Jab’s Builds! (Whomp 'Em! Plumbers Don't Wear Ties! ToeJam & Earl!)

[Davies]

... anyone else think that this game has to have written with a great deal of chemical assistance?

[Jabroniville]

MR. MEAT ("Niku" [Meat] in Japan)
First Appearance: Fighters Megamix (1996)
Role: Secret Character
PL 6 (64)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+10)
Athletics 8 (+10)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)

Advantages:
Chokehold, Fast Grab, Grab Finesse, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Defense, Improved Trip, Power Attack, Prone Fighting, Takedown

Powers:
"Fighting Vipers Collision Detection" Features 2: Every Attack Has Triple Knockback [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Initiative +4

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

Complications:
Motivation (Winning)
Vulnerable (Pesticides)

Total: Abilities: 34 / Skills: 16--8 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 2 / Defenses: 11 (64)

-Another random Secret Character, Mr. Meat (called "Niku"- Japanese for "Meat"- in Japan) is just... a slab of meat with a bone in it, sporting big white hands and feet to do moves. Again, he has Sanman's moveset. You have to boot up the game 34 times to unlock him. Again, he's PL 6.

[Jabroniville]

RENT A HERO:
Made by: Sega/AM2
Release Date: 1991

-Rent A Hero is a Japan-only action game made by AM2 (the eventual creators of Virtua Cop, Virtua Fighter and Daytona USA) way back in 1991, and was a self-referential, very "Japanese" video game. It starred Taro Yamada, a normal boy who phones a cafeteria for a delivery and ends up having a battery-powered super suit given to him by the delivery man instead. He puts it on, thinking it's just a funny costume, but of course he gains super-powers. He decides to become "Rent A Hero", a local superhero for hire working for a company named "SECA". So now he travels about Aero City helping citizens with both mundane tasks and important ones (finding missing children), then dealing with corporate theft, counterfeiters and the Yakuza.

The game sends up Sentai, American super-heroes, and Japanese culture of the time (many enemies are "Salarymen"). It was usually top-down for mundane stuff, and a side-scroller for combat missions. The graphics are fine, and the music is really tight for a 1991-era video game (quite groovy and cool)- reviews at the time were solid, but the action gameplay was apparently really awful. It LOOKS terrible- the one playthrough I saw has the guy take ages trying to find out exactly how to hit without being struck back (not a good sign on a 2D game with no way to move up or down), and you only face a single opponent in each battle.

A remake came out for the Sega Dreamcast in 2000, featuring even more Sega references and cameos (the infamous Segata Sanshiro- the Saturn's Japanese mascot- is the guy who trains you how to fight in Training Mode). It even keeps the same catchy music! The XBox was supposed to get one in 2004, but the American publisher was shut down. A fan translation for the original was finally released for the English-speaking world in 2015. The character is probably most notable, however, for appearing in Fighters Megamix in 1998.

RENT A HERO (Taro Yamada)
First Appearance: Rent A Hero (1991)
Role: Jumped-Up Nobody
PL 6 (43)
STRENGTH 0/6 STAMINA 0 AGILITY 0/2
FIGHTING 0/6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Hero For Hire) 4 (+4)
Perception 4 (+4)
Persuasion 4 (+4)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Super Energy Combat Armor" (Flaws: Removable) [28]
Enhanced Strength 5 (10)
Protection 6 (6)
Enhanced Agility 2 (4)
Enhanced Fighting 7 (14)
-- (34 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +0 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
SECA Strength +6 (+6 Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (+6 Suit, DC 14-16), Parry +0 (+6 Suit, DC 10-16), Toughness +0 (+6 SECA Suit), Fortitude +3, Will +4

Complications:
Power Loss (SECA Suit)- The SECA Suit will run out of battery life quickly, and Taro must buy new batteries occasionally.
Relationship (Miss Tomato)- The eager reporter is rescued by Taro, and becomes his love interest.

Total: Abilities: 0 / Skills: 16--4 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 28 / Defenses: 11 (43)

-Rent A Hero is a jumped-up nobody- a kid who has to put on a suit to become a PL 6 fighter- even regular thugs appear to be a challenge one-on-one. In the Dreamcast version, he likely has Fast Grab and a few other tricks judging by the playthrough videos I saw (a common move is the Mountain Bomb- a pro wrestling move where you grab someone and lift them over your back, then drop down onto them).

[Jabroniville]

RENT A HERO (Taro Yamada)- Fighters Megamix Version
First Appearance: Rent A Hero (1991)
Role: Jumped-Up Nobody
PL 6 (54)
STRENGTH 0/6 STAMINA 0 AGILITY 0/2
FIGHTING 0/6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Hero For Hire) 4 (+4)
Perception 4 (+4)
Persuasion 4 (+4)

Advantages:
Chokehold, Fast Grab, Grab Finesse, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Defense, Improved Trip, Power Attack, Prone Fighting, Takedown

Powers:
"Super Energy Combat Armor" (Flaws: Removable) [28]
Enhanced Strength 5 (10)
Protection 6 (6)
Enhanced Agility 2 (4)
Enhanced Fighting 7 (14)
-- (34 points)

"Fighting Vipers Collision Detection" Features 2: Every Attack Has Triple Knockback [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +0 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
SECA Strength +6 (+6 Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (+6 Suit, DC 14-16), Parry +0 (+6 Suit, DC 10-16), Toughness +0 (+6 SECA Suit), Fortitude +3, Will +4

Complications:
Power Loss (SECA Suit)- The SECA Suit will run out of battery life quickly, and Taro must buy new batteries occasionally.
Relationship (Miss Tomato)- The eager reporter is rescued by Taro, and becomes his love interest.

Total: Abilities: 0 / Skills: 16--4 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 30 / Defenses: 11 (54)

-The Fighters Megamix version of Rent A Hero is slightly better than the original, owing to having Fighting Game-style maneuvers that vary him up a lot more.

[Tattooedman]

... anyone else think that this game has to have written with a great deal of chemical assistance?

Yes.

[Jabroniville]

JANET MARSHALL
First Appearance: Virtua Cop 2 (1995)
Role: Lady Cop
PL 8 (132)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 7 (+10)
Expertise (Police Officer) 9 (+11)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 4 (+13)
Insight 2 (+5)
Intimidation 2 (+5)
Investigation 5 (+8)
Perception 5 (+8)
Stealth 2 (+6)
Technology 3 (+5)
Vehicles 3 (+8)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Assessment, Benefit (Uses Attack to Feint in Combat), Chokehold, Equipment 3 (Gun, Armor +1), Evasion, Fast Grab, Fearless, Grab Finesse, Great Endurance, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Guns), Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Defense, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Power Attack, Prone Fighting, Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 7, Takedown, Uncanny Dodge

Powers:
"Fighting Vipers Collision Detection" Features 2: Every Attack Has Triple Knockback [2]

Equipment:
"Gun" Blast 4 (Extras: Multiattack) (12)

Offense:
Unarmed +13 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Guns +12 (+4 Ranged Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +3 (+4 Armor), Fortitude +5, Will +7

Complications:
Motivation (Winning)
Responsibility (Cop)

Total: Abilities: 62 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 30 / Powers: 2 / Defenses: 17 (132)

-As the point of Fighters Megamix was to unite a lot of AM2's games together in one, in comes Janet Marshall, hailing from the Virtua Cop series! VC was a very popular "Rail Shooter" (where your movements were controlled by the computer and took you from shooting area to shooting area), using the brand-new polygonal video games technology to let you shoot in out with far smoother animation than ever before. Two additional games were created in the series, but it ultimately fell before more popular, advanced offerings like Time Crisis, House of the Dead and the Jurassic Park-themed games. Janet actually hails from the sequel- the first to add a female character. In Megamix, she copies the moveset of Aoi Umenokouji from Virtua Fighter. Except Aoi never pulled out a gun and friggin' SHOT SOMEBODY as a special move! Yes, Janet can actually use the gun!

-Janet is a rare breed- combining an FPS Character with a Fighting Game character, boosting the Advantages for a huge number compared to either on their own. Since she copies Aoi's moveset, she has all that hyper-fluid Aikido stuff, letting her dodge attacks. Plus she can just shoot you.

[Jabroniville]

Why is the polar bear just the hedgehog with different ears?

BARK THE POLAR BEAR
First Appearance: Sonic The Fighters (1996)
Role: The Powerhouse
PL 7 (76)
STRENGTH 4 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+8)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Expertise (Guardian) 6 (+6)
Intimidation 4 (+6)
Perception 2 (+4)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Chokehold, Fast Grab, Grab Finesse, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Defense, Improved Trip, Power Attack, Takedown

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4, Fortitude +6, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Safeguarding the Chaos Emeralds)- Bark is one of those entrusted with guarding the Chaos Emeralds from Dr. Robotnik. He seeks to win a fighting tournament for the right to join Tails in destroying Robotnik's Death Egg II vehicle.

Total: Abilities: 44 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 14 (76)

-So when AM2 was designing Fighting Vipers, part of their "proof of concept" was to jokingly made 3D versions of Sonic & Tails and have them fight, thus showing what they were capable of. So impressed was Sega that they actually commissioned a Sonic The Fighters Fighting Game as well! AM2 wasn't allowed to use Sonic characters in Fighters Megamix (robbing us of the sight of seeing Sonic or Knuckles face Akira or Kage), but as Bean & Bark were AM2 originals, they were allowed. The characters didn't really take off that well, but the Sonic fandom being what it is, they've managed more of a legacy than most Vipers did. He has cameos in a couple of Sonic games, and was in Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog series as Bean the Dynamite's silent, enigmatic partner. He was part of a mercenary group, then got hired to ambush Sonic- the duo worked for someone named Mammoth Mogul and joined Nack the Weasel's "Team Hooligan", so I guess they were bad guys there.

-Bark the Polar Bear is a "Big Guy/Powerhouse" character, focusing on throws. He is said to be serious and quiet due to shyness, but is still genuine and kind-hearted.

[Jabroniville]

BEAN THE DYNAMITE
First Appearance: Sonic The Fighters (1996)
Role: Little Guy
PL 7 (94)
STRENGTH 1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 5 (+10)
Athletics 8 (+9)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 4 (+13)
Perception 5 (+5)

Advantages:
Chokehold, Equipment 1 (Armor +2- Ablative), Fast Grab, Grab Finesse, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Defense, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Power Attack, Prone Fighting, Ranged Attack 8

Powers:
"Thrown Bombs" Blast 6 [12]

Offense:
Unarmed +13 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Thrown Bombs +8 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +9

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +14 (DC 24), Toughness +2, Fortitude +4, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Safeguarding the Chaos Emeralds)- Bean is one of those entrusted with guarding the Chaos Emeralds from Dr. Robotnik. He seeks to win a fighting tournament for the right to join Tails in destroying Robotnik's Death Egg II vehicle.

Total: Abilities: 34 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 18 / Powers: 12 / Defenses: 19 (94)

-Bean the Dynamite is also from Sonic The Fighters, and is a green woodpecker or duck (his name comes from a Sega arcade game Dynamite Düx, but the Sonic Wiki says his species was changed from that of Bin & Pin from that game) who pretty much looks like Farfetch'd from Pokemon. He has rapid, erratic, unpredictable movements, and throws tons of bombs as attacks, making him one of the few Fighting Vipers characters with powers. He's overall set up as a speedster & Blaster combination.

[Jabroniville]

And that does it for Fighting Vipers! The last much are a combination of jokes and guest characters, but that finishes off another game series. Now I gotta figure out where I’m gonna stuff the Criticom characters, lol.

Next up… back to the Marvel Comics zone, as I build the Elders of the Universe!

[Jabroniville]

THE ELDERS OF THE UNIVERSE:

-I think the Elders of the Universe are low-key one of comics' best concepts- very, VERY few groups can set off the sheer amount of stories these guys can- and that's JUST the Grandmaster & Collector! There are tons of others and any one of them can set off a huge amount of stories!

The Elders are effectively a group comprised of the remnants of the first sentient races in the known universe- the original beings to sprout up after The Big Bang (or Horrendous Space Kablooey, if you prefer). These uniformly-humanoid creatures were able to survive as their fellows died around them, all because each of them had found one particular aspect of life to focus on above all others- one became a collector of rarities and oddities, one a trader of the same, one a destroyer, and one a martial combatant- it goes on. This has left them a group of millennia-old, immortal beings of tremendous power, each one being much more dangerous than your everyday superhero. Not all are malevolent, and others are mere "shades of grey" characters. Some have even proven to be great heroes and allies.

The chief Elders have always been The Grandmaster and The Collector, both of whom have threatened The Avengers- Roy Thomas created both guys in his Avengers run in the late 1960s. Next up is the Gardener, who was a much more positive character- more of a Switzerland-style neutral character who often had to be shamed into doing the right thing. Next up was The Champion of the Universe, a Cosmic Space Butt-hole who threatened to destroy the Earth if The Thing and others didn't fight. Vaguely related, we have The Stranger, a totally forgettable nobody of a 1960s Cosmic Being who lacks much charm or innovation- he was a dime-a-dozen even in the '60s. After that we have The Runner, and behind HIM is a whole squad of relatively-unknown guys, almost all of whom debuted in Steve Englehart's Silver Surfer run's early issues.

I find it odd that all of them but one are male humanoids- is this some kind of Old Boys Club?

The Elders weren't usually seen assembled- the Grandmaster & Collector didn't show up in the same story until Contest of Champions, in which the former tries to finagle the resurrection of the latter. In the end, Death is so aggravated that she decrees that all Elders are banned from her domain- effectively making them all SUPER Immortal! It wasn't until a Silver Surfer book had been created, written by Steve Englehart, in which all the Elders united forces- in this opening arc for the book, a whole host of others were created- the Astronomer, Contemplator, Trader, Obliterator & Possessor all showed up on Ego the Living Planet, forming a plot to destroy Galactus and replace him- their realization that his status as the TRUE oldest being in the universe made them inadequate, and that since he was fundamental to the natural function of the universe, his demise would create an armageddon- the Elders, being immune from Death's touch, would become the universally-powerful "Galacti" of the next universe that formed. And so they gathered the Soul Gems (what would later be known as the Infinity Gems) and attacked.

The Silver Surfer, Mantis (OF COURSE Mantis) & Nova thwart this scheme, and five Elders (Champion, Collector, Gardener, Grandmaster and Runner) are devoured alive by Galactus when he finds out. The five consumed Elders survive within the Devourer, and give him a case of "cosmic indigestion", then make a deal with the resurrected In-Betweener, who later betrays the group and has Death vaporize three survivors- Astronomer, Trader & Possessor. The five consumed Elders are then released by Master Order & Lord Chaos, and convinced to aid Galactus in the subsequent battle against the In-Betweener. The survivors grab the Soul Gems and travel far away from a vengeful Galactus.

Later, the five Elders are hunted down one-by-one by Thanos, who seeks their Soul Gems (he renames them "Infinity Gems")- here, in Thanos Quest, the Mad Titan pretty-easily outsmarts the lot of them. Sure, the Runner & Champion are easily-fooled doofuses, but guys like the Grandmaster and Collector should have some proper tech. At least Thanos was using Death's Magic Well of Whatever to discover the Gems's true power, which gave him an unfair advantage. In the end, Thanos gains omnipotence and threatens the entire universe, and the Elders are merely a means to an end (The Gardener is killed).

Mark Gruenwald (of course) would later deal more with them, and point out that there are a "thousand or so" Elders, though we only meet three more (The Architect, The Explorer & The Judicator). After this, it's just some more random stories for the characters, and they have only teamed up as recently as seven years ago- 2016's Contest of Champions sees twelve Elders compete for cosmic energy by using Earth superhumans as proxies. This is mostly an excuse to have big fights... which is really what the Elders are for anyways. A handful more have been created in recent years, mostly as one-off threats.

But really, they're PERFECT. Their sheer age and experience makes them respectable and a bit frightening- how do you face someone who's been alive for billions of years? Their threats are varied and they can produce ANY story- the Possessor is power-hungry, the Contemplator is a wise aide to heroes, and more... but then you get The Champion- a man so obsessed with conflict he just wants to fight the strongest people he can find one-on-one. What a perfect Excuse Plot for a bitching tournament or a "this issue is all about one fight" story! The Collector and his mass gathering of items can produce even MORE stories- maybe you're charged with finding something for him- or someone stole an item and is doing something horrible with it. Maybe YOU'RE the item he's after? It's wild how much stuff can come from just this one guy. And then The Grandmaster- the ultimate "Excuse Plot" character. Anything imaginable can happen to your heroes when this guy plays a random game with someone!

The Elders of the Universe:
The Architect
The Astronomer
The Caregiver
The Challenger
The Champion of the Universe
The Collector
The Contemplator
The Explorer
Father Time (inexplicably added later by Gruenwald)
Gara
The Gardener
The Grandmaster
The Judicator
The Obliterator
The Possessor
The Profiteer
The Promoter
The Runner
The Trader
The Stranger (... maybe?)

There's a few that are only mentioned, but not given substantial appearances or bios: The Architect, The Explorer (Zamanathan Rambunazeth- a blue guy) and The Judicator (who looks like an old lady with '50s hair and glasses). One can only guess as to who has which focus. Ego is also considered a technical Elder, but I built him already. The Stranger isn't actually a member according to most, but I haven't posted him here yet, so he'll be here, too!. One thing I notice while building these guys is that many of them tend to be more or less like my Olympians & Asgardians- high PL and VERY expensive, as in the upper 200s and lower 300s- that surprised me a bit, but it's actually quite fitting- Elders of the Universe are effectively Gods, and should almost be MORE powerful than they're portrayed. Yet very few of these guys are anywhere near Skyfather Level- most of them have Human-level stats as their baseline, in fact.

[Ares]

The Elders of the Universe really are a wonderful storytelling idea, something that have been sadly underutilized or mishandled. They're the ultimate "excuse plot" for cool things to happen.

We want to have some cool fight with another team with unique rules? Grandmaster.

We need to have some kind of scavenger hunt for a unique item? Collector.

We want to have some knock down, drag out fight? Champion.

These guys really should each be in that Odin/Zeus area of their own specialty, these cosmic beings that are basically the best in a certain respect.

Now, some of them are fun, some of them are just kind of boring. Like "The Trader" or "The Promoter". Really? I mean, you can get some mileage out of the Gardener and the Architect. A guy who creates these massive planet wide gardens with all kinds of alien plants or this guy who is dedicated to building the most grand structures in existence? Yeah, those can be fun. Hell, you can imagine the other Elders having the Architect design all of their cool ships, bases and the like.

Some of them are also just lame for their concept. The Obliterator is supposed to be this guy dedicated to killing people, but he's just some weird doofus who relies entirely on weapons he bought to kill people. You'd think the Elder of the Universe dedicated to SLAUGHTER should be some epic, fearful menace on par with Thanos, but nope. He's one of the LEAST threatening Elders because as soon as you get rid of his guns, he's done.

Thanos Quest is both an example of what makes the Elders of the Universe such a great concept, but also shows how they can be poorly handled. The idea of Thanos having to get the Infinity Gems from the Elders is a wonderful idea and a way of showcasing Thanos EARNING the gems by going up against people who are actually more powerful than he is.

In practice, it was Starlin at his most Starlin-esque, because the previously competent, powerful and intelligent Elders were reduced to incompetent morons. He also went back and changed previously established lore to allow Thanos to win.

The Runner was a key example of this. While the Runner was somewhat flighty, he was shown to be incredibly dangerous, possessed enough cosmic energy power to match the Surfer, and was strong enough to actually grapple with the Surfer evenly. Now, the idea of Thanos using the Time Stone to help counter the Runner's speed advantage is a solid idea. The problem is that Thanos does this by retconning the Elders immortality, going from 'actually immortal' to 'greatly reduced aging' and he defeats the Runner by aging him "More than a million years old".

The problem?

The Runner is already THREE BILLION YEARS OLD. Capitol B, BUH - ILLION. Even IF Thanos was right and they just aged REEEEEEALLY slowly, a million years would be a drop in the bucket to them.

"But wait Ares, you hyperbolic sex machine," I hear you cry. "Thanos said he aged the Runner MORE than a million years old, and a billion is more than a million, so he could have aged him 10 billion years or something." Yes, that's technically true, but the wording clearly implies that Starlin thought that a million years was a big deal to the Elders. And then that the Elders weren't immortal, despite them actually being doubly immortal since they got rejected from Death.

And then he does things like have the Grandmaster cheat, when the Grandmaster has been shown to be so dedicated to following the rules of his game that he will purposefully lose or kill himself rather than violate the rules of the game he set. And made the Collector, a billion year old being with access to ridiculous technology, this utter moron. And the Champion, while eager to fight, was previously shown to be an eloquent speaker, skilled warrior and dedicated to following rules and good sportsmanship. Under Starlin, he was suddenly a brutish savage with no concept of skill or tactics and suddenly unable to teleport.

Basically, Starlin did what he usually does when he has Adam Warlock or Thanos in a story: everyone around them suddenly loses some IQ points and overall effectiveness, regardless of how much retconning it takes to make it work.

But yeah, enough of my complaining about Starlin. The Elders are a fantastic notion, one that could use a bit of cleaning up, revision and reusing. They're a prime example of how fun and creative comics can be, and a comparison to show how little fun they've actually been for a while.

[catsi563]

Im also a big fan of the Elder of the universe trope guys like Lorien from babylon 5 as example, the notion of what happened to those races of beings who were born almost literally at the big bang are they still around today? or are they long gone died out or gone beyond the rim, And if any are around would they be like? seeing some who basically dedicate their immortal lives to a concept is equally fascinating someone whose forgotten more about fighting then all the soldiers in the universe put together

like ares said its a great opening for so many potential stories to tell

[Jabroniville]

THE GRANDMASTER (En Dwi Gast)
Created By: Roy Thomas & John Buscema
First Appearance: The Avengers #69 (Oct. 1969)
Role: Cosmic Gamesmaster
Group Affiliations: The Elders of the Universe
PL 17 (451)
STRENGTH 4/8 STAMINA 4/8 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 16 AWARENESS 6 PRESENCE 5

Skills:
Deception 11 (+16)
Expertise (Science) 12 (+28)
Expertise (Cosmic Lore) 9 (+25)
Expertise (Space Traveller) 6 (+22)
Expertise (Current Events) 8 (+24)
Expertise (History) 4 (+20)
Expertise (Games) 12 (+28)
Insight 6 (+12)
Intimidation 7 (+12)
Investigation 8 (+14)
Perception 10 (+16)
Persuasion 11 (+16)
Technology 12 (+28)
Vehicles 4 (+9)

Advantages:
Assessment, Beginner's Luck, Benefit (Elder of the Universe), Defensive Attack, Diehard, Eidetic Memory, Equipment 20 (Space Fortress, Weird Weapons & Game Equipment), Great Endurance, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Cosmic Blast), Jack-of-All-Trades, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 8, Ultimate Technology Skill, Ultimate Science Skill, Well-Informed

Powers:
"The Power Primordial"
Immunity 11 (Aging, Life Support) [11]
Immortality 3 (1 week) [6]
Regeneration 6 (Feats: Regrow Limbs) [13]
Senses 1 (Communication Link- Other Elders) [1]
Force Field 14 (Extras: Impervious 13, Affects Others, Selective, Area- 30ft. Burst) [69]
Flight 10 (2,000 mph) [20]
Movement 1 (Space Travel 1) [2]

"Cosmic Mind"
Comprehend 4 (Languages 4) [8]
Movement 1 (Environmental Adaptation- Space) [2]
"Sense Energy" Senses 11 (Detect Energy- Ranged 6, Acute & Analytical, Tracking) [11]
Quickness 16 (Flaws: Limited to Mental Tasks) [8]

"Impressive Size" Growth 4 (Str & Sta +4, +4 Mass, +4 Intimidation, -2 Dodge/Parry, +1 Speed, -4 Stealth) -- (12 feet) [8]

"Restructure Matter" Transform 12 (Anything to Anything) (Feats: Increased Mass 5- 25 tons) (Extras: Continuous) (Flaws: Distracting) (65) -- [70]

• AE: Cosmic Blast 21 (Feats: Penetrating 10, Split) (53)
• AE: Movement 7 (Dimensional Travel 3, Space Travel +2, Time Travel 2) (Extras: Portal +2) (28)
• AE: Healing 13 (Extras: Ranged, Resurrection) (52)
• AE: Teleport 15 (Extras: Extended, Accurate) (60)
• AE: "Will Death on Another" Weaken Stamina 15 (Extras: Perception Range +2) (45)

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Growth +11 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Cosmic Blast +13 (+21 Ranged Damage, DC 36)
Will Death -- (+15 Perception Ranged Weaken, DC 25)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (+10 Size, DC 22-20), Parry +12 (+10 Size, DC 22-20), Toughness +4 (+8 Size, +22 Force Field), Fortitude +13 (+17 Size), Will +16

Complications:
Obsession (Games)- The Grandmaster is pretty much straight-up obsessed with gaming- ANY AND ALL GAMES are big things for him. He once risked (and lost) ultimate power because Hawkeye wanted to play a game of "Draw Straws". He will generally only do things if it involves a game of some kind.
Relationship (The Elders)- The Grandmaster takes the role of an Elder more seriously than the others- he is a leader of sorts. He once sacrificed his life (though it was part of a plan) for The Collector's.

Total: Abilities: 108 / Skills: 120--60 / Advantages: 42 / Powers: 232 / Defenses: 10 (451)

The Grandmaster- The Ultimate "Excuse Plot" Character:
-The Grandmaster is the most important of The Elders, and their leader as well. A big blue man, he has one of the greatest concepts in comic book history- a Cosmic Gamesman, devoted to perfecting and winning all the contests the world has to offer. This... is... AMAZING- it offers up an infinite number of potential storylines, all with the easy explanation of "It's the Grandmaster being an asshole again". Heck, it's like stories with Arcade's Murderworld, but amplified to a cosmic scale. You can even get heroes fighting each other, heroes fighting cosmic beings, and all sorts of manipulative nonsense, all at The Grandmaster's hands.

-He debuted by creating the Squadron Sinister (an obvious riff on DC's Justice League- it later inspired the Squadron Supreme in the actual comics, though the villains were said to be "inspired" by the heroes), then moved on to the Defenders in their book. He was the central character in Contest of Champions, this time the Excuse Plot being that EVERY HERO EVER was assembled under one roof to play a game that may allow him to resurrect his "brother" The Collector. The story, which was largely an excuse to showcase heroes of many nations as part of a tie-in to the Olympics (true story: the U.S. boycotted the games and thus the comic was cancelled... but nobody told the inker, a foreigner who'd finished all of his work and showed up one day to hand it in! Editorial quickly scrambled and released it anyways, albeit with some last-minute art changes because some people had switched costumes! And then someone bungled the finish, but stating the wrong person won!). The Grandmaster won (in actuality, he tied, but nobody caught the mistake at the time of printing) and thus died to take his sibling's place (because Death pulled a secret end of the deal that required a life force to be sacrificed to save his brother), but this played into his hands anyhow, as he later took control of Death's Domain and forced both teams of Avengers to fight for another chance at resurrection.

-The Grandmaster has a brilliant moment at the end, as he sends the Avengers after never-ending hordes of their dead enemies and allies... but Hawkeye stones him with a request for a simple game of chance: a game of "draw straws". Both Cap (the only other survivor on the heroic side) and the Grandmaster are like "you ARE insane", but Hawk plays to the extremes of the Grandmaster's obsessive personality- sure, he COULD easily defeat the heroes and conquer the universe using his current plan... OR, he could risk everything on a single dealt hand! What was the constant game-player to do? Well, he sweated, bit his lip... and REACHED FOR IT!! And thus the universe was saved, if only because Hawkeye CHEATED (also: Greatest Clint Moment Ever). And it all made perfect sense: he COULDN'T pass that opportunity up! And it's not like he HAD to honor the deal- but the distraction his losing caused allowed Death to break free and banish the Elders from her domain forever (which was actually the Grandmaster's Plan B all along, so he STILL WINS).

The Grandmaster Faces Galactus & Kronus:
-Later, he leads the ten other Elders against Galactus, is eaten, then expelled- though beaten, he retains the Mind Gem until later, when he's confronted by Thanos. The two agree upon a game for the last Gem, but Thanos notes in his narration that the Grandmaster has wisely cheated and made all of his "pretend" shots killing ones. But since Thanos had already amassed the five OTHER Gems, he easily broke the rules of the game and wins.

-He gets another fine moment in JLA/Avengers- when the DC villain Krona comes calling and nearly destroys the Marvel Universe, the Grandmaster realizes he has no chance against this cosmic powerhouse, so stalls him by creating a "Cosmic Game" using their respective universe's greatest heroes. A brilliant move, as it not only staves off oblivion, but puts the heroes (ones who've repeatedly beaten him, mind you) on the case, so THEY can do it. He and Galactus are annihilated by Krona's superior firepower, but the twelve items in the "Scavenger Hunt" game allow him the power to trap and stall Krona AGAIN, which allows the heroes to make a final charge that defeats him. In essence, En Dwi Gast has saved the Omniverse, all without breaking character.

Later Grandmaster Tales:
-His later appearances are more-minor: creating a new Squadron Sinister to fight Baron Zemo's Thunderbolts, but Zemo managed to kill him using the powers of the Universal Wellspring. Naturally, he came back, this time playing against the Hulk- promising the resurrection of his long-lost lady-love, Jarella. He creates the "Offenders", made up of the enemies of Hulk's allies the original Defenders (Hulk, Dr. Strange, Namor & Silver Surfer's enemies the Red Hulk, Baron Mordo, Tiger Shark & Terrax), but this series was largely part of the early Wankfest that was Jeph Loeb's "Red Hulk Push". The Grandmaster is killed by the Red Hulk, and Jarella remains dead- he of course later returns to bother Dazzler (acting much-more immature and having a crush on her- it seems the writer wanted to make him out to be more of a Geeky GM or something), and is still around in the post-Battleworld Earth. In the Fraction/Allred Silver Surfer, he competes with the Surfer in poker- he proves nigh-impossible to beat (given, you know, billions of years of experience) and things look hopeless for our hero, but he finally raises the stakes too high- he bets the Grandmaster that he'll lose the ability to play games if he loses... and the Grandmaster folds. It was just too much for him to bet.

-Recently, all the Avengers teams engaged in ANOTHER game, as an old enemy arises- it turns out that millennia ago, another Elder with a similar gimmick was around. The Challenger was a friendly rival of his, until the Grandmaster connived to entrap him. Angered, the Challenger returns and a massive multi-book arc of various Avengers teams results during a huge game. A daughter is revealed- Voyager- who is set up as a fake Avenger, rewriting their memories to make them act like she'd always been there. However, when everything is revealed and things look hopeless, Voyager is so moved by the Avengers' true heroism that she joins them FOR REAL, turning on her father. Apparently now it turns out he ALSO has a sister- The Profiteer. This is a bunch of retcons all one after the other, but to me seem fine- the guy is literally BILLIONS of years old, so has presumably gotten up to a lot of antics we just never saw. And importantly, none of the Retcons chance who he is- the ultimate gamer, schemer and "Excuse Plot" guy.

The Grandmaster as a Whole:
-But yeah, The Grandmaster is a fantastic character. The ultimate creator of Excuse Plots, and he's been part of fairly-few BAD stories. He has the power to do almost anything he wants, but almost never DOES, as he wants to watch the little people fight for him- a great concept that keeps him fairly-consistent. And his obsession can be used AGAINST him (as Hawkeye proved), and his by-the-book nature makes him relatively-easy to befuddle for such a powerful being. Phenomenal Cosmic Power always works best if you have an "out".

The Grandmaster's Powers:
-The Grandmaster is also the highest-powered Elder, able to defeat guys like The Silver Surfer by himself, and even cast a powerful enough something-or-other to hold DEATH at bay until his concentration was broken. I have no idea what the hell THAT was, but it was certainly impressive. He's a pretty good fighter (his own games require a lot of shooting & fighting at times), and dishes out a hell of a lot of power with his Cosmic Energy- hitting PL 17 altogether. He can handily kill people at Perception Range, Heat them, transform stuff like a Herald, think at astonishing speeds, grow a little, detect stuff, fly, and use super-powerful Force Fields to make up for his own lower durability (and note he can still Regenerate).

[Grenzer]

I'll also chime in and thank you for writing up the Elders of the Universe. A very intriguing group of Cosmic-level characters that have been used to varying degrees of effectiveness by Marvel over the past half-century. My favorite is the Collector, just because of the novelty of a character who has become so powerful in part to his acquisition of so many rare and powerful items over the eons, and not for any complex goal of conquering or reshaping the universe (although all the Elders seem to get roped into such plots on one occasion o another) but simply because it is a mania that keeps the old geezer alive! You can do a lot with that, but it seems a lot of the time writers just turn him into another evil overlord who covets stuff 'because.'

Very much looking to how you stat him up since he has been depicted with such a wide range of abilities beyond what he can utilize from his collection (which in theory is anything if he has the time to summon it).

[Jabroniville]

FATHER TIME (Real Name Unknown)
Created By: Unknown; Mark Gruenwald & Ron Lim (Modern)
First Appearance: Adventures Into Weird Worlds (original), Captain America #383 (March 1991- modern)
Role: Cosmic Calendar Man
Group Affiliations: The Elders of the Universe

-Father Time is a weird one- I've never heard of him, and he's technically linked to a bunch of science fiction/horror tales from the 1950s. In one, he confronts a man building a time machine and tries to stop him, not wanting his own domain messed with. In another, he falls asleep for the first time in centuries, causing every clock on Earth to stop. In the next, he saves a man in gratitude for "saving his life" while he was in disguise. In others, he's just a dispassionate observer.

-It wasn't until a 1991 Captain America issue that he shows up in the "real" comics, now explained as an Elder of the Universe- one obsessed with cataloguing important moments in time. He kills the American legends Johnny Appleseed, John Henry & Pecos Bill, placing them in the "Land of Legends" alongside tall tale figure Paul Bunyan and the representation of Uncle Sam, and has kept them for decades- finding Captain America a legend of their equal on his 50th anniversary (both in the real world and in the comics), he kidnaps Cap himself and prepares to de-age him, planning on making him another in his "collection" of American icons. Despite his severe aging, Cap fights so strenuously that Father Time nonetheless gives up and returns him to his own time, none the worse for wear. This weird, WEIRD story was his only appearance in actual continuity until the 2016 Contest of Champions one, in which he is a backgrounder.

-For powers, Father Time is a Time Traveller who can also go through dimensions, and age people with a touch. Not much else is known about him.