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

[L-Space]

Well if you count the time Hybrid was split back up into 4 separate symbiotes to be put on soldiers, the piece of Carnage that Sentry ripped off that bonded with a doctor, and the clone of Venom that was possessed by a demon the bonded with Flash Thompson's neighbor I think it's right around 10 or so .

One was one too many.

Yea it got really out of hand. That being said, I actually really liked Flash Thompson as Venom, especially when he became an "Agent of the Cosmos" and started having FUN as a space adventuring superhero.

[Jabroniville]

Hi Jab

Thanks for the invite over here. I hadn't looked into RA board for a good while due to some disillusionment with the idea of ever meeting people that wanted to play M&M the same way I did. I'm sure we've all been there. Then I heard something happened at RA and everyone I'd heard of had left. The board I heard on refused to have details posted so I honestly had no clue what happened but with you guys gone I wasn't interested in finding out.

However it came to be if Jab's Builds is here then here is where I bookmark.

I grew up on inherited Silver and early Bronze age stuff (I'm sure I likely droned on about it in the last 2 threads) so I saw Mutant Force in the Defenders working with the Mandrill and like you I thought they were a bunch of complete losers with godawful names. Then buying a copy of a John Walker era Captain America book on my own that same year I saw the Resistants with their cool (to an 80's kid) Robocop visors and team costumes (I'm still a sucker for team costumes). When I found out the two were the same it blew my mind. Suddenly Lifter was cool. Brick and team transport together was something I'd never seen before, and to my dislike of overpowered characters his disproportionate lifting ability to his punching power appealled all the more. Now I wanted to see him as a hero with a modification of his Visor and blue and yellow (likely because it reminded me of old Checkmate costumes)

To this day he's my go to for if I ever get to play an X-Men year one game of the type someone outlined on the original ATT (It think it was Demongg). So yeah, from loser beginnings Meteorite became a Red Guardian character for me.

AWESOME!!! BlindPugh! I remember your posts from way back! You're one of those guys who I would find posting in older threads, then suddenly go "Wait! Whatever happened to THAT guy?" I've even done that way back on the original ATT, discovering that former longtime posters had disappeared. Great to see you here (and trust me, you probably don't want to know what went down. It's... dumb).

Watching Lifter get "Catmanned" into being awesome would be hilarious. Even bigger than when Gail Simone Catmanned... Catman.

[Jabroniville]

JIGSAW (Billy "The Brute" Russo)
Created By: Len Wein & Ross Andru
First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #162 (Nov. 1976)
Role: The Punisher's Own Personal Punching Bag, Crimeboss
Group Affiliations: N/A
PL 9 (129)
STRENGTH 3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 12 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 5 (+7)
Deception 5 (+8)
Expertise (Criminal) 11 (+13)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 5 (+8)
Investigation 4 (+7)
Perception 5 (+8)
Stealth 2 (+6)
Vehicles 2 (+6)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Benefit 2 (Wealth), Chokehold, Daze (Intimidation), Diehard, Equipment 5 (Arsenal), Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Knife), Improved Critical (Firearms), Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 7, Second Chance (Being Shot to Death), Second Chance (Falling to His Death), Startle

Equipment:
"Arsenal"
"Automatic Rifle" Blast 7 (Extras: Multiattack) (Inaccurate -1) (20) -- (25)

• AE: "Rifle Shot" Blast 7 (14)
• AE: "Grenades" Blast 7 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Diminished Range -1) (20)
• AE: "Knife" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Improved Critical) (2)
• AE: "Shotgun" Damage 7 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Cone +1/2) (10.5)

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Knife +12 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Rifle +11 (+7 Ranged Damage, DC 22)
Automatic Rifle +9 (+7 Ranged Damage, DC 22)
Shotgun & Grenades +7 Area (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +13 (DC 23), Parry +13 (DC 23), Toughness +4, Fortitude +6, Will +6

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)
Enemy (The Punisher)- Ever since Frank Castle threw Billy Russo through a plate glass window, the once-handsome killer has been obsessed with revenge.

Total: Abilities: 70 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 23 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 15 (129)

-Wow, it's been a while since I statted up Jigsaw. Jigsaw is basically The Punisher's only TRUE recurring nemesis, especially once The Kingpin moved permanently to Daredevil's Rogues Gallery. Given a Batman-esque origin story (he was pretty, but became ugly), he's about the only guy Frank HASN'T killed permanently over the years. Well, he died ONCE, but was resurrected, because it's comics). It's a little funny to think that THE PUNISHER of all people has a recurring nemesis, but hell, the guy's gotta have SOMEBODY to fight again and again. Lord knows the lack of a recurring Rogues Gallery is one of the key problems with the "Kill Your Opponents" type of super-hero- he either kills all of his opponents or he looks totally incompetent.

-Jigsaw has a pretty "Metal" origin- he was a handsome hitman named "The Beaut" for his good looks, known for brutalizing his family (once forcing his son to drown newborn kittens!). He went against the Punisher, who threw the pretty boy through a plate-glass window, ruining his face for all time, bestowing upon him a "jigsaw-puzzle"-like expression. A vengeful "Jigsaw" tries to frame the Punisher for a murder (why FRAME him? The man routinely commits murders on a daily basis? You gotta make one up?), but Spider-Man (it was his book) & Nightcrawler saved the day.

-Jigsaw went on to become one of Frank's only recurring nemeses, always plotting things from behind the scenes. At one point, he grew furious when the Punisher was sentenced to death, but was overjoyed at Frank's reappearance. Then tried to kill him. In modern times, he showed up on The Raft during a super-villain break-out, and filmed his and the Hood's torture of Tigra after she dealt him a humiliating defeat following a robbery. He was actually one of the Hood's top goons during this time. He actually appears a fair bit after that, once brainwashing a guy into being a Mini-Punisher, then teaming with a similarly-disfigured guy as "The Jigsaw Brothers". He later killed the guy. Despite numerous attempts by Frank to kill his enemy, Jigsaw has reappeared time and time again, being seemingly impossible to kill.

-Jigsaw is a PL 9 Gunfighter type of dude, excelling in All-Out Attacks and scaring people, though he's not quite at Frank's level overall (better with a Knife, though). Like most good Villains, he wears Frank down with tons of Mooks, THEN goes and tries to kill him. Or he just escapes. He's a streetwise sort of fellow as well. His penchant for being unkillable is enough that I actually threw it into his "Second Chance" Advantages- a dude who is a recurring villain of the hero who specializes in executing all of his foes had better have SOMETHING.

[Jabroniville]

JOHN GARRETT
Created By: Frank Miller & Bill Sienkiewicz
First Appearance: Elektra: Assassin #2 (Sept. 1986)
Role: Assassin
Group Affiliations: S.H.I.E.L.D., H.A.M.M.E.R.
PL 8 (132)
STRENGTH 6 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+10)
Deception 7 (+10)
Expertise (S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent) 7 (+10)
Insight 3 (+6)
Investigation 7 (+10)
Perception 3 (+6)
Stealth 4 (+7)
Technology 3 (+6)
Vehicles 2 (+6)

Advantages: 
Benefit (Cipher- No Records Exist), Equipment 4 (Special Agent Gear), Ranged Attack 6

Powers:
"80% Conversion Cyborg"
Features 1: Recorder In His Brain [1]
Immunity 1 (Poison) [1]
Protection 1 [1]
"Combat Hypnosis" Affliction 7 (Will; Entranced/Stunned) (Extras: Perception-Ranged +2) (Flaws: Limited Degree) (14) -- [15]

• AE: "Short-Range Electric Shocks" Blast 7 (Diminished Range -1) (13)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Guns +10 (+4-6 Ranged Damage, DC 19-21)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +6, Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Addiction (Alcohol)- Garrett is off-and-on dependent upon liquor.
Vulnerable (Electrical & Magnetic Attacks)- As a near-full-conversion cyborg, Garrett was mostly made of metal, leaving him vulnerable to certain attacks. Eventually, however, he was made of polycarbonate, and can now avoid setting off metal detectors.

Total: Abilities: 74 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 18 / Defenses: 9 (132)

-John Garrett debuted in the Elekra: Assassin series by Frank Miller & Bill Sienkiewicz (which... I've heard very little about, considering it featured Miller right at the cusp of his fame) as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. He was out to investigate an assassin- the killer, Elektra, left him to die in an explosion, resulting in him being turned into a cyborg. He was obsessed with revenge, but stuck around helping her once it became clear that the world depended on him doing so. After that, he disappeared for about twenty years, reappearing after Civil War. Garrett has since been Retconned to being a part of a giant "let's control the destiny of humanity" grouping called The Zodiac who ended up breaking apart into S.H.I.E.L.D., HYDRA, The Zodiac Cartel and other groups. His entire career seems to be involved with "Spy Stuff" and working for Nick Fury as a little-seen secret agent.

-Garrett's your typical S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent, and I'll be dipped if I haven't built a million characters with this exact build (save the cyborg stuff) eight times now.

[Jabroniville]

JOE SMITH
Created By: Stan Lee & Steve Ditko
First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #38 (July 1966)
Role: Joe Palooka-Type
Group Affiliations: None
PL 7 (61)
STRENGTH 2/6 STAMINA 3/5 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 4/8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+4, +8 Boosted)
Expertise (Acting) 4 (+7)
Perception 2 (+2)

Advantages: 
Power Attack, Startle

Powers:
"Aggression Boosts"
Enhanced Strength 4 [8]
Enhanced Stamina 2 [4]
Enhanced Fighting 4 [8]
Enhanced Skills 4: Intimidation 4 (+7) [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Boosted +8 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +4/+8 (DC 14-18), Toughness +3 (+5 Boost), Fortitude +3 (+5 Boost), Will +2

Complications:
Involuntary Transformation (Insane Ass-Kicker)- Joe is prone to violent outbursts if he lets out all his aggression at once. His normal self is non-powered.

Total: Abilities: 28 / Skills: 8--4 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 22 / Defenses: 5 (61)

-Joe Smith was a down-on-his-luck wannabe fighter who found that he couldn't hang at neither wrestling nor boxing, and got a job as a movie extra instead. However, an arc light fell into a puddle of Comic Book Chemicals, giving Joe tremendous power. A lifetime of being made fun of for his inadequacies eventually spilled forth with an alternate, more aggressive personality, willing to fight anyone (including Spider-Man). Eventually he settled down, helped Spider-Man defeat Mysterio, and married, but the strain from his divorce (after his son died in infancy) caused him to let loose again- he was fought, then helped, by Captain America. He ended up taking a job caring for the kinds of kids that his son was- disabled. Later, he remarried and was part of a scheme by Mysterio's successors to hurt anyone who'd ever interacted with him.

-Joe is known to be a pretty poor fighter in his time, but becomes pretty dangerous thanks to his raw strength upgrades (enough to be dangerous to a near-rookie Spider-Man in the mid-1960s)- I figure that his aggression will boost his accuracy somewhat (accuracy being somewhat skewed between comics & RPGs- in comics, most people are assumed to be on the same level of fighting unless someone's a martial arts master- in an RPG, superheroes are by definition almost always better fighters than a civilian). A very low-cost PL 7, overall.

[Jabroniville]

THE TRIUNE UNDERSTANDING
Created By: Kurt Busiek & George Perez
First Appearance: The Avengers #9 (Oct. 1998)
Role: Scientology Analogue
Leaders:
Jonathan Tremont

-Kurt Busiek & George Perez's Avengers run is considered one of the best runs the series ever had, and a shining light in the nadir of Marvel's popularity & success as a company- a bright spot in the darkness of the 1990s of comics, once the Crash had nearly destroyed the industry. So it's kind of funny that so much of it was taken up by this patently unpopular story arc.

-The Triune Understanding was a thinly-veiled commentary on $cientology, a fake religious scam created by L. Ron Hubbard which continues to this day, though I didn't know what it was at the time. It contains a lot of comparisons, such as a secret "new religion" which features stuff about aliens and humanity using their souls to power other stuff. The Understanding had "saved" a disgraced athlete and turned him into Triathlon, then sought to damage the Avengers' public reputation by accusing them of racism due to their lack of minority team members- it was unfortunately rather dull stuff. In part because it went on FOREVER- a thread throughout classic stories like Ultron Unlimited, Justice & Firestar (once-promising heroes) leaving the book to spy on the Understanding (and pretty much killing their push dead in the process), and more. By the time they were finally done with it, the fans were bored as hell. Never mind that "Super-Secret Evil Religion" isn't something interesting enough to be a big deal for a single arc, much less the entire run of a book.

-The Understanding was formed in opposition to a space guy with the ultra-generic name of "Lord Templar" (jesus, did Busiek just pick two names from a list of "Generic Villainous-Sounding Titles"?), using human souls to power a spaceship. Unfortunately, their leader Jon Tremont was a raging douchebag who wanted to use this power to rule the world once he'd saved it. This was the culmination of the story arc- Triathlon turns on Tremont and sides with the Avengers, while the Understanding breaks off from him. Tremont takes the power and fights Kang the Conqueror (this was during the Kang Dynasty story arc), but is killed. The Understanding has not been seen since- Busiek actually gives them a bit of credit here, as Triathlon admits that the Understanding DID do quality work and helped people out, but Tremont's actions will forever paint them negatively.

JONATHAN TREMONT
Created By: Kurt Busiek & George Perez
First Appearance: The Avengers #9 (Oct. 1998)
Role: Religious Cult Leader
PL 3 (75), PL 4 (75) Persuader, PL 5 (75) Defenses
STRENGTH 0 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 5 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Deception 10 (+14)
Expertise (Religion) 7 (+12)
Expertise (Science) 5 (+10)
Insight 5 (+8)
Perception 2 (+5)
Persuasion 10 (+14)
Technology 5 (+10)

Advantages:
Benefit 4 (Status- Religious Leader), Fascination (Persuasion)

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (DC 14), Parry +4 (DC 14), Toughness +2, Fortitude +3, Will +6

Complications:
Motivation (Power)- Tremont wishes to use the power he's accumulated to take over the world.

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 44--22 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 8 (75)

-Tremont is a very smart, savvy Religious Leader, but lacks much in the way of combat skills.

[Jabroniville]

It's funny: watching Sailor Moon episodes on Blu-Ray, I come upon a scene where Sailor Mars, in her civilian identity, is literally dragging around the boy who has a crush on her, heaping piles and piles of bags & boxes of her shopping purchases on him. When he complains, she insults his whininess, his incompetence, and finally emasculates him with "You're supposed to be a MAN, aren't you?"

I was like "... shit. That's where I got it from, isn't it?"



PS wow, nobody cares about these four jerks I posted today, did they ? Or is there another American holiday this day that I don't know about? I HATE those!

[Blind_Pugh]

PS wow, nobody cares about these four jerks I posted today, did they ? Or is there another American holiday this day that I don't know about? I HATE those!

I tried to care about Jigsaw, when I was kid I had a family friend that only read Punisher so I ended up reading more than I otherwise would. But I just can't get onboard with him. But then I prefer the Punisher to be more in the MU like when he wore this to fight the Reavers.

[Jabroniville]

PS wow, nobody cares about these four jerks I posted today, did they ? Or is there another American holiday this day that I don't know about? I HATE those!

I tried to care about Jigsaw, when I was kid I had a family friend that only read Punisher so I ended up reading more than I otherwise would. But I just can't get onboard with him. But then I prefer the Punisher to be more in the MU like when he wore this to fight the Reavers.

Hahah, now THAT is some bad Power Armor. Did every hero of the '90s end up with super-"kewl" Toyetic power armor? Spider-Man wore that silver one for one issue, Cap wore a suit when he was dying of Serum Disease or whatever that was, etc. The '90s were weird.

[Goldar]

I never understood the connection between Triathlon and the 3-D Man.

Are their powers identical and equal? Triathlon always seemed somewhat superior in abilities.

Hey, where is Triathlon today?

[Jabroniville]

I never understood the connection between Triathlon and the 3-D Man.

Are their powers identical and equal? Triathlon always seemed somewhat superior in abilities.

Hey, where is Triathlon today?

He last showed up in Agents of Atlas as the new 3-D Man, wearing the same glasses as the original guy, since he's sort of an homage to him in the first place.

[Ken]

I never understood the connection between Triathlon and the 3-D Man.

Are their powers identical and equal? Triathlon always seemed somewhat superior in abilities.

Apparently Tremont somehow stole the power from Hal Chandler (3-D Man) and gave the powers to Delroy Garrett (Triathalon). However, because Tremont also had a secondary ... something ... Delroy became 3 times as powerful as a man in PEAK condition, where Chandler was only three times as powerful as his brother Chuck (a military pilot).

Mostly I think this is Kurt Busiek acknowledging power creep, where Roy Thomas tended to be an advocate of power slippage.

[Blind_Pugh]

I've been trying to go through the thread to keep my catching up to one post, withput a multiquiote button it's too much arseache so here's the first of what's likely to be many.

HAKAN
Created By: Unknown
First Appearance: Super Street Fighter IV (2010)
Game Apperances: Super & Ultra Street Fighter IV
Home Country: Turkey
Role: The Powerhouse, Weird Guy
Vague Martial Art Basis: Yağlı güreş- Turkish Oil Wrestling
PL 9 (115)

As a big wrestling fan I'd always had at least a passing interest in various world styles of wrestling and how best I could represent them first in RPGs, then in the Smackdown games. So I knew something about Yağlı güreş and was highly entertained to learn they'd be getting a practioner in Street Fighter, especially alongside a Luchador.

I've never played it, I'm terrible at computer games and the push to make them more rewarding for hardcore players just pushed me further put. But I did fall in love with Hakan and watch videos of play-throughs with him. I remember there being a League of Extraordinary Gentlemen game on one of the old boards with Chun-Li and that sealed my desire to play this lug in a similar game.

WEBWING
-Webwing looks kinda like a Darkmantle from Dungeons & Dragons. He's one of the most inventive Guardsmen, being a creepy squid-looking guy (gender neutral, but I'll use "he") who jumps up behind guys and Snares them with his tentacles out in a big "net" form, at which point he begins drugging them with natural narcotics released through his skin. He nearly caught both Shadowcat & Jean Grey at different points, but both used their unique traits (Phasing & Telepathy) to deal with the threat soon enough. Webwing's very limited to his one attack, but is handy enough to be good in a team situation, giving one character trouble while his teammates take care of the other players.

I really just wanted to draw attention to your great Imperial Guard builds and we all know this guy's the standout. I love truly alien aliens.

THE SCARLET SPIDERS (Michael, Van & Patrick)
Created By: Dan Slott & Stefano Caselli
[/b]

-The Scarlet Spiders come from the very good, but sadly forgotten, Initiative book Marvel put out in the wake of the first Civil War. Now, I actually liked this concept- instead of dumping the Iron Spider armour (that Spider-Man briefly wore) into the mothballs, it actually uses what is at heart a pretty awesome character design (it's not that great compared to the Red or Black Spidey costumes, because those are the BEST COSTUMES EVER, y'know, but on its own, the Iron Spider is sweet), combining it with both Ben Reilly's legacy AND that of Michael Van Patrick (a one-off character killed in the first Initiative issue, despite apparently having the Perfect Physique of Captain America), creating all sorts of little things. They obsess over not having a dad/identity (aka "Cloning Blues"), try to play nice with a quite-peeved Peter Parker once he sees this blatant trademark violation, and then go out... and act as Cannon Fodder. See kids, this is why you never join TEAMS where you all look identical. One Clone got wiped out by the Thor-clone "Clor", aka "Ragnarok", and another was killed by K.I.A. (another clone of M.V.P.). So yeah, both offed casually by Teamwrecking super-threats that required a massive group effort by DOZENS of Cannon Fodder minor-league Supers to bring down. The last Scarlet Spider is still alive, actually, hopefully to become a character in his own right... but that never really happened, and he got ignored.

God it still pisses me off that that they wasted the chance to have Patrick as his own hero. Instead giving the Scarlet Spider role to Kaine then back to Ben. Patrick could carry on the entire initiative's dangling plotlines. He even has an evil twin villain waiting to be implanted somewhere, maybe even his totally unaware innocent brother... It writes itself. Dan Slott's even the guy writing Spider-Man and he created him! Such a waste!

[Goldar]

I never understood the connection between Triathlon and the 3-D Man.

Are their powers identical and equal? Triathlon always seemed somewhat superior in abilities.

Apparently Tremont somehow stole the power from Hal Chandler (3-D Man) and gave the powers to Delroy Garrett (Triathalon). However, because Tremont also had a secondary ... something ... Delroy became 3 times as powerful as a man in PEAK condition, where Chandler was only three times as powerful as his brother Chuck (a military pilot).

Mostly I think this is Kurt Busiek acknowledging power creep, where Roy Thomas tended to be an advocate of power slippage.

Thanks, Ken.

Yeah, I thought both were like 3X strength, speed, stamina. But I remember an Avenger saying Triathlon was almost as fast as Quicksilver, which may have been hyperbole, but he was shown running with speed lines/blurring.

Power slippage...That is funny, but true. Almost like power shrinkage.

[Blind_Pugh]

Hahah, now THAT is some bad Power Armor. Did every hero of the '90s end up with super-"kewl" Toyetic power armor? Spider-Man wore that silver one for one issue, Cap wore a suit when he was dying of Serum Disease or whatever that was, etc. The '90s were weird.

Was Daredevil's armoured phase around that time too? It was definitely toy driven. But it worked on 9 year old me.