Mark Rand Posted December 9, 2006 Report Share Posted December 9, 2006 Shadowcat is my favorite X-Men character. I'm working on a version of her that will be part of Batman's team. The basics are simple. Shadowcat (real name Katherine "Kitty" Pryde) is an 18 year old girl with advanced training in aikido, karate, krav maga, ninjitsu, and gymnastics who can become phase, or become desolid, at will. Her preferred costume is a black ninja nightsuit. Across the back she carries a ninjato, or ninja sword. In various places on her costume, she carries weapons and equipment, including those provided by Batman. Her preferred tactic is to attack from surprise using both her stealth and phasing abilities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sketchpad Posted December 9, 2006 Report Share Posted December 9, 2006 Re: Character concept: Shadowcat Why not give her claws as a weapon? Not Wolvie style claws, more like the ones used by Vega/Balrog, possibly including the mask as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Rand Posted December 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2006 Re: Character concept: Shadowcat Why not give her claws as a weapon? Not Wolvie style claws' date=' more like the ones used by Vega/Balrog, possibly including the mask as well? Shadowcat's gloves have retractable cat-style claws built into them and her nightsuit includes a mask that leaves only her eyes visible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyre-Archer Posted December 10, 2006 Report Share Posted December 10, 2006 Re: Character concept: Shadowcat Sounds interesting. And her Age of Apocalypse counterpart did use claws, so it's not like there's no precedent. She's going to have a lot of points in her phasing abilities, assuming you want to bring them all over; desolid, mess up electronics, low level flight or gliding, probably some level of Mental DEF, maybe even a bit of magical sensitivity depending how you look at it. Not to mention her intelligence and related skills (Good with computers, for example). Just my 2 cents worth, and I'm looking forward to it! EDIT: Oh, don't forget Lockheed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teflon Billy Posted December 10, 2006 Report Share Posted December 10, 2006 Re: Character concept: Shadowcat Got a character write-up for this? TB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Rand Posted December 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2006 Re: Character concept: Shadowcat Got a character write-up for this? TB Not yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Rand Posted December 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2006 Re: Character concept: Shadowcat Sounds interesting. And her Age of Apocalypse counterpart did use claws, so it's not like there's no precedent. She's going to have a lot of points in her phasing abilities, assuming you want to bring them all over; desolid, mess up electronics, low level flight or gliding, probably some level of Mental DEF, maybe even a bit of magical sensitivity depending how you look at it. Not to mention her intelligence and related skills (Good with computers, for example). Just my 2 cents worth, and I'm looking forward to it! EDIT: Oh, don't forget Lockheed! As this isn't Marvel's Shadowcat, there's no Lockheed the alien dragon. I'm also going to remove all but ninjitsu from her martial arts list. I may also replace the clawed gloves, which are more Catwoman's thing, with the triditional ninja hand and foot claws, maybe sonic ones, built into the soles of her boots and palms of her gloves. They'd add a bonus to climbing rolls and add 1D6 HKA damage to some HTH attacks. As for her phasing ability, it's just desolid, usable on others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gojira Posted December 10, 2006 Report Share Posted December 10, 2006 Re: Character concept: Shadowcat Well, if she's not the X-Men version... I was going to say that I thought 18 was a bit young for Kitty to be well trained as a ninja. She didn't really start with the X-Men until 14, and she wasn't really a full fighting member, just a girl who needed Prof. X's help. (Yes, I know she did do a lot of adventuring with the X-Men. I chalk at least some of that to writer-induced-plot-enhancement and I assume there were actually long periods where she was just, you know, going to school.) I was going to suggest simply making her older. I couldn't see a 14 year old who also had to get good grades (her parents, doncha know) having a lot of time for ninja training. But if you are going to make a different backstory, sky's the limit I guess. One question: how does Kitty's phasing ability actually work? Is it some how magic based or extra-dimensional? This is kinda implied with her magical connection to Magik (Illyana Rasputin). Or maybe your version is something else. Just thought I'd bring this up since it's kinda the big question I personally still have about Kitty's powers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaft Posted December 10, 2006 Report Share Posted December 10, 2006 Re: Character concept: Shadowcat Well, if she's not the X-Men version... I was going to say that I thought 18 was a bit young for Kitty to be well trained as a ninja. She didn't really start with the X-Men until 14... If memory swerves, isn't Kitty currently "only" 19 years old in the mainline Marvel universe? Er, the one where she is an X-Man, ninja, SHIELD agent, expert hacker and qualified school teacher... For what it's worth, I think you should keep the computer skills as well as the nijutsu. Maybe your version should have her developing phasing as a ninja skill instead of a mutant power? (I vaguely recall ninjas being able to walk through walls as a class ability way back in Oriental D&D, not that that's a good source...) I like the combining of retractable claws with Shadowcat. Reminds me of Hellcat's claws. If you continue with the combining elements of cat-themed characters, Black Cat's luck powers/jinxing powers might be a cool addition too. A tie-in to Catwoman would be cool too, such as making her related to Selina Kyle (not neccesarily biologically; Maybe she was trained by Catwoman?). Katherine "Kitty" Kyle would make an interesting name (and keep with the frequent Marvel tradition of first and last names starting with the same letter (though make sure it's KK, not KKK...) Last, but not least, 8 charges of resurrection (plus the life she alrerady starts with) are always a cool addition. Oh, and good call on dropping Lockheed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Rand Posted December 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2006 Re: Character concept: Shadowcat Kitty, a Jewish girl, started out as a student in a gymnastics school owned by a Japanese-American woman whose husband owned a martial arts studio. Her best friend, and fellow student was the owner's daughter. When Kitty was seven, the two women became blood sisters and Kitty and her family were offered free martial arts training. They accepted. Her powers kicked in while, at age 13, she was sparring with her best friend. Her teacher, who was watching, took her aside and explained to her that she had a responsibility to use her power to do good. Kitty accepted it and her training in "phasing", as she calls it, continued as part of her ninja skills. Kitty can take someone with her when she phases, but she can't walk on air or disrupt electronic systems. As she explains it, "I can make my body, and whatever I'm carrying, out of phase with normal matter and move through the spaces between atoms." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaft Posted December 11, 2006 Report Share Posted December 11, 2006 Re: Character concept: Shadowcat Kitty, a Jewish girl, started out as a student in a gymnastics school owned by a Japanese-American woman whose husband owned a martial arts studio. Her best friend, and fellow student was the owner's daughter. When Kitty was seven, the two women became blood sisters and Kitty and her family were offered free martial arts training. They accepted. Hmm, another potential idea is to create a rift between the two blood-sisters like the one between Snake-Eyes & Storm-Shadow in the GIJoe series. Only this rift is between a pair of hormonal teenage girls, so it may be even more vicious... Kitty's instructor could have been Katanna, from the Outsiders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Rand Posted December 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 Re: Character concept: Shadowcat Hmm, another potential idea is to create a rift between the two blood-sisters like the one between Snake-Eyes & Storm-Shadow in the GIJoe series. Only this rift is between a pair of hormonal teenage girls, so it may be even more vicious... Kitty's instructor could have been Katanna, from the Outsiders. Let's see. As far as the first part goes, Kitty would be upset that, due to her powers, she can't compete in gymnastics anymore. In fact, she may not even be allowed to help anymore. Of course, by the time they're 18, the split might've healed. As far as Katana being Kitty's teacher, it wouldn't work. Katana's samurai. Kitty's a ninja. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pattern Ghost Posted December 23, 2006 Report Share Posted December 23, 2006 Re: Character concept: Shadowcat Lady Shiva in deep cover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gojira Posted December 24, 2006 Report Share Posted December 24, 2006 Re: Character concept: Shadowcat If memory swerves' date=' isn't Kitty currently "only" 19 years old in the mainline Marvel universe? Er, the one where she is an X-Man, ninja, SHIELD agent, expert hacker and qualified school teacher...[/quote'] *grumbles* she'd better not be... she should be like 38, and I thought she'd been married and had a kid, but I haven't been following the X-Men for quite sometime... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Rand Posted December 24, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2006 Re: Character concept: Shadowcat Lady Shiva in deep cover. Nope, just a female gymnastics coach with a lot of training as a ninja. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Rand Posted February 20, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2007 Re: Character concept: Shadowcat I may convert Kitty to a more four-color character with an unusual background. Her mother died as she was being born in Kyoto. Her father, who decided that he couldn't raise her alone, gave her up for adoption to a Japanese family on the condition that she be told about her old family. They agreed. From an early age, Kitty was trained in ninjitsu by her father, in gymnastics by her mother, and in the geisha arts by an aunt who owned a tea house. As she learned, she slowly developed her powers. The first is the "Nine Ways of Cutting", which she learned as part of her training. The second was her phasing ability (desolid, usable on others), which kicked in when she was 13. The last two, "The Path of the Shadow's Companion" and life support vs aging, were gifts from a spirit that she agreed to serve as host for when she became 18. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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