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

[Woodclaw]

Yeah, I was thinking of a version that was just a lady, plus a Super-Powered Sidekick in the Eye, but the thought of it Interposing every single round was annoying- she basically FIGHTS like one single entity, so that's how I called it.

The eye never gets specifically targeted in these stories?

Yeah, didn't anyone ever poke the eye, uh, in the eye??

In the Legion Cartoon Matter-Eater Lad took a big bite out of it. It worked, but he was hospitalized for months.

[Davies]

In the Legion Cartoon Matter-Eater Lad took a big bite out of it. It worked, but he was hospitalized for months.

In that case I'd give most of her powers the Removable limitation, since damaging the eye or separating Sarya from it depowers her.

[Ares]

Yeah, I was thinking of a version that was just a lady, plus a Super-Powered Sidekick in the Eye, but the thought of it Interposing every single round was annoying- she basically FIGHTS like one single entity, so that's how I called it.

The eye never gets specifically targeted in these stories?

Yeah, didn't anyone ever poke the eye, uh, in the eye??

Karate Kid once shattered the Eye with a double karate chop, but it reformed seconds after. I think he might be the only Legionnaire to damage it in the comics. It is possible to blind the Eye or separate the Empress from the Eye, leaving it without orders and her relatively helpless, but that might work better as a complication, unless you want to give the Eye a Deflection power it can use to keep her safe.

[Jabroniville]

MANO
Created By: Jim Shooter & Curt Swan
First Appearance: Adventure Comics #352 (Jan. 1967)
Home Planet: Angtu
Origin of Powers: Mutation
Eras: Original & Reboot
Role: Would-Be Conqueror
PL 11 (131)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Deception 3 (+4)
Expertise (Space Villain) 8 (+10)
Insight 4 (+5)
Intimidation 6 (+7)
Perception 5 (+6)

Advantages:
Equipment (Environment Suit- Rebreathers), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"Anti-Matter Touch That Never Hits Anyone Important" Damage 16 & Weaken Toughness 16 (Extras: Affects Objects) (Quirks: Only on Right Hand) [47]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Anti-Matter Touch +6 (+16 Damage, DC 31)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +4, Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications: 
Vulnerable (Regular Atmospheres)- Angtu was a world of incredibly-high pollution. Mano must wear an environment suit on worlds that give few others any kind of trouble.
Responsibility (He Never Hits Anybody)- Despite a touch that can destroy planets, Mano is oddly lacking in Legionnaire fatalities. He tends to over-use Power Attack needlessly, thus missing all of the more fragile Legionnaires.

Total: Abilities: 48 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 47 / Defenses: 17 (131)

-Mano, with the most ridiculously-simple and nicknamey-name in the Fatal Five, was born with the power to disintegrate anything he touches with his right hand. This "Anti-Matter Touch" was apparently used to destroy his ENTIRE HOMEWORLD, the polluted world of Angtu, because he was pissed off at his people for mistreating him because of his mutation. Like, he literally touched the ground and obliterated his entire planet. That is CRAZY.

-Mano is thus considered one of the worst murderers in the galaxy (Jesus, I should hope so), and got recruited into the Fatal Five. In the "Reboot" era (see? SEE? DC's Wikipedia bios literally skip THIRTY YEARS' worth of information!), he destroys what is a dead world- Angtu was ruined by chemical warfare. He hunts Leland McCauley, who sold the weapons that destroyed it. Though he was still a generic super-villain, he was shown to hate the deaths of innocents & civilians, separating him from the rest of the Five.

-Mano has the potentially planet-breaking power to destroy anything with a single touch. Since he's never killed a single important character with it, I'm going to assume his accuracy sucks balls. Seriously, kids: don't give your bad guys the power to shatter planets when you also don't want to kill off any of your heroes. It makes your villains look extremely stupid.

[Jabroniville]

The eye never gets specifically targeted in these stories?

Yeah, didn't anyone ever poke the eye, uh, in the eye??

Karate Kid once shattered the Eye with a double karate chop, but it reformed seconds after. I think he might be the only Legionnaire to damage it in the comics. It is possible to blind the Eye or separate the Empress from the Eye, leaving it without orders and her relatively helpless, but that might work better as a complication, unless you want to give the Eye a Deflection power it can use to keep her safe.

That's what I went with, ultimately. Her and the Eye are functionally one being, and the Eye cannot be destroyed. To me, that's Complications over a Device.

[MacynSnow]

I just think Mano needs a perscription helmet,as he obviously needs glasses to hit anything important.

[Davies]

Mano is more than a bit tragic in the reboot, as he was expecting to die himself when he destroyed Angtu, and his horrified scream when he realizes that he's lived through it sticks with me, twenty-five years later.

What I want to know is, had Shooter somehow heard about the (then-incredibly obscure) Manos, The Hands of Fate?

[Batgirl III]

Villains with inherently and unfailingly lethal attack powers are a terrible idea if you expect to use them in more than one story. Mano can never use his death-touch on anyone, Cottonmouth can never bite anyone's head off, Silver Samurai's slice-through-anything-sword will never impale anyone, and so forth.

I was explaining this to my Young Ward as the noticed that Mick Rory/Heatwave on Legends of Tomorrow never seems to hit anyone with his flame-thrower, and spends a lot of time punching mooks instead of flambéing them.

[Woodclaw]

Mano is more than a bit tragic in the reboot, as he was expecting to die himself when he destroyed Angtu, and his horrified scream when he realizes that he's lived through it sticks with me, twenty-five years later.

What I want to know is, had Shooter somehow heard about the (then-incredibly obscure) Manos, The Hands of Fate?

It's more likely they just picked out a dictionary, "mano" means "hand" in Italian and Spanish.

[scc]

Yeah, she looks like the type who's good at controlling one-eyed monsters.

[HalloweenJack]

Yeah, she looks like the type who's good at controlling one-eyed monsters.

noish

[Jabroniville]

... He looks stupid.

THAROK
Created By: Jim Shooter & Curt Swan
First Appearance: Adventure Comics #352 (Jan. 1967)
Home Planet: Zadron
Origin of Powers: Nuclear Accident
Eras: Original & Reboot
Role: Would-Be Conqueror, Killer Cyborg
PL 10 (113)
STRENGTH 2/8 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0/8 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Deception 4 (+5)
Expertise (Space Villain) 3 (+11)
Intimidation 6 (+7)
Perception 3 (+4)

Advantages:
Power Attack, Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"Half-Robot"
Enhanced Strength 6 (Flaws: Limited to Right Side of Body) [6]
Protection [4]

"Super-Brain"
Enhanced Intelligence 8 [16]
Enhanced Advantages 1: Inventor [1]
Enhanced Skills 10: Expertise (Science) 5 (+13), Technology 5 (+13) [5]
Quickness 6 (Flaws: Limited to Mental Tasks) [3]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Robotic Half +10 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +4

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

Complications: 
Motivation (Greed & Power)
Motivation (Returning To Human Form)- Tharok hates his robotic half.

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 16--8 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 35 / Defenses: 13 (113)

-Tharok was a small-time crook who stole a nuclear device, which exploded, and vaporized half his body. His people, holding life sacred, rebuilt his body using robotic parts, making him look robotic on that half- a look that would be improved upon by the Terminator in the 1980s. He was recruited into the Fatal Five, where his robotic brain could control Validus. In a later time, a clone of his formed the Legion of Super-Assassins, but both this "Dark Man" and Tharok were killed. Tharok did not appear again until the "Reboot", in 1996. Here, a chemical compound had destroyed half of his body, and he slew the doctor who saved him... that's it. That's his entire bio. See what I mean about DC bios online? Like, freaking Avalanche of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants has more to his bio than this, and he debuted ten years later, and is FAR less important!

-Tharok is the least physically-capable of the Fatal Five, but is the smartest- he apparently wields a lot of gadgets and one-off devices, which can be a REAL nuisance in the more "seat of your pants" storytelling of the 1960s, which could explain away ANYTHING by "Science Did It".

[Ares]

Mano was originally as fast as Karate Kid, which would make him pretty lethal in combat. But much like how the Persuader's axe can cut through anything but never kills anyone, Mano never killed anyone that mattered.

Tharok did make a brief appearance in the Legionnaires book, having been found and brought back to lead a new Fatal Five. They realized he looked much less stupid when you gave him pants. He really was this sort of evil hybrid of Batman and Capt. America with a dash of Iron Man, the guy with tactical and scientific skills to lead a team of lethal powerhouses.

[Batgirl III]

Tharok was great in Nextwave! Sure it was totally out of character and really shouldn’t be counted as canonical but...

Whuzzat?

Oh. Never mind.

[Batgirl III]

Tharok was great in Nextwave! Sure it was totally out of character and really shouldn’t be counted as canonical but...

Whuzzat?

Oh. Never mind.