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

[Shock]

Between Mary Jane and the Black Cat, Spiderman should never complain about being unlucky.

[Jabroniville]

THE WALRUS (Hubert Carpenter)
Created By: J.M. DeMatteis
First Appearance: The Defenders #131 (May 1984)
Role: Joke Villain
Villain Ranking: E-List
Group Affiliations: The White Rabbit's Gang
PL 5 (26)
STRENGTH 7 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 2 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -1 AWARENESS -1 PRESENCE -1

Skills:
Deception 3 (+2)
Expertise (Criminal) 3 (+2)

Advantages: 
None

Powers:
"Proportionate Strength, Speed and Agility of a Walrus"
"Blubber" Immunity 2 (Cold, Pressure) [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +2 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +2 (DC 12), Parry +2 (DC 12), Toughness +2, Fortitude +3, Will +1

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)

Total: Abilities: 16 / Skills: 6--3 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 2 / Defenses: 5 (26)

-The Walrus, who doesn't show up and as often as his boss, is barely more effective than a standard Mook- he's shown strength enough to knock Spidey on his butt and smash through a brick wall, but Spidey once KO'd him with a flick of his finger (no really- he just flicked him on the nose and Walrus passed out). He's actually less in-shape than normal people. 

[greycrusader]

I always like the Prowler, too-Hobart Brown seemed like a cool concept, basically a street-level hero, what a non-powered adventurer who DIDN'T come from a wealthy or even middle-class background would come up with in terms of equipment. Nothing too sophisticated or powerful, but just clever, practical gadgets backed up by decent fighting skills and some conventional crime-fighting gear (body armor, grapnel hooks, martial arts weapons). I could actually see the character working as part of Marvel's Netflix TV universe.

...And so could The Black Cat, though maybe with a few more tweaks to distinguish her from Hathaway, Pheiffer, and Co.; Ms. Hardy was a FUN character back in my childhood early 1980s days, but yeah-she got a bad smell from all the unnecessary additions and re-takes on the concept from the 1990s onward. And she doesn't work as a serious adversary at all. Just make her a fun, kicky, yet shallow and spoiled thrillseeker.

All my best.

[Jabroniville]

His mission is to kill fools and he dresses like THAT? No wonder he attempted suicide.

THE FOOLKILLER II (Gregory P. Salinger)
Created By: Steve Gerber
First Appearance: Omega the Unknown #8 (1978)
Role: Forgotten Villain
Villain Ranking: D-List
Group Affiliations: N/A
PL 8 (108)
STRENGTH 3 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Athletics 3 (+6)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+9)
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Poetry) 5 (+7)
Insight 4 (+4)
Intimidation 4 (+4)
Perception 4 (+4)
Ranged Combat (Purification Gun) 5 (+8)
Stealth 3 (+6)

Advantages:
Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Equipment 3 (Mobile-HQ Truck with Scanning Equipment), Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Purification Gun), Improved Initiative

Powers:
"Purification Gun" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [24]
Blast 8 Linked to Weaken Toughness 8 (Extras: Ranged, Affects Objects) (40 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Purification Gun +8 (+8 Ranged Damage & Weaken, DC 23 & 18)
Initiative +7

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +3 (+4 D.Roll), Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Killing Fools)
Enemy (Spider-Man)

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 24 / Defenses: 17 (108)

-Foolkiller's just wacky. There's been FOUR of them, always appearing in low-rent, soon-to-be-cancelled series, escept for this one- he was a wannabe poet in prison who dealt with Spider-Man a couple times. All the Foolkillers were insane vigilantes who wanted to kill "fools" (be it un-poetic individuals in this guy's case, or just stupid people in general, like the others), wielding a "Purification" disintegration gun. But these books... Man-Thing, Omega the Unknown, and TWO separate Foolkiller solo books? How in the hell did THIS concept ever last that long, and be given that many chances? The MAX title of the fourth was basically "I wanted to write Punisher but couldn't, so I made up my own vigilante" Captain Ersatz-type thing, but seriously.

-Gregory P. Salinger was imprisoned for disorderly conduct, and heard the story of the first Foolkiller (a hippie-killer who died in his second issue). He was released from jail and stole the original's gear, and declared a war against the "fools" (in his mind, this meant materialistic and mediocre people). He fought The Defenders at first, then Spidey, but was institutionalized after trying to commit suicide when a hobo told him that "only a FOOL" would fight Spider-Man. The years have since shown him a few other times, like advising the third Foolkiller, joining Deadpool's Heroes For Hire (then Mercs For Money) and becoming Wade's personal therapist (they let THIS GUY earn a degree in PSYCHIATRY?) and being recruited by SHIELD to rehabilitate super-villains. The catch: if they do not make progress, he is allowed to execute them. Generally, everything thing guy's been involved with in recent years has been deliberately silly, which is probably the best way to go with guys like this.

-The Fookiller would be dangerous if he wasn't so stupid. Only the Purification Gun is any good on him, as Spidey would make mincemeat out of him otherwise, but that is a NASTY blast. Taken at high enough levels, the old 3e "Disintegrate" power is 5 points per rank, and totally devastating. He's a mildly-accurate poetry nut who sucks, especially against a hero at Spidey's level.

[Jabroniville]

THE KINGPIN (Wilson Fisk)
Created By: Stan Lee & John Romita
First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #50 (July 1967)
Role: Crimelord, Big Bad, Transferred Villain (to Daredevil), The Chessmaster
Villain Ranking: A-List
Group Affiliations: All New York Criminal Gangs
PL 10 (173)
STRENGTH 6 STAMINA 7 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 5 PRESENCE 5

Skills:
Acrobatics 1 (+4)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+13)
Deception 8 (+13)
Expertise (Criminal) 14 (+18)
Expertise (Business) 11 (+15)
Insight 4 (+9)
Intimidation 9 (+14)
Perception 2 (+7)
Persuasion 3 (+8)
Vehicles 1 (+1)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Benefit 4 (Wealth), Benefit 4 (Status- Crimeboss of New York), Chokehold, Connected, Contacts, Diehard, Equipment 3 (Sci-Fi Gear), Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Fearless, Improved Critical (Unarmed) 2, Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Improved Initiative, Languages (A Few), Last Stand (Ignore Damage for 1 Round With HP), Ranged Attack 8, Startle, Takedown 2, Ultimate Strength, Ultimate Toughness Check, Well-Informed, Withstand Damage (Trade Defense for Toughness)

Powers:
"Sheer Size"
Features 1: Increased Mass 1 [1]
Impervious Toughness 5 [5]
"Power Punch" Strength-Damage +1 [1]

Equipment:
"Obliterator Cane" Damage 8 (Feats: Reach 3) (11) -- (13)

• AE: "Sleeping Gas Neck Pin" Affliction 8 (Fort; Fatigued/Exhausted/Asleep) (Feats: Reach) (9)
• AE: "Cane Smash" Strength-Damage +1 (1)

Offense:
Unarmed +13 (+7 Damage, DC 21)
Cane Smash +10 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Obliterator Cane +10 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Sleeping Gas +10 (+8 Affliction, DC 18)
Initiative +7

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +7 (+3 Impervious), Fortitude +10, Will +10

Complications:
Motivation (Greed & Power)- The Kingpin enjoys ruling New York with an iron fist. If deposed or retired, he will inevitably make his bloody return.
Enemy (Spider-Man)- Fisk's first superheroic foe was Spider-Man, who frequently ruined The Kingpin's plans.
Enemy (Daredevil)- Daredevil eventually became Fisk's most-obsessive foe. Daredevil would ruin his plans to have a mayor in his back pocket, frequently interject
Enemy (The Hand, The Maggia, HYDRA, Rival Crime Lords)- A man of great power makes many enemies. Many other gangs have sought to oppose him, and he fought them in his initial rise to power, making many enemies.
Relationship (Vanessa)- The Kingpin is a power-hungry man, but ultimately is a "slave" to his beautiful wife, and he has frequently given it all up for her. Eventually, she died of grief after Fisk was nearly killed by her own son, and she herself eliminated Richard Fisk.
Enemy (Richard Fisk- The Rose)- Richard opposed his father as The Schemer, then as The Rose. Vanessa herself put a bullet into her son, for trying to kill Wilson.

Total: Abilities: 80 / Skills: 56--28 / Advantages: 41 / Powers: 7 / Defenses: 17 (173)

Comics' Greatest Crime Boss:
-The Kingpin... a villain so good, just one hero's Rogues Gallery would do! To me, The Kingpin is easily the best "Crimeboss" character in comics- the man is just SUCH a credible opponent, both intellectually and physically. He's comic-booky enough to fit into the world of super-heroes (being stronger and tougher than is humanly possible), but still commands an extreme amount of dignity and, most importantly, STYLE with that white suit and his "I'm just a simple trader of spices" persona. Pretty much every other "Crimeboss" in comics looks up to this guy- that unique combination of physical presence and sheer style. His physical capabilities make him a dire threat- even Spider-Man can't just wipe him away like he could most regular people, and he's so much stronger than Daredevil that their fights become HUGE uphill battles for DD- the mark of a truly threatening villain. Wilson Fisk is like the perfect combination of Comic Book Unrealism, dignity, style, power and sheer PRESENCE.

-Wilson Fisk is a top-flight Spidey guy, and easily John Romita's best addition to the villainous cast (his creation of MJ and focus on the romantic side of things- he was a Romance Comics artist- gives him his other primary role in Spidey-History). See, Spidey had dealt with crime bosses for a good long while, but it was always "small beans" guys and one-shots like "The Big Man" Frederick Foswell or other gimmicks that just never had any power or "oomph" behind them. With Fisk, you had a MIGHTY threat, not only a smart behind-the-scenes guy, but a physical presence as well. Despite being just a "normal human" (albeit anywhere from 350-600 lbs., depending on how the artist draws him- he sometimes looks seven feet tall, and with his girth, would easily hit the weight of a Akebono), The Kingpin was strong and tough enough to fight SPIDEY in hand-to-hand. Now, while this makes absolutely NO SENSE in real life (Spidey can bench-press a Mack Truck, and could probably kill any normal man with a backhand), in comics-verses it's acceptable that a big fat guy ("But actually nearly pure muscle"- comic writers are neither biologists nor doctors, apparently) can trade punches and grapples with a Class-10 metahuman. It's not like it doesn't have precedence in the comics- Spidey punches PLENTY of guys who don't go down in one hit.

-They even added a sweet wrinkle to his life- no mere thug, Fisk was desperately in love with his wife Vanessa, proclaiming himself to be "your SLAVE!". This humanized him, while keeping him a terrifying monster- at times, you felt that Vanessa was the only thing keeping him at all human.

Fisk Gets Pawned Off To Daredevil:
-Fisk was initially a much more sci-fi crimeboss. He had scientists working for him that would create metahumans for his own organization to use against Spider-Man, he wielded an "Obliterator Cane" and a "Sleeping Gas Neck Pin" as weapons, and he was kind of "out there". When Daredevil finally co-opted him as a villain in the early-'80s, he got a lot more "realistic", as far as a 350-lb. martial artist behemoth with an army of costumed assassins at his beck and call can be. Gone were the fancy sci-fi weapons, and he was JUST a physical fighter and bad-ass. Ironically, dropping the super-weapons actaully made him MORE menacing, as Frank Miller utilized him as some kind of unstoppable giant, able to take any number of punches from Daredevil without difficulty, while nearing KO-ing Matt with a single blow. He still controlled New York like a puppet-master, using a "front" as a mayoral candidate (DD successfully got him to give the guy up, because Matt saved Vanessa's life), and then... things got kinda funny.

-His career is ruined by Daredevil's manipulations at one point (he sets Fisk up to be taken over by HYDRA and to lose credibility; he goes on the run to get it back). When he returns, he manipulates Echo into going after DD, but he is blinded by her when she turns on him. He is nearly killed by his own son Richard, but his wife murders the lad and runs off, leaving him alone. He and DD fight off and on, and he even sets up Aunt May to be murdered when Peter Parker unmasks on live television- this sets off the horrid "Spider-Divorce" storyline. Eventually, Matt Murdock exonerates Fisk, with the deal being he leaves America forever and ends their feud (this seems... INSANE). He of course returns a year later, but loses control of The Hand to a maddened DD. In the Shadowland story arc, he wins it back, and Daredevil restarts his life.

-The years have basically seen The Kingpin retire, return with a vengeance, get booted out of power, return with a vengeance, get blinded, get his sight back (with a vengeance?), return with a vengeance, lather, rinse, repeat. They... really don't have a viable replacement for him. Hammerhead always bottomed-out, nameless replacements are just uninteresting and limited to the books in which they debut (no way is "Generic Crimeboss #52 from Black Widow going to be treated with the dignity of Fisk in everyone ELSE's books), The Owl was obviously Kingpin Lite, and The Hood is his own, separate deal. So we always have Wilson Fisk coming back, taking up his role. God's in his heaven, all's right with the world- Back To Basics Syndrome at its finest.

Extra Kingpin Stuff:
-Fisk is a big deal in other media as well. He was portrayed by Michael Clarke Duncan in the Daredevil movie (some fans whined about the race change, but that's stupid- no part of the character was really dependent on his race. I think it's remarkably easy to pain the complainers as racists), and he was THE major villain of the 1990s Spider-Man cartoon, appearing in nearly every episode with Alistaire Smythe as his go-to Science Guy. He almost never got his comeuppance either- very similar to how he could be in the comics, where he was often untouchable for years at a time.

The Kingpin's Stats:
-For stats, Fisk is a behemoth. I had a similar realization that Thorpocalypse did (I was quite happy to go searching and find I wasn't the only one who thought this), that despite the game's "limits" on human-level strength (really it's "7" in the rulebook, but "real life" humans can only reach Strength 5)- this gives Fisk the rough strength equivalent to a male Silverback Gorilla. And given that Fisk has crushed human skulls with his bare hands, absorbed gunfire with minor bleeding wounds, and left dents in concrete, that seems perfectly fitting. He's actually stronger than "Peak Human" Captain America, but I chalk that up to his tremendous weight and leverage (a Cap issue saw Kingpin fight Red Skull in hand-to-hand, and Skull-in-Cap's-Body was notably weaker). He's also got Increased Mass and some Impervious Toughness, leaving him basically immune to the attacks of lesser fighters unless they Power Attack (which leaves them more vulnerable). The Kingpin is a MONSTER- I'd imagine that he would defeat Daredevil, Nightwing or any of the Bat-Family one-on-one more often than not, and could even fight Bruce Wayne or Captain America to a standstill.

-To say nothing of his other stats. He's an elite criminal mastermind (+18 to "Crime Lord"- basically a combo of Streetwise, knowing how to commit crimes, set up "crews" and grease the right palms), smart, wise, charismatic as hell, scary as all get-out, and a phenomenal fighter at the same time. His Combat Advantages are extreme, and he can modify nearly all his caps to become faster, more damaging, or even tougher (for when a stronger guy like Spider-Man takes his shots). He's a lethal grappler (he can and has held a Class-10 Spidey in his grasp) and his Benefits give him many advantages. I left out his Minions- as a Master Villain, it's just implied that you've gotta fight about thirty or forty other bastards just to get to him. With these stats, The Kingpin is strong enough to last in a knock-down drag-out fight against Spider-Man, and is strong & tough enough to give Daredevil, Bullseye or Elektra an uphill battle (since the game is 'biased' towards those two stats compared to accuracy & defensiveness).

[Jabroniville]

Actually, Selina Kyle turned from a bad guy to good guy in the early 1950s.

Granted, she slipped back into being a bad guy in the mid 1950s, but she still turned good decades before Felecia existed.

Right, I remember you mentioning that last time I did this set, and I tried to correct stuff. I must have missed that one bit, then.

[Ken]

I actually liked John Rhys-Davies performance as Fisk in The Trial of the Incredible Hulk.

[RainOnTheSun]

He and DD fight off and on, and he even sets up Aunt May to be murdered when Peter Parker unmasks on live television- this sets off the horrid "Spider-Divorce" storyline.

I actually found Spider-Man's beatdown of the Kingpin in response to this to be immensely, bizarrely cathartic, especially because the comic had Peter give his aunt a blood transfusion first and be weaker than normal. Positioned between the unmasking and the Mephisto thing, it feels kind of like somebody thumbing their nose at the metaplot, like Spidey going "You know as long we're burning down all my other genre conventions, I'm getting kind of sick of pretending you have superpowers because you work out a lot."

[danelsan]

human-level strength (really it's "7" in the rulebook, but "real life" humans can only reach Strength 5)

And not even the upper reaches of that rank 5. No human is lifting 1600 lbs. There are people who can do multiple reps at rank 4 (not for overhead lifting, though), but the mid-range of rank 5 is already in the "real-life person's Extraordinary-Effort-equivalent advantage" territory.

[Shock]

Gotta love that sequence of Kingpin and Red Skull brawling in their underwear. Only in comics does that not look completely ridiculous

[HalloweenJack]

I loved the interesting idea behind it but I also loved how Peter Flat out rejected the idea as well.

See to me the story line did a great job portraying the notion of destiny and how the hero can either embrace it or reject it. Morlun is an example of embrace it I'm a hunter of you types just go with it let me kill and torture you and itll all be cool because hey, its destined.

Ezekiel is in much the same boat though he goes out of his way to protect Peter thus semi rejecting the idea until fully rejecting it by fighting Morlun on petes behalf despite knowing the potential consequences.

And Pete outright rejects the notion though he ponders it a bit before saying screw all that nonsense. I'm a child of the Spider, and a child of science. I'm both and none of the above. I'm Spider-Man.

He then uses his science and just outright asskickery to kick morluns keister up and down the block literally self sacrificing by dosing himself with radiation to sour Morluns dinner so to speak.

That to me is the meat of the story and part of what makes it interesting but also because it does make for a neat question of does like inspire or attract like? Is this why spidey gets so many animal themed villains and heroes around him and in his orbit? Does the totem aspect attract? is it destiny or fate?

And petes reaction is So what if it is? Who cares? I'm Spider-Man and Ill deal with it either way.

This

[Jabroniville]

THE ROSE (Richard Fisk)
Created By: Stan Lee & John Romita
First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #83 (April 1970)
Role: Failed Crimeboss Character, Wussy
Villain Ranking: C-List
Group Affiliations: HYDRA
PL 9 (92)
STRENGTH 1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+8)
Deception 8 (+11)
Expertise (Criminal) 7 (+11)
Insight 4 (+6)
Investigation 2 (+4)
Perception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 4 (+7)
Stealth 3 (+6)

Advantages:
Benefit (Wealth), Contacts, Connected, Equipment 5 (Stuff), Improved Defense, Ranged Attack 8

Equipment:
"The Rose's Stuff"
"Body Armour" Protection 2 (Feats: Subtle), Protection 2 (Flaws: Limited to Ballistic) (4)

"Mini-Grenades" Blast 7 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Diminished Range -1) (20) -- (21)

• AE: "Pistol" Blast 5 (Extras: Multiattack) (15)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Pistol +10 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Grenades +7 Area (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +2 (+4 Armour, +6 Ballistics), Fortitude +4, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Punishment or Something)- Richard Fisk's main goal is usually the downfall of his father. Richard was mortified to discover the source of daddy's wealth, and he has betrayed him and tried to finish him off many times. At other points, he randomly decides to help his father again.
Enemy (Spider-Man, The Kingpin)

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 17 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 12 (92)

-The Rose is a great example of an utterly-failed villain. Seriously- this guy is the son of THE KINGPIN, but wars against his own father in the classic tale of Father (vs) Son... yet remains a crappy character, despite chance after chance to make a comeback under a new identity.

-Initially called The Schemer, Richard wanted to punish his father for being an evil crimelord and not a "humble dealer of spices" like he thought. In the end, The Kingpin went into a catatonic state upon realizing his SON was The Schemer, which led to Richard's greatest flaw as a character- wishy-washiness. Overcome with guilt, Richard then took CARE of his father, and nursed him back to health, at which point he just decided to become a standard criminal like his daddy. Then he joined HYDRA until it turned out their boss was The Red Skull (at which point the Fisks got Captain America's help), and then he became The Rose- an assistant to The Kingpin. He was actually trying to still undermine his father, however- a solid gimmick, but I think visually the character didn't work. He wore a silly purple mask, glasses and a white suit... and spent most of his time carrying around flowers and calling himself THE ROSE- not exactly the makings of a bad-ass.

-After killing a police officer during a gang war, he resigned himself to a lack of moral superiority, and joined his father for realz... but then tried to overthrow him AGAIN- showing a failing in the character's concept, as various writers seemed to alter his personality at-will. He and his friend Alfredo took over when Daredevil brought down The Kingpin, but Alfredo (who had surgery to look like Richard) betrayed his pal and took over. Richard then became the murderous vigilante The Blood Rose. Later on he allied with the Sexy Amazon named Delilah in the '90s Spider-Man books. None of this really worked- when The Kingpin was rendered blind and Richard tried to murder him again, it was his own MOTHER- Vanessa Fisk- who dealt with him this time, coldly murdering her son for the frequent attempts on his family.

-The Rose is what The Kingpin would be if he sucked worse at everything. He's barely a threat to any super-hero, being PL 8 with only his Pistol (guns are still rather dangerous in my opinion), but he's really weak otherwise. His Body Armour works against normal damage to +2 level, and +2 more to ballistics.

[Jabroniville]

My, my, MY, Delilah...

DELILAH (Real Name Unknown)
Created By: Tom DeFalco & Mark Bagley
First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #414 (Aug. 1996)
Role: The Dragon (to The Rose), Hot Amazon
Villain Ranking: D-List
Group Affiliations: The Rose's Organization
PL 9 (93)
STRENGTH 9 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Deception 2 (+3)
Expertise (Mercenary) 5 (+5)
Intimidation 4 (+5)
Perception 2 (+2)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Equipment 3 (Daggers, Firearms), Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Improved Trip, Ranged Attack 6

Powers:
Leaping 1 (15 feet) [1]

Equipment:
"Pistol" Blast 5 (10) -- (11)

• AE: "Daggers" Strength-Damage +0 (Extras: Ranged 5) (5)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Daggers +8 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Pistol +8 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +3

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

Complications:
Motivation (Greed, The Rose)- Delilah is a mercenary, and her allegiance laid mainly with The Rose.
Enemy (Black Tarantula, Bloodscream)

Total: Abilities: 60 / Skills: 16--8 / Advantages: 15 / Powers: 1 / Defenses: 9 (93)

-Delilah was little more than a temporary Mook in the grand scheme of things. She showed up during the "I'm framed for murder, so I'm gonna dress up as four different heroes" storyline, and allied with "Ricochet" to do some stuff. She was a merc, but mainly fought other villains. She eventually hooked up with The Rose's crew, being used as his hired muscle. She vanished into the ether after The Rose's fall, and has yet to reappear since a one-off shot in The Loners #2 a few years ago. It's unlikely we'll ever see her in much of a context again. Not a bad design (basically "Hot muscular chick", which is hard to screw up, and Mark Bagley ain't the kind of artist to screw up in the first place), but she's extremely generic in a world where you already have all of the female Grapplers, Titania and others. The main thing I remember her for is the constant use of her name in big flowing italics every time she showed up. Like, the first time somebody mentions her name, it's this big violet DELILAH in flowery writing. ALL THE TIME. Actually, most of the dialogue would use different text for important words. The '90s were a weird time.

-Delilah is a simple PL 8. She never beat up too many guys, and she would certainly not beat Spidey in many fights, despite being much stronger, so I made her a +7/+9 trade-off type with Accurate Attack to make up the difference. When fighting humans, she'd nearly always use Accurate.

[RainOnTheSun]

I wonder if somebody changed their mind behind the scenes after Delilah's first appearance. She shows up as a slinky weapons expert and assassin, kind of like Silver Sable or Black Widow, and then suddenly she's a muscled-up Titania lite. Maybe Bagley and Defalco had different ideas for what they wanted her to be.

[Jabroniville]

VANESSA FISK
Created By: Stan Lee & John Romita
First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #70 (March 1969)
Role: The Super-Villain's Non-Evil Wife
PL 0 (28), PL 2 (28) Defenses
STRENGTH 0 STAMINA 0 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 0 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Deception 3 (+6)
Persuasion 5 (+8)

Advantages:
Benefit 2 (Wealth- Wife of the Kingpin), Ranged Attack 2

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

Defenses:
Dodge +0 (DC 10), Parry +0 (DC 10), Toughness +0, Fortitude +0, Will +3

Complications:
Relationship (Wilson Fisk- The Kingpin)- Vanessa is vocal in her dislike of her husband's criminal ways.

Total: Abilities: 20 / Skills: 8--4 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 0 (28)

-A nice bit of dramatic irony in the Spider-Man book was provided when we were introduced to Vanessa Fisk- the Silver Fox-ish wife of The Kingpin of Crime. Depicted as a more-ordinary woman who was against her husband's criminal ways, she gave a bit of humanity to the character, and created some drama. Eventually, she gave him an ultimatum: give up his life of crime and run away with her, or she would leave him. Wilson Fisk, proud giant of a man that he was, was forced to capitulate her her demands, and declared that "I am your slave!" and left the Spidey books for a good time.

-However, when the Kingpin was turned into an enemy of Daredevil, things started to change. Vanessa was kidnapped by Fisk's old rivals & associates, angry over his snitching on them to the authorities. And then, in a horrid turn of events, Fisk's OWN ALLY tried to murder her, bringing down an entire building so that the one thing holding the Kingpin back from returning to power in New York would be gone. With Vanessa presumed dead, the Kingpin went nuts on the NY underworld, killing dozens and taking power once more. He then murdered his subordinate after figuring out his part in things. Vanessa was eventually returned to Fisk by Daredevil (she'd been kidnapped by a sewer king), but she was institutionalized and vanished from comics for YEARS as a result- the character wasn't just holding the Kingpin back in CRIME- she was holding him back for the WRITERS, too.

-She didn't reappear until modern times, at which point she MURDERED HER OWN SON, after realizing that he was behind a murder attempt on the Kingpin. This act of cold brutality caused a psychological slide that culminated with massive organ failure. She tried to screw with Daredevil from her hospital bed (setting it up so that it looked like Foggy Nelson was dead and the Kingpin was responsible), but eventually died, leaving Fisk a broken man.

-As a character, Vanessa was often more of a means to an end- someone to make demands and thus control a man as powerful as the KINGPIN OF CRIME just through her whims. Less of a character and more of an archetype. Frank Miller used her in the same way, and shipped her out of the stories as soon as he had no more need of her. Hell, it wasn't until modern times that she really became much of a character, but then her time was short anyhow. Statistically, she's basically just a bystander who's probably okay with a gun (if she offed the Rose).