History DarthWiki / TalesOfTitanCity

%%* TheAtoner (Wrestling/HulkHogan)

This setting provides examples of:

''Superstars Era'': In the world of Titan City, superheroes have existed for longer than anybody could remember, but they worked mostly in the shadows until the '80s. In 1985, billionaire industrialist Vincent Kennedy [=McMahon=], Jr. had a brilliant idea: market superheroes as celebrities, make merchandise, and rake in the profits. Thus, he gathered a team of metahumans from around the world, and dubbed them "The Superstars". But something was missing... so he approached unpowered mook Terry Bollea, who genuinely repented the misdeeds that had gotten him thrown in the slammer for the rest of his natural life, and made him an offer he couldn't refuse: take the experimental Zahorian Formula and become a superhero and idol to millions, or rot in prison. Bollea took the deal, was re-christened Hulk Hogan, and the rest is history. The Superstars era ended in 1993, when the team disbanded after a crushing defeat by the villainous Yokozuna. This era is most analogous to UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks, except without UsefulNotes/WorldWarII lurking in the background.

''New Generation Era'': With the original team crushed, Vince tried his best to rebuild. He once more assembled a team of Superstars, this time with reformed supervillain Wrestling/LexLuger at the helm. Unfortunately, the new team completely failed to attract the kind of attention that the originals did (think of them as the Justice League Detroit). The adventures of this era's team were some of the silliest on record (analogous to UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks), with Doink the Clown as a cornerstone team member, and bizarre occurrences such as "Night of the Gooker" (a wave of were-turkeyism hits Titan City, just in time for Thanksgiving!). The New Superstars lasted until 1996.

''Attitude Era'': The new generation Superstars were not long for the world, and when they crumbled, they took public sentiment for superheroes with them. Vince (being essentially made of teflon in his public persona) managed to ride the wave of anti-superhero sentiment to become the mayor of Titan City, and began to persecute the heroes. Public enemy number one was a vigilante by the name of Rattlesnake (Steve Austin), but there was no love for any of the city's other heroes either. In turn, the heroes became DarkerAndEdgier themselves, fighting to protect a world that hated and feared them, and sometimes doing so with lethal force. Think of this as Titan City's [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks Dark Age]]. The Attitude Era lasted from 1996 to 2002.

* TheAtoner (Wrestling/HulkHogan)

* BadassNormal (Rattlesnake)

* GadgeteerGenius (Wrestling/DoinkTheClown, in his role as the New Superstars' [[TheSmartGuy Smart Guy]])
* HeelFaceTurn (Hulk Hogan, and then Wrestling/LexLuger)

* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney (Wrestling/{{Ted DiBiase}}, Vince [=McMahon=], Wrestling/RicFlair, and Hunter Hearst Helmsley have all played this card at one time or another)
* {{Superhero}}

* SuperTeam (The Superstars, in all their incarnations)

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<<|DarthWiki/UnpublishedWorks|>>

''Superstars Era'': In the world of Titan City, superheroes have existed for longer than anybody could remember, but they worked mostly in the shadows until the '80s. In 1985, billionaire industrialist Vincent Kennedy [=McMahon=], Jr. had a brilliant idea: market superheroes as celebrities, make merchandise, and rake in the profits. Thus, he gathered a team of metahumans from around the world, and dubbed them "The Superstars". But something was missing... so he approached unpowered mook Terry Bollea, who genuinely repented the misdeeds that had gotten him thrown in the slammer for the rest of his natural life, and made him an offer he couldn't refuse: take the experimental Zahorian Formula and become a superhero and idol to millions, or rot in prison. Bollea took the deal, was re-christened Hulk Hogan, and the rest is history. The Superstars era ended in 1993, when the team disbanded after a crushing defeat by the villainous Yokozuna. This era is most analogous to UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks, except without WorldWarII lurking in the background.

<<|DarthWiki/UnpublishedWorks|>>

''New Generation Era'': With the original team crushed, Vince tried his best to rebuild. He once more assembled a team of Superstars, this time with reformed supervillain Wrestling/LexLuger at the helm. Unfortunately, the new team completely failed to attract the kind of attention that the originals did (think of them as the Justice League Detroit). The adventures of this era's team were some of the silliest on record (analogous to TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks), with Doink the Clown as a cornerstone team member, and bizarre occurrences such as "Night of the Gooker" (a wave of were-turkeyism hits Titan City, just in time for Thanksgiving!). The New Superstars lasted until 1996.

''Superstars Era'': In the world of Titan City, superheroes have existed for longer than anybody could remember, but they worked mostly in the shadows until the '80s. In 1985, billionaire industrialist Vincent Kennedy [=McMahon=], Jr. had a brilliant idea: market superheroes as celebrities, make merchandise, and rake in the profits. Thus, he gathered a team of metahumans from around the world, and dubbed them "The Superstars". But something was missing... so he approached unpowered mook Terry Bollea, who genuinely repented the misdeeds that had gotten him thrown in the slammer for the rest of his natural life, and made him an offer he couldn't refuse: take the experimental Zahorian Formula and become a superhero and idol to millions, or rot in prison. Bollea took the deal, was re-christened Hulk Hogan, and the rest is history. The Superstars era ended in 1993, when the team disbanded after a crushing defeat by the villainous Yokozuna. This era is most analogous to TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks, except without WorldWarII lurking in the background.

''Attitude Era'': The new generation Superstars were not long for the world, and when they crumbled, they took public sentiment for superheroes with them. Vince (being essentially made of teflon in his public persona) managed to ride the wave of anti-superhero sentiment to become the mayor of Titan City, and began to persecute the heroes. Public enemy number one was a vigilante by the name of Rattlesnake (Steve Austin), but there was no love for any of the city's other heroes either. In turn, the heroes became DarkerAndEdgier themselves, fighting to protect a world that hated and feared them, and sometimes doing so with lethal force. Think of this as Titan City's [[TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks Dark Age]]. The Attitude Era lasted from 1996 to 2002.

''The Invasion'': In 2002, reality changed forever. Parallel universes began to merge, with people and places from another reality suddenly appearing in our own. Titan City's heroes and villains alike teamed up against the new "Invaders", and the new arrivals, for their part, teamed together as well. Both sides were convinced that the other intended them grievous harm, and this led to an all-out war over the course of the year. Eventually, as the two worlds became one, history itself was re-written; as far as anybody was aware, there had always been just one world. (The invaders here are from {{WCW}}, of course)

* [=Superhero=]

* AnthropomorphicPersonification (The Undertaker, death himself)
* TheAtoner (Hulk Hogan)
* BackFromTheDead (Sting gets murdered by the nWo, then comes back as a spirit of vengeance)

* ContagiousPowers (Paul London actually "caught" his powers from Billy Kidman)
* CoolCar (The Rock drives around in probably the coolest ride one can have)
* DemonicPossession (Batista's powers stem from the demon Leviathan, who is bound to his soul)
* GadgeteerGenius (Doink the Clown, in his role as the New Superstars' SmartGuy)
* HeelFaceTurn (Hulk Hogan, and then Lex Luger)

* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney ([=Ted DiBiase, Vince McMahon, Ric Flair, and Hunter Hearst Helmsley=] have all played this card at one time or another)
* SuperHero

''New Generation Era'': With the original team crushed, Vince tried his best to rebuild. He once more assembled a team of Superstars, this time with reformed supervillain Lex Luger at the helm. Unfortunately, the new team completely failed to attract the kind of attention that the originals did (think of them as the Justice League Detroit). The adventures of this era's team were some of the silliest on record (analogous to TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks), with Doink the Clown as a cornerstone team member, and bizarre occurrences such as "Night of the Gooker" (a wave of were-turkeyism hits Titan City, just in time for Thanksgiving!). The New Superstars lasted until 1996.

''Superstars Era'': In the world of Titan City, superheroes have existed for longer than anybody could remember, but they worked mostly in the shadows until the '80s. In 1985, billionaire industrialist Vincent Kennedy [=McMahon=], Jr. had a brilliant idea: market superheroes as celebrities, make merchandise, and rake in the profits. Thus, he gathered a team of metahumans from around the world, and dubbed them "The Superstars". But something was missing... so he approached unpowered mook Terry Bollea, who genuinely repented the misdeeds that had gotten him thrown in the slammer for the rest of his natural life, and made him an offer he couldn't refuse: take the experimental Zahorian Formula and become a superhero and idol to millions, or rot in prison. Bollea took the deal, was re-christened Hulk Hogan, and the rest is history. The Superstars era ended in 1993, when the team disbanded after a crushing defeat by the villainous Yokozuna. This era is most analogous to the GoldenAge, except without WorldWarII lurking in the background.

''New Generation Era'': With the original team crushed, Vince tried his best to rebuild. He once more assembled a team of Superstars, this time with reformed supervillain Lex Luger at the helm. Unfortunately, the new team completely failed to attract the kind of attention that the originals did (think of them as the Justice League Detroit). The adventures of this era's team were some of the silliest on record (analogous to the SilverAge), with Doink the Clown as a cornerstone team member, and bizarre occurrences such as "Night of the Gooker" (a wave of were-turkeyism hits Titan City, just in time for Thanksgiving!). The New Superstars lasted until 1996.

''Attitude Era'': The new generation Superstars were not long for the world, and when they crumbled, they took public sentiment for superheroes with them. Vince (being essentially made of teflon in his public persona) managed to ride the wave of anti-superhero sentiment to become the mayor of Titan City, and began to persecute the heroes. Public enemy number one was a vigilante by the name of Rattlesnake (Steve Austin), but there was no love for any of the city's other heroes either. In turn, the heroes became DarkerAndEdgier themselves, fighting to protect a world that hated and feared them, and sometimes doing so with lethal force. Think of this as Titan City's DarkAge. The Attitude Era lasted from 1996 to 2002.