple and one-note- he's Immune to Telepathy, and can create a "Psychic Static" that disables people (they end up lying on the floor, spouting gibberish).
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sun Jan 30, 2022 6:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Paradigm

Post by Jabroniville »

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PARADIGM (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
John Francise Moore & Jim Cheung
First Appearance: X-Force #87 (February 1999)
Role: Jobber Villain
Group Affiliations: The Hellions III
PL 9 (142)
STRENGTH
5 STAMINA 6 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Expertise (Chinese Super-Soldier) 2 (+5)
Technology 6 (+9)

Advantages: 
Fast Grab

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Tech Interface"
Comprehend 2 (Machines) [4]
Communication (Machines) 3 [12]
Shapeshift 4 [32]

"Techno-Organic Virus" Mind Control 10 (Flaws: Touch Range -2) (20) -- [22]
AE: "Technokinesis" Affliction 8 (Tech Skill of Creator; Entranced/Compelled/Controlled) (Extras: Cumulative) (Flaws: Limited to Machines) (8)
AE: "Absorb Matter" Weaken Toughness 8 (Extras: Ranged, Affects Objects Only +0) Linked to Blast 4 (Flaws: Limited to Objects) (20)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
T-O Virus +8 (+10 Affliction, DC 20)
Initiative +3

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

Complications:
Power Loss (T-O Virus)- Paradigm can lose his control thanks to the application of electricity.

Total: Abilities: 60 / Skills: 8--4 / Advantages: 1 / Powers: 70 / Defenses: 7 (142)

-Paradigm gained his powers when the Chinese government experimented upon one of their own citizens with the Techno-Organic Virus (the one that forms the Phalanx, Warlock & Magus) in order to make super-soldiers. As the boy had the mutant power to interact with machines, he became a perfect Phalanx/Human Hybrid who could control people's minds, and used this to escape his masters. He ended up on King Bedlam's Hellions group, and used his powers to control X-Force- Jesse Bedlam was spared, and freed his teammates. Paradigm told his beaten friends that he was going to try to evolve into a higher being. Translation: Disappeared. He turned up having been killed by some evil biologist who was trying to merge dead X-Villains with machines.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sun Jan 30, 2022 6:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Switch

Post by Jabroniville »

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SWITCH (Devon Alomar)
Created By:
John Francise Moore & Jim Cheung
First Appearance: X-Force #87 (February 1999)
Role: Jobber Villain, Weird Power Guy, Possessor
Group Affiliations: The Hellions III
PL 10 (80)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Mutant Terrorist) 2 (+2)
Insight 1 (+3)
Perception 2 (+4)

Advantages: 
None

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Body Switching"
Mind Control 10 (Extras: Possession +2) (Flaws: Side-Effect- Bodies Switching -2) [40]

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Body Switching -- (+10 Perception-Ranged Affliction, DC 20)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (DC 14), Parry +4 (DC 14), Toughness +2, Fortitude +3, Will +3

Complications:
Power Loss (Possession)- Switch can lose his "hold" over people if attacked.

Total: Abilities: 32 / Skills: 8--4 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 40 / Defenses: 4 (80)

-Switch has the unusual mutant power to "Switch Bodies" with people, effectively a weird kind of Possession. He switches bodies with Domino right away, trapping her in a wine cellar while he masquerades in her body, leading X-Force into a trap. However, she frees herself and attacks him, causing him to reverse the effect and flee. He gets involved in their plot to kidnap a Senator (his powers make this easy), but Domino KO's him before he can do much the next time they meet. He hasn't been seen since, and has probably lost his powers from M-Day.

-Switch's powers are basically the Possession version of Mind Control with a -2 Flaw (since having the enemy control your own body could kind of backfire, and he can't turn it off), and is limited otherwise- Domino can easily trounce him in regular combat.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sun Jan 30, 2022 6:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Gen X

Post by Jabroniville »

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GENERATION X:
-I never read much Generation X. I had JUST gotten out of comics for reasons I can never quite ascertain (since I still read ABOUT them in Wizard & such, and read some from the racks like many kids my age- I just stopped buying them for a long time until I got TPBs of the "classics"), pretty much during the few years after the X-Cutioner's Song. I think it was about one year before Age of Apocalypse came out, so it predated the Gen-X stories by a few months (Child's Play, which debuted Paige Guthrie, was months beforehand). What I DID read never managed to impress me, however.

-I really disliked the whole "Generation X" team and concept, in all honesty. As someone who's by this point read all of the New Mutants run, seeing Marvel copy the same idea felt pretty good, as it was seemingly hard to fail with the "invent a whole new cast of characters to add to the history of the X-Men" idea. But... it was just HANDLED all wrong. Half the team was "potentially the most powerful mutant alive" (I've heard that used for Chamber, Synch and frickin' JUBILEE of all people!), and most of them were pretty good with their powers right away (compared to the Mutants, who had to struggle for MONTHS just so Sam could change direction while flying and Dani didn't just rip people's fears out of their heads). They fit together more as stereotypes from Teen Dramedy than as real people with actual personalities. And most of them had generic, unoriginal powers (Synch was like Mimic, Chamber like every other TK/TPer, M like a Flying Brick, a few Blasters, a Claw User, etc.). 

-It didn't help that the book was introduced with a SPECTACULARLY awful 1900s event- The Phalanx Covenant. It turned Warlock's unique, interesting race of The Technarch into a Borg rip-off, featured characters with wildly-diverging personalities (Cannonball became a jerk who hated Douglock just because they needed an antagonist), and really exaggerated '90s art. In addition, it went on for WAY too long, with like 12 parts to a basically boring story that could've been done in five issues instead... something comics has not only failed to correct, but has gotten worse at doing.

-In any case, the book started off with this crossover, as the Phalanx attempted to figure out why their "assimilation" power does not work on Mutants, using these young mutants as "practice"- they are defeated thanks to a coalition of X-teams, and the sacrifice of the young teleporter named Blink. A book featuring most of these newbies begins- Banshee and The White Queen show up as mentors & teachers- a nice use of past characters. Banshee had been on the shelf for more than ten years by this point, and Emma had just undergone a more selfless turn since coming out of her coma (which didn't last as long as I remembered, it turns out). The most important character, however, was Jubilee- who'd gotten a major push in the '90s, having joined the X-Men, shown up on Jim Lee's "I Like to Draw This Crowd" X-Men spin-off, and become the central "Fan P.O.V." character on the popular X-Men Animated Series. Moving on to Generation X combined with the other two was to give the book some credibility & attention immediately, rather than be left entirely to newbies.

-Jubes was joined by M (Flying Brick/Telepath Rich Bitch), Skin (Mr. Fantastic Lite), Synch (Power-Copier), Penance (Mute Claw Girl) and Husk (Absorbing Man Lite)- herself having debuted as part of an X-Force/New Warriors crossover featuring the end of The Upstarts. I get the impression that was gonna be a "sneak preview" for this book. The book was popular right away, with Lobdell apparently doing some of his best work, while Chris Bachalo was just getting noticed for his exaggerated, quirky physiques. The two would leave after three years, leaving it in the hands of Larry Hama (the great G.I. Joe writer with questionable credentials for superhero stuff) and Terry Dodson (who hadn't yet gotten noticed as Frank Cho Lite... or Frank Cho Heavy, depending on your tastes). Hama kind of fumbled the ball, ruining the M & Penance characters with a convoluted backstory/origin between #35-40. Hama was gone ten issues after that, and Jay Faerber, his replacement, put Adrienne Frost in charge of the school with the fiftieth issue.

-The second-tier X-Books were all revamped by Warren Ellis in 2000, but most of the X-books were cancelled the next year by Joe Quesada, who felt that it was too redundant to have that many mutant hero books (a problem he seems to have... gotten over. Never mind all the Deadpool, Gwen Stacy & Avengers books out there). Generation X #75 was the final issue, lasting just two years short of The New Mutants. And so the Third Great Teen Mutant Surge was created, as Grant Morrison was allowed to revamp the entire X-line around his own concept of Xavier forming a full-sized school for once, meaning that the "old" Teen Mutants had to go by the wayside to make room for new kids. Some of the Gen-X kids found new homes- Chamber was in one X-Men book for a bit, and M moved on to X-Factor Investigations- in fact, they "graduated" to X-teams at a higher ratio than the New Mutants at first! But for the most part, they kind of disappeared. Mondo, Synch & Skin are dead, Penance is god knows what, Husk & Chamber are complete nothings now, and Jubilee has kind of vanished here and there (plus is a vampire). Of their teachers, Emma remains important (though arguably more dependent on Grant Morrison's characterization of her than anything the Gen X writers did), but Banshee has been dead for years.

-Honestly, it's not a great thing to be a Teen Hero in comics at the best of times. Generation X, however, has been shown to be a bit of a middle-road book, as the New Mutants kids have retained importance for longer and are still showing up in books, while the Gen X kids got replaced by Morrison's Mutants, then the New X-Men, which upgraded to The Young X-Men, at which point THEY got dumped for Wolverine and the X-Men and Cyclops's team of newbies... so when it comes to being Mutant Teens, you're better off being one of the first group than any of the middle ones. This is especially obvious when you read the character histories. I swear, every single one of their Wikipedia/ComicVine bios basically says at one point "Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd this is the point where everyone at Marvel stopped giving a shit about this character". Because sure enough, every one of these guys has a point where they completely cease to matter to anything, and are essentially background filler.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sun Jan 30, 2022 6:07 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (X-Statix! The Hellions! Genrration X!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Huh- this is the second time in only a few months that someone I've had an almost-physical altercation (ie. Hobo screaming at and threatening me after I told him to quit harassing people) with has turned up dead: http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/edmo ... -1.3950701

Apparently I've gained godlike powers over life and death. Someone better warn all my enemies.

Shit, has anyone heard from Fildrigar in a while?
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Re: Jab's Builds! (X-Statix! The Hellions! Genrration X!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Ah, reading some of the old New Mutants comics brings the whole Magma/Empath thing more forward- in the Simonson years (ie. the bad ones), Amara suddenly realizes that Empath is "an ARISTOCRAT, like *I* am!" However, she rebuffs her own attraction because of how evil she is... before deciding to run off with the Massachusetts Academy kids because she felt more comfortable and at-home there (where they are elite and treated as such by servants, etc.).

But yeah- it's the Simonson era. Not a great time for the book. Claremont leaves around New Mutants #50 (their epic brawl against The Magus), and she kind of does some decent work at first, but soon delves into garbage. The AWFUL costumes for the New Mutants at this point don't help- they're truly embarrassing; either completely-generic, or absurdly-ugly.

Here's a fun review of the great "Hellfire Club Party" issue: http://www.therealgentlemenofleisure.co ... ts-53.html

And the magnificent "The New Mutants spend a whole issue torturing Empath mentally and physically" issue: http://www.therealgentlemenofleisure.co ... ts-43.html

Another fun bit- a rant about the horrible decisions Louise Simonson made while writing The New Mutants: http://minddetritus.blogspot.ca/2013/11 ... least.html
3. Trying to Redeem Empath: Early into this run, we saw Magma run off with Empath after learning that he’s just a wounded little boy lashing out because of his bad family life; this revelation was intended to sweep clear the numerous crimes we had seen earlier. I call bullshit. Even pre-reform Emma said that he was the most evil person she’d ever met and had to keep him in line. If you remember how he basically forced the New Mutants’ two assistant teachers to rape each other, it’s even worse. In a modern comic, he would almost certainly be a rapist himself. He was beyond redemption, and this was made clear numerous times. Out of all of the Hellions, with so many interesting personality bases among them, why would you choose the one that was shown to be an absolute irredeemable monster? I find this choice both baffling and utterly appalling.
And one about how great the old New Mutants issues wereAAAAAAOHMYGODOHGODIT'STHEDEMONBEARI'DFORGOTTENABOUTTHATAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!: http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.co ... nts-18-31/
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