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

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Re: Jab's Builds! (INVINCIBLE! The Maulers! The Immortal! Dupli-Kate!)

Post by Woodclaw »

Ken wrote: Tue Feb 20, 2018 5:36 am
Jabroniville wrote: Tue Feb 20, 2018 3:43 am The Evil Invincibles are deadly, but sixteen PL 12s can't end the DC AND Marvel Earth combined the way they could to the "Image Earth" (even with Pitt, Witchblade and others defending it).
Did we see Supreme or Mighty Man fighting the Viltrumites?
I believe Omni-Man and Supreme had a bit of a fight in one issue of Noble Causes. They seemed pretty evenly matched, but I don't think either of them was going all-in.
"You're right. Sorry. Holy shit," I breathed, "heckhounds.”

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Re: Jab's Builds! (INVINCIBLE! The Maulers! The Immortal! Dupli-Kate!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Ken wrote: Tue Feb 20, 2018 5:36 am
Jabroniville wrote: Tue Feb 20, 2018 3:43 am The Evil Invincibles are deadly, but sixteen PL 12s can't end the DC AND Marvel Earth combined the way they could to the "Image Earth" (even with Pitt, Witchblade and others defending it).
Did we see Supreme or Mighty Man fighting the Viltrumites?
They never crossed over within Invincible- Image Comics kind of has this peculiar take on a "Shared Universe", in which each writer has their own universe, but is allowed to use the heroes of other writers (presumably they need permission). Thus Witchblade, Savage Dragon, The Darkness, Pitt & others showing up during "The Invincible War". But the more full setting of Noble Causes (which really needs those characters to be rather central to the universe) didn't factor into things. Mighty Man didn't seem to factor in, though he might have been in the background of a scene or two- Ottley drew a LOT of Flying Bricks.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (The Maulers! The Immortal! Dupli-Kate! Omni-Man!)

Post by brothersale »

Arkrite wrote: Tue Feb 20, 2018 2:46 am
The best way I'd describe the supporting cast is "They're all characters who star in other books"- Black Samson, as I said, had a pretty full bio for a guy who ended up not mattering. He really FELT real- just that we didn't see most of the interesting stuff that was happening to him. It's really the mark of good world-building.
Some are, Kid Thor, Knockout and Machine Head all orginated from Capes, Brit orginated in Brit and Wolf-man came from, you guessed it Fuffy Fuffy Bunn Bunn's Adventures....






:lol: Kidding, he came from The Astounding Wolf-Man
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Cecil Stedman

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

CECIL STEDMAN
Role:
Big Brother, Semi-Evil Government Figure
PL 7 (90)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 5 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Deception 8 (+12)
Expertise (Government) 6 (+10)
Expertise (Current Events) 11 (+15)
Insight 3 (+8)
Investigation 5 (+10)
Perception 2 (+7)
Persuasion 3 (+7)
Technology 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Benefit 6 (Security Clearance/High Office), Equipment 3 (Blaster +7), Ranged Attack 5, Well-Informed

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Blaster +7 (+7 Ranged Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +2, Fortitude +3, Will +8

Complications:
Responsibility (The World)- Cecil is devoted to protecting the world. At ANY costs. He will work with anyone, no matter how evil, in order to protect the "big picture".
Relationship (Invincible)- Claiming to have been close with Omni-Man, Cecil says he feels great guilt at what went on under his knows, and tries to take Invincible under his wing. Unfortunately, he keeps far too many secrets in the dark, causing a major split- Mark assaults Cecil for hiding Darkwing, D.A. Sinclair and others from him. Only later does Mark slowly realize the righteousness of some of Cecil's actions.
Quirk (Distinctive Scar)- The only original piece of Cecil's organic tissue left (his skin was dissolved in a supervillain attack), he keeps it with him as an eternal reminder of the cost there will be if he screws up.

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 15 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 9 (90)

-Cecil was one of those characters who shows up in a VERY convenient manner. When Mark is badly injured after finding out that his father is a "sleeper agent" and that the Viltrumites are evil, Cecil immediately steps in, explaining everything to Mark, and announcing that he wants Mark to be his new "personal" champion, meant to take on the big threats that Cecil is monitoring all over the world. Constantly witnessed at The Pentagon (with a distinctive "parking in rear" sign), Cecil is said to be in the highest of high places in the government- enough that he can personally teleport around the world (at five million dollars per 'port, something he likes abusing), control the buying trends of the public (this is actually a pretty dark thing if you think about it, but here's its just so that Cecil can ensure that Mark's family always has money), and is alerted to just about any major crime in progress.

-Like I said, he's convenient. Almost TOO convenient- Mark learns of every problem immediately, and Cecil spends LOTS of panel-time talking about various things and giving detailed exposition. He's almost Kirkman's literal "Word of God" in comic-form. However, to the creative team's credit, there's a lot of ambiguity in Cecil's work. For starters, it's made very clear that he's working with some awful people- the murderous Darkwing II, and D.A. Sinclair, who was kidnapping and mutilating tons of innocent people for his science experiments. We even learn later that Cecil KNEW Omni-Man was lying about being a benevolent protector of worlds, but allied with him anyways in order to send him against the right threats!

-This leads to a huge blow-up with Mark, who assaults Cecil after being lured into a secretive "White Room" and assaulted with dozens of Reanimen. He even reveals that he's placed a sonic-device painful to Viltrumites in Mark's ear (SURGICALLY!), which causes Robot and most of the Guardians of the Globe to quit on him as well. However, almost as quickly as this occurs, there's a re-combining of forces- the "Invincible War" devastates much of the planet almost right away, leading to Cecil convincing the Guardians to form up yet again. Mark even begins to see Cecil's side in things- D.A. Sinclair has reformed, and Darkwing sacrificed his life stopping one Evil Invincible. His whole life is based around "strange bedfellows"- allying with anyone possible in order to safeguard the greater good. In Invincible Universe, his enemy Mr. Liu at first thinks he wears his scars as "a badge of pride", but cops in the end to recognizing that Cecil deliberately eats away at his own soul in order to save the souls of others.

-Mark and Cecil pretty much make good after The Viltrumite War, but it doesn't last- Robot now believes that Earth would be better off under HIS control, and makes sure that Cecil is one of his first victims- he slices Cecil's throat as one of his first moves in a global takeover, realizing that Cecil would never go along with his plan. It was kind of an... odd way out for this guy- you'd think his hubris and secrecy would come back to bite him in the ass all ironic-like. Instead, he's just gobbled up by a bigger, meaner fish. Which I guess makes sense in a way.

-All in all, Cecil is one of the most important characters of Invincible, and one of the most morally-ambiguous. Most guys are either pure evil (Conquest, Thragg), or all good (Mark, Eve, etc.)- very few people are "in between", and almost anyone switches sides wholly (Omni-Man, The Viltrumites, Darkwing, Sinclair) rather than occupying a "whatever means necessary" approach like Cecil (and later, Robot) does. And honestly... I'd probably rather have a Cecil watching over my interests than a Mark.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed May 11, 2022 9:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (The Maulers! The Immortal! Dupli-Kate! Omni-Man!)

Post by L-Space »

I'm with some of the others here, I started out loving Invincible, but between side characters getting hosed to make Viltrumites the ultimate threat and the over the top gore kind of made me lose interest in it a while back. Probably didn't help that I read it back to back up through The Viltrumite War and was suffering from reader's fatigue :lol:. I will have to go back to it and try and finish it out though.
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Donald

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

DONALD FERGUSON
Role:
The Assistant, Helper Cyborg

-Donald is Cecil's best friend and aide-de-camp in Invincible, acting in an assistance role. He's also been placed inside a robot body, capable of Extending Limbs, Flight and creating Guns from his hands. There's bits and pieces where he reflects on his lost humanity (his wife was with other men while he was thought-dead; he only pretends to sleep; he doesn't crave food any longer), but he's such a minor character you see very little of him. His nicest moment was in talking to Rick Sheridan after being turned into a Reaniman and rebuilt as a cyborg- he mentioned that he's gone through the same things. 
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed May 11, 2022 9:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (INVINCIBLE! The Maulers! The Immortal! Dupli-Kate!)

Post by Ares »

Ken wrote: Tue Feb 20, 2018 5:36 am
Jabroniville wrote: Tue Feb 20, 2018 3:43 am The Evil Invincibles are deadly, but sixteen PL 12s can't end the DC AND Marvel Earth combined the way they could to the "Image Earth" (even with Pitt, Witchblade and others defending it).
Did we see Supreme or Mighty Man fighting the Viltrumites?
We saw Mighty Man briefly engage the one of the Evil Invincibles during the Invincible Wars, but it amounted to a one-panel shot of Mighty Man getting knocked into someone while yelling "Look out! Sorry!" He didn't appear overly hurt, wasn't bleeding or anything, just was being knocked back into one of his allies. Which basically fits Mighty Man's long-running theme as someone who is very powerful but a lousy fighter.

Supreme and Omni-Man had a fight that ended in a double KO.

There was also a Noble Causes story that implied that Supreme, Omni-Man and Captain Dynamo were all roughly around the same power-level.

Basically, Image Comic tweaks the idea of a shared universe. Each creator/studio is essentially its own Multiverse Earth. Earth-Savage Dragon written by Eric Larson can have Spawn, Shadowhawk and Invincible show up without affecting the continuity in Invincible's own book. Earth-Invincible can occasionally have other Image Superheroes show up, but they operate on whatever power levels Kirkman wants. So generally speaking, outside of the Invincible setting, the other Image creators tend to have their Superman-analogs be on par with Invincible and Omni-Man.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (INVINCIBLE! The Maulers! The Immortal! Dupli-Kate!)

Post by Ares »

Jabroniville wrote: Tue Feb 20, 2018 3:43 am
Ares wrote: Mon Feb 19, 2018 9:00 pm Merged U stuff, etc., etc., Viltrumites, Daxamites, Strontians, Jab is cooler and more handsome than me, etc.
j/k :P.

Putting Invincible in a merged universe produces some interesting questions, as the Viltrumites are a pretty difficult "fit" objectively. Invincible kind of worked as a book the way it did BECAUSE Mark had no real peers, and had no one to turn to. He was unquestionably the top-tier hero on Earth, and so much revolved around him because of that. Putting him in a world of guys who match or surpass him instantly makes him less "special", and alters his narrative so much that he basically becomes a different character.

I mean, the Guardians don't become the "Invincible B-Team" when it's friggin' Batman, Wonder Woman & Superman on the squad. The Evil Invincibles are deadly, but sixteen PL 12s can't end the DC AND Marvel Earth combined the way they could to the "Image Earth" (even with Pitt, Witchblade and others defending it).

Mark & Cecil's relationship only really "works" so long as they both retain their personality aspects. Marvel's Fury isn't as dark and "my way, no matter what" as Cecil is, but similarly can be removed from his position in a way that Cecil can't. And most of the conflict of the Invincible U can come between the Mark/Cecil dynamic. Him and Nick is much too... SAFE, for things to work out differently.
Well sure, but that's the difference between having a solo book where the universe revolves around a single character, and being part of a larger universe where you aren't the only one that matters. Concessions have to be made because other characters are important now. But I tried to keep as much of the flavor as I could, having other heroes off world when Mark needs to really make his debut, and conveniently, a lot of Mark's stuff happens off planet. In the Invincible War I also mentioned Levy would have had to pull in more Evil Invincibles, several dozens at least, to have the same effect.
"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."
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Re: Jab's Builds! (INVINCIBLE! The Maulers! The Immortal! Dupli-Kate!)

Post by Ares »

Thorpocalypse wrote: Mon Feb 19, 2018 9:59 pm I like that, Ares. A couple of tweaks to make the Guardians of the Universe the reason for the bug planet to no longer exist (because they have been and will always be the most dickish of the dickish in the universe) and it's pretty workable. ;)
I honestly feel bad for the Guardians of the Universe. I could swear at one point they were written as genuinely benevolent beings whose entire purpose in the Green Lantern Corps. was to protect the lives of innocent beings and the concept of Willpower/Free Will, creating a universe where beings could decide their own fates. And because they didn't want to be the ones exerting their own will directly on the universe, they limited themselves to guiding and empowering good people to defend the universe, altering them to threats, etc.

But as time went on, it seems like every comic writer wants to subvert the "wise older mentor" tropes and retcon mistake after mistake and turn the Guardians into this ineffectual bunch of screw ups and losers, when before they basically had a spotless record for millions of years, before Sinestro and Hal showed up.
"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."
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Angstrom Levy

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image
Image

ANGSTROM LEVY
Role:
Recurring Menace
PL 12 (156)
STRENGTH
8 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 5 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Deception 6 (+6)
Expertise (Various Dimensions) 8 (+13)
Insight 3 (+5)
Intimidation 6 (+6)
Perception 5 (+7)
Persuasion 5 (+5)
Technology 1 (+6)

Advantages:
Eidetic Memory, Fast Grab, Ranged Attack 3, Well-Informed

Powers:
"Knows Every Universe" Remote Sensing (Visual) 10 (Flaws: Limited to Knowing Where Stuff Usually Is) [10]
Movement 2 (Dimensional Travel 2) (Extras: Portal +2, Attack 12, Perception-Ranged +2) (44) -- [45]
AE: Movement 2 (Dimensional Travel 2) (Extras: Portal +2) (8)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Dimensional Portals -- (DC 22)
Initiative +1

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

Complications: 
Obsession (Invincible)- Angstrom believes that Mark is responsible for turning him into a freak (in fact, it was the Maulers attacking Invincible, plus him trying to break the mental link with the other Angstroms too early.

Total: Abilities: 68 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 55 / Defenses: 10 (156)

-Angstrom Levy was a curious villain, in that his "Accident-Themed Origin Story" took place over the course of SEVERAL issues, not just a blurb in his debut. He was a man who happened to have Dimension-Hopping abilities, using these to amass a whole group of Angstroms from several alternate worlds, many of which had turned out quite poorly. Desiring to fully "map out" these dimensions in his mind (to allow for easier transport, so he didn't end up in the water or into a wall or something), he hired the Mauler Twins and had them build a series of devices that would link all their minds into his. Unfortunately, Invincible was called in because of the effects the machines had on the power grid, and so he fought the Maulers and a series of Alternate Maulers- Levy, horrified that an innocent hero might die because of this, desperately tried to get them to stop, but unlatching himself from the Maulers' machine caused a massive explosion.

-Levy was thus mutated by the backlash, turning into a disgusting abomination with an external brain that extended down to his shoulders. The explosion driving him mad, he now had an inexplicable hatred of Invincible, and thus tracked down his family and threatened them, punching his mother in the face and then breaking her arm in a fairly grotesque scene that's STILL harder to look at than any of the "gelatinous gibs" destruction Ottley has drawn before or since. Those are all cartoonish over-the-top instances of blood and gore... this one feels PERSONAL, and more realistic (snapping her arm and making her face swell up and bleed).

-Angstrom is all "HO HO HO, I am super-strong, too!", but the whole "hurting Invincible's mother" thing is kind of one of those things you don't do to A VILTRUMITE, and so an enraged Mark finally lures Angstrom into leaving himself vulnerable, drags him into one of the portals, and literally beats him to death. Mark is horrified at what he's done, despite the man's evil, and it's kind of a turning point- he doesn't want to go back to that.

-Levy actually turns up later, having managed to keep a sliver of life remaining, and his "allies" (a trio of mechanical-looking beings) use their Super-Science (it's established ahead of time that some universes have medical science FAR ahead of our own- Kirkman didn't just pull this out of his ass) to heal him, stitching him back together. Angstrom returns, pulling twelve Evil Invincibles from various worlds where he went bad (apparently, MOST of them did) and killing thousands of people on Earth. He is dragged into a dimension by the remaining Evils when he blows off their plans and they threaten him, but he abandons them there. He tries to make another plan... but said allies are like "No- screw you. We rescued you for a reason. Now you're doing a favor for US". And before we can learn about how EPIC this is, they just go "oh yeah, they made him build them a society where they're worshipped" and then they never mention it again (save for a bit where their invasion of Earth is dealt with off-panel by Robot & Omni-Man). REALLY?

-Fifty issues later, Angstrom returns, kidnapping Atom Eve and sending Mark to the dimension where he'd left the other Evils- only two remain, having cannibalized the others. While Mark fights his way clear, Eve actually TALKS to Angstrom, convincing him of his true backstory (he was trying to HELP humanity with his powers)- he repents, promising to make things right and pay for his crimes. Unfortunately, a surviving Evil Invincible grabs Angstrom and drags him into another portal. Mark obsesses for a bit over hunting Levy down, but it turns out that Evil Mark has his scientists dissecting him to discover his powers- Robot, who'd arrived with Good Mark to check out this world and Levy's survival, slaughters the comatose Levy to take away Mark's only hope of leaving that world, murders Evil Mark, and traps Mark there, seemingly forever.

-Levy is a weird case where a guy is INCREDIBLY important to the overall narrative (he is why Mark knew Eve loved him; he's responsible for the deaths of Rex Splode and Darkwing II; he's why Mark is trapped on that world and why he splits with Eve for a time), but for all of the build-up he gets, he's never a threat for more than an issue or two. Mark nearly ALWAYS deals with him incredibly quickly. So despite all the build-up, he comes off rather weak and easily-beaten. Never mind that he's executed while unconscious. In the Series Finale, we see an adult son pop out of a portal, suggesting a future threat.

-Angstrom is dangerous because of his Teleportation Powers, which are a great way to avoid having to fight nigh-invulnerable superhumans. His super-strength is potent to ordinary people, but he's no match for a Viltrumite.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed May 11, 2022 9:24 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (The Maulers! The Immortal! Dupli-Kate! Omni-Man!)

Post by Ares »

Jabroniville wrote: Tue Feb 20, 2018 4:43 am * Heh- posted The Beast, and almost all the comments were about Cyclops. Poor guy :). Well, I DID post him only a year or so ago for my "Defenders" set.
Yeah, I think everyone Hank-ed out when that happened, and there's just been too much stupidity in the X-Franchise in the year or so for everyone to get excited. Still, I'm pretty sure the consensus was that even if Beast wasn't your #1 favorite X-Man, he was in your top 3 or top 5. Myself, him and Scott were always two of my favorite X-Men . . . which makes their current relationship all the more annoying to watch.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (INVINCIBLE! The Maulers! The Immortal! Dupli-Kate!)

Post by greycrusader »

Ares wrote: Wed Feb 21, 2018 12:19 am
Ken wrote: Tue Feb 20, 2018 5:36 am
Jabroniville wrote: Tue Feb 20, 2018 3:43 am The Evil Invincibles are deadly, but sixteen PL 12s can't end the DC AND Marvel Earth combined the way they could to the "Image Earth" (even with Pitt, Witchblade and others defending it).
Did we see Supreme or Mighty Man fighting the Viltrumites?
We saw Mighty Man briefly engage the one of the Evil Invincibles during the Invincible Wars, but it amounted to a one-panel shot of Mighty Man getting knocked into someone while yelling "Look out! Sorry!" He didn't appear overly hurt, wasn't bleeding or anything, just was being knocked back into one of his allies. Which basically fits Mighty Man's long-running theme as someone who is very powerful but a lousy fighter.

Supreme and Omni-Man had a fight that ended in a double KO.

There was also a Noble Causes story that implied that Supreme, Omni-Man and Captain Dynamo were all roughly around the same power-level.

Basically, Image Comic tweaks the idea of a shared universe. Each creator/studio is essentially its own Multiverse Earth. Earth-Savage Dragon written by Eric Larson can have Spawn, Shadowhawk and Invincible show up without affecting the continuity in Invincible's own book. Earth-Invincible can occasionally have other Image Superheroes show up, but they operate on whatever power levels Kirkman wants. So generally speaking, outside of the Invincible setting, the other Image creators tend to have their Superman-analogs be on par with Invincible and Omni-Man.
Correct. When Image was still driven by Lee/Liefeld/McFarland (and attempting to do more of an actual continuity), it was fairly clear Supreme and Spawn were the absolute top tier in power, but modern day Image titles are mostly self-contained, with all cross-overs treated as "out of continuity"as far as the guest stars are concerned. In Erik Larsen's Supreme revival, the 90s iterations of the character returned from Limbo and ran roughshod over Omni-Man (Nolan held his own for awhile, but Supreme's energy projection and super-speed were too much for the Viltrumite in the end). There was no indication Omni-Man had ever betrayed Earth, nor of a super-powered son known as Invincible. If there was an actual merged Image-verse, the Evil Invincibles, Viltrumites, Rex Robot legion, etc., would have faced off against FAR stiffer opposition. In a DC or Marvel world,they would have simply been another semi-annual crossover event threat, not a series altering arc.

All my best.
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Doc Seismic

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

DOC SEISMIC (Real Name Unknown)
Role:
Background Villain, Recurring Threat, Mole Man-Knockoff
Group Affiliations: None
PL 10 (107)
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 5 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Criminal) 2 (+7)
Expertise (Animal Handling) 12 (+12)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+9)
Perception 4 (+6)
Technology 6 (+11)

Advantages:
Inventor

Powers:
"Seismic Gauntlets" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [38]
"Disintegration" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Objects Only) Linked to Weaken Toughness 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst, Affects Objects Only +0) (30) -- (31)
  • AE: "Trip" Affliction 10 (Strength; Dazed & Vulnerable/Stunned & Defenseless) (Extras: Extra Condition, Area- 30ft.Burst) (Flaws: Limited Degree) (20)
Communication (Tactile Senses) 4 (16)
-- (47 points)

"Tremorsense" Senses 2 (Ranged Touch 2) [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Disintegration +10 Area (+10 Damage & Weaken, DC 25 & 20)
Trip +10 Area (+10 Affliction, DC 20)
Initiative +0

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

Complications:
Motivation (Credibility)- An old villain, Doc Seismic is eager to be treated seriously, and most of his schemes are based on recognition.

Total: Abilities: 36 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 1 / Powers: 40 / Defenses: 14 (107)

-Doc Seismic shows up from time to time as a pretty dime-a-dozen "mad scientist" type- a washed-up villain in an almost Venture Brothers-esque vein. He's old, decrepit and desperate to be recognized in an era that's passed him by, but it wasn't until he made friends (via his control of vibrations) with several Underground Monsters that he became a real threat. He was thought-dead a couple of times, but his ability to communicate with the beasts led to a string of jailbreaks. He once captured the ENTIRETY of the super-heroes in America, having discovered most of their bases and sent his beasts out to grab them all- guys like Wolf-Man, Savage Dragon and others were trapped. Even INVINCIBLE would have been screwed if not for the timely intervention of Darkwing II and the Reanimen. He's not much on his own, but with an army like ten-dozen mini-Godzillas at his beck and call...

-Doc returns in an odd way, being burned with lava and turned into the consort of a curvaceous Female Lava Monster, but the threat is done very casually as a "backdrop" and then we never see the end of it- it's implied that Robot's new world order took care of them, as we never see them again.

-Doc Seismic's pretty weak on his own, with a powerful Trip/Disintegration array, but he can't blow up PEOPLE with his tricks, just knock buildings over onto them and stuff. Otherwise, he's useless in a fistfight, and is a TOTAL glass cannon, so nobody'd be too afraid, especially hyper-durable types. The MONSTERS, on the other hand, are pretty tough. Each one is around PL 10, can move incredibly fast underground, hit with multiple limbs (most of the time), and has good enough Tremorsense to pick out super-heroes' bases and underground lairs from miles away. Also, they're huge, tough and strong. Just one is pretty scary, but the fact that there's upwards of FIFTY of the bastards makes for an epic battle.

GENERIC UNDERGROUND MONSTER
Role:
Huge-Sized Beast
PL 10 (78)
STRENGTH
11 STAMINA 10 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -4 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE -3

Skills:
Expertise (Survival) 4 (+5)
Intimidation 8 (+5, +11 Size)
Perception 2 (+3)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Fast Grab, Power Attack

Powers:
"Animal Senses" Senses 2 (Low-Light Vision, Acute Scent) [2]
Speed 1 (8 mph) [1]
Burrowing 8 [8]
Movement 1 (Slithering) [2]
"Chitinous Plates" Protection 4 (Extras: Impervious) [8]
"Extra Limbs & Rock-Tongues" Extra Limbs 4 [4]

"Dino-Sized" Growth 12 (Str & Sta +12, +12 Mass, +6 Intimidation, -6 Dodge/Parry, +1 Speed, -12 Stealth) -- (48 feet) (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [25]
Strength-Damage +3 [3]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+14 Damage, DC 29)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +14 (+2 Impervious), Fortitude +10, Will +4

Complications:
Disabled (Animal)- These beasts cannot speak to humans, nor use their limbs to easily manipulate objects.

Total: Abilities: -6 / Skills: 14--7 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 53 / Defenses: 21 (78)

-The stats for the "Monster" are pretty generic for the really big ones, but there were various other types. You can pretty easily modify them with the following:
Big Spider Thing- Growth +2, Snare 12
Magma Men- Magma Aura 5, Normal size
Rock Snake- No Limbs, higher Protection, Weaker
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed May 11, 2022 9:25 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Bulletproof

Post by Jabroniville »

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BULLETPROOF (Zandale Randolph, aka Invincible II)
Role:
Flying Brick, Jobber Hero
PL 10 (136)
STRENGTH
9 STAMINA 9 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Deception 4 (+7)
Expertise (Current Events) 3 (+3)
Expertise (Art- Painting & Photography) 8 (+8)
Insight 4 (+5)
Intimidation 2 (+5)
Perception 3 (+5)

Advantages:
Improved Initiative, Interpose

Powers:
"Stored Kinetic Energy"
Flight 9 (1,000 mph) [18]
"Cleans His Apartment Super-Fast" Quickness 4 [4]
Immunity 10 (Life Support) [10]
Regeneration 4 [4]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +7

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +9, Fortitude +9, Will +6

Complications:
Secret (Pretending To Be His Twin)- Zandale was captured by his evil scientist brother Tyrone and given powers- Tyrone died in the process. Zandale's parents think that his BROTHER is Bulletproof.
Secret (Killed His Parents)- Zandale and his wife accidentally killed his parents during an argument, and set it up like they'd died in a car crash.
Relationship (Carla)- Zandale and Carla have been together for a while, though struggled through his infidelity and their killing of his parents.
Repuation (Man-Whore)- The other Guardians kind of shrug about it ("Zandale kind of has a TYPE", Brit says, when he can't remember whether or not he's met the current girlfriend), but he blows off Outrun's anger over him sleeping with her while she was under mind control. He also tries to bang Monster Girl (after her break-up with Robot) and Atom Eve (while she's mourning a potentially-dying Mark).
Power Loss (Kinetic Energy)- Bulletproof's powers work due to the absorption of kinetic energy. This means that he can theoretically run out of a "charge" at some point, and that strangling/crushing attacks can bypass his durability. 99 times out of 100, however, he's just a standard Flying Brick (translation: After reading dozens of his appearances, I still only knew this from bios).

Total: Abilities: 74 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 36 / Defenses: 12 (136)

Bulletproof- Super-Wallpaper:
-Bulletproof was SUCH a weird character in the Invincible series. I mean, they went all over the place with this guy. His name and costume come from potential names and looks for the series' main character before they settled on "Invincible" and his blue & yellow costume, and he was first spotted applying for the reformed Guardians of the Globe team. In an odd bit, he missed out on the final roster, but was added in a few issues later by Cecil, because he felt that Robot "wasn't cutting it" as leader, and needed some extra help. And so Bulletproof sat, a durable Flying Brick on a book with a DOZEN of that kind of character. He was so minor that he was easily beaten in the background by Battle Beast and nearly crippled, but didn't get the temporary power-boost Black Samson got. He & Samson were kind of "dual strong black guys" in a lot of background scenes.

-During the "Invincible War" he lost a hand and got a cybernetic replacement, but didn't start "mattering" to the book until he started taking up duties for Atom Eve's business (essentially "paid superheroic guardianship" of prisons, power plants, etc.). This actually gives him some real personality traits, largely focused around trying to mack on all the hot super-ladies he sees, like Monster Girl and Atom Eve- the last one was PARTICULARLY bad, as Eve was grieving the possible loss of Invincible to a virus. Granted, he felt bad about it later (he simply thought she needed sex to perk up). With Mark being troubled by various offworld shenanigans, Zandale took up his costume, becoming a new Invincible.

Bulletproof Gets Characterization:
-Eventually, they FINALLY reveal his origin- his twin brother Tyrone (a mad scientist, it turns out) was obsessed with super-powers, and used Zandale as a guinea pig for the experiment. It worked, but Tyrone was slain in the resulting explosion. His parents, who always favored Tyrone, refused to believe that their slacker-ass photographer son could be Bulletproof, and threatened to call the police. In a rage, Zandale's girlfriend Carla smashes a skillet into Mrs. Randolph's head... which of course because it's Kirkman/Ottley doing the issue, DETONATES HER SKULL, literally putting the damn thing about a third into her head! When Mr. Randolph begins beating the girl, Zanadale accidentally snaps his neck while intervening. The two quickly frame up a situation where the parents die in a "car crash" as a way to get out of it. And then, in a HILARIOUS non-sequiter, we see a comic book writer (a parody of Kirkman himself) defend the extremely "dark" shock value story turns in a recent book he was writing, saying it was for shock value and to excite readers as the book's sales were lagging as they got to one-hundred issues.

-This whole bit is glossed over pretty quickly, pretty much revealing itself to be pure shock value (to the point of hilarity)- dark, dark humor, folks. ZandaleInvincible continues on as a hero after MarkInvincible fakes his own death, and watches as Robot makes his play to take over the world. Zandale realizes that it's hopeless, and willingly turns over the rest of the team to Robot in exchange for leniency- he becomes Robot's "Right Hand Man" in charge of the world. He is badly scarred when The Immortal sets off a "suicide" bomb when they attempt to capture him. When asked if he wants Robot to fix his face, he refuses- he wants a reminder of all the horrible things he has done (he means the deaths of his parents, but Robot assumed it was the betrayal of the Guardians). His defeat near the end of the series is basically glossed over- he appears in only one or two panels, and isn't focused on at all. Quite the fall for a guy who kind of jumped around in importance.

Super-Wallpaper Again:
-Bulletrpoof is, all in all, a fairly interesting guy, and an example of the kind of freedom Kirkman had on this series. He was basically Flying Wallpaper for the first sixty issues, only ever saying something occasionally, but then became a star on a few covers, and got a lot more focus (he finally had a REAL NAME something like seventy issues in!). Then he utterly disappeared for years. Well, really, he was important for like four or five issues, then disappeared into the background- the fate of many Kirkman Characters.

Bulletproof's Powers:
-Bulletproof is basically as tough as an Intermediate Mark Grayson, being bulletproof (well, duh, it's in his name), strong, fast and all that, but lacking many Skills or Advantages (notably Power Attack, as he rarely goes full-on against most opponents and aren't depicted as even that good at fighting). So he's a PL 10 with a PL 9's point expenditure because of his limitations (ie. he's not seen enough to have a lot of places to spend points). He's not AS strong as Mark at most points, but he's no doubt very tough- the "Invincible Invasion" of 16 alternate Marks features him as one of the few conscious, able heroes, despite MISSING A HAND.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed May 11, 2022 9:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Magmaniac

Post by Jabroniville »

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MAGMANIAC (Real Name Unknown)
Role:
Wallpaper Villain
Group Affiliations: Machine Head's Organization
PL 8 (139)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Deception 5 (+5)
Expertise (Criminal) 5 (+5)
Insight 4 (+4)
Intimidation 5 (+5)
Perception 5 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Magma) 2 (+8)

Advantages: 
All-Out Attack, Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"Lava Form" (Standard Action -1) [-1]
Immunity 15 (Heat Effects, Ballistic Damage) [15]
Immunity 30 (Piercing, Bludgeoning Damage) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [15]
Insubstantial 1 (Liquid) [5]
"Magma Stream" Damage 8 (Extras: Secondary Effect, Area- 30ft. Line) (24) -- [26]
  • AE: Magma Blast 8 (Extras: Secondary Effect) (24)
  • AE: Weaken Toughness 6 (Extras: Ranged, Affects Objects Only +0) (12)
Magma Aura 5 [20]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Magma Blast +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Magma Stream +8 Area (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Weaken Toughness +8 (+6 Ranged Weaken, DC 16)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +2, Fortitude +4, Will +3

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)- Trying to go straight didn't work out for Magmaniac or Tether Tyrant.
Weakness (Water-Based Attacks)- Presumably this can mess up Magmaniac.
Weakness (Electricity)- Magmaniac still requires electrical impulses to manipulate his body while in magma form- concentrated electrical blasts can thus be fatal, causing part of his body to disintegrate.

Total: Abilities: 30 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 81 / Defenses: 10 (139)

-Magmaniac's the definition of "side villain"- a guy who would normally have a pretty cool super-villain set-up, but nonetheless has to team up with like four other guys to even have a CHANCE at hurting the main hero. Very little is known about him (he & Tether Tyrant attempted to go straight after getting out of jail once, but failed to make any kind of money and went right back to theft), and he's defeated in more or less two punches every time he shows up. Finally, all the way in Invincible #83, he and Tether Tyrant are put to work by Titan, trying to assassinate Machine Head. MH's goon "Vault" uses his electrical powers to grab Magmaniac, disrupting the electrical impulses which control his body while in "Magma" form, thus melting his head and killing him.

-Alternate Forms, Energy, etc. are always fun to play with, and bounce the varying effects around. Magmaniac's a loser, but I beefed him up to pretty playable villain levels, just not at Invincible's power level. A PL 8, he's not very Skilled, and has few options in combat other than "hit the other guy", but he's still a little bit dangerous. I altered "Magma Blast" to include a Secondary Effect, since (people forget this) lava BURNS, and will likely hurt for a while after it hits. The issue where he died also revealed that bullets can't hurt him... but electricity can.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed May 11, 2022 9:30 am, edited 2 times in total.
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