Machina Industries is a large industry and benefactor of ARCHON. It is run by Deus, an individual of questionable sanity and motives, who seems to have a vested interest in Maxima. For the main character page, see here.
open/close all folders
Deus
Deus Superion
"Unbelievable, even better than I'd hoped. Heh heh heh heh..."
A mysterious businessman, the head of Machina Industries, which supplies ARCHON with some of its equipment. He's apparently being set up as a villain for the comic, but he's not done anything actively hostile to the heroes yet — just spied on and subverted members of the team. He seems to be more interested in manipulating them.
- Affably...Something: His actual morality's a bit up in the air, but he seems well-liked and respected by his subordinates and appears genuinely apologetic for killing a despot in front of the man's son; he just points out that the guy was a real piece of work (and even the son is disgusted by his father's activities when Deus shows him some relevant video recordings
). -
Awesome Ego: As he puts it in an interview, he prefers being called a megalomaniac because it "sounds cooler".Deus: Unfortunately, I don't have it. Megalomaniacs are defined as having unwarranted feelings of self-importance. The keyword being unwarranted. - Batman Gambit: He's fully aware that Galytn's annexation of neighboring territory is likely illegal, but he also knows that the G8 countries wouldn't care enough to wage all-out war in the face of even a weak justification (e.g. "Any region my supers expand into becomes sovereign Galytn territory. Ergo, my supers never leave Galytn, and no accords are being violated"), so he expects to buy five-to-seven years while they draft more explicit language.
- He also predicts that a number of US legislators might be interested in "private security" rather than ARC-Light.
- He also predicts that a number of US legislators might be interested in "private security"
- Benevolent Boss: Of the pragmatic variety, to be sure, but he does value loyalty, has an on-site daycare for his factory employees, and knows that respect is a two-way street (see Pragmatic Villainy for one such example contrasted against Sciona's Bad Boss antics).
- Beware the Silly Ones: Imagine David Xanatos played by Jim Carrey — intelligent megalomania, snappy one-liners, goofy Lampshade Hanging, Evil Laugh. Admit it, you can see the overlap. Hopefully, before you underestimate the rubber face and he gives the order for one of his henchmen to stop your heart.
- Boldly Coming / The Xenophile: If his Little Black Book is anything to go by, he qualifies. This would also explain his fascination with Maxima.Sciona: How well-traveled are you... a Draugr? Ew!
Deus: Not one of the gross zombie grunts, of course. An elite Draugr Lord. Lord-ette. Lordess? - Blasphemous Boast: After killing the King of Galytn, the Prince calls him the Devil.Deus: The Devil, you say? Satan was cast from Heaven for loving God too much. I have. No. Such. Failing.
- Brains and Bondage: A self-admitted Super-Intelligence while also being consistently shown to have bondage gear and bondage furniture in his offices.
- Card-Carrying Villain: Deus works hard to project this image, though it's not known for certain if that is his true role yet. He's certainly shown to be willing to order a cold-blooded murder — but only of a brutal and vicious (and, in his eyes, stupid) dictator. On the other hand, he's very willing to plunder a selection of insanely powerful and evil magical artifacts, so he's either pretty darned evil himself or wildly confident in his ability to handle them. Despite this, he uses a method that doesn’t involve killing anyone to do so, unlike Sciona.
- The Casanova: Downplayed, but he's had sex with one of Harem's bodies and manages to get Sciona to agree to sex for an artifact she wants. See The Xenophile for more details.
- The Chessmaster: In spite of his... eccentricities, Deus is quite adept at playing the long game.Deus: A few billions in, dozens of billions out long-term. Most executives only care about the next quarter. They lack vision. I plan in decades.
- Lorlara - an Alari who was recently hired to be Deus' personal assistant and whose hat is political scheming - quickly defected to Deus after seeing how expertly he manipulated her race's houses.
- Lorlara - an Alari who was recently hired to be Deus' personal assistant and whose hat is political scheming - quickly defected to Deus after seeing how expertly he manipulated her race's houses
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Every single one of his appearances involves his quirks being Played for Laughs.
- Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Averted. He hasn't allowed his villainous tendencies to stop him from making tens of billions of dollars through various business ventures.
- Cutting the Knot: When presented with artifacts they want, blocked by a field that kills anything living and blocks anything not, his colleague shoves in a minion and punches through the minion's chest. Deus comes up with the alternative solution of waving a stick of bamboo through the field and knocking the artifact down.
- Dramatic Thunder: He has a pocket-sized remote control to let him invoke this. He's miffed when it doesn't work right.
- Everybody Has Standards: Played for Laughs. His name, which he is implied to have chosen himself, is Deus Superion, but he thinks "Omni Super God Ultra Jesus Ne Plus Apotheosis Apocalypse Dick, Esquire" would be gauche.
- Evil Laugh: The somewhat too self-consciously sinister Deus lampshades this like crazy, with technological assistance; he claims that he has "a condition"note . Vale, apparently the Only Sane Woman in that office, looks long-suffering a lot.
- Exact Words: He's scarily competent at it:
- He states "I predict [the Alari] would deny that" in response to Maxima asking if they'd shared tech. They absolutely would, because he'd acquired the tech elsewhere.
- "It's technology, and it's on Earth, therefore a reasonable semantic argument could be made that it is, in fact, Earth technology," he says about his new Matter Replicators which are clearly of alien origin.
- He states "I predict [the Alari] would deny that"
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Has a large X-shaped scar in the middle of his face.
- Large and in Charge: He leads quite a few groups as well as being tall and muscular. Hell, even Maxima is shorter than him.
- Loophole Abuse: He uses his large number of supers to quickly and efficiently conquer a number of neighboring cities, even absorbing whole nations in some cases. It's illegal to use supers in wars of aggression, but Deus argues that his expansions mean it's already Galytn territory, and thus his supers technically never leave Galytn. He's well aware that this justification won't last forever, but between the slow speed of bureaucracy and the fact that it only affects third-world nations that the UN largely doesn't care about, by the time they hammer out more explicit wording in the laws he'll have expanded enough for his needs.
- Hidden Agenda Villain: Well, MAYBE not a villain (big emphasis on MAYBE), but he's definitely got a hidden agenda.
- Information Broker: If he isn't one himself he has access to some good ones; Cthilia notes that he has an annoying tendency to know about stuff he reasonably shouldn't.
- Meaningful Name: Mr. Deus is inside Machina Industries. And his scar is an X.
- Not Distracted by the Sexy: His response when Sciona regenerates in front of him and hovers there, naked? A casual "neat" before continuing to converse with her normally.
- Pet the Dog: On occasion. The most standout example being a young girl from Galytn giving him a handmade clay bowl that he keeps in his office. Heck, just the fact that the factory he'd built in Galytn had an on-site daycare/preschool, when even most companies in the US don't have them could count!Deus: There are some things money can't buy. Well, there aren't, but in some rare cases, buying a thing would devalue it.
- The Pornomancer: He's revealed to be this through a combination of removing a bra in an impossible fashion and managing to make Harem, who's used to this kind of multitasking, absolutely lose concentration in her other bodies while having their fun.
- And, as Sciona learns, he's also extremely "well-travelled", to the point of having slept with a Draugr Lord... Lordette... Lordess?
- And, as Sciona learns, he's also extremely "well-travelled"
- Pragmatic Villainy:
- Become the puppet master behind the throne of a small sovereign African nation? Sure! But he won't work with anyone corrupt or wasteful. After all, he wants to see a return on his investment.
- He also takes advantage of Sciona destroying the anti-teleportation wards on a vault of magical relics to hop in and take some himself. His method of breaching the object containment fields is much more practical than hers as well, especially for maintaining team morale.Deus: Your way is fine too, I guess. Since you obviously don't see the value in trust or loyalty.
- And when Sciona leaves, meaning a "minion"- that Deus has hired before- was left behind, Deus asks if she wants to pick up some more hours... he could use some help carrying some of the loot back. (She agrees; not only does she get paid but she also gets to safely leave the vault this way. Having worked together before is a good character reference.)
- Purple Is Powerful: He's wearing a purple tie when he orders the death of a king and takes over an entire nation by proxy.
- Required Secondary Powers: He pretty blatantly implies that his Super-Intelligence comes with this, including equally enhanced emotional intelligence, wisdom, recall, and understanding, effectively inverting the expectation that he'd be The Sociopath.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: His little "shopping trip" to The Fracture proves later justified when an Alari refugee ship crashes in his country of Galytn. Not only is he better able to offer them repairs, but the Alari don't have quite the leverage they would have otherwise had against him due to being in possession of Alari tech.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: He's yet to be seen in anything other than impeccable suits. At one point his tie is sporting a Trinity knot.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: He has this, with a lot of overlap with Screw the Rules, I Have Money!, meaning that even government agencies don't bother trying to detain him.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: If his connections aren't enough to get someone off his back, his wealth usually works to do so.
- Stating the Simple Solution: More like "showing the simple solution after someone else did something more complicated" but Deus deals with force fields that only let living matter through but kill anything that touches them very differently than Sciona. She slams a mook into them and reaches through his corpse to get what she wants out. Deus? Swings a living bamboo plant in and uses it to physically knock the object out of the force field as the bamboo dies and disintegrates. He then casually notes how this makes him look like a better boss than Sciona and the trolley full of more plants shows it also allows more repeats.
- Super-Intelligence: He finally revealed that he got his Heroic Build due to this trait - the Super gene is active in him, but it's not as noticeable on a surface level since it went to his intellect.
- Super Serum: Implied. During an interview, when he's asked how the military of Galytn (the African nation he's essentially taken over) is capable of pushing back surrounding countries and taking more territory in spite of their very small size, he informs the interviewer that Galytn has a per-capita Super population that's ten times higher than the global average, quipping that it "must be something in the water."
- Sure, Let's Go with That: When Sydney compliments him on his impressive collection of SF and fantasy sword "replicas" - the subsequent implication being that they are real, functioning magical weapons.Deus: Replicas. [narrows eyes] Yesss.
- The Reveal: He has figured out that superpowers come from an fundamental universal energy field he has named the "Superion Field" which is apparently encrypted and for which human DNA acts as a decryption key. Oh, and he believes it to be artificial.
- Troll: He likes messing with people; for example purposefully acting as if he misunderstood something Maxima said.
- Unreliable Narrator: While he's being interviewed by a business TV show, Deus gives an account of how he came to take over his own country — while the pictures show what actually happened. One strip even has a footnote invoking this trope by name.
- Unresolved Sexual Tension: Sydney gets this vibe from them when she sees Deus and Maxima meet, even asking about them dating. Deus denies having any romantic interest in her, while Maxima thinks Deus was trying to date her by giving her extravagant gifts (he says they were a miscalculated attempt at showing benefits to a potential business partner). Deus does seem to have an obsession with her, possibly undercutting his claims.
- Visionary Villain: His behavior definitely puts him in this category, though we have yet to learn what his plans actually are.Deus: (To Maxima) Your job isn't to stop super-powered bank robbers, you know [...] Ultimately, your job is maintaining the status quo, and unfortunately, that will eventually bring us into conflict with each other. [...] That's a ways off, though.
- And he puts it rather well during his "negotiation" with Indinge Senior.Deus: Most executives only care about the next quarter. They lack vision. I plan in decades.
- And he puts it rather well
- "X" Marks the Hero: Well, it’s never been confirmed that his X is a scar, and he’s a Magnificent Bastard villain rather than a hero — but it looks the part.
Vale
Vale
Deus's assistant and bodyguard. Her initial appearances were low-key, and the collection of swords with which she toyed suggested some kind of Badass Normal or martial artist — but then, Deus started hinting that she was actually something very powerful, and she soon proved it, smashing the formidable Sciona out of a building with apparent ease.
- Beleaguered Assistant: She weathers the idiosyncrasies of Deus and his visitors with deadpan acceptance. She may be an Only Sane Woman.
- Cleavage Window: Her outfit has one.
- Covert Pervert: Apparently she likes to watch Deus’ Casanova activities.
- Deadpan Snarker: Combined with Silent Snarker. She tends to react with restrained exasperation to her boss or others.
- Death Glare: Tries one to keep Sydney from talking to her. It fails miserably and simply sends her off on a tangent.
- Hidden Depths: Deus remarks that an enhanced Sciona might be a match for her. Those depths subsequently stop being hidden.
- Humanoid Abomination: When Sciona deals her what should be a grievous wound, it shows that her human appearance is nothing but a shell covering a mass of darkness and eyes.
- Katanas Are Just Better: She has several, though probably just for show — in fact, they may just be from Deus's large collection of cool stuff.
- Major Injury Underreaction: Her response to Sciona stabbing her through the chest and head? Completely ignore it and keep talking.
- Not So Above It All: Like most "serious" characters she has her moments. In particular, she seems to have at least some of Deus' flair for dramatics if in a more subdued way. When he's giving an interview and drops a rather villainous line she questioningly holds up the "evil thunder" button. Deus waves her down but is obviously tempted.
- Not So Stoic: PRESS PRESS PRESS PRESS PRESS PRESS PRESS
- Stealth Hi/Bye: She pulls this on Sydney when they first meet.
Vekter
Vekter
- Delinquent Hair: It's not known whether Vekter's hair is green because of a genetic mutation associated with his powers, a dye job, or something else — but in any case, his hairstyle definitely tends to the (maybe rather over-aged) delinquent look.
- Goggles Do Nothing: While working for Deus he wears a pair of goggles on his forehead.
- Improvised Weapon: With his power, just about everything around him can be a weapon. He also carries pockets full of pinballs expressly to be used as projectiles.
- Like an Old Married Couple: There are hints from the first, subsequently confirmed, that Vekter and Opal are in a relationship. This presumably explains the persistent sense of very mild snarking in their dialogue.
- Mind over Matter: Vekter is telekinetic. That seems to be his only power, but he's formidable with it; he can not only throw heavy stuff at people, but he can also direct teammates' semi-material attacks for a "homing" effect, create a tornado of flying rocks around his own position as a defense, or throw a rock accurately enough to knock a weapon out of an opponent's hand.
- Mundane Utility: Like Opal, he works for Deus, using his telekinesis to shift cargo. Unlike Opal, he gets bored easily, and Deus implies he goes around looking for trouble on his off time.
- The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Defied to hell in favor of Pragmatic Villainy during Death Toll's part of the brawl.
- Unwitting Pawn: Vehemence claims that he let Vekter think he was assembling the villain group to attack ARCHON was his own idea, but it was really Vehemence's plan.
Opal
Opal/Luana Carvalho
A member of the villain group that attacks the heroes at the restaurant. She has the power to open portals between points in space. Apparently previously known as an active villain, in that Zeph identifies her on sight.- Facial Markings: Blue stripes painted over her eyes.
- Like an Old Married Couple: There are hints from the first, subsequently confirmed, that Opal and Vekter are in a relationship. This presumably explains the persistent sense of very mild snarking in their dialogue.
- Logical Weakness: Is incarcerated by being trapped in a pressurized cell, as her powers would be unable to compensate for the sudden change in pressure if she teleported out.note
- Mundane Utility: She works for Deus, shifting cargo for his land-locked nation. She's pretty much the sole reason they have any real trade.
- Thinking Up Portals: Her power. She's fast and precise enough that she not only acts as the team's transport, but she can also provide communication by opening mini-portals to carry speech from one place to another.
- Weaponized Teleportation: She can portal people who attack her elsewhere, sometimes causing their attacks to hit their friends instead.
Core
Core/Tadgh Caoilfhionn
A Geatish mercenary who works for Deus. Later shows up as a security guard for Halo's store.- Affably Evil: He discusses the aesthetics of the AK-47 with the men he holds at gunpoint.
- Ambiguous Situation: His role at Halo's store. Is he there on Archon's payroll? As a plant by Deus? On his own just for a change of pace from committing regicide and toppling monarchies? All of the above?
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: He doesn't do anything flashy to show off powers, but his lack of weapons indicates that he might have some way to compensate.
- Tattooed Crook: He has Gaelic weave running from his hands up his arms and across his neck.
- The Unpronounceable: Tadgh Caoilfhionn. Subverted, once it's revealed that his name is actually much simpler to pronounce than to write: "Taig Kee-lan"
Lorlara
Alar Kanthis Ora Kanthis Zar Morrundis Ora Bithlura Zar Liglalathane Ora Zetch Zvar Hannor Ora Deus Xe Lorlara
Deus's new Alarian Administrative Assistant. She takes her job a little too seriously.
- Alien Among Us: Of the refugee kind.
- Comically Serious: She acts more like a soldier than a secretary, to the point that she unintentionally embarrasses Deus at dinner.
- Evil Gloating: She can't help but jump in after Deus has explained his plan to Maxima. It's hard to tell whether Maxima is impressed or amused.
- Fish out of Water: Downplayed. She is remarkably adjusted to human social structure, enough to work as a personal assistant, but there is still some cultural conflict. She views any social interaction in terms of submission and conquest.
- Jabba Table Manners: She eats bacon-wrapped shrimp with a combat knife.
- No Indoor Voice: She has yet to be seen with dialogue that does not end in an exclamation point.
- No Sense of Personal Space: She tends to stand a little too close to people, not helped by the fact the only power of hers that the reader is aware of is the most common one.
- Overly Long Name: Alar Kanthis Ora Kanthis Zar Morrundis Ora Bithlura Zar Liglalathane Ora Zetch Zvar Hannor Ora Deus Xe Lorlara. As explained in The Rant, most of it establishes her lineage. "Ora" means "of house..." and "zar/zvar" indicates if the ancestor was a matriarch or patriarch. "Xe Lorlara" is just "My name is Lorlara".
- Her name roughly translates to "I am Lorlara, of house Deus, of house Zetch [descended from] the matriarch Hannor, of house Bithlura [descended from] the patriarch Liglalathane, of house Kanthis [descended from] the patriarch Morrundis."
- Serious Business: She regards everything from taking phone calls to making dinner reservations as a way to amass power for her new liege lord.Deus: Sigh. Grab a bottle of Macallan 25 for the manager.Lorlara: Yes! His mewling capitulation must be rewarded!
- Servile Snarker: Deus is impressed she feels comfortable enough to sass him after only a week on the job. She was actually set up by Vale, but her enthusiasm can still overlap into this.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: Appears right next to Deus just as he is about to call to give her instructions.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Baconnn.
- Try to Fit That on a Business Card: The strip where she announces her Overly Long Name has The Stinger question how on earth she could fit it on the green card.
Other Mercenaries
Cloaking Super
Cloaking Super
A super with some sort of ability allowing them to turn themselves and others invisible.- Ambiguous Gender: They haven't even been spoken about, and their cloak hides any physical indications.
- Invisibility: Whatever their power is, this is how it's been used so far.
- The Voiceless: They've never spoken.
Masked Mercenary
Masked Mercenary
A mercenary working for Deus.- Affably Evil: He jokes around with a pair of guards even while he's threatening their lives.
- Badass Armfold: While holding weapons, putting his sword to one guard's throat and a gun to the head of another.
- Badass Normal: Besides Vale, he's the only one of Deus's mercenaries to not have any visible hint of powers.
- In the Hood: He wears a hood along with his mask.
- Katanas Are Just Better: His sword seems to be one, albeit one with a rather thick blade.
- Off with His Head!: What he threatens to a pair of guards.
- Sword and Gun: He wields a pistol and a katana at the same time.
