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Worst. Hero. Ever.


Weldun

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Re: Worst. Hero. Ever.

 

A certain site proclaims Tiger-man as the worst hero' date=' ever. I'm just curious if anyone knows of any other contenders to the title? Anyone?[/quote']

 

I actually own the two (I think) issues of Tiger-Man and I can tell you first hand that there are plenty of other characters out there that suck way worse than T-M. It was actually kind of an interesting book and was, in a lot of ways, Wolverine before Wolverine was.

 

My vote for worst goes to the post-Fawcett, pre-Marvel & DC version of Captain Marvel. It was as stupid as it was ugly and I wish I would have bought the issues I found as a kid. Read more about him here-

 

http://www.toonopedia.com/capmarv0.htm

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Re: Worst. Hero. Ever.

 

In the 1960s, there was an Android Captain Marvel whose power was that he could separate his limbs and head by yelling "SPLIT!" Now, I like quirky concepts, but it works when the writer actually does something cool with the quirkyness.

 

Nuts! I didn't see this. So, yeah, this is the same guy I just posted about.

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Re: Worst. Hero. Ever.

 

Yeah, next they'll start brainwashing villians. ;)

 

My vote goes for Psylocke. I'm not sure how a British telepath becomes an asian ninja but even I can't stretch my suspension of belief that much.

 

It happened when Jim Lee wanted an asian character to draw in X-Men. That's the long and the short of it.

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Re: Worst. Hero. Ever.

 

It happened when Jim Lee wanted an asian character to draw in X-Men. That's the long and the short of it.

 

OMG! How could I have forgotten about that?

 

Man, I hated that. That was the most inexcusable fanboy pandering I had ever seen. Not even a shred of respect for the character, for continuity, or for the intelligence of the readers. I loathe nimbo Psylocke. The era where she appeared marked the beginning of the end for X-Men specifically and Marvel generally, in my opinion. It's not coincidentally also the era where artists ruled the roost and writers were nobodys - some titles didn't even have a regular writer, although they sure as hell had regular artists.

 

Then again, I've been "meh" on most Marvel comics (with the exception of Alias) since Jim Shooter quit being editor in chief.

 

So, yeah, that dates me.

 

PS - I saw something online which referred to the "X-Men" era (when the title just called "X-Men" came out), with the Blue and Gold teams, as the "Golden Age" of the X-Men. I threw up a little in my mouth.

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Re: Worst. Hero. Ever.

 

And' date=' no hate for G'nort? How about Fight-Man?[/quote']

 

I actually own the two (I think) issues of Tiger-Man and I can tell you first hand that there are plenty of other characters out there that suck way worse than T-M. It was actually kind of an interesting book and was, in a lot of ways, Wolverine before Wolverine was.

 

My vote for worst goes to the post-Fawcett, pre-Marvel & DC version of Captain Marvel. It was as stupid as it was ugly and I wish I would have bought the issues I found as a kid.

 

To me, one criteria for "worst hero ever", which the above meet, is a very short publishing history. That doesn't mean "bad character" any more than "lengthy history" means "great character", but I don't believe the "worst hero ever" can resonate to the extent they sell for 10+ years.

 

Recallling from years back, what about Skate Man. IIRC, one issue, normal guy on roller skates.

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Re: Worst. Hero. Ever.

 

Superman is the worst hero ever.

 

Being first doesn't make you best, just ask the Arizona Cardinals. Fact is, if Superman were created today even idiots like Millar would laugh at the concept. Superman is the ultimate munchkin character and a walking joke when taken in context.

 

Imagine the scenario during the beginning of a new campaign.

 

GM: Okay so I've seen Bob, Jerry, and Susan's characters, let me see yours Jim.

Jim: Okay, but I went a tad bit out of the point framework we were given.

GM: That's alright as long as its not too bad, let me see.

*GM looks over the sheet and casts a glance back at Jim*

GM: Is this a joke?

Jim: What?

GM: An uber brick?

Jim: Yup

GM: With energy attacks?

Jim: Yup

GM: And super speed?

Jim: Yessir

GM: And a secret fortress where he has an attached gadget pool?

Jim: Uh huh

GM: You're out of your freaking mind.

Jim: Oh c'mon! He's completely vulnerable to magic and there's this special type of rock that saps his powers...

 

 

Not only that but Superman is never in any real danger, ever. There's no sense of drama there, no suspense, no wondering about the outcome.

 

Superman, the first, the worst.

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Re: Worst. Hero. Ever.

 

Superman is one of those character I always worry about my characters becoming.

 

But then, I do tend towards powerful character concepts, so I have reasons to worry about that.

 

We have a player like that, although in his favor he knows he tends toward this and asks us to help him curb it.

 

Me? I tend to play skilled normals with crippling personality disorders. My other favorite character is Color Kid.

 

So, no... I've never really had that problem.

 

Which is clearly not to say I don't have problems.

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Re: Worst. Hero. Ever.

 

Dazzler - she's based off disco' date=' what could possibly be worse.[/quote']

 

And to make matters worse, she was originally going to be called "The Disco Dazzler", but they dropped the first part when disco died. Why they didn't drop the whole theme or the character entirely, I don't know.

 

Even worse than that, Dazzler was originally conceived as a multi-media marketing juggernaut- they were actually going to hire a woman to portray her on records, in movies, etc. All of this based on the Healing Power of Disco.

 

Believe it or not, they gave this idea a second try with the one-shot wonder "Nightcat" in the early 90's. Only one issue appeared, but it did include an actual head shot of the actress/singer/whatever that was going to portray her. This time it was apparently based on the healing power of the Miami Sound Machine.

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Re: Worst. Hero. Ever.

 

The Punisher.

Wolverine.

Iron Man (recent writing).

Batman (recent writing).

 

Punisher wasn't really ever a true hero. Or wasn't meant to be.

 

Wolverine can be a great character if he's written as someone who actually thinks and has a conscience.

 

Out of the "major" heroes, my least favorite has always been Superman. He's just too powerful, even after getting powered down following Crisis on Infinite Earths.

 

Lamest hero I can think of off hand is tough(and I refuse to count the likes of Juggernaut or characters who "converted" simply because some writers wanted them to; characters must actually make sense as heroes and WANT to be heroes). It would probably belong to one of the several uninteresting Generation X characters like Skin. "Hey, my mutant power is that I have 12 feet of extra skin.' The guy was probably named Angelo Espinoza for no reason other than as a bad attempt to play to Hispanics, like ANYONE would go for such a lame character concept.

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Re: Worst. Hero. Ever.

 

I noticed that attempts to go ethnic are showing a tendancy towards suckitude.

 

Anyone remember Black Vulcan, Apache Cheif, and Samurai from Superfriends? Those had to be among the worst for not only were they defective, they were offensive to the people they were supposed to represent (or so I've heard).

 

Of course, Martin and Wendy, the Wonder Twins, and just about every other half-reared abortion of an original character on that show would qualify. Boy are we getting crowded here.

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Re: Worst. Hero. Ever.

 

Dazzler - she's based off disco' date=' what could possibly be worse.[/quote']

 

I can say, without any real pride, that I have indeed come up with much worse than some person based off of disco, used as examples of disturbing characters. You'll find them on the first page of the "disturbing character premises" thread.

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Re: Worst. Hero. Ever.

 

Superman is one of those character I always worry about my characters becoming.

 

Most of the characters I design for my own use are Superman homages, with the occasional Captain Marvel homage thrown in. (They're basically the same, except the latter has OIHID...)

 

I personally don't see what people have against Superman. He has been in a lot of superb stories, as well as the usual clunkers. He has a wonderfully deep history and supporting cast - everyone from Lois Lane to the Legion of Superheroes to Comet the Super-Horse. Sure, some of it is silly - but the whole Iron Age debacle is a result of a backlash against silliness.

 

From a gaming point of view you can mine entire campaign worlds from his continuity. Furthermore, you can build quite reasonable facsimiles of the character on standard character points. You can pretty much play him.

 

And, essentially, I have.

 

A basic Superman does what he could do in Action Comics #1, or even what he could do in More Fun #101. Everything else is gravy.

 

One variation I have toyed with is the More Fun #101 version, with an LSH flight ring...

 

EDIT: Here is one of the good Superman stories. It actually dates from a period when Superman's suck factor was usually quite high.

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Re: Worst. Hero. Ever.

 

I personally don't see what people have against Superman. He has been in a lot of superb stories, as well as the usual clunkers. He has a wonderfully deep history and supporting cast - everyone from Lois Lane to the Legion of Superheroes to Comet the Super-Horse. Sure, some of it is silly - but the whole Iron Age debacle is a result of a backlash against silliness.

 

Although, I don't have any problem with Superman, I can see where people would have a tough time relating to the character. I don't know if thats because of bad writing or him just being a difficult character.

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Re: Worst. Hero. Ever.

 

I can say' date=' without any real pride, that I have indeed come up with [i']much[/i] worse than some person based off of disco, used as examples of disturbing characters. You'll find them on the first page of the "disturbing character premises" thread.
Heheh. I've inflicticted a martial artist called "Disco-dude" on my Ninja Hero players. I won't go into details, but as an example, he has a total psych-lim of "'why walk when you can strut', only makes half moves."
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Re: Worst. Hero. Ever.

 

Heheh. I've inflicticted a martial artist called "Disco-dude" on my Ninja Hero players. I won't go into details' date=' but as an example, he has a total psych-lim of "'why walk when you can strut', only makes half moves."[/quote']

 

And I have Electric Boogaloo, the electrical breakdancing motif martial artist :)

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