Legendsmiths

James spent almost his entire academic career at Harvard. He was appointed instructor in physiology for the spring 1873 term, instructor in anatomy and physiology in 1873, assistant professor of psychology in 1876, assistant professor of philosophy in 1881, full professor in 1885, endowed chair in psychology in 1889, return to philosophy in 1897, and emeritus professor of philosophy in 1907. James studied medicine, physiology, and biology, and began to teach in those subjects, but was drawn to the scientific study of the human mind at a time when psychology was constituting itself as a science. James's acquaintance with the work of figures like Hermann Helmholtz in Germany and Pierre Janet in France facilitated his introduction of courses in scientific psychology at Harvard University. He taught his first experimental psychology course at Harvard in the 1875-1876 academic year. During his Harvard years, James joined in philosophical discussions with Charles Peirce, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Chauncey Wright that evolved into a lively group informally known as The Metaphysical Club in 1872. Louis Menand speculates that the Club provided a foundation for American intellectual thought for decades to come. It was during this time he also had the pleasure of teaching a young Theodore Roosevelt. James is one of the two namesakes of the James-Lange theory of emotion, which he formulated independently of Carl Lange in the 1880s. The theory holds that emotion is the mind's perception of physiological conditions that result from some stimulus. In James's oft-cited example; it is not that we see a bear, fear it, and run. We see a bear and run, consequently we fear the bear. Our mind's perception of the higher adrenaline level, heartbeat, etc., is the emotion.

In 1883, at the age of 24, Teddy Roosevelt stepped off a train in Little Missouri (later called Medora) in the heart of Dakota territory. He'd come to join the hunt for the last buffalo. He went back East soon after his hunting trip was over. After his wife died in childbirth in 1884, Roosevelt returned to the West to take a personal hand in running the Maltese Cross Ranch which he'd invested in the previous year. The ranch was doing so well, he established a second ranch, the Elkhorn, just a little further on down the Little Missouri River.

Bullock came to Deadwood, South Dakota, on August 1, 1876, whereupon he opened a hardware store. Soon after his arrival, Bullock was asked to become the town's first sheriff. He accepted the job and continued to operate the hardware store on the side. Bullock was as brave a man as one could ask for, and a crack shot besides, but even so he used his gun rarely. He preferred strong words to hot lead. Later in his life, Bullock owned and operated a ranch which bordered on Teddy Roosevelt's Elkhorn ranch. Bullock is credited w/ introducing alfalfa as a crop to the Black Hills on his very ranch.

Red Cloud is war leader and a chief of the Oglala Lakota (Sioux) since 1868. One of the most capable Native American opponents the United States Army faced, he led a successful campaign in 1866Ð1868 known as Red Cloud's War over control of the Powder River Country in northeastern Wyoming and southern Montana. Red Cloud's War was the name the US Army gave to a series of conflicts fought with American Indian Plains tribes in the Wyoming and Montana territories. The battles were waged between the Northern Cheyenne, allied w/ Lakota and Arapaho bands, against the United States Army between 1866 and 1868. In December 1866, the Native American allies attacked and defeated a United States unit in what the whites would call the Fetterman Massacre (or the Battle of the Hundred Slain); it was the event on the Plains to that point with the highest US fatalities. Captain William J. Fetterman was sent from Fort Phil Kearny with two civilians and 79 cavalry and infantrymen to chase away a small Indian war party that had attacked a wood party days before. Captain Frederick Brown accompanied Fetterman; the two were confident in their troops and anxious to go to battle with the Indians. They disobeyed orders to stay behind the Lodge Trail Ridge and pursued a small decoy band of warriors, led by an Indian on an apparently injured horse. The decoy was the prominent warrior Crazy Horse. Fetterman and his troops followed the decoy into an ambush by more than 2,000 Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho. Combined Indian forces suffered only 14 casualties, while they killed the entire 81-man US detachment. Following this battle, a US peace commission toured the Plains in 1867 to gather information to help bring about peace among the tribes and w/ the US. Finding that the American Indians had been provoked by white encroachment and competition for resources, the commission recommended assigning definite territories to the Plains tribes. The Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho bands, and others settled for peace with the US under the Treaty of Fort Laramie. The US agreed to abandon its forts and w/draw completely from Lakota territory.

In 1882, Calkins entered into Smith College as a sophomore. She studied for the year, but in 1883 with the death of her sister she took the year off from college and studied on her own. She then returned to Smith College in 1884 to graduate with a concentration in classics and philosophy. Upon graduation, Calkins and her family took a sixteen month trip to Europe. When she returned to Massachusetts, her father set up an interview with the President of Wellesley College, an all women's college, for a tutoring job. She worked as a teacher in the Greek department for three years until a professor in the Psychology department took notice of Calkins' excellent teaching and offered her a teaching position, as long as she studied psychology for a year prior to teaching. Mary accepted the position and began to look for places to expand her knowledge of psychology. There were not many options for women at the time looking for a place to study and graduate with a degree in psychology. Calkins decided to take classes at Harvard Annex, taught by Josiah Royce. Royce influenced Calkins to take regular classes through Harvard, taught by William James, w/ males as her peers. The president of Harvard, Charles William Eliot, was opposed to this idea; a woman learning in the same room as a man. With pressure from James and Royce, along with a petition from Mary's father, Eliot finally gave in and allowed Calkins to study in the regular classes, w/ the stipulation that she was not to be a registered student. The next few years, Calkins continued to excel in the field of psychology, working on more graduate work. On her work with James: I began the serious study of psychology with William James. Most unhappily for them and most fortunately for me the other members of his seminary in psychology dropped away in the early weeks of the fall; and James and I were left not, as in Garfield's vision of Mark Hopkins and himself, at either end of a log but quite literally at either side of a library fire. The Principles of Psychology was warm from the press; and my absorbed study of those brilliant, erudite, and provocative volumes, as interpreted by their writer, was my introduction to psychology. What I gained from the written page, and even more from tete-a-tete discussion was, it seems to me as I look back upon it, beyond all else, a vivid sense of the concreteness of psychology and of the immediate reality of "finite individual minds" with their "thoughts and feelings. James's vituperation of the "psychologist's fallacy" -- the "confusion of his own standpoint with that of the mental fact about which he is making his report" -- results directly from this view of introspection as immediate experience and not mere inference from experience. From introspection he derives the materials for psychology. "Introspective observation," he expressly asserts, "is what we have to rely on first and foremost and always...."

Well, it's, um, Doctor Druid, so, yeah. Best not to ask.

Ms. Marvel is looking to get back into the good graces of the Avengers. She has been asked to join in with the New Avengers, but she also realizes that she will have to earn her place, as Captain America and her have had words before. She hopes that now she is on the straight and narrow and is dealing with her alcoholism that she will be able to eventually because a trusted member of the team. Carol is a feminist, and often espouses that a woman can do just as well as a man, which has on occasion got her into hot water with some other heroes. Currently Carol is content to let others lead the group, but is more than willing to do some heavy lifting if called upon.

Cage is a self-taught hand-to-hand combatant with years of street fighting experience; he is also a superb athlete despite his great height and weight. He is self-educated in the law and speaks several languages.

A genius level intellect that allows him to create a range of sophisticated inventions, most notably his Iron Man armor. Also possesses a keen business mind.

The Espionage specialist on the hero side of the Marvel Universe, Natalia Romanova, known to most as Natasha Romanoff, is rumored to be a relative of the Romanoffs, the last ruling czars of Russia, but nothing else is known of her family. During World War II, a Nazi assault upon Stalingrad set the building she was in on fire. A woman, possibly her mother, threw her into the arms of a Russian soldier named Ivan Petrovich before being consumed by the flames. Ivan brought Natasha under his protection and soon had to defend her from her many enemies. In 1941, Natasha was sought by the Nazi Baron Strucker, who presented her to the Hand to become their master assassin. She was saved from Strucker and the Hand by Ivan, the American super-hero Captain America, and the Canadian adventurer Logan.

Jessica has been a double agent for some time, working both for Hydra and for S.H.I.E.L.D., hence her loyalties are somewhat in flux at times. Currently she is working with the unsanctioned Avengers for now to see how things pan out. If a better offer comes along she may take it. She is not a leader of others in any sense of the word, as she normally only has to watch after herself, hence she sometimes has words for those that can't take care of themselves. Of course when she needs aid, she often pops off with a "I was dealing with it", to cover her shortcomings.

Thor is a somewhat vain, extremely confident, god-like Asgardian protector of Midgard (aka Earth).

When first introduced, the Beast — a mutant — possesses ape-like superhuman physical strength and agility and oversized hands and feet, though he otherwise appears to be a normal human being. Throughout his history, the Beast undergoes progressive transformations to his physiognomy, permanently gaining increasingly animalistic physical characteristics. These include blue fur, feline facial features, pointed ears, fangs, and claws. His physical power increases to even greater levels, as do his senses. Despite his savage appearance, he is a brilliant man of the arts and sciences; he is a world authority on biochemistry and genetics, the X-Men's medical doctor, and the science and mathematics instructor at the Xavier Institute (the X-Men's headquarters and school for young mutants). He is also a mutant political activist. Fighting his bestial instincts and fears of social rejection, the Beast dedicates his physical and mental gifts to the creation of a better world for man and mutant. He also has a witty sense of humor.

Colossus can transform his body tissue into an organic, steel-like substance that grants him superhuman strength and a high degree of imperviousness to injury. His armored form can withstand ballistic penetration as well as temperature extremes from 70º above absolute zero (-390º F) to approximately 9000º F. Colossus cannot become partially or selectively armored; his body is either entirely converted, or not at all. Even his eyes become steel-like. Through an act of will, Colossus can transform virtually instantaneously into his armored state, and can remain in that form for an as yet undetermined amount of time. Once in his armored form, Colossus remains so until he consciously wills himself back to normal. If he is rendered unconscious, however, he spontaneously reverts to his normal form. In his armored state, Colossus retains his normal human mobility, though his endurance and speed are enhanced. He does not need to breathe while transformed, but it is believed that he could not survive for long in a vacuum.

A mutant, Cyclops produces a powerful beam with great destructive power from his eyes referred to as an "optic blast". In uniform, he wears a unique ruby quartz battle visor with a lens which runs from eye-to-eye giving him a one-eyed appearance, hence the codename "Cyclops." Scott is the first X-Man recruited by Charles Xavier and as one of the original five X-Men, Cyclops has had a large presence in X-Men-related comics since their inception. He has also been featured in almost every adaptation of the team in other media. In practically every incarnation of the character, he has almost always been shown to be not only Charles Xavier's most loyal student, but also the one who most believes in his dream of mutant and human equality. Xavier is known to view Scott as one of his most, if not the most prized pupil. The relationship is not mentor to protege but akin to that of a father to son. Xavier hand picked Scott to lead his X-Men and to carry on his ideals. From time to time Scott's loyalty to Xavier has cost him dearly. He has remained by Xavier's side and eventually moved out of Xavier's shadow as the singular leader of the X-Men.

The younger daughter of history professor John Grey and his wife Elaine, Jean Grey was 10 years old when her mutant telepathic powers first manifested after experiencing the emotions of a dying friend. Her parents took her to be treated by Professor Charles Xavier. While Xavier treated Jean he also used her to fine tune his Cerebro machine. When Xavier introduced young Jean to the astral plane a part of her mind manifested as a Phoenix raptor and touched the mind of Scott Summers in the orphanage. Later, Xavier erected psychic shields in Jean’s mind to prevent her from using her telepathic powers until she was mature enough to control them. Eventually, using her telekinetic powers, Jean was a founding member of Xavier’s team of mutant trainees the X-Men as Marvel Girl. Upon a mission in outer space Jean was noticed by the Phoenix Force which took note of her unlimited potential. At this moment Jean had a vision of becoming the Phoenix but the vision faded from her memory as it ended. She soon fell in love with fellow student Scott Summers, and later would develop a strong attraction towards one of the team’s new recruits, the feral Wolverine.

Howlett's past is mostly unknown, but during World War II he participated in military airdrops with Captain America. Decades later, he was abducted and experimented upon by a covert government unit, who bonded unbreakable adamantium to his skeleton and implanted three claws in each arm. Initially designated Weapon X (later the name of the entire unit), Howlett was renamed both "Logan" and "Wolverine." Weapon X held him for at least a decade. Supposedly programmed to kill any human he saw, he proved his humanity was intact by saving Nick Fury's life in the Middle East. He grew to hate his captors and also his fellow prisoner, Sabretooth.

Captain America is the steward and defender of the best ideals of man. He's goody-goody without bugging you about it.

The layout is a clean two column format with indenting and bolding for clarity. The Hero System logo is in the document, and nearly all character tags/information are included. Redundant information is avoided (e.g. STUN is listed only once). Sections are by column. Usually you can condense a character to 2 pages just by rearranging sections. The RTF in this format is only supported by MS Word, which is supported with the MS Word Viewer (http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=4). Other Notes All skill levels put along side Combat Skill Levels Encumbrance is only displayed if you have equipment Equipment lists in a more "equipment like" format Secondary STR produces Secondary ENC Table If you have an image file the file size will be bloated if you just preview the character. Use Export to File to ensure the smallest file size possible. Image should fit under background and must be a JPEG Please feel free to send me comments or corrections. Written by Shane Harsch (shane@tekhed.com)

The layout is a clean two column format with indenting and bolding for clarity. The Hero System logo is in the document, and nearly all character tags/information are included. Redundant information is avoided (e.g. STUN is listed only once). CAMPAIGN USE field is used for recording a condensed Character Summary that is useful for a quick glance of what the character's role is. The RTF in this format is only supported by MS Word, which is supported with the MS Word Viewer (http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=4). Other Notes Support for Narosia ESS and EREC characteristics are included Support for Narosia Encumbrance model All skill levels put along side Combat Skill Levels Encumbrance is only displayed if you have equipment Equipment lists in a more "equipment like" format If you have an image file the file size will be bloated if you just preview the character. Use Export to File to ensure the smallest file size possible. Image should fit under background and must be a JPEG Please feel free to send me comments or corrections. Written by Shane Harsch (shane@tekhed.com)