Spun off from the timeline thread, where I started talking about Chinese supers and how I see them:-
My own personal design for a national-grade Chinese superhuman has always been a giant growth guy named Great Wall. I've said that. And I'd love to see a giant growth guy by that name be included, whether it's my interpretation or someone else's. Doesn't matter. But the NAME is amazing, you know?
I figured I'll talk more about how I see Chinese supers being characterised, though. And why I think that way. Both government types, and non-government rogues.
Great Wall:
My own take on the subject is a burly broad-shouldered, somewhat hirsute man. A big guy even before his powers fully manifested. Formerly a farmer, he discovered his powers saving people from flooding - this is pretty much just for the mental image of a giant man wading waist or thigh-deep through what are actually torrential waters. Following which, he'd have volunteered to join the PLA - which is just as well, since there would have been no way the government would let him go about his own business to begin with.
At least in my mind, the character's intended to be a decent and regular guy - basically an ordinary joe, a natural-born 'mutant' who's signed up on his own accord...because it's the right thing to do. But at heart, he's just a farm boy, you know? A guy who's not quite comfortable with fame, a guy who's idea of a good time is to relax and have a few beers. Thing is, he's ended up a big deal, a big celebrity - because that's how it rolls.
Chinese Government Supers:
There's a massive range of possible characterisation for Chinese characters, though. My thinking is that deliberately-bred Chinese "programme supers" must be some sort of mix between how China tries to groom real-world Olympic athletes, and the very real social and economic class divisions between regular folks and the country's elite.
I figure that China's leaders must know they're walking a dangerous path by breeding increasingly powerful supers. Plus, with that large a population, there's any number of powerful supers who could spontaneously emerge. Thus things must be engineered so that people with powers must genuinely believe the best thing for them is to serve the government. You don't want angry oppressed supers deciding they're better off going rogue, or worse, defecting.
So being a successful powerful super in China must come - to some degree - with wealth, celebrity, and inclusion in the Party's elite, the highest echelons of the military, and so on. There's obviously thousands of supers who aren't...impressive enough to make that cut. But they can dream, they can think, hey, that could be me.
On Chinese Supers as Antagonists
There's always the possibility of playing a Chinese superteam - but I wager for most IST-setting games, Chinese supers are likely to be antagonists. Or awkward allies at best.
It's a spectrum. There's some Chinese supers who'd be genuinely decent folks, they just happen to be working for Beijing. That's my Great Wall. These are ordinary men and women, many of whom wouldn't have been products of the government's efforts to deliberately breed and train superhumans. Again, a population that large is going to result in many many naturally-emerging superhumans.
But, yes, there's also going to be...egotistical entitled sociopaths who revel in the fact they were bred for incredible power. Power is their birthright, power is China's destiny. That sort of logic. It's not hard to imagine - a quick Google search will find you tons of examples of horrendous abuse of power by senior Chinese officials, and the sons and daughters of party elites. Communism is nice in theory, but...
To be fair, the folks at the absolute top in Beijing probably take a very dim view of any excesses, both in the IST context and the real world - especially since they know it makes them look bad. But these are the realities.
Also, to be clear, nationalism is a very real thing in our real-world China, and it's not all under the government's control at this point. A lot of folks think that China's leaders certainly have tried to encourage nationalism for their own purposes. Nobody really believes in Communism anymore, so nationalism's become the primary driver keeping support for the Party intact...the Party being characterised as the best people to defend China's interests. The trouble is, when you have people genuinely rioting in the streets because of perceived foreign meddling in Chinese affairs, it starts to severely limit your own decision-making options as a government.
So some Chinese supers are going to be real ultranationalists.
Then there's the pragmatists. They don't believe in Communism. They don't have any illusions about their government. They're disillusioned...but they don't care. They have a good deal, a better deal than their countrymen. Some of these people would certainly defect, but others may be happy to stay where they are. They're well-paid, after all. It's this last group that I see a lot of other superhero settings fail to address, for instance DC, Marvel, or other RPGs like Champions.
On Rogue Supers
The interesting thing about Chinese folklore is that it's overwhelmingly about outlaws and anti-authority figures. Sure, there are heroic generals and princes in folk tales, respected nobles and judges. But China's most famous heroes, from the Monkey God Sun Wukong to the 108 Stars of Destiny are...more akin to Robin Hood than King Arthur. They're criminals, they laugh in the face of authority...
Sometimes, legitimate authority isn't worth respecting.
Yes, the Chinese people are ultra-nationalistic. But at the same time, they also love the idea of a vigilante sticking it to the man.
If the USA can cheer on both Captain America and the Punisher - the same logic applies to China.
It's a relatively common thing for superhero settings to have a few 'rogue supers' who don't answer to the Chinese state, at large in China. It makes sense, when you have an authoritarian government. But what most writers don't realise is how deeply rooted this idea of a vigilante rogue is in Chinese literature and culture.
And I'm not talking about a kind and fluffy Batman vigilante either, who doesn't, you know, actually killificate people.
My favourite Chinese folk hero is Wu Song. He's a true hero! You know he's a true hero, because he gets drunk and beats the hell out of innocent wildlife. Then his brother is killed by an adulterous wife, he goes ape, messily kills his sister-in-law (DISEMBOWLING FIST) and his sister-in-law's lover. Actually, according to some versions, he messes up and kills the wrong woman first, but it's okay, because he's a hero. Then he ends up in jail! Amusingly, for a crime he didn't commit, as opposed to the ones (see above) which he did. But it's okay, because he busts the hell out of jail, and then kills the corrupt policeman who sent him to jail! And the policeman's entire family. Then he gets drunk and...
Look, I'm just saying, China loves rebels. China really loves rebels. In the IST world, there's almost certainly a few independent Chinese supers out there who have ridiculous levels of popularity and notoriety...to the desperate and bitter chagrin of the authorities.
One of them may well call himself Wu Song. I like to think his power is getting drunk and punching through people.
-- Acyl
My own personal design for a national-grade Chinese superhuman has always been a giant growth guy named Great Wall. I've said that. And I'd love to see a giant growth guy by that name be included, whether it's my interpretation or someone else's. Doesn't matter. But the NAME is amazing, you know?
I figured I'll talk more about how I see Chinese supers being characterised, though. And why I think that way. Both government types, and non-government rogues.
Great Wall:
My own take on the subject is a burly broad-shouldered, somewhat hirsute man. A big guy even before his powers fully manifested. Formerly a farmer, he discovered his powers saving people from flooding - this is pretty much just for the mental image of a giant man wading waist or thigh-deep through what are actually torrential waters. Following which, he'd have volunteered to join the PLA - which is just as well, since there would have been no way the government would let him go about his own business to begin with.
At least in my mind, the character's intended to be a decent and regular guy - basically an ordinary joe, a natural-born 'mutant' who's signed up on his own accord...because it's the right thing to do. But at heart, he's just a farm boy, you know? A guy who's not quite comfortable with fame, a guy who's idea of a good time is to relax and have a few beers. Thing is, he's ended up a big deal, a big celebrity - because that's how it rolls.
Chinese Government Supers:
There's a massive range of possible characterisation for Chinese characters, though. My thinking is that deliberately-bred Chinese "programme supers" must be some sort of mix between how China tries to groom real-world Olympic athletes, and the very real social and economic class divisions between regular folks and the country's elite.
I figure that China's leaders must know they're walking a dangerous path by breeding increasingly powerful supers. Plus, with that large a population, there's any number of powerful supers who could spontaneously emerge. Thus things must be engineered so that people with powers must genuinely believe the best thing for them is to serve the government. You don't want angry oppressed supers deciding they're better off going rogue, or worse, defecting.
So being a successful powerful super in China must come - to some degree - with wealth, celebrity, and inclusion in the Party's elite, the highest echelons of the military, and so on. There's obviously thousands of supers who aren't...impressive enough to make that cut. But they can dream, they can think, hey, that could be me.
On Chinese Supers as Antagonists
There's always the possibility of playing a Chinese superteam - but I wager for most IST-setting games, Chinese supers are likely to be antagonists. Or awkward allies at best.
It's a spectrum. There's some Chinese supers who'd be genuinely decent folks, they just happen to be working for Beijing. That's my Great Wall. These are ordinary men and women, many of whom wouldn't have been products of the government's efforts to deliberately breed and train superhumans. Again, a population that large is going to result in many many naturally-emerging superhumans.
But, yes, there's also going to be...egotistical entitled sociopaths who revel in the fact they were bred for incredible power. Power is their birthright, power is China's destiny. That sort of logic. It's not hard to imagine - a quick Google search will find you tons of examples of horrendous abuse of power by senior Chinese officials, and the sons and daughters of party elites. Communism is nice in theory, but...
To be fair, the folks at the absolute top in Beijing probably take a very dim view of any excesses, both in the IST context and the real world - especially since they know it makes them look bad. But these are the realities.
Also, to be clear, nationalism is a very real thing in our real-world China, and it's not all under the government's control at this point. A lot of folks think that China's leaders certainly have tried to encourage nationalism for their own purposes. Nobody really believes in Communism anymore, so nationalism's become the primary driver keeping support for the Party intact...the Party being characterised as the best people to defend China's interests. The trouble is, when you have people genuinely rioting in the streets because of perceived foreign meddling in Chinese affairs, it starts to severely limit your own decision-making options as a government.
So some Chinese supers are going to be real ultranationalists.
Then there's the pragmatists. They don't believe in Communism. They don't have any illusions about their government. They're disillusioned...but they don't care. They have a good deal, a better deal than their countrymen. Some of these people would certainly defect, but others may be happy to stay where they are. They're well-paid, after all. It's this last group that I see a lot of other superhero settings fail to address, for instance DC, Marvel, or other RPGs like Champions.
On Rogue Supers
The interesting thing about Chinese folklore is that it's overwhelmingly about outlaws and anti-authority figures. Sure, there are heroic generals and princes in folk tales, respected nobles and judges. But China's most famous heroes, from the Monkey God Sun Wukong to the 108 Stars of Destiny are...more akin to Robin Hood than King Arthur. They're criminals, they laugh in the face of authority...
Sometimes, legitimate authority isn't worth respecting.
Yes, the Chinese people are ultra-nationalistic. But at the same time, they also love the idea of a vigilante sticking it to the man.
If the USA can cheer on both Captain America and the Punisher - the same logic applies to China.
It's a relatively common thing for superhero settings to have a few 'rogue supers' who don't answer to the Chinese state, at large in China. It makes sense, when you have an authoritarian government. But what most writers don't realise is how deeply rooted this idea of a vigilante rogue is in Chinese literature and culture.
And I'm not talking about a kind and fluffy Batman vigilante either, who doesn't, you know, actually killificate people.
My favourite Chinese folk hero is Wu Song. He's a true hero! You know he's a true hero, because he gets drunk and beats the hell out of innocent wildlife. Then his brother is killed by an adulterous wife, he goes ape, messily kills his sister-in-law (DISEMBOWLING FIST) and his sister-in-law's lover. Actually, according to some versions, he messes up and kills the wrong woman first, but it's okay, because he's a hero. Then he ends up in jail! Amusingly, for a crime he didn't commit, as opposed to the ones (see above) which he did. But it's okay, because he busts the hell out of jail, and then kills the corrupt policeman who sent him to jail! And the policeman's entire family. Then he gets drunk and...
Look, I'm just saying, China loves rebels. China really loves rebels. In the IST world, there's almost certainly a few independent Chinese supers out there who have ridiculous levels of popularity and notoriety...to the desperate and bitter chagrin of the authorities.
One of them may well call himself Wu Song. I like to think his power is getting drunk and punching through people.
-- Acyl