History Roleplay / SupervillainInTheDCUCk2Quest

[[https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/supervillain-in-the-dcu-ck2-quest.56218/ Supervillain in the DCU CK2 quest]] is an online quest on [[https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/ Sufficient Velocity]] created by [[https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/members/king-crimson.30341/ King Crimson]] that set in an alternate DC universe where you play the villain.

* AceCustom: The Ravager Suit is one that exists but hasn’t really been used to do anything due to potential complications arising from discovering LexCorp has it in the first place.

* AIIsACrapshoot: Currently the human-like AI LexCorp can produce go completely insane as a rule. By and large though this is averted as AI that turns against their creators like Red Tornado, the Manhunters and Brainiac tend to do so due to a mistake in how they were coded which then further evolves and is exploited to cause the AI to turn.

* AssholeVictim: Lionel Luthor can generally be agreed to be this. Additionally General Zahl (a character only notable for failing every action attempted in quest and then getting killed) is generally not missed due to being a Nazi. An amusing story that has appeared in the background of the quest but hasn’t shown up in the quest proper is that Hercules once punched Vandal Savage so hard he had to spend a relatively long period of time regenerating. Morgan Edge was a member of Intergang and a slanderer who opposed LexCorp. He ended up getting horrifically tortured and mutilated by Bane after biting off more than he could chew.

* AttackDrone: LexCorp has a few variations on this, although they are generally more used for surveillance than straight combat.

* AutoKitchen: LexCorp has marketed the first steps along these lines.

* BadBoss: Lex Luthor straddles the line on this. On the one hand working for LexCorp pays very well as compared to an equivalent position in another company. You’ll be safe ensured and well off in terms of money and so long as you are productive you’ll be treated well. On the other hand Lex Luthor personally despises failure, runs the company like a brutal police state complete with an actual secret police equivalent and actively works to terrify anyone who dares step out of line with what he wants in his company. He’s also allowed an employee of his to die when he could have otherwise saved them before but that was less for failure and more because Professor Ivo had become a liability and Lex didn’t trust him not to eventually turn on him once enough time had passed.

* BerserkButton: Lex Luthor has the idea of someone being viewed as superior to him and touching on the idea that he might not be good enough to achieve something. A lot of his hatred of Superman stems from the fact that Superman practically mashes on his berserk button. Nygma has ignoring his intellect, Pamela has disrespecting or betraying LexCorp and Carol after getting the Star Sapphire ring has mentions of Hal Jordan as the issue that sets her off. Circe notably hates Hippolyta with every fiber of her being and Oswald Cobblepot is noted in his character sheet to absolutely hate anyone who he feels is mocking him. Interestingly Cassandra has also developed a mirror to Lex’s in the non-canon Titanverse omakes where the things that set off Cassandra are failing something that she feels she should have “won”.

* BigBrotherisWatching: LexCorp fosters this kind of workplace

* BigFancyHouse: Wayne Manor and Shadowcrest Manor both count. Lex’s home in LexCorp tower is a zigzagged version of this as while it is where he lives it also serves as the main hub of LexCorp’s business and serves a purpose beyond merely being a place people live in
* BigLabyrinthineBuilding: Once more LexCorp tower

* BioAugmentation: LexCorp seems to like doing this with things like the Bone Growth Serum and the Human Plant Integration formula. Then of course there is also the Man-Bat formula

* BookcasePassage: There is one contained in LexCorp tower

* BunnyEarsLawyer: A good amount of LexCorp employees are this to some degree or another with individuals like Roxanne Sutton, Carl Draper and Edward Nygma all having very odd quirks but all being very good at their job and having their quirks tolerated because of it.

* CapeBusters: LexCorp funded the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit to become something along these lines and attempts to make its own security forces into something along these lines

* TheDreaded: LexCorp itself is practically this to it's enemies particularly Lex himself. However a more publicly open example would be [[spoiler:The Joker]] who is just as bit as nightmare fuel incarnate just like his comic counterpart despite the lack of many appearances.

* AristocratsAreEvil: Count Vertigo is a generally vile elitist snob who rules as a regent and is brutally repressing his own countrymen, murdering anyone who can challenge him politically and willing to work with various terrorists and supervillains. He also betrays the other main encountered evil aristocrat Baron Delamb the moment it benefits him to do so. Baron Delamb has barely been encountered but his own willingness to work with an international criminal organization to further his own interests and general repulsive nature don’t exactly paint him as anything less than an evil man. Baron Blitzkreig was a supervillain in WW2 who styled himself a Baron but was not one in actuality. Lady Vic is also an aristocrat of some stripe and her expensive tastes and upkeep have caused her to turn to becoming an international assassin.

* ArchivedArmy: Abracadabra notably pulls multiple people throughout history in the Warriors from Forever sidestory. Notably due to how time travel works in quest this means that at some unspecified point in the quest’s timeline this archived army will show up to menace the Flash.

* BalefulPolymorph: Circe is infamous for pulling this off in universe and notably did a more monstrous version of this trope with Kingslayer.

* AwesomeMcCoolName: Thaddeus Killgrave is a small character who has one of the most inherently cool names in the entire cast.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: While Lex has remained the main POV, many characters have since joined the quest both joining and moving against our protagonist while also giving their side of things.

* AmbitionisEvil: Yet another checkmark on why Lex Luthor is a supervillain with him regularly monologuing about wanting and deserving more than he currently has.

* AGoodWaytoDie: There are implications that this is what Lady Shiva is seeking, provided whoever kills her becomes a superior “Lady Shiva” in doing so. Likely another reason she (will be) coming after Cass, if she kill her daughter, Shiva remains the strongest with no weaknesses. If not, she successfully passes the Shiva Legacy to Cass.

* CantUnHearIt: King Crimson has jokingly mentioned that he considers Clancy Brown to be the “official voice” of Lex Luthor in quest

* Can’tUnHearIt: King Crimson has jokingly mentioned that he considers Clancy Brown to be the “official voice” of Lex Luthor in quest

* BlessedwithSuck: The early iterations of the Bone Growth formula would give them superpowers but it would also warp their appearance to be utterly nightmarish, tends to react badly in some individuals and prevents the altered individual from being able to swim. Jinx’s powers early on were this as well, draining the luck of everything in her general vicinity leads to people getting hurt and dying around her which is naturally traumatizing for a child. Ace/Wanda Wayland has a similar variation only she hasn’t gained control of it and when she doesn’t have outside help to restrain her powers anyone who looks in her eyes goes insane. Metallo also arguably has this as the operation to turn him into a cyborg was extremely painful and his own lack of many basic human senses (touch, taste and smell) leave him wildly unbalanced and deranged.

* CaptainBoomerang: Captain Boomerang has shown up and is technically this even though in-universe it occurred because he stole his name from a toy mascot he with that name

* BothOrderAndChaos are Dangerous: Naturally comes into play with the Lords of Order and Chaos. While individual members might be good or bad neither faction as a whole desires anything that mortals would want

* BewaretheSuperman: Naturally when dealing with Superman himself such themes crop up although for the most part this trope has been averted with a lot of conflict occurring because people began preemptively being wary of Superman

* BewareMyStinger Tail: One of the mechs Intergang attacked Metropolis with had a stinger tail that caused the things it hit to explode

* BladeBelowtheShoulder: Various exo-suits have this as a melee option

* Bioaugmentation: LexCorp seems to like doing this with things like the Bone Growth Serum and the Human Plant Integration formula. Then of course there is also the Man-Bat formula

* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: When Intergang attacked Metropolis they notably brought along multiple mechs that would fit this qualification

* AutoKitchen: LexCorp has marketed the first steps along these lines

* AwakenTheSleepingGiant: Arguably what happened when the cold war conflict between the Court of Owls and Batman escalated past a certain point, the Court of Owls caught the attention of Ra’s al Ghul who then proceeded to mastermind the Menagerie Riots as a cover to begin slaughtering any members of the Court of Owls he could get his hands on and wipe them out completely

* AwesomeMcCoolname: Thaddeus Killgrave is a small character who has one of the most inherently cool names in the entire cast.

* BackAlleyDoctor: Dr. Moon is this as he absolutely does not have a legal doctorate for his surgery and pretty much anyone willing to go to him for surgery is either unaware of his reputation or doesn’t have better options

* BackedByThePentagon: Various Lightyear Productions shows have this in-universe

* BackFromTheDead: Notably the only character to have been noted to have outright brought back from the dead is Ubu but that can only be deciphered with information on the Lazarus Pits that Lex doesn’t have and so he thinks something else might’ve occurred rather than a straight up resurrection

* BadassBiker: Lobo and his Spacehog naturally

* BadassCreed: The Green Lanterns retain their classic one from the comics

* BadassFamily: The Luthor line naturally as is mostly detailed in the Metropolitan Clan canon omakes. The Greek gods and by extension Diana Prince and her mother (Hippolyta is Ares’ daughter) are this as well. The Waynes and Kanes also are implied to be this but they’re far more spread out than most examples of this trope (for example the family tree distantly connects both Batman and Deathstroke even if neither man would acknowledge the other as family in any way and they aren’t related by blood)

* BadGuysPlayPool: Mercy has shown a fondness for playing billiards and is a morally dubious character

* BadHumorTruck: The Joker very early on in his career deliberately set ice cream trucks on fire as a warped joke

* BadMoodRetreat: Superman’s Fortress of Solitude started as this

* BadPeopleAbuseAnimals: Yet another pleasant trope assigned to Dr. Moon

* BadPowersBadPeople: Parasite is this full stop as the moment he gained his powers he immediately began attacking people. Jinx also has elements of this as well

* BadPowersGoodPeople: Ace/Wanda Wayland has the power to drive anyone who looks her in the eyes completely insane. The use of this power resulted in the death or crippling of anyone on the receiving end of it for years on end. Despite this Wanda is a kind young girl even if she is very traumatized and terrified of her own abilities

* BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil: It is admittedly more of a “balance between Chaos and Order” than one of morality as neither side is “good” by conventional morality. That being said generally mortal beings don’t want either side to win out in the end

* Baleful Polymorph: Circe is infamous for pulling this off in universe and notably did a more monstrous version of this trope with Kingslayer

* BallroomBlitz: Every time Lex Luthor has attended one of Bruce Wayne’s parties the party has been attacked (the first time it was the League of Shadows and the second time the KGBeast). Notably the Menagerie lead by Killer Croc also pulled this in the party where Lincoln March announced his intention to run for mayor.

* BananaRepublic: Santa Prisca has become this under Bane’s leadership

* BarefootLoon: The aptly named Madness both lacks shoes and is utterly deranged

* BatDeduction: Averted for the most part as when characters logic is shown there is a generally solid trail of how they figured things out or arrived at that opinion

* BatmanCanBreatheInSpace: By and large averted, not even Superman can breathe in space

* BatOutOfHell: The Batclan as well as Man-Bat himself

* BatPeople: Man-Bat is this due to the serum transforming him into a monstrous creature

* BatSignal: There is of course the Bat Signal. Furthermore this trope was discussed and it was mentioned that Superman doesn’t have a signal that can reach him

* BattleBoomerang: Baterangs and Birdarangs are tools of Batman and Robin respectively. Of course Captain Boomerang also makes use of them

* BeamSpam: Mordru indulges in this when fighting the JSA

* BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame: Carol Ferris is being directed by Lex Luthor to channel some of her anger and madness towards dealing with Hal Jordan this way. In addition, Lex’s attempts to destroy Superman have elements of this in them

* BedlamHouse: Good old Arkham was deliberately designed to keep criminals in it but to keep them insane and possible to unleash at any given moment by the Court of Owls

* BeenThereShapedHistory: Vandal Savage is the most straightforward example of this as someone who has been present for many events in history and at least somewhat influenced the course of it both directly and indirectly. General Immortus is an odd example as while he possible could have influenced the shape of history his deteriorating mind causes him to misremember what exactly he has done so it is unclear just how much of an impact he has had

* DaddysLittleVillain: [[spoiler:Cassandra is completely devoted to her new father Lex and will do anything for him]]

* EcoTerrorist: Ra's AlGhul, his daughter Talia, and the rest of The League of Assassins are this just like canon

* EvilGenius: We are playing as Lex Luther after all

* NonIdleRich: Say what you want about Luther, sitting on his loins is something he never does

* HappilyAdopted: [[spoiler:Cassandra Cain]] to point where they’re now fully denounce their old father to fully become [[spoiler:Cassandra Luthor]]

----

‘

* AnthropomorphicPersonification: All Gods likely qualify as this to some extent. The Endless also do for a given definition of “personification” as they’re not really people in a comprehensible manner

* AntiHero: It is a superhero setting from a villains perspective. There are many antiheroes of many different flavors a lot of which ultimately is YMMV

* AntiVillain: Likewise this trope is also a matter of YMMV although there are numerous characters who could qualify

* ApocalypseCult: Kobra is an incredibly odd take on this but they still qualify

* ApparentlyHumanMerfolk: Most Atlanteans pretty clearly qualify as this

* ArbitrarySkepticism: Professor Ivo’s denial of magic as a real thing arguably counts as this. Karl Helfern also dips into this from time to time as well but it is more predicated on the argument that people who are using magic are actually people achieving the same result through scientific feats they don’t understand who then justify their ignorance with “because it’s magic”

* ArchaicWeaponForAnAdvancedAge: Slingshot is a minor Green Arrow villain whose main claim to fame is that he manages to use a weapon even more outdated than a bow and arrow in a setting where exo-suits and laser guns are a thing

* ArchivedArmy: Abracadabra notably pulls multiple people throughout history in the Warriors from Forever sidestory. Notably due to how time travel works in quest this means that at some unspecified point in the quest’s timeline this archived army will show up to menace the Flash

* ArmCannon: The KGBeast has a version of this after he was forced to hack off his hand to escape pursuit.

* ArrogantKungFuGuy: Lady Shiva is this to a ridiculous degree. Cassandra has shown some elements of it throughout various materials although it’s much more pronounced in non-canon things

* ArtifactDomination: Both Orange and Indigo rings heavily alter the mindset of whoever uses them. Star Sapphire Rings sometimes do it as well but to a lesser extent

* ArtificialZombie: The Blight, a race on the fringes of the mapped universe, is this

* AssassinationAttempt: Lex Luthor first encountered the League of Shadows when they failed an assassination attempt. Other failed assassinations include that of Tobias Whale (who fled Lady Vic before he could be killed) and Sonar’s attempt to kill the Markovian royal family. However, the leader of Zambesi and all of the royal family of Vlatava, besides princess Perdita, were successfully assassinated as well as various high-ranking members of Intergang

* AssholeVictim: Lionel Luthor can generally be agreed to be this. Additionally General Zahl (a character only notable for failing every action attempted in quest and then getting killed) is generally not missed due to being a Nazi. An amusing story that has appeared in the background of the quest but hasn’t shown up in the quest proper is that Hercules once punched Vandal Savage so hard he had to spend a relatively long period of time regenerating. Morgan Edge was a member of Intergang and a slanderer who opposed LexCorp. He ended up getting horrifically tortured and mutilated by Bane after biting off more than he could chew

* AsTheGoodBookSays: Circe muses on the phrase “I am that I am” which is derived from the English translation of Exodus 3:14. Notably she gives her own take on the fact of the matter and ends up spinning it into a meaning more in line with the concept of platonic ideals and as a a way of justifying her actions

* AtomicSuperpower: Captain Atom and Reactron have been name dropped in the quest even if they haven’t properly shown up. There is also the Atomic Skull (an in universe fictional character) who inspired the name of a project done to grant other people superpowers

* AttackDrone: LexCorp has a few variations on this, although they are generally more used for surveillance than straight combat

Now Titled: Lex Sedet In Vertice: A Supervillain in the DCU quest

Quest started on July/14/2019 and is still currently going

!! Lex Sedet In Vertice: A Supervillain in the DCU quest contains examples of:
* AbandonedWarChild: Averted, Rose Wilson is notably not this in contrast her traditional depiction in comics

* AbilityMixing: Count Vertigo and his attempts to create super-soldiers involved deliberately mixing the Bone Growth formula and Quixium in order to create a new breed of super-soldiers

* AboveTheGods: While they haven't made a major direct appearance in the main quest yet if ever,the Endless and the Presence fall into this category just like in canon

* AbsurdlyCoolCity: Metropolis and Gotham both arguably qualify for this to varying degrees

* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: Gotham’s sewer system is (unsurprisingly) this full stop due to both deliberate planning on the Court of Owl’s part as well as the fact that the sewers repurposed some of the naturally spacious tunnels under Gotham

* AbusiveParents: Virtually every Luthor in the past two generations has counted as this to at least some extent, Cassandra Cain’s biological father actively abused her and her mother abandoned her from a very young age due to wanting to murder her once she realized that she felt some sort of maternal instinct for Cassandra and immediately wanted to excise that from herself. Etrigan, Lord Scapegoat, Merlin, Rose Wilson, Joseph Wilson, Grant Wilson, Jade and Artemis Crock, Killer Croc, Roman Sionis and more all arguably also qualify as having abusive parents to varying degrees. Long story short, It almost easier to list characters in this story that didn't have one or two abusive parents. Ironically Lex seems to be on the way of breaking this trend with [[spoiler:Cassandra.]]

* AcademicAthlete: [[spoiler:Cassandra.]] has become this as she transitioned into her role as the Luthor Heiress

* AcademyOfEvil: The HIVE academy which has shown up in a few non-canon omakes is this

* AceCustom: The Ravager Suit is one that exists but hasn’t really been used to do anything due to potential complications arising from discovering LexCorp has it in the first place

* AcePilot: Roxy has earned the title even if she prefers to pilot a rocket over a plane and likes to deliberately place her life in danger leading to multiple instances of her deliberately crashing her rocket. The original Blackhawks also qualified as this although most of them are dead by the present day of the quest

* ActionGirl: Name a female character and you’ve got better than even odds that they could qualify as this to at least some degree. Cassandra, Jinx, Mercy Graves, Roxy, Pamela Isley, Katherine Kane, Arisia Rrab, Diana Prince, Black Canary, Supergirl (in a non-canon omake), Selena Kyle, Barbara Gordon, Nyssa al Ghul and many more are all potential qualifiers for this title

* ActionPolitician: Diana Prince technically qualifies for this trope even if she is only a politician in the same sense that the head of the CIA is a politician. Selena Kyle AKA Catwoman is a notably action oriented individual and has shown an interest in getting involved with politics following the Menagerie riots

* ActuallyADoombot: There are implications that T.O. Morrow has done this although no confirmation either way

* AdaptationalNiceGuy: Thanks to the players efforts, Pamela is far more adjusted and less Misanthropic [[spoiler:even after gaining powers.]]

* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: The pieces of perspective pertaining to the perceptions of the prince of puzzles, Edward Nygma, tend to pepper in prodigious portions of proper polysyllable paragraphs to present his presumptuous and preposterous notions of perfection

* AddictionPowered: Snowflame is this to a T. Blackrock is a weird example of this where he is addicted to the substance that grants him his powers but repeatedly dosing on it has diminishing returns especially as he slowly becomes no longer reliant on the substance he created to maintain his power

* ADickInName: Despite generally being a pretty nice decent person Dick Grayson still qualifies as this

* AdmiringTheAbomination: Dr. Moon and Karl Helfern both bonded over this to varying degrees

* AdoptiveNameChange:[[spoiler: Cassandra has gone from “Cassandra Cain” to “Cassandra Luthor”.]]

* AdvancedAncientAcropolis: Atlantis, Xebel and Themyscira are all generally variations on this

* AdventurerArchaeologist: The now deceased Dan Garrett was this. Barbara Minerva is also this as of now

* AFoolAndHisNewMoneyAreSoonParted: Implied to be what happens when Samuel Scudder wins the lottery

* AgeInappropriateArt: Jinx has filched a copy of a recording of Titus Andronicus to watch which is not a Shakespeare play someone under the age of sixteen ought to see

* AgeWithoutYouth: General Immortus is this as opposed to the vast majority of other immortals in the DCQU

* AirVentPassageway: Downplayed and now averted as most people cannot fit in to the air vents but Janus, a lion cub, could fit into the air vents although he has since grown too big and there were measures to prevent him from moving through them freely

* AlcoholicParent: Lionel Luthor was this to Lex although it hasn’t been explored much yet

* AlienAutopsy: The corpse of Whisper A’Daire was kept for this purpose but was lost in Intergang’s attack on Metropolis before the procedure could be completed

* AlienGenderConfusion: Hellgrammite struggles to identify differences the gender/sexes of humans. Unlike most cases of this, its less humorous and mor a sign of Hellgrammites general disdain for humanoids

* AlienNonInterferenceClause: The Green Lantern Corps is supposed to have something along these lines but this rule is rarely enforced or followed

* AliensNeverInventedDemocracy: Averted hard. While there are numerous alien civilizations that aren’t democracies one of the major powers in space, the United Planets, is a democracy and thus there are many, many planets that at least have some degree of democracy occurring in them

* AliensSpeakingEnglish: Handwaved by the relatively thorough prevalence of universal translators which have even become accessible on earth

* AllMythsAreTrue: Technically a part of the more general DCU setting in which almost every myth and legend is true in at least some capacity. There are often somethings that are altered (Eris is Ares’ daughter rather than his sister for example) but almost every myth exists in at least some capacity

* AllYourPowersCombined: Another ability that AMAZO would supposedly achieve

* AlphabetArchitecture: The infamous T shaped tower that serves as the Teen Titans headquarters has appeared in a few non-canon omakes

* AllAccordingToPlan: A trope the QM utterly disdains and has attempted to avoid where possible

* AllCrimesAreEqual: This is a critical part of the glitch Krona introduced into Manhunter programming to cause them to terminate all life in a space sector

* AllianceOfAlternates: A non-canon omake celebrating the one year anniversary of the quest was this with “the council of Lexs”

* AlliterativeFamily: All of the Endless have names that begin with the letter D, the direct line of descent to Lex of the Luthor family all had members with the letter L, Leonard and Lisa Snart share an L as the first letter of their name and Lois and Lucy Lane both share names starting with L as well

* AlliterativeName: It’s a comic book name there are too many to count although stand out examples include Lex Luthor, Lois Lane, Zatanna Zatara, Katherine Kane, Mari McCabe

* AlternateTechline: Very subtle but ever so slightly in place

* AlternateUniverse: There have been various brief informational posts about various alternate earths (including earths based on what could have happened id the thread had chosen different starting hero units) but there haven’t appeared any alternate universes in the quest proper

* AmbiguouslyHuman: Cerise Orielle was considered this for a long time before she was proven to not be truly human. There are some hints that something similar might be going on with Rebecca Carstairs but it’s currently unclear quite what is going on

* AmoralAfrikaner: Metallo is very technically this although it has done little to affect his characterization in the grand scheme of things

* AmusementParkofDoom: Amusement Mile can be considered this due to having been a dilapidated and abandoned amusement park well before the Joker moved in. Of course once Joker and the various people who would be willing to work with him moved into the area Amusement Mile only got worse, to the point where only the truly desperate enter there causing a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy

* AmusingAlien: Lobo is this for a certain brand of “amusing”

* AncientTomb: The Tomb of Black Adam shows up very briefly in quest right before Black Adam is freed from his imprisonment and he promptly eradicates the Kobra trespassers

* AndThatsTerrible: The flavor text on the action to steal forty cakes is literally this

* AnimalLover: Cassandra [[spoiler:Luthor]]is ambiguously this trope and is definitively this trope in the non-canon Titanverse omakes even if she is somewhat in denial about it

* AnimalMotifs: Batman, Robin, Killer Croc, Penguin, Catwoman, Robin, Magpie and more are all people who take up a specific animal motif and at least somewhat run with it

* AnimalThemedSuperbeing: All of the above examples count with a few more like Manbat, Firefly and Killer Moth getting tossed in for good measure

* Animorphism: Beast Boy has this as his power