Jab's Builds: Tulip, Cassidy, Jody, The Grail, Herr Starr

[Jabroniville]

To me, they key thing with Noticeable is that the underlying power has to have a continuous or permanent duration and not already be inherently obvious, like Growth or Extra Limbs. So the Human Torch's flame aura isn't Noticeable (it's Instant duration), while someone with giant fly-eyes might have Noticeable Senses 1 (Radius Vision).

Ah, OK, that I can understand. However, that still leaves a ton of obvious things in there, and what classifies as "inherent".

I actually have a similar problem with Subtle, as Subtle Protection on a guy who isn't obviously super-tough (like Superman) seems like charging a point for little benefit.

[Jabroniville]

CHARCOAL (Charlie Burlingame)
Created By: Kurt Busiek, Fabian Nicieza & a Wizard Magazine Reader
First Appearance: Thunderbolts #19 (1998)
Role: Team Strongman, Victim of Copywrite (aka "Rom Syndrome")
Group Affiliations: The Thunderbolts
PL 9 (109)
STRENGTH 1/7/9/11 STAMINA 1/6 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Deception 4 (+4)
Intimidation 4 (+4, +6 Size)
Perception 2 (+2)
Ranged Combat (Fire) 4 (+8)

Advantages:
Improved Grapple, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 4, Startle

Powers:
"Take Any Carbon Form"
"Incendiary Form" (57) -- [59]

AE: "Charcoal Form" (50)
AE: "Diamond Form" (42)

Alternate Forms- Move Action [-1]

"Charcoal Form"
Growth 4 (Str & Sta +4, +4 Mass, +2 Intimidation, -2 Dodge/Parry, -4 Stealth) -- (12 feet) (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) (9)
Enhanced Strength 4 (8)
Enhanced Stamina 2 (4)
Protection 5 (5)
Fire Blast 9 (18)
Regeneration 5 (Feats: Regrow Limbs) (6)
-- (50 points)

"Diamond Form"
Growth 4 (Str & Sta +4, +4 Mass, +2 Intimidation, -2 Dodge/Parry, -4 Stealth) -- (12 feet) (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) (9)
Enhanced Strength 6 (12)
Enhanced Stamina 2 (4)
Protection 6 (Extras: Impervious 9) (15)
Enhanced Advantages: Withstand Damage (1)
Regeneration 4 (Feats: Regrow Limbs) (5)
Reduced Defenses 2 (-4)
-- (42 points)

"Incendiary Form"
Growth 4 (Str & Sta +4, +4 Mass, +2 Intimidation, -2 Dodge/Parry, -4 Stealth) -- (12 feet) (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) (9)
Enhanced Strength 2 (4)
Enhanced Stamina 2 (4)
Protection 5 (5)
Flame Aura 6 (24) -- (25)

AE: Fire Blast 10 (20)

Flight 5 (60 mph) (10)
-- (57 points)

Senses 4 (Detect Pieces of Himself, Ranged 2, Acute) [4]

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Incendiary Form +7 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Charcoal Form +7 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Diamond Form +7 (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Fire Aura +7 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Charcoal Fire +8 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Incendiary Fire +8 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +1 (+11-12 Alternate Forms, +5 Impervious Diamond), Fortitude +3 (+8 Alternate Forms), Will +5

Complications:
Involuntary Transformation (Sludge)- If struck by great quantities of water while in Charcoal Form, Charcoal will turn into sludge.

Total: Abilities: 20 / Skills: 14--7 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 62 / Defenses: 13 (109)

-Charcoal is pretty neat, very original, and has a distinct history about him. He was created for a Wizard Magazine (remember when they were relevant? Or even existed?) "Create a Villain" contest, and he was snapped up by Thunderbolts. He was a villain at first, but soon joined the team as a newbie trying to reform, but he was killed by Graviton. The idea was to bring him back, but (as Fabian Nicieza has stated), the legalities over his ownership came into question thanks to some iffy legal-writing by Wizard (Seriously? They didn't think copywrite issues would turn up?), and a failure to give the creator all he'd asked for, so Marvel kind of nudged Fabe to "just forget about him", and so the character vanished. Too bad, really- he seems part Brick/part Blaster, and was quite unique for that.

-This is as much as I could glean from the bios regarding the guy- they barely even mention super-strength, but I recall him being super-big, so it's implied. He can take three different "Forms" of carbon- burning ash/charcoal, diamond and flaming incendiary, gaining three semi-distinct power-sets around it. To meet his caps, his Diamond Form is a bit less mobile, he can throw out some pretty big Blasts in various forms, Fly in one, etc. He's a pretty cheap PL 9, but he's still a newbie- there's a lot of places he could have gone and "grown" in to.

[Jabroniville]

HUMUS SAPIEN (Sonny Baredo)
Created By: Michael A. Barreiro, Fabian Nicieza & Patrick Zircher
First Appearance: FOOM #3 (posted: Autumn 1973), The Thunderbolts #54 (in-story: Sept. 2001)
Role: Tech-Hater, Fan Character
Group Affiliations: The Thunderbolts
PL 12 (327)
STRENGTH 4 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE -1

Skills:
Intimidation 6 (+5)

Advantages:
Power Attack, Ranged Attack 7

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Gaea's Hand on Earth"
"Destroy Non-Earth-Sympathetic Creations"
Damage 10 (Feats: Penetrating 8) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Limited to Synthetics) [28]
Linked to
Weaken Toughness 10 (Extras: Affects Objects, Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Limited to Synthetics) [30]

"Randomly-Destroying Life Force Anywhere On Earth"
Weaken Stamina 8 (Extras: Area- 16,000 miles +23) (Flaws: Limited to Random Target -2, Limited to One Target -2, Permanent- Every Time He Uses Powers) [162]

"Vine Snare" Snare 12 (Feats: Reversible) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst, Selective) (Flaws: Touch Range) (49) -- [62]

AE: "Vine Snare" Snare 12 (Feats: Reversible) (37)
AE: "Tree Attack/Earth Blast" Blast 12 (Feats: Variable- Plant or Earth) (25)
AE: "Tree Growth" Growth 10 (Extras: Affects Others Only +0) (Flaws: Limited to Trees) (10)
AE: "Multiple Vine Stabs" Blast 12 (Extras: Multiattack) (36)
AE: "Vines Tear the Earth" Affliction 12 (Dodge; Hindered & Vulnerable/Prone & Defenseless) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst, Extra Condition) (Flaws: Instant Recovery, Limited Degree) (12)
AE: "Plant Control" Move Object 12 (Extras: Perception) (Flaws: Limited to Plants) (24)
AE: "Tectonic Shift" Environment 4 (250 feet) (Impede Movement 2) (8)
AE: "Earthquake" Affliction 12 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Ranged, Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery, Limited to Grounded Targets) Linked to Blast 12 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Limited to Grounded Targets & Objects) (36)
AE: "Move The Earth" Move Object 12 (Extras: Perception Range) (Flaws: Limited to Earth/Rock) (24)
AE: "Extreme Heat" Environment 3 (Heat 2) (6)
AE: "Permeate Earth" Movement 3 (Permeate) (Flaws: Limited to Earth) (3)
AE: "Repulse Non-Organic Matter" Move Object 13 (Flaws: Limited to Away, Limited to Non-Organic Matter) (6.5)
AE: "Tesseract Dimension" Movement 1 (Dimensional Travel) (2)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Vine Snare +7 (+12 Ranged Affliction, DC 22)
Area Snare/Vine Tear/Earthquake +12 (+12 Affliction, DC 22)
Tree Attack/Earth Blast +7 (+12 Ranged Damage, DC 27)
Destroy Life Force +8 Area (+8 Weaken, DC 18)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +1 (+2 Body Armour), Fortitude +3, Will +4

Complications:
Responsibility (Great Power)- Humus Sapien's power is so great that he's a constant danger to all life on Earth. Being no murderer, Sonny wishes to restrain himself.
Motivation (The Call of Gaea)- Gaea "calls" to Sonny, asking him to remove the blight that is humanity.

Total: Abilities: 30 / Skills: 6--3 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 272 / Defenses: 14 (327)

-Humus Sapien was created by some fan who wrote in to a Marvel in-house Fan-Mag in a "Create a Villain" contest. However, when the contest ended and the kid won... nobody bothered to use the character. Marvel in the 1970s was a funny place, full of croney-ism, lazy writing and art, and horrible political games, and he was never given his promised appearance (it was hinted that he'd join the All-New, All-Different X-Men). He was a hugely-powerful guy who heard the "Call of Gaea" and went around killing people against his will, but he willingly went into a portal to save the Earth's population.

-Sapien has a bizarre group of powers, including Plant & Earth-Control stuff, Repulsion of Non-Organic Matter, the ability to Disintegrate anything man-made (robots, technology, metals, etc.), and even the shocking power to kill any random person on Earth! This is essentially a wide-ranging "Death Touch" (Weaken Stamina), with enough range to cover the entire planet (a Burst of 16,000 miles will cover the 7,900 miles of the Earth easily on one side of the Burst centred on Humus)-- such a thing is ridiculously beyond the recommended power level for any PC character that it's not even funny- it usually just kills nobodies, but one of the random sweeps took out the original Arabian Knight.

[Skavenger]

-Sapien has a bizarre group of powers, including Plant & Earth-Control stuff, Repulsion of Non-Organic Matter, the ability to Disintegrate anything man-made (robots, technology, metals, etc.), and even the shocking power to kill any random person on Earth! This is essentially a wide-ranging "Death Touch" (Weaken Stamina), with enough range to cover the entire planet (a Burst of 16,000 miles will cover the 7,900 miles of the Earth easily on one side of the Burst centred on Humus)-- such a thing is ridiculously beyond the recommended power level for any PC character that it's not even funny- it usually just kills nobodies, but one of the random sweeps took out the original Arabian Knight.

Great, great build. One I might swap to throw against my PCs. I was waiting all day to see how you'd put together that information to make this guy!

And hey, that "kill someone randomly" power is scary. He almost got Songbird with it but instead got the guy standing a few feet from her (would've ruined the book for me otherwise, I swear to god). Of course, I can just picture some horribly cruel GM gathering up a whole bunch of dice to say "Okay, he's going to attack, let me see if anybody you know dies."

...last minute thought: It's funny how his "someone dies when I use my powers" power actually became less dangerous for his opponents the more powerful he became. Originally, when his powers first appeared he wound up killing his family and pet dog, suggesting he had a much more limited range. Now that he has reach across the whole planet, a hero doesn't have to worry quite as much about simply keeling over because they got too close.

[jspade]

Ah, OK, that I can understand. However, that still leaves a ton of obvious things in there, and what classifies as "inherent".

My read is that if you could not possess the power without someone just walking by being aware you have it, like Extra Limbs, it's not really a candidate for Noticeable. Someone with Permanent Growth is obviously big. Someone who breathes underwater has Immunity (Drowning), but if they have big obvious gills (like, say, Aquarus of the Guardians of the Globe) it might be Noticeable.

I actually have a similar problem with Subtle, as Subtle Protection on a guy who isn't obviously super-tough (like Superman) seems like charging a point for little benefit.

And that's why Protection is the poster boy for Noticeable; Superman's Protection isn't Noticeable, but the Thing's is. As I see it, Subtle Protection would protect you, but it wouldn't be apparent that it had; you'd appear to be hurt, but not actually take any game-mechanical penalties. I use Subtle Protection for things like the undead, where you can rip them up but it doesn't really bother them even though you get the full gory impact.

[Jabroniville]

THE PACIFIC OVERLORDS:
-The whole "Pacific Overlords" arc in "Avengers West Coast" was quite weird in that it went on for a long time given that the villains were basically a team of Jobbers whose sole point was to form their own country of criminals and summon a Generic Otherworldly Demon into our world. The team was created by Roy & Dann Thomas, and were the minions of Doctor Demonicus, a villain from Marvel's "Godzilla" series (whose mission was to create other Kaiju for the G-Man to fight). He basically used a magic Macguffin Meteorite that mutated subjects into super-humans, and using it, he gathered a group of freaks and super-villains to his side.

These guys are baseline nobodies for the most part, essentially the embodiment of Villainous Mooks- most are based around a single concept, and many have obvious powers or deformities (flames, giant metal teeth, large size, etc.), and there's very little personality among most of them. But that's what makes them a great set of villains.

The only reason I know most of these guys is that I have TWO comics from when I was a kid (in 1991, I would've been ten years old) featuring this squad- one when Iron Man & Wasp are owned by Irezumi, who uses weird Tattoo Powers to defeat them. I brought this (one of the few comics I had at the time) to school, where of course the cover got torn off, but I got a new copy at the 2011 Calgary Comic Expo, so it's all good.

Some interesting bits to the overall arc:
* Steven Butler draws fairly well, with art that's sorta like a proto-Image Era thing, with Ron Lim-esque shading. It's a bit hit-or-miss at times, though. His Tigra is REALLY nice (contrast to earlier AWC artist Al Milgrom, who drew her with big pointy cat teeth), and he actually draws her in human form for a sec- proof that I'm not a furry is that I find her hotter WITHOUT the fur & tail. Of course, without the fur, she's just some chick in a bikini, so the fur needs to stick around :).
* There's a different artist in almost every party- Butler, David Ross, a pair of artists in #70, etc. They're ALL suffering from a lack of stability, though many pictures are well-drawn. Ross does okay for the most part, but his Spider-Woman is kind of "lippy", making her look less attractive.
* Funny thing about power levels: Tigra is challenged, and nearly KILLED, but a group of mere Mooks, one of whom has a knife. In another scene, a mere Yakuza has her dead to rights with a gun. Not many super-heroes falter under such odds, especially if they have honest-to-goodness SUPER-POWERS. She must've had a boost in recent years, seeing as how she can easily defeat Vermin, who's a challenge for Spider-Man. Or maybe comics are... *GASP* INCONSISTENT.
* Kuroko calls Jawbreaker "Baka!" YEARS before most comics-readers would hear that in early anime subs.
* Tigra for some reason assumes that Irezumi's blast and a heavy piece of machinery falling are all it takes to kill Iron Man... seriously?
* Roy Thomas adds a bunch of bits about Japan into things- he mentions that The Pacific Overlords are named for "Pacific Overtures- a play about Japanese-American relations", and that Kyoto is the former capital of Japan (fun fact: I once got a point on a test or pop quiz in Middle School solely because I remembered that little tidbit).
* It's weird to read comics that I owned way back before I had many comics... I re-read these early ones A LOT, and it's easy to tell, because I can still remember minor bits and pieces, and chunks of dialogue that make little sense ("How big a dope -- do you think American's ARE, Tattoo?"- that doesn't make grammatic sense from what I can tell, and it bugged me even back then). Nowadays, I have to re-read comics from last month so I don't forget what the hell was going on. Odd things like Tigra's lower-lip jutting out weirdly on Page 24 of #72 stand out after twenty freaking years, which is crazy. THAT's how much I read this way back when.
* The "Bullpen Bulletins" page that's "written" by Aunt May always irked me- who the hell can read cursive that's two millimetres (I checked) high? That is KILLER.
* The more comics I read, the more I realize that no hero other than Spidey or Daredevil should have high Perception- sneak attacks ALWAYS WORK.
* Huh, I'm still missing the end of the first arc (#74), where Demonicus gets his "new nation" (formed from lifting the ocean's bedrock up into an island) United Nations status, and kicks the Avengers out.
* Ross is still the artist for issues #93-95, and it is BUTT-UGLY art this time around. Not sure what happened, but his worst tendencies appear at the forefront, mixing Liefeldian proportions with less-interesting visuals. Not good.

[Jabroniville]

DOCTOR DEMONICUS (Dr. Douglas Birely)
Created By: Doug Moench & Tom Sutton
First Appearance: Godzilla #4 (Nov. 1977)
Role: Mad Scientist, Evil Geneticist
Group Affiliations: The Pacific Overlords
PL 7 (110)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 7 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 6 (+8)
Technology 6 (+13)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+11)
Expertise (Animal Handling) 10 (+12)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Expertise (History) 2 (+9)
Expertise (Science) 6 (+17) -- Flaws: Limited to Biology
Treatment 5 (+12)
Perception 1 (+3)
Insight 4 (+6)
Expertise (Survival) 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Equipment 10 (Base, Blaster +6), Inventor, Ranged Attack 4, Skill Mastery (Science), Ultimate Life Sciences

Equipment:
"Blaster" Blast 6 (12)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Blaster +8 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Motivation (Power)- Demonicus sought to gain his own country, and amass enormous power by making "Demonica" a world power like "Taiwan & Singapore".
Motivation (Raksasa)- Demonicus eventually fell under the thrall of Raksasa, a Demonic Intelligence hidden in the caverns beneath his new nation.
Prejudice (Freak)- Demonicus survived a near-lethal cancer (brought on by his exposure to the Lifestone), but at a tremendous cost- his face resembles his mask, with a horned forehead, and a mouth partially-covered in flesh.

Total: Abilities: 56 / Skills: 46--23 / Advantages: 17 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 14 (110)

-Demonicus has odd origins, showing up as a S.H.I.E.L.D./Godzilla enemy in the Marvel "Godzilla" comic book series. His whole schtick was that he had some otherwordly Lifestone meteorite, which he used in tandem with his genius in genetics and radiation to form an army of super-monsters that were frequent enemies of the King of Monsters. When Godzilla's series was cancelled, Demonicus was transferred to an Avengers West Coast villain, threatening the team with his own group of Morts, all with powers bestowed by his Lifestone energies.

-This is a guy I always felt deserved a bigger push, but that's mostly because I thought his costume was AWESOME as a kid. All purple with a skull face and a giant cape- in my own "Fanfic"-style childhood stories of the Avengers, a Demonicus lookalike called "Dr. Skull Face" (never said I was original or particularly gifted back then) was their Big Bad, replacing the Red Skull as a Cap enemy and basically acting like Doctor Doom. Demonicus didn't have anywhere near the longevity though, and his entire group died around him in the final portion of his AWC run. He was presumed dead for over a decade until he popped up as a background inmate on The Raft prison, and now he's a part of The Red Hood's gang. I have no idea why, though- he's never been remotely a physical powerhouse and has always been a scientist/mastermind type, so him being involved in mass battles just feels "off". Not that he's done anything other than peer in the background of group scenes at all times.

-Demonicus is a PL 7 with a ton of scientific know-how (especially in the fields of Physical & Life Sciences, the latter of which he also has Ultimate Skill in) and a pretty good Blaster, but he's hardly a combatant. He's far better off behind the scenes, developing new henchmen (or gigantic supermonsters) and being a pain in the ass that way. He's smart enough to bestow a ton of powers onto different people, make Kaiju strong enough to challenge Godzilla, and build a giant super-drill that tossed magma to the surface of the ocean, creating a new island for himself to live on.

[Jabroniville]

JAWBREAKER
Created By: Roy & Dann Thomas, Paul Ryan
First Appearance: The Avengers West Coast #71 (May 1991)
Role: Fire Elemental, Villains Against Her Will
Group Affiliations: The Pacific Overlords
PL 8 (75)
STRENGTH 11 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Intimidation 8 (+8)
Investigation 4 (+4)
Vehicles 2 (+2)
Stealth 2 (+2)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Fast Grab, Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 3

Powers:
"Lifestone-Given Powers: Super-Strength"
Protection 2 [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +10, Fortitude +8, Will +2

Complications:
Weakness (Glass Jaw)- Jawbreaker may be a bit more vulnerable to physical blows if his special jaw-brace is removed. However, even a guy as strong as WONDER MAN only staggered him with a full-on punch there, so who knows?

Total: Abilities: 48 / Skills: 16--8 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 2 / Defenses: 9 (75)

-Jawbreaker DEFINES "Low-End Superstrong Goon". He's just a loser character with a silly armoured outfit, generic power set, and low accuracy, pretty much only being useful in team situations because then he can nail guys from behind. I was aiming for PL 8 with this guy, but he's actually proved rather capable- he's as inaccurate as balls (Wonder Man even cracks that he telegraphs his punches badly), but knocks people clear across a room SEVERAL times (including Julia Carpenter), and actually has a sneak attack K.O. of Wonder Man to his credit, which pretty much boosts him into +11 damage AT LEAST (Power Attacking even higher). He's really inaccurate, though, and just so low-pointed that he's virtually worthless as anything other than a tank, and his Toughness doesn't match his Strength- Mockingbird was shown hurting him with her Bo Staff (he wasn't DOWN, but someone like Ben Grimm wouldn't even react to such a blow), and U.S. Agent flattened him with a punch for a bit as well. So he's kind of a simplistic Mini-Brick, unable to go toe-to-toe with most major heroes, but being great if his teammates are holding them off.

[Jabroniville]

I could never figure out what those things on his vest were supposed to be- it's like Dragons, but they're so scribbled-on that I mistook them for weird externalized-internal organs or something.

TAIFU/TYPHOON (Toshio Sasaki)
Created By: Roy & Dann Thomas, Paul Ryan
First Appearance: The Avengers West Coast #69 (April 1991)
Role: Wind Maker, Villains Against His Will
Group Affiliations: The Pacific Overlords
PL 8 (93)
STRENGTH 1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Insight 2 (+4)
Intimidation 4 (+5)
Perception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 2 (+3)
Vehicles 4 (+6)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Lifestone-Given Powers: Human Typhoon"
"Typhoon" Blast 8 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Cylindar) (24) -- [31]

AE: "Wind Funnels" Move Object 8 (16)
AE: "Wind Screen" Deflect 8 (Extras: Ranged) (16)
AE: "Wind Storm" Affliction 8 (Strength; Hindered & Vulnerable/Prone & Defenseless) (Extras: Extra Condition, Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Instant Recovery, Limited Degree) (8)
AE: "Tornado" Blast 8 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (24)
AE: "Whirling Winds" Damage 8 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (16)
AE: "Wind Gust" Damage 8 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (16)
AE: "Wind" Features: Extinguish Flames, Thrown Objects Auto-Miss, -4 Ranged Attacks

Flight 6 (120 mph) [12]

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Wind Area Attacks +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Wind Storm +8 Area (+8 Affliction, DC 18)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +2, Fortitude +3, Will +4

Complications:
Relationship (Family)- Taifu's wife and son have been mutated and turned into Dr. Demonicus' super-villains, and Taifu strives to free them.

Total: Abilities: 30 / Skills: 16--8 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 42 / Defenses: 10 (93)

-Taifu (a.k.a. Typhoon) only showed up for a brief bit, being an innocent man turned into a super-powered Overlord by Demonicus. He quickly overcame his master and refused to serve him, being trussed up, then nearly killed by Living Lightning (who was working with Demonicus temporarily, if accidentally), until he, his wife and his son were all freed willingly as a gesture of good will by the Mad Doctor upon the rise of Demonica to the surface. He never appeared again.

-Taifu's your everyday low-pointed Elemental guy, focusing on Area Effects that make him a PL 8, but very limited, and very vulnerable to many attacks (+2 Toughness and his saves are +3-4 across the board- VERY weak once someone gets through his attacks- most of his comic appearances feature him throwing out some impressive damage, then being one-shotted by another character- Kuroko, Living Lightning, etc.). It's a bit curious to see some regular ol' Japanese guy who is suddenly a pretty good fighter, so I kept his melee stats low- it always seemed odd to me that some generic nobody can gain super-powers and magically become skilled combatants.

[Jabroniville]

Cuz if there's one things comics loves to re-use- it's an iconic cover.

PELE (Michi Sasaki)
Created By: Roy & Dann Thomas, Tom Morgan
First Appearance: The Avengers West Coast #71 (May 1991)
Role: Fire Elemental, Villains Against Her Will
Group Affiliations: The Pacific Overlords
PL 8 (98)
STRENGTH 1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Persuasion 3 (+4)
Intimidation 6 (+8)
Expertise (Theology & Philosophy) 6 (+6)
Perception 3 (+4)
Ranged Combat (Fire) 4 (+7)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Power Attack, Ranged Attack

Powers:
"Lifestone-Given Powers: Goddess of Fire"
Fire Blast 9 (18) -- [22]

AE: "Fire Bolt" Damage 8 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (16)
AE: "Fire Wave" Damage 8 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (16)
AE: "Flame Burst" Damage 8 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (16)
AE: "Boosted Aura" Flame Aura +4 (16)

Flame Aura 4 [16]
Immunity 6 (Fire Damage, Heat) [6]
Flight 6 (120 mph) [12]

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Fire Blast +8 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Fire Area Attacks +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Flame Aura +4 (+4-8 Damage, DC 19-23)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +2, Fortitude +4, Will +4

Complications:
Relationship (Family)

Total: Abilities: 26 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 46 / Defenses: 12 (98)

-Pele, the wife of the family, is your standard Flying Blaster-type Elementalist, and based off of the comics (where she messes with Hawkeye & Spider-Woman II, but loses, alongside a mind-controlled Sunfire), she's a PL 8 Blaster who's a bit of a better fighter than her husband Toshi/Typhoon turned out to be. Played up as some kind of Hawai'ian Fire Goddess, she did some stuff, but overcame mind control and eventually just left with her husband (she & Sunfire tangled with Hawkeye, Spider-Woman II & Namor). She'd be decent if she was more well-rounded, but she's just a basic PL 8 Jobber.

[Jabroniville]

THE BIG ONE (Kenjiro Sasaki)
Created By: Roy & Dann Thomas, Tom Morgan
First Appearance: The Avengers West Coast #71 (May 1991)
Role: Machine Controller
Group Affiliations: The Pacific Overlords
PL 10 (94)
STRENGTH 13 STAMINA 11 AGILITY -2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -3 AWARENESS -3 PRESENCE -3

Skills:
Intimidation 8 (+5, +13 Size)

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

Powers:
"Lifestone-Given Powers: Weighs Two Tons; Is Giant Baby"
Growth 6 (Str & Sta +6, +6 Mass, +3 Intimidation, -3 Dodge/Parry, -6 Stealth) -- (18 feet) (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [13]
Protection 3 (Extras: Impervious 9) [12]

"Strength Feats" (Alt-Effects of Strength-Damage) [2]

AE: "Groundstrike" Affliction 10 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery, Limited to Grounded Targets) Linked to Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (Flaws: Limited to Objects) (12.5)
AE: "Groundstrike" Affliction 10 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery, Limited to Grounded Targets) Linked to Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited to Objects) (12.5)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+13 Damage, DC 28)
Groundstrikes +10 Area (+10 Affliction & Damage, DC 20 & 25)
Initiative -2

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (DC 14), Parry +4 (DC 14), Toughness +14 (+5 Impervious), Fortitude +11, Will +0

Complications:
Disabled (Infant)- The Big One cannot speak, and tends to throw temper tantrums. He also can't get up when knocked over.

Total: Abilities: 38 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 27 / Defenses: 13 (94)

-The Big One is easily one of the more bizarre concepts I've seen used as a threat in comic books. Dr. Demonicus captured a Japanese family on their boat, and decided to modify all of them to become superpowered champions. OK, that's classic Mad Scientist stuff. But transforming their BABY? That's it's OWN level of screwed-up. So the newly-rechristened Big One fought the West Coast Avengers for a bit, before he started crying, revealing that he was just an infant that resembled a ton-ton super-heavyweight monster (Spider-Woman II & Scarlet Witch, the only two mothers there, were the only ones who knew how to deal with him). He was eventually cured by Demonicus as a good-will gesture to get his own country, and that was that. The Big One is PL 10, but only barely (he fought off the Avengers for a while, but wouldn't have won), having all the requisite stuff a Powerhouse needs, but his size makes him a bit clumsier (the gang actually defeated him by PUSHING HIM OVER, because his comparatively-tiny arms and legs couldn't lift his bulk). He's hard to hurt, but like most big-men, doesn't make his PL defensively at all.

[Jabroniville]

CYBERTOOTH (Yen Hsieh)
Created By: Roy & Dann Thomas, David Ross
First Appearance: The Avengers West Coast #71 (May 1991)
Role: Fire Elemental, Villains Against Her Will
Group Affiliations: The Pacific Overlords
PL 8 (73)
STRENGTH 3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+8)
Insight 2 (+2)
Intimidation 8 (+8)
Investigation 3 (+3)
Perception 4 (+4)
Stealth 2 (+5)

Advantages:
Fast Grab, Improved Hold, Ranged Attack, Startle

Powers:
"Lifestone-Given Powers: Cybernetic Teeth & Jaws"
Strength-Damage +6 (Feats: Improved Critical, Penetrating 5) [12]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Teeth +7 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +4, Fortitude +5, Will +2

Complications:
Prejudice (Freak)- Cybertooth cannot pass for an ordinary human with his giant maw of shark-teeth.

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 12 / Defenses: 7 (73)

-Hah, what a silly little character Cybertooth is. Jawbreaker's pretty bad, and so are the rest of the Pacific Overlords, but CYBERTOOTH? He even looks ridiculous- a guy with green shades and a humongous shark-toothed grin? OK, I guess it'd be scary (especially in real life), but the name alone makes him silly. He has the fewest power showings out of the team thanks to the age-old problem of "Cutting Attack" guys in comics- you can almost NEVER SHOW THEM HITTING WITH THEIR POWER, because then the heroes would be savagely injured or bleeding. Only against Wolverine or Deadpool would this guy be half-decent, but he's fighting The Avengers. Therefore, he never gets to actually BITE anyone- he chomps down on a statue to prove how tough he is, threatens to decapitate an unconscious Scarlet Witch, and that's it, aside from a particularly-embarassing event where he failed to do any kind of damage to Wonder Man at all. Sadly, I've never seen him actually fight in anything other than background panels- I have an issue where he looms threateningly, and another where he's part of the Overlords in a big mass-fight (doing some vague stuff with Mockingbird behind the real action), but doesn't really do anything (cuz y'know, if he bit someone... fight's over).

-As it stands, he's another super-limited melee fighter guy with a devastatingly hardcore attack that's really inaccurate, making him a PL 8. He's got a handful of options in combat, but he's not taking out any metahumans one-on-one. His threat to kill Scarlet Witch was his biggest move.

[Jabroniville]

IREZUMI (aka Tattoo)
Created By: Roy & Dann Thomas, David Ross
First Appearance: The Avengers West Coast #72 (July 1991)
Role: Odd-Powered Guy, Yakuza Villain
Group Affiliations: The Pacific Overlords
PL 10 (143)
STRENGTH 3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Athletics 2 (+5)
Deception 3 (+4)
Intimidation 5 (+6)
Expertise (Yakuza) 6 (+6)
Perception 3 (+3)
Stealth 2 (+5)

Advantages:
Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Essence Blast) 2, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 3

Powers:
"Lifestone-Given Powers: Tattoo-Based Essence Reflection"
Power Drawbacks: Standard Action -2, Requires New Action For Each Opponent [-3]

"Paralysis" Affliction 8 (Fort; Fatigued/Stunned/Paralyzed) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst, Sustained +2) [32]
"Reflecting Essence" Blast 13 (Feats: Penetrating 10) (Flaws: Requires Absorbing An Attack) [23]
Protection 8 (Extras: Impervious 11) [19]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Paralysis +8 Area (+8 Affliction, DC 18)
"Essense Reflection +6 (+13 Ranged Damage, DC 28)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +4 (+12 Stolen Essences), Fortitude +5, Will +3

Complications:
Prejudice (Yakuza)- Japanese Society has a large prejudice against Tattoos, owing to it's history with the Yakuza gangs- Irezumi's full-body tattoos and snake-facial tattoo will get him odd looks even in other countries.
Power Loss (Double or Triple the Essence)- Irezumi's Blast has limits- he can only double or triple the intensity of the attack initially lodged against him- if someone were to attack him with puny attacks, he'd be able to do little damage in return.

Total: Abilities: 44 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 71 / Defenses: 9 (143)

-Irezumi is probably my favourite of the Pacific Overlords, by virtue of his totally unique power. His name means "Tattoo" in English (which he helpfully describes to the heroes, pre-asskicking, because villains are often polite and informative that way- he even describes his powers to them! Then again, he IS also Japanese), and he looks like a Yakuza gangster, with tattoos covering his entire body. This probably doesn't make him any given artist's favourite guy to draw- I mean, drawing ONE guy is bad enough, but then having to learn to draw tigers, snakes, women & dragons all on his body, in the exact same poses and positions on his anatomy? I mean, that scares the CRAP out of me as an artist- there's a reason almost no comic book characters EVER have had tattoos, despite their recurrence in real life. He uses these tattoos to "Capture" the life essences of the people he's fighting- their images suddenly appear on his chest in a cool visual. This allows him to reflect attacks back at his aggressors, or (in a later issue) slow people down as he steals their Essence away. He appeared and died with the rest of the Overlords, but this is the one guy on this team of Morts I wouldn't mind seeing coming back. I'm sure the artist would kill the writer for suggesting it, though.

-There are a LOT of ways to potentially build this power- advanced Deflect, Protection with the Reflection Extra (in this case, that's sorta what he's doing- combining invulnerability with a Reflective Blast), etc., but I ended up going with three different powers at once. All of them are based off of his Tattoos, and he can apparently only really do this to two people at once, maximum. After taking a Standard Action to shift his Tattoos to his present target(s), he can do one of three things: On one level, he can slow people down and Paralyze them by stealing their image (and this is likely independent of his power). Then he can protect himself from their attacks (he implies he's immune to stuff, though I only ever saw him no-sell Iron Man & Wasp's Blasts- likely Tigra's claws, had she attacked him as well) to a high degree. THEN he can take the energy from their attacks, double (or perhaps triple it), and throw 'em straight back.

-This is rather complicated set-up (especially for a nobody), but I think this works better than the other options- he's not Reflecting the attacks, because it's stated that he's doing MORE damage than the original hits (also, Deflect doesn't work against Area or Perception stuff, and Irezumi's powers probably would). I chose not to go with the "Free Action" part of Deflect/Reflection either, because he seemed to be pretty chatty between attack/response, and had to consciously toss the attacks back at Iron Man & Wasp, so I don't think it's a near-automatic thing. Granted it's tough to say because he only used the power ONCE (the other time he tried, Scarlet Witch cancelled both their powers out and it turned into a physical fight- Spider-Woman did a run-in and took him out). I went with simple Protection to show how he's fairly immune to the attacks of others- I'm assuming that he has limits and isn't just totally invincible to everything, as that's a REALLY high Immunity To Everything with a Limit on it (70 points!).

-Despite this scary amount of power, it's weaknesses certainly caused him some pain in battle, as he's focused on U.S. Agent, but then Morning Star hits him. When he does it to Morning Star, KLAW hits him. He's totally vulnerable to people he's not actively targetted, and he's not that elite a fighter without his powers- Scarlet Witch tossed him, and when he recovered by grabbing her cape, Julia Carpenter easily beat him (granted, she's like Class 10 in Strength).

[Skavenger]

These are...interesting...builds. Mostly because so far I've been able to identify every character that wasn't a Marvel UK character...and I completely forgot these people existed.

Jab, do you have any hard and fast rules for determining when a character goes from an array (dynamic or otherwise) to a variable power?

[Jabroniville]

If I can actually picture various powers they've used, I tend to go with Arrays- Dr. Strange, Shaman, etc. Magic Guys are generally always Array-Users. If guys literally have the "they can do anything" stuff, they tend to get Variable.

Other uses for Variable:
* Uber Magic Creatures- Oberon & The Weird Sisters from "Gargoyles", as well as anything using the Grimorum Arcanorum. They essentially have the power to do ANYTHING- growing big, casting illusions, blowing stuff up, teleporting, etc.
* Cosmic Beings likely have a bit of this, given that they can use almost any power, ever, at any time. It's basically like saying "this guy is SO POWERFUL that he can just wave his hand and DO STUFF."
* I gave one variant of Shaman Variable just because it actually makes him CHEAPER, given the insane bunch of Alt-Effects he's used over the years. Granted, most of them were one-offs easily explained by Hero Point usage, but I found a site that listed all of 'em, and so I stuck with giving him tons of powers.
* Object Mimicry Types, Animal Mimics, and general Power Mimics- it's pretty much listed there in the Power to use it for that kind of stuff. Though as some have noted, people like Vixen generally only use a few specific "types" of Powers, and could save a bit by going with Alternate Form/Alt-Effects, too.