Character ideas needed: Villainous "Flag suits"

[TheQuestionMan]

Manifest Destiny - The United States manifest destiny to lead the world.

 

Captain Patriot - My Country Right or Wrong.

 

Minute Men Militia - Personal Freedoms vs Societal Freedoms.

 

The Revolutionary - From time to time the tree of freedom must be fed with the blood of patriots.

 

More later

 

QM

[Burrito Boy]

Some good names would be Manifest Destiny and Eminent Domain.

[Nothere]

I the 6th Columnist say you are all wrong about immigration. True their all a bunch of dirty foriegners, but some love America. No Ladies and Gentelmen the real threat is not without but within. The communists and others who would tear down this great country from within. That's why with my skill as a shapeshifter I will infiltrate these dens of 5th columnist traitors and we can decide who among their membership should be given the traitors ultamite reward of death.

 

Oh and Cy I like your minuteman concept.

[Roter Baron]

Alliance of the Willing - a group of supers who banded together to support George W's War on Terror

Homeland Defender - keeping the Homeland save from terrorist threats

Crusader - wants to make the world democratic, free and Christian (if the world likes it or not)

Torch of Freedom - firebased heroine

Terror-Eraser - commando-style infiltrator

Shock & Awe - twins with the powers to stun and frighten their opponents

[SKJAM!]

Here's a look at "Fifties Cap", a recurring foe of the modern Captain America.

 

http://scans-daily.dreamwidth.org/4770287.html#comments

[wcw43921]

In the 5th Edition book Champions Battlegrounds there is a character described as part of the fictional TV show To Save The World called Captain Thunder.  From Page 49 of that book--

 

"Charles Malone loved his country, and had no reservations about volunteering for the super-soldier program that made him a step beyond human.  He fought for the cause of justice for several years, even joining Justice Force Omega for a while, but he eventually started to change.  Radical fascist elements in and around the government gradually steered Captain Thunder from true patriotism and toward a belief in intolerance and bigotry.  Now he fights against anyone and any cause that he brands 'Un-American.'  Unfortunately, that seemingly includes everyone and every cause except his Neo-Nazi friends.  .  ."

 

Sounds to me that he may be what you're looking for.  Further information on Page 63 helps convert him into a playable character--

 

"Use the powers and abilities of Captain Patriot (Champions Universe, Page 86).  Add a Thunder Punch Multipower containing a sonic Energy Blast 6D6 NND (defense is Hearing Group Flash Defense) with No Range, and a Hearing Group Flash 12D6 with No Range."

 

Hope that helps.

[IndianaJoe3]

One background bit from my current campaign was the Liberty Squadron, a group of super-powered Tea Partiers. It consisted of Captain Liberty (the leader), Templar (medieval knight theme), and Bulletman (a Punisher expy). They were reasonably well-thought-of (at least among people who shared their ideology), until Bulletman left the team and the others stupidly attacked the White House.   Bulletman is still around (and may show up as an NPC at some point).

[Christopher]

I find it hard to believe that any male would take the name Minuteman...

Literally it just meant "Rapid Response Corps". "Armed man that can be deployed within minutes":

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

Note that man referfs to the species as whole too, so this character could be female too.

 

There have been some darker aspects in American history you can work with:

The witchhunts and other religious fanatism

Slavery/Class Segregation/Race segregation/subjugation of women

Guantanamo/use of torture

The whole Red Scare of the Mc Carthy era (it only ended when he marked himself a nutcase in public), basically Witchunt* 2.0

Then there was the whole concept of "unamerican" behavior in the war on terror. Witchhunt* 3.0 lite

 

In Star Trek DS9 there was the concept of "Section 31", wich tried to "defend the Utopia from threats at any means nessesary".

It's a more or less hidden message about extremism for something like Democracy and freedom.

 

*A recrring theme here is the believe of defending the State/Civilsiation/Status Quo, while not fully accepting the docrtines/limitations of the State/Civilsiation/Satus Quo:

The original witchhunts were against the concept of "Love everybody like yourself".

The Red Scare trials were against the concept of "Freedom of Speech" and "Freedom of believe/political aims"

 

So just look at the constitution and find something to "rank lower" then the status quo (and preserving it).

[Christopher]

Some other not quite as serious bad apples can be found in some webcomics:

Gyno-Star - the first explicitly feminist superhero - fights the forces of Evil and Male Chauvinism.

http://www.gynostar.com/archives/comic/the-first-gyno-star-cartoon-in-years

Her arch enemy is the Stay-at-Home-Mom (formerly Happy Homemaker), a fanatic anti-feminist. Who does not shy from using moon based mindcontrol rays to turn all women to her "ideal". Noteably she shows no chirstian fanatism in her actions, just "pre feminisn women image" fanatism.

http://www.gynostar.com/archives/comic/man-bites-dog

There are two possible things in Spinerette:
http://www.spinnyverse.com/index.php?id=295
A plan to clone Hilter/Robert E. Lee turns into a supervillain fight over the raw materials between Aryan and Confederate Supers.
And in the end all that comes of it are the rebirths of Richard Nixon and his Vice, Spiro Agnew. http://www.gynostar.com/archives/comic/the-first-gyno-star-cartoon-in-years
By somebody who might actually have a master plan for it after all. And I am not even sure wich political direction that plan might be taking...


Another interesting part was Episode 13+15, where former Canadian Superhero Cpt. Alberta  fought his former Canadian Teammates:
http://www.spinnyverse.com/index.php?id=366
http://www.spinnyverse.com/index.php?id=423
While he was kinda Patriotic (at least in name), but mostly he was a total douchebag.

[SKJAM!]

I've been listening to the old "Adventures of Superman" radio show, right now I'm in "The Knights of the White Carnation" arc.  

 

The Knights see themselves as "patriotic Americans" and hate all "foreigners", that is, anyone with an ethnic sounding name like Pulaski, Cohen, Fratelli, etc.  (Nothing is mentioned about race, but we can take that as given.)  As such, they are ashamed that Metropolis High's basketball team is 80% "foreign" and will stop at nothing to get the foreigners off the team, and never mind that Metropolis has a shot at the championship.

 

So, the Knight of the White Carnation, with similar views, flourished in the early 1950s, was put in suspended animation, revived in the modern day by a racist group, but they find to their sorrow that many of them are considered "foreigners" too.

[Cassandra]

DC Comics has a group called "The Force of July" with the following members.

 

Major Victory (Major William Vickers of the American Security Agency).  Powers include super strength, invulnerability, and flight.

 

Sparkler, a young man with fireworks style energy blasts and flight.

 

Lady Liberty, a french woman who's dressed as the Statue of Liberty with light based energy blasts and flight.  Her torch only serves to focus her natural energy blast [Reduced END on EB, 1/2 END (+1/4), OAF: Torch (-1)]

 

Mayflower, a young british woman in a pilgrim costume who controls plants.

 

Silent Majority, a man who says nothing, and can create duplicates of himself.

 

The all worked for B. Eric Blairman, Director of the American Security Agency.  The group appeared in Batman and the Outsiders in 1984.

 

Note:  Blairman's name is based on George Orwell's real name, Eric Blair.

[wcw43921]

PS238 The Roleplaying Game has writeups in HERO System for American Eagle and USA Patriot Act, two kids in flag suits competing to be the next "Official" American hero.  American Eagle is sponsored by the Democratic Party and USA Patriot Act is sponsored by the Republican Party--and as one might expect, they don't get along.

 

They're not evil, unless your opinion of the two main US political parties is that low.  The big problem is with their "handlers" who tend to push them into conflict with one another.  While there hasn't been a fight between them since their first appearance--issue #5, I think--the emnity between them is still there.  The entire run of PS238 is available to read online at Aaron Williams's site Do-Gooder Press.

 

Hope that helps.

[massey]

I've been listening to the old "Adventures of Superman" radio show, right now I'm in "The Knights of the White Carnation" arc.  

 

 

Where did you find this?  I'd like to listen to it if it's available.

[freakboy6117]

a wild storm title from a few years ago THE AMERICAN WAY might have a few useful character ideas.

 

The series represented a skewed parallel history of America, where the United States Government created its own super powered "heroes" and "villains". In the early 1940s, the United States government hatched a plan to create the Civil Defense Corps: a group of supposed "super-heroes" who could fight alien invasions, evil super-powered beings, and communism, all in front of an adoring public, courtesy of television. When an African-American hero named the New American is inserted into 1962's premier superteam, the turmoil begins.