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If you were a b-list supervillain, who would you be?
08-16-2012, 03:41 PM
Alias: Bootleg, The Sneaker
Powers/Gadget: extradimensional pocket space, usable on any small object in LOS
Signature Racket: smuggling, petty theft
Typical takedown: caught when fence or buyer turned out to be under surveillance, or tossed to the capes as a distraction by a doublecrossing A-lister.
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows
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ClassicDrogn Wrote:Alias: Bootleg, The Sneaker
Powers/Gadget: extradimensional pocket space, usable on any small object in LOS
Signature Racket: smuggling, petty theft
Typical takedown: caught when fence or buyer turned out to be under surveillance, or tossed to the capes as a distraction by a doublecrossing A-lister. Alias: Flasher, The Streak.
Powers/Gadget: Super speed, Invulnerable to wind/sun burn.
Signature Racket: Indecent Exposure.
Typical takedown: Trips over his own feet, walks into a pole or other self inflicted mayhem when distracted by a "Better Showing"...
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Alias: Cannon Fodder
Powers: Weapons Specialist, owns a large bore rifle (that looks like a GU-11 rifle) that fires many different types of non leathal but disabling ammunition
Signature Racket: Extortion/Armed Robbery
Typical Takedown: Hideout discovered by tracking ammo purchases, and the same things that happen to Bootleg
Hear that thunder rolling till it seems to split the sky?
That's every ship in Grayson's Navy taking up the cry-
NO QUARTER!!!
-- "No Quarter", by Echo's Children
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Alias: The Bookworm
Powers/Gadget: Can summon items and characters from whatever book he is reading. (Later: has a mining helmet with built in flashlight)
Signature Racket: Attacks and destroys ebook reading devices, and places that create and sell them. (or random: whatever is inspired by the story he is currently reading.)
Typical takedown: Is distracted from reading, or the book is taken from him, or someone turns off the lights, causing everything summoned to vanish. Very poor situational awareness, gullible.
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Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea.
"Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber." --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia.
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Alias: The Spaceman
Powers/Gadget: Ability to 'borrow' unused space from buildings and insert it into other structures
Signature Racket: Theft, Real Estate Fraud
Typical Takedown: Space being borrowed is suddenly required for use in its original location and becomes unavailable.
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Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.
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Alias: Nice Guy
Powers/Gadget: Mental Suggestion: "This guy's nice and I want to help him." Only works on one person at a time.
Signature Racket: Gets other people to do him "favors" of the less-than-legal sort. (Isn't callous enough to use his power for anything squicky, which is why he's B-list.)
Typical takedown: Tries to get someone with a decent amount of willpower or a code against breaking the law to "help him;" that person knows Nice Guy tried and failed to do a mind-whammy on him and objects violently. Oh, and he has a glass jaw.
Edit: Breakout: He's left with only one guard, who suddenly wants to "help him" escape.
Edit: Yeah, you can use NG as an NPC in your games. If you write him up, please post the character sheet.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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Alias: El Gran Coyote
Power: The ability to create any gadget for any need. A devotee of the Rube Goldberg school of gadgeteering.
Gig: Trying to prove his genius..either by selling his creation to other B-villains or going after the big crime himself if it was worth it.
Takedown: Doesn't think his creations through. I mean, what's the point of making a car that can go 300 mph on electrical power when you have to plug it it in to a wall socket to power the thing?
__________________
Into terror!, Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell
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If not thinking things through were illegal, most people would be in trouble sooner or later. What's his gig, O11?
And while I can only speak for myself, obviously, feel free to use mine as an npc or in fiction.
Alias: Smalltime
Power: reduce age, returns at about 1yr/day
Racket: fraud, runs a health spa selling ridiculously expensive bath salts and lotions he claims are the reason customers literally look a decade younger after a session
Typical takedown: some nosy cape analyses the placebos.
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows
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Alias: Hotshot
Powers/Gadget: Firearms expert, especially pistol; favors use of various types of incendiary rounds, acids, lasers, fireworks to dazzle eyes, and the like. Burn, baby, burn!
Racket: Gun (of course) for hire -- assassinations, muscle for robberies, etc.
Typical takedown: Doesn't focus enough on defense. Sooner or later, gets clobbered by somebody with armor his shots can't pierce or burn.
Quote:And while I can only speak for myself, obviously, feel free to use mine as an npc or in fiction.
What he said.
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Big Brother is watching you. And damn, you are so bloody BORING.
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Hmmmm....
Alias: ADD
Powers/Gadget: Mad Scientist
Racket: Wants to create a machine that will make everyone see the world for the marvelous place he sees it to be.
Typical takedown: Usually ratted out by his incredibly sweet dispositioned infomorph companion before the A-Lister he's working with can do something... terrible.
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Alias: Sparkport
Powers: Teleport anywhere in the world with a small crackle of electricity. Can only teleport when the sky is unobstructed both at departure point and destination, even something as flimsy as an umbrella can block the teleport. Can teleport unlimited additional weight so long as it only touches the ground through him.
Rackets: Smuggling. Abduction for ransom.
Takedown: Incredibly careless when not on a job, his arrest warrants always quickly catch up to him. Delivery rate is technically 100% successful, and with zero causalities in the case of ransoms, however he cluelessly takes jobs from various agency plants so often that he rarely pulls more than 5 jobs before being sent into a trap.
Breakout: Be it incredibly good luck, simple incompetence, or the bribes he has readily available the guards somehow quickly forget to maintain something not attached to him over his head at all times.
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ClassicDrogn Wrote:If not thinking things through were illegal, most people would be in trouble sooner or later. What's his gig, O11?
And while I can only speak for myself, obviously, feel free to use mine as an npc or in fiction.
Alias: Smalltime
Power: reduce age, returns at about 1yr/day
Racket: fraud, runs a health spa selling ridiculously expensive bath salts and lotions he claims are the reason customers literally look a decade younger after a session
Typical takedown: some nosy cape analyses the placebos. Y'know, I bet there's plenty of people willing to pay through the nose to look a decade younger, even if it's only temporary. >.>
Just sayin.
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Sure, which is why he can sell repackaged department store supplies for $200 a bottle. Hence 'fraud.' Failing to get the most out of their power due to a lack of imagination or rigorous thinking is pretty much the hallmark of the b-lister, any of these guys could be major players with a bit more effort...
Though, I haven't been able to come up with anything for my first idea, H-VAC, who controls the temperature and motion of air. Getaway hot air baloon pilot? He could EASILY dispose ofany pursuing baloon!
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"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows
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He could hold blimps hostage at sporting events. Or create miniature tornadoes to rob banks.
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Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea.
"Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber." --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia.
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Okay, I wrote it, but now I CANT STOP LAUGHING!
scene: Bootleg and Hotshot are hoofing it after cop cars pull up by the alley where they were meeting to deal incendiaries. "Dammit Hothead did you get followed AGAIN?"
Smalltime bursts out the back door of his latest shop. "No, they're here for me, but this time I have a plan. This way fellas!"
They reach the delivery dock area in the center of the block, where something big is unfolding from the top of a panel truck marked 'HVAC Speedy Service,' and
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"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows
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climb into a basket inside at the behest of a man in overalls, a leather ww1 aviator's cap, and goggles. "Cast off, my fellow felons!" he says, while cutting sandbags free from the basket. "We fly, for no baloonist can match the aerial prowess of H-VAC!"
Hot Shot "... and police helicopters? You realise basically no one uses baloons except as a hobby, right?"
"SILENCE! NONE SHALL MOCK THE BALOON OF H-VAC, THE MASTER OF CLIMATE CONTROL!!"
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"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows
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Alias: Armada
Power: Can telekinetically levitate and manipulate a large number of objects -- as many as a hundred, possibly more -- at once. With more-than-human multi-tasking ability, can keep most of them not only hovering but performing fairly simple maneuvers while he (she?) does something more complex with one or two others. Can't move these objects with any more speed or force than could be imparted by his/her muscles, but has, for instance, bludgeons with rocket boosters, allowing the equivalent of a superhumanly strong punch. Also uses "squadrons" of various types of firearms, often purpose-built (by a super-villain armorer) and with unusual ammunition.
Racket: Armed robbery; sabotage, arson, or assassination for hire.
Typical takedown: Swarmed by enough cops to overwhelm even that superhuman multi-tasking. Used as a distraction and then thrown to the wolves by Zeta Prime, the A-lister (Doctor Doom without the armor) who provides most of Armada's specialized weapons (Zeta Prime typically breaks him/her out of prison afterward, which is why Armada is a repeat customer despite the betrayals).
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Big Brother is watching you. And damn, you are so bloody BORING.
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ClassicDrogn Wrote:Sure, which is why he can sell repackaged department store supplies for $200 a bottle. Hence 'fraud.' Failing to get the most out of their power due to a lack of imagination or rigorous thinking is pretty much the hallmark of the b-lister, any of these guys could be major players with a bit more effort...
Though, I haven't been able to come up with anything for my first idea, H-VAC, who controls the temperature and motion of air. Getaway hot air baloon pilot? He could EASILY dispose ofany pursuing baloon! I'm sorry, now I'm just imagining him as constantly on the run from old women wanting to throw money at him because _he_ thinks he's cougar bait for some reason.
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RE: Armada
I wonder how often Sparkport and Armada team up? That TK ability could be useful for moving large orders particularly if Armada can lift something he is standing on. And if Armada can self-lift then Sparkport's teleport becomes sufficiently dignified for Armada to use to get around. 'thou the fact that Spark feels that killing is beneath him probably causes some friction.
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Armada seems a bit too... well, credible threat, for the b-list, espescially if he's good enough to be a mastermind's favored right hand. 'S why I skipped the Tumbler, a microkinetic burglar/safecracker who's been captured a couple times but escapes before arriving at the police station.
Alias: The Twiddler
Powers: generate hypnotic or stunning sonics or electricity by rubbing his thumbs together
Racket: meta-armed robbery, mind control/extorsion
Takedown: hands immobilised by sticky stuff or wrasslin'.
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows
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Quote:if Armada can lift something he is standing on.
Alas, one thing I specifically determined when I imagined these characters -- years ago; I didn't come up with these just now -- was that Armada can't self-lift.
Quote:Armada seems a bit too... well, credible threat, for the b-list, espescially if he's good enough to be a mastermind's favored right hand.
"Favored right hand" is giving him too much credit. Zeta Prime isn't just a Gadgeteer Genius; he's got "bags of crisma," as Sergeant Colon would say it, and if he and David Xanatos existed in the same universe, they'd probably consider each other the most interestingly challenging chess opponents -- between attempts to kill one another, of course. Armada is just an occasionally useful mercenary, and ZP's sense of honor won't let him betray someone without making some form of recompense.
Also, Armada is content to be relatively small-time.
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Big Brother is watching you. And damn, you are so bloody BORING.
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Name: Minions Inc.
Powers: Lots of Bodies, and any "loot" from Gig.
Usual Gig: Scam Artists willing to be hired by any A to B list Mastermind (the Mark), for "Cheap". While "working" for the Mark, they will copy, borrow, or outright steal Equipment and Tech from the Mark, then blame a "nonexistent" hero for the loss. They sell what they can not use on E-bay.
Usual takedown: In a scam like this, timing is important. When they are ready to leave a Mark's employ, they will leave tips, obvious clues, even walk up and surrender to heros on the scene. Some times, the Mark clues in, or the "nonexistent" hero shows up in the real.
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Manytales00 Wrote:Name: Minions Inc.
Powers: Lots of Bodies, and any "loot" from Gig.
Usual Gig: Scam Artists willing to be hired by any A to B list Mastermind (the Mark), for "Cheap". While "working" for the Mark, they will copy, borrow, or outright steal Equipment and Tech from the Mark, then blame a "nonexistent" hero for the loss. They sell what they can not use on E-bay.
Usual takedown: In a scam like this, timing is important. When they are ready to leave a Mark's employ, they will leave tips, obvious clues, even walk up and surrender to heros on the scene. Some times, the Mark clues in, or the "nonexistent" hero shows up in the real. This is Thug-Boy's backstory in the comic Empowered.
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Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea.
"Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber." --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia.
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See, now I want to see a short comic series about The Gourmand, a fabulously dressed man of wealth and (culinary) taste, and his army of chef-minions. The guy doesn't have any powers- just a comedically large bankroll, a ridiculous sense of style, and the aforementioned minions. He'd go around stealing rare plants and animals, kidnapping famous chefs, and occupying five-star restaurants- before his flair for the dramatic and predictable MO (not to mention the hour it takes to make all the meals he demands every time) let the police take him down.
Basically, I want to see Chairman Kaga, of Iron Chef fame, become a supervillain.
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
I've been writing a bit.
Re: Armada
You just made a character that can wield several hundred knives (or machine guns) at the same time. He sounds like Magneto, without that annoying only works on magnetic things disability. As far as I can tell, the only thing holding him back is sheer laziness. B-list by choice or not... he is going to attract every psycho with mind control powers... seriously a pocket doomsday villian. He needs some kind of control, meaning limited substances effected (like bobbleheads), an easy to find netagion substance, or too say be suffering a mind littered with enormous numbers of conflicting triggers and commands that make him unable to properly function in the foreground. Would be helped by a psychic nemisis who keeps installing random triggers and command promps that make him comically ineffective as a result.
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Alias: Last Degree, Mockingly as: The Unpyre, originally: the Book Burner (this 'tragically' failed)., Behind stage at media outlets as: The PR Killer.
Powers: 1) Originally planned on torching libraries and book stores to deal with his severe rage over how everyone kept insisting that these word things made sense... and how those letter thing won't stop moving around at random. However, his pryokinetic powers stifled this plan... turns out he his powers only ran from 80 to 450 degrees F. 2) Despite having no definable source he keeps attracting the miserably unpleasant people who seem to become addicted mocking him... this effect increasing in power depending on the number of cameras in the area. Works far more strongly on males... known to be half way to chick magnet simply because other guys are so miserable around him he looks like Mr. Right by comparison... too bad for him he is so busy wallowing in his own misery to notice. 3) Getting kidnapped by villains and corrupt military officials that want to weaponise him.
Usual Gig: Vandalism of signs and stores with lots of books and the like for sale, causing public disturbances (because he is a magnetic for people's inner [expletives deleted]), inflicting heat exhaustion on people he was trying to burn alive... but fails too due to always having a large selection targets and stumbles off too tired to actually finish them. Causing stupid lawsuits from people who get hurt (i.e. falling off things, blindly wandering into traffic) while attempting to get into range to mock him better.
Usual take down: Turned in by tips from gangs who have there females spending too much time obsessing over him, Speedsters that hit him before getting distracted, gets brought in as part of a batch when people fighting over who gets to lead mocking him get into fights over it... random officers and heroes storm into his base at random and arrest him to cover up that they just broke into his dwelling and began verbally assaulting him.
Usual 'Breakout': A combination secret organizations and legal technicalities keep getting him released into random small towns... The idea of incarcerating him with thousands or even hundred of criminals is nightmare fuel. The secret organizations keep having spy wars to keep each other from kidnapping him and smuggling him into the capitals of random third world nations.
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