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Superheroes Sponsored by Corporations (Such as the NFL)


Egyptoid

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In the near future, when designer genetics and

cheap technology means that anyone with money or clout

can make (or become) a superhero, what might follow is an era

where large corporations sponsor someone to become a meta-human,

with the caveat on their power usage that they protect the assets of

the company primarily. And, who wants 35,000 people held hostage

in your stadium by a whacko supervillain?!? With the right research & money,

your company can always have a defender on standby....

 

So I present to you the gal who watches over Qwest Field,

and a training facility in Renton:

 

THE SEATTLE SEAHAWK

[ATTACH=CONFIG]37662[/ATTACH]

she's not a cheerleader, she's not a mascot, she's a superbeing who guards

the team, its fans, its facilities and the owners of this NFL franchise,

from all threats, paranormal or terroristic.

 

 

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Re: Superheroes Sponsored by Corporations (Such as the NFL)

 

Awesome!

 

In Epic City we have several corporate backed paranormals (Stellar Force, a group developed by Antares Corp. and Aegis, who wears a prototype armored suit developed my Futuremech). Check them out (pics) at the Epic City link in my sig. :)

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Re: Superheroes Sponsored by Corporations (Such as the NFL)

 

Tradewind, my namesake on this board, is a corporate sponsored superhero. He's sponsored by a medical and chemical engineering corporation. One of my favorite concepts in the character is that when villainy is slow the corporation sends out the CommuNazi to do battle with their mascot. The CommuNazi happens to be played by Tradewind's lead writer Barry who generally sits in a van near the site of his heroics and feeds him witty lines.

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Re: Superheroes Sponsored by Corporations (Such as the NFL)

 

This has come up on the create a hero thread.

 

And Booster Gold started as this type of here, and Iron man was this for Stark's various companies.

 

And hasn't DC dipped into this again with the Web and Batman INC.

 

My favorite was always NFL SuperPro.

CES

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Re: Superheroes Sponsored by Corporations (Such as the NFL)

 

I once had a NPC group who were NBA mascots/cheerleaders who were exposed to an unknown energy that gave them superpowers. If I remember right there was Stuff, the Gorilla, Laker-Girl, the Bull and the Spirit of 76.

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Re: Superheroes Sponsored by Corporations (Such as the NFL)

 

In the Watchmen universe, there was Dollar Bill, a bank-sponsored hero who got shot by robbers after his cape got caught in the bank's revolving door.

([Edna Mode] No capes! [/Edna Mode])

 

And lest we forget, Captain Amazing from Mystery Men with all his corporate logo patches.

 

I can't recall any in my campaign world off the top of my head.

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Re: Superheroes Sponsored by Corporations (Such as the NFL)

 

I made but never got to play The Coca Cola Kid. Martial Artist with Coca Cola weaponry. The Cola Bola. The Coke Grenades (shaken Coke cans which were explosion entangles). Cans of Fury (Coca Cola Nunchuks). The Can of Soda which aided his Stun and End.

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Re: Superheroes Sponsored by Corporations (Such as the NFL)

 

Heh. I once had a villainous bio-morpher who created super villains and "set them loose on an unsuspecting world." He was always a bit confused when his transmogrified victims failed utterly to go on a wild, world-conquering rampage. Sometimes they broke down in fits of hysterics. Sometimes they tried to beat him up. Never did they charge off andtry to over run the world. At one point he kidnapped a bunch of NFL cheerleaders and gave them "team" powers/looks.

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Re: Superheroes Sponsored by Corporations (Such as the NFL)

 

In my campaign there's a middle-aged former superheroine (of questionable character) who now acts as an agent. I liked the idea of someone who didn't cash in when they were big now trying to get a cut of the money from younger heroes.

 

Of course she's really there to try and get the characters to do ridiculous things for the sake of money. It's how I amuse myself.

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Re: Superheroes Sponsored by Corporations (Such as the NFL)

 

Heh. I once had a villainous bio-morpher who created super villains and "set them loose on an unsuspecting world." He was always a bit confused when his transmogrified victims failed utterly to go on a wild' date=' world-conquering rampage. Sometimes they broke down in fits of hysterics. Sometimes they tried to beat him up. Never did they charge off andtry to over run the world. At one point he kidnapped a bunch of NFL cheerleaders and gave them "team" powers/looks.[/quote']

 

And probably got his tail kicked. Giving people superpowers won't necessarily change their natures or make them beholden to you -- an ethical person given powers by a villain remains ethical, which is why so many of them end up as superheroes after such encounters.

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Re: Superheroes Sponsored by Corporations (Such as the NFL)

 

I had a reply half written to this yesterday and then got sidetracked and totally forgot about it.

 

Anyway, I see two main kinds of corporate supers: the kind that's already superpowered who gets picked up by one or more corporate sponsors, and the kind that's put together by the corporation itself.

 

The first kind could have any sort of origin, and may wear a costume that reflects the corporate logo in some way, or may have his own costume and just adds small logos reflecting the sponsors, kind of like NASCAR cars.

 

The second kind would almost certainly be a walking billboard for the company (like superhero mascots you see in the newspaper or in fliers in the real world), would almost certainly be copyrighted, would probably have his powers come from a powersuit or some other transferable or reproducible technology, and would, over the course of years or decades, be portrayed by more than one person.

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Re: Superheroes Sponsored by Corporations (Such as the NFL)

 

This is the majority (if not all) of superheroes in the "Ratman" manga; the technology exists to give anyone low-level superpowers, but it's very expensive, so if you want powers, you have to seek out a sponsor. For an example, a jewelry store chain has a team of gem-powered heroes, with the downside that they destroy the gems they use, so they can't be deployed frivolously (or so you would think.) Some of the heroes are shown to be decent, honorable people who just happen to pull down a corporate paycheck. Others are...less good, especially Ankaiser, who is only in the "hero" business for the cash and babes.

 

Unfortunately for Ratman, *his* sponsor is the evil organization Jackal.

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Re: Superheroes Sponsored by Corporations (Such as the NFL)

 

The short story anthology Who Can Save Us Now? has the story "The Quick Stop 5®", by Sam Weller.

A group of convenience store employees are exposed to an experimental biodiesel that causes them to adopt the properties of the items they were touching at the time of their exposure. They end up becoming a superhero team sponsored by the convenience store chain.

 

Captain Quickie (Vitamin water)-Superhuman strength.

Prophylactic Girl (Condoms)-Bouncing and invulnerability to physical impacts.

Slushee (Slushee)-Generate and control massive amounts of liquid. Like hydrokinesis, but Slushees.

Slim Tim (Beef Jerky)-Stretching and bending.

Dip (Chewing Tobacco)-Living mass of tobacco, adhesive tobacco juice projectiles.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]37824[/ATTACH]

(Prophylactic Girl isn't wearing a hat. That's the top of her head. She wasn't pleased by that part of the mutation.)

 

There was a sixth employee who was smoking a joint when he was exposed and gained the ability to generate marijuana smoke, as well as being permanently high. The company declared him unmarketable and at the end of the story he's doing charity work in hospital cancer wards.

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Re: Superheroes Sponsored by Corporations (Such as the NFL)

 

the contest to become the official Tampa Bay superhero

was a dead heat on all the athletic, rope use, and acrobatic events,

so the tie breaker went to trivia & knowledge of Jimmy Buffet lyrics

 

here he is: Jack Ocean

[ATTACH=CONFIG]37853[/ATTACH]

The Big Buccaneer

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