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

[Libra X]

Motormouth now has two kids (who have psychic abilities of some sort) called Bert and Vicky (Albert and Victoria) who she apparently named after pubs

Someday they may even forgive her for landing them with those names and generally going through life sounding like something out of EASTENDERS (A popular British soap opera generally as authentically Cockney as MARY POPPINS).

[Jabroniville]

KILLPOWER (Julius Mullarkey)
Created By: Gary Frank & Graham Mark
First Appearance: Motormouth #1 (June 1992)
Role: Big Dumb Powerhouse
'90s Ratio: 9/10 (IS NAMED "KILLPOWER"; uses shitloads of guns; giant shoulder-pads)
Country of Origin: England
Group Affiliations: None
PL 10 (122)
STRENGTH 6 STAMINA 7 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE -2 AWARENESS -1 PRESENCE -1

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Athletics 3 (+10)
Intimidation 5 (+4)
Perception 5 (+4)
Stealth 2 (+6)
Vehicles 4 (+6)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Equipment 10 (Arsenal), Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Guns), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 11

Powers:
"Mecha-Psychometry" Enhanced Skills 14: Technology 14 (+12) [7]
"Semi-Prehensile Tail" Extra Limb 1 [1]
"Gorilla Strength" Strength-Damage +1 [1]
"Echolocation" Senses 4 (Extended, Ultra & Accurate Hearing) [4]

Equipment:
"Arsenal"
"Power-Blasters" Blast 9 (Extras: Multiattack) (27) -- (28)
      

• AE: "Grenade Launcher" Blast 8 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (24)

"Anti-Grav Pack" Flight 5 (60 mph) (10)
"Body Armour" Protection 1 (Extras: Impervious 7) (8)

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Blasters +11 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Grenades +8 Area (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +7 (+8 Armour), Fortitude +10, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Stopping MyS-TECH)- Killpower was created by MyS-TECH, and has now rejected them after learning that killing people was bad (from Motormouth).
Responsibility (Mother Figures)- Killpower's young mental age and raising by Dr. Mullarkey has left her particularly susceptible to stern "mother figures".
Relationship (Motormouth)- Killpower finds Harley to be his amazing new friend.

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 24--17 / Advantages: 25 / Powers: 13 / Defenses: 15 (122)

Killpower- Parody of '90s Heroes Played Straight:
-Part of me was going to get right into Killpower and his origins, but I feel the need to pause here and remind you all of something. There is a comic book character... named KILLPOWER. I mean, we see such absurd crapsicles in the comic book industry that every once in a while something like this slides off our backs and we fail to take notice, but... KILLPOWER. Someone in 1992 thought that was a perfectly-acceptable name for a superhero- one that used lots and lots of guns, no less. Humorously though, he actually stands out as UNIQUE among the '90s Murderdeathkill heroes, in that he's this good-natured, guileless, childlike genetic anomaly with a prehensile tail.

-Killpower is pretty much like the other Marvel UK characters, except he's a kid with some animal bits merged into him, and he killed people because it was fun like a video game (he eventually learned better)- this actually makes him a precursor to Gwenpool of all characters! And I think he's a hero. He was in the ridiculously-named Death's Head II & Killpower: Battletide comic that represents all of the worst excesses of 1990s comics (Skanktastic costumes, excessive blood, pointless fighting), being a pain in the ass dumb kid making sandcastles, and then brawled with Death's Head II until they were kidnapped by Grandmaster-style aliens who wanted them all to fight in a gladatorial arena.

Killpower's Origins:
-Killpower was built in the lab by MyS-TECH (the Big Bad of the Marvel UK line), given the surname of the doctor who created him, and was rapidly-aged to to the point where he was in an adult's body, but lacked the knowledge of things like morals or the value of a human life. He was sent by MyS-TECH after an escaped agent, Motormouth (this being her own comic book), but she convinced him in the error of ways... literally by telling him that killing people was wrong, causing him to burst into tears at the hundreds of people he'd already killed. After he saved her life (and gave her permanent superpowers instead of just gear when he rebuilt her damaged throat), they hbecame traveling companions, even getting the name of her book changed to Motormouth & Killpower. In Battletide, he had Death's Head II had been set against each other in a brutal fight, but were then forced to team up against Wolverine & Sabretooth. They nearly died, but eventually everyone had to team up against Termagaira, the gestalt entity that lured the "Battletide". The heroes only barely saved the universe from this parasitic wave of violent energy- Killpower saving the live of a "Temploid" who then stopped the tide, then getting resurrected by them after being fatally wounded.

-With the cancellation of the Marvel UK line, Killpower spent over a decade on the shelf, reappearing in Captain Britain & MI-13. Now a UK government agent, he was sent behind enemy lines to be "taken over" by Dracula and join his army. However, this was a double agent role, as Killpower is immune to magical control. A later "Sequel" to Marvel UK resulted in him being trapped in Hell trying to save Motormouth, and Mephisto manipulating him into resenting his old allies, and had him lead an invasion of Earth. However, at the last minute, Motormouth's sonic scream clears his mind, and he willingly allows Britain's super-soldiers to kill him. Thus endeth the story of of the most '90s-named guys of all time.

Killpower's Killing Power:
-Killpower is pretty much like the other Marvel UK characters, except he's a kid with some animal bits merged into him, and he killed people because it was fun like a video game (he eventually learned better). And I think he's a hero. He was in that BattleTide issue I referred to, being a pain in the ass dumb kid making sandcastles, and then brawled with Death's Head II (who I'm pretty sure VASTLY outclasses him in strength, but the guy's had so many upgrades it's impossible to tell) until they were kidnapped. He's a PL 9.5-ish Blaster-type, with some enhanced fighting skills, Technology (he turned Motormouth into a cyborg easily while she was injured, and e has the brain of a 10-year-old otherwise & Sonar.

[Ares]

Jeez, this guy looks like a parody of the kind of stuff Rob Liefeld would create, but was made without a hint of irony.

[Shock]

“The real James Madison is the country's fourth President, and a pretty successful one, carrying on Jefferson's acts”

Give or take starting a war with the British Empire that wasn’t really necessary and (while more a draw resulting in Status Quo ante bellum on a strategic level) was undoubtedly a personal humiliation for Mr Madison - at one point he had to depart D.C. so hastily British officers actually ate his dinner before proceeding to burn down the Executive Mansion.

Not exactly a sterling demonstration of Mr Madison’s success as a war leader, it must be said.

At the risk of going off on a tangent,

I'd argue it was necessary. Running up to 1812, the British were kidnapping American citizens and forcing them to serve in the Royal Navy. We were the little guy standing up to a bully. Even though we were thoroughly stomped militarily (for the most part), we won the war the same way we won the Revolution: by making it too expensive for the British to continue fighting. And when it was over, the British never used impressment as a way of crewing their ships again.

Somewhat ironically, both sides were trying to find a way out of the war even before it started but trans-Atlantic communication was so slow, the British Navy had started the war before a proposed agreement reached England. There wasn't a whole lot that went right for either side.

[Jabroniville]

DR. OONAGH MULLARKEY
Created By: Gary Frank & Graham Mark
First Appearance: Motormouth #1 (June 1992)
Role: Sexy Doctor
'90s Ratio: 6/10 (serious professional but still shows gigaton cleavage)

-Okay, this is a little funny- both Death's Head II AND Motormouth featured hot, sexy female doctors with reddish hair as major manipulators and mad scientists as recurring major characters. Dr. Oonagh Mullarkey (still the most bizarre name I’ve ever heard) appears in Motormouth as a primary scientist at Gene-Sys labs, moving from animal experimentation to human genetics. Her work leads to the creation of Killpower- whom she names Julius Mallarkey, acting as his surrogate mother. She directed his learning, turning him into an giant assassin only 18 months after his birth. She protested her bosses' orders to send Killpower after Motormouth with a teleporting MOPED unit, but they insisted, and he ended up running off with Motormouth once she taught him that murder was wrong. Though they opposed her now, Killpower still saw her as enough of a mother-figure to save her from further harm when Motormouth KO'd Oonagh with a rifle-butt.

-Oonagh appeared in later Marvel UK books as well, such as Genetix, where it was revealed they were also her creations (and had once helped her re-capture a runaway Killpower). She was kidnapped by another band of old creations- the hyper-intelligent apes Prime Evil and his "Pride"- who were hidden away in the Savage Land, and the Genetix had to retrieve her. However, when they learned her true motives and backstory (with MyS-TECH secretly behind everything), they abandoned her, and she created the group "Tektos" out of alien & human DNA to replace them. Scolded by MyS-TECH for her various failures, she attempted to recreate a mystic ceremony of her boss to empower herself, but this split her into two forms- a more evil version of herself and the good "Plasmer" in the Plasmer series. She later tried to reprogram Genetix to serve her again, but they broke free.

-So all in all, Dr. Mullarkey is like... exactly Dr. Evelyn Necker, but in a different book. Different bosses but the same fundamental "pretty evil Fanservice doctor lady" who ends up creating the subject of the book but is then opposed by them. Marvel UK tossed her into the origins of both Plasmer and Genetix, which is kinda weird, too.

[Jabroniville]

PLASMER (Oonaugh Mullarkey's Clone)
Created By: Glenn Dakin & Pasqual Ferry
First Appearance: Plasmer #1 (Nov. 1993)
Role: Forgotten Character, Personal "F*ck You" to an Indie Creator
'90s Ratio: 5/10 (nudist; inexplicable backstory)
Group Affiliations: None
PL 9 (140)
STRENGTH 2/10 STAMINA 2/10 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Expertise (Science) 5 (+8)
Insight 3 (+5)
Perception 3 (+5)
Persuasion 3 (+6)

Advantages:
Fast Grab, Ranged Attack 3

Powers:
"Protoplasm"
Morph 4 (Any Form) [20]
Shapeshift 5 [40]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2-10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +6 (+10 Armor), Fortitude +6, Will +5

Complications:
Enemy (Oonaugh Mullarkey)- Plasmer is devoted to stopping her original, evil self.

Total: Abilities: 58 / Skills: 14--7 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 60 / Defenses: 11 (140)

-Plasmer seems to have been created entirely to screw with another company- the short-lived series bearing her name resulted in a new startup company Defiant Comics (led by old Marvel Editor In Chief Jim Shooter) having to rapidly drop the name "Plasm", and Marvel still sued over their workaround, Warriors of Plasm, just to be dicks. Defiant soon folded, in part due to legal fees.

-The character herself is just a clone of Marvel UK supporting villainess Dr. Oonagh Mullarkey, who was trying to give herself powers. Instead, she split herself into good and evil halves, retaining the "evil" part herself, while the "Good Half" became the bikini-clad heroine "Plasmer". She used Metamorphic stuff to help save the world from some monsters, and even saved Oonagh, much to her annoyance. The character has never reappeared outside of this short, four-issue series, but the writer was like "OH YA, Marvel UK was gonna cancel everything but 4-5 books, and Plasmer was gonna be one of them!" which sounds like an enormous line of bullshit. It's likely he was either led on by his bosses, or his bosses were just clueless idiots who were giving their okay to EVERYTHING regardless of taste or quality even while the comic book industry was in free-fall. ... Actually you know, I'm pretty sure that's exactly what it is.

-Plasmer has a good deal of points to throw around, owing to Shapeshift at a high level. She can grow stronger, change into multiple smaller beings (at the cost of some intelligence) and more.

[Libra X]

“The real James Madison is the country's fourth President, and a pretty successful one, carrying on Jefferson's acts”

Give or take starting a war with the British Empire that wasn’t really necessary and (while more a draw resulting in Status Quo ante bellum on a strategic level) was undoubtedly a personal humiliation for Mr Madison - at one point he had to depart D.C. so hastily British officers actually ate his dinner before proceeding to burn down the Executive Mansion.

Not exactly a sterling demonstration of Mr Madison’s success as a war leader, it must be said.

At the risk of going off on a tangent,

I'd argue it was necessary. Running up to 1812, the British were kidnapping American citizens and forcing them to serve in the Royal Navy. We were the little guy standing up to a bully. Even though we were thoroughly stomped militarily (for the most part), we won the war the same way we won the Revolution: by making it too expensive for the British to continue fighting. And when it was over, the British never used impressment as a way of crewing their ships again.

Somewhat ironically, both sides were trying to find a way out of the war even before it started but trans-Atlantic communication was so slow, the British Navy had started the war before a proposed agreement reached England. There wasn't a whole lot that went right for either side.

I’m somewhat dubious about the contention that anyone ‘won’ the War of 1812 (A thoroughly wasteful side-show to the Napoleonic Wars) but given the original dispute was within an ace of being settled diplomatically before Mr Madison pulled the trigger and that only the Battle of New Orleans (fought after the Peace of Utrecht was concluded) allowed the US to make a strong finish to their war effort, after seeing their capital captured & partially burned, their armies fail to capture the Canadas and their navy do reasonably well in ship-to-ship action but signally fail to break the domination of the Royal Navy at sea, I would quite ardently dispute that the war itself - as opposed to US opposition to the Impressment Act - was ever necessary.

This is, however, teetering on the verge of some History Nerd bickering, for which I can only apologise to Jab (and to you, fellow historian: this is the sort of argument that starts with facts and often ends with mere opinion).

[Jabroniville]

Another Marvunapp bio: http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix6/harp ... usesix.htm

THE HARPIES (aka The Slaughterhouse Six)
Created By: Graham Marks, Jonathan Freeman & Del Barras
First Appearance: Motormouth & Killpower #8 (Jan. 1992)
Role: Disposable Mooks
'90s Ratio: 5/10 (Inexplicable backstory; disposable)

-The Harpies are one of those generic "Sketchpad Villains" groups, but even more disposable than normal- they were basically CREATED to be disposable. Dr. Oonagh Mullarkey had merged the "protosilicon" that created Digitek with some alien DNA and formed this group of female characters. MyS-TECH and her were like "meh- whatever" and planned to dispose of them, so they were sent on suicide missions that didn't matter much... but it was discovered that they were re-evolving to face threats- this meant that their bosses could then send them on many such missions without worry- soon the survivors formed a band of mostly-unnamed females (some had bird names). These "Harpies" were sent after Cable in a crossover, "evolving" past his cloaking screen and paralyzing him with a tractor beam to get a Macguffin that MyS-TECH wanted- however, Cable's ally Badhand resisted the beam and sent a blast that damaged some of the Harpies and they escaped. They never reappeared in Motormouth & Killpower, despite the end of their story featuring them preparing to "evolve" again to match the threat.

-The group reappears more than a year later in Shadow Riders, also at Marvel UK, now called the "Slaughterhouse Six", adding a sixth member for some reason- they are now freakish monsters with sharp teeth & claws, and "exist across several seconds of time", which gives them Multiattack capabilities and the ability to come and go without notice. They were sent against the Shadow Riders as the "first real test of their new abilities", again fighting Cable in the process, but one of the Riders unleashed his "Abadon" personality to halt the fighting. Another member (Goodfellow) then "leeched" their time-powers into himself and helped his allies escape through dimensions. The Marvunapp writer makes it clear that the Harpies never in fact showed those powers; it was just that Goodfellow was able to do this after leeching one.

-So... in short, these are like every other group of Marvel UK characters. Almost no exposition or personality (only three of the five are named, and a sixth appears with zero explanation), just some random character designs, then they attack but it quickly goes nowhere and their hype is revealed to be "all talk", and every fight ends prematurely. Then they're redesigned and show up in another book by a different writer, and the same stuff happens. Curiously, despite debuting in Motormouth & Killpower, they only fight other characters.

-Their stats are immaterial and impossible to lay out. They seem to showcase no real powers at first- they're simply damaged when their craft explodes. They reappears as Scrapper-type claw fighters. In some instances, they seem to be able to gain an Immunity to whatever harmed them last, and can take new forms (Variable).

The Roster:
Firecrest- Had fire-looking red hair.
Hatch- Short white hair.
Rook- Black hair.
Harpy #4- Mostly red.
Harpy #5- Had an afro.
Slaughterhouse Six #6- Looked like a bird.

[Jabroniville]

TERMAGAIRA (Termagent & Megaira)
Created by: Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning & Geoff Senior
First Appearance: Death's Head II & Killpower- Battletide #1 (Dec. 1992)
Role: Super-Demon, One-Off Foe
'90s Ratio: 9/10 (a violent evil monster who leads something called The Battletide; also the girl half is fanservicey)
Group Affiliation: The Battletide
PL 10 (150)
STRENGTH 12 STAMINA 12 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Expertise (Demon) 5 (+7)
Insight 2 (+4)
Intimidation 8 (+10)
Perception 3 (+5)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Benefits (Ambidexterity), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 6, Startle, Takedown 2

Powers:
Immunity 11 (Life Support, Aging) [11]
"Optic Blasts" Blast 10 [20]
Extra Limbs 2 [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Optic Blast +8 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +12, Fortitude +12, Will +7

Complications:
Motivation (Bringing Forth the Battletide)- Termagaira is a demon in service to the manifestation of the "Battletide", which seeks to wash over the universe in a giant fight.

Total: Abilities: 86 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 33 / Defenses: 10 (150)

-The main villain of Death's Head II & Killpower: Battletide is the monstrous demon "Termagaira", initially appearing as a pair of lovers- Megaira and Termagent. It is revealed much later that the warlord had been split into these two forms and separated from the "Battletide", an energy force that moved about the universe leeching energy off of battles. Termagent arranged to have tons of powerful fighters (including Earth warriors Wolverine, Sabretooth, Psylocke, Dark Angel, Death's Head II & Killpower) brought to a floating stadium for "The Games"- a fatal gladatorial battle, in hopes of luring the Battletide to them. The heroes quickly broke free of their inhibitor collars and attacked the duo, but the Battletide soon washed over the planetoid, lured there by the 17.6 trillion (!) people watching The Games across the universe. The entire audience and all the fighters went berserk.

-The Battletide awoke the memories of Megaira & Termagent, causing them to re-form into Termagaira, the "Warlord of the Demon Host". Dark Angel & Psylocke used their powers to render the heroes immune to the bloodlust of the Battletide- Death's Head II & Killpower battled Termagaira, in fact fatally wounding him with the old "push him over the other guy" childish trick. Impaled after falling from his grand tower, Termagaira was re-absorbed into the Battletide. Death's Head II merged with one of the Temploids, agents who'd fought against the Battletide, absorbing it into himself and dispersing it, and was subsequently rebuilt by Killpower. Bezial, one of the minds inside DHII, broke free while this was going on, and possessed Termagaira's dead form. He reappears in Battletide II in this form.

-It's actually hilarious to re-read the issue, though, because it's CLASSIC "Marvel UK"- Termagent & Megaira call forth the Battletide, suddenly remember their past and re-form into this demon... and nine pages later he's dead, killed by a childish prank. Like, that's the thought & effort put into these things- the villains get all this hype and are almost immediately killed by some simple thing. A lot of sound & fury, meaning nothing.

-Termagaira is hard to stat out- he comes in with all this hype, but all that happens is he brawls with Death's Head II & Killpower and then dies handily. He's a solid PL 10 brawler but ultimately not invincible to just falling off of stuff. His separate forms seemed to be skilled fighters with bladed weapons- they had superhuman strength and stunned DHII & Killpower with "electro-gauntlets" or something. In his combined form he tanks punches from both guys and that's all.

[Tattooedman]

Damn these characters are shit. And I grew up during the Iron Age.

[Sidney369]

The only way Battletide could have been mre "90s" is if the Punisher had also been one of the fighters. One of the best part of the series (or maybe the only good part) was that Killpower became friends with Death's Head II (much to that latter's annoyance) and was genuinely upset when DH sacrificed himself at the end.

[OwOMotaros]

What, and I must emphasize, the FUCK

[Jabroniville]

THE BATTLETIDE
Created by: Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning & Geoff Senior
First Appearance: Death's Head II & Killpower- Battletide #1 (Dec. 1992)
Role: Demonic Force

-The Battletide is a force of living destruction, appearing in Death's Head II & Killpower: Battletide, where it is lured by places of great violence. It consumes the bodies of those fallen in battle, and thus seeks sustenance by unleashing great violence everywhere it goes, driving people into barbaric fights. In its backstory, it had infected the Temploids' world, and when they sent a ship to fight it, it destroyed both the ship and their entire homeworld, leaving only a few alive! In modern times, its agent Termagaira (initially split into a male & female form) becomes the great star of The Games on the world "Colloseum", and draws in a bunch of Marvel characters, projecting the gladatorial fights to 17.6 trillion viewers across the universe.

-This draws the Battletide to Colloseum, where it infects everyone into a giant frenzy of destruction- the heroes are made immune by Psylocke & Dark Angel's psionic power, unite with the Temploids (who have since become pacifists), and attack the villains. Termagaira is killed and the Battletide is absorbed into the body of Death's Head II merged with the Temploids' leader- there, it is dispersed and done away with. DHII's body is blown apart, but he's put back together by Killpower- he's grateful... until he sees the pile of parts Killpower wasn't sure where to put.

-Battletide II comes out the following year- the Battletide now targets Earth, with DHII foe Bezial possessing Termagaira's body and leading the charge. DHII, Killpower & The Hulk get involved, along with the Temploids, and the day is saved when DHII reabsorbs Bezial's personality into himself. Termagaira's form drops dead once again, and the Battletide disperses. It has never reappeared. Shockingly, a Battletide III was being written and was partially drawn before the bubble burst on Marvel UK, finishing it for good- this means that a Battletide series would likely be continuously published as long as Marvel UK was in existence!

[Jabroniville]

Those guys must have been slacking off with all the Kang shenanigans happening around the timestream. Also, there's so much "Death" cyborgs around that you can have a garage sale, jeesh.

Yeah, it’s kind of funny this guy chooses this one minor thing over the guy who goes back in time explicitly to take over the world.

“The real James Madison is the country's fourth President, and a pretty successful one, carrying on Jefferson's acts”

Give or take starting a war with the British Empire that wasn’t really necessary and (while more a draw resulting in Status Quo ante bellum on a strategic level) was undoubtedly a personal humiliation for Mr Madison - at one point he had to depart D.C. so hastily British officers actually ate his dinner before proceeding to burn down the Executive Mansion.

Not exactly a sterling demonstration of Mr Madison’s success as a war leader, it must be said.

Libra!! Good to see you back! I’d long ago wondered whatever happened to the ATT’s resident Complimenter In Chief, and I’m glad you found us again.

Alas, I’d merely copied Wikipedia since I know nothing of Madison. Technically it’s not off topic since it’s about a build.

[Libra X]

Well thank you for the welcome Jab - I’m always very flattered when someone remember me with a little fondness, especially after my being absent so long even I barely remember my self-appointed office!