Jab's He-Builds: Bow, She-Ra, Swift Wind, Tri-Klops, Mer-Man

[Jabroniville]

ERG (Andreas Konig)
Created By: Louise Simonson & June Brigman
First Appearance: Power Pack #12 (June 1985)
Role: Background Character, Blaster
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks
PL 5 (70)
STRENGTH 1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+5)
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 7 (+8)
Expertise (History) 3 (+4)
Expertise (Streetwise) 4 (+5)
Insight 2 (+3)
Intimidation 3 (+4)
Investigation 3 (+4)
Perception 4 (+5)
Stealth 4 (+6)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Electrical Blast Through Eye"
Blast 6 [12]

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Blast +4 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +2, Fortitude +4, Will +3

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Power Loss (Energy)- Erg's Electrical Blast requires nearby energy to be drained and converted. Kinetic energy from punches and the like will suffice, however.
Power Loss (Eye)- Only one eye releases Erg's power, and if he cannot open it, he cannot use his power.

Total: Abilities: 32 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 12 / Defenses: 7 (70)

-Erg's a low-rent Blaster who's surprisingly still alive, given how many of these guys have been killed over the years. He's got a bit of a family history of Biker Gangs, and seems obsessed with that aspect, and he coined the "198" badge of honor among mutants (based off of the outlaw bikers' "1%" badge), but he's really minor, with a simple Blast.



APE (Name unknown)
Created By: Louise Simonson & June Brigman
First Appearance: Power Pack #12 (June 1985)
Role: Background Character
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks
PL 5 (70)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+6)
Deception 2 (+2)
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 4 (+4)
Insight 2 (+2)
Perception 2 (+2)
Stealth 2 (+4)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Shapeshifting"
Shapeshift 1 (Flaws: Limited to Alterations to Physical Form) [7]
(typical powers: Power-Lifting, Protection 2)

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +3 (+5 Shapeshift), Fortitude +5, Will +3

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)

Total: Abilities: 24 / Skills: 16--8 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 7 / Defenses: 8 (70)

-Ape is a really silly Power Pack-introduced character, being Erg & Tar Baby's buddy, a guy who looked like a fat, malformed hobo who could shift himself into various forms, usually goofy stuff like a bed or a coatrack or something. Nothing really useful in a fight, but in the "X-Men" cartoon, he could do stuff like morph a hole into his body to avoid a Blast or something, so there's that. Like Erg, he's a PL 5 nobody, but he's actually dead now- killed as a throwaway victim in a Weapon-X storyline featuring a "Neverland" concentration camp.



TAR BABY (Name unknown)
Created By: Louise Simonson & June Brigman
First Appearance: Power Pack #12 (June 1985)
Role: Background Character
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks
PL 5 (57)
STRENGTH 1 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+5)
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 5 (+5)
Insight 2 (+2)
Perception 5 (+5)
Stealth 2 (+4)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Exudes Tar-Like Substance From Skin"
Affliction 6 (Strength; Hindered & Vulnerable/Defenseless & Immobile) (Extras: Extra Condition, Cumulative, Contagious) (Flaws: Limited Degree) [18]
"Sticks to Skin When Punched" Protection 2 (Flaws: Limited to Physical Attacks) [1]
Movement 1 (Wall-Crawling) [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Tar-Skin +4 (+6 Affliction, DC 16)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +1 (+3 Tar-Skin), Fortitude +3, Will +3

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)- You can tell Tar Baby's powers quite easily by the amount of paper and assorted garbage permanently stuck to him. He also leaves tar-like substance on most of the things that he touches.

Total: Abilities: 16 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 21 / Defenses: 9 (57)

-Yes, they really named a character this. Okay, so it isn't ALWAYS used as a racial slur, but come on. Tar Baby here sticks to stuff, which is kind of a weird power, but fun to stat up. I figure it allows him a close-range Snare-Affliction that's Contagious (since the tar sticks to others for a while), Wall-Crawling as a Movement effect, and a bit of Protection (it saved him from being killed by Blockbuster's punches- it's kind of like a permanent Defensive Roll against physical attacks only). He died with Ape in the Neverland Camp as well.



TOMMY
Created By: Chris Claremont & John Romita, Jr.
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #210 (Oct. 1986)
Role: One-Shot Character
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks
PL 1 (28), PL 2 (28) with Skills
STRENGTH -1 STAMINA 0 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 2 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+3)
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 3 (+3)
Stealth 3 (+5)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: 2-D Form"
Alternate Form (Activation- Standard Action -2) [-2]
Movement 1 (Slithering) [2]
"Flat" Insubstantial 1 (Flaws: Limited to Wide Enough Spaces) [4]
"Hard to See" Invisibility (All Visuals) (Flaws: Limited to Side View) [4]

Offense:
Unarmed +2 (-1 Damage, DC 14)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (DC 14), Parry +2 (DC 12), Toughness +0, Fortitude +2, Will +1

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)- Tommy's bright lines across her whole body register her as an obvious mutant in the eyes of passer-by.

Total: Abilities: 10 / Skills: 10--5 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 8 / Defenses: 5 (28)

-Tommy showed up exactly once, starting off the Mutant Massacre by running off with her Hellfire Club boyfriend, then running away as he was being murdered, only to be nailed by Harpoon, then shot at point-blank range by Scalphunter, the first Morlock fatality. She had a 2-D Form, like Flatman, but couldn't do anything combat-worthy with it, and was basically a civilian.



CYBELLE
Created By: Chris Claremont & John Romita, Jr.
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #211 (Nov. 1986)
Role: One-Shot Character
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks
PL 5 (75)
STRENGTH 1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+5)
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 5 (+5)
Perception 5 (+5)
Stealth 2 (+4)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Acid-Secreting Skin"
"Acid Skin" Acid Aura 5 (Extras: Secondary Effect) Linked to Weaken Toughness 5 (Extras: Secondary Effect) [35]
Movement 2 (Permeate 2) [4]

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Acid Touch +4 (+5 Damage & Weaken, DC 20 & 15)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (DC 14), Parry +4 (DC 14), Toughness +2, Fortitude +4, Will +2

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)

Total: Abilities: 20 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 39 / Defenses: 6 (75)

-Cybelle is one of the first victims of The Marauders, attempting to flee when a group of them attack a bunch of seated Morlocks. While her allies are cut down in droves by Riptide and Scalphunter, Cybelle corrodes the stone wall behind her and rushes to get Callisto's help. As she runs, she's nailed from behind by Harpoon's Energy-Spear, which eats her alive from the inside-out. She's got a handy little power, but ultimately ineffective against a group with so many Blasters, and her tiny amount of Defenses did her in. The whole "Acid Skin" thing is a SERIOUS advantage for a better type of character, though, but it's cost at high levels would be incredibly prohibitive.

[Jabroniville]

W00t! Are you going to include the new and improved resurrected Doug Ramsey after the Necrosha series?

Yup. His powers might prove the most fun to build of the whole crew!

[Jabroniville]

"*censored*censored*censored*censored* BER-ZER-KER!"

BERZERKER (Ray Carter)
Created By: Louise & Walter Simonson
First Appearance: X-Factor #11 (Dec. 1986)
Role: One-Shot Character
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks, The Tunnellers
PL 8 (78)
STRENGTH 3 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+7)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+6)
Deception 4 (+5)
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 6 (+6)
Intimidation 5 (+6)
Perception 2 (+3)
Ranged Combat (Blasts) 4 (+6)
Stealth 2 (+5)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Electrical Control"
Blast 10 [20]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Electrical Blast +6 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +3, Fortitude +6, Will +3

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Weakness (Water)- If Berzerker is doused in water while using his electrical powers, he will take the full force of the Blast, which is easily capable of killing him (ie. it actually did).

Total: Abilities: 36 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 20 / Defenses: 8 (78)

-Of all the characters to get brought into another medium... BERZERKER (totally getting that "Clerks" song stuck in my head now...)? This mohawked punker guy was the leader of The Tunnellers, a one-shot group of Morlocks who fled the Massacre by moving onto the city streets, where they ran afoul of a common street gang AND the city police, resulting in a battle with X-Factor (then disguised as The X-Terminators). As his team fell dead around him, Berzerker freaked and lashed out with full power against Cyclops, who knocked him into the water, where his electrical powers killed him.

-VERY short-lived guy, obviously, but that's not the funny part. The funny part is when the "X-Men Evolution" cartoon series came out, featuring the X-kids as young students with Storm & Wolverine teaching them, they added THIS GUY onto the "New Mutants" secondary team of mostly background characters. I didn't even RECOGNIZE him at the time, and figured him for a newly made-up guy like Scrappy-Doo... I mean Spyke. But nope, they took a one-shot character and made him a New Mutant, and even used him to link the team to the Morlocks. For stats, he's a pretty buff guy with a high-powered Blast, but still has the accuracy of a jobber, making him a power-heavy PL 8 who's extremely vulnerable to most attacks, and with a very weaksauce weakness.



BLOWHARD (Name unknown)
Created By: Louise & Walter Simonson
First Appearance: X-Factor #11 (Dec. 1986)
Role: One-Shot Character
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks, The Tunnellers
PL 8 (48)
STRENGTH 4 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 1
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE -1

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+6)
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 4 (+4)
Perception 2 (+2)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Wind Creation"
"Wind Storm" Affliction 8 (Strength; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Ranged, Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Limited Condition, Requires Pipe) (16) -- [17]

AE: "Smash Into Things" Air Blast 6 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Requires Pipe) (12)

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Wind Storm +9 Area (+9 Affliction, DC 19)
Air Blast +6 Area (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +1 (DC 11), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +3, Fortitude +4, Will +2

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)

Total: Abilities: 22 / Skills: 8--4 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 17 / Defenses: 5 (48)

-An older-looking guy dressed like Friar Tuck, with a silly cork pipe, Blowhard created large wind-storms as Area Effects, making him a reasonably good team player, but he was still vulnerable. He may be one of the few named characters in comic book history to be killed by COMMON GANG MEMBERS. Seriously, the Tunnellers met up with a street gang, they got into a brawl, and Blowhard ended up gunned down and killed. Talk about blowing your Toughness save... His powers manifest as an Affliction that Trips in a huge 60-foot Burst, as well as an optional Area Blast that can hurt guys. This makes him a PL 9, but Wind-guys are often much higher in PL than they are in practise, as they're good a tripping guys or knocking things over, but are relatively easy to hurt. Note how much Blowhard here makes use of the disparity between Dodge & Parry, representing how easy he was to hit and kill. He WAS strong enough to knock The Beast on his ass, but that didn't really hurt him or anything, so he's just a pretty strong fat guy.



SCALEFACE (Name unknown)
Created By: Louise & Walter Simonson
First Appearance: X-Factor #11 (Dec. 1986)
Role: One-Shot Character
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks, The Tunnellers
PL 5 (37)
STRENGTH 0/8 STAMINA 0/4 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 2 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+2/+10)
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 4 (+4)
Insight 4 (+5)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Giant Lizard Form"
Alternate Form (Activation: Standard -2) [-2]
Growth 6 (Str & Sta +6, +6 Mass, +3 Intimidation, -3 Dodge/Parry, +3 Speed) -- (18 feet) [12]
Enhanced Strength 2 [4]
Enhanced Skills 4: Intimidation 8 [4]
Reduced Stamina 2 [-4]
"Animal Senses" Senses 2 (Low-Light Vision, Scent) [2]
"Tail" Extra Limb 1 [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +2 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Lizard Unarmed +2 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +3/+0 (DC 13/10), Parry +2 (DC 12), Toughness +0 (+4 Lizard Form), Fortitude +1/+5, Will +3

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)

Total: Abilities: 6 / Skills: 10--5 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 17 / Defenses: 9 (37)

-Scaleface has, on first appearances, a really awesome and useful mutant power- the ability to turn into a gigantic Super-Lizard! You could easily write a team book featuring such a powerhouse, right? It has a great visual, it's believably powerful, and it's extremely unique. So of course this was a throwaway character that did nothing except act as the voice of reason, then get shot to death by the cops. Yeah, a 20-foot lizard got shot to death by a handful of bullets from a police officer's gun when he panicked (he felt bad about it later). Looks like SOMEBODY didn't gain the full Stamina from their size increase- something I put into her build, removing some points from the Growth power.



ANNALEE (Name unknown)
Created By: Louise Simonson & June Brigman
First Appearance: Power Pack #12 (June 1985)
Role: Evil Mother Type
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks
PL 7 (17)
STRENGTH -1 STAMINA -1 AGILITY -1
FIGHTING 0 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE -1

Skills:
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 6 (+6)
Insight 4 (+4)
Perception 2 (+2)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Empathic Field"
"Feel My Pain" Affliction 7 (Will; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst, Selective) (Flaws: Limited to When She Feels Pain/Despair) (14) -- [15]

AE: Affliction 7 (Will; Entranced/Compelled/Controlled) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst, Selective) (Flaws: Limited to Emotions, Limited to Her Own Emotions) (7)

Offense:
Unarmed +0 (-1 Damage, DC 14)
Emotion Field +7 Area (+7 Affliction, DC 17)
Initiative -1

Defenses:
Dodge +0 (DC 10), Parry +0 (DC 10), Toughness -1, Fortitude -1, Will +4

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Relationship (Children)- Annalee loved her children, and would go to any lengths to protect (or replace) them, to the point of throwing herself upon enemy guns, or kidnap other children to replace the ones she'd lost.

Total: Abilities: -8 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 15 / Defenses: 4 (17)

-Annalee was a sad old story, as she was initally depicted as an Evil Mother type who wanted to kidnap the Power Pack children and have them brainwashed to be her own young. It turns out, however, that her real children were murdered (by Scalphunter, it was later revealed), and she was merely trying to replace them. Power Pack felt bad for her, and offered her the care of young Leech instead. THIS turned out negatively as well, as Leech was left alone again following Annalee's brutal murder at the hands of Scalphunter (who bragged about murdering her other children). Just doesn't pay to be a background mutant character.



BEAUTIFUL DREAMER (Ilona Bean)
Created By: Louise Simonson & June Brigman
First Appearance: Power Pack #12 (June 1985)
Role: Brainwasher
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks
PL 10 (69)
STRENGTH -1 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 2 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+3)
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 4 (+4)
Insight 2 (+3)
Perception 2 (+3)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Memory Alteration"
"Dream Smoke" Affliction 10 (Will; Dazed/Stunned/Memory Transformed) (Extras: Area- 15ft. Cloud, Cumulative, Continuous +3) (Flaws: Limited to Sleeping Targets) [50]

Offense:
Unarmed +2 (-1 Damage, DC 14)
Dream Smoke +10 Area (+10 Affliction, DC 20)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +1 (DC 11), Parry +2 (DC 12), Toughness 1, Fortitude +3, Will +2

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Motivation (Companionship)- Beautiful Dreamer most often brainwashes people into joining her community because she desires their friendship.

Total: Abilities: 10 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 50 / Defenses: 3 (69)

-Beautiful Dreamer has an extremely powerful ability, though her targets have to be asleep for it to work, heavily limiting it's use, especially on the battlefield. It was her who convinced the Power Pack kids that they were Annalee's children, and her power is Continuous (ie. is still active without her input) until she chooses to let it go. This makes it quite expensive (Cumulative, Cloud, Continuous +3), but again, she's a background NPC, so it's not exactly a game-breaker. Dreamer never did too much after that Power Pack appearance, surviving the Mutant Massacre only to enter Marvel Limbo for two decades and end up being killed by The Purifiers with a modified Legacy Virus needle or something, amping her powers beyond control (and convincing several people to 'forget' their body functions like pumping blood).

[Horsenhero]

I'm really liking the Morlocks builds Jab. And it's been said before, but, I'll say it again...I am in complete awe of your ability to dig up the most obscure jobbers and stat them. Truly...we're not worthy. Don't stop though.

[Geekery]

Oh, and I figured "screw it", and decided my next builds are gonna be of the New Mutants and Hellions! Because they're some of my favourite characters ever,

Yes! I've been picking up New Mutants Classic reprints lately. Some of my favorite X-Villains are there (I can never get enough of the Hellfire Club), along with some deceptively-mature themes. I'll be looking forward to them (except for Cypher; others may like him, but I don't).

[Jabroniville]

MASQUE (Jack MacNaughton)
Created By: Chris Claremont & Paul Smith
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #169 (May 1983)
Role: Evil Leader
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks, The Tunnellers, The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants
PL 7 (90)
STRENGTH -1 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 3 (+2)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+6)
Deception 6 (+8)
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 6 (+8)
Insight 4 (+6)
Intimidation 5 (+7)
Investigation 2 (+4)
Perception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 4 (+6)
Stealth 4 (+5)

Advantages:
Improved Initiative

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Body Re-Shaping"
"Transform Body Parts Entirely" Affliction 8 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Transformed) (Extras: Continuous Duration +3) (32) -- [35]

AE: Morph 3 (Humanoids) (Extras: Attack 8, Continuous Duration) (Flaws: Limited to Attacking) (23)
AE: "Form Skin Over Orifices" Affliction 8 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Progressive +2) (18)
AE: "Form Skin Over Eyes" Affliction 8 (Fort; Impaired/Disabled/Vision Unaware) (Extras: Continuous Duration +3) (32)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (-1 Damage, DC 14)
Morph Attack +6 (+8 Morph, DC 18)
Transform Attack +6 (+8 Affliction, DC 18)
Suffocate Attack +6 (+8 Affliction, DC 18)
Blinding Attack +6 (+8 Affliction, DC 18)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +1, Fortitude +4, Will +5

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Motivation (Power)- Masque is power-hungry and vengeful, and loves controlling his fellow Morlocks.

Total: Abilities: 22 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 1 / Powers: 35 / Defenses: 12 (90)

-Masque is one scary bastard, and was introduced as one of those "Plot Device" characters. See, he could alter people's apperances at-will, forcing some people to stay Morlocks because they were now deformed. A cruel, sadistic bastard, he often did this for the sheer FUN of it, and has used it to kill in the past (by morphing people's flesh over their nostrils and mouths), which is one AWFUL way to die. He was part of The Tunnellers' break-off group, but when they all died, he ended up taking the few Morlock survivors under his wing, and used them as a weapon against Callisto and various X-Characters. He was murdered by Shatterstar in an early X-Force book when the writers ran out of fun stuff for Morlocks to do, but he returned in more recent times for no apparent reason, again doing evil Morlock stuff.

-Not much of a battlefield guy, Masque can't take a punch to save his life, and would be easily killed by anybody. So he has lots of Mooks around him, and usually only dives in when he feels he has a chance. But that power.... *shudder* He can Morph, Suffocate, Blind or Transform people (he gave Callisto octopus-tentacle arms once, for instance, so it's not just the "Morph Attack", which only changes appearances), all Continuous in Duration because only HE can undo them (or a skilled surgeon I guess), so it's a good thing he's pretty weak otherwise, and not that great a fighter- he usually only nails helpless or Mook-like people with his attacks. The Morph has extra ranks added to the Attack Extra because otherwise I think it'd only be a DC 13 effect.

-Note that he later develops the ability to Morph himself as well, adding another 3 points to his cost.



PIPER II (Real name unknown)
Created By: Louise Simonson & June Brigman
First Appearance: Power Pack #12 (June 1985)
Role: Animal Controller
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks
PL 10 (79)
STRENGTH 1 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 2 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+3)
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 4 (+5)
Insight 3 (+5)
Intimidation 4 (+4)
Persuasion 5 (+5)

Advantages:
Animal Empathy

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Animal Control"
Mind Control 10 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Limited to Animals, Limited to While Playing Flute) [40]

Offense:
Unarmed +2 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Animal Control +10 Area (+10 Affliction, DC 20)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +1, Fortitude +4, Will +4

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)

Total: Abilities: 16 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 1 / Powers: 40 / Defenses: 13 (79)

-Holy... this guy's got the exact same name AND POWERS of the Piper from the Savage Land Mutates!! Oh well, I guess it makes this one an easy build :). Piper mainly controlled sewer-dwelling types of beasts, this being bats, rats, insects and alligators (okay, it's a Comic Book, so that's acceptable), making him a good Horde-Summoning type of guy. Note again that I do not use the "Summon" Power from the rulebook, since he doesn't SUMMON them, and they don't vanish and stuff when defeated- why they gave that power to Aquaman I have no idea.



"Jazz Hands!"

HEALER (Real name unknown)
Created By: Chris Claremont & Paul Smith
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #179 (June 1984)
Role: Party Healer, Deus Ex Machina
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks
PL 2 (45) Combat, PL 3 (45) Skills
STRENGTH 0 STAMINA 0 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 2 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+2)
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 4 (+5)
Insight 4 (+6)
Stealth 2 (+2)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Healing Wounds"
Healing 10 (Extras: Persistent, Restorative) (Flaws: Limited to Others, Tiring) (Quirk: Mutants Only -1) [19]

Offense:
Unarmed +2 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +2 (DC 12), Parry +4 (DC 14), Toughness +0, Fortitude +4, Will +4

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)

Total: Abilities: 10 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 19 / Defenses: 10 (45)

-Oh, Healer. So many times did the X-books write off a ton of damage using him. Makes you wonder why more healing-centric guys aren't around in comics- they're just so HANDY for that sort of thing! Like that time Professor Xavier was gang-beaten into near-death by a bunch of thugs. The Morlocks found him, took him to Healer, and boom, he was up and walking in a day. This happened a half-dozen times if I remember correctly, and nearly every time with a Claremontism (you know, those things that Claremont tends to write, like "I'm the best there is at what I do" and "bionic housings in his forearms" and "the focused totality of my telepathic powers") of some form of "it took everything he had, and he's nearly comatose now". He was injured during the Mutant Massacre, but Wolverine saved him. He later died over-doing it with his powers on Callisto, removing this Plot Device from the X-books forever (but don't worry- they have Elixir now!). What's funny is that for all the use they got out of him, I don't recall him actually SAYING anything. He was literally just this guy in the background who got brought out to save someone's life, and then go back to doing nothing!

-Healer is focused around only one thing- a very powerful Healing effect that's Limited to Others (and Mutants- a Quirk at-best) and Tires him out. He can't fight or dodge or do anything else cool- he just sits back and heals the injured.



LEECH
Created By: Chris Claremont & Paul Smith
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #179 (June 1984)
Role: Power Nullifier, Deus Ex Machina
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks, Generation-X, X-Terminators
PL 20 (64)
STRENGTH -3 STAMINA -1 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 0 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -2 AWARENESS -1 PRESENCE -2

Skills:
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 5 (+4)
Persuasion 5 (+3)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Nullify All Powers"
Nullify 20 (Extras: Fort Check +0, Area- 30ft. Burst, Continuous Duration +3, Broad- Metahuman) (Flaws: Close Range, Permanent) [60]

"Child-Size" Shrinking 4 (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [5]
(-4 Strength, -2 Movement, +2 Dodge/Parry, -2 Intimidation)

Offense:
Unarmed +0 (-3 Damage, DC 12)
Nullify +20 Area (+20 Nullify, DC 30)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +2 (DC 12), Parry +2 (DC 12), Toughness -1, Fortitude +1, Will +1

Complications:
Prejudice (Obvoius Mutant)- Bright green and deformed, Leech could never pass for human.
Disabled (Speech)- Leech talks very strangely, and has difficulty being understood.
Motivation (Family)- Bounced from home to home, Leech has a burning desire for affection from parental figures and friends.

Total: Abilities: -10 / Skills: 10--5 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 65 / Defenses: 4 (64)

-Leech is a fun character that's gotten a lot of use over the years by virtue of being an iconic Obvious Mutant combined with the sad story of the Lonely Child. His parents left him to die as an infant, and he was raised by the Morlocks, but then ANNALEE died, and he's been bounced between different homes for his entire life. A really sad little tale, especially since he's so eager to please and be loved. His power is so over-arching it's virtually a PL X effect, but Nullify 20 oughta do it. A full-range Continuous Burst Nullify 20 effect will shut down pretty much ANYBODY in range, so it's a good thing he's a worthless fighter otherwise.



SUNDER (Mark Hallett)
Created By: Chris Claremont & Paul Smith
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #169 (May 1983)
Role: Powerhouse
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks, Muir Island X-Men
PL 9 (68)
STRENGTH 10 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -1 AWARENESS -1 PRESENCE -1

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 4 (+8)
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 4 (+3)
Intimidation 9 (+8)
Perception 3 (+2)
Stealth 2 (+3)

Advantages:
Chokehold, Fast Grab, Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Power Attack

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Super-Strength" (25 tons)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (DC 14), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +8, Fortitude +9, Will +5

Complications:
Prejudice (Obvious Mutant)- Sunder is a hulking brute, and clearly not a normal human.
Relationship (Callisto)- Sunder is completely subserviant to his boss, and will do whatever she asks.

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 12 (68)

-Sunder's basically just a generic powerhouse- a big guy who does Callisto's bidding as her resident Bruiser. What's funny is that his X-Men link is only on that "Muir Island" makeshift team that doesn't really count, but he still showed up on a first-generation Marvel Card as a member of the whole group, making me think he was some forgotten member when I was a kid. But no, he was on the team for five seconds, then got shot to death by Pretty-Boy of The Reavers. As far as stats go, he's quite an effective PL 9 Powerhouse guy, but he lacks the durability and Defensive capabilities of a good brick- a guy with a MACHINE GUN killed him. What kind of a Powerhouse can get brought down by common weaponry?

[Jabroniville]

CALIBAN- First Form
Created By: Chris Claremont & Dave Cockrum
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #148 (Aug. 1981)
Role: Tracker, Wussy Guy
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks, X-Factor
PL 7 (67)
STRENGTH 0/8 STAMINA 0 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 3 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -1 AWARENESS -1 PRESENCE -2

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+4)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+6)
Expertise (Music) 8 (+6)
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 8 (+7)
Investigation 6 (+5)
Perception 6 (+5)
Persuasion 3 (+1)
Stealth 4 (+5)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Mutant Detection & Fear-Field"
"Detect Mutants" Senses 7 (Detect Mutants 2, Extended Range 2, Low-Light Vision, Tracking 2) [7]
"Boost Strength Via Fear" Enhanced Strength 8 (Flaws: Limited to When Others Are Afraid) [8]
"Induce Fear" Affliction 6 (Will; Dazed/Entranced/Controlled) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst, Selective) (Flaws: Limited to Fear) [12]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Boosted +6 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Fear-Field +6 Area (+6 Affliction, DC 16)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +0, Fortitude +3, Will +3

Complications:
Prejudice (Obvious Mutant)- Caliban is hideously deformed, with white skin and large eyes, and would not pass for a normal human being.
Relationship (Kitty Pryde)- Caliban fell in love at first sight with young Katherine Pryde, and this motivates him heavily in the early part of his life.

Total: Abilities: 0 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 27 / Defenses: 14 (67)



CALIBAN- Enhanced Form
Created By: Chris Claremont & Dave Cockrum
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #148 (Aug. 1981)
Role: Powerhouse, Big Dumb Guy
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks, X-Force, X-Factor, Four Horsemen of Apocalypse
PL 10 (142)
STRENGTH 9/10 STAMINA 10 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -1 AWARENESS -1 PRESENCE -2

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+13)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+9)
Expertise (Music) 8 (+6)
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 8 (+7)
Intimiation 10 (+8)
Investigation 6 (+5)
Perception 8 (+7)
Persuasion 3 (+1)
Stealth 4 (+6)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Fast Grab, Improved Hold, Power Attack

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Mutant Detection & Fear-Field"
"Detect Mutants" Senses 7 (Detect Mutants 2, Extended Range 2, Low-Light Vision, Tracking 2) [7]

"Boost Strength Via Fear" Enhanced Strength 1 (Flaws: Limited to When Others are Afraid) [1]

"Mental Plague"
Weaken Mental Abilities 8 (Extras: Broad, Simultaneous, Progressive +2, Contagious) (Flaws: Distracting) (40) -- [41]

AE: "Induce Fear" Affliction 6 (Will; Dazed/Entranced/Controlled) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst, Selective) (Flaws: Limited to Fear) (12)

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Boosted +9 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Fear-Field +6 Area (+6 Affliction, DC 16)
Mental Plague +6 (+8 Weaken, DC 20)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +10, Fortitude +12, Will +5

Complications:
Prejudice (Obvious Mutant)- Caliban is hideously deformed, with white skin and large eyes, and would not pass for a normal human being.
Enemy (Sabretooth)- Caliban has an intensely personal rivalry with Sabretooth, who killed many of his friends during the Mutant Massacre. He snapped Sabretooth's neck once, though Creed has his number these days.
Enemy (Apocalypse)- Caliban was a willing ally of Apocalypse for years, but eventually broke away to regain his freedom.

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 54--27 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 49 / Defenses: 16 (142)

-Caliban was a great example of a background character used perfectly. Initially a means to an end, Caliban was a Mutant-Tracker, and used in specific instances where that would come in most handy. But later, they developed a sad little story where he fell in love with young Kitty Pryde (much like every young male fan was at that point), and made her promise to come stay with him. Eventually, she was kidnapped and forced to be his bride. The X-Men were planning a rescue and all that, but when Caliban realized that Kitty truly did not love him and wanted to go back to the surface, he willingly let her go- not wanting her to be sad. Great stuff that you rarely see in comics.

-Later, Caliban was teamed with X-Factor post-"Massacre", but he eventually hooked up with Apocalypse to get revenge on Sabretooth in particular, gaining super-human strength and some vague "Mental Plague" thing, and was a Horseman of the Apocalypse for most of the 1990s, when I was reading comics (I had no idea he's started out as a sad little weenie). Eventually, he rejected Apocalypse and hooked up with X-Force long after I'd stopped reading the book, as a whacky Dumb Muscle type that I didn't care for one bit. He then went into Marvel Limbo for a while, came out back in his original state, and got killed saving Warpath from a hail of bullets. Well, if they weren't going to use him, may as well give him a heroic send-off, I guess.

-Caliban's first form is a means to an end- an elite Mutant Tracker with extreme range and some skill at surviving in the Morlock Tunnels. His second form is a PL 9.5 Powerhouse-type who dishes out lots of punishment and actually has a few Combat Feats, as well as packing that Plague that I've never personally witnessed in the comics, but takes up a big chunk of his points-cost. Either way, he's no EXTREME challenge (his "left Sabretooth for dead" feat is his ONLY big combat feat I can think of, and Sabes won the later fights), but still pretty good. Apparently BOTH forms could also boost their Strength when others around them were afraid. That's news to me, but Marvel Wiki says it.

[Jabroniville]

CALLISTO
Created By: Chris Claremont & Paul Smith
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #169 (May 1983)
Role: Leader, Evil Dragon Lady
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks, Gene Nation, Genosha Excalibur
PL 9 (136)
STRENGTH 4 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Athletics 6 (+10)
Close Combat (Knife) +1 (+12)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 10 (+12)
Expertise (Tactics) 9 (+11)
Insight 6 (+10)
Intimidation 6 (+8)
Investigation 4 (+8)
Perception 6 (+10)
Sleight of Hand 4 (+4)
Stealth 4 (+8)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Chokehold, Cunning Fighter, Defensive Attack, Diehard, Equipment (Knife +1), Fast Grab, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Knife), Last Stand, Leadership, Power Attack, Prone Fighting, Quick Draw, Startle, Tracking

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Enhanced Senses"
Senses 8 (Extended Vision, Scent & Hearing, Low-Light Vision, Acute Scent & Taste, Accurate Hearing) [8]

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Knife +12 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +5, Fortitude +9, Will +8

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Motivation (Morlocks)- Callisto is (or was) the leader of the Morlocks, and the survival of her community means everything to her.
Relationship (Marrow)- Callisto sees Marrow as the daughter she never had, and would do anything for her.
Rivalry (Storm)- Callisto respects Storm's power and leadership, yet resents her for taking the Morlocks from her- their relationship is very complex.
Enemy (Masque)- Masque has deliberately tortured his old boss several times, and seems obsessed with doing so.

Total: Abilities: 66 / Skills: 64--32 / Advantages: 16 / Powers: 8 / Defenses: 14 (136)

-Callisto's a neat background character in X-history. She's the semi-evil nasty bitch in charge of the Morlocks, but knows what's best for her group. Though she's engaged in some VERY questionable activities (kidnapping and force-marrying Angel, doing the same to Kitty Pryde for Caliban's sake), she's ultimately that gray-area amoral that makes so many anti-heroes of the 80s very interesting characters (in the days before that became an overdone trope). A formerly-beautiful woman who got scarred by anti-mutant mobs, she's been all over the place in the 90s, turning kinda evil again, running off to another dimension with Colossus' brother, returning, getting unscarred and re-scarred, and tortured by Masque and stuff, which is kind of why the past few decades of comics have sucked for X-people. Me, I just thought her relationship with Storm was fascinating- so full of hatred and resentment, but also mutual respect and admiration. You don't get much of that in comics.

-Callisto's got a VERY vague set of mutant powers, and I don't think they even showed them until well after her debut in the early 80s. She's got Super-Senses, making her kinda redundant with Caliban around, but she's got a slightly different set. She's stronger than she looks, but not superhuman (about equal on a hand-to-hand level with Storm), and is very accurate in combat, with many Combat Feats. So she's no pushover, but she's still only PL 8.5.

[Jabroniville]

The New Mutants:

What can be said about this series? I managed to get almost the entire run (missing about 8-10 issues total) in one go at a local comic shop for around 100 bucks, and MAN was it worth it. It’s hard to describe just what made this book so great. Debuting in the early 1980s, during the peak of the X-books’ creativity, they were the brainchild of Chris Claremont, who basically was forced by Marvel Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter to “make Xavier’s a school again”. Chris did his best to avoid having Wolverine & Storm handing in tests and homework by turning that idea into a NEW batch of students, this time straight-up teenagers (way younger than even the early X-Men of the ‘60s).

Re-using the “Team From Around the World” concept, Claremont introduced (in Marvel’s Graphic Novel series) Sunspot (a Brazilian lothario), Danielle Moonstar (sometimes called “Psyche”, but really hardly ever- a smart-mouthed Cheyenne with the stereotypical look but WAY more attitude), Wolfsbane (a good little Christian girl at conflict with her mutancy, her body and her emotions), Cannonball (a good-old Southern Boy who was rather bright and responsible), and Karma (a young girl introduced in Marvel Team-Up a while before- a Vietnamese girl with an evil uncle and two siblings to take care of).

Notice how I didn’t even list their powers there? That’s because their personalities were so much more important to the series. Everyone played against each other PERFECTLY, and it had all the self-doubt, angst and random crushes that typify teenager interaction. Fans wrote in early on about how it was PERFECT teen-based storytelling, capturing the real doubts and fears of kids, rather than making them catchphrase-spouting mall-going retards like most books did. Compare Johnny Storm in the 60s to these guys. I don't think the sheer suckiness of going through puberty has ever been done any better than right here.

Not that their powers weren’t handled very well- what I loved about this book is that their powers SUCKED at first. Sunspot was super-strong, but only for minutes at a time. Cannonball was near-invulnerable but couldn’t aim to save his life, and his flying was ludicrously bad (in one-direction only). Moonstar could barely control her Fear-Images, Karma could possess one person at a time, etc. Even Magma (who was added later, as the book got weird immediately by giving us a geokinetic girl from a long-lost Ancient Roman civilization… in Brazil) couldn’t handle her powers well. Compare that to the 2000s-take on the "New Mutants" with the "Academy X" kids. Every freaking one of them was basically PL 7-8 right out of the gate, doing awesome power stunts and having great control over their powers immediately. You had Sofia using funky Power Feats, Wallflower developing Pheromone control ultra-fast, Prodigy having great strategy in their first fight, etc. Almost no limits or drawbacks at all.

The book was EXTREMELY dark and mature for a comic book, especially one that featured mainly little kids. One issue had a secretly-mutant kid get teased by others for being a Mutie (they didn’t even know- they were just bugging him) and then HE KILLED HIMSELF, allowing Kitty to list off the entire roster of racial slurs she knew (a weird recurring trend in the X-books if you read them for long enough) during a eulogy about hate. In another, the kids thought Karma was killed (she was written out of the book- Put On A Bus- because her character was rather boring). You had divorce, child abuse, drug abuse, etc. all dealt with, back when that wasn’t as forced as it tends to be today.

Bill Seinkewicz on art was brilliant, even though he tended to use the “Electro-Shock” hair look on too many people (Cannonball, Warlock & Legion especially). It’s the darkest and oddest art I’ve ever seen used regularly in comics, and stands out particularly on a book that featured a roster of children.

Other members got added. The book went off-the-wall crazy with Warlock, a shape-shifting goofball alien who hid massive firepower, and we got Cypher, who proved once and for all that not every mutant power was awesome- while also proving that the lowest-powered guy on the team will usually be the one to save the day. Plus Magik, who was a horribly psychotic and possibly-evil little girl with vast Satanic magical powers.

The Hellions were awesome as well. Linked to Emma Frost (back when she was a villain), they were a classic “Rival School”, except with super-powers, and their initially-violent feud with the Mutants later turned to more casual rivalry, with contests, snark and mutual respect (and mutual hatred of Empath, the dickiest dick who ever dicked it up in comics, who was a Hellion).

Not enough can be said about the first fifty-some issues of this book. The big #50 issue, where the team confronts The Magus, Warlock’s evil father, and uses a bunch of PL 7-8 level powers to battle a PL 14 menace under Professor X’s guidance in outer space is one of the most underrated books I’ve ever read (seriously, I’ve never heard much praise for it at all). When Magneto takes over the school, we get a whole different side of him as he’s forced to deal with kids WAY younger than he has any comfort level talking to, yet he takes the job absolutely seriously.

Then Louise Simonson took over. And the book started to suck. Bret Blevins on art made everyone look like they were thirteen again, all the dialogue was infantile, Magneto was often out of character (I can’t imagine someone with his grandeur ever stating “What the heck was that!?”), and they started REALLY over-using the “no, let’s not tell the grown-ups and go sneak off to save the day ourselves and get in over our heads” trope to the point of ridiculousness. I mean, in the early issues, the Mutants’ first reaction to EVERY threat was to call the Prof, the X-Men, The Avengers or the FF- but now several arcs in a row featured the kids gallivanting off by themselves.

The “Bird Brain” story was EPIC in its suck. First off we had way too many drawn-out issues of a gangly Scrappy-Doo-like imbecilic clumsy animal-man teaming up with the Mutants, and then we had a WAY TOO LONG arc featuring the kids on some island with an old, scrawny lumpy man with a Dr. Moreau rip-off concept and really crappy “I’m a crazy villain!” vibe to him. And finally, they killed off Cypher, who was apparently unpopular, but the fans later felt bad about this decision.

The crap started flowing freely by this point. Magik was de-powered back into Young Illyana Rasputin, to the fans’ outright HORROR (she was easily among the most popular mutants- there’s a reason why she was the first victim of the Legacy Virus- fans had been BEGGING for a return of Magik as soon as she was gone, and hadn’t let up). Moonstar picked up some REALLY lame powers that allowed her to physically bring all of her wishes into the real-world (a massive Game-Breaker that led to some horrible story plot-points, like her creating a giant ice-machine to salve her wounds at one point). The team got their own costumes, which are easily among the worst EVER designed, and should never have made it past the drawing board. Magma left to hook up with Empath, who still hadn’t been made to look any more likeable. And then we got the X-Terminators kids hooking up with the Mutants, bringing four REALLY lame characters in Rictor, Boom-Boom, Skids and Rusty to a previously-established “all good characters” squad. Finally, even MOONSTAR left, going to Asgard permanently. Remember what I said about fans loving the non-Mall-going stereotypes? Well guess what half the team was NOW?

It was at this point, and with Magneto back to being a bad guy and the school being emptied, that Rob Liefeld took over on art, and eventually co-plotting. And you know what? For all we say about him NOWADAYS, he brought a ton of new life to that horribly-dying series. Sure it looks lame nowadays, but at least stuff was HAPPENING again.

The fur started flying immediately, and in some pretty bad ways, especially for long-term fans. Cable joined the roster as a new Mentor Character type, since the old ones had all gone, after the X-Editors had seen some Liefeldian scribbles of the guy and been fascinated by the proto-90s Cyborg dude. “The X-Tinction Agenda”, which in addition to having the worst comic book art I’ve ever seen published in the X-Factor parts (no exaggeration- go see if you don’t believe me) and being way too damn long, was particularly nasty to this team. Warlock was casually killed off early on, being killed by Cameron Hodge, one of the least-likeable villains in history. Then Wolfsbane was brainwashed and forced into wolf-form permanently, and shipped off to the new X-Factor book.

The next batch of issues was pretty ugly. Rusty & Skids got Put On A Bus to the backburner when they were freed from jail by the Mutant Liberation Front, a group of guys basically scribbled in power & personality by Liefeld on the back of a napkin. Rictor quit to go find Wolfsbane (with a later reason added in after-the-fact that he’d seen Cable kill his father). Boom-Boom & Cannonball hooked up after the beloved Sam & Lila-thing died down. The Hellions were casually murdered in the largest single waste of good potential characters in COMIC BOOK HISTORY (not an exaggeration either) during Trevor Fitzroy’s debut in comics.

Finally even SUNSPOT left, leaving Sam as the sole member of the original students left on the book, while we got FOUR new members of the team in succession. Three of them were Liefeldian napkin-sketches: Domino, Shatterstar & Feral (who’d already sorta had her design used for Wildside of the MLF), and the Hellions’ Thunderbird came on as “Warpath”. And thus began “X-Force”.

So these builds will be centered around the New Mutants team and their recurring adversaries- The Hellions. But instead of just making some random-era builds for them, I’m gonna have a handful of builds for each character, since many of them underwent changes over time.

Full Roster:
Cannonball (Rookie, Mid-Run, Late Run, X-Force Era, Current)
Karma (Rookie, Post-Asgard, Current)
Moonstar (Rookie, Mid-Run, Valkyrie, Wish-Creator, Psionic Bow-User, X-Force Era, Modern De-Powered, Modern Hel-Valkyrie)
Wolfsbane (Rookie, Mid-Run, Late Run, X-Factor, Current)
Magma (Rookie, Late Run, Current)
Sunspot (Rookie, Mid-Run, Late Run, X-Force, Current)
Warlock (Early, Current- maybe)
Cypher (Rookie, Late Run, Current)
Rictor (Late Run, X-Force, Current De-Powered)
Skids (Late Run, X-Force)
Rusty (Late Run, MLF/Acolytes)
Magik (Mid-Run, Late Run, Current)
Boom-Boom (Late Run, X-Force, Current)
Feral (X-Force)
Shatterstar (X-Force)
Domino (X-Force, Current)
Cable (X-Force, Psionic Staff Guy, Current)
plus Stevie Hunter, the team’s Den Mother

The Hellions (who will include some hypothetical modern builds for the guys who died young):
Empath (Rookie, Late Run, Current)
Roulette (Rookie, Late Run, Modern)
Tarot (Rookie, Late Run, Modern)
Catseye (Rookie, Late Run, Modern)
Thunderbird II (Rookie, X-Force, Current)
Jetstream (Rookie, Late Run, Modern)
Beef & Bevatron (Rookie Only)
Firestar (Rookie, New Warriors, Avengers)

X-Force (may as well fill out the rest of the 90s-era team while I’m doing their modern selves):
Jesse Bedlam
Siryn
Pete Wisdom

[Iscariot]

Nice to see some love for characters that aren't necessarily "popular". The Morlocks were spot on and I am looking forward to your New Mutants builds.

Great work so far...I am finding the commentaries and notes just as intriguing as the builds!

[Sidious]

Nice to see I'm not the only one with feelings for the New Mutants. The current series has the original team back together and it seems to be trying to get the old magic back.

[Iscariot]

Nice to see I'm not the only one with feelings for the New Mutants. The current series has the original team back together and it seems to be trying to get the old magic back.

Or trying to get the old Magik back. hehehe

[luketheduke86]

Like the Morlocks Jab. I have to admit I have never read anything with the New Mutants in it...though I think I'm going to go out and buy the New Mutant Classic graphic novels (atleast the first one) due to the high praise you give it.

[Ares]

Say Jab, maybe there's something you can clear up for me. I'm a sort of casual New Mutants reader, only have an issue or two of the original series, but it looked really good from what I can tell.

Anyway, what was the deal with that ghost bear that was hunting Dani? The issue I have has her confront the thing and ends with the other New Mutants finding her lying in the snow covered in blood. What's the story behind that?

[Jabroniville]

If I recall correctly, the Bear won that fight, and nearly killed her. She was in the hospital and nearly died, but then I think the rest of the team fought it together. Using teamwork and stuff, they were able to win. I'd re-read it, but that freaking Bear terrifies me so much I never want to read a comic featuring it ever again .

Okay seriously though, I'm in the process of moving, so I don't have the book in front of me. But Wikipedia confirms what I remembered- Magik used her Soulsword to cleave the bear in twain. Dani recovered from having her spine mauled (somehow- I think they went through the tried-and-true long-term physical therapy route rather than something lame).