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

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
Jabroniville
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The Eel (Modern)

Post by Jabroniville »

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I really dig the “blue and purple” look for some reason. Just a quality “Generic Super-Villain” design.

THE EEL II (Edward Lavell)
Created By:
Kurt Busiek & Denys Cowan
First Appearance: Power Man & Iron Fist #22 (Sept 1983)
Role: Jobber Villain, Freelance Bad Guy
Group Affiliations: The Masters of Evil, The Thunderbolt Army, The Serpent Squad (new), The Serpent Society, The Enforcers
PL 8 (125)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 6
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Athletics 5 (+7)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+9)
Deception 3 (+5)
Expertise (Criminal) 5 (+5)
Perception 2 (+3)
Ranged Combat (Electricity) 2 (+8)
Sleight of Hand 4 (+10)
Stealth 4 (+8)
Vehicles 2 (+8)

Advantages:
Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll 2, Equipment 4, Evasion 2, Grab Finesse, Move-By Action, Uncanny Dodge

Powers:
"Eel Costume" (Flaws: Removable) [32]
"Silicon Gel Surface" Immunity 5 (Ensnarement) (5)
"Rebreather" Immunity 1 (Water-Breathing) (1)
"Electrical Field" Senses 4 (Darkvision 2, Radius Sight 2) (4)

Electrical Aura 7 (28) -- (30)
  • AE: Electrical Blast 8 (16)
  • AE: Light Control 8 (16)
-- (40 points)

Equipment:
Helicopter or Cannon or Eel-Mobile or Something (20)

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Electrical Aura +9 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Electrical Blast +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +4

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

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)

Total: Abilities: 48 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 32 / Defenses: 16 (125)

-So the original Silver Age Eel was killed in a Daredevil issue, having been a jobber and "Guy who shows up on villain teams" sort for some time. But some concepts just never die, and Marvel ALWAYS has a need for semi-recognizable goofy lesser foes (just look at the multiple Blizzards or the sudden replacements for dead Serpent Society goons). So all of a sudden Leopold Stryke got a replacement- Edward Lavell, the SECOND Eel, with all of the same abilities as the first! This guy has lasted a really long time, but is even more of a jobber than his predecessor, basically popping around every other hero title once or twice, but never really being that important.

-This Eel, created by Kurt Busiek of all people WAY back in the early days of his career (1983? Really? Apparently that was his first comics gig- a fill-in job for four issues), debuted breaking Hammerhead out of prison, and fights Power Man & Iron Fist as a result. Later, he teams up with Nightshade and loses to Iron Fist again. After this, he's just a Journeyman Villain, just like his predecessor- he fights Spider-Man (alongside Blitz & the Vanisher), the Fantastic Four, Mister Hyde (he frames the villain for murder), and Daredevil (impersonating Snake Marston and joining the Enforcers- they turned on him when they realized it).

-Busiek actually brought him into his Thunderbolts run, using him as one of the goons on Justine Hammer's Masters of Evil, and he's easily beaten. He also worked for the Maggia again, then was believed dead in that goofy Wolverine "Bloodsport Tournament in Madripoor" storyline (being crushed by The Toad's elongated tongue), but turned up alive (I think that happened to a couple other guys in that story, too). He shows up as a backgrounder in She-Hulk and the Thunderbolt Army and stuff like that, then shows up in a new Serpent Squad, founded by Sin. Most recently, he has appeared on a new version of the Serpent Society, called "Serpent Solutions".

-The two Eels are very much the same sort of guy, only one is more of an inventor, and the other is just a normal criminal who got the suit. This makes Lavell a bit of a dweeb, but one that's very hard to hit.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sat Aug 20, 2022 8:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Tattooedman
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Demolition Man! THE GAMECOCK! The Eel!)

Post by Tattooedman »

I remember reading the 2nd Eel's 1st appearance & liking the redesign of the costume (the first picture of him you've got). I thought he was pretty cool overall as a "street level" supervillain.
Jabroniville wrote: Tue Jul 13, 2021 11:45 pm
LOl- "The Tattooed Man"? What kind of ABSOLUTE DILDO would refer to himself as "The Tattooed Man" :P!?!
Jabroniville
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

The Viper (Stryke)

Post by Jabroniville »

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THE VIPER I (Jordan Stryke, aka "Jordan Dixon"- psuedonym)
Created By:
Steve Englehart, Steve Gerber & Sal Buscema
First Appearance: Captain America #157 (Jan. 1973)
Role: Forgotten Bad Guy
Group Affiliations: The Serpent Squad I, The Crime Wave
PL 8 (127)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 6
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Athletics 5 (+7)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+8)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Criminal) 5 (+7)
Expertise (Science) 6 (+8)
Insight 2 (+3)
Perception 4 (+5)
Sleight of Hand 2 (+8)
Stealth 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Equipment 8 (Venom-Tipped Darts)

Powers:
"Venomous Fangs Gauntlet" (Flaws: Removable) [19]
"Snake Venom" Strength-Damage +1 Linked to Weaken Strength 10 (Extras: Progressive +2) (31 points)

Equipment:
"Venom-Tipped Darts" Weaken Strength 10 (Extras: Progressive, Ranged) (40)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+3 Damage, DC 17)
Fangs +6 (+4 Damage & +10 Weaken, DC 19 & 20)
Darts +6 (+10 Ranged Weaken, DC 20)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +3

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)
Relationship (Brother- The Viper)- The Eel is unaware that his brother was murdered by his later employer, Madame HYDRA herself.

Total: Abilities: 56 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 32 / Defenses: 13 (127)

-Huh, so I never build the original Viper before. This guy turns out to be the brother of Leopold Stryke, the Silver Age Eel. Joining a criminal organization called "The Crime Wave" along with other generic villains, the Viper threw venomous darts at Captain America & the Falcon and escaped capture, but the Falcon tracked him down and catpured him. He later rejoined the Crime Wave and he & his brother discovered the other was a super-villain, and teamed up. Later, with the Cobra, they formed the original Serpent Squad, but were beaten by a solo Cap. On his way to trial, his transport was attacked by Madame Hydra- thinking he was being rescued, the Viper rushed out to greet her... and was killed, the lady announcing she wanted a new name- his. So yes, he was literally killed off just so somebody else could have a cool name! Later, he turned up alive as the leader of the new Serpent Society, called "Serpent Solutions"- apparently his resurrection has never been explained.

-The Viper is a standard-issue Silver Age-type villain, being PL 8 thanks to deadly, venomous gear, but he has the standard issue of "can never hit anyone with his attacks, because then that character dies and the story is over".
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sat Aug 20, 2022 8:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
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The Serpent Squad

Post by Jabroniville »

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THE SERPENT SQUAD:
Created By: Steve Englehart
First Appearance: Captain America #163 (July 1973)

-The precursors to the Serpent Society, the "Serpent Squad" had a different sort of thing, being more like generic super-villains working on a single job, then splitting up afterwards. Initially fighting Captain America, they were founded by the original Viper, who teamed up with his brother, The Eel, and Cobra- both Silver Age Marvel characters that had gone un-used. They attempted to ruin Cap's reputation using fake news, but were found out and captured by Cap & the Falcon.

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-A second "Serpent Squad" was formed by Madame Hydra, who killed the Viper and took his name. Urging Eel to "avenge" his brother's death, she then recruited Princess Python (from the Circus of Crime). Cobra refused to work with Viper, and challenged her to a fight- he was easily beaten and press-ganged into joining them. This Squad worked with Warlord Krang of Atlantis to raise the sunken continent of Lemuria, but Cap (as "Nomad") beat her subordinates. When the Cobra turned on Viper, she shot him in the back, and Cap had to let the bad guys go so he could bring Cobra to the hospital.

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-The third Serpent Squad was created in Marvel Two-In-One in a Mark Gruenwald story- Sidewinder, Anaconda, Black Mamba & Death Adder formed this unrelated group, and were hired by a Roxxon Executive to retrieve the Serpent Crown. The Squad battled The Thing & Stingray, then Triton in the following issue- Sidewinder escaped while the rest were captured. The remainders teamed up and fought Iron Man once while acting as mercenaries, then Sidewinder invited them to join the Serpent Society, forming a different band of bad guys with a new concept- they accepted.

-A FOURTH Serpent Squad was founded in Las Vegas- Copperhead, Fer-de-Lance, Puff Adder, and Black Racer acted as terrorists, and were noticed and recruited by Sidewinder. This was a ruse, however, as they were loyal to Viper, who used them to take over the Serpent Society from within. Though her mission was a failure, the villains she'd assembled chose to stay with the Society afterwards.

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-The most recent Serpent Squad incarnation, its fifth, was created in the Ed Brubaker run of Captain America- Ed didn't seem to want to use the Society, so instead built a new Squad, this time led by Sin, the Red Skull's daughter. She recruited a new Viper, the Eel, and new King Cobra. They attacked the White House under orders from the Red Skull, but the "Bucky" version of Captain America beat them- only Sin escaped.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sat Aug 20, 2022 8:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
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The Serpent Society

Post by Jabroniville »

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THE SERPENT SOCIETY
-The Serpent Society are my favourite Jobber Villains ever. I mean, who else better represents that particular brand of D-league jobber that I find so utterly fascinating? It's odd- these guys aren't even well-developed as characters for the most part, and Mark Gruenwald specialized in fleshing out silly side-characters. It's basically just a collection of cool-ass codenames taken from real-life Snakes (who seem to have the biggest glut of cool names of the animal kingdom- I mean, you've got animals named DEATH ADDER and BLACK MAMBA here!), with one or two token powers attached to a costume design that is best-described as "whatever was lying at the bottom of the artist's 'Concept Pile'." These guys were not Kieron Dwyer's finest work, though not all of them look dumb.

But... but they're just so JOBBY! I love it! You can put three or four of these guys in one scene, and the superhero will just dive in and kick ALL their asses while joking about how sucky they are, and nobody of value is hurt by it. The villains aren't badly damaged and the hero looks GREAT for fighting against all odds... yet you can even do stories in which the villains WIN, because through sheer numbers they might get the drop on the good guy and start doing better than they normally should. But for the most part, you couldn't look any further if you wanted a group of eighteen jobbers, only a few of whom were any kind of challenge. And this is the beauty of the Serpent Society- they can beat a hero through sheer numbers, but they're great if you want to showcase the good guy doing something awesome and beating a ton of "name" characters (as opposed to simple Mooks), but without damaging a character with any kind of credibility to them- something that's befallen several once-respected villains. Plus their names are just AWESOME- I've tried to come up with Society-like teams inspired by them before, but there's just nothing that has the "snap" of the various snake names out there- Anaconda, Diamondback, Black Mamba and ESPECIALLY "Death Adder" are just amazing codenames. The only thing comparable comes from Spiders (derivative of Spider-Man, however), and Sharks (there's already a Tiger Shark, and pretty much everyone's name ends up with "Shark" in it, which comes across as same-y).

The Serpent Society always bring me way, way back to the original days of my thread. See, I got a bit of a rep at the time as being "the guy who stats the Jobber Villains"- with something like 20+ active builders at the time (the Golden Age of RPGs), it was something that made me stand out. And reveling in the glory of just how crappy BOOMSLANG (the villain so lame he was shot and nearly killed by STREET THUGS) was just created an epic running gag- as much as I later did when I discovered the Gamecock. This carried from 2nd Edition to the "Tournament of Suck"- a tournament between various Jobber Villain teams (the Acolytes, Zodiac Cartel, Dark Riders & others)- the Society not only WON the tournament, but their prize was that they became the very first builds I did in 3rd Edition. And so what you're about to see here are modifications of the very first things I did in this new system, when I was still trying to figure it out.

The Serpent Society were re-posted in Aug. 2014, since it'd been a few years, and Ronin Army had replaced the Atomic Think Tank. This time, it was more of a send-off to my "Captain America" set and naturally didn't draw as much attention (it hadn't been THAT long). But now, six years later, I have a NEW thread over here at Echoes, and the Society had waited longer than any of the other Jobber Teams to get re-posted. But no more!

History of the Society:
-The Society originally started out as "The Serpent Squad", and comprised of totally different guys than the jobbers we normally associate with it. The original Viper (a nobody villain), The Eel (apparently their creator was not a biologist) and The Cobra (later King Cobra) were the first team, and didn't do much. A couple upgrades followed, adding a few members, but were also forgettable. Since Luke Cage had several crimeboss villains with snake-themed concepts, there's some overlap of names (Bushmaster, Cottonmouth & Diamondback). It wasn't until Sidewinder, former of the third Serpent Squad, organized a much larger "Society" that the true nature of the team became known: It was basically a supervillain Labor Union- they did their own thing, giving a portion of money to the Society, who then promised them resources and "Get Out of Jail Free" benefits (Sidewinder was a Teleporter).

Sidewinder, Anaconda, Black Mamba & Death Adder went from the Squad to the first incarnation of the Society, and were soon joined by Asp, Diamondback, Cottonmouth, Cobra, Bushmaster, Rattler, and Princess Python formed the first team. Their first big mission "made" their name: Killing M.O.D.O.K. Following this, they became recurring Captain America foes, often getting beaten in small numbers, but always escaping prison. Gru gave each of them one or two minor personality traits, allowing them to stand out more than the usual "Squad of same-sounding losers" gimmick teams that came later, like the Dark Riders, Acolytes or The Mutant Liberation Front- all Jobber Villain groups that came later and had much less thought put into them.

Princess Python quit due to her own cowardice, and Death Adder was killed by the Scourge of the Underworld, but they were replaced by new characters Copperhead, Black Racer, Fer-de-Lance & Puff Adder, bolstering the roster. However, they were working in secret with Madame Hydra, The Viper (herself a member of the second Squad), who wanted ownership of the team. Coachwhip, Boomslang, Slither & Rock Python also joined Viper's side, and the team split its roster, as Sidewinder's loyalists (Asp, Diamondback, Bushmaster & Black Mamba) fled the group- only Bushmaster would stick around. Slither followed Viper and never rejoined the team.

Eventually, Diamondback allied with Cap, freeing the loyalists and Viper was brought down after a silly story that involved her turning Ronald & Nancy Reagan (plus half of Washington, DC) into snake-people- replaced with Cobra (later King Cobra). The Society engaged in some other activities, but their "Jobber" status soon became prevalent, as the members no longer had their "New Character stink" on them, and Cap arrested the whole lot of them after he & Diamondback had a big blow-off storyline featuring the group- they tried to execute her for treason (allying with, and dating, Captain America), but she was rescued, and the Society finally brought down. I actually have this arc now (it's part of Gru's The Captain story, where John Walker takes the Cap role while Cap wears the black outfit that Walker later wore as "U.S. Agent"), and it's fairly good. The Serpents go down one-on-one with any of Cap's Allies (Nomad, Falcon & D-Man), but they can do okay if it's an uneven fight. This resulted in the capture of most of them.

The Serpent Society didn't last far past the '90s, as later versions were really just groups of jobbers in throwaway storylines, getting pounded on by various heroes. In the '80s, they ended up fighting The X-Men in an Atlantis Attacks cross-over, and the mutants made a joke out of them, with some really one-sided beatings. Even Gruenwald had Boomslang nearly get killed by common street hoodlums when he came across a gang. After they left the Society, Diamondback, Asp & Black Mamba formed "B.A.D. Girls, Inc." and engaged in some mercenary activities off-and-on, though they only got used a few times- during The Superia Stratagem, the few remaining free members (Rock Python & Puff Adder) were arrested after being injured by M.O.D.A.M., and the B.A.D. Girls were split off. The rest of the team only showed up a handful of other times in great numbers- they allied with Mr. Hyde in the Cap arc that debuted Free Spirit & Jack Flag, who were supposed to be his trainees. Here, they were made to look like jobbers again (Hyde easily defeated a few of them). But Gru was soon off the book- he had REALLY started faltering on the book by this time, unfortunately). And then he sadly passed away, leaving most of his "babies" orphaned as Marvel went a different direction.

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The Modern Serpent Society:
-The Society was thus largely disbanded. Diamondback was seen in a Hellions Limited Series as a mercenary, and was dating The Constrictor in The Initiative, while the others fought Deadpool as generic baddies. The B.A.D. Girls members were part of the "Women's Warriors" when "The Avengers Initiative" went down, which is how DB got linked to Constrictor. The rest of the society were seen as Background Villains a few times during the "Bendis Era", but were generally just minor nobodies. A few members were beaten by Hope Summers during Avengers (vs) X-Men (which featured Asp, Anaconda & Bushmaster drawn by Frank Cho), while Elektra beat other ones.

The Society's "legacy" was thus pretty minor- they were just recurring villains in the Captain America series aside from the Red Skull & his cronies, and they produced the "Diamondback" years of Cap's relationships with the ladies (a beloved era, but not even his main one- Sharon Carter trumps her in importance, especially since Ed Brubaker took over the series). Most of the team never went on to big things (Anaconda got something in the "Six Pack" run in a few books as a mercenary, and she's attained some notoriety as the most-well-known Big Ugly Woman on Marvel's roster), and many were treated like the jokes they are. It's only on the internet, where weird little side-characters and jobbers can get way more famous than they deserve, that they ever get to mean anything.

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Serpent Solutions:
-Then, out of nowhere, Nick Spencer's run on Captain America, featuring Sam Wilson as Cap, ended up bringing the Serpent Society back! But with the original Viper now as the leading member, rebranding the group as "Serpent Solutions". They included Diamondback in their number again, and were arrested by the authorities, but regrouped during Secret Empire. Slither even rejoined! A new Constrictor debuted as a member in Iron Fist's new book and fought Danny Rand, while Johnny Storm accidentally hired the Society's women as strippers during the Thing's bachelor party, necessitating all the male heroes (plus Thundra) beating and arresting them. Finally, they are seen in a Kraven-related storyline in Spider-Man, being captured along with other animal-themed villains for a big hunt- they fall under the leadership of the Vulture, but are beaten by the Avengers & Fantastic Four.

The whole line-up:
1) Sidewinder- originator, Teleporter.
2) Boomslang- Joke even for THIS team. Boomerangs. Has been defeated by common Thug gang members.
3) King Cobra- Failed 1960s villain who later got an upgrade as a KING. Took over the team when Sidewinder quit/was kicked out.
4) Diamondback- A recurring Captain America girlfriend, because this once-Bad Girl took a liking to the big lug and went straight for him. Uses gimmicked diamonds and is a REALLY low-tier super, but under Ron Lim's pencils, she was HAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWTT.
5) Asp- Stripper-turned-Supervillain (and again, it's hilarious that Marvel has at least three or four characters with that origin story), uses low-yield Venom Bolts.
6) Black Mamba- Sexy black-haired chick who uses Darkforce Images to choke people while taunting them with images of their loved ones.
7) Black Racer- Nobody member- just a speedster.
8) Coachwhip- Another nobody. Uses fancy Whips.
9) Puff Adder- Big guy with light Growth powers and poison breath.
10) Anaconda- One of the most-famous members: a big burly chick with elongated limbs and super-strength.
11) The Rattler- Crappily-designed snake-guy with a Vibration-Shooting Tail.
12) Death Adder- Inhuman-looking aquatic villain with a poisonous tail.
13) Bushmaster- Snake-like lower body and pointy wrist-blades. One of the more elaborated-upon male members.
14) Slither- A forgettable Viper minion and former ally of Magneto and his Animal Men. He only stuck around for a bit.
15) Cottonmouth- Has the distinctive trait of wanting to bite off people's heads. Like most insta-kill weapons in comics, it never hits.
16) Fer-de-Lance- Forgettable semi-strong chick with wrist-blades.
17) Princess Python- Circus of Crime reject who was kicked out of THIS TEAM for being TOO JOBBERY. That says it all. She's a Snake Charmer with a big python.
18) Rock Python- Gimmicked egg-thrower. In the funniest bit of the X-Men/Society fight, he voluntarily gave up the Plot Macguffin once he saw that the X-Men beat up his friends.
19) Copperhead- Blaster, usually in the background.
20) Sidewinder III- A replacement for the original, who has long since retired.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Tue Nov 29, 2022 3:13 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (THE GAMECOCK! The Eel! Serpent Society!)

Post by L-Space »

I like the Eel's look as well, though he may be tied with the Spot or the Gamecock for having the least intimidating name ever.
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Sidewinder (Original)

Post by Jabroniville »

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SIDEWINDER I (Seth Voelker)
Created By:
Mark Gruenwald & Ralph Macchio
First Appearance: Marvel Two-In-One #64, June, 1980
Role: Hard-Luck Super-villain, The Leader, Teleporter
Group Affiliations: The Serpent Squad, The Serpent Society
PL 9 (122)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 6
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+4)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 4 (+9)
Deception 5 (+6)
Expertise (Business) 4 (+7)
Expertise (Criminal) 4 (+7)
Insight 3 (+5)
Perception 3 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Side-Effects) 4 (+10)
Stealth 3 (+6)
Technology 2 (+5)

Advantages:
Improved Aim, Leadership, Power Attack, Set-Up

Powers:
"Sidewinder Armour" (Flaws: Removable) [36]
Protection 5 (5)
"Rebreather" Immunity 2 (Suffocation) (2)
"Side-Effects" Blast 8 (Feats: Split) (17)

"Travelling Sideways Through Space" Teleport 6 (Feats: Increased Mass 3) (Extras: Accurate, Extended- 60 miles) (Flaws: Limited to Extended) (21)
-- (45 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Side-Effects +10 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +2 (+7 Armour), Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)
Relationship (Daughter)- Sidewinder's quest for cash is partially influenced by his daughter, who is suffering from brain seizures and requires money for an expensive surgery.
Relationship (Black Mamba)- Despite him looking pretty old and balding, he'd hooked up with Black Mamba, who was pretty hot. It didn't last when the Society betrayed him and he retired, though.

Total: Abilities: 48 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 36 / Defenses: 17 (122)

-Sidewinder, initially a Serpent Squadder (with a backstory as a scholar in Economics), eventually formed his own team, doing a unique take on a super-villain. Essentially, formed a Union out of a bunch of snake-themed guys, promising them benefits, cuts of takes, and teleporting them out of jail. He made good on all of these promises, which of course didn't help him at all when Viper showed up and had nearly the entire team (save Diamondback, Asp, Bushmaster, and his girlfriend, Black Mamba) betray him utterly and try to kill him. Heartbroken, he gave up villainy and vanished from comics, briefly stopping to repay Diamondback for backing him- saving her life from execution by the vengeful Society. He failed to make amends with the new boss, King Cobra, but reformed and had Captain America help him pay for his sick daughter's operation- Cap initially refused to help him raise the money, so he began robbing drug dealers. Caught in a gunfight, he begged Diamondback for help, and the two rescued him and Cap agreed to secure the funding so long as he turned himself in and co-operated with the authorities. His daughter thus received her operation while he happily talked with her from prison.

-Sidewinder reappeared in Thunderbolts, having long since retired, and TWO extra Sidewinders were created by guys who forgot that he wasn't supposed to be active anymore in a funny situation- though one reappears in Elektra and speaks about businses as Seth would have, so that one's up in the air.

-I always felt that things like this are what made Mark Gruenwald great. He didn't just show super-villains; he showed you how they WORKED. The idea of a bunch of guys banding together not to kill people, but just for back-up and benefits and stuff... that's probably how it would GO. He functionally pre-dates the Venture Brothers' ideas about that by twenty years, and when the Serpent Society or Red Skull's Skeleton Crew show up (like when they recruited Cutthroat after watching him beat a bunch of guys, and then put him through their own basic training, etc.), you knew you were seeing how "the other side" lived- not just a Spidey villain breaking out of jail and then trying to kill him again.

-Sidewinder isn't so tough, but is a PL higher on offense than his buddies. He's never been a battlefield leader, despite his Side-Effects, and prefers to lead from the back, giving the team missions. His Skills are higher than his Advantages, which shows somebody who's a better thinker than fighter. His Teleport expresses the new way it works (Extended 'Ports are an Extra, not just part of the power, which I think works WELL, as I believe that Teleportation is one of the most game-breaking things to exist in RPGs and Comics). A second Sidewinder was a one-shot villain who was killed while infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D., and a third put on the costume of the original and sprung the Society from jail, but was soon recaptured. He re-joined the Society much later during Secret Invasion, but was easily defeated by Nova and his new Nova Corps.

-Notably, Sidewinder is CHEAPER than my old build of him, which is unusual for the "less for more" approach they gave statting in 3rd Edition. It's mainly because of his Teleport, though, which I grossly over-extended last time (Area & Affects Others, neither of which he actually had)- I think the info websites have on him is more advanced a few years later.



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Based on: Horned rattlesnake native to American deserts, famous for their style of locomotion.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sat Aug 20, 2022 8:33 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (THE GAMECOCK! The Eel! Serpent Society!)

Post by Spectrum »

COOOOOOBRAAAAAAA!!!!!LALALALA

It's really awesome watching these trademark Jobbers make a reappearance after so long!
We rise from the ashes so that new legends can be born.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (THE GAMECOCK! The Eel! Serpent Society!)

Post by drkrash »

Yeah, in a way, it's guys like this that are the reason supers RPGs exist in the first place
Shadow Ops - cinematic espionage action RPG - Kickstarter live now!
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (THE GAMECOCK! The Eel! Serpent Society!)

Post by Jack of Spades »

I'm very glad to see the return of the Ultimate Jobber Squad. Also, is Sidewinder pulling a Jeffrey Toobin with his cloak in that last picture?
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Ares
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (THE GAMECOCK! The Eel! Serpent Society!)

Post by Ares »

It's always weird what kind of devices some people will come up with in comics. I mean, the Iron Man armor is supposed to be the pinnacle of technology, compact and versatile, giving a single person the power of an entire army's worth of technology.

Then you have guys like the Eel, Firebrand or Blizzard, who wear basically skintight costumes that somehow let them project and manipulate things like fire, ice or electricity. Eel makes some sense, as it's basically a suit that turns him into a giant taser with some extra range. But it's weird you have guys like Firebrand whose suit basically turns him into the Human Torch. Especially when someone like Pyro needs to wear these giant backpack mounted flamethrowers. I mean, really, if Pyro had brain one in his head he'd find out who made the Firebrand outfit and have a dozen of them made for himself.

And then you get guys like Sidewinder who has a cape that lets him just break the laws of physics entirely, opening holes in space/time and teleporting casually and with a pretty long range. And it isn't something where the cape houses some of the technology and his outfit houses the control circuits for it, he's been shown to just use the cape to teleport wherever he wants.

People just having personal teleporters like that is insane to me. Deadpool had one for a bit, and you'd think if that kind of tech existed, it'd be something high ranking government types would all have as a "get out of assassination attempt" free card. It gets even crazier when the teleportation tech is often something small worn on their person.

I try to be a bit more consistent in my own settings with that kind of stuff, and in my own merged settings I have Sidewinder be the Vanisher in a new identity, having decided that serving guys like Magneto was for chumps and realizing that he could make more money with a group like the Serpent Society.
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Sidewinder (One-Off)

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

SIDEWINDER II (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Dan Jurgens & Jackson Guice
First Appearance: Iron Fist #1 (1998)
Role: One-Off Villain
Group Affiliations: None
PL 8 (103)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 6
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+6)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+7)
Deception 4 (+5)
Expertise (Criminal) 4 (+7)
Insight 3 (+3)
Intimidation 1 (+2)
Perception 3 (+3)
Ranged Combat (Side-Effects) 2 (+8)
Stealth 3 (+6)
Technology 2 (+2)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Sidewinder Armour" (Flaws: Removable) [36]
Protection 5 (5)
"Rebreather" Immunity 2 (Suffocation) (2)
"Side-Effects" Blast 8 (Feats: Split) (17)

"Travelling Sideways Through Space" Teleport 6 (Feats: Increased Mass 3) (Extras: Accurate, Extended- 60 miles) (Flaws: Limited to Extended) (21)
-- (45 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Side-Effects +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +2 (+7 Armour), Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)

Total: Abilities: 38 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 36 / Defenses: 15 (103)

-Inexplicably, a new Sidewinder appeared in a failed 1998 Iron Fist book, hired by Death-Sting and Sharyd (... who? Okay, I guess this is Iron Fist's half-sister and another K'un-L'unian, both of whom never really mattered) to infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D. and retrieve the Zodiac Key. He defeated some guards and "marveled at the Key's power", but was savagely electrocuted, leaving only his skeleton behind. LOL, okay then.

-Marvunapp says this was actually intended to be the original Sidewinder, Seth Voelker, until Seth reappeared in Thunderbolts, still having been retired. So a Marvel Handbook actually had to do the work into going "Okay, so this was some other guy with the same gear". I imagine him to be a PL 8 version of the first Sidewinder, lacking many of his Skills & other attributes.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sat Aug 20, 2022 8:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (THE GAMECOCK! The Eel! Serpent Society!)

Post by Scrollreader »

Hell yeah. The Serpent Society is back!
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Sidewinder (Current)

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

SIDEWINDER III (Gregory Bryan)
Created By:
Robert Kirkman & Scot Eaton
First Appearance: Captain America #31 (Nov. 2004)
Role: One-Off Villain
Group Affiliations: The Brand Corporation, The Serpent Society
PL 8 (103)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 6
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+6)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+7)
Deception 4 (+5)
Expertise (Criminal) 4 (+7)
Insight 3 (+3)
Intimidation 1 (+2)
Perception 3 (+3)
Ranged Combat (Side-Effects) 2 (+8)
Stealth 3 (+6)
Technology 2 (+2)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Sidewinder Armour" (Flaws: Removable) [36]
Protection 5 (5)
"Rebreather" Immunity 2 (Suffocation) (2)
"Side-Effects" Blast 8 (Feats: Split) (17)

"Travelling Sideways Through Space" Teleport 6 (Feats: Increased Mass 3) (Extras: Accurate, Extended- 60 miles) (Flaws: Limited to Extended) (21)
-- (45 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Side-Effects +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +2 (+7 Armour), Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)

Total: Abilities: 38 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 36 / Defenses: 15 (103)

-A third Sidewinder has appeared working for the Brand Corporation, and even joined the Serpent Society. He and the rest of the team were taken into custody by a Diamondback that later turned out to be a Life Model Decoy. He helped the Society engage in a hostage situation, but were beaten by Richard Rider and his Nova Corps. trainees when they returned to Earth. He has reappeared under the original Viper's "Serpent Solutions" roster as well.

-Humorously, this one was ALSO created by mistake (though THIS Marvunapp bio says the second one was "obviously" not supposed to be the original, since the speech patterns were so different), as Robert Kirkman simply plopped a Sidewinder among the Serpent Society members in a 2004 Captain America issue he was doing. I just copied over the last build for this guy- so little is known about either dude.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sat Aug 20, 2022 8:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (THE GAMECOCK! The Eel! Serpent Society!)

Post by Ken »

Gamecock? The Eel? The Serpent Society? Does every hero have such phallic villains?
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