Follow TV Tropes

Following

Magnificent Bastard Proposal Thread

Go To

Old Magnificent Bastard thread

Welcome to the Magnificent Bastard proposal thread! This is the thread where new Magnificent Bastard examples are vetted, approved, and written up. If you're looking for the general cleanup thread (for cuts, rewrites, expansions, and the like), please go here

Important: Before suggesting any new examples, please read the Frequently Asked Questions and Common Requests List; if you have any questions, the odds are high they are answered there. Additionally, please check here for the earliest date a work can be discussed (usually two weeks from the U.S. release date) and whether the work has already been reserved by another user.

Here is how the process works:

    Process 

  1. If you have a candidate to propose, you can simply come right in and propose them! If the character's run is brief, such as a single issue of a comic book, then a simple summary of their actions and any potential mitigating features will be enough; for longer-running candidates, an effortpost (EP) might be helpful for organizing the proposal. An EP is not outright required, but please be mindful that if a post becomes too clunky and unorganized, it can be very hard for other people to follow.

  2. After the proposal, there will be a 72-hour discussion and voting period, where people may ask questions and vote on the candidate. The number of upvotes must outnumber the downvotes by at least five for the character to be considered "approved".

  3. Three days after the proposal has been made, if the character has been approved, you may post the writeup (the text to be posted on the trope page itself) on the thread and send it to the drafts page. Your candidate will soon be added to the MB subpage. If the work has a page, you should add your candidate to the relevant YMMV page. Voila! It's that simple!

Outside of this process, we do have a few ground rules:

    Ground Rules 

  1. To keep the thread moving at a reasonable pace, there are some restrictions on when a proposal can be made. There should only be a maximum of four EPs posted both per page and per hour to ensure that nothing gets lost in the shuffle; additionally, each individual troper should only be proposing or writing up characters from a maximum of three works at a time (from initial proposals to end of their voting period). If your proposal would fall outside of either of these guidelines, we'd like to ask you to please wait until they would fit within; feel free to type them up on an outside document, and then when the time comes, you can just copy, paste, and post!

  2. No plagiarism of any kind. This is a very serious matter site-wide, as the website could get in actual legal trouble over this; as a result, this can very quickly lead to mod intervention. This can take many different forms:
    1. Direct plagiarism, i.e. wholesale copying. This is not only the easiest to find, but is also the most likely to warrant quick moderator intervention. To be clear, quoting in some places is perfectly acceptable, but it has to be very clear you're quoting from something else and it cannot be anything longer than a sentence or two - if you're quoting an entire work summary from Wikipedia, no one is going to believe you've actually consumed the work, so even if you cite your source, your candidate will be downvoted anyway.
    2. Self-plagiarism. Even if you can prove that you wrote the same text in both places, the site itself can't contain any of the duplicated text. If you already wrote something once before, it's not too hard to write it a second time.
    3. Using another site's work as a template for a proposal. Just because you don't copy and paste something directly doesn't mean it's any harder to detect if you're basing parts or all of your proposal on text someone else wrote. To be clear, this doesn't violate site rules and won't lead to mod intervention, but just like if you directly plagiarize, no one will believe you've consumed the work if you're clearly basing your proposal on something else. This thread largely operates on the honor system, and tweaking someone else's work to pass it off as your own is one of the fastest ways to lose trust.

  3. Votes must be for specific candidates, meaning no blanket voting (i.e. "yes to everyone I missed").

  4. If you are the first person to downvote a candidate, please provide an explanation of why when you do so. We're here for discussions above all, and a hit-and-run downvote doesn't facilitate anything.

  5. If a work is already reserved by another user, please don't comment on the work or any potential characters worth discussion before the discussion date. We know how exciting it is when a work has a keeper that you're waiting to talk about, but it's not fair to the person who reserved the work who is just as excited to lead the discussion to see the discussion getting spoiled before they get to do it. On the other hand, if the reservation only has one name attached, shoot them a PM - they may be down for a collaboration, which will get you in on the fun as well!

  6. Please keep the thread on-topic. While discussing the trope is fun and we encourage people to enjoy it, questions like "who's your favorite MB" are off-topic and can lead to thumps. That's the kind of question to take to people's PMs if they're willing. Similarly, while we encourage friendliness and familiarity with other users, posts should always have some kind of thread-relevant purpose; for instance, if you want to wish someone a happy birthday, feel free to, but if it's the only thing in the post, it's off-topic and needs something else alongside it. Again, though, while we strive for a friendly atmosphere, this is not Facebook; life updates are fun, but unless they have some kind of impact on your thread participation, please do not bring it here - we have Yack Fest for that.

  7. Please refrain from asking anything along the lines of "How Did We Miss This One?" In almost every case, the answer is simply "No one thought about it before". This Is a Wiki where everyone has different interests, and the fact that people missed a particular candidate, even one that seems like a textbook example of a trope or a character who is particularly iconic in pop culture, means absolutely nothing. The question is disruptive, has a simple and consistent answer, and provides nothing to any discussion.

  8. If you are suspended from other parts of the website, it is still possible to participate!
    1. For users who are suspended from editing the wiki, you still have full access to this thread. You can propose candidates and write them up with no issues whatsoever; while you will have to ask someone else to post the entry to the relevant pages once it is done, all write-ups are considered thread-approved - as in, done by consensus - and thus doing so does not violate any rules regarding meatpuppeting.
    2. If you are suspended from the forums, your participation is limited but not impossible. It is still possible for a forum-suspended user to assist in creating the write-up for a character who has already been approved; as previously mentioned, write-ups are inherently considered a consensus-based edit and thus not tied to any one particular user. However, you can not assist in the proposal of a character; as a proposal is based around the forum rather than the wiki, doing so with a forum suspension qualifies as meatpuppeting.

  9. Please keep all discussions "in-house".
    1. What other wikis use for MB equivalents is irrelevant here.
    2. Please be wary of using other wikis, Fandom or otherwise, as sources of information. They are just as fallible as a site like Wikipedia in regards to accuracy because they can be edited by any user, just as this site can.
    3. Do not attempt to force a communication with an author in an attempt to gather evidence or settle a debate; besides the fact that this is a YMMV trope and thus author intent has variable weight depending on the circumstance, doing so may cross the line into drama exportation, which is prohibited site-wide.

If you would like to use an EP for your candidate, here's the general format. This format does not have to be followed exactly, but these are the main topics that need to be covered:

    Effortpost Template 

What is the work?

This is a brief summary of the work you're going to discuss. We don't need a full plot summary here, just however much we need to understand going into the discussion — it can even be as simple as quoting the summary on the work's page.

Who is the candidate and what have they done?

This is essentially the character's biography — who they are, their story, their goals and methodology, and, preferably (though not required), what happens to the candidate at the end. It does not have to include every single thing they ever do — for some characters, we'd be here all day if that was the case — but it should include the highlights of their journey.

How are they Magnificent?

This is the point where you highlight the character's brilliance. How to they convey their intelligence and charm to the audience? What makes them stand out among the crowd? What are their goals and how do they go about accomplishing them? This part welcomes a lot of creative thinking — not everyone has to be a Machiavellian Diabolical Mastermind to be worth considering here! This is also the time to showcase how the character can think on their feet if it's necessary.

How are they a Bastard? How are they not too bad?

What kinds of moral lines is this character willing to cross for the sake of their goal? Are they willing to let innocents die? Start wars? Commit crimes? The character has to show some kind of unscrupulousness in order to count as a "Bastard". Notably, this character does not necessarily have to be the villain, and an Anti-Hero can cross the line if they're immoral enough, but they have to be immoral somehow.

This is also the section where you then state your case for why they're not too bad. Perhaps their good intentions help mitigate their crimes. Perhaps others are shown to be much worse than them. Perhaps they're prone to Pet the Dog moments or are even fighting on behalf of loved ones. Whatever the case, there are certain lines that an MB can't cross, but as long as their villainy is reasonable for their goal, they can be considered.

Final verdict?

This is where you post your final conclusion on the character in question. You can continue elaborating on your reasons or even just say a simple "yes" or "no"; at this point, we've heard everything we need to hear.

And that's everything you need to know. Welcome to the thread!


Edited by Twiddler on Jan 17th 2024 at 5:40:56 AM

Zeelandia Since: Aug, 2018
#12826: May 11th 2024 at 8:53:22 AM

Quick question, is Tamer approved or not? By my count he had 4 yes and 1 no, is that enough or is he not approved?

KratsUf (Troper in training)
#12827: May 11th 2024 at 8:55:07 AM

I think you need five more yeses than nos, so I believe no.

Iceaura39 from Where joy and happiness go to cry (Petty Master) Relationship Status: is commanded to— WANK!
#12828: May 11th 2024 at 10:50:48 AM

With a tally of 9 [tup]s to 0 [tdown]s, the Nocturne duo have been approved. Thus, here's the writeup:

  • Nocturne: Rebirth:
    • Ristill Eva Mizants is the weakest of the three vampire Ancestors, making up for her lack of strength with a keen mind. Determined to kill Reviel, she makes her move while he is weakened by the barrier, teaching Luna thaumaturgy to mess with her rival before setting up Maxwell experiments and inflicting Reviel with the Dark Chains curse while he investigates them. Turning her experiments on the citizens of Algiz, she strengthens them to be able to control living beings, and tempts Idith into accepting the power to kill Reviel. Though initially driven to madness like every other Maxwell victim, once Idith asserts herself under the dark force, Ristill observes this so she can learn how to withstand it herself, and empowers herself for one last battle with her rival when the latter confronts her at her castle. Spared by Luna after her defeat, she pays her back by putting out the fires caused by Hypnosis' attack, before helping the heroes defeat Khaos, her unpredictable nature proving crucial to getting past Laplace's Demon. At the end, she parts ways with them, still determined to reach her goal, but on better terms than before.
    • Khaos is the third and strongest vampire Ancestor and the true architect of the story's events. Once having led his allies to victory in the Revolutionary War, Khaos was betrayed and his lover was slain protecting him. Aiming to bring her back, he seeks to use time and space magic to destroy the world and rebuild it anew after all else failed. To delay his fellow Ancestors, he set up the elemental barrier to weaken Reviel, and helped Ristill gather more strength while he made preparations, all while observing Reviel's growth. Once Ristill is defeated, Khaos opens a wormhole to allow Devils to enter Algiz, reveals Reviel and Luna's vampiric nature to all the villagers to show them the folly of hiding it, and exposes his plan before giving Reviel and Ristill one chance to stop him. Awaiting them in his own pocket dimension, he ambushes Ristill, recognising her as the greater threat to his plan, in an attack that she only survives due to Idith's intervention. When confronted by the heroes, he turns the tables with the Laplace's Demon spell that is only counteracted with Ristill's sudden appearance. Accepting that his story will never have a happy ending, Khaos bids his friends a heartfelt farewell and implores and enables Shylphiel to live before throwing himself off his island, gracefully acknowledging his failure with a smile.

It is I, the narrator, categorising addict and writer of books you haven't read.
Bullman "The Juice is Loose." Since: Jun, 2018 Relationship Status: Longing for my OTP
LoadsAndLoadsOfFreeTime The Prosecutor from Streets Since: Oct, 2022 Relationship Status: In bed with a green-skinned space babe
EmeraldEmperor Lies and Violence! Since: Oct, 2020
Lies and Violence!
#12832: May 11th 2024 at 3:01:53 PM

So I was planning to look into the first Mandarin from Iron Man: Armored Adventures, but I wanted to run something by the thread first.

Long story short, the Mandarin was a noble warrior king with ten powerful alien rings. Seeking an heir but dissatisfied with the ill-intentions of his children, he hid the rings across the globe, each protected by a trial intended to test the worthiness of whoever would seek out his power.

One of these tests, if failed, threatens to set off volcanoes all across the globe and kill all life. Maybe he wasn't aware of this—Tony has a bunch of high-tech sensors to determine this outcome, while all he had were the rings, but the rings are pretty advanced and capable of creating a bunch of bullshit magic tests, so... I'd doubt it.

Now, the OG Mandarin is a posthumous character for the entire show. We get images of him and a brief description of his personality/motives by the alien who gave him the rings, but we don't really know much outside of that—for instance, how his alleged selflessness co-existed with his career as a conqueror.

If he really was just a kind man wanting to protect the world, nothing else to it, the volcano test would be kind of shooting himself in the foot. But given we don't really know everything about him or what his definition of "worthiness" was, would I be okay to just propose him as normal and assume there was something else behind that test we're not privy to?

miraculous Goku Black (Apprentice)
Goku Black
#12833: May 11th 2024 at 3:05:38 PM

Ah right?

Are you also doing Gene? Aka present Mandarin?

"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."
EmeraldEmperor Lies and Violence! Since: Oct, 2020
Lies and Violence!
#12834: May 11th 2024 at 3:08:16 PM

Honestly, I looked into him, like, a year ago, but I think he devolved into too much of a power hungry child in season 2. He recovers by the end, sure, but it’s a little too late imo.

EmperorGeode Not the Eye from A Galaxy far, far away Since: Oct, 2022 Relationship Status: On the prowl
Not the Eye
#12835: May 11th 2024 at 3:13:24 PM

I am fine with original Mandarin getting proposed. Volcano test is kinda weird with what we learn about him (even with less generous interpretations), but as you said we never truly learn much details about him and his life and he could have his reasons for it.

Also since I reserved it on other thread, calling The Acolyte and as always open for collab.

Edited by EmperorGeode on May 11th 2024 at 4:22:15 AM

Godwriter King of the Koopas from Maryland Since: Feb, 2022 Relationship Status: Dancing with myself
King of the Koopas
#12836: May 11th 2024 at 5:48:22 PM

Ok time for a MB classic.

Whats the Work?

The Spectacular Spider-Man a spectacular series thes the webhead answer to Batman the animated series and the DCAU Cut Short

The series has a Magnificent Bastard in the form of many villains but I think there’s a certain Egomaniac Hunter we overlooked.

Who is Kraven The Hunter What has he done?

Kraven is first seen tackling a mad rhino to give it medical treatment he then hears of the spider man from New York and travels there alongside his love interest Calypso and his pet lion to make it his greatest hunt ever.

Though Kraven does encounter spider man eventually spider man easily trounces him due to his superhuman abilities.

Kraven with the help of his pet lion tracks Spider-Man scent around the city including the daily bugle Scareing some of the residents, until eventually he comes across Miles Warren’s lab.

Kraven commissions miles to create a serum to give him powers similar to spider man but ends up being mutated into a big cat creature with the combined DNA of a Cheetah lion and leopard respectively.

Rebranding himself Kraven The Hunter Kraven tangles with the webslinger for a second round easily speeding and overpowering spidey with his newfound powers but ol webhead comes around and defeats him though Kraven is rescued by Calypso and is offered a place as a member of the new sinister six by the master planner.

Kraven is sent to break Doc Ock and electro out of Raven Croft under The master planners orders though he’s only able to get Electro.

Kraven and Mysterio attack spider man only for Kraven to be knocked out by one of the exploding mysterio bots though he is saved by the Tinkerer at the last minute.

Kraven is one of the only surviving members of the Master planners empire btw.

Magnificent?

It’s Kraven so yes he is tracks Spider-Man scent his first scene has him tackling a rhino to give it medical treatment showing he has genuine care for other animals, even his pet lion calypso and love interest Calypso.

Now the first time he loses to Spider man easily but he doesn’t suffer a Villainous Breakdown is able to recover by getting powers of three different big cats after being mutated and has a much better time keeping up with Spidey in the second round only losing the Spider-Man quick thinking the second time and he is a Graceful Loser.

Third time he gets knocked out by the exploding mysterio bot but is rescued by the tinkerer.

Bastard?

Well yeah he invades The daily bugle scaring the staff and angering Jamison and breaks into ravencroft to retrieve Doc Ock and Electro and attacks Spidey alongside mysterio.

Final Verdict?

Your call

Edited by Godwriter on May 11th 2024 at 5:48:41 AM

The Ultimate Incarnation of Evil
EmeraldEmperor Lies and Violence! Since: Oct, 2020
Lies and Violence!
#12837: May 11th 2024 at 5:56:24 PM

Eh, Kraven doesn’t do anything too intelligent—tracking Spider-Man with the lion is clever, but even with the power-up he’s still beaten, plus Jackal tricks him into becoming a test subject that could have very easily gone wrong. I’m personally a no.

Idisagree Since: Jun, 2011
#12838: May 11th 2024 at 7:43:12 PM

I'd sadly have to say no to this version of Kraven. He's a great fighter and fun character but ultimately is usually the one being manipulated (a bad look for a Magnificent Bastard). The reasons above me only reinforce my choice.

WilyGryphon Since: Apr, 2023
#12839: May 11th 2024 at 7:44:12 PM

[tdown] Kraven for the given reasons

VengefulBale Dagded Dujardin from The Universe (it's his room) Since: Feb, 2016 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Dagded Dujardin
#12840: May 11th 2024 at 7:56:06 PM

[tdown] to Kraven, sadly he's too much of a pawn to count as a true MB.

Got another MB from Dragon Knight now.

Work

Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight is the third DTV Kung Fu Panda show. Here, Po loses his Dragon Master title and embarks on a worldwide journey to stop a pair of weasels from obtaining the Tianshang Weapons (the Helmet of Winds, Storm Wheels, Whip of Endless Flame and Wugao Gauntlet), mystical weapons created by the four Ancient Masters (Mastodon, Long-Tooth, Giant Sloth and Ostrich) that could destroy the world, with aid from Mr. Ping, Wandering Blade, a bear knight from England and the old monkey thief from India, Rukhmini they form the Dragon Knights team for that purpose. Later in the second and third seasons others such as Akna, the quetzal from South America and Colin, a deer knight, join them as well.

Among the foes they encounter is the dreaded Pirate Queen, Forouzan who has a past with Mr. Ping.

Candidate

Forouzan is a sheep pirate who in the past was a pirate Outlaw Couple with Mr. Ping (then known as the "Soul Reaper"), the two struck terror across the seas and were able to fight against even the best of the English naval fleets. Eventually, Soul Reaper got tired of the pirate's life and faked his death by driving his personal ship into a large English fleet, and then escaped to China where he became known as Mr. Ping; Forouzan was left heartbroken by this but resolved to continue her piracy, spending decades keeping her reputation afloat even against some of the world's best warriors, putting forth a code of laws for her pirates to follow and installing herself in a region of China where she ruled with an iron fist to the point that even the Emperor's best forces wouldn't dare enter her turf.

In season 2 she's sought out by Colin and Weimin, who are looking to find Po and Luthera who had left China to find the Tianshang Weapons since they found out a scroll depicting her past with Mr. Ping. After her pirates report the duo's intruding into her land and plans to force her to aid them to Forouzan she has them captured and only agrees to help find them since she finds out from them that Reaper/Ping is still alive and wants to punish him for leaving her; and simultaneously forces both warriors to become simple deckhands in her crew after threatening them.

In season 3 she successfully finds the Dragon Knights during their journey to England (after acquiring all Tianshang Weapons and preparing to destroy them), and manages to capture them all, when Colin tries and betray her to escape with Luthera as his prisoner to bring back to England, she has her pet octopus, Janice, toss him into the ocean while taking everyone else back to her island base so she can put Ping through a trial for his crimes against her. After she reveals Ping's past to everyone else during said trial, she prepares to go through with the punishment after Ping is found guilty; death, but Rukhmini finds a loophole that allows Ping to request a different way to be judged over jury and execution, Forouzan chooses to organize a battle tournament as the trial where if the Dragon Knights win one out of three combats they'll go free and Ping will be pardoned for his crimes, when the Dragon Knights lose the first two battles Forouzan ultimately has to fight Po in Ping's steed and easily overwhelms him with her sword techniques and pragmatic fighting style, leaving him at her mercy several times before she's finally defeated when Ping motivates Po to fight dirty. With her defeat, she concedes and lets Po and his friends go and even starts reconciling with Ping.

Then when Colin calls forth the knights of England to raid the island and imprison the pirates, Forouzan manages to get away twice, first seemingly leaving everyone else to their luck and then returning so she can take Ping and the Tianshang Weapons in a chest with her, being instructed to keep them all safe while the Dragon Knights try to find out how to definitely destroy the weapons and clear Luthera's name while they are taken to England; however she initially intends to leave the others to their luck and instead retire to the Polynesian Islands with Ping to live out the rest of her life in peace, but is interrupted by the Dark Mages residing there who had the Helmet of Winds once but lost it and want it back forcing them to leave the island. They are helped by Klaus who facilitates their escape. After they have made it out of the place and Forouzan has been convinced by Ping to not abandon their mission they reach England to drop off the weapons to Po so he can continue his quest, before leaving for China to work at Ping's noodle shop in the Panda Village.

In the final arc, Forouzan (and Ping) motivate Po to not give up after he blames himself for giving the Tianshang Weapons to Alfie who gets corrupted by their power into a tyrannic despot who forcefully joined the world together and destabilized the elements, and once Po sets out to stop Alfie, she and Ping stage a fake war between England and China to draw Alfie's Shadow Army's attention away and leave the former open to have the Weapons taken away by the Dragon Knights so they could have the Ancient Masters' spirits destroy them once and for all. While the plan works out well at first, it is derailed when Alfie figures out the ruse and has his army attack indiscriminately, but Forouzan makes it out unscathed and keeps Ping safe from the Dark Army's attack. Once Alfie stands down and redeems himself, the Dragon Knights and Ancient Masters finally destroy the weapons and Forouzan remains retired from her Pirate Queen life to be together with Mr. Ping as chefs and Po's loving stepparents.

Magnificence?

She's a resourceful, strong and confident outlaw who has the charisma to lead the most terrifying pirate crew in the world, has avoided capture by the Knights of England for decades and even created a set of laws for her pirates to abide, keeping a firm grip on her servants' every action. She is also a competent tracker, easily finding and capturing the Dragon Knights when Weimin and Colin ask for her help and gets rid of the latter easily whenever he tries and impede her. She is also shown to be pretty crafty at fighting, dominating Po despite his expertise in Kung Fu and only being beaten when Po mixes his Kung Fu with pirate-like dirty tactics taught to him by Ping.

Despite her anger at Ping abandoning her she doesn't let it cloud her judgment or drive her to irrationality, and even is willing to spare his life if his group overcomes the battle gauntlet after Rukhmini reminded her of the law.

Seeking retirement after a long life of success after success, she is able to get it after escaping the Knights one last time and avoids any consequences for her decades of criminal activity.

Is she a Bastard?

She not only has been a fearsome pirate who doesn't feel a tinge of remorse for anything she's done, but she also tries to kill Ping for his desertion, then Po and all their friends several times via association. Also leaves Colin for dead by having him thrown in the ocean and even abandons most of her crew of pirates to their luck when the Knights come to get them (though she still has enough decency to keep Ping safe).

She attempts to leave the Dragon Knights in the dust when they entrust her with the Weapons after they get captured all so she can have her retirement in a remote island and is only convinced swayed away from her decision by Ping appealing to the bits of good she has deep down.

Verdict

Keeper for me.

Edited by VengefulBale on May 11th 2024 at 11:43:38 AM

"Bingo! If two species hate each other, they will wipe each other out on their own."
TurlesTheVegan Mr. House from The Darkest Pit of the Underworld Since: Dec, 2023 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Mr. House
#12841: May 11th 2024 at 8:12:19 PM

[tup] for Forouzan.

[tdown] for Kraven.

Snowy66 Since: May, 2012
#12842: May 12th 2024 at 1:13:50 AM

[tdown]Kraven. Fun version but not an MB. He gets manipulated a bit too much to count.

[tup]Forouzan

Edited by Snowy66 on May 12th 2024 at 1:14:11 AM

EmperorGeode Not the Eye from A Galaxy far, far away Since: Oct, 2022 Relationship Status: On the prowl
Not the Eye
#12843: May 12th 2024 at 2:25:28 AM

[tup] Forouzan

[tdown] Kraven

One question. I read fun Hellaverse fanfic What If…..Vaggie Remained a Exorcist?, which has finished about a week ago. Would anybody have problem with me doing proposals I have for it week earlier?

miraculous Goku Black (Apprentice)
Goku Black
#12844: May 12th 2024 at 2:40:44 AM

[tup]Forouzan

[tdown]Kraven

"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."
LarryT Since: Aug, 2023
SpaceProtagonist Since: Sep, 2018
#12846: May 12th 2024 at 5:16:56 AM

Alright, 3 days are up and I've got more than enough 'yes' votes. I should be able to a draft for Bloodstone within a day or two.

TurlesTheVegan Mr. House from The Darkest Pit of the Underworld Since: Dec, 2023 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Mr. House
#12847: May 12th 2024 at 9:11:43 AM

Fine with the early discussion, Geode.

Likewise, I think the OG Mandarin sounds find, Emerald.

Snowy66 Since: May, 2012
#12848: May 12th 2024 at 10:07:41 AM

Haven't touched upon the Arrowverse for a while. Still so many possible keepers from there. Here's a smallish one for now.

From The Flash, we have Janet Petty / Null, a Villain of the Week from Season 4 for the episode "Null and Annoyed".

What is the work?

My name is Barry Allen, and I am the fastest man alive. I think you know how that goes by now.

In Season 4, Barry and friends go up against Clifford Devoe / The Thinker (one of my less prouder cut MBs). Devoe orchestrated the release of dark matter, which a bus full of people are exposed to, turning them all into metahumans. So Team Flash races the Thinker to each of these bus metas, who each serve as a VOTW for the first half of the season, with one of these bus metas being...

Who is Janet Petty / Null and what has she done?

Janet Petty, who goes by "Null" as her criminal alias, is a notorious jewel thief who has been active since her teenage years with an extensive criminal record.

She was onboard Bus 405 on the faithful day it got exposed to dark matter, where she developed the metahuman power of being a Gravity Master.

Null began using her gravity powers to assist her in committing robberies. In her first onscreen appearance, she discreetly approaches a crate being transported by Jay and Silent Bob (I'm fully serious, literally those two). As the two bumbling security guards wander off, Null makes the crate float into the air and then sends it crashing back down to break it open, where she pinches the crown inside and scoots off.

Her activities come under the attention of Team Flash who manage to ID her, but find her extremely difficult to track due to having 17 different aliases. So the heroes decide to interrogate one of her associates, Earl... and luck out in arriving while she is doing business with him. Null tries to hide from them by anti-gravity clinging to the ceiling. However Barry and Ralph notice the stolen diamonds she was selling to Earl and spot her on the roof. So Null uses her powers on Barry, causing him to float off while she escapes.

Team Flash are later alerted to Null's next robbery, where the Flash speeds over. Flash attempts to apprehend her by putting meta-dampener cuffs on her. However Null was prepared for this and reveals she had a 'getaway car', where she preemptively left a car with a person inside falling from the sky, so the Flash is forced to save the bystander while Null picks the locks and escapes.

Null then hits a fundraiser and demands the wealthy patrons to hand over their jewellery, while making an example out of a lady who refuses by floating her away and pinching her necklace while airborne.

Having been notified of this robbery, Flash and Elongated Man arrive on the scene. Flash notes that there are no floating cars this time, but Null doesn't need them having a whole room of hostages. Null charges the floor with antigrav energy, forcing Barry to transport everyone out of the room before they floated off. However this was just a diversion and Null uses the moment of distraction to sneak up on the Flash and zaps him a second time, sending him floating off into space. Believing Elongated Man would be too busy to save the Flash feel splatting she goes about stealing the riches. However Ralph stretches his arm across the room and power-dampner cuffs her feet inbetween saving Barry, where this time she doesn't have enough time to pick the locks.

Null is then locked up in the pipeline. Unfortunately for her, Devoe breaks into STAR Labs and drains all of the metas (including Null) of their powers and life-force, killing all of them.

How is Magnificent?

For a single episode VOTW, Null is pretty cunning, regularly giving the heroes the slip. One instance she's even shown to be Crazy-Prepared, having the 'getaway car' contingency in place.

Considering she's a meta who only has the power to "makes things float up" she has come up with quite a few creative applications on how to use this to her advantage.

Personality wise, she's not super charismatic but seems reasonably Faux Affably Evil overall, pulling off her heists with a cheeky grin.

Bitch?

Serial thief who is not afraid to endanger lives of bystanders to make a getaway.

But she's never overly awful, as she only threatens a relatively small number of victims, which pales compared to the myriad of mass-murderer bad guys we've had in this verse.

Final verdict?

I think Keeper?

Edited by Snowy66 on May 12th 2024 at 10:34:18 AM

miraculous Goku Black (Apprentice)
Goku Black
#12849: May 12th 2024 at 10:16:48 AM

[tup]null

"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."
EmperorGeode Not the Eye from A Galaxy far, far away Since: Oct, 2022 Relationship Status: On the prowl

Total posts: 13,107
Top