Justice Avengers: Interest Check and Sign Up

I like the revised Booster origin; the original always had me wondering things like "why is football still being played centuries from now, in exactly the same way?" and "what kind of museum keeps incredibly dangerous artifacts like superweapons and time machines where a common guard can steal them?" So kudos for that.

as for the time travel element, as long as we are careful it shouldn't disrupt the plot too much, the way I have been evenly handling Access's powers.

The only thing I had in mind as far as time travel shenanigans was Booster going "Soo....where's the Big Blue cheese?" And everyone going "What?"

Also, be prepared to see Booster try and Out-Stark Stark.

•Name: William Magnus

•Gender: Male

•Age: Late thirties

•Appearance: Behold!◊

•Alignment: Good

•Personality: William Magnus has a few issues. He doesn't quite get along with other people, and his medication is the only lynchpin that lets him tie his shoes in the morning without trying to devote precious grant money into making them talk. But he does what he does because he believes in the future of humanity, and even if everyone else is too dense to appreciate his genius, he'll try not to hold that against them.

•Powers and Abilities: With doctorates in theoretical mathematics, mechanical engineering, and particle physics as well as being a foremost genius in the fields of robotics and artificial intelligence, Magnus's engineering and programming skills are nothing to scoff at. But his greatest assets may well be his most brilliant creations to date...

•Weapons and Equipment: ...known as the Clockwork Angels Brethren of Excelsior The Men and Woman of the Metal Collective The Gender Neutral Machine Gathering The Metal Ladies and Gentlemen The Metal Men.

All of the Metal Men have the ability to change their shape, though their proficiency and specialties vary from individual to individual. Each picked their own name and self-identifies as a specific gender.

Tin is the least physically capable of the Metal Men, in addition to being the smallest. Timid and wide-eyed but always eager to learn, he is often either by Magnus's side or affixed to him in some way, always within hearing range. He is the most aerodynamic of the Metal Men, a trait he's not necessarily proud of. He's also an amateur lockpick, but would rather Magnus not know that.

Lead is the thickest of the Metal Men in every possible sense, sporting the strategic brilliance of a melted candle. Lead also possesses something of a pufferfish mindset; he feels like he can solve any problem by making himself bigger. His great size, durability, and strength coupled with his specialty in inflating his mass do little to disprove that.

Iron has a great understanding of how things fit together. This makes her the only one of the group able to fashion moving parts, and the greatest asset to Magnus in a lab environment. A tremendous smartass, she serves to help keep the good doctor in check. Her strength and durability among the Metal Men is exceeded only by Lead.

Mercury’s liquid body can divide itself into innumerable tiny parts. And with that many parts working towards a common goal, how could he ever possibly fail? Mercury is a braggart and blowhard that is nevertheless one of the most powerful of the Metal Men, and he’s prepped and ready to remind anyone around him of how great he is at any given opportunity.

Gold has the ability to create and control filaments varying in length and thickness. This level of control has a great impact on her worldview, as she is privy to how every breath and gust of wind is a part of the bigger picture. As a result, despite her considerable skill in the martial arts and her potential lethality, Gold is devoted to the preservation of balance and the sanctity of life. Spends a lot of time reading and meditating, and is faintly troubled by her place in the universe as something that technically isn't alive.

•Origin: Dr. William Magnus has dedicated his life to the creation of artificial intelligence and revolutionary construction materials. And on one wild, unmedicated night, he succeeded in every way, bringing five new personalities to life—the Metal Men.

Now if only he could do it again.

Unwilling to dissect his new family to discover their secrets, Magnus has toiled away to reproduce the powers of his Metal Men for civilian use and the betterment of mankind. With a fresh injection of grant money, he moves to New York City...

edited 1st Dec '13 11:32:58 AM by Uncandescent

Hmm. I like what you've done with the metal men. Very unique, very interesting, and very accepted.

Wait, where's the sixth member? I only count five and the profile mentions six.

Funny story, I was originally going to go with six before I decided otherwise, and that little mention slipped by me.

But rest assured, just because there's only five right now doesn't mean there aren't plans in the works.

I gather Platinum was excluded for being mostly The Chick.

More or less, yeah. I have something interesting in mind for Copper though.

Would it be fine to sign up to this? I'm thinking of Jacob Russoff, werewolf by night.

To be fair, it does appear that Iron and Gold got a gender change to make up for Platinum's absence.

Game Guru: Yeah. It made the characters seem a bit more interesting somehow, and more gender inclusiveness can't be a bad thing. Still, might want to be careful with it, or else the metal men might end up a misnomer.

Tenebrous: By all means! The more the merrier in these games. Put your sign up right in.

edited 1st Dec '13 3:40:07 PM by LizardOfAus

• Name: Werewolf
• Real Name: Jacob Russoff (previously Jack Russel)
• Gender: Male
• Age: Late twenties
• Appearance: As a human◊. As the wolf.◊
• Alignment: Anti-Hero
• Personality: Jacob is fundamentally a nice person who cares for all innocents of the world, especially those who are cursed or monstrous and who others might spurn and be prejudiced against. However, he also has a very notable dark side which has built up as a result of past experiences and will use heavy violence whenever necessary. He has a dark and jaded view of the world and sometimes doubts his own ability but overall considers it his duty to protect the innocent and punish the guilty. When it is unleashed, the beast is a wild and feral creature and tends to go to utter extremes with its violence but it has been touched by Jacob's experience and is no simple beast. It doesn't have the complex world view or contemplative thoughts of the man but the beast itself is a force for good, a primal defender of the innocent and hunter of predators.
• Powers and Abilities: Jacob Russoff is the result of a long curse, reactivated by the Darkhold, a book of dark magical power. He can transform at will between his natural human form and his werewolf form, a lupine humnoid. Due to having mastered his curse over a long time period, he normally can transform whenever he wants and maintains his human mind while in his beast form. On the night of a full moon and the night either side, or in the rare occasion that he becomes incredibly angry and loses control, he can't avoid transforming and the beast's mind takes over. In human form he seems to have enhanced night vision and smell but this is not extreme. As the werewolf he possesses various abilities:
  • Superhuman strength: The werewolf has considerably heightened strength, being able to lift heavy objects and deal significant damage with his bare hands but he is not as strong as those who are normally noted for their strength. This also allows for him to jump great heights.
  • Superhuman stamina: The werewolf can easily act at peak capacity for several hours and takes less time to recover from fatigue.
  • Superhuman agility and reflexes: The agility and reflexes of the werewolf are also notably stronger, being essentially double the levels of a human athlete.
  • Superhuman speed:While his speed is not incredibly significant, the werewolf is far faster than any normal human.
  • Superhuman durability: The werewolf is capable of withstanding significant damage, including low caliber bullets, although he is far from invincible and still feels pain.
    • Healing factor: The werewolf has healing capacity much greater than a human's, healing moderate injuries within a week and even major injuries eventually. This is partially passed on to Jacob's human form as injuries suffered as a man will be healed somewhat if he stays as the wolf for long enough and injuries from one form do not transfer to the other.
  • Acute senses: Alike a wolf, the werewolf has acute sight, smell and hearing. He can remember, detect and track scents and can also detect heat signatures.
  • Claws and teeth: His claws and teeth are much sharper than those of most wolves, being able to cause damage to flesh, fabric, wood, bricks and even some metals.
  • Weakness: Jacob, as man or wolf, is more vulnerable to silver. Simply touching it won't hurt him but an injury caused by a silver weapon will take longer to heal at best and will kill him very quickly at worst.
• Weapons and Equipment: His only notable possession is his motorbike, black and functional but fairly basic.
• Origin: A long time ago Gregori Russoff was bitten by a werewolf and although the curse was passed down to his descendants, as his children were already born when he was bitten it was dormant. A long time later Gregory Russoff, a Transylvanian baron, attempted to use the power of the Darkhold, a book of powerful but evil magic. This reactivated the curse in Gregory and his two children, Jacob and Lissa. While the children did not start transforming until they were older, Gregory became a werewolf and sent his family away to keep them safe before he was eventually killed by an angry mob. Jacob and his sister were raised by his mother and step-father, the family taking the step-father's name of Russel in Los Angeles. While his childhood had unpleasant events within it and he was always aware that his step-father was not his actual father, his childhood was overall fairly happy. Eventually the children grew up and when they became eighteen, started turning into werewolves three nights a month around a full moon. The beast was savage but as Jacob fought to control it, he eventually brought the curse under his control. While Lissa had her curse removed by a sorcerer, Jacob gained the ability to control his wolf form and transform at will, changing back to his previous name when he finally accepted the beast within him, experiencing dark parts of the world as he tried to become a hero but ultimately emerging as a champion of the supernatural and defender of the innocent.

edited 2nd Dec '13 2:47:48 PM by TenebrousGaze

Aaaoooooooccepted. You can jump in the game once the timing feels appropriate, which could be any time from now until the start of the next game day. In the meantime, why not mill about in the discussion thread, with the other players? Oh, and here's the main game thread, for future reference.

Has anybody claimed Ghost Rider yet?.

Yes, but they disappeared.

Feel free to go for the Spirit of Vengeance, if you'd like.

I'd like to RP as Ghost Rider please.

You've already been given permission. Just describe your version of the character here. Include (IF you wish, its not obligatory, just fun) some ideas from the DC universe. Such as: Who is the real Spirit of Vengeance, Ghost Rider, The Spectre, or both, and why? We can help you if you want.

Just copy 'n' paste the form on the first post of this thread, fill it out with the details of your Ghost Rider, and it'll all be hunky-dory.

The be honest, the whole "Spirit of Vengance" thing was a retcon, an in-universe one rather than a Cosmic Retcon, but still: originally it was just Johnny Blaze cursed with a demon after Satan (later retconned into Mephisto in disguise after Marvel decided they couldn't have a Satan for PC reasons) failed to get his soul; Johnny just used its powers to battle evil. Later on they said however that there had been many Ghost Riders through history, and that the "demon" was actually an Archangel, I think? (didn't see that one myself, only heard of it.)

As for The Spectre, originally it was just a murdered police detective who decried out the injustice of his death in the afterlife and a Voice granted him the power to return to life and avenge himself as a ghostly figure. Except he apparently decided he liked the living world better and just stuck around- for decades. Gradually his powers grew to ridiculous levels -that was just Silver Age craziness, but for some reason people decided to retain that even in later times, making The Spectre way too powerful for use in most stories. It was also decided the "The Voice" was The Presence (aka God) and that Spectre was the literal embodiment of The Wrath of God- not quite the same thing as The Spirit of Vengeance, but close. (Also, one version of the origin says the Spectre-force is actually a Fallen Angel being given that job by God to redeem itself.)

Those are the facts AFAIK. Make of them what you will.

edited 3rd Jan '14 6:03:43 AM by Sijo

Spirit of Vengeance represents divine punishment against those who wrong their fellow mortals. The Wrath of God represents bringing upon destruction to any who sin against God unless God says to spare them. Thus, the Spectre has to bond with a mortal host because the Fallen Angel, in his fervor to regain God's appeasement, considers all of humanity to be sinful and believes humanity's extinction would absolve him in God's eyes. The mortal host is their to provide much needed restraint to the Spectre.

edited 3rd Jan '14 8:08:59 AM by UdtheImp

That's... actually a good idea, Ud.

Personally, I don't like the Wrath of God take on Spectre; not because I'm averse to using Christian concepts in fiction, but more because it seems like overkill. Not to mention that trusting such power on a character who often wastes it horribly killing murderers (who you know are heading to Eternal Torment anyway) seems pointless.

The way I understand the Spectre is that he's a character geared for a different story. Most superheroes have adventures of good guys beating bad guys and saving the day. The Spectre, on the other hand, is a part of stories that are more like Tales of the Crypt: bad guy is involved in strange or supernatural event, ending with him getting an ironic death or punishment, the more spectacular the better.

Feel free to correct me, though, since in all likelihood you've seen more of him than me.

Basically, here's how I see the Spectre being used: IF he were to have his own title, he needs to be dealing with threats that are BEYOND most heroes. Like, when he stopped the Anti-Monitor from destroying Earth. That should be a normal thing for him. When he's called upon in the Main Universe, it should be when everything is completely and utterly FUCKED.