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

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

Messiah (Maas)

Post by Jabroniville »

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MESSIAH II (Alden Maas)
Created By:
John Byrne
First Appearance: The Fantastic Four #263 (Feb. 1984)
Role: Disney Parody

-Alden Maas was a deliberate take on Walt Disney, having been a fabled cartoon creator who made his own Theme Park ("Wonderworld"), and had strange, ultra-grand ideas in the later years of his life. However, John Byrne made Maas a true nutcase- a man who disbelieved Continental Drift Theory, and instead put forward the notion that the Earth was always expanding. Fearing this was at an end and humanity would soon run out of space, Maas decided to drill a thermonuclear device into the planet's core to "re-start" the process. This led to the deaths of many of the Mole Man's people, leading to the inevitable "Mistaken Identity Fight" that literally every Mole Man story features. Ultimately, the Mole Man & Thing joined forces to confront Maas... who turned out to be long-dead. His robots and assistant had been doing the work of their employer. Oh, and the device never would have accomplished its intended purpose anyhow. Kind of a pair of "Filler" issues, really, though the Marvunapp writer REALLY enjoyed them.

-Maas is, humorously, a playful jab by Byrne on Neal Adams, who himself ACTUALLY BELIEVED THIS EXPANDING EARTH THEORY, and tried to put forward this notion in book form. Byrne, while an admirer of Neal's, though he was nuts, and used this character (whose name is an anagram of "Neal Adams") to make fun of the idea.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Mon Jul 04, 2022 6:11 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Messiah (S'met'kth)

Post by Jabroniville »

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MESSIAH III (S'met'kth)
Created By:
Joe Kelly & Walter McDaniel
First Appearance: Deadpool #1 (Jan. 1997- mentioned), Deadpool #24 (Jan. 1999- seen)
Role: World Destroyer

-This Cosmic Entity brings eternal peace to worlds... by robbing them of their free will, transforming them into blissed-out dens of joy. Much-feared by various enclaves throughout the galaxy, some Earthmen attempted to stop him using Deadpool. Captain America was mind-controlled into being his champion, but Deadpool kicked Cap in the ribs, stunning him, and used the weapons of an alien meant to destroy Messiah, and killed the being. The wave of peace and bliss the creature created dissipated, leaving some relieved, others morose, and others violent- the cycle of pain began anew.

-S'met'kth is of vague size (never appearing fully on panel with something to compare against it), but can warp the minds of entire worlds as it passes by, take atmospheric and outer space conditions easily, and affect beings as powerful as The Watcher.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Mon Jul 04, 2022 6:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Mind-Master

Post by Jabroniville »

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MIND-MASTER (Ruffio Costa)
Created By:
Chris Claremont, Marv Wolfman & George Tuska
First Appearance: Daredevil Annual #4 (1976)
Role: Mafia Super-Villain

-This weird one-off threat is a mid-tier Maggia guy who was engaged in a kidnapping ring, and being vexed by the Black Panther & DD in a Daredevil Annual. His henchmen were swiftly beaten up, but when the machinery in their base exploded, it turned out that it was a former government weapons lab. Bathed in radiation, Costa gained the power to unleash Mental Blasts, albeit ones that required a period of recharging. Inexplicably, his new powers also came with a COSTUME, and he immediately started fighting the two heroes. He mind-controlled the Panther into fighting DD, but Daredevil managed to punch him down. He rebuilt his power and easily neutralized all their punches, but his next blast drained him fully, and he was promptly KO'd by the Panther. The character has never reappeared. His costume is a weird mix of plain and distinctive, being all-white but having flared gloves, boots, and a mask that stand out a bit.

-Mind-Master seems to have only Mental Blasts listed on Marvunapp, but the issue description on the same site indicates Mind Control and a Force Field of some kind.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Mon Jul 04, 2022 6:13 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Mindstar

Post by Jabroniville »

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MINDSTAR (Silas Warden)
Created By:
John Warner & Craig Russell
First Appearance: Son of Satan #5 (Aug. 1976)
Role: Fake Holy Man

-Mindstar, a telepathic agent of the God Anubis, appeared in Son of Satan as an early foe for a single arc. Decked out in Egyptian garb, he hunted a soul that had escaped the realm of Anubis. Being driven insane thanks to his link to Anubis, Mindstar killed the soul instead, and went to war with Daimon Hellstrom. Anubis was furious that his agent was now acting without orders, and planned to kill him, but Daimon intervened, blaming Anubis for Mindstar's troubles, and cutting him a deal- he defeated Mindstar himself, and Anubis honored the agreement and simply de-powered him instead of killing him.

-Mindstar was Telepathic, Telekinetic, cast Illusions, opened portals to other dimensions, flew, used Mental Blasts, and could separate people from their "Astral Selves".
Last edited by Jabroniville on Mon Jul 04, 2022 6:13 am, edited 2 times in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Mystique

Post by Jabroniville »

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MYSTIQUE (Raven Darkholme)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Dave Cockrum
First Appearance: Ms. Marvel #16-17 (May-June 1978)
Role: Recurring Foe, Shapechanger, Femme Fatale
Group Affiliations: The Marauders, The Dark X-Men, The Brotherhood of Mutants, X-Factor, Freedom Force, DARPA, The Mossad
PL 10 (178), PL 12 (178) Liar
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Acrobatics 7 (+12)
Athletics 5 (+7)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+12)
Deception 10 (+14, +16 Attractive)
Expertise (Spy) 10 (+14)
Insight 4 (+8)
Intimidation 2 (+6)
Investigation 4 (+8)
Perception 4 (+8)
Persuasion 6 (+10, +12 Attractive)
Ranged Combat (Firearms) 3 (+13)
Sleight of Hand 5 (+5)
Stealth 7 (+12)
Technology 2 (+6)
Vehicles 5 (+8)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Attractive, Beginner's Luck, Benefit (Alternate Identities), Defensive Roll, Diehard, Daze (Deception), Equipment 4 (Blaster Rifle +6, Body Armour, Standard Spy Gear), Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Rifle), Jack-of-All-Trades, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 7

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Metamorphosis"
Morph 3 (Humanoids) [15]
"Has Kids in Their Thirties and Looks like THAT" Immunity 1 (Aging) [1]
"Mind Shield" Enhanced Will Save 2 (Flaws: Limited to vs. Mental Attacks) [1]
Variable 2 (Body-Altering Powers) [14]

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Blaster Rifle +13 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +3 (+4 Body Armour), Fortitude +7, Will +8 (+10 vs. Mental Attacks)

Complications:
Relationship (Foster Daughter, Rogue)- Mystique was very close to Rogue, and their adversarial relationship puts a strain on the normally-amoral woman.
Secret (Countless Identities)
Enemy (Ms. Marvel)- Introduced as Carol Danvers' arch-nemesis, Raven was "upgraded" to another Claremont book, the X-Men, when Danvers' low-selling book was cancelled. They still dislike each other.
Enemy (Graydon Creed)- Mystique got some from Sabretooth (eewwww...), and produced an evil bastard of a kid, who was a sucky Robert Kelly rip-off who was just a Flat Character.

Total: Abilities: 70 / Skills: 76--38 / Advantages: 22 / Powers: 31 / Defenses: 17 (178)

Mystique- Marvel's Most Over-Used Mutant?:
-Mystique is... REALLY, REALLY, REALLY OVER-PLAYED. I mean, it feels like every f***ing X-Book I've read in the past couple years has featured Raven as a major character at some point, and almost every one of them pulls the "NOPE IT WAS MYSTIQUE AS THAT CHARACTER!" thing. What's funny is that her schemes appear relatively simple and greed-inspired (she's running Madripoor now, I guess), rather than the culmination of some giant Event Story, yet her omnipresence feels over-done.

Mystique- Ms. Marvel to the X-Men:
-Mystique is actually the most prominent example of something I noticed a few years back- the tendency for creators to invent a new character for ONE book, and then trot them around to their OTHER work. Mystique, in fact, debuted as a MS. MARVEL foe, vexing Carol Danvers in her own series. After that failed, Claremont waited a couple years, by which point the character suddenly reappeared inexplicably leading a new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, comprised of mostly-new characters. Her Brotherhood were actually very unimportant to their own debut, which was basically as a means to an end- their assassination of the anti-mutant Senator Robert Kelly would be the spark that led to the "Dark Future" of Days of the Future Past, which was one of those mega-events that REALLY showed people what Claremont & Byrne were capable of. Time-travelling Kitty Pryde ends up in our time, giving the X-Men the means to stop the Brotherhood and see save Kelly's life, thus saving the future.

-Then Claremont gave Mystique a Randomly-Added Child, saying that Mystique was the caring foster-mother of Rogue, who soon became a Claremont Pet Character (right down to copying Carol's power-set so that a "Ms. Marvel" could still be active). When Rogue copies Ms. Marvel's powers... but also her memories, thoughts, and personality, she is bereft, and only Professor Xavier can help her. Mystique is abandoned, and later arrested by a powerless Carol Danvers. Around this time it was REALLY clear that Claremont (who had a reputation for this anyhow) was setting up Mystique & Destiny as "more than friends", essentially showing a romantic relationship that never led to on-panel kissing.

-Mystique later cleverly puts herself in government hands as a special agent- though her Ms. Marvel days featured her as an important face at DARPA while in disguise as a normal woman, this turned her into the leader of FREEDOM FORCE, which was a big part of late '80s, early '90s comics. Here, she and her former Brotherhood teammates were "Tame Muties", working on special missions for the government. The team was actually HIGHLY-successful at points, even capturing the Avengers when they were thought to be traitors. However, much of their credibility is shaken when Claremont's NEW Big Villains, The Reavers, arrive on Muir Island and the two teams fight. Mystique's Freedom Force loses both Stonewall and Destiny, the latter of which emotionally shatters her. Claremont and other writers show a woman in deep grief, though she eventually makes peace with Rogue, and even saves Professor X's life. It's clear she hasn't reformed, but is still a changed woman.

Mystique Without Claremont:
-Claremont leaving Marvel in the early '90s left Mystique without a head writer, and so she headed into that troublesome morass of X-Characters in the 1990s- team-hopping, random characterization, and more. She ends up on the post-Peter David X-Factor team, being forced to join the team (if that wasn't dumb enough, SABRETOOTH was as well). A later Retcon establishes that Mystique and Sabretooth were the parents of Graydon Creed- their abandoning him being part of his Anti-Mutant cause. She considers assassinating him, but discovers that his backers want him as a martyr. Graydon is eventually killed by his own backers, setting off the disappointing Operation: Zero Tolerance- Sabretooth is revealed as a double-agent meant to kill her. She bails on the team, but ensures that they survive their wounds (Sabretooth easily massacres the whole unit one-by-one).

-The next several years are basically full of random X-writers coming and going, so Mystique just goes through a series of one-offs that don't matter. She loses her mind over a series of messes (losing her powers temporarily and being stuck as a man; finding out that Destiny was part of an anti-mutant conspiracy), and tries to kill Senator Kelly again- Pyro dies rescuing him, and Moira MacTaggert is killed after developing a cure for the Legacy Virus. And rather than be punished for this heinous act, she just escapes jail, nearly kills Banshee, and wrecks the X-Corps. Then Xavier forces her to work as his own special agent (despite MURDERING HIS FIRST LOVE), and she infiltrates the X-Men as "Foxx", joining Gambit's training squad and tries to seduce Gambit in order to drive a wedge between him and Rogue. And when caught, she begs forgiveness, pleads loneliness, and is ACCEPTED ONTO THE TEAM (WHAT THE FUUUUUUUUUUUU...?!?!?!), but leaves at Nightcrawler's behest.

Mystique- Movie Marvel:
-Around this time, Mystique appeared in spectacular fashion in the X-Men film trilogy, where the supermodel Rebecca Romijn-Stamos was brilliantly depicted as a naked blue lady, more or less giving us R-Rated nudity in a PG movie, just because she had scales where her privates would be. I mean, you have to work pretty hard to be the most memorable fanservice in a movie with FAMKE JENSEN AND HALLE BERRY in it, but let's just say that EVERYONE remembered this. Because Romijn was a pretty girl and not, say, a GOOD ACTOR, her role was largely kept to a scene or two in each film, but the distinct appearance, secret agent stuff, reconfiguration into a Melee Fighter, and more, made her very memorable. She was unceremoniously dumped in the third film (one of MANY problems with it), with Magneto suddenly bailing on her ("you're not one of us ANYMORE...") just because she got de-powered SAVING HIS ASS- her only scene after that was with someone narrating that she gave the feds information on him. It was a REALLY poor send-off.

-The character would prove so iconic that Jennifer Lawrence was chosen to play her as the second lead in X-Men: First Class, right before the Hollywood Hype Machine declared her the "Next Big Thing". I still remember a friend going on about how hot she was, and randomly looking her up... and discovering that this COMPLETE UNKNOWN had about thirteen movies coming out, including some trilogy of Hunger Games movies. It was the clearest example I can ever think of for that weird way Hollywood studios & producers kind of collude together and declare the "Next Big Star" (remember the year of a million Jude Law movies?), and fight in order to make their push happen. In this case, they didn't "Olivia Wilde" it- Lawrence legitimately became a megastar, now getting all the roles Anne Hathaway once got before she had the nerve to turn thirty, at least until Emma Stone's pre-ordained push takes full control and she takes all of Lawrence's expected roles. Yes, I'm cynical, but I smugly predicted this right before she became huge.

Mystique- None of This Stuff Matters:
-In any case, I think her use in the film led to a resurgence in her X-stuff around the time all of this randomness was going on, because now she was EVERYWHERE. She was also shown as the parent of NIGHTCRAWLER, something that Claremont had wanted to add, but wasn't allowed to... mainly because he wanted Mystique transformed into a male in order to impregnate her lesbian lover Destiny, thus being Nightcrawler's birth FATHER. This was obviously nixed by the 1980s powers-that-be, and so it sat... for just enough time for a modern writer (Chuck Austen) to write her in as the birth mother, with the father being the red-skinned mutant-demon Azazel, which is just UGH.

-The "Never-Ending Mystique" run continues with her joining the Marauders while searching out the new mutant baby (Hope Summers), but revealing the deception and murdering Mister Sinister, her boss. She joins Norman Osborn's "Dark X-Men" briefly, being forced into it, does some other stuff, dies for a second (the Hand revives her after Wolverine kills her for all the crap she's pulling), then joins the Hellfire Club's counterpart to Logan's school. None of this shit matters.

-It's around this time that I began to notice EVERY X-BOOK USING MYSTIQUE, as suddenly every single writer seemed to think they had a good "Mystique Story" in them, and so there Raven was, imitating somebody and pulling some scheme, smirking all the way. It quickly made her VERY ANNOYING, as she rarely got serious comeuppance and was being way over-used. She mimicked Dazzler, who was then S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Mutant Liaison, then used that to fund her role as the leader of Madripoor. Magneto rejected her call to join her new Brotherhood, and she was last seen during the Axis event, turning good temporarily.

Mystique- All In All:
-Mystique, like the vast majority of the X-Men, has been the absolute drizzling shits since the late 1990s, around which point Marvel just lost interest in what was once their top-selling series of books and just dumped them on ANYONE. Writers with little editorial control or oversight were just using and abusing everyone, which typically makes every X-Character's bio a mess once the year 2000 hits. Mystique is no exception, as the movies made her one of Marvel's most-recurring villains (despite the one-note nature of her gimmick and personality- being That Evil Chick Who Mimics Others). The unfortunate thing is... Mystique's biggest stuff was her maternal instincts towards Rogue, and her love towards Destiny. With both of those de-emphasized, Mystique was just "Evil Smirking Chick" who did spy stories. And that's not a very well-rounded character, especially when every single writer starts using her that way.

-The Mystique of the films had a very big "I'm a proud Mutant" thing that Mystique lacked for the most part (at one point she tried to Kill All Humans with a modified Legacy Virus. Plus I guess the initial Robert Kelly thing, but that was soon dropped), with a focus on her natural mutation making her a target unless she hid... and she didn't WANT to hide; an important feature the comics lack. The movies also made her a physical ass-kicker, which the Mystique of the comics never was- she was typically a clever leader with a powerful gun, but rarely kicked ass on her own; most melee fighters in the comics made short work of her. So her only real gimmick was to go all "SURPRISE IT WAS MYSTIQUE ALL ALONG!", and her primary concept now involves greed, because her personal relationships all went to hell. She's just... NOT a compelling character. Iconic for a representation the comics never had, and used in all the worst, most cliched ways.

Mystique's Powers:
-Mystique is a somewhat weak, lower-capped PL 10, not being very far in the damage quotient, but able to hold her own through cheating and sneakery (that's a REALLY high Deception score, even accounting for her Morph- though it's still limited to +22 bonus because of a PL cap- two higher than her Combat Caps). She's a far better Skillmonkey than anything else, as she's designed to be the best liar EVER, able to waltz into nearly any high-security location and discover all it's secrets. About the best power-set you'll EVER get for a "Secret Agent" archetype. Unarmed, she's PL 7, and she's only PL 8 defensively in general, so when she's "out in the field" she's horribly-vulnerable.

-Recent years have also seen a bit of a power-boost (well, she IS an X-Character after all... "Power Creep" is as synonymous with the X-Teams as it is with Rifts and Marvel's Top-Tier Powerhouses like Thor & The Hulk), giving her Variable powers- Nightvision, Claws, Wings, the ability to go Flat like Mister Fantastic, and some Armour. She doesn't gain a LOT of power from it, but it can definitely be handy. One point, by pushing it (Extra Effort), she Stunted two heads and four arms, allowing her to gun down people on two sides.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Mon Jul 04, 2022 6:14 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Bladewind
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Mr. Jip! Jamie Madrox! Marada! Maelstrom! Maggott!)

Post by Bladewind »

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She`s everywhere !
Thorpocalypse wrote: Sun Oct 07, 2018 6:01 pm Building to be comics "accurate" is different than building to run a PC or building something to challenge a group.
Bladewind's 3ed M&M Builds
The Merge Setting document
Jabroniville
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Re: Jab’s Builds (Madrox! Marada! Maelstrom! Maggott! Mystique!)

Post by Jabroniville »

And with Mystique, we hit the end of the “M” section! Which... wow- means that we’re only two more sets from the COMPLETE building of The List. That’s pretty wild. I’m almost dreading it, honestly.
Jabroniville
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Re: Jab’s Builds (Madrox! Marada! Maelstrom! Maggott! Mystique!)

Post by Jabroniville »

So for the next few days:

* I'll finish up posting the remaining Brotherhood of Evil Mutants members- basically Destiny, Unus, and the "Golden Age Trio".
* Builds from Hook! Mostly because last time I statted them up with my Disney Builds, but I neglected to this time and they were just kind of SITTING there.
* Marvel's Cosmic Beings! Thus getting rid of almost the entirety of my ATT-only Marvel builds.
* Probably Ashe and Baptists from Overwatch.
Jabroniville
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Destiny

Post by Jabroniville »

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DESTINY II (Irene Adler)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & John Byrne
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #141 (Jan. 1981)
Role: Deus Ex Machina Character, The Non-Combatant
Group Affiliations: The Brotherhood of Mutants, Freedom Force, HYDRA, Project: Black Womb
PL 8 (120)
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 0 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+5)
Athletics 4 (+4)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+6)
Deception 7 (+7)
Expertise (History) 10 (+14)
Insight 6 (+10)
Perception 5 (+9)
Persuasion 4 (+4)
Ranged Combat (Crossbow) 4 (+12)
Stealth 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Equipment 2 (Crossbow +4, Body Armour), Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Precognition"
Senses 5 (Danger Sense, Precognition) [5]
"See Objects Ahead of Time" Senses 2 (Counters Concealment- Blindness) [2]
"Looks Mildly Old at One-Hundred" Immunity 1 (Aging) (Flaws: Limited) [0.5]

"Can Sorta Still See"
Enhanced Advantages 13: Improved Initiative 4, Ranged Attack 8, Seize Initiative [13]
Enhanced Dodge & Parry 6 [12]

"Warns Others About Stuff"
Enhanced Defenses 4 (Extras: Perception Range +2) (Flaws: Affects Others Only +0, Limited to Simple Verbal Commands) [16]
Enhanced Fighting 2 (Extras: Perception Range +2) (Flaws: Affects Others Only +0, Limited to Simple Verbal Commands) [6]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Crossbow +12 (+4 Ranged Combat, DC 19)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +0 (+2 Body Armour), Fortitude +5, Will +8

Complications:
Relationship (Foster Daughter, Rogue)- Destiny was very close to Rogue, and their adversarial relationship puts a strain on the normally-amoral woman.
Disabled (Blind)- Destiny cannot "see", but she can "see objects in the future", which is basically the same thing.
Responsibility (Future Sight)- Irene sees a lot of crap from the future, and must hide the things she knows from others.
Flaw Explanation (Simple Commands)- Irene can only warn people about the attacks coming in simple terms, like "duck", or "watch for ______!", and can only rarely affect multiple teammates at once with it- time just won't allow for that many warnings.

Total: Abilities: 28 / Skills: 47--23.5 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 54.5 / Defenses: 10 (120)

-Destiny was... kind of annoying in the X-Men books I read with her in them. She looked REALLY dumb (an eyeless mask and powder blue outfit), and all she ever did was run around with Freedom Force, warning them about stuff. "Raven-- DUCK!... Oh thank goodness, I had a future vision of you getting hit by a bottle!"- that kind of stuff. Since these guys were already kind of a crappy bunch of X-foes, it just made them worse in my mind. The character is one of those odd ones who is FAR more important in death than she ever was alive.

-Destiny debuted as a background member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, joining Freedom Force later- she and Mystique appeared to be REALLY close friends, but Claremont being Claremont, soon it was pretty clear to most that there were some romantic feelings going on. However, she took a back seat in a lot of ways before ultimately being killed by a mind-controlled Legion while on Muir Island.

-Honestly, Destiny is actually more interesting for the backstory, both in-comics and in real-life. See, she was introduced as kind of a lesbian lover for Mystique (Lesbians? In a CLAREMONT book? The devil, you say!), but in that "subtle" way where it wasn't outright stated. Claremont had a thing going where he was gonna reveal Destiny to be Nightcrawler's biological mother, with Mystique being the FATHER (via Shapeshifting), but Marvel (I'm guessing Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter) put the kibosh on that, and so Destiny vanished from comics for years. It was still pretty obvious by the time she died that she & Raven were in love, though- in an X-Factor Annual I have, they showed Mystique tossing her ashes... with Destiny pulling a terrific prank by making sure that it happens the moment the wind changes, resulting in Raven getting a faceful of ash. The act makes her laugh her ass off at the duplicity and trickery, and kind of opens her up to joyful feelings once more.

-Destiny continued to be "used" years after her death- a comatose Legion imagined her warning him about the future, resulting in him trying to kill Magneto in the past- instead, Xavier died, causing The Age of Apocalypse alternate timeline. Her Diaries were the great "Macguffin" of Claremont's pet book X-Treme X-Men, where a band of X-Men chase her prophetic diaries all over the world. This became a big recurring deal whenever Claremont wasn't getting distracted by other toys in that book (which had the negative effect of keeping several important X-Characters "out of play" for years, wrecking Storm & Rogue in particular), but ultimately other writers were forced to pay off the story arc. Mister Sinister used the Acolytes to try and grab the Diaries, but Gambit burned every copy before anyone on either side could read them. The character only appears later on in some one-off "Resurrection"-themed stories (like Necrosha and Chaos War), only mattering to the X-Men, but apparently someone thought it would be cute if she turned out to be the same Irene Adler who was the woman in the Sherlock Holmes series.

-Destiny isn't really a major fighter (she's PL 8 with a wussy Crossbow, which isn't gonna hurt even half the X-Men), but her power (itself something you really shouldn't allow for PCs) is a total Game-Breaker, effectively making every guy around her better in combat. You could almost give her some kind of verbal Power allowing her to Enhance everyone's Fighting & Defenses... so I did, fixing my old build that didn't have it :). She can also "see" despite wearing an eyeless mask (since she's... y'know, blind) with a Counters Concealment power (I figure that should do it- it's sorta like Echolocation, except she's really just seeing like normal), plus she gets a bunch of extra combat prowess solely because of her abilities.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Mon Jul 04, 2022 6:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Unus

Post by Jabroniville »

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UNUS THE UNTOUCHABLE (Angelo Unuscione)
Created By:
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: The X-Men #8 (Nov. 1964)
Role: Barrier Warrior
Group Affiliations: The Brotherhood of Mutants, Factor Three, The Secret Empire
PL 10 (118)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 2 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 3 (+6)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Criminal) 5 (+5)
Insight 2 (+2)
Intimidation 4 (+6)
Perception 2 (+2)

Advantages:
Close Attack 8, Fast Grab, Power Attack

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Force Field"
Enhanced Advantages 2: Withstand Damage, Ultimate Toughness Save [2]
Force Field 15 (Feats: Subtle) (Extras: Impervious 25) [41]
Immunity 20 (Mental Effects) (Flaws: Sustained +0) [20]
"Block Out Air" Immunity 2 (Suffocation) (Flaws: Limited Duration) [1]
"Make Bats Invincible" Strength-Damage +3 (Feats: Variable- Weapon Types) (Flaws: Source- Weapon) [3]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +2 (DC 12), Parry +2 (DC 12), Toughness +3 (+18 Force Field, +13 Impervious), Fortitude +6, Will +4

Complications:
Power Drawback (Over-Powered)- Unus' Force Field is so powerful that it occasionally blocks out oxygen or other substances, suffocating him.

Total: Abilities: 24 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 67 / Defenses: 7 (118)

-Unus the Untouchable is a goofy '60s villain that didn't really get a whole lot of play- how could he? His power makes him ridiculously-boring for combat (he can't be hurt AT ALL), and even has sneaky tricks like Immunity to Telepathy attached. It's all kinds of broken, but since he's a villain it isn't so bad. He got a few uses, then they were done with him, seemingly killing him in a story where his powers went out of control and he suffocated, with even AIR being blocked out of his Field. But then they resurrected him! Twice. Really, he's one of the most inexplicable recurring villains out there- no real depth or interesting stuff about him at all.

-Angelo Unuscione debuts beating the Beast in a wrestling match, and he immediately goes criminal and joins the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. However, his powers went out of control thanks to a shot fired by the Beast's gun (??), making him unable to touch anything, no matter what! The Beast agreed to come to his rescue, provided he reformed. However, he soon became friends with the Blob, and engaged in numerous schemes (like framing the X-Men for robbery). He later joined the "Factor Three" until their "Mutant Master" boss was revealed to be an alien, the first Secret Empire (that faced the Beast in his Englehart years- the writer would later use the Empire as a major Captain America arc. When that ended, he joined Magneto's Brotherhood, but was reduced to infancy by Alpha the Ultimate Mutant. When he recovered, he allied with the Vanisher, Blob & Mastermind against The Champions, then lost in a solo fight to Luke Cage & Iron Fist. So basically, after X-Men was cancelled, he became one of Marvel's earliest Journeyman Villains.

-Eventually, it was believed that he was dead- his powers had been growing out of control (faltering against the Hulk), finally creating a Force Field so thick that it kept out the oxygen molecules he needed to breathe! The Blob, thinking him deceased, went on a rampage in New York, and the character was written out- he would gain TWO "Long-Lost Children", in Unuscione of the Acolytes (though she was possibly a sister or other relative) and Radius of the '90s Alpha Flight. The character was gone.

-... until appearing OUT OF NOWHERE on Genosha in modern times! At first haunted by the ghosts of the dead following the Sentinel massacre there, he just becomes a recurring nuisance. He then faced the Inhumans & Quicksilver following House of M... but then he DIED AGAIN. In the SAME METHOD he was supposed to have died the first time! His Force Field repelling even KARNAK'S pressure-point powers, it created a permanent shell around him- the combined Inhumans & Mutants present couldn't save his life and he asphyxiated. But then they resurrected him during Necrosha, and basically just left him alive after that (a few other mutants inexplicably stuck around after that event, including Maggott). He was defeated in Spider-Man & The X-Men after attacking Wolverine's school.

-Unus is a one-power wonder, but it's an INSANE power- he's as durable as Cain Marko, and easy as hell to hit (I mean, what's he gonna do? DODGE? The man is Untouchable- he has no need to move out of the way). He's so tough that only the HULK ever beat him by blunt force, and that was because he was MAD AS HELL, and he was NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE. It's a Sustained Protection effect (presumably he can drop the Field when he wants to... except for those times he couldn't, but those were specific drawbacks at the moment) and he can stunt it so it's not the standard Permanent kind.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Mon Jul 04, 2022 6:21 am, edited 2 times in total.
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KorokoMystia
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Madrox! Marada! Maelstrom! Maggott! Mystique!)

Post by KorokoMystia »

I feel like Unus would be pretty neat if his power wasn't so broken. Though I did come across some interesting images while looking him up:

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From this, it seems that he could have at least Strength 4-5? (he is also said to be a former wrestler) and some Close Combat with a baseball bat, as he appears proficient in using one (He can also extend the Force Field to weapons he's using, making them unbreakable). It also looks like his field could have some degree of deflection it it, too.
greycrusader
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Madrox! Marada! Maelstrom! Maggott! Mystique!)

Post by greycrusader »

Unus' strength got ignored in modern day stories. But yes, according to the few SA X-Men comics I inherited from my father, he is/was strong as the Beast, prior to his transformation into hirsute, ape-man form.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

The Crimson Commando

Post by Jabroniville »

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THE CRIMSON COMMANDO (Frank Bohannon)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Alan Davis
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #215 (March 1987)
Role: Third-Rate X-Men Villain
Group Affiliations: Freedom Force, Project: Wideawake
PL 9 (145)
STRENGTH
5 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 12 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 5 (+11)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (History) 5 (+8)
Expertise (Soldier) 5 (+8)
Insight 4 (+7)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Investigation 4 (+7)
Perception 5 (+8)
Persuasion 2 (+4)
Stealth 2 (+7)
Technology 2 (+5)
Vehicles 5 (+7)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Beginner's Luck, Diehard, Equipment 5 (Wrist Computer, Knives +1, Handguns +5), Fast Grab, Great Endurance, Improved Aim, Improved Critical 2 (Knife, Handgun), Improved Disarm, Improved Trip, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 10, Set-Up, Teamwork, Tracking

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Peak Human Attributes"
Super-Senses (Extended Vision) [1]
Immunity 2 (Aging, Disease) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [1]

"Trained Mental Stealth"
Concealment 1 (Mental Detection) [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Knife +12 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Handgun +12 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +6

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +5, Fortitude +10, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Fun)- Crimson Commando and his buddies hunt down criminals for the sheer fun of it, committing first-degree murder, but only on the "undesirables" of society. They believing in giving enemies a fighting chance, but are merciless all the same.

Total: Abilities: 74 / Skills: 46--23 / Advantages: 31 / Powers: 4 / Defenses: 13 (145)

-Freedom Force REALLY kinda sucked. As a kid, everyone I knew made fun of the team with Blob, Pyro, Destiny (a.k.a. an old lady in tights), and the three former Golden Age heroes (not really, they were just created by Chris Claremont- wonder why they didn't just use their lame nobody failed characters that were legit Golden Agers?). Crimson Commando was basically the leader of the trio, and eventually took over the whole team once Mystique left, but things never took off. Between their lame codenames, horrible costumes, and lame, generic powers, these old farts were doomed.

-The gimmick of this trio was that they were Golden Age heroes forced into retirement after the War, as their actions against Communists was causing the government to fear they'd start ANOTHER World War. Chafing in retirement, and believing that society had fallen into disrepair (a constant complaint of the elderly), they began abducting criminals and then hunting them at their estate in Upstate New York, generally killing them as the "Most Dangerous Game". Ultimately, however, they mistake a de-powered Storm for a criminal, and hunt her down. She nearly garrotes Super Sabre to death, and defeats the other two. Humiliated, they are arrested and sent to prison, where the U.S. government cuts them a deal- join Freedom Force and they will be exonerated. The Commando and his teammates happily agreed, though Mystique soon left the team in Commando's leadership (turning them into Jobbers), and Stonewall died on a mission.

-Finally, during a filler backstory in the X-Annuals one summer, Super Sabre got offed, and Commando was maimed horribly, seeming to be dead for years, until some other writer casually tossed him in as a cyborg in another story. Funny comic book story: Commando was maimed so that he could be reborn as Cyborg-X in Erik Larsen's attempt at getting the X-Factor honors. The same Cyborg-X he took with him to Spider-Man during his Revenge of the Sinister Six arc (Cyborg-X's crazed "flashback" dialogue is taken from the issue in which he's maimed), and eventually recreated again in Image Comics as "Superpatriot" (who shares the same "goggles & mask" look as Cyborg-X). Funny, because that would've made Frank here into a much more well-known character. Instead, he's just a jobber.

-The Commando reappeared for realz MUCH later, trying to assassinate Polaris alongside Avalanche. Later, he wishes to use Hope Summers' powers to reignite his (he has started to decay that his mutant powers are gone following M-Day, even WITH his cybernetics). He stoops so low as to cut out Hope's EYES as a form of torture, but Wolverine appears and slices his head off. Hope, using Logan's Healing Factor, gets her eyes back. The character has seemingly never returned, with replacements popping up in two separate places- a black girl, and a more-cyberized version with gun-arms.

-Crimson Commando is what the name says; an elite commando, trained in many military applications. He's a phenonmenal tracker and basic Skillmonkey, as good as most metahumans are with that sort of thing. What's different is that he's basically Captain America Good in terms of his physical abilities, making him VERY capable in a fight. He was tough in the comics, enough so that De-Powered Storm had to bust her ass to beat him (but she eventually did). His Mental Stealth trick is a minor power, but has come in handy against Psylocke in the past. He's basically a PL 8.5-9 character all-around.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Mon Jul 04, 2022 6:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
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proditor
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Marada! Maelstrom! Maggott! Mystique! Destiny!)

Post by proditor »

Hey Jab, I wanted to thank you for those Thundercat write-ups, they came in super handy today! In honor of Free Comic Book day, we ran some M&M.

The basic beat was that the Thundercats, specifically Tigra, Cheetara, Pumyra, and Bengali, are called to investigate a disappearance in the Robear Berbil village. Once they get there, they start following the trail of Robear Beau and a mysterious stranger down the River of Demise to the Midnight Forest. On the way, they encounter the Black Widow Shark, and succeed in driving it away.

Entering the Midnight Woods, they find a giant hollowed out tree, and head inside. They're confronted by a scene of horror as Robear Beau is spread across the far wall like a scientific display. The trail leads to the Treetop Kingdom, and another two murders among the Warrior Maidens. Even worse, the bodies animate, blend into something that would gross out John Carpenter, and then attack! After fighting back and forth, the Thundercats defeat the beast, and set off to capture the villain responsible for all of this carnage. Cheetara's strange sixth sense kicked in, and she saw that Mumm-Ra had been imprisoned, and the Ancient Spirits of Evil were backing an even older and more evil force in the form of the Messenger.

Traipsing through jungle, they eventually come upon an opening that reveals a ruined step pyramid. At it's apex they see the robed Messenger, ready to plunge a sacrificial dagger into something on the altar. Cheetara knocks the dagger out of his hand with a well thrown staff, and the final battle is engaged.

But as our heroes charge the altar, the robed Messenger leaps upward and his human form explodes to reveal a monster form beyond time and space. Bellowing that he will bring the Great Old Ones to third Earth, he gave unlife to the corpse on the altar, and made it fight at his side. But the Thundercats are made of sterner stuff, and although they suffered a few setbacks, they used teamwork to defeat both the Messenger of Nyarlathotep, and his burly minion. Third Earth was safe once again.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Stonewall

Post by Jabroniville »

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STONEWALL (Louis Hamilton)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Alan Davis
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #215 (March 1987)
Role: Third-Rate X-Men Villain, Powerhouse
Group Affiliations: Freedom Force
PL 9 (102)
STRENGTH
11 STAMINA 9 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Deception 2 (+3)
Expertise (Lawyer) 8 (+9)
Expertise (History) 4 (+5)
Intimidation 6 (+7)
Perception 4 (+5)
Persuasion 6 (+7)
Insight 4 (+5)

Advantages:
Fast Grab, Great Endurance, Improved Hold, Interpose, Power Attack, Teamwork, Withstand Damage

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: High Density"
Features 1: Increased Weight [1]
Enhanced Strength 2 (Flaws: Limited to Resisting Movement) [2]
Protection 1 (Extras: Impervious 11) (Flaws: Limited to Blunt Attacks on Both) [6]

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+11 Damage, DC 27)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +9 (+10 vs. Blunt Force), Fortitude +9, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Fun)- Super Sabre and his buddies hunt down criminals for the sheer fun of it, committing first-degree murder, but only on the "undesirables" of society. They believing in giving enemies a fighting chance, but are merciless all the same.

Total: Abilities: 58 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 9 / Defenses: 11 (102)

-Stonewall was slightly cooler than his buddies, but not by much. His French 'stache, his garish costume, etc. were kinda silly, but he was portrayed as a somewhat-noble person who notices the evil in trying to kill Storm just for coming across their operation, and became a rather decent member of Freedom Force. Unfortunately, he was a quick sacrifice, dying before anyone else on Muir Island, getting electrocuted by Donald Pierce. Rather untalkative, he never ever got to say much.

-Stonewall's a pretty cheap PL 9 Brick, being very strong and tough, but pretty easy to hit. This would prove his undoing, as his Limited Protection (and Imperviousness) would get him easily killed by an electrical bolt. Generally, he would just sit there and eat someone's best punches without moving (even Rogue's!).
Last edited by Jabroniville on Mon Jul 04, 2022 6:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
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