Jab’s Builds! (Miss Piggy! The Swedish Chef! Sweetums! Gonzo!)

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

Re: Jab’s Builds! (Giganta! Green Arrow! Black Canary! Huntress! The Question!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Ares wrote: Fri Jul 05, 2019 2:39 pm The JLU writers seemed to have a lot of fun with the pair, their odd friendship being very entertaining in both Task Force X and Patriot Act. Having just watched Task Force X, I don't really consider that a low showing for the pair. Vigilante was holding his own against Deadshot when it came to shooting and seemed looked to be Lawson's superior in a fist fight. Vigilante actually had most of the bad guys captured at one point until Capt. Boomerang stepped in, and the only reason Flagg was able to beat him up was due to sucker punching him while he and Deadshot had each other covered and dead to rights.

Shining Knight might deserve full on PL 10 status. He was actually deflecting bullets with this sword from Deadshot and there were at least two points where Sir Justin had an opponent dead to rights before someone else interfered. The Annihilator caught him as he was about to finish one opponent off and slammed him into the ground so hard that he was embedded in the metal flood, but he was still awake and up and fighting. Heck, they never really managed to beat Sir Justin, all of Flagg's spin kicks and jump kicks just ticked him off and knocked him backwards. The best they managed was locking him in a room, which he then punched so hard that he was deforming the metal with his fists. And his sword was basically the only thing in Patriot Act that managed to hurt General Eiling's mutated form, so much that Eiling made a point to avoid it afterwards.

But like I said, the Seven Soldiers in general and Sir Justin in particular have always been favorites of mine, and I'm glad JLU had so much fun with them. It's also why I ignore anything Morrison did with his Seven Soldiers concept, given what he did to Vigilante and tried to do to Sir Justin.
Now how'd I know you'd gush about Sir Justin :)?

I was going to mention this sooner or later, but the show was positively INSANE with superhuman showings of durability from regular people, but only with regards to bludgeoning damage. Shining Knight would deflect bullets with his SWORD, implying he couldn't just take them with his armor... but guys who can shatter buildings will punch him and he's just like "UGH! THAT SMARTS, VARTLET!". Steven Mandragora fears a crossbow bolt the side of a 2B pencil, but hundreds of pounds of metal can hit him and merely knock him out. That ENTIRE Eiling fight is a study in people explicitly said to have no super-powers being thrown for hundreds of feet, smashed into pavement, cars, and walls, etc., from a Superman-class being, and barely being KO'd.

I pretty much stopped considering anything a "good showing of durability" after a point in that series, lol. It's just too weird about that.

Also, nobody gets upgraded to a PL 10 unless they win at least one fight against a super-powered opponent. Shining Knight is the "Virgil" of that show, jobbing to Yokozuna and warning Bret Hart about the threat to his World Title. I don't care how much you love knights as super-heroes :P.


From my notes about Patriot Act:
Act":

* Shining Knight, Stargirl & S.T.R.I.P.E. all exhibit high durability- Knight skips like a stone across pavement and lands on top of an awning more than thirty feet away, leaving cracks in stone. He's out for a few rounds because of it, though. But STARGIRL (who flat-out says she has no Powers- "it's just the Staff") ends up being thrown from SKYSCRAPER HEIGHT, slamming into the street at full-force. Uhh... shouldn't she be a stain?

* Also, it's funny how Eiling (a borderline combatant- he can punch out a Soldier with a sneak attack, but Batman one-punched him without breaking stride while walking in another direction) magically becomes a good fighter the second he gets super-powers. Seriously, he's hyper-athletic, doing flips and leaps, grabbing guys, hitting them, then spinning around and tossing them somewhere else. Good ol' comics and their "Sudden Fighting Skills"- sorta like how the X-Men train and train continuously for years, only to be stalemated by some teens who just learned their powers yesterday.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sat Jul 06, 2019 10:26 am, edited 2 times in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24690
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Re: Jab’s Builds! (Huntress! The Question! Warlord! Green Lantern!)

Post by Jabroniville »

One funny thing I remember from the 2012 postings of the Justice League... was how Murkglow (a poster who left AGES ago; I don't think he even made the Ronin Army switch) just haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaated John Stewart & Martian Manhunter. I remember him just going ON about those guys and his dislike for them. And he'd vehemently defend Hawkgirl, who was a bit notorious in that first season for being a bit O.P. It got to be a bit of a thing (he felt John's destruction of that one planet showed too much power; I pointed out that John merely started a chain reaction).

Murkglow Quotes:
I have to agree with Jab, he definatly should have gone back to Hawkgirl (or made a clean break and been more devoted to Vixen). You say they didn't do it because they didn't want him to look bad but frankly he does anyway. His wavering back and forth, his indecision, his weakness in saying what he wants or making up his mind damage him far more in my eyes then dropping Vixen (or Hawkgirl) cleanly would have.

Then again GL was one of the least interesting characters in the show to me so his wishy washy attitude toward Hawkgirl didn't exactly help draw my attention. About the only thing I liked about "him" was the cast of characters around him, like the other GL members (especially Katma Tui and Kilowog, I enjoyed them far more as GLs then I did John). Frankly none of his scenes did much for me (Katma's scene where she fought to buy time for Kilowog to escape and warn the others was far more epic to me then anything John did). To me he was a the ring and that was all their was to the character. If they had gone with Hal or Kyle or just had the ring floating about fighting I wouldn't have noticed or missed John's presence at all.

Then again I'm about 9 episodes from finishing the series so maybe John will get better by the end. I'm not holding my breath though.
The problem is that the first seven was almost entirely made of "straight men." Superman, Martian Manhunter, Batman, Wonder Woman, and John were all pretty "by the book, rod up the behind, do the job" kinda guys/gals. Only the Flash and Hawkgirl were really not that straight. As for Superman being morally conflicted, sure he was but John had plenty of moments of his own so I can't say he was really the "pillar" of the team or anything.

Even as the "military guy" I found him lacking. He really wasn't very millitary, Captain Atom was millitary in the "Duty before all" kinda way and Batman/Superman was far more the team leader/coordinator/strategist (not that alot of strategy happened in the show), not John. To me he just felt like a third wheel to everyone else. Everyone else had something more to them (well ok maybe not the Martian, all he had was "I'm the sole survivor of my race and am sad/cut off from people" not exactly a thrilling character so John is more interesting then at least one other member of the team), about all John had was his love "triangle"... I don't know he just never impressed me.

To be fair though I suppose I really just feel apathy toward him. He never pissed me off that badly (unlike the Martian and Superman, both characters that annoy me greatly) I just felt he never brought much to the show and another character would have been just as good/better. It kinda makes me thing of the Time Lord episode where time is breaking down and John turns into Hal for a second and really nothing changes. That's what John is to be, the ring, a blank slate, a guy who could be swapped out and the story goes on just as it did before.

As for not liking his "wishy washyness" I guess I'm just sick of it from anime and most TV series where the male and female leads are obviously a couple but don't tell each other or don't talk about it. I actually like how he and hawkgirl were together without much "will they won't they" nonsense and then I liked that he was with vixen (I actually like her just fine for him). It's just the "nobody can just be a normal happy couple in comics except Mr and Mrs Fantastic and even they can't be happy often"... Sigh.
Jabroniville
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Sinestro

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

SINESTRO (Thaal Sinestro)
Created By:
John Broome & Gil Kane
First Appearance: Green Lantern #7 (Aug. 1961)
Role: The Opposite Colour Villain (to GLs), The Extremist
Voice Actor: Ted Levine
Finest Moment: Beating the Justice League alongside Grodd's Injustice Gang
PL 12 (214)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+6)
Deception 4 (+6)
Insight 4 (+7)
Investigation 3 (+6)
Expertise (Intergalactic Fighter) 8 (+11)
Perception 4 (+7)
Vehicles 5 (+7)
Intimidation 8 (+10)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Fearless, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Yellow Blasts) 2, Improved Smash, Interpose, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Ranged Attack 10

Powers:
"Sinestro's Yellow Ring" (Flaws: Removable) (Feats: Restricted 2- Only Sinestro, Unbreakable) [100]
Create 13 (Feats: Precise) (Extras: Impervious 13, Movable 12) (51) -- (75)
  • Dynamic AE: Blast 12 (Feats: Precise, Penetrating 10) (35)
  • Dynamic AE: "Multi-Blast" Blast 10 (Feats: Penetrating 5) (Extras: Multiattack) (35)
  • Dynamic AE: "Area Blast" Damage 12 (Feats: Penetrating 8) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (32)
  • Dynamic AE: "Area Blast" Damage 12 (Feats: Penetrating 8) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (32)
  • Dynamic AE: Snare 12 (Feats: Reversible) (37)
  • Dynamic AE: Snare 12 (Feats: Reversible) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (Flaws: Touch Range) (37)
  • Dynamic AE: Move Object 12 (24)
  • Dynamic AE: Immunity 7 (Heat, Cold, Pressure, Radiation, Vacuum, Suffocation) (Extras: Affects Others Only, 30ft. Burst, Ranged) (21)
  • Dynamic AE: "Boosted Field" Force Field 3 (Extras: Impervious 15, Affects Others 12) (30)
  • Dynamic AE: "Flashlight" Environment 1 (Light) (2)
  • Dynamic AE: "Ring Sensors" Senses 6 (Detect Energy & Life- Ranged & Analytical) (6)
  • Dynamic AE: "Ring Beings" Summon 5 (Ring Constructs) (Extras: Horde, Controlled, Variable Type- Any Construct, 2 Minions +2) (40)
Immunity 7 (Heat, Cold, Pressure, Radiation, Vacuum, Suffocation) (7)
"Standard Force Field" Force Field 7 (7)
"Universal Translator" Comprehend 4 (Languages 4) (8)
Flight 8 (500 mph) (16)
Movement 4 (Space Travel 3, Environmental Adaptation- Zero-Gravity) (8)
-- (121 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Blast +12 (+12 Ranged Damage, DC 27)
Multi-Blasts +12 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Area Blasts +12 Area (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Snare +12 (+12 Ranged Affliction, DC 22)
Area Snare +12 (+12 Affliction, DC 22)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +3 (+10 Force Field, +13 Boosted Field), Fortitude +6, Will +10

Complications:
Power Loss (Recharge Rings)- Sinestro's Ring must be recharged every day or so.
Power Loss (Will)- Sinestro's Ring depends upon the Will of their wielder. If Sinestro fails a Will Save (such as from being intimidated or mentally-screwed with), he will drop Constructs and Force Fields.
Enemy (Green Lanterns)- Sinestro has declared a blood feud against all Green Lanterns.

Total: Abilities: 56 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 20 / Powers: 100 / Defenses: 18 (214)

-Sinestro is FAR diminished from his comic book version, which is actually kind of a rarity in the DCAU. Most guys end up getting reduced to their core concept and then rebuilt outwards, keeping only their best stuff, which vastly improves a swath of characters (Clayface, Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, etc.). But Sinestro kinda got stuck being the "Side character's opposite number" in Superman and Justice League episodes, to the point where he was basically the most powerful background guy ever. His only real feats are based around big groups of villains fighting big groups of heroes, and we never really found out what makes him tick. In Grodd's Secret Society, he just kind of says a couple of forgettable things and engages in fighting.

-Sinestro is basically a low-end, but same-PL, version of John (again, his comics version is much more terrifying), with all his powers. Still one of the most powerful recurring villains, but less than the Big Seven tend to be. He can do anything John can since their rings are identical, except Sinestro adds Summon Minion, since he's been shown doing that dozens of times (big energy lions and stuff). The "official" Sinestro is of course MUCH more powerful all-around, as well as being more skilled and smarter, and probably a better fighter. The show's Sinestro is basically a Generic Mirror Opposite Villain.

About the Performer: Ted Levine, describing himself as a "Hillbilly Jew", is best known for playing the serial killer Buffalo Bill in "The Silence of the Lambs", and was Monk's Captain on "Monk" for seven years. A character actor otherwise, he's been in lots of stuff, often as a creepy character ("Joy Ride") or a police type ("Monk", "The Fast & The Furious").
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Ken
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Giganta! Green Arrow! Black Canary! Huntress! The Question!)

Post by Ken »

Jabroniville wrote: Sat Jul 06, 2019 10:17 am* Also, it's funny how Eiling (a borderline combatant- he can punch out a Soldier with a sneak attack, but Batman one-punched him without breaking stride while walking in another direction) magically becomes a good fighter the second he gets super-powers. Seriously, he's hyper-athletic, doing flips and leaps, grabbing guys, hitting them, then spinning around and tossing them somewhere else. Good ol' comics and their "Sudden Fighting Skills"- sorta like how the X-Men train and train continuously for years, only to be stalemated by some teens who just learned their powers yesterday.
This is also one of the things about RPG super heroes. How many characters get Dodge and Parry scores above even a 5 or 6, just because they're a super hero? Sure they are the martial artist types and the speedsters, but why would, say, the Hulk, have Dodge 8 and Parry 10 if Banner only has D & P of 5? Similarly, attack values, generally seem to get jacked up even on people who ought not be tremendous fighters.

Of course, there are the skilled martial artists who are actually insanely strong (Thor, Wonder Woman) or the speedster/bricks (Superman, Captain Marvel). But it seems to me that majority of established characters could all be dropped 1 or 2 Power Levels, if Great Power didn't also bring Great Accuracy.
My Amazing Woman: a super-hero romantic comedy podcast.

When the most powerful super hero on Earth marries an ordinary man, hilarity ensues.
Jabroniville
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Elongated Man

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

THE ELONGATED MAN (Ralph Dibney)
Created By:
John Broome & Carmine Infantino
First Appearance: The Flash #112 (May 1960)
Role: Plastic Man Expy, Funny Detective, Stretchy Guy
Voice Actor: Jeremy Piven
Finest Moment: Single-handedly defeated Mordru the Dark Lord
PL 8 (136)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 5 (+7)
Deception 6 (+8)
Expertise (Streetwise) 2 (+6)
Insight 4 (+8)
Investigation 9 (+13)
Perception 4 (+8)
Persuasion 2 (+4)
Stealth 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Evasion, Fast Grab, Grab Finesse, Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Interpose, Ranged Attack 3, Set-Up, Teamwork, Tracking

Equipment:
"Elastic Body"
Elongation 4 (100 feet) [4]
Immunity 5 (Falling Damage) [5]
Protection 2 [2]
Protection 2 (Extras: Impervious 5) (Flaws: Limited to Physical Impacts) [6]

"Elongation Tricks"
"Malleable Form" Insubstantial 1 (Feats: Precise) (6) -- [10]
  • AE: "Complex Lifting Structure" Power Lifting 4 (3,200 lbs.) (4)
  • AE: "Form Shapes" Morph (Shapes) 2 (Flaws: Limited to Simple Shapes) (Quirk: Retains Colours -1) (4)
  • AE: "Flat Sheet" Flight 2 (Flaws: Gliding) (2)
  • AE: "Hammer/Ball Fists" Strength-Damage +4 (4)
Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Hammer Fists +10 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +6 (+8 vs. Physical Impacts), Fortitude +6, Will +6

Complications:
Motivation (Getting Respect)- He can stretch AND he's a detective! He's Plastic Man AND Batman put together!

Total: Abilities: 66 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 14 / Powers: 27 / Defenses: 10 (136)

-The Elongated Man's a funny little deal. Created with possibly the worst superhero code-name EVER, he was made because the DC guys wanted to use Plastic Man, but didn't think they owned him. Turns out they DID, so Ralph was pretty redundant. Of course, as a result of being a Flash supporting character, Ralph actually got quite a bit of play. He even got to join the Justice League once! He was one of comics' few examples of a Happily Married Super-Hero, but we all saw how that one turned out. God knows where he is in the Nu-DCU.

-On JLU, he was played by Jeremy Piven of all people, and got some of the best lines for a side-character. They basically made fun of how low-level he was. When a whole ass-load of Leaguers get called down to fight Viking-hat himself, Mordru The Dark Lord, Ralph & Booster Gold get stuck on "Crowd Control", since they're the worst heroes there. As Green Lantern even says to poor Ralph, "We've got Plastic Man down there already! We don't need TWO stretchy guys!" Ralph is perturbed, but gets called in to fight anyways once Superman, Batman & Wonder Woman get merged together by Dark Magic. Since it's Booster's solo episode, we get a long story featuring him, and then RIGHT at the end, we get one of the funniest moments in the show's history:

-Ralph is shown pulled in an unconscious Mordru, with all the others congratulating him. GL walks up and says "that was about the SLICKEST move I have EVER seen." Yup, he kicked Mordru's ass OFF-CAMERA.

-Elongated Man's like a lower-level Reed Richards in most ways, being a weak PL 8 front-line fighter with PL 9 Defensive capabilities, but he's got some nice tricks, AND he's a good Detective. Not BATMAN good, but he's still pretty good. He can form Hammer Fists (I think), lift stuff better than most guys his size, fold between a doorframe, stick his nose down a chimney, and Glide lightly.

About the Performer: An odd bit of casting for such a minor character with so few lines, the Elongated Man was played by Jeremy Piven, best known for playing the conniving agent Ari Gold on "Entourage", winning three consecutive Emmys- a very rare honor for an actor! He first got known as the head writer on "The Larry Sanders Show", but quit early on due to lack of focus, then got a job as Ellen's cousin Spence on "Ellen"- a rare time where an actor moved on from show to show that quickly (most people foolish enough to quit a regular series rarely find success again). He's also played the naive owner in the BBC's "Mr. Selfridge", one of many shows attempting to take advantage of the "Downton Abbey" boom of British period dramas. He's been known lately for a LOT of sexual harassment allegations- he's taken polygraph tests to prove his innocence, but it's a huge number of people.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24690
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Booster Gold

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

BOOSTER GOLD (Michael Jon Carter)
Created By:
Dan Jurgens
First Appearance: Booster Gold #1 (Feb. 1986)
Role: Future Hero, Lame Hero, The Reggie Mantle of the DC Universe
Voice Actor: Tom Everett Scott
Finest Moment: Saved the Universe while no one was looking
PL 9 (135)
STRENGTH
2/10 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Deception 5 (+5)
Expertise (History) 4 (+4)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 6 (+6)
Expertise (Pro Athlete) 3 (+8)
Perception 3 (+3)
Stealth 2 (+7)
Technology 5 (+5)
Vehicles 6 (+8)

Advantages:
Benefit (League Member), Daze (Deception), Minion 7 (Skeets), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 7, Taunt

Powers:
"Futuristic Uniform" (Flaws: Removable) [48]
Enhanced Strength 8 (16)
Protection 6 (Extras: Impervious 7) (13)
Flight 6 (120 mph) (12)
Energy Blast 9 (Feats: Split) (19)
-- (60 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Blasts +9 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +4 (+10 Armour), Fortitude +6, Will +5

Complications:
Reputation (Green Lantern)
Motivation/Obsession (Fame, Damsels, et al)

Total: Abilities: 42 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 18 / Powers: 48 / Defenses: 10 (135)

-Oh geez man, that Booster Gold episode was THE BOMB. Basically playing up his status as the sucky super-hero, Booster got stuck on Crowd Control during a giant Mordru fight involving the entire League, so he ended up having to save the day in a manner nobody else saw, as a beautiful scientist's lab experiment went out of control, and he had to stop it. Booster is kind of one of those concepts that gets brought up from time to time in the comics, but is usually unsuccessful no matter how much they put behind him (he's kind of an example of "The Doom Patrol Effect" where you see tons of presumed fans of the work talking about it, but no reflection of that in sales). Still, very good episode, one of the funniest of the series. And Billy West as "Skeets", his little robot buddy (with Philip J. Fry's voice!) was as stroke of funny gold as well. His quote above was picture-perfect "kind of adult" humor that's very gross, but also very funny.

-I was totally gonna build up Booster as a fairly weak PL 9, but then I re-watch that episode today and he just takes a SUBWAY TRAIN to the face, and basically gets up like he isn't even hurt. I mean... huh? That's like +11 Toughness easy (possibly even higher, but I'll leave it there and say it was mostly played for laughs), and puts him into the PL 10 framework. He's got a fairly low-end Blast, but he's strong enough to punch holes in a walking building (and fly THROUGH it), along with some other tricks. Skeets is basically an information-spouting Minion rather than anything that could physically interject himself, but he's worth 8 points. All-in-all, Booster's just a low-pointed PL 10 hero.

About the Performer: Tom Everett Scott is a would-be Male Lead who's done a handful of work mostly in the '90s, though very little that made him a name- he was the drummer in "That Thing You Do", and the main hero in "An American Werewolf in Paris" and "Dead Man On Campus". He had more success on TV, playing recurring roles in "Southland" and on "ER".

Image

SKEETS
Created By:
Dan Jurgens
First Appearance: Booster Gold #1 (Feb. 1986)
Role: The Assistant 'Bot
Voice Actor: Billy West (aka Phillip J. Fry)
Finest Moment: Acting as if saving insects is a "Hooray!" worth moment. Explained to Booster how to deliver children.
PL 4 (95)
STRENGTH
-3 STAMINA -- AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 0 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Expertise (Civics) 3 (+7)
Expertise (History) 10 (+14)
Expertise (Theology & Philosophy) 4 (+8)
Perception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 4 (+5)
Insight 4 (+6)
Technology 5 (+9)

Advantages:
Languages 2 (Many), Well-Informed

Powers:
"Micro-Machine"
Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
Protection 3 [3]
"Built-In Equipment" Features 4: Computer, TV Screen, Small Fan [4]
Flight 3 (16 mph) [6]
Senses 7 (Vision Penetrates Concealment, Infravision, Microvision, Acute Scent) [7]

"Small Size" Shrinking 8 (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [17]
(-2 Strength, +4 Defenses, +8 Stealth, -4 Intimidation)

Offense:
Unarmed +0 (-3 Damage, DC 12)
Initiative +0

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

Complications:
Reputation (Green Lantern)
Motivation/Obsession (Fame, Damsels, et al)

Total: Abilities: 2 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 67 / Defenses: 5 (95)

About the Performer: Billy West is best known to animation fans for playing Stimpy on "Ren & Stimpy" and Philip J. Fry on "Futurama", though he's been voice acting for years. Notably, he plays Prof. Farnsworth, Zzap AND Dr. Zoidberg on the latter show, and took over as Ren for a while when John Kricfalusi was fired by Nickelodeon. His other big roles include playing Doug & Roger on Nick & Disney's "Doug" (a big show in the late '90s), and the Red M&M in the candy commercials. An extraordinarily gifted impersonator, he also took over the roles of Bugs Bunny & Elmer Fudd for "Space Jam" and other '90s works. A coworker of mine has a funny story about the very-shy Billy being very personable and easy to talk to when she was working at a Con and he was a guest... and the very first fan walks up to him and the Meet & Greet and shouts "SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!". The poor man just looked at her and sighed... this was going to be a long day. This is why I always make sure I talk to celebrities about stuff they DON'T always get asked about.[/b]
Jabroniville
Posts: 24690
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

B'wana Beast

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

B'WANA BEAST (Michael Maxwell)
Created By:
Bob Haney & Mike Sekowsky
First Appearance: Showcase #66 (Jan. 1967)
Role: Animal Guy, Wannabe Lothario
Voice Actor: Peter Onorati
Finest Moment: Hit on Zatanna
PL 8 (146)
STRENGTH
4 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 7 (+13)
Athletics 8 (+11)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+11)
Expertise (Survival) 9 (+9)
Intimidation 3 (+4)
Perception 6 (+7)
Stealth 3 (+9)

Advantages:
Evasion, Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Hold, Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
Comprehend (Animals) 2 [4]

"Merging Two Animals Together" (Both Powers Linked)
Summon 8 (Feats: Mental Link) (Extras: Heroic +2, Controlled, Variable- Animal Chimerae) (Flaws: Requires Animals, Limited to Animals Present, Limited to Afflicted Creatures) [25]
"Forced Merge" Affliction 10 (Fort; Entranced/Stunned/Transformed to Chimera) (Feats: Reversible) (Extras: Continuous +3) (Flaws: Limited to Animals, Requires More Than One Creature) [21]

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Merge +8 (+10 Affliction, DC 20)
Initiative +6

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +4, Fortitude +7, Will +5

Complications:
Reputation (Goof-Off)- He looks silly, and his only real dialogue involves hitting on Zatanna.

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 50 / Defenses: 17 (146)

-B'wana Beast is one of those INSANELY nutty concepts in comics- a loincloth-clad super-hero who has the power to MERGE two animals together into a single form. This is possibly the single craziest and most original power in history (except perhaps the "City Control" power Jake Hawksmoor has), and on a fifty-year old character nonetheless. Of course, he's a bit too goofy, and he never really stuck around for too long (only the weird writers like Grant Morrison would use him), and he only got a one-shot on JLU (he did better on Batman: The Brave and the Bold), getting an episode about his suckiness, complete with heroic sacrifice), but he's funny nonetheless. Pretty much his only thing is to be part of the small team trying to find Wonder Woman (who'd been transformed into a piglet), and ogle Zatanna's legs (to be fair... FISHNETS!).

-Working out how his powers work was a thinker: He's technically Afflicting creatures with the Transformed thing. But he's creating a MUCH more powerful creature from the merging apparently, and since it's a beneficial Affliction, he needs something extra. I went with a Linked Affliction (for the specific animals) and Summon (for the end result), making him pretty expensive for a PL 8 guy.

About the Performer: I already described Oronati- as a one-off character, B'wana Beast was just performed by one of the regulars.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Giganta! Green Arrow! Black Canary! Huntress! The Question!)

Post by Jabroniville »

KorokoMystia wrote: Fri Jul 05, 2019 8:59 pm Oh yeah, Double Dragon! I'm looking forward to that. While most of the later characters probably aren't that great, I would like to see the second and third games covered, even if just for guys like Burnov and the "Mysterious Warrior" (final boss of the NES version of II) from the second game, and the extra playalbe characters from the third game. Also, surprisingly, there was a Double Dragon IV released a year or two ago, and in a "Megaman 9-10" 8-bit throwback style too.
Yeah, most of the Dragon games were detailed by me last time I posted them (when I did the Video Games set on Ronin Army three years ago... man, time flies)- I plan on having more of a "Boss Template" for them.
As for the DD fighting games, there's three: Double Dragon V (based on the cartoon), Double Dragon for the Neo Geo (which apparently is supposed to be loosely based on the horrible live action movie, but really only uses a few characters from it and is otherwise unrelated), and Rage of the Dragons, if you count that.
The plan is to stat up all three- I didn't want to stat the four Rage characters who'd popped up in Power Instinct, since I didn't want to also pile in the rest of the roster for that game at the same time as a relatively low-interest set like PI, especially since I'd probably have wanted to stat up Double Dragon's fighting games at the same time. This'll probably end up being ANOTHER two-week set just about.
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Grodd

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

GORILLA GRODD
Created By:
John Broome & Carmine Infantino
First Appearance: The Flash #106 (May 1959)
Role: Ape Villain, Telepath, Big Bad
Voice Actor: Powers Boothe
Finest Moment: Actually beat The Justice League once or twice
PL 12 (255)
STRENGTH
6 STAMINA 7 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 8 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Athletics 4 (+10)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+11)
Deception 6 (+10)
Expertise (Criminal) 4 (+12)
Expertise (Science) 10 (+18)
Expertise (Survival) 4 (+8)
Insight 6 (+10)
Intimidation 8 (+12)
Perception 6 (+10)
Persuasion 4 (+8)
Stealth 2 (+5)
Technology 10 (+18)
Treatment 1 (+9)
Vehicles 5 (+5)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Beginner's Luck, Benefit 3 (Wealth), Diehard, Equipment 10 (Headquarters, Laser Cannons, What-Have-You), Fast Grab, Improved Hold, Inventor, Jack-of-All-Trades, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 11, Set-Up, Skill Mastery (Science, Technology), Startle, Teamwork

Powers:
"Animal Senses" Senses 3 (Acute & Extended Scent, Low-Light Vision) [3]
"Ape Strength & Long Arms" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Reach) [2]
Protection 1 [1]

Mind Control 10 (40) -- [44]
  • AE: "Mental Blast" Damage 13 (Extras: Will Save) (26)
  • AE: "Area Control" Mind Control 8 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Touch Range -2) (32)
  • AE: "Telepathy" Mind Reading 10 Linked to Communication 3 (Mental) (Extras: Area) (38)
  • AE: "Mental Stun" Affliction 11 (Will; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Perception Range +2) (33)
"Emotion Control" Affliction 6 (Will; Compelled) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Cumulative, Continuous +3) (Flaws: Limited Degree) [36]

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Mental Blast +11 (+13 Affliction, DC 23)
Mind Control -- (+10 Perception Affliction, DC 20)
Area Control +8 (+8 Affliction, DC 18)
Mental Stun -- (+11 Perception Affliction, DC 21)
Emotion Control -- (+6 Perception Affliction, DC 16)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +7, Fortitude +9, Will +10

Complications:
Enemy (The Justice League)
Motivation (Power)

Total: Abilities: 80 / Skills: 74--37 / Advantages: 36 / Powers: 86 / Defenses: 16 (255)

-Gorilla Grodd was a temporary "Big Bad" for the second season of JLU, after getting his start in a Superman episode. Once the giant Cadmus arc had finished, the next one couldn't help but fall short, so they instead went with nostalgia and Luthor/Grodd playing off of each other while no-name villains took up background roles and didn't say anything. Grodd was always a great villain on the show, however- a manipulator, genius and super-powerful mind-melting psionic with the gimmick that he was a FREAKING GORILLA (thanks to an old DC Comics practise that was OBSESSED with Apes being on every cover). The creepiness of his relationships with Giganta & Tala were bizarrely missed by the censors, though his master plan was ultimately ridiculous. As Luthor pointed out, turning everyone on Earth into APES being his grand finale was idiotic, and got him shot. His later revolt against the similary-by-this-point crazed Luthor went sour with Luthor out-geniusing him, and that was that. He fell a bit short of the Big Bad elite class, but hey, a Bronze Medal is still a Medal.

-The best moment ever was when he & Luthor got all friendly at the struggle's end. Then Luthor killed him.

-Grodd is a frightening adversary mainly because of his super-powerful mental talents, especially the Mental Blast (which is really a close-range Affliction- he tended to only be really close to guys while doing it). The fact that he can also Mind Control people, gain information via Telepathy, and subtly manipulate them from afar (a Continuous Affliction) makes him worse. And THEN there's the fact that he's a super-strong ape. Oh, AND he's a genius. So it's perhaps unsurprising that he matches BATMAN HIMSELF in sheer points spent, because nearly any good villain should easily match the best heroes in points and power. He's only PL 9 in Melee, which isn't much (he's sorta like a Gorilla that knows karate- freaking strong but not Iron Fist or anything- Superman once beat him by flicking his fingers), but it's a boost compared to MOST psykers in comic book worlds. He's a good team player, but more in the "Planning" type of pre-set goals and operations (like when his Injustice Gang took out the Justice League's Big Seven), once things get hairy on the battlefield, his plans have a tendency to fall apart.

About the Performer: Powers Boothe has a low-pitched, authoritative voice that did him well, first on stage, and then in the movies. He won an Emmy Award for playing notorious cult leader Jim Jones in a TV Movie. Most of his roles have been supporting or voiceover work, appearing in "Sin City" as a senator and on "Deadwood" as a rival brothel owner. Before he died of pancreatic cancer in 2017, he'd appeared in "The Avengers" and "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." as an undercover agent.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Mon Jul 08, 2019 2:30 am, edited 2 times in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24690
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Angle Man

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

ANGLE MAN (Angelo Bend)
Created By:
Robert Kanigher & Harry G. Peter
First Appearance: Wonder Woman #70 (Nov. 1954)
Role: Teleporter, Background Villain
Voice Actor: None
Finest Moment: Stood in background.
PL 8 (134)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 7 (+11)
Athletics 7 (+8)
Close Combat (Angler) 1 (+11)
Deception 6 (+8)
Expertise (Thief) 8 (+10)
Insight 3 (+5)
Intimidation 4 (+6)
Perception 6 (+8)
Stealth 4 (+8)
Technology 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Equipment 2 (Thieving Gear), Evasion, Improved Defense, Ranged Attack 2, Uncanny Dodge

Powers:
"Angler" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [33]
Teleport 10 (Feats: Change Direction & Velocity) (Extras: Extended, Accurate, Easy) (52) -- (55 points)
  • AE: "Alter Objects" Transform 6 (Anything to Anything Else) (30)
  • AE: Movement 6 (Dimensional Travel 3, Space Travel 3) (12)
  • AE: "Stab With Angler" Strength-Damage +2 (2)
Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Angler +11 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)

Total: Abilities: 58 / Skills: 48--24 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 33 / Defenses: 12 (134)

-Angle Man's another random background character, taken from the annals of Loser Wonder Woman villains. The comic book Angle Man was a minor recurring threat back in the pre-Silver Age years, but was randomly killed in a single page of "The Crisis on Infinite Earths" (trying to use his Angler to cross dimensions during the merging of the parallel Earths). Recent years saw him updated as either a thieving Teleporter or a psychotic dude, but I don't think anyone could quite stick to a theme. In any case, I built him up as a loser who could Teleport and Transform objects using the Angler. Or just stab guys with it. He's not that great, though- about PL 7.5 overall.
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Atom Smasher

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

ATOM SMASHER (Albert "Al" Rothstein)
Created By:
Roy Thomas & Jerry Ordway
First Appearance: All-Star Squadron #25 (Sept. 1983)
Role: Background Character, Room Filler, Powerhouse, Growing Guy
Voice Actor: None (just grunted)
Finest Moment: Squared off against The Annihilator for a while
PL 10 (141)
STRENGTH
8/13 STAMINA 9/14 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Deception 4 (+5)
Expertise (History) 5 (+5)
Expertise (Basketball Star) 3 (+4) -- Uses Agility
Insight 2 (+3)
Intimidation 8 (+9, +10-16 Size)
Perception 3 (+4)
Persuasion 2 (+3)
Technology 2 (+2)
Vehicles 7 (+7)

Advantages:
Benefit (League Member), Daze (Intimdiation), Diehard, Fast Grab, Fearless, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 5, Startle, Takedown 2, Set-Up, Teamwork, Withstand Damage

Powers:
Growth 5 (Str & Sta +5, +5 Mass, +2 Intimidation, -2 Dodge/Parry, -5 Stealth) -- (24 feet) [10]
Growth +9 (+14 Mass, +7 Intimidation, -7 Dodge/Parry, +1 Speed, -14 Stealth) -- (72 feet) (Flaws: Limited to Non-ST & STA Increases) [9]
"Giant Fists & Feet" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited to Largest Sizes) [10]
Enhanced Dodge & Parry 2 (Flaws: Limited to While Grown) [2]
Protection 2 (Flaws: Limited to Largest Sizes) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Largest Size +7 (+13 Damage, DC 28)
Area Attacks +10 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
"Normal Size" Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +9, Fortitude +9, Will +6
"Usual Heigh- 24 Feet Tall" Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +14, Fortitude +14, Will +6
"72 Feet Tall" Dodge +3 (DC 13), Parry +3 (DC 13), Toughness +16, Fortitude +14, Will +6

Complications:
Relationship (Mother, Terri Rothstein)
Responsibility (The Legacy of Al Pratt, the Original "Atom")- OK, this is the comic book version, but the same might hold for the JLU version.

Total: Abilities: 58 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 20 / Powers: 32 / Defenses: 13 (141)

-Atom-Smasher, who I am absolutely NOT in love with, turned into a really fantastic character in JSA under Geoff Johns, doing a great run-through of the concept of "Superheroes Who Kill"- making the "tough decisions" that nonetheless led him down a dark path- one that he later regretted. His thing with Courtney "Stargirl" Whitmore ended up becoming as big as it was COMPLETELY overshadowed by her thing with Captain Marvel (whom most fans prefered; Bill Willingham said he got more questions about THEM than anything else when he took over JSA). Ultimately, of course, it went nowhere, owing to the New 52 and the DC Reboot- Al Rothstein wasn't a part of it, and his "Legacy Hero" concept made no sense then anyhow. So basically he had one great 7-year period after decades of being "the guy with a mohawk on Infinity Inc." and "the guy with the mohawk from the worst League era ever".

-Of course, Atom Smasher in JLU was the Backgrounder of Backgrounders- despite showing up frequently (like Shining Knight, he took up a lot of room, saving space, and was REALLY distinctive, so he was good Room Filler), he never actually got any REAL dialogue, and his scene of largest focus was him getting beaten up by the supreme machine, The Annihilator. He got a bit more play in the comic based on the show, but that was it. But seriously, he's name on-screen exactly ONCE, and only does grunting in all of his appearances, despite having one actual fight scene with a villain. It's really funny. Also, I'm not in love with him- I have no interest in feeling his big, strong hands massaging my aching shoulders after a long day's work.

-Statting Atom Smasher is a little tough, because he's ALREADY Super-Strong in his base form (he's 7'6" regularly, though the show defaulted at a 20-foot-ish height), yet ALSO has the Growth Power at high levels, which would give him an INSANE boost. So I settled on just removing some Strength & Stamina from his max height, allowing him to reach PL limits easily. PL 10 is a good spot- he was REALLY tough, and many villains acted afraid of his sheer power, but he was still mainly an inaccurate Powerhouse. Al's fighting style is that of a grappler, with lots of Grab-based Feats, plus his Groundstrike attack (easily boosted by the additional ranks of Super-Strength Growth dishes out). His power is enough that he's single-handedly defeated more than a few JSA foes, held down Black Adam for short periods of time, knocked out Power Girl with one single shot, crushed a jet plane with one hand, and taken punches from some of the A-list powerhouses of the DC Universe and stayed alive.
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Posts: 24690
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

KGBeast

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

K.G. BEAST (Anatoli Knyazev)
Created By:
Jim Starlin & Jim Aparo
First Appearance: Batman #417 (March 1988)
Role: Would-Be Rival, Extreme '80s Villain
Voice Actor: None
Finest Moment: Temporarily annoyed Batman or somebody
PL 9 (140)
STRENGTH
4 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 12 DEXTERITY 6
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Athletics 5 (+9)
Deception 7 (+10)
Expertise (Soviet Operative) 10 (+13)
Insight 4 (+8)
Intimidation 5 (+8)
Perception 4 (+8)
Persuasion 3 (+6)
Stealth 6 (+10)
Technology 2 (+5)
Vehicles 2 (+8)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Beginner's Luck, Chokehold, Diehard, Equipment 3 (Hand-Replacing Mounted Gun), Fast Grab, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Critical (Gun), Improved Initiative, Jack-of-All-Trades, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 7

Equipment:
"Mounted Gun" Blast 5 (Extras: Multiattack) (15)

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Mounted Gun +13 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +4, Fortitude +7, Will +6

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)

Total: Abilities: 80 / Skills: 52--26 / Advantages: 21 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 13 (140)

-KGBeast is one of those unfortunately-named characters, since he's a bad-ass in the "A Physical Rival to Batman" sense. He's so hardcore that he could fight hand-to-hand on Bruce's level, and once CUT OFF HIS OWN HAND to escape a Batrope-trap. Unfortunately, his goofy name and generic look meant that he was de-pushed outside of his creators' hands, and he ended up being whacked by The Tally Man in a hilariously-inconsequential manner for a guy who was basically a proto-Bane. Dude only showed up for a couple scenes in JLU, always as a non-speaking background Blaster.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Giganta! Green Arrow! Black Canary! Huntress! The Question!)

Post by Ares »

Jabroniville wrote: Sat Jul 06, 2019 10:17 am
Ares wrote: Fri Jul 05, 2019 2:39 pm The JLU writers seemed to have a lot of fun with the pair, their odd friendship being very entertaining in both Task Force X and Patriot Act. Having just watched Task Force X, I don't really consider that a low showing for the pair. Vigilante was holding his own against Deadshot when it came to shooting and seemed looked to be Lawson's superior in a fist fight. Vigilante actually had most of the bad guys captured at one point until Capt. Boomerang stepped in, and the only reason Flagg was able to beat him up was due to sucker punching him while he and Deadshot had each other covered and dead to rights.

Shining Knight might deserve full on PL 10 status. He was actually deflecting bullets with this sword from Deadshot and there were at least two points where Sir Justin had an opponent dead to rights before someone else interfered. The Annihilator caught him as he was about to finish one opponent off and slammed him into the ground so hard that he was embedded in the metal flood, but he was still awake and up and fighting. Heck, they never really managed to beat Sir Justin, all of Flagg's spin kicks and jump kicks just ticked him off and knocked him backwards. The best they managed was locking him in a room, which he then punched so hard that he was deforming the metal with his fists. And his sword was basically the only thing in Patriot Act that managed to hurt General Eiling's mutated form, so much that Eiling made a point to avoid it afterwards.

But like I said, the Seven Soldiers in general and Sir Justin in particular have always been favorites of mine, and I'm glad JLU had so much fun with them. It's also why I ignore anything Morrison did with his Seven Soldiers concept, given what he did to Vigilante and tried to do to Sir Justin.
Now how'd I know you'd gush about Sir Justin :)?

I was going to mention this sooner or later, but the show was positively INSANE with superhuman showings of durability from regular people, but only with regards to bludgeoning damage. Shining Knight would deflect bullets with his SWORD, implying he couldn't just take them with his armor... but guys who can shatter buildings will punch him and he's just like "UGH! THAT SMARTS, VARTLET!". Steven Mandragora fears a crossbow bolt the side of a 2B pencil, but hundreds of pounds of metal can hit him and merely knock him out. That ENTIRE Eiling fight is a study in people explicitly said to have no super-powers being thrown for hundreds of feet, smashed into pavement, cars, and walls, etc., from a Superman-class being, and barely being KO'd.

I pretty much stopped considering anything a "good showing of durability" after a point in that series, lol. It's just too weird about that.

Also, nobody gets upgraded to a PL 10 unless they win at least one fight against a super-powered opponent. Shining Knight is the "Virgil" of that show, jobbing to Yokozuna and warning Bret Hart about the threat to his World Title. I don't care how much you love knights as super-heroes :P.
I call shenanigans there, because by that logic, both Atom Smasher and the cyborg Steel should be PL 9s as well. Though to be fair, I'm impressed with your self-restraint in keeping Atom Smasher to just a PL 10 and single picture. ;) And to be fair, if Sir Justin is a jobber, he's at least a jobber in the Neutron sense that he jobbed to the Annihilator and a Superman-class General Eiling.
From my notes about Patriot Act:
Act":

* Shining Knight, Stargirl & S.T.R.I.P.E. all exhibit high durability- Knight skips like a stone across pavement and lands on top of an awning more than thirty feet away, leaving cracks in stone. He's out for a few rounds because of it, though. But STARGIRL (who flat-out says she has no Powers- "it's just the Staff") ends up being thrown from SKYSCRAPER HEIGHT, slamming into the street at full-force. Uhh... shouldn't she be a stain?
I don't remember it being mentioned in the show, but in the comic Stargirl's powers initially came from her Cosmic Converter Belt, which gave her enhanced strength, durability, agility and the ability to fire "shooting star" attacks. Later on, when Jack Knight retired, he gave her his old staff and she went from "The Star Spangled Kid" to "Stargirl" to honor both the original Kid's legacy and the Starman legacy. So if her belt functions anything like the comics, it could account for her surviving the fall.
* Also, it's funny how Eiling (a borderline combatant- he can punch out a Soldier with a sneak attack, but Batman one-punched him without breaking stride while walking in another direction) magically becomes a good fighter the second he gets super-powers. Seriously, he's hyper-athletic, doing flips and leaps, grabbing guys, hitting them, then spinning around and tossing them somewhere else. Good ol' comics and their "Sudden Fighting Skills"- sorta like how the X-Men train and train continuously for years, only to be stalemated by some teens who just learned their powers yesterday.
Eiling I can kind of see as something similar to the MCU's version of the Abomination, but to more of an extreme. Human Eiling is clearly way past his prime, being a grey-haired, bald, fairly slim old man who needs to sucker punch a soldier to take him out. Post serum he's got a superpowered body that lets him put all of his old soldier training to good use. I will say he becomes a bit TOO adept at his powers, but it's a 20 minute episode so they need to handwave that away. Him being able to catch Sir Justin's sword between his fingers is a bit nuts tho.
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- Captain Marvel SHAZAM! : Power of Hope (2000)

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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Huntress! The Question! Warlord! Green Lantern!)

Post by Ares »

A few random thoughts:

The Key: Honestly don't have much exposure to the character outside of one old Justice League comic and the "you're trying too hard" reinvention Morrison gave him, which at least had a fun concept of the villain realizing that the League would eventually escape his mind-puzzle, and incorporated their escape into his plan.

Blockbuster: Blockbuster always seemed more like a Hulk paordy/homage scaled down to be a Batman villain, everything from the purple pants to the "scientist transformed by science into a dim-witted hulking monstrosity", to the fact that normal criminals frequently took advantage of his low intelligence and used him for crime. At least one version of Blockbuster actually spoke in Hulk-speak, had a good relationship with Bruce Wayne, and was gentle enough unless you got him angry.

Green Lantern: I've got to admit, I didn't really see John as nearly a big deal as Jab seemed to. They basically took Hal Jordan from his most serious "By the Book Space Cop" days, made him a Marine instead of Air Force and made him black. They could have just as easily gotten a similar dynamic as John and Wally with Hal and Barry, making Hal his more Captain Kirk as a GL personality and Barry his more straight laced, serious, by the book type. Best thing I can say about John is that he created an interesting love triangle with Vixen and Hawkgirl.

Even then, the relationship with Hawkgirl really didn't wow me either, though there was a little build up towards it with things like the Christmas episode. Still, that whole relationship largely felt like they just wanted a romance on the show and those were the only two Leaguers they could really pair up. What makes it worse is Hawkgirl actually allowing the relationship to happen, since she's engaged at the time. During Wildcards, John flat out asks her what reasons they have to not be together, and Hawkgirl never once says "I'm engaged to someone else".

I do understand the desire to have some non-White members in the cast, and John was an easy fix for that, but it makes the DCU weird in that it's at once very faithful to the comics while still having some unique ideas, but then you get things like Hal Jordan and Barry Allen apparently not being heroes in this setting, while Green Arrow is still Ollie. It's a similar reason why the Nu-52 and Film Justice Leagues had Cyborg on the team, even though John Henry's Steel fit better as the Black Tech Guy.

Vixen: Vixen conversely was a lot of fun, even if she did at one point give the "men have fragile egos" line that makes my eyes roll. Though the same episode did have her quickly dismiss Vigilante's notion that just because she has animal powers that she has any jungle survival training. But she was fun, sassy and sexy, and showcased just how visually interesting and fun her powerset could be. If you wanted some diversity on the League, in terms of race, gender and powers, Vixen would be my number 1 pick. Very flexibly power set, very different personality from folks like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and J'onn, and the animators clearly loved every second of having her on camera.

Sinestro: Yeah, there really wasn't much to him in the series, as this was years before Geoff Johns gave him a Villain Push. Having Sinestro as the head of his own Sinestro Corps was just a brilliant move, even if the Emotional Spectrum groups were a mix of redundant and stupid. Here Sinestro was just another guy who happened to be fairly powerful thanks to his ring. He didn't even get many lines or anything. His best showing honestly was in the Superman: TAS where he proved himself capable of beating Superman, and both Clark and the newly powered Kyle Rayner needed to work together to defeat him.

Elongated Man: Ah, poor Ralph. To me, the charm of the character was that he had absolutely no ego about himself. He realized that Plastic Man was the big Stretchy Guy of the setting, so he settled on an intentionally goofy name, and focused more on his career as a detective, as well as his smoking hot wife. Ralph works best as a kind of Matter-Eater Lad who embraces his goofiness and is both fun and effective despite it. He actually worked really well on the Justice League International/Europe, since Batman being on the American League (if he was on any League at all) allowed Ralph to be the team detective and funny man.

But yeah, Ralph and Sue to me is sort of like Mr. Miracle and Big Barda in that they don't really deserve their own solo book, but they're great at adding flavor to the setting and make good team players or work for back-up stories or as part of larger arcs. What happened to them is one of the many reasons I hate Identity Crisis.

Booster Gold: Booster is one of those guys who I feel the Giffen/DeMatteis pretty much ruined for years, along with Blue Beetle, Guy Gardner and, to some extent, Captain Marvel. Giffen and DeMatteis pretty much turned the League into a joke, with Ted and Booster being the biggest offenders, while Guy and Cap got similar treatment. The thing with Booster is that Dan Jurgens created the guy to be humorous, but there were also layers to his character. He was someone hoping to get fame and fortune, but also looked at this as a chance to turn his life around, to make something of himself, and to be a genuine hero. DeMatteis and Giffen pretty much Flanderized him into a joke, and it wasn't until Dan Jurgens started writing the Justice League that Ted and Booster got some dignity back.

Unfortunately, because of the BWA-HA-HA League, most appearances by Booster in animation tend to play him up as being a one-note joke, with JLU and Batman: The Brave and the Bold even making him an outright idiot. Though I have to admit, the idea that people would mistake the white guy in the blue and gold outfit for the black guy named Green Lantern is hilarious, and the voice work for both Booster and Skeets was top notch.

B'wana Beast: B'wana Beast is, like Jab said, one of those insane superhero concepts that is just an example of pure Silver Age fun, a guy who can control animals but also merge them together for unique effects. Batman: The Brave and the Bold had a lot of fun with the guy, showing how versatile and fun the powerset could be. I have to admit, if I was going to use B'wana Beast in the modern DCU (and I totally would), I'd do a minor race-change where he's of mixed ancestry, making him half-black/white from South Africa. Also definitely keep his powers as mystical in nature, because no amount of radiation explains what he can do.

Gorilla Grodd: Grodd is just a fun villain, and a nice "secondary" mastermind character. Not really in the same league of threat as folks like Darkseid, Lex Luthor, Brainiac or the like, but someone with solid organizational skills, decent powers and ambition. His incarnation of the Secret Society was startlingly effective, as was his Legion of Doom, though by having Lex Luthor on the team he was just asking to get de-throned.

Atom Smasher: I've always had a soft spot for size changing heroes (they're just visually fun and have a more interesting dynamic than simple "strongman" bricks), and Al here was at least used to good visual effect in the show. It's kind of interesting how overpowered Al would be if he retained ALL of his original abilities. In addition to being moderately superstrong at his 7'6" height, he could also control his density, being able to phase or become even stronger/more durable, and then had limited growth powers on top of that. His powers always changed depending on the writer, however, as sometimes during his Nuklon days he didn't have his growth powers, or didn't have his phasing powers, and then later Geoff Johns just made him a straight up growth guy.

As for the build itself, you might want to just have all of the Growth into one powerset, but give it a partial/half-limit where every other rank doesn't add to his STR/STA, so that there's a reason for him to to his max height. Maybe give him one baseline rank of Growth without the STR/STA boost to represent his nearly 8 feet in height, but then give him 11 ranks of Growth with the half-limit where every other rank doesn't grant the STR/STA boost, so that at ranks 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 he gets a STR/STA bonus, giving him an incentive to reach his max height.

It was also kind of weird how when they had Atom Smasher square off against a Longshadow clone, they had Longshadow be significantly larger than Atom Smasher, yet in the Darkheart episode I'd swear Atom Smasher was just immense, and could have easily matched Longshadow's height.
"My heart is as light as a child's, a feeling I'd nearly forgotten. And by helping those in need, I will be able to keep that feeling alive."
- Captain Marvel SHAZAM! : Power of Hope (2000)

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Jabroniville
Posts: 24690
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Re: Jab’s Builds! (Giganta! Green Arrow! Black Canary! Huntress! The Question!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Ares wrote: Mon Jul 08, 2019 3:19 pm I call shenanigans there, because by that logic, both Atom Smasher and the cyborg Steel should be PL 9s as well. Though to be fair, I'm impressed with your self-restraint in keeping Atom Smasher to just a PL 10 and single picture. ;) And to be fair, if Sir Justin is a jobber, he's at least a jobber in the Neutron sense that he jobbed to the Annihilator and a Superman-class General Eiling.
They're super-strong and super-durable, and Steel's only PL 8.5 defensively because he's presumably impervious like his comic book self- Al is also only PL 10 on offense because he's so huge and can do area-damage (the show gives most Growth-people a lot of power- Giganta is as strong as Superman, pretty much); like most Growth people, his defenses are WAY below his offensive PL. Pretty much all my Powerhouses tend to be higher in PL, anyhow. Justin's just a guy with a sword.
I don't remember it being mentioned in the show, but in the comic Stargirl's powers initially came from her Cosmic Converter Belt, which gave her enhanced strength, durability, agility and the ability to fire "shooting star" attacks. Later on, when Jack Knight retired, he gave her his old staff and she went from "The Star Spangled Kid" to "Stargirl" to honor both the original Kid's legacy and the Starman legacy. So if her belt functions anything like the comics, it could account for her surviving the fall.
Here, Stargirl flat-out says "it's just the staff"- pretty much the entire series is bad with regards to regular humans surviving impossible impacts, and that's a stand-out one, along with the Mandragora scene. The show's writers just wanted to have "Cool Fightz", which I guess is better than having an ultra-serious devotion to reading into every little thing you can get stats from, I suppose. It gets silly here and there, but primarily they want fights to look cool.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Mon Jul 08, 2019 9:28 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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