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

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Re: Jab's Builds! (Ruby! Yang! Blake! Weiss! Jaune! Pyrrha! Nora!)

Post by Jabroniville »

I was going to make an effort to put all these on the same page, but that page would be ENORMOUS if I did so, so instead I'll break it up a little bit, with some on this page, and the others posted tomorrow, on the next pages.

This set brings to mind the 2011 series of builds- most of these guys are among the oldest ATT-era builds I'd yet to transfer to either Ronin Army or here at Echoes. Some had made the cut pretty regularly (The Arabian Knight for example), but others like Defensor, Talisman III and Le Peregrine? Those guys have been waiting for SIX YEARS for a re-post. As my posting style has changed a bit since then (ie. become much more wordy), those will be fun to revisit.

This set was originally supposed to be a Contest of Champions set of re-posts, and be only a few days long (since most of those characters have been posted recently- Sabra, Arabian Knight and more). However, looking at the "Foreign Countries" heading led me to notice a lot of other names that could be posted, and so of course this spiraled into a huge, two-week set of builds :).
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Re: Jab's Builds! (Ruby Rose! Yang! Blake! Weiss! Jaune! Pyrrha!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Gilliam wrote: Fri Dec 01, 2017 8:35 am
Jabroniville wrote: Fri Dec 01, 2017 2:00 am And that does it for the RWBY builds! Thanks to Briar for doing the notes for me! It was an interesting challenge to work with a show I'm largely unfamiliar with.
And thank you Jab for posting the RWBY builds :)
No problem! It was a fun challenge! Glad you and some of the others came along for the ride, and that people didn't find any major flaws in my builds :).
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Re: Jab's Builds! (Ruby! Yang! Blake! Weiss! Jaune! Pyrrha! Nora!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Doug Walker responds to the Olaf's Frozen Adventure backlash: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlFrk6sqq4w

Yeah, we have pretty well the same opinion- good, cute "short". REALLY long for what it is, which is why there is a backlash (Twitter is currently aflutter with people going "HOW DO YOU CALL THAT A SHORT FILM!?!?", and websites are reposting the top ten mean tweets about it), and obviously there for The Merch. He also mentions The Prince and the Pauper, which I distinctly remember since that was one of my first "in the theatre" memories- it was before The Rescuers Down Under, and was even LONGER than OFA was.

But yeah... probably not the best thing for Frozen's brand to annoy the moviegoing public so thoroughly with the film... but Disney will be laughing all the way to the bank with all the new Frozen crap they just sold in stores (but not ME, of course! I didn't go out and buy the Christmas ornaments, doll two-pack or check online for the existence of Designer Collection dolls of the two royals! NOT ME!!!).

Elsa's face at 4:32 here makes the entire thing worthwhile, anyway: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evip0k3rSZY
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M4C8
Posts: 759
Joined: Thu Nov 10, 2016 10:17 pm
Location: South-East England

Re: Jab's Builds! (Ruby! Yang! Blake! Weiss! Jaune! Pyrrha! Nora!)

Post by M4C8 »

I've always been surprised at how many famous celebs in US based media are actually Canadian, also the seemingly high number of beautiful female celebrities who were born/grew up in the country. A large portion of the sci-fi shows I've watched over the years have also been made in Canada (most notably the Stargate franchise which I was a huge fan of)
A Canadian comedian on TV show in Britain once said about Canada 'It's next to the Americans, in the snow, amongst the French, so when I tell you I'm glad to be here you know I really mean it!' :D
'A shared universe, like any fictional construct, hinges on suspension of disbelief. When continuity is tossed away, it tatters the construct. Undermines it'
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Davies
Posts: 5080
Joined: Thu Mar 23, 2017 10:37 pm
Location: Edmonton, AB

Re: Central & South America

Post by Davies »

Jabroniville wrote: Fri Dec 01, 2017 7:39 am VENEZUELA
Actual name:
República Bolivariana de Venezuela
Population: 29.1 million
Capital: Caracas
Primary Language: Spanish
Fun Facts:
-A hard-luck Spanish colony, with an ever-changing line-up of politicians, dictators and false-leaders coming and going after Victor Bolivar died (he was a national hero in much of Latin America, who united a lot of countries to rebel against colonialism). The discovery of lots of oil helped out a lot.
-The current president is "Internet Troll in World Leader Form" Hugo Chavez, who likes to be bombastic and lively. Beauty contests are a surprisingly big-deal, and the nation has a rep for having lots of diseases (despite being mostly urban) and drug traffickers.
Uhhhhhh ... Chavez has been dead for a while now.
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Re: Jab's Builds! (Ruby! Yang! Blake! Weiss! Jaune! Pyrrha! Nora!)

Post by Jabroniville »

haha, derp. I KNEW I'd written something about that, and had intended to check it out and edit it, but kept getting sidetracked every time.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Europe

Post by Jabroniville »

EUROPE:
-Europe's had a fun little time. It's culture started out as a bunch of random Pagan tribes, but centralized first under the Greeks (then the most advanced culture around), then the Romans (the most militaristic). Rome eventually spread it's grip over nearly all of Europe and plenty of North Africa, forming one of the largest empires of all time. Things would falter later, sending Europe into the Middle Ages, which was bad or good depending on where you were from and what century it was.

-A few smaller empires sprouted up, but for the most part Europe was in recession, and was in danger from the Muslim & Mongol hordes for a while. The Rennaissance and Industrial Revolution changed things, and soon Europe roared back with a VENGEANCE, with a dozen countries eventually controlling basically the entirety of the globe. The Colonial era was pretty bad for a lot of people, but Europe was here to stay, and it's culture (and descendants in the Americas) soon dominated everything.

-Europe lost prestige and power after two World Wars to America, but among the continent are some of America's staunchest allies (especially England), other World Powers (France, Germany) and former Big Bad Foes (Russia).

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SPAIN
Actual name:
Reno de España
Population: 46 million
Capital: Madrid
Primary Language: Spanish
Fun Facts:
-Called Hispania by the Romans, but was conquered by Germans, then Muslims, in the Middle Ages. Rolled back the conquests and was THE world power in the 16th and partial-17th centuries.
-A century of being the first World Power led to a huge chunk of the Earth speaking Spanish, leaving it the second-most-commonly spoken first language in the world (behind only Mandarin, just ahead of English).
-Famous for the "Spanish Inquisition", a period of religious dominance and anti-heresy that wiped out over 2,000 people, including many, many Jews ("convert or die/leave", basically).
-Fell apart gradually, being conquered by Napoleon, then suffering general instability, eventually losing all it's American colonies, and it dropped from the world scene.
-The Spanish Civil War in the 1930s led to General Francisco Franco taking control of the entire nation with his Fascist forces. It was neutral during World War II, but supported the Axis Powers.
-Francisco Franco died in 1975, and is still dead after all these years. King Juan Carlos I has reigned ever since, though Spain is now a democracy, as he became a mere figurehead. He remains very popular.
-Football is again the most popular sport, with Real Madrid being one of the most dominant teams in the world.
-A very regional country, with many old groups that have some degree of autonomy. The Basque Country (containing Europe's only language that is not only non-Romance, but non-Indo-European) is somewhat violence-ridden, and was recently blamed for terrorist bombings later revealed to be al-Quaeda. It's ETA group is the last continental European terrorist/separatist organization that has any degree of power.
-This breaking news just in: Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead, and his situation appears unlikely to change anytime soon.

Super-Powered Representatives:
* Mostly a lot of goofs. Like, DIABLO is the biggest-name character, and El Aguila their most prominent super-hero.

Diablo
Empath
El Aguila
Gideon
Vargas
The Matador
Picaro (Euroforce)

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FRANCE
Actual name:
République française
Population: 65 million
Capital: Paris
Primary Language: French
Fun Facts:
-Populated by the Gauls during Roman times- they waxed and waned against Roman rule (Julius Caesar's forces defeated Vercingetorix's, most notably), occasionally fighting for independence.
-Later ruled by the Franks from the Northern portion of Gaul, from which "France" is named. Converted to Christianity quite early.
-The famous Charlemagne ruled a huge Empire than united much of the old Roman Empire outside of Italy, but it didn't last more than a few generations.
-Was consistently a huge power thereafter, with many famous rulers and wars (often against England). Its history features both Jeanne d'Arc (a female leader against the English during the Hundred Years War) and Napoleon Bonaparte (a Corsican general who took a vast swath of land in Europe until being unmade by a land war with Russia, and later Waterloo).
-Famous for it's French Revolution, a guillotine-ridden revolt by the people and a new elite that saw the King Louis XVI decapitated (along with his infamous wife Marie Antoinette). The First Republic would not last, nor would Napoleon's reign, a new Monarchy, the Second Republic, nor Napoleon III (nephew to the first)'s Second Empire.
-The Third Republic lasted through World War I at a tremendous cost (1.4 million soldiers dead), only to be faced with a massive German war machine in World War II, which broke the already-weakened nation badly (giving them an eternal reputation as cowards). Charles de Gaulle, leader of the French Resistance, would become a dominant President at war's end, leading the Fourth Republic.
-Had a large number of nations in it's Empire for decades, but lost all of them in the mid-1900s during instable times. This includes French Indochina (Thailand, Viet Nam & Laos), Algeria, and others, leaving these parts of the world massively destabilized. Has a reputation for being utter dicks to their old colonies (they even take the Quebecois of Canada for a semi-liberated bunch of pilgrims).
-The stereotype of the rude, egotistical Frenchman holds for most of the world, but within France, that stereotype is held towards Parisians themselves.
-Currently has the third or fourth-largest military on Earth, so don't think you can screw with them.
-Contains the famous Louvre, Eiffel Tower, the Notre-Dame Cathedral and more- a major tourist destination of Europe, and arguably it's largest cultural centre.
-Has a large (6%) Muslim minority, a controversial group (basically a poor minority group, with all that entails- poverty, crime and prejudice), often leading to riots and civic disturbances. Personally, I had a WAY bigger issue with the Roma when I was there; multiple attempts at pickpocketing and mugging will generally leave you pretty annoyed after a while (no, I don't want to sign your survey; yes, you look really obvious moving straight towards me as soon as I walk into the train station after your accomplice looks at me and talks into her phone).

Super-Powered Representatives:
* Okay, now THIS is a large group. Though mostly minor names.

Batroc the Leaper
The Grey Gargoyle
Exodus (The Acolytes)
Fantomex
Princess Python
Cyclone I & II
Tarot
Bevatron
Prism (The Marauders)
Le Peregrine
Les Heroes de Paris
Surrender Monkey (X-Statix)
Nuage (Euroforce)
Tiger (Euroforce)
Nuage
Tiger
Tempest (Exemplars)
The Crimson Cavalier
Mandala (Gemini)
Gargouille
Guillotine

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BELGIUM
Actual name:
The Kingdom of Belgium
Population: 10.8 million
Capital: Brussels
Primary Language: Dutch (also French, German)
Fun Facts:
-Defeated the French in the Battle of the Golden Spurs (among the first victories by infantry over cavalry), and they massacred a lot of French noblemen (hence the name of the Battle) instead of just holding them for ransom. Split from The Netherlands after the Napoleonic Wars, as the French part of Belgium was under-represented in the government.
-Was kind of a sticking point in Europe, bouncing from Spanish control to Austrian, and eventually declared it's independence. Complicated alliances and promises to not become a pawn of another nation (as was the fear in Europe) led to England & France both promising to defend Belgium if it were ever attacked (this becomes important later), as long as it was forever neutral.
-Was a major Industrial Revolution-era power, and carved a mini-Empire. Was not-so-nice to the people of the Congo (think "Heart of Darkness").
-It's right next to France. And it makes a perfect launching-point for an invasion. So... when Germany declared war on France & invaded in World Wars One & Two, guess who got used as a back-door? Thus, England was also forced to declare war against Germany both times.
-Belgium got it's ass handed to them quickly by the Germans, and is the setting for MANY, MANY horrible conflicts (Ypes & Passcendale are both in Belgium). Contains Flanders Field, the subject of the epically-sad War poem about dead soldiers and the poppies growing on their graves.
-Is famous for chocolate, beer, and invented French Fries. Jean-Claude Van Damme (karate/kickboxing champ, actor) and Audrey Hepbrun (possibly the cutest woman ever to live) are Belgian. The famous "Tintin" comes from Belgium as well, as do The Smurfs. Comics are big business in this part of the world.
-A political crisis (stirred by economic disparity) has split the Dutch-speaking Flemish and the French-Speaking Wallonians, and could lead to a partition of the country.
-Famously considered bland in various parts of the world, thus Agatha Christie made Hercule Poirot Belgian to avoid national stereotypes imposing upon him, they're mocked in "Austin Powers" as raising Dr. Evil, and "Belgium" is the vilest profanity in the known universe, everywhere except Earth, in "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy".

Super-Powered Representatives:
* Only three minor-league nobodies. Plus the Muscles From Brussels.

The Belgian Brain (S.H.E.)
REM-RAM (The Acolytes)
Mister M
Jean-Claude Van Damme

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THE NETHERLANDS
Actual name:
The Kingdom of The Netherlands/Nederland
Population: 16.6 million
Capital: Amsterdam
Primary Language: Dutch
Fun Facts:
-Quite small and flat, on the tip of Northern Europe, and well below sea level. Contains the provinces of Holland, which people often mistake the whole country for.
-Was once part of the Spanish Empire, but got conquered by Napoleon not too long after independence. Used to have Belgium in it, until they split off.
-Had a large colonial empire, including the Dutch East Indies, ie. Indonesia. Their attempts to hold on to this country proved rather... deadly, for a great number of people. De-colonizationn wasn't an easy process for anyone.
-Stayed out of World War I, but was not so lucky for the sequel. Nor were 100,000 Jews (including Anne Frank).
-Famously liberal country that legalized gay marriage, pot smoking, nudity on television and other things well before the rest of the world got around to it. The Hague is the largest centre of law & politics, despite Amsterdam being the largest (and most famous) city.

Super-Powered Representatives:
* Five names, though three are somewhat-important. The leader of the Serpent Society, T'Challa's biggest villain, and one of the most visually-distinctive Mutants, and a central character in Grant Morrison's X-Men.

Klaw
King Cobra I
Beak
Dragonfly II (Van der Valk) (Euroforce)
The Flying Dutchman

LIECHTENSTEIN
Actual name:
The Principality of Liechtenstein
Population: 37,000+ people
Capital: Vaduz
Primary Language: German
Fun Facts:
-A ridiculously-tiny nation (though still only fourth-smallest in Europe!), bordering Switzerland & Austria. It takes its name from a single family that held political power back in the day, but was never a major powerhouse- just generally part of the Holy Roman Empire or something. Like a lot of tiny European nations, it has a hugely wealthy "average citizen", by comparison to other nations.

Super-Powered Representatives:
* Only doing this because of these two goofs from that book.

Bluebird II (Scholz)
Danger II (Dongen)


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POLAND
Actual name:
The Kingdom of Polska
Population: 38.1 million
Capital: Warsaw
Primary Language: Polish
Fun Facts:
-Fairly large European nation with the absolute CRAP luck to be placed right between Germany & Russia.
-After gaining an alliance with Lithuania to get rid of the lame Teutonic Order of Knights, formed a massive empire (the largest in Europe at the time), with cool winged hussars as part of their military. This "Golden Liberty" would not last, and it was legally broken-up by Austria, Prussia & Russia, with the Poles split between them. The Poles in Russia had it especially bad, and were crushed after trying a couple uprisings.
-Got the absolute living CRAP beaten out of them by Germany during World War II (after being all independent post-War), with the Holocaust hitting here hardest of all (Auschwitz is in Poland). They never gave up fighting, but it was a bloodbath. 7 million people were killed (one-fifth of the population!), and only 300,000 Jews were left of the 3.3 million at war's beginning. Think about THAT.
-Was annexed by Soviet Russia post-War, who didn't treat them any better. They were instrumental to the break-up of the Soviet Union, however, and are now currently independent.
-Famous for sausage, being the butt-monkey of TWO evil World Powers for decades, and having a really, really hard language to pronounce (my friend works with a guy named "Pzchek"). Were a common memetic "it's OK to be racist against them" ethnic group in Post-War America, but this eventually went away.

Super-Powered Representatives:
* One of Marvel's top two villains, and a bunch of nobodies.

Magneto
The Rattler
Bloodlust (Femme Fatales)
The Blue Bullet (Nazi Ally in WWII)

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GREECE
Actual name:
The Republic of Ellada/The Hellenic Republic
Population: 11.2 million
Capital: Athens
Primary Language: Greek
Fun Facts:
-Famous as a huge centre of European culture, creating the most advanced civilizations in that area. Ancient Greece sprang forth from Mycenean and Minoan beginnings to include huge advances in math, science and learning. Various city-states sprung up, with the philosophical Athenians and the war-like Spartans opposed the vast Achaemenid Empire (Xerxes' Persians).
-Famously-common was homosexual relationships between men and young boys, though various philosophers decried the subject as immoral and silly. Women were usually viewed as more lustful and sex-crazed than men, and were watched carefully. The joke in "Lysistrata" was that a WOMAN withholding sex was an impossible idea.
-World-famous individuals like Hippocrates, Sophocles, Socrates and Plato brought new levels of genius into the world. Gave the world democracy, the Phalanx, and countless awesome myths about it's morally-insane foolish Gods (which makes them much more interesting than most other cultures' Gods), including the Illiad, Oddysey and the story of the Trojan War. Alexander the Great's Macedonian forces overran the world and forged a HUGE empire, which quickly faltered after his death, resulting in multiple lineages across the world, sprung from the loins of his Generals (such as the Ptolemies of Egypt, from whom we got Cleopatra).
-The Hellenistic Period partially-died under Roman control a few centuries later, and later was the centre of the Byzantine Empire, which kept Roman culture alive for generations after the fall of Rome itself. Produced the Eastern Orthodox Church, and fell to the Ottoman Empire. They fought them off centuries later, in the Greek War For Independence in the 1800s. Still neighbors modern Turkey, which produces some bad feelings, though they're trying to make it better.
-Modern history consists of a lot of wars (the lost to the Germans in WWII, after trouncing the Italians) and feuding with Turkey, as well as various political upheavals and inter-party fighting.

Super-Powered Representatives:
* Elektra is by far their biggest name, but Hercules and his Olympian brethren are more important to the universe as a whole, if they cound.

Elektra
Hercules (Half-Greek, I guess)
Avalanche
Oracle
Carnivore (Exemplars)

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SWITZERLAND
Actual name:
Schweiz/The Swiss Federation
Population: 7.8 million
Capital: Bern
Primary Language: German
Fun Facts:
-An early tribe, the Helvetii, were among those conquered by Julius Caesar, the people's earliest link to world history.
-Created the International Red Cross (which you can sorta see on their flag, with the colours reversed).
-Famously neutral and dull. Invented the Swiss Army Knife, and haven't been in a war for over a century. Maintained absolute neutrality even while Hitler was devouring all of Europe (thankfully for them, they weren't an easy backdoor to France). It helps that it's surrounded on all sides by mountains, lakes and tunnels- attacking it would be a drawn-out siege on a massive scale.
-Has referendums for EVERYTHING, and loves having an open democracy. A recent one led to the banning of minarets in the country (very few nations in Europe like Muslims, as a rule). It's so neutral that they only joined the United Nations fully in 2002, and have yet to join the European Union.
-Gave us Carl Jung (the other famous father of modern psychiatry), Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Roger Federer, and Martina Hingis.

Super-Powered Representatives:
* Actually a lot of dickheads. Marvel dooesn't appreciate your neutrality, Switzerland.

Arnim Zola
The Kleinstocks (The Acolytes)
Flag-Smasher I-II

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ROMANIA
Actual name:
Romania
Population: 21.9 million
Capital: Bucharest
Primary Language: Romanian
Fun Facts:
-Easily most-famous for it's history with Vlad the Impaler, a prince in the Wallacian principality (the other two principalities were Transylvania & Moldovia) known for doing what his name implies to thousands upon thousands of invading forces, as a method of terror (likely exaggerated). Legends about him grew until the ethnic folk monster, Dracula, was born.
-Has a Poland-like luck to be crammed between Russia, Poland, Turkey & Austria-Hungary. Has a history of holding out against massive hordes before ultimately falling.
-Great Romania was a period between 1919 & 1940, and was a "Golden Age" of sorts, providing great wealth to the nation. It wouldn't last- it joined the Axis, then the Allies in World War II, and got annexed and overrun by the Soviet Union afterwards in the "Iron Curtain".
-Had a great revolution in the late '80s after decades of brutal repression, but are still reeling economically. Transylvania is quite famous, but is contested between Romania and Hungary, since both ethnicities are common there.

Super-Powered Representatives:
* A lot of mystical-themed characters, most famously Dracula, from the Romanian region of Transylvania.

Dracula
Janus I (Dracula's Son)
Lilith II (Daughter of Dracula)
Baron Mordo
Werewolf By Night
Gypsy Moth (aka Skein)


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ITALY
Actual name:
Italia
Population: 60.4 million
Capital: Rome
Primary Language: Italian
Fun Facts:
-The Roman Republic once ruled, having freed itself from it's last monarchs. Had a complicated Senate structure, but a lot of military power. The mighty city-state overwhelmed all of Italia, and then set sights on the rest of Europa, Africa & Asia.
-Rome defeated many comers, including Hannibal's men in Carthage (Rome salted the Earth and wiped out the civilization as vengeance- they were MEAN bastards). Despite their grandeur, their military history is filled with loss after loss, at which point they return with a NEW army and totally kick the ass of the other guys by sheer attrition.
-Julius Caesar, a lower-level noble, became a brilliant general, conquering Gaul and wiping out thousands (including Vercingetorix). This was largely illegal, and so Caesar just Crossed the Rubicon back into Rome and conquered it (after much hard fighting, and defeating an old friend, Pompey Magnus, in the process). Caesar became Dictator For Life (normal Dictators were a special six-month position in times of great need for consolidation of power), but was murdered before real power could be maintained.
-The resulting Civil War between his old allies Marc Antony (now taking Caesar's old squeeze Cleopatra as a lover) and Octavian (later Augustus), Caesar's adopted son (and in Rome, adoption was as good as blood). Augustus won in the end, forming a monarchy once again. By all rights, Augustus was a Manipulative Bastard of the highest order.
-Fabled leaders and Emperors include Tiberius, Claudius, Nero (famously evil) and Caligula (even moreso than Nero). Constantine was the first Christian monarch in the world, and started the slow conversion of the Empire. Rome eventually forged one of the mightiest Empires the world had ever seen, stretching all the way across Europe, and even into Asia (the third-largest in classical world history, behind the Achaemenid & Han Empires).
-Things fell apart with a split between East & West, and finally a sacking of Rome after increases in Gothic insurrections (and not the wrist-cutting kind), dropping European culture significantly. The Greek-influenced East would fall to the Ottomans later. Many advances brought on by Rome- the aqueducts, domes, medicine, etc.- would be lost for centuries until the Rennaissance rediscovered them.
-Is among the most important cultural centres in world history, throughout many eras. The opera, art (Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Titian, Raphael, etc. are all Italian), literature (Dante's Inferno, aka The Divine Comedy), film (Fellini) and more are heavily-inspired by Italian or Roman works.
-Was comprised of many, many states until the 1900s, at which the entire country became unified. Was led by the infamous "il Duce", Benito Mussolini, leading a fabled mistress were murdered in the streets (and hung on meat hooks in front of a cheering crowd), and the nation became an Allied one.
-Has had a tumultuous history in recent years, with 40 premier changes in 50 years, the most political upheavals in all of Europe. The Mafia is still a major criminal force, especially on the island of Cicily.
-Is curiously under-represented in the world of comics, with mostly-minor characters coming from there. This is odd, given it's status as the centre of The Mafia, culture, etc.

Super-Powered Representatives:
* Actually not a lot of big names. Nefaria is by far the biggest name on here, and he's at-best a "Wannabe World-Beater".

Count Nefaria
Madame Masque
Tyrannus
Belasco
Unuscione
Unus the Untouchable
The Contessa (S.H.I.E.L.D.)
Decimus Furius (Horseman of Apocalypse)
Argento
Balance (Euroforce)


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GERMANY
Actual name:
The Federal Republic of Germany/Bundesrepublik Deutschland
Population: 81.8 million
Capital: Berlin
Primary Language: German
Fun Facts:
-Germanic tribes were found all throughout modern-day Germany, and despite numerous Roman campaigns, the entire land was never totally subjugated. The tribes found their way into the rest of Europe, forming the borders for the Holy Roman Empire under Charlemagne. They were scattered and highly regional, very rarely located under one central power. Various states, duchies and city-states thrived, often under external power (such as Austria).
-Under Napoleon, hundreds of states turned to "merely" fourty. Prussia soon became dominant, and under General Otto von Bismarck, the German Empire was formed in the late 1800s.
-World Power status came quickly, but a loss in World War I led to the "War Guilt" clause in the Treaty of Versailles, crippling the new German Weimar Republic for years (this is a retroactive term- the true name is The German Realm). This economic down-spiral led to a dozen revolution attempts, and finally the election of Austrian Adolf Hitler to power, with his Nazi Party based off of Franco & Mussolini's Fascism attempts.
-World War Two resulted, when Hitler's army "Blitzkrieged" across Europe. An army had been built the likes of which had never been seen, and soon France, Poland, Belgium and others went down with shocking ease and speed, and soon nearly all of mainland Europe was under Hitler's control.
-England was next- the Battle of Britain followed, Hitler hoping to crush their spirit and resistance, under-estimating the Brits. Hitler soon foolishly betrayed Stalin's Russia, provoking a massive, lengthy Eastern Front war that Germany could ill-afford. Help from "General Winter" aided the beleaguered and massacred Soviets against Germany, inflicting more casualties than even the Western Front. Hitler slowly went crazy (possibly because of anti-fart pills- no seriously), and committed suicide in the final days of the war.
-Knowledge of just what happened in Germany had been surpressed initially, and most figured something was happening to the Jews, but the full breadth of the Holocaust shocked EVERYONE. Germans were left with an ever-lasting guilt, and constantly teach their children about their dark past.
-Germany was split by the Allies into West (democratic) and East (communist), the latter under control of the Soviet Union. The famous Berlin Wall was formed to split Berlin (attempts at crossing it resulted in deadly force). There were actually two walls- 100 metres of "no man's land" separated them.
-The two Germanies & Berlins were reunited in 1989 with the Wall's collapse, and a short while later legally. Germany is now a singular democratic Republic, and one of the most trusted & beloved countries in the world. A big change from seventy years ago.
-There are lots and lots of famous Germans, partially thanks to World War II, but there are many others. Composers Bach, Wagner AND Beethoven, German War Hero (and Magnificent Bastard) Erwin Rommel, Propoganda master (and inventor) Joseph Goebbels, pretentious teenage loser-icon Friedrich Nietzche, Karl Marx (he of Communism fame), Albert Einstein, Max Heisenberg, and countless others.

Super-Powered Representatives:
* As you might expect, this is a group that's monstrous both in side and in morality. One of the best X-Men is here in the form of Nightcrawler, but the majority of the rest are either Nazis or general douchebags.

Nightcrawler
The Red Skull
The Red Skull IV (Telepath)
Baron Zemo I
Baron Zemo II
Baron Strucker
Baron Blood
Maverick
Man-Killer
Swarm
Blitzkrieg
Captain Germany (Vormund)
The Fenris Twins (Swordsman IV)
Master Man
Adolf Hitler
Agent Axis
Geist
The Beasts of Berlin
Captain Axis
Key (Euroforce)
Iron Maiden (Martial Artist)
Iron Cross
Isbisa (Golden Age Baddie)
Maverick
The Exiles I (Old Nazis)
Wall (X-Statix)
The Black Swan I (Assassin)
The Isolationist

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AUSTRIA
Actual name:
The Republic of Osterreich
Population: 8.3 million
Capital: Vienna
Primary Language: German
Fun Facts:
-The Habsburgs arose here, and through marriage & war, ended up controlling most of Central Europe (including Hungarians, Bohemians, Croats, Czechs & Romanians), and being prone to various nationalist movements. They were never a MAJOR threat, but they were a pretty big deal. They were large and full of various nations, but tended to lose every single war.
-Austria itself is very German in many ways, including the language, and various alliances and/or wars with Germany itself. World War One pretty much saw the end of their power on a global scale, as the alliance system of Europe drew them into the biggest war in history to that point.
-Famous Austrians include Sigmund Frued, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Adolf Hitler. They're more proud of some than others (though the latter three either never really considered themselves Austrian, or openly hated on the country).

Super-Powered Representatives:
* Two douchebags and Mystique's girlfriend. Surprisingly, only one Nazi-sympathizer.

The Ringmaster (The Circus of Crime)
Doctor Faustus
Destiny

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HUNGARY
Actual name:
The Republic of Magyarorszag
Population: 10 million
Capital: Budapest
Primary Language: Hungarian
Fun Facts:
-Was settled in the 9th century by nomadic peoples who decided to settle down (it's one of the oldest countries in Europe). Portions of it have been controlled by the Ottomans, Transylvanians and the Habsburgs over the years.
-Pretty much got the CRAP beaten out of them by the Mongol Invasion of Europe, losing up to half of the population.
-The massive Austro-Hungarian Empire (with beloved queen "Sissi" at it's centre) attained some great power, but was split horribly by two World Wars, and lost a great deal of territory to offshoot states.
-Became part of the Iron Curtain after the last War, and came out of it with the rest of them.
-The language is unrelated to much of Europe, being more similar to Finnish & Estonian than anything else. So they fit in strangely that way. They have good relations with the Poles, but not so much with the Romanians (based off of issues with the ownership of Transylvania).

Super-Powered Representatives:
* Two Femme Fatales.

Viper
Madame X

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BELARUS
Actual name:
The Republic of Belarus
Population: 9.6 million
Capital: Minsk
Primary Language: Belarusian
Fun Facts:
-Stuck between Russia & Poland, Belarus only came about in the early-20th century (but was settled by "White Russians", or Belarusians, for generations), and was quickly Commified by the Soviets. It was stuck between the USSR & Germany during World War II, and suffered appropriately (up to ONE-THIRD of the population, and 2/3 of it's cities, were gone).
-More or less Russian, with much of the cultural identity related to Russia, and the two countries are close- there are even sort-of plans to unify legally, as long as they can agree on things.
-Darkstar & Vanguard are typically Russian characters in comics- it's just a coincidence that their hometown ended up outside of Mother Russia. Expect them to be treated as Russians in all respects.

Super-Powered Representatives:
* The two most-important Russian Superheroes, oddly enough. More by accident as much as anything.

Darkstar
Vanguard

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UKRAINE
Actual name:
Ukrayina
Population: 45.9 million
Capital: Kiev
Primary Language: Ukrainian
Fun Facts:
-Kiev was the seat of the "Kievan Rus'", the most massive empire in Europe during the 10th & 11th centuries. Things fell apart, the nation dissolved into principalities, and they were invaded by the Turks & Mongols. Kiev was destroyed completely in 1240. The people came under Lithuanian control after that.
-It was controlled by Poland for centuries, then by the U.S.S.R.
-Was pretty much Russia's butt-monkey during most of the Cold War, being the site of most of it's industrial factories, power plants (including the infamous Chernobyl, which kersploded and killed hundreds, and poisoned the area for generations), and a gigantic (and deliberate!) famine prior to World War II, which decimated the population.
-Declared independence in 1991, and has a rather mercurial relationship with Russia to this day, acknowledging them as an ally, but not being overly friendly with them. It's a very agrarian land (the flag symbolizes golden wheat under a blue sky).
-Worshipped-by-nerds Milla Jovovich is Ukrainian, as is Mila Kunis.

Super-Powered Representatives:
* Just one of The Lights- yet another forettable group of Mutants.

Primal

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RUSSIA
Actual name:
The Russian Federation/Rossiyskaya Federatsiya, formerly Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik (CCCP)
Population: 141.9 million
Capital: Moscow
Primary Language: Russian
Fun Facts:
-The largest country in the world by a BIG margin, containing tons of ethnic groups. Very cold winters, and a vast expanse, the bane of any land army.
-Ivan III formed Czarist Russia (also Tsarist- related to "Caesar" the same way "Kaiser" is) after taking control of the old feudal kingdom. They were characterized by a massive military presence, but a lacking in modern cultural traits (compared to the rest of Europe, from which they were separated by quite a ways geographically).
-Famous situations occured all-around during World War I. The unpopular war led to the unseating of the Czarist government of Nicholas II (it also involved the fabled Mad Monk, Rasputin, who used his link to the Tsar's hemophiliac son to gain massive political favour), and the eventual rule of the Bolsheviks, now forming the United Soviet Socialist Republic, the most powerful Communist nation in the world.
-Vladimir Lenin led the Bolsheviks at first, speaking of the Communist Manifesto of Karl Marx. When he died, things were taken over by Joseph Stalin, who was kind of a dick, truth be told. He rapidly industrialized the nation, but at the cost of millions of lives. Political assassinations and "disappearances" were the norm. Expect to be an "unperson" if you spoke up. "Nineteen Eighty-Four" was NOT making this **** up.
-Stayed neutral during World War II at first, but then Hitler went nuts and attacked. The Soviets took the hardest hit of all the Allied nations during the war, losing vast amounts of soldiers, but eventually won a war of attrition against the Nazis, dealing them the most casualties in turn. The Battles of Stalingrad & Leningrad are #1 and #2 for the most deadly battles in the history of humanity. About 10 million Soviet soldiers died during the war, and over 16 million civilians.
-The took over most of Eastern Europe, forming the "Iron Curtain" bloc of Communist states. A true World Power, they were the arch-nemesis of the United States, now also getting involved on a world stage. The Space Race, the Cold War, etc. Pretty much the Big Bad of the "Free world's" fiction, unless you were REALLY left-wing (like on M*A*S*H* or something). Nikita Kruschev replaced Stalin, and decried the past regime, shocking the world with it's atrocities. Mikhail Gorbachev took over years later, and was a lot more open with the West.
-Had a famous military, with the elite Spetsnaz units, the AK-47 (most popular gun in world history), and a huge nuclear arsenal.
-Communism in Russia fell in the '90s, with Boris Yeltsin challenging the party, and the whole Eastern Bloc fell, dropping the Berlin Wall, the Germanic divide, and splitting a dozen miniature countries off of Mother Russia (Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, etc.). This surprised the hell out of a lot of people, and leaves media based in the future looking rather odd sometimes, since the Soviets were so ubiquitous to people in prior decades. It was just kind of assumed they'd always be around.
-Currently led by Vladimir Putin, an ex-KGB agent and fairly high-level Judoka & Sambo specialist. He'd probably kick your government's leader's ass, no matter where you were from.
-A famously fatalistic people. It's kind of hard to surprise them with depravity, poverty, massacres or other atrocities. Vladimir Putin basically has people killed (with radioactive materials to the face!) and everyone just kinda shrugs it off.

Super-Powered Representatives:
* Probably the biggest batch of names on here by far. Seriously, look at this monster list- a Movie Avenger and one of the top X-Men, plus a TON of villains. And oddly, three memorable Spider-Man foes (though The Rhino is ABSOLUTELY a retcon).

The Black Widow
Colossus
Magik (Exiles)
Magik
Mikhail Rasputin
Yelena Belova
Cosmo the Rocket-Dog
Omega Red
The Rhino I
The Chameleon
Kraven the Hunter I (Sergei)
Kraven the Hunter II (Alyosha)
Kraven the Hunter III (Ana)
The Grim Hunter
The Red Ghost
The Super-Apes
Morning Star
The Abomination
The Russian
The Unicorn
The Presence
The Gargoyle I (Scientist)
Ghost-Maker
---
The Winter Guard:
Blind Faith
The Crimson Dynamo I & II
The Crimson Dynamo III & IV
The Crimson Dynamo V
The Crimson Dynamo VI & VII
The Crimson Dynamo VIII-XII
The Crimson Dynamo XIII
Fantasma
Perun
Powersurge
Red Guardian II
Red Guardian III/Starlight
Red Guardian IV
Red Guardian V & VI
Sibercat
Siberforce
Stencil
Titanium Man I
Titanium Man II
Ursa Major
Vostok

THE BRITISH ISLES:
The exact dilineations of what name belongs to which area are confusing. Here's a visual representation that works much better:
Image

Essentially, the mainland is Great Britain, that plus Northern Ireland is the United Kingdom, and the whole thing is The British Isles.

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ENGLAND
Actual name:
England
Population: 51.4 million
Capital: London
Primary Language: English
Fun Facts:
-Celts ruled the country, but the Romans invaded and took it over by Claudius' time, forming "Britannia" as it was called. Uprisings were generally unsuccessful (Boudica was notable, but killed herself after losing), and the land was subject to many later invasions by Angles, Saxons and more.
-Many kingdoms sprouted up, but they were crushed by the Danes, as Scandinavian invasion became common. The Normans invaded afterwards, taking over the elite. All of these repeated takeovers would have a dramatic effect on what would become the "English language".
-Succession crises are very, VERY common. Norman kings would rule, and were replaced by the Tudors. Easily has the largest number of famous rulers compared to any other land, particularly in the English-speaking world (for obvious reasons). Henry VIII and his many wives, Queens Victoria & Elizabeth I, Richard III and other Shakespeare-biographized characters, etc.
-Wales was annexed in the middle ages, while Scotland voted to become involved in the 18th century (James VI inherited both lands earlier, but this made it official). This would all become "The Kingdom of Great Britain", with England as it's centre.
-England became the figurehead of the Industrial Revolution, using it's powerful navy and huge amount of inventiveness to dominate the world. The era of Colonization would see England forge the mightiest empire ever seen before or since. "The Sun never sets on the British Empire" wasn't just a cutesy phrase. They controlled India, China, chunks of North America, and half of Africa. TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT of the entire globe belonged under their sphere of influence. Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great and others, eat your hearts out.
-They were so dominant that they permanently ended the threat of Napoleon, and were integral to the Allies in World War I. Britain's relative safety from mainland Europe, being an island nation, would prove vastly important, as their navy was untouchable. Little things like losing the Thirteen Colonies were just inconveniences on the grand scale.
-This led to English becoming a dominant language on Earth, far outstripping the more-populous Chinese dialects, and it is by far the most commonly-spoken second language. Despite it being kind of a bastard child language (mixing Romance languages with Germanic & Scandinavian influences), it's worldwide, with Britain, Canada, the United States and Australia all speaking it (though often in accents different enough to be indecipherable to each other).
-Great Britain was the first nation to outlaw slavery, and was a major force in putting it down at it's source.
-The unofficial leader of the Allied forces during World War II, which left London carpet-bombed by the Luftwaffe for years, and Winston Churchill becoming a national hero (despite being voted out once, and being a drunk). He's about the most quotable world leader in history, too. It took several years, and the Americans finally getting involved, to finally stop Nazism, and England took a back seat to the Americans, who now took the reigns as the most powerful nation on Earth.
-Despite losing a bit of international grandeur, it's still an important cultural force. Just ask fans of The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Elton John, Coronation Street, Shaun of the Dead, soccer/football, and more. British tabloids are fairly notorious, and you can expect every single celebrity in English history to be a celebrity for their entire lives- there are several celebs known JUST for going to nude beaches, for example.
-And they're still powerful- they bitch-slapped the Argentinians pretty hard to getting cute and invading the Falkland Islands. It's currently a standard democracy, with the Royal Family (led by Queen Elizabeth II) having a more token role as symbolic leaders that have no real power. This extends to the rest of the "British Empire", as Canada, Australia and twelve other nations (fifteen in total) celebrate the Queen as a monarch.
-For a ridiculously-tiny country, it's got a HUGE number of distinctive accents, with nearly every town having one. Expect British fans online to dissect the attempted accents of any Americans, or even Brits playing characters from some cities (TV Tropes writers from England will NOT SHUT UP about Jane Leeves' accent in "Frasier" not actually being Mancunian/from Manchester).

Super-Powered Representatives:
* Another major, major source of characters, thanks largely to shared linguistic and cultural elements, the Excalbur book (Chris Claremont spent some of his childhood years in England), and more. Marvel's "UK" brand led to a MASSIVE number of new characters, pretty much all of whom failed within a couple of years of their debut.

Psylocke
The White Queen (not really, but she was altered into a British-accented woman at some point)
Jamie Braddock
Revanche
Mad Jim Jaspers
Union Jack I (Falsworth)
Union Jack II (Destroyer II)
Union Jack III (Chapman)
Lionheart (Captain Britain II)
Pixie III (Welsh)
Lila Cheney
Chamber
Zaran the Weapon-Master
Thunderclap
Spitfire
The Black Knight I
Elsa Bloodstone
Ka-Zar & Zabu
The Highwayman I (UK)
Vixen
Black Baron
Deepsight (Euroforce)
The Silver Squire
Sir Steel
Emma Steed
Lady Gayle Edgerton
Knight & Fogg
The Black Fox II (Thief)
Dennis Nayland Smith
"Black" Jack Tarr
Shockwave
Outlaw
The Mad Slayer
Suede (Gemini)
Front (Gemini)
Grip (Gemini)
---
The Shadow Riders:
Boot
Che
Goodfellow
Grunt
Roadie
Stranger II (Jones)
Vorin
---
Q7 Strike Force:
Automaton
Banzai
Firestryke
Harvester
Tanuta Umbotha
Victor Sternwood
---
The Crazy Gang:
The Executioner II
The Jester II
The Knave of Hearts
The Red Queen
Tweedledope
---
The Braddock Academy:
Anachronism
Apex
Cullen Bloodstone
Kid Briton
Nara
---
Gene Dogs:[/u]
Cat
Howitzer
Kestrel
Pacer
Panther
Tyr
---
Excalibur:
Amanda Sefton
Captain Britain
Captain Britain Corps
Feron
Meggan
Micromax
Pete Wisdom
Widget
---
Marvel UK:
Black Axe
Bloodseed
Captain Kerosene
Captain Midlands
Dark Angel
Death's Head I
Death's Head II
Death Metal
Death Wreck
Digitek
The Dragon's Claws
Die-Cut
G-Force
Gun Runner
Immortalis
Killpower
The Knights of Pendragon
Motormouth
Mys-TECH
Night Raven
The Requiem Sharks
The Spirit
The Super-Soldiers
Tangerine
Wild Thing
---
Genetix:
Base
Ridge
Shift
Stinger II
Vesper


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IRELAND
Actual name:
The Republic of Ireland/Eire/Airlann
Population: 6.2 million
Capital: Dublin
Primary Language: English (though Irish is the "official" language)
Fun Facts:
-A highly agricultural island just off of bigger England, featuring more sheep than people. It's people are usually stereotyped as having red hair (it's got the highest-rate of redheads in the world).
-Formerly ruled by scattered tribes of Celts, eventually getting a series of High Kings. It was invaded by the Normans, and fully taken-over by England. The Irish Potato Famine of the mid-1800s led to a huge amount of Irish immigrants coming to the United States.
-Has a huge number of famous writers, from James Joyce to Oscar Wilde to Bram Stoker. Celtic Mythology was a major influence, and gave us the "bean sidhe", or Banshee/Fairie Woman (literal translation there).
-Has some... political troubles in it's history. Let's just leave it at that. Basically, the majority is Catholic and wants self-rule instead of rule from England, but a minority is Protestant and LIKES England, these usually living in the North-Eastern section of the island (including Dublin). An Irish Revolution during World War I was put down ruthlessly by England. The Unionists in Northern Ireland would fight the Catholics in the rest of the country.
-"The Troubles" started up in the 1970s, as the Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provos or IRA for short) fought Unionists all over the place. It's reasoning is too complex for me to mention (or understand- I can't make heads or tails of it). Only a few thousand died, but that's a big number for a small nation. Most comics from the '70s to the 1990s featuring Ireland will at least reference The Troubles (Shamrock would view Captain Britain with suspicion, and vice versa).
-Irish Pubs are famous worldwide for their awesomeness, so expect that to pop up in anything Irish-themed.

Super-Powered Representatives:
Banshee
Siryn
Black Tom Cassidy
Shamrock
Conquest (Exemplars)

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SCOTLAND
Actual name:
Alba
Population: 5.2 million
Capital: Edinburgh
Primary Language: English
Fun Facts:
-Part of The United Kingdom legally. Various groups have controlled it over the years, from the Caledonians to the Romans to the Picts to England itself. Controlling it was never easy, as various other groups resisted control (William Wallace being the most famous these days, thanks to "Braveheart"). Various succession crises, as various rulers from Scotland or England would try to take control of the entire shebang.
-The subject of Shakespeare's "Scottish Play", though the real Mac Bethad was apparently a really good king. Shakespeare just made him evil because his royal backer at the time (James VI) was allegedly descended from Banquo.
-They voted their way into an alliance with England, forming the Kingdom of Great Britain, in the 18th century, and have been linked ever since.
-Famous for the kilt (not part of everyday dress- it's used like Americans use tuxedos, ie. formal dress), haggis (a sheep's innards boiled in it's own stomach- they swear it tastes good), and the bagpipes. They get stereotyped as humorously-violent (think "Groundskeeper Willie").

Super-Powered Representatives:
Kylun
Wolfsbane
Moira MacTaggert
Claymore (S.H.E.)

ROMANI PEOPLE:
* A general term for the country-less traveling peoples more-typically called "Gypsies" (which some regard as an ethnic slur). They're a vaguely Romanian/Persian-looking people, but actually are directly descended from the "untouchable" Dalit communities of India. Roma are rather notorious in mainland Europe as pickpockets- tourist sites devoted to European travel are known to dance around the exact ethnicity of the pereptrators, but any good one will ABSOLUTELY warn you about it. Their insular, distinctive nature and culture allowed for some easy stereotyping and scapegoating of various things, leading to a lot of trouble when they were accused of witchcraft, child-stealing (Esmeralda in the original Hunchback of Notre Dame tale actually has this as her origin story- the one GOOD Gypsy is actually a stolen white baby) and more. Polls still show widespread racism against Roma, with the "low number" being something like "40% of the population thinks negatively of them", while high estimates give Italy an 87%!

Super-Powered Representatives:
* A few big-name characters, though they generally look 100% Caucasian.

Quicksilver
The Scarlet Witch
Margali Szardos
Both Magneto & Doctor Doom are also said to have Gypsy/Roma heritage.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Fri Dec 15, 2017 6:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Africa

Post by Jabroniville »

AFRICA:
-Africa.... yeah. Some parts of it were relatively advanced for a while, then it kinda fell behind... and you don't wanna do that when Europe sits right above you and perfects gun-based warfare. Once they got into the Colonial Era, Africa becomes a giant resource-farm, and bad things happen to the local populaces. Countries were created without caring about particular ethnic groups, and that led to stuff down the line when certain tribes figured it was time to commit some good ol' fashioned genocide (remember what I said about "bastard-coated bastards"?).

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ALGERIA
Actual name:
The People's Democratic Republic of Algeria
Population: 35.4 million
Capital: Algiers
Primary Language: Arabic
Fun Facts:
-Settled initially by the Berber people- their unique position in North Africa left them a takeover target of various forces. First Carthage, then Rome, the Byzantine Empire, the Maghrebs, Spanish, Ottomans and more.
-It was the staging ground for the famous Barbary Pirates, who wrecked thousands of vessels over the centuries. These led to the first foreign military victory in American history, as the United States (and it's very first Marines) invaded Tripoli in two separate Barbary Wars, to stop tribute payments to the pirates in the region (who would capture and ransom ships).
-Was a major colony of France for decades- the French did NOT want to let it go (they were dragged out of the colonial era kicking and screaming, far moreso than the rest of Europe), and so it ended up in a bloody war over it. Algeria eventually earned it's independece, though is still part of French lore.
-There's usually only been one political party allowed since then, and electoral problems led to a bloody Civil War a few years back.
-M and her siblings' mother was from here in the comics, and she's half-French.

Super-Powered Representatives:
* Just M and her messed-up family.

M
Penance
Emplate

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MOROCCO
Actual name:
The Kingdom of Morocco/al-Mamlakah al-Maġribiyya
Population: 32.2 million
Capital: Rabat
Primary Language: Arabic
Fun Facts:
-Like Algeria, was settled by Berber peoples, and had a great deal of power. Various Empires rose and fell, but it was usually a dominant power in the region.
-Home to Casablanca, most famous for being the locale of the legendary Bogart picture. It was "French Morocco" during the colonial era, ending after World War II.
-It's currently a constituional monarchy, on the very far end of the Middle Eastern & Muslim world. There is an ongoing dispute over the West Sahara region, and it's yet to be determind if it will gain independence, or rejoin Morocco.
-Because of terrorist attacks, the government instituted an "arrest everyone we feel like" policy, which led a jaded populace to imply they did the attacks in the first place. Despite it's locale and population, it's been a U.S. ally since the 1800s, and was the first nation to formally recognize the England-less States.

Super-Powered Representatives:
* Jetstream is the lone example. I always thought M was, too, but I'm mixing up my North African states.

Jetstream

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KENYA
Actual name:
The Republic of Kenya
Population: 39 million
Capital: Nairobi
Primary Language: Swahili, English
Fun Facts:
-Home to many, MANY different tribes and cultures, leading to various problems, among them little centralization of power. The nation was picked for slaves to the Arab World.
-It was a British colony for years, with the ethnic groups played against each other, with certain ones allowed to take charge from the "hands off" bosses. The Tsavo man-eaters (the lions of "The Ghost & The Darkness" fame) killed dozens of railroad workers here. The Maasai are a fairly well-known racial group, but are quite small compared to most others.
-Famous for it's wildlife preserves and rainy seasons. It has various ethnic groups struggling for power, often leading to violence. Notably, Barack Obama's father was from here.

Super-Powered Representatives:
* One big name, and a pair of nobodies.

Storm
Kidogo (X-Student)
Bedlam III (Exemplars)

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NIGERIA
Actual name:
The Federal Republic of Nigeria
Population: 185 million
Capital: Abuja
Primary Language: English
Fun Facts:
-Nigeria, named for the Niger River, went through some empire growth, a Caliphate and more until the British made it an instrumental part of their slave trade in the 1800s. Britain gave it self-government in 1960, at which point it immediately fell to infighting, civil war and thirty years of rule by military juntas, until 1999, where it became a democracy. Sort of- elections are often contested.
-An absolutely massively-populous and wealthy nation in Africa- the "Giant of Africa". Anthony Bourdain just did a show detailing its "entrepeneur"-based economy and how everyone has multiple jobs and ways to make money (not just e-mail scams!). Still, there is vast economic disparity- the ugliness that happens during industrial revolutions is quite apparent here.
-Someone in that Bourdain episode made an interesting point- "Black people will never have pride until there is a great African nation". Basically, the fact that Africa is still kind of an economic wasteland instead of a powerhouse can be a source of shame, and that Nigeria becoming economically-viable on the world stage may be a great moment for people of African descent.
-The country is about 50% Christian, 50% Muslim. There are about 500 different languages, but the national language is English.

Super-Powered Representatives:
* Just one.

Oya (Idie Okonkwo)

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SOUTH AFRICA
Actual name:
The Republic of South Africa
Population: 49.9 million
Capital: Pretoria (executive), Bloemfontein (judicial) and Cape Town (legislative)
Primary Language: Numerous
Fun Facts:
-Has many tribes, the most famous of which are the Zulu. Was taken over by The Netherlands in the Colonial era, and was under their heel for a long time. Colonial wars took place between they and the Xhosa & Zulu tribes (the latter of which was led by Shaka Zulu, who conquered many other tribes in the process).
-Most-famous for it's apartheid system of government, allowing the 9% population of whites to control the 80+% blacks. This ended in the early 1990s, allowing Nelson Mandela to become the first elected president. Despite this, it still has a brutal crime rate (18,000+ murders a year) and a dramatic number of AIDS cases (10% of the entire population!). Also known as "The Rape Capital of the World", and kind of defines a lot of negative African stereotypes. I believe that Marvel created Maggott and made him come from this country solely as punishment for this.
-Racism is still a widespread factor, what with so many different tribal groups, languages (11 major ones), and even linguistic differences between similar races (the Afrikaans/English divide).

Super-Powered Representatives:
* A pair of the worst characters ever. Well, one terrible character, and one forgettable one.

Maggott
Voortrekker

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ZAMBIA
Actual name:
The Republic of Zambia
Population: 16.6 million
Capital: Lusaka
Primary Language: English
Fun Facts:
-Ruled by the Bantu people for generations, but European contact made it central to the slave trade. Victoria Falls is located here- "discovered" by an English explorer who named them after his Queen. Given independence in the 1960s, the nation was ruled by a dictator until about 1990. It is very poor- 60% of the nation is below the poverty line.

Super-Powered Representatives:
* Just the minor-league Impala.

Impala
Last edited by Jabroniville on Fri Dec 15, 2017 6:40 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Davies
Posts: 5080
Joined: Thu Mar 23, 2017 10:37 pm
Location: Edmonton, AB

Re: Europe

Post by Davies »

Jabroniville wrote: Fri Dec 01, 2017 9:08 pm POLAND
Super-Powered Representatives:
* One of Marvel's top two villains, and a bunch of nobodies.


Also the star of the best-selling Marvel comic book of all time. ;)
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."
User avatar
Woodclaw
Posts: 1462
Joined: Fri Sep 08, 2017 8:05 pm
Location: Como, Italy

Re: Jab's Builds! (Ruby! Yang! Blake! Weiss! Jaune! Pyrrha! Nora!)

Post by Woodclaw »

Sigh this world tour just reminded me how much I felt really hirked that the only attempt ever of Marvel Italia at creating some kind of contribution to the 616 universe came in the form of a terribly forgettable '90s miniseries (BTW, Jab, I knew you didn't like working on those characters, but I didn't left the Ronin Army because I had issues with 3rd Edition, it just happened that I started gravitating toward other games).
In general I always had the feeling that the focus on New York was something of a massive missed opportunity from Marvel, since it confined a crap-ton of superpowered individuals in a very small territory.
"You're right. Sorry. Holy shit," I breathed, "heckhounds.”

WareHouse W (main build thread for M&M)
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Re: Jab's Builds! (Ruby! Yang! Blake! Weiss! Jaune! Pyrrha! Nora!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Haha, you saw my 3e notes? I always felt bad about that set :). I thought I remembered you being disgusted with GR's lack of releases for 3e- was that Murkglow?
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Asia

Post by Jabroniville »

ASIA-
-The Orient has featured some of the world's oldest and most advanced cultures, with Empires stretching for miles. Paper and countless other things were invented, and Asia once had a very real shot at dominating the world the way the West now does. What held them back was countless civil struggles, as China in particular had so many groups jostling for power that centralization was extremely difficult- Empires were overthrown fairly frequently. Without that, they could have taken over the world the way the West was able to.

-Numerous ass-kickings by the West humbled them (China in particular was humiliated by constant invasions from England, who easily beat them several times), but they came back with a vengeance in the 20th Century- Japan was a dominant threat in the first half of the century, and China remains a global economic powerhouse. North Korea is an ever-present military threat to the surrounding region.

-One interesting thing is that the vastness of Asia gives it a strange gradual "cultural shift" as you move across the map. Clusters of nations are often quite similar to each other all over the world (much of Germany/Austria/Switzerland/etc. has various cultural costumes that are very much alike; you see kimonos and equivalent costuming appear in much of East Asia) but Asia is just so BIG that you see it happen several times. The Middle East soon shifts from Arabic-style stuff to a more Indian theme, and India leads into similar styles in Myanmar and the like, which things out so the "Indochina" region is more similar to each other, while Korea obviously takes things from China, and Japan does the same, but becomes more distinct through distance. At the local "Heritage Days" festival, I was particularly struck at how Myanmar looks EXACTLY like somebody mashed India and Cambodia together to make a nation- the gradual shift is so notable when you recognize certain attributes.

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CHINA
Actual name:
The People's Republic of China
Population: 1.38 billion
Capital: Beijing
Primary Language: Mandarin (Cantonese is also very common)
Fun Facts:
-The world's fourth-largest country, and easily it's most populous. One of the cradles of early civilization.
-Comprised of multiple provinces, and used to have many, many separate kingdoms. Fabled "Warring States" periods exist, with seven (or famously, three) nations competing for overall control.
-Various empires have ruled modern-day China and it's neighbors over the centuries. The Han Dynasty is among the most famous and powerful, and was supplanted by the Three Kingdoms era (today, Han Chinese are far and away the largest ethnic group in China, and on Earth). Various other dynasties achieved enormous power- the Tang especially.
-Generally, China is the most powerful and most culturally-dominant (basically inventing the language, poetry and ceramics of the entire continent) country in all of Asia, with rare instances of being overtaken by the Mongols (Genghis Khan's time) or the Japanese (20th Century). Their old fleets and armies were the greatest assembled at that time, and they were the most advanced people in the world. However, they had no real Industrial Revolution, which led to...
-It's historical dominance as a world power ended harshly in the late 1800s, as the various European powers basically took turns bending them over and violating them. The Opium Wars were created because the British actually wanted to enforce opium addiction upon the people, so they could trade it to China (among the biggest dick moves in history). The last dynasty, the Qing, ended in 1912 (it was preceded by the Ming, Tang, Song, etc. Dynasties).
-The Republic of China, under Chiang Kai-Shek, fell brutally to the Japanese in the preamble before World War II, and Mao Zedong's Communist forces took over the country after a post-WWII Civil War, on way to becoming a huge global force. Many countries refused to acknowledge the validity of the People's Republic, focusing instead of the tiny island nation of Taiwan as the legitimate nation.
-Is a focal point for both the martial arts of Asia (kung fu especially), and it's philosophy (Confucius, Taoism, Sun Tzu), it's languages, and more. Chinese inventions include paper, suspension bridges, the cannon, gunpowder, etc. Buddhism is the most dominant religion, though it originated in India (where Hinduism is stronger).
-Aided Communist uprisings over various parts of Asia (especially Korea & Vietnam), and became a World Power once again. Chairman Mao died in the 1970s, and his wife's Gang of Four were arrested shortly thereafter. A large succession of Chairmen have led the nation since then, as relations have improved with a mistrustful West.
-Wields the world's largest army in terms of manpower in the history of the world. It's generally known as a group of Communist overlords, with vast swaths of poor farmering communities mixed with highly-modern cities, all under the watchful eye of Big Brother. The internet and media are heavily-censored.
-It's also a huge, HUGE source of poaching and destruction of rare animals, all for penis medicine. You'd think a country of 2 trillion would have no need for aphrodisiacs, but nope, the Tigers must die. Look at the "areas found" section of nearly any endangered species in Asia, and you'll see it in the "Circle of Terror" around China & India.

Super-Powered Representatives:
* A rather large number of super-characters, largely a result of the "Yellow Peril" thing and the threat of Communist China during the Cold War- this lead to The Mandarin, Radioactive Man and other Chinese villains, while Fu Manchu led to the creation of The Yellow Claw... and Marvel's own Fu Manchu. Shang-Chi is the biggest-name superhero from the region.

The Mandarin
Temugin (The Mandarin's son)
The Ancient One (Tibetan, really)
Shang-Chi
Fu Manchu
Fah Lo Suee
The Cat
The Yellow Claw
Wong
Zhou Cheng
The Collective Man
Radioactive Man
China Force (Rabbit, Snake, Ox III, Rat)
Nuwa
Jade Dragon
Dragonfire & Coldmoon
The Dynasty/Ascendants
The Monkey King
Wong-Chu
Xorn
White Dragon
Sprite II
Pao Fu (Spirits of Vengeance)
Mister Negative
Death-Dealer
Moving Shadow
The Dragonfly III (Meiko)

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JAPAN
Actual name:
Nippon or Nihon ("Rising Sun"- the latter has more casual use)
Population: 127 million
Capital: Tokyo
Primary Language: Japanese
Fun Facts:
-Is made up of well over 6,000 islands, four of which are especially large. It's isolated status has allowed it many periods of being kept apart from the rest of the world, be it trade or by military force.
-For centuries, used a rich upper class of Samurai as land-owning muscle of the Shogun, who replaced the Emperor as the most powerful leader. Their fabled katana gained a near memetic amount of fame across the world in later eras, but were really no sharper than most European weapons (which was nonetheless impressive, given the crappy iron the Japanese had to work with).
-Poor national resources and trade led to much more lightly-armoured troops, which led to the samurai outlawing guns fairly quickly after getting them (the Japanese actually advanced gun technology by a ways before this happened)- it's bad for the warrior class to be able to be cut down with ease by peasants. In Europe, such a thing would have never worked, as there were too many neighboring countries around that would over-run anyone dumb enough to ban guns. Similarly, Japan has always had less natural resources than most other nations.
-The fabled Oda Nobunaga (portrayed as evil in many later works) nearly re-united a divided country, but was assassinated, and his work completed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Tokugawa Ieyasu took over after the latter's death, and had the most stability.
-The Ainu people live in the North, and are an indigenous group not closely related to modern-day Japanese ethnically.
-Has many famous names and legends, including Hattori Hanzo (a samurai who was also an assassin), Miyamoto Musashi (famous jerkass of a samurai), Yagyu Jubei (great swordsman), Sarutobi Sasuke (fictional ninja), and others. Countless anime & video game characters have either been named after, or inspired by, these individuals. Just think of all the "Sasukes" and "Hanzos" in ninja fiction.
-The country has produced several unique martial arts, including the famous Karate, and Sumo Wrestling (the national sport).
-Centuries of isolation were ended by Commodore Matthew Perry's "Black Ships" in the 1800s, essentially forcing the Japanese to modernise. Much to the chagrin of the rest of Asia, they did so with glee. The samurai & the Shogun lost all power, and the Emperor fell under the sway of a newly-mighty military force.
-Decided, decades after the other Imperialist Nations pretty much stopped conquering stuff and did a hands-off thing, to form their own Imperial Nation, taking over giant chunks of land all around them. This led directly to Pacific aggression against the Pacific Islands, Korea, China, and American Hawai'i (the latter of which was a SPECTACULARLY bad idea- "awaken a sleeping giant" indeed). The fierce determination and harsh training methods of the Japanese army led them to inflict some of the most horrifying wartime atrocities of all time to their victims- The Rape of Nanking chief among them, as well as terrible forced marches of captured troops (the Bataan Death March), torture, experimentation upon captives (Unit 731), etc. An estimated 30 to 50 MILLION civilians are reputed to have died during World War II directly because of Japanese war crimes. These atrocities kind of made the Allies rather unforgiving, which led to some nastiness later on.
-The Japanese army did VERY well during the early years of the war, but the vast economic powerhouse of the U.S. was far, far too strong, and eventually the Allies redoubled their efforts and started crushing Japan mercilessly. It was capped off with a war-ending symbol to the rest of the world what kind of power they were now dealing with, as a pair of atomic bombs devastated Hiroshima & Nagasaki, forcing the proud nation to admit utter defeat. To date, these are still the only examples of atomic weapons striking civilian targets.
-As part of the post-war rebuilding, knowledge about Japan's war guilt and war crimes were stifled, producing several generations with only the barest of ideas as to what they inflicted on the rest of the world. This left Japan with little "liberal guilt" compared to most Western nations, and REALLY pisses off some of it's close neighbors, who see them as getting off scot-free.
-Currently, Japan is an economic powerhouse in terms of technology, robotics, computers, video games, and more. It's anime, manga, monster-movies ("GOJIRAAAAAAH!") and pro wrestling have become beloved by dorks all across the world, and it's very distinctive culture (some anthropologists have inferred that Japan's "Fighting Spirit" and war-like culture gave way to a cute-obsessed culture with a collect-em-all nature) stands out. It has an extremly high rate of suicide- over 30,000 A YEAR (a lack of cultural stigma against it is blamed- it's an honorable way to go out and absolve yourself of failure), and a very small amount of foreigners or minority groups compared to most countries. Baseball is the most popular sport by a ways.
-Today, it's people have a reputation for great politeness, stuffiness/workaholism (like France, it's capital is famous within the country for the same stereotype that foreigners have of the entire nation), and subtle nationalism (which used to be WAY more pronounced), with an implication about their own superiority. The Korean minority is famously under-represented in the media for fears of provoking racial tension, and most other countries have their people depicted as rude fools. The Ainu and Burakumin (people descended from undertakers, leatherworkers and such) have few rights, and are often subtly discriminated against. Pride is held above all else, and shame is the worst thing ever, so a lot of people rarely speak up.


Super-Powered Representatives:
* Has a whole lot of superheroes and villains, largely thanks to the love Chris Claremont and Frank Miller had for Japan, ninjas and samurai. Claremont tossed in a host of characters for Wolverine's rogues & allies (Mariko, Silver Samurai, etc.), while Miller gave us The Hand. Prior to the '80s, the biggest-name character by far was the assholish Sunfire.

Sunfire
The Silver Samurai I
The Silver Samurai II
Revanche
Armor
Lady Bullseye
Mariko Yashida
Sunpyre
Yukio
Ogun
The Hand
Kirigi
Red Ronin
Matsu'o Tsurayaba
Shinobi Shaw
Zero II (The Lights)
Decay II (Exemplars)
Ichisumi
Snapdragon
The Shadowmasters
Daken/Dark Wolverine
Kamikaze
Sumo
Rumiko Fujikawa (Stark's Girlfriend)
Lady Lotus
Sunfire (Exiles)
---
The Big Hero Six:
Baymax
The Ebon Samurai
Fredzilla
Go Go Tomago
Hiro Takachiho
Honey Lemon
Wasabi No-Ginger
---
The Pacific Overlords:
Kuroko
Pele
Typhoon
The Big One
Irezumi


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SRI LANKA
Actual name:
The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Population: 20 million
Capital: Colombo
Primary Language: Singhala, Tamil
Fun Facts:
-A small island nation south of India, with a great amount of Buddhist history, and a distinct sorta-Indian culture.
-Was called the Dominion of Ceylon upon winning independence from the British in the late-40s, and had the world's first female Prime Minister in the '60s.
-Some conflicts have sprouted up between the Sinhalese ethnic majority (70%) and a Tamil minority, culminating with a Civil War that lasted from 1983 to 2009, the Tamils losing (and thus not getting their own country). Thus, many Tamils have emigrated to other nations.
-As a nation on the tip of India, it's an important port area, and was an Allied military base in World War II.
-Very much not a part of Pop Culture really, and only has a single comic book representative: Suvik Senyaka of The Acolytes.

Super-Powered Representatives:
* Just the one guy.

Senyaka (The Acolytes, Selene's Group)

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SINGAPORE
Actual name:
The Republic of Singapore
Population: 4.9 million
Capital: Singapore (City-State)
Primary Language: English pigdin (mixed with various other languages of the region)
Fun Facts:
-An island city-state, branching off from Malaysia in 1965. There are still issues between the two countries, but most people still have family & friends on the other side of the causeway.
-Almost half of the total population is of foreigners- it's a massively-multiracial place.
-It's the second most densely populated city in the world, after Monaco.
-Is famously-strict in terms of corporal punishment. Hundreds of hangings are carried out each decade, and a particularly-famous tabloid event happened when American teenager Michael Fay got his ass caned after doing some graffiti and petty theft. Drug dealers are usually sentenced to death. "Singapore is a fine city", as the joke says.
-Citizens must spend 2 years in the military, as a rule. It's also infamously government-controlled- basically a police state, despite having some of the happiest people in the world. Just don't expect to be able to do or say whatever you want.

Super-Powered Representatives:
* Just one crime-boss from the Wolverine book.

Tyger Tiger

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VIETNAM
Actual name:
The Socialist Republic of Viet Nam/Cộng hòa xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam
Population: 89.6 million
Capital: Hanoi
Primary Language: Vietnamese
Fun Facts:
-Was controlled by China for millennia, the occasional uprising (some led by WOMEN- they had a matriarchal society) being put down.
-Became a French colony known as "French Indochina", which was later split into Vietnam, Laos & Cambodia. Ho Chi Minh's communists in the North were expected to win the resulting elections after 'independence', so the Southern portion of Vietnam (and their own dictator) refused to hold them, starting the conflict between opposing sides. Minh's Viet Cong (shortened by American soldiers to "VC", "Victor Charlie" on radio-code, and finally "Charlie") killed thousands and tried to take over.
-America intervened, starting the most controversial war in it's history. The Americans actually beat the CRAP out of the Communist forces, but in a war of attrition that the Americans couldn't lose, the war's unpopularity combined with a still-large death-toll (58,000 is a BIG number, regardless of being far less than the dead Vietnamese) resulted in a large-scale pull-out. The Viet Cong now controlled the entire nation.
-Vietnam stands as a fairly-stable Communist dictatorship, with an uneasy relationship with China (they fought a short war in 1979 over land-grab attempts by the VC), whom they fear will start their takeover of Asia (not a joke) with Vietnam. They're actually more friendly with the AMERICANS of all people lately.
-It's building a HUGE population, and is seeking to curb it (two-child limit). A fat chunk of the population has no memory of the war that nearly burned the entire nation to the ground.

Super-Powered Representatives:
* A handful of mid-tier characters, though Steve Englehart's beloved Mantis is the biggest name nowadays, especially after Guardians of the Galaxy 2. Also of not is Karma of the New Mutants, along with her family.
Mantis (a literal Vietnamese whore-turned-superhero)
Arclight
Karma
Nguyen Ngoc Coy
Tran Coy Manh
Bengal
Smiling Tiger
Sha Shan (Sister Sun)
Brother Power
General Wo
Yinsen (Iron Man's Co-Creator)
Toni Ho

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CAMBODIA
Actual name:
The Kingdom of Cambodia/Preăh Réachéa Nachâk Kâmpŭchéa 
Population: 14.8 million
Capital: Phnom Penh
Primary Language: Khmer
Fun Facts:
-Home to the Khmer people, who formed the largest empire in Southeast Asia during the 13th to 15th centuries. It fell into decline, and was conquered a few times, first the Thai, eventually by the French for their "French Indochina" colony, then followed by the Japanese for their "Greater Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere".
-Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge sprung out of the ashes of the nation a decade after it gained full independence from France, taking advantage of the American pull-out in Vietnam to take total control. Between 1.4 and 2.2 million were killed as Pot's men killed all intellectuals, symbols of the old government, monks, ethnic minorities, and whoever else they wanted. This is the most genocidal group of the 20th century (percentage-wise), having wiped out 1/5th of the nation's population.
-The Vietnamese themselves invaded in the late '70s, and the Khmers fought a guerilla war against the Vietnamese-installed rulers for decades, being aided by the U.S., U.K., China and Thailand (why they would back the KHMER ROUGE, I have no idea- even if they disliked the Vietnamese). By 1993, Cambodia was now a monarchy again, with an old royal taking power. Pol Pot died in 1998, two years after dissolving the Khmer Rouge, having never been put on trial.

Super-Powered Representatives:
* Just a handful of New Warriors supporting characters. Notably, Tai arranged for her daughters to sleep with American servicemen, creating part of the Folding Circle.

Tai
Midnight's Fire (Cambodian/American)
Silhouette (Cambodian/American)
Silk Fever/Firewall

THAILAND
Actual name:
The Kingdom of Thailand/Mueang Thai
Population: 68.8 million
Capital: Bangkok
Primary Language: Thai
Fun Facts:
-Formerly known as Siam, from which we get Siamese Cats and Siamese Twins, its name to its people has always been Mueang Thai. It's arguably most famous in the west for The King and I (about a pretty white widow who dazzles the King with her awesomeness) and Muay Thai Kickboxing- their ultra-violent national sport, which is considered the epitome of striking arts today (pretty much everyone in MMA trains in it).
-Thailand was heavily influenced by India, but fell under the Khmer Empire of Cambodia. It gained independence in the 13th Century, and is quite notably the ONLY nation in Asia never to fall under European jurisdiction- careful planning and alliances went into play to make this the one part of Asia never to fall- it merely became a peaceful partner in trade. This amazing trait is accredited to a string of good rulers, and a canny manipulation of French and English rivalry for each other- "Siam" served as the perfect "Buffer State" between the British Raj and French Indochina.
-Huh, well I'll be damned- Thailand was on the Allies in World War I, but proximity to Japan made them AXIS Powers in World War II, signing a quick treaty after scuffling with French forces after France fell to Germany in the war. Military dictatorships ruled until the 1970s. Most recently, as of 2014, another military coup has taken power.

Super-Powered Representatives:
* Just one character- a minor one at that.

Stonecutter (Exemplars)

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SOUTH KOREA
Actual name:
The Republic of Korea
Population: 48.9 million
Capital: Seoul
Primary Language: Korean
Fun Facts:
-Is kind of the Ireland/Poland/Ukraine of the East, being right between the Chinese (dominant, huge, imperialistic), Mongols (violent, imperialistic) and Japanese (cruel, imperialistic), all of which have had fun over the years raping the country (sometimes almost literally).
-Korea got conquered a LOT as a result (by the various powers), but occasionally had it's own empire for decades (occasionally centuries) at a time (such as the Joseon era). Fought off the Japanese a few times, and got fought off themselves other times.
-Spent fourty years under Japanese control, having some of the worst crap possible inflicted upon it's population. Right after this ended, Kim il-Sung's Communist forces (already backed by the Soviets in the North) attempted to take over the nation, resulting in the Korean War. The Americans helped out the South, and the Chinese & Soviets helped the North, each trying to get "their" political side over in power. It ended in an armistice, separating the entire country.
-It had some crap decades after the war, with various dictators coming and going (one propped-up by the West, another General, another guy), by uprisings or assassination. It's now a democracy, and considerably-more well-off than it used to be (M*A*S*H* showed a pretty backwards country, and it kind of was for a long time).
-Yes, dog is a delicacy. Much of the world thinks this is FRICKIN' WEIRD, and the Koreans (especially ones over here) get defensive about it. I personally think it's funny, and rife for awesome un-PC jokes. Everyone can suck on it. Taekwondo is a famous martial art from the region, often used more as a sport than an actual elite combat form (it has a huge focus on kicks over punches, leaving them very open to counterattack).
-Features it's own language, Hongul, which was formally instituted all at once centuries ago. Patty Larceny once stole it on "Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego?"- it's among the more esoteric things stolen in the game show's run. And it's just called "Korea" to them. My Korean roomate in college had no idea what I was talking about when I referred to it as "South Korea"- they don't want to give the North the legitimacy.

Super-Powered Representatives:
* Two very minor-league villains.

Scrambler
Cybertooth
White Fox
Gun-R (one-off Contest of Champions victim)

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NORTH KOREA
Actual name:
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea
Population: 24 million
Capital: Pyongyang
Primary Language: Korean
Fun Facts:
-Split with the South in 1950, and they held off on military conflict after the Korean War. Kim il-Sung led the country for decades, and his son Kim Jung-il took over after his death, making his father a leader in-absentia (he still outranks his son). 
-Famously one of the biggest hell-holes on the entire Earth. Nearly the entire population is poor, people disappear frequently, brutality is common, entire CITIES are built completely empty (with fake buildings) just to look cool to the outside world, etc. Pretty much defines the trope that any nation with "Democratic" or "People's" in it is a communist dictatorship. It's military is one of the largest in the world- it's less a country with a military and more of a military with a country.
-Curiously shows up very little in comics, despite being SUCH an obvious choice for "Bad guys" (certainly it's easier than say, IRA terrorists). You could probably show them freely as super-villains more than nearly anybody else.

Super-Powered Representatives:
* Just one minor character from Fallen Angels.

Chance II (Fallen Angels)

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INDIA
Actual name:
The Republic of India/Bhārat Gaṇarājya
Population: 1.193 billion
Capital: New Delhi
Primary Language: None (23 official languages, 13 spoken by at least 10 million)
Fun Facts:
-Home of the Indus, one of the world's oldest cultures. The Maurya Empire was vastly powerful, being the spot where Alexander the Great's main push into Asia was stopped (the rest of Asia was hopefully grateful, though Alexander's death probably had a lot to do with it), and was once the wealthiest nation on Earth by a considerable ways. Various other Empires existed within the modern-day region, many quite powerful. The Muslim Mughal Empire had considerable power in the North.
-It's the centre of countless schools of thought (Mark Twain quotes that India is responsible for nearly all of global culture) as well as religion- both Buddhism and Hinduism were founded here. The latter of which seems confusing and complex on a level beyond all others, but it's the biggest polythesitic religion on Earth, so plenty seem to like it.
-They got conquered BAD by the English in the 1700s. The "Jewel of the Empire" was exploited for the full breadth of its wealth, and the Indian people suffered greatly, getting stereotyped by England as being poor and weak. By the time a certain Mahatma Gandhi and the civil unrest he fomented forced the Brits' hand and they left the nation, it was one of the poorest countries in the world. It still suffers from widespread poverty (41%, and keep in mind the size of the population here), as well as a giant gap between the wealthiest and the least-wealthy. It's also considered by many to be the worst country in the world to be a woman- even more than any Muslim nation (including the ones where women can't drive).
-It's got a lot of different states in it, some of which are more loyal to the central authority than others. Kashmir is a subject of strife with Pakistan (a Muslim country which was partitioned from the former whole), and many MANY languages abound. It's fabled "Bollywood" is the largest cultural outsource, which makes everything think Indians are a) weird, but not as weird as the Japanese, and b) obsessed with over-the-top musical numbers. Both are probably true.
-It's also famous for tons of ex-pats in the U.S. (convenience store clerk or cabbie being the obvious stereotypes, though doctors are becoming a new one as well), as well as a huge location for outsourcing, tech-support, and medical staff. Indians have actually gotten much more popular in the media, with "Indian Friend" now being a common trope in fiction. Despite his obvious stereotypical nature, Apu from The Simpsons was looked at as kind of an idol, though the younger generation of Indian actors seem to dislike him.
-Currently, it's the world's largest democracy, and has been relatively stable since World War II, with few major challenges to power. Though the Hindus have the majority, they themselves are so apart in philosophy with each other that no one group can maintain power- a kind of multi-party system that prevents overt cultural repression.

Super-Powered Representatives:
* Surprisingly small, given how large the nation is. But India doesn't have the impact on global culture that China or Russia do, so it's to be expected.

Thunderbird III
Omega Sentinel
Kavita Rao
Indra (Young X-Men)
Timeslip
Vindaloo (Acolytes)
Star Thief (one-off New Warriors guy)
Haven (births The Adversary)
Monsoon (Haven's Brother)
Sati (one-off Future Mutant)


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SAMOA
Actual name:
The Independent State of Samoa and American Samoa
Population: 192,000+ and 55,000+, respectively.
Capital: Apia & Pago Pago
Primary Language: Samoan, English
Fun Facts:
-The Samoans were generally peaceful descendants of Austronesian seafarers from centuries ago, but the arrival of Europeans in the 17th Century led to a period of civil warring between rival leaders. The "Spanish Flu" killed off one-fifth of the population in 1918-19, while New Zealand held governance on West Samoa for decades, while American Samoa, a quintet of major islands and some smaller ones, is an unincorporated part of the United States.
-When West Samoa changed its name to "Samoa" in 1997, American Samoa was QUITE annoyed, as this diminished their own identity (I can kinda see that).

Super-Powered Representatives:
* Just... Mondo. They must be swelling with pride.

Mondo

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THE PHILIPPINES
Actual name:
The Republic of The Philippines
Population: 100.9 million
Capital: Manila
Primary Language: Filipino
Fun Facts:
-A large archipelago in Southeast Asia, theories abound as to just where the inhabitants came from. It's likely a mix of sources, as the nation has close proximity to Polynesia, Southern Asia, and even the Indian Subcontinent- that Filipinos are usually quite visually distinct from other Asians seems to make it clear there's some mixing going on.
-The nation was named for King Philip of Spain, as Spaniards colonized and effectively took over the islands, which had been suffering under numerous conflicts between rival groups, including Muslims in the North, and various other tribes. The Spanish were able to take the divided archipelago quickly and easily. The Spaniards reconquered much of the land the Caliphates had taken (in revenge for the years of Muslim interdiction into Spain), and unified the archipelago as one nation.
-The Spanish ruled an increasingly-populous nation from the 1500s until the late 1800, at which point the Spanish-American War took place, in which the Americans, now eager to get an Empire of their very own, started taking Spanish colonies left and right. Fifty years of American control was ended by the Japanese invasion during World War II, at which point the Filipino guerillas began aiding the Americans against the hostile Japanese occupiers. The end result was independence for the Filipino peoples.
-Today, The Philippines are extremely populous, but not economically strong- a huge portion of the nation's money comes from locals emigrating overseas, working in (usually servile) jobs, and sending the money back home to their families- people are separated for years in this manner. It's brought some money to the homeland, but has the side-effect of having Filipinos being stereotyped as low-income fast-food, nanny & janitorial workers in much of the world, as these are the jobs they usually end up getting. Inter-Asian racism is depressingly common- I've heard Filipinos refered to as "the lowest of the totem pole" by the Chinese (who naturally view themselves as the higest), or "The Mexicans of Asia".

Super-Powered Representatives:
* Only one minor-league super-team.

The Triumph Division
Last edited by Jabroniville on Fri Dec 15, 2017 6:43 am, edited 5 times in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Australia

Post by Jabroniville »

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AUSTRALIA
Actual name:
The Commonwealth of Australia
Population: 22.5 million
Capital: Canberra
Primary Language: English
Fun Facts:
-Was basically discovered by Aborigines (now PC-ized, "Native" style, as "Indigenous Australians"), but nobody quite knows where THEY came from (probably the Pacific Islands). They had some fun, and then white people showed up. Nowadays, most of them live in poverty, like most indigenous populations tend to once the colonists come by. Stolen Generations, institutionalized racism, etc.
-Famously got used as a penal colony for deported criminals, but things started converting to "regular" society by the 1800s, as other settlers came, and people got civilized. Eventually, a real country formed.
-Had a few moments of national pride in both World Wars, particularly Gallipoli (Canada was a part of that one, too).
-Still partially a monarchy, but like most places, the Queen has no real power.
-Famous for it's accent, it's Outback (most people DON'T live there- it's got a LOT of nigh-uninhabitable territory), and it's wildlife. Australia is a huge source of marsupials, poisonous things (the ten most-deadly snakes in the world, for example), and screwed-up animals. Seriously, the Platypus alone earns it "wierdest place ever" cred. The only animals that aren't bizarre, poisonous, or sheep- introduced species, actively trying to wipe out the entire continent. The Cane Toad, camel and cat are all common pests.

Super-Powered Representatives:
* Australia is the proud home of the amazing Boomslang, though Pyro & Boomerang are much more famous (Boomerang was raised in the U.S., and thus has zero Aussie cultural stereotypes aside from his trademark weapon). Curiously, both Gateway and Manifold are Australian Aborigines with mass teleportation powers.

Boomerang
Pyro
Boomslang
Gateway
Manifold
The Kangaroo I (Oliver)
Talisman III (Aborigine)
Lifeguard
Slipstream
Barnacle (The Acolytes)
Gorgeous George (The Nasty Boys)

Image

NEW ZEALAND
Actual name:
New Zealand
Population: 4.8 million
Capital: Wellington
Primary Language: English
Fun Facts:
-Located to the Southeast of Australia, New Zealand is known for some odd wildlife (paritcularly the Kiwi, a flightless bird which gives New Zealanders their nicknames). Due to its extremely remote nature on the southern end of the planet, it was one of the last places ever inhabited by humans. Various tribes of Polynesian-descended peoples inhabited the islands first, but most were diminished greatly soon after European arrival.
-Dutch traders named it "New Zeeland", but the British Anglicized it right after taking control. Like many former colonies, it still holds the Queen as the symbolic head of state, but true leadership rests with the Prime Minister (who is, as of this writing, a TOTAL MILF). There's about a 14% Maori population left, with Asians close behind them as most-populous minority. The most popular sport is rugby, which is like football with more dick-punting.
-Their extinct animals include the huge Moa, and the Haast's Eagle- largest of the birds of prey.

Super-Powered Representatives:
* Very, very minor characters.

Araoha Tepania
Greystone (X.S.E.)
Kain (Pacific Overlords)
Last edited by Jabroniville on Fri Dec 15, 2017 6:50 am, edited 4 times in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Fake Nations

Post by Jabroniville »

FICTIONAL COUNTRIES:
* Comics likes to have fictional countries sometimes. In general, they all represent a real-world nation (DC's "Bialya" was just Libya, "Qurac" was Iraq), but can get away with a lot more stuff, such as having a super-villain for a leader, having the population get genocide-d, etc.

MADRIPOOR:
* Marvel's analog of Singapore. Oddly, Singapore is more of a crime-free Police State than a crime-ridden hellhole like Madripoor is. It's generally used in Wolverine tales to tell dark, noir-ish stories about him as "Patch". Most any story involving Madripoor is about organized crime. The Fraction/Aja Hawkeye has him go there, amidst all the crime-bosses bidding over an image of him "killing a man" (it's a fake; Hawkeye is sent to get it back to "prove" that it's legit), and faces off against Madame Masque and others. One Avengers World story has the Dragon living beneath the city wake up and fly off... carrying the island on its back. Then Shang-Chi grows big and fights it. That book was kind of awesome when it was around.

Super-Powered Representatives:
* Just a bunch of low-end guys, actually. Their major crime-boss, Tyger Tiger, is from elsewhere. Probably fitting for a Singapore-Expy to have big-name immigrants.

Aardwolf
---
The Rising Sons:
Dragonwing
Jet-Black
Nightwind
Sign
Spoilsport
Tough Love


WAKANDA:
* Wakanda is the infamous African nation created by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby to throw all our stereotypes about Africa away. In the NINETEEN-SIXTIES this was absolutely astonishing stuff- almost a "wish fulfilment" thing for African people. It was treated as a tribal culture with some "typical African" stuff like huts & clothes made from thatches or whatever, but it was also REALLY high-tech. Subsequent years have revealed a mysterious culture (with lots of retcons making them look better or worse; worst-case scenarios include withholding the cures for diseases from the rest of the world out of spite), tons of cults, numerous bad guys and more.

Super-Powered Representatives:
* Naturally, the Black Panther is the hugest character. Several of his Rogues, plus his sister, also make up the group.

The Black Panther
Shuri
The Man-Ape
Achebe
The White Wolf
Gentle (Young X-Men)

GENOSHA:
* A fictional country meant to represent South Africa and its system of Apartheid, using Mutants as slaves instead of blacks as econimically and politically-disadvantaged people. It was generally used in the "Later Chris Claremont Era" and later writers usually just ignored it. Until Grant Morrison had it wiped out after becoming a "Mutant Stronghold".

Super-Powered Representatives:
* Generally all minor characters until modern times.

Full Bio here
Hawkshaw
Pipeline
Punchout
Wipeout
Shola Inkosi
Negasonic Teenage Warhead

LATVERIA:
* The first and greatest of Marvel's "I dunno- some Eastern European Country". It generally serves as a way to make a guy foreign and weird, but also Caucasian. I mean, you couldn't really pull off a "small fictional country between France and Germany", but Northeastern Europe and the Balkans? Forgettaboutit- most people can't even name those countries NOW- it's very believable for there to just be "random Romania-like nation" out there in Latveria or Symkaria or whatever.

Super-Powered Representatives:
* They only really need the one, though both Kristoff Von Doom and Dreadknight call Latveria home as well.

Kristoff Von Doom
Doctor Doom
Dreadknight

SYMKARIA:
* Like Latveria, but so small and podunk that its ruler (Silver Sable) controls the entire economy via... super-spy stuff? It's very weird. And all so Spider-Man can be recruited into spy stories with her.

Super-Powered Representatives:
* Only Silver Sable. Her "Wild Pack" of mercenaries are from all over the world.

Silver Sable

SLORENIA:
* Another Generic Balkan Country, but this one has more of a "Post-Civil War Yugoslavia" feel to it. It was utterly destroyed by Ultron in the famous Ultron Unlimited arc.

Super-Powered Representatives:
* Just one notable villain.

Black Brigade

DELVADIA:
* An analog of "poor South American countries as fountains of Communism, military juntas and drugs". It's only real use is in producing the Tarantulas, who vexed Spider-Man off and on. One story featured a bunch of poor immigrants being shipped back there after their illegality was discovered- a "downer ending" that proved that there were some things super-powers couldn't prevent.

Super-Powered Representatives:
* The two Tarantulas and that's it.

La Tarantula I (Rodriguez)
La Tarantula II (Alvarez)

COSTA VERDE:
* Generic South American country. Kinda poor, which is why Jarvis had a PenPal/Adopt-A-Family thing with Silverclaw.

Super-Powered Representatives:
* Just Silverclaw. I don't think we've ever seen or heard from this nation otherwise.

Silverclaw

GHUDAZA:
* Generic Militaristic South American Country.

Super-Powered Representatives:
* They invented a whole country just for JUNTA? Really?

Junta

AQIRIA:
* Generic Arabic Country

Super-Powered Representatives:
* Just one super-villain, probably since Marvel didn't want to offend a REAL country with this Arab Oil Sheik.

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

Re: Jab's Builds! (Ruby! Yang! Blake! Weiss! Jaune! Pyrrha! Nora!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Countries with new "bios":

Liechtenstein, Zambia, The Philippines, Thailand and all the fictional ones :).

Next up, actual builds!
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