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

[Goldar]

To paraphrase Love and Capes, just because you can do boring chores at super-speed doesn’t make them any less boring.

Well, as Aunt LuLu used to say, "I'll give ya so much ta do, ya won't have time to get bored!"

[MacynSnow]

To paraphrase Love and Capes, just because you can do boring chores at super-speed doesn’t make them any less boring.

Well, as Aunt LuLu used to say, "I'll give ya so much ta do, ya won't have time to get bored!"

It wasn't the boredom that ever got me, it was the back breaking nature of it.....

[Goldar]

To paraphrase Love and Capes, just because you can do boring chores at super-speed doesn’t make them any less boring.

Well, as Aunt LuLu used to say, "I'll give ya so much ta do, ya won't have time to get bored!"

It wasn't the boredom that ever got me, it was the back breaking nature of it.....

I know, right? It was like, "This will only take a few hours" but after 18, I was beat!

[Jabroniville]

THE VISHANTI
Created By: Stan Lee & Steve Ditko
First Appearance: Strange Tales #115 (Dec. 1963- mentioned)
Role: Elder Evil, Super-Powered Entity
PL 19 (620)
STRENGTH 24 STAMINA 24 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 12 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 8 AWARENESS 5 PRESENCE 6

Skills:
Deception 9 (+15)
Expertise (History) 8 (+16)
Expertise (Magic) 16 (+24)
Expertise (God) 9 (+17)
Insight 6 (+11)
Intimidation 13 (+19)
Perception 5 (+10)
Persuasion 6 (+12)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Artificer, Daze (Intimidation), Diehard, Fearless, Improved Critical (Godly Blasts) 4, Improved Hold, Last Stand, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 10, Ritualist, Startle, Well-Informed, Withstand Damage

Powers:
"Immortal God"
Immunity 16 (Aging, Life Support, Fatigue Effects) [16]
Speed 2 (8 mph) [2]
Senses 7 (Detect Magic- Ranged 3, Acute & Analytical, Tracking By Magic) [7]
"Elder Entity" Immunity 20 (Mental Effects) [20]
"Speaks All Languages" Comprehend 3 (Languages- Speak & Understand) [6]
Flight 14 (32,000 mph) [28]
Movement 1 (Space Travel) [2]

"Nigh-Unkillable"
Impervious Toughness 29 [29]
Regeneration 14 (Feats: Regrow Limbs) [15]

"Variable Size"
Features 5: Increased Mass 5 [5]
Elongation 1 [1]

"Elder God"
Variable 17 (119) -- [123]

• AE: "Godly Wave" Damage 18 (Extras: Area- 500ft. Cone +4) (90)
• AE: "Godly Beam" Damage 18 (Extras: Area- 250ft. Line +4) (90)
• AE: "Godly Storm" Damage 18 (Extras: Area- 250ft. Burst +4) (90)
• AE: "Godly Blast" Blast 26 (Feats: Extended Range 4, Penetrating 14) (70)

"Empower Others" Variable 15 (Feats: Reversible) (Extras: Affects Others Only, Continuous) [121]

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+24 Damage, DC 39)
Blast +12 (+26 Ranged Damage, DC 41)
God Attack Area +18 (+18 Damage, DC 33)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +24 (+15 Impervious), Fortitude +24, Will +14

Complications:
Motivation (The Defense of Earth)
Weakness (Trapped)- The Vishanti almost never travel to Earth directly.

Total: Abilities: 162 / Skills: 72--36 / Advantages: 26 / Powers: 365 / Defenses: 21 (620)

-The Vishanti are the three beings that deal most-often with Doctor Strange, and are often called upon by the Sorceror Supreme in order to cast his spells. Generally benevolent, they are the counterpoint to the endless supply of Super-Demons that afflict the Marvel Universe- Cyttorak, Satannish and more. Protecting Earth for centuries, they even wrote the Book of the Vishanti to counter Chthon's Book of the Darkhold. Briefly, they took their power boosts back from Strange when he refused to aid them in a centuries-long war- however, they took him back when his replacement (Salome) turned out to be crazy, and put him back on Earth at the same time he'd left. The three beings typically only appear as glowing heads when in communication with mortals- it's believed that their true forms could break the human mind & body.

-The Vishanti are Elder God-level, though as they're good guys, they're almost never seen fighting, or being helpful. Generally they just yell and Doctor Strange, or advise him or something. This is just my "Elder God" Template with some new flavor in the Complications, as little is known about their true powers.



AGAMOTTO THE ALL-SEEING
Created By: Stan Lee, Gardner Fox & Irv Lesley
First Appearance: Marvel Premiere #5 (Nov. 1972)
Role: Elder God, Super-Powered Entity

-Agamotto, the most commonly-seen and called-upon Vishanti member, is the son of Oshtur; he is not bound by her oath of non-interference on Earth. He was born mortal, but not human, and was tutored by his mother until he gained great power. He was Earth's original Sorcerer Supreme, and wrote the Book of the Vishanti to encourage spellcasting on Earth, and created both the Eye and Orb of Agamotto- devices of future Sorcerer Supremes like the Ancient One & Doctor Strange. Eventually, he became a "principality"- a being upon whom others called for power.

-Agamotto often appears hostile or indifferent in order to teach those who call upon him more determination, and may abandon Earth for decades at a time after being disgusted by mankind succumbing to the temptations of the Elder Gods. He is a great observer, and can pretty much see anything going on, anywhere, and see through all disguises, ironically usually taking an alternate form himself (such as a hookah-smoking caterpillar or tiger).

-And then, of course, he turns evil in modern times- feeling Strange to be a failure and his replacement (Brother Voodoo) inexperienced, he leads a demonic invasion of Earth and nearly kills the Avengers, and is cast out by the Vishanti. He steals his Eye & Orb back in order to protect himself from Oshtur & Hoggoth, but is ultimately "destroyed" when Voodoo sacrifices his life to destroy the Eye & Orb. He just kinda shows up after Secret Wars and it's presumed that Strange proved himself worthy again or that whole story retconned him going evil or whatever- the gear is back, too.



HOARY HOGGOTH
Created By: Stan Lee, Gardner Fox & Irv Lesley
First Appearance: Marvel Premiere #5 (Nov. 1972)
Role: Elder God, Super-Powered Entity

-Usually appears as either a tiger, or an old, bald man with blue or purple skin and multifaceted eyes. He is by far the most mysterious of the group, and only appears with them. He encountered Oshtur on her travels, and returned to Earth with her.



OMNIPOTENT OSHTUR
Created By: Stan Lee, Gardner Fox & Irv Lesley
First Appearance: Marvel Premiere #5 (Nov. 1972)
Role: Elder God, Super-Powered Entity, Mega-MILF

-Oshtur appears as a green or gold-skinned woman, often bald. She is an Elder Goddess born from the Demiurge, and observes many realms besides Earth, having travelled afar- she did not witness Set and Chthon corrupting the other Elder Gods, nor the creation of the god-eating Demogorge. When she returned, she helped broker the peace between Gaea, Set & Chthon. She is the mother of Agamotto, having birthed him from on one of her tears, when she felt greatly moved upon watching some children play happily. She also created the Bird-Men to oppose the creations of Set.

[Ares]

-And then, of course, he turns evil in modern times- feeling Strange to be a failure and his replacement (Brother Voodoo) inexperienced, he leads a demonic invasion of Earth and nearly kills the Avengers, and is cast out by the Vishanti. He steals his Eye & Orb back in order to protect himself from Oshtur & Hoggoth, but is ultimately "destroyed" when Voodoo sacrifices his life to destroy the Eye & Orb. He just kinda shows up after Secret Wars and it's presumed that Strange proved himself worthy again or that whole story retconned him going evil or whatever- the gear is back, too.

This all sounds incredibly stupid. Another writer going "Mentor Figures Bad" and shaking things up in such a dumb way that the next writer just ignored it entirely.

[Jabroniville]

-And then, of course, he turns evil in modern times- feeling Strange to be a failure and his replacement (Brother Voodoo) inexperienced, he leads a demonic invasion of Earth and nearly kills the Avengers, and is cast out by the Vishanti. He steals his Eye & Orb back in order to protect himself from Oshtur & Hoggoth, but is ultimately "destroyed" when Voodoo sacrifices his life to destroy the Eye & Orb. He just kinda shows up after Secret Wars and it's presumed that Strange proved himself worthy again or that whole story retconned him going evil or whatever- the gear is back, too.

This all sounds incredibly stupid. Another writer going "Mentor Figures Bad" and shaking things up in such a dumb way that the next writer just ignored it entirely.

Yeah, not having read the story, I could barely figure out out, but that sounds about right given how modern comics tends to be with mentor figures.

[Skavenger]

Astro City had great stories.

Fixed that for you.

[Jabroniville]

THE TRINITY OF ASHES
Created By: Geof Isherwood
First Appearance: Doctor Strange #48 (Oct. 1992)
Role: One-Off Threat
Group Affiliations: None

-The Trinity of Ashes are considered an "opposing force" of the Vishanti. They fight the Vishanti during the "War of the Seven Spheres", said to last for hundreds of years- Doctor Strange refuses to aide the Vishanti, not wanting to be away from Earth for that long, and so is stripped of a measure of his powers. They also attempted to conquer the Dark Dimension, but are opposed by Dormammu and others. Ultimately, Strange fought them alongside the Vishanti, and was placed back on Earth at the moment he left- we don't know what happened to these guys afterwards. Despite this story running for like a year, not much is known about these guys- we aren't even entirely sure which one is which, but it's likely that Mother-Of-Pain is the seven-legged flesh-creature inside a golden ring, Ygmlosvvorraich is an empty suit, and Griefsavor is the sword with an eye on it.

[Sidney369]

-And then, of course, he turns evil in modern times- feeling Strange to be a failure and his replacement (Brother Voodoo) inexperienced, he leads a demonic invasion of Earth and nearly kills the Avengers, and is cast out by the Vishanti. He steals his Eye & Orb back in order to protect himself from Oshtur & Hoggoth, but is ultimately "destroyed" when Voodoo sacrifices his life to destroy the Eye & Orb. He just kinda shows up after Secret Wars and it's presumed that Strange proved himself worthy again or that whole story retconned him going evil or whatever- the gear is back, too.

This all sounds incredibly stupid. Another writer going "Mentor Figures Bad" and shaking things up in such a dumb way that the next writer just ignored it entirely.

That story was written by Bendis, so what you said checks out.

Astro City had great stories.

Fixed that for you.

That goes without saying. I was referring specific stories, including one that featured a character working for a powerful sorceress.

[Jabroniville]

JARAKK
Created By: Geof Isherwood
First Appearance: Doctor Strange #57 (Sept. 1993)
Role: One-Off Ally
Group Affiliations: None

-Jarakk was recruited by the Vishanti to serve in their centuries-long war in another dimension when Doctor Strange refused. He faced off against Pura-Shamutra, the agent of the other side, and were evenly-matched until he recruited Urthona to his aide. He nearly defeated Pura-Shamutra, but was tricked by the villain faking injury- he had his arm severed by a surprise attack. Urthona was able to assist him by imprisoning their opponent, and was rewarded with some mystical gear to restore his dead world.

-Jarakk is a bizarre, alien being, said to be MUCH more powerful than Doctor Strange, but weaker than the Vishanti themselves. His magic blast was called the Supuruuntian Spear, and he can cause the skies to lash out with flaming comets.

[Jabroniville]

PURA-SHAMUTRA
Created By: Geof Isherwood
First Appearance: Doctor Strange #57 (Sept. 1993)
Role: One-Off Threat
Group Affiliations: None

-Pura-Shamutra is the agent of the Trinity of Ashes, who opposed the Vishanti in a centuries-long war. Covered in a chitinous exoskeleton but with a head vaguely shaped like a jester's "crown", he is pretty unique-looking. He & Jarakk, the agent of the Vishanti, were evenly-matched and laid waste to the planet of Gevaltu during their battle, but he tricked Jarakk into letting his guard down and severed one of his arms. Urthona, who had secretly allied with Jarakk, then set off the planet's "manganese sands" to invade Pura-Shamutra's body, transforming him into a crystalline "prison" for his essence. Doctor Strange, horrified at the death and destruction on Gevaltu, freed Pura-Shamutra, who agreed with Strange that the battle had gone too far and become too chaotic. He pledged to not let the Trinity turn their agents into "savages".

[Sidney369]

The Marvel Tarot that was tied into the Mystic Arcana series had some hints about the War of the Seven Spheres, but that was never followed up on, as with everything else from that book.

[Batgirl III]

He looks like Salacious B. Crumb in the Guyver armor.

[Goldar]

Doctor Strange looks like Agamotto's human form.

[Jabroniville]

RINTRAH
Created By: Peter B. Gillis & Chris Warner
First Appearance: Doctor Strange #80 (Dec. 1986)
Role: Magical Minotaur
Group Affiliations: None
PL 8 (133)
STRENGTH 6 STAMINA 6 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Expertise (Magic) 6 (+10)
Intimidation 5 (+7)
Perception 1 (+4)
Ranged Combat (Magic) 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Fast Grab, Ranged Attack 4, Ritualist

Powers:
"R'Vaalian Physiology"
"Horns" Strength-Damage +1 [1]
"Animal Senses" Senses 3 (Acute Scent, Low-Light Vision) [3]
Communication 2 (Mental) [8]
"Shapeshifting" Morph 2 (10) -- [11]

• AE: "Blending" Concealment 2 (Vision) (Flaws: Limited to Blending) (2)

"Magical Might"
Illusion (Vision & Hearing) 6 (18) -- [23]

• AE: Magical Blast 8 (16)
• AE: "Levitation" Flight 4 (16 mph) (8)
• AE: "Astral Projection" Remote Sensing (Vision & Hearing) 6 (18)
• AE: Movement 2 (Dimensional Travel 2) (4)
• AE: "Energy Shield" Force Field 4 (Extras: Affects Others 8) (12)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Illusion -- (DC 16)
Magical Blast +6 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +6 (+10 Force Field), Fortitude +7, Will +5

Complications:
Relationship (Dr. Strange)- Rintrah was apprenticed to Strange for a time.

Total: Abilities: 56 / Skills: 14--7 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 57 / Defenses: 7 (133)

-When I first posted a build of Rintrah years ago, the immediate reaction was "Oh, so THAT'S who that green minotaur was!" Rintrah was a thing around The Infinity Gauntlet, so he was visually known to many comic book fans, but nobody really KNEW about him.

-Alas, I read the term "Green-Furred Minotaur" in a bio and imagined I'd missed out on one of the greatest characters of all time, but unfortunately Rintrah was just a rarely-seen background character- a guy who was apprenticed to Enitharmon the Weaver (some Magic backgrounder himself), delivered a repaired Cloak of Levitation to Dr. Strange, and is then made a host of Strange's mind while he fights off Urthona. He appears a few times during the '80s & '90s, helping out here and there- he abandons Strange when he is corrupted by the black magic taught to him by Kaluu, returning months later to try again. He helps Strange on a few missions, like fighting Zodiak in a crossover featuring Ghost Rider, and having issues trying to use the Eye of Agamotto (he was nowhere near experienced enough to use it properly).

-Finally, he is killed in the most off-handed, foolish way- he & Strange encounter a mystical artifact of great power, and Rintrah impulsively tries to crush it with raw strength before Dormammu can get it. He succeeds, but the exploding object creates a bolt of energy that drains his life force near-instantaneously. Strange, refusing to accept Rintrah's death, places him in suspended animation and throws him into a pocket universe... from which he has I guess never returned, as the next writer was probably like "NAHHHHHHHH!" to the green minotaur side-character, and we never saw him again. Dr. Strange has apparently been trying to cure his suspended-animation state ever since, but he hasn't appeared in decades.

-A Minor-League Mystic, Rintrah combines some basic Spellcasting with the build of a Minotaur. And Telepathy & Shapeshifting. Just 'cause.