And Lo, a nation falls!

[Hermit]

Nice thought, but difficult to justify.

ISIS was the acronym derived from the English translation of the group's first name, "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria;" which could also be translated as, "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant," from which we got ISIL. But neither is a literal translation, and the group never used either, or any, acronym themselves. Their original name in Arabic was,"al-Dawla al-Islamiya fil Iraq wa al-Sham," out of which the group's opponents in the Middle East created an acronym pronounced as, "Da'ish" or "Daesh" (which is often used pejoratively, so the group hates it). The group itself has officially shortened its name to, "Islamic State," implying they aspire to broader territory than Iraq and Syria. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-27994277

 

I know. The fact it pisses them off is why I use the

Daesh

a lot myself in the NGD  For me...

Not difficult to justify at all, the group twisted the name whether they meant to or not. This wouldn't be the first mythic figure to react badly for the wrong reasons, and the fact it was others who first applied it might even add to her desire to rule rather than 'hand it over to the ignorant'

but then I'm going more than a little by the rule of cool.

[DasBroot]

Warlord in Crimea.  

Who else would dare thumb his nose at both of the world's strongest military superpowers at once (but mostly Russia)?

[freakboy6117]

I thought Kinematik would be a good fit for Haiti a few dozen high Powered mutants helping with disaster relief could then puppet the government to create a mutant home land with enough reasonably empowered mutants acting as a militia and a general up lift of the standard of living would really keep the american government out.

 

Alternatively Takofanes turns a post hurricane haiti into a literal land of the dead.

[IndianaJoe3]

I voted for the Warlord in Somalia. It's in a strategic location, but not close enough to a major power to be taken as a strategic threat.

[Lord Liaden]

I thought Kinematik would be a good fit for Haiti a few dozen high Powered mutants helping with disaster relief could then puppet the government to create a mutant home land with enough reasonably empowered mutants acting as a militia and a general up lift of the standard of living would really keep the american government out.

 

Alternatively Takofanes turns a post hurricane haiti into a literal land of the dead.

 

That's an interesting scenario that I could see work if handled right. The Kinematik one, I mean. Although Takofanes might actually have the power to pull that off and make it stick.

[Vondy]

That's an interesting scenario that I could see work if handled right. The Kinematik one, I mean. Although Takofanes might actually have the power to pull that off and make it stick.

 

Why go to Haiti? Toking Lich could also do it at the San Diego Comic Con without a hurricane.

 

Marvel Zombies! 

[Lord Liaden]

And at Comic Con no-one might even notice.

[freakboy6117]

Reading about the history of Haiti it's an interesting parallel between a mutant homeland and the slave revolution that created the first western black state. Defeated one of the most powerful armies in the world.

 

http://origins.osu.edu/article/pact-devil-united-states-and-fate-modern-haiti

[Old Man]

Voted for Pagan Syria, though I wasn't thinking of Isis specifically.  I had something more like a Yog-Sothoth in mind, awakened by all the pain and bloodshed.

 

But really the list of failed states is too short.  There's all kinds of benighted places that could go on the list.  Kandahar, Congo, South Sudan, Wisconsin, Detroit...

[Cancer]

I might put Yemen forward as the place; it has more or less disintegrated at this point, and it is easy overland to the biggest petroleum production in the non-superpower world. The mere threat of kicking out the House of Saud and taking over the resource would be ample political power to accomplish much.

[Amorkca]

Voted for Pagan Syria, though I wasn't thinking of Isis specifically.  I had something more like a Yog-Sothoth in mind, awakened by all the pain and bloodshed.

 

But really the list of failed states is too short.  There's all kinds of benighted places that could go on the list.  Kandahar, Congo, South Sudan, Wisconsin, Detroit...

 

Toronto...

[TheQuestionMan]

The Wealthiest Supervillain on Champions Eartg starts buys bankrupt nations like Potugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, etc... And begins building a Mediterainian Alliance and future Empire.

 

Taking over Lybia in the guise of a North African Puppet Leader.

 

The Arab Spring becomes part of Eurostars long reaching plans.

[freakboy6117]

Not actually taking over but pagan God's return in the Crimea and the ancient war between Perun and veles is renewed with Russia and the EU drawn into the middle.

 

I'm thinking Perun on the side of Russia while he is supposedly the good guy he is the god of warfare and warriors.

 

whilst veles is the ruler of the underworld but is also God of cattle and shepherds and responsible for magic and commerce seems like a good fit for the EU.

[Lord Liaden]

Or to use the more dualistic interpretation of pagan Slavic traditions, Crimea could be a modern battleground for influence by the ancient Slavic deities/spirits, Belobog and Chernobog (the "White God" and "Black God"). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belobog

[bigdamnhero]

Oh and I almost had Foxbat and Iowa as options, but I feared that would slant the votes too far towards that obvious joining.

Heh. Yeah, I did a game once where Foxbat took over Jackson Hole and declared it The Free And Independent Peoples' Republic Of Foxbatistan!! ("Foxbat Fan Club members receive 2-for-1 margaritas at all participating Foxbatistan establishments!") Of course it turned out he was just being used as a pawn by none other than...the Warlord, who moved to take over NORAD while everyone was focused on Wyoming.

 

Istvatha V'han: The Empress thinks big. When she next invades, it won't be to take over a single country. She'll be after the whole planet, just like before. She actually already has a beach head on Earth in the person of the Gadroon in northern Canada, who are in her service.

...

Most experts agree that the financial well-being and very health of the common North Korean populace is getting desperate. Istvatha could legitimately claim that she's trying to save and better the lives of innocent people, and her track record says she probably would. That could make a great object lesson to the rest of the Earth of the benefits to V'hanian rule

Hmmm. Yeah, my initial thoughts were that all the stated locations were way beneath her notice. But your second suggestion has merit and could make for some very interesting roleplaying opportunities.

 

I voted for the Warlord in Somalia. It's in a strategic location, but not close enough to a major power to be taken as a strategic threat.

Same here, for the same reasons.

[Hermit]

Thanks to everyone who voted.

After this time, it looks like the tally shows a clear victory for the Warlord as our conqueror. While Syria gave a good run for the honor of being under his heel, it is Somalia that gets the prize as the piece of real estate he's going to conquer and claim in my campaign. 

 

And perhaps VIPER "PROJECT LIBERATION BECAUSE WE'RE THE GOOD GUYS NO REALLY" will be ago in Syria as they got the silver

[death tribble]

Just had the thought that Chumbawumba's record might be appropriate for the country:-

 

'I get knocked down but I get up again, you're never gonna keep me down'

[Steve]

This thread has gotten me to wondering why one of the CU's master villains hasn't conquered a country and kept it?

 

For example, Dr. Destroyer could do it, but he seems more intent on going for the whole world at once rather than piecemeal.

 

Of course Menton may control several countries secretly. Who would know?

[death tribble]

Malachite did and killed a bunch of heroes who tried to oust him. This was filmed and distributed to the police and heroes worldwide.

[bigdamnhero]

This thread has gotten me to wondering why one of the CU's master villains hasn't conquered a country and kept it?

Joseph Otanga

[Lord Liaden]

BDH has cited one example from the current CU: Joseph Otanga, superpowered tyrant of the (fictional) West African country of Lugendu. (See Champions Villains Vol. 1.) However, he keeps the nature and full extent of his powers a secret. His countrymen fear he commands evil sorcery, which helps Otanga keep them in line, but don't know precisely what (which only fuels their fear). But the rest of the world scoffs at those rumors.

 

In the past official CU timeline, Menton did take over a country. Once again it was fictional, the Central American state of Guamanga. Menton used his powers, augmented by ARGENT technology, to manipulate the Guamangans into electing him their president. Other governments and international law-enforcement authorities knew what Menton had done, but could find no proof, and were unwilling to publicly move against an apparently-democratically-elected head of state. So UNTIL secretly hired a group of mercenary supervillains for a black-ops mission to take Menton out. Guamanga was also the site of an attempted coup backed by ARGENT which led to intervention by UNTIL and superheroes. (Both incidents are summarized in 6E Champions Universe, and Menton's case is described in more detail in Champions Universe: News Of The World.)

 

Dr. Destroyer is an interesting case. He is effectively the head of state of the Javangari, in their hidden Himalayan valley. But Destroyer has been careful to hide Javangari's existence from the world. Before his destruction of Detroit DD unveiled his mobile island of Destruga, and demanded the United Nations recognize it as a sovereign state, but they refused.

 

A few other "rogue states" on Champions Earth have known or suspected ties to supervillains and/or supercriminal organizations, although none of them are (confirmed to be) run by any: Awad, Chiquador, Larisagrad, Taqiristan. So far none of these states have threatened their neighbors in sufficiently-provable ways for other nations to take overt action against them.

 

I believe there's a perceptible pattern in these precedents. In the CU a major supervillain or agency who publicly takes control of a country, even a minor one, will probably spark the fear and forceful opposition of the world community; likely a "first domino" perception and reaction. The most successful super-tyrants are those who keep a low enough profile that other countries, or at least the major powers, don't feel imminently threatened.

[bubba smith]

why are people complaining about super villain running FICTIONAL countries ?if they were after REAL countries the disconnect between fantasy and reality would be too great

[Lord Liaden]

Hey, no complaint from me. I'm inclined to agree with you. The freedom fictional countries like Latveria, Markovia, or Genosha give you to tell stories unhampered by real-world details is one of their most appealing elements IMHO.

 

If Menton had taken control of Guamanga in his secret identity, so no one could be sure a supervillain was behind it, he'd probably still be running the country today. Ego is the classic downfall of megalomaniacs.