Halt Evil Doer! thread IV - (Zombies!)

[Phrozen]

I want to try a different take on a Black Wing II villain. Please feel free to comment even to say it sucks.

Charles Freeman

"You want to know why I have chosen to take on one of the largest companies on Earth, Alex? It seems like a fools errand doesn't it.

You see I knew George Timmons as well. Not as well as you do. He exited my life as soon as he entered yours. I grew up in Falconcrest. Never knew my mother or father. My first memories are were of the orphanage I spent the first 16 years of my life. It was not a happy childhood as you can imagine. There were days that were happy though. They were the days when Mr. Timmons would visit. Sure, he donated to the orphanage every year but unlike others he came to see us. He took us out to see movies or museums. He genuinely seemed to care about us for more then a photo op and some good publicity. Then one year he stopped showing up. You should know that year Alex, he adopted you that year. At first we were excited. We would have a new friend and maybe Mr. Timmons would adopt some of us. As the weeks and months dragged on but Mr. Timmons never came back. He cut the check every year but never came to see us.

We never wanted his money Alex. Just his time, to feel for a few hours that somebody wanted us. I know it broke a lot of the younger kids. It hardened many of the older kids. I will tell you Alex, they cruelest thing one human can do to another is give affection and then yank it all away. For me, it awakened my ambition. I excelled at school because I wanted to make sure that people would compete for my attention. I got a Rhodes Scholarship and well I am sure you have read up on my biography. I have seen the pictures taken of your graduation from college. Full of happy people. I don't have pictures from my graduation Alex, there was no one there to take them.

You ask why I am taking on your company? Because I want it. Because you are soft. Because you are weak. But most of all for revenge. I am going to break you Alex. I am going to put you into the poorhouse. I am going to take your whole company, rip out the value and bury the corpse. I made my promises to my brothers and sisters who didn't make it out. To those who couldn't salvage enough to deal with life. I am going to make you and your father just footnotes in history. Your company or your market share. I will take one and then the other."

Charles Freeman is the owner of Freeman Resources. While the company is only about a decade old. It has seen rapid growth mostly through buying up competitors and companies in similar fields. There have been reports that these purchases have been accomplished through blackmail and espionage but so far those rumors have been just rumors. Some find it odd that Freeman keeps a team of forensic accountants on staff though. Freeman's managerial style differs greatly from almost all other business leaders. His speeches come off more like some ancient warlord then a businessman. He frequently includes quotes by Sun Tzu, von Clauswitz, Musashi, Patton, and Horatio Nelson in his communications. His office is filled with historical weapons and armor. Originals not reproductions and not parade weapons either.

What does mark Freeman is his naked and ruthless ambition, which is strange since he doesn't pay himself much more then his senior executives. It seems that money isn't what he is after, rather the the thrill of taking. While charismatic with his employees, he is cold and emotionless when dealing with outsiders. He doesn't seem to have a social life other then what is required to network and find in roads into other ventures. Freeman Resources doesn't participate in any charity, all profits are used to leverage the next buy out. Surprisingly, his employees are paid extremely well after about of three years of being worked to death. Freeman figures that anybody who got through that is good enough to keep.

After a company is acquired, anything of value is stripped out and taken under the Freeman Resources name. All acquired employees are not terminated and like any new employee given about three years of constant grueling work. Those that stick with it are given rapid promotion, raises, and bonuses. All trace of the acquired company is wiped out and Freeman won't even sell the name.

As noted above Freeman has a hatred for the Timmons family and is currently targeting Raven Industries for acquisition. Freeman has worked up a biography and profile of Alex Timmons. He even hired a private detective to tail Alex. Though he isn't sure that Alex is Black Wing, he does know that Timmons has something other then his playboy facade going on. So far, Freeman hasn't delved fully into outright supervillainy rather taking on Alex socially and through business channels. If Freeman takes the plunge he could become one of Alex's more dangerous foes.

[Libra]

Well-written Phrozen - the fellow sounds more like a Warlord than a money-maker and utterly memorable!

[Phrozen]

I wanted a villain that would attack Black Wing from a different direction. To my knowledge, no one has gone after Alex through his business. Also, someone who Alex can't really break into his business or home without looking like well a criminal. Kane of course, doesn't want the police sniffing around his property. Freeman, really has nothing to hide. He would see it as just another way to attack Alex, through the courts by linking Black Wing to Alex as an agent or working on his orders.

[greycrusader]

I really liked the Charles Freeman concept. Surprisingly, neither Bruce Wayne or Tony Stark have ever really had a business enemy who wasn't secretly a criminal mastermind (Obadiah Stane) or backed up by a supervillain (Midas trying to take over Stark Industries through proxies, Ra's Al Ghul going after Batman through Wayne Enterprises). An outright corporate rival who is ethical and lawful (not moral necessarily) but poses a threat would be novel.

Nice idea really.

[greycrusader]

Did the first adventure I ever wrote about him and his cohorts play out in the HED-verse? It was written to be non-specific to any particular campaign world, but the tone was distincly more Iron Age (though I also intended it to evoke a Neo-Pulp feel too).

Something similar did took place with locals replacing Professor Purgatory's gang. The Professor's plan to remove all of his darkness and ascend failed miserably, however, and didn't transform him into anything interesting.

It did, however, create a number of godlike beings that the heroes of the world had to deal with though

Interesting. I almost wish I had thought to include an option like that in the actual ending of the adventure. If I may ask (and if you feel like answering), who were the local villains who filled out the ranks of Professor Purgatory's minions, and what newly minted godlike beings were created when the Professor's efforts went awry (as they usually do in the end).

There are certainly villains just as evil or more so (Orkus, Dracula, Count Reich II) and vindictive (Deathmask/Kenneth Kane). But their malevolence comes off as more Silver Age-ish to me. I broached the issue with the Damnation Knight and the Unredeemed, especially tossing Angelica De Lynn into the mix. But it could be a HED version of Ms. Lynn, whose fate might have been very different than the more dreary and relatively realistic-but-depressing punishments meted out to her and other victims by the Professor.

In the case of Angelica Lynn, she's been able to redeem something of her position in the world of HED! because things go slightly better for people. You can still watch her talkshow about superheroes and the people affected by their actions both positive and negative.

Yes, though the forces of good are almost chronically under siege in HED (Deathmask, the Entropic Masters, Black Hand, HofS, the A-Zone), the world remains a basically decent place where things do go slightly better for people overall than in an Iron Agish setting such as Bedlam or even a Post-Modern comics setting.

So in the HED-verse, Angelica Lynn actually now has a popular talkshow that focuses on superheroes/villains, their effects on people around them, and presumably super-pop-culture? Is the show pro or anti-metaman? Any interesting advertisers, such as Timmons Industries perhaps? Or is it on an all-supers cable channel, maybe the same one running the Elite reality show (now replaced by The Mighty Asgardians reality show) sponsored by Project Icarus and Spartacorp? Maybe Sherry "Showbiz" Strider (now pushing a well-preserve sixty and retired as Celestial Crane) has a version of Next Top Model or Project Runway, with Lady Grayhaven serving as a judge/mentor? Lots of possibilities.

Maybe in the HED verse, Angelica and others got Blessed By Suck instead when strapped into the Transmogrification Chamber?

Indeed.

So is the "Blessed With Suck" bit how the aforementioned "godlike beings" got spawned?

And did Angelica got some super-power to go along with her vastly epanded girth, or did the HED version get a different physical transformation altogether? Just curious.

All my best.

PS: To answer an earlier question Charles, I think Infamy and Penny Painful are among my favorite characters of yours because you made sure to include a bit of light-hearted fun in their biographies. Both could simply have been GrimDark Serious antiheroes, but both have a certain playfullness to their personalities. I feel as if Johnny Mercy and Misty Weiss' dark twin enjoy themselves, that they genuinely like being Infamy and Penny Painful. Even when their lives get complicated or situations turn dire-they have superpowers! They live interesting, exciting lives. Why shouldn't they enjoy themselves, even when things seem bad?

See I don't really care for either The Darkness or The Hood (both of whom inspired Infamy unless I'm mistaken). The closest inspiration I can think of for Penny is maybe the "Mad" Scarlet Witch or perhaps Zatanna's foe, Talia the Queen of Evil, though neither seem very close. Is there a comics analogue or is she more of a non-pastiche?

And the Dark Undermaster as leader of the Gatekeepers really needs to be expanded upon. I've got to get back to work on other project for the next solid week or so, but I hope someone takes up this concept and the Lost Legion.

[Phrozen]

This is probably a coincidence but listen to the backwards message from Alan Wake: American Nightmare.

Here

and here is what I came up with on the HED! 3.0 thread almost a year ago:

Spooky huh?

[Charles Phipps]

Yes it is!

I love American Nightmare. It's not as good as the original but that's a pretty high bar to hold it too.

Great music, especially.

FYI - I love the mogul character, as well.

[greycrusader]

This can be no mere coincidence-it must be the work of some Cosmic Horror from the A-Zone!

Or just a fun, wonky happenstance. Either way, it is pretty cool.

Hope to see more comments from Charles, Libra, and the crew soon. I'll likely be posting my Robert Jack and Big Answer material in a week or so, after I finish up some other ideas.

All my best.

[Libra]

I shall see what I can come up with, but I'm still caught in the throes of my obsessive desire to tilt at windmills, patronise the Winterwier/Black Hole thread and pursue other suitably Quixotic hobbies.

But I know where my resposibilities lie and shall therefore do my best to post something besides general protestations and sundry statements of (slightly distracted) frienship.

Stay well, you fellows.

[Phrozen]

I have a pretty good idea for the next in the series of "New Threats", Freeman was the first. I guess need a good angle to make the next one not totally cliched. I got the name the Black Hart Knight as Winter's current champion. Just need a unique and interesting gimmick.

[Charles Phipps]

I was thinking about doing stuff on Psychics, the FBI, and the Foundation for World Harmony's OTHER agents.

Including Michael Specter's replacement.

I'm open to suggestions, though.

[MightyDavidson]

I was thinking about doing stuff on Psychics, the FBI, and the Foundation for World Harmony's OTHER agents.

Including Michael Specter's replacement.

I'm open to suggestions, though.

Well I've chosen Specter's replacement in the Mightyverse, if you're interested? Either way that stuff about the Foundation's OTHER agents does sound interesting.

[greycrusader]

1.I'd definitely be interested in reading more about The Foundation for World Harmony's special agents-those who may or may not fall into the "metaman" class but nonetheless are a step above even most well trained operatives.

(Yes, I quite liked the short-lived Stormwatch: Post-Human Division).

Similarly, I'd venture PHANTOM and UNITY have a few agents who rise above mook status, even if they are not full-fledged supervillains. The new streamlined PHANTOM likely favors quality over quantity especially.

2. I'd love to see another "Day in the Life..." write-up, the kind we got in the last thread. My personal choices would include The Aeon Family, Infamy and Penny Painful, Misty Weiss, and maybe the neglected Puzzles, Divinos' flawed clone and Bizarro-pastiche (which could be poignant and/or darkly comical).

3.Finally, if anyone wants to follow up any of my ruminations about metaman-themed entertainment in the HEDverse, with figures such as The Asgardians, Sherry Showbiz, Angelica De Lynn, Lady Grayhaven, Mighty Man and the remnants of the Elite, or any others, I'd be very much interested.

BTW Libra, I've been following you in the Blackhole/Winterweir thread, I just haven't felt quite adept enough with the campaign settings to comment. But perhaps that will change in the near future.

All my best.

[Libra]

... and maybe the neglected Puzzles, Divinos' flawed clone and Bizarro-pastiche (which could be poignant and/or darkly comical).

In fact Puzzles DID receive a 'Day in the Life' article, although I can't seem to track it down at the moment. Since I can't stand unsupported statements of that sort I'll probably have to go questing for it at some point, then drag it out into the sunlight for proof!

BTW Libra, I've been following you in the Blackhole/Winterweir thread, I just haven't felt quite adept enough with the campaign settings to comment. But perhaps that will change in the near future.

Don't worry about it - leave that to me!

In all seriousness I myself am still getting my handle on the Setting(s), witnessed by my rather scarce posts over the last month or so. I hope to be able to finish my write-ups of the Heroic Factions in Winterwier before too much more time passes though.

Stay well, one and all.

[greycrusader]

... and maybe the neglected Puzzles, Divinos' flawed clone and Bizarro-pastiche (which could be poignant and/or darkly comical).

In fact Puzzles DID receive a 'Day in the Life' article, although I can't seem to track it down at the moment. Since I can't stand unsupported statements of that sort I'll probably have to go questing for it at some point, then drag it out into the sunlight for proof!

I now seem to vaguely recall this...I checked the last two HED threads and couldn't find the article though...was it really a full-fledged "Day in the Life of..." treatment?

All my best.