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

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
Ian Turner
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Re: Nico Minoru

Post by Ian Turner »

Shock wrote: Sat Dec 04, 2021 1:14 am
Davies wrote: Sat Dec 04, 2021 12:47 am
Jabroniville wrote: Fri Dec 03, 2021 10:28 pm Horrible Fate I Wish Upon This Character: All of her future appearances will be written and drawn by Rob Liefeld.
Okay, there's horrible fates and there's 'no crime could ever merit such a punishment'.
He gets vindictive when he has to stat up magic characters
Understable. Marvel spent decades coming up with a cool list of 'spells' in the Dr. Strange books, invocations with names like Winds of Watoomb and Crimson Bands of Cytorrak and Images of Ikonn (and even developed the extra-dimensional entities that grant such power, and dozens of others who don't *YET* but could, like Shuma-Gorath or Chthon or Tolomaq or Loki), and then, pfft, lazy crackheads don't even bother to build on that foundation and just have their new magic characters just do whatever, whenever, with no real thought to how it will affect *their own stories* down the road that they've now established that Mary Sue Spellchucker can raise the dead or teleport enemies away or create money out of thin air.

It's the gamer in me, but also the writer, that insists that magic (or whatever) has *rules* for what they can and cannot do. The reader doesn't need to know them, but the writer, and any future writers of that character or genre, darn well do.
Jabroniville
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Xavin

Post by Jabroniville »

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XAVIN
Created By:
Brian K. Vaughan & Adrian Alphona
First Appearance: The Runaways #7 (Oct. 2005)
Role: New Character
Horrible Fate I Wish Upon This Character: Meh- Xavin isn't as bratty to established Marvel characters. She gets a reprieve.
Group Affiliations: The Runaways, The Skrull Empire
PL 8 (197)
STRENGTH
2/8 STAMINA 4/8 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 0

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

Advantages:
Improved Critical (Fire Blast), Improved Disarm, Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"Skrull Physiology"
Morph 4 (Any Form) [20]
Concealment 1 (Detect True Shape) [1]

"Fantastic Forms"
"Flame On!" Immunity 6 (Fire Damage, Heat) (6), "Fire-Assisted Flight" Flight 8 (500 mph) (16) & Flame Aura 6 (46) -- [49]
  • AE: "Fantastic Stretching" Elongation 5 (250 feet) & Immunity 5 (Falling Damage) (10)
  • AE: "Rocky Hide" Enhanced Strength 6 & Stamina 4, Impervious Toughness 5 (25)
  • AE: "Invisible Woman/Man" Concealment (All Visual Senses) 4 (Feats: Precise) (Extras: Affects Others, Ranged) (Flaws: Affects Others is Distracting -2) (14)
"Super-Skrull In Training"
"Invisible Objects" Create 8 (Feats: Subtle 2) (Extras: Impervious 5, Movable) (31) -- [39]
  • AE: "Invisible Force Ram" Blast 6 (Feats: Accurate, Subtle 2) (15)
  • AE: "Invisible Lifting" Move Object 8 (Feats: Subtle 2) (18)
  • AE: "Invisible Force Field" Force Field 4 (Feats: Selective, Subtle 2) (Extras: Sustained +0, Affects Others 8, Ranged 8, Impervious 7) (30)
  • AE: "Fire Wave" Damage 8 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (16)
  • AE: "Fire Stream" Damage 8 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (16)
  • AE: "Nova Flame!" Damage 8 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (16)
  • AE: Fire Blast 8 (16)
  • AE: "Fists Into Weapons" Strength-Damage +4 (4)
Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Thing's Strength +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Flame Aura +8 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Force Ram +10 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Fire Blast +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Area Blasts +8 Area (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +7

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +4 (+8 Rocky Hide/Force Field, Impervious +3), Fortitude +6 (+10 Rocky Hide), Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility/Prejudice (Skrull Exile)- Xavin is a member of the Skrull race, and as such is branded a traitor for siding with Earth. Few heroes will overly-trust a Skrull, either. As a Skrull, she is naturally warlike and lashes out with violence quickly.
Relationship (Karolina Dean)- Xavin only sticks with the Runaways because of her love for Karolina.
Relationship (The Runaways)- Xavin often disrespects Victor for being mechanical, and often questions Nico's leadership decisions. She is mainly close with Molly.
Prejudice (Genderfluid)- Xavin was originally male, but switched to female form for his betrothed, Karolina. He used a male form in battle (to be more intimidating, though Karolina finds this "sexist"), but has admitted to defaulting to a female form during times of stress- making this her more "standard" form now.
Power Loss (FF Powers)- Xavin may only use one of the Fantastic Four's powers at once- she cannot use a Flame Power while super-strong like The Thing, for example.

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 109 / Defenses: 10 (197)

-Xavin was introduced in this REALLY bizarre manner in The Runaways, basically flying in out of nowhere, going "Hey Karolina Dean- we're supposed to get married!", and then, after a brief explanation and gender-swap, Karolina just GOES WITH THIS TOTAL STRANGER. I know she had finally come out to Nico Minoru, and had been rebuffed for trying to kiss her, and was thus a bit "I gotta get out of here" most-likely, but still... so weird.

-Xavin is a teenage Skrull with the same FF-like powers as Super-Skrull (just... lower-level). And it turns out that years ago, the Skrull Empire thought to raid Earth. But the elder Deans, themselves aliens hiding out on our planet, didn't want them to, and so pointed the Skrulls towards THEIR homeworld instead. As "security" against a Dean betrayal, the Skrulls had them accept that the son of a Prince, Xavin, would be married to the Dean's firstborn daughter. The Deans, figuring that "hey- they're Skrulls. They're doomed to die in battle, so why not accept?" Turns out this particular Skrull is a bit survivable.

-And for some reason, Xavin is also the NICEST SKRULL EVER, being... okay, there's about five billion "Good Skrulls" now, so that wasn't new then, and is even less unique these days. But back then it WAS a bit unusual, especially as most Skrulls had to LEARN to be nice. Xavin is immediately sympathetic to Karolina's confusion and trepidation, and helpfully-alters his gender just so that she can be more comfortable with her new betrothed. And so Xavin & Karolina (who'd been feeling a bit of ennui over her homosexuality) run off to the site of the Skrull/Majesdane War in order to marry as a peace-treaty thing. But then there's a big fight at the wedding that results in the destruction of the Majesdane homeworld (oddly, we don't actually SEE this- Karolina simply relays it to the others), and the two arrive on Earth and team up with the rest of the Runaways. Xavin helps out during the Secret Invasion, betraying her own people, and fails to fit in properly with most of the team- Victor appears bothered by her constant gender-switching, and she makes repeated jabs about him being a robot/cyborg (sometimes accidentally). The last we saw, Xavin had knocked out Karolina to take her place while she was being arrested by some surviving Majesdanians- the character has yet to reappear. This is... honestly really weird storytelling, especially as Karolina then moved on with Julie Power, and then Nico Minoru. They just wrote out Xavin entirely and never saw the character again.

"Skrulls Change Genders Like Humans Change Hair Colors":
-When Xavin points out that "Skrulls can change genders the way humans change hair colours", it adds a new wrinkle to a race previously seen as pretty sexually-dimorphic (female Skrulls tend to be Comic Book Pretty, with tiny chin ridges; males were Ugly Green Frog-Men- even Comic Book Male Physique-having male Skrulls had giant chin-ridges and jaws, making them look monstrous). Never mind that Emperors and Empresses took different titles, their primary Gods are precisely Male and Female (Klyb'n & Sl'gurt... though Klyb'n is an Eternal, and thus can't shapeshift), and in pretty much 100% of instances, Skrulls under deep-cover (like during Secret Invasion or while copying Alicia Masters or Wolverine long-term) will copy a person of their own sex (judging by the fact that the dead bodies- their natural forms- are the same sex). But hey- Xavin didn't say ALL Skrulls do that, and he generally uses "Male Form" as a default except around Karolina, in the early days. And hell, some Skrulls turn into COWS on the regular, so it's not any kind of outlandish.

-This produces an interesting conversation about what sex and gender mean to a race that can shapeshift into whatever they want. I mean, how WOULD they view this stuff, if they can just change at-will to whatever they want? Obviously, this wouldn't have been touched on before, say, 1999, but it's not like Skrull Culture has been elaborated upon THAT much beyond "they're warlike d-bags, and they hate The Kree." Plus, I mean, WHAT a fantasy to people who are actually transgender- no dramatic surgeries, no psychiatric evaluations or anything- you just snap your fingers and now you're a chick. Or a dude. Or whatever. I'm not sure if the differences between the Skrull sexes have ever been elaborated upon much before, however- even females like Lyja and Queen Veranke were war-like soldiers, though I recall a Skrull Princess who was fairly-peaceful in the past. Though... as a race that can be whatever they want, there really ISN'T any need for gender roles, is there? Might be like those Native cultures in North America that had "Twin Spirits" (there were reports of males who took 100% female identity, right down to wearing female clothes, taking on women's jobs in society, and in one case, even "mimicking" a pregancy and the necessary "miscarriage" that resulted), and nobody thought much about it... until the Europeans showed up.

Xavin's Powers:
-Xavin is basically a Mini-Super-Skrull, being inexperience yet versatile. One quirk is that she can only use one power at a time, essentially giving her four different "forms" to take, and an array of powers to use, but none of the Dynamic, varied forms of Kl'rt, who would wipe the floor with Xavin using The Thing's full strength COMBINED with Flames or Invisibility.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sun Dec 05, 2021 6:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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drkrash
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Re: Xavin

Post by drkrash »

Jabroniville wrote: Sun Dec 05, 2021 4:30 pm Though... as a race that can be whatever they want, there really ISN'T any need for gender roles, is there? Might be like those Native cultures in North America that had "Twin Spirits" (there were reports of males who took 100% female identity, right down to wearing female clothes, taking on women's jobs in society, and in one case, even "mimicking" a pregancy and the necessary "miscarriage" that resulted), and nobody thought much about it... until the Christians showed up.
I'm not going to get into this here, but I have to say this is a really gross oversimplification of both gender and history, and an unnecessary knock on Christians, Jab.
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Jabroniville
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Chase Stein! Molly Hayes! Nico Minoru! Karolina Dean!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Twin-Spirits are/were a real thing, though naturally with 500+ Indigenous cultures that thing can get pretty diverse over a huge range (this article goes into way more detail: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-spirit), which isn't really the purpose of my offhand remark- it was more trying to find an analogous example in human history. And either Christians or Europeans would have fit my statement, I think. In either case, it was the separate culture walking in and going "... huh, wait", though not every case ended in tragedy or "WTF?".
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drkrash
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Chase Stein! Molly Hayes! Nico Minoru! Karolina Dean!)

Post by drkrash »

I have my own thoughts on why I think this retcon of Skrull culture is stupid, which may be more on point. But as for my historical frustration, "Europeans" would have been a far better word. I get pretty fired up about the term "Christian" being used generically and without qualification as a term for "bad guy."
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Jabroniville
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Chase Stein! Molly Hayes! Nico Minoru! Karolina Dean!)

Post by Jabroniville »

drkrash wrote: Sun Dec 05, 2021 5:48 pm I have my own thoughts on why I think this retcon of Skrull culture is stupid, which may be more on point. But as for my historical frustration, "Europeans" would have been a far better word. I get pretty fired up about the term "Christian" being used generically and without qualification as a term for "bad guy."
haha OK well I'll edit it, then.
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M4C8
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Chase Stein! Molly Hayes! Nico Minoru! Karolina Dean!)

Post by M4C8 »

The whole Skrull gender debate is dumb and completely unnecessary, regardless of their shape-changing abilities they've always either male or female, as are most shape changers (Mystique has never been anything other than female despite being able to take on a male forms)
I would assume that, while being able to outwardly resemble the forms of the opposite gender, the typical shape change (including the Skrulls) wouldn't be able to take on that genders role in reproduction (female Skrulls in male form being able to produce sperm for example)
'A shared universe, like any fictional construct, hinges on suspension of disbelief. When continuity is tossed away, it tatters the construct. Undermines it'
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drkrash
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Chase Stein! Molly Hayes! Nico Minoru! Karolina Dean!)

Post by drkrash »

M4C8 wrote: Sun Dec 05, 2021 6:05 pm The whole Skrull gender debate is dumb and completely unnecessary, regardless of their shape-changing abilities they've always either male or female, as are most shape changers (Mystique has never been anything other than female despite being able to take on a male forms)
I would assume that, while being able to outwardly resemble the forms of the opposite gender, the typical shape change (including the Skrulls) wouldn't be able to take on that genders role in reproduction (female Skrulls in male form being able to produce sperm for example)
Yup. This is my point also. If gender had no role in culture or reproduction, they wouldn't ever manifest as male and female. I realize this is a conceit based on the fact that they were introduced in the 60s, but it still matters.
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Shock
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Chase Stein! Molly Hayes! Nico Minoru! Karolina Dean!)

Post by Shock »

I think the problem is that it was never really important what their gender roles are (if any). And if I was Marvel, there's no way I would tackle that issue now.
Jabroniville
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Klara Prast

Post by Jabroniville »

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KLARA PRAST
Created By:
Joss Whedon & Michael Ryan
First Appearance: The Runaways #27 (July 2007)
Role: New Member
Horrible Fate I Wish Upon This Character: Must become a first-generation NuDCU character.
Group Affiliations: The Runaways
PL 8 (65)
STRENGTH
-1 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 2 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+1)
Deception 2 (+3)
Perception 2 (+2)

Advantages:
Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Chlorokinetic"
"Vine Wall" Enhanced Defenses 4 [8]
Features 1: Flowers Reflect Her Mood [1]

"Vines" Snare 8 (24) -- [27]
  • AE: Growth 8 (Extras: Affects Others Only +0) (Flaws: Limited to Plants) (8)
  • AE: "Plant Attack" Blast 8 (Feats: Accurate 3) (19)
  • AE: Create Plants 4 (Feats: Subtle, Innate) (Extras: Continuous) (Flaws: Requires Some Plant Matter) (10)
Offense:
Unarmed +2 (-1 Damage, DC 14)
Plants +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (+8 Plants, DC 14-18), Parry +4 (+8 Plants, DC 14-18), Toughness +1, Fortitude +2, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility (Girl Of Her Time)- Klara, despite being victimized in her time period, still shares many of its prejudices, such as an inherent superiority of the white race, and a distaste of homosexuality.

Total: Abilities: 14 / Skills: 6--3 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 36 / Defenses: 10 (65)

-Klara Prast was added to the group during Joss Whedon's short run on Runaways- she's a twelve-year old Child Bride in 1907 (having been booted out of her parents' home for having mutant powers), and meets the team when they go spiralling through time. She was abused physically and sexually by her creep of a husband, because Joss Whedon is just the KING OF MALE FEMINISTS YOU GUYS and that in no way was meant as a smokescreen for his own personal habits at all! Disgusted with her life at the turn of the century, she joins the Runaways in modern times. She's a bit of a "Fish Out Of Water", not being used to big, modern cities, much less Skrull Invasions and Robots, but seems to make a solid friendship with Molly Hayes, as the two are the same age. She is saved by the sacrifice of Old Lace at one point, soon abandoning the group. In the later series revamp, she's shown having been adopted by two men; she has fought through her 1900s prejudices about gay people and chooses to stay with her two dads rather than go off with the team, leaving Molly heartbroken.

-As a rookie hero AND a young child, Klara isn't exactly a combat monster, though her Plant Powers are somewhat independent of her fighting ability, making her a PL 8 in spite of her flaws.
Jabroniville
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Victor Mancha

Post by Jabroniville »

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VICTOR MANCHA
Created By:
Brian K. Vaughan & Adrian Alphona
First Appearance: The Runaways #27 (July 2007)
Role: The New Guy, Magnetic Hero
Horrible Fate I Wish Upon This Character: Doomed to go evil as many times as Wanda Maximoff has.
Group Affiliations: The Runaways, Avengers A.I.
PL 8 (139)
STRENGTH
6 STAMINA 7 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 5 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+8)
Deception 2 (+5)
Expertise (Science) 3 (+8)
Perception 3 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Blasts) 2 (+8)
Technology 4 (+9)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Eidetic Memory, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Cybernetic Physiology"
Speed 3 (16 mph) [3]
Leaping 2 (30 feet) [2]
"Automated Self-Repair Function" Regeneration 5 [5]

"Speak to Machines" Comprehend 2 (Machines) [4]
Flight 5 (60 mph) [10]

Electro-Magnetic Blast 8 (16) -- [18]
  • AE: Move Object 8 (Feats: Precise) (Flaws: Limited to Ferrous Materials) (9)
  • AE: "Bend Metal" Transform 5 (One Metal Object To Another Shape) 8 (Extras: Ranged) (16)
Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Blast +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +7, Fortitude +7, Will +5

Complications:
Reputation (Victorious)- Victor apparently grew to become a lethal super-villain in a future time, having slain the Fantastic Fourteen and every other superhero on Earth- Gertrude Yorke's future self died to bring this information to the Runaways.
Vulnerable (Magnetic & Electrical Attacks, Other Stuff)- Victor's body is still partially-mechanical (his artificial organs have not completely-transformed into human ones). He is more-vulnerable to certain kinds of attacks as a result. He can also be "hacked", and controlled remotely. He also has shorted-out simply be coming near another creation of Ultron (such as The Vision).
Vulnerable (Overloading Questions)- Victor's brain will short out if asked one of three questions: "Could God make a sandwich so big that even He couldn't finish it?" is the only one thus revealed. He can be rescued from the state only if someone else answers the question. Once the question is asked, it will not work a second time.

Total: Abilities: 74 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 42 / Defenses: 9 (139)

-I have hated this character’s name for more than a decade. It just sounds ridiculous. Victor MANCHA. And you have to say the whole thing- Marvel has too many “Victors” otherwise.

-A great idea, though, with pretty decent execution, Victor Mancha's introduction brought a lot to Runaways:
1) Adding another male to a "One-Guy" team, which both fixes a pronounced sex imbalance (albeit one that inverts the norm for comics), and creates potential romantic entanglements.
2) Adds some "oomph" to a team with only a handful of powerhouses.
3) Giving the team a link to the pre-existing Greater Marvel Universe, in that his "father" is Ultron, an established character. As the rest of the team were kind of "independent" of everything, they often felt completely "outside" of the MU.
4) Adding a new member to an established, set team, which is inevitably going to create issues of trust, friendship and more (especially since Victor is both the son of Ultron, AND is a super-villain in the future). Basically drawing some chaos into the order.
5) As a Latino kid, he adds some diversity to a pretty white squad.

-Victor is the cloned offspring of a barren woman who made a deal with Ultron (who, true to form, simply wanted some "offspring"- "I am, after all, a family man.")- he's been cybernetically-enhanced, and "awakens" when the Runaways come flying in, having been tipped-off that he's the world's greatest super-villain in the future. After a "tease" that his mystery-supervillain father is Doctor Doom (complete with a neat scene where Victor appeals to Doom's vanity), the Doombot is destroyed, revealing ULTRON. Ultron swiftly kills Victor's mother, but the Runaways & Excelsior team up to defeat the villain (he's apparently not Adamantium here).

-Victor is taken in by the rest of the team, who really don't trust him all the way thanks to his heritage (the robotic one, not the Latino one). He quickly enters a relationship with Nico Minoru (who's feeling survivor's guilt from watching Alex Wilder and the Pride die), and adopts several "humorous" nicknames (Static Cling Lad, Victron, Man of La Mancha). He falls in love with a girl named Lillie in 1907 while the group is time-travelling, and while she decides to stay in her own time period, Victor nonetheless ends things with Nico by the end of the Runaways book. Victor ends up joining the Avengers: A.I. book, alongside Hank Pym and a few other disparate, mechanical-themed characters- this disastrous book was quickly cancelled, however, leaving Victor in limbo.

-Amazingly, things get even WORSE for him, as Victor appears in the well-respected but bizarre Vision series, in which he moves in with the Vision and his new family as a half-brother of sorts... only to be revealed as spying on him and his family's erratic behavior on behalf of the Avengers. BUT WAIT! It turns out that he's also addicted to Vibranium (which is explained by flashbacks to his "Runaways" days), causing Victor himself to act under the influence like a druggie would. He misjudges the strength of his powers after using a Vibranium piano given to Vision by the Black Panther, and accidentally kills Vision's son, Vin. Victor is arrested by Captain America, but Vision lashes out in an attempt to kill Victor for the crime, defeating the Avengers to do so. However, Vision's wife Virginia beats him to it- tearing Victor’s cybernetic heart out of his body, killing him. With his final thoughts, he is "at peace", knowing he will never by the villainous Victorious of the future.

-So despite Vision being a very respected book, this pretty well destroys Victor's character. And then Runaways gets restarted, and Chase tries to revive Victor via his head- the "Victorious" program thus begins. Only Molly realizes that Victor is still alive within the head, and he asks her to keep it secret. And that's where we leave off with the most recent bio.

-Victor is a PL 8 Cyborg with Magneto-Lite powers, making him rather effective and expensive for this team. He's shown little aside from Magnetism & Blasts, however.
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Molly! Nico Minoru! Karolina Dean! Victor Mancha!)

Post by Sidney369 »

Xavin, now a general, reappeared in the final issue of Runaways, having sent some Majesdanians to collect Karolina. Nico gave Karolina the Staff of One to get rid of so it would no longer corrupt her.

Earlier in the series, Victor regrew his body (after using a Roomba to get around for a while). Doombot from Avengers A.I. also showed up to be with Victor, who he considered to be his only friend.
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Gib

Post by Jabroniville »

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GIB
Created By:
Rainbow Rowell & David Lafuente
First Appearance: The Runaways #13 (Sept. 2018)
Role: Heroic Son of Evil Beings
Group Affiliations: The Gibborim, The Runaways

-A brand-new character, Gib is one of the children of the "previous trinity" of Gibborim (his siblings are Bo and Rim... yes, Gib, Bo, Rim)- he was meant to inherit the Earth after the Pride cleansed the planet of all humanity, and would feed off of billions of sacrificed souls. But since the Pride failed and fought their masters, dying in the process, the "Seeds" were born human-sized and hungry. They demanded the Runaways make good on their parents' promise, and Gib was chosen to watch over the kids while Alex Wilder stalled for time. Naturally, the green, horn-headed being was touched by their humanity and compassion. He implored his siblings to spare the kids, and watched as Gertrude used a portal to send them 999 years into the future. Still hungry and now missing his "nestmates", Gib is taken in by the Runaways. When a false hero attempted to kill Karolina to raise his profile, he was killed by Old Lace- the man's soul was then used to sustain Gib. This puts the Runaways in the weird position of having to SUPPLY SOULS to their teammate, but I guess this only happened once so far- the rest of the time he's been getting dead rats brought to him, which sustains him a little bit. Gib later disguised himself as a human and became a high school football star.

-Gib is vaguely super-strong and can morph into human shapes.
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Sidious
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Re: Xavin

Post by Sidious »

Jabroniville wrote: Sun Dec 05, 2021 4:30 pm "Skrulls Change Genders Like Humans Change Hair Colors":
-When Xavin points out that "Skrulls can change genders the way humans change hair colours", it adds a new wrinkle to a race previously seen as pretty sexually-dimorphic (female Skrulls tend to be Comic Book Pretty, with tiny chin ridges; males were Ugly Green Frog-Men- even Comic Book Male Physique-having male Skrulls had giant chin-ridges and jaws, making them look monstrous). Never mind that Emperors and Empresses took different titles, their primary Gods are precisely Male and Female (Klyb'n & Sl'gurt... though Klyb'n is an Eternal, and thus can't shapeshift), and in pretty much 100% of instances, Skrulls under deep-cover (like during Secret Invasion or while copying Alicia Masters or Wolverine long-term) will copy a person of their own sex (judging by the fact that the dead bodies- their natural forms- are the same sex). But hey- Xavin didn't say ALL Skrulls do that, and he generally uses "Male Form" as a default except around Karolina, in the early days. And hell, some Skrulls turn into COWS on the regular, so it's not any kind of outlandish.

-This produces an interesting conversation about what sex and gender mean to a race that can shapeshift into whatever they want. I mean, how WOULD they view this stuff, if they can just change at-will to whatever they want? Obviously, this wouldn't have been touched on before, say, 1999, but it's not like Skrull Culture has been elaborated upon THAT much beyond "they're warlike d-bags, and they hate The Kree." Plus, I mean, WHAT a fantasy to people who are actually transgender- no dramatic surgeries, no psychiatric evaluations or anything- you just snap your fingers and now you're a chick. Or a dude. Or whatever. I'm not sure if the differences between the Skrull sexes have ever been elaborated upon much before, however- even females like Lyja and Queen Veranke were war-like soldiers, though I recall a Skrull Princess who was fairly-peaceful in the past. Though... as a race that can be whatever they want, there really ISN'T any need for gender roles, is there? Might be like those Native cultures in North America that had "Twin Spirits" (there were reports of males who took 100% female identity, right down to wearing female clothes, taking on women's jobs in society, and in one case, even "mimicking" a pregancy and the necessary "miscarriage" that resulted), and nobody thought much about it... until the Europeans showed up.
this is pretty much the same issue I have with the entire Martian race from DC. The only thing that differentiates the White from the Green Martians is outlook. Because color to a race of shapeshifters is meaningless. Gender shouldn't even play a part in things for any of the shapeshifting races out there.

So far, the only shapeshifting race that I think got it even moderately right would be the Durlans from DC. Big flowy robes, lots of tenticles. Nothing there to discern race, color, or gender.
Jabroniville
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The Gibborim

Post by Jabroniville »

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lol- THESE DINKS are supposed to be these giant terrifying Elder Gods that can destroy a world with multiple Gods, Hulks and super-geniuses on it.

THE GIBBORIM
Created By:
Brian K. Vaughan & Adrian Alphona
First Appearance: The Runaways #13 (March 2004)
Role: Generic Elder Gods
Horrible Fate I Wish Upon This Character: Permanently take The Wrecking Crew's role in comics.
Group Affiliations: The Gibborim (well, duh)
PL 17 (489)
STRENGTH
22 STAMINA 22 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 8 AWARENESS 5 PRESENCE 6

Skills:
Deception 9 (+15)
Expertise (History) 8 (+16)
Expertise (Magic) 16 (+24)
Expertise (God) 9 (+17)
Insight 6 (+11)
Intimidation 13 (+19)
Perception 5 (+10)
Persuasion 6 (+12)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Artificer, Daze (Intimidation), Diehard, Fearless, Improved Critical (Godly Blasts) 2, Improved Hold, Last Stand, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 10, Ritualist, Startle, Well-Informed, Withstand Damage

Powers:
"Immortal God"
Immunity 16 (Aging, Life Support, Fatigue Effects) [16]
Speed 2 (8 mph) [2]
Senses 7 (Detect Magic- Ranged 3, Acute & Analytical, Tracking By Magic) [7]
"Elder Entity" Immunity 20 (Mental Effects) [20]
"Speaks All Languages" Comprehend 3 (Languages- Speak & Understand) [6]

"Nigh-Unkillable"
Impervious Toughness 17 [17]
Regeneration 14 (Feats: Regrow Limbs) [15]

"Variable Size"
Features 5: Increased Mass 5 [5]
Elongation 1 [1]

"Elder God"
Variable 15 (105) -- [109]
  • AE: "Godly Wave" Damage 16 (Extras: Area- 250ft. Cone +3) (64)
  • AE: "Godly Beam" Damage 16 (Extras: Area- 120ft. Line +3) (64)
  • AE: "Godly Storm" Damage 16 (Extras: Area- 120ft. Burst +3) (64)
  • AE: "Godly Blast" Blast 24 (Feats: Extended Range 4, Penetrating 12) (64)
"Empower Others" Variable 8 (Feats: Reversible) (Extras: Affects Others Only, Continuous) [65]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+22 Damage, DC 37)
Blast +10 (+24 Ranged Damage, DC 39)
God Attack Area +16 (+16 Damage, DC 31)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +22 (+11 Impervious), Fortitude +22, Will +11

Complications:
Motivation (Power)- The Gibborim wish to destroy all humanity, and alter the world to their own liking. To do this, they need souls.
Power Loss (Outside of Our World)- The Gibborim cannot enter Earth's dimension for long periods of time, and require human souls for sacrifices, lest they be banished for some time.

Total: Abilities: 150 / Skills: 72--36 / Advantages: 24 / Powers: 263 / Defenses: 16 (489)

-The Gibborim provide the backdrop to the entire Runaways series, so it's much the pity that they're arguably the weakest aspect of the whole thing. Seriously, Marvel has about ten-THOUSAND "Elder Gods" out there, and a handful of them have ALSO received the "they used to run the planet, and want it back" thing. And fiction as a whole has used this trope a million times, too! And in addition to that, they have a stupid name (I know it's Biblical and all that but it sounds too much like both "gibberish" and "gibbon"- making them sound like confusing, incomprehensible simians), and they look weirdly-malformed- like their hands and heads were outsized, along with big honkin' noses and weird lips, like the Epic Derp class of Hell-Lords. And obviously they were running the planet in between the times the Celestials showed up, and when Set ruled things. And the Demogorge apparently never went after them... see why this series should have been left out of continuity?

-The Gibborim (that's a hard name to type out- I always hit the "B" first) are a trio of ancient giants that wish to destroy the world, and replace it with one of their own invention. To do this, they recruit six couples and amplify their power, offering paradise to six individuals (thus ensuring that they'll work hard and compete against each other to be the most-favored). After twenty-five years of human sacrifices, they will take control of our world. However, The Runaways screw up the deal by ruining a soul's containment unit, and so the beasts are held back (but not before killing Alex Wilder, who takes responsibility, and the entirety of the Pride).

-The Gibborim end up in a Limbo-like dimension, and try to make a deal with a time-displaced young Geoffrey Wilder to bring back his wife & son- however, this fails. Chase Stein offers himself as a sacrifice to them if they'll resurrect his girlfriend Gert, but again, this didn't come to pass- the soul sacrifice needs to be unwilling. They are temporarily summoned by Witchfire in her fight against Magik, but so far have not appeared in continuity for ages.

-The Gibborim are apparently very powerful, but not a lot is seen. So I took the "Elder God Template" and made it wussier.
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