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

[Batgirl III]

There's the old apocryphal quote from Otto von Bismarck: “If you like laws and sausages, you should never watch either one being made.”

To which, I think, we should add comic books, video games, and films. There's a lot more pig feces involved in the production process than any of us want to really think about when we consume them.

[Jabroniville]

There's the old apocryphal quote from Otto von Bismarck: “If you like laws and sausages, you should never watch either one being made.”

To which, I think, we should add comic books, video games, and films. There's a lot more pig feces involved in the production process than any of us want to really think about when we consume them.

I've been thinking lately about how awful so many comic book writers were in real life- the irony of the men writing the most selfless, heroic and courageous people on Earth so often being selfish, lazy, cruel liars.

Kurt Busiek on Mort Weisinger (architect of the Superman Family for ages):
"Kurt Schaffenberger told me that when Mort died, everyone who’d ever worked for him showed up for his funeral.

They wanted to be sure he was dead."

Paul Kupperberg: "Julie (Schwartz) asked me if I knew what was going to be on Mort's tombstone. I said no, and he said, "It'll read, 'Here lies Mort Weisinger...and lies...and lies...and lies.'"

Alan Moore: "someone could only say of him at the funeral "well, his brother was worse".

[greycrusader]

Justice and Star Brand were about aliens; Kickers, Inc. and Spitfire and the Troubleshooters had super-technology; and Marc Hazzard: Merc was about a badass normal with no powers. Only DP 7, Psi-Force, and Nightmask were about White Event paranormals (Kickers, Inc. were created by a combination of the White Event and a super-technology muscle machine).

In fairness, Justice was later retconned as simply being a White Event paranormal who was delusional about his life history, and the protagonist of Kickers Inc was also given powers by the same source-his brother's technology only worked because his sibling believed it would (the machine was actually a failure, otherwise). The Spitfire armor was at least defensible-it was a more like a mini-mecha vehicle than an Iron Man style power armor. But yeah, some of the ret-cons and the Starbrand stuff were more or less belated attempts to save what was supposed to be the original concept. And the books pretty much came off as weak-sauce versions of existing MU titles.

The New Universe alone didn't sink Shooter's career, but it capped off a string of failures and he was MUCH resented by many of the creative staff, so it was enough to get him fired as a denouement. What happened with the original Valiant was a shame, as the line had some solid books, and the MASSIVELY failed crossover with Image damaged the comics industry as a whole.

All my best.

[Jabroniville]

STRIKEFORCE MORITURI:

-So this is a set kindly requested by our own missing (edit: lol literally wrote this a few weeks before he came back) friend Skavenger eons ago (never let it be said that I don't do requests... you can let it be said that I can take all damn year to do them ), and when I said that I was too unfamiliar with the book to try them, he was good enough to DropBox/PM me the ENTIRE COLLECTION, so that I could at least see what it was about. I got through five or six issues. It's alright, but doesn't interest me all that much- already having a big backlog of stuff I didn't keep up on reading it. The characters aren't that fascinating, and it's hard to get attached to people you know in-story are going to die. As my own backlog of comics was ENORMOUS (seriously, the stack was about five inches high at this point, and that wasn't including the BOOKS I'd yet to read), I couldn't really finish it- time is too short these days to read a mediocre comic book series, unfortunately.

That's not to say it's BAD, it's just too middle-of-the-road in terms of quality. There's a REALLY weird bit where one of the girls talks about how lame her life beforehand was, and explained that it's okay she's doomed to die young, since "I was probably going to kill myself at some point ANYWAYS". And her teammate COMPLETELY NO-SELLS THIS. It's mainly known to me from a SUPREMELY-creepy issue I read as a kid, featuring some weapon that causes flesh to completely cover victims- their hair, eyes, ears, mouths, noses, etc. It leaves behind fleshy corpses with barely a trace of their original features, and requres the Healing-focused member of the team to afflict herself with the thing in order to produce a panacea to it. I read this when I was about twelve, so you can imagine my reaction to it after reading the issue amongst a pile of "Buy Six in a Pack" bagged-comics that included lighter fare like the Dr. Bong issue of She-Hulk, and Hawkeye & Dr. Druid in an issue of Solo Avengers. Anderson's art was quite good, though VERY "inspired by Alan Davis"- like a lot of young artists, Anderson seemed to have been copying one of his faves. At least he copied from one of the BEST.

The Series Itself:
-Produced by Marvel, yet not set in the Marvel Universe, it was created by Peter B. Gillis (a writer mostly-active in the '80s, but I've not read much of his stuff. He adapted The Last Unicorn for comics in 2010, however) and Brent Anderson (who'd later be known for his work on Astro City). It features a semi-futuristic Earth that is attacked by "The Horde", a race of generically-evil ultra-savage conquering aliens properly called "The Va-Shaak". The slave-taking, torturing, murderous Horde do tons of damage to Earth in their search for slaves (and retaliation for Earth counterattacks), and so humanity comes up with the solution to empower people with superhuman abilities. This group is named "Strikeforce Morituri", due to the fact that their powers cause their bodies to burn out quickly- most don't live a full year.

As such, the Strikeforce is made up of brave volunteers who are considered heroes by the general public. The book is very "down to Earth" at first, featuring long introspective bits by the main characters (our main hero has parents who don't understand his suicidal decision to join up with Morituri, and the team interacts with each other a lot), and not too much about the aliens at first. One character dies in the first arc, probably to define the "ANYONE CAN DIE!" mentality of the series. And in fact, the ENTIRE CAST is basically cycled through as the book goes on, with the original cast soon flaming out and getting replaced. I would imagine this would create some issues for long-time readers, as their favorites slowly disappear (I call this "Oz Syndrome", for HBO's Oz icing cast members until eventually there weren't enough people left that I cared about).

Over the course of the book, the cast cycles through, but the Morituri Process proves to be no longer fatal 100% of the time. Then, in a weird twist, a NEW race of aliens flies in, destroys the Horde fleet, and departs without explanation (that's... friggin' BIZARRE. Almost a self-conscious "Deus Ex Machina"). But problems persist when a trio of murderers undergo the Process and attempt to assassinate the other Strikeforce members.

Skavenger says thus about the random "The Horde are Killed" thing:

It's something they actually build up to. The Horde has all sorts of trophies from races (they actually stole the ships they fly around in, they weren't a spacefaring race until the original ship owners arrived to greet them.) including a long-distance communicator. It contacted one of the new aliens, it arrived to investigate, killed a scientist to absorb his knowledge of how the world worked, and then started playing a long game. It didn't so much wipe out the horde as give a brief display of power and convince them to back off, at which point it started subterfuge. They replaced advisers to world leaders with "genetic constructs" and set things up so a few high-profile assassinations caused huge distrust of the "one government." Nations split back up again, the Morituri program was scrapped since the threat was "over," and they had time to start working getting humanity ready for a massive "harvest." They terraformed Mars and had the Horde move there where they started experimenting on them, Kree-style, to let them reach their genetic potential. Humanity was closer already, so they introduced something like a psychic "virus" that would cause spontaneous combustion and they'd feed off the psychic energies from it. The virus would spread, they'd get fat off an entire civilization dying off, and then go finish off the Horde.

Out of 36 total issues the new aliens had 13 issues to start manipulating things, then there was a six year time jump when they made their move.

Gillis & Anderson left the book within two years, being replaced by James Hudnall on writing for the last ten issues. The remaining four artists were a young Whilce Portacio, Huw Thomas, John Calimee & Mark Bagley (doing some of his own early Marvel work). The series ended at SM #31. The book was reasonably-successful (it was the high-selling mid-to-late '80s), and even got a spin-off Limited Series in 1989 acting as a sequel to the main book. It turned out that the new aliens (the VXX-199), wiped out the Horde to enable them to modify mankind to their own requirements, then wipe them out and absorb the psychic energies unleashed. The remaining four Morituri members learn of this plan, destroy the aliens' CPU, and save humanity.

"The Morituri Process":
The Morituri Process, created by Dr. Kimmo Tuolema, gives empowered people enhanced physicality ("even my BUST is bigger!" proclaims the mousy female member in the early issues), and one set of super-powers, basically at random. Only 5% of humanity seems to be compatible with the process. Subjects tend to only live about one year, as their bodies reject the process. The process tends to make them rather reckless, as their shortened life-span means that they don't want to be kept out of action for any length of time. And, I mean, death is certain ANYWAYS, so that tends to take the fear out of enemy resistance. Eventually, a fourth generation of Morituri subjects gained an ability to live out full lifespans.

Morituri Powers:
Their powers are typically low-end superhero stuff, but they often gain new ones as time goes on, and their levels continuously increase after a point. This is always the sign that the Morituri Effect is about to take hold and kill them. So the PLs are likely one or two notches higher near the end of the characters' lives- imagine the players were putting all their Power Points into their Powers after a while.

[Batgirl III]

Strikeforce Morituri strikes me (pun intended) as a solid concept for anything other than an ongoing monthly mainstream comic. Like, as a limited series for one of the “darker” imprints like Marvel’s Max or DC’s Vertigo it probably would have been great. As a prestige format tv show for HBO or Showtime, it would probably be good... But I just don’t see it fitting in well in the same racks as Amazing Spider-Man or Justice League International.

[Tattooedman]

I've never read Strikeforce Morituri, heard a lot about it but just couldn't spend the time hunting down the old issues. I do agree that it probably would have been done best as a limited series (much like the first Squadron Supreme series where they basically take over the US). So I'm looking forward to seeing what Jab has to say as his comments are always full of interesting facts & amusing opinions.

[MacynSnow]

You gotta understand Bg. At the time, Marvel didn't Have any Darker Imprints when Morituri came out. Kinda like how Teen Macyn only had Skinimax for his 'personal' enjoyment, but only 2 times a month....

[Jabroniville]

Fancy cover featuring the First Generation.

STRIKEFORCE MORITURI MEMBERS
Created By: Peter B. Gillis & Brent Anderson
First Appearance: Strikeforce Morituri #1 (Dec. 1986)
Role: Humanity's Last Hope)
PL 7 (93)
STRENGTH 6 STAMINA 6 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+6)
Athletics 2 (+8)
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Military) 4 (+5)
Perception 2 (+4)
Stealth 2 (+6)
Technology 3 (+4)
Vehicles 1 (+5)

Advantages:
Diehard, Equipment 3 (Flight Boots- Flight 6), Fearless, Great Endurance, Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"Elite Physical Specimens"
Leaping 1 (15 feet) [1]
Speed 2 (8 mph) [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +6, Fortitude +7, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility ("We Who Are About To Die")- The members of Strikeforce Morituri are doomed to die within a year of undergoing the process. Some flame out much more quickly. The first sign is that their powers start increasing dramatically.
Enemy (The Horde)- The Morituri Program was started in order to fight The Horde, who were enacting genocide upon the human race.

Total: Abilities: 62 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 3 / Defenses: 9 (93)

-The members of Strikeforce Morituri are given incredibly-high physical stats for human beings (some are seen picking up cars, and they can even take LASER FIRE and not be killed). They're not invincible (they can be hurt by stabbing, and many of them die from each other's powers), but they're tough as nails. PL 6 offensively (due to their high Strength) and PL 7 defensively.

The Morituri Members:
The Black Watch- The Early Crew: All of them died early-on, and appear only in flashback reports. Aaron Ray Leonard & Patricia Lynne Sobrero died before their powers manifested. Clinton Brian Rogers gained Super-Strength, and was killed in the field. Bruce Higashi gained Speed, and was supposedly-killed in a nuclear strike- a look-alike later appeared, but never was seen again. Woodrow Joshua Green gained Energy Projection (from his eyes), and died from the Morituri Effect. Commander Beth Luis Nison had the ability to make flowers bloom (losing the Superpower Lottery really badly), and died of the same.

The First Generation:


SNAPDRAGON (Lorna Leigh Raeburn)- PL 9 (110): Ranged Attack 1, Plasma Blast 9 (Inaccurate -3), Equipment (Wrist-Mounted Projectors to Buy Off Innacuracy) [17]
-Dies of the Morituri Effect very suddenly in the post-battle celebration shortly after the team's first mission, coming off as a real surprise.



VYKING (Harold Carl Everson)- PL 9 (118): Presence 4, Leadership, Energy Blast 10 (Feats: Variable 2- Any Energy) (Flaws: Requires Being Blasted First), "Imaging" Senses 8 (Acute Horde & Morituri Detection- Ranged 2) [25]
-Our main character at first- he decides to keep a diary of his adventures to inform future generations. He becomes the brave leader of the team after some initial misgivings. Dies of the Morituri Effect in a flash of light leading one last mission (at the BEGINNING of the mission, in fact) within the first six issues- a pretty big sign that this was a different kind of book. His powers eventually got strong enough to take laser fire from three starfighters at once, and send it right back at them.



MARATHON (Robert Greenbaum)- PL 7-11 (115): Extraordinary Effort, "Tall Man"- Reach & Increased Mass, Intimidation 6 (+8), Enhanced Strength & Stamina 2, Enhanced Strength 2 (Flaws: Fades), Enhanced Stamina 4 (Flaws: Fades), Immunity 2 (Heat, Cold) (Flaws: Fades), Equipment (Shield +2 to Defenses) [22]
-A really tall dude, his Strength grew the longer he refrained from using it (though he could apparently just keep fighting normally for a bit- they're unclear on precisely how it works). Initially just a follower, he gained an ever-darkening nature, taking insane risks, using aggressive tactics, and started mutilating himself (this series was a bit... different... from the usual Marvel fare). Willed himself to die from the Morituri Effect, taking out a huge Horde ship. He survived re-entry into Earth's atmosphere unaided, and that's BEFORE he started burning out his powers! PL 8 on offense, PL 11 on defense owing to great Toughness and some Shields.



ADEPT (Jelene Anderson)- PL 7 (160): Enhanced Intelligence 6, Expertise (Religion) 8 (+10), Eidetic Memory, Inventor, Senses 3 (Mental Sense- Analytical), Quickness 6 (Flaws: Limited to Inventing Things), "Chemical Mimicry" Variable (Effects To Counter Current Situation) 8 (Quirks: Requires a Few Minutes -2), Immunity 2 (Poison, Disease) (Extras: Affects Others) (Flaws: Must Suffer From it First) [67]
-A devout Christian and the most philosophical member of the team. Adept gained genius-level capabilities, and could neutralize certain effects over time (she destroys the "flesh virus" thing by creating a vaccine when she herself was infected, and is able to get out of a cage by devising a counteractive mechanism against the lock). She is instrumental to the team, often devising several things about the Horde's technology after merely witnessing it. She was developing Cosmic Awareness at the time of her death due to the Effect.



RADIAN (Louis Armanetti)- PL 10 (117): "Full-Spectrum Electro-Magnetic Emissions" Blast 10 (Variable- Any E.M. Energy) (Inaccurate -2), AE: Cone Damage 10, AE: Dazzle Visuals 10, AE: "Burns Out THe Poison" Immunity (Poison) (Extras: Sustained +0), AE: "Phone Signal" Communication 3 (Phone Lines & Radio Waves), Equipment (Sleeve-Mounted Controllers to Buy Off Innacuracy) [24]
-Radian was the most-despondent of the team over their inevitable deaths, and actually betrayed them to The Horde after they promised to cure them of the Effect. However, he turns on The Horde at the last minute... the team still doesn't entirely believe him, however. He was killed by his crazed teammate Shear over this.



See? That is ABSOLUTELY an "Alan Davis" kind of face/pose.

BLACKTHORN (Aline Pagrovna)- PL 9 (125): "Disrupt Molecular Bonds" Damage 8 Linked to Weaken 12 (Extras: Affects Objects) [32]
-A shy, nervous girl, who confesses to considering suicide before she decided to go with the Morituri Process. Gillis' favorite character, she gets 16 appearances, and dies last of her group. Her death from the Effect is stopped inadvertently by Wildcard, who absorbed her powers. She still dies of the Effect after giving birth, having started dating a famous actor and carrying his child.

[Skavenger]

Whoo-hoo! Strikeforce Morituri!

The funny thing is, Marvel keeps revisiting this idea but refusing to go this dark with it. Marvel briefly had the comic book "The Order" where Iron Man just GAVE super powers to random people in California who underwent some kind of "screening" process beforehand. The multitude of Skrulls in secret invasion were the alien version of this, except they didn't die shortly afterwards and could pick and choose powers. Iron Man AGAIN just gave people superpowers in the storyline where he went dark from AXIS (...I still don't know how him being evil got resolved, come to think of it) before charging people for it, the Inhumans have the Terrigen Mist, yadda yadda.

It played dark with a few different standard Marvel tropes, such as the "in-universe TV Show/Comic of the real superheroes" being used as propaganda (the female characters frequently complained about how the in-universe books inflated their chests and played down their personalities), and while one of the actors on the TV show later qualified for the Moritori program itself, when he met the real person he was playing on the show, he was told "sorry you couldn't get a character that would last longer."

As a TV series, It would only work if a) it was perhaps made by the BBC so they could do short seasons (see: Misfits), and b) fans were okay with replacing cast members, but they'd have to pick really charismatic people to replace the old ones and have at least one known Name Brand actor. Not every show can just throw away the whole cast and be as lucky as Doctor Who. I remember being sorely disappointed that Heroes abandoned the "throw away the cast and start over each season" without even ATTEMPTING it. ...and then again being disappointed in it for so many other reasons.

Fun note on Radian, he intentionally planned to be killed, he wasn't as devoutly religious as Adept, but still believed that by signing up for the program he was "committing suidice," which was a mortal sin. By pretending to betray the team and being killed, he (in a poorly planned out way) figured suicide by other" was a way to skirt the religious rules.

Also, the death of Snapdragon was really unexpected. They succeeded at their first mission, they attend a massive celebrity event to meet the actors playing them in the TV series and show off to the media, deal with a sudden attack by the Horde, and in the post-battle celebration, Snapdragon just explodes into light and leaves a puff of smoke where she was.

I liked the way the alien Horde was portrayed. They harvested resources and would torture and torment humanity, but it was in the same sense a group of children would hold a magnifying glass over ants to have "fun." Not really something you can morally justify, but they didn't get vicious until after the Moritori program started being successful in fighting them off. THEN the biological weapons, enough nukes to blow up a mountain, and other "completely, unequivocally evil" methods of fighting came out.

...I could go on. As Jab said, it wasn't an amazing series by any means, but it had enough unique ideas in it that I kept reading more to see what new ways they were going to have fun with the concept.

[MacynSnow]

You know Skavenger, here's a thought experiment for the Moritori Universe:
Blackthorn gave birth to a child while still under the Effects. Does that make said child the first Mutant in that Universe?

[Davies]

Whoo-hoo! Strikeforce Morituri!

The funny thing is, Marvel keeps revisiting this idea but refusing to go this dark with it. Marvel briefly had the comic book "The Order" where Iron Man just GAVE super powers to random people in California who underwent some kind of "screening" process beforehand. The multitude of Skrulls in secret invasion were the alien version of this, except they didn't die shortly afterwards and could pick and choose powers. Iron Man AGAIN just gave people superpowers in the storyline where he went dark from AXIS (...I still don't know how him being evil got resolved, come to think of it)

He was still evil when the universe ended and the most recent Secret Wars started; the universal reboot in the aftermath took care of it.

[Jabroniville]

STRIKEFORCE MORITURI MEMBERS
Created By: Peter B. Gillis & Brent Anderson
First Appearance: Strikeforce Morituri #1 (Dec. 1986)
Role: Humanity's Last Hope)
PL 7 (93)
STRENGTH 6 STAMINA 6 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+6)
Athletics 2 (+8)
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Military) 4 (+5)
Perception 2 (+4)
Stealth 2 (+6)
Technology 3 (+4)
Vehicles 1 (+5)

Advantages:
Diehard, Equipment 3 (Flight Boots- Flight 6), Fearless, Great Endurance, Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"Elite Physical Specimens"
Leaping 1 (15 feet) [1]
Speed 2 (8 mph) [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +6, Fortitude +7, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility ("We Who Are About To Die")- The members of Strikeforce Morituri are doomed to die within a year of undergoing the process. Some flame out much more quickly. The first sign is that their powers start increasing dramatically.
Enemy (The Horde)- The Morituri Program was started in order to fight The Horde, who were enacting genocide upon the human race.

Total: Abilities: 62 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 3 / Defenses: 9 (93)

-The members of Strikeforce Morituri are given incredibly-high physical stats for human beings (some are seen picking up cars, and they can even take LASER FIRE and not be killed). They're not invincible (they can be hurt by stabbing, and many of them die from each other's powers), but they're tough as nails. PL 6 offensively (due to their high Strength) and PL 7 defensively.

The Second Generation:


SCAREDYCAT (Pilar Lisieux)- PL 10 (125): Expertise (Hippie) 4 (+5), "Fear Projection" Affliction 10 (Will; Dazed/Stunned/Controlled) (Extras: Perception-Ranged +2) (Flaws: Limited to Fear), Speed 6, Quickness 4 [32]
-A New-Ager who meditated and considered herself a mystic. Briefly starts a romance with Scatterbrain. Dies of the Morituri Effect.



SCATTERBRAIN (William Deguchi)- PL 8 (126): "Telepathy" Communication (Mental) 3 (Flaws: Limited to Projecting Thoughts Only), Affliction 8 (Will; Dazed/Stunned/Controlled) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst, Selective) [33]
-Had an unfocused power at first, and grew obsessed with death after the Fourth Generation died. Gained a degree of Clairsentience before his death from the Effect, dying in a coma after having connected with the minds of some Hordians as they were being killed. Wore a leg brace from a training injury that caused neural damage. He appears a few times as a ghost to Scanner, delivering warnings, but it was revealed that it was a Computer A.I. taking on his personality to help them defeat the VX-199.



TOXYN (Ruth Mastorakis)- PL 8 (127): "Analyze Biochemistry" Senses 3 (Analytical Chemical Detection- Ranged), Weaken Stamina 10 (Feats: Reversible) (Extras: Progressive +2), AE: Healing 8 (Extras: Restorative, Energizing) (Quirks: Requires Skin-to-Skin Contact) [34]
-A girl who undergoes the Process out of despair after being beaten by her would-be fiancee. She is put in a leadership position, soon rejecting it because she's much too anxious and introverted. She also successfully argues to the mission heads that Morituri should not be judged for being too reckless- they live under the constant fear of death. Dies of the Morituri Effect after being one of the longest-serving members (lasting 16 issues).

[Jabroniville]

STRIKEFORCE MORITURI MEMBERS
Created By: Peter B. Gillis & Brent Anderson
First Appearance: Strikeforce Morituri #1 (Dec. 1986)
Role: Humanity's Last Hope)
PL 7 (93)
STRENGTH 6 STAMINA 6 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+6)
Athletics 2 (+8)
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Military) 4 (+5)
Perception 2 (+4)
Stealth 2 (+6)
Technology 3 (+4)
Vehicles 1 (+5)

Advantages:
Diehard, Equipment 3 (Flight Boots- Flight 6), Fearless, Great Endurance, Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"Elite Physical Specimens"
Leaping 1 (15 feet) [1]
Speed 2 (8 mph) [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +6, Fortitude +7, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility ("We Who Are About To Die")- The members of Strikeforce Morituri are doomed to die within a year of undergoing the process. Some flame out much more quickly. The first sign is that their powers start increasing dramatically.
Enemy (The Horde)- The Morituri Program was started in order to fight The Horde, who were enacting genocide upon the human race.

Total: Abilities: 62 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 3 / Defenses: 9 (93)

-The members of Strikeforce Morituri are given incredibly-high physical stats for human beings (some are seen picking up cars, and they can even take LASER FIRE and not be killed). They're not invincible (they can be hurt by stabbing, and many of them die from each other's powers), but they're tough as nails. PL 6 offensively (due to their high Strength) and PL 7 defensively.

The Third Generation:


BACKHAND (Greg Mattingly)- PL 8 (110): Presence 4, Expertise (Acting) 6 (+9), Energy Blast 10 (Feats: Variable 2- Any Energy) (Flaws: Requires Being Blasted First) [17]
-An actor hired to portray Vyking in a TV show meant to inspire the populace about Morituri, Gret Mattingly later undergoes the process himself after being impressed by their bravery. Willed himself to undergo the Effect to kill the Super-Hordians.



BRAVA (Domenica Contreras)- PL 8 (105): Enhanced Strength 4, Astronomy 8 (+9) [12]
-Killed by The Tiger after the Horde War ended. Skavenger asserts that I would love her because she was super-tall and buff, but the art isn't as kind, lol.



HARDCASE (Burke O'Halloran)- PL 8 (102): "Density Control" Toughness 14 (Extras: Affects Others) (Flaws: Empowered Subjects are Immobile -2), "Harden Objects" Strength-Damage +3 (Extras: Affects Others) (Flaws: Requires Objects, Easily-Removable) [9]
-Empowered subjects may also suffocate if their mouths are closed during the transformation. He formed a relationship with Silencer when he confessed that he would die a virgin, and she, uh, ended that status. He was killed when the Horde activated a microwave cannon as part of a trap, dying arm-in-arm with Silencer.



SHEAR (Walther Feyzioglu)- PL 9 (107): Intimidation 4 (+3), Awareness 0, Presence -1, "Razor Force" Damage 12 (Feats: Reach, Precise) (Extras: Penetrating 8) [14]
-An aggressive young man, twisted by the racism his Turkish parents faced in Germany, where they'd immigrated. He was very bloodthirsty in battle, dressed like The Punisher (a comic book character in their universe), rejected his superiors' orders. Killed Radian, their mission commander, in a psychotic rage after thinking he'd gone traitorous. He later started going insane after taking a head-shot in battle, and fell to his death while fighting Scanner.



SILENCER (Akiya Bandaranaike)- PL 8 (114): "Silence Hearts" Weaken Stamina 10 (Extras: Ranged), AE: "Sound Nullify" Concealment (Sound) 1 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst, Affects Others) [21]
-An African woman who lost her family and husband to the Horde, and gained powers for the purpose of revenge. Used vibratory waves to do both things- killed some Fourth Generation members with it, and died of the same cannon that killed Hardcase.



WILDCARD (John Crenella)- PL 8 (141): "Power Mimicry" Variable 8 (Flaws: Limited to the Powers of Other Morituri) [48]
-Died of the Morituri Effect after absorbing Blackthorn's powers (and thus, her Effect).

[Jabroniville]

The Fourth Generation (aka the Morituri Monsters):
* A group of guys who were empowered at a horrific cost. Four members, including Carol Rayweick, Victor Leroy Long and Macintire Kenlin, all were euthanized by Silencer after gaining vicious deformities that crippled them. One had Growth/Super-Strength, another looked avian/aquatic, another was psionic (Telepathy/Mental Blasts that could enhance powers in others- Scatterbrain used this to kill the Super-Hordians), and the last was unknown Energy-type powers.

[Jabroniville]

STRIKEFORCE MORITURI MEMBERS
Created By: Peter B. Gillis & Brent Anderson
First Appearance: Strikeforce Morituri #1 (Dec. 1986)
Role: Humanity's Last Hope)
PL 7 (93)
STRENGTH 6 STAMINA 6 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+6)
Athletics 2 (+8)
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Military) 4 (+5)
Perception 2 (+4)
Stealth 2 (+6)
Technology 3 (+4)
Vehicles 1 (+5)

Advantages:
Diehard, Equipment 3 (Flight Boots- Flight 6), Fearless, Great Endurance, Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"Elite Physical Specimens"
Leaping 1 (15 feet) [1]
Speed 2 (8 mph) [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +6, Fortitude +7, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility ("We Who Are About To Die")- The members of Strikeforce Morituri are doomed to die within a year of undergoing the process. Some flame out much more quickly. The first sign is that their powers start increasing dramatically.
Enemy (The Horde)- The Morituri Program was started in order to fight The Horde, who were enacting genocide upon the human race.

Total: Abilities: 62 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 3 / Defenses: 9 (93)

-The members of Strikeforce Morituri are given incredibly-high physical stats for human beings (some are seen picking up cars, and they can even take LASER FIRE and not be killed). They're not invincible (they can be hurt by stabbing, and many of them die from each other's powers), but they're tough as nails. PL 6 offensively (due to their high Strength) and PL 7 defensively.

The Fifth Generation:
* The last group left- grew incredibly-powerful as time went on (it's implied that any one of them could take out a whole space station by going all-out). Their costumes aren't bad at all- the later artists seemed to improve on the looks of their outfits.



REVENGE (Jason Edwards)- PL 10 (119): "Explosion" Damage 10 (Feats: Variable- Any Energy 2, Triggered- Time 2- 2 Uses) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst), AE: Blast 10 (Feats: Variable 2- Any Energy), AE: Dazzle Visuals (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst, Touch Range -1) [26]
-Touching any solid object would set off his power, and he could also set charges.



SCANNER (Dan Baker)- PL 7 (131): "Clairsentience" Senses 7 (Mental Sense- Sense Counters Illusion, Concealment, Uncontrolled Precognition), Remote Sensing (Vision & Hearing) 15 (Flaws: Uncontrolled), AE: "Neural Jack" Communication 3 (Computers) [38]



BURN (Yoko Watanabe)- PL 8 (113): Ranged Attack 2, "Pyrokinetic" Blast 8, AE: Burst Area 8, Environement 1 (Light) [20]
-Grew into a Human Torch Lite as time went on.



LIFTER (Fiona Windsor)- PL 8 (127): Move Object 8 (Feats: Precise), AE: Force Field 5 (Extras: Affects Others, Area- 30ft. Burst), Flight 6, Movement 1 (Environmental Adaptation- No Gravity) (Extras: Affects Others, Burst Area) [34]