Help: Folk Heroes.

[Weldun]

I'm working up a concept that's been bouncing around my brain-pan for a while now, and I realised that I need just a smidge of help.

 

The basic idea is a metamorph who transforms into representations of folk heroes, with some major PRE bonuses stemming from that. As this character is intended to be a Mr.Flexibilty-type metamorph, each of the forms will also not overlap too heavily with another form in regards to archetype (Brick, Energy Projector, etc...)

 

The forms I'm currently thinking of are...

John Henry as a brick(The hammer is simply visible effect of his HA power)

Wong Fei Hong as a Martial Artist.

And maybe Robin Hood as the classic form of the weapon master, the archer.

 

Any suggestions?

[Kevin Schultz]

Re: Help: Folk Heroes.

 

Dang. and here I was thinking of "He's a guitar player with a napoleon complex. He's a chellist with delusions of grandeur. Simon and Garfunkel: Together - THEY FIGHT CRIME!"

 

[Flames]

Re: Help: Folk Heroes.

 

Just a few off the top of my head:

 

Paul Bunyan, giant woodsman

Mike Fink, riverboat brawler and legendary marksman

Pecos Bill, super-cowboy

[Moonblade]

Re: Help: Folk Heroes.

 

It might be a bit silly but...

 

Johnny Appleseed? PEB autofire?

 

James Bowie (HKA)

 

William Tell

 

Technically, Zorro, but he's already a superhero

[Weldun]

Re: Help: Folk Heroes.

 

Hmmm.

 

Paul Bunyan, giant woodsman (John Henry Fills the Brick slot)

Mike Fink, riverboat brawler and legendary marksman (Who?)

Pecos Bill, super-cowboy (Hmmm, Weapon expert with a difference from the standard fare. Nice)

Johnny Appleseed? PEB autofire? (Nah. See Below.)

James Bowie (HKA) (Nah. See Below.)

William Tell (It has definite possibilities...)

 

Well, there are two suggestions that didn't sit well with me for some reason, and I think that I've figured out why. I basically would prefer suggestions that also range from outside of the cultural groups already suggested, due to the PRE effect I have in mind. I'm only set on the first two, anyway. How about I organise this a little differently.

 

Brick: John Henry. (North Americans, particularly the blue collar type). *FIXED*

Energy Projector: Probably difficult to fill (probably filled by a weapon expert), needs thought.

Gadgeteer: Do any folk heroes fall into this category?

Martial Artist: Wong Fei Hong. (Chinese, particularly the Cantonese). *FIXED*

Mentalist: Mesmerism?

Mystic: Most tended to be the advisors or adcersaries to folk heroes.

Powered Armour: Almost definitely not.

Speedster: A famous horseman?

Weaponmaster Robin Hood? Pecos Bill? William Tell?

 

Hmmm. This IS hard...

[ParagonAlpha]

Re: Help: Folk Heroes.

 

 

Brick: John Henry. (North Americans, particularly the blue collar type). *FIXED*

Energy Projector: Probably difficult to fill (probably filled by a weapon expert), needs thought.

Gadgeteer: Do any folk heroes fall into this category?

Martial Artist: Wong Fei Hong. (Chinese, particularly the Cantonese). *FIXED*

Mentalist: Mesmerism?

Mystic: Most tended to be the advisors or adcersaries to folk heroes.

Powered Armour: Almost definitely not.

Speedster: A famous horseman?

Weaponmaster Robin Hood? Pecos Bill? William Tell?

Hmmm. This IS hard...

 

Here are a couple of suggestions.

 

Joe Magarac - United States, steelworker made of steel

Could fit your Power Armor need.

Cúchulainn - Ireland, folk legend and the pre-eminent hero of Ulaid in the Ulster Cycle

An alternate to your Weaponsmaster.

 

Good Luck

[McCoy]

Re: Help: Folk Heroes.

 

Can we define Folk Hero? I would have disqualified Johnny Appleseed and James Bowie because, while their legends have grown in the telling, they are historical persons.

 

Most Folk Heroes are Brick/Marksman crosses. But for your Mystic, may I suggest Hiawatha?

[Steel Legs]

Re: Help: Folk Heroes.

 

Anti-hero-ish: Joe Hill, Bonny&Clyde, Billy the Kid.

 

Buffalo Bill for weapons.

 

The Seven Ronin (aka 7 Samurai).

 

Coyote the Trickster (a god, but still...)

 

There a young girl in Russian folklore I can't remember the name who saved her family from their own stupidity until Baba Yaga finally got her to look clear-visioned and then she left them to themselves.

 

Huh guess I don't know many folktales outside AngloAmerican after all.

 

BTW, Paul Bunyan is literary not folk. He was invented to sell timber/paper shtuff.

[TheQuestionMan]

Re: Help: Folk Heroes.

 

Folk Heroes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_hero

 

 

Cheers

 

 

QM

[csyphrett]

Re: Help: Folk Heroes.

 

Brick: John Henry. (North Americans, particularly the blue collar type). *FIXED*

Energy Projector: Thunderbird, Indian spirits of lightning

Gadgeteer: FEBOLD FEBOLDSON a logger who left Paul Bunyan's camp to settle in the west.

Martial Artist: Wong Fei Hong. (Chinese, particularly the Cantonese). *FIXED*

Mentalist: I can't think of any off hand

Mystic: Math, Talisein, Thomas the Rhymer, Mananan Mac Lir

Powered Armour: Joe Magarac has been suggested, and he was a man of steel.

Speedster: Casey Jones?

Weaponmaster Robin Hood? Pecos Bill? William Tell?

 

CES

[Narratio]

Re: Help: Folk Heroes.

 

For the powered armour type you could change the concept to just an armoured warrior like Ivanhoe,.

[Flames]

Re: Help: Folk Heroes.

 

Folk Heroes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_hero

Wikipedia link FTW!

 

But for powered armor, could you have the historical figure of Robert Fulton?

 

Steam-powered armor, maybe.

[Weldun]

Re: Help: Folk Heroes.

 

Hmm. I would hardly call Mr Fulton a folk hero, although you have given me an idea for another character.

 

King Math might make an interesting mystic, but transmuters tend to get expensive, fast.

 

Ivanhoe could work. I did make a magical PA-jock for 4th ed.

 

Taliesin is interesting, but a metamorph who turns into another metamorph?

 

Thomas Learmonth of Erceldoune? Hmm, that has some possibilities, especially if the "real" one returns from the fairyland.

 

Casey Jones. The idea of the embodiment of the legend of a locomotive engineer as a speedster in a superhero environment just boggles the mind a little too much.

[Kevin Schultz]

Re: Help: Folk Heroes.

 

I'd argue that Pecos Bill, in tall-tale fashion, maps better to the mystic: he pretty much as a "do anything, as long as it's Texan" VPP. (lassoing tornadoes, carving canyons, etc.)

[Weldun]

Re: Help: Folk Heroes.

 

True, and as they "do things bigger in Texas", I could blow out the PRE effects a bit more...

[clsage]

Re: Help: Folk Heroes.

 

This suggestion:

 

The Seven Ronin (aka 7 Samurai).

 

Made me think of this one (for duplication and martial arts):

 

The 47 Ronin ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forty-seven_Ronin )

 

Granted, they were more historical figures than folk heroes but....

 

EDIT: After going back and seeing that you have already filled the MA slot

perhaps they could potentially fill the "weapons-master" slot....?

 

-Carl-

[st barbara]

Re: Help: Folk Heroes.

 

Well , if you want an armoured "folk hero" yoy could try Ned Kelly. Australian bushranger, outlaw, and (to many) a folk hero famous for his armoured suit !

[Weldun]

Re: Help: Folk Heroes.

 

Well ' date=' if you want an armoured "folk hero" yoy could try Ned Kelly. Australian bushranger, outlaw, and (to many) a folk hero famous for his armoured suit ![/quote']I've been living here since '89, and I totally missed that.

[McCoy]

Re: Help: Folk Heroes.

 

Gadgeteer, may have to go into childrens stories. Would be a Trickster figure, like Puss in Boots, The Brave Taylor, or Jack the Giant Killer.

 

Only one I can think of is Lucky from Lucky and the Giant, by Benjamin Elkin. Lucky was a small boy whose parents chastized him for keeping all sorts of interesting things in his pockets. But when he confronted a giant who set tasks for him, he was able to do them because of his gadget pool.

 

For example, the giant picked up a stone and broke it in half. "Can you do this? Can you put one stone in two boxes?"

 

Lucky responded, as he did to every task, "Why I can do that very thing!" and pulled something out of his pockets, in this case two boxes, one smaller than the other. He put a stone in the smaller box, and the smaller box in the larger box, one stone in two boxes, task accomplished.

[Weldun]

Re: Help: Folk Heroes.

 

Well, here is a definition that I've found usefull.

A folk hero is type of hero, real or mythological. The single salient characteristic which makes a character a folk hero is the imprinting of the name, personality and deeds of the character in the popular consciousness. This presence in the popular consciousness is evidenced by mention in folk songs, folk tales and other folklore. Folk heroes are also the subject of some films.

Put that way, MacGuyver nearly counts, as I know of several people who have never seen the show (and man I love{ed} that show) who can recount some of the stories. BUt, I think that Angus MacGuyver would be stretching a bit.

 

Although, what occurs to me is that it is less that the character draws on folk heroes, and more that he draws on legends.

[Alverant]

Re: Help: Folk Heroes.

 

Brick: John Henry. (North Americans, particularly the blue collar type). *FIXED*

Energy Projector: Probably difficult to fill (probably filled by a weapon expert), needs thought.

Gadgeteer: Do any folk heroes fall into this category?

Martial Artist: Wong Fei Hong. (Chinese, particularly the Cantonese). *FIXED*

Mentalist: Mesmerism?

Mystic: Most tended to be the advisors or adcersaries to folk heroes.

Powered Armour: Almost definitely not.

Speedster: A famous horseman?

Weaponmaster Robin Hood? Pecos Bill? William Tell?

 

Hmmm. This IS hard...

 

Given your great defination of folk hero;

 

A folk hero is type of hero, real or mythological. The single salient characteristic which makes a character a folk hero is the imprinting of the name, personality and deeds of the character in the popular consciousness. This presence in the popular consciousness is evidenced by mention in folk songs, folk tales and other folklore. Folk heroes are also the subject of some films.

 

I have some suggestions that may stretch the defination a little, but should count.

 

Powered Armour: King Arthur, King Richard the Lionhearted

 

Speedster: Marathon, Jesse Owens

 

Gadgeteer: Thomas Edison, James Bond

 

Mentalist: The Shadow (cloud men's minds), Dr.Doolittle (telepathy, animals only), Sherlock Holmes (his amazing deduction skills could be simulated by telepathy and retrocognition)

 

Mystic: St.Peter, St.Francis of Assisi, Santa, Tim the Enchanter, Tesla, Isaac Newton, Roger Bacon, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Tycho Brahe (everyone after Tesla studied alchemy and astrology) I also recommend looking into India and Native American folklore for mystics/medicine men.

[Dawn Darke]

Re: Help: Folk Heroes.

 

A folk hero is type of hero, real or mythological. The single salient characteristic which makes a character a folk hero is the imprinting of the name, personality and deeds of the character in the popular consciousness. This presence in the popular consciousness is evidenced by mention in folk songs, folk tales and other folklore. Folk heroes are also the subject of some films.

In that case, about anyone who's been filked counts. The definition isn't rigorous enough.

[Weldun]

Re: Help: Folk Heroes.

 

In that case' date=' about anyone who's been filked counts. The definition isn't rigorous enough.[/quote']Well, one of the powers that will be common to each form will be an Offensive PRE bonus that only works against specific cultural identity. For example, if I did make one of the forms, Ned Kelly, his PRE bonus would not work on someone such as myself, despite the fact that I live here, as I don't really consider myself to be an Australian. However, if one of the forms was to be Kupe or Maui, it would probably work on me, as would William Wallace, King Arthur or Jame MacKenzie.

[Doc Samson]

Re: Help: Folk Heroes.

 

I recently had a similar idea. Maybe this will inspire something. I created a villain to be used in an upcoming story named Crazy Jack (homage to characters like Crazy Jane and Legion). He has multiple personalities, with each personality having a different form and powers (Multiform VPP). Currently all of forms are European legendary or folktale creatures with Jack as part of their names.

 

His current forms are:

Jack-In-Irons - A giant brick with chain powers

Spring Heeled Jack - a victorian speedster with leaping powers (spring-based Powered Armor)

Jack O' Lantern - A monstrous energy projector who throws flaming pumpkins

Jack Frost - An elfish energy projector with ice and cold Powers

Jack In The Green - a nature spirit mystic with plant and wood powers (Based On Con Mental Powers)

Jack the Giant Killer - a mischievous martial artist with shrinking

Jack the Ripper - a homicidal weapon master with shadow powers

 

Some other ideas I have been throwing around for him are an Evil Clown Gadgeteer named Jack-in-the-Box and a Pirate with Luck Powers named One-Eyed Jack or Black Jack.

[Asperion]

Re: Help: Folk Heroes.

 

Here is a wonderful idea that will rapidly fill most if not all the possible slots for this character - GrecoRoman Mythology. By studying their mythology for a few minutes will give you several brick, speed, agility, mental, etc type characters that one could use. The most common of these would be Hercules (brick), Ares (manuplator), Mercury (speed), and Aphrodite (mental). However their panthion numbered in the thousands, most who have been lost in the annuals of time, so feel free to "discover" some new gods to fill the unfilled roles.

 

If you do not will to go the route of the famous GrecoRomans then the Celts, Norse, Franc, Mongals, Orientals (several here), and many other cultures have created panthions every bit as large but not as well known in American literature, so feel free to have fun with the character's "discoveries" in these areas.