To my shame... The King of Beasts!

[Nothere]

Well as long as were suggesting schemes, theirs always the anti pied piper route.

 

"Mister Mayor it's terrible. The city is experiencing a massive rhino problem. But for a small fee I can ensure there are no rhinos rampaging through downtown."

[freakboy6117]

i actually have a multi generational hero/villain family who are experts in Dog training and use highly trained dogs .

 

Der KreigsHund was the first hero of the German army his trained hounds defending the trenches of the Somme and sniffing out French and English spies. the nemesis of a British soldier turned spy and later adventurer The Lion.

 

Der HexenHund: Der KreigHund's son unfortunately did not inherit his fathers aristocratic code a violent and dangerous man who fully embraced the Nazi Ideology and was drawn to the occult practices of the Thule society. his trained dogs where used in ritual and bound to demons from hell and used to attack resistance forces across Europe hunted snipers in Stalingrad and devastated the allies landings at Normandy.

 

Cyberhound The latest in the line a brilliant computer technologist paralyzed  in a car accident.

 

 his work was on neural interface technology designed to restore his own ability to walk his first test subjects where dogs injured in car accidents like him self when the experiment worked he tried it on him self it worked only for him to find that he was some how lined to the canine subjects able to see through their eyes and control them with a thought.

 

when ARGENT tried to kidnap him and his research he discovered more abilities and was able to escape and with his investigative abilities lead the authorities to them. he was recruited by Euro-guard and is now an active agent.

[segerge]

Even mild animal friendship effects can be formidable if a character puts the planning and training time into it.

 

A suite of magical spells which can only be cast through animals the caster has made their Animal Friendship roll with would be highly useful and very much in-concept for druids and shamans.

[DShomshak]

Well, I'm persuaded the King of Beasts could be more formidable than he is... if he thought harder and invested more effort into the animals he uses.

 

In my current setting, he's dead (which is why the PCs have his costume and scepter in their trophy room). But time travel is an important part of the setting, and I intend that at some point in the campaign, a time traveler changes history and the PCs (as time travelers themselves) are among the few people who notice. I think one of the changes to history will be that the King of Beasts is alive -- and is a powerful crime lord, holding the city in a grip of fear. No one can keep a secret when every bird or rat might be his eyes; those who defy him, whether in city government or in the gangs, die as small creatures poison them in their sleep. And no furry costume, either: This King of Beasts wears a tailored silk suit with a golden lion-head tie tack. Maybe he keeps the scepter, but it's a more formidable weapon. He's still not that much of a fighter, but before you reach him you have to follow scanty clues through the criminal demimonde and fight past waves of thugs and hired supervillain enforcers.

 

Dean Shomshak

[Ninja-Bear]

Dean what if his original gang was called the Beasts?

[Nothere]

As with all joke charecters its in how you use them. King of beast can be both a joke and dangerous. Were just saying he doesn't have to be your shame. Take Toad before the revamp to make him less of a joke he was a fat, short, yes man who wore a bad costume. But he was always able to beat Storm, Cyclops, and Beast. He just didn't seem to manage it,

[DShomshak]

I'll also note that in the "base timeline" version presented here, the King of Beasts clearly didn't think very hard about his original plan of breaking into show business as an animal trainer. He could have broken into Hollywood so easily as a trainer of animals for movies and TV:

 

Imagine Spielberg or some other big-time producer heading for his car. A raccoon scampers up and presents a sign that reads, "I am the world's best animal trainer. Call this number." Next day, it's a bird that swoops down with a letter in its beak. It wouldn't take long to get a call.

 

Dean Shomshak

[steriaca]

I'll also note that in the "base timeline" version presented here, the King of Beasts clearly didn't think very hard about his original plan of breaking into show business as an animal trainer. He could have broken into Hollywood so easily as a trainer of animals for movies and TV:

 

Imagine Spielberg or some other big-time producer heading for his car. A raccoon scampers up and presents a sign that reads, "I am the world's best animal trainer. Call this number." Next day, it's a bird that swoops down with a letter in its beak. It wouldn't take long to get a call.

 

Dean Shomshak

This is a common thing with most supervillains. Short sightness, and an inability to use there powers legally (mostly because they overestimate how much crime would pay compared to the work needed).

[JmOz]

This is a common thing with most supervillains. Short sightness, and an inability to use there powers legally (mostly because they overestimate how much crime would pay compared to the work needed).

This reminds me of my necessary evil character: He had a suit of power armor he designed and used it as a bank robber, never realizing that if he had sold it to the government he would have made more money that the few thousand a bank actually has on hand---it was a running joke

[DShomshak]

One of my favorite Flash comics had the Flash (Wally West) and his girlfriend attending the Rogue's Gallery annual party (by invitation; the Trickster sent an invitation as a joke). Wally's girlfriend corners him and whispers (I paraphrase), "Wally, these people are crazy! Did you know one of them became a supervillain because he's color-blind?"

 

Yes, that's the origin of the Rainbow Raider: Frustrated artist who couldn't get a job or sell a painting because although his drawing and compositional skills were excellent -- that's his story, anyway -- alas and alack, he's color-blind. Conveniently ignoring all the forms of art that don't involve color. (Such as penciler or inker for comic books, which must have been good for a few laughs around the DC offices.)

 

And I'm kidding about being ashamed of creating the King of Beasts. When it comes to designing characters, I have no shame whatsoever! My group's backup campaign might be called Silly Champions, with heroes such as the Sensational S-Man (he has all the Powers that start with 'S'), American Ninja (red, white and blue night-suit with 50 throwing stars), or the Mad Piper of Inverness; and villains such as the Mushroom Master, the Candyman, Narcolept, the One-Shot Wonder, Commander Coleoptera (and his Arthrozoid Army), and the agents of CRAB ("Pull off one leg and two will grow in its place!"), resplendent in their uniforms of blue-gray and burnt orange.

 

I did not create all of these characters, but I created the campaign. Good times!

 

But there's sometimes a bit of pretention in Champions villain books. The new batch is so evil, so dangerous, such epic foes! The cover blurbs rarely say, "And some that are just ridiculous."

 

Dean Shomshak

[Nothere]

Yes yes my revolutionary design would probably make me a millionaire, but what is money compared to the feeling of power, and seeing the masses flee before me. And they'll do that other than stand around laughing at my outfit, once I beats that superhero.

 

The superhero slams a nearby car on his head.

 

What was I saying?

 

faints.