PamelaIsley

The appropriateness of insta-death is largely dependent on the setting you're playing in and to a lesser degree the availability of ways to recover from death.
 
Can you be resurrected by way of powerful and rare magics?
 
Can Scotty restore you from a recent backup in the transporter buffer?
 
Did you have clones 2-7 on standby and a neural transmitter keeping them current?
 
Also, in some campaigns a high lethality level adds to the suspense.  Fights are scary and things to be avoided when possible.  I recall Danger International being reasonably terrifying because a single bullet to the head could be the end of you.

It might be helpful if some villains had a more defined role, as far as how they operated.  These would just be examples of course, for illustrative purposes.  Characters would not have to fall wholly into one category, it's really just a suggestion for how GMs might want to use them
 
--Thieves are there to steal stuff.  Their superpowers are focused on getting away.  They can't stand up to the heroes in combat, so the challenge is in preventing them from escaping.  Teleport, Desolidification, and Invisibility are common powers.  Example: GRAB.
--Planners use traps, gadgets, and minions to oppose the hero.  The challenge lies in getting to the villain, not in beating him up.  Followers, Bases, and Gadget Pools are common.  Example:  Arcade (X-Men) and many Bat-villains.
--A Nemesis is designed to fight one particular hero.  He's an even match for his chosen foe, whether it's because his powers are exactly the same, exactly the opposite, or maybe even just a philosophical opposition.  Against other heroes, he may be completely out of his element (alternatively, an unprepared hero may find himself completely outclassed by what he assumed would be a "weak" opponent).  Example: Joker, Metallo, Lex Luthor, Red Skull.
--A Rogue's Galley Member is not quite a Nemesis.  These guys are built to fight an individual hero, give him a tough fight, and lose.  In many ways, they're the ideal Champions villain (and what I think the OP is talking about in this thread).  Example: many Spidey-villains.
--Villain Teams are designed to match up to the heroes as a group.  Individually they can have strengths and weaknesses, but ultimately they are supposed to take on a number of heroes at once.  Example: Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Wrecking Crew, Injustice League, Eurostar, Ultimates.
--Master Villains are designed to take on a group of heroes, and potentially win.  They will have serious stat-inflation, often with a 7 or 8 Speed, Damage Reduction, and 80+ Stun.  But they normally enter battle by themselves, as the final opponent for the heroes.  They didn't become master villains by losing, so they'll often bug out as soon as the fight starts to turn against them (say, when they get to half Stun, or if their latest giant gadget is destroyed).  Example:  Dr Doom, Magneto, Thanos.

Maybe.  Although the villains are still more powerful than the 400 point standard 6E hero.  Leaving aside points, villains OCVs and DCs are just out and out outrageous in many cases.  The number of them that just casually have +3 bonuses to their main attacks hidden in the skill section is astonishing.  

Oh; my apologies:
 
I wasn't asking rhetorically.  I was suggesting that you (and your group, whether you are GM or not) sort of sit down and muddle through this:
 
What do you _like_ about taking down villains of higher power?  What do you like about equal footing?  Or better-than-equal footing?
 
Study what appeals to you, and why, as well as what does _not_ appeal, and why.
 
It's likely you'll get a real good measure of where to benchmark a truly memorable villain.
 
 
Sorry for my lack of clarity.
 
 
 
Duke
 

Sure, but what about the tables where people don't start ignoring campaign guidelines two sessions in?  Where do we get our premade villains? 
 
Very firmly agreed.  This gave me no end of grief when I got started until I had my GM give me firm benchmarks. 
 

Yeah, I'll be honest  - Cateran's  stats are too high for starting heroes.

When I used her in the last Champions campaign I ran I didn't have her fighting anyone, she was too tough for  the starting heroes.
 
As an aside - I was recently flicking through Nobles, Knights, and Necromancers. Almost all the characters in that have OCV and DCV that are in the 10-14 range. WAY beyond anything I could hope to use in a fantasy game. Even the supposedly "low level" villains.

Most of the villains in Champions are not built to fight starting characters.  People gain XP, and a lot of them dump their points into combat levels pretty quickly.
 
One thing that Champions is lacking is a solid power scale.  How powerful is powerful?  How good is a 10 OCV, really?  Because benchmarks that are established in the genre book aren't followed by most published characters.  And then you've got the occasional extreme outlier that really skews things.  Gravitar was mentioned earlier.  Remember that she's basically a Magneto analog, designed to take on entire teams and win.  So she's powerful enough to smash the Brick, and accurate enough to hit the Speedster.  Some of her numbers are really high, but I don't think she's really supposed to miss at all.
 
I've always thought that Champions could use some established superheroes in the Batman/Superman category.  Show them as starting PCs at the normal beginning point value, and then have an "iconic" character sheet where they've got their full power.  Build the villains with that in mind.

Darkwing
Total: 400
 
STR 20, 13-, 4d6
DEX 18, 13-
CON 18, 13-
INT 18, 13-
EGO 18, 13-
PRE 25, 14-, 5d6

OCV 7
DCV 7
OMCV 3
DMCV 3

SPD 5

PD 6    11+6 (5r+6)
ED 6    11+6 (5r+6)

REC 8
END 55

BODY 10
STUN 40 Total Cost: 164

Skills & Talents
Overall +1 (12)
Acrobatics, 13- (3)
Breakfall, 13- (3)
Climbing, 13- (3)
Combat Driving, 13- (3)
Computer Programming, 13- (3)
Concealment, 13- (3)
Criminology, 13- (3)
Deduction, 13- (3)
Electronics, 13- (3)
Fast Draw, 13- (3)
Forensic Medicine, 13- (3)
High Society, 14- (3)
Interrogation, 14- (3)
Inventor, 13- (3)
KS: ARGENT, 12- (3)
KS: Superhuman World, 13- (4)
KS: New York Underworld, 12- (3)
CK: New York City, 11- (2)
Lockpicking, 13- (3)
Stealth, 13- (3)
Streetwise, 14- (3)
+2 HTH Combat (16)
 
Filthy Rich (11)
Contact: Crime Reporter (Useful Skills, Good Relationship) (4)
Contact: Police Detective (Major Institutions, Useful Skills, Good Relationship) (8)
Combat Luck (6PD / 6ED) (12)
 
Martial Arts
                  OCV    DCV    Notes
Block         +2       +2    ½ Phase, Block, Abort (4)
Disarm        -1    +1     ½ Phase, Disarm, 50 STR (4)       
Reversal    -1      -2     Var Phase, 55 STR to Escape Grab (4)
Strike          -2    +1     ½ Phase, 10d6 Strike (4)
R. Disarm   +1    -1     ½ Phase, Range +2, Disarm +3 DC
 
+4 HTH DCs (16)
 
Total Cost: 163
 
Powers
Athletic (Running +3m, 15m total); (3)
Athletic (Swimming +2m, 6m total); (1)
Athletic (Leaping +4m, 8m forward, 4m upward); (2)
Armored Costume (Resistant Protection 5PD / 5ED (15 Active Points), OIF -½); (10)
Armored Gauntlets (Deflection (20 Active Points), No Range -½, OIF -½); (10)
Shock Gauntlets (HTH +2d6 (10 Active Points), OIF -½, HTH -¼); (6)
Mask (Sight Group Flash Defense 8 points (8 Active Points), OIF -½); (5)
Swingline (Swinging 15m (8 Active Points), OAF -1); (4)
Gliding Cape (Flight 10m (10 Active Points), Gliding -1, OIF -½); (4)
Utility Belt Multipower (30 point reserve (30 Active Points), OIF -½, Range Based on STR -¼); (17)
1. Winged Shurikens (Blast 6d6 (30 Active Points)); 2f
2. Draining Darts (Drain STR 3d6 (30 Active Points)); 2f
3. Caltrops (Entangle 3d6, 3PD / 3ED (30 Active Points)); 2f
4. Sleeping Pellets (Blast 4d6, AVAD (Life Support Breathing) +½ (30 Active Points)); 2f
5. Smoke Pellets (Darkness to Sight group 4m radius (20 Active Points); 1f
6. Flash Pellets (Sight Group Flash 6d6 (30 Active Points); 2f
 
Total Cost: 73

Matching Complications
Hunted (New York Mafia, Infrequent, Mo Pow, NCI, Harshly Punish); (20)
Hunted (Sentinels, Infrequent, Mo Pow, Watching); (5)
Psychological Complication (Committed to Justice, Common, Strong); (15)
Psychological Complication (Vengeful, Common, Moderate); (10)
Social Complication (Secret Identity: Daniel Burke, Frequent, Major); (15)
Rivalry (Profesional: Sentinels, Mo Pow, Outdo Rival, Rival Aware); (10)

Total: 75 points
 
Background: Daniel Burke had it all.  As the only child of parents who united two of New York’s largest idle fortunes, the young man never wanted for anything.  He attended the best private schools, summered in Europe, and seemed well on his way to a life of leisure. Burke grew up charming, but arrogant and elitist to an almost cartoonish degree.  He looked down on the poor and those who had less than himself, including people who simply weren’t as handsome or well dressed.
All of that changed during his last year at NYU. After a particularly out-of-control party, an inebriated Burke got lost walking home and passed out among some drifters.  The group was rounded up by agents of ARGENT working with organized crime. The most healthy of them (including Burke) were going to be trained as unwilling thugs. The least healthy were given to ARGENT, never to be seen again.  Burke, being slightly more aware of what was going on than his compatriots, managed to slip away during the transfer. Shocked into finally developing a social conscious, Daniel went to the police. They noted his story, but the young man could tell they weren’t going to do anything.  His parents were only concerned about their son’s safety, and showed little interest in the fate of the others. Daniel Burke decided to change his life.
   He told his parents he wanted to tour the world after graduation, and they allowed him.  But this wasn’t a pleasure trip. Burke spent the next three years undergoing intense physical training from whoever would teach him.  At the same time, he taught himself basic gadgeteering, and began to develop his investigative skills. Burke was so engrossed in his training that he didn’t take his parents’ messages about declining health seriously.  When he finally travelled back, he was too late to see his father before his death, and was only able to attend to his mother during her final weeks.
   Now in possession of an enormous fortune, Burke could finally proceed to the last phase of his plan.  He created the costumed identity of Darkwing, intending to strike fear in the low level criminals of New York.  His initial adventures, although clumsy, were valuable building blocks as he gradually destroyed the operations of the mob group responsible for his kidnapping.  Using his financial connections, he was also able to deduce the identity of two ARGENT subsidiaries, exposing them to the press and official investigators.
   Darkwing is now a constant on the streets of New York.  His crusade against the mafia and ARGENT has morphed into a battle against all crime.  He has run into numerous supervillains and hasn’t backed down. The fact that supervillains still exist in New York City has caused friction between Darkwing and the local superhero community.  Burke believes that if heroes like the Sentinels were doing their jobs, he wouldn’t have to take on supercrime. This attitude hasn’t won him any friends among other heroes, but even his critics can’t doubt Darkwing’s successes.

Personality: Darkwing is almost nothing like the Daniel Burke that existed before his kidnapping.  Although he continues to be arrogant, particularly toward other heroes and crimefighters, Darkwing is committed to protecting the innocent, strongly driven by the desire to see justice served (although it is his interpretation of justice), and intolerant of all kinds of criminals.  He is also brooding, obsessive, and almost completely withdrawn from a normal life. He occasionally tries to behave as Daniel Burke, attending charity events or high society parties, but these appearances are usually designed to gather information or build contacts for Darkwing’s work.  Burke spends almost all of his time as Darkwing or planning his patrols or operations.
Burke originally was only concerned with the mafia and criminal organizations like ARGENT, but as he gained experience he became more focused on supercriminals.  Darkwing has a low opinion of many superheroes, viewing them as overprivileged dilentattes (partly as a reaction to his own past), but he has a particular rivalry with the New York-based superteam the Sentinels.  Darkwing has helped the Sentinels with information or even to directly take down several villains, but he always does so with a desire to show up the superheroes. Burke does have a grudging respect for heroes he thinks take their job as seriously as he does.  This includes the Champions’ Nighthawk and Hudson City's DarkAngel.

Powers: Darkwing has no superpowers, but he has trained himself to virtually peak human levels of performance.  He is an excellent hand-to-hand combatant, and uses a variety of devices from his belt in ranged combat. His costume provides decent armored protection, allows him to glide, and can deflect incoming fire (including energy blasts).  He has built small shockwave generators into his gauntlets to help when fighting more powerful foes. He has an uncanny sense of when to dodge during combat. Darkwing is an excellent planner, and frequently rigs traps to help reduce enemies’ numbers during the initial parts of any encounter.  He has incredible financial resources to call upon, and has built up a network of contacts in the police department and local news organizations. In the long run, Burke is likely to use his wealth to build supervehicles and a more advanced lair.

Appearance: Daniel Burke is an extremely fit, handsome man in his late 20s.  He has dark hair and eyes, and seems to always have a grim expression on his face.  He dresses in very expensive suits and evening wear when appearing in public. As Darkwing, he wears a full body costume and mask that covers everything but his jaw.  The cape, mask, upper body, gloves, and boots are dark gray, while the chest and legs are a brownish orange. His eyes are concealed behind panes that provide flash defense.  Darkwing speaks with a much deeper, gruffer tone of voice than Daniel uses during normal conversation, something which either strikes fear in criminals during interrogations or annoys fellow heroes trying to cooperate with him.
 
Notes: Yeah, so it's Batman on a budget.  I originally tried to use only 300 points, but that didn't work very well.  Costumed avengers are my favorite comic characters (Batman, Batgirl, Huntress, Spoiler, Batwoman, Nightwing, and Robin in particular).  They are very easy to build in M&M.  They are not so much fun in Hero.  Martial arts are annoying.  Utility belts are even more so.  I almost gave Darkwing some kind of VPP to reflect other small, 1 point type gadgets, but what's the point?  If he needs a camera or binoculars or whatever, then it's all too commonly used in the world to worry about.  His build is based heavily on Nighthawk and DarkAngel (DC:TAS book). 
 
 
Darkwing.hdc

That's how I'd recommend doing it. Maybe also give Harry Potter a personal immunity to it.

Saying all of them would be facetious. 
 
All of the Master Villains are unusable.  The one in particular that I would like to use is Gravitar (14 OCV[!!] and 20DCs on some powers) .  She would need rebuilt totally from scratch.  She's more like the goddess / embodiment of gravity than a supervillain as constructed. 
 
From the solo book, Anubis (13 OCV, 16 DCs), Cateran (13 OCV, 15 DCs), Green Dragon (13 OCV, 15 DCs), Howler (just needs characteristics fixed), Jade Phoenix (15 OCV), Lady Blue (15 DCs), Mechassassin (12 OCV), Photon (12 OCV), Talisman (characteristics only), and Utility (12 OCV) are all characters I could see using but wouldn't until they were scaled down more reasonably. 
 
Honestly, the point of the thread wasn't to nitpick individual stat blocks.  It was to kind of address the issue that almost all published villains are being built with 400+ points, while heroes are presented as 300 or 400 point characters.
 
Edit: By the way, a big shout out to Foxbat, Tachyon, and Pulsar for being constructed according to the rules and scaling reasonably. Their characteristics need work, of course, but I really appreciate the attempt that was made with their sheets.

So I can't resist...
 
Do his enemies call him Duckie?

I almost put something in my notes, but I figured people would get it without a nudge. 
 
One of my favorite superhero shows growing up. 

As to the OP question, yes as a whole I think there should be more lesser powered villains than Heroes. Btw I’ve created Super Agents before too. 

There are a few others that were "promoted" in the 6E books, making them less usable.
 
Talisman has grown and grown, as an example.

Yeah power bloat is a bit of a problem in officially published books.  I mean look at what happened to Dr Destroyer over 3 editions.  Thankfully you don't have to use this stuff as printed, and I don't.

There are a few others that were "promoted" in the 6E books, making them less usable.
 
Talisman has grown and grown, as an example.

I tend to use homegrown villains; even when I use existing CU villains, I often rewrite them for personal preference (so my Howler may only bear a slight resemblance to the CU Howler).  And as such, they are often about the same point-level as the PC heroes, and I tend to use roughly the same number of villains as heroes in any given combat.  However, as someone else pointed out, point totals does not necessarily equal combat power level.
 
On a meta level, there are considerably more villains than heroes in my world, but that is partly by design.  My current Champions campaign started shortly after an event where a fair number of superheroes (including entire superhero teams) and numerous supervillains were pulled to another dimension by the Empress of a Billion Dimensions.  Due to the way this was done, a number of the supervillains who disappeared were "replaced" with villains from that other world, and a few heroes (or normal people) were likewise "replaced" with heroes from the other world.  However, individual heroes and hero teams are more likely to work together and to work with government agencies, while villains rarely work together except within their individual teams, and there's much more of a chance of infighting between villains / villain teams.  So (at least IMO) it doesn't matter so much if the world's villains outnumber the world's heroes 3:1, since a group of villains on any given plot isn't likely to outnumber the specific hero team 3:1.

Very few Champions villains are built this way.  Most are built using more points than a standard hero and have a ton of different powers and skills.
 
I do think that focusing on points is sometimes misguided (it's why I like M&M's Power Level, which is a good short hand; Hero has nothing comparable, you have to look at a ton of different numbers).
 
But most CU villains in the 6E solo book are more powerful than a standard 400-point hero in every way (DCs, total point value, OCV/DCV).  It's that aspect that I think is off.  I don't think the average villain in a setting should be more powerful than the average hero (in fact, I like the opposite construction).  I don't like it in practice and I don't like it conceptually.  But that's just my opinion.
 
On a side note, I spent years converting DC characters into M&M 2E format to have a consistent universe.  I won't repeat that work for Hero, but it's a lot of fun.

As I create more 6E characters, I've been looking a lot more closely at villain stats in the 6E books, specifically the three volume set (Master Villlains, Teams, and Solo Villains).  I also have the 5E books, so the issue I'm going to discuss isn't just related to 6E.  When you look at the solo villain book, most villains in it are built to take on a team of superheroes.  Most of their writeups even talk about this fact.  There are a few that aren't built using 400 or more points, but those are really the exceptions. 
 
First off, from a gaming standpoint, I can understand why they are doing this.  Hero seems designed for a group to play and Champions deliberately makes superheroes so powerful that henchmen aren't a plausible threat (there is even an entire section on how to make sure agent fights go fast and aren't boring).  So that means the big bad guy for an adventure needs to take on multiple heroes at once.
 
But from a universe building standpoint, I'm not sure this makes much sense. 
 
Champions Universe says there are roughly three supervillains for every two superheroes.  So there are more villains in the world than heroes.  So we have a conceptual problem almost immediately.  If the villains are not only more numerous than the heroes, but also more powerful, then the world seems in trouble (you can always make the case that their divided, selfish nature keeps everyone safe -- evil eats evil and all that -- but that's a pretty unsatisfying answer).
 
Does the idea that individual villains are more powerful than individual heroes fit with other comic universes?  It certainly doesn't with the Batman and Superman settings.  With very few exceptions, Batman as an individual is significantly more capable than almost all of his Rogues Gallery, especially if you look at the era around TAS and the 1990s and 2000s (the time period I'm most familiar with).  Superman, of course, goes without saying.  The X-Men face a lot of villains that are threats to their entire team, but I'm not sure the average X-Men villain is more capable than the main team members.  Same goes for Spider-Man.  Is he weaker than each member of his Rogue's Gallery?  I will concede that I know very little about other Marvel rogues galleries.
 
I'm a lot more familiar with Batman and the JLA than with any other comic setting.  So a lot of my biases come from that universe.  It seems to me that the tenor of most adventures is that heroes have to figure out what the villain is doing, unwind the villain's plot, and then confront them.  Is the last part supposed to be the most challenging?  If a villain is more powerful than a hero or a team of heroes straight up, then I'm not really understanding why a lot of them go to such trouble to have elaborate plots. 
 
Anyway, my own thoughts are a little rambling.  I'm mostly interested in people's opinions.  Should the average supervillain be more powerful than the average superhero?  Is raw combat power the best way to balance a supervillain against a superteam?  Does the Champions Universe go a little too far in making so many 400+ point villains?
 
My own opinion is that villains should be roughly equal to heroes (if not a little weaker), that most adventures are more fun when they are more about the villain's plot than the villain's stats, and that henchmen / agents / normal people should be more lethal than presented in CU.
 
Thanks all!

This is very true.  And Master Villains and Villain Teams fit in well when you need more serious combat challenges.  (As an aside, when I look at many of the 5E/6E master villain writeups, I just laugh.  These people aren't supervillains.  They are gods.  It's just way out of whack with how I would build a world.)

But in terms of universe construction, if you tell players "the average hero and villain are about the same", and then they only fight 400+ point villains over and over because you're trying to make it a challenge for a team in terms of that final fight, then people might start to look askance at how you've created your setting.

Han Solo shot first which is why he was cool.

Strongly agree with all of this.
 
Unfortunately, many players don't have the patience or the cognitive framework to pursue investigation, unravel plots, figure out what's really going on, etc. This is true in most genres, but seems to be particularly true in superheroes, where they want to get to the big fight throwing coffee cans of damage and knocking back bad guys for crazy distance, and so forth.
 
With supers, I try to remember to not fight human nature and reverse the scenes and story beats, placing conflict where normally there would be build up / plot development, and plot development where normally there would be conflict. 
 
One of the main issues with developing a story in any rpg is that what drives the characters forward is their individual agendas / motivations. But a lot of superhero character motivations are simply "...they fight crime!" or "...oppose supervillainy!", etc. Put a face for them to punch in front of them, and their purpose is clear. Put a situation for them to figure out in front of them, which is basically a maze with one or more supervillains hiding in it metaphorically speaking, and most players with their paper thin character motivations become inert with no clear drive forward.
 
Some players of course want to play "mystery men" detective types, and want to engage with a plot that requires / allows them to explore investigation and mystery. But if you've got one of those and three other more four color players at the table, its the classic problem of balancing the boredom factor for the uninterested players while you and the the plot engaged player scratch your story development itches.
 
Including some lesser moments of combat like breadcrumbs through the maze to a big bad on the other hand allows the interstitial bits of the story to be doled out but keeps the players who showed up for fights periodically reengaged, and also allows the players to feel that their characters are powerful. Finding the balance between interesting and boring is the trick of course...too much and taking out the trash becomes a slog, too few and there wasn't much point to having them at all. 
 
I sometimes think the most important skill a GM can have is the ability to find "goldilocks zones"...not too much or too little of every thing that goes into a gaming session. In retrospect most errors I make as a GM can be reduced to "...overdid it a bit on that one..." or "...shoulda had more of that other thing...". 
 
Accordingly, I try to keep the threat levels of my bad guys and other obstacles distributed along a curve. A mix of stronger and weaker, solo and team, vectors of attack, motivations, etc. Variety. Seems to work, usually. 

No.  Villains have the advantage in shooting first, taking hostages, and exploiting the Heroes vulnerabilities and susceptibilities.  Most Villains like all Criminals are a Superstitious and Corwardly lot.

As I create more 6E characters, I've been looking a lot more closely at villain stats in the 6E books, specifically the three volume set (Master Villlains, Teams, and Solo Villains).  I also have the 5E books, so the issue I'm going to discuss isn't just related to 6E.  When you look at the solo villain book, most villains in it are built to take on a team of superheroes.  Most of their writeups even talk about this fact.  There are a few that aren't built using 400 or more points, but those are really the exceptions. 
 
First off, from a gaming standpoint, I can understand why they are doing this.  Hero seems designed for a group to play and Champions deliberately makes superheroes so powerful that henchmen aren't a plausible threat (there is even an entire section on how to make sure agent fights go fast and aren't boring).  So that means the big bad guy for an adventure needs to take on multiple heroes at once.
 
But from a universe building standpoint, I'm not sure this makes much sense. 
 
Champions Universe says there are roughly three supervillains for every two superheroes.  So there are more villains in the world than heroes.  So we have a conceptual problem almost immediately.  If the villains are not only more numerous than the heroes, but also more powerful, then the world seems in trouble (you can always make the case that their divided, selfish nature keeps everyone safe -- evil eats evil and all that -- but that's a pretty unsatisfying answer).
 
Does the idea that individual villains are more powerful than individual heroes fit with other comic universes?  It certainly doesn't with the Batman and Superman settings.  With very few exceptions, Batman as an individual is significantly more capable than almost all of his Rogues Gallery, especially if you look at the era around TAS and the 1990s and 2000s (the time period I'm most familiar with).  Superman, of course, goes without saying.  The X-Men face a lot of villains that are threats to their entire team, but I'm not sure the average X-Men villain is more capable than the main team members.  Same goes for Spider-Man.  Is he weaker than each member of his Rogue's Gallery?  I will concede that I know very little about other Marvel rogues galleries.
 
I'm a lot more familiar with Batman and the JLA than with any other comic setting.  So a lot of my biases come from that universe.  It seems to me that the tenor of most adventures is that heroes have to figure out what the villain is doing, unwind the villain's plot, and then confront them.  Is the last part supposed to be the most challenging?  If a villain is more powerful than a hero or a team of heroes straight up, then I'm not really understanding why a lot of them go to such trouble to have elaborate plots. 
 
Anyway, my own thoughts are a little rambling.  I'm mostly interested in people's opinions.  Should the average supervillain be more powerful than the average superhero?  Is raw combat power the best way to balance a supervillain against a superteam?  Does the Champions Universe go a little too far in making so many 400+ point villains?
 
My own opinion is that villains should be roughly equal to heroes (if not a little weaker), that most adventures are more fun when they are more about the villain's plot than the villain's stats, and that henchmen / agents / normal people should be more lethal than presented in CU.
 
Thanks all!

Very few Champions villains are built this way.  Most are built using more points than a standard hero and have a ton of different powers and skills.
 
I do think that focusing on points is sometimes misguided (it's why I like M&M's Power Level, which is a good short hand; Hero has nothing comparable, you have to look at a ton of different numbers).
 
But most CU villains in the 6E solo book are more powerful than a standard 400-point hero in every way (DCs, total point value, OCV/DCV).  It's that aspect that I think is off.  I don't think the average villain in a setting should be more powerful than the average hero (in fact, I like the opposite construction).  I don't like it in practice and I don't like it conceptually.  But that's just my opinion.
 
On a side note, I spent years converting DC characters into M&M 2E format to have a consistent universe.  I won't repeat that work for Hero, but it's a lot of fun.