What do your super heroes wear?

[Hermit]

Costumes, naturally... (at least I hope so) but what sort of costumes? What colors do you find yourself favoring? Do you like the old stand bys like letters or symbols on the chest?

 

Are your character's costumes 'risque'? If so, how much? Just tight, or do they make Halle Berry's new Catwoman costume look classy by comparison?

 

What is your character hoping to achieve with his costume?

Protecting Secret ID.

Drawing attention to him/herself?

For stealth? (Hello dark colors)

Protection?

 

I get the feeling the answer will be that people vary costumes depending on who the character is; which is fair. Still, I have seen on these boards comments and dicussions about Primary colors being traditionally super heroic, and so on.

[Supreme Serpent]

Of course it varies by character. That being said, I tend to favor full-bodysuits w/full mask - think Spiderman, Blizzard from Marvel, etc. I like gloves & boots, and capes when I think it'll work.

 

Objective from character's point of view usually to protect Secret ID, sometimes protection (ie armor bought through costume).

 

Usually nothing too risque. Sometimes lots of skin showing, again depends on character/powers.

 

Our games tend to at least try to be "traditional" in terms of costuming - ie heroes/villains have "Codenames" and costumes, not just "First Name Last Name" wearing normal clothes who happens to have powers.

[death tribble]

Some of the costumes of the characters were put in the Superhero Image thread.

 

The Magician for example favoured a suit and a cape, these tended to be black.

The Demoness's latest outfit was a black dress with a large white Maltese cross. No plunging neckline or anything like that.

Arachneida had a grey web all over costume which later reverted to a black and white all over web costume. Later still she worse a varient that freed the mouth, had large thigh high boots and a black coat.

Note these were the good guys.

The Unicorn was yellow and walked around as is except for a pair of shorts. He was an alien after all.

The Flame was the only one who had a symbol on his chest (of fire) and had a red cloak.

Thaw favoured blue and white and anything ice coloured.

The Voidwalker was an alien and so was black with white markings looking like the stars or after he absobed the Destroyer's power just plain black with two red eyes.

Negative Man was based on Negative Man of the Doom Patrol and started off with a red and white costume in much the same way. Then went all negative energy and so jet blackish again.

I'll detail more later.

[Hermit]

Originally posted by death tribble

Some of the costumes of the characters were put in the Superhero Image thread.

 

Yeah, wish I could draw, but even those of us who can't can at least visualize in our heads

[Bartman]

My current character is a mage who's costume is a magically summoned suit of armor. It isn't traditional armor though. It appears basically as a black body suit with a sliver and red full helmet and plate on the left arm. Look at the Checkmate knights and replace the gold with red and you basically have the character. This works to hide his ID as well as provide a bit of protection.

 

His replacement, who is waiting in the wings in case anything untoward happens to my current character, uses a white and blue bodysuit with no mask. Basically he wears it only to identify himself as a super. It provdes no protection or anything else. And as he is not concerned about his ID, it also provides no disguise.

[JohnathanChance]

Costume info

 

Well, with my characters, it really all depends on the character in question. I'll give you a rundown on my three favorite characters.

 

The Rocketeer - While he isn't the original Golden Age Rocketeer, his battlesuit does look like the original Rocketeer's outfit, with a few changes such as the weapons gauntlets. And before you ask, no he doesn't have a gun:D

 

The Gunman - Yeah, I know it's a cheesy name, but it was the best I could come up with. He is very much a dark avenger type character who, surprise, surprise, uses a pair of longslide .45 auto pistols. His costume is more or less a combination of The Shadow and The Phantom. He wears a black kevlar bodysuit and domino mask, like The Phantom's and over this he has the long coat and fedora like the Shadow wears, he also has a purple scarf that he uses to cover his lower face. He wears a two-gun rig like the Phantom's but the buckle has two pair of lightning bolts in a double v pattern. He also carries a second pair of pistols in a double shoulder rig. This character actually began in my head as just a costume design that I expanded upon.

 

Hmmm, now what character should I tell you about as far as costumes goes.. I think I will go with...

 

Lionheart - Lionheart is an 8 1/2' tall feline humanoid with very leonine features, the whole Lion's mane thing going on with him. His costume is pretty simple and straightforward. He wears a chainmail shirt and loincloth. He also carries a no-dachi.

 

Well, there are three of my favorite characters, even though two of them haven't even been converted to FrED yet.

 

Chance

[OddHat]

I run a non-standard campaign, but;

 

1) Corporate sponsored and celebrity heroes wear flashy bodysuits and either no mask or a half-face mask. Corporate logos are often applied as patches; think Mystery Men. Fairly sexy outfits are common.

 

2) Some of my players like heroes with team uniforms and crash helmets (Power Rangers), and it's a practical arangement. Gloves, a full helmet to disguise face and voice, no exposed skin...players have also used traditional Japanese and Chinese martial arts costumes, cowboy outfits, an ape suit...

 

3) Government Supers wera the uniforms of the service they're associated with and appropriate rank insignia, no masks.

 

4) Sane super criminals tend to wear street clothes, masks and sometimes gloves and a cape, things that can be dumped in a hurry to blend in with the crowd. I've had heroes do this as well. Lunatics might wear anything.

[Spectrum]

For me, designing the costume is sometimes the hardest part. It takes a good long while for me to even come up with a design that I like. And even then I debate over what the color scheme should be. I tend to favor body suits that leave the head exposed or the arms, nothing really revealing. As for a mask of some sort, it just depends on the character. The general designs I come up with are often derived from the powers, some aspect of the character's personality or it's just something that comes to me out of the blue.

 

I sometimes look to my comics for something that catches my eye and use it as a template. Not outright copying it but altering it enough that it looks different and works with the character.

[TheEmerged]

For me, it varies by character.

 

For example, Stephen Sashkey from my Emergence campaigns wears "normal clothes" -- with a caveat that he is usually wearing an oversized flannel shirt unbuttoned over a t-shirt with jeans. In practice it isn't much; but the oversized shirt comes across as a "cape" -- very in keeping with his "everyman super" attitude.

 

On the flip side, The Disruptor (my "GM-PC" in our current NeoChampions campaign) wears a mismashed armor described as "not being assembled from junk, but looking like armor that's been patched from seperate suits & held together by duct tape and bad intentions." He doesn't wear a super-costume as such, but he might as well be.

 

One of my PC's "costume" is the fact that he's a 3D shadow when powered up. He doesn't wear a costume per-se, but it's distinctive enough to serve as one.

 

Another PC however -- Hexadecimal, the former Hexadecimal Heroine -- has a different costume for each of her 16 multiforms. She even has a torso symbol pattern -- the number of that particular form, but in binary -- for example, her first multiform Pusha has 0001 on the torso while her 12th multiform Giganta has 1100... Most of the forms are full-body maskless suits, although some deviate from this.

 

There are certainly those that go the other way. Shayara of the Justice Battalion (the Cincinnati-based SAT-approved nova team) is described as being "the green-robed woman from the back of the 4th Edition HERO rule book, minus the hat". Her teammate Victory (no relation to the Victory in Champions Universe) wears what is described as "little more than a one-piece swimsuit with a catchy pattern, with boots coming just below the knee -- often with a "cheerleader mini" pulled over it for public functions".

 

Still, it doesn't always make sense for characters to wear costumes. The Meteorologist for example might be one of the most powerful people in the NeoChampions Universe (the first slot on his character sheet reads "250 pt VPP base..."), but being a member of the Defiants (the group resisting America's registration act, and trying to do so without revolting) he can't really afford to draw attention to himself for fear of what will happen to those around him. As such its inappropriate for him to wear a costume, even if he is somehow forced into combat.

[Elysea]

My current character started out sort of as a Black-Paladin-fighting-for-redemption. She wore a suit of black platemail but chose not to wear a helmet (fortunately, the campaign isn't using the Hit Location rules!). Instead she wore a black Zorro-style half mask, covering her hair and eyes but leaving the lower half of her face exposed. Her black longsword and red shield completed the outfit.

 

Unfortunately, she was being hunted by both the Knights Templar and their corrupt arch-rivals the Bloodsabres, who had been training her as one of their shock troops until her escape. This being a modern-day teen heroes campaign, some of the team voiced their concerns after the second time her Hunteds showed up at their high-school. She ended up submitting to trial by combat with the Knights Templar, with the support of the rest of the team. (We six 250-350pt characters came extremely close to defeating the "Arch-Lich Takofanes," but that's another story.) Purified by the trial, her powers re-manifested (read: radiation accident) and she updated her armor and mask to off-white. She put a bright red line across the front however, starting at the bottom of the left rib cage and running up and across, terminating below the right breast. She'd taken a lot of BODY when one of the Knights Templar had apprehended her at school, slashing her without her armor on and her Force Field down. She's still bitter about the incident and put the marker on her armor to symbolize her grudge. No sword and shield anymore -- now, she fights with a fistful of balefire.

 

Aside from the head, the armor covers her entire body -- no anime-style showing off of skin here.

[Nuadha]

Three of my characters can be seen here (with Storn art!):http://www.geocities.com/nuadha_silverhand/champsgallery.html

 

Jubei prefers light clothing that doesn't slow him down. He has no secret identity, so no mask

 

Lilly/Succubi is a shapeshifter and the picture of her is actually nude! (All of her clothes are shapeshifted from her.) In her combat form seen in the picture, she takes on this demonic appearance and her personality becomes a bit altered. It has been hinted that when she shifts into this form she is actually becoming part-demon. Most other forms she takes are normal humans.

 

Chango is my powerhouse- a low level brick with high level electrical attacks. He's tough enough to take bullets to the chest, so he doesn't worry about armor or versatility. Chango just wants to be noticed. He wants to make a name for himself. Once again, no secret identity.

 

My other recent characters have been:

 

Legionairre/Etienne - A french superhero and a soldier in the French Foreign Legion. Represents France in an international superteam. Wears a special version of the FFL uniform and beret that has no rank shown and a full face mask to protect his identity. Wears the uniform because he is proud of the FFL. (I made this character because I was tired of seeing French superheroes played as jokes and stereotypes.)

 

Sundevil/Roy - A british super-hacker. He wears no costume at all, since all his work is done behind the scenes. Like Oracle of the Batman/JLA comics, most people only know him by his online identity- Sundevil and a symbol, a sun with an evil face. No need for a costume.

[Blue]

I run the gammut.

 

The guys are almost always fully covered. The girls tend to show more skin.

 

If the character is wearing a body suit or a fairly simple shirt/pants type of outift then they will usually have a cape, jacket, or something else to finish the look.

 

If they're wearing an elaborately patterened costume then I try to leave out capes, jackets, etc.

 

I mix up the masks. I mean, sometimes I have them wear a mask even if they are Public ID.

[Klytus]

As many folks have already mention - it all depends on the character. The vast majority of costumes are designed to - in some way - protect the Secret ID. Whether it does this with a mask, hood, bodysuit or a string bikini all depends on the hero/villian in question. In general, the only rule that applies overall is that the flashy ones go for capes and/or bright colors.

[DocMan]

Well, let's see...

 

My first character, Black Tigre, wore a black ninja outfit with gray and black stripes worked into it. It was designed for stealth and to conceal his identity.

 

Psi Lord has a costume that is mostly black, with red and gold accents. It is primarily to conceal his identity and make him recognizable as a superhero when he is seen. He has a large Psi as a belt buckle.

 

Moleculon's "costume" was primarily red and gold. It was designed to make him recognizable and noticable. He has a large stylized M on his chest.

 

Flicker's costume is a red and silver body suit with a cowl. He wears it mostly for the padding, but also to protect his secret id. He chose a cowl instead of a full facemask so he can grab snacks in the middle of fights/adventures. He has a sylized letter F (with speed lines) on his chest.

 

Star Sentinel's "costume" is the alien symbiote that has bonded to his body. It looks like a dark gray organic battle armor. It has a stylized starburst over his heart, although SS still has no idea why.

 

Inferno is just covered in flames, so no costume there.

 

Mr. No is just a tiny little oriental man in rather simple traditional clothing (aka pajamas).

 

That's about all the characters I can think of off the top of my head.

 

Doc

[lemming]

Let's run down some of my characters that don't worry much about a secret ID:

Calico Current pictures show a standard leotard with a utility belt. Freedom of movement's important for her.

Nighthawk Body suit that adds a little protection and keeps the wings free

Ice Pirate High Tech Body Armor with plenty of pockets for stuff

Spectrum Jump Suit, might go for something more flashy later. If caught out of costume, tends toward buisness suits.

Scales Tends to wind up with Comic Code shorts, but tends to wear suits and the like in non combat situations.

Blazer If she's got fireproofed clothing on, it's whatever is handy. Otherwise, nudity might happen.

Road Runner Motorcycle Leathers for protection

Scavenger Depends on what array of bits he was going out in.

Vetali Something tight, yet flexible

Andromeda Definite costume type

Mr. Putty PC Villian, since he goes for disguises, whatever fits the role.

[Starlord]

I think the more important question is...Does your hero prefer his underwear on the outside or inside of his tights?

[lemming]

Originally posted by Starlord

I think the more important question is...Does your hero prefer his underwear on the outside or inside of his tights?

 

Underwear?

[winterhawk]

I just got done designing 24 characters for a Super's "Reality Show" and did everything from football uniforms to flagsuits. In looking at the team pic, I noticed only one character had a cape.

[lemming]

On the cape issue: It seems my heroes don't tend to use them. Even most of my villians don't. I think most of the caped ones are Meglomaniacs in my world. Hmmm.

[wcw43921]

I like capes myself--I think they're classy. And they do seem to represent the genre, as superbeings in comic-book universes are often referred to as "Capes" --sometimes derisively, but it happens.

[assault]

Let's see:

 

My current version of Redback has a black bodysuit and full face mask for business, with a big cape featuring a red hourglass symbol for show.

 

Scarlet Spectre wears lots of red. Full face mask, cape, hood, bodysuit, big belt, boots, gloves - the whole thing. Of course, this is all essentially for show, rather than business.

 

Assault: reinforced versions of normal clothes. Precise styles depending on setting - anything up to suits, but usually rather casual. Steel capped boots.

 

Ultra Man: Rather normal (reinforced) clothing, but with chest emblem and boots. Mask style varies.

 

Female characters: Varies wildly. From: "I've got life support and 20 COM" to "I really I wish I hadn't spent points on Comeliness".

 

Alan B

[OddHat]

Originally posted by lemming

On the cape issue: It seems my heroes don't tend to use them. Even most of my villians don't. I think most of the caped ones are Meglomaniacs in my world. Hmmm.

 

I like capes for corporate spokes-supers. More room for advertising.

[Trebuchet]

Zl'f's costume is a strapless one-piece white spandex bodysuit cut high on the hips, with an off-the-shoulder woven white short-sleeved shirt belted over it. She wears no jewelry (except a small gold Russian Orthodox crucifix), mask, gloves or footwear.

[lemming]

Originally posted by OddHat

I like capes for corporate spokes-supers. More room for advertising.

Good point.

I'm not really anti-cape, I just noted a trend in my campaign for my characters that I designed. I think one of the PCs has a cape, though he is kind of egotistical. I need to get to drawing pictures for the PCs. I only have an idea what a couple of them look like.

[Brandi]

Irving doesn't wear any costume at all. Or clothing, for that matter.

 

The city did fit him with some spiffy hats over the years, though...