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Ooh, my first topic. How exciting!
To start off with, here’s Spitfire, the protagonist of my upcoming project which I’ve given the working title of “More Than Human”.
Born on a small farm in Ipswich, Sergeant Matthew Browning was wholly unaware of his heritage until he was involved in an IED attack whilst serving with the Parachute Regiment in Afghanistan. Emerging unscathed from the blast as the sole survivor out of his section (squad), he was given a discharge on medical grounds after being diagnosed with PTSD, although the medics couldn’t seem to figure out how he’d emerged from the blast without so much as a scratch.
Shortly after arriving back in the UK, Matthew was contacted by Miriam Bright, the newly-appointed Chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), who revealed that his grandfather, Peter Browning, had fought in World War Two under the guise of Spitfire, Britain’s national superhero.
Unbeknownst to the general public, superhumans have existed since before the beginning of the First World War and were regularly utilised by governments for covert and overt military operations until the majority of them were killed, retired or disappeared in the after the Second World War. The manifestation of Matthew’s powers, Bright continued, combined with data on other reports of superhuman activity gathered by British and US intelligence agencies, indicated that after nearly three decades of inactivity superhumans were making a return, and Matthew’s heritage, combined with his military experience, made him an ideal candidate to lead the newest generation of British superheroes.
Donning an updated version of his grandfather’s costume, Matthew (or Spitfire as he has come to call himself) has now become the commander of the European Union’s newly-formed superhuman task force, created in order to counter super-powered crime and terrorism not just in Britain, but across the globe. A skilled strategist and tactician with natural command and leadership skills, his military training – including instruction in firearms, hand-to-hand combat, demolitions, signals and communications, HALO/HAHO, and basic medical training – compliments the powers he inherited from his grandfather. He is immensely strong, capable of bench-pressing up to 10 tons, capable of flight, and also possess enhanced speed, agility, reflexes, durability, and stamina. However, MI6 psychologists have noted that he exhibits symptoms of post-traumatic stress – whether or not this will affect his performance remains yet to be seen.
It’s one of a couple of designs I’ve been kicking about. Originally I was going to give him camouflage BDU’s and a domed helmet like the cockpit of an aircraft so he more closely resembled his namesake, but I seem to be forever chopping and changing my mind about his costume.
Anyway, here’s another couple of heroes for you. First off, an Aussie who goes by the codename of Kangaroo.
Derek Connelly used to be a fitness instructor before he discovered his powers – along with superhuman strength, speed, agility, reflexes and stamina, he also possess a degree of enhanced durability and the ability to channel his strength through his lower body, which gives him extraordinarily powerful running, leaping and kicking abilities.
He can keep pace with a speeding car by “hopping” at incredible speeds, barely touching the ground before pushing off and literally bouncing along (think of a stone being skimmed along water) or demolish it with a few well-placed kicks or punches. An experienced martial artist, he’s a proficient boxer and kick-boxer, a skilled BASE jumper and an Olympic-level gymnast and athelete. The “tail” of his costume acts as a rudder of sorts to help him keep his balance, and he wears boxing gloves to cushion his hands and prevent serious injury to non-powered opponents – the superhuman force generated by his legs is generally reserved for tougher targets.
And here’s London Fog – another British superhero, but not UN-sanctioned unlike Spitfire and Kangaroo.
Simon Holmes suffers from Asperger Syndrome – although “suffers” is perhaps not the best word. His genius-level intellect, increased mental processing capability, photographic memory, and heightened sensory awareness mean he’s a force to be reckoned with, but his activities are mainly street-level and don’t qualify him as a threat that requires the attention of the superhuman operatives under the British government. A self-styled detective with extensive knowledge of forensic sciences and criminology, he is also a formidable hand-to-hand combatant and martial artist, capable of improvising and able to take on numerous foes at once.
Currently, he’s partnered with Welsh superhero The Red Dragon as a crime-fighting duo, but as his partner has quickly learned although he is classified as “high-functioning” on the autism spectrum he can be obfuscatingly logical or literal-minded, and a lack of social empathy means he may have difficulty in understanding someone’s emotions.
Thanks a lot for the feedback guys!
@Torog – Go right ahead! I’m definitely going to try tweaking Spitfire’s design a little bit myself, but I’d be interested to see what you came up with – that goes for everything else, by the way. If anyone fancies taking a stab at one of my characters, then feel free.@WMDBASSPLAYER – I was hoping the gloves would disguise the holsters and just make them look like drop leg pouches, but I guess they’re a bit moot considering he doesn’t have that much in the way of equipment to carry. And yes, Rorschach was one of the primary influences for London Fog but now that you mention it he does look pretty Sandman-esque doesn’t he?
Anyway, I think that’s enough heroes to be going on with. Let’s get some villians up in here.
First off – Señor Muerte, a super-powered drug lord who became one of the most powerful men in South America through the illicit fortune he inherited from his father, who was assassinated by US special forces. With the collapse of the Colombian cartels in the 1990s, he shifted his base of operations to Mexico, killing off the competition whose loyalty he couldn’t buy – intel gathered by the PolicÃa Federal Ministerial suggests he’s personally overseen more than 80% of the major drug trafficking operations into the United States since the 1990s, and he’s allegedly been involved with Brazilian and Nicaraguan arms dealers in the past.
A formidable hand-to-hand combatant and skilled marksman who is rumoured to have been financed by the CIA, he possess powerful psychic and psionic abilities including extrasensory perception, telepathy, telekinesis, and mind control, which many conspiracy theorists believe is related to the Agency’s interest in the effects of drugs on the human mind, as with operations such as MKULTRA.
When Señor Muerte wants someone dead, they end up dead. If he can’t be bothered to do it himself, he sends El Verdugo.
Like his employer, the one referred to in hushed whispers as “El Gordo” (though never to his face) is shrouded in mystery but he is known to be personally responsible for at least 300 deaths and is more than likely guilty of the hundreds of others he is suspected of.
Standing at over six feet tall and weighing in excess of 350 pounds, El Verdugo a reasonably skilled hand-to-hand fighter, an experienced sumo wrestler, and has extensive knowledge of torture and murder techniques; he also possess superhuman strength and durability. Disdaining the use of guns in spite of his weight and their availability, he prefers to dispatch his opponents with blunt objects like machetes, meat cleavers, and occasionally lengths of rope and/or chain. His most common weapon of choice is an enormous battle axe that five lesser men would struggle to lift together; his preferred method of execution is reportedly decapitation, and other unconfirmed reports state that he has been known to eat his victims.
Ok Jackal here’s Spitfire circa 1942. I wanted to give him a cape but just didn’t quite fit in with the look. So the color is based around the (assumed) fighter of the same namesake. As far as powers go that’s all you. Enjoy.
That is absolutely fantastic, Torog! Not at all how I envisioned WWII-era Spitfire, but definitely better than anything I could ever hope to produce!
Anyway, since we’re on the subject of WWII-era heroes, here’s another design – one I’m actually rather proud of.
Pierre Cortez ran away from home as a young boy in order to escape from his abusive father, an alcoholic who would regularly take out his frustrations on his young son. He eventually came across a traveling circus, and as the ringmaster took a liking to him he was allowed to stay, initially finding work cleaning the animal cages before progressing to circus acts himself.
After the outbreak of the Second World War, the circus was used as a front for the French Resistance, and Pierre, drawing inspiration from characters like the Scarlet Pimpernel and Zorro as well as tales from the Free French SAS of the daring commando raids carried out by the costumed heroes of Britain and France, donned a costume in the colours of his country’s flag, styling himself as a symbol of French vengeance and striking fear into the hearts of occupying Nazi forces as Le Liberateur.
An Olympic-level gymnast, athlete and acrobat in the absolute peak of human condition, his skill was such that he was believed by many other costumed adventurers of the time to be a superhuman despite having no powers to speak of. He was a proficient marksman, skilled not only with firearms but also in the fields of archery and knife-throwing, and as well as being a formidable hand-to-hand combatant he was also a highly capable strategist and tactician, skilled in both interrogation and intimidation; as rumors of his exploits spread further even Axis superhumans were wary of him, and Adolf Hitler reportedly considered him a more credible threat than Spitfire.
After the war he saw no point in retaining his alter-ego, returning to his old job as a circus performer until his quiet retirement to the coast of Normandy. However, his legacy lives on in the 21st century as his granddaughter, Lucille, has not only taken up the mantle of Le Liberateur but has discovered that unlike Pierre, she possess superpowers.
Good Lord, I’m cringing at how pathetic Copper Star looked compared to some of the other entries in that contest. I think I need to have a do-over of my initial design.
Anyway, I’ve done a bit of tweaking to some designs that have been kicking around in my concepts folder. Here’s my first Greek character, Brazen Bull – if you’re familiar with the term that should clue you in to the fact that he is not a very nice person.
Brazen Bull is named for the torture device of the same name, a metal statue of a bull in which condemned individuals were shut in the bull and a fire was set under it, heating the metal until it became “yellow hot†and causing the person inside to roast to death. His namesake reflects not just his powers – superhuman strength, durability and stamina, and the ability to generate blistering heat capable of melting titanium through his skin – but the brutality of the crimes he perpetrated even before the discovery of them.
A convicted serial killer, he preyed mostly on prostitutes in and around Athens, but it wasn’t until the onset of his powers that word of his exploits grew – and by that time he’d managed to increase his body count substantially. He is guilty of the murders of at least 30 women and young girls, the youngest victim being just seventeen years old, and he was only brought to justice after a joint effort by Greek, British, and other European superheroes culminated in a battle with him which destroyed much of Monastiraki metro station and left at least ten people badly injured.
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