Foriegn Captain America's

[Crusader108]

After reading several posts about foriegn countries and the possibility/concentration of supers, It occured to me that nearly every country with heroes would want an icon to represent it's philosophy/people. In other words, their own Captain America. The question to you all is what would be the name of the other nations' patriotic icon?

[cubist]

I've always fancied Canadian Shiled for the true north's national hero. That, or Borealis:)

[Enforcer84]

Names would probably very from country to country, don't be afraid of "corny" names like

the Great Briton
Le Chevalier
Comrade USSR
Union Jack
Fleur de Lis

because, if the individual is good enough, their legacy strong enough, people will forgive.
Superman, Batman, and Spiderman are not terribly creative names, but they have history, Captain America is the same. If the hero(ine) is more recently introduced the name might be more clever or creative as today image is more important (at least here in the states) so who knows?

[st barbara]

I'm not actually Danish ("St Barbara" the CHARCTER is, but i'm not) but I might suggest that a name for a patriotic Danish hero might be "Dannebrog" which is (I believe) the name given to the national flag. The logical name for an Aussie or New Zealand hero might possibly be "Southern Cross" after the constellation that features on both their flags !

[gewing]

Other possible Australians...

Ayers Rock(huge brick) or Uluru if you want to be more PC.

Outback... I have no idea of powers :) dessicating heat, moderate level brick?

I like a shapechanger who turns into the extinct large carnivorous Kangaroo or the 20 foot long Goanna. A crocodile would work too.

Maybe Bunyip?


I may have to make a character, have him have corporate sponsorship. Either VB or Dogbolter on his chest! I wish I could get them here. :(

[Rage]

Union Jack for England. an actual cool non american patriot (shudders at things like "Big Ben")

[JmOz]

My Centurians project has many characters from other countries, some of them are the national heroes of there countries:

We have Renard, a french swordsman (props to whoever gets the name first)

Red Knight, a russian Supersoldier

Mut, a Brick from Germany and his brother Der Unbezwingbare (The Unconquerable)

Rising Sun is from Japan

the list continues...

[MisterVimes]

I always tried to look at the native comics for inspiration:

* Canadian Shield (Canada)
* Super Rey (Mexico) [Mexico has no real super tradition, but they have Lucha Libre as a great inpriration]
* The Octobrist (Russia/USSR)
* Saint George (England)
* John Flag (UK-Flag Suit)
* LeSabre (France-Flag Suit)
* Tetsuronin-Go (Japan)
* Southern Cross (Australia)
* The Monkey King (China)

I admit most of them are merely extrapolations from ideas I've seen. Each country has a defining nationalism, buit that nationalism is hard to define when you are not a member of that nation. I tried to steer clear of stereotypes and to try and capture that national flavor (as I understood it).

In the case of LeSabre for example, he began (jokingly) as Le Capitaine Gallios. The NPC got fed up with the French attempt at creating an "Image" and changed his name and his gimmick, looking more like a swashbuckler and calling himself LeSabre

[Patriot]

I have used Triumph a french patriot

and thats about it

[Barghest]

JmOz--

Renard the fox is from a French fairytale. His primary antagonist is Ysangrin, a wolf. Not a bad choice of names but I'm not certain he quite fits as a superpatriot type character for France.

[Twilight]

Originally posted by Barghest
JmOz--

Renard the fox is from a French fairytale. His primary antagonist is Ysangrin, a wolf. Not a bad choice of names but I'm not certain he quite fits as a superpatriot type character for France.

JmOz I think you're looking for deeper meaning then is present in this case, no offence. :)

Renard is French for Fox. The character Renard is a swordsman. Now what other famous swordsmen do we know who are called the Fox? ;)

In other words, the character is a French version of Zorro.

[gewing]

was that renard the fox? I should see if anyone else actually answered now...


Originally posted by JmOz
My Centurians project has many characters from other countries, some of them are the national heroes of there countries:

We have Renard, a french swordsman (props to whoever gets the name first)

Red Knight, a russian Supersoldier

Mut, a Brick from Germany and his brother Der Unbezwingbare (The Unconquerable)

Rising Sun is from Japan

the list continues...

[assault]

Originally posted by gewing
Other possible Australians...

Ayers Rock(huge brick) or Uluru if you want to be more PC.

Outback... I have no idea of powers :) dessicating heat, moderate level brick?

I like a shapechanger who turns into the extinct large carnivorous Kangaroo or the 20 foot long Goanna. A crocodile would work too.

Maybe Bunyip?

Hmmm...

No. No. No. No. And No!

I would stick with Southern Cross. It has the significant advantage of not being terminally stupid. :)

In my CU, Southern Cross is a speedster, but you can make him or her anything you want.

As an aside, Uluru is the official name of what was formerly known as Ayers Rock.

Personally, my approach with Australian characters (and I'm Australian) is to go with any old generic super names. I rarely bother with anything specifically "Australian", and, frankly, I'm just as likely to use "foreign" character names, assigned to characters that have migrated from somewhere else. Australia, of course, has people who originated in every country in the world, just like the USA, or a bunch of other countries.

Alan

[gewing]

Terminally stupid, huh. Well I was tired, but...

Can't you see "The Rock" smashing villains (and the block they are in)?

Oh well, different strokes. I realize ULURU is the Aboriginal name and really the appropriate one, but many people would not recognize it, and from what I heard when I was there 8 years ago, many people wouldn't use it.


I like the Flying Fox, but... I'm weird, I thought they were cute.

Now for Pure jokes.....



Red back- the spider assasin
XXXX the corporate team, all beer based powers
The platypus- Amphibian with spacial awareness and martial arts

Groaner- a tunnelling brick who looks like a bundle of giant worms. :) sorry, I really couldn't resist, I should have tried harder, but...

Hell, if I wanted to be nasty I could have invoked the nightmare of a superpowered Kevin "Bloody" Wilson!


Great, now I'll probably be banned from ever visiting again. :(


Originally posted by assault



Hmmm...

No. No. No. No. And No!

I would stick with Southern Cross. It has the significant advantage of not being terminally stupid. :)

In my CU, Southern Cross is a speedster, but you can make him or her anything you want.

As an aside, Uluru is the official name of what was formerly known as Ayers Rock.

Personally, my approach with Australian characters (and I'm Australian) is to go with any old generic super names. I rarely bother with anything specifically "Australian", and, frankly, I'm just as likely to use "foreign" character names, assigned to characters that have migrated from somewhere else. Australia, of course, has people who originated in every country in the world, just like the USA, or a bunch of other countries.

Alan

[death tribble]

I played one of these
British Bulldog.
And Britannia.
Even though Marvel used it, you can still have Captain Britain.

As to other countries, for France you could have Marianne. I believe that is the name. Spirit of the Revoloution. There are various paintings showing this woman.
Fleur De Lis also gets used for French or semi-French like the Quebecois.

[Glen Sprigg]

Originally posted by cubist
I've always fancied Canadian Shield for the true north's national hero. That, or Borealis:)

As I've said before, Borealis IS a hero suffering from bad press. The Canadian Shield is, in my campaign, Canada's national team. The leader of the team is the Mountie, who I wrote up on the old boards.

Glen

[Doug McCrae]

Originally posted by Rage
Union Jack for England. an actual cool non american patriot (shudders at things like "Big Ben")
Big Ben - The Man With No Time For Crime!

[MisterVimes]

Originally posted by Doug McCrae
Big Ben - The Man With No Time For Crime!

I loved that concept, an insane superhero. I hated that they never finished the story in Warrior.

[Tom McCarthy]

My players were quite perturbed when the team butler armed himself from the armory and began to call himself Big Ben, the Man with No Time For Crime. God, I love that phrase ! So silver age.

Does anyone want to suggest Major Molotov for the silver age Russian patriot ? I believe SAS gave the Russian superpatriot the name Muzhik or Muzhak, which was 'peasant' or 'citizen'.

Canadian heroes, I've seen some bad ones. Generally, the names seem to emphasize defense over offense in concept (perhaps plays on the Canadian Shield geographic feature). Northern Guard, Northern Sentinels, Northern Shield, Canadian Shield, Captain Canuck, Guardians.

As characters go, I must admit that Borealis' psychologically pathological nationalism and patriotism were very interesting to this Canadian reader. You may have to actually live in Canada to understand why a caped hero defending Canadian sovereignty in Arctic waters or avenging the deaths of Canadian tourists is relevant, but it is.

[Rage]

Originally posted by assault
Hmmm...

No. No. No. No. And No!

I would stick with Southern Cross. It has the significant advantage of not being terminally stupid. :)

In my CU, Southern Cross is a speedster, but you can make him or her anything you want.

As an aside, Uluru is the official name of what was formerly known as Ayers Rock.

Personally, my approach with Australian characters (and I'm Australian) is to go with any old generic super names. I rarely bother with anything specifically "Australian", and, frankly, I'm just as likely to use "foreign" character names, assigned to characters that have migrated from somewhere else. Australia, of course, has people who originated in every country in the world, just like the USA, or a bunch of other countries.

Alan

NO!!!! DARN YOU!!!
NEW ZEALAND HAS DIBS ON SOUTHERN CROSS!
WE HAVE YOUR PRIMEMINISTER IN OUR COUNTRY AND I'LL HOLD HIM TO RANSOM IF YOU DON'T.... ahh who cares
We got LOTR your got "Pirscilla Queen of the Desert"

[JmOz]

Originally posted by Twilight
JmOz I think you're looking for deeper meaning then is present in this case, no offence. :)

Renard is French for Fox. The character Renard is a swordsman. Now what other famous swordsmen do we know who are called the Fox? ;)

In other words, the character is a French version of Zorro.

And that is the correct answer, the character is a French version of Zorro mixed liberaly with Dumas style Muskateers, and a touch of Scarlett Pimpernail
PS: your comments should of been addressed to Barghest, as I posed the original question

Barghest, thanks for the info, I will work iit into his background somehow...

[JmOz]

By the way here is a pic of the fellow

[Hermit]

On the old boards, I mentioned my Australian canidate after someone mentioned they were sports nuts more than outdoorsman.
Competitor - Who enjoys and excels in various forms of athletics, and maybe some minor knowledge in martial arts. HIs only 'power' is the ability to duplicate the powers of those around him. He has a rather "Anything you can do I can do better" attitude, but in an easy going kind of way.

[assault]

Originally posted by gewing
I like the Flying Fox, but... I'm weird, I thought they were cute.


Flying Fox is a good name, and I've used it in the past. I was really annoyed when DC used it for one of the Young All-Stars back in the '80s. On the other hand, that series is so obscure that I might just go ahead and use it again. Thanks for reminding me of it.

As for the animals themselves - yes, you are weird for thinking they are cute! :)

As an aside, you can actually catch a rather interesting disease (Lyssavirus) from them.



Now for Pure jokes.....



Red back- the spider assasin


Actually, Redback is quite a good name, too, IMHO.(It is one word, incidentally.) I use it. Redbacks look quite a bit like Black Widows, but are more poisonous. I dextrously avoided one at work today, when I had to go rummaging about in a junk storage area.

There are a number of other interesting beasties you can use - CU has Taipan, which is pretty good.

Alan

[Thirdbase]

Originally posted by Rage
Union Jack for England. an actual cool non american patriot (shudders at things like "Big Ben")

If he's wearing spandex you can tell if he really is "Big Ben."

Seriously I've always liked Yeoman for an English hero.

[Catacomb]

How about 'The White Flag' for France...

[altamaros]

Originally posted by death tribble
I played one of these

As to other countries, for France you could have Marianne. I believe that is the name. Spirit of the Revoloution. There are various paintings showing this woman.
Fleur De Lis also gets used for French or semi-French like the Quebecois.

I agree (sheesh, i've used my nationality more than ever on this forum)

As a french, i think Marianne should be the national symbol i would support :

for a picture (from Delacroix): here (http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/delacroix/liberte/liberty.jpg)
(except than i don't think she would fight crime showing her tits to everybody, or treat it as a PRE attack :D )

I remember i once tried to create a trio based on flag and motto :
Liberté (liberty: blue) : a teleport/escape artist
Egalité (Equality: white): a adjuster (based on Mirror from Allies)
Fraternité (Fraternity: red) : a mentalist

but the result sucked so much that i gave up.

[Klytus]

Originally posted by altamaros

As a french, i think Marianne should be the national symbol i would support :

for a picture (from Delacroix): here (http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/delacroix/liberte/liberty.jpg)
(except than i don't think she would fight crime showing her tits to everybody, or treat it as a PRE attack :D )


Why not? The Europeans (and especially the French) have far fewer hang-ups about that sort of thing than Americans could ever hope to have (or is that not-have?)

[Nuadha]

Originally posted by altamaros

I remember i once tried to create a trio based on flag and motto :
Liberté (liberty: blue) : a teleport/escape artist
Egalité (Equality: white): a adjuster (based on Mirror from Allies)
Fraternité (Fraternity: red) : a mentalist

but the result sucked so much that i gave up. [/B]

I like the idea, Altamaros. I think I would change Liberte to a brick so he can br strong enough to break the chains that bind us and lend the group some needed strength. I'm also not sure about Fraternite being a mentalists, but that's because I think of mentalists as a form of oppression (mind control).

Years ago, I ran a Heroes Unlimited game (before discovering HERO) and used a Russian hero named The Red Comet with strength, the ability to fly at the speed of sound and fire energy blasts from his hand. Of course, Russia was still the USSR at the time. A couple of good names for a hero from cold war Russia, China or Cuba would be Red Star or Solidarity.

[AlHazred]

The trick, of course, is to come up with a name that members of that country would call their Captain America clone, not what the American comic book makers called them.

Frinstance, the British had a character named "John Bull" who showed up on their posters, urging their young men to join the military; he was the prototype for the "Uncle Sam" character who showed up on the US Army posters. (For a nice pair of images to compare, check out the banner at the top of this page (http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/british/).) "John Bull" is not a name that inspires great reverence among Americans, but to the Brits, he was the right man for the job.

Most attempts by American comic book makers usually seem pretty lame to me, and that's even ignoring the ridiculous caricatures that showed up on the animated series of the 70s.

[altamaros]

I gonna try (i insist on "try") to make a little synthesis of that thread on "national theme" heroes.
What we can note as recurrent aspects :

a) the flag theme :
The them of the "Incarnated flag" is commonly used in comics. first to make the costume more impressive/distinctive. Captain America has, of course a blue-red-white costume with stars and stripes. I can think also of Sabra (Israel, Marvel) with the David star; Batal (Syria, Marvel) or Red Star (USSR, DC) or VIndicator/Guardian(Canada, Marvel). Sometimes flags are also used as a way to demonstrate powers of some sort (Stars and Stripes in DC).
Probably more likely to occur if the flag has a easily distinctive content (stars, stripes, birds, moon, sun)

b) the national allegory theme :
The hero is supposed to be the incarnation of a allegory of the nation in some sort : Uncle Sam (DC), John Bull, Marianne
It could be used as the "father Winter" theme for Russia (aleready done in champions General Mayhem). I think this is more likely to occur in systems like republics where the identity of the state cannot be easily visualized in a single people (king/queen/Sheikh/emperor/pharoah). (of course, some can see it in the president/prime minister but it's something likely to change every 5/7/10 years; this is nto enough to really "embody" the state)

c) the national pet theme :
Heroes dresses or shows abilities of national animal symbols. I can remember at least 3 American Eagles from diffrents comics/games. Eagles, lions or dragons (in Asia) are common

Eagle : USA, Germany (many others), Roman empire
Lion : Nederlands, Venice (many others)
Bear : Russia (used for Marvel's Ursa Major), Finland
Lion And Unicorn : England (used at least once by Kurt Buziek in Astro City)

but other possibilities exist :
Rooster : France
Dolphin: Malta
Moose: Norway
Ko Prei (Jungle Ox): Cambodia
Boar : for Celts
Brogla: Queensland
etc..

d) the national plant:
The most famous (i guess) is the irish Shamrock, used by Marvel, DC, Champions. I can also think of Tokyo Rose (DC's Kindom comes), Fleur de Lys (Champions), the maple leaf for Vindicator/Guardian etc...

England : the Tudor Rose, the Scot Thistle
Japan : The imperial chrysanthema.
Nederlands: The tulip (not such a cheap symbol, i effectively remember a swashbuckling hero named the Black Tulip)
Leabanon : The Cedar tree

e) the national hero/father of the country/historic reference
a very touchy subject IMHO. what a country may consider as an hero can be perceived by others as a monster/dictator and so on: the example of that are Dracula : in Romania, aside being a fictional character by Bram Stoker, Dracula is considered as a national hero for stopping the turkish invasion. And read also the news about Staline; people in Russia are still revering him as the savior of nation from nazis.
Another example, ask a turk his opinon about Mustapha Kemal (Ataturk) and then, ask to a kurd ...
That's why our euro bills have no personalities on them. even proposing artists like Cervantès, Voltaire or Goethe brought into polemic.
To avoid polemic, a way is to take some reference distant in the past but there the risk is to totally miss the target (Italy would hardly recognize itself in Romulus and Remus).
( And speaking about national characters, i often see three characters from the american revolution setting : a flag-smasher, a drummer and a piper; are they legendary folks or real characters? , thanks to complete my personal culture)

f) the national monument/building theme
Sometimes seen ( Big Ben ?). i don't have real heores based on this theme in mind (except the "Big Ben" from Powerpuff girls/justice friends but, well ..., it's not really my reference as seriousness).

Someone sees anything else ?


Daniel

[JmOz]

I assume you mean Flag Bearer:

Anyways, as far as I know they were not real people, but are part of a very famous patriotic picture, the piper is playing an instrument called a Fife

[Nuadha]

I just remembered my first RPG character ever!

I started roleplaying with Heroes Unlimited and my first character was The Eagle, an ex-pilot for the US Air Force that was mutated by an exeriment into a bird man. A friend of mine made up The Bear, an ex-weightlifter from Russia that was also experimented on and turned into a Bear-man.

We played them once. Then, we both went a little crazy making characters and each found different characters we wanted to play.

[assault]

Originally posted by Rage
NO!!!! DARN YOU!!!
NEW ZEALAND HAS DIBS ON SOUTHERN CROSS!
WE HAVE YOUR PRIMEMINISTER IN OUR COUNTRY AND I'LL HOLD HIM TO RANSOM IF YOU DON'T.... ahh who cares
We got LOTR your got "Pirscilla Queen of the Desert"

No. Sorry. You let our PM go.

If you had KEPT him, then you could have had the name. As it is, no.

As an aside, is it true that there is an NZ hero team called Group 6? Or am I getting confused with the uplifted mammal called Sheep 6?

(For those outside Australia and NZ, that is an accent joke. The Kiwi pronunciation of the letter "i" sounds like a cross between "e" and "u" to Australian ears.)

Alan

[assault]

Originally posted by altamaros
Brogla: Queensland


I presume you mean Brolga.

Well, I hadn't thought about that one. I probably wouldn't use it. Then again, I probably wouldn't have a specifically Queensland "flagsuit".

Back in the '80s, in a wonderful but rather short lived Australian produced comic, there was a character from Queensland called "The Jackaroo". This was from the same publisher as the equally marvellous "Southern Squadron". (Stick these titles into a search engine and see what you can dig up, if you are interested.)

Unfortunately, real life Queensland sporting teams tend to have lame names like the "Broncos", "Lions", and "Bulls".

Alan

[assault]

Originally posted by AlHazred
The trick, of course, is to come up with a name that members of that country would call their Captain America clone, not what the American comic book makers called them.

...


Most attempts by American comic book makers usually seem pretty lame to me, and that's even ignoring the ridiculous caricatures that showed up on the animated series of the 70s.

AlHazred is absolutely correct.

In our particular context, of course, we are trying to get acceptable character names for our various CUs, too. Ideally, this would eventually flow through to the official CU, as soon as somebody gets their act together to actually write some articles, adventures or whatever for Hero Games...

Actually, there is still a bigger problem than Silly Name Syndrome in the official CU, and that is the distribution of supers. If you follow what is written in the book, it would be next to impossible to run a campaign in New Zealand, and awkward to run one in Australia.

Of course, everyone runs a variant CU anyway (at least as soon as they start designing their own characters and running scenarios), but it's still a bit of a pity that our characters can't even notionally coexist at some level. :(

At this rate, I am going to have to start playing a gadgeteer who starts handing out supertechnology to anyone who asks nicely. (Well, someone has to test his prototypes for him. Just don't complain if your flight pack flames out on you in midair!)

Alan

[Doug McCrae]

Originally posted by AlHazred
The trick, of course, is to come up with a name that members of that country would call their Captain America clone, not what the American comic book makers called them.

Rubbish. The majority of posters on these boards are American. The vast majority of Champions players are American. Why should they care what foreign nationals would really call their Cap clones? What matters is what your players will perceive as plausible.

[Pol Rua]

Yup, wot assault said.
Cyclone Comics in Australia had a bunch of great Australian superhero titles, predominantly The Southern Squadron and The Jackeroo back in the late 80's/early 90's.

The Southern Squadron consisted of:
Nightfighter: a yob with chemically induced superstrength.
Southern Cross: A telekinetic energy projector and a bit of a yuppie.
The Dingo: A werewolf, also a Croatian Immigant.
Lt.Smith: A non-powered female SAS operative, team leader.

As a bit of revenge against how the US portray foreign superheroes, they actrually included a parody US team in issue 9 (I think), the Uncanny A-Men. They consisted of...

America-Man: America's favourite son of liberty. A middle-aged superstrong type with a musical belt buckle that plays 'The Star Spangled Banner' to disorient and distract his foes.
The Americano: Token hispanic. A (Papa Don't Preach-era)Madonna lookalike with a whip and a sonic cry.
Stormy Weather: The token black member. A chubby Las Vegas showgirl with weather powers.
Slasher: Bionic former Sioux chieftain and embittered Vietnam Veteran.

Also, in one issue, The Southern Squadron ended up teaming up with their New Zealand Counterparts, The Waitangi Rangers, who consisted of:

Silver Fern: A middle aged superstrong scrapper.
Kingfisher: A snappy dresser in tuxedo and domino. He appears to be the team leader and has possible mental powers.
Aotea: Maori Mgician/Shaman character.

The adventures of the Southern Squadron were great fun, and a nice look at heroes from abroad created by overseas creators. They tended to be a bit lighthearted, but that's part of our national character pretty much to take the piss out of our heroes.


_______________________________________________
Pol.

[Pol Rua]

A great source of English superhero concepts is Paul Grist's fantastic series 'Jack Staff', which pays homage to many classic British comic book characters including The Spider, The Steel Claw, Robot Archie, Captain Hurricane and many more.
The Agency, a new series from Ben Dunn (also through Image), may be another good one to check out... as was the late, lamented 'The Establishment' from DC/Wildstorm, which featured characters based on The Avengers, The Prisoner, Dr.Who, The Champions and Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased).
As for Canadian heroes, my favourite has always been Gabriel Morissette's 'Northguard'.

In his intro to that series, Morissette says that we all take different approaches to our heroes - Americans tend to exalt theirs, Canadians destroy theirs, and Australians tend to take the piss out of them.



__________________________________________________ __
Pol.

[Rage]

Originally posted by assault
No. Sorry. You let our PM go.

If you had KEPT him, then you could have had the name. As it is, no.

As an aside, is it true that there is an NZ hero team called Group 6? Or am I getting confused with the uplifted mammal called Sheep 6?

(For those outside Australia and NZ, that is an accent joke. The Kiwi pronunciation of the letter "i" sounds like a cross between "e" and "u" to Australian ears.)

Alan

I believe so, there was a group published in the Armageddon Expo magazine that was called that, had there own little comic book as well.
Non of the characters were "Iconics" they were more we are a team we don't need to be made entirley out of iconic cliche's like some bad guest apearance team from the 70's... Ahhhh that felt good.

But seriously what is there for NZ and Australia?
I guess Captain Anzac or somthing (A char I've used), people who are Steve Irwin, Edmund Hilary clones or *shudder* Crocidile Dundee clones with super powers, Sports based heroes (like the Competitor), I've done a were Tasmanian tiger speedsteer... I guess we have the cliche mystic Aboriginal or Maori guy with a bull roarer or didge...
Actually as most people didn't "know" of NZ until LOTR we are kind of fresh, its most of the easy cliche that Australia has been hit by.


Actually te best Australian "Hero" done was Dingo from the Gargoyles cartoon. Even the Nanobot that went into the dream time was "fresh."

Australia has alot of animists they could choose
like tunnel Web or Funnel web
Taipan, Death Adder, Copper Top, Red Back, Crocodile, Dingo, Tasmanian Tigers, Tasmanian Devils, King Brown (One of the more deadly snakes.), and odd balls? Kangaroos (and wallabies), Wombats, Goanas, opossums, platypie, echindas, quokkas, frilled neck Lizards....

And thats just like the cliche national animist...
NB:I like the word "Cliche"
/NB

I wrote a team based around the super 12 last year, they bored me though so I didn't get attached.

Blue- Aqautic EPer
Highlander- Gaelic personalitied Construct MA
Bull - Move through specialist, guess what he looks like
Waratah- Waratahs are big metal posts, hes our straight brick.
Crusader- pocket brick MA big sword, been alive for centuries.
Chief- Waikatos Cheir, ageless spirit inhabitting an ex mungrel mob member, has a bunch of magic stuff made from ponamu. I rewrote him as NZ
s iconic 2 months ago.
Captain Hurricane- The Captain can fly real fast. he also leads
Brumbie- I think he was a speedster, could have been a techno geek can't remember
Stormer- an alien who was awakend in a lightning storm. super hard, strong, and can shoot lightning from hands.
(Tiger) Shark- boy "cursed" with becoming a shark changling able to morph into full shark or any stage between.
The Cat- An animistic cyber ninja brought or built highlander.
Red- Blues altered clone (caused by a bad guy by the name of Old Way.)Fire EPer


but knowing my luck you probably only follow league or Auzzie Rulez (they are kind of like Rugby Union but not quite, for those who don't know what Im talking bout... Its not an accent joke. Im not good at making jokes. Sigh...) :D
And by the by, there are more sheep in Australia than New Zealand. Just because we've realised they make good wives...
By the By have you met my cousin Baaaaart?

[Rage]

Originally posted by Pol Rua
Yup, wot assault said.
Cyclone Comics in Australia had a bunch of great Australian superhero titles, predominantly The Southern Squadron and The Jackeroo back in the late 80's/early 90's.

The Southern Squadron consisted of:
Nightfighter: a yob with chemically induced superstrength.
Southern Cross: A telekinetic energy projector and a bit of a yuppie.
The Dingo: A werewolf, also a Croatian Immigant.
Lt.Smith: A non-powered female SAS operative, team leader.

As a bit of revenge against how the US portray foreign superheroes, they actrually included a parody US team in issue 9 (I think), the Uncanny A-Men. They consisted of...

America-Man: America's favourite son of liberty. A middle-aged superstrong type with a musical belt buckle that plays 'The Star Spangled Banner' to disorient and distract his foes.
The Americano: Token hispanic. A (Papa Don't Preach-era)Madonna lookalike with a whip and a sonic cry.
Stormy Weather: The token black member. A chubby Las Vegas showgirl with weather powers.
Slasher: Bionic former Sioux chieftain and embittered Vietnam Veteran.

Also, in one issue, The Southern Squadron ended up teaming up with their New Zealand Counterparts, The Waitangi Rangers, who consisted of:

Silver Fern: A middle aged superstrong scrapper.
Kingfisher: A snappy dresser in tuxedo and domino. He appears to be the team leader and has possible mental powers.
Aotea: Maori Mgician/Shaman character.

The adventures of the Southern Squadron were great fun, and a nice look at heroes from abroad created by overseas creators. They tended to be a bit lighthearted, but that's part of our national character pretty much to take the piss out of our heroes.


_______________________________________________
Pol.
Southern Sqaudren were fun.
I always think the height of Ausie comics was Issue Ones Zero Assasin universe though, Razorback and Zero both kicked so much ass. And even the "Game Over" man was cool.

[Thirdbase]

With apologies to those of you that are from Australia.

Remember, Bruce that all most Americans know of Australia comes from a certain Monty Python skit. Amen.

And those Cocodile Dundee Movies.

Of course all we know about New Zealand is that they filmed LOTR there. Except for those that think it's part of Australia, or are looking for Zealand.

Yeah I know there is a Zealand.

:D

[Doug McCrae]

Originally posted by AlHazred
Most attempts by American comic book makers usually seem pretty lame to me, and that's even ignoring the ridiculous caricatures that showed up on the animated series of the 70s.
It seems to me that the treatment of foreign superheroes in American comics has become more and more favourable, and there has been a growing trend towards internationalism, since the 70s. It all kicked off with the new X-Men who debuted in Giant Size X-Men #1. The team contained a Canadian, an African, a German and a Russian. Colossus, a simple farmboy (rather like Superman) and Storm, the elemental spirit - pandering to ideas of Africa/blacks being closer to nature or more primitive - may be regarded as rather stereotyped. But at least Colossus was a true superhero, presented during the Cold War. Nightcrawler, though, really stands out for me as being a totally non-stereotyped German - he's a devil-may-care swashbuckler rather than an efficient Aryan or Prussian nobleman with a dueling scar.

In popular culture, the idea of an international team, even incluiding Russkies, didn't start with the X-Men, it started with Star Trek. But the X-Men were a comicbook first.

You can draw a line down from the New X-Men, thru Justice League International, StormWatch and similar organisations. The influx of British writers in the 80s and 90s has increased the numbers of non-stereotyped British and Irish characters. I'm thinking particularly of Jenny Sparks of StormWatch/Authority. Christ, the only way you could tell she was British was all the sodding bloody swearing. Well, that and the wankering t-shirt.

I think perhaps it's gone too far and there's now too much internationalism in comics. After all the audience is mainly American. Internationalism risks alienating the majority of the readership.

[Zaratustra]

Rubbish. The majority of posters on these boards are American. The vast majority of Champions players are American. Why should they care what foreign nationals would really call their Cap clones? What matters is what your players will perceive as plausible.

I'm sure this is a flame, but I'll bite. :) The problem with 'just make up anything' is that the players might be smarter than you think. Like you describing a spring party as 'Carneval Mola' and a smartass player pointing out 'Mola' means spring in the bed spring sense, not in the season spring sense.

And I'll believe comic book writers pay attention to other countries when Brazilian heroes stop speaking Spanish.

[Doug McCrae]

Originally posted by altamaros
I gonna try (i insist on "try") to make a little synthesis of that thread on "national theme" heroes.
What we can note as recurrent aspects :

a) the flag theme :
b) the national allegory theme :
c) the national pet theme :
d) the national plant:
e) the national hero/father of the country/historic reference
f) the national monument/building theme

Someone sees anything else ?
Anything that's distinctive to one country. It could be, but is far from limited to, a geographical feature, type of weather, animal, historical event, myth or legend, piece of folklore, National character/symbol/anthem/dress/religion/sport/custom.

Examples:

Marvel
Puck - Canadian sport: ice hockey
Sasquatch - Canadian cryptozoology. (The American version would be called Bigfoot.)
Vanguard, wielded a hammer and sickle - symbol of USSR (not Russia).

Me
The Gent, dresses in pinstripe, wields deadly bowler hat or brolly - distinctive British dress
The Batsman, wields a deadly cricket bat - distinctively British sport (Aussies may disagree!)
Sirocco (North African wind) - weather type
Dreamtime - Australian aboriginal myth
Trident - National symbol of the Ukraine, I discovered after a websearch.
Kalkin - The next avatar of Vishnu. Hinduism is really the national religion of India.

America First, villains based on The Force Of July
Constitution (super-health) - Founding document for American government
Red Glare (eye-beams) - Line from national anthem
Pilgrim (possesses a special item: The Bible Belt) - Historical founders of the nation
Bee-52 (GM bee/human) - Warplane
Rushmore (stony giant) - National monument

[Hermit]

Originally posted by altamaros
Someone sees anything else ?



NICE sum up. *Nods* I think you got most if not all of them.
One that might be mentioned (but also might fall under your other categories) would be 'National character'.

While also often flag bearers, many American heroes have names with the words like "Freedom" in them. It's not hard to picture a UK Hero who, inspired by his nation and his forefathers courage under the Blitzkrieg calls himself "Valiant" or "Steadfast".

Another thing to do is look at a nation's past names for warriors of various sorts. The State of Tennesee is called the "Volunteer state' because of the large number of young men who stepped forward in a past war to aid their nation. It's not hard to believe that in a super hero universe, a native of the state with powers might use that. Perhaps an Italian Hero would call himself "Gladiator", and a Japanese Super would dub himself "Samuraii".

[Pol Rua]

Don't have much to add, but just a brief correction:


In popular culture, the idea of an international team, even incluiding Russkies, didn't start with the X-Men, it started with Star Trek. But the X-Men were a comicbook first.

Actually, the idea of an international team of X-Men was based on 1940's War/Aviation Comic 'Blackhawk', in which an international squadron of allied pilots, The Blackhawks, battled the terrible Axis Powers.
Which predates Star Trek... by a lot.

"Hawk-aaa!"


______________________________
Pol.

[st barbara]

You beat me to it "Pol Rua". Nice to see that someone remembers "The Blackhawks" (even if i did cringe at the way "Chop Chop" was portayed in the 60's)

[Pol Rua]

You cringed at Chop-Chop in the 60's?
Gah, I can only quake with FEAR at how you responded to the short-lived 'Super Blackhawks' featuring The Leaper, The Listener, Dr.Hands, Big Eye and M'sieu Machine...

brrrr...


__________________________________
Pol.

[MisterVimes]

Originally posted by Pol Rua
Don't have much to add, but just a brief correction:



Actually, the idea of an international team of X-Men was based on 1940's War/Aviation Comic 'Blackhawk', in which an international squadron of allied pilots, The Blackhawks, battled the terrible Axis Powers.
Which predates Star Trek... by a lot.


Heck yeah. And better yet, very few of them were American (well, Blackhawk himself is sometimes listed as Polish-American), Canadian or any other english speaking nation... THAT was what was truly amazing. (Unlike say, the X-Men where you had a German, an Irishman, a Russian, a Canadian and an African [that may or may not really be an American] and a crap-ton of Americans after that little fad wore off.)

Blackhawk - Poland
Lady Blackhawk - ???
Andre - France
Chop-Chop/Chopper/Liu Huang /Wu Cheng - China
Olaf - Sweden
Stanislau - Poland
Chuck - American/Texan
Hendrickson - Netherlands

[Tony V.]

One of the few times I got to play in a supers game we had a British flag-type named "Lionheart". As a minor member of the Royal Family he was allowed to wear the Three Lions standard of Great Britain.

[st barbara]

Please "Pol Rua", it's early saturday morning here in Sydney and I don't think that I am ready to contemplate the "super Blackhawks" at this point! Although it does remind me of the time that D C had the "Challengers Of The Unknown" with super powers (mostly gadgets , I think I can remember a jet pack/flight suit and a chest mounted energy weapon among their devices, but it's a while since i read that issue), fortunately that idea was rather short lived.

[gewing]

I was having a hard time remembering whether it was Redback or Red-stripe, but Then I remembered redstripe was a Jamaican beer, not an Australian one.

If only I could afford to vacation in Perth and Sydney/Hunter river valley Yearly!


Originally posted by assault
Flying Fox is a good name, and I've used it in the past. I was really annoyed when DC used it for one of the Young All-Stars back in the '80s. On the other hand, that series is so obscure that I might just go ahead and use it again. Thanks for reminding me of it.

As for the animals themselves - yes, you are weird for thinking they are cute! :)

As an aside, you can actually catch a rather interesting disease (Lyssavirus) from them.



Actually, Redback is quite a good name, too, IMHO.(It is one word, incidentally.) I use it. Redbacks look quite a bit like Black Widows, but are more poisonous. I dextrously avoided one at work today, when I had to go rummaging about in a junk storage area.

There are a number of other interesting beasties you can use - CU has Taipan, which is pretty good.

Alan

[MisterVimes]

Originally posted by st barbara
Please "Pol Rua", it's early saturday morning here in Sydney and I don't think that I am ready to contemplate the "super Blackhawks" at this point! Although it does remind me of the time that D C had the "Challengers Of The Unknown" with super powers (mostly gadgets , I think I can remember a jet pack/flight suit and a chest mounted energy weapon among their devices, but it's a while since i read that issue), fortunately that idea was rather short lived.

Challengers of the Unknown with powers? Didn't they call them the Fantastic Four?!?! :D

[st barbara]

To "Mister Vimes" A wiseguy huh ! I am sure that the comic that I read in which the "Challengers Of The Unknown" had super powers (or super gadgets, except "Rocky") was published well AFTER the "FF" were established at "Marvel".

[Mentor]

Originally posted by MisterVimes

Olaf - Sweden


I almost forgot about learning to say " Ay tank ay ban clobber dat guy." when I was a tyke. Yikes, spooky.

[BlackCobra]

Speaking of the Blackhawks, did anyone catch the animated Justice League series when they time-traveled back to WWII and were rescued by the Blackhawks? There they were strictly awesome aviators.

As for superhero ideas in other countries -- don't forget literary heroes:

Three Musketeers (France)
the Scarlet Pimpernel (Britain)
Beowulf (Denmark, Scandavia)

I could go on and on -- if I could remember more.

And of course, don't forget mythology.

[st barbara]

Well "Black Cobra", while I don't mind "Beowulf" I'd rather not get mixed up with either Grendel or his Mother, thank you very much !

[RevHooligan]

My campaign has a GoldenAge Brittish brick named John Bull.

Of course Ireland has The Hound of Ulster.

Does Monaco rate a superhero?

[MisterVimes]

Originally posted by RevHooligan
Does Monaco rate a superhero?

Population: 31,987
That's 0.031 Heroes (using the 1:1,000,000) theory... I'd say no.

[RevHooligan]

But who'll protect the casinos? Poor, poor Monaco.

[MisterVimes]

Originally posted by RevHooligan
But who'll protect the casinos? Poor, poor Monaco.

You forget CASINO-MAN! (he travels a lot)

[pinecone]

When I convert comic book heros into champs I like to change them so I can make them mine...So I turned Cap into japans WW2 national hero: Onimusha with a magical "red buckler" hero used shinto magic instead of a "super serum"...I have a freind who is a rugby fanatic so I plan to convert sunspot from the x-men to be "All black" the NZ national hero...hey stop throwing things!

[Proemial]

Being a Canadian, I'll post a few tongue-in-cheek ideas. I doubt anyone but Canadians will get them, but hey ;)

Please excuse any horrible french, it has been some time since I've used it.

Sovereignty and le Seperatiste

Unity and Diversity - "For Peace, Order and Good Government!"

"Icons"
(From B.C.) Afghaan Dream, Cali Miss, Electric Haze, and Fast Freddie

(From NFld) The Rock, Toutans (Spelling?)

(From Ontario) Clawbacks, Cutbacks

(Manitoba) Brandon Man! "At The Center Of It All!"

[ShinDangaioh]

Japan has their two main heroes

Ultraman and Kamen Rider. Their Superman and Batman, so to speak.

Their Captain America wouldn't be represented by one person, it would be represented by three/four/five/six. A multi color battle team. Samurai Troopers Sei Rne Ha(Ronin Warriors) would be the best example bacause of the attributes they represnt.

However they do have a Captain Tokyo

[Crusader108]

I thought Captain Tokyo was called Moldiver :)

[ShinDangaioh]

No. Moldiver is the leggy destroyer.

[Trencher]

Olaf - Sweden


Hmm? When the Blackhawk comic appered here they listed Olaf as Norwegian. Maybe the translators tried to pull a fast one.

[Rage]

Hmm? When the Blackhawk comic appered here they listed Olaf as Norwegian. Maybe the translators tried to pull a fast one.
nah, Norway Denmark and Sweeden are the same country, just like Canadia and America.

[Trencher]

Okay just like Niv-Silland and Auvstralia then?

[Rage]

probably. The Koreans are going to end up owning our countries anyway.

[MisterD]

I always tried to look at the native comics for inspiration:

* Canadian Shield (Canada)
* Super Rey (Mexico) [Mexico has no real super tradition, but they have Lucha Libre as a great inpriration]
* The Octobrist (Russia/USSR)
* Saint George (England)
* John Flag (UK-Flag Suit)
* LeSabre (France-Flag Suit)
* Tetsuronin-Go (Japan)
* Southern Cross (Australia)
* The Monkey King (China)

I admit most of them are merely extrapolations from ideas I've seen. Each country has a defining nationalism, buit that nationalism is hard to define when you are not a member of that nation. I tried to steer clear of stereotypes and to try and capture that national flavor (as I understood it).

In the case of LeSabre for example, he began (jokingly) as Le Capitaine Gallios. The NPC got fed up with the French attempt at creating an "Image" and changed his name and his gimmick, looking more like a swashbuckler and calling himself LeSabre

Mogen David {Shield of david, also used as shield of Israel} (Israel)
Sabra {Native born in Israel, like Cap being called American} (Israel)

[TheQuestionMan]

My Centurians project has many characters from other countries, some of them are the national heroes of there countries:[QUOTE=JmOz]

[QUOTE=JmOz] Red Knight, a russian Supersoldier...

Druzhina - Knights of Blood or Red Knight

Cheers

QM

[Bunyip]

Well, I have to bite at this one - and recalled a past real EU 'Superpower Summit'...

UK: London Pryde (my own flagsuit type)
Rep. Ireland: Pouka (liberally swiped from GURPS IST)
Italy: Romulus and Remus (not great, I agree, but their powers - and weaknesses - were pivotal to the story)
Germany: Jedermann ('Everyman', a kind of psychic chameleon)
France: Liberte (telepath, Resistance heroine and the grande dame of European metaherodom)
Netherlands: Black Tulip (superspy)
Spain: Conquistador (powered armour)
Denmark: Thumbelina (size reduction)
Belgium: Atomium (transmuter like Element Lad of the LSH; after that godawful statue in Brussels)
Portugal: the Navigator (teleporter / psychometric powers; after Prince Henry of Portugal)
Greece: Heraklitea (brick type - descendant and inheritor of Herakles)

I'd like to have used the White Eagle (Poland) but I could never come up with a good enough excuse...

[Hermit]

Cool. I was going to have a White Eagle as my Polish hero as well, but never had a place to play him/her.

[Witch Doctor]

I'm creating a character named "La Contessa de la Escarlata Mannana" (ie. "the Countess of the Scarlet Morning"). She's a Spanish superheroine rather like Batman only her schticks are swordplay and sorcerery (traditional Spanish fencing had a great deal of mysticism in it).

Then there's "Boom Boom" the kid superpatriot of Palestine :angel:

[Maelstrom]

Other possible Australians...

Ayers Rock(huge brick) or Uluru if you want to be more PC.

Outback... I have no idea of powers :) dessicating heat, moderate level brick?


Dreamtime, a mental illusionist/martial artist, for Australia.
Cymru, the Red Dragon, for Wales
A robotic superteam for Britain called the Disraeli Gears (Fab!)
North Star for Canada
El Technico for Mexico
A duo for Scotland called "Hammer" and "Scourge"
For France, the "Internationale"
For Germany, the Blackforesthunden-den-den (ist)

[Mutant for Hire]

I'll point out that some of these rules can also apply to national supervillains as well. Sometimes you can even have popular supervillains that way. National supervillains can have a list of motivations:

a) national vices, unattractive and attractive
Nations often have reputations for being prone to certain vices. A German supervillain who played into the autocratic/dictatorial mode would be an example.

However sometimes these villains can be attractive. Someone named Reynard would be more likely to be a supervillain than a superhero. On the other hand, Reynard could be a very popular supervillain. A handsome, charming, charismatic thief with a sense of spectacle, and with a fox motif, much as Catwoman has her feline motif. He might even make his living stealing French works of art outside of France, which would make him seem all the more a hero to the locals.

b) someone trying to roll back the clock
An interesting supervillain for France would be a man who styles himself "the Sun King" and wishes to restore a monarchy to France and to usher in a new golden age. In fact he too might have a high level of popularity because he's a very honorable and virtuous supervillain, who despite having tried to overthrow the government more than once has always taken especial care not to have civilian bystanders hurt. He might even have opposed more bloodier supervillains causing trouble in France, such as Eurostar.

c) politically unpopular causes and minority groups
In Canada, the southern United States and Texas (:D) you might have villains who want to force political separatism.

Likewise in colonized countries one would expect supervillains who wish to drive out the colonials and reclaim their land. Or to create their own politically autonomous region.

d) historical monsters and villains
This category is extremely obvious and probably doesn't need much in the way of examples. Mythological monsters from Native American cultures, for example, as well as things like demons, evil faeries and so on. The KKK is quite honestly a perfect example as well, sad to say.

e) overzealous patriots with a very narrowminded view
See the patriot category for concepts, and then add a very bad attitude.

[MelbourneMewMew]

I see that someone else had the same idea as me for a French trio of superheroes (I was going to collectively call them "Tricolore")

I made an SAS character called Oceania, an aquatic heroine and defender of several small Pacific island nations.

One idea that's stuck in my mind recently is a team of power-armor villains called the New Kelly Gang, all named after famous Australian bushrangers (real or fictional). Members I've thought of are:
- Ned Kelly (leader)
- Mad Dan
- Moonlite
- Thunderbolt
- the Wild Colonial Boy

(Come to think of it, with our 19th-century boshrangers calling themselves things like "Captain Moonlite" and "Captain Thunderbolt", maybe they did have superheroic delusions...)

Another factor to consider is what are the heroic ideals of the country the hero represents? Some countries could even be considered somewat "herophobic", as Christopher Vogler, in "The Writer's Journey" says about Australia and Germany:

"The Austalians distrust appeals to heroic virtue because such concepts have been used to lure generations of young Australian males into fighting Britain's battles. Australians have their heroes, of course, but they tend to be unassuming and self-effacing, and will remain reluctant for much longer than heroes in other cultures - they may never be entirely comfortable with the hero mantle. In Australian culture it's unseemly to seek out leadership or the limelight, and anyone who does so is a "tall poppy", quickly cut down. The most admirable hero is one who denies his heroic role as long as possible and who, like Mad Max, avoids accepting responsibility for anyone but himself.

"German culture seems ambivalent about the therm 'hero'. The hero has a long tradition of veneration in Germany, but two world wars and the legacy of Hitler and the Nazis have tainted the concept. Nazism and German militarism manipulated and distorted the powerful symbols of the hero myth, invoking its passions to enslave, dehumanise and destroy. Like any archetypal system, like any philosophy or creed, the heroic form can be warped and used with great effect or ill intention.

"In the post-Hitler period, the idea of the hero has been given a rest as the culture re-evaluates itself. Dispassionate, cold-blooded anti-heroes are more in keeping with the current German spirit. Germans can enjoy imaginative hero tales from other cultures but don't seem comfortable with home-grown romantic heroes for the time being."

[PhantomGM6101]

here's my take on this;
The Pendragon[UK]
Le Mustketer[France]
Commandant Rus[Russia of course]
Solar Samurai[Japan]
Dragon Commander[China]
Comander Oceanous[Aus]

[SleepyDrug]

It's a call for the super lists page

http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Dungeon/2864/Super_Lists.html

[st barbara]

Of all the international super heros that I have created (I dont necessarily PLAY them, but I do like creating them !) the ones of which I am most fond are my Scandanavian team "The Vikings". Now I am not from Scandanavia so I will apologise in advance if I offend any Scandanavian sensibilities but these characters are. "Bifrost"(Sweden) has the power to make light solid, flies. "The Troll"(Her husband-also from Sweden) shape changes to large powerful monster. "Northern Star"(Norway) (Yes I know that I stole the name from "Champions Universe") the prototypical flying energy projector and team leader. "Snowbear"(How could I resist-also from Norway) a were Polar Bear. "The Rune Lord"(Finland) Elemental and Runic magic and "The Rose Elf"(Denmark) a very capable illusionist (Images rather thab mental illusions). Now I realise that having a character with the ability to solidify light and someone who uses Images is cheating a bit but hey I MEANT them to be a formidable team !

[Maelstrom]

e) overzealous patriots with a very narrowminded view
See the patriot category for concepts, and then add a very bad attitude.

In my campaign, these all work for the US gov't.

[Trencher]

my Scandanavian team "The Vikings". Now I am not from Scandanavia so I will apologise in advance if I offend any Scandanavian sensibilities

Looks cool! :yes:
No sensebilities offended.
Do you have a website or some images or something?

[zornwil]

Red Amazon (which I just mentioned moments ago was based on Bob Burden's "Red Dyke") was the USSR's iconic heroine. She uses a hammer and sickle in combat (more often the hammer though), can fly, wears red naturally. She's a staunch believer in the "dictatorship of the proletariat" and a believe in the future of the Russians, although she wasn't/isn't prejudiced against those in the former USSR. She's a noble warrior, much like Captain America, with a highly developed set of combat and personal ethics. Unfortunately for her, political changes in Russia have made her an outcast.

China Left is similarly the great national Chinese heroine, but more of a mystic martial arts type with nunchukas. Very honorable as well, but taciturn whereas Red Amazon is boisterous. Like more contemporary takes on Captain America, she has questioned her government's actions, in particular taking exception to the brutal suppression of the students in Tiananman (sp) Square.

I always had this pan-Slavic iconic hero called simply the Slav, but never developed him to the degree deserved.

[st barbara]

To "Trencher"sorry No. Or rather only in my mind's eye. I imagine "Bifrost"as being tall, blonde , blue eyed and one of the most beautiful women in the world (She is a professional model as well as being a super), "Northern Star"as being shorter (about 5ft 6"as opposed to "Bifrost's"6ft) with short curly blonde hair and "The Rose Elf" who is only supposed to be about 15 years old as being the smallest of the three (5ft 4") with brown hair in a ponytail. In game terms "Bifrost"has a "Comliness"stat of 33 ! As a contrast, when her husband is in his "Troll"form he has a comliness of 6. I imagine them having a good private joke by going for walks together in costume/character !

[st barbara]

Hmm . Sometimes you have to be careful creating "heros"in nations or ethnic groups that are not popular. I recently added a Palestinian super to my list. She is called "The Imp"(I don't know what that might be in Arabic, so I used English). Her super power is the ability to transform anymaterial to any other material. I imagine her as not at all political, but protective of the ordinary Palistinian population and that she goes around doing things like transforming plastic explosive bombs into marzipan and such like !

[assault]

Hmm . Sometimes you have to be careful creating "heros"in nations or ethnic groups that are not popular. I recently added a Palestinian super to my list. She is called "The Imp"(I don't know what that might be in Arabic, so I used English). Her super power is the ability to transform anymaterial to any other material. I imagine her as not at all political, but protective of the ordinary Palistinian population and that she goes around doing things like transforming plastic explosive bombs into marzipan and such like !

In fact, this character is an example of why you have to be careful. She's "not at all political", but "goes around doing things like transforming plastic explosive bombs into marzipan", that is, _is_ political.

[philnicau]

the campaign i'm currently playing in is set in Melbourne Australia in 1940, we have the following characters
Southern Cross (me)-formerly a union official, now a brick, with a high degree of defence, megaleaping, luck and eiditic memory.
White Tiger -society gal who gained mystical powers from a group of tiger worshippers in the dutch east indies, basically she is a cat like character with claws, regeneration, running and very high dex.
The Cricketer -a member of the 1948 invincibles cricket team, who fell through a time warp back to 1940, receiving psychic powers, and an enchanted cricket bat.

villians we have encountered include
From Golden Age of Champions-modified
The Doberman -a agent of anubis, but crazy thinks he is in fact the agent of the god of dogs, commits crimes with a dog motif, can be a real pain, hunts White Tiger (dogs chase cats)
El Diablo Rojo -Mexican Masked Wrestler with Fire Powers, fights for the people, basically a communist villian.
Veltro -Italian Superspeeder,and superpatriot.
Captain Future Timecop from a world where the axis powers won WW2, hunts the cricketer, uses high tech (from the 1950s) weaponry.
Dr Qual Generic Nazi Mad Scientist, comes up with megalomaniacal schemes every few weeks.
others
Deathbolt -(from DC comics) a energy projector, hunts Southern Cross
Red Fire -a flame projector similar to the human torch, another communist villian works with El Diablo Rojo
Kitsune female Japanese Shapechanger and Mentalist.

[zornwil]

In fact, this character is an example of why you have to be careful. She's "not at all political", but "goes around doing things like transforming plastic explosive bombs into marzipan", that is, _is_ political.
Mmm, yes, kinda, and certainly to terrorists, but in a way that I think MOST would see as not really being political, if she's saving Palestinian lives from Israeli forces as well, which would be my presumption. If she's allowing terrorists to kill soldiers and vice-versa, that's fairly apolitical as well, in its way. I mean, yes, everything's a statement, but I think a character such as Imp can be in the middle of a conflict but not seen by anyone other than extremists as being part of it.

EDIT/PS - that was part of my NPC "the Slav"'s thing as well, he didn't pick sides in the Bosnia-Herzegovina conflict but certainly stopped all sorts of attacks on citizenry.

[st barbara]

To "Zornwill"and "Ässault" What I meant by "not being political"was that she doesn't take sides in the political conflict but tries to use her powers to improve the lot of the ordinary people in The West Bank and Gaza. As "Zornwill"says she uses her powers to try to stop BOTH sides from hurting innocents (and killing each other). I don't see transforming a dangerous bomb into something harmless so that it cannot hurt anyone as a political statement so much as a humanitarian statement ! As I said she was a difficult concept to arrive at because, if I had come down firmly on the side of the Palastinians and had her be an out and out superterrorist I would have had to justify WHY she hasn't been eliminated by the Israelies (who have a team of supers of their own) On the other hand, if she had been obviously pro Israel how could she function in the West Bank and Gaza ?

[Crackerjacker]

Gaucho: Argentina's rough and tumble trained normal hero

[Rene]

Hm... if we're talking national stereotypes turned superheroes, I think...

The premiere Brazilian hero would be a trickster hero, perhaps with illusion powers and enhanced dexterity and charisma, something like that. He would be a lazy, amorous, likeable chap. He would probably prefer to outfox and deceive his enemies over beating the crap out of them. He also would work outside the law frequently if need be to stop the bad guys (Brazilians usually don't have that American attitude of "Oh my God, I just broke a law! Oh no! Now I'm going into a slippery slope and I'll become a psycho!") but mostly in a non-violent way.

I don't know what this hero would be called. I'm very bad at creating names.

With a few alterations to the archetype (perhaps playing up the sex thing), this hero could be a heroine. A revealing "sexist" costume would certainly be more appropriate for a Brazilian heroine than for an American one, even though the idea that we live in Carnival 12 months a year is ridiculous.

[zornwil]

Hm... if we're talking national stereotypes turned superheroes, I think...

The premiere Brazilian hero would be a trickster hero, perhaps with illusion powers and enhanced dexterity and charisma, something like that. He would be a lazy, amorous, likeable chap. He would probably prefer to outfox and deceive his enemies over beating the crap out of them. He also would work outside the law frequently if need be to stop the bad guys (Brazilians usually don't have that American attitude of "Oh my God, I just broke a law! Oh no! Now I'm going into a slippery slope and I'll become a psycho!") but mostly in a non-violent way.

I don't know what this hero would be called. I'm very bad at creating names.

With a few alterations to the archetype (perhaps playing up the sex thing), this hero could be a heroine. A revealing "sexist" costume would certainly be more appropriate for a Brazilian heroine than for an American one, even though the idea that we live in Carnival 12 months a year is ridiculous.
Thanks, good ideas, I'll probably swipe those at some point.

Maybe a transsexual even, if we're talking stereotyped views?

[Rene]

Thanks, good ideas, I'll probably swipe those at some point.

You're welcome. :) A Brazilian expression that would be hard to translate but would be adequate for this hero's name could be "the Way". Mostly in the sense that he always would find a way to turn the situation into his advantage, often without resorting to violence.



Maybe a transsexual even, if we're talking stereotyped views?

Eh. I wasn't aware that Brazilians carried this particular stereotype in the eyes of the rest of the world. :p But yes, a shapeshifting character that regularly changed gender and/or race could play well into the amorous Brazilian Trickster stereotype.

Interestingly enough, in Grant Morrison's "The Invisibles", his trasvestite hero, Lord Fanny, is a Brazilian.

But no, I don't think we have more transexuals than any other country. This stereotype probably originates from Brazilian transexuals going to live in Europe, seeking a more tolerant climate and perhaps giving the impression that there is a lot of TG people here.

[zornwil]

You're welcome. :) A Brazilian expression that would be hard to translate but would be adequate for this hero's name could be "the Way". Mostly in the sense that he always would find a way to turn the situation into his advantage, often without resorting to violence.




Eh. I wasn't aware that Brazilians carried this particular stereotype in the eyes of the rest of the world. :p But yes, a shapeshifting character that regularly changed gender and/or race could play well into the amorous Brazilian Trickster stereotype.

Interestingly enough, in Grant Morrison's "The Invisibles", his trasvestite hero, Lord Fanny, is a Brazilian.

But no, I don't think we have more transexuals than any other country. This stereotype probably originates from Brazilian transexuals going to live in Europe, seeking a more tolerant climate and perhaps giving the impression that there is a lot of TG people here.
Well, Brazil's known for particularly beautiful/convincing TSes, not to say of course that we think all your women are those!

I had forgotten Lord Fanny was Brazilian.

PS - Brazilian trannies are a big porn industry, FYI.

[st barbara]

Let me see "Brazilian Supers"(Looks up book of heros) Well, one that I came up with was "La Carioca"(which my dictionary defines as a native of Rio De Janero") My concept was that of a female beach volleyball champion (I've seen the Brazilian beach volleyballers at various olympics, and they are some of the best in the world) who has "tactile telekinesis"which I defined as a sort of super strength but only for lifting and throwing objects. She also has "Super Leap, acrobatics, and has learned some martial arts (Aikido). Her main tactic is to pick something up and toss it (with amazing accuracy and force) at wrongdoers ! Naturally she is tall, athletic and beautiful and wears a costume similar to those worn by competitors in Beach Volleyball at the Olympics.

[Slim_McCoy]

This seems like a good place to drop a link and a snippet of the article..

http://www.westpress.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=146049&command=displayContent&sourceNode=145779&contentPK=10927584


IS IT A BIRD . . . IS IT A PLANE? NO, IT'S WESTON-SUPER-MAN
Next Story | Previous Story | Back to list

09:30 - 10 September 2004
He is an icon of all-American heroism - but yesterday it was revealed that Superman is set to quit the US for a West seaside resort. Weston-super-Mare, more famous for its donkeys than costumed crime-fighting, will replace the US mid-West as the place where the Man of Steel's spaceship crashes on Earth in an official comic.

Co-written by Weston-born Monty Python legend John Cleese, Superman: True Brit, is a tongue-in-cheek look at how the tights-clad hero may have developed had he grown up in the UK.

[Crackerjacker]

Well, I once came up with a legacy of British football/soccer superheroes, under the name of The Score. The original was a normal human with incredible skills, and the current is a all around super-athelete, with, on topic-ally, Captain America type level superstrength, speed, and endurance.

[Pampero]

I'm creating a character named "La Contessa de la Escarlata Mannana" (ie. "the Countess of the Scarlet Morning"). She's a Spanish superheroine rather like Batman only her schticks are swordplay and sorcerery (traditional Spanish fencing had a great deal of mysticism in it).

Actually, that would be La Condesa de la Mañana Escarlata (Spanish spelling nitpick. Sorry.)

*Ahem* Being Argentinean (or Argentine), I'd say a cool hero would be a Granadero. Granadero was a branch of the Army specially created in the 19th Century by Argentina's most brilliant General, José de San MartÃ*n. Although the uniform is not azure and white, the colors of our flag, it is still closely tied to our history. See an image of their uniform here.

http://www.capraro.com.ar/images/ilustrac/SanMartin/Regimiento_Granaderos.JPG

There is of course, an interesting page about DC's Global Guardians and other non-usa supers.

http://dcworld.itgo.com/

Super Malon, the DC Group created by Chuck Dixon and Enrique Alcatena is also here.

http://dcworld.itgo.com/SuperMalonArgentina.html

[st barbara]

To "Pampero" So what would "Granadero"have in the way of powers? Naturally I didn't neglect Argentina when I was populating my world with supers and gave them a whole swag of heros; including my "Green Lantern"clone Ëstrella Del Sur"("Southern Star" if I read my Spanish phrasebook correctly) who creates items out of blue light ala "GL"or perhaps "Jade".

[Pampero]

Granadero could one of two routes.

He could very well be an armored hero. This alternative does not excite me much... I see him as a national symbol and not as a kickbutt scientist.

I much rather make him a brick, with supersenses. Also an expert swordsman, since Granaderos fought with sword and guns. I see him as an inspiration for other superhumans in Argentina.

Awhile back I started writing fanfic explaining the gathering of the members of Cruz del Sur (Southern Cross), the first superhero team, composed of Granadero (very much Superman in a flag themed costume), Arco Iris and Ingeniero. Never finished that fic.

"The lady was nicknamed Arco Iris (Rainbow), due to the fact that a multicolored energy field surrounded her constantly and the man referred to himself as the Ingeniero (Engineer) due to his uncanny ability to design and repair advanced machinery of all sorts."

[Jinx999]

I think it'd be necessary to consider whether a flag suit would work with a particular nation's culture.

A Britsh super patriot would, I think, be more likely to wear a costume in a subdued colour (like Navy Blue) with the union jack, at most a few inches across on the right breast.

[freakboy6117]

jinx your probably right but I must admit i love the marvel union jack costume. isn't it lovely (http://www.johncassaday.com/images/unionjack/unionjack_1_1_BW.gif) and the based on but enjoyably diffrentjack staff (http://www.comicsworthreading.com/comics/jackstaff.html). On the other hand all of the captain britain costumes are hideous and gaudy as can be.

The best uk flag emblazend heros(in teh loosest terms) where in The Authority have to be Jenny Sparks and her evil replacment the Colonel (superpowered football hollogan) i loved his union jack leather jacket and face paint(which is suprisingly hard to find a good picture of online (http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/1840234903.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg) ).

[Hermit]

I'm with you, the Union Jack costume beats the Captain Britain ones hands down 9/10 times, and I can't recall the tenth time ;)

[Vondy]

I don't think an Israeli government super (odds on their being attached to the IDF) would wear a costume. It just doesn't jive with the culture here. I could see a uniform - maybe even a stylized one - with a flag patch on it (most Israeli uniforms don't actually have a flag patch, just the unit insignia). White and light blue just aren't practical for tactical operations. And I don't think Sabra fits either. There's a good chance they wouldn't be a Sabra - for starters - and it doesn't carry any real ooomf. After all, every Jew born in the holy land is a Sabra. Its like calling an american hero "born american." Magen Dovid is okay, I guess, but I doubt that would be used either (unless it ties in to the Shield Hero Theme). Magen Dovid Avram is the Israeli version of the Red Cross. Is this guy a super-medic? Magen Israel - the Shield of Israel would make more sense if you wanted to go that route. If it were me choosing I'd go with "Metzada" (Masada in English), as it captures a sense of history and the willingness of the Jewish soldier to make the ultimate sacrifice if need be. Merkava (Chariot) works. As does HaTzavaot (The Heavenly Host). All three have powerful cultural connotations.

The Israeli comic industry is quite small and doesn't do superheroes. They tend to have more family or zionist oriented themes, and the foreign comics that have done well here aren't superheroes - though pulps have done well. The Phantom has done well here, as has Flash Gordon. There's also a buck rogers rip-off. I don't read them, but they are out there. The only superhero who had a good run here was a domestic title called "Nimrod" - which is amusing since Nimrod (named for the warrior-hunter king in the bible) and Abraham didn't get along.

[David Blue]

The Venezuelans have a thing about beauty contests, and they are rightly proud of having the women to do well in them. "The winner is: Miss Venezuela!" Miss Venezuela is the only name I would use for the national icon figure of Venezuela. She should be a stunner with a great wardrobe, as well as having cool powers (including at least enough swimming and life support to justify a swimsuit with a sash as regular wear) and a positive attitude. Make Miss Venezuela an all-round winner. :)

In Australia a big red kangaroo is called a boomer. I briefly played an Australian icon character called Boomer, with a bit of Growth and Density and lots of Superleap. He preferred to adventure away from cities when he could, as opposed to inflicting damage on roads and buildings every time he landed. Bomer's costume was dark blue with a big red kangaroo in profile on the chest. (No Southern Cross, that's shared with the New Zealanders and not sufficiently distinctive for Australia). But that wasn't really a hyper patriotic type, certainly not compared to many Americans.

Nugget is an excellent name for a metallic Australian brick with density and no growth or even with a bit of shrinking.

We also had a French national hero type who eventually turned out to be a killer. He killed the Rainbow Warrior, an eco-zealot on bad terms with the French over nuclear testing in the South Pacific. The incredibly magnetic Frenchman had high comeliness and presence, magnetic powers, and the enviable power of mind control over women (with some exceptions based on their orientation) through sheer personal magnetism.

I've completely forgotten the "Captain France" type in that group. Mister Magnetic overshadowed him, or her. That's a problem with national emblem types. Unless they have a really strong personality and background, they are all too easy to forget.

Pol Rua: "America-Man: America's favourite son of liberty. A middle-aged superstrong type with a musical belt buckle that plays 'The Star Spangled Banner' to disorient and distract his foes."

That belt buckle was put to the test in combat, and it worked. (His Australian opponent laughed at how stupid it was, and while he was laughing America-Man clobbered him.) I liked America-Man! :)

Immigration and demographics are replacing old national images with new, usually Muslim, ones. I think it's probably best to get in early with this. Old cultures are nothing to the new, and will be eliminated, so the heroes of tomorrow should have appropriate outlooks. There are new colours, not the old national colours but lots of Islamic green, and red, and white. You also want to get rid of those pale-skinned old-European types, blondes and red-heads and characters with orange or overly pale brown hair, as well as eliminating all eye colours other than brown. Old Europe is dying or dead, taking its culture and variety of colours and human types with it.

I think that's another reason the Captain America types works best for Americans. They have to add new images, and have been doing so for a long time (Captain America and Falcon, Black everything and so on), but they don't have to figure the end of their old stock culture, religion and variety of physical types into the equation in considering the image of the national future.

I can't see a Dutch "Captain America" at all. It couldn't mean the same thing. He would probably emigrate.

With a few exceptions - countries where the national image is relatively stable and has a future - I think it's best to leave flag-suit types to the Americans.

Or if you are going to do them, say firmly right at the start: this is the man or woman of (the nation's) tomorrow. We're not interested in "Captain Pict" or "Captain Celt" The days of the Picts are long over, and the Celts are passing swiftly. You need heroes for tomorrow, not dying or dead relics.

[Trencher]

Immigration and demographics are replacing old national images with new, usually Muslim, ones. I think it's probably best to get in early with this. Old cultures are nothing to the new, and will be eliminated, so the heroes of tomorrow should have appropriate outlooks. There are new colours, not the old national colours but lots of Islamic green, and red, and white. You also want to get rid of those pale-skinned old-European types, blondes and red-heads and characters with orange or overly pale brown hair, as well as eliminating all eye colours other than brown. Old Europe is dying or dead, taking its culture and variety of colours and human types with it.

You Americans seems to have managed to live with muslims in your country.

[hooligan x]

Well, I once came up with a legacy of British football/soccer superheroes, under the name of The Score. The original was a normal human with incredible skills, and the current is a all around super-athelete, with, on topic-ally, Captain America type level superstrength, speed, and endurance.

My football hero was called "Red Card". He clamed to represent the U.K. but the U.K. disagreed. He had George Best's personal life, Vinnie Jones' playing style, and US prez GWB's eloquence. The tabloids loved him!

[freakboy6117]

im working on a new flag hero. The englander world war two pulp/golden age super spy and his modern day legacy version.
looks pretty cool in theimage i knocked up theother day althoug admittedly its just an adaption of a Greyshirt cover.

<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v48/freakboy6117/englander2.jpg">

[David Blue]

Hooligan x: "My football hero was called "Red Card". He clamed to represent the U.K. but the U.K. disagreed. He had George Best's personal life, Vinnie Jones' playing style, and US prez GWB's eloquence. The tabloids loved him!"

That's a good one! Though I think this kind of idea works best if you know something about the country and have a real underlying affection for it. Obviously that was true in Red Card's case.

[Solomon]

Immigration and demographics are replacing old national images with new, usually Muslim, ones. I think it's probably best to get in early with this. Old cultures are nothing to the new, and will be eliminated, so the heroes of tomorrow should have appropriate outlooks. There are new colours, not the old national colours but lots of Islamic green, and red, and white. You also want to get rid of those pale-skinned old-European types, blondes and red-heads and characters with orange or overly pale brown hair, as well as eliminating all eye colours other than brown. Old Europe is dying or dead, taking its culture and variety of colours and human types with it.


: ambles out of his grave, looking ghastly and cadaveric as any European :

You don't know much about Europe, do you? Your trite stereotype of pastry-skinned blonds is nothing like the way Europeans perceive themselves.

"Captain Celt"! : snicker :

As for immigration, we've been having that for millenia, and my country in particular has been visited by countless waves of African and Middle-eastern settlers long before there even was a Muslim religion. Nothing new. The ancient mosques in sountern Italy peacefully rest side by side with ancient churches and even more ancient Greek temples.

One last thing: you, sir, are a troll, and an ignorant one at that. I suggest from now on you take your inarticulate political rantings to the NGD area and leave gaming threads to gaming issues.

: craws back in his grave :

[Iuz the Evil]

Immigration and demographics are replacing old national images with new, usually Muslim, ones. I think it's probably best to get in early with this. Old cultures are nothing to the new, and will be eliminated, so the heroes of tomorrow should have appropriate outlooks. There are new colours, not the old national colours but lots of Islamic green, and red, and white. You also want to get rid of those pale-skinned old-European types, blondes and red-heads and characters with orange or overly pale brown hair, as well as eliminating all eye colours other than brown. Old Europe is dying or dead, taking its culture and variety of colours and human types with it.

I think that's another reason the Captain America types works best for Americans. They have to add new images, and have been doing so for a long time (Captain America and Falcon, Black everything and so on), but they don't have to figure the end of their old stock culture, religion and variety of physical types into the equation in considering the image of the national future.


This is a joke, right? It's the only way I can figure how what was stated makes any sense at all... that or the writer is completely unfamiliar with the region he maligns. Please tell me this is a joke. :stupid:

[David Blue]

Solomon: ""Captain Celt"! : snicker"

Of course I agree.

I still think that flagsuits should generally be left to Americans, but trying to elaborate on the bizarre complications that can arise if you try to define "the man [or woman] of tomorrow" somewhere else obviously didn't work.

Yet again I am reminded that people can't read your facial expression on the Internet.

Solomon: "One last thing: you, sir, are a troll, and an ignorant one at that. I suggest from now on you take your inarticulate political rantings to the NGD area and leave gaming threads to gaming issues."

Thanks for your suggestions. Always feel free to share.

[David Blue]

Iuz the Evil: "Please tell me this is a joke."

Uh, yeah?

I feel like I use enough smileys. My problem is that the semicolon-half-bracket item they use here is ugly and doesn't look like a wink anyway, so I don't like to use it. Plain text would be better.

[AmadanNaBriona]

I have had a few ideas for an Irish Flagteam...
I'm thinking Fianna Na Erinn (Warriors/Defenders of Ireland) as a team name.
avoiding the Captain Celt thing is a good idea, but ignoring historical inspration is just as foolish. I'm mostly trying to avoid Republican sentiment (despite personal feelings) as well as Northern Unionist as theres still buches of bad blood that'd be better suited for the "misguided villan" types. I'll note right now I'm partial to Gaelic for national team members..apologies if my gaelic is off at all...I'm a bit rusty on my spelling (much of which is from studing the 16th century anyway)

possible team members...
Riastrah (Battle fury) the term for Chuchulains warp spasm... I'd go for a berserker brick type, like a more controled Hulk
Ildanach (Many Talented) A jack of trades, probably Batman gageteer/superskill type
Buanna (Solider... alternate meaning bully) Nick Fury type or power armor?
Sluaigh (Host, as in group or force) Duplicator
Lurachas (Surpassing Beauty, gemlike woman) Gem based Energy projector (female... its a feminine word)
Sealgair (Hunter) super archer or gunman type

I could come up with others, but that'd be a good start.
I suppose you could add one more...
Amadan (Fool) Madness inducing egoist

[hooligan x]

Amadan (Fool)

Amadan means fool? I thought my mother was using a term of endearment all these years!

[Iuz the Evil]

Iuz the Evil: "Please tell me this is a joke."

Uh, yeah?

I feel like I use enough smileys. My problem is that the semicolon-half-bracket item they use here is ugly and doesn't look like a wink anyway, so I don't like to use it. Plain text would be better.

Thank you, that's a great relief :whistle:

[Funksaw]

New Zealanders could use something from Maori culture. Whatever the hero, though, he'll be more "patriotic" dressed in all-black rather than the colors of the New Zealand flag - which is getting changed soon anyway.

[Funksaw]

I'd also be interested in a Captain America type who felt that the country left him, not that he left the country. I was actually thinking of playing an American in Europe, called "Emigre."

[Funksaw]

One more thing... when designing Indian or Hong Kong superheroes, keep in mind the bollywood/hong kong style. Romance, comedy, action, drama, suspense... inexplicable musical interludes - all these should fit into the adventure and the character. The reason Bollywood epics are multi-genre and 3 hours long is because you don't go to the movies that often when you don't have alot of money to spend. So, you get ONE movie that has something for EVERYBODY!

I think there's something out in DC right now called Vinarmaroon or something like that that's a Bollywood superhero epic. On the other hand, do NOT go with the "Spider-Man India" route - which... quite frankly, is kinda insulting. Spiderman's an American - indeed, a New York - phenomenon. Don't take existing characters and try to retrofit them into the cultures.

[WhammeWhamme]

New Zealanders could use something from Maori culture. Whatever the hero, though, he'll be more "patriotic" dressed in all-black rather than the colors of the New Zealand flag - which is getting changed soon anyway.

It is? Really?

Anyway. I agree re: all-black. I'd probably go with omni-competence as the power set, incidently.

[Hermit]

I'd also be interested in a Captain America type who felt that the country left him, not that he left the country. I was actually thinking of playing an American in Europe, called "Emigre."

In the comics, Captain America did that very thing for a time in the 70s I believe, took the title Nomad. Which he would later pass to Jack Monroe.

[Red Knight]

I designed a few British characters (as I am British)

Britannia: Mystically-enhanced female brick with Superman-like powers. IE: flight, Superstrength, etc etc

Big Ben: Guy who can chnage size..... hence.. BIG Ben

Fey: yup.. one of the fairie-folk



They were the start of the British Defenders.... like the American Avengers.

[st barbara]

I am sure that "Big Ben" has appeared in a real comic at some point. A quick check of my "Encyclopedia of Super Heroes" reveals that "Big Ben" appeared in 1984 in "Marvelman Special 1" and that his name was Lord Benjamin Charterhouse Fortescue. He has a secret room behind the face of the clock Big Ben and when the clock strikes while he is there he gains super strenth, super speed and the ability to fly. Apparently he appears in "Warrior " magazine, or did when my Encyclopedia was published.

[st barbara]

To David Blue" I put two of my REALLY beautiful women in South America, but neither of them in Venezuala. One was "The Bomb" (powers similar to "American Beauty" from "Golden Age Champions") in Uraguay and the other was "La Carioca" who has "tactile telekenisis" and is a beach volleyball champion (with appropriate costume !) from Brazil. The two Venezualan characters I have come up with so far are both male !

[David Blue]

To David Blue" I put two of my REALLY beautiful women in South America, but neither of them in Venezuala. One was "The Bomb" (powers similar to "American Beauty" from "Golden Age Champions") in Uraguay and the other was "La Carioca" who has "tactile telekenisis" and is a beach volleyball champion (with appropriate costume !) from Brazil. The two Venezualan characters I have come up with so far are both male !
Hello, st barbera.

I like!

What does "La Carioca" mean?

[st barbara]

Now I am not sure now where I got this from (and our resident Brazilian board member might be able to confirm or deny it) but I believe that "la Carioca" means simply a (female) native of Rio de Janiero (i e One who was born there)

[st barbara]

To "Funksaw" Bollywood super heros eh ? Hmm. I remember a (british/indian) T V show that was shown here in Australia that featured a dancing superhero in a rather over the top sort of peudo Elvis costume who used his dancing as a weapon ! He was called "Bangraman" and fought his arch foe "Morris Dancer Walla" defeating him to save the other characters from "tiresome ethnic folk dancing". The show was called "Goodness Gracious Me" and was very funny, even for an Aussie who doesn't know much about Indian (or British/Indian) culture.

[Doug McCrae]

There was a superhero called 'Captain Nipple-Whistle' on the Scottish TV comedy show, Chewin' The Fat. He had a shield similar to Captain America's but depicting a nipple. He would defeat his foes by firmly grabbing one of their nipples and challenging them to whistle. This they were, obviously, unable to do thanks to the nipple hold. Thus demoralised the criminal would have to surrender.

A fine character, and representative of everything that is Scottish I feel.

[Scifi_Toughguy]

Now I am not sure now where I got this from (and our resident Brazilian board member might be able to confirm or deny it) but I believe that "la Carioca" means simply a (female) native of Rio de Janiero (i e One who was born there)


Mostly correct. Only error is in the indentifying pronoun. They speak portuguese in Brazil, not spanish like the rest of the continent. So, it should be A Carioca, drop the "L" otherwise its not really Brazilian. The meaning is correct however, discounting the latin language transposition, it does refer to a female native of Rio.

qualifications: I lived in Brazil for two years and can still speak a good bit of portuguese even if I probably can't spell it correctly... ;)

[st barbara]

To "Sci Fi Toughguy" So that's "A Carioca" Thanks for that. I now remember where I found the name. In the Macquarie Dictionary at work !

[st barbara]

To "Whamme Whamme" You may get a laugh out of this (or not) but one of the New Zealand heros that I created is a female flying energy projector named "Silver Fern" (Black body suit with silver boots, mask, gloves and fern on left breast). Last time I looked "Silver Ferns" was the name of the New Zealand netball team !

[Fenixcrest]

Hebrew National, the Zavior of Zion!

or, for something slightly less off-color, we can go the route of Baron von Romania.