Jab's He-Builds: Beast Man, Trap Jaw, Two-Bad, Bow

[Jabroniville]

The smarmy phrase that set off a thousand deaths.

SCALPHUNTER (John Greycrow)
Created By: Chris Claremont & John Romita, Jr.
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #210 (Oct. 1986)
Role: Recurring Background Villain
Group Affiliations: The Marauders
PL 10 (150)
STRENGTH 4 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 8
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+6)
Athletics 2 (+6)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Mercenary) 8 (+11)
Expertise (History) 2 (+5)
Insight 4 (+7)
Intimidation 4 (+6)
Investigation 8 (+11)
Perception 5 (+8)
Stealth 3 (+7)
Technology 2 (+5)
Treatment 2 (+5)
Vehicles 2 (+10)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Defensive Roll, Equipment 5 (Hardware), Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Rifle) 2, Improved Initiative, Jack-of-All-Trades, Languages (4), Power Attack, Precise Attack 2 (Ranged/Cover & Concealment), Ranged Attack 5, Teamwork, Tracking, Ultimate Aim

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Ageless, Healing & Weapon-Making"
"Ageless" Immunity 1 (Aging) [1]
"Fast Healing" Regeneration 4 [4]

"Super-Fast Weapon-Making"
Enhanced Advantages 1 (Quick Draw) [1]
Enhanced Skills 3 (Technology 6, +8 total) [3]
Quickness 4 (Flaws: Limited to Weapon-Crafting) [2]

Equipment:
"Hardware Suit"
Protection 1 (1)
"Specialized Rifle" Blast 7 (Extras: Autofire) (21) -- (22)

AE: "Blasting Rifle" Blast 7 (Extras: Area- Burst) (Quirk: Limited Range- 15 feet) (20)

Assorted Other Equipment as Needed (2)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Rifle +13 (+7 Ranged Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4 (+5 Suit, +6 D.Roll), Fortitude +7, Will +8

Complications:
Motivation (Greed & Destruction)- Greycrow is a mercenary plain and simple, and will do just about anything, and kill anybody, for money. For the sheer fun of it, he murdered several Morlock CHILDREN, then bragged about it to their adoptive mother, before killing her as well.
Prejudice (Mutant)

Total: Abilities: 76 / Skills: 48--24 / Advantages: 24 / Powers: 11 / Defenses: 15 (150)

-Scalphunter is kinda-sorta the leader of The Marauders, but really, that group has basically one tactic: Kill Everything, and he just says "go kill"- not a lot of leadership involved, y'know? One of the least-dying Marauders, John Greycrow has only been killed & cloned ONCE by Mister Sinister. He had those classic "Vague Mutant Powers" that became REALLY common in the Iron Age, where it was clear he was some kind of mutant, but they never really explained what his powers were. He just walked around with his scary goatee and long hair, in a suit comprised entirely of mechanical implements that he snapped together to make guns. Seemed rather odd, but he killed a crap-load of people, so who were we to make fun? It later turned out he was some long-lived mercenary with ties to Gambit, and later on Nightcrawler convinced clone-Scalphunter that he had no soul and was worthless, breaking him mentally.

-And few could deserve it better. A pure cold-hearted psychopath, he murdered Annalee of the Morlocks (a sad old woman who tried to mind-control several children, including Power Pack, into being her adopted family) and several of her children, all the while talking about "they were born", and that was reason enough to kill them. Now THAT is pure, unadulterated villainy.

-Scalphunter is a good example of a trade-offed guy (+13/+7), but his powers are kind of hard to explain, as it's never been fully described just what he did. The SAGA Marvel RPG explained him as a Tracker-based mutant, but his whole thing revolves around the quick-making of Guns, so I threw in some of that as a Mutant Power- Limited Quickness and Enhanced Skills & Quick Draw. He's also in good shape despite being a World War II veteran (Immunity- Aging), and can regenerate from some harm over time, but not too quickly (Regeneration). At PL 10 (150), he's quite good, especially with his high-powered Rifles (much better than the paltry "guns" used in the Equipment guidelines in the rulebooks), but is weaker on Defense by a considerable ways (PL 8.5). He's really a Skillmonkey mixed with a low-powered Ranged Fighter, effective as a strategist and team-fighter.

[Jabroniville]

Usually when you call someone a butt-head, it's an insult, not a descriptor.

PRISM (Robbie, last name unknown)
Created By: Chris Claremont & Louise and Walt Simonson
First Appearance: X-Factor #10 (Nov. 1986)
Role: Sacrificial Mook
Group Affiliations: The Marauders
PL 9 (110)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS -1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Expertise (Criminal) 3 (+3)
Intimidation 2 (+2)
Perception 3 (+2)

Advantages:
Improved Aim, Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Crystalline, Absorbing Body"
Immunity 30 (Life Support, All Energy Attacks) [30]

"Energy Redirection" Mimic 6 (Flaws: Limited to Energy Powers, Limited to When Touched By Energy, Fades) (30) -- [32]

AE: Environment 5 (Light) (10)
AE: "Redirect Ambient Light" Affliction 9 (Fort; Visual Daze, Impair & Unaware) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (18)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Energy Redirection +8 (+0-10 Damage, DC 15-25)
Initiative +2

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

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)- Prism is a mutant, and an obvious one, with a crystalline body no one could miss.
Reputation (Easily Killed)- Even for a Marauder, Prism dies a lot. He has died a total of four times and been cloned after the first three, so he has a rep as a weakling.
Reputation (Arrogant)- Despite his easily-killable nature, Prism is a braggart and very over-confident.

Total: Abilities: 30 / Skills: 8--4 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 62 / Defenses: 9 (110)

-Hah, Prism sucks. Created seemingly to be a sacrificial lamb of his crew, his appearance is all of two or three pages long. He pops up in X-Factor #10, after the bad-assery of the first group of Marauders, suddenly showing up with Sabretooth and Blockbuster, adding to the team. He cracks some jokes, blinds Iceman, redirects an Optic Blast into Cyclops, and then explodes horribly when Marvel Girl telekinetically throws him into a wall. That's it. He showed up three more times as clones (or possibly Regenerated material, but probably just clones like the other Marauders), also getting his ass kicked quickly. He's probably the most one-note guy of his entire team.

-Prism is a funky little character to stat. His whole schtick is Energy Absorption, which works a bit different in 3rd Edition, but Mimic works just as well- perhaps even better. All you need is three Flaws attached to it- it's limited to Energy-Based Powers (Blasts, light, etc.), Limited to when he's been hit by attacks (baseline Mimic allows you to just scan guys), and it Fades because he's run out of energy. Quite elegant and simple, really, and it saves points heavily. He can mimic up to 30 ranks of Blast (so a Penetrating Burst Optic Blast 10 or something), as well as shed absorbed light as a Dazzle or Environment power. And of course in addition to that Mimic, he has to be invulnerable to what hits him or else it's pretty worthless. Therefore, he's got 20 ranks of Immunity to make him impossible to injure with ANY Energy Attacks. A potential Game-Breaker on some people, he needs it, because...

-Aside from this one pretty good attack (making him a PL 9 Blaster with a LOT of variability), he's completely worthless, however. Dumb, arrogant and one-note, he shattered from a simple wall-smash (a baseline Telekinetic ability), and even COPS killed him once. Seriously, a super-villain killed by THE POLICE? Sure, they were possessed by demons, but c'mon, it was just bullets. Nobody in comics dies to bullets! This results in Prism being a mere PL 4.5 defensively, which is as pathetic as you can get.

[Jabroniville]

"I was a street-clothes-wearing superhuman before that was cool!"

SCRAMBLER (Kim Il-Sung)
Created By: Chris Claremont & John Romita, Jr.
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #210 (Oct. 1986)
Role: Power-Nullifier, Background Villain
Group Affiliations: The Marauders
PL 11 (111)
STRENGTH 0 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 4 (+8)
Deception 2 (+2)
Expertise (Mercenary) 4 (+4)
Insight 2 (+2)
Intimidation 3 (+3)
Perception 3 (+3)
Stealth 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Improved Initiative, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: System-Scrambling"
"Power Nullification" Nullify 14 (Feats: Precise) (Extras: Broad- All Metahuman Effects, Simultaneous, Effortless, Sustained +2) (Flaws: Close Range) (70) -- [72]

AE: "Control Powers" Affliction 10 (Fort; Dazed/Compelled/Controlled Powers) (10)
AE: "Disrupt Brain Systems" Affliction 12 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (10)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Power Nullify +8 (+14 Nullify, DC 24)
Power Control +8 (+10 Affliction, DC 20)
Dirupt Brain +8 (+10 Affliction, DC 20)
Initiative +6

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +1, Fortitude +3, Will +3

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Motivation (Murder)- Scrambler is as blood-thirsty as his comrades, and enjoys stealing people's powers away from them, so that they can be easily killed by his comrades.
Power Loss (Nullify)- Scrambler cannot Nullify effects that are outside the user's body- he has to actually touch them physically.

Total: Abilities: 14 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 72 / Defenses: 13 (111)

-Scrambler is a lethal addition to his team, not because of sheer power, but because of the nature of his abilities. With a touch, he can disrupt and 'scramble' the systems of anything. "Systems" being brainwaves, technology, powers, etc. As a walking Power Nullifier, he can effectively take out a team's most powerful members with a touch, leaving them horrifically vulnerable to further attack. However, he received almost no charactization beyond "evil murderer", and he was so vulnerable to normal attack that he could barely be considered of battlefield use beyond his one big trick. And yes, he's got the same name as North Korea's deceased Great Leader.

-Scrambler's one-note (though he has a few Alt-Effects based off of Wiki's explanation of further power use- both Affliction-based), but it's a HELL of a note, making him a PL 11 guy in terms of Nullification. Nullify works mainly the same way, as Scrambler can touch someone (a Flaw), and remove their full powers at will- "Broad" exists for "powers of a particular type", which includes Metahuman Powers, then made it Effortless & Simultaneous (meaning all powers got nullified, and he wasn't penalized for failing), AND upped the Duration, allowing him to keep someone's powers nullified for as long as he was awake. Eventually guys got their powers back, but with a +14 Nullification in progress, plenty of people would fail the test.

[FuzzyBoots]

One of my favorite treatments of the Marauders was Laersyn's Devil's Due. Basically, he wrote it as a take on "write a battle that the X-Men don't win" but it's a brilliantly executed tale of the triumph of planning where the Marauders arrange a rematch, but do so on chosen ground and use divide-and-conquer methods to take down the current X-Men.

^_^ As always, loving the builds!

[Jabroniville]

BLOCKBUSTER (Michael Baer)
Created By: Louise and Walt Simonson
First Appearance: X-Factor #10 (Nov. 1986)
Role: Powerhouse, Throwaway Bad-Guy
Group Affiliations: The Marauders
PL 10 (92)
STRENGTH 11 STAMINA 9 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+8)
Intimidation 9 (+9)
Perception 3 (+3)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Chokehold, Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Grab, Improved Initiative, Improved Hold, Improved Smash, Power Attack, Startle, Withstand Damage

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Enhanced Physique"
Impervious Toughness 8 [8]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +9 (+4 Impervious), Fortitude +10, Will +3

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Motivation (Ego)- Blockbuster is easily shamed by people, and if he's embarassed, he will go to any lengths necessary to salve his wounded pride. This resulted in him attacking The Mighty Thor solo.

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 14--7 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 8 / Defenses: 12 (92)

-Haha, gotta love guys like Blockbuster. Louise Simonson's X-Factor title crossed over into Mutant Massacre, and added a few members to the group- including Sabretooth, Prism and this guy, who was a generic Big Dumb Powerhouse type of guy. But unlike Prism, HE got a good showing- HE's the guy who crippled Angel, setting off the events that led to his turning blue and gaining bad-ass powers for the first time in his super-hero career. He & Harpoon grabbed Angel while he was protecting Artie, and Blockbuster rended his wings while Harpoon nailed him to the wall, changing X-Factor (and Warren) forever.

-Of course, after he got this showing, he ended up going against THOR, who crossed over into the Mutant Massacre (mostly because Walt Simonson was married to X-scribe Louise I bet). Thor chased off the Marauders a couple times, leading to Sabretooth mocking ol' Blockbuster for not being "up to the job" of Team Strongman. 'Buster took offense, and promised to kill Thor. And coincidentally, this was right when Hela, Goddess of Death, magically de-powered Thor, rendering his bones brittle as an "old woman's", leaving Thor vulnerable to attack. So Blockbuster jumped in, smashed up Thor's left arm and would've killed him if Angel hadn't recovered and attacked him. Thor used the time bought to swing his hammer around, make some Thor-y comments, and straight-up smashed Blockbuster's face in, for one of the few Marauder deaths of this cross-over.

-Like most of his team, Blockbuster was cloned a few times, doing far less than challenging Thor. Pretty standard boring Powerhouse, really.

-Blockbuster's a PL 9.5 guy on offense, being about as good a fighter as a PL 10 Powerhouse usually is, but a notch weaker. Enough to cripple a severely-weakened Thor, but he couldn't dish out damage like Colossus or The Thing. He's super-strong, but not THAT strong. Defensively, he's lower in level (8-8.5), leaving him highly vulnerable, despite his great durability. He's as high is he is because of his Thor fight (even though he died)- later versions are likely a notch or two lower, probably PL 9.

[Jabroniville]

HARPOON (Kodiak Noatak)
Created By: Chris Claremont & John Romita, Jr.
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #210 (Oct. 1986)
Role: Recurring Background Villain, Blaster
Group Affiliations: The Marauders
PL 10 (135)
STRENGTH 4 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+6)
Athletics 3 (+7)
Close Combat (Harpoon) 2 (+10)
Expertise (Hunter/Survivalist) 4 (+4)
Expertise (Criminal) 4 (+4)
Insight 2 (+2)
Intimidation 6 (+6)
Perception 5 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Harpoon) 6 (+10)
Stealth 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Equipment 2, Defensive Roll, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Harpoon), Improved Initiative, Improved Smash, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Ranged & Cover/Concealment) 2, Quick Draw, Teamwork 2, Tracking

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Energize Metal With Bio-Energy"
"Corroding Blast" Blast 10 (Feats: Affects Insubstantial 2, Electrical or Energy Descriptor, Improved Critical 2) (Extras: Penetrating) (Flaws: Limited to While Holding Metal) (Drawbacks: Diminished Range- 10/20/50) Linked to Weaken Toughness 5 (Extras: Ranged, Secondary Effect) (Flaws: Same) (34) -- [35]

AE: "Stun Blast" Affliction 10 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Feats: Affects Insubstantial 2) (Extras: Cumulative Effect, Ranged) (Drawbacks: Diminished Range- 10/20/50) (31)

"Arctic-Borne" Movement 1 (Environment- Arctic & Ice) [2]

Equipment:
"Harpoons" Strength-Damage +2 (Extras: Ranged 7) (Drawbacks: Diminished Range- 10/20/50) (8)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Harpoon +10 (+6 Close/Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Stun Blast +10 (+10 Ranged Affliction, DC 20)
Corroding Blast +10 (+10 Ranged Damage & +5 Weaken, DC 25 & 15)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4 (+5 D.Roll), Fortitude +7, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Greed & Destruction)- Harpoon is a heartless mercenary, killing hundreds of Morlocks, including helpless ones.
Prejudice (Mutant)
Country Mouse- Harpoon is from a small village in Inuit lands, and is unfamiliar with the big city, especially one like New York.

Total: Abilities: 48 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 16 / Powers: 37 / Defenses: 15 (135)

-Harpoon was a pretty cool background Marauder, and one of the most lethal: Most of the really big death scenes of Morlocks came at the hands of a far-flung Energy Harpoon, which frequently dissolved their bodies and cooked them from the inside-out. EXTREMELY lethal, he was responsible for the near-permanent injury of Shadowcat, sending her out of the "X-Men" main series and into "Excalibur", but was notably much more vulnerable and kind of cowardly. He actually took a LOT of ass-kickings over the course of "The Mutant Massacre" storyline. It's actually kind of funny- though the first couple fights happen REALLY quickly, the next several dozen issues of the cross-over just have various numbers of Marauders pairing off and doing stuff, often at a very relaxed pace, interacting with groups of heroes at their leisure. Harpoon runs afoul of X-Factor (slicing open The Beast), Power Pack, Plague/Pestilence (who gets saved by Apocalypse, who KOs Harpoon), THOR, etc. during his span.

-Kind of a Flat Character, though. He doesn't really do much other than taunt people and kill, and he spends a LOT of time running away- from Wolverine, Thor and others. His sole character traits seem to be that he "was really impressed by seeing big cities, because he's an Inuit". Yeah.

-Harpoon is a dangerous PL 10, nearly making PC-level points expenditures. He's got a Blast as long as he's carrying his Metal Harpoons (which are themselves Equipment), either Stunning or REALLY doing some damage, as they Penetrate the target and boils them alive with a Weaken effect running simultaneously (a Secondary Effect does a little bit of extra damage). Thrown Weapons are a tad different in this edition, not doing the annoying "Touch Range plus Thrown ranks per a certain amount of feet plus Mighty to the full rank of damage" think that's WAY too complex and fills up too much space- it replaces that with a "Diminished Range" Drawback-y thing that merely reduces the full extent of your attack (all Ranged attacks are the same range otherwise, between 25, 50 & 100 feet, not based on rank like in 2nd Edition). Harpoon's a deadly Blaster, but suffers from their usual weaknesses- he's not even remotely Min/Maxed in terms of Defense, so he's going to be easy to hit and bring down if he doesn't kill his enemies in the opening salvos of combat.

[Jabroniville]

Hello, Hello (... hola!) I'm at a place called...

VERTIGO II (Real name unknown)
Created By: Chris Claremont & Michael Golden
First Appearance: Marvel Fanfare Vol. 1 #1 (March 1982)
Role: Recurring Background Villain, Status Affecter
Group Affiliations: The Marauders, The Savage Land Mutates
PL 10 (118)
STRENGTH 0 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

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

Advantages:
Improved Initiative, Seize Initiative, Teamwork 2

Powers:
"Mutate-Given Powers: Vertigo Field"
Affliction 10 (Fort; Hindered & Impaired/Defenseless & Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Extra Condition, Cumulative, Selective) (60) -- [61]

AE: "Sleep Field" Affliction 10 (Fort; Fatigued/Exhausted/Asleep) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Cumulative, Selective) (50)

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Vertigo Field (+10 Burst Affliction, DC 20)
Initiative +7

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +2, Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Destruction)- Vertigo, especially with the Marauders, is all about causing pain and destruction. Her Savage Land self appears less so.
Power Loss (Vertigo Field)- Vertigo's powers are vast, but highly acrobatic people such as Nightcrawler and The Beast, who are extremely used to dizziness and vertigo, can often handle her powers and move unharmed.

Total: Abilities: 24 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 61 / Defenses: 15 (118)

-Vertigo is one of those characters that just DEFINES "Team Player", especially for a villains group. Just like Scrambler, she's a Status Affecter- one of those nasty power sets that's not that useful on your own, but excels and dropping tons of enemies' skills and abilities to the point where they're easy pickings for the rest. Her origin's a little weird- she's one of those throwaway mooks that ended up in the Savage Land Mutates as a Chris Claremont creation, and of course this guy throws NOTHING away (part of why he gave Carol Danvers such a huge push all the time back then- one of his first Marvel gigs was the Ms. Marvel book), so she got shifted over to The Marauders because they needed another lady and he had some idea to re-use this character. Then she died, and got cloned some. And there's still a Vertigo on the Mutates sometimes, which implies that the Marauder ones have ALWAYS been clones, but it's not like she has any personality, so who cares?

-Yeah, that's not a nice power to be hit by. Sure it's only Affliction 10, but it's got TWO Effects running simultaneously in a sixty-foot range that's Selective (meaning she can hit you with it while she's beside her teammates- something VERY few Area Effecters can do), and she can do it every round as long as she Concentrates. This is exteremely dangerous and effective, but very expensive, and it leaves her a one-trick pony since it's all she really does. That's her whole thing- jump in, Seize Initiative and set off her Veritgo Field, screwing up the entire team so the rest of The Marauders can do as much damage as humanly possible. She's a lightweight in combat, though, and it generally only takes one or two punches to bring her down. But she's almost always the first member of the team you want to disable.

[Ares]

One of my favorite treatments of the Marauders was Laersyn's Devil's Due.

That had to be one of the most terrible things I've read in recent years. But then again, anytime there's a "Heroes don't always win and there isn't always a happy ending" disclaimer, it's a warning sign that the writer is going to be indulging in some pretty f***ed up fan fiction at the expense of the characters.

[Jabroniville]

Yeah, not a fan of FanFic here, myself. I had my fun with it eons ago, but now it just bores me. Especially with the "Sad Ending/Gore Porn" stuff.

[FuzzyBoots]

{nods} I'm not big on the unhappy endings myself. And some of the scenes went toward the shock side of things, but it did do a lot at the time to restore the Marauders as viable threats to the fans. As you noted in your writeups, they were notable because they were successful in their massacre, at least at first, but have since more or less become jokes that are killed at will. Here, they're actually shown planning for the battle, working against known weaknesses.

^_^ But enough natter, on with the builds, eh?

[Jabroniville]

MALICE (name unknown)
Created By: Chris Claremont & Rick Leonardi
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #214 (Feb. 1987)
Role: Recurring Background Villain, Possessor
Group Affiliations: The Marauders
PL 10 (151)
STRENGTH -- STAMINA 2 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 0 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 6 (+6)
Deception 12 (+16)
Expertise (Criminal) 4 (+6)
Insight 4 (+6)
Intimidation 2 (+6)
Perception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 2 (+6)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Possession"
"Incorporeal Body"
Insubstantial 4 (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [21]
Immunity 2 (Suffocation) [2]

"Psionic Entity"
Concealment 3 (Visuals & Hearing) (Feats: Precise) (Extras: Continuous Duration +2) [12]

"Possession"
Affliction 14 (Will; Dazed/Compelled/Controlled) (Extras: Cumulative, Affects Corporeal, Continuous Duration +3) (Flaws: Instant Recovery) (Noticeable: Choker Appears -1) [69]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (No Damage, DC 0)
Possession +6 (+14 Affliction, DC 24)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +2, Fortitude +4, Will +8

Complications:
Motivation (Destruction)- Malice is as crazy as all the other Marauders, and just likes to cause mayhem for it's own sake.
Prejudice (Mutant)

Total: Abilities: 14 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 104 / Defenses: 16 (151)

-Malice wasn't even really a Marauder at first- she just showed up in the same storyline, possessing Dazzler, who was then undercover in Lila Cheney's band and doing her own thing away from the X-Men. Malice took her over, then later took over Polaris (who was in Comics Limbo before that), doing a long-running thing there, this time as a field leader for The Marauders. She popped up in modern times with the team, taking over Omega Sentinel (then an X-Man) and stuff. Me, I don't like possessor-types, ESPECIALLY when they mix the ultra-cheap game-breaky stuff like Insubstantial & Invisible on TOP of it- It's almost unbreakable, and it makes for some boring storytelling most of the time. Also, I don't understand why there are TWO Insubstantial Possessor characters named Malice in Marvel Comics. It seems to be that they're both different characters, so it's weird.

-Malice is full-on dangerous, just like the rest of The Marauders, packing another one-note ability. She's permanently Insubstantial, Invisible at-will (she can appear when she wants to be, or just use her voice), and can possess people, which requires me to "build" the power ground-up, as it doesn't exist just yet. Basically, it's a Touch Range Cumulative Mental Affliction, acting exactly like Mind Control but in close, with the caveat that you must join the physical body of the person you're attacking (it costs 4 points/rank, which fits the increase in Mind Control cost in general). In Malice's case, this also allows Continuous Duration, meaning that if she possesses someone, they're done- she's in control permanently, until she sees fit, or is forcibly removed.

Edit-- OK, so they finally made Possession out as a power, and it turns out I already kinda had it down (since Malice is Insubstantial and all)- All I missed was Instant Recovery and Affects Corporeal (I forgot that despite being a Will Save, I made it Touch Range).

[Jabroniville]

SOMEONE certainly got a lot hotter and more feminine from her earlier appearances. Must be the "Big Ethel" diet.

ARCLIGHT (Phillipa Sontag)
Created By: Chris Claremont & John Romita, Jr.
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #210 (Oct. 1986)
Role: Recurring Background Villain, Brutish Chick
Group Affiliations: The Marauders
PL 10 (145)
STRENGTH 10 STAMINA 9 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 4 (+5)
Expertise (Criminal) 5 (+5)
Expertise (Soldier) 6 (+6)
Insight 3 (+5)
Intimidation 6 (+7)
Perception 3 (+5)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Diehard, Fast Grab, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Grab, Improved Initiative, Improved Hold, Improved Smash, Power Attack, Seize Initiative, Startle, Teamwork 2

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Seismic Shockwaves"
Affliction 10 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery, Limited to Grounded Targets) Linked to Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (35) -- [37]

AE: "Seismic Line" Affliction 10 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Line +2) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery, Limited to Grounded Targets) Linked to Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Line +2) (35)
AE: "Seismic Cone" Affliction 10 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Area- 120ft. Cone +2) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery, Limited to Grounded Targets) Linked to Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 120ft. Cone +2) (35)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Seismic Shockwave +10 Area (+10 Affliction & +10 Damage Burst, DC 20 & 25)
Initiative +7

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +9, Fortitude +11, Will +6

Complications:
Motivation (Greed & Destruction)- Arclight is an aggressive, psychotic murderer who loves to brawl, and cares for little else. Even her relationship with Scalphunter appears to be entirely physical.
Prejudice (Mutant)
Backstory (Vietnam Vet)- Arclight went crazy in Vietnam, and the memories of that place still haunt her. It drove her desire towards bodybuilding and later, killing.

Total: Abilities: 66 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 14 / Powers: 37 / Defenses: 12 (145)

-Arclight is a pretty bad-ass, psychotic lady. Strong as hell, mean and incredibly violent, she's the Team Powerhouse when Blockbuster isn't around (like that first fight), and kinda journeyed around the "Mutant Massacre" storyline. Embarassingly, she got KO'd by Jack Power of all people, after having really good showings against the X-Men (knocking Colossus through a wall and separating huge groups with collapsing walls), and later became a background character that never did much of anything.

-Arclight is a standard Powerhouse with nothing fancy, except for her "Shockwave" power. She's a bit more balanced that most (+10/+10 on offense, but PL 9-ish on defense). Her power is essentially a large-breadth version of the Groundstrike common to Powerhouses, and expensive enough to be it's own power rather than an Alternate Effect of pure Strength. It allows her to Trip guys in a massive Burst, as well as Lines or Cones, in addition to sheer Damage. Most Groundstrikes just damage, well, the GROUND, but Arclight's are so powerful that they basically knock people into chasms, tip structures over, and collapse entire hallways- the kind of thing that hurts guys no matter where they are. The light that her attacks give off is just flavour- not worth statting.

[Jabroniville]

One of my Top Ten Best Moments in Comic Book History.

RIPTIDE (Janos Quested)
Created By: Chris Claremont & John Romita, Jr.
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #210 (Oct. 1986)
Role: Recurring Background Villain, Blaster, Mass Killer
Group Affiliations: The Marauders
PL 10 (133)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Expertise (Criminal) 4 (+4)
Intimidation 8 (+8)
Perception 4 (+4)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Evasion 2, Improved Critical (Throwing Blades), Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover & Concealment) 2, Ranged Attack 7, Startle, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Spinning"
"Hard to Hit Cleanly" (Extras: Sustained +0)
Protection 5 Linked to Immunity 5 (Entrapment) [10]
Enhanced Dodge 5 [5]
Enhanced Parry 3 [3]

"View All-Around" Senses 1 (Radius Sight) [1]
"Blade Storm" Blast 10 (Extras: Multiattack, Penetrating) (40) -- [41]

AE: "Blade Burst" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Selective) (40)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Blade Storm +10 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Blade Burst +10 Area (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +7

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +3 (+8 Spinning), Fortitude +7, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Greed & Destruction)- Riptide is a braggart and a murderer, enjoying the dying screams of dozens of fatally-wounded Morlocks.
Prejudice (Mutant)

Total: Abilities: 34 / Skills: 16--8 / Advantages: 17 / Powers: 60 / Defenses: 14 (133)

-Riptide's probably the most visually interesting of The Marauders, which is why he's usually in the forefront of big pictures, despite lasting the least amount of time of the original roster. He's a white-haired, evil spinny guy, who tosses out crap-tons of shurikens and knives, and killed more Morlocks en masse than any other member of his team. I guess the others liked protracted suffering, but ol' Riptide loves volume. Gotta respect that in a villain. His dramatic nature made for one of my favourite moments EVER as a comics fan, as Colossus is angered to his absolute breaking point upon seeing Nightcrawler mortally wounded, and Shadowcat potentially maimed. Furious, he walks with great pain through an entire Bladestorm, ignores the damage, and coldly grabs Riptide by the throat and SNAPS HIS NECK in front of a horrified group of X-Men and Marauders. In a great silhouetted panel, he promises Harpoon "Make peace with your Gods, LITTLE MAN, because YOU-ARE-NEXT!!" The Marauders wisely choose to ferret away.

-Riptide showed up a bunch more times, but was less lethal for the rest of them (makes sense- that kind of power is a Gamebreaker), and generally more of a background guy. That's kind of why I hate the whole "Sinister Clones Them" story- it makes everybody less dramatic, and now they no longer matter as people.

-Riptide's power is incredibly lethal, but like the others, he can be one-note-ish. He can either throw out a Multiattack that's Penetrating, or a Selective Burst that isn't. Either are equally bad- Blast 10 is enough to do a ton of damage to hordes of less-tough people, especially with his 60-foot range, and the Penetrating Blast crippled Nightcrawler, and nearly did the same to Colossus.

-His "Spinning" Power is constructed much like the one in "Ultimate Power", which is a mix of Toughness, resisting grappling & bonds (I just used Immunity because it's the same damn price) and enhanced ability to Dodge, all of which are Sustained in Duration, allowing him to turn it off (and become more vulnerable if Nullified). He can also see all the way around him. Altogether a REALLY scary Blaster, but that's about all he can do- kinda limited in Skills otherwise.

[Horsenhero]

Occasionally, it's kind of nice to see villains who're willing to carry through on all the smack they talk. Equally nice is when they get exactly what they deserve.

[Jabroniville]

"Make fun of my MINK STOLE, will you!? COME HERE!!"

SABRETOOTH (Victor Creed)
Created By: Chris Claremont & John Byrne
First Appearance: Iron Fist #14 (Aug. 1977)
Role: Rescued Obscure Villain, Dark Mirror Image Villain, Claw Guy, Psychotic Murderer
Group Affiliations: The Marauders, Team X, The X-Men, X-Factor, Weapon-X, The Mutant Brotherhood
PL 11 (208), PL 12 (208) When Fighting Wolverine
STRENGTH 7 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+6)
Athletics 5 (+12)
Close Combat (Claws) 2 (+13)
Deception 5 (+7)
Expertise (Criminal) 6 (+6)
Expertise (Military/Mercenary) 10 (+10)
Expertise (History) 3 (+3)
Insight 4 (+6)
Intimidation 13 (+15)
Investigation 3 (+5)
Perception 10 (+12)
Sleight of Hand 4 (+8)
Stealth 6 (+10)
Technology 2 (+2)
Vehicles 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, All-Out Attack, Assessment, Beginner's Luck, Chokehold, Close Attack, Daze (Intimidation), Extraordinary Effort, Fascinate (Intimidation), Fast Grab, Favored Foe (Wolverine), Fearless, Follow-Up Strike, Hide in Plain Sight, Improved Critical (Claws) 2, Improved Grab, Improved Initiative 2, Improved Hold, Languages (A Few), Last Stand, Power Attack, Prone Fighting, Ranged Attack 6, Seize Initiative, Startle, Takedown 2, Taunt

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Healing Factor & Claws"
"Claws" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Split) [3]
Movement 1 (Wall-Crawling) [2]

"Animalistic Physiology"
Speed 2 [2]
Leaping 1 [1]

"Healing Factor"
Immunity 3 (Aging, Poison, Disease) [3]
Regeneration 10 (Every Round) (Feats: Regrowth) [11]
Enhanced Advantages 2: Diehard, Great Endurance [2]

"Super-Senses"
Senses 11 (Acute, Accurate & Extended Scent, Extended & Low-Light Vision, Scent-Tracking 2, Ultra, Extended & Accurate Hearing) [12]

"Impregnable Mental Defenses" Impervious Will 7 [7]

"Wolverine Obsession"
Enhanced Advantages 2: Close Combat 2 (Flaws: Limited to When Fighting Wolverine) [1]
Enhanced Parry 2 (Flaws: Limited to When Fighting Wolverine) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Claws +13 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
(Note: +12 & +15 Accuracy vs. Wolverine)
Initiative +12

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +10 (DC 20, 22 vs. Logan), Toughness +8, Fortitude +13, Will +8

Complications:
Motivation (Killing)- Sabretooth enjoys the hell out of murder and mayhem, and makes no bones about it. A sadistic killer to the extreme, he is immoral even by the standards of most super-villains.
Prejudice (Obvious Mutant)- With his sheer size, musculature, and fangs, Sabretooth is a stand-out, and most would distrust him.
Enemy (Wolverine)- The epic relationship here extremely malicious. Both would drop everything just to beat the crap out of the other.

Total: Abilities: 74 / Skills: 76--37 / Advantages: 36 / Powers: 45 / Defenses: 16 (208)

SABRETOOTH (Victor Creed)- With Adamantium Skeleton
Created By: Chris Claremont & John Byrne
First Appearance: Iron Fist #14 (Aug. 1977)
Role: Rescued Obscure Villain, Dark Mirror Image Villain, Claw Guy, Psychotic Murderer
Group Affiliations: The Marauders, Team X, The X-Men, X-Factor, Weapon-X, The Mutant Brotherhood
PL 12 (219), PL 13 (219) When Fighting Wolverine
STRENGTH 8 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 5 (+12)
Close Combat (Claws) 3 (+13)
Deception 5 (+7)
Expertise (Criminal) 6 (+6)
Expertise (Military/Mercenary) 10 (+10)
Expertise (History) 3 (+3)
Insight 4 (+6)
Intimidation 13 (+15)
Investigation 3 (+5)
Perception 10 (+12)
Sleight of Hand 4 (+8)
Stealth 4 (+8)
Technology 2 (+2)
Vehicles 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, All-Out Attack, Assessment, Beginner's Luck, Chokehold, Close Attack, Daze (Intimidation), Extraordinary Effort, Fascinate (Intimidation), Fast Grab, Favored Foe (Wolverine), Fearless, Follow-Up Strike, Hide in Plain Sight, Improved Critical (Claws) 2, Improved Grab, Improved Initiative, Improved Hold, Languages (A Few), Last Stand, Power Attack, Prone Fighting, Ranged Attack 6, Seize Initiative, Startle, Takedown 2, Taunt

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Healing Factor & Claws"
"Adamantium Claws" Strength-Damage +3 (Feats: Split) (Extras: Penetrating 11) [15]
Movement 1 (Wall-Crawling) [2]

"Adamantium Skeleton"
Protection 2 [2]
Enhanced Strength 1 [2]

"Animalistic Physiology"
Speed 2 [2]
Leaping 1 [1]

"Healing Factor"
Immunity 3 (Aging, Poison, Disease) [3]
Regeneration 8 (Every Round) (Feats: Regrowth) [9]
Enhanced Advantages 2: Diehard, Great Endurance [2]

"Super-Senses"
Senses 11 (Acute, Accurate & Extended Scent, Extended & Low-Light Vision, Scent-Tracking 2, Ultra, Extended & Accurate Hearing) [12]

"Impregnable Mental Defenses" Impervious Will 7 [7]

"Wolverine Obsession"
Enhanced Advantages 2: Close Combat 2 (Flaws: Limited to When Fighting Wolverine) [1]
Enhanced Parry 2 (Flaws: Limited to When Fighting Wolverine) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Claws +13 (+11 Damage, DC 26)
(Note: +12 & +15 Accuracy vs. Wolverine)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +10 (DC 20, 22 vs. Logan), Toughness +10, Fortitude +13, Will +8

Complications:
Motivation (Killing)- Sabretooth enjoys the hell out of murder and mayhem, and makes no bones about it. A sadistic killer to the extreme, he is immoral even by the standards of most super-villains.
Prejudice (Obvious Mutant)- With his sheer size, musculature, and fangs, Sabretooth is a stand-out, and most would distrust him.
Enemy (Wolverine)- The epic relationship here extremely malicious. Both would drop everything just to beat the crap out of the other.

Total: Abilities: 72 / Skills: 74--37 / Advantages: 35 / Powers: 59 / Defenses: 16 (219)

-"Mirror Image Villains" are among the most common tropes used in comic books, and for good reason. Who better to fight the super-hero than a guy with nearly the exact same powers, but used for evil, letting the hero confront himself in a more literal kind of way. Now, it tends to get over-done, especially if the hero fights DOZENS of guys with a similar concept to himself (Iron Man and his endless Evil Armoured Guys, Spider-Man and his Symbiotes & Animal-Themed Guys, The Flashes and their Fast Guys, and especially Wolverine and his Claw Guys), but when there's an epic villain, it seems to work.

-Enter Sabretooth, a pretty forgettable Iron Fist villain, who ended up being one of those freelance guys who just bounced from book to book as a Filler Villain (like Mr. Hyde), but he was a Chris Claremont guy... which of course, means that he just HAD TO take part in the X-Books EVENTUALLY, and thus he showed up with The Marauders partway through the story arc, almost as an afterthought. He wasn't part of the big X-Fight, but just casually showed up dealing with Power Pack and making fun of Blockbuster for failing against Thor. Right away though, he ended up squaring off with Logan, who claimed to remember him- and the next X-Men issue featured a non-stop Sabretooth battle as he tore through the X-Mansion, nearly killing Rogue and Psylocke (who proved herself against him), before Wolverine chased him off.

-That pretty much led to the eons-long war between the two, as Wolverine quickly became Marvel's most popular character, which made this one-time Filler Villain an EPIC bad-guy, which had all the requisite good and bad effects. Thus, he got a HUGE backstory as a former Weapon X operative, Logan's old mentor then rival, the murderer of Logan's love Silver Fox, and such. It was also established that Creed was just plain BETTER than Wolverine, and he'd do crazy bad-ass things like hunt him down every single time on his birthday, and beat him within an inch of his life, just to prove that he could. There was also a "Luke, I Am Your Father" subplot, but it was dropped when Larry Hama (Wolvie's writer) rejected Claremont's idea.

-The bad things came in the 90s, though, as Wolverine got more and more prevalent. Sabes got over-done as a villain, showed up way too often in his own Limited Series and such, had TWO X-Books feature him as a member of the team against his will (while faking an innocent animal's mind in one time, and using the trademark Make You A Good-Guy By Force Shock-Collar), and he even got 'killed' a few times. This kind of 90s Anti-Hero crap did away with both him & Venom as important characters pretty quickly, even though he was still a feared enemy. Even in modern times, you don't see nearly as much of him as you used to.

-For stats, Sabretooth is a deadly scrapper, being strong and fast as hell, and a good old-fashioned PL 11 fighter, though he doesn't quite meet a lot of his caps. Like most Healing Guys, he doesn't bother with a lot of Defense comparatively (and he uses All-Out Attack most of the time ANYWAYS). His strength level is up for grabs sometimes, as in early appearances, he was one-punching Rogue across the entire X-Mansion roof and squishing iron barbells between his hands casually, but was later seen as just a pretty big guy who kicked ass. I decided on the "3 tons" Strength 7. He's got Speed, Leaping, a hell of a lot of Senses, an Impervious Will (because he's frequently shown as avoiding mental scans and fakery- at times, this goes straight up into Immunity to Mental Effects, so adjust at-will), dangerous Claws, and Regeneration 10, allowing him to recover from a rank of Damage in each round.

-He's also got something I've been thinking of which makes sense- a kind-of "Favored Enemy" variant with improved Attack and Parry against a certain kind of foe that they're expected to meet up with a lot. Creed here is now a full PL HIGHER whenever he fights Logan, since he's so intimately familiar with the guy. Bad enough this guy's Logan's worst enemy, he's also just plain better than him.

-Note the second build, representing Creed with a now-common power-set of Adamantium Claws & Skeleton. This kinda got added in during the end of the 90s (or early 2000s), when they ran out of crap for Creed & Logan to do to each other, but he's had it sucked out of him at least once. It boosts his Strength & Claw damage, but he loses some Stealth and Regeneration thanks to his Healing Factor having to negate Adamantium Poisoning. I had him lowered in accuracy, but I figured "What the hell" and made Wolverine's key enemy a PL 12 guy with the claws. Truly horrifying, especially since he can heal.