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Reimagining classic comic characters


Michael Hopcroft

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One of the things I remmeber reading several years ago that appelaed to me immensely was DC's Tanget series, a short-lived alternate universe that included alternative versions of some of their popular heroes and villains. And I mean COMPLETELY different; powers, gender, attitude, everything.

 

Although I might not want to do it the same way they did 9for one thing I don't even rem,ember all the details of the tanget universe), I am curious about what Champions players would do if they were given the name of a classic DC or marvel character, given the standard point cost, and told they could not recreate the original character but had to come up with a completely new character that fit the name.

 

Some characters are so iconic that it wouldn;t work at all for them, such as Superman. The name itself conjures up many images that simply cannot be gotten rid of. (You could build a character aroung Nitzche's idea of the 'superman", but that would be difficult to pull off). And while there are many different concepts you could bild around the name Batman, the character that Bob kane actually created is so throughly ingrained in our popular culture that few can wrap their mindsa round the concept.

 

But there are any number of things you could do with the second tier characters like the Flash, the Green Lantern, Hawkman (and Hawkgirl/Hawkwoman), the Martian Manhunter and some of the Marvel characters such as the Thing, the Huamn torch, the invisible Girl/Woman, Captain America, or the Vision.

 

Would such complete reimainings work in a Champions campaign built around the concept?

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Re: Reimagining classic comic characters

 

Originally posted by Michael Hopcroft

Would such complete reimainings work in a Champions campaign built around the concept?

 

Probably, could even have fun using some of the official characters for it too. Ironclad becomes Iron Man, for example.

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I don't see any reason you couldn't do it with any character no matter how iconic they are. Superman is only hard because his name is so bland really I mean what male character with Powers couldn't be called "Superman" it's no more discriptive than "Ultraman" "Powerman" or "Greatman". Batman could be like the Manbat, or he could control winged mammals, or he could use a high tech mace (or an actual baseball bat) , or he could have sonic powers, or vampire powers, the options are vast.

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Originally posted by farik

Batman could be like the Manbat, or he could control winged mammals, or he could use a high tech mace (or an actual baseball bat) , or he could have sonic powers, or vampire powers, the options are vast.

 

How about the loyal side kick to a British Super Hero with a military theme? It is the Dragoon and Batman! Maybe put them both in power armor?

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I tried to find my Nazi created Super-Man that I wrote up a brief note for. I didn't find it. But, I did find this...

 

Originally posted by Hermit

How about this for a superman clone.. uhm, kind of.

 

Eklar of the D'movian province figured the judge would go pretty light on him. So he had got into another fight. Big deal, maybe others had adjusted to this new age of peace for the planet but not him. He was a man of action. Of course, he had destroyed that nocturnal recreation lot in the fight, but surely it was accredited?

 

The judge wasn't amused, "This is your third violation that has lead to major property damage. Under the new administration, incarceration for crimes is seen as barbaric... so..." The judge gave a grin, "I have decided to get 'creative'."

 

Suddenly, Eklar was nervous.

"Eklar, you are hereby sentenced to community service... in the Sol System, on the third planet... they have light gravity, and few of the abilities we consider natural. There you shall assist the natives as one of their 'super heroes', doing good, saving lives, and putting your over stimulated aggression glands to good use. Period of thirty cycles! An implant will be your means of checking in with your rehibilitation officer. "

 

And that was that... Now Ecklar finds himself in a guady out fit, and looking down on an Earth city to see what accident prone terran is going to fall off a building THIS evening. Fortunately, the Terrans are pretty gullible, and have fallen for this whole "Truth, Justice, and the Earthen Way" dung he's been spouting as his reason for being here. Heck, she was a bit pasty colored, but that media female was kind of cute... if he played his probabilities right...

The annoying 'Ping' of his implant went off... time to contact the homeworld. Sigh.

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Interesting. I have Mandarinestro, an Amalgam villain, in my campaign. The embodiment of an ancient Chinese warlord, his ten rings of power were taken one by one from the slain bodies of his sworn rivals, the Timelords. Now as the ultimate Chaoslord, he intends to rule the world- or destroy it.

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I think this would be particularly interesting if done with CU characters.

 

Like, Defender could be reworked into a telekinetic whose most powerful ability is a Force Wall. Though he does have offensive capabilities, he sees himself as a primarily defensive player in the Champions team, blocking incoming attacks and keeping collateral damage from harming bystanders.

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