Brent
Brent, the Number Zero and leader of Villains INC, is a unique case. Objectively, he is best defined in one word: Vague. His appearance is obscured by constantly floating strips of cloth (Caused by conscious and unconscious telekinesis), keeping even the slightest bits of skin from showing; his history is covered in shade, and kept from the eyes of others; his personality changes with the tide, and only one thing can be said of it for sure: Manipulation is his means to power. Nothing about Brent can be absolutely known, except that he is in charge of the situation, and that he always has a plan. Which isn't to say it never backfires.
Kira Devanson
Something of a firebrand, if Kira is anything, it is this: She is driven. Of course, this doesn't have too many positive results. Kira is anything but liked by her peers, mostly for her callous nature and her brash attitude. Recruited for her raw telekinetic potential, Kira skyrocketed to a position of importance in the organization thanks to her support of Brent in the mutiny. However, her ascent through the ranks has slowed, leaving her frustrated and alienated. She knows Brent has something planned for her, but she has no idea what.
Lucas White
If anyone wouldn't belong in a group called 'Villains INC', it would probably be White. One of the nicer, more selfless characters in the story, White is kind, light-hearted and generally fair. Unfortunately, his powers and lack of satisfaction in his previous life landed him as a combatant in Villains INC, and left him even more unsatisfied. Extremely doubtful of his place in the world, White is crippled by doubt and uncertainty, far too complacent in a world filled with men of action.
Maryan
At first glance, Brent's bodyguard would seem like the flip side of the same coin as Kira. A well put together and attractive young woman that was a 'right hand man' of Brent's, Maryan is bright where Kira is dark, and warm where Kira is cold. As Brent's bodyguard, she is separate from the ranks of Villains INC, and gets along with most everyone. The twist with her, however, is that Maryan is perfectly human; she's just got a hell of a monkey on her back. Bonded with ZED, she is it's Host and it's mouthpiece, and is only useful in fighting thanks to it. Thanks to the demon, she has a visible wild (or even a dark) side, but is absurdly chipper for a member of this group.
- Ethical Slut
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red oni to Kira's blue.
Lohman
Technically, Lohman should have well over a thousand entries for himself. Considering all those minds rattling around in there, it's surprising how short a name can cover so big a person. The Evil Telepath, Tyrant of Acadia, Lohman is a ranking member of Villains INC with the ability to look into people's minds and memories; he usually ends up taking away more than he should. With so many memories absorbed in his head that he no longer has an actual personality, he instead has hundreds, and due to his line of work most of them happen to be bastards. Due to this, Lohman is by far the most evil of the Villains.
- Support Party Member: Lohman's 'Battle Meditation' esque ability to highten reaction times in his teammates. makes him this fairly often. Which isn't to say he isn't a powerhouse with his sword.
- Token Evil Teammate
Seventeen
If White was the one person that didn't belong in Villains INC, then Seventeen (Or Twelve, as she becomes later, or Ellie, as she hasn't been for years) doesn't belong in the story at all. Meek, soft-spoken, and painfully awkward, Ellie isn't a Shrinking Violet - she's completely Shrunk. A glorified Secretary, Seventeen's shield and healing powers come in handy too easily and end up with her in the field too often. However, she truly believes in Villains INC and is willing to risk a great deal for it - regardless of her place in it.
- Ascended Extra: Little more than Cannon Fodder at the time of her entrance, she became a slightly more primary character as time went on, and participated in several missions.
- Girl Friday: Acts as this to all of Villains INC, it seems.
- Healing Hands: One of her two powers, both support.
- No Social Skills
- Shrinking Violet: To a T.
- Shy Blue-Haired Girl: Well there you go.
- Support Party Member: She heals people and has shields. No combat abilities whatsoever.
Rikka Nguvu
A seven-foot, three-inch tall ex-professional boxer with Super-Strength so super that she can't touch anything - or anyone - without destroying. This causes her to feel that she will only ever have worth as a fighter - and this, plus her Freudian Excuse, leaves her absolutely unable to deal with failure.
- Action Girl: Definitely.
- Ambiguously Brown: Averted; is said to be Kenyan-Apache on her father's side and Finnish on her mother's.
- American Accents: Texas drawl, but she tries to hide it.
- Apologises a Lot
- Battle in the Center of the Mind: Engages in one of these against the hatevoice. It doesn't fix her problem.
- Berserk Button: If you've raped or molested someone, and she finds out...
- Beware the Nice Ones: Most of the time, she wouldn't hurt a fly. However, if you do wind up in a combat situation with her...this is the woman capable of hitting with a force equivalent to that of the bomb dropped on Nagasaki. And that's just at the beginning of the story.
- The Big Guy
- Blood Knight: She bases her entire sense of self-worth on combat.
- Braids of Action: And a very long one, at that. She hasn't cut it in more than twenty years.
- Claustrophobia
- De-Powered: Badly wants this; just wants her old life back.
- Dumb Muscle: Seems to want to be this. Definitely views herself as this.
- Emotionless Girl: Briefly tries to be this at one point in order to spare herself emotional pain. It doesn't last.
- Everything is Big in Texas: Massive in size and born and raised in Amarillo, Texas.
- Fantastic Nuke: Rikka's most powerful, and most self-destructive, attack, in which she blows out her excess power in a large, highly destructive explosion. The first time, she got terrible burns and was severely exhausted. The second time, she ruptured something internal and almost drowned in her own blood.
- Freudian Excuse: Rikka assigns so much importance to winning fights because she was molested by a close family friend whom she considered an uncle. He physically overpowered her and forced her to pose for photos; because of this, Rikka developed a deep obsession with becoming strong, and believes that so long as she can keep winning fights, she is still a powerful fighter who can't be forced into such a situation ever again.
- Gentle Giant: Both out of necessity and, often, in personality.
- Guilt Complex
- Hearing Voices: Specifically, the voice of her own self-loathing and feelings of worthlessness. She calls it the "hatevoice."
- Huge Schoolgirl: By the time she's reached adulthood, she's over seven feet tall, and she started growing early.
- I Just Want to Be Normal
- I Owe You My Life: Feels this toward Villains INC, which took her in after she developed her disastrous powers.
- Lesbian Jock: Well, Pansexual Jock.
- Mood-Swinger: Often.
- Muscles Are Meaningful
- Nervous Wreck
- Never Be Hurt Again: One of the major foundations of her character.
- Passionate Sports Girl: In this case, boxing.
- Power Fist: Her fists. Encased in gauntlets made from a layer of asbestos between two layers of Kevlar/carbon/classified alloy, reinforced with titanium plating on the backs of the hands and arms. Good thing she's got super strength.
- Prone to Tears: Looking at the seven-foot, three-inch tall woman with a build best described as "brick shithouse," you might be surprised to find out what an emotional wreck she is.
- The Reliable One: Was this, until her mental state took a distinct turn for the worse.
- Which seems to be an Informed Attribute.
- Required Secondary Powers: Aside from Super-Strength, Rikka has superhuman resistance to blunt force trauma, superhuman endurance, and is superdense.
- Single-Issue Psychology
- Super-Strength: Her superpower. She can hit with thirteen kilotons of force at the start of the roleplay...unfortunately, her body also wants to apply thirteen kilotons of force to everything.
- Trying Not to Cry: Pretty much all the time.
- With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Having super strength so intense that she literally crushes everything has forced Rikka into great isolation, wrecked her sense of self-worth, and all in all hasn't done her mental state any favors.
-
The Woobie: Had a promising boxing career torn away from her when she blew apart another fighter's head with a single punch in her first televised match. Hasn't been able to touch another human being in nine years. Can't deal with failure, yet takes everything as a failure. Misses her parents, whom she hasn't seen since she got her powers.- YMMV, of course.
Cale Roth
A moderately new recruit to Villains INC, Cale is an average minion with non-offensive stealth-related powers that get him drawn into the events at hand. Being too unfamiliar with Villains INC to know much of their goings-on, Cale is a level-headed presence that seems all-too willing to go along for the ride.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: Killed arbitrarily in the Nemesis attack on Zhemen.
- Sacrificial Lion
Richard
Number 3.0 in the aptly-named 'Demon' series, Richard is what you think of when you cross Hellboy with a Balrog. With a eagerness for battle and a considerable aptitude for it, Richard is a sometimes overzealous powerhouse, outshined by Rikka in regards to strength but far more reliable in terms of stability.
Trevor Walters
A perfect example of how a Villains INC minion behaves, Trevor is, at the outset of the story, a successful lab-rat in an attempt to recreate the powers of a former Villain. However, Crucible demonstrates his Gauntlet's ability to steal one's power on Trevor during the New Constantinople attack, leaving Trevor to be a somewhat stiff, moderately amicable secretary for the rest of the story.
Línghún Shī Xīn
The Aged leader of the Chinese Villains and one of the highest-ranking members in Villains INC, Linghun is a strategic genius, a man of considerable skill and significant loss. Having to build up and sacrifice in the name of Villains INC, again and again, Linghun has lost his wife, his home, and many other important things along the way. The only thing he has left is his adopted daughter, Zheng Xiu Mei. Wry and pragmatic, he is absolutely willing to push the boundaries of loyalties to his own ends, and to get back what is his. He will do whatever is necessary to protect his people.
Zheng Xiu Mei
Adoptive daughter of Linghun and one of the major Villains at the Chinese Base, Zheng Xiu Mei is trying very hard to Become the mask, and not doing so good of a job. Raised in uncertainty, Xiu Mei has seemingly lost more than her fair share in her life, and has slowly attempting to close off from everything... well, except from her beloved father. In her efforts to become the image of a stoic 'Agent', she has become closed off and cold, and though her Gravitational manipulation powers are useful, her part in the team dynamic is less so. However, the the American Villains' arrival may end up upsetting her mask more than it upsets them.
- Affectionate Nickname: From Linghun - 'Hua', meaning Flower.
- Becoming the Mask: See above.
- Broken Bird
- Hope Is Scary: And Maryan ends up scaring her.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Maryan does manage to get her to open up some...but she quickly withdraws again.
Michael Shi
Villain number 51 - a seemingly regular and kind man who happens to have been reassigned to the Chinese branch of Villains inc about five years ago. A Chinese American, he has Angel-like Wings and hollow bones, and the ability to fly... so long as he starves himself and remains emaciated. One of the few truly kind and personable faces in the group, 51 strikes up a friendship with David and remains loyal to Brent even when Linghun has his own goals in mind.
- Ascended Extra
- Good Wings, Evil Wings
- Mauve Shirt
- Nothing but Skin and Bones: By necessity, he must do this to fly.
Crucible
Crucible. The Enforcer of Nemesis. The Robed Man. The Man with the Gauntlet. Silent, stoic, impassive-looking and very, very buff, Crucible is soon learned to be on a mad quest to absorb the life essence of those Supers who have the most of it, which has him running into the Villains more than once. Though he works with (and uses the greatest resource of) Nemesis, he knows that them betraying him is only inevitable, and has no loyalty to their group. After a shocking draw against Rikka, the Massacre of a base and the murder of a Heart Keeper, Crucible cemented himself as the one to beat, the real test of the protagonists.
- A God Am I
- Black Cloak: A unique, segmented kind.
- Hopeless Boss Fight: At The beginning of the story, Rikka goes up against him and ends up with a draw. Since he is a major part of the plot and the lynch pin of Nemesis' plan, there was no way she could have beaten him.
- Psycho Serum: Aether is kind of like this for him.
- Red Baron
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Implied to be this before he became Crucible.
Holy Leader The Old Number One
A Strange, androgynous figure in Nemesis' leadership, the Holy Leader is evidently the highest ranking member in the organization. Strange and seemingly calm, they act with an absolute certainty that only cultists can show, and speak often of a mysterious 'her' that they serve.
It is eventually revealed that the Holy Leader has always been the Old Number One of Villains INC, the woman who went missing while 'searching' for Nemesis six years ago. Having found the Heart of the planet, she joined with it briefly, an extremely painful and irrevocable process that drained her of the Aether within her and erased all of her humanity - evidently including her gender. Since then, they have desperately been searching for a way to re-join with the Heart of the Planet, and will use anything and anyone to do so.
Lynch
One of the Lieutenants of Nemesis, Lynch is something of a sadistic hippie, an eco-nut with a dark side... Literally. Able to remove all color, light and pigment from his surroundings, Lynch keeps himself as a perpetually shaded silhouette. Far more friendly than Crucible or the Holy leader, Lynch is just as despicable as them... perhaps even more so.
- Affably Evil
- Boss Banter: Mockingly so.
- Flunky Boss: Has an annoying tendency to throw mooks at David when they fight towards the end.
Mikki Anderson
Ian Anderson's mother - the woman who trained him for years and then was killed by Villains INC - brought back from the dead as a vampire, to fight with Nemesis. She clashes with Villains INC in China.
Johnathon Keifer
A Nemesis operative, Keifer's ability to control and create Radiation makes him a very powerful and very deadly foe. He ambushes the Villains at the King's Creek mall, crashing the meet between Villains INC and Heart Keepers. He does this to cover Crucible's presence, where he drains and kills the Heart Keeper Emily. Keifer's attack, and death at the hands of Rikka, were mostly to send a message to the Villains - to prove how serious and willing to destroy humans they were. Keifer is the first Boss Fight and the first enemy to be killed by Rikka going 'Supernova'.
Ian Anderson
Technically one of the Heart Keepers, Ian has always stood apart to some degree. Like them (and with them), he works for the Government fighting DTI, but as a Mercenary rather than a kind of secret special agent. The only one of their number that he is at all close with is Emily, who he is deeply fond of, and while sometimes slow he makes up with it through his devastating powers - several Demonic forms (one like Richard, but even more powerful, and another inconceivable to the human mind, along with a significant healing ability and immunity to telepathy.
- Dumb Muscle: A bit, but he ends up making a tragically smart revelation at the King's Creek Mall.
- Eldritch Abomination: One of his forms is this
- Healing Factor: A nigh-unbeatable one.
- I Let Emily Die
- Revenge Before Reason: Goes after Crucible, who undeniably kicked his ass before, in a desperate attempt to avenge Emily.
Anthony Dascombe
An important but not well accepted member of the Heart Keepers, Anthony could be easily confused for their leader; he does most of the thinking (if not all of it), a good deal of the talking and is generally present for most of the more important things. However, his seeming indifference to the other Heart Keepers and the fact that he just isn't very sociable make him more of an Omega than an Alpha. However, his motivations are actually quite altruistic - but that doesn't make him any less of a dick.
- The Chessmaster: Possibly to a greater extent than Brent
- Fat Bastard: In a way. He's significantly overweight, something of an asshole and unsettlingly cold, but he is not portrayed negatively. At the same time, he's still not a Big Beautiful Man or Big Fun.
- Power Copying: Ironic - his power is 'Empathic Mimicry', yes his personality is one with a Lack of Empathy.
- The Spock: A Great example.
- What the Hell, Hero? / My God, What Have I Done?: Anthony accidentally Fatally injures White in the middle of combat - something he had not at all intended to do. Though, like everything with him, his reaction is muted, anyone that knows him would recognize that he is shaken by this event.
Patrick ("Zero")
Highly trained and supernaturally inclined, Patrick's Superpower is Weapon Familiarity, making him one of the most proficient fighters in the Heart Keepers or any of the factions involved in the story. Favoring a Katana, he is successful against much larger groups and much larger enemies, even stripped of his senses. However, he does not want to fight and only does so when necessary, sparing enemies and being generally decent outside of combat.
- Martial Pacifist: Ideal example
- Reluctant Warrior: Originally a pacifist, he was stripped of that luxury by learning that his superpowers were intended for using weapons to kill and fight.
- Supernatural Martial Arts: Though trained at length, his superpower allows him greater abilities than most.
- Sword Pointing
Emily
Gentle, sweet and Kind, Emily is probably the nicest of the Heart Keepers, and has a particular fondness for Ian Anderson, who most of the others overlook. She is also Blind, and relies entirely on her friends for protection in the situations they get into.
- Blind Seer: This is literally her power. While Blind, she can see the future.
- You Can't Fight Fate: Interestingly considered by her. Since she can see the future, she can try to change it; sometimes, she can succeed. The only caveat is that Just Knowing the Future isn't a good enough reason to change it. If she tries to avoid spilling her drink because she sees the future and sees that it will fall, she will fail. But if she tries to avoid knocking over her drink by going to make a phone call that allows he to stop it, she can succeed. This comes into play later when she sees that she will die at the King's Creek Mall mission. She tries to get Ian to take her away, away from the mall and from their lives as heart keepers - something she has wanted to do for a long time. However, Ian tragically deduces her actual reasoning for doing it now, and since they are both acting to change the future only because they know what the future will hold, they fail, and Emily is killed.
David Westing
This poor guy just wants to be normal. A mild mannered schoolteacher from School City (we know), David has been juggling some serious problems for a while now. For one, he used to get dragged into adventures all the time, thanks to his ancestral powers allow an ancient Vampire hunter to possess his body. But hating all the craziness, he quit all of that for good. Of course, that didn't keep his strange Energy absorbingLight powers from coming back recently... right around when he was turned into a Vampire (long story). Since his powers and his Vampirism clash, he couldn't take the cure, and has been having to deal with conflicting powers he has no control over and the urges of his new nature. That, and a mountain of school work.
Of course, Villains INC pays him a visit once they learn that his powers are similar to the weapon used by Nemesis. Upon the discovery that Nemesis is using his powers for evil, David sees a chance to help, and decides to come along with the strike team to fight Nemesis. As an Outsider, he doesn't know whether to trust Villains INC, any of the Villains, or even their own goals, and never fully falls in with anyone.
- Audience Surrogate: Knows nothing of Villains INC, Nemesis or much of the behind-the-scenes supernatural goings on.
- Badass Bookworm
- Badass Normal
- Beware the Nice Ones: Not as clean-cut or levelheaded as he likes to think he is. Wanting to drink the blood of everyone around you does that to a person.
- Cool Teacher: The Coolest. Don't you wish your History teacher fought against an evil cult and had magic powers?
- Friendly Neighborhood Vampire
- Light Is Good / Light Is Not Good: Depends on your point of view, his powers could be either.
- Non-Action Guy: Compared to the others
- Our Vampires Are Different
- Vegetarian Vampire: He tries.
Lucy Livingston
A Rising business owner and something of a local celebrity in Heartvale, Lucy Livingston was present at the same high school when the Heart Keepers developed their powers and fulfulled their prophecy. Now she is building up a major corporation that will become a faction in it's own right, to rival Villains INC or Nemesis, and though she is somewhat affiliated with the Heart Keepers, her loyalties are her own.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive
- Plot-Irrelevant Villain / Hero of Another Story: Morally Ambiguous enough to be either.
Christine Anders
An Unaffiliated Technopath who has refused to be recruited into any group in the past, Christine is contracted for one of the missions in which a technopath may have been needed. However, she stuck around the American bases afterwards, causing some trouble and taking part in some heists. As a completely unaligned character, her loyalty - and motives - are unknown.
