input.jack Posted September 23, 2006 Report Share Posted September 23, 2006 In my campaign, I have mentioned a superhero named "Annavaru" (which means "respected Big Brother", more or less), who looks like Rajkumar, an actor and celebrity who was "the John Wayne of India". Basically, I wanted to do something to memorialize Rajkumar, and thought making his character the national hero of India would be a good way to do that. The character is supposed to have been born in 1929, and to be a generally stand-up guy. A true hero; gives of his time and effort freely asking nothing in return, has a total commitment to avoid taking Human life, and has it in mind that he acts as a role-model, and behaves accordingly. He is honest, honorable, and down-to-Earth. Basically, hes everything Superman was, before the guys at DC went crazy and made Supes a soul-less government lap-dog with an annual urge to slap his best friends around. Here is my dilemma: I wrote him up. And based him more or less on Superman's powers. I did (I thought) a good job of setting him to scale with the rest of my campaign. BUT. If feels...cliched. It feels too...easy...to make him a Superman clone. I want him to have his own Power set. His own identity. He needs to be someone capable of dealing with national-level threats, like on the level of a powerful JLA member (Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern...) So Im wondering if anyone has an idea for a powerset to give him. I dont need a write-up, I just need an IDEA. I want to give the character the kind of Powers that would be useful to him in helping people. He should be counted among the more powerful heroes of the world. But I dont want his powers to seem cheesy or schlocky. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermit Posted September 23, 2006 Report Share Posted September 23, 2006 Re: Any ideas for a National Hero for India? Give him the superman powers more or less, but change some sfx around (Perhaps blasts of energy from the forehead or hands instead of heat vision) and instead of just having him draw power from the sun, have him mirror the strength of the life around him. Sentient life provides more energy than, say, plant life, but all life, down to the simpliest gives him some power. What's more, should enough people be conciously hoping/praying/trusting him at once, he can get a major power boost. It's the sort of power that could enable someone to claim the title of a god.... but he's too good a man for that, he is proud just to be another son of India Obviously, the vacuum of space, or any other area where there is little to no life for miles can weaken him tremendously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supreme Serpent Posted September 23, 2006 Report Share Posted September 23, 2006 Re: Any ideas for a National Hero for India? Howabout just massive force field powers? Invisible Girl to the Nth degree, but minus the invisibility. "I'm bringing the sunken submarine up by creating and expanding a force field under it...be prepared to assist the sailors once it surfaces." "Yes, I could have created a field to protect us from the explosions, but I felt it better to simply expand fields within the missiles themselves as they approached, disabling them." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Johnston Posted September 23, 2006 Report Share Posted September 23, 2006 Re: Any ideas for a National Hero for India? Big brother? Why not growth? He can be superstrong at normal height but also has the ability to grow to sizes (and increased strength) primarily limited by his reluctance to devastate the country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debra Winger Posted September 23, 2006 Report Share Posted September 23, 2006 Re: Any ideas for a National Hero for India? Isn't Reincarnation a big part of the Hindu religion? How about a variation on the animal totem character where instead of accessing the powers of animals he's accessing the greatest ability of one of many past lives. Very similar to Avatar: the last Airbender. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
input.jack Posted September 23, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2006 Re: Any ideas for a National Hero for India? All very good ideas. Thanks! Ms. Winger, I loved you in "Legal Eagles" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Schultz Posted September 23, 2006 Report Share Posted September 23, 2006 Re: Any ideas for a National Hero for India? Ben Langdon (Tribe)'s Uberworld game has a pretty large selection of Indian-based superheroes. A couple of them are pretty high up there in power level, as they're lead by avatars of the Hindu pantheon. http://www.uber-world.com/assembly.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Certified Posted September 23, 2006 Report Share Posted September 23, 2006 Re: Any ideas for a National Hero for India? My recommendation for building a background and powers for a National Hero of India would be www.pantheon.org it’s an excellent source for an overview of Hindu mythology and mythic heroes. Although may not want to go with a mythic clone it may prove insightful for building a story that would resonate in that culture. Here is a link to the articles regarding Hinduism. http://www.pantheon.org/areas/mythology/asia/hindu/articles.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
input.jack Posted September 23, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2006 Re: Any ideas for a National Hero for India? Thanks for the link I am deliberately trying NOT to do anything linked to Gods, because that seems too "obvious". But youre right, it will help me get a handle on the kinds of stories for him that will be appropriate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metaphysician Posted September 23, 2006 Report Share Posted September 23, 2006 Re: Any ideas for a National Hero for India? A thought, albeit not powered related per se: have the Indian "Superman" be of the untouchable caste. Thus, his great heroism every day, even if he doesn't think about it, provides an example to everyone to respect even the least person. Also, while I am not totally clear in my memory of it, even if the character is not particularly magical in nature or divine in powerset, if he is both heroic and wise, he may be seen as an avatar of Vishnu anyway. Sort of like how Superman draws parallels with Jesus in western society, even though he's entirely mortal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Certified Posted September 28, 2006 Report Share Posted September 28, 2006 Re: Any ideas for a National Hero for India? Will you post the hero here when you finish with him? I look forward to seeing what you come up with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloodstone Posted September 28, 2006 Report Share Posted September 28, 2006 Re: Any ideas for a National Hero for India? India has a long traditon of spiritualism/mysticism. So, just put a mentalist/yogi type spin on all of his powers and no one will even realize he's a Superman clone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
input.jack Posted September 28, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2006 Re: Any ideas for a National Hero for India? The character is under construction. Thanks for all your great ideas, people! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer84 Posted September 29, 2006 Report Share Posted September 29, 2006 Re: Any ideas for a National Hero for India? You could always go with the TK Superman, a la Byrne's vision (used for the Gladiator and over in DC for the clone Superboy) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheQuestionMan Posted September 29, 2006 Report Share Posted September 29, 2006 Re: Any ideas for a National Hero for India? Indian Superheroes http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/i/india.htm Virgin Comics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Comics Raj Comics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raj_Comics The Unclean – Indian hero group with at least three members, apparently based in New Delhi. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astro_City#Heroes More Later QM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st barbara Posted October 2, 2006 Report Share Posted October 2, 2006 Re: Any ideas for a National Hero for India? India has a long tradition of both mysticsm and martial arts; so why not a martial artist with some mystical abilities who is dedicated to defending his country from supernatural threats ? On a lighter note I once saw an Indian movie (on television) which featured an Indian "Invisible Man" who called himself "Mister India" ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st barbara Posted October 2, 2006 Report Share Posted October 2, 2006 Re: Any ideas for a National Hero for India? Of course India, being a land of religious and ethnic diversity probably should have a whole BUNCH of supers who might represent different groups within Indian society I gave India 14 heros; a national team of 6, a local team in Bombay of 5 and 3 "independent" heros based in Bangalore, Calcutta and Goa. Using "Champions Worldwide" to provide me with some of the names. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OddHat Posted October 2, 2006 Report Share Posted October 2, 2006 Re: Any ideas for a National Hero for India? I've posted a few Indian Supers over the years, most notably a subtle and cowardly telepath, a delusional vigilante with mastery of traditional Hindu magic, and a mistress of traditional Indian martial arts. For an Indian Hero's Hero, I'd either go ultra traditional and have him as a living avatar of one of the gods, or go Sci-Fi and have him as a space worthy flying force field gernerator with a range of energy (force) attacks and an other-dimensional origin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
assault Posted October 3, 2006 Report Share Posted October 3, 2006 Re: Any ideas for a National Hero for India? http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/i/india.htm describes a bunch of interesting Indian superheroes. Spider-Man and Superman are particularly "interesting". EDIT: And I recommend reading the review of the Indian Superman film here: http://www.stomptokyo.com/movies/s/superman-indian.html Quite hilarious. "There is something black in my lentils." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
input.jack Posted October 3, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2006 Re: Any ideas for a National Hero for India? Annavaru isnt the only superhero from india. Just the best-known and most widely respected. I decided to go with a "Superman"-ish flying Brick with secondary Powers, fueled by the belief and hope of the people around him. He isnt mystical, because frankly, I realized that if I were from India Id be tired of everyone NOT from India thinking that all we were capable of generating was mystical heroes Just one of those things Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Certified Posted October 3, 2006 Report Share Posted October 3, 2006 Re: Any ideas for a National Hero for India? Important Statistics: India Landmass: 328.73 million hectares Total population (000): 1087 124 Annual population growth rate (%)* (1): 1.5 Population 0-14 years(%): 32 Rural population (%)* (1): 72 Total fertility rate (births per woman): * (1) 2.9 Life expectancy at birth (years) * (1): 63 GDP: Mystic Heroes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OddHat Posted October 3, 2006 Report Share Posted October 3, 2006 Re: Any ideas for a National Hero for India? http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/i/india.htm describes a bunch of interesting Indian superheroes. Spider-Man and Superman are particularly "interesting". " I liked Shaktiman. I should make him part of my campaign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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