History Characters / TheTwelve

* TheFettered: ''And'' TheUnfettered. As a reporter, he was limited in the ways he could seek justice-- if people wanted to clam up, all he could do was deal with it. If the evidence he needed was somewhere a normal civilian wasn't allowed to go (like someone else's house), he couldn't go there, and if he wrote a scathing exposé on some criminal/corrupt figure, that figure was usually powerful enough to get rival papers to excoriate it. As an anonymous masked man he realizes that he doesn't have to worry about things like journalistic ethics, credible sources or even the law. He could do anything he wanted to get results, even direct confronting people he couldn't touch as a reporter.

* BadassNormal: The most prominent member of the Twelve with no powers, using only his wits and fists to get things done. Those fists belong to a ex-All-American fullback who was a champion boxer, wrestler and fencer in college though, so they're pretty impressive. [[spoiler: Becomes a EmpoweredBadassNormal when Fiery Mask gives him his powers].]

* SuperToughness: [[spoiler:This proves disadvantageous after Dynamic Man is destroyed. The flames it took to wreck the android were intense enough to burn half of even Captain Wonder's body badly, but doctors' ability to repair the damage was hampered by the fact that their tools weren't strong enough to repair the damage. He healed, but remains disfigured for life]].

* BadassNormal: The most prominent member of the Twelve with no powers, using only his wits and fists to get things done. [[spoiler: Becomes a EmpoweredBadassNormal when Fiery Mask gives him his powers.]]

* TheMasqueradeWillKillYourDatingLife: Played with. Jones muses that he might be using this idea as an excuse for why he never ended up with a significant other. [[spoiler:But he does find love by the story's end.]]

* BequeathedPower: [[spoiler:His flame powers turn out to have been gifted to him by a dying man who'd received them from another man and so forth. Ultimately, he pass them on to Phantom Reporter]].

A reporter who took up the alias of a costumed adventurer to try and fight the wrongs that he couldn't deal with as a reporter.

* CivvieSpandex
* CoatHatMask

* {{Deconstruction}}: His relationship with his sidekick Tim adds a much more tragic, darker read on the classic kid sidekicks of comics history. [[spoiler: After Captain Wonder's death, Tim started to lose his powers and became a loser with a dead-end job mentally stuck in his glory days as a superpowerful sidekick. When they meet again, Tim is a bitter old man with terminal cancer and Captain Wonder just reminds him of better, bygone times. Tim ends up comitting suicide as a result.]]

* GoodScarsEvilScars: [[spoiler:Suffers irreparable burns to the right side of his face while restraining Dynamic Man as Fiery Mask destroys him. He wears a half-mask afterward and (for at least some time afterward) begs people he's rescuing not to be scared of him]].

* CrazyPrepared: Jones recognizes Excello as a genius and wonders why he hadn't prepared some kind of failsafe for himself in the future...[[spoiler:until it turns out he did. Excello is effectively rich forever when he set up a bank account to accrue interest in case of an extended absence in the 40's.]]

* DiscoDan: Blue Blade's attempts to break into show business fail miserably because his entire character and (very misogynistic) sense of humour is tied down to a very 1940's understanding of the world . This is illustrated when he talks with his agent about wanting to be "the next Douglas Fairbanks", which his agent notes is a name very few people would be able to recognize without googling these days.

* SuccubiAndIncubi: It's implied that access to her sexual favors is one of the terms of the pact she made with...something.

* TheTeetotaler: A citizen offers to buy Dynamic Man a beer only to find out he doesn't drink...so they settle on a coca-cola instead.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: It's never made clear if Rockman's origins are delusions or...something genuine. The comic presents implications for both.

* ReedRichardsIsUseless: He invented what is essentially a superhero serum...[[spoiler:that he's completely unable to recreate]]. Other than that, his science know-how never comes into play.

* CreepyGood: She's a terrifying presence destined to serve Satan...but only to punish the wicked and is firmly on the side of the heroes.

* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: One of the many dark takes on Superman. In this case Dynamic Man plays with the idea of Superman's "moral purity" and upright qualities being taken to dangerous levels of moral zealotry. Like Superman he's a Man of Tomorrow...but ''what'' tomorrow, is the question asked of him multiple times.

* TheReveal: [[spoiler:Not only is he the murderer...but he's also an advanced artificial being.]]
* SupermanSubstitute: A dashing, heroic FlyingBrick of perfect morals...at first.

* VigilanteExecution: Not above this, when people have performed particularly heinous crimes. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, in the eyes of the law, at least one of them was considered a murder...and there's no statute of limitations on murder]].

* SuperSenses: Seems to be combined with some sort of clairvoyance/precognition. ''All'' of his senses are enhanced, ''all of the time'' to the point where he can hear things all over the country and even sense where he's '''going to be'''. [[BlessedWithSuck And, brother, the country's gotten a ''lot'' louder since the 40s]]. He goes through a lot of aspirin.

* VigilanteExecution: Not above this, when people have performed particularly heinous crimes.

* BarbieDollAnatomy: [[spoiler:Apart from being programmed by sex-hating wacko, said wacko made certain DM wouldn't be tempted by making him completely unit-free]].

* RepressionNeverEndsWell: After arriving in the modern world Dynamic Man begins doing heroic deeds on a constant basis. Phantom Reporter believes, and DM later confirms that he's trying to force himself to keep insanely busy so as not to think about being the modern world. [[spoiler:But Reporter doesn't know that, rather than mourning his old life, Dynamic Man has been trying not to think of the corrupt and sinful world the future has become. Despising the very lives he saves, his hate boiled through the unknown connection he had to Electro, sending the robot on a killing spree]].

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: [[spoiler:One of the few heroes who averted ThouShaltNotKill. Turns out murder has no statute of limitations]].

* NotSoDifferent: Witness notes at one point that he and Black Widow both have obligations to serve a higher power whom they are beholden to, which she acknowledges.

* NotSoDifferent: He notes at one point that he and Black Widow both have obligations to serve a higher power whom they are beholden to, which she acknowledges.

* BadassNormal: Has no superhuman abilities, but still fought criminals and later Nazis with nothing but his wits, acrobatics and fencing skills.

* CyberneticsEatYourSoul: In a sense: it's mentioned how every time the professor connected to Electro, he found it harder to "come back out" again. By the wars end he almost never wasn't connected to Electro by choice.

* NextTierUpgrade: [[spoiler:In his last scene, he's been kitted out with modern day weaponry]].

* BoxedCrook: [[spoiler:The government offers to consider his time in stasis as time served with probation for the remainter of his sentence in exchange for piloting an upgraded Electro with MoreDakka to slaughter America's foes. [[BloodKnight Works for him!]]]]

* SuperSenses: Seems to be combined with some sort of clairvoyance/precognition. ''All'' of his senses are enhanced, ''all of the time'' to the point where he can hear things all over the country and even sense where he's '''going to be'''. [[BlessedWithSuck And, brother, the country's gotten a ''lot'' louder]]. He goes through a lot of aspirin.

* PerpetualFrowner: His expression never bulges from a judgmental scowl.

* AwesomenessByAnalysis: The first of the heroes (outside of possibly Excello) to realize that something was fishy with the hospital room he woke up in--the radio was playing songs without commercial interruption, the nurse had multiple piercings and her stockings didn't have garters. He managed to persuade Captain Wonder to help him investigate and together they learned that they were in 2008 and not 1945.

* WarIsHell: The lone member of the Twelve that seems actively traumatized by WWII. It's mentioned early on, he's the only one who saw the aftermath of the Auschwitz camp.

* NotSayingTheZWord: In ''The Twelve'' they never actually outright say the name of just whom or what Clare serves, unlike in the original comic where she explicitly serves Satan.

* MistakenForSubculture: At one point a drunken Phantom Reporter implies that he's a Nazi and Dynamic Man almost killed him. He's ''not'' a Nazi, he just hates criminals and (what he perceives to be) perverts.

* RepressionNeverEndsWell: After arriving in the modern world Dynamic Man begins doing heroic deeds on a constant basis. Phantom Reporter believes, and DM later confirms that he's trying to force himself to keep insanely busy so as not to think about being the modern world. [[spoiler:But Reporter doesn't know that, rather than mourning his old life, Dynamic Man has been trying not to think of the corrupt and sinful world the future has become. Despising the very lives he saves, his hate boiled through the unknown connection he had to Electro, sending the robot on nightly killing sprees]].

* AwesomenessByAnalysis: The first of the heroes (outside of possibly Excello) to realize that something was fishy with the hospital room he woke up in--the radio was playing songs without commercial interruption, the nurse had multiple piercings and her stockings didn't have garters. He managed to persuade Captain Wonder to help him investigate and they learned that they were in 2008 and not 1945.

* TheHeart: A genuinely friendly and well-meaning everyman, lacking in the mental/emotional foibles of his allies who works to establish friendly or at least respectful relationships with even the most idiosyncratic members of the team.

* AdaptationalBackstoryChange: In a way. ''The Twelve'''s version of him seems to be required to make the wicked receive their just reward as opposed simply witnessing their deaths.

* AntiHero: She sold her soul to a monstrous entity of some sort in order to avenge her sister and acts in the interests of that being. Fortunately all that being wants of her is to hunt down people who sold their soul to it and tried to trick their way out of paying up. Part of the pact even states that it won't ask her to harm innocents.

* DealWithTheDevil: Standing on her sister's grave, knowing the murderer's connections would keep him from ever paying for his crime, she said she would pay any price to avenge her. And, as she says, there are some things you should never say while standing over someone's grave.

* EvilDebtCollector: When people sell their souls to whichever Marvel Universe Devil or demon she represents and then try to cheat them by extending their lifespans beyond the allotted time on Earth, she's the one who collects that evil debt. Quite painfully and gorily, too.

* NotSayingTheZWord: In ''The Twelve'' they never actually outright say the name of just whom or what Clare serves, unlike in the original comic where she serves Satan.

* SuccubiAndIncubi: It's implied that access to her body is one of the terms of the pact she made with...something.

* YouCantGoHomeAgain: After sixty years missing, he returns home to a wife on life support and a senior-aged son who despises him for covering up their Jewish heritage and abandoning them. Particularly since when his wife reverted to their Jewish name and everyone they had known known before felt betrayed and lied to, leading to life becoming miserable for his family.

* FishOutOfTemporalWater: In the comic's opening (1945) they're trapped in a room with Nazis who knock them out and leave them in suspended animation vith the intention of studying zem und replicating zeir powers for ze master race! Unfortunately, the scientists all ended up killed or in untenable situations, and the twelve of them slept for sixty-three years before awakening in 2008 with a lot to catch up on.

* RepressionNeverEndsWell: After arriving in the modern world Dynamic Man begins doing heroic deeds on a constant basis. Phantom Reporter believes, and DM later confirms that he's trying to force himself to keep insanely busy so as not to think about being the modern world. [[spoiler:But Reporter doesn't know that, rather than mourning his old life, Dynamic Man has been trying not to think of the corrupt and sinful world the future has become. Despising the very lives he save his hate boiled through the unknown connection he had to Electro, sending the robot on nightly killing sprees]].

* TragicVillain: In a way. [[spoiler:Just as a child can only be what nature and nurture make them, an android can only be what they're programmed to be, and Dynamic Man got programmed by a HeteronormativeCrusader obsessed with the elimination of sin and vice. The difference is that a person can learn and change, and DM was stuck as he was from the moment he came on-line]].

* AntiHero: She sold her soul to a monstrous entity of some sort in order to avenge her sister and acts in the interests of that

* BoxedCrook: [[spoiler:The government offers to get his murder charges dropped/vacated in exchange for piloting an upgraded Electro with MoreDakka to slaughter America's foes. [[BloodKnight Works for him!]]]]

* PhotographicMemory: He says he cannot forget anything he has witnessed. Given that he was at Auschwitz and also regularly watches people get killed in front of him, [[BlessedWithSuck that's not fun]].

* AdaptationalPowerChange: In a way. ''The Twelve'''s version of him seems to be required to make the wicked receive their just reward as opposed simply witnessing their deaths.

* MissionFromGod: His duty to rescue those who should be saved and oversee the punishment of the wicked is framed as both this and a bargain of sorts in ''The Twelve''

* WalkingShirtlessScene: In the 1940's he dressed like an exhibitionist musketeer, although in the modern age he eventually gets a new costume before he dies.

* TragicVillain: In a way. [[spoiler:Just as a child can only be what nature and nurture make them, an android can only be what they're programmed to be, and Dynamic Man got programmed by a HeteronormativeCrusader obsessed with the elimination of sin. The difference is that a person can learn and change, and DM was stuck as he was from the moment he came on-line]].

* PsychicPowers: Is able to read thoughts, detect energies and has a limited form of precognition.

Golden Age anti-heroine. A mysterious and cursed individual who [[DealWithTheDevil sold her soul to Satan for superpowers after her sister was murdered]], in exchange for agreeing to act as Satan's representative on Earth by slaying evil men and women and thus condemning their souls directly to Hell before they can think to seek redemption. Her superpowers consist of SuperStrength and flight, as well as an implied but never-actually-seen TouchOfDeath.

* EvilDebtCollector: When people sell their souls to the Devil (whichever Marvel Universe Devil she represents), she's the one who collects when the day they pay comes due. Gorily.

* [[spoiler:LegacyCharacter: It's revealed that his power was actually passed down to him by an injured man he rescued and by the end, he passes it to Richard Jones to defeat the murderer.]]

* AdaptationalWimp: If depicted as they were in the original comic, many of them would have {{Story Breaker Power}}s, so the strength and breadth of their abilities were toned down to fit better in the modern Marvel universe.