[Need Help] Thors from around the world.

[lucky]

I'm hoping y'all can help me out:

I'm working up the background for my new Champions game and I need some help with a particular group of NPCs. For the moment, I'm calling them "the godlings" in my notes, but hopefully I'll come up with something cooler than that before the game starts. :)

In a nutshell, they're a small group of supers who act individually (and sometimes in opposition to one another), but share a common link: they're each embodiments of legendary characters from their particular cultures. I think I want around a dozen of them, worldwide. The're the most powerful supers on the planet, and will probably tip the scales at around 800-1000 points each (give or take).

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for characters, or -- even better -- if they knew of any appropriate write-ups I could steal (I'll give due credit!). I'm looking for a global feel, so I'll probably end up with:

One North American;
One South American;
Three or four Asians;
Two Africans;
One or two Europeans;
One Australian;

... or thereabouts. Anyway, this is my first stop before just hitting Google, so any help at all would be appreciated. Cheers!

[stitches]

a Trickster-type character would work for any of several of those: Native American mythology has such a character, as do many different African myths, and possibly even Australian aboriginal mythology

[Steve Long]

Hmmm, interesting idea.

South America: Viracocha, the Inca creator god (and sun god, IIRC).

North America: Thunder Bird, the storm/weather spirit; Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec god of war; Sogbo, the Voodoo loa of lightning.

Europe: Perun, the Slavic god of thunder and lightning; Goibhnu, the Celtic god of smiths; Ukko, the Finnish god of lightning and storms

Africa: Shango, the Yoruban god of thunder; Ogun, the Yoruban god of iron (we’ve got an avatar of him in CWW); Horus, Egyptian god of the sky, sun, vengeance

Asia: Lei Kung, Chinese god (“duke”) of thunder; Susano, Japanese god of storms

Check out Wikipedia, Encyclopedia Mythica, or other websites related to mythology and you should be able to drum up dozens of ideas easily.

[st barbara]

"Gu" the "heavenly blacksmith" of the Fon in Dahomey.

[Lord Liaden]

These two threads contain a number of writeups of various mythic gods, and links to various others, as well as mention where gods have appeared in published Hero Games books in the past:

http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34391

http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34727

Would you be interested in obtaining any published Fifth Edition books with mythic character writeups in them? There are now even more than are mentioned on those threads.

Also, here's the address to the excellent online Encyclopedia Mythica that Steve Long mentioned: www.pantheon.org

[st barbara]

"Wondjina" are described as "Primeval beings in the belief of the Aboriginals in north-western Australia. THey are spirits of rain and cloud and are identified with the Rainbow Serpent". This was the name used in an old issue of "JLA" for a storm god that was intended (I think) as a pastiche of "Marvel's" "Thor".

[AmadanNaBriona]

OF course, rather than focus on Thunder god types, you could start gathering a collection of Protector of Man type gods... gets you a whole different set in around the same power range...

Right off the cuff I'm thinking of Lugh or Bridgit from the Celts (Both Sun/Fire, Craft, and war gods), Baelbog from Russian myth, and the Monster Slayer Twins from the Navajo...

[Foxx!]

Lucky!

From Japan: Raijin and Fuujin, gods of thunder and wind.

Here are some pictures.
http://images.google.co.jp/images?q=%E9%9B%B7%E7%A5%9E&hl=ja

Maybe you prefer this costume play version?
http://www43.tok2.com/home/yochi2g3/cosplay93_99/96/02comiket50/2nd/15enjyous.JPG

Cheers!

[KawangaKid]

check out the Sandugo website here (http://www.geocities.com/sanduguan/xxx.htm).

Go to the link "Maharlikans" on the left side.

Otherwise... here's a list from that page...


The Pantheon

The Maharlikan Pantheon is ruled by the mighty Bathalang Maykapal and is composed of the most powerful gods in Kalualhatian.

Bathalang Maykapal - Lakan of the gods, the all-father
Agni - the god of fire
Apolaki - the god of war
Aropayang - the goddess of rain and water
Balangaw - the god of rainbow
Cupta - the god of death
Dal'lang - the goddess of beauty
Diyan Masalanta - the goddess of love
Hagibis - the god of speed
Idiyanale - the god of agriculture
Kidul - the god of thunder
Lalahon - the goddess of harvest
Lihangin - the goddess of the wind
Magwayen - the god of the otherworld known as Purgatoryo
Malyari - the god of power and strength, also known as Bernardo Carpio
Poko - the god of the sea
Siginarugan - the god of hell known as Impiyerno
Sisiburanen - the releaser of souls
Macandaue - warrior god of the Pintados
Varangao - warrior god
Ynaguinid - warrior god

[Susano]

Asia: Lei Kung, Chinese god (“duke”) of thunder; Susano, Japanese god of storms.

Full name: Susano-o-no-mikoto, god of storms, the ocean, and darkness.

[Foxx!]

Lucky!

4 guardian beasts from Japan, China, or Korea.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ssu_Ling

Cheers!

[Susano]

Lucky!

4 guardian beasts from Japan, China, or Korea.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ssu_Ling

Cheers!

Hmm... I think those are mentioned in the Asian Bestiaries.

[MisterBaldy]

So, do they have to be actual diety/gods, or perhaps just legendary characters...such as Paul Bunyan and his blue ox Babe, Pecos Bill, John Henry, Sin Tsu, Vlad Tempes (a.k.a. Dracula), Rasputin, Agamemnon, Heracles, Leonardo Di Vinci, etc.

Just curious...

[lucky]

Wow... first of all, thanks everyone! There are some amazing ideas here, and a ton of resources -- I'm extremely grateful to all of you. :)

Secondly, I think my original post title may have been a tad misleading: I'm not necessarily looking for "Thors" in the sense of thunder / lightning deities; I just used Thor as an example of the power level and mythical quality of the types of beings I'm thinking of. Any archetype is potentially interesting.



Would you be interested in obtaining any published Fifth Edition books with mythic character writeups in them?
Heck yeah! Can you suggest a title or two? :)



OF course, rather than focus on Thunder god types, you could start gathering a collection of Protector of Man type gods...
Actually, "protector" archetypes are even better for my purposes. The basic premise behind these beings is that humanity, as a species, is facing an imminent threat. No-one is consciously aware of it but on an unconscious level, there's a planetwide sense of unease building. A good analogy is the mouse and the owl: when the shadow of a flying owl passes over the mouse, the rodent freezes. It doesn't know why, but some deeply-ingrained instinct "feels" the presence of a life-destroying predator. Humanity is feeling the shadow of an owl passing over it.

(The actual threat will manifest in the form of an invading species, but that's a long way off and won't begin in earnest until the second act of the campaign, five or six adventures in.)

For now, humanity is unconsciously generating "antibodies," of a sort. They would come to be called 'the godlings' and they are humanity's myths made flesh. Archetypal heroes spun from dreams and legends, they start to appear in the months before the invasion begins. This is where the campaign begins, during the appearance of the first godlings.



So, do they have to be actual diety/gods, or perhaps just legendary characters...
That's a good question. The idea is that these beings are immediately recognizable within their culture and manifest immense psychic (and sociocultural) weight. Vlad the Impaler, Heracles and maybe even Uncle Sam and Johnny Canuck would be appropriate. I'd have to think about it some more.

[Rage]

I suggest Maui, he's featured in mopst polynesian cultures, often as a shark God,l but also as a smart and wily trickster god and culture hero figure. He slowed the sun so as to make days longer, he stole the secret of fire from a goddess (fire was her fingernails,) he could transform into things, he had a fishbone strong enough to fish up the fish that was turned into the north Island of New Zealand. Hell, he almost defeated death, but got sold out by a fantail and is going to be reincarnated when the world needs him most.

[Lord Liaden]

Well, lucky, from what you're describing I think I can suggest a title or two from the published 5E stuff. :)

My first recommendation would be the recently-released Champions Worldwide. That has three god-avatars in it, quite powerful too: Ogun from West Africa, Maat from Egypt, and Ushas from India. You might also take a look at Conquerors, Killers And Crooks. The villain Anubis derives his power from an Egyptian god, and two Chinese god-avatar types, Lei Kung and Guang Di, are also portrayed (albeit not with complete folkloric accuracy). ;) Both of these books have lots of other cool characters to steal, of course.

I'd also suggest Digital Hero #31, which has writeups for superheroic-level versions of Hercules and Achilles, as well as Bielo of Euroguard, inspired by the Slavic Bielobog, god of life and the spring. Still in the DH vein, issue #14 gives you Beowulf, reincarnation of the ancient hero and member of the Sentinels superteam in the Champions Universe.

Arcane Adversaries contains the Aztec god Tezcatlipoca. Although he's decidedly villainous, and even more powerful than what you're looking for, he might be used as a template for another more benign Aztec god.

Now since you're also considering Vlad Tepes as a possible member of your group, I think you'll find that this writeup for a very similar character, Chuckg's PC hero Baron von Darien, would make a good template for him: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?p=155143

[st barbara]

I suggest Maui, he's featured in mopst polynesian cultures, often as a shark God,l but also as a smart and wily trickster god and culture hero figure. He slowed the sun so as to make days longer, he stole the secret of fire from a goddess (fire was her fingernails,) he could transform into things, he had a fishbone strong enough to fish up the fish that was turned into the north Island of New Zealand. Hell, he almost defeated death, but got sold out by a fantail and is going to be reincarnated when the world needs him most. I always thought that there was something a bit fishy about those New Zealanders !

[megaplayboy]

Bahamut(from you-know-where), a king of good dragonkind, travels around as a kindly old monk, accompanied by seven canaries. Would be fairly easy to write up a multiform, with the human form being an awesomely powerful wuxia martial artist, and the dragon form being just plain scary.

Anansi, the spider god from African folklore, is a very clever trickster.

You could have an immortal technomancer named Maxwell, who uses tiny little demons to make his gadgets work:D

[Basil]

Prometheus: created mortals from clay, gave them fire, taught them agriculture and all about medicinal plants, and how to tame horses. Also invented numbers.

Thoth: much like Prometheus, but without the creator aspect.

Perseus: destroyed Medusa, rescued Andromeda from the sea serpent. Unlike most Greek heroes of legend, he remained faithful to his wife (Andromeda).

Palladium: a statue of Pallas Athena that completely protected whatever city it was in. The main reason Troy held out for so long was the Palladium was in it---until Odysseus and Diomedes stole it away.

The Fates: they determine length, and (general) character of a persons life. Perhaps not quite what you had in mind, but I thought I'd mention it.

Galahad: the knight of the Round Table that actually reaches the Holy Grail. He's the most pure, the most chivalrous of all the knights.

Gilgamesh: demi-god and king of Uruk, one of the earliest city-states of Mesopotamia.

Beowulf: slayer of monsters, good king, traveler of note.

Esther: saved her people by turning a bad guy's plot on its head, entraping him.

Vishnu: the preserver, the god who keeps things going.

[Lucius]

More suggestions:


Lady Liberty. (Maybe the statue even becomes animated?)

King Arthur. It's been promised for centuries that he would return - when desperately needed.

I second the Navaho Monster Slayers. Some version of the Divine Twins (a global crosscultural motif) should be there.

Vishnu or Shiva.

Kuan Yin.

Jesus.

Lucius Alexander

The palindromedary asks "That last IS just your signature, not you adding yourself to the list of deities, right?"

[proditor]

Beowulf: slayer of monsters, good king, traveler of note.

And conveniently enough, there are two versions of him in Digital Hero #34. ;)