Jab’s Builds! (Beaker! Sam Eagle! Miss Piggy! The Swedish Chef!)

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Jabroniville
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Justin Hammer

Post by Jabroniville »

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JUSTIN HAMMER
Created By:
David Michelinie, John Romita, Jr. & Bob Layton
First Appearance: Iron Man #120 (March 1979)
Role: Evil Rich Guy
PL 3 (70), PL 6 (70) Businessman
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 2 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 6 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Deception 7 (+10)
Expertise (Business) 10 (+16)
Expertise (Science) 5 (+11)
Insight 2 (+6)
Technology 8 (+14)

Advantages:
Benefit 5 (Extreme Wealth), Inventor, Ultimate Business Skill

Offense:
Unarmed +2 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (DC 14), Parry +2 (DC 12), Toughness +1, Fortitude +2, Will +6

Complications:
Motivation (Greed & Power)- Hammer is a greedy S.O.B., and frequently funds super-villains for a share in their profits. He has no ethics in terms of what he'll do for money.
Enemy (Tony Stark)- Hammer Industries is a major competitor to Stark Enterprises.

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 7 (70)

Justin Hammer- Filler Businessman Villain of the '80s:
-In the 1980s, Evil Businessmen were pretty much a Stock Villainous Archetype- rejections of materialism in society, and an increasing liberalisation of the entertainment industry, had left them as some of the more unlikeable villains around- witness Lex Luthor's shift in role during this era. Justin Hammer, created just before the '80s came about, fills that role also, as well as being a bit of a Mirror Image Villain to Tony Stark himself- an inventor & businessman of high skill, who is nonetheless an immoral bastard who is behind numerous evil schemes. Michelinie flat-out states that Hammer represents what Tony might have been had he stayed on the path of being a global war profiteer. Tony had like 900 bad guys just like this, of course- Hammer was a random one (a deliberate tribute to Peter Cushing as well- he greatly resembles the British actor), but ended up with one of the longest runs, being one of the easiest "Evil Corporate Dick" characters to just slot into any old story- he wasn't a major adversary, nor very deep on his own; he was merely a great "Excuse Plot". New villains? Hammer funded their gear! Tony has to deal with something? Hammer's behind it! Stuff like that.

Hammer the Recurring Nuisance:
-Hammer's frequent schtick was to fund low-tier Jobber Villains in their Anti-Stark crime sprees, only to be invulnerable to legal consequences himself. He supplied weaponry and bail money to these goons in exchance for 50% of the take- a reliable source of income in the villain-packed Marvel Universe. If someone reneged on the money, he'd send a high-level agent (typically Blacklash) to confiscate his gear. Despite this pretty basic "greed" scheme, Hammer ended up being a major player- he once took control of the Iron Man armor (out of anger that Tony beat him on a lucrative bid on a business deal) and forced him to kill a foreign ambassador! He then sent an army of super-villains against him- Tony had to beat them AND clear is name. This was the start of the Demon in a Bottle storyline- a big step along the way to giving Stark grief. However, Obadiah Stane proved a more skilled business rival, driving Stark to alcoholism and taking his business. Hammer "welcomed" Tony back by trying to kill him, naturally. Force, one of his key goons, tried to go straight and also had to deal with Hammer's vengeance.

-And Hell, this was the guy behind Armor Wars! He'd stolen some of Stark's designs and copied it to give a ton of random goons variations of the gear, necessitating Tony freezing it all out, harming his relationship with Captain America and wrecking Iron Man's public reputation. Hammer continued to be a nuisance, having Taskmaster train the second Spymaster and giving the Scorpion a new tail and sending other villains to take it back when he wouldn't finish an assignment. He gave a very "90s" new costume to the Rhino, and sent him & Boomerang to fight Cardiac in one book, and took over Stane International when Obadiah died- he was forced to sell it to Stark for only one dollar, but got the "last laugh" when all of Stane's bad dealings caused Tony trouble later on.

-Hammer FINALLY died after a decade or so of causing trouble, being frozen in space during a fight with Stark, after being diagnosed with a terminal illness. His daughter Justine became a minor villain of little repute, and he could theoretically come back some day, especially after his granddaughter Sasha debuted as a force in the 2000s. He was a big enough deal to get used as the smarmy, unlikeable turd in Iron Man 2, where he gained incompetence and nerdiness to make him EXTRA-pathetic.

Hammer's Capabilities:
-Not a major battlefield character, Hammer's specialties are being exceptionally smart and a GREAT businessman, on par with Stark himself. In any campaign, I would imagine you'd see very little of him- just an army of Mooks like Blacklash, The Rhino, The Shocker, Leap-Frog and more coming at the heroes on a constant basis.
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Ares
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Guardsman! Cobalt Man! War Machine!)

Post by Ares »

Justin Hammer was such a great villain concept, do much so that it annoys me to no end that they killed him off. For a long time he was Tony's big corporate rival, and unlike Obadiah Stane, Hammer knew well enough to never fight Tony personally.

But as an evil businessman and supervillain supplier he was fantastic, and he always had an air of dignity, control and menace about him. I'd bring him back in a heartbeat.

I wouldn't be opposed to giving the MCU Justin Hammer a place in Marvel as a nephew of Hammer or one of his illegitimate children who is brilliant from a science standpoint, but is extremely impatient, leading to him skipping rigorous testing and resulting in sub-par machines and poor business decisions. He could be in charge of some lesser division of Hammer Industries and is always trying to prove himself to Uncle Justin.

He could even be the guy who designs the gear for supervillains, and he's forced to make the gear perfect for said villains because the villains profits are Uncle Justin's profits, so Uncle Justin insists on perfection. It shows what the younger Hammer could do if he forced himself to be patient and do things right, which he almost never does with the older Hammer's insistence.

Maybe call the younger one Justin Hammer Jr. And everyone calls him Junior or Junior Hammer, or Jake Hammer as a nod to Jake Skywalker.
"My heart is as light as a child's, a feeling I'd nearly forgotten. And by helping those in need, I will be able to keep that feeling alive."
- Captain Marvel SHAZAM! : Power of Hope (2000)

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Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Justine Hammer

Post by Jabroniville »

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THE CRIMSON COWL II (Justine Hammer)
Created By:
Kurt Busiek & Mark Bagley
First Appearance: The Thunderbolts #3 (June 1997)
Role: Wannabe Villain Leader, Introduced Adult Daughter
Group Affiliations: The Masters of Evil, HYDRA
PL 10 (146)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+9)
Close Combat (Cloak) 3 (+10)
Deception 10 (+13)
Expertise (Business) 8 (+11)
Expertise (Criminal) 6 (+9)
Insight 4 (+7)
Intimidation 2 (+5)
Perception 2 (+5)
Persuasion 2 (+5)
Stealth 2 (+5)
Technology 2 (+5)
Vehicles 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Connected, Contacts, Evasion, Improved Disarm, Improved Smash, Ranged Attack 6

Powers:
"The Cowl" (Flaws: Removable) [49]
Protection 3 (3)
"Blocking Edges" Enhanced Dodge & Parry 2 (4)
Teleport 8 (Extras: Extended, Affects Others) (32) Linked to Dazzle Visuals 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Touch Range) (52) -- (54)
  • AE: "Slashing Corners" Damage 8 (Feats: Reach 5) (13)
  • AE: "Grasping Edges" Snare 8 (Feats: Reach 5) (Flaws: Touch Range) (21)
  • AE: "Long Tendrils" Elongation 3 (Flaws: Limited to Cloak) (1.5)
-- (61 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Dazzle +10 Area (+10 Affliction, DC 20)
Slashing Corners +10 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Grasping Edges +10 (+8 Affliction, DC 18)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (+11 Cowl, DC 18-21), Parry +9 (+11 Cowl, DC 19-21), Toughness +2 (+5 Cowl), Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Motivation (Greed & Power)- The Hammer blood flows strong within Justine's veins.

Total: Abilities: 48 / Skills: 48--24 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 49 / Defenses: 14 (146)

-Justine Hammer is a suddenly-introduced daughter of industrialist (and goon-hirer extraordinaire) Justin Hammer. She was revealed as the Crimson Cowl during the early run on Thunderbolts- Kurt Busiek's original plan was for her to be revealed as Henry Pym's old lab partner, Alice Nugent (thus proving once again that Pymsuck stains people he meets), but she ended up being the new Dr. Spectrum instead. As Justine, she was a Retroactively Added Daughter, but says that her father never approved of her- she ends up following him into super-villainy.

-In Thunderbolts, she forms a new Masters of Evil, infuriating Baron Zemo, who's disguised the REAL Masters as the T-Bolts. She escaped the team with her goon squad a few times, always avoiding capture, and finally enacted a master plan after the team's true nature was revealed. She offered the disgraced team membership, lest she kill them, but they ultimately decided to move against her, and her ENORMOUS squad, now consisting of 20+ super-villains. Hawkeye, now T-Bolts leader, had Moonstone infiltrate the team as a mole, and they took down the villains in groups. However, Justine escaped again, swapping V-Batallion Dallas Riordan into her costume at the last second and fleeing. Later, she paralyzed Dallas in battle. Finally, Justine was defeated when Hawkeye convinced most of her team to defect, figuring that a bio-weapon she was using would be turned against them. After this, Justine's push was done.

-She reappeared during Civil War trying to escape The Raft super-prison, but she, Diamondhead & Razor-Fist were beaten by Robbie "Penance" Baldwin. Finally, she was given a mini-push in Iron Man, following in her father's footsteps by vexing Tony Stark. Justine and her daughter Sasha run Hammer Industries, selling a line of battlesuits as weapons of war- Detroit Steel. However, Justine is killed by her own daughter for what Justine's ally the Mandarin did to Sasha's partner, Ezekiel Stane.

-Hammer's Cowl is a long-range (25 feet- Touch Range, but not Ranged) Snare/Damage suit, and also has a Teleport effect that Dazzles the crap out of anybody watching her. She's set up like a mini-Kingpin or Silvermane, having some good criminal and business dealings, but well outside of the master class of Wilson Fisk. She's no great shakes in combat, fighting like a PL 9 with a PL 10 Area Dazzle- it's enough to challenge The Black Cat or maybe The Black Widow on an off-day, but she can only barely hang with Avengers-class heroes.
Jabroniville
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Sasha Hammer

Post by Jabroniville »

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SASHA HAMMER
Created By:
Matt Fraction & Barry Kitson
First Appearance: The Invincible Iron Man #8 (2008)
Role: Evil Rich Girl, Legacy Character
PL 10 (137)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 7 (+10)
Deception 5 (+8)
Expertise (Business) 4 (+8)
Insight 2 (+5)
Intimidation 4 (+7)
Perception 2 (+5)
Technology 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Benefit 3 (Wealth), Inventor

Powers:
"Energy Whips & Swords" Strength-Damage +6 (Feats: Reach 4) (Extras: Penetrating 6) [16]
Flight 6 (120 mph) [12]

"Generic Powersuit" (Flaws: Removable) [11]
Protection 6 (Extras: Impervious 7) (13 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Energy Whips +10 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4 (+10 Suit), Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Enemy (Tony Stark)- Sasha & Justine blame Tony for the death of Justin Hammer.

Total: Abilities: 72 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 39 / Defenses: 9 (137)

---

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DETROIT STEEL II (Sasha Hammer)
Created By:
Matt Fraction & Barry Kitson
First Appearance: The Invincible Iron Man #8 (2008)
Role: Evil Rich Girl, Legacy Character
PL 10 (160)
STRENGTH
3/10 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 7 (+10)
Deception 5 (+8)
Expertise (Business) 4 (+8)
Insight 2 (+5)
Intimidation 4 (+7)
Perception 2 (+5)
Technology 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Benefit 3 (Wealth), Inventor

Powers:
"Detroit Steel Powersuit" (Feats: Restricted to Cybernetically-Enhanced People) (Flaws: Removable) [62]
Enhanced Strength 7 (14)
Protection 6 (Extras: Impervious 7) (13)
Features 4: Increased Mass 4 (4)
Enhanced Skills 4: Intimidation 4 (2)
Reach 2 (2)
Flight 6 (120 mph) (12)

"Rotary Cannon- Right Arm" Blast 9 (Extras: Multiattack) (27) -- (29)
  • AE: "Chainsaw- Left Arm" Strength-Damage +2 (Extras: Multiattack 10, Penetrating 8) (20)
  • AE: "Rocket Munitions" Blast 9 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (27)
-- (76 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Unarmed +9 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Steel Strength +9 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Rotary Cannon +9 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Chainsaw +7 (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Rockets +9 Area (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4 (+10 Suit), Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Enemy (Tony Stark)- Sasha & Justine blame Tony for the death of Justin Hammer.

Total: Abilities: 72 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 62 / Defenses: 9 (160)

-Sasha Hammer was introduced in 2008 as the daughter of Justine Hammer (and thus the granddaughter of Justin) and The Mandarin himself- she naturally shares a hate-on for Tony. Sasha & Justine create the Detroit Steel line of Powersuits, and conspire to ruin Tony's life through business and crime-based decisions. She first appeared as Ezekiel Stane's girlfriend and helper, but revealed her own plans later on- she goes underground when "Zeke" is arrested. Sasha even gains super-powers thanks to Stane, but is stopped. She reappears a handful of times, and they appear to be making a small go of it with her and her mother as recurring villains- Sasha put on the "Detroit Steel" armor at one point, killing her predecessor. She & Ezekiel also killed Justine for allowing the Mandarin to harm Zeke. She's since appeared in a couple of other books, largely alongside Zeke as a defeatable Jobber Villain Duo.

-Sasha has been modified to become a fairly-decent front-line fighter (she can provide a decent fight for Iron Man), and has also been known to utilize the Detroit Steel armor, especially later on.
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Ares
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Guardsman! Cobalt Man! War Machine!)

Post by Ares »

Justine and Sasha honestly feel like they were just thrown in and given Justin's last name to give them some legitimacy, when their connection to Hammer ultimately doesn't matter much.

The whole bit of Crimson Cowl II was especially egregious because it was set up like her identity was some big deal or mystery, yet she's some nobody like Justine here.
"My heart is as light as a child's, a feeling I'd nearly forgotten. And by helping those in need, I will be able to keep that feeling alive."
- Captain Marvel SHAZAM! : Power of Hope (2000)

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Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
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Detroit Steel

Post by Jabroniville »

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DETROIT STEEL I (Lt. Doug Johnson III)
Created By:
Matt Fraction & Salvador Larocca
First Appearance: Iron Man #25 (June 2008)
Role: New Villain, Corporate Knock-Off
PL 9 (126)
STRENGTH
2/9 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+4, +10 Suit)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+9)
Deception 2 (+2)
Expertise (Soldier) 4 (+5)
Intimidation 4 (+4, +8 Suit)

Advantages:
Improved Critical (Guns), Ranged Attack 5

Powers:
"Detroit Steel Powersuit" (Feats: Restricted to Cybernetically-Enhanced People) (Flaws: Removable) [63]
Enhanced Strength 7 (14)
Protection 8 (Extras: Impervious 7) (15)
Features 4: Increased Mass 4 (4)
Enhanced Skills 4: Intimidation 4 (2)
Reach 2 (2)
Flight 6 (120 mph) (12)

"Rotary Cannon- Right Arm" Blast 9 (Extras: Multiattack) (27) -- (29)
  • AE: "Chainsaw- Left Arm" Strength-Damage +2 (Extras: Multiattack 10, Penetrating 8) (20)
  • AE: "Rocket Munitions" Blast 9 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (27)
-- (78 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Steel Strength +9 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Rotary Cannon +9 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Chainsaw +7 (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Rockets +9 Area (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +3 (+10 Suit), Fortitude +4, Will +4

Complications:
Responsibility (Job)- Johnson has a job to do, as a representative of Hammer Industries.
Responsibility ("I'm a Monster")- The surgical requirements of wearing a Detroit Steel suit have turned Johnson into a bit of a cyborg.

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 14--7 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 63 / Defenses: 10 (126)

-Detroit Steel came about during a 2008 storyline that saw Tony Stark come up with a NEW company after Stark Industries had been damaged by terrorist stuff. The Detroit Steel line is a production line of suits from Justine Hammer's rival company. Matt Fraction, the writer, meant for the Detroit Steel line to represent what might follow in Stark's wake as he leaves geo-politics- "a Blackwater-meets-NASCAR corporate-sponsored" Gun For Hire. Iron Man's worst nightmare of what he could become. An absolute perversion of everything he is." Which is a pretty solid idea, especially as the things get re-painted by whomever is buying them and made to be interchangeable suits. I especially like how it's a big, ugly, LOUD design to contrast the slicker man-sized Powersuits Tony tends to develop- a perfect example of Corporate America Gone Wrong.

-The main "Detroit Steel" is an army Lieutenant who is later turned to stone by a Serpent-enhanced Grey Gargoyle during Fear Itself, but later returns. After he recovers, he kidnaps Sasha Hammer (Justine's daughter), who decapitates him. She herself uses the armor repeatedly later on- the main guy is just replaceable and interchangeable, like the suit is supposed to be.

-Johnson is the first and most-elite Detroit Steel- the rest are given to standard-issue Military Mooks. The weapons can be swapped out, too- huge Rifles or Energy Beams have been seen. At PL 9, he's not that extraordinary, but naturally fought the hero to a standstill in their first meeting.
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Sunset Bain

Post by Jabroniville »

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SUNSET BAIN (aka Madame Menace)
Created By:
Tom DeFalco & Steve Ditko
First Appearance: Machine Man #17 (Oct. 1980)
Role: Rival Inventor/CEO
Group Affiliations: None
PL 4 (62), PL 5 (62) Saves
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 2 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Deception 4 (+8, +10 Attractive)
Expertise (Business) 8 (+11)
Insight 4 (+8)
Persuasion 4 (+8, +10 Attractive)

Advantages:
Benefit 4 (Wealth)

Offense:
Unarmed +2 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +2 (DC 12), Toughness +2, Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 8 (62)

-Sunset Bain is a Machine Man foe who later shifted to Iron Man (since... well, Machine Man isn't popular). Her origin is actually pretty funny- she seduces a young Tony Stark to gain access to his tech, and pretty soon appears as not only a CEO of a technology firm named Baintronics, but as "Madame Menace", a supplier to underworld baddies via a Sharper Villain catalogue of armaments. Basically another sick perversion of capitalism, like a lot of Tony's foes. She debuted swiping Machine Man's broken-off artificial arm, and the hero sought her out to win it back. She did a short run-in with Alpha Flight as well, then appeared selling gear to The Orb & Doctor Octopus, usually without the "Menace" guise. Later, when Bain was supposed to fix a damaged Jocasta, she instead created a bunch of knock-offs, and gave Machine man a fake Jocasta. She teamed up with the New Enforcers to take over the fallen Kingpin's crime cartel, saying she did so just to study their gear (the group included Dragon Man, Dreadnought and the Super-Adaptoid). Stark, working for Bain by commission to figure out her plans, eventually freed the real Jocasta.

-Later, Sunset hired Taskmaster to sabotage Stark in the Taskmaster Limited Series, but betrayed him to the police instead of paying him- he managed to get revenge by shooting her and setting the Triads against Baintronics. She was later shot by The Punisher, but again survived to vex Machine Man again, then joined Baron Zemo's Army of Evil as "Madame Menace" once more. She is a central character in the Iron Man 2020 arc, teaming up with Arno Stark, who eventually reveals that she was replaced by an A.I. and was a machine and didn't know it- her original body is then disintegrated by the A.I., who continues on as her, stating that she didn't like competition. Overall, she seems like Another Evil Capitalist, but is actually more successful than the big, showy guys like Obadiah Stane & Justin Hammer just due to sheer longevity and not keeping stupid grudges.

-Sunset's not much good in a fight, but has been on the receiving end of enough attacks and survived that her saves are actually pretty good.
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The Phantom

Post by Jabroniville »

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THE PHANTOM (Dr. Donald Birch)
Created By:
Stan Lee & Don Heck
First Appearance: Tales of Suspense #63 (March 1965)
Role: Forgotten Villain
Group Affiliations: None
PL 5 (60)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 5 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Deception 5 (+5)
Expertise (Science) 3 (+8)
Perception 2 (+4)
Stealth 5 (+6)
Technology 7 (+12)

Advantages:
Evasion, Inventor

Equipment:
"Spy Gear" (6)
"Pistol" Blast 5 (10)
"Protective Suit" Protection 1 (1)

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +4 (DC 14), Toughness +2, Fortitude +2, Will +4

Complications:
Enemy (Tony Stark)- Dr. Birch despises Tony so much he'll destroy his entire business and later plot to kill him, despite having access to a TIME MACHINE that would allow him to do anything.

Total: Abilities: 38 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 9 (60)

-Man, who the hell is THIS? Talk about one of those guys Stan Lee used to create without his big co-creators and with a deadline to reach. Dr. Birch was a worker at Stark Industries who always found the boss too busy to discuss his ideas or problems, and so naturally he decided to destroy the company. He began planting bombs all over the area- Stark suspected an "inside job", but was always one step behind the "phantom saboteur" and unions threatened to pull out their workers due to unsafe working conditions, while Congress suggested finding another weapons supplier. Tony stayed in the Iron Man armor round the clock, finally catching The Phantom in the act, trapping him in an experimental rocket and unmasking him. A particularly half-assed character (albeit one who did more damage than the usual Stark foe), he literally never appeared again, despite his pedigree as a Stan original.

-UNTIL 2011!! A handful of Retcon Stories by Rob Williams established that Birch, open leaving jail, was hired by HYDRA and A.I.M. as one of their inventors on staff, though he never agreed with their ideologies. Eventually retiring, he became a recluse, plotting Stark's demise. He used one of Dr. Doom's "Time Travel Platforms" to plot various outcomes and destroy Tony, but discovered he had terminal cancer. Birch arranged to have the inert DARK PHOENIX (!!!) taken to a captive Stark, using her to incinerate the entire Earth, but Tony escaped into the timestream, returning with a team of Avengers before the Dark Phoenix attacked. They saved the day though the time-travelling Iron Man died- the "original" Tony was left, and Dr. Birch died a failure. Truly a bizarre story, lol. At least it doesn't break too much established stuff for go "Everything you know is WRONG!". Hell, it just uses a villain nobody else had touched in 40 years.

-The Phantom is just a low-grade wimp, but fairly clever and very good with technology.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Cobalt Man! War Machine! The Hammer Family!)

Post by KorokoMystia »

..Parts of that 2011 story sound oddly like bits of Endgame, though of course that movie came out 8 years later.
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Obadiah Stane

Post by Jabroniville »

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IRON MONGER (Obadiah Stane)
Created By:
Dennis O'Neil & Luke McDonnell
First Appearance: Iron Man #163 (Oct. 1982)
Role: Mirror Image Enemy, Master Manipulator
PL 11 (188)
STRENGTH
1/12 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 7 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Deception 10 (+14)
Expertise (Business) 6 (+13)
Insight 5 (+8)
Intimidation 3 (+7)
Perception 2 (+5)
Persuasion 6 (+10)

Advantages:
Benefit 5 (Wealth- Billionaire), Daze (Deception), Fascination (Deception), Ultimate Business Skill

Powers:
"Iron Monger Armor" (Flaws: Removable) [98]
Enhanced Strength 11 (22)
"Omnium Steel" Protection 9 (Extras: Impervious 9) (18)
"Turbine Boot Jets" Flight 7 (250 mph) (14)
Immunity 6 (Cold, Heat, Radiation, Pressure, Suffocation 2) (6)
"Armor Sensors" Senses 11 (Extended & Infravision, Extended Hearing, Radar 4, Detect Energy- Ranged, Acute & Accurate) (11)

"Circuits Breaker" Blast 11 (Feats: Increased Range 2) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (35) -- (37)
  • AE: "Repulsor Rays" Blast 11 (Feats: Split) (23)
  • AE: "Chest Laser" Blast 13 (Inaccurate -1) (25)
"Targetting & Environmental Sensors"
Enhanced Advantages 12: Improved Aim, Improved Initiative, Ranged Attack 10 (12)
Enhanced Dodge 2 (2)
-- (122 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Powersuit Unarmed +6 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Repulsor Rays +9 (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Chest Laser +7 (+13 Ranged Damage, DC 28)
Circuits Breaker +11 Area (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Initiative +0 (+4 Suit)

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (+8 Suit, DC 16-18), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +3 (+12 Armor), Fortitude +5, Will +7

Complications:
Motivation (Money & Power)
Motivation (Manipulation)- Stane enjoys manipulation for its own sake, often going out of his way to twist others into doing his bidding.
Responsibility (Ego)- Stane cannot handle not being the best- should someone prove themselves his superior, he will be despondent and maybe even suicidal.
Power Loss (Armor)- Power Armor requires skill and practice to use properly- Stane has neither at first, and must rely on a computer (set in another building) to correct his fighting abilities. If the computer is damaged, his Ranged Attack will drop to his basic Dexterity, and he will drop in Fighting by 2.

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 98 / Defenses: 12 (188)

Obadiah Stane- The Most Memorable Mirror Image Villain:
-One of the funny things about the Marvel Movies is that they have this ability, much like the DC Animated Universe writers, to condense these comic book characters into either some kind of iconic form that avoids all of the useless extra bits, or basically reinvent old forgotten characters and turn them into something awesome. Such is the case with Obadiah Stane, who was Yet Another Evil Capitalist adversary of Tony Stark's, in addition to being Yet Another Powersuit-Using Villain of Iron Man's. Basically a master manipulator from day one, Stane (the son of a gambling addict who died playing Russian Roulette) built up his own company and used it to take over Stark International. Stane's backstory included using psychological manipulation for his own ends (once killing another boy's dog to distract him and cause him to lose a chess match between the two), and he uses this during their war, setting up one of his "Chessmen" agents as Tony's lover in order to break him down.

-Tony, beside himself with stress, fell off the wagon and became a drunk once more- his company was ruined, taken over by Stane International. Stane then stole the Iron Man designs and had the Iron Monger suit built. Tony becomes a homeless alcoholic, leading James Rhodes to pilot the Iron Man Armor and refuse to give it up to Stane, becoming a solo operative for years. Tony, sobering up after promising to care for a dying homeless woman's newborn son, rejoins the fight, allying with Rhodes and building a new company. Stane switches the minds of his ally Madame Masque with Bethany Cabe (Stark's on-and-off girlfriend), kidnaps Tony's friends (including long-gone characters like Happy Hogan & Pepper Potts) and more to try and manipulate him further, but Tony builds the Silver Centurion Armor (ah, this makes it the '80s, then) that is SO superior to his old stuff (despite Iron Man pretty much always existing on the exact same tier of Marvel's super-heroes in terms of power, he has upgraded his suits in power VERY often. Figure THAT one out), and beats up Stane in his new Armor, helped by its energy-absorbing capabilities neutralizing the Iron Monger's thermal blasts. Stark realizes that Stane, who is inexperienced with his armor, would have to be using a computer to help him control it, and destroys the building containing that computer, seizing up Stane's armor.

-Having been beaten on every level by Tony, Stane, unwilling to be arrested and humiliated, admits defeat and commits suicide by vaporizing his own skull with the Iron Monger's thermal blast, ending that big character arc. The suit would reappear a couple more times, with lesser villains going all "Crimson Dynamo" and over-using the concept. His company would be bought out by Justin Hammer, who would be forced to sell to Tony, recreating "Stark Enterprises". When the Iron Man movie came out starring Obadiah as the villain (as a mentor of young Tony's who was actually evil) and Marvel was eager to capitalize on its incredible success, they soon introduced Ezekiel "Zeke" Stane, Obadiah's son, who became a regenerating Cyborg.

Movie Obadiah:
-So Stane appeared to not be a BAD villain, but was yet another Mirror Image Villain for Tony, who always fought evil industrialists and evil Powersuit guys (not often both at ONCE, but still). But the MOVIE hit one out of the park with the towering, charismatic portrayal of Jeff Bridges as Tony's mentor & father-figure (after the deaths of his parents), who was nonetheless an evil bastard out to control Stark Enterprises. And MAN was Bridges great in that role- he often plays "Dude"-esque funny guys, so seeing him as a pretty threatening villain was great. He was utterly calm and collected most of the time, darkly threatening in others, and furiously loud the next ("Tony Stark BUILT THIS... IN A CAVE!! OUT OF SCRAPS!!!"). And then he put on a power-suit ("How is he able to use that so well? I thought Tony took hours to figure it out."- leave it to my mom to poke holes in the plot) and fights Tony himself, dying because Marvel Movies LOVE killing off their villains for whatever reason. Something that's come to bite them on the ass as a lot of the newbies have been quite forgettable.

Stane's Genius & Suit:
-Comic book Stane is smart, charismatic and manipulative, and gains extra power with with Powersuit, which is better than the old-school Red & Gold Iron Man Armor, but is noticeably weaker than the Silver Centurion Armor (which is itself definitely weaker than many of the current suits). His inability to use the suit properly is a major plot point, which is funny because comics (and M&M for that matter) rarely puts "experience when using weapons" as a major factor in anything. In fact, pretty much ANYONE should have extreme trouble using a Powersuit the first few times, though that actually makes the fact that Powersuits get a giant discount for something that rarely happens (ie. being left without the gear- a rare occurence in the stories) even MORE egregious- a big part of the discount for Removable stuff is that the enemy can use it AGAINST YOU if it's taken away, in my opinion. So... feel free to include it as a Complication sometimes. In the meantime, Powersuit Guys will always get a huge discount on their gear, forcing GMs to completely de-power them to "justify" the points they get for it.
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Ares
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (War Machine! Justin Hammer! Obadiah Stane!)

Post by Ares »

The movie at least explained it somewhat by having the Iron Monger armor be heavily computer assisted, and when Tony damaged the targeting computer Stane couldn't hit the broad side of a barn.

The first Iron Man movie showed why you don't see Iron Man suits everywhere: even with existing ARC technology and the designs Tony came up with handed to them, a team of Stark's best scientists could only make a suit roughly on par with Tony's armor by making it the size of a Hulkbuster, and they were completely unable to miniaturize the ARC reactor the way Tony had. You needed someone like Ivan Vanko to come along and develop his own flavor of ARC technology.

Comics Stane was another evil corporate guy and manipulator, but he was somewhat unique in that he went after both Tony and Iron Man at once, and used psychology to tear Tony down in a way other villains hadn't. Even then, he never engaged Tony directly until their final fight when he donned the Iron Monger armor. And it was actually nice that they made a big deal of how much experience and training in the suit counted. Hell, the entire run of that era often showed that not anyone could pilot a suit of Iron Man armor. Even someone like Force, who was an experienced pilot of Iron Man technology, had some issues piloting Tony's armor because the set up was different. Piloting power armor really should be a skill on the level of piloting a fighter jet, and should be impressive. Though the comics get around some issues by having many of the suit's systems controlled by cybernetic relays in the helmet, making much of the systems thought controlled.
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kenseido
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (War Machine! Justin Hammer! Obadiah Stane!)

Post by kenseido »

I seem to recall the fight between Stane and Stark in the comics also came down to computer assist being disabled. Stane was holding someone (maybe a kid) hostage, and Stark disabled the computer systems - they were in a building, or maybe a satellite - causing Stane to crash and not be able to control the armor. Then Stane ended himself.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (War Machine! Justin Hammer! Obadiah Stane!)

Post by catsi563 »

yeah that was the baby that tony took in from the woman who saved him. Stane had kidnapped the baby before firing the missile that killed erwin and wounded Clym. he was holding the baby when Tony blasted the building
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Ezekiel Stane

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

EZEKIEL STANE
Created By:
Matt Fraction & Barry Kitson
First Appearance: The Order #8 (April 2008)
Role: Legacy Character
Group Affiliations: The Hellfire Club
PL 10 (174)
STRENGTH
2/9 STAMINA 3/7 AGILITY 2/6
FIGHTING 6/10 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 8 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+4, +11 Upgrades)
Deception 4 (+8)
Expertise (Science) 8 (+16)
Intimidation 2 (+6)
Technology 8 (+16)
Vehicles 2 (+7)

Advantages:
Benefit 4 (Wealth), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"Upgrades To Body"
Repulsor Blasts 11 (Feats: Split) (Extras: Penetrating 5) (Extras: Side-Effect) [17]
"Self-Repairs" Regeneration 8 (Feats: Regrows Limbs) [9]

Enhanced Strength 7 [14]
Enhanced Stamina 4 [8]
Enhanced Agility 4 [8]
Enhanced Fighting 4 [8]
Enhanced Dodge 4 [4]

"Protective Armor" (Flaws: Removable) [11]
Protection 2 (2)
Buys off Side-Effect From Repulsors (11)
-- (13 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Repulsor Blasts +9 (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Initiative +6

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +7 (+9 Armor), Fortitude +9, Will +6

Complications:
Enemy (Iron Man)- Ezekiel seeks revenge on Iron Man for the death of his father, Obadiah Stane.
Motivation (Greed)
Power Loss (Excess Energy)- His biological upgrades require high amounts of energy, and so Stane must eat a great deal of calories in order to use his powers.

Total: Abilities: 66 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 79 / Defenses: 7 (174)

-So with Obadiah Stane becoming a Big Deal thanks to the Iron Man film, it was inevitable that the comics would attempt something related to him- only trouble was, the man had committed suicide in a 1980s comic. Coming out around the same time as the movie, Ezekiel Stane is of course the never-before-mentioned SON of Obadiah (who at least is old enough to have had a kid... but this is like 900 super-villains who've been revealed to have had adult children. Gettin' kinda old). He's also a Mirror Image Villain of Stark- being an engineer of biological weapons and a big futurist, whose goal is to enhance the HUMAN BODY itself, not just enhance things with suits. He's also the kind of "Evil Uses of Technology" thing that frightens Tony, who might have to fall to the dark side himself in order to stop Stane's kind of future from happening. Unlike Tony, he's not as corporate and doesn't follow any rules- he just does wild stuff and gives his stuff away for free to create mayhem. However... he kinda ends up "just another guy" in the long run.

-"Zeke" actually debuts in The Order, vexing the team of "Initiative" heroes that Tony takes special interest in- Zeke's mission is to punish Stark for the death of his father, naturally. He quickly moves to the proper Iron Man title, working for a cigarette company to create a cigarette that makes users lose weight, but immediately uses the money to finance upgrades to his own body, which he uses to kill their board of directors for the hell of it. Working with Sasha Hammer now, he uses suicide bombers and enhanced soldiers to break down Tony Stark's life, but Tony uses remote control on various Iron Man Suits to enable him to disarm numerous bombs that Zeke had planted around the world, then defeated him in one-on-one combat, the way superheroes SHOULD, damn it! Tony, however, is disturbed by the encounter, realizing he may have to become something dark in order to face threats like this.

-Zeke was broken out of prison by The Mandarin, who eventually mind-controlled him into building super-weapons for him when Stane proved unable to do so under normal circumstances. Tony is also controlled in this manner, but the two break out and combine their intellects to gather numerous other villains to ally against Mandarin, and ultimately Stane killed him. After that, he's largely been ignored- I feel like he was hampered both by Sasha Hammer being a more prominent part of many stories, and by the long shadow his father cast (especially thanks to the movie).

-Stane is a decently-powered super-powered guy, able to brawl with Iron Man for a bit (and use Repulsors bare-handed... though he needs a suit to avoid being hurt by his own power- this is a Device that buys off a -1 Side-Effect Flaw), but his main abilities are genius and planning. Though Reed Richards has apparently noted that all of his designs are just modifications of Stark designs, altered to fit human bodies. As such, he has no "Inventor" Advantage- merely high ranks in Technology & Science.
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Wong-Chu

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image
Image

WONG-CHU
Created By:
Larry Lieber, Jack Kirby & Don Heck
First Appearance: Tales of Suspense #39 (March 1963)
Role: Original Villain
Group Affiliations: The Vietnamese Army
PL 6 (84)
STRENGTH
4 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+8)
Deception 2 (+5)
Expertise (Military) 6 (+8)
Intimidation 3 (+6)
Vehicles 1 (+4)

Advantages:
Fast Grab, Improved Hold, Prone Fighting, Ranged Attack 4

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +4, Fortitude +5, Will +3

Complications:
Motivation (Power)

Total: Abilities: 64 / Skills: 16--8 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 5 (84)

-Wong-Chu goes all the way back to where it started- Iron Man's first appearance, where he was the evil general forcing the weapons designer Tony Stark to build him some new gear before Stark succumbed to the shrapnel in his heart. Instead, Tony teams up with Yinsen, a fellow prisoner, builds the Iron Man armor, escapes, and then defeats the General in hand-to-hand combat. Wong-Chu is thought-dead, but returns almost 40 years later, badly scarred and carrying the brain of Yinsen in a jar. Leading another small army, he fights Iron Man once more, putting on similar armor (despite being a huge, bulky man in this story). However, he is slain by a member of the "Sons of Yinsen", a group that worships Stark's dead assistant- his head is cut off. It is later revealed that he'd been working for the Mandarin the whole time, linking Stark's origin to his later arch-nemesis.

-Wong-Chu is a pretty typical "General" build, but is apparently a highly-skilled wrestler. Just no match for a man in an iron suit.
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