Drunkard's Walk Forums

'cause there's more to superheroics than beating stuff up, right?
No, seriously.
I'm just wondering, what other talents, abilities, and knowledge do the Legendary members have? I'm asking in the hope this will shake loose some story ideas. Plus, y'know, it ain't comics without Mister Fantastic saving the day with some invention or Batman doing a genius investigative end-run.
Then there's...well, my favourite part of the whole JLA/Avengers crossover mini-series - I've got reprints of the whole set - were the bits where the heroes work together on stuff. Iron Man giving Green Lantern a design for a massive cannon construct...
I know some of 'em, of course. Gil's obviously a pretty good detective, and we all know Looney's got mad kitbashing skills. ElectroEagle's an engineer as well, if I recall, and Lora'Lai's also got tech skills. Yukiyo collects magical spells...and Alexis...well, Morganni's thread amuses me greatly.
So what do your characters do?
Starting with some of mine...
Superball knows Paragon's meta-gangers pretty well, because he used to BE one of them. He's also an extremely dedicated and focused guy, behind the mask. Since taking up the Superball mantle, he's been studying things like police procedure, law, and equipment. At this point he probably knows more about such practical matters of heroism than most Paragon crimefighters - he could tell you, for example, precisely what brand of epinephrine auto-injector you want in your emergency medical kit. Of course, given his manic surface persona, getting useful info from him is tricky at best.
Syndesis doesn't have any formal education to speak of. She was created by a mad scientist, after all. Well, actually, the Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs believes Syn was actually a runaway or kidnapped child. They're pretty sure she was force-grown to maturity, so she might technically still be a minor. That was a major factor in their granting her freedom after the Rikti War. Syn is quite aware of her status, so she'd be the first to claim she doesn't know anything. She was, though, the chief henchwoman of a supervillain. So Syn's very familiar with the biotechnology branches of mad science. For instance, she'd be able to make sense out of data seized from Crey or whatever. She also a decent commander, at least on the battlefield. These days, though, she's reluctant to take leadership roles...largely 'cause most of her "siblings", Metaphase's children, died on her watch.
Space Mage has an encyclopedic knowledge of science fiction, fantasy, and anime trivia. She insists this is essential to modern heroing. Like most "native" magic users in the CoH universe, she's a descendant of Mu. She doesn't have a lot of Mu blood...her innate magical capacity is tiny. But she somehow manages to use what power she has as a catalyst - to tap pure inspiration, pure creative force, the energy created by human beings. Space casts spells, but the manner in which she does is widely varied. Sometimes gestures, words, materials, sometimes not. They all require mental visualisation, though. She dreams her magic. She's ALWAYS coming up with new and different spells. It's ridiculously easy for her. Where another mage would plan and research, she just instantly comprehends. Her spells can be reproduced by others - Yukiyo's scribbled down one of her tricks - but not as effectively. This'd make her both a blessing and terror if the Legendary's mages ever need to collaborate, much like Doug in that respect.
Mirrorshard Isis is a magical girl. Or a former magical girl. Hard to say. She's certainly not a girl anymore, given she's been around for two or three centuries. Maybe longer. She used to be a Mirrorguardian, one of Naoko's predecessors. She also lost her fight, and her knight was killed. Isis survived, though she was...broken. She still clung on to some power, though, filling in the gaps with conventional magical studies. Unlike Space Mage, Isis is a magic-user of the library research and grimoire school. Her speciality is ritual magic, but she's had many years to pick up...other things. Having been around that long, she's also got a real spider's web of connections, and a fairly large personal fortune. "Spider's web", literally. Her goals are...probably good, but ends justify means...
Flu Shot is an engineer...kind of. He didn't go to school for that, and his lack of concern for math and calculations is almost frightening. He was a garage assistant before building his suit and going into heroism. Thing is, the Flu Shot armour is really a complete mess. It's more or less a bootleg Crey Cryo suit. The fact ice surrounds his entire body when it's running was originally a malfunction, it was just supposed to encase his fists. He tweaked it a little and called it a feature. On the other hand, he DID build the thing, and he DOES have a strange savant-esque talent when fiddling with supertech. He gets results, and his creations are...kinda reliable. Kinda. He'd probably give the other Legendary tech-heroes fits, if it came to discussion...and his number one priority when it comes to battlesuit design? Plumbing and heating. Hey, when you're a walking fridge...
Dusker is a Warshade - with two distinct personalities in there. Argent Dusk takes a more advisory role, but occasionally a very vocal one. He's an OLD Nictus warrior, only recently defected. Wesker is his first willing host. He's got centuries of battle experience from far-off planets...some of which is actually relevant to the task of crime-fighting on Earth. This might be useful...if he knew how to deliver strategical advice in something other than clipped barks. "NO. FIGHT NOW." Wesker, on his part, was an empath...not a healer, a guy who senses feelings. He can still do that, as Dusker - he can tell if you're lying or hiding something, what buttons to push. A good interrogator. Pre-conversion, Wesker was a con artist and CoV-style criminal broker. He was small-time...but he's still knows some people, which might be useful.
Obsolete is an old robot from the 1950s, when everything was shiny and atomic-powered. She's not shiny anymore, but still atomic-powered. She actually evolved self-awareness on her own accord...and has been keeping herself running for the past half century, repairing her body, adapting technology...but if you think Flu Shot makes kludges, Obsolete is far, far worse. Her newest combat chassis (latest costume) was constructed from salvaged Freakshow parts. 'Salvaged' defined as ripping them straight off and installing them directly - she didn't bother to remove the bits of shredded meat. That might help the Infamous, might not. She could repair another robot, but they'd probably not appreciate the experience. Lord Omega, I'm lookin' at you...
-- Acyl

Well then...
Lincoln Memorial is... well, he's Lincoln. Mad phat political and speeching skillz, though he's not allowed to run for office as part of the arrangement that let him come down here. Not a general per se, but he has a good eye for competent commanders (and sees absolutely nothing wrong with the Legendary command structure as it stands). Can usually work out the immediate and long-term political effects of major team/military actions (a big strike on the Rogue Isles, say), and will offer his advice if necessary.
Also, if you need some fence rails split, Abe's your man.
Mindlord Rissvar: Scientist specializing in quantum physics. Almost as creative and experimental as your average real-world human physicist, which makes the ultra-conservative Lizards view him as an insane genius. Decent people skills when dealing with the Race, and his telepathic powers give him a leg up among humans -- he can actually sense their thought processes, disgusting though they are. This may be having unforeseen effects on his own mind. A ginger addict, and has discovered that consumption genuinely improves his psi abilities -- his Domination is triggered by chugging a bottle of ginger beer.
Warlock Wolf (who I want to bring into the Legendary once the current membership issues deflate a bit) is, here as in the SME version, a Mu-descended wizard dedicated to policing the use of magic; the Hellions, the Circle, and the Carnival of Shadows are his primary targets in Paragon City. He has extensive experience in the field of aiding magical girls (having spent the last few years in Japan, working with ... well, You Know Who...) but doesn't consider himself a "guardian" or "kamen" so much as an advisor and technician. His brand of magic is not well suited for combat, though he's adapted some energy-draining techniques as a form of defense; his real expertise is as an arcane safecracker. Mike can, given time, completely overwhelm and even co-opt almost any security system, tech or mystic.
He's a decent guitar player (nothing to write home about), a poetry aficionado though not himself a poet (he has somehow managed to commit to memory absolutely every poem ever published in any language), an arcane auto mechanic (if you want a magical hovercar or souped-up bike, ask Mike), and an incorrigible punster. His weak spots are cooking (Akane-level) and karaoke (he will deliberately inflict untold horrors on the audience -- his favorite ploy is to sing "Where the Streets have No Name" in a Peter Lorre/Ren Hoek voice: "I want to -- REEEECH OUT! and TOUCH ze FLAME -- touch it, Reeck, TOUCH IT!").
--Sam
"Next time, may it bloom in the good way."

Obsidian Heart She's familiar with all sorts of film and digital cameras of various types, some of them obscure by modern standards (her latest toy is a twin lens reflex camera made 50 years ago). She does all her printing digitally (even the film, which she scans), and has a fair knowledge of Photoshop.
Through her "day job" as a music photographer, she knows a variety of musicians, venue owners and employees, promoters, photo editors, etc. Normally this doesn't have any impact on her superhero life, although she has on occasion agreed to book the entertainment for a fundraiser that she's appearing at.
Her invisibility power and teleportation make her well suited to stealthy surveillance photography, which she will very occasionally do during a criminal investigation. She actively despises paparrazi and has been known to sabotage them when the opportunity arises.
While growing up with her aunt, she learned at least the basics of several fancy martial arts, but she prefers to rely on her darkness powers.

Yukiyos a trained mage, and extremely curious. As such, all her life has been dedicated to accumulating random knowledge, in particular magical. If its magical in nature, she can figure it out fairly fast.
She has accumulated a ridiculously large amount of spells, most of which she cant use. Particularly alarming is the fact that any living quarters she inhabits for any length of time will turn in a mess of piled books everywhere.
Every single magical library in paragon city are routinely patrolled for any new books and her interests include anything from the mundane (30 useful household cantrips) to the forbidden (how to cause the apocalypse in 12 easy spells)
In practical terms, Yukiyo knows many small spells for various odd things, but very little actual combat spells due to her having been trained to become an Enchanter (magical equivalent of an inventor)
Her status as demonic magical girl also gives Yukiyo control over the destructive aspects of fire and a backstage understanding of the way afterlife works.
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Reflected Glory, also known as Gloria when not wearing the fuku, is a fairly average student, was born in Paragon City and has lived there all her life so she knows the city fairly well. She is the captain of her schools gymnastics team and the current city champion, which has led her to calling herself the best gymnast.
She now deploys the same amount of arrogant single-mindedness in becoming the best magical girl as well. For now, her studies of magic have had little effect beyond a few cantrips and the ability to teleport her allies, though she is fairly close to figuring out how to teleport herself.
Her magic is mostly instinctive and very gesture based. For example, she might decided that shed rather that Skull not be so close, punch him, and her magic will send her victim flying. Due to a gesture being her trigger, the chances for accidental magic to occur are minimal.

Mirror Guardian Naoko was, before the unfortunate swap, a college student and Journalism major. Given his habit of cramming for all of his tests, he has a remarkable faculty for memorizing long strings of information. He also thinks he can play the guitar.
Punchman, aka Roy Pugil, is a painter. In fact, he was trying to break out as a painter before his Incident and boxed soley as a means to make money. Critics who are familiar with Pugil's works have noticed a distinct change in style since he took up his cause.
The Big Idea suffered nerve damage as a result of the surgery required for the implants that give him his powers. He used to enjoy trail-biking and rock-climbing; nowadays he mostly plays chess and contemplates how best to track down the people who did this to him.
Giga Ninja, the world's largest ninja, is only barely sapient, much less social. Almost all of his skills as such are confined to areas of violent expression. On the other hand, never play Scrabble with him unless you can cope with extreme cognitive dissonance and a nearly obscene victory dance.
The Hunk dabbles with particle physics in between his twin quests for justice and the perfect wave.
I am /so/ doing more of these when I can think of them.

Lora'Lai, as has been noted, is an accomplished code hacker. She also has some practical knowledge in cybernetic systems and interfaces. Super-tech computers are familiar to her, although in her previous human life, she was able to interface directly with some systems physically. And she was used to a more information intensive society, with computers and interface systems everywhere. She also has a knowledge of Corporate culture, including some pretty dark secrets of Crey. Countess Crey would be in mortal fear of Lora'Lai if she knew exactly WHO the human side of her Kheldian fusion was and why she know what she knows.
Her Kheldian side brings with it knowledge of energy based physics. She doesn't automatically know human terms for such things, but there is an instinctive understanding that makes Lora'Lai know what to do and how. In more practical terms, in concert with her human side's technical skills, she has an affinity for power systems and energy weapons. And she can sometimes tweak them to get more performance from them. Her Kheldian side is also more familiar with group strategy and 3 dimensional combat, Zero G movement and Space combat (although there hasn't been much chance to put such knowledge to use).
Magic is something neither side of her fusion knows anything about, thus it fascinates her all the more. But she's also wary of it as well. Usually Lora'Lai can comprehend any energy in use around her. Magic is the exception. A lightning bolt is comprehensible. Even a lightning bolt generated by a mutant superhero is comprehensible, since she can "see" the way in which the energy is generated. But a magically generated lightning bolt is a surprise to her because there's nothing to generate it that she can see or understand. It just appears from nowhere.
Stalnoy Volk: Mikhael Mitvol was a career Soviet Air Force fighter pilot before the accident that changed the direction of his life, and has all the skills that come with such a life. As a soldier and fighter pilot, Mikhael is used to making snap decisions, but also used to following orders. He's an excellent 2nd in command with a good sense of small unit tactics.
Since he was chosen as the wearer of the Stalnoy Volk power armor, he has learned more about electronics, power systems, actuators, interface systems and optics - all the things he needs to know in order to do field repair and maintenence on the suit.
Originally he learned these things out of necessity. Mikhael finds science and technology interesting in their own right, but he is a practical man, and is more interested in application than theory. Specifically he is interested in how various technologies would improve his suit or help in his efforts to defend Paragon and hunt down villains. Outside of that, he's rather uninterested in technology just for its own sake. In short, he knows more about how various technologies operate than why. Nevertheless, Mikhael has a deft hand with mechanics and circuitry, and if asked about a problem, is a good man to bounce ideas off of.
He does however, on occasion, exhibit what some might consider to be a disconcertingly Russian "brute force" approach to technical problems if they remain stubborn or if he is pressed for time. The phrase "if it doesn't work, kick it. If it breaks, it needed replacing anyway." was seemingly made for Mikhael sometimes!
This approach wouldn't be nearly so disconcerting if it didn't always WORK. It's almost as if machines seem to be afraid of disapointing Mikhael or angering him further... Actually, it's just that Mikhael has an uncanny knack for knowing just how far to push any given machine before it will break. -Logan
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"This kind of thing tends invariably to devolve into the kind of "No, Nakajima, THIS is true power!!" argument that only really works if you're yelling it from the cockpit of a giant robot . . ."
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Wide Receiver actually has more on the ball than he usually lets on. He has Bachelor's degrees in mathematics (analyzing player statistics) and psychology. On a lark, he acquired teaching certification. He is also certified as a referee for the NCAA and NFL. [he was a celebrity referee for an all-star game and the Paragon Bowl last year.] He has a lieutenant's leadership capability, as evinced by his numerous Captaincies on the Legendary's Task Forces.
One and Only Curly is a vaudeville-trained comedian and has access to a lot of "Hidden Hollywood." He has also acquired a deep esoteric knowledge during his stay in the monastery to recover from an otherwise terminal illness.
QB Kitsune and Lady Nogitsune share skillsets due to the latter's extended tenancy in the former's body. Amazing occult knowledge, although mostly Asian in origin. In fact, Nogi knew several of the Tsoo Ancestor Spirits while they were still living, breathing humans. They also share *FULL* kunoichi non-combat training, with all that entails. Fluent, with literacy, in Mu, Oranbegan, Classical and modern Japanese, and English. From QB's side, pre-med studies.
Emi Arizona can pilot Giant Robots, operate divine computer systems, answer several theological questions, write fanfiction {ever so slowly}, and is fluent in any language used by a sentient being in her presence. She is competent at playing the clarinet, can play simple bugle calls (under protest, she HATES trumpets) and follow complex origami diagrams with mixed results. She has few practical heroing skills beyond the abilites ennumerated in her powerset.
Happy Grin was a building superintendant and can maintain a building to his tenant's satisfaction.
Bizarre Mouse is apt at several of the "low class" abilities common to gangster movies. He can profitably bet on horseracing, boxing, etc. He is a "gourmand" and "aesthete" when it comes to "Manly" topics like cigars, alcohol, and beef dishes.
More later...
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll

Tachiko... Tachiko is, obviously enough, an elf. At about three hundred years old she's considered a teenager by other elves, and she acts like one, too. She's fairly talented, in a mostly intuitive way, with magic of many sorts, although she tends to just get up and start slinging levin-bolts when it comes to a fight.
She spent about a century and a half in Japan, and rather liked it, thus the name. (Part of what lured her into the Legendary was meeting and working with Evangelia, a "real honest-to-Sailor-Moon magical girl!!!". (She probably hangs out with Yukiyo a good part of the time, too, chatting, exchanging tips on magic, and such.)
She's quite knowledgeable about the Fey, and hearing about an UnSeelie Court incursion (Redcaps and such, whoa!) has got her a bit riled up to get her clearance high enough to face them down. In the meantime, though, the Circle of Thorns just makes her ears hurt, and don't even ask about Vazhilok or Clockworks (she tends to just growl obscenities in Elven if you do).
She is a fair woodswoman and tracker, and enjoys camping, hiking, hunting, and boating. She's also a fairly good cook, at any level from the campfire to the "grilled salmon gourmet for the entire team" sort of thing. --
"I give you the beautiful... the talented... the tirelessly atomic-powered...
R!
DOROTHY!
WAYNERIGHT!
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

Australis is a rather good handyman. In fact, he's brilliant. He can do almost anything with minimal tools, and he makes McGuyver green with envy. The A-Team are no-talent hacks in comparison to him on a bad day. Unfortunately, he doesn't quite know that. He mostly bumbles along in his job as a bookseller, often mystified and flabbergasted by these moments of constuctive brilliance he shows.
Although, if that silly bint on the 26th floor keeps on flying through the bay window of his 25th floor Founder's condo, he's probably going to figure it out quick.
Bowtruckle, being a sprite multiple millenia out of his time and grown into a size orders of magnitude greater than his natural one, has only his archery and bowfletching to fall back on. Through that, he makes a satisfactory sideline as a low-level artifacter, since the skills he uses to make his Trick Arrows follow into more lucrative pursuits.
Twilight Ray is only 16, and as such has no real useful skills. He's not even a particularly good student. However, he's somewhat of an idiot savant when it comes to magical theory and application. Where that will take him, is unknown.
Psyclone Sally, at 19, basically doesn't have much skills beyond those expected of a high-school beauty queen who's going to college. She's a decent student, but not brilliant. She has shown some aptitude behind a microphone, but whether that actually pans out into something is to be seen.
If you guys want my Freedom heroes, let me know.--
Christopher Angel, aka JPublic
The Works of Christopher Angel

The Paladrone, being a non-sentient machine, doesn't have any creative skills, but several practical ones. If you give him a blueprint and materials, he can build it. He also has a built in sateillite internet connection, plus access to the Vatican's Restricted Library, so he can look up information on almost anything, be it magical, technological or social. He also gives The Legendary, in a serious emergency, access to one of the world's oldest intelligance and political orginizations.
Shining Kamen has every scrap of publicily available information on magical girls in Paragon City there is, in addition to a great deal of information about them that he shouldn't. What suprises alot of people, however, is that his day job is running a homeless shelter for runaways. This gives him a connection to the street, and he usually knows alot of what's happening among the lower level gangs. It also makes him very concerned about the Lost and the Rikti. And of course, he is the world's foremost expert in repression and self-deluosionment, successfully ignoring all evidence that would make him aware of certain facts, like him being a Kheldian or the Mirror Siblings body swap.
Schrodinger Black has two distinct skillsets. Her symbiote was actually a fairly high ranking member of the Nictus military, giving her an in depth knowledge of army and star navy combat tactics. Of course, since The Legendary does mostly squad based tactics, it's not that useful. Her human side has an in depth knowledge of electronics, and specalizes in interdimensional physics. In her spare time, she's actually building a starship as a suprise for The Legendary but work has been slowed since alot of the technology needed for the Hyperdrive and reactionless sublight drive is restricted by Portal Corp. Both sides also have in depth knowledge of how to run a large, multi planet government, assuming you don't mind ruling with an IRON FIST OF TERROR! She won't bring that up (EVER) though, because then she might have to talk about things she'd rather the rest of the group didn't know about. Like the genocides. Or the incredibly reckless and unethical expirements.--
Instead of playing the role of a super hero, one degenerates into a strange bum luring villains to their doom in a trash dumpster. -Statesman
--
If you become a monster to put down a monster you've still got a monster running around at the end of the day and have as such not really solved the whole monster problem at all. 

(Woah, can we get Paladrone and Emi Arizona in the same room together? Puh-leeeese? :-)
O.K. The Mac Hine siblings. Basically, they've taken every course available to them through community centers and community colleges. The girls (Meredith, Marianne, Margaret and Minuet) are accomplished dancers and would be at Pocket D every night if they didn't have other responsibilities. If a style of dance was offered at the community center, they took it. The current fad with them is belly dancing. Although, rumour has it that the local community centre is offering a stripercize course and they're saving thier pennies.
All of them have had jobs since they were legally able to hold one down, they know the value of work and that if they want something they'll have to save thier own money to make it happen.
Minuet is a trained first aid instructor with St. John Ambulance
Morgan teaches at a local martials arts studio and at a community centre.
Meredith worked as a cook in a restaurant until her accident, she has yet to return to work.
Margaret currently works full time as a floor walker/security guard at a local department store (mind reading really helps there)
Marianne, Marcus, Mace and Matthew - I haven't decided yet what they do.
Totally away from the Mac Hine siblings, Fae Wree Tail doesn't understand why people work and expects licorice to pop up on demand, along with gingerbread. She's currently living with an adoptive pseudo parent willing to support her and explain how things work in Paragon City. It's apparently not going very well.
I'll add more as I think about it. :-) Good question to ask though.
-Cindy

Bella Fuego is career IST and has skills in leadership and superheroic tactics on the micro and macro scale. She is also highly skilled in logistics and is highly sought after in the field because her troops never seem to run out of food, fuel or toilet paper. Her leisure consists of primarily physical activities, including an exercise routine that would kill mere mortals. She is a highly accomplished dancer with a particular affinity for the Tango. Bella speaks several Spanish dialects, English, French, Italian, and at gunpoint, German.
Jackie Frost has extensive training in espionage coupled with theft. She is an expert in security systems; manual and electronic, lock picking and safecracking. Not to mention picking pockets, and seduction, both open and casual. She is also an appraiser, specializing in jewelry and fine art. Her other physical skills are best not mentioned here, but she has been practicing very hard for a very long time with a single minded devotion to excellence Jackie speaks a double handful of European languages.
Gil MacHeath knocked about the Row before going into the army. He is capable with most firearms, but eschews them. While in the Army he was on the boxing team, and fought up to the championship level in his weight class; his skills were only slightly above average, but he was too tough to drop and packed a right that could stun a mule. As a Detective Gil is highly observant, with a quick, clever mind that is suited to picking out details and arranging them. He has a near photographic memory. He can read lips, pick pockets and follow a mark without being seen.
Thibor Sawchyk is a career soldier. Between deployments he managed get his surgeons shingle, with a specialty in combat trauma. He teaches survival and strategy and doesnt brush his teeth without a backup plan. He is also well versed in mystic lore, with a specialization in vampires and their loathsome ilk. Thibor is considered one of the worlds top experts in vampires, their habits, their feeding patterns and the best way to kick their slimy, fanged, arses back into the great unknown. While certainly a good cook, Thibor is a gourmet and always knows the best restaurants in any given city he has visited (Its that sense of smell thing). Thibor speaks almost two-dozen languages.
Naoko Yoshida if Bella is a logistics maven, Naoko is a goddess and not one of the minor ones one of the destroy-whole-worlds ones. If you need it, she can get it, anywhere, anytime, in quantity. She is an expert at a variety of computer skills, including the ones that will get you arrested. Naoko was an Olympic Gymnastics hopeful, but was sidelined by an ankle injury. She still keeps in shape. Naoko still practices with the ball and ribbon whip, but has replaced the baton with an 18 Steel Cobra . Naoko's psionic gifts include a minor precognition that only manifests when driving - Naoko is a terrible driver prone to risky, rash, and terror inducing decisions, but she literally cannot be in a vehicular accident when she is driving; which is something her passengers do not know.Naoko speaks English and Japanese.

Fallgone: As scientist that was drawn to Paragon City to study how superpowers worked, he as a background in chemistry, biology, and physics. He was shocked when his own manifested, and now it has progressed into a mix of loathing and a burning desire to know (as he goes out every day and violates several laws of thermodynamics to fight crime). His study of superpowers has approached the level of monomania and he may one day have a mental breakdown. He years to discover one unified theory of everything, and fears that it will break him when he finds it.
He has a bad habit of not always turning over the more interesting gadgets he finds while patrolling the city, because he takes them home and disassembles them until he finds out (or doesn't) how they work. His apartment has slowly progressed from a neat collection of notes and experiments, to a mad tinkers workshop.
He has (through painful experience) learned how to disable most of the gadgets that are employed by the council, freakshow, and crey without making them explode. He is a veritable treasure trove of information and theories on anything technological (and more recently technomagical), but not everything is correct. -Terry
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"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." - Antoine de Saint Exupery
"Luge strategy? Lie flat and try not to die." - Carmen Boyle (Olympic Luge Gold Medal winner - 1996)
Mary Sue's theme music
-Terry
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"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy

I can tell you right now that Paladrone and Emi WILL NOT AGREE on theology. Emi's had, either through direct personal exposure or as part of the mantle she's taken up, complete theological training in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam... straight from the source... (I won't be able to roleplay this correctly, but I can certainly try.) What's worse is that she has it pure. That is, not filtered by thousands of years of drift, lazy scribes, clerical misrepresentation of scripture, etc.
She knows the five missing Commandments. (Mel Brooks was inspired by Emi's predecessor as Gabriel.) She can recite The Torah, the New Testament, and the Koran from memory in every language she speaks, including Apocryphal gospels. She gets mad when scripture is taken out of context for political gain... and totally infuriates religious conservatives on general principles. She blames a lot of Christianity's foibles on Saint Paul and the Roman Emperor who set it as the state religion... that said, she's technically on a well-deserved vacation...
continuing my other characters:
Darkclaw Riassith a master hunter for the Race. He also has complete knowledge of anatomy and physiology as it pertains to Big Uglies and the Race. He stays away from Ginger himself, but is still affected by the side effects from others of the Race using it near him. Males are no problem, but females...
MirrorKnight Hiroshi is surprisingly well-educated for "his" mental age of fourteen, since "he" has to take all of Mirrorguardian Naoko's college courses since the switch. Interpersonal skills are the real strong suit here, as well as fashion and design. Also has an encyclopedic knowledge of magical girl, shoujo and yaoi manga and anime... recent experiences have started the addition of yuri to the list.
Mother Meyai: Psych degree from Aeon University, and a Masters in Applied Thaumatology. She is also adept at thaumatechnological surgery and could give the Facemakers and Serge a run for their money, if she weren't so obsessed with her motherhood fixation. She also knows several rabbit stew recipies, including the most primitive.
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll

Evangelia is a sixteen-year-old high school student, and thus possesses few of the skill sets an adult might. Before a certain penguin entered her life, she was a cheerleader, with a natural talent for acrobatics that has served her well in her career as a superhero. In the last year, she's acquired a surprising level of skill in diplomacy, a good working knowledge of small-unit tactics and the rudiments of leadership (in her opinion; others seem to think more highly of her abilities in this field). She's also learned more than she ever wanted to know (or believed possible) about the habits and behaviors of sapient British penguins.
Sailor Null is allegedly a studio/fashion photographer of some artistic merit when she's not inflicting dark vengeance upon evildoers. Her search to replace the power of Light that abandoned her has given her a broad but shallow knowledge of arcane lore, primarily focused on those Entities and energies that are willing to empower mortal champions. Being more than a little obsessed with her perceived mission, she has little in the way of a personal life and thus few if any skills that are not related to either of her two occupations.
The Nameless Terror was a professional wrestler who generally competed in the ring as a "heel" ("villain") before his superpowers were activated and his strength began its relentless spiral upward. This of course disqualified him from professional "competition" (translation: the promoters' insurance would not cover potential damages should he ever lose control), but he left the circuit with a number of useful talents: he's an excellent actor, is surprisingly charismatic for someone as forbidding as he appears, and he can play a crowd like a violin.
Looney Toons, as most folks probably already know, is a double-threat engineer capable of handling hardware and software with equal ease: on the one side, he is a cyberneticist specializing in robotics and AI, and on the other he is a highly-skilled programmer in a plethora of languages. In the pursuit of understanding his metatalents, he's also become one of the foremost experts in magic in the world (not number one, but definitely in the top 25). His knowledge encompasses not only folklore and legend, but also active magical traditions the world over, the theoretical basis of magic, the ethics of magic, practical implementations and its interactions with conventional physics. He is also, mostly by chance and necessity, something of an enchanter, capable of creating magical and technomagical devices with sufficient effort and focus. Additionally, he's more than competent at small-group tactics, general strategy, general security functions and systems, and has some native talent (though no formal training) in teaching. He speaks English, French, Japanese and Valdemaran.
Beach Baby is a fitness freak, with a little of almost every kind of exercise and training system under her nonexistent belt. A former beauty queen, she's adept at charming and manipulating people and is a fair actress when she needs to be. As might be expected, she's an excellent swimmer; she surfs, too, though not well enough to compete. In addition to English, she speaks a smattering of gutter Spanish.
Some Random Schmuck is in his daytime job Jerzny Brzniewski, Executive Assistant to the Vice President of Number Generation for the Rhode Island lottery. His skills include accounting, playing the ocarina, orienteering and underwater demolition. He's also quite good at games of chance (including the lottery, which he is not allowed to play because he works for it). He speaks English, Yiddish, Basque, and an obscure dialect of Tibetan.
Lord Omega, as befits an assassin droid, has two main skill sets: a) hunting and b) killing. Any others, particularly social skills, are unneccessary, or worse, a distraction. His native tongue is binary code, but he will gladly use his English language module to inform his targets of their impending doom.
Huntmaster Kethek also has an undue focus on hunting and killing, being as that is his formal role in the Fleet, but he has been known to kick back and enjoy several sports and pasttimes specific to his people and culture. He's also a fair hand at a number of technical fields, but much of his skill is specific to the Race's unique implementations and does not translate well to Earth-built systems. In addition to his native tongue, he's got a very good grasp of English, thanks in part to an Arachnos memory-implantation process.
The One and Only Moe is the elder brother of The One and Only Curly. Like Curly, he has connections and knowledge of the "real" Hollywood behind the scenes. He's a skilled stunt man and fight-coordinator, said skill being gained from years of wild slapstick comedy rather than by learning from other stunt men. For the same reason he's got a good technical knowledge of movie-making, although he's never actually used it. Moe is also a fair financial manager, having had to watch over not only his own money but that of his spendthrift brother for the last few decades.
Saber Blue 2042 is a freedom fighter from the future of Recluse's Victory, sent back in time by a rebel force in the hopes that a series of small changes applied decades before that future comes to be can tip the balance of the timeline and eliminate any possibility of it coming to be at all. To this end she has been well-trained not only in combat but in history and sociology, and in a kind of "applied history" theory not unlike Asimov's "psychohistory". Advanced memory-implantation technology has been used to give her an encyclopedic knowledge of the timeline that led to Recluse's Victory.
Sailor Loon is, as most people here probably already know, the young photojournalist Lisa Vanette, who in the COH timeline was born in 1983 and works for the Paragon Times. Her skills include photography, composition, news-style writing and (to a small degree) editing. She is a trained gymnast, although she hasn't seriously practiced in a long time and is no longer at competition level. She's learning magical theory to complement her exploration of her new powers. She speaks Japanese and English.
(I know I'm leaving out Sergeant Pepper and several others. Don't worry, I'll get to them eventually.)
-- Bob
---------
...The President is on the line
As ninety-nine crab rangoons go by...

Note: Any Mai HiME character is subject to my tinkering as I have stated it has been over a year since the series ended.
Shizuru is currently attending the University over in Croatoa via internet classes heading towards a degree in magical theory (Inspired by wanting to understand the Festival). Inbetween taking classes there, she does Naginata practice and Flower Arranging in her spare time. She also likes to take the time to help the younger heroes and is helping with the Big Brothers and Big Sisters, on the recimendation of her psychologist Dr. William Wellington. She has also been taking computer classes since joining the Legendary, hopefully to help maintain the computer systems. Though she has thought about contacting her family to gain their assistance in updating the Legendary's computer facilities.
I'll do the others after I have a better idea, and talk to Valles.
When engaging, nothing beats a full frontal.
*********************
In the epic rage of furious thunder
legends create their tales
when the twilight calls and the dark lord falls
our glory will prevail

Nice to know someone's been reading that. '.' Anyway, let's see...
(Disclaimer: At least half of this I am making up as I write it. '.' )
Alexis Morgan:
Alexis' technical skills are actually quite a bit like Looney's. >.>; There's quite a variety of gear that she couldn't build herself, but she can take it and get it to do what she wants it to do. Her programming skills are generally adequate, but don't always come when she calls them. Technomagical fusions are probably her area of greatest expertise, closely followed by linking together systems that should not be possible to link together. She also has a decent working familiarity with interdimensional transport systems, but for various reasons she's unlikely to reveal this except in a major emergency.
On the magical side of things, Alexis is a mid-level "Chaos Mage" (likely having no similarity to anything anyone else calls a chaos mage), which is fairly useful for most things *except* combat. Because of the way her transformation works though, these abilities aren't available to her most of the time. Working with other mages is likely to be difficult to her due to major differences in approach. Almost all magic she has experience with (hers or others) is purely will-directed and doesn't involve formalized spells at all. Spells with verbal components in particular throw her, because voice triggers are something she associates with technology or technomagic. ("... You're *sure* that's magic you're doing?")
Aside from a bit of past experience with genetic tampering. she has little knowledge of biology and will actively resist learning anything above the cellular level. ("There are things I don't want to know about myself!")
On leadership, group tactics, etc. Alexis is pretty much completely ignorant. The majority of her organization's activities involve individual agents operating on their own for long periods of time, and even group operations usually amount to "spread out and attack everywhere at once".
Alexis is yet another anime fan - basically, she's seen and likes everything I've seen and like. Also reads voraciously, cross stiches occaisionally, and regularly tries to learn to draw and then gives up on it.
[Huh, I wasn't expecting to write that much...]
Mirami:
Being a form of computer-based AI, it's expected for her to have serious computer skills, but due to her nature they're kind of... weird. She has no skill at programming, because she doesn't perceive computers in the normal way when she's inside them, and she hasn't bothered learning any other way to work with them. On her own, she doesn't have much processing ability beyond what drives her own conciousness, but when given access to other processers she can do various brute-force tasks with much greater effectiveness than they could do without her. This is about as entertaining to her as a normal human would finding reading an entire dictionary out loud, if the dictionary was in a language they didn't know. So getting her to do this is likely to require a very good reason and/or bribe.
Also, if she knows access codes for a system, she can physically enter it and read data that would be available to someone using those codes without the system actually seeing anyone logged in. For any systems she doesn't already have some form of access to though, there isn't much she can do without making a *lot* of noise. (The idea is that she's supposed to have been watching whatever information about Alexis was in the Legendary's systems that Alexis would have access to, as well as probably grabbing news reports and things. Though how she got her onee-nichan's password isn't something I have any ideas about.)
Though she's considered to be mature for various purposes, Mirami hasn't been awake for a particularly long time, so she hasn't picked up much else for skills. She has some interest in anime, but since she doesn't like to watch things alone and her ~sisters are busy most of the time, she hasn't seen much. (It should be noted that when she's projecting a physical form - which she does most of the time - her time perception is about the same as an ordinary human. So she can't just absorb things about a million times faster the way some forms of AI can.)
[And that's probably enough for her too.]
Eri Silverwing:
Just because I hadn't thought about it before, and it fits with some other things in an amusing way, I think she designs clothes in her spare time. Wearing most of the things she comes up with in public in Paragon City could get you arrested though... which isn't something she's actually aware of.
-Morgan is lazy and doesn't feel like rereading this post to make sure everything is spellled correctly."I have no interest in ordinary humans. If there are any aliens, time travelers, or espers here, come sleep with me."
---From "The Ecchi of Haruhi Suzumiya"
-----(Not really)

(Freedom Phalanx Meeting)
Statesman: "I'm sure you're all aware of the recent...incidents concerning the Legendary."
Manticore: "Yeah. And I don't see the problem."
Statesman: "The problem, Manticore, is massive property damage and widespread disruption in the city!"
Manticore: "So? It's not any worse than normal. And the Giant Monster population is at an all-time low. I say we give them a medal."
Citadel: "Indeed. Their solution was...unorthadox, but admittedly effective."
Statesman: (pained) "They built a GIANT ROBOT."
Positron: "A well engineered one..."
Statesman: "IN A FUKU."
Back Alley Brawler: "Well, the bad guys are frightened of it."
Statesman: "POWERED BY MAGIC!"
Synapse: "Hey, it's in-genre..."
-- Acyl
Wide: "I'm going long!"
Australis: "Crikey, mate! You just took out the Paragon Times building!"
Lora'Lai: "Compensating. Stay on target."
Evangelia: "Give me control! Charge Penguin Sword!"
Alexis: "Eva! The leyline relays are still down!"
Space Mage: "We're giving all she's got, cap'n, we dinnae have the power!"
-- Acyl

Schrodinger Black: *scraps spaceship blueprints*What was I thinking! I can't build a spaceship that DOESN'T transform into a robot to fire a insanely overpowered anti-fleet beam! That just wouldn't make any sense! *frantic designing*--
Instead of playing the role of a super hero, one degenerates into a strange bum luring villains to their doom in a trash dumpster. -Statesman
--
If you become a monster to put down a monster you've still got a monster running around at the end of the day and have as such not really solved the whole monster problem at all. 

Quote:

---

Synapse: "Hey, it's in-genre..."

---

Okay, both of those are going right into my quotefile.

Quote:

---

Evangelia: "Give me control! Charge Penguin Sword!"

---

I'm never going to live down the penguin, am I?
-- Bob
---------
...The President is on the line
As ninety-nine crab rangoons go by...

No, you're not.
Fortunately Tachiko thinks penguins taste greasy and all, and prefers Burger King. Because, it's, royalty food, and all. --
"I give you the beautiful... the talented... the tirelessly atomic-powered...
R!
DOROTHY!
WAYNERIGHT!
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

I think that Invisible Penguin and Blue Hamster must get into a competition of some form. Lord knows what it would be, mind.

Quote:

---

I'm never going to live down the penguin, am I?

---

No. No you're not.
But that's the price one has to pay, when one comes up with something so amusing. Enough that when I unpacked some capsule Evangelion figurines I got cheap (stock-clearing sale)...I found a Pen-Pen, and immediately went: "ALISTAIR!"
(and yes, I'm aware of the Eyrie reference too)

Quote:

---

I think that Invisible Penguin and Blue Hamster must get into a competition of some form. Lord knows what it would be, mind.

---

Which begs the question - what kinda skills DO Alistair and Reffie have? I remember Rev Dark askin' about Alistair's powers, if any, besides being invisible. But...I mean...in more general terms, not simply just powers, but...well. Knowledge and stuff, or whatever. We know the penguin definitely comes equipped with an accent and wicked sense of humour...
On a side note, there's a couple of characters I've got in the Infamous and ECL that I missed out in my initial post. Intentionally, really, since I no longer play 'em - they're on indefinite abandoned status. But for completeness...
Noonlighter was a cop in Paragon City. He was from an old police family, so it was pretty much expected he'd join the force...except...he really really hated it. He wasn't a good cop. Too many vices. He ended up on the Family payroll. Pissed off the wrong Capo, though, and was concrete-shoed off an Indy Port pier. Turned out his grandfather's old pocketwatch was a magical talisman, however. When it struck twelve...well, Rise of the Phoenix. He was a hero for a while, but realised his powers could be more...lucrative. Noon's a pretty sensible and experienced guy for villain muscle - he's fallen from the light side twice. He knows law, police procedure, forensics, heroism...however, he talks, dresses, and acts like what he really is - a gangster. With bright yellow suit and hat.
Nia is a heroine from the People's Republic of China. Though 'heroine' is a relative term. It's rumoured that she works for Beijing, and has for a long time. For many, that makes her a goverment enforcer, not a superhero - and it's not like the government she serves is particularly nice. Of course, Beijing projects a friendly public face these days, and Chinese State media always calls her a hero. But...CIA reports claim a woman by her name was once the top assassin of the People's Liberation Army 8341 Unit, or Central Security Regiment. Allegedly. That said, the unit disbanded in 1976, and Nia's a young woman, so she can't have worked for them. Besides, the US Government would never allow someone like her to openly operate in Paragon as a hero. She's not doing anything suspicious, anyway, besides the frequent ferry rides out to Peregrine Island to visit some guy in a red suit...
(which says nothing about Nia's actual abilities, I know, but infer. She knows people. She knows very important shady people. And is very good at, well, killing other people, and all the other trade skills required to support killing other people. She also brews very nice herbal teas - in various flavours - and always keeps pitchers in the base fridge.)
-- Acyl

(man, I gotta revisit Nia someday, she's a riot. an exceedingly polite riot, but still.)
-- Acyl

Reffie's main value comes from the fact that he knows about the Mirror Kingdom and its denizens. That he's also a coward par exelance and makes poor decisions in the middle of crises simply makes him slightly less than useful as a mascot. Nevertheless, he seems to have a whole suit of sensory abilities to detect incursions by the King of Three Shadows and his minions, so if Reffie starts running it's a good tipoff that something's going on.

I started this, and it evidently got dropped, so here it is again.
Numero Catorce, in addition to be a skilled luchador, has a number of physical skills that result from him being in top physical condition. He's more of a "high flyer" than a traditional wrestler, prone to leaps and kicks, and thusly he has an excellent sense of balance and is a skilled acrobat. Along with his wrestling abilities, being a luchador means that he is familiar with the history of professional wrestling, and knows people in the business in the U.S., Mexico, and Japan. He also has some first aid and nursing experience. He is a highly proficient motorcycle driver. He also speaks Spanish, English, and Portugese.
Killkitty is a Major in the United Earth Infantry in the year 2327. She is a trained military officer, starting in the standard infantry and completing OCS, Special Forces, and Sniper training. She is a skilled hand-to-hand combatant, is familiar with the common technology of 24th Century ground combat, is a skilled weaponsmith and armorer, and first aid. She is trained in small-unit tactics. She speaks English, Japanese, and Mandarin. In her spare time, she's become a serious movie watcher, and has developed a rather exhaustive knowledge of movie trivia.
Frankie Fallout is a punk, through and through, and knows pretty much all there is to know about the punk rock scene. As a former member of the Hellions, he is familiar with the gang culture of Paragon City, especially in Atlas, Galaxy, and Kings Row. He has some knowledge of the Rogue Isles, but it's strictly hearsay, from what he heard from other Hellions before they put him on their "People We Want to Set on Fire" list. He knows a number of petty fences and other small-time criminals that connect the street gangs with bigger syndicates like the Family, as well as a number of hustlers and promoters who set up raves and other underground entertainment. He's a decent handyman, capable of pretty advanced carpentry, electrical work, and auto repair, especially for someone who only graduated high school. He's studying physics on the sly, trying to figure out how he can do what he does, but he doesn't want anyone to know about it.Ebony the Black Dragon
Senior Editor, Living Room Games
http://www.lrgames.com
Ebony the Black Dragon
http://ebony14.livejournal.com

"Good night, and may the Good Lord take a Viking to you."