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The Bogeyman

Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 11:07 pm
by Jabroniville
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THE BOGEYMAN (Douglas Carmody)
Created By:
Louise Simonson & June Brigman
First Appearance: Power Pack #2 (Sept. 1984)
Role: Forgotten Villain
PL 8 (112)
STRENGTH
8 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+10)
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Business) 5 (+8)
Intimidation 4 (+7)

Advantages: 
Fast Grab, Improved Hold

Powers:
"Squishy Slime & Mist"
Insubstantial 3 (15) -- [16]
  • AE: Insubstantial 1 (5)
Leaping 1 (15 feet) [1]
"Claws" Movement 1 (Wall-Crawling) [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +8, Fortitude +8, Will +3

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutants)- Carmody despises mutants, and his bigotry causes him to see the Power Pack kids as mutants, causing him to hunt them.

Total: Abilities: 80 / Skills: 14--7 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 18 / Defenses: 4 (112)

-Carmody was a corrupt businessman and bigot who was the boss of Dr. James Power in Power Pack, and wanted to use James's inventions for the purpose of making weapons. Carmody lost his job when the Kymellians destroyed Power's Anti-Matter Generator, and thus he resented the children of Power Pack, who gained powers from the same event. Assuming they were mutants, he used a Powersuit against them, calling himself The Bogeyman. He was sent to Limbo by Illyana Rasputin during a New Mutant/Power Pack team-up- this turned out for the worst, because after being chewed on by the demon N'Astirh, he gained super-powers and went on a killing spree. He kidnapped the Powers' parents (revealing the kids' identities to them in the process), but fell into a giant pit of fire in the streets of New York (this would probably be during "Inferno"). These are pretty much his only two appearances until a brief reappearance in Luke Cage's book in modern times. He he remains a minor guy who only showed up in Power Pack.

The Trash

Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2017 1:38 am
by Jabroniville
THE TRASH
Created By:
Louise Simonson & John Bogdanove
First Appearance: Power Pack #31 (Aug. 1987)
Role: Jobber Villains
Group Affiliations: The Trash
PL 4 (53)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS -1 PRESENCE -1

Skills: 
Athletics 4 (+5)
Deception 4 (+3)
Expertise (Streetwise) 4 (+4)
Intimidation 4 (+3)
Perception 3 (+2)
Stealth 1 (+4)

Advantages: 
Equipment 5 (Lab), Inventor, Improvised Tools

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Initiative +3

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

Complications:
Motivation (Survival)- The Trash are mostly deformed runaways, and are fighting for their very survival. They'll work for just about anybody for cash.

Total: Abilities: 28 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 8 (53)

-Someone mentioned these guys years ago when I was building random groups, and I kind of dismissed them, seeing them as too minor and silly-looking to be worth looking into (they were drawn by John Bogdanove, who, before he turned decent in Superman, produced some of the worst art in comic book history. His X-Factor work during The X-Tinction Agenda makes Rob Liefeld look like Alex Ross. I'm not even kidding. Go look). But hell, they were on my list, so I eventually decided to just get down and build them.

-The Trash are superhuman youths who work for a drug dealer named The Garbage Man. The original lineup of Trash included Airhead, Blasting Cap, Brute, Crazy Legs, & Razor Cut, and they were primarily drug-runners and muscle. They captured Power Pack for their boss, but refused to kill the children; as a result, Garbage Man attacked them and they freed the Pack to help. Good prevailed, but the Trash were admonished by the Pack and departed. Brute & Airhead left the gang sometime after this, but they recruited Thor Kid & Troop during a move to Chicago, where they encountered Luke Cage- this story came five years later, in Cage's ill-fated solo book. The team disintegrated due to interpersonal conflicts- Crazy Legs was hammered by Thor Kid for refusing to shoot Cage, and Razor Cut stabbed him in return. A building was set on fire by Blasting Cap, and only Cap & Crazy Legs are seen escaping- the fate of the other members remains unknown.

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RAZORCUT- PL 6 (66): "Diamond-Hard Skin" Protection 6, Strength 3, "Claws" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Split) [13]
-Razorcut was golden-skinned at first, but later became more reptilian. He is the most-villainous of the crew- most of them have the "Desperate to survive" gimmick going on, but Razorcut is straight-up a bad guy, and admits it.

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AIRHEAD- PL 4 (57): "Inflatable Head" Flight 1, Super-Strength 4 (Flaws: Limited to When Inflated) [4]
-Airhead, a girl, quit sometime after the first story, and is possibly an abused child.

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BRUTE- PL 5 (65): Strength 5, Stamina 6, Fighting 4, Intelligence -1 [12]
-Token Strongman- a black kid who left with Airhead. Possibly left out because he looks like a racial stereotype- Bogdanove's exaggerated art style focuses on his gorilla-like arms and pronounced muzzle.

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BLASTING CAP/BLAST- PL 7 (66): "Charging Objects" Damage 7 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Quirks: Requires Objects -1) [13]
-Blasting Cap can blow things up- this makes him a nervous wreck, prone to blowing things up by accident.

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CRAZY LEGS- PL 5 (74): Agility 4, Fighting 6, Intelligence 1, Awareness 1, Presence 1, Leaping 2 (30 feet), Speed 2, Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Reach) [21]
-A black basketball player-looking kid with giant, extendable legs. Yeah, they did that. The nearest member of the group to having any actual smarts. He appears to be committing crimes to help his sick mother, and refuses to shoot Luke Cage when given the chance, showing that he somewhat values human life (despite his rantings about how awful society is).

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THOR KID- PL 4 (54): Equipment (Hammers +2- Split) [1]
-Created by Marc McLaurin & Dwayne Turner, he appears in Cage #11 in August 1992. He's legitimately-bad, and tries to make Crazy Legs kill Luke Cage. When Legs refuses, Thor Kid hits him, but gets stabbed by Razor in return. He liked to call himself "Thor" and act like he led The Trash, but the others usually called him "Thor Kid" and riffed on his attempts at leadership.

Re: Jab's Builds! (Sersi! Deviants! Kronos! The Celestials! Power Pack!)

Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2017 3:45 am
by Jabroniville
Okay, Power Pack is all done! Now for a rand-o or two before I start the "R" names.

Mr. Brownstone

Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2017 3:49 am
by Jabroniville
Image

MR. BROWNSTONE (Garrison Klum)
Created By:
Kevin Smith & Terry Dodson
First Appearance: Black Cat/Spider-Man: The Evil That Men Do #1 (Aug. 2002)
Role: Sexual Abuser
PL 5 (72)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Deception 4 (+8)
Expertise (Criminal) 8 (+10)
Insight 3 (+6)
Perception 3 (+6)

Advantages: 
Benefits 3 (Wealth)

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Teleportation"
Teleport 1 (Extras: Easy) (Flaws: Limited to Others, Limited to Tiny Amounts) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +3, Fortitude +4, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)
Motivation (Power)- Garrisons's love of power extends to power over others.
Secret (Sexual Abuser)- Garrison sexually abused his little brother Francis for years.

Total: Abilities: 50 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 1 / Defenses: 9 (72)

-Oh yeah, I forgot this guy had powers and stuff- I'd statted his brother Francis (the third Mysterio) and mentioned the backstory, but didn't bother statting him out.

-In Kevin Smith's super, SUPER long-delayed Black Cat series (seriously, I remember it being more than a year late at LEAST, pretty much ruining the impact of the storyline on comics), there was a strong undercurrent of rape and sexual abuse to the tale. Though I'm normally not a fan of this in comics for various reasons (the number one reason being that it's often used for shallow shock value and/or the creators being perverts- I always shudder at Alan Moore's obsession with rape in his stories), but the book actually handled it in a fairly realistic manner that actually mattered to the story. Granted, the story still wasn't GREAT or anything, but at least it wasn't irksome (though some Cat fans were upset that they added rape to her backstory).

-Mr. Brownstone is actually Garrison Klum, a Mutant who runs a criminal empire thanks to his odd powers- he can teleport only small amounts of material at a time, but uses this to teleport drugs directly into the bloodstreams of his clients, preventing track marks and things like that. Though I find that... questionable. I mean, most of the people I know who are drug addicts have "tells" that go way beyond the physical- behavioral traits are much easier to pick up on than needle-marks.

-It also turned out that Garrison had been sexually abusing his little brother Francis since they were young, passing it off as a "secret" between the two of them that no one should ever know. This came to a head with Garrison (who'd been avoiding arrest from Spider-Man and the Black Cat) was murdered by Francis when he tried to rape Felicia, as the abuse (which was more about power than lust) had gone on for years, and then happened once more as adults, purely for the power of it.

-Garrison would be no physical threat to a superhero, as his power is pretty minor-league... except he once used to to inject Felicia Hardy with heroin before she could strike at him, a pretty nasty effect that is hard to really stat out (one hell of an Affliction, with some odd Limits on it), since technically, ANY teleporter could do that.

Re: Jab's Builds! (Sersi! Deviants! Kronos! The Celestials! Power Pack!)

Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2017 7:21 am
by Jabroniville
Hm, Spectrum pointed out to me that it was a plot point in Power Pack that the family was Mormon. Did anyone else pick up on that? I mean, they only have FOUR KIDS :).

R (Ra to Ryder)

Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2017 9:23 pm
by Jabroniville
R:
Ra (Egyptian Sun God)
Raa (Anachronauts)
Rabbit (China Force)
Rabbit-Woman (Ani-Men One-Off)
Rachel Summers (Phoenix)
Rachel Van Helsing
Radian
Radium (Elements of Doom)
Radius
The Radioactive Kid
Radioactive Man
Radon (Elements of Doom)
Rafael Vega (The Wolfpack)
Rage
Ragnarok
The Raiders
Raijin (Shinto Thunder God)
Rain Boy
Rajah (Circus of Crime)
Rak (Hellgate's Crew)
Rakkus (Acolytes)
Rampage
Rapidfire
Rama-Tut (Kang the Conqueror)
Ramora (The Parasites)
Ramrod I (Robot)
Ramrod II (Human)
Ramrod III (Rhino)
Ramrod IV (Nasty Boys)
Ramshot (The Jury)
Rana (Children of the Vault)
Ranark the Ravager
Ranaq (The Great Beasts)
Rancor
Randal Jessup (One-Off Hulk Foe)
Randall (X.S.E.)
Randall Jessup (Hulk Foe)
Random
Randy Lee Watson (Sword of Damocles)
Ranger (The Harriers)
The Rangers
Ransak the Reject (Deviants)
Ransome Solo (The Neo)
Ranter (The Fallen)
Ranulph Haldane (MyS-TECH)
Rapido
The Rapier
Rapscallion (The Kinsmen)
Raptor I (Hazlett)
Raptor II (Wilton)
Raptor III (Ryder)
Raptor IV (MC2)
The Raptors (Phaedra's Minions)
Rapture I (Joy)
Rapture II (Contingency)
Rapunzel (First Line)
Rat (China Force)
Ratri (Hindu God of Night)
The Rattler
Raul Quentino (The Wild Pack)
Raunch (Sister Pleasure)
Ravage
Ravage 2099
Ravenous
The Ravens
Ravonna (The Terminatrix)
The Rawhide Kid
Rax (The Neo)
Ray (Gladiators)
Raydar (The Blood)
Raza Longknife
Razor (Paradox Foe)
Razorback
Razor-Fist I & II (Williams)
Razor-Fist III (Douglas)
Razorcut (The Trash)
---
Reaper
Reapers
The Reavers
Reb Ralston (Howling Commandos)
Rebecca Littlehale
Rebound (First Line)
Recoil I (Punisher Foe)
Recoil II (X.S.E.)
The Recorders
Red Dragon I (S.H.E.- Wales)
Red Dragon II (S.H.E.- Wales)
Red Feather I (Male, Triumph Division)
Red Feather II (Female, Triumph Division)
The Red Ghost
Red Guardian I (Lebedev)
Red Guardian II (Shostakov)
Red Guardian III (Starlight)
Red Guardian IV (Steel Guardian)
Red Guardian V (Granitsky)
Red Guardian VI (Cyborg)
Red Guardian VII (Vanguard)
The Red Hulk/"Thunderbolt" Ross
The Red Lord (Bodb Derg- Fomorian God)
Red Lotus
Red Peril (Rings of the Mandarin)
The Red Queen I (Crazy Gang)
The Red Queen II (Margali Szardos)
Red Nine
Red Norvell
Red Raven I (Golden Age)
Red Ronin
Red Shift
The Red Skull I (Schmidt)
The Red Skull II (Maxon)
The Red Skull III (Commie)
The Red Skull IV (Telepath)
Red Sonja
The Red Widow I (Ava Orlova)
The Red Widow II (Red Room)
Red Zone (True Believers)
Redblade (Evil Wizard)
The Redeemer (Redeemers)
The Redeemers
Redneck
Redshirt, The Uber Henchman
Redstone
Red Wolf
Reese (Reavers)
Reeva Payge (Hellfire Club)
Reflex (First Line)
Reignfire
Remnant
REM-RAM
Remus
Ren Kimura
Replica
Reptil
Reptilla
Reptyl
Repulse (The Guardian Clan; The Neo)
Requiem (The Lost Souls; The Neo)
The Requiem Sharks
Rescue (Pepper Potts)
The Resistants (Mutant Force)
The Resources Control Executive
Rev (Faith Healer)
Revanche
Revelation (Morlocks)
Reverb (Gene Nation)
The Revolutionary I (The Liberteens)
The Revolutionary II (The Dynasty/Ascendants)
---
Rhapsody (Mutant Teacher)
Rhenium (Elements of Doom)
The Rhino I
The Rhino II
Rhodium (Elements of Doom)
---
Rick Jones (aka A-Bomb)
Rick Stoner (Original S.H.I.E.L.D. Director)
Richard & Mary Parker
Richard Minoru (The Pride)
Ricochet
Rictor
The Riders of the Storm (Dark Riders)
Ridge (Genetix)
The Rigellians
Rigger (Code: Blue)
Right (Soldiers of Misfortune)
The Right (Smiley-Faces)
The Right-Riders
Right-Winger
Rik (The Gatherers)
Rikki Barnes (Bucky V, Nomad IV)
The Ringer I (aka Strikeback)
The Ringer II (Kraft)
Ringleader
The Ringmaster (Circus of Crime)
The Ringo Kid
The Rings of the Mandarin
Ringtoss
Rintrah
Riot I (Symbiotes)
Riot II (Skrull Kill Krew)
Riot III (Heavy Mettle)
Riot-Act (First Line)
The Riot Squad
Ripper I (The Hellbent)
Ripper II (Hellgate's Crew)
Riptide
Rise of the Imperfects
The Rising Sons (Gen-X Foes)
Risque
Rive (Deadpool Victim)
---
Road Force (Heroic Bikers)
Roadie
Roadkill I (Secret Defenders Foe)
Roadkill II (The Undead MC)
Robbie Rider (Talonar/Dark Starhawk)
Robert Kelly
Robert Roland (Golden Ager)
Roberta (FF's Robot Secretary)
Rock Python
Rock & Redeemer
Rocket Launcher (Death Squad)
Rocket Raccoon
Rocket Racer
Rockman
Rockport (Undergrounders)
Rockslide
Rogue
Rok
Roko the Amazing (Golden Ager)
Rom: Spaceknight
Roma
Romeo (The Wild Pack)
Romeo (NuHuman)
Romulus
Ronan the Accuser
The Rook I (Sebastian Towers, Chessmen)
The Rook II (Barnabus Kinloch, Chessmen)
Rootar the Irresistable (The Crimson Cadre)
Rosalind Sharpe (Foggy Nelson's Mother)
The Rose
Rosetta Stone (Lockdown's Sidekick)
Roughouse
Roulette
Roxanne Gilbert (Stark Girlfriend)
Roxxon Energy
---
R'Tee (Cadre K- Skrulls)
---
R.U. Reddy (Team America)
Rubach (The Fallen)
Rubidium (Elements of Doom)
Ruby (The Ravens)
Ruby Thursday
Ruckus
Rubbermaid
Rumiko Fujikawa
The Runaways
The Runner
The Rush Club (War Machine Foes)
The Russian
Rust
Rusty Collins
Rusty Rimple (Teen Comedy Book)
Ruthenium (Elements of Doom)
Rutherfordium (Elements of Doom)
---
Ryder (Skrull Kill Krew)



MARVEL- THE LETTER "R":
-The letter "R", eternal enemy of the Japanese people, and one that's changed in pronunciation over the past few hundred years. Some languages "roll" it (Spanish), some do a vague "L/R" sound, and some never really had it at all. It's considered one of the hardest sounds to make for an unpracticed speaker, which is why the Japanese, who never had such a sound (they make a sound replicating a "middle point" between "L" & "R", which of course makes BOTH letters sound wrong to our ears), have such trouble with it. It's the fourth-most-used consonant and eight-used letter.

-Words ending in "-er" in the U.S. are often spelled "-re" in England & Canada, except those RACIST language programs Microsoft makes always redlines us typing "theatre" or "centre".

-Marvel generally doesn't have many big names starting with this letter (my apologies to fans of Rage). You generally get lower-tier guys like The Rhino, The Red Guardians, Rick Jones, Rom, and that's about it. The biggest names are probably Rogue and The Red Skull, though The Red Hulk comes close, as one of the newer names on the list. If you count Red Sonja, then her, too.

Old Builds (With New Commentary):

Ramrod I & II
The Rapier
The Ravens
The Red Skull IV
Roadkill
Razorback
Red Nine
Red Sonja
Rick Jones
Roulette
The Russian
Rogue
Reptyl
Razor-Fist I & II
Robert Kelly
Rancor & the Nine

New Builds:
Royalist Forces of America- group
Redeemers- group
Recorder
Rampage (Stuart Clarke)
Rom and the Spaceknights
The Rising Sons
Replica

Rancor

Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2017 12:04 am
by Jabroniville
Image

You have no idea how much I love the fact that THAT HAIR is apparently included among Logan's inheritable Mutant Powers.

RANCOR
Created By:
Jim Valentino
First Appearance: The Guardians of the Galaxy #8 (Jan. 1991)
Role: Future Wolverine
Group Affiliations: New Haven
PL 9 (124)
STRENGTH
5 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+7)
Athletics 6 (+11)
Deception 2 (+5)
Expertise (Dictator) 6 (+8)
Intimidation 2 (+5)
Perception 4 (+7)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Benefit 5 (Ruler of New Haven), Great Endurance, Startle

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Wolverine-Lite"
Regeneration 8 [8]
Immunity 3 (Aging, Disease, Poison) [3]
Senses 6 (Acute Scent, Extended Scent 2, Low-Light Vision, Extended Hearing, Tracking) [6]
"Clawed Fingers" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Split) [3]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Claws +10 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +5, Fortitude +8, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Power)

Total: Abilities: 74 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 20 / Defenses: 10 (124)

-A peculiar arc in Jim Valentino's 1990s The Guardians of the Galaxy book featured the team arriving at New Haven, a world that contained the remnants of what was once Earth's Mutant population- having fled centuries ago after a genocide, they set up shop on a new world. Rancor claims to be a direct descendent of Wolverine, and rules the planet like a dictator. She and her lieutenants fight the Guardians, but New Haven is destroyed. She teamed with Doctor Doom (who is apparently alive in this timeline. But in Wolverine's cyber-ized Adamantium Skeleton), then turned on him- being rescued by the Guardians this time around. However, she repaid them by fighting and raping (!!) their young member, Talon, giving birth to his son Talogan as a result. That's apparently the last that's ever been heard of her- seeing as Talon is the least-utilized member of a group that's only utilized as a cutesy homage these days, and there's a dozen OTHER Sexy Lady Wolverines out there, I don't imagine Rancor has much of a future.

-Rancor is supposedly super-awesome at fighting, but of course has apparently only defeated Talon, who really wasn't that elite, either. Plus she's kinda lame, so I made her PL 8 on defense, and PL 8.5 on offense.

Re: Jab's Builds! (Kronos! The Celestials! Power Pack! Mr. Brownstone!)

Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2017 12:06 am
by Arkrite
Come in expecting giant hideous monster, get a hot women with giant hideous hair ;~)

Re: Jab's Builds! (Kronos! The Celestials! Power Pack! Mr. Brownstone!)

Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2017 12:52 am
by Ken
Arkrite wrote: Sat Nov 18, 2017 12:06 am Come in expecting giant hideous monster, get a hot women with giant hideous hair ;~)
With no spleen or kidneys and a damaged spine.

Re: Rancor

Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2017 1:18 am
by Davies
Jabroniville wrote: Sat Nov 18, 2017 12:04 am However, [Rancor] repaid them by fighting and raping (!!) their young member, Talon, giving birth to his son Talogan as a result.
So that's where the Voyager writers got that idea.

The Russian

Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2017 1:58 am
by Jabroniville
Image
Image
Image

THE RUSSIAN (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Garth Ennis & Steve Dillon
First Appearance: The Punisher #8 (Nov. 2000)
Role: Goofy Villain
Group Affiliations: None
PL 9 (86)
STRENGTH
4 STAMINA 7 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -1 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+8)
Expertise (Criminal) 2 (+1)
Intimidation 8 (+8)

Advantages: 
All-Out Attack, Close Attack, Fast Grab, Diehard, Fearless, Improved Critical (Unarmed) 2, Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Improved Smash, Power Attack, Startle, Taunt, Ultimate Toughness Check, Weapon Break, Withstand Damage (Trade Defenses For Toughness)

Powers:
"Heavy Hitter" Strength-Damage +2 [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +7, Fortitude +8, Will +6

Complications: 
Motivation (Killing People)- Sometimes it's for money; sometimes it's for the sheer joy of it.

Total: Abilities: 48 / Skills: 14--7 / Advantages: 16 / Powers: 2 / Defenses: 13 (86)

-Getting the Preacher creative team, near the height of their fame, to write a new Punisher series was a hell of a "get" for Marvel. For all of their flaws (and believe me, they are NUMEROUS), they both specialize in gruesomely over-the-top depictions of violence, horrifying villains, and the two combining together in so many gleeful ways. The two put Frank Castle up against the Gnucci Mafia Family (led by an old woman similar to Gran'ma Marie from Preacher, and in one memorable issue, they send The Russian up against their enemy. He's beautifully-simple- just a big, ugly guy in an ugly outfit that beats the everloving piss out of Frank, "tanking" absolutely all damage thrown his way, and doing well just because he's bigger and stronger than his enemy. The Punisher is only able to win after using the terrain & available weapons to his advantage (throwing a hot pizza in his face, then smothering him with a morbidly obese neighbor)- a nice bit that showcases his craftiness and wits, when faced with a foe that has superior fighting power.

-This short bit was memorable enough to get into the Thomas Jane Punisher film, featuring WWE wrestler Kevin "Diesel" Nash as the bad guy. Humorously, I wasn't paying close enough attention at first to recognize the former Super-Shredder. It was only because I recognized Nash's distinctive, high-pitched shriek of pain that I realized who the Russian was- Nash is one of few wrestlers, alongside Shawn Michaels and the British Bulldog, to have a distinct-sounding cry of pain.

-The Russian later returned in an over-the-top sort of way, being turned into a Cyborg by a German scientist, along with hormones that caused him to grow breasts (they are well-known in the bodybuilding community, as the numerous steroids they take cause male bodies to overdose on testosterone and convert it into estrogen- they even have a vulgar nickname!). He beats up Spider-Man repeatedly (I sense Garth Ennis's hatred of Non-Superman Superheroes at work, here), but the Punisher (after protecting himself using Spidey's unconscious body) first throws him off the Empire State Building, then blows him up with a bomb.

-The Russian is extremely-dangerous, especially to someone like Frank Castle- high-strength, high-toughness (beyond normal human limits- he's taken stabbings, and even bullets to the HEAD without flinching), and able to easily disarm someone by breaking their weapons. As Frank's only PL 7.5 unarmed, and PL 8.5 to Dodge, he's in REAL danger against a PL 9 Powerhouse. His upgraded, Cyborg form has Extended Scent, Strength 9 (no "Heavy Hitter" power), Protection +4, Regeneration 4, hitting PL 10 easily (just lower Fightning to get him to make Caps).

The Ravens

Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2017 4:09 am
by Jabroniville
Image

THE RAVENS (Crimson, Azure, Cerise, Beryl, Cobalt & Coral)
Created By:
Louise Simonson & Marc Silvestri
First Appearance: X-Factor #54 (May 1990)
Role: Vampire Squad
PL 7 (156)
STRENGTH
7 STAMINA -- AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Business) 4 (+6)
Intimidation 2 (+5)
Perception 2 (+4)
Stealth 1 (+4)

Advantages: 
Fast Grab, Improved Hold, Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Psychic Vampires" Weaken 8 (Extras: Broad, Simultaneous) (Flaws: Limited to 1 Rank Per Round) Linked to Mind-Reading 8 (32) -- [34]
AE: Teleport 5 (Extras: Accurate) (15)
AE: Mind Control 6 (Flaws: Limited to Weaken Victims) (18)

"Mist Form" Insubstantial 2 [10]
Immortality 10 (Flaws: Beheading Works) [10]
"Cannot Be Seen on Film" Concealment 2 (Visuals) (Flaws: Limited to Technological Devices) [2]
Flight 5 (60 mph) [10]
Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
Protection 6 [6]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Psychic Vampire +6 (+8 Weaken, DC 18)
Mind Control -- (+6 Perception-Ranged Affliction, DC 16)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +8, Fortitude +8, Will +.

Complications:
Power Loss (Psychic Vampirism)- The Ravens cannot easily drain people who've come to terms with their past torments. Some of that crowd are even immune!
Weakness (All Die If One Dies)- All twenty-three other Ravens will die if one of their number is slain- they must perform a ritual to have their ally's killer become one of their number, or they will all fade into mist and die.
Weakness (Sunlight)- The Ravens grow weaker in sunlight, and generally shrink back from it.
Quirk (No Reflection)- Like true Vampires, the Ravens will not show up in reflections, nor on film, marking them as special.
Rivalry (Each Other)- None of the Ravens seem to care for each other much.

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 102 / Defenses: 4 (156)

-The Ravens are a group of Psychic Vampires devoted to preying upon the miserable homeless in cities throughout the world, but when their leader, Crimson, encountered X-Factor, she grew hungrier than she'd ever been- these heroes would provide MUCH greater sustenance than the common folk. Teammate Azure fed off of Archangel, but his wings (which sorta had a mind of their own) went nuts and decapitated her, necessitating a ritual to turn Archangel into another one of themselves, lest they all perish due to their weird Weakness. Crimson then attempted to betray her teammates by absorbing Archangel and letting the rest of them die. While doing so, Archangel's then girlfriend Charlotte Jones convinced him to fight on, and he killed Crimson, while another couple Ravens died as well. Presumably, this experminated the rest of the group. Kind of an odd way to spend a few issues (as none of these guys ever showed up again), but whatever. Late-era X-Factor was weird, and the book would shift to the Havok-led team shortly.

-Ravens are super-strong Psychic Vampires, which is an expensive combination of stuff to have. Crimson, who got the most focus, was likely more powerful than normal, especially after taking some of Archangel's power- I think she's about Fighting 8 with Protection 8, and has All-Out & Power Attack, making her about 164 points. The six of them gave X-Factor quite a bit of trouble, but Archangel killed two by himself, and Jean crushed Cobalt's head and flung him off the rooftop pretty quickly.

Members:
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CRIMSON- PL 9 (165): FIGHTING +2, Protection +2, All-Out Attack, Power Attack [9]
Crimson was the great manipulator and aggressor of the storyline, bragging about capturing Archangel, and manipulating him. A "witch"-type femme fatale who fed on the "dregs" of society, she nearly killed Charlotte Jones (Archangel's girlfriend), but Jones ripped off Archangel's control collar and begged him to help her- he attacked Crimson and decapitated her with his wing.

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AZURE: Started killing people so that he could get to Archangel by himself, but was decapitated by a maddened Archangel.

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BERYL & CERISE: Cerise died before Cobalt did, and Beryl seems to have died afterwards.

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COBALT: The group's leader, he was killed when Jean Grey crushed his head.

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CORAL: A female who seems to die off-panel.
RUBY: Never appears on-panel, but is said to have died.

Re: Jab's Builds! (Kronos! The Celestials! Power Pack! Mr. Brownstone!)

Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2017 4:58 am
by MacynSnow
I always thought these guys got a bum deal with their power set & costumes,they would've been perfect Blade villians....

The Red Skull (With Xavier's Powers)

Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2017 8:06 am
by Jabroniville
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THE RED SKULL- AWAKENED CLONE (Johann Schmidt)
Created By:
Joe Simon & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: Captain America #7 (Oct. 1941)
Role: The Big Bad, The Nazi
Group Affiliations: The National Socialist Party of Germany, The Skeleton Crew, A.I.M., HYDRA, ULTIMATUM
PL 14 (255)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 5 PRESENCE 5

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+11)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+12)
Deception 8 (+13)
Expertise (Business) 2 (+6)
Expertise (Nazi Party Leader) 6 (+10)
Expertise (History) 4 (+8)
Expertise (Criminal) 7 (+11)
Expertise (Science) 2 (+6)
Insight 4 (+9)
Intimidation 8 (+13)
Invsetigation 2 (+7)
Perception 5 (+10)
Persuasion 5 (+10)
Vehicles 2 (+5)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Chokehold, Connected, Contacts, Defensive Attack, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Disarm, Leadership, Ranged Attack 7, Taunt

Powers:
"The Brain of Charles Xavier: Omega-Level Telepathy"
"Mind Shield" Enhanced Will Check 4 (Flaws: Limited to Mental Attacks) [2]

Mind-Reading 14 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Effortless, Cumulative, Sensory Link) Linked to Mental Communication 4 (Feats: Subtle) (Extras: Area, Selective) (96) -- [110]
  • Dynamic AE: "Focused Mind Control" Mind Control 14 (Feats: Dynamic) (57)
  • Dynamic AE: "Group Mind Control" Mind Control 10 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Selective) (Flaws: Touch Range -2) (51)
  • Dynamic AE: "Mental Stun" Affliction 14 (Will; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Cumulative) (57)
  • Dynamic AE: "Astral Form" Remote Sensing 15 (Visuals & Hearing) (Feats: Dynamic, Dimensional) (Flaws: Physical Body is Defenseless) (32)
  • Dynamic AE: "Focused Mental Blast" Damage 14 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Will Save) (57)
  • Dynamic AE: "Mental Illusions" Illusion (All Senses) 10 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Selective) (Flaws: Resisted by Will) (50)
  • AE: "Area Mental Blast" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Selective, Will Save) (50)
  • AE: "Brainwashing" Affliction 14 (Will; Dazed/Compelled/Transformed Mentally) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Cumulative) (56)
"Mental Detection" Senses 7 (Mental Awareness- Ranged, Radius, Acute, Detect Mutants- Ranged & Radius) [7]

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Mind-Reading +14 Perception (DC 24)
Mind Attacks +10-14 Perception (+10-14 Perception Affliction, DC 20-24)
Mental Blast +10-14 Perception (+10-14 Perception Damage, DC 25-29)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +4, Fortitude +6, Will +9

Complications:
Motivation (Power)- The Skull desires power over anything else- be it via Nazism, criminal empires or the Cosmic Cube. Or Professor Xavier's brain.
Enemy (Captain America)- For decades, the Skull's key nemesis has been Captain America- the symbol of freedom itself.

Total: Abilities: 72 / Skills: 62--31 / Advantages: 16 / Powers: 119 / Defenses: 17 (255)

The Uncanny Avengers:
-Rick Remender's Uncanny Avengers was annoyingly hit-or-miss. It started with SUCH potential- a freakish assault on New York by the most horrifying thought imaginable: The RED SKULL with CHARLES XAVIER's POWERS! He leads a group of genetically-modified "S-Men" to attack, and Captain America forms a new team that combines X-Men & Avengers to stop him (thus becoming a symbol of a new era in Mutant/Human relations). In the meantime, we get a lot of characterization for Havok (often silent in the Scott-obsessed modern era of Summers Family Stuff), some great dialogue, an interesting debate about terms and labels (Havok does an interview talking about how he doesn't like the word/label "Mutant" and wants to just be called "Alex", while Kitty Pryde in ANOTHER X-book goes into detail about WHY she wants that label and what it represents for her), another debate between Rogue & The Scarlet Witch that effectively makes the "Mutants = Gay People" link even more obvious (in which both sides of their debate are fairly adequately explained), and some GREAT art by John Casaday, who does very detailed, very realistic (albeit for some GIANT eyes and long eyelashes) art and weird character designs.

-However, there are some flaws. The GREAT first arc just goes nowhere as we start focusing on the never-ending story of the boring Apocalypse Twins, a pair of forgettable, generic Omnicidal Maniacs who want to kill everyone. Casaday, the slowest artist in history, is gone within a few issues. Guys like Sunfire are added to the team, adding nothing (seriously, Sunfire is a boring character). Rogue just comes off as generally unpleasant and annoying. Wanda is just... bleh. There's still SOME good stuff, but it kind of became a mess. And in the "this is totally getting undone because Time Travel is involved" death of CAPTAIN AMERICA to THE GRIM FREAKING REAPER is ridiculous- The Grim Reaper is a Jobber's Jobber. I don't care what kind of power upgrade he has. If he can kill Captain America, then Piledriver should be one-shotting The Silver Surfer.

Xavier-Powered Red Skull- The Ultimate Nightmare:
-ANYWAYS, the Red Skull in this book is a clone of the WWII original, and has the same overall mindset and body (ie. no Cap Stats). The Skull had become a bit tired in Ed Brubaker's Captain America run, largely thanks to being in like 100 issues straight, so I was a bit perturbed to see a NEW one show up the second Remender got his hands on Cap, but the whole "no, he's just a Nazi- oh yeah, and he has THE BRAIN OF CHARLES XAVIER!" thing just adds to the terror of what is one of comics' greatest villains. I mean, there's none of that "The Villain Has Justification For His Actions" touchy-feely crap here- The Skull is Evil Incarnate in human form, and the most terrifying guy in Marvel Comics. I mean, NAZIS WERE REAL. THIS is why they have this effective aura of fear surrounding them. And this guy is KING NAZI. This is an enemy that isn't worth keeping alive- no rational human being could ever justify allowing someone this evil AND powerful to live.

The Skull's Defeat:
-The entire comic is set up around finding this Uber-Skull and removing Xavier's brain-bits from him, as the Skull has cannibalized Xavier's brain in order to give himself psionic might. However, this gets forgotten for some Time Travel/Apocalypse Twin stuff, Remender eventually leaves the book, and finally... it's a team of Deadpool, Cable, Rogue, a token Inhuman, JOHNNY STORM and a handful of other weirdos who are finally able to haul down the Red Skull and de-psionic him. Truth be told, Gerry Duggan was a much more capable writer than Remender at many things, and the book was actually quite good- it was just a BIZARRE use of the "Avengers" name. I liked to call it "The best book that has no reason to exist", because the "Unity" concept was eventually totally ignored; main characters Cap, Havok & Thor all vanished from the series; Remender's changes failed to stick (Havok/Wasp was his "big thing", and later writers dropped it completely), and the villains barely mattered.

-The funny thing was, the "Red Skull" aspect felt like it'd been dropped completely for a while, until Duggan popped up with it a handful of times. Ultimately, it's friggin' DEADPOOL who saves the day, after a Skull-controlled Rogue beats the ever-loving piss out of him- in a genius move, he pops Magneto's helmet onto himself, thus making him immune to Xavier's psionic powers, and he defeats the Skull, who is then partially lobotomized. However, this segues directly into Secret Empire, in which the Skull meets his "ally" Steve Rogers (now always a double agent working for HYDRA), who betrays him and knocks him off a cliff.

The Skull's Power:
-This build is actually pretty simple- you take the Red Skull, De-Captain America his statline (ie. make him a normal guy), then give him Charles Xavier's PL 14 Psionic Powers. Which is pretty goddamn terrifying- Rogue has a good bit in an early issue where she thinks about how glad she always was that Charles Xavier, for all his power, was a good and noble man- a monster like the Skull could cause limitless harm with such power.

Re: Jab's Builds! (Power Pack! The Russian! The Ravens! The Red Skull!)

Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2017 2:37 pm
by Shock
What I never understood is if the Red Skull has Xavier's brain, why doesn't he act like Xavier instead of the Red Skull?