Japanese Superhero teams without resorting to the stereotypes.

[Enforcer84]

Well, if you're going to leave the ninja and samurai at home...

 

I'm a tad lazy (and at work) to translate, but let's see what I can come up with.

 

• Firefly - a light armored heroine with a modular heat blaster and light/laser weapons., she's either the inventor or leader of a team of inventors. Armor is dark gray and red with glowing orange weapons
• Tower - Growth Brick, a young man who has had his powers since he can remember. He's not sure where they come from but he has a number of traditional weaknesses and abilities of Japanese Folklore giants/creatures and parents who aren't forthcoming with answers to his questions. Wears a costume consisting of dark trousers, Brown boots and gloves. Goes bear-chested but has a harness not unlike Marvel's Hercules. wears a half mask that covers the top of his head.
• Swan - another light battle suit, this one is light on weaponry but highly maneuverable (speedster) and has extensive sensors and communications. Female again and a school rival of Firefly (Friendly rivals) (Rival inventor or on the team) armors is silver and white with blue glowy bits.
• Fury - name is a misnomer. Detective and Martial artist, highly athletic - perhaps paranormally so. has a number of effective gadgets but doesnt' seem to make them himself. 
• Angelus - A spirit of light, seems in many ways an idealized Western Style Angel with white wings, golden armor, wields a great, seemingly indestructable No Dachi - or similar western weapon (glaive?) The young man is an orphan and does not know his parents. He has Superhuman Physical stats, senses, and possibly a magic syle vpp.
• Surivor - A woman in her thirties, who lost her son and husband in one of the recent natural disasters, she now controls her own (and perhaps their) life forces in a stunningly visual fashion. Think Kyle Raynor Green Lantern, Ki is an artist who manifests her powers in beautiful ways, often in the forms of her loved ones as idealized protectors or warriors. She dresses in a some what demure costume almost like a business suit with a skirt and domino mask, it's cut for action and a bit of flattery. 

 

Hmmm....I may have to translate these and use them myself. 

[薔薇語]

Firefly - 蛍 - Hotaru - Normally animal names do not use the traditional Chinese characters but I think in this instance it would be fitting. If not, ホタル is the alternate phonetically written one. 

Tower - No real idea. タワー is tawa- and that is the Japanized version of Tower. 

Swan - 白鳥 - Haku chou (Literally means "white bird"). スワン is also possible. How about 白鷺 - Shirasagi - White Egret. This bird is also known for being beautiful. 

Fury - 怒り - Ikari (means anger or rage). 

Angelus - エンジェル - Enjyeru - (the Japanized version of Angel) - or 天使 - Tenshi - The native word for Angel (servant from on high). 

Survivor - 生存者 - Seizonsha - It is the word used for people who survive a disaster or things like cancer survivors (癌生存者). 

 

La Rose. 

[Enforcer84]

Thanks, Rose!

[薔薇語]

Glad to be of service, E84.

 

La Rose. 

[SKJAM!]

It should be noted that Hotaru is a perfectly good girl's name in Japan.

[薔薇語]

Come to think of it, I have seen anime characters named that. But I wonder how many use 蛍 as their kanji. A quick look into my Japanese name dictionary (of sorts), tells me there are many ways to write that name that do not use that character. And it seems like it can be a boys name, too. Interesting stuff. ^^

La Rose. 

[The Arc]

Yeah and people in anime who're from Kyoto speak like they're from the Old West. What's up with that?

[薔薇語]

Well, the people here in Kyoto don't actually speak like they are from the old west, but they do speak in a different dialect of Japanese than is considered standard. Indeed, this area (Kansai - Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, Nara) is famous for being different. People translating Japanese Animes thus want to capture that different manner of speaking and thus sometimes opt for some strange American Accent types. 

 

La Rose. 

[DShomshak]

Japanese mythology has lots of cool inspiration, including wonderful ghost stories. Kitsune -- fairy foxes -- are also common in Japanese legend and weird tales, but maybe a little too well known? (They can still be part of a Japanese character's background. The legendary onmyoji [mystic] Abe no Seimi supposedly was the half-mortal son of a kitsune.)

 

Also remember that there's more to Japan than the Japanese. There are also the Ainu people of Hokkaido. Bears play a sufficiently important role in Ainu culture and religion that an Ainu werebear might make an interesting character. If the character is a hero, his relationship to Japanese society will be... complicated, as the Japanese have a long history of bigotry against the Ainu.

 

Dean Shomshak

 

[The Arc]

Well, the people here in Kyoto don't actually speak like they are from the old west, but they do speak in a different dialect of Japanese than is considered standard. Indeed, this area (Kansai - Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, Nara) is famous for being different. People translating Japanese Animes thus want to capture that different manner of speaking and thus sometimes opt for some strange American Accent types. 

 

La Rose. 

A lot of the anime I've been watching has them taking school trips to Kyoto (visiting shrines and such) and always having to buy that special gift.

[薔薇語]

A lot of the anime I've been watching has them taking school trips to Kyoto (visiting shrines and such) and always having to buy that special gift.

 

"Buy that special gift" sounds dubious. I wonder what you are watching...

 

But yeah, gift buying is a major part of Japanese culture. If you take a trip anywhere, you are obliged to then buy some gift from that place and bring it back for everyone. I went 3 hours away by train to a famous shrine and thus had to buy some kind of treat from there for my co-workers. Some of my students feel the need to get me gifts from Tokyo Disneyland or Korea when they go. I really don't get it, but it is something that is ubiquitous. 

 

La Rose. 

[Mr. R]

Well, if you're going to leave the ninja and samurai at home...

 

I'm a tad lazy (and at work) to translate, but let's see what I can come up with.

 

• Firefly - a light armored heroine with a modular heat blaster and light/laser weapons., she's either the inventor or leader of a team of inventors. Armor is dark gray and red with glowing orange weapons
• Tower - Growth Brick, a young man who has had his powers since he can remember. He's not sure where they come from but he has a number of traditional weaknesses and abilities of Japanese Folklore giants/creatures and parents who aren't forthcoming with answers to his questions. Wears a costume consisting of dark trousers, Brown boots and gloves. Goes bear-chested but has a harness not unlike Marvel's Hercules. wears a half mask that covers the top of his head.
• Swan - another light battle suit, this one is light on weaponry but highly maneuverable (speedster) and has extensive sensors and communications. Female again and a school rival of Firefly (Friendly rivals) (Rival inventor or on the team) armors is silver and white with blue glowy bits.
• Fury - name is a misnomer. Detective and Martial artist, highly athletic - perhaps paranormally so. has a number of effective gadgets but doesnt' seem to make them himself. 
• Angelus - A spirit of light, seems in many ways an idealized Western Style Angel with white wings, golden armor, wields a great, seemingly indestructable No Dachi - or similar western weapon (glaive?) The young man is an orphan and does not know his parents. He has Superhuman Physical stats, senses, and possibly a magic syle vpp.
• Surivor - A woman in her thirties, who lost her son and husband in one of the recent natural disasters, she now controls her own (and perhaps their) life forces in a stunningly visual fashion. Think Kyle Raynor Green Lantern, Ki is an artist who manifests her powers in beautiful ways, often in the forms of her loved ones as idealized protectors or warriors. She dresses in a some what demure costume almost like a business suit with a skirt and domino mask, it's cut for action and a bit of flattery. 

 

Hmmm....I may have to translate these and use them myself. 

I really like the concept of Survivor.  Could you make her first?

[薔薇語]

Okay, here are some ideas for Japanese-esc characters. Some of them play on well founded tropes but I promise to take them in new angles. 


First, 

 

The Repentant Warrior - Long before Bushido and all the other Samurai traditions, there were warriors. Men charged with defending their families, their lords, and with the killing of all those who didn't concur with their clan. One such warrior went down into the annals of history as what was suppose to be a fictitious character. Little did everyone know that the story of his struggles was not a work of pure fantasy, but that the story itself only capture the start of his life. A life that began when he was near the end. 

 

There was a warrior who while on patrol one evening heard the sound of a beautiful flute off in the distance. As he approached it, he came to realize it was coming from the enemy's camp. he sat, waited, and listened to it into as the night sky set in. The next morning, the battle between the two forces started. The Heike (enemy) were scattered and forced to flea. It was then that the warrior sees a commander for the Heike fleeing and taunts him to return. A battle ensues. Before delivering the last blow, the commander's helmet is knocked off. The warrior notices then that the commander is but a boy; one not unlike his own son. He feels a sense of dread build up but he can not stop now. If he doesn't finish the boy now, his commades most certainly will take delight in his slaughter. Afterwards, the Warrior searches the boy and finds a flute. He knew then that he Just killed the very same boy he spent so long listening to the previous night. Decades later, the warrior is still heart broken over that decision and goes to a temple to seek forgiveness for his actions. It is then that he is confronted by the ghost of the boy. Upon seeing the warrior's overwhelming sense of remorse, the boy grants him forgiveness and passes on. It is then that the story is suppose to end. But the truth is, the man was never granted forgiveness. Rather he was condemned to wonder the land 10 years for ever life he and his men destroyed. It is now 1000 years later and the man still walks the Earth. His remorse has never abated. He still seeks forgiveness and has dedicated himself to saving the lives of as many people as he can - as an offering to the young man and the powers that be.

 

The original story is "Taira no Atsumori" 平らの敦盛 (I think is right).

Second:

The Child of the Snow. 

 

This man must learn to abate his rage and control the powers at his disposal. He is in a constant struggle to do good and find a way to lift his curse while not succumbing to it. 
 

This is the story of a man who was out one winter's eve with his wife. In the full moon the softly snow packed land glistened beautifully. Curling up with his wife he recall a similar evening long ago. And begins to recant it to her. It was a beautiful night and the man was out when he heard the sound of a someone walking through the woods. He moved to have a better look. That is when he saw her, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She was draped over two men laying motionless on the ground. As he watched her, a gust of white glittering snow wrapped the scene as the men's bodies lost all color and began to form ice all over them. The man let out a gasp as he looked on in dread. It was then the woman turned to him. She rushed to him but before unleashing herself upon him, she stops and remarks "you are the most beautiful man I have ever seen. Were it not for that, I would strike you down now. But be warned, if you ever speak of this moment again, I will not spare you." The man was terrified and what seemed but a moment he found himself waking up in the cold snow. He thought it all a dream and walked back home. That is when he learned that two men were found frozen to death in the same forest. He decided then to never talk. For fear that it wasn't just a dream froze him in his tracks. 

His wife listened to every word and seemed terrified and scared, "how dreadful!" she whispered. "But you needn't worry anymore" she said as she move out of his lover grasp. "You were given only one order and couldn't keep it. How dreadful of you." She raised up her hand as her skin softened in tone and her eyes went yellow. His wife was none other than the snow witch. As she started to bring down her arm upon him, their child steps outside to see them. At the sight of their son, she recoils. "Once more I shall spare you. But let your line forever be cursed!" Since then, that child became the symbol of his mother's powers and wrath. He and every son to follow would find themselves cursed as the child of the snow demon.

The origin for this story is a general story often named Yuki-Onna - 雪女 - However her story normally just ends with her killing her husband. The cursed prodigy part is mine. 

Third

The Priestess Mao. 真桜

A young woman with a mission to help where ever she can. She is armed with her knowledge of ancient Shinto and Buddhist magics and general drive to help. 
 

At tiny shrine out in the middle of nowhere there lived a young lady. Her father was a successful businessman and her grandfather was the caretaker for a local shrine. Her father, wanting her to experience the wonders of his childhood, let her spends countless days with her grandfather who would regale her with fantastic stories. She was enamored by the tales of young men and women coming to aid people and ward off dangerous creatures. So enamored was she that she asked her grandfather to teach her more about  the shrine he kept. Then one night as she was cleaning the area, she came across a noise. A slimy sound that just made her back crawl. As she approached it, she found some vague and ill defined shape bent over a moss and dirt covered set of stones. Startled she immediately thought of the stories her grandfather taught her; and of the wards he showed her. Bracing herself to drive back this omninous creature she noticed just then that a solitary tear was rolling down what had to be this thing's face. It was then she saw the ghostly chains that bound the creature's head to the rock and the pain it was in. "Please don't harm me" it squeaked out." She approached the create and asked it about itself. She then learned that someone cursed this thing to forever be bound to this rock and to live off the sustenance of the dirt and moss that was on it. Calling for her grandpa, the two worked together to free the creature. 

From that day forward, Mao decided to make it her mission to help creatures like the one she found that day. To help them be free and to stop what ever forces would try to harm innocent people or creatures again.

There is no origin for this story - it is original. 

---
So, those are three possible character ideas that try to use some Japanese elements. Granted, they might fit better in a modern fantasy game than a super's game, but that is the genre I tend to like to play so it is hard to not think in those terms when it comes to trying to do original characters. 

La Rose. 

[薔薇語]

Here are a couple more character ideas. 

Bakeneko-chan - 化け猫ちゃん
 

Formally a Maneki-neko (Beckoning Cat Statue) brought to life. (S)he can perform a wide variety of magic tricks - Transformations, Enchanting, etc. She seeks to protect the girl that brought her to life.

Kitsune (Fox).
 

Long ago a man showed great mercy on the foxes and the associated fox spirits on his land. As a token of gratitude the foxes looked after him and his family. One day, one of the Fox spirits falls in love with a decedent of his. She and he get married and have a child. After the child grew up some, the father came to learn of his wife's true nature and of his ancestor's good deed. But knowing the truth the mother was no longer allowed to stay with them and had to leave. The father, grateful for the son/daughter he had and for the protection the kitsune had provided, decided to do all he could to raise his child in as just and good a way he could That child is now an adult human with extraordinary abilities. He now tries to put to good use all his abilities to help people and eventually try to re-unite with his mother.

 

 

Okami / Makami - Wolf Spirit. 
 

 

This character is a stern deliver of justice. Blessed by the still hiding wolf spirits in the mountains of (some mountain name I do not know), the character seeks to protect the innocent.

If anymore spring to mind, I will do my best to post them. 

 

 

La Rose.