What is YOUR favorite Champions character?

[Qelan]

What is or was your favorite champions character and why is it your favorite?
I really love to read a well developed character. I don't mean a character who is only powerful or versatile. I am talking about those character that as you read them you start getting goose bumbs because they are just that cool! A lot of times I can just get this just from reading the powers and the special effects but sometimes its the background information that kicks in the "cool" factor.

If anyone feels like sharing their favorite character here and maybe a reason why it is their favorite I would love to hear about it.

[mattingly]

My favorite was Night Archer, because he mixed so many cool archetypes. He was the trained normal on the team; he used "real" arrows, not goofy trick arrows (his gimmick was the poisoned tips); he was the oldest team member in his early 60s; he was a reformed villain; and he was grumpy.

in Champions: The Movie, he'd be played by Sean Connery.

[Zaratustra]

Figures you'd like Night Archer. :)

[JohnTaber]

Hi Qelan,

Since I run 100% of the time and since you did not specifically say this chracter had to be a hero I'll describe my favorite villain. ;)

My favorite villain is a guy called Mad Merc. He is sort of a Bullseye like character except he is a bit more madcap. As his name suggests he hires out for pay but only takes bids from someone who has an original job. Money is no longer an attraction. He has been know to use the following objects to dangerous effect depending on the venue for the fight:
+ Teddy Ruxpin dolls.
+ Garden hoses (imagine whips and grabs).
+ Two tunas (imagine nunchuks).
+ Leg warmers from a super heroine (image garotte)

Fun stuff... :)

[death tribble]

One of my favourite ones was Rainbow Archer. Liked the origin and what she could do.

To play, I had the Flame my first character, founder member and namer of our hero team, The Protectors. Because I built him from the ground up.

[MisterVimes]

I have two.

My first Champions character was:
The Stranger. Stranger was wealthy cyberneticist and amateur race-car driver Douglas Allen. Doug was developing a heavy suit of equipment for industrial work (think about the cargo lifters from Aliens). A friend of his was gambling at the race-track and got into debt with the mob. When the mob killed his friend he went after them with the power-suit. Afterward, Doug decided to patrol the streets in a spiked suit of battle-ship gray power armor (more like a gray ironman with spikes). Because of his racing background he drove a souped up armor plated car: The Roadmaster.

Stranger was a cross between Batman and Ironman with a real mean streak.

The second was Bushmaster. We were running a campaign where the world's metahumans DIDN'T dress up in long underwear, nor band together in groups. FILE 13 was a team of government agents that hunted Metahuman criminals and dissidents (and ANYONE foolish enough to call themselves a 'Superhero'). Bushmaster was a 'snake' from the CIA (Snakes were assassins, birds were spies). His codename was Bushmaster from the Largest and most venomous snake of the new world, found in the tropics of Central and South America.
Bushmaster was a real jerk, his power was to leech and absorb kenetic energy from people he touched. The more you hit him(or he hit you), the stronger and faster he got. He could also mimic 'natural' metahuman powers of those he touched (regeneration, speed and so on). No one was ever sure of what Bushmaster's real name was, but he called himself James Marsden.

[Qelan]

I can't tell you guys how much I love to read this stuff. :)

[mattingly]

C'mon, you can tell us... Who are we gonna tell...?

[Qelan]

Originally posted by mattingly
C'mon, you can tell us... Who are we gonna tell...?
Ok, I will tell.:p

Mattingly, could I get a critique from you about the Prof. Cyrrius story? I didn't make the character but I liked the core concept. By the way I know it's a little tedious but I wanted to try and develop the character right away.

[mattingly]

Planning to read it over this weekend.

[Qelan]

I know this sounds wierd but my favorite was a mutant origin (so I wimped out hehe) who could control and manipulate dangerous radiation. He could fly, forcefield, and release a terrible force from his hands as a RKA. Since he was a comic buff as a kid and he could fly he called himself Stellar Knight.

Here's the wierd part. He could control the energy but he was not immune to it. Everytime he used his RKA he would take a random amount body damage. He didn't have regeneration or any type of healing so he always had to find other ways to try to stop the villans. So many times he had to risk using his Stellar Beams at risk of death. Thinking about that character now I can hardly understand why he was so fun to play but he was. I think it had something to do with having to try to find other ways to stop the villans but also having access to a very destructive attack that my character was very afraid to use... heck, I was afraid! hehe :D

[Tech]

One of my favorite characters would be my hero from Champions: Neutron. Now, my character was created well before Enemies I ever hit the stores so you don't think I grabbed the Conquerors 'Neutron' name. My first character and yes, I still play him.

His background was that he joined Viper and although not in the fighting field, was one of their best agents at that time, superior skill in the computer field. He didn't join Viper due to hating someone or something psychotic; no, he was just selfish and went for the money. His powers materialized after he was promised more money in exchange for a simple test. Shyeah, right.

Later, after his powers became second nature to him, he started the superhero business, realizing that Viper was not so great. Viper didn't care about people and didn't care about him. He also realized his own smugness and selfishness could have cost him his life. He hunted Viper and Viper hunted him - Viper lost the vast majority of the time and for those times Viper got the upper hand, well, that's why you have friends.

Time passed and the first New York superteam was formed and he joined it. Steel Fist was the first leader, a brick and a genius, not to mention innate flight. Neutron thought this guy was cool. Later, after Steel Fist stepped down from leadership, Neutron became leader. He didn't feel particularly fit for it but accepted. Surprisingly, he led very well and despite the team's individual 2-year call for leader nomination, he held onto the leadership role. (Yeah, the characters in the team get to vote for who will lead by secret ballot. It's loads of fun!)

A lot of changes occurred in the team, members came and went but he still retained leadership, becoming better skilled, more powerful and confident in his leadership abilities. He met a superheroine and married her. This further made him see the necessity of being a model citizen, brave, courageous, defending the public from supercriminals. With time, the group was granted status as Federal agents. It was time for him to face his past and made a meeting with the President for a private meeting. He told the President about his past and was willing to accept any punishment for his crimes in his past. (As player, I was sweating.) The President pardoned him, for all the good he and his group had done - too many times to count, allowing him to keep his identity secret. He also let the government know everything he knew about Viper - ouch!

Much more time passed. The team membership changed again. He is looked up to by the new(est) members nowadays for leadership and guidance. In a recent leadership election, the election lasted less than 30 seconds: he was unanimously kept as leader. He leads now with confidence, yet relies on the groups many skills - he knows his limitations. He is well-known by many other hero teams and is known for his competence.

Still, not all of his roughness from his Viper days is gone. In a simple test of martial skill against one of his team members names White Shadow, W.S. tried a Nerve Strike on Neutron - to no effect. Neutron promptly punched him at full strength. After the session was over, W.S. commented, "I know that we were practicing but you struck me rather hard. I was trained to take my opponents down quietly and without harm."

Neutron replied, "And I was trained to take your opponent down as hard and fast as possible." This greatly surprised W.S.

Neutron is still one of my favorite heroes and even though I retired him for awhile, he came out of retirement even more determined than ever to work at ridding the world of Viper. His most feared attack is his Neutron Explosion (though not really an Explosion).

[Hermit]

I rarely get to play as a PC anymore.

I have grown pretty fond of Surge that I play/write on a PBEM. Powered Armor electricity wielder who not only inherited his father's armor, he's trying to sheild the fact the first Surge is dead from the rest of the world. Bad enough HE knows he's a rookie, the villains sure don't need to :)

[winterhawk]

My namesake, Winterhawk, is a real Good Guy. So when I was making a character for our new 5th campaign, I decided to go in a different direction. The origin for Hellion:

"Pay up, Grandma!"

Daniel 'Red' O'Bannon didn't know when the curio shop opened, but it was on his 'route' and the street tax needed to be paid. He began smashing the odd objects on display to the floor. The old woman didn't seemed to be phased. The little bell over the door rang, and in walked a teenaged boy. By the resemblance, Red knew they were related.

"Well, if your stuff don' mean anything to you, maybe the kid does!" Red threw the kid a beating, not a bad one; Red had suffered far worse at the lad's age. The old woman dug into to the till for the payoff. As she handed over the money, she grabbed Red's wrist (strong grip for an old gal), looked into his eyes, and simply said "May you live forever".

Red didn't give the incident much thought until he was shot five times over a twenty dollar game of pool. He knew he was a goner. There was no bright light or feeling of floating, just wailing...horrible, horrible wailing. And the Devil didn't have horns and a tail like the nuns taught, he wore a tailored suit, and talked like a corporate shark, about Red being his new 'special project'. Red thought he was about to spend an eternity in Hell when he awoke on the slab at the morgue. Not entirely convinced of what had happened, Red went to settle the score with his pool-playing chum. 12 stab wounds and another trip downstairs later, Red realized that he was in trouble. The old woman damned him to an existence of painful death, followed by a short stay in Hell, only to be completely regenerated to start the whole process over again. He went back to the curio shop to apologize, but it and the old woman were gone. Red even tried to drown his sorrows in drink, but alcohol no longer had any effect on him.

Half-mad at the thought of his existence, Red was living on the streets when Santeria found him. "You must redeem yourself for all that you have done", she told him. "I have seen that you can saved from damnation." If Red was going to have to pay the Devil his due, he was going to make sure He had a hard time collecting. Now, one of the Damned would tread where angels feared, and God help anyone who stood in the Hellion's path to redemption.

[Mayday]

I like characters for their personality primarily, and fun times had with them.

One of my first was Carmen, she had a minor power but I can't remember now what it was as she rarely used it. She was the boss tho, simply because she had the ability to mediate between the rest and keep them all moving forward.

Mayday is my only nobility character and has a wonderfully positive outlook coupled with maturity beyond her years. Plus its great fun to ZAP people.

Wraithe because she's PRIMUS and I love that stiff government agent patriot bit.

Sabre because she's smarter than everyone around her and it was fun to manipulate them to get her own way without them noticing. Plus Speed 9, how can you not like Speed 9.

ShadowCross is one of my few Dark Hero characters for a Dark Knight style Gotham campaign. I don't usually give charcters a trauma past but I wanted her to be split personality.

One not mine that I really like is Vengeance, she works as a coroner or used to. Something happened to her civilian ID that she could not have survived, so she is now believed 'dead' and exists solely in Hero ID. She has some mild stats but is a foci 'hero', guns and chains and a shotgun... But its not what she has as what she does with it. She is extremely brutal in a brutal dark campaign and very effective in unique ways.

[Lord Liaden]

Of my original characters, my personal fave to play was Deadeye. Deadeye was originally Frank Caine, a private investigator with a personality remiscent of those classic film noir P.I.s like Philip Marlowe and Sam Spade: tough, jaded, cynical, but with a rough code of honor. He got involved in investigating a series of ritual killings, which culminated in him stumbling into a scene of a fancy-dressed guy using weird lightshow powers to apparently attack three helpless women. Frank shot the man from behind, killing him instantly. The women showed their gratitude by transforming into demonic monsters and ripping Frank to shreds.

Awakening in Limbo, Frank heard voices that claimed to be Higher Powers who informed him that the man he shot was a powerful white sorceror and that the "helpless women" were three succubi responsible for the ritual killings whom the sorceror was trying to banish. They told Frank that his murder of the sorceror had incurred a great karmic debt which he would have to repay through benevolent acts on Earth. They sent Frank back; thing is, they didn't send him back alive. He looked and sounded normal, but to any close examination he was in effect a walking corpse.

Deadeye (as he called himself) had classic detective and brawling skills, the power to detect supernatural forces, to strike blows at the souls of his opponents rather than their physical bodies, and the toughness and resilience to physical damage that comes from being, well, dead. His naturally dark sense of humor got even blacker as a result of his new status, which was a lot of fun to play. I remember the first time someone in our PC team cracked a joke, and I as Deadeye said, "Ha! You kill me... Oops." Everyone fell on the floor.

[Glen Sprigg]

My favorite Champions character? I've had so many...Mountie, Comet, Skyrider, Snowbird, Nautilus, Disciple...and that's just a sampling. Man, I've made a zillion heroes, I think. But then, who hasn't? :)

I'd have to say that my favorite (currently) is Snowbird, a 'legacy' hero whose grandfather was a WWII-era hero. I'd LOVE to actually get to play him in a game, but apparently there is absolutely no one in Barrie who plays Champions. So I'm screwed.

Anyway, when the original Snowbird died, his grandson inherited the amulet that gave him his powers. He also gave him a notebook explaining how the powers worked, so he could train himself. His parents know about the amulet, although they don't approve.

I really need to play this character; he's a lot of fun, and the addition of the legacy aspect makes him more intriguing, I think.

Glen

[Lord Mhoram]

It's gotta be Black Cat - the characters who's face adorns the space to the right.

She started as a basic martial artist with some "darkforce" powers (pretty much a la Marvel) for some serious defense and some special attacks.
Her personality was intense. She was a driven woman, always striving for improvement, whether it be her training, her powers, or team tactics. She was build as a combat martial artist - no stealth skills, just combat, tactics and background stuff. I love playing her... and then one day I had an idea for a plot, and dropped it on the GM..."I want to have Cat die, come back from the dead possessed by the evil nature of her powers, go bad guy- kill someone, get depowered, go to stronghold and get pardoned". The GM said "OK"- and started a subplot/overplot that ran almost a year. And it was fun after Cat came back from the dead- every couple of sessions playing her a little nastier, a little more dark. Had her start swearing.. the other players had no idea what was happening and kept giving me funny looks when I did things like that. Just some of the best roleplaying I have ever done, and some of the best situations for it from the GM. The night of the climax of the second phase of the plot (after she got depowerd, because they found out she had been possessed by her powers) one of the other characters, after Cat started sobbing about what she had done, said "You didn't do it, it wasn't you". I then went to write a little "story" - rather more a tone piece that is still one of the best things I have done, all about her. The whole wonderfulness of the play session lasted me all through my shift at work (I worked graveyard then).

The character herself was fairly basic, it was all in the interaction and the play.

[Enforcer84]

I like the legacy hero concept alot too.
My current fave character is known as Bravestorm. His mother is the immortal embodiment of the United States of America. She has operated at one point or another along our history as Maiden America, Miss America, Americanna, etc. She has seven children and Keith is her youngest. Each of her children has been a costumed adventurer, although her two eldest turned villains.
Bravestorm is a fairly typical "Original" archetype to use the Mutants and Masterminds vernacular. In addition to superhuman strength, speed, senses, flight and toughness, he can control weather in a local area or even merely generate lightning from his hands.
He is one of the only scions of Americanna not to take a patriotic persona. He doesn't really get along with his siblings, even the heroic ones. He has a bunch of contacts and "DNPC's" who are as powerful as he is. He is hunted by his oldest brother, and sister (who work separately).
He has an odd cynical idealism about him. He is more for what America stands for than the "My country right or worng" nationalism. I was inspired by the song "Fields of the Brave" on the new Styx album, but I couldn't figure out how to use the title in his name, he was originally just "Brave" but he doesn't really have a Native American Background.
(BTW, he, his siblings, and his mother all share the same birthday, July 4th).

[Dr. Evil]

I have to get in on this, 'cause it's so kewl.

Okay, my favorite Champions character is the villain, Foxbat! Freddie just is sooo fun to play with his Foxbatmobile, his ping pong gun, his Foxbat-this & Foxbat that.

AS for MY fav character, it would have to be a 14 year-old Teen Champion (the name of MY teen group YEARS before HERO came up with it, I might add! Way back in 1985, in Berlin!) named Stephanie Nymph, codenamed: Spellbinder.

Spellbinder was a Journeyman Sorceress from the Dimension of Ix (a small 'pocket dimension' like Xanth where everything is magical). Her father was a Bard named Kevin, who was eaten by a dragon. Her mother is a tree spirit (a dryad) named Laurel. Stephanie's special ability(ies) was Teleportation. She could teleport in space/time/dimension. This was in addition to her Magic VPP. She was smart, precocious, mischevious, arrogant, and had a Disadvantage: Weirdness Magnet. Her basic personality was like a toned-down Tasselhoff Burrfoot from DRAGONLANCE.

One of the best stories she was the center of was "History Lesson". Steph and the TC's (her fellow students) got bored listening to their teacher going on about history, so she "borrowed her Master's spellbook, cast a time-travelling spell, and took all of the kids on a little "History Lesson" of their own, where they travelled in the past (her powers enhanced by a spell) and skiied with Gen's. Washington and Lafayette at Valley Forge, nearly got hanged at the Salem Witch Trials, hitched a ride with Columbus to find the New World, and a few other "wacky stunts". It was a mad romp through time. Eventually, Chronos (Father Time) contacted their teacher (who's name was Warlock, the Sorcerer Supreme/Dimensional Guardian of Earth) and told him what his little 'apprentice' had done, and how bad she'd cocked up the timeways, and that it would take him a while to get things back to normal. Well, we ended it like in the Sorcerer's Apprentice.

Ouch! :rofl:

[BcAugust]

Hard to say which is my favorite out of the three champions characters I play. Likely Nox, by a thin margin.

She's fun(Shadow mage/MA type), mainly because she is so tied to her team. She's mainly been a support character(Darkness, entangle, and teleportation.), though she may develop some more offensive powers in the future. Right now, she's dealing with the fact that all her powers are from her being possessed by a creature of evil, while she's basically a paladin sort. First reaction to finding this out "How do we stop it from hurting anyone else?" Second reaction to it... well, the team hasn't found that out yet.

She's also very much against type for me in a lot of ways. Total CvK, a very "Hero for it's own sake" type, shy, underconfident, unlearned, and very much a follower person. It makes her far more of a challenge for me, and makes it so much more rewarding when I get her "right"

[Tech]

You didn't mention published or personal so I'll pick both.

Published: Foxbat. This guy is crackers but loads of fun. I've had him actually make some serious moves (in a serious manner) on a heroine who almost reciprocated but decided the hero/villain combo was a bad idea so he went back to being his usual self. Need a somewhat nutso villain scheme? Foxbat fills that role.

Personal: Black Hole. I created him back in 3rd edition rules and later updated him to 5th edition. He's possibly the most durable villain around, period. I had him go toe-to-toe with another villain my brother used - who threw 22d6 EB - and the battle lasted several turns but turned into a draw. He's able to suck in almost any form of energy (hm, can't think of any he can't) even those energies not directed at him. What's so fun about him? Despite heroes running into him now and then, he's actually helped them out a few times and spends his free time helping kids in the slums better themselves. 'Course, weighing 200 tons means special technology to get around and it doesn't come cheap so..

[TheQuestionMan]

Shortly following his first excellent showing he had a terrible showing against a VIPER bank robbery team, but that's another story (ugh).

Guardian II (A Legacy Hero)

Background/History: When Kaspian was 7yrs old he watched the media coverage of the “Battle of Detroit”. In the days and weeks that followed he watched the as events unfolded and the world learned that UNTIL had was ready and equipped to help deal with Doctor Destroyer and his minions, but the US denied them entry. In the media storm that followed it was revealed the final body count was over 60,000 civilians and nearly 50 superhero fatalities.

Shortly afterwards the US signed the treaty allowing UNTIL to deploy on US territory. Those events shaped a young boy’s dreams. He convinced his parents to let him study Martial Arts.

Kaspian matured quickly and graduated from high school with honours and was accepted a scholarship to Simon Frasier University. He enrolled in Criminology and Kinesiology as a double major. On Kaspian’s 17th birthday he wrote his applied for a position with UNTIL as a Defender Agent.

But the Fates had other plans. Kaspian was 17 when he attended a benefit concert by the superstar superhero “Sapphire” of the Champions. Mid way through her send song Minute Man VII robots burst through the back of the concert hall and attacked her. The crowd panicked and stampeding for the exits Kaspian tried save a young woman knocked down by the mob. Under the stress his mutant powers manifested allowing him to save her and many others.

Kaspian did not have time to be surprised, but with the mob out of the way one of the Minute Man VII robots sensors detected him and attacked. His mutant powers changed to protect him. They changed their attacks and Kaspian instinctively changed his powers to protect himself and protect innocents from getting caught in the cross fire.

The battle seemed to last for hours. Finally he began to notice men with high tech weapons, armour, and equipment. UNTIL’s Defenders and the RCMP’s SERT had arrived. After that the battle ended rather quickly.

When he looked up from his last opponent the battle was over. The fire department and paramedics arrived to take care of the injured. He was dazed and only snapped out of it when a Fireman handed him a blanket. The battle had shredded his cloths.

He was just deciding what to do next when Sapphire walked up and started talking to him. She was even more beautiful up close, if shorter.

“Thanks for the help man. It didn’t look too good there for minute.”

He mumbled a “You’re welcome”.

Before she could speak again the UNTIL and RCMP Commanders marched up and started asking questions. When they asked him his name Sapphire interrupted.

“Gentlemen, I think a better question is what are you called? As my friend Witchcraft is so fond of saying; “True Name are Power”.

Kaspian smiled at that. He turned away, thinking for a moment. When he turned back he smiled and offered his hand to them still smiling. “You can call me Guardian”

Vancouver’s newest superhero has had run-in’s with VIPER, more Minute Man Robots, and several organized crime groups. He works closely with the RCMP and UNTIL through out the Pacific Rim.

Personality/Motivation: The Battle of Detroit created in Kaspian a need to protect the Innocent from the evils of the world and as a member of UNTIL he could. When his mutant powers manifested he needed to change his focus from joining UNTIL to becoming a Superhero. A dream comes true.

Quotes:

Powers/Tactics: Kaspian is a Mutant Metamorph. He has the power to become a Brick, an Energy Projector, a Speedster, a Telekinetic, and Mentalist. He has adopted a martial arts technique for each of his forms. UNTIL Scientists have determined that Guardian’s Powers are Psionic in origin could potentially become more powerful. However he hasn’t been able to switch forms as quickly as when his powers manifested.

Campaign Use/Plot Seeds: 1.) Institute for Human Advancement (Anti Mutant), 2.) Campaign Villain or Group (GMO), 3.) Organized Crime (GMO), 4.) VIPER, 5.)???

Appearance:

Cheers

QM

[Lightray]

Two-year thread necromancy? :nonp:

Aw, heck with it. My favorite character was, well, Lightray. He was a light-based energy projector: flight, flash, energy blast, desolid to light, etc. It was old skool Champions (before Champions 2, etc. came out), so we let him FTL using Desolid; now it would be Megascale flight.

Anyway, the reason he was fun to play was because one of my teammates was Solar Sailor - a silver guy who flew around on a silver sailboard (yeah, I know). Lightray used to bounce his energy blasts off Solar Sailor. And then the villains would think SS had attacked them, and he'd get shot instead of Lightray.

It was fun, although for some reason SS didn't think so... :)

[Lord Liaden]

You didn't mention published or personal so I'll pick both.

Published: Foxbat. This guy is crackers but loads of fun. I've had him actually make some serious moves (in a serious manner) on a heroine who almost reciprocated but decided the hero/villain combo was a bad idea so he went back to being his usual self. Need a somewhat nutso villain scheme? Foxbat fills that role.



Judging by the frequency of similar comments that we see on the boards, Foxbat should be the trademark character for Champions. :snicker: The lovable loon seems to be most people's favorite comic-relief villain. He's also IMHO a true original. Published comics have other absurd hero-villains, like the Creeper and Ambush Bug; but they're aware that they're acting absurd, and do it deliberately. Freddy Foswell hasn't a clue.

For all of that, he's actually very capable and versatile, and can even be helpful in the right circumstances.

[Lord Liaden]

As long as we've brought up published characters, I might as well reiterate my own preference: Nuada of the Silver Hand, from Kingdom of Champions. I've always been a sucker for supers with mythic roots, especially when reimagined in an interesting way. Nuada has an almost Elric-like tragic quality that also speaks to me: an ancient warrior-king transformed into an awesome killing machine; a man millennia out of his time, preserved in suspended animation, awakened only to fight against foes who threaten the whole world. Apparently fated to do so forever.

[Vanguard00]

I’ll jump in.

First, published. I always had a thing for Shamrock. I use to love to use him in my old campaigns. I made him such a lovable bad guy that whenever I'd trot him out my players would grin, knowing a good time was in store.

For my own characters, Morningstar would have to rank right up there. As conceived and played, he’s a relatively young (early to mid twenties) man on the verge of actually maturing. He’s a bartender (alternately a DJ or something similar) with a long string of ex-girlfriends of somewhat short duration, usually with another waiting in the wings. His father is a navy admiral and the two just don’t get along. Morningstar is a fairly typical energy blaster, with a variety of offensive options, flight, a force field and the like. I’ve played several versions of him but the young just-coming-into-his-own-as-a-hero version is my favorite, probably because I inject a lot of my own personality into him. The fun parts, that is. He’s just so…likeable. He kinda makes his own stories and was very easy to play.

A close second would be Wylde. Originally conceived as a sort of cross between Beast and Wolverine, he’s a failed experiment from some mysterious government project that turned a soldier into a feral being, as much man as animal. His story usually begins following a fight with an unknown antagonist (who knows him), wherein the antagonist collapses a building on our hero to effect an escape. Our hero, now with no real knowledge of where he came from or who he really is, falls in with a streetwise young woman in a low-rent urban neighborhood, and essentially becomes their protector. Though he was supposed to be a clone of just about every animal-themed hero out there he pretty much grew into his own character in my mind. Taciturn and almost shy in dealing with the world, but fiercely loyal to his friends and ‘territory’. Lots of drama potential for this guy.

Last would be Vanguard, one of my first PBEM characters (in an early version of Levi Mote’s “Defenders” campaign). An alien sent to report on the Earth essentially falls in love with it and decides to “defect”. He designs a suit to enhance his already considerable powers and then installs himself into the world at large, becoming a wealthy inventor/scientist/playboy. A cross between Booster Gold and Tony Stark, if you will, but always very conscious of his origins. Good angst and a big heart…gotta love it.

[Blue]

Among the published, the Infamous Foxbat! (Though in a way Foxbat girl and Foxbat boy are in there, when played right).

From mine, I had a different answer on this when the thread came up two years ago, but now it's Anthem. She's a silver age girl in an iron age world. All this bad stuff is happening around her and still she's optimistic. She doesn't accept charity, works hard for what little she has, and loses lots of jobs due to her superhoic activities. She's got low offense, but keeps trying because she's able to take what the villains throw at her and keep coming back. And she performed the miracle shot that took out the original campaign's major villain.

I like Uncle Slam's earnestness and his war-weary view of the world, and I like Audra Blue's "Darkness", her sense of justice, and the flaws that make her unique. But Anthem is my favorite.

[Jeff T.]

See my username.


Some of my favorite published characters are Mechassassin, Mechanon 3000, Viperia, Foxbat, Watchers of the Dragon version of Seeker, the Protectors, Deathstroke, Dark Seraph, and Utility.

[Red Knight]

I play a character named Lion Heart. He is a power armored hero. He is a comicbook artist whose sister worked for an advanced tech company. The story goies like this... She was working on a project to design an advanced combat suit using alien tech as the base. She was part of the fabrication team, that created the equipement. She found out that the suit was going to be sold on the black market so she devised a plan to steal the suit and destroy the research. That night she went back into work and loaded the suit into her vehicle. She installed a computer virus that eradicated any information about the suit in the computer system. She then took or destroyed any paperwork that existed. As she was leaving fate stepped in. A terrorist group attacked, hoping on stealing the suit for themselves... they didn't want to pay for it. During the attack, she was badly injured, resulting in her being bound to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. The suit was overlooked in the back of a civilian vehicle. While she was in the hospital, she called her brother who retrieved her car and secured it as per her wishes. After she got out of the hospital, she used her insurance payoff and her severance pay to complete the suit. She enlisted her brother (comicbook artist) to pilot the suit. He was an ex-marine. As a kicker, he draws a comicbook called Lionheart and can use the suit a PR gimmick.

The suit is gold and brown in color with a heavy Lion motif. Basic Iron Man-esque abilities. The suit has a sentient on-board computer called Leo that has an unending thirst for knowledge. It spends it's downtime surfing the web.

[Mike W]

For me, it's probably Proteus. He's a shapeshifter/body manipulator with a Wolverine influenced background and personality. Lots of bad karma in his past. He's a borderline anti-hero that can do a lot. Powerful, but you have to be creative to get the most out of it. HUGE skill monger(which is always a fave). And he piles up perks(contacts, wealth, etc), so when I took over the game, he became the team benefactor - which he was about to become anyway since his wealth and contacts were a large reason the characters could acquire the property and set up their hidden base. I also like the fact that he has a unique job. He runs the heroic equivalent of the Taskmaster's school. Besides, any character who actually spends his civilian life shapeshifted and "turns off" his shapeshift powers when he goes out heroing(so that his "real" life is based around a fake face and fake identity) just has so much potential for roleplaying.

[TheEmerged]

Published, 4th Edition: The Leaper (Champions of the North). Foxbat, with a little more competence.

Published, 5th Edition: For some reason Zephyr is showing up more than I expected. I also have to admit that Ironclad has made me all-but-forget Obsidian ever existed

Personal: I'm having quite a bit of fun with my current GM-PC ("The Disruptor"), but push comes to shove it's still Stefan Sashkey (from The Emergence).

[Night Raven]

My favorite Champions villain is Citadel as he was the first villain I had to scare the heroes worse than Dr. Destroyer.
They All Feared Dr. D because of point cost and Rep. But Citadel was an unknown and had too many scary powers, Teleport, Invisiblity, growth and Martial arts.

My favorite PC is the Patriot my rip off of Captain America.
I have this thing for trying to make superheroes out of normals as oposed to superman types.

[Tech]

My favorite Champions villain is Citadel as he was the first villain I had to scare the heroes worse than Dr. Destroyer.
They All Feared Dr. D because of point cost and Rep. But Citadel was an unknown and had too many scary powers, Teleport, Invisiblity, growth and Martial arts.

I agree there. As a matter of fact, I'm going to use Citadel in a Viper plot along with a few other criminals.. and they're just cannon fodder for the real plot which tells you something Night Raven, of the power that will be coming afterwards.

[Mike W]

I had a lot of fun with Rainbow Archer last time I ran in the Champions CU. Heck, one of my PCs ended up dating her. By the time the campaign was over, she was even a team reservist.

[TheEmerged]

As far as characters the PC's hate, that would be "Annoying Man". I've been threatened with life and limb if he ever puts in another appearance... That was the first Champions battle I had make it to a second minute -- not segment, phase, or even turn, minute...

[Ken Solo]

This is my attempt to tie a character fully into the Champions Universe, without creating any new organization/NPC. What do you think?
I've only played the Prof. for a few weeks, but I see SO much potental! Already one fight had the Master Villian sending his troops at us and two PCs were keeping score of who KOed more thugs. When the battle was over The Gargoyle said "I got 13!", Shape said "I got 14!", then the 89 year old Prof. Genesis said "I got 24. While you boys were dancing with the thugs, I hacked the computer and sent a 'shut down' command to the two dozen killer 'bot headed our way. You're welcome"
Prof. Genesis
History: Harold Alphonse Genesario was born in 1916 in central California to a vintner. His father's wine business was able to send young brilliant Harold to college at the age of 16. He went all the way across the country to attend Princeton University in New Jersey, and after studying under Prof. Albert Einstein at the Institute for Advanced Studies, earned his PhD in mathematics in 1937. Immediately after receiving his diploma, Harold married Isabel Brown, whom he had met at school. All was bliss until, beginning May 3rd, 1938 Harold suffered a continuous series of extremely debilitating headaches. He put off going to the doctor for just headaches, and by August they went away, and Harold had never felt so robust or been able to think so clearly in all his life. He found he could retain perfectly almost every scrap of information he read, heard, smelled, or felt. He began to get ideas of how to apply one device to another to make a third more efficient device. That winter his son Henry was born, Harold was happy for it but distracted by his newfound abilities. He threw himself into research, the more he learned the more he could apply that knowledge. He studied chemistry and patented a new gas, freon, to replace the poisonous ones being used in refrigerators. He studied electronics, and patented an improved calculating machine based on the design of Konrad Zuse. In 1939 he patented the G1, the first fully automated electro mechanical computer using a series of yes/no relays he called Binary programming language.
1941 and America was pulled into the War. Prof. Genesis (a nickname given to him by his patent attorney) was contacted by the U.S. Army to bring his computing machines and join the “Haynesville Project”. Harold jumped at the chance to study Captain Patriot, and others like him under Maj. Groves. He moved his family to Kansas, and worked with the Project through out the war and after until it was officially closed in 1948.
In 1950 Harold moved his family to New York City and joined the team on the Ultivac Project, enjoying staying at the cutting edge of computer technology. But the Project was closed when the Ultivac gained a sentience of it’s own and attempted to take over the world by accessing the launch codes for both the U.S. and U.S.S.R nuclear missiles in 1961. To further cause Harold grief, he discovered his now adult son Henry had gone to college, and but had been stealing Harold’s equipment and moonlighting as a masked mystery man for three years. He decided to keep his son’s secret and repaired and supplied the Grey Man in his gang busting and spy smashing activities. After all, the Grey Man was proving fairly adept at rooting out Soviet or Viper spies. In his own attempt to further the cause of American Security, Prof. Genesis joined the Pentagon’s Project Perseus under Dr. Herman Olafson, who had worked with Genesario at Haynesville. They created the All-American, a “superhuman soldier” to be a symbol of American patriotism. Harold stayed with the project until 1965, when he decided to retire from working for the government and, at age 49 accept a professorship at University of California, Berkley. Once settled there with Isabel, he suggests a TV show put out by the university, exploring in a scholarly yet entertaining way the scientific curiosities of the world. After much haranguing, the university board agreed to try it, as it will give their fledgling video department something to do. It was first aired on Public Television in fall season of 1965, and was slowly received at first. But, by the end of the first full season, the university was inundated with letters of praise and requests of what to explore next. Using the name Professor Genesis, he hosted “The World of Genesis” for the next 25 years. He was particularly fond of the play on a Biblical reference.
When he was not gallivanting around the world for his TV show, Harold was researching and giving seminars at the university. He was widely known among the academic world not for his TV show, but for his progress in computer technology, and the applications he put computers to in so many other fields he had mastered. His applications were advanced enough to be the target of occasional espionage attempts. In the winter of 1967, one such plot to steal Genesario’s research brought the Grey Man to Berkley following a group of mercenary spies. In a last minute altercation inside Genesario’s house both the Grey Man (his son Henry, age 29) and Isabel, age 49 are murdered. The murderer got away, and to this day no one knows who he was, or who he was working for.
For five years, Harold grieves then goes about his life. He tapes “The World of Genesis” around the world, visiting Japan’s Monster Island for the first of several times, along with all the wonders of the ancient and modern world. In 1972, Genesario spends a sabbatical in Switzerland at L’Institute Thoth studying super powers manifesting in patients and volunteers there. While there, Harold meets the 30 year old English woman Laura Jones. Their professional relationship blossoms into a romantic one and in ’75, they wed, and the new Mrs. Genesario moved her effects from Weymouth, England to Berkley. 1975 was also the first appearance of Dr. Destroyer. His destruction of San Francisco enraged Harold that a man of such obvious genius and technical skill could think of nothing better to do with his gifts than tear up cities. With the goal in mind of putting a stop to such menaces as Dr. Destroyer, Harold accepted a posting on the Design Board put together by Dr. Charles Wildman to create a super prison called Stronghold. He was thrilled to attend the ribbon cutting ceremony in 1978, and even did a segment of “World of Genesis” on the new facility, and how state of the art it is. But his proudest moment was two years earlier, when his daughter Hannah was born.
In 1988, Prof. Genesis himself was kidnapped. The criminal Sunburst was convinced that Genesario had something to do with the secret Project Sunburst. Despite the Professors actual ignorance of that operation, Sunburst was determined to extract the names of the men responsible out of him. In the meantime he let the police know he had Genesario, and demanded the Army officer and/or politicians responsible for Project Sunburst be brought to him. Only by the timely intervention of American Eagle and the Freedom Squad was Prof. Genesis saved from being tortured to death as a hostage.
In1990, with ratings for Public Television falling rapidly, the University decided it could no longer afford to produce “The World of Genesis”, so the show was canceled, but still runs in syndication in many markets as a staple of Public Television. (A decade later, the arrogant Aric Roston Rhodes has picked up where Prof. Genesis left off, only seeking more self-gain and aggrandizement. Rhodes’ cable TV show “Explorers of the Unknown” follows pretty much the same format as Genesarios old show, but with “Attitude”, less content and pandering to the short attention span crowd.) Prof. Genesario settles into staying at home with his wife and daughter, (with sophisticated security devices installed and guards on staff) and researching and teaching at the University for two and a half years, paying attention to the news of Desert Shield/Desert Storm.
A few months after the destruction of Detroit in 1992 by Dr. Destroyer, Prof. Genesis agrees to work on a new government project, right in the Silicon Valley region. The FBI wanted a suit of armor to keep their hostage negotiators safe when dealing with super powered suspects and keep the hostage relatively safe. Certainly something Prof. Genesis could relate to. While working for the Department of Justice on the team that was designing the Stalwart battle armor, young James Harmond of New York called him. It seems Harmond had began “building a suit of powered armor equipped with the best systems his genius could design and his father’s money could pay for.” It seemed Mr. Harmond had a strong background in Electronics, Mechanics, and physics but did not have the required skills in metallurgy, energy weapon system design, or cybernetics to complete his power suit. So, after a long conversation that satisfied Genesario of the young mans intentions, he took Harmonds money and helped with the creation of the Defender battlesuit. Now almost a dozen years latter, Harmond/Defender still calls on Prof. Genesis for technical assistance from time to time and when he can Genesario will help the founder of the Champions.
After completing the Stalwart armor project in 1995, Harold moved on to Project Onslaught where the public outcry over the destruction of Detroit had prompted Congress to increase funding to the Department of Defenses Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). He worked for three years on the genetic treatments that created Janissary. The DoD suspended further work until it could decide if the project was worth continuing in light of Janissary’s problems and tremendous expense.
In 2000 after watching Hannah collect her Masters Degree, he announced his retirement from the University of California after being on staff (sometimes full time, sometimes part time) for 35 years. Harold enjoys retired life with his wife for six months, before placing a call to friends in the government and asking for something to do. He is offered a position at the R&D division of the Department of Superhuman and Paranormal Affairs (DoSPA). He could even work from central California.
Harold happily applied him self to the study of super humans and their powers until September 18th, 2004 when Prof. Genesis was kidnapped for the 2nd time. This time he was taken by Maelstrom and Ace of the Protectors super hero team and taken to South America along with several other scientists and forced to build a doomsday earthquake device. Because of the mystic effect of the pendant of Quatlique, the scientists were brainwashed into thinking it was that best thing to do. Then the Liberty Force from Millennium City showed up to save the world. Literally!
Now, Harold has decided to offer his services to Liberty Force as a scientist and technician. He has wanted to spend some time in the City of the Future. After all, some of the technology making Millennium City so unique is his design! His friend Defender lives there now, Dr. Destroyer has made his presence known again, in July Prof. Kendrick announced a new metal alloy he is calling Kendrium. (Prof. Genesis is anxious to work with the new alloy, perhaps with the ultimate result of improving the capabilities of such systems as the Defender, Stalwart, and Iron Guard power suits) and besides Harold just feels he will be most useful there.
Two moving trucks later (Laura developed a taste for collecting antiques), Mr. and Mrs. Genesario buy a new high tech house in Millennium City. Now all that remains is to introduce himself to Liberty Force.





Harold Genesario has very little income from patents coming to him any more, as most of his many inventions have been superceded by more advanced technology. He does get income from his University pension, a government stipend for his Defense Department work, and book & TV royalties. He is often asked to be on some news or talk show as a ‘scientific expert’, and will occasionally agree to do it if he likes the show. Much of his money is directed into scholarship funds he set up long ago for assisting young people to attend college. This leaves his with enough capitol to be comfortable but not extravagant in his lifestyle. Of course, over the decades he has collected a museums fill of artifacts and books from all fields of study from all over the world.
Because of his TV show, as well as the odd guest appearance on a news program, Prof. Genesis is a well known as a celebrity around the world. His show has been translated into several languages, because of his easy method of making a technical issue understandable. Everyone knows he is an old man with white hair only over his ears, and wears glasses, and that if he talks about science, he knows what he is talking about. He is much less well know to the general public for his government work as so much of it was Classified or even Top Secret.
In his many years in science, he has influenced many other scientists, and has used the works of many more in his own projects. He meets many of his colleagues at seminars, award banquets, and while touring labs, and Harold remembers them all. His willingness to trade information makes him fairly popular among the World Scientific Community. Prof. Genesis knows people in L’Institute Thoth, UNTIL, PRIMUS, university, corporate and government labs all over the world. He can usually find someone to call on for assistance or advice on a problem that is outside his fields of expertise. Conversely, he frequently gets calls from them. At all hours. His foremost contact however, is currently the Chief Science Advisor for the United States, Robert Ford. When the Man In Black says “Don’t worry, we have Top Men looking into it.”, there is no one higher than Ford. Harold has known Ford since he was a young army lieutenant at the Perseus Project. They got along well, and have stayed in contact ever since, it was Genesario pulling in favors that launched Ford’s political career.
Because of his long time association with Secret government projects, Harold has earned a permanent Secret security clearance. This can be modified up temporarily if some General feels it necessary, and of course it only applies to scientific or technical documents and materials. He will never see the Secret strategic plans for invasion of Canada. Similarly, because of the sensitive information he carries in his head, Genesario is licensed to carry a concealed weapon, conventional, energy or otherwise for self-defense. He also has a passport with a lot of stamps in it.
Prof. Genesis is getting old, and his physical limitations show this. Any blow he takes will affect him half again as much as it would a young man, and he bruises easily; every blow will show up as an ugly purple mark, and be stiff and painful for several days after ward. (No hiding from the wife the fact he’s been in a fight)
Prof. Genesis has always lived by a sense of honor; compelling him to do his level best to help as many as he can with his gifts. He is secure that he has done that so far in his life more often than not. Because of this he gets really irritated at those who cheat and use their intellect to inflict harm, as Dr. Destroyer does. (He used to get pretty steamed at students he caught cheating on exams as well!) He feels it is a duty to be a counter to men like Dr. Destroyer and Teleios, and Mechanon all of whom feel their technology make them superior to the rest of humanity. He is positive that there is no situation that cannot be overcome by a suitable application of thought. He and his colleagues WILL find a counter to whatever these madmen with technology unleash.
Hannah has recently earned her PhD, and has set out to prove some theories she developed during schooling. Hannah assists her father from time to time, but primarily is trying to make a name for her self as an archeologist. Hannah is something of an adventurer, and has a knack for getting into dangerous situations where there shouldn’t be one. But then, it’s a strange world.


Some disadvantages/plot hooks not listed on the character sheet:
Prof. Genesis has a limited capacity for invention. He can recall almost any information he has experienced, and has proven particularly good at combining two existing technologies (a modem + a copy machine + a telephone = a fax machine) and reverse engineering some advanced technology. However, he has never made a truly great leap forward into previously unimagined territory. He can build a vast array of super technology, but only because he has had the opportunity to research captured tech from Dr. Destroyer, Mechanon, Viper, the Sirians, and so forth. If someone comes up with a plan for something new, he can probably iron the bugs out to make it work as desired, but despite his name Genesis does not create anything radically new.
62-year-old Mrs. Laura Genesario was a researcher into superpowers her self.
Also, she will want to start getting involved in the social circles of Millennium City.
Hannah is 28 and an archeologist in the world, trying to make a name for herself.
As Sunburst found out, the Professor was involved in some Secret Government Research, which means he could be valuable as an information source, or as a hostage, or as a blackmailed spy.

[Kirby]

One of my favourite ones was Rainbow Archer. Liked the origin and what she could do.
Ditto. I ran a game where one of the PCs -a female archer- had a rival and I chose her. Every time some place was robbed (bank, museum, etc) and the PCs heard about it over the police radio, Rainbow Archer would also show up and kept trying to steal from the robbers;if one of the PCs saw her (usually her rival), she'd return the loot a day later and get great publicity for it. Rainbow Archer did end up making some profit, and no one (aside from the PC) believed her to actually be a villain.

Let's see, Foxbat is the favorite that I've heard about but never had a session with. Grond is my favorite published that I've played as a PC and NPC in a game I ran (I love his four arms).

Favorite published hero that I've played is a toss up between Seeker and Akimashibaru (both found in Watchers of the Dragon) with Quantum coming in third.

Favorite "starting" villain is Ack-Ack McCleary (Enemies for Hire).

My favorite Champions character that I made and played is probably Cavalier. He was a pseudo-brick in a Dark Champions game. Had 40 STR 15/8 10/8 defenses with 25% dmg red, flight & N-Ray vision. He was a college student and a flirt.

[Kirby]

This is my attempt to tie a character fully into the Champions Universe, without creating any new organization/NPC. What do you think?
Ack! Soo long and rarely any spacing between paragraphs! I'm too a.r. on that subject to read further. :o Sorry about that.

But, uh, is this your favorite Champions character?

[Constantine]

I think my favorite personal character has to be Battery. I was young, and a lot of cliches went into him, but I really enjoyed playing him. He was a parapelegic (sp?) with both legs amputated just above the knee. His wheelchair actually transformed into his power armor. He was called Battery cause he had absorbtion, and would get stronger & tougher with each shot he took. I played this character over several years, and really annoyed my GM with Battery's tendency to keep rebuilding his armor, and fixing all the flaws exploited by the enemy...

[Ken Solo]

Kirby, sorry about the length. I just copy and pasted the story.
The favorite thing falls into 3 categories: Prof. Genesis is the favorite character I'm allowed to play
White Dwarf is the charcter I made in '81/'82 and is my favorite for nostalgia.
Published characters though: I really like the jello-eyed evil bug alien apprentence to the Supreme Sorcerer, Jarth. Introduced in Mystic Masters he quicly became a favorite villan. He is shooting for the Big Prize (Office of Supreme Sorcer of the whole dimension) but he is petty and would kick dogs just because!
Jarth needs to make a comeback!