"Dark" JLA

[Witchslasher]

In an upcoming story line in my game I'm planning to steal a bit from Marvel's Dark Avengers and do a Dark Justice League.. Who are some good choices to replace the League? People that can copy their power, possibly their look. I'm mostly thinking of the big 7.. Here's some of the initials I'm thinking of using:

Superman - General Zod
Batman - Lots of choices, but Deathstroke is my top pick right now
Aquaman - ?? Ocean Master maybe
Wonder Woman - Ursa seems the obvious choice if using Zod. Maxima, Black Mary, and Knockout are other ideas
The Flash - Zoom (duh)
Martian Manhunter - Random White Martian?? not sure apart from that
Green Lantern - Sinestro is an obvious choice, though I think Dr. Light would be good too

Zod seems like he might be hard to work in since he's so arrogant he might not want to be an "impersonator", but if my big reveal is "Kneel before Superman!" I think that could have a fun effect on my players Obviously PL is an issue.. The current group is 5 PL 12 characters, so obviously just with what I have above we're looking at some characters that'd be pretty tough to beat on their own, much less as a team.

Anyway, what are your thoughts? Or possibly even other JLAers that I could swap out.. Like dumping Martian Manhunter for Cyborg and finding him a replacement or similar things.. I'm trying to avoid doing cheap stuff like just having Circe on the team and have her just put an illusion on everyone..

EDIT: I guess I should mention, I'm not looking for something like an alternate world Justice League.. nothing like the Crime Syndicate or other similar concepts.. I'd like to take villains from the normal DCU and make them into impersonators of their enemies

[kingk]

Someone posted a thread about an idea like this somewhere else, though they were shooting for a more Thunderbolts-esque idea, with the villains taking on new heroic identities that were similar to JL characters. I wanna say in the General, DC Adventures, or Settings threads. There were some interesting ideas, like Merlyn as a "Blue Arrow."

My thoughts for this one:
For Batman - Prometheus. He's already an evil Batman, and does the "prep time" trick well.
For Aquaman - Ocean Master makes sense, yeah.
For Wonder Woman - You could also use an evil Amazon. My Wonder Woman knowledge isn't particularly thorough, but I think there have been a few who might work.
For Martian Manhunter - Clayface could be an interesting idea.

If you did do Cyborg - The Cyborg Superman, if he could disguise his face.

[tylrlsaa]

For Martian Manhunter, I'd use a White Martian. Yes, they're dead. That's never stopped a good villian before.

For Cyborg, using a heavily re-built Brainiac chassis sets the right tone.

[saint_matthew]

For Martian Manhunter, I'd use a White Martian. Yes, they're dead. That's never stopped a good villian before.

Since when?

There is still Ms Martian, with her evil personality. Just invert it: Have the evil version be winning & the good version being the voice in her head.

[BS Digital Q]

Hmmm, if we're going somewhere similar to the Dark Avengers...

Superman = Lex Luthor with powers granted by the Everyman Project, like we saw in 52.
Batman = Prometheus.
Wonder Woman = Devastation
The Flash = Zoom/Professor Zoom
Green Lantern = Sinestro? Doctor Light? Alexander Nero? Cyborg Superman?
Martian Manhunter = Malefic
Aquaman = Ocean Master

I think thats a decent start for you.

[Captain Vegas]

Cyborg - Metallo
Wonder Woman - Maxima
Green Lantern - Sinestro is obviously #1, but what about Atrocitus or even Larfleeze. The latter could be very fun to play with if done right.


Black Canary - Silver Banshee
Green Arrow - Merlyn

[kingk]

I've been thinking that if you really want to do it like the Dark Avengers, then you actually don't want the Big Three on the "Dark JLA." The Dark Avengers didn't have imitations of Cap, Thor, or Iron Man, but instead new but similar identities (Iron Patriot, American Son). So maybe instead of "Dark Superman," "Dark Wonder Woman," and "Darker Batman," you could invent some new identities? Might be fun.

[tylrlsaa]

For Martian Manhunter, I'd use a White Martian. Yes, they're dead. That's never stopped a good villian before.

Since when?

There is still Ms Martian, with her evil personality. Just invert it: Have the evil version be winning & the good version being the voice in her head.

In the Martian Manhunter mini, the captured martians got killed off, and during Brightest Day Martian Manhunter said there were no more martians. I'd assumed that he generally knew what he was talking about. I'm guessing he missed Miss Martian.

[Pól Rua]

I dunno. A lot of these are top-heavy with Mastermind-types. Whoever's behind it (I nominate Luthor) wouldn't (shouldn't) employ someone who would clash with them for dominance. Most of the Dark Avengers were second-and-third stringers. Osborne didn't hire Doctor Doom, for instance, or the Red Skull.
In addition, many of the Dark Avengers were obviously NOT the originals, so it's kind of neat to have obvious differences. Plus, they didn't tend to go automatically for the 'evil twin' option...

So my suggestions would be.
Superman - A captured/repurposed Superman robot, or Bizarro with a treatment which allows him to appear 'normal' for short durations. Or, if Luthor has Superman captured, The Parasite.
Batman - My pick would be Deadshot (remember those differences from earlier? He'd be a gun-toting Batman), but Deathstroke's a mercenary, so that works, too.
Wonder Woman - I'm liking Knockout or Maxima, but I'm sure there's someone else just as suitable.
Aquaman - I'd be tempted to use (old Green Lantern Villain) The Shark here.
Flash - I'd nominate Mirror Master, using teleportation and trickery to simulate superspeed.
Martian Manhunter - I like the idea of Clayface in this role.
Green Lantern - Is Doctor Spectro still around? Otherwise, I'd second Dr.Light.

And to add some more...
Black Canary - Silver Banshee
Green Arrow - Merlyn the Archer

[bullgod]

I did a similar thing and had the following:

Batman: David Cain
Flash: Zoom
Superman: Cyborg Superman
Wonder Woman: Mercy (Luthor's Amazonian underling)
Martian Manhunter: White Martian
Green Lantern: Amazo ( depending on the scene he also posed as Aquaman, Atom and Hawk Woman)
Hawkman: Fel Andar
Green Arrow: Merlyn
Captain Marvel: Black Adam

Also you could use the Hologram/ Holographic idea used in Morrison's run in JLA

[Harry Ham Bone]

Really? No one's thinking Prometheus for Dark Batman?

Also:
Orion - Steppenwolf
Dr. Fate - Wotan
Plastic Man - Clayface

[tylrlsaa]

Really? No one's thinking Prometheus for Dark Batman?

I guess nobody mentioned him because Green Arrow put an arrow through his head. He's perma-dead until a writer wants him back. I do think he's an excellent candidate. I don't think you could logically get his cooperation even if he were alive, but he fits the profile.

Deathstroke the Terminator has a more manageable motivation. Dolla' bills, ya'll.