Phantom Stranger

[L.Craig]

Is there a Champions Universe equivalent of the Phantom Stranger, I have an old DC Heroes adventure I am getting ready to use, and the central character is the Phantom Stranger, so I want to replace him with someone from the CU

[Lord Liaden]

Yes, there is. Spoiler:

show spoiler

He's called The Witness, a powerful, apparently immortal mystic (Empyreans remember meeting him 100,000 years ago). He seems to be the servant of some "higher powers" that are mostly benevolent in nature, and generally functions similarly to the Phantom Stranger: he'll appear to give cryptic information, advice or guidance, but rarely directly involves himself in conflicts. He normally acts in matters involving non-Earthly evils of a mystic or cosmic nature, but not in purely "mortal" conflicts.

The Witness is fully written up in Hidden Lands. His style and appearance are similar to those of the Phantom Stranger - change the Stranger's white shirt to green, the white gloves to black, and the cape to an overcoat, and you've pretty much got it.

[L.Craig]

Thank You

[CandidGamera]

Let me guess - "When a Stranger Calls"?

I only know of two Stranger appearances in DC Heroes Adventures..

[Cold Steel]

I only remember him in a Batman ish where they team up to fight a drug smuggler who uses voodoo. The baddie dies when he tries to use a voodoo doll made of a single strand of The Stranger's hair.

[L.Craig]

Thats the one

[Kevin Schultz]

I know him from Timothy Hunter and the Books of Magic - of Mr. Constantine's "Charge of the Trenchcoat Brigade" fame.

John Constantine
Phantom Stranger
Mister E
Doctor Occult (? - that guy that shares physical space with Rose)

[CandidGamera]

I know him from Timothy Hunter and the Books of Magic - of Mr. Constantine's "Charge of the Trenchcoat Brigade" fame.

John Constantine
Phantom Stranger
Mister E
Doctor Occult (? - that guy that shares physical space with Rose)

Indeed, that's Doctor Occult - one of DC's oldest characters. He debuted a few years before Superman.

[Haerandir]

I read a Phantom Stranger story in a collection of Alan Moore stories. It was a retelling of the Stranger's origin, side-by-side with the story of a street kid caught between two gangs. No idea what title the issue originally ran in.

[CandidGamera]

I read a Phantom Stranger story in a collection of Alan Moore stories. It was a retelling of the Stranger's origin, side-by-side with the story of a street kid caught between two gangs. No idea what title the issue originally ran in.

Secret Origins #10. The Stranger's origin is presented - or rather, four possible origins, including the Alan Moore version.

[L.Craig]

you guys mentioned Constantine, is he actually part of the DC Universe?

[LoresLost]

you guys mentioned Constantine, is he actually part of the DC Universe?

When he appeared in Swamp Thing and the Books of Magic(1) he was sort of in the mainstream DC Universe (He appears with the Mystics brought to help merge the remaining universes in Crisis on Infinate Earths). And he is a former boyfriend of our favorite Mystic mind washer Zatanna (according to the books of Magic)

The Books of Magic(1) have a scene where he is in a stand off with a number of Mystic supervillians (Flex Faust and a number of others) and Constantine makes them back down, He scared them ********.("The Witch and the boy come with me"...) He appaeratly came back from a battle with elephants, mad gods and a large number of Ninja (according to Deadman) that the Trench Coat Brigade won in India.

Of course so much retconning happening in DC and the transfer to Vertico might of changed all of that.

***(1)Books of Magic original 4 book Miniseries

[wcw43921]

Let me guess - "When a Stranger Calls"?

I only know of two Stranger appearances in DC Heroes Adventures..

I remember his appearance in Don't Ask, which starred Ambush Bug as the main "adversary." There was an asterisk (*) marking each of his Attributes, Powers and Skills, which led to this footnote--

Spoiler:

show spoiler

*The Phantom Stranger doesn't go in for any of this stuff.

Did they actually give him stats in the other adventure?

[Kevin Schultz]

you guys mentioned Constantine, is he actually part of the DC Universe?

The Vertigo line, I beleive, is pretty much part of the DC universe; they just don't cross over much. The Endless, for example, show up occasionally in the larger DC universe as well as Mr. Constentine.

My favorite factoid about John? One of White Wolf gamebooks used him as an example in their "1 to 5 dots" of an attribute that described magical power; he was at 2, I think; not bad, but not all that great. They ALSO used him in the chart right below, which was magical reputation: he was the 4, just below Merlin. (or something like that: basically, I found it amusing that they codified the fact that his rep is considerably more dangerous than his actual magical skill.)

[CandidGamera]

I remember his appearance in Don't Ask, which starred Ambush Bug as the main "adversary." There was an asterisk (*) marking each of his Attributes, Powers and Skills, which led to this footnote--

Spoiler:

show spoiler

*The Phantom Stranger doesn't go in for any of this stuff.

Did they actually give him stats in the other adventure?

Don't Ask is my favorite DC Heroes adventure ever, simply because it stars both Ambush Bug and the Phantom Stranger, my two favorite characters. Kid Spectre and Deadboy are amusing too. And where else can you get a Stat Block for Cheeks? (Cheeks has APs of Flying equal to the Strength of the character throwing him.)

I don't recall whether or not When a Stranger Calls gives the Stranger a stat block, though. Sometimes the Stranger is regarded as a plot device and therefore unstattable, but the later DC Universe RPG's magic supplement gave him an entry, as I recall.