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

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
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Davies
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Bane! Azrael! The Scarecrow! Signalman!)

Post by Davies »

Ares wrote: Tue Oct 05, 2021 6:12 pm Also did a bit more reading on Stallion, turns out he isn't really a martial artist, or at least never had any formal training. He was basically just a jock and a big bruiser with some brawling techniques . . . that opted to use nunchaku for some reason?
At a guess, he overheard parents group complaints about them being deadly weapons, and, having never been told "there are no dangerous weapons, only dangerous men", he naturally adopted it.

Ironically, he's actually kind of dangerous.
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."
Skavenger
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Signalman! Shrike! Black Mask! Catwoman!)

Post by Skavenger »

It's also interesting that there's TONS of "female villain who could turn good if she just admitted she loved the hero" characters out there, there's remarkably few "male villain who would turn good with the love of the heroine" even though the "good girl thinks a bad boy just needs love to be tamed" tropes in movies and TV. The closest thing to that is usually "an evil brother or former best friend who could be good if they could let go of some pain."
Jabroniville
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Signalman! Shrike! Black Mask! Catwoman!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Skavenger wrote: Wed Oct 06, 2021 11:06 pm It's also interesting that there's TONS of "female villain who could turn good if she just admitted she loved the hero" characters out there, there's remarkably few "male villain who would turn good with the love of the heroine" even though the "good girl thinks a bad boy just needs love to be tamed" tropes in movies and TV. The closest thing to that is usually "an evil brother or former best friend who could be good if they could let go of some pain."
So many Comics writers being nerdy males who haaaaaaated the bad boy trope might have something to do with that, lol. Plus the fact that superheroines typically went with either superheroes or Author Inserts (LOOKIN’ AT YOU, TERRY LONG YOU PERMED FREAK!!).
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Signalman! Shrike! Black Mask! Catwoman!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Skavenger wrote: Wed Oct 06, 2021 10:07 pm Catwoman isn't the first "villainous romantic interest" in story history, but she's one of the more iconic ones. The problem is that while it creates great drama in the "will they/won't they" formula along with twists on "good vs evil" and "desire vs duty," it tends to reduce most of the female characters to being a possible "prize" to be won in the fight against evil. "Oh, if that silly woman would just realize that if she kisses the hero, she can be good and live a happy life." Even Catwoman's been reduced to this a few times, which is kind of demeaning to such an interesting character.

After all, we all know that Batman's first love is Lady Justice.

I actually liked Catwoman's solo runs, because it actually showed her own motivations and let her have her own life outside of "that woman Batman sometimes chases for sexual tension." She got her own romantic interest in Slam Bradley, she got a supporting cast, she ran for mayor of New York, if I remember correctly...it was a good time.
I'm honestly a bit mind-blown that the Catwoman books have run for THAT LONG. While "The Bat-Verse is a Big Seller" is something that's generally been true for 30+ years, the notion that one of Batman's biggest enemies having the most successful "Villain Book" by a wide margin still surprises me. Granted, they did it by giving her other villains to fight, but still. We're talking like 90+ issues of the '90s book, then years of runs in the various post-2000 runs. Yet nobody on Wikipedia ever bothered to sum up most of it! I was actually almost entirely finished by Bat-verse building (there's about a month to go on here yet- don't worry, I'm not wrapping up soon!), and then I found out she had a handful of Mirror Image Villains pop up!
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Catwoman (Holly Robinson)

Post by Jabroniville »

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CATWOMAN II (Holly Robinson)
Created By:
Frank Miller & David Mazzucchelli
First Appearance: Batman #404 (Feb. 1987- as Holly), Catwoman #53 (March 2006- as Catwoman)
Role: Writer's Pet (to Ed Brubaker), Retcon Character, Short-Lived Legacy Character
Group Affiliations: None
PL 8 (135)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 12 DEXTERITY 6
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 8 (+14)
Athletics 13 (+15)
Deception 6 (+9)
Expertise (Burglar) 8 (+10)
Insight 3 (+6)
Investigation 3 (+6)
Perception 5 (+8)
Persuasion 2 (+5)
Sleight of Hand 6 (+12)
Stealth 6 (+12)

Advantages:
Chokehold, Equipment 3 (Bullwhip, Bolas, Burglary Gear), Evasion, Fast Grab, Grab Finesse, Improved Critical (Bullwhip), Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative 2, Improved Trip, Move-By Action, Ranged Attack 1, Takedown, Uncanny Dodge

Equipment:
"Bullwhip" Strength-Damage +0 (Feats: Reach 3, Improved Trip) (4)
"Bolas" Affliction 6 (Strength; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Ranged) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Unreliable- 5 Uses) (6)
"Burglary Gear" Assorted Stuff

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Bullwhip +12 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Initiative +15

Defenses:
Dodge +13 (DC 23), Parry +13 (DC 23), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +7

Complications:
Relationship (Selina Kyle)- Holly has been cared for by Selina since she was a young girl.

Total: Abilities: 74 / Skills: 60--30 / Advantages: 17 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 14 (135)

-Holly Robinson is a character who was a thing for twenty years before she donned a set of tights, but she spent most of that being away from the limelight. She was initially there as part of Batman & Catwoman's new set of origin stories Post-Crisis, as she was a juvenile prostitute who led Batman (in disguise) to her pimp- when she propositioned Bruce, he was like "I don't think so- how old are you?", to which she responded "Young as you WANT me to be", but Bruce's clumsy attempts at investigating things led the pimp to attack him. When he knocked Holly over, her guardian, the dominatrix Selina Kyle, leaps down to defend her- the bruises from that day give Bruce an important lesson about how to carry himself.

-The character is briefly used in a full telling of Selina's origin story- Selina later leaves her at a convent where her sister Maggie resides as a nun. And also she is killed- in a 1988 Catwoman mini-series, she is killed off by her wannabe mobster husband in his attempts to reclaim some jewelry that Catwoman stole- a vengeful Selina kills his henchmen and frames him for their deaths. Ed Brubaker ultimately ignored that in 2002 when he brought Holly back, hilariously indicating later that he had not been aware of her death at all until it was too late. They kind of bullshitted "Oh, Zero Hour did it" to explain why she was still around. Her "left at the convent" story is intact, but it's stated she eventually left after a few years, and ended up addicted to drugs and on the street again. Finally getting clean, she is finally reunited with Selina, becoming a sidekick to her old friend, acting as her "eyes and ears" on the streets. Along the way, we discover that Holly is a lesbian (this is around when DC was really ramping up the homosexual quotient among its side-characters).

-Eventually, Holly kills Sylvia, an old friend of Selina's who'd become an enemy, to save Catwoman's life. The two ladies go on a road trip together, Holly is trained by Ted "Wildcat" Grant like Selina was, and she becomes the "den mother" to a group of street kids. Overall, it seems like while Brubaker was writing Catwoman, he wanted one of those "Author's Darling" characters that he could detail, elaborate, and characterize to himself (like... Winter Soldier in Brubaker's Captain America... haha so he's done that before). Oh, and JUST LIKE WINTER SOLDIER, this character replaces the original when Selina retires- Holly is the new Catwoman. Oh my god, he literally did this THREE YEARS BEFORE WINTER SOLDIER. Holy shit, has anyone else ever made that connection?

-In any case, "Holly-As-Catwoman" goes on for a bit, but takes the blame for murdering Black Mask- she goes to jail and is busted out by Selina, and is later unmasked on a livestream while fighting a villain. And like a year after she takes the role she vanishes from the book after being farmed for ANOTHER murder. She shows up in a later story to befuddle Granny Goodness's attempts at training Earth women to become super-villains, but largely vanished. In "DC Rebirth" she murders 237 terrorists for the bombing of an orphanage where she grew up, and flees the country with Selina's help. So ultimately Brubaker's big "new" character amounted to little and she disappeared. He'd have more success with the next one.

-Holly is effectively a PL 8 version of her mentor- lesser at everything and really no great shakes, but decent and dangerous.
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Catgirl

Post by Jabroniville »

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CATGIRL (Kitrina Falcone)
Created By:
Tony Daniel
First Appearance: Batman #692 (Dec. 2009)
Role: Forgotten Sidekick
Group Affiliations: None

-So a possible origin story for Selina Kyle that's been bandied about here and there was that she was the second daughter of Carmine Falcone, the mob boss from Batman: Year One and The Long Halloween, which might explain her enmity for the old man. This was used years later when Kitrina debuted. Raised by her disinterested and abusive uncle Mario, she lived on the streets and acted as a thief. She admired Catwoman, and even impressed Selina by getting out of an "unbreakable" knot and even stealing from her. The Penguin hired her to hunt down Black Mask, and she was integral to stopping the villain- against Batman's advice, Catwoman took on the girl as her protege- "Catgirl". Given training and a costume, she patroled Gotham as a vigilante and bounty hunter, but was outmatched against hardened criminals. Eventually, she was registered at a far-away boarding school, and was written out of the comics. LOL did the writer get sick of her, or did a new writer take over?

-Catgirl was a capable thief and very stealthy, but didn't have the combat prowess to really last against major villains. Probably PL 6-7.
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Tattooedman
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Signalman! Shrike! Black Mask! Golden Age Catwoman!)

Post by Tattooedman »

Ares wrote: Wed Oct 06, 2021 6:23 pm Image

That side-slit dress. Just . . . DAMN.
While I'm not wild about the color combination, I do love that outfit. At this point I'm kind of tired of Catwoman wearing the leather-looking catsuit that was made popular in Batman Returns by Michelle Pfeiffer.

As for Catwoman's personality & criminal tendencies, I much preferred her as a thief with morals.
Jabroniville wrote: Tue Jul 13, 2021 11:45 pm
LOl- "The Tattooed Man"? What kind of ABSOLUTE DILDO would refer to himself as "The Tattooed Man" :P!?!
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Cyber-C.A.T.

Post by Jabroniville »

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CYBER-C.A.T. (Christina Chiles)
Created By:
Jim Balent & Doug Moench
First Appearance: Catwoman #42 (1997)
Role: Jobber Villain, Mirror Image Villain (to Catwoman)
Group Affiliations: None
PL 8 (114)
STRENGTH
2/6 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 6 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 5 (+7, +13 Suit)
Intimidation 4 (+4)
Perception 4 (+4)
Stealth 1 (+4)
Technology 4 (+10)

Advantages:
Inventor, Ranged Attack 3

Powers:
"Cyber-C.AT. Armor" (Flaws: Removable) [40]
Enhanced Strength 4 (8)
Protection 5 (5)
Movement 1 (Wall-Crawling) (2)
"Cybernetic Tail" Extra Limb 1 (1)
Senses 3 (Infravision, Extended Hearing, Tracking) (3)
Communication 2 (Radio) (8)

"Missile Launcher" Blast 7 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (21) -- (23)
  • AE: "Helmet Laser" Blast 6 (Feats: Accurate) (13)
  • AE: "Claws" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Split) (2)
-- (50 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Suit +7 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Claws +7 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Helmet Laser +10 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Missile Launcher +7 Area (+7 Ranged Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +4 (+8 Armor), Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Enemy (Catwoman)- Christina develops a vendetta against Catwoman for being able to counter her Cyber-Cat armor, and quickly becomes obsessed.

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 32 / Defenses: 9 (114)

-Hahahahaha, AMAZING. Just a horrid-ass, super-dated '90s stereotype Mirror Image Villain with no thought or originality put into it. DC could do these as well as Marvel or Image could! So Christina Chiles is an inventor who built a cybernetic battle suit modeled after a cat, and naturally decided to test it out against Catwoman. However, she was quickly beaten- infuriated, Christina makes it personal, and becomes obsessed with hunting Selina down and killing her. After a few more attempts, Christina finally lost her suit with Selina had her own suit of armor made, destroying the Cyber-C.A.T. one. Christina's employers put her into custody for the unathorized use of their technology.

-Cyber-C.A.T. is highly intelligent, but a complete moron at her other mental skills, doing nothing with her great gear except fighting Catwoman all the time, and failing in every battle. She's a PL 7 brawler with PL 7.5 defenses.
Jabroniville
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She-Cat

Post by Jabroniville »

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SHE-CAT (Cassandra Cartland)
Created By:
Doug Moench & Jim Balent
First Appearance: Catwoman #42 (Feb. 1997)
Role: Jobber Villain, Mirror Image Villain (to Catwoman)
Group Affiliations: None
PL 7 (105)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 9 (+12)
Athletics 10 (+12)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+11)
Deception 5 (+8)
Expertise (Criminal) 6 (+7)
Perception 5 (+7)
Stealth 4 (+10)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Chokehold, Equipment (Cat o' Nine Tails +2), Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Cat o' Nine Tails), Improved Defenses, Improved Hold, Ranged Attack 3

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Cat o' Nine Tails +10 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +6

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

Complications:
Rivalry (Selina Kyle)- She-Cat has resented Catwoman since they were both young girls living in the same orphanage. She admires Selina and wants to replace her.

Total: Abilities: 66 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 10 (105)

-She-Cat is such a Mirror Image Villain to Catwoman that she grew up in the same friggin' orphanage! Twice, Selina rebuked Cassandra Cartland's offer of friendship, leaving the girl resentful even into adulthood. Through unknown means, she discovered that Kyle was Catwoman, and decided to train to kill her, like ya do. She framed Selina for some thefts, but their later fights are broken up. They even have to team up repeatedly to avoid capture, Two-Face, and other things, but ultimately She-Cat disappears from the book shortly after she debuts. She leaves the book after about four issues.
Jabroniville
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The Black Spider (Needham)

Post by Jabroniville »

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THE BLACK SPIDER I (Eric Needham)
Created By:
Gerry Conway & Ernie Chua
First Appearance: Detective Comics #463 (September 1976)
Role: Murderous Vigilante, Tragic Hero
Group Affiliations: The Society
PL 8 (102)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Athletics 7 (+10)
Deception 6 (+7)
Expertise (Criminal) 7 (+7)
Intimidation 7 (+8)
Perception 6 (+8)
Ranged Combat (Pistols) 1 (+11)
Stealth 4 (+8)

Advantages:
Equipment 3 (Paired Guns +5), Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Pistol), Improved Initiative, Ranged Attack 5

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Guns +11 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +4, Fortitude +6, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)

Total: Abilities: 58 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 14 (102)

-The first of three Black Spiders, Eric Needham was created by ex-Spider-Man writer Gerry Conway, and was a big edgier than the usual. He was a small-time crook addicted to heroin, imprisoned for only three years after nearly killing an elderly woman he was mugging- a light sentence because he was a minor at the time. He and his girlfriend had a son over the next two years, and he robbed a liquor store, killing the owner... and then discovered that the man he killed was his own father. Imprisoned again, he kicks the habit and begins a war on the drug trade- now a guilt-ridden killer vigilante named the "Black Spider". Now murdering drug dealers left and right, he of course gets into it with Batman- he sees the Bat as a potential ally, but obviously Batman isn't into the idea of gunning people down. Aaaaaand another wrinkle- the man bankrolling the Spider was actually secretly involved in the drug trade, and wanted to eliminate the competition!

-Sometimes, the Black Spider was seen allying with villains- either a desire for revenge against Batman or just sloppy writing, I dunno. Eventually, his identity is revealed, and a drug lord kills Needham's wife and son. Enraged, the Black Spider begins one final crusade- he guns down several drug dealers, invades the drug lord's HQ, gets shot many times himself, and then detonates explosives strapped to his back, killing the drug lord and all his associates in a suicide attack. More or less a complete circle of a tale- the story about how drugs and bad decisions spiral, and the cost of bloody vigilantism.

-Despite this, Needham turns up in Neil Gaiman's Sandman series as a boyfriend of Lyta Hall's- no explanation is given for his survival, and the Black Spider appears in a handful of side-books, a replacement Spider having debuted and died in the meantime. He shows up with other baddies in Identity Crisis (part of a small villain group attacked by heroes over the death of Sue Dibny), and is a member of Alexander Luthor's "Society". Like, they more or less resurrected him to be a backgrounder "Generic Villain". He shows up in the "New 52" and "Rebirth" eras as well.
Shock
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Black Mask! Catwoman! Cyber-CAT! Black Spider!)

Post by Shock »

He's calling himself the Black Spider in spite of the fact that the symbols all over his costume have only 6 legs?
Skavenger
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Black Mask! Catwoman! Cyber-CAT! Black Spider!)

Post by Skavenger »

Shock wrote: Fri Oct 08, 2021 6:54 pm He's calling himself the Black Spider in spite of the fact that the symbols all over his costume have only 6 legs?
Maybe he's the "wounded" spider. He lost two legs.
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The Black Spider (LaMonica)

Post by Jabroniville »

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THE BLACK SPIDER II (Johnny LaMonica)
Created By:
Doug Moench & Kelley Jones
First Appearance: Batman #518 (May 1995)
Role: Jobber Villain
Group Affiliations: None
PL 8 (96)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 7 (+10)
Deception 6 (+7)
Expertise (Criminal) 7 (+7)
Intimidation 7 (+8)
Perception 6 (+8)
Ranged Combat (Pistols) 1 (+10)
Stealth 4 (+8)

Advantages:
Equipment 3 (Paired Guns +5), Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Pistol), Improved Initiative, Ranged Attack 4

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Guns +10 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +4, Fortitude +6, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)

Total: Abilities: 56 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 11 (96)

-A very short-lived character, Johnny LaMonica adopted the "Black Spider" name as a professional hitman. Sent to kill Black Mask, he is stopped by Batman and sent to jail, now horribly scarred during their fight- his face now has a trademark "web" of scars. In his second appearance, he's in the very beginning of a Gotham Central arc- when Detectives Renee Montoya & Crispus Allen are on-scene for a gang shooting they prep their bulletproof vests and investigate ("five to one it's a freak" Allen says, using the book's phrase for Gotham's Bat-Rogues). They arrest a couple of gang-bangers, but find Allen's prediction coming true, as Black Spider arrives, gunning Montoya to the floor (only her vest saves her) while two of the three gangsters are killed as well. He preps the killshot, but Allen arrives from the side, blasting him several times in the head- LaMonica is dead.

-The rest of the arc scarcely involves him, but the aftermath. The surviving gangster sues Allen for shooting him on purpose, and the bullet that hurt him (the Black Spider's) is sold by corrupt CSI evidence-collector Jim Corrigan to a "Villain Enthusiast" collector. So Allen is in trouble with no evidence to back up his innocence, and Montoya has to use brute force on Corrigan to find the buyer- she trades that bullet (which hadn't killed the Spider, like Corrigan had claimed) with one taken from her vest ("the last bullet the Black Spider ever fired") and gets Allen cleared. Allen himself is merely upset he had to kill someone, as he'd told his sons that violence was never the answer.

-LaMonica is a generic Hitman character- good with a gun, but handily beaten by Batman, and killed by a "Common Police". Gotham Central had a pretty interesting take on the "Freaks", as they were often seen as horribly dangerous and nightmare-inducing (Freeze, Joker and even the Fisherman effortlessly wipe the floor with them at times- "Why are they always faster?" Allen says when Fisherman disarms him easily), but still quite human- Black Spider is killed, Doctor Alchemy pummeled into a puddle by Montoya, and Fisherman is killed trying to finish off Allen. Like, they're dangerous and skilled, but get the drop on them and regular bullets can finish them off easily.
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The Black Spider (Coe)

Post by Jabroniville »

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THE BLACK SPIDER III (Derrick Coe)
Created By:
Gail Simone, Joe Bennett & Eddy Barrows
First Appearance: Birds of Prey #87 (Dec. 2005)
Role: Jobber Villain
Group Affiliations: The Society, The Injustice League

-A new Black Spider appears almost immediately after the second died, as a member of Alexander Luthor's "Society" (which I think the original Black Spider was, too). However, other villains indicated he was presumed dead. He had apparently bought the costume and name off of the Calculator, who has him torture Savant into revealing the identity of Oracle. When the Birds of Prey arrive to rescue Savant, she pushes the new Spider out the window, nearly killing him. Black Canary speculates that he might be superhuman, and could survive. In Battle For the Cowl, he's seen jobbing to Kate "Manhunter" Spencer. He's later a backgruonder in the new Injustice League. Why he's active alongside the returned original is beyond me, but it's possible it was just lazy editing or artists forgetting that the new one should have a different design.

-This one might be like the others, but "Might be metahuman", so I have no idea what his stats would be like. Too short-lived to matter.
Jabroniville
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Richard Dragon

Post by Jabroniville »

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RICHARD DRAGON (Richard Drakunovski)
Created By:
Dennis O'Neil & Jim Berry
First Appearance: Dragon Fists (1974 novel)
Role: Zen Martial Arts Master, THE Combat Trainer
Group Affiliations: Global Organization of Organized Defense
PL 10 (164)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 14 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 5 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 8 (+14)
Athletics 8 (+11)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+17)
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Martial Arts) 13 (+16)
Expertise (Philosophy) 13 (+16)
Insight 5 (+10)
Intimidation 2 (+5)
Investigation 3 (+8)
Perception 3 (+8)
Persuasion 3 (+8)
Stealth 2 (+8)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Assessment, Chokehold, Defensive Attack, Diehard, Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Fearless, Grab Finesse, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Unarmed) 4, Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improved Hold, Improved Trip, Inspire, Instant Up, Languages (Various Asian Ones), Power Attack, Precise Attack (Close/Concealment), Prone Fighting, Ranged Attack 2, Takedown 2, Trance, Uncanny Dodge

Offense:
Unarmed +17 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Initiative +17

Defenses:
Dodge +15 (DC 25), Parry +16 (DC 26), Toughness +4, Fortitude +6, Will +8

Complications:
Motivation (Peace)- Richard Dragon seeks to train others, and help them perfect themselves and let go of their anger.
Relationship (Lady Shiva)- They have been rivals for years, but are also close allies, and know much about each other. In one version of events, they were lovers.
Relationship (Vic Sage- The Question)- Dragon trained Question for a long period of time, trying to get him to let go of his self-destructive tendencies.

Total: Abilities: 84 / Skills: 66--33 / Advantages: 31 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 16 (164)

-Richard Dragon is an odd choice for the "Greatest Fighters EVAR" list, until you look at his creator- Dennis O'Neil, the biggest Bat-Editor at DC for like a billion years. And because O'Neil created him (for a 1974 novel inspired by the Bruce Lee martial arts craze), the character was given endless props and credibility in the Bat-Universe, with every character talking him up and treating him like he was awesome. Dragon himself was a thief who was trained by a Sensei (called O-Sensei, actually) after he saw something worth nurturing in the boy- his classmate was Ben "Bronze Tiger" Burner. He found an enemy in Sandra Wu-San, who later dropped her grudge, and Richard taught her the spiritual side of martial arts- she would become Lady Shiva, and O'Neil would also push HER in the Bat-Books. And she'd become an assassin, because Dragon apparently misjudged her.

-Dragon retired (ie. his book was cancelled), and he became a supporting character in O'Neil's 1980s The Question series. Funny how some creators just bring their faves with them to each book- it's only bad if the characters SUCK, I guess (LOOKIN' AT YOU MANTIS). Dragon was a Wise Old (well, Middle-Aged) Mentor, teaching Vic Sage to "let go" of his macho personality and self-destructive behaviors, and revealed that he was pretending to be handicapped in order to see things from a different perspective. Still, he is horrified to watch the destruction of Hub City, which falls into chaos. Chuck Dixon & Scott McDaniel (who did a lot of work on Nightwing) revamped his history to make him a bullied schoolkid trained by Bronze Tiger after his "McDojo" Sensei was a nobody, and then by Lady Shiva where he was "Teacher's Pet", if you know what I mean. This adds another layer to their relationship, but parts of the series appear to now be ignored by later writers. In the "New 52", he is killed by a Ricardo Diaz, and in "Rebirth" Diaz becomes a Green Arrow villain.

-In all, Richard Dragon is the ultimate TRAINER of fighters, having had a hand in training The Question, Oracle (teaching her to use Escrima sticks as a handicapped bad-ass), The Huntress, Renee Montoya and Lady Shiva. The Retcon Series added Batman, Nightwing & Connor Hawke to that list.

-Dragon is one of many "King of the Mountain" Martial Artists in the DC Universe, but often gets downgraded to being some kind of Aging Semi-Crippled Mentor. At his peak, I imagine him to be equivalent to Marvel's Shang-Chi (as they're both heavily-inspired by Bruce Lee)- a PL 10 Ass-Kicker with tons of Skills & Advantages, aiming heavily towards accuracy and defensive skill. He could fight the PL 10.5-11 Batman & Lady Shiva to a standstill easily, and is also brilliant at both philosophy and the nature of martial arts (ie. the parts beyond just beating people's faces in).
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