by Charles Phipps » Tue Nov 10, 2009 5:58 pm
Here's a group from Falconcrest City.
The Wild Bunch
The Wild Bunch are considered an urban legend by most citizens of Falconcrest City. In a city that accepts the existence of costumed serial killers, masked vigilantes, and even the occult; the Wild Bunch are treated as tabloid gossip. The whole idea of a bunch of animal men living in the sewers fighting crime is just unbelievable. Ironically, Raven Enterprises has capitalized on the incredulity surrounding them in order to release a successful Wild Bunch cartoon and toy line.
In fact, the Wild Bunch is entirely real. In 1991, a group of teenagers were kidnapped by the Fist clan of the Black Hand and taken to a secret laboratory. There they were experimented on by the insidious Doctor Necros. Injecting them with a experimental strain of Super-Lycanthropy virus, they were transformed into animal-human hybrids. With their new found strength and abilities, the Wild Bunch found it easy to escape. Destroying the Black Hand's laboratory in the process, all of the Super-Lycanthropy virus information was lost. The Fist clan became determined to capture them in order to extract the research from their bodies.
Since that time, the Fist Clan has perfected a new strain of Super-Lycanthropy virus on their own. As such, their interest in the Wild Bunch has largely subsided. The Wild Bunch has been opposing their plans for nearly twenty years at this point and have expanded their list of enemies to include the International Crime League, PHANTOM, and the mafia. The Wild Bunch lacks the ability to seriously impact their operations on a global scale but they've made it very difficult for all of those groups to get a toe-hold in Falconcrest City.
Time has not exactly been kind to the Wild Bunch. During their early adventures, they freely killed members of the Fist and other criminals they fought. As such, they feel somewhat guilty that they've since gone on to become role-models for kids everywhere. Having accepted training in the arts of ninjitsu from Black Wing II, they've moderated their behavior and become more pacifistic. They still know that they'll never be accepted by most heroes and have no intention of moving their operations into the public eye. This is what they claim, at least.
In truth, the Wild Bunch are still ashamed of their status as deformed "monsters." After twenty years of isolation, they've become resigned to their subterranean existence and somewhat cynical about humanity as a whole. They try and content themselves with a small collection of human friends and living in a private sewer compound constructed by Raven Enterprises for their use. In fact, none of them are completely satisfied with this arrangement. Each has a private goal they'd like to pursue in public. Secrecy has served them well, though, and they are loathe to discard it. Their human friends Alexander Timons, reporter Anya O'Reilly, and the ninja Silver Lotus have all encouraged them to unveil themselves.
Three things that visitors to the Wild Bunch should remember is that the group outgrew their teenage phase years ago, eat things other than pizza, and do not use outdated California slang. Outsiders who forget this are likely to be introduced to their impressive grasp of Japanese martial arts. Despite their relatively peaceful nature, all of the Wild Bunch still want revenge against the Fist Clan's Demon Shogun and Doctor Necros.
All five of the Wild Bunch appear to be anthropomorphic animal-human hybrids. They wear clothes only irregularly and usually decorate themselves with what they find "cool" as opposed to functional. There is no way for any of them to pass as human, so they don't even bother. Each is a different animal, representing a variant strain of the original Super Lycanthropy virus.
Archimedes ("The Raven"): Archimedes is the most intelligent of the Wild Bunch. The team's unofficial tech-guru, the raven man continues his education through correspondence courses and studying information on the internet. Privately, he's dissatisfied with his life in the sewers and would like to go public so he could get a job as working for Raven Enterprises. Preferably as a scientist. He believes the public is a great deal more accepting of the unusual than they were twenty years ago.
Despite his high intelligence, Archimedes usually leaves the mission planning to Aristotle. He spends most of his free time in his laboratory, avoiding the others. Having lived with him for so long, the other Wild Bunch members accept the raven man's need for privacy. They know they can count on him in a crunch.
Archimedes wields a three-section staff that he uses when he is indoors. When outdoors, Archimedes makes use of his ability to glide for short distances. He is prone to picking up opponents and dropping them with his massive claws. As the physically weakest of the five, Archimedes (called "Archi" by his friends) prefers to hang back and pick off enemies as opposed to charging into battle.
Aristotle ("The Wolf"): Aristotle is the unofficial leader of the Wild Bunch. A former high school football jock, Aristotle has since become soft-spoken and wise. Spending the last twenty years coming to terms with his new form, he has become a practicing Zen Buddhist. What time he doesn't spend training is usually spent in silent meditation. As such, he usually is the voice of calm and reason in the group. Under extreme duress, it is possible for Aristotle to lose his temper. This usually results in a large number of bodies on the ground.
Aristotle, ("Ari" to his friends), doesn't show it but he feels tremendous guilt over the number of people killed during their early years fighting the Fist. Aristotle would never admit it but he wishes to come clean to the police and atone for the actions they undertook as Iron Age vigilantes. He knows the team is too fond of its freedom to ever take such a drastic action. Unfortunately, the guilt still gnaws at his soul..
Aristotle is the only one of the Wild Bunch who doesn't wield any weapons. Concentrating fully on mastering karate, he has incorporated his claws and teeth into his attack style. A brilliant strategist, he is usually able to come up with attack plans on the fly and can communicate them to his team with just a look.
Socrates ("The Rat"): Socrates is the team's party animal. Transformed into a six-foot tall rat, he decided that he would compensate for his new condition by indulging in every vice available to him. Despite his pretensions at hedonism; this is mostly just eating a lot, listening to loud music, and watching television.
Socrates is the most vocal of the team for stepping forward into the limelight. No small part of this is the fact he's become enamored of their media counterparts' popularity. Socrates believes that the life of a celebrity will be infinitely preferable to life in the sewers. A former surfer dude, he still occasionally inserts their lingo into his conversations. This draws no end of irritation from his teammates.
Socrates wields both knives and sais in combat. He actually wears a bandoleer of them into battle. Able to throw the weapons with stunning accuracy, he is able to disable individuals harmlessly after years of practice. Despite this, Socrates is the least introverted and dismisses their earlier use of lethal force with a simple "They were bad guys, dude."
Plato ("The Panther"): Plato is the team's resident wise-guy. Having been the most horrified by their transformation into lycanthropes, he covers for his troubled soul with sarcasm. He has an antagonistic relationship with Aristotle and is the only one who realizes just how guilty that he really feels. Plato is close friends with Socrates and is more than a little in love with Sapho, despite the fact he's not particularly attracted to her current form.
Despite twenty years as an animal-human hybrid and the near immortality this conveys, Plato still desires to be human. He is hostile to Black Wing II because he envies the man's easy way with women, including their reporter associate Anya O'Reilly. Plato also believes that Alexander Timons could whip up a cure for their condition if he desired. This is true but Black Wing II doesn't realize any of them desire a return to humanity. Plato has recently begun listening to Sapho's not-so-subtle suggestions that they're being used by the vigilante to protect his city while he "plays around" with the Patriots.
Plato for the most part wields a katana. Whenever he requires ranged weaponry, he uses shurikens. Plato is fond of having Archimedes outfit his shurikens with electric charges or explosives. Plato is a great deal more canny than he appears and has won more than a few battles by stealth and sabotage. He is actually the best ninja amongst them.
Sapho ("The Fox"): The only female of the team, Sapho is treated like a kid sister by the other members. Unknown to the rest of the Wild Bunch, she is insane. Originally Aristotle's girlfriend and a cheerleader, she fled the group's company when they escaped and did not rejoin them for nearly ten years. Captured by the Fist clan, she was turned into a brainwashed slave of the Demon Shogun and used essentially as a trinket that he kept around his palace. It is from her D.N.A that the Super-Lycanthrope virus was reconstructed.
Despite being freed from the Fist clan's control, Sapho could not reconcile herself to her inhuman form. Eventually, she returned to the service of the Demon Shogun. He now uses her to divert attention away from his activities, which partially explains their dramatic reduction of encounters with his minions. Sapho believes that the Demon Emperor possesses the magic to restore her to human form, with the benefit of immortality. She will gladly sacrifice the entire team to gain this.
Sapho was originally the only one of the team to use guns. Since they have adopted their less lethal stance, she has switched to utilizing a nagenta. She has been known to kill foes as long as it is possible to hide their bodies from her teammates.
