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

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Jabroniville
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KIA

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

K.I.A. (Michael Van Patrick V)
Created By:
Dan Slott & Stefano Caselli
First Appearance: Avengers: The Initiative #8 (Nov. 2007)
Role: The Past Coming Back to Haunt You
PL 13 (180)
STRENGTH
4 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 12 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 8 (+14)
Athletics 8 (+12)
Perception 4 (+4)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Improved Critical (Tactigon) 2, Improved Initiative 2, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 7, Takedown 2

Powers:
"The Ubermensch- Absolute Peak Human"
Speed 2 (8 mph) [2]
Leaping 1 (15 feet) [1]
Immunity 2 (Poison, Disease) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [1]
"Heavy Hitter" Strength-Damage +1 [1]

"The Tactigon- Multi-Purpose Weapon"
Variable Power 10 [70]
(Common Powers: Blast 16/Penetrating, Line Damage 12, Snare 14; Swinging 2; Damage 12- Reach 4 & Penetrating, Force Field 7- Impervious)
"Sense Weakness" Senses 4 (Detect Powers, Ranged, Acute, Analytical) [4]

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Tactigon Strike +12 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Tactigon Blast +10 (+16 Ranged Damage, DC 31)
Tactigon Stream +12 Area (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Initiative +14

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +5 (+12 Force Field), Fortitude +6, Will +3

Complications:
Motivation (Killing Everyone Who Saw M.V.P. Die)

Total: Abilities: 66 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 15 / Powers: 79 / Defenses: 10 (180)

-K.I.A. is a clone of M.V.P., being awakened when the Tactigon (of Armory's) was placed on his arm. He woke up instantly, went insane, and started hacking people apart. With the combined powers of M.V.P. AND Armory, he killed a handful of people (only minor characters, though- a one-note Initiative recruit Dragon Lord and one of the Scarlet Spiders), absolutely WRECKED about thirty metahumans in a row (mowing down Thor Girl like nothing, severing Constrictor's arms, beating the holy crap out of WAR MACHINE off-panel, killing the later-resurrected Trauma, etc.) before being brought down by a mind-erasing device. Basically a one-arc villain, he could still return in some form (especially with the Tactigon still in existence).

-Yeah, this guy's scary. He walked through dozens of metahumans at once without flinching, and some of them were actually PL 10! Sure, Dragon Lord and a Scarlet Spider ain't much, but he decked out a possessed Gauntlet, Disabled/Dying'd Constrictor, easily beat the hell out of a PL 11 War Machine, killed Trauma (who got better through unrelated stuff), and was generally only limited by a semi-human vulnerability if he didn't have his Field up. It took a super-weapon mind-wiper to even finish him off. The Tactigon was basically limitless- it's full power Blast could take out Ultimo in one shot, go Autofire on whole groups, he could slice people up, teleport, inject massive poison into Komodo that'd kill even with her regenerative powers, shock Slapstick with just the right level of electricity to destabilize him, and more. Basically using "whatever the hell the writers felt like", making him a super-godly PL 13. His most Powerful Blast is very pricey, so he usually sticks to less power to go further with his Field. The guy pretty much DEFINES "Teamwrecker" status.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sat Mar 19, 2022 10:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Jack Kirby! Grey Gargoyle! Gwenpool! The Initiative!)

Post by Jabroniville »

KorokoMystia wrote: Thu Aug 31, 2017 4:33 pm So I checked to see just how many MVC (and TVC) Capcom characters were left unstatted, and the answer was..quite a lot, actually. Here's a list of all the MVC characters, and that's not including the Tatsunoko vs Capcom or Capcom vs SNK characters! (Mega Man X, Sigma, and Zero can just be done in the Mega Man X set, though, I assume.) There's also the main characters from Star Gladiator and Rival Schools, which are both more obscure Capcom fighting games that would be interesting to see statted, too. I'm also intersted to see how the MVC version of Phoenix Wright would stat out, what with his unique evidence-gathering mechanic.
I made up a list- Marvel (vs) Capcom: Servbot, Amingo, Son Son, Ruby Hart, Hayato, Tron Bonne, Roll, Jin Saotome, Abyss; Amaterasu, Trish, Viewtiful Joe, Wesker; Frank West, Phoenix Wright
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Jack Kirby! Grey Gargoyle! Gwenpool! The Initiative!)

Post by KorokoMystia »

Jabroniville wrote: Thu Aug 31, 2017 8:25 pm
KorokoMystia wrote: Thu Aug 31, 2017 4:33 pm So I checked to see just how many MVC (and TVC) Capcom characters were left unstatted, and the answer was..quite a lot, actually. Here's a list of all the MVC characters, and that's not including the Tatsunoko vs Capcom or Capcom vs SNK characters! (Mega Man X, Sigma, and Zero can just be done in the Mega Man X set, though, I assume.) There's also the main characters from Star Gladiator and Rival Schools, which are both more obscure Capcom fighting games that would be interesting to see statted, too. I'm also intersted to see how the MVC version of Phoenix Wright would stat out, what with his unique evidence-gathering mechanic.
I made up a list- Marvel (vs) Capcom: Servbot, Amingo, Son Son, Ruby Hart, Hayato, Tron Bonne, Roll, Jin Saotome, Abyss; Amaterasu, Trish, Viewtiful Joe, Wesker; Frank West, Phoenix Wright
That's a good list. Also for reference, here's the exclusive Capcom characters from SNK vs Capcom and TVC:
SNK vs. Capcom: Kyosuke, Tessa, Violent Ken.

Tatsunoko vs Capcom: PTX-40A, Saki Omokane, Soki, Megaman Volnutt, Batsu Ichimonji.
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Re: MVP

Post by L-Space »

Jabroniville wrote: Thu Aug 31, 2017 8:08 pm -M.V.P. is a pretty good example of a Captain America, Jr. He's strong, fast and tough as any human being could possibly be (despite being nowhere near the mass of Cap, which kind of bugged me, even if he IS just a kid), but lacks the training or skills of the major super-heroes, resulting in a pretty-tough PL 6 who has Cap's basis, but no experience. He's even got the minor powers like Speed & Leaping, and the Immunities thrown in. With a bit of training, he'd have made PL 8 pretty easily alongside his teammates.
I had always assumed MVP was at peak physical conditioning for his age and so wasn't at Cap's level physically yet, but would be eventually. I did find it funny that the source of MVP's abilities was a 'lifetime of healthy diet and exercise' and so was immediately disregard by the US Military since it would take too long.

I really enjoyed The Initiative run and found the new characters interesting and liked seeing them alongside the lesser known characters. It's too bad the whole thing was scrapped due to the Secret Invasion event. I feel like it could have been kept around in some form or another.
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Red Nine

Post by Jabroniville »

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RED NINE (Wallace Jackson)
Created By:
Craig Anderson & Paty Cockrum
First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #264 (May 1985)
Role: Forgotten Hero
Group Affiliations: The Initiative
PL 7 (75)
STRENGTH
2/8 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 1
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
None

Advantages: 
Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"Red Nine Costume" (Flaws: Removable) [39]
Enhanced Strength 6 (12)
Flight 7 (250 mph) (14)
Force Field 6 (6)
Energy Blast 8 (16)
-- (48 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Red Nine Suit +5 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Energy Blast +5 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +3 (+9 Force Field), Fortitude +4, Will +2

Complications:
Motivation (Being a Super-Hero)

Total: Abilities: 30 / Skills: 00--0 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 39 / Defenses: 5 (75)

-Red Nine was a one-shot annoying kid who got a super-costume from his NASA-working uncle, and Spidey ripped up his suit so he'd stop trying to play-fight him. That was IT for him until The Initiative, where he was a face in the background being trained at Camp Hammond. You see him against KIA and some Skrulls, but never really matters. He gains a pretty generic set of powers with a Powersuit (NOT Power Armor... I wonder how this skin-tight thing gains all these powers, and why THIS loser is allowed to have one?).
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sat Mar 19, 2022 10:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: KIA

Post by Ares »

Jabroniville wrote: Thu Aug 31, 2017 8:10 pm Image

K.I.A. (Michael Van Patrick V)
Created By:
Dan Slott & Stefano Caselli
That arm looks like it was designed by H R Giger. Which is to say it looks like a fucked up genitalia.
"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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Re: Jab's Builds! (Jack Kirby! Grey Gargoyle! Gwenpool! The Initiative!)

Post by Davies »

Ares wrote: Thu Aug 31, 2017 10:50 pm
That arm looks like it was designed by H R Giger. Which is to say it looks like a fucked up genitalia.
... cannot unsee ...
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."
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Hardball

Post by Jabroniville »

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HARDBALL II (Roger Brokeridge)
Created By:
Dan Slott & Stefano Caselli
First Appearance: Avengers: The Initiative #1 (April 2007)
Role: The Traitor, The Opportunist, The Guy Who Makes Bad Decisions
Group Affiliations: The Initiative, The Heavy-Hitters (Nevada)
PL 9 (111)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 1 (+5)
Athletics 3 (+5)
Deception 6 (+8)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 1 (+1)
Expertise (Soldier) 4 (+4)
Intimidation 2 (+4)
Perception 2 (+2)
Stealth 2 (+6)
Vehicles 1 (+5)

Advantages: 
All-Out Attack, Daze (Deception), Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Hardballs), Improved Smash, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"Hold Inside Sphere" Snare 9 (Feats: Dynamic, Reversible) (29) -- [37]
  • Dynamic AE: "Hardballs" Blast 9 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Multiattack) (19)
  • Dynamic AE: "Solidified Shield" Force Field 10 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Impervious 9, Affects Others) (Flaws: Distracting) (20) 
  • Dynamic AE: "Hardball Fist" Damage 9 (Feats: Dynamic) (10)
  • Dynamic AE: Nullify Electronic Powers 10 (10)
Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Hardballs +8 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Hardball Fist +7 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Sphere Hold +8 (+9 Ranged Affliction, DC 19)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +3 (+13 Force Field), Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Secret (Double Agent)- Hardball is actually an agent of HYDRA, infiltrating The Initiative as a mole.
Reputation (Liar and Opportunist)- Very few people come to trust Hardball after all he's done.
Relationship (Komodo)- He likes her, despite having seen her in her legless form.
Responsibility (Crippled Brother)

Total: Abilities: 44 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 37 / Defenses: 9 (111)

-Hardball's the classic "Mole" character, but almost not really. He's got mercenary-type morals at times, but also has feelings of guilt, sorrow and revenge. He initially joined The Initiative because his villainous actions were misinterpreted as good (knocking over an armoured car... accidentally saving a little girl), leading to HYDRA buying him out from his old "owner", The Power Broker. He betrayed The Initiative once or twice, hooked up with Komodo, then felt bad about stuff... then went with HYDRA all-in, hooking up with Scorpion II, their new... leader-person or something. Then he got arrested and went to the Negative Zone prison, where he teamed up with Blastaar's forces, only to betray them at the last second, gaining his freedom and his good name back. All for his own self-interest. Kind of an interesting guy, though they really don't focus on him as much as they could.

-Unlike, well, almost the entirety of the rest of the Initiative cast, Hardball appears in other, later books. During the Heroic Age, he appeared at the Avengers Academy "prom night", getting mad at Reptil when he sees Komodo flirting with him, then gets into a fight that Speedball ends using his own powers. He settles down shortly afterwards. During Fear Itself, he apparently blows up part of Las Vegas trying to stop a Hammer-ized Juggernaut, and is confronted by Gravity over his carelessness. 

-And yes, he's Hardball II, because that nobody fat metahuman from the Imperial Guard pre-dates him :).

-Hardball's got so many different powers that it's hard to tell just how good he is, or what he can really do. He used them entirely for Deflect and Strike at first, limited to forming energy-spheres around his hands. Then he revealed their Electromagnetic nature could nullify electrical devices. Then he used a full-on Force Field during the K.I.A. fight. Then he's got hazy auras surrounding his HYDRA goons & villainous buddies to no apparent effect. By the time we saw him in the Negative Zone, he was Multiattacking everybody and then trapping them in big energy spheres that floated. It's like he literally gains a new ability in every story. He's PL 9, but very much on the cheap, since they're all Dynamic Alternate Effects. He's versatile, but since his caps are spread over these five abilities, he's weak as a kitten if you nail him while he's Blasting, or a total weenie in melee with the full Force Field up, and he's too low-Toughness to risk dropping his entire Field.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sat Mar 19, 2022 10:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Jack Kirby! Grey Gargoyle! Gwenpool! The Initiative!)

Post by Ares »

Davies wrote: Fri Sep 01, 2017 1:34 am
Ares wrote: Thu Aug 31, 2017 10:50 pm
That arm looks like it was designed by H R Giger. Which is to say it looks like a fucked up genitalia.
... cannot unsee ...
Its even ribbed for her pleasure!
"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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Re: Jab's Builds! (Gwenpool! The Initiative! Cloud 9! Hardball!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Oh, duh. I was asking about the next set, forgetting I'd already decided on it weeks ago. Marvel: Rise of the Imperfects! Then I'll stat up A-Next, since I found some of that book for cheap.
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Trauma (Ward)

Post by Jabroniville »

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TRAUMA II (Terrence Ward)
Created By:
Dan Slott & Stefano Caselli
First Appearance: Avengers: The Initiative #1 (April 2007)
Role: Evil-Powered Guy, The Brooding Loner, The Devil's Child
Group Affiliations: The Initiative
PL 13 (191)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 6 (+8)
Expertise (Psychiatry) 5 (+7)
Insight 5 (+8)
Intimidation 6 (+7)
Investigation 4 (+7)
Perception 2 (+5)
Persuasion 4 (+6)

Advantages: 
Daze (Intimidation), Fascination (Intimidation), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 2, Startle, Takedown

Powers:
"Fear-Based Shapeshifting"
Enhanced Skills 8: Intimidation 8 (+16) [4]
Shapeshift 17 (Flaws: Limited to Things Others Fear) (Quirk: Intimidation Check Required -2) [117]
Mind-Reading 6 (Flaws: Limited to Fears) [6]

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

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +1, Fortitude +3, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility (Insane Mother)- Trauma's powers drove his mother insane.
Guilt (Lying to Penance)
Secret (The Son of Nightmare)- The Lord of Fear is Trauma's father.
Power Loss (Shapeshift)- Trauma's powers not only fail to work against beings who pass their Intimidation checks, but can't be used against Robots or anyone who's mastered their own Fear (such as Danielle Moonstar). He'll have to grab fears from someone else instead.

Total: Abilities: 32 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 127 / Defenses: 9 (191)

-Trauma starts out as a vastly powerful, dangerous recruit, looking all the world like a classic rip-off of Raven of the Teen Titans or one of those standard "Oh, I'm so dark and brooding that I'm going to turn evil some day" characters that can get rather tired- it's to Dan Slott's credit that they averted it by making him use his Fear-powers to allow people to confront their fears as Camp Hammond's resident shrink & therapist. Not that it prevented the bad guys from using him for their own ends, as he ended up lying to Penance and made his torturous existence even worse (though he did bring him back his cat, Neils). But it led to that fun bit where Dani Moonstar helps him become a force for good instead of just a weapon, much to the chagrin of H.P. Gyrich, who pouts about it. He was killed by K.I.A. during that arc, but shocks everyone by simply getting up out of his coffin.

-Yeah, and the Raven-comparison holds all the way up to the revelation of his dear old dad- Nightmare, of "Doctor Strange/jobbed to every superhero in the Marvel Universe during the '90s" fame. Nightmare even briefly took over near the end of the Initiative series, but he was held back- the character has not appeared since, rejecting the offer to join the Avengers Resistance in order to better control his father's influence.

-Trauma is vastly powerful compared to the other Initiative recruits, and is known to be able to mimic the power-sets (and even comparative fighting ability) of beings as mighty as Thor, The Abomination, The Juggernaut and others. He's limited to choosing things based off of the fears of the beings around him, which limits him against robots and stuff, but is really effective against people's Complications. However, beings like Danielle Moonstar and The Hulk, who have both confronted and defeated their fears, have little problem dealing with him. K.I.A. also killed him in battle (he got better thanks to daddy), and Ragnarok figured out his schtick once it became obvious he couldn't THROW Thor's Hammer (as it was still part of his own body). So he's extremely powerful, but very limited in many ways. Once enemies surpass his Intimidation or see through him, he reverts right back to being a skinny goth kid, but that's a hell of an Intimidate score to surpass.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sat Mar 19, 2022 10:39 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Red Nine

Post by Ares »

Jabroniville wrote: Thu Aug 31, 2017 10:48 pm Image

RED NINE (Wallace Jackson)
Created By:
Craig Anderson & Paty Cockrum
You know, if NFL Superpro had wanted to be a little less stupid, that wouldn't have been a bad basis for a suit design. For some reason I look at that and see stylized Football armor. Give him a football helmet and go.
He gains a pretty generic set of powers with a Powersuit (NOT Power Armor... I wonder how this skin-tight thing gains all these powers, and why THIS loser is allowed to have one?).
That is kind of a weird thing in comics. I kind of look at it this way:

Tony Stark is the benchmark when it comes to powersuit technology. His suit of armor is as powerful, versatile and compact a suit of armor as you can make without Cosmic / Celestial technology or Magic. The only people who can build armor approaching his in terms of versatility and power require comparable intelligence, skill and technology.

Abe Jenkins is incredibly intelligent and gifted as an engineer, but he's not quite as smart as Tony, or as skilled, and he lacks Tony's resources. When he created the Beetle armor, was able to create a suit of comparable size and versatility to Iron Man, but it operates on on a Spider-Man level rather than an Iron Man one. The Mach-1 armor was bulkier than the typical suit of Iron Man or Beetle armor in order to get some more power and better flight capabilities out of it. Which is basically how it should beWhen he was able to create a suit of Beetle armor that was roughly on par with Iron Man, it was the size of the Hulkbuster. Comparable versatility and size sacrifices power, comparable power and versatility sacrifices size. Only someone on Tony's level can have small size, versatility and power all wrapped up into one.

Power suits, being more skin-tight uniforms with circuitry and a power source, basically sacrifice versatility for raw power and size. They should be one-trick ponies where the suits can only do one trick, but that trick is something you can get a lot of mileage out of. Like the Guardian/Vindicator suit from Alpha Flight is one of the more powerful power suits, but it's based primarily about manipulating electromagnetic energy, which allows the user to fly, shoot energy beams, generate a force field, use that force field to simulate super strength, etc. The Blizzard suit can generate cold and ice. The Major Victory suit generates a force field that protects the wielder, grants them super strength, and lets them fly. Stuff like that.

And anyone that can create a suit of armor on the Beetle/Mach-1 level or a powersuit on the Guardian/Vindicator level should be a certified genius, amongst the brightest in the world, just not in the top 10-25 range like you'd need to be for Iron Man.

So the idea that some unknown shmoe could create essentially a power-suit that made someone a Spider-Man level Iron Man is just crazy.
"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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Re: MVP

Post by Jabroniville »

L-Space wrote: Thu Aug 31, 2017 9:23 pm
Jabroniville wrote: Thu Aug 31, 2017 8:08 pm -M.V.P. is a pretty good example of a Captain America, Jr. He's strong, fast and tough as any human being could possibly be (despite being nowhere near the mass of Cap, which kind of bugged me, even if he IS just a kid), but lacks the training or skills of the major super-heroes, resulting in a pretty-tough PL 6 who has Cap's basis, but no experience. He's even got the minor powers like Speed & Leaping, and the Immunities thrown in. With a bit of training, he'd have made PL 8 pretty easily alongside his teammates.
I had always assumed MVP was at peak physical conditioning for his age and so wasn't at Cap's level physically yet, but would be eventually. I did find it funny that the source of MVP's abilities was a 'lifetime of healthy diet and exercise' and so was immediately disregard by the US Military since it would take too long.

I really enjoyed The Initiative run and found the new characters interesting and liked seeing them alongside the lesser known characters. It's too bad the whole thing was scrapped due to the Secret Invasion event. I feel like it could have been kept around in some form or another.
This was kind of an issue Marvel started to have in the 2000s- every few years, they'd get an idea for a team book of teenage superheroes, come up with some good stuff, have a writer go to town on it... and then after two or three years the book would eventually lose readers and it'd get canceled. Then the NEXT writer would start up his own teen super-team... which would last the same amount of time and have the exact same result. By Avengers Academy, it became a bit of a cliche (a fan actually wrote it BEGGING the same thing wouldn't happen... but it did), so writers started just making everyone "Avengers" and legacy characters and what-not.

And with most of these teams- Avengers Academy, Initiative kids, etc.- they tended to vanish completely once the book was gone. At least most of the Young Avengers have found a place somewhere, even if temporarily.

... heh. I just realized the joke with Trauma's last name being "Ward".
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Gwenpool! The Initiative! Cloud 9! Hardball!)

Post by Jabroniville »

FINALLY caught up to the season finale of Once Upon a Time- man, Season 6 has been one hell of a slog. A little too much farting around, Rumple being evil again, etc. Though the "Two Evil Queens" story arc gave us TWO Reginas running around, so it's not ALL bad :). Plus the musical episode! A singing Wicked Witch of the West? That's just crazy enough to work!

A lot of plotlines just kind of went nowhere (Aladdin & Jasmine vs. Jafar), too many interesting background characters didn't show up (Merida, Riding Hood, Mulan), mere cameos from others (Ariel! Cinderella!). And the Dark Fairy kinda went out like a jobber after barely appearing in most of this episode (despite it being a TWO-PARTER!), and Gideon himself barely had a role in the plot until the last five minutes. It's just... this show has SUCH a weird idea of how to run the plots. All this talk of the "Final Battle" and nothing ends up feeling as epic as it should. Never mind that so many of the background characters over the years didn't show up, probably due to money (Elsa & Anna featured in an entire half-season! So did Ursula, Cruella & Maleficent! These characters could totally have popped up just for cameos!).

Curiously, despite every single indication being there that this would be the Series Finale (ending with a "Last Supper" pose, everyone getting happy endings, a "Happily Ever After" tag, etc.), there will be ANOTHER season of the show! Only most of the main characters are gone! Now, I wasn't a fan of Emma or Henry as characters (or as actors), but losing pretty much the entire recurring cast except Rumple, Hook & Regina? How the hell are you gonna explain all of their kids & other loved ones disappearing? This feels like Scrubs' last season all over again- the kind of thing where people talk about how the series had this big ending, "but wow- what about that LAST season?" Completely pointless, and it feels like they just did it to keep some of the ratings and money moving in (especially while freeing up much of the cast's expensive salaries).

Every time I see this show, though, I'm reminded of how I bought the first two seasons (when the show actually hit really big and had a lot of hype), and have yet to watch them. I'm so bad for adding to my backlog of stuff (another ENTIRE SEASON of Sailor Moon is out and I haven't watched it! And I'm not even halfway through Superman: The Animated Series!). I guess this Sorta-Finale is as good a reason as any to watch from the beginning. If anything, it'll explain more of the backstory (which the show, despite being 50% told in flashbacks, is actually REALLY BAD at doling out; it took a year or two to figure out that Emma's son was sired by Gold's son, whom I've never seen on the show, ever- Balefire is only talked about in the past-tense and never shown).
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Komodo

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

KOMODO (Melati Kusuma)
Created By:
Dan Slott & Stefano Caselli
First Appearance: Avengers: The Initiative #1 (April 2007)
Role: Crippled Hero, Angry Girl
Group Affiliations: The Initiative, The Desert Stars (Arizona)
PL 8 (118)
STRENGTH
0/7 STAMINA 0/7 AGILITY -1/5
FIGHTING 3/9 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (-1/+7)
Athletics 3 (+3/+10)
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Science) 6 (+10)
Intimidation 6 (+6)
Perception 6 (+6)
Technology 2 (+6)
Stealth 3 (+2/+8)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Fast Grab, Ranged Attack 2, Teamwork

Powers:
"Reptilian Form"
Enhanced Strength 7 [14]
Enhanced Agility 6 [12]
Enhanced Stamina 7 [14]
Enhanced Fighting 6 [12]

Speed 2 (8 mph) [2]
Leaping 2 (30 feet) [2]
"Tail" Extra Limb 1 [1]
Senses 2 (Low-Light Vision, Acute Scent) [2]
Power-Lifting 1 (6 tons) [1]

Regeneration 10 (Feats: Diehard, Regrowth) [12]

Offense:
Unarmed +3 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Komodo Form +9 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative -1 (+5 Komodo)

Defenses:
Dodge +3 (+9 Komodo, DC 19), Parry +3 (+9 Komodo, DC 19), Toughness +0 (+7 Komodo), Fortitude +0 (+7 Komodo), Will +4

Complications:
Responsibility (The Avengers Initiative)
Relationship (Hardball)- Komodo has feelings for Hardball, who turned out to be a traitor and joined HYDRA.
Secret (Crippled in Human Form)

Total: Abilities: 14 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 72 / Defenses: 9 (118)

-Komodo is one of the first new recruits seen, being your standard "Cranky Girl" on the team. Her story is that she's an amputee after a car wreck who stole Dr. Curt Connors' reptile serum, modified it to her own DNA, and got similar powers, scaled down (hee hee) a notch. She threatened some people, tried to hide her human form (she was embarrassed by her amputations), and did some stuff, and ultimately had this romantic thing going with the mercenary-type Hardball, which ended up hurting her in the long run. Like most of the first class, she's still around in some way or another, having been de-powered and re-powered twice (apparently that 100% "No Powers" S.P.I.N. Tech stuff isn't that 100% after all), but she's largely a background nobody these days.

-Komodo's a pretty standard mildly super-strong Scrapper-type, able to brawl with Spider-Man, but ultimately got her ass BEAT by him fairly easily (especially once he used his Persuasion on her, convincing her that the government would turn on HER eventually, too). She's balanced to PL 8, and nearly makes full points (ideally she should have a higher Will, but it's a big flaw of hers in the book), allowing her full regeneration of limbs and organs in a matter of minutes (like most Regen-based guys, she's shown variable limits & speeds on healing). I figure most of the Initiative Recruits will be on the weaker side, since well, they nearly always lost to major heroes. Komodo's PL 8 because she's rather tough.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sat Mar 19, 2022 10:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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