Lurker > scarletspeed7

#82 - Rex the Wonder Dog
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/2/1/AAOJ0pAADYwN.png
Puppy Forever.

We've heard the tale of Rex and Artemis, the minute-by-minute parentage that has spanned two campaigns now. The current story of Rex the Wonder Dog is that age-old tale of no good going unpunished. In the onset of Kobra's arrival of the campaign, dozens were killed, wounded, maimed and captured in Z'onn Z'orr. Data 7 was nearly victim of an unexpected gunshot, were it not for the sudden reaction of Rex to leap in front of his son and take the bullet. Rex was saved, but his eternal youth has begun to ebb away as a result - and Data 7's primary concern now is to reach the Fountain of Youth and bring Rex back its healing waters, to restore his papa.

The tale of this very good dog and his very good boy, Danny, is a tale told over the course of decades. Yet it's in these potential final weeks that Rex has come to realize that has priorities must be realigned. Rex cares very deeply for his son Artemis - though there are times that Artemis, like any young pup, can be easily distracted by the exciting new sights and smells around him. He also cares very deeply for the orphan Spirit, as well. While Rex is a medic dog and Spirit is a doctor, there naturally has formed a bond in regards to those commonalities. But there is another bond with Spirit - one shared by Artemis and Rex's longtime companion Danny.

Orphans. Rex is a patron saint of sorts to orphans, whether human or dogs. In fact, Rex has spent decades as a best friend. Spirit, I think, really has a deep bond with Rex. There's this tiny flourish, a rather small detail, between Rex and Spirit I love - Spirit will hold his hand out to pet Rex, and Rex lifts his head, rubbing against Spirit's palm, petting himself. There's a certain youthfulness and enthusiasm in this very old dog, something that yearns to share with a young human friend, a companion - something that has been left dorman and fallow as a result of Danny's current egg-shaped incarceration.

But beyond Spirit, there is a very different orphan relationship - that of Data 7. You would be forgiven for believing Rex is the actual father by blood of Artemis, given their physical similarities. But Artemis has glommed onto Rex as a stepfather, a found father figure who has, through his own difficulties in accepting this sudden role, truly found a passion for providing love and care to Artemis. Despite being separated for several years, their reunion has been natural, expected and sweet.

Yet in this time of great pain, the sundowning Rex has begun to fail. His rambunctious internal puppy is giving way to a graying, tired older dog who has begun to become quite exhausted. And anyone who has ever had a dog knows that the final years, where energy begins to fail, can be quite painful to witness. Rex's years are catching up with him - decades of adventuring, of war stories and globetrotting explorations, of stories told with humans and chimpanzees and dogs and cats finally taking their toll from our dear friend.

Rex has been sidelined a bit as a result, but I think Rex's story is one of the most heartwrenching. Data 7's presently is a quest to reverse time itself, to turn tail at the inevitable march of aging. Can Artemis teach this old dog one last new trick?

An undrafted character falls at #81! Or, in another words, twenty times the point total Scare earned for Count Vertigo could have been picked up here.

In terms of pure value, a 9th rounder in the 80s is right on the target, theoretically.

#83 - Devlin Davenport
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/6/2/7/AAJ38fAAEFoL.png
I'm cheating on a few of these rankings, and just repost the few rankings from last list. Saves you all some time!

Rewind to Campaign 1. In the wreckage of Gotham City, No Man's Land arose. The rich generally migrated to the territory of the Penguin, wherein they would be plied with food and drink as exquisite as manageable in exchange for exorbitant prices - prices that were fair, considering the valueless currency that were used in trade. Among these foppish so-and-so's was the layabout and wastrel known as Devlin Davenport. Once the owner of a highly lucrative property business and namesake of the Gotham skyline's famous Davenport Tower, Devlin was a drinker, a carouser, and altogether a thorn in the party's side. He ended up running for mayor against the Cluemaster in a bid that likely gave the Cluemaster enough ammunition to engineer an absolute blowout in the election, and Davenport fell onto even harder times. Eventually, he found himself nearly penniless, harrassed and harangued by Catwoman and her new partner, and his story ended in dismal obscurity.

Until Campaign 2. Devlin Davenport's fortunes experienced a sudden resurgence at the hands of Simon Hurt, and all Davenport had to provide in exchange was his undying loyalty and willingness to destroy everything Bruce Wayne represented. Easy enough. Swearing fealty to the Court of Owls, Davenport became part of Gotham's new upper-crust, administering one of the few remaining clubs in the world - and certainly in Gotham. A sign of the times to be sure, but certainly not ranking worthy... until she walked in. Pepper Spray.

Aka... Alyssa Davenport.

You see, I'd been sitting on this for a while. Inviso started to explore this - maybe as a lark - earlier on, but the connection between Devlin and Alyssa was more than simply a shared surname. The reality was this - Alyssa was the niece of the black sheep of the family, Devlin Davenport. His riches did not dwarf his arrogant attitude, and Devlin was largely exiled and shunned by the more religiously proper side of his family. But Devlin had a soft spot for the brainy girl from Texas by way of Utah. And when she wandered into his club, the once morally bankrupt wealthy socliaite demonstrated, for the first time, a heart. He warned Pepper and her friends away and urged them to beat tracks with haste. But they weren't fast enough. And after being chased up into a partially-completed skyscraper, they were cornered. It looked liked doom was on-hand...

...until a Talon of the Court arrived. Devlin Davenport.

That's right. All of these years of Devlin later, and suddenly there's something new to the character. Metahuman powers, an impressive suit of armor, and the conviction to protect someone he cares about.

So know we have an in to the Court of Owls, Simon Hurt's loyal inner circle. Powerful beings, Talons are, and they've turned Gotham, and many other cities, into these nests of intense protection. But the chink of the armor is family - and Pepper may have found a way to do business with Devlin. Since then, Devlin has appeared twice, including once at a massive stand-off with many sides, where Devlin essentially betrayed the Court to protect Pepper once more against Equated, Society and Eclipsed alike. It seems that, after some conversations, we may have our first alliance between Checkmate and the Court. Furthermore... Pepper may have interest in joining the Court with her uncle as well.

He's not good. He's not evil. He may only be self-serving even in protecting his niece. But Devlin Davenport has become one of my favorite, suddenly complex gray characters in the post-Apokoliptic wasteland of Darkseid's America.

Round 6 loses a draftee.

#84 - Doctor Light (Kimiyo Hoshi)
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/8/3/AAUHRBAAEXrv.jpg
Beware her anger.

Kimiyo Hoshi was blasted with light from her own observatory telescope, channeling the power of the star Vega through suddenly acquired abilities. As a working single mother, Hoshi jungle home life, work life and a life of heroics, becoming the first Justice Leaguer from Japan, before devoting her efforts to her company and work at home. After the original Doctor Light regained his memories, he traveled to Japan and tortured Hoshi, murdering her children in front of her. After this trauma, Hoshi retired from public life entirely, giving up her costume for good - until a group of Checkmate agents foisted her back into the limelight.

Doctor Light's most important relationship is with Minerva who, in most Doctor Light scenes, follows her around carrying books or personal possessions in a large stack, calling her 'Hoshi-san' or 'sensei', taking her former employment as Doctor Light's children's sitter to heart and performing the duties as an assistant to the terrifying Doctor. And used the correct word. Doctor Light is terrifying. Only Amanda Waller can stand up to Hoshi-san. The phrase 'dragon lady' really has never been more properly used than when describing Kimiyo. Fearsome, violent, constantly angry - furious really, more than anything else. Doctor Light gives the more well-known Doctor Light a run for his money, and that guy may very well be the creepiest fellow to ever exist.

But the real nightmare remains Kimiyo. She's not spoiled or bratty - she's earned her hair-trigger temper. But Kimiyo holds so much power and sway as the greatest hero of Japan that she has developed a personality that is cold, cruel and accepts nothing less than perfection in those she deals with. Especially given the recent fall of Japan, Kimiyo has even more reason to demand much from those around her. And there is a return of investment - Kimiyo leads a field team that has been forging fuck-ups into fearsome warriors as they protect the northern islands of Japan from invasion by parademon forces and Equated under the command of Justeen and Heggra, Darkseid's mother. Those who she leads, like Black Alice, begrudgingly admit that no matter the chip on Kimiyo's shoulder, she only ever offers valuable advice - the source that keeps them alive. Even the hapless, witless Thom Kallor has learned a thing or two thanks to Kimiyo.

Most amusingly, Brennus was forced to suffer a concussion more or less thanks to Doctor Light in order to earn a spell. That's right; a roil of wild magic resided within her very soul, and the only way to coax it out was to piss of Doctor Light to such a level that the magic burst forth like one of her highly-ionized blasts of light.

As the campaign has progressed, we've seen the recruitment of some truly valuable heroes into the fold of Z'onn Z'orr. But aside from perhaps Black Canary, none really carries the gravity of being a top tier A-List hero like Doctor Light - Justice Leaguer, prominent Japanese superstar, and the angriest human being you've ever met. Mera? A Red Lantern? Hell, she's got nothing on Kimiyo Hoshi.

Go on. Take a shot at her, make a crack at her kids' death. You dare?

A character from Round 9 falls.

She was even more of a Palpatine than a Solo

As bad as Episode IX was, it had nothing that egregious

Detroit

#85 - Lucifer Morningstar
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/7/7/AAJ38fAAEFa5.jpg
The fallen star.

A hefty dose of recency bias does a dollop of good for dear ol' Luci, that handsome, incorrigible son of a god. Introduced way, way back in the opening weeks of the campaign, Lucifer sang and danced his way into the memories of the party, participating in some great early memories of the Final Crisis. But, for whatever, reason, he was largely forgotten from that point forward. That was until the Story Line, where he returned with a huge musical number rammed right down the throat of the Spectre. To my understanding, that really drove up a renewed interest in the devil retired.

The crux of Lucifer's role in the campaign is this - a prodigal son, searching for peace. Lucifer left Hell because, according to him, he was bored. But as is often the truth with the Prince of Lies, there's a mixture of deception and honesty in that answer. For the longest day, I imagine players like Vis assumed he was just a suave but ultimately incorrigible flirt, drinking and pianoing his way through the Apokolips - erm, apocalypse. But the truth is far more complicated than that.

Sure, the man gave up his position as the master of all evil, the Prince of Hell itself - never king, mind you, because a king has to be responsible and never gets to enjoy the spoils of his majestic position in the way an irresponsible prince is allowed. This prince in particularly certainly harbored resentment for his father, a particular Lord of Lords. And when he returned to the limelight, Lucifer revealed to his little brother Aztar that father had not been particularly doting to either of them - so why should they maintain what little decorum they had and continue to fulfill their eternal punishment to dear old absentee dad?

Now, Lucifer has begun to wonder if there might be more for him in this universe. As the song he loves to sing most suggests, Lucifer is a stranger, staring right betweeen the eyes of those courageous enough to gaze back, and he clearly has found something in humanity worth exploring. He's begun to lament that it may end before he has a chance to explore that possibility... and maybe that's why he offered, for the first time ever, a fair deal, one to a party of Checkmate agents searching for a way to defeat brother Spectre, no matter the cost.

The cost appears to be a single silver shekel, a particular coin of particular importance to Lucifer. But will the players pay the toll?

In the meantime, Lucifer, hopefully, plays the part of the force of nature declining to be forceful or entirely natural to their eternal part. Perhaps the largest wild card in this campaign, Luci has a lot to offer, whether it be consigning a soul to Hell for smudging a rug, hiring out old school No Man's Land villains for the purpose of serving drinks at his bar, or perhaps simply to be coolly cryptic, strolling about his empty nightclub Lux while the city of Los Angeles literally burns around him. And what would be more emblematic for the City of Angels in the state it's in than playing host to a neutral observer like Lucifer Morningstar?

A drafted character will fall.

#86 - Nightshade
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/9/7/8/AAQcMAAADjC6.png
The ultimate burrito.

It took me some time finally nail down exactly the voice, the mannerisms, the overall package of Nightshade. But when I realized, eventually, that she was simply the bitchiest version of Mary-Louise Parker imaginable, it fell into place quickly. And Mary-Louise Parker fits Nightshade like a glove. She sits back in the dimmest corner of Oblivion left by its inimitable decorating staff, feet kicked up on a footrest of a barca lounger made of shadows, sipping loudly at an inky drink with a straw that, if just lowered a half inch, would plunge into her drink and be far less of an annoying noise maker. Black Alice adores Nightshade, and oddly, Eve Eden seems to be the most skilled of the various mentors in Oblivion, capable of restraining Alice and keeping her thirsting for more from her rather one-note powered teacher.

Nightshade lobs verbal criticisms that are quite vicious, occasionally bordering on threatening. Especially with Silhouette, who she has promised to murder multiple times. Yet, it comes with this measure smile and casual hint of confidence in her voice that she just... gets away with it. And you can't blame her - Nightshade's truly violent side is reserved for her own family (she killed her own brother in cold blood) and anyone with darkness-based or shadow-originating abilities. She possesses no qualms about simply stating plainly that she will rid the Earth of anyone with abilities like hers - that they always corrupt, absolutely, and the only way for them to be dealt with is certain, final death. She even tried to skewer the Kryptonite Woman when Eclipso's gem had infiltrated her bloodstream. And you know... now that I think about? Nightshade's reservations might have proven entirely valid. Just look at the state of the world, the campaign of ill fortune waged by Jean Loring and her powers of twilight. Maybe Nightshade isn't as barking mad as some people seem to think...

And yet there is still another wonderful, delightful aspect to Eve. She's a politician's kid, a wealthy socialite that has grown up in the superhero brat pack. From a young age, she was tested, treated and prepared to be a government-backed hero. As a result, Eve has really never known a life outside heroics. She's mentored many (including Rosetta), she's served in teams ranging from the LAW to the Suicide Squad to the Force of July, and in her downtime? Well, the black of her powers must extend to her credit card, for Eve is a clotheshorse of unrepentant desires. And holding on constantly to her Starbucks-esque inky drink, it's easy to see how all of this turns her back to the Mary-Louise Parker in all of it. Eve can be catty, she can be insulting, she can be threatening, but she's never without a smile, never without an easy control of herself and her demeanor. Even when she's attempting murder on an injured ally, well... there's a playfulness to it.

What a wonderful, horrible person. But I don't want to get into the weeds on it.

Next up is another undrafted!

#87 - Foal Fruntell
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/0/9/AAcguBAADmft.jpg
Oh! A ranking!

Foal Fruntell, Prince of the Skartaran unicorns, witnessed the death of his mother and disappearance of his father at the hands of Monsieur Mallah, given only the instructions to hide among the wild horse herds to the north, near Kaambuka. Thus, Fruntell, young and naive, waited with hope of his fathers return. However, it was a team of Checkmate agents who would come along, led by Rozetta, that would convince Fruntell to return with them to Zonn Zorr while they began the search for Fruntells father. Foal Fruntell now lives between the stables and the spring of Zonn Zorr, anxiously awaiting the return of Rose Admiral at all times.

Foal Fruntell IS Brennus. Or rather, when MI first pitched Brennus to me, what was conjured up in my mind was Foal Fruntell - a hearty, emotional horse that occasional has his prissier, fussier moments. Yet despite this, Foal Fruntell's wide-eyed optimism and breathless enjoyment of the world around him turns this young prince into a natural lover of life and adventurer. Foal Fruntell also shares Brennus' lack of perception to the point of being a grossly lethal friend to the human prince - Brennus often takes a skewering from a poorly-placed horn waved around at inopportune moments. And furthermore, like Brennus, Foal Fruntell is drawn to villains. For example, a small woolly ant called Evan the Evil became the target of Foal Fruntell's desire to create friendships and assist the common cause of Z'onn Z'orr, and for hours, Foal Fruntell would prance around and try to show Evan the errors of his evil ways. Of course, Evan was Data 7 at his smallest size - which Foal Fruntell did not recognize. Evan had also left about ten minutes into the conversation, so an unfortunate loss on Foal Fruntell's part.

Fruntell's comedic personality might be one of my favorite sources of humor I get to present in the campaign. Few PCs are ever too mean to the dear, sweet unicorn prince, but there is a lot of deception carried out either at his expense or for his benefit. With a mission in mind, Fruntell is desperate to return to Skartaris and reunite with his father. However, no one wants to admit that the outlook in regards to that prospect is likely quite bleak. Those, Foal Fruntell has been jerked around gently, the goal being to run interference and prevent him from realizing his father might, in fact, be dead.

A tinge of tragedy painted into the edges of a largely comedic character in my mind ultimately creates a well-rounded little character. And combined with one of my personal favorite voices in the campaign, it's so easy to sink into the foal's persona at a moment's notice. Sure, there are more utility horses in the campaign - and Data 7 prefers Winged Victory, while Saoirse prefers Stormwind - but in my mind, the top tier equine of Z'onn Z'orr is and will forever be Foal Fruntell.

A drafted character comes in at #86.

#88 - Eclipso
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/3/1/AAUHRBAAEXFb.jpg
There are two sides to the Eclipso coin, two joining paths which have come together to form one of the most influential and terrifying enemies in this campaign.

Eclipso was once the original spirit of wrath, operating in the name of the Presence. But after his drive proved to be motivated by anger rather than vengeance, Eclipso was replaced by the angel Aztar, who had become the angel of death as punishment for Aztars role in the fall of Lucifer. The Spectre, anointed as the new Spirit of Vengeance, trapped the physical form of Eclipso within the black diamond known as the Heart of Darkness, and Eclipso languished for untold eons before his diamond prison was shattered into a thousand pieces and spread around the world, or so the story goes.

Jean Loring was the girlfriend and later wife of the Atom, Ray Palmer. Their union was not a happy one, and after their divorce, Jean had a mental breakdown. Obsessed with getting her old life back, Jean began to plot a ruthless but elegant system wherein Ray would be forced to protect her from an unseen evil targeting the loved ones of the Satellite Era Justice League. However, a crucial misstep while inside of Sue Dibnys brain (using one of Rays own belts as a weapon) left Sue dead. In her haste to cover things up, Jean found herself sinking into further and further depths of depravity, nearly murdering Lois Lane and leaving others dead or injured - from Captain Boomerang to Jack Drake to Firestorm. Ultimately, Ralph Dibny and the Justice League bright Jean to justice, imprisoning the psychotically obsessed ex-wife of the Atom in Arkham.

While in Arkham, Eclipso's diamond found its way into Jean's cell, and soon the broken mind of Jean Loring became corrupted by Eclipso - not in the way that Eclipso possesses others to do their bidding. No. Instead, their formed a strange hybridization, a corporate partnership of one body and one mind, fully aware of both halves of this twisted, dark journey that has brought two together as one. Jean Loring is a monster. An absolute monster. To speak of Jean to those who knew her best is to witness a reliving of abhorrence and shock, recalling just the lengths she was willing to go to be with her husband. And those who have fought Eclipso know what his power can cost others - Eclipso, in one night, killed a dozen superheroes, from Yolanda Montez to Doctor Midnight to Commander Steel.

These two forces of nature, driven together, have combined their ambitions into one - a desire from Eclipso to punish the Spectre, and the dream of Jean Loring to have an eternal companion. This has driven both to see the Spectre as a mate and a puppet, one that can be pushed to commit great atrocities through a tongue capable of plying will from any being - including Aztar himself. The Spectre is aimed to destroy all of magic, and following ever in his wake, the party has discovered Eclipso's minions picking over the carrion like vultures, and from the wreckage raising an army filled with unquestioning soldiers. The only hope to stop this multitude of moon-faced minions is to bring down Eclipso herself - and the only weakness Eclipso possesses is sunlight. Remember what's wrapped around planet, preventing anything from coming in or getting out?

Jean Loring. Eclipso. They're unstoppable. They have no weaknesses. And combined, they've created an unholy monster ready to eclipse the planet and reveal its darkness within.

Oh, and I should mention that Jean Loring also is in possession of "Sussudio" by Phil Collins. Like, the entire track. Any time it plays anywhere, the corruptive magics of Eclipso take hold and begin to launch their poisonous powers into the act of unmitigated destruction.

#87 went undrafted!

Hard to have disfigurement when you're a clone of Joruus C'baoth, fresh off the line...

Philly

hombad46 posted...

My save is up and the trade offer for Philly is still available

Detroit

Detroit

Not sure who pjbasis is - a troll account?

Anyways, excellent trailer. The music really stood out to me, for some reason. If it's a sign of the show, it should have a very different feel from previous live-action projects.

FYI - I'm extremely busy over Easter weekend, so I may not get to any write-ups Friday-Sunday, thought I'll try my best.

TotallyNotMI posted...

I certainly never would have guessed him.

Mostly because I didn't know who he even was before I read that post!

I hope you find a way to insert yourself into learning more about him - it's one of the stories I'm most excited to tell, given his connection to the Eve Manners story and one of the strangest time periods in American history.

#89 - Tex Thompson
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/3/2/AAUHRBAAEW8E.jpg
This one is a deep cut for even the players, so I'll try my best to explain.

Harry "Tex" Thompson was a blonde-haired boy who struck it rich in the oil fields of Texas. Instead of a future as a rich oil baron, Thomson decided to seek a more adventurous lifestyle and traveled the world as Mister America. Thompson gained prominence as a mysteryman and even earned a position in the All-Star Squadron. Thompsons life forever changed when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt called upon him to undergo intensive training to become a special commando and secret agent behind enemy lines. For this mission, he was codenamed Americommando. For the remaining years of the war, Thompson was aimed to rise through the ranks of the Nazi Party and gain the confidence of Hitler in an effort to assassinate him. This would culminate in the 1945 siege of Berlin, where Thompson infiltrated Hitlers bunker and killed him. Returning home, he was lauded Americas greatest hero and became a senator with presidential aspirations. Tex organized a program to defend the United States from the Soviet menace, an effort that would rally Robotman, the Atom and Dan The Dyna-Mite Dunbar to his cause and kickstart the Atomic Era in Cold War America. Among other long-standing efforts Thompson produced was the Area 51 project.

As Thompson grew in popularity, he also developed an animosity for those mysterymen who refused to unmask for the public interest. Thompson would ultimately co-chair the House Un-American Activities Committee alongside Joe McCarthy, and during the hearings that would see the Justice Society refuse to unmask, Thompson would wind up dead under mysterious circumstances right at the height of his presidential campaign. Thompsons body was found in a seedy area outside of Washington, strangled to death and badly bruised and beaten, part of one of the strange what if that litter the history books. With this scandal brewing, the Justice Society would temporarily disband in order to avoid connection to the mysterious death of their one-time ally.

Now, the mystery of Tex Thompson to me is one of the best little side stories in the campaign. So far, the tale is only woven into the characters of the Golden Age. People like Iron Munro, Sandra Knight and the like. Thompson is a relic of the past - his death put a nail in the coffin of the anti-Communist hysteria of post-war America. For me, this era of comics history is fascinating; mirroring the continuity of the DCU, comics at the time were suffering from the same rabid morality policing thanks to the book Seduction of the Innocent, which was fueling a hysteria suggesting that superheroes turned children into fetish-crazed, sex-crazed hooligans. In many ways, we've never really moved past this sort of dull, oft-retrodden refrain, in every movement in mass pop media. Comics nearly died off forever, and all but a few superheroes escaped the Comics Code Authority's purge of superheroes - including the sad but unstoppable demise of the JSA's comics at the time. So the death of the Justice Society? It also happened in the real world. It's the tale of HUAC, but spun through the eyes of the mysteryman I so richly adore in modern comics now. A story that's largely open and shut, but still a curiosity. How did Thompson die? Why did he turn on the team that created him, essentially - brothers in the All-Star Squadron?

Well, the story has recently developed. You see, in Area 51, Eve Manners revealed the tale of the predecessor to the shadowy UFO storage bunker. Area 50 was a much different beast than its tiny little cousin. The scope was wide, the efforts and initiatives dark and disturbing. In fact, the lead scientist, Randall Dowling, put together a body of work that traces a line directly to Darkseid's Anti-Life Equation, his Warhounds and more. And who saw to the funding of Area 50? Why it was Tex Thompson, of course. And who was at the site during its most egregious human experiments? Why it was Robotman - the same Robotman who is suffering from an unusual case of sensory deprivation-caused dementia. the same Robotman who was the first to stand at Tex Thompson's side decades earlier.

Tex Thompson to Darkseid. There's only one hop between them, and Eve Manners has brought that to light.

It all comes back around, you see. And just as relevant to the story in the present is this forgotten tale of the past, with long-reaching tendrils that snake right into the save haven of Z'onn Z'orr, a fortress that is protecting itself from the stormy present. But can it stave off the ghosts of the past? That's the real question.

Tex Thompson. An American patriot? Maybe. Or maybe he was a villain with incalculable vision.

#88 is a drafted character - someone's second to fall!

Forgot to mention, the next one's an undrafted mention!

#90 - Thinker
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/9/4/3/AAOJ0pAADa-v.jpg
The brains of the outfit - or so he would have you believe. The sentient almost-but-not-quite artificial intelligence of Z'onn Z'orr is a near constant mainstay of the campaign, capable of appearing in virtually any scene around Z'onn Z'orr without a second's warning, or a millisecond's hesitation on my part. The Thinker, however, often is sidelined, saddled with a more maintenance position in the campaign. This is intentional; there is a need for support staff in a campaign of this size and magnitude, and, for the party, Thinker was a crucial piece of the early campaign. Capable of summoning up those pesky, necessary bits of exposition and serving as the medium through which investigation often began, time has not been kind to the Thinker's role in the spotlight, as more and varied specialists in various fields shine more and more, relegating an all-purpose character to secondary status.

Thinker was originally conceived in this campaign as a response to the idea of superior artificial intelligence. The idea was to take that well-worn conceit and explore the arrogance of artificial intelligence from another angle. As opposed to the artificial aspect being the source of those worrisome meditations on power going to one's end, what if it was simply the intelligence portion? Perhaps there is something instead to the idea that simply having the mental prowess of a machine can warp and shift your perceptions. Humans are insects to AI not because they are living beings but because they are simply poorly programmed machines with low capacity. The Thinker straddles this line, perhaps playfully, perhaps seriously.

Still, the Thinker was once human, once filled with the fleshy bits of sentient life. Emotion, hunger, fatigue, sexual desire... the Thinker has forsaken all of it for a chance at an eternal life. Still, that life has been robbed from the Thinker by the nature of the Equation, an idea that runs through every inch of fiber optic cable in America. In many ways, the Thinker is now a complete prisoner, a victim of his own hubris, forced to exist in a tiny box (of course, that box being Z'onn Z'orr). For my money, his constant irritation and enjoyment of frustrating others is entirely reasonable. He's only human after all.

For all of the various computer minds in the campaign, so many of the endearing ones are learning to be human, fresh into the universe of independent thought. We have Starsa, Tomorrow Woman, Aria on some level. The Thinker is the opposite, a retort to the ever-optimistic notion that if we could just TEACH them to love, our computers would desire nothing else than to be human. Here's a human that, simply put, has done the math. He realizes that there is no chance for a human unmodified to ever achieve the heights of those servile beings it constructs. Thus, Clifford DeVoe became the Thinker - perhaps the last of his kind, the last thinking being on the planet, if Darkseid gets his way.

#91 - Jaime Reyes
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/9/3/AAOJ0pAADa99.png
There has been a long and rocky history to the character of Jaime in this campaign, often stemming from my own handle or lack thereof regarding the character. From what I've seen and have come to understand, that isn't necessarily shared with the players, many of whom really, truly love the character. And how could you not? Jaime's is the most notable coming-of-age tale in the campaign, a crucible forging Jaime in the most unforgiving flames imaginable - those of the Final Crisis. Jaime, a rookie in every sense of the word, however, has stepped up, held firm to his convictions, and dared the world to deny him his chance to be a hero. For that, Jaime's travails and traversal of the American continents, ferrying refugees to the last bastion of safety on Earth - Z'onn Z'orr - has become the stuff of campaign legends.

Oftentimes, what makes Jaime work best as a comedic character is what I find most limiting: his stupidity. Jaime can be a social rube and a mental welterweight, oftentimes not even able to be propped up by his guardian and mentor, Khaji Da. But being fused to an alien entity with thousands of years of experienced bank in its data processors doesn't guarantee success. Khaji Da may know best, but Jaime doesn't often lead with his head, but he's instead guided by the tug of his heart. This tends to put Jaime in position to be the noble fool, the child-like clarity he possesses a fresh insight in a jaded world.

To Jaime, right is right and wrong is wrong. There truly can be no expansion on these things - either you're good or you're evil, and the in-between is just an excuse in Jaime's mind, a moral minefield meant to punish those who step out of line. Of course, while that has led to a stubbornness which has alienated Jaime from friends and family alike, it has also garnered him the respect of individuals like Lush, who perhaps sees the dream she so deeply wishes she embodied, residing in Jaime. More often than you might expect, the wayward villainess turned hero will go out of her way to quietly support Jaime without his knowledge, trying to shore up his friends and provide him a safety net so he can continue practicing what he preaches.

With the upcoming Blue Beetle film on the horizon, I suppose I'm sinking into a comfort with the character that I think is seeded in the soil fertile from grand ideas originally posed by Keith Giffen and John Rogers in the first outing of Jaime as a comic star. Jaime is proactive, noble and a true hero. He certainly experiences the ups and the downs of a Spider-Man, but Jaime rarely is as much in his own head as Peter Parker - not that he has the capacity to be, I suppose. But also, Jaime is much more selfless and willing to sacrifice in the way a superhero does than Peter. Parker will give up everything, and spend an entire comic letting the reader know that's exactly what he's doing. He's Ted Danson in Curb Your Enthusiasm - building an anonymous wing of a hospital and letting every one know he's done it. Meanwhile, Jaime is the opposite of that. Sure, he may be very public in his successes, but only because Jaime does things in a broad, uncomplicated way. All he sees are the people that need help, the enemies that need to be stopped, the story that remains to be told.

You have to respect someone so simple in another wise complex world.

#90 was drafted as well!

Detroit

#91 - Paul McCartney
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Paul, as far as we know, the sole surviving Beatle in Darkseid's world, certainly is a bizarre confluence of absurdist comedy and oddly heartwarming wisdom rolled into a singular package. Introduced to the party in Gotham via the ever unexpected antics of Radio Tuner, Paul had managed to survive for months by, well, being Paul McCartney. The Beatles are beloved, and what with the lack of worthy entertainment in a world increasingly more and more devoid of independent thought, the Society and those of their ilk seemed to be more than happy to let McCartney serve as something of a traveling troubadour. In fact, it's in this role that Pepper has co-opted McCartney for her infiltration team. Perhaps one of the more amusing Paul McCartney beats in the campaign is his partnership with Telok'telar, a White Martian who has assumed the identity of Ringo Starr. The pairing of these two is meant to allow them to access Society strongholds, their ruse exchanging performances for room and board as they travel. The only downside is that Telok'telar cannot play the drums and really has refused to learn them. Poor Paul has been desperately trying to bring his alien comrade up-to-snuff - no dice just yet.

But on a more serious note, the idea of Paul McCartney serving as part of the resistance doesn't just play for laughs. Of course, simply having scenes where McCartney references his own songs as part of his wise musings or bowls over Amanda Waller - the right age to be swoon for the superstar of her younger years - is nice. But there are uses for McCartney which make him fascinating to me as a bit player in the grand collage of Z'onn Z'orr. I truly believe that Paul McCartney is part of that exquisite texture which revolves around the refugees who are coming together at the end of the world being so deliciously eclectic. You never know who will be the next to arrive at the gates, searching for safe haven. Yet, with McCartney, a character who is entirely based on a real, honest-to-God human being from our world, there's a certain sense of new expectation: ANYONE can be part of the resistance. And more than that, anyone can contribute in ways often unexpected. Still, like others, Paul is anchored by the tragedy of A-Day. After all, before A-Day, all his troubles seemed so far away. Now it looks as though they're here to stay. Oh, Paul survived throughout A-Day.

The story of Paul has also aligned with Spirit. This is a pairing that I greatly, greatly enjoy. Much like Saoirse, Spirit is a musical young lad. But he's also impressionable and searching for companionship, the sort that doesn't exactly judge him or hold grudges - John Constantine is an example of the sort of reliable ally (oddly enough) that Spirit has come to trust in that way, and Paul is another. The pairing really shone in their Christmas adventure as they braved the horrors of Enchantress' bedroom to find the Christmas Clock.

Ultimately, however, McCartney's greatest advantage is the sheer absurdity of having such a well-known icon of real world music inserted into the world of superheroes and supervillains. His unflappable calmness in the face of the impending doom of Darkseid always cracks me up, and his self-referential tics are of constant amusement to me, and I'd be willing to roleplay his character with others eight days a week.

A drafted character comes in at #90.

Maniac64 posted...

Was AJ ever king on his earth?

Nope; his father was a scientist and he was an explorer.

#93 - AJ Curry
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/7/5/AAOJ0pAADW9b.jpg
The once and future king.

Arthur Joseph Curry is an aberration, a mistake perhaps originating from that ever-mysterious concept of the Wall Punch or even an unknowing refugee of the Bleed. What he certainly isn't is the real Arthur Curry, the son of a King of Atlantis and his queen-consort, raised by a humble lighthouse keeper, eventually going on to achieve great deeds of derring-do. No. Instead, he's a young man, fresh in a churning sea, tossed by the storms of time and tide, and unsure what role he holds in this Crisis. In fact, one might say that AJ just wants someone to show him his place in all this. But that's so much easier done than said. Scratch that. Reverse it.

Imagine the unenviable weight thrust on AJ by Aquaman's presence. Arthur Joseph Curry lingers in the looming shadow of one of the world's greatest heroes, a man supremely successful not just as a superhero and member (sometimes leader) of the Justice League, but also the ruler of the largest nation in the world, 3/4th of its surface, comprising millions upon millions upon millions of beings, from Atlanteans, to merfolk to the very fish of the sea. AJ's predecessor united seven city-states, repelled back enemies large and small, from Black Manta to Ocean Master to Triton himself. Aquaman endured unimaginable losses - his son, his hand, even a chunk of his own life to indentured servitude.

So the question is, will AJ break from this incessant comparison, or can he become someone else entirely? Already, AJ has started in a position far-removed from Aquaman; permanently attached at the hip to Nanaue, the King Shark, AJ's companionship with a being that should otherwise be chewing up and spitting out the people of Z'onn Z'orr like they're brief aperitifs on long, delicious menu. With a villain his closest friend and ally, AJ starts in a position of rebellion to the norm. This comes as a result of AJ simply not knowing the beings of Earth's sea or surface alike. At least most of them, by the looks of things. You can achieve fantastic goals when you don't realize there's a hurdle in front of you on the path to success. AJ, in some ways, exemplifies why young people often break records in sports or have grand wins - they just don't know any better to be scared or to lose. They haven't been taught to fail yet.

But AJ has reached a wall of sorts - Minerva. In many ways, Minerva is kind of a villain on AJ's path. She's taken his sword and his heart, and in their places, offered nothing in return. She's dismissed him and refuses to confide in him or even really offer him more advice than to visit Tom Curry. This stems from the conflict within Minerva herself - Aquaman was her idol, the glue that held the foundations of her own moral convictions together. AJ is someone else, someone who in every way appears to be the distant mentor she pined over for years, and yet possessing none of the inherent traits that made Aquaman Aquaman. At least...not yet. But AJ is a malleable clay - one that is slowly being molded into something further and further away from Aquaman with each spurned advance. It's a dangerous whirlpool sucking these two into a murky depth. To find out what lies at the bottom, well... they have to survive the journey first.

#92 was undrafted!

Detroit

#94 - Starro the Cat
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Starro Face?

Look at that expression. You can't deny her. Starro will gaze directly into your soul, peer past your defenses and look upon your true face.

I adore the accountant-cat of Big Troubles, the now business savvy little lady that just tries her best in the name of a rat and his criminal aspirations. And maybe she has a little crush on Data 7 to boot - that probably plays a small part in her willingness to schlep up to the surface of Antarctica, willing to brave its harsh icy surface just to watch bigger dogs drag magazines of ammunition and stockpiles of abandoned missiles back to base for less-than-nefarious purposes. Starro is a gal of many stripes, despite possessing merely an almost albino-white coat.

In fact, the brewing internal conflict of Starro - her love of Snapper which has clearly been a monomania for the feline for most of her life versus being enamored with a bad dog - really has caused Starro to blossom from the very get-go. Every minor interaction Starro has with others, whether player character or NPC alike, seems to further explore Starro's development and her unspoken bravery. I think it's easy for us to forget that Starro managed to cross half the country in those early, most dangerous weeks under Darkseid's sweeping authority, all to reach Snapper. No matter the cost, Starro hitched in the back of pickups, on the roof of semis, crawled through gutters and cornfields alike, all because she had faith enough that she knew she would find her owner again. That alone, I think, is one of the more heroic and epic sagas that has yet to really be explored at all in the campaign. Starro really, truly loves Snapper. Maybe it borders just shy of romantic love, maybe there's something less comfortable about how her love manifests. Hell, maybe it's just Snapper's natural connection with cat ladies that has pervaded throughout the story of the campaign. But one thing is for certain - Starro would move heaven and Earth for that snappin' teleportin' wild and crazy guy.

Even now that she's returned to Snapper's loving, doting arms, Starro has yet to slow down even for a moment. Her suspicions of Snapper's new lady-friend Lush and - more aggressively - her pursuit to dominate Lush's prim and proper pet, Pixie, has been a curiously enjoyable exploration of that decidedly catlike mercurial nature. And then there's Data 7, that dopey dog that doesn't recognize just how much Starro has taken a shine to him. Perhaps even Starro doesn't fully realize how much she feels for Data - but she's gone to great lengths, just for him, without hope of any reciprocity. She's faced down King Shark, she's taken up a career she never expected, and she's fought tooth and nail against a giant, evil penguin - Hell, she even managed to roll decently enough to actually contribute to the fight against the jetpack-wearing bird.

All in all, Starro has grown and changed, explored new facets of her personality, and it stems for her split love, her attentions divided between Snapper and Data. But will one side win out over another? Unlike Pixie, Starro doesn't exactly receive the trademarked pestering that Data often pushes towards the golden pup, which means that much of Starro's development is forged in self-discovery. In fact, I'm fascinated by the independence involved in Starro's slow expansion of her horizons. Much like Snapper, there's a hidden courage within his cat. I can't wait to see just how far she can be inspired to push forward.

#95 - Helm of Fate
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Harnesser of the Cosmos, Director of the Winds of Wizardry, Antonym of Horripulation, prognosticator of fortune, mastercrafter of ley, intolerable bane of chaos, masked menace of the underworld, golden-capped guru of the arcane, plupotentate of the mid-realm beyond, educator of the Upper Kingdom of Egypt, He Who Shouts Down Typhon, founder of the Justice Society, beacon of universal tranquility, author of the epitaph of demon Shathan, wielder of the Ankhs of Life, sorcerer supreme, unbounded imagineer of the Tower of Fate, chronograph of the rivers Time and Space, essayer of the defense of humanity, manipulator of the stars above, first gestator of the tranquil peace, keeper of the legends untold, trapper of the profane dialect of Ur, owner of the gateless spire of vigilance,the guide of destiny, the shepherd of humanity, the guardian against the tidal forces of cosmic horror, regent of the innerspace, vigilant watchmen of the words of eternity, blazing totem of orderly hope, the Dream-Emperor of Possibility, the Sometimes-Mistress of Elysian Mystery, the Oft-Worshipped Timeless Scion of Hidden Histories, the michiilidda of the Incan remnants, capitol defender of the white ivory streets, last bastion of rhyme in the delving depths of Limerick, haunting visage of domination, half-man half-god of orderliness, the straightener of the Crooked Road, sixth defender of the sixth planet, starward gazer of firmament, contemplator of the universal navel, the Crowned Head of the the Fourth Age, the Overlord Above the Typhon Flock, Prince-Majesty of the World-Bringers and World-Enders, the Tidecaller, enemy of the avian half-men, medicine warrior of the Impa Ree, the gunpowder that lit the Soulsea tinder, the shopper of the eternal Supremart, the Botanic Panic, the Arch-Combatant of the Nirnrealm, the Fortitudicous of the Hawk Justicar, Honorary Edge Master to the Splendiferous Atollo Roo.

Why rank the Helm of Fate? I've come to really enjoy the wraiths of the campaign, ghosts doling out some lingering, melancholy advice as their memories fade into obsolescence. The Helm of Fate, the last relic connecting Nabu to the present, I think, carries a heavy weight for the Eighth Age rebellions. But there is also something uncanny about a helm that possesses no visible facial reactions playing the role of a mentor, a teacher. It's horrifying to stare into those deep black pools and receive no emotion back. You can't trust that your heart is on the same wavelength as the Helm - or that the Helm even can feel any longer. Its responses may just be an echo of a slowly-dissipating spirit that once inhabited it; how can you really be sure? Yet, the studious young mages who are working with the Helm have discovered there is a great depth of wisdom beneath the inscrutable golden headwear.

I think so many of the most fascinating characters to present in this campaign are objects. Khaji Da, Starsa, Radio Tuner, Stitchentyme and the Helm of Fate. These beings are so alien as to present not just strange cultures, but something beyond that. There is no commonality in existence between a human and a hat. Yet, we try to find those commonalities anyways; we're desperate to humanize and empathize with everything we witness. We see a cat's stare and immediately connote human emotions on it - a grumpy cat, a fraid-y cat, whatever it is, we have to identify with it, to exchange that emotional language on our terms.

But ultimately the constituency of the Helm of Fate, all of the attached history and decorations, everything accomplished by Nabu, Kent Nelson and so many others under the auspices of the Lord of Order, it all is meaningless now. A new age erases relevancy entirely - and the remnants of Doctor Fate - everything that was in the head of Nabu - now faces a new scrutiny. I see the Helm as largely callous to the feelings of characters like Saoirse, Brennus and others. But I'm drawn to that detachment. The Helm has existed so long that its perception of time is not measured in days, but eons. Not even the rising of the sun and the sunset have the same meaning between you and I and the Helm of Fate. All of this from a hat that was simply the central focus of a heist out of Las Vegas.

Permanent or impermanent, the Helm nevertheless has become a character that I admit is one of my favorite additions to the campaign of the year 2022.

#94 was drafted.

#96 - William Knightley
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Sometimes it only takes a singular ability and an iota of initiative to achieve great - and terrible - things.

Like the wax that drips onto a birthday cake from a lit candle, ruining the frosting, William Knightley burned brightly and obviously while masquerading as Arion, Lord of Atlantis and the founder of an Age of Magic. In reality, Knightley's deception succeeded primarily because he had managed to ensnare Arion within his own amulet, utilizing the slow leaking of magic as a source of mystical power by which he could leech from. Then, with power unearned, Knightley harassed, insulted, abused and generally lived off of the good graces of an all-too-easily fooled Shadowpact, so focused on the enemies without that they never considered the enemy within.

Honestly, Knightley lasted far, far longer than I expected in his role. A charlatan lacking the detail necessary to really maintain his facade, our dear William was doubling down on a blase attitude and an inattention to virtually anything to cement his bluff and gloss over those smaller cracks that might be recognized as the hints to a grander web of lies. But can you blame Knightley for resisting so long in revealing the truth and, furthermore, releasing Arion? I certainly don't. Survival is paramount in the magical community, moreso than normal - and normally, survival is pretty much the watchword of magic. The search for a rational reason to scribe one's name onto the annals of witches and wizards is a difficult one, for in my mind, the power one can find in strict adherence to the study of curses and enchantments really just paints a target on your back. Only a precious few will live beyond the lifespan of an average human, and far too few will be gnashed and mashed in the teeth of more dangerous, more powerful beings hunting for power in less scrupulous ways than you.

On top of that, the Spectre has decided to come a-callin' and you've got to dance with the ones that brung ya. Knightley needed people smarter than he was to survive in the now infinitely more dangerous hidden world of magic, and as Arion, he had just enough pull to sit back and watch as the rest of the Shadowpact strove to keep Oblivion hidden and protected from the Spectre, Mordru, Eclipso and a hundred other terribel things coming their way.

The relationship between Knightley and Bloodfruit, Knightley and Brennus... these are so fascinating to examine under a new lens. The mentor-apprentice relationship is now oddly twisted to be the opposite. Using the Socratic method, Knightley pulled the wool over both of their eyes and convinced them to teach HIM THEIR spells, create their potions for him. Essentially, they were juicing the false Arion from the word go. And yet I think that despite the revelations as to his true identity, neither of them have well and truly given up their perceptions of Knightley as a teacher. After all, he encouraged them, inspired them and under his watch, they DID in fact become a greater wizard and a greater alchemist.

So the question remains - what will be done with William Knightley? The true Arion lobbed threats at the Pact - and Brennus - before escaping his interminable prison sentence. The false Arion now resides in that crimson gem, himself jailed in the jail of his own creation. But that gem hangs on a peg in Oblivion still. Waiting. Waiting while William Knightley, even in defeat, still survives the Spectre's Day of Vengeance, safe within the walls of the haven he committed such terrible acts in order to earn his ticket within - like the passengers of the Titanic, waving their family jewels around in order to buy a seat on the last lifeboat off a sinking ship.

#95 is also undrafted!

I forgot to say that #96 is UNDRAFTED.

#97 - Lady Quark
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/9/1/AAUHRBAAEWdv.jpg
Twiggy has earned this ranking for Lady Quark, our noblewoman from another Earth, limitlessly capacious in terms of the bright-burning energy she generates within. Queen of an empire; now widowed and childless. The Crisis still leaves a toll, a scarring mark on many. Lady Quark is indicative of that. In fact, her personality was a spurning, cold defense, a shield to isolate Quark in her self-imposed pain.

And then Twiggy came along, and, reminding Lady Quark of her daughter, Fern, with plant-based abilities, Quark opened up to the silent little stick.

A common refrain in this campaign is dealing with the opportunity to heal oneself. And that is not easy to achieve; first, one must escape the pervasive guilt one accrues from a lifetime of mistakes - and superheroes make that more difficult. To put on a costume oftentimes means you're more susceptible to the yoke of responsibility shouldered as a burdened just as easily as one shoulders a cape. The cape IS a burden. Lady Quark blames herself for her daughter's and husband's deaths. But Twiggy was an indicator, perhaps, that Lady Quark is ready to move on.

Quark doesn't express any sort of maudlin love for the stick - usually her reactions are just a lingering glance to the tiny fellow or a greeting. She treats Twiggy far more like an individual with independent, sovereign self-determination than most. But Twiggy also demonstrated a truly deep appreciation for Quark, a compelling display of as much empathy as the little guy can manage. And for that, Lady Quark seems infinitely grateful.

The idea that not only can you carry the burden of your family's deaths, but that their entire world can be snuffed out and forgotten by all of reality, has to do one's head in. To me, that makes Quark a fantastic character piece to study. It should drive her mad - instead, it simply drives her. Quark remains a distant, detached woman, stoic to the point of outwardly apathetic at times. Yet, when she's called on, she throws herself into her missions, whether it be the Fire and Ice debacle or the Darkseid assault planned for Gateway City. She's that kind of hero, the sort that draws upon a well of strength in order to persevere. In my mind, that makes her not only a valuable NPC, but a complex one as well. Despite weaknesses borne out of grief and guilt, Lady Quark is, for my money, one of the strongest cats in the game.

Detroit

Maniac64 posted...

I love when Bane's intellect is highlighted. He might be my favorite DC villain (between him and Sinestro).

I totally buy Bane as a good leader for a small nation that wants security. Love that storyline of him being a hero in Santa Prisca.

Bane has also foisted himself into the position of leader of the Secret Six, much to Scandal's chagrin, as well. And he infantilizes her and generally holds down the rest of the membership now that Catman in the time Catman up and quit.

TotallyNotMI posted...

I quite like Bunny. Alcatraz was full of good characters and she stood out to me.

More than the nihilistic Young Frankenstein or the uh... face-y Face?

#98 - Bunny
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/9/6/1/AAOJ0pAADl-J.jpg
The former assistant to the third-most important Zatara clan member, Bunny's story is one of tragedy, of recovery. For me, Bunny represents that soldier returning home from war, trying to make sense of the trauma inflicted by the roadside bomb, the prisoner camp, the child left dying in her her arms. But that paints perhaps a more pleasant picture in regards to Bunny's form of PTSD. Our dear, young magician's assistant wasn't prepared to do battle. She never willingly signed up to be party to the viciousness of Lush's older form. No. Instead, she was victimized, an innocent caught in the crosshairs of someone with an axe to grind and no compunctions about killing. And so, Bunny was brutalized for the sake of sending a message, and her life was turned topsy-turvy as a result.

Having spent some time reading reports about how PTSD often manifests itself, one thing that really struck me was the idea of how many veterans returning home or victims of assault turn to self-harm to cope. The mind simply short-circuits in trying to understand that particular avenue of relief. Pain in order to blunt pain; but it's become a rather important aspect of the character for Bunny as I try to wrap my head around the very notion. As Bunny twists and cracks her own index finger, it's a reminder that the world Bunny lives in and the world the rest of the party lives in are two different places. Imagine fearing every corner as a potential avenue for assault. Lurking in every shadow is the possibility of pain, of reliving the same agony, over and over again. And all she has to protect herself is that twisted, misshapen finger, her security blanket of a sort.

There are so many little tragedies at play as a result of Zatanna's actions. Perhaps none is quite as heartbreaking as the story of Bunny, the story of a girl who might never receive her due justice for the actions of the woman that beat and maimed her and left her in a coma, broken mentally and physically. There is not an iota of revenge Bunny can manage, and as a result, her timidity might never truly be overcome. It's a bleak, stark reminder that so many of those left in the wake of the mindwiping affair who can't be healed with the wave of a hand. Still, maybe there's the tiniest glimmer of optimism to be had. Despite Bunny's PTSD, despite her self-harm, despite her recently-revealed hair-triggered rage, it seems as though Saoirse as taken a liking for the floppy bow-wearing young lass. And by championing Bunny's cause, Saoirse has begun to see that the magic which has gone away from Bunny may return.

Still, the mountain Bunny must climb is impossibly tall, its face unyieldingly treacherous. Hope is just that; the work that must be done to reach the summit may break Bunny just as easily as Lush did. But for the sake of magic, Bunny might have already been overwhelmed to the point of lifelong defeat. But with magic... maybe there IS hope.

#97 is UNRANKED.

#98 is UNDRAFTED

Look, Spirit and Mid-Nite just stumbled into the viper's nest. Minerva, fully of her own volition, chose to walk into the lion's den. And despite his posturing to a boy and his doc, Minerva is the one entirely the worser for it.

#99 - Bane
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El Presidente.

Hacking and slashing your way through the tropical jungles of Central America, you're bound to stumble across the most bananas of banana republics, a small nation nestled between fascist dictatorships called Santa Prisca. And just outside of the capital city of El Monica lies the penal island of Pena Duro, where the unnamed boy, clinging to his sole possession, a ratty, one-eyed teddy bear, would grow up to become the most fearsome brute to ever stalk the surface of the Earth. Sure, Doomsday was stronger. Bizarro is tougher. But I contend in matters of spreading fear, Bane is second-to-none.

The history of Bane carries its own infamous notoriety. I won't break your back raking it all over the coals once more. What matters in this campaign instead was the place Bane comes from - not as a villain, not even as a member of the Society with his own righteous fury and indignation. No, Bane has been burdened with a responsibility most unexpected - if you didn't know Bane.

President Bane, in point of fact, if you're nasty.

Saddling the broad, uncompromisingly chiseled muscular shoulders of Bane with responsibility presents a new facet of Bane's personality. Furthermore, I think in contemplation on the history of Central and South American governments, so many of them built and propped up by the CIA through juntas and revolutions and bloody chaos, it becomes apparent why someone who, through the lens of an American, comes across as such bloodthirsty villain actually possesses the capacity to rule Santa Prisca and even bring it some amount of prosperity. In some ways, the culture is entirely alien to us, but the clarity of Bane's vision might in many ways be a bastion of comfort for the people of his country. Instead of suffering the weak leadership of criminals or simpering wimps who hide behind the coattails of drug dealers, multinational conglomerate corporations or the big sticks of foreign presidents, there is finally a local hero to bear the standard of Santa Prisca.

Does it matter that he's willing to kill to keep hold of his power? Of course it does - his people love him for it! They rejoice in the knowledge that their home has a true defender who will go to the most extreme lengths to protect their new way of life! In that way, Bane carries a bit of the mid-80s Doctor Doom sensibility, or, more interestingly, the facet of the Shade I find most interesting: Bane is a villain everywhere but his home. And that is good enough for Bane.

Which is why, now that his country has fallen, anyone who, simply put, fucks with Bane's home, gets a squeezin'. Like Minerva, who very recently revealed her own duplicity in earning Bane's support and in fact serving as the catalyst for Bane's migration to Z'onn Z'orr, facing Bane's controlled, restrained fury. Bane could have broken the fragile fish-woman with barely the effort of a moment - he did not. This doesn't suggest that Bane has tempered himself, but rather reinforces that Bane recognizes the long-term necessity of maintaining this connection. At first, Minerva was Bane's ally in a campaign to retake Santa Prisca. With barely a few words, that relationship turned to one of a favor owed - and if not repaid in full, that favor could easily lead to Minerva's death.

And then there's this: Bane's dying. Well, the world's dyin' Cloud, this I know, but Bane's actually dying in the sense that Venom, crafted from the Miraclo of Hourman, is poisoning his blood, like leukemia. Bane may very well be weakened by the source of his abilities. And in that first hint of weakness, he has demonstrated signs that the monster Bane has always been, where we started in this write-up, my rear its head again. Spirit and Mid-Nite now contend with the animalistic side of Bane, the barbarian, the being that will kill for pride, rather than for his country.

So in that way, I believe Bane represents so many of those South American revolutionaries that are praised for their extreme methods, all in the pursuit of freedom for a common man. That freedom is born out of the blood of innocents, and any being willing to expend the torrential rivers full of blood necessary to achieve that freedom surely have a dark passenger within them, capable of killing for far less.

So, you have to ask - is Bane, an ally of Checkmate in the war against Darkseid, truly someone Amanda Waller and the spec ops team really want to prop up as a future leader in a new world order? Or will he be the bane of their existence, once Darkseid is toppled?

#100 - Count Vertigo
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In the first campaign, the character of Vertigo was mired in in a life of regrets. First and foremost anchored by the unimaginable guilt of being the prince of a country so detestably evil that it was wiped from the face of the Earth by the Spectre, the psychological toll one must endure for that iniquity simply cannot be fathomed. My mind struggles to wrap around the very description of being the being who can be blamed for the extinction of a culture. My heart breaks for Vertigo in that way. You consider how wayward he strayed from his family, spending his days as a lackadaisical floating, flipping, flying nuisance in America, how he struggled with both physical and emotional disorders that made him both a perfect career villain... Vertigo never rose to the level of being a true A-List supervillain. Yet, he was just competent enough to avoid capture as a member of dozens of teams, even serving as one of the five longest-tenured Suicide Squad member. When most Squaddies average 1.4 mission survival rate, Vertigo lasted twenty. Floating forever, unable to establish roots. A man with no country, no home.

And then, Varra came along, and the entire nature of my beloved prince changed.

Discovering that Vertigo had a son, there was suddenly a slow-gestating change in the heart of Werner Vertigo. MI really leaned into the past history of Varra and Vertigo in the first campaign. Some of my favorite, moving scenes were between the two. Willing to overlook his bipolar disorder and its more curious effects, Varra laid out the truth to Vertigo regarding his son, Brennus, and Vertigo... chose responsibility for the first time in his life. He lost his country, every member of his nation he ever met. This was the smallest amount of redemption possible in the cosmic abacus that being like the Spectre carries around. And then, for years afterwards, Vertigo began to be the father he never expected to be come.

So now, when we look at the characters who have had the largest, most enduring, undeniable impact on the PCs, Vertigo might very well be #1 with a bullet. Brennus has, over the course of the campaign, leaned more and more into his new father's legacy, and pushed away more and more from the darkness surrounding his mother's hidden history. This sets Brennus down the winding path of villainy, in a roundabout way. Yet, there's something noble about this form of villain. Perhaps a rogue by the less fantastical nature of the word. Rebellion is integral to Brennus, but it's a Sin Tzu kind of rebellion, something more Machiavellian. Brennus wants to be a prince, like his father before him. He wears the crest of his trueborn heritage. He's taken up his father's cape, only altered to match the color of his raw magical blue fist.

And with the Sortofgin story, MI and I sank so quickly into a father-son relationship between these characters. Vertigo always does so well at, as a nobleman, saying far more in his silences and his restraint than in his words themselves. You can feel that from Brennus' end - there's innate understanding, that unspoken language between the all-too-legible for an outside observer. To me, there's no greater force propelling Brennus forward than his unseen father. Now, knowing that he has both taken a seat on the High Society and forsaken it in short order... you have to wonder if like father, like son, there is a rebellious honor in Vertigo's heart still.

Or maybe he's still living that vertiginous truth, floating unbound without reference to reality still, lingering like a wild card in the tempestuous Darkseid War.

Hint: We ain't doin' hints this time around.

I think you're imagining things.

One additional note - the absolute veritable myriad of characters we've run across in the party's journey so far is ridiculous. Certainly, the number is over 2000. This is a very small sample size, and while I stand by this list containing the 100 truly superlative NPCs thus far, the ones I will admit allow me to puff my chest with Artemisian (or Artemisian-2) pride the most, that does not mean that there is anything more than an arbitrary cut-off point with the 100 number. For me, there could have been another hundred more added and I'd still admit there were some absolute bangers left off the list. I say this only to emphasize that if someone you love roleplaying with failed to make the cut, that isn't a sign you should just drop the thread altogether. No! I guarantee I enjoy roleplaying with them just as much! And perhaps, by the time we drop the campaign wrap-up ranking, they'll have earned their place in this highest echelon. Anyways, to business.

No one necessarily demanded it, but this post kicks off the beginning of another long meandering list - this time of my personal Top 100 NPCs in the campaign so far. Because, you know, who doesn't enjoy witnessing a Board 8er arrogantly diatribe over his use of copywritten and trademarked characters created by someone else and written dozens of someones-else (it's like attorneys-general) for express purpose of earning that mon-ee for a large, soulless corporation?

When the first campaign began, I had honed in on specific thematic elements that would differentiate one territory in Gotham from another. There needed to be an overarching connectiveness, a similar tissue that made Gotham what Gotham was in each locale, but for each leader, there was a different style of governing, a unique makeup of political and cultural thought. One could philosophize over the virtues of each territory in Gotham - even, hopefully, the most miserable, disturbing places. As a player, one had to concede that Victor Zsasz was supremely successful in holding his land for months on end, after all. But it would be in the clash of ideologies that the players would forge their own opinions. While some truths in Gotham were easy, common understandings to come by, it would be the more bitter pills that some of you found difficult to swallow. Perhaps none moreso than trying to find the virtue in ending a war between two otherwise reasonable leaders. Decisions had consequences, actions had repercussions, and all of those hung in a net of characters anchored by specific thematic elements. Fear, love, loss, pride.

The second campaign began under the umbrella of one single question: "What does 'the end' mean?" Perhaps more specifically, the large overarching theme in Campaign 2 has been this - "When faced with the prospect of the Apokolips, how does one react?" As a result of that larger question, one of death, the afterlife, of survival, dozens of others begin to spin out. What is valuable - tangible or otherwise - to those burdened with recognizing that they exist at the precipice of the end of civilization as a whole? Denial of the end carries with it a certain unglued optimism or naive stupidity. Acceptance of inevitability might simply crush one's very spirit. Or, there can be will enough to fight back; and in that decision, another otherwise difficult puzzle is posed. What motivates one to fight, knowing that even in victory, a win comes at the price of a world turn to ash. Rubble, a kingdom. Ozymandias, king of the ruins.

This second list won't be recounting events - for the two readers who have followed along thus far, I apologize. Instead, I just want to present some poorly organized musings on the characters which I think have laid a foundation for a campaign I've been quite proud of so far. To witness our players and their characters shift, change, stretch, even bend to the point of breaking as they contend with the Day Evil Won, the Final Crisis, has been an immense pleasure. Hopefully, this list and the rewards attached to it for those players who managed to predict it accurately, will be worthy of all of the effort you've put into what has been the most enjoyable and rewarding part of the last two and a half years of my life.

Something about posting "Acknowledge the Tribal Chief!" really smacks of OnlyFans simpery.

Well and Theory grooming minors, that's the other reason to hate it.

Detroit.

Detroit

Less than 24 hours until the draft begins!

The prizes include free solo sessions...

Detroit

RIP Girl Wood