Board 8 > War also ranks the top 52 characters in scarlet's TTRPG. (dc comics)

(+) Yeah! (+)

Maniac64 posted...

Who did that?

Minerva did in her younger days, or so Thinker claims.

susie

I'm surprised Nightshade hasn't dropped yet, so it has to be her.

Thinker is really the purest constant in the Campaign, the perfect assistant character to propel the great PC storylines you all build for yourselves and pursue.

Nightshade

my pick here is Iron Munro

I change my pick to the Cat!

#8: Nightshade (Eve Eden)
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/9/7/8/AAQcMAAADjC6.png
Here's the ultimate tortilla. In campaign one, she was Roz'etta's Superbuddy, someone to help Roz'etta handle that Amanda Waller wanted her. Roz'etta was not a particularly great student, causing a bunch of monks to die in Nanda Parbat, and ultimately agreeing to work for Amanda Waller. Between campaigns, Nightshade and Roz'etta were teammates in the ultimate American Super Team, under Amanda Waller, the Force of July.

With this campaign, Nightshade has had the chance to shine. Shimmer. Whatever darkness does. She's part of the Shadowpact, one of the many trapped in Oblivion Bar under threat of death via The Spectre. Nightshade would sit alone in a corner, sitting on a chair made of shadow, sipping her drink. Loudly. Very loudly. Extremely loudly. She's just so good at making it clear she doesn't want to deal with you, whether it's your attempts to flirt with her, or your attempts to get out of a bad argument you've made for yourself. She doesn't put up with your shit, even when she's stuck in a bar with nothing to do, she is still too busy for you if you're bringing nonsense to her. She focuses on what matters, like a good drink, good clothes, and a good kill.

That last part might catch you off guard, but Nightshade is a woman with priorities. As the guardian of the Shadowlands, she's seen a lot. She's seen all the people who mess with the shadows, all the people she needs to kill, because one day they'll go mad. One day they'll become a problem, and she wants to be the one to do the deed, because otherwise she's passing her responsibility onto someone else, and she already let that happen once when her brother needed to die. She's Nightshade, she's strong, she can handle her own problems.

This is part of the reason Roz'etta put Alice with Nightshade, because she didn't want her mentor to be alone with her thoughts. She knows Nightshade is strong, she respects Nightshade, she knows Nightshade is alone, the only one with the ability to do anything responsible with shadows, and she knows Nightshade will not put up with Alice's nonsense. Just like how she won't put up with Roz'etta's nonsense. Nightshade sees right through Roz'etta, and will tear through her given the slightest opportunity. When she thinks Roz'etta's going to make an error, she'll say it, and if Roz'etta doesn't follow that advice, Nightshade will have another cutting comment for that. Nightshade sees Roz'etta for what she is, for what she's become.

But it's the small things that make Nightshade and Roz'etta's bond special. Nightshade's open about her family with Roz'etta. How Nightshade should have been the one to kill her brother. How her father, Senator Eden, was always a son of a bitch. He's always treated Nightshade as a path to the top. And in Roz'etta's time in the Force of July, she saw the same thing Nightshade did. Nightshade doesn't talk about this stuff with any other PC than Roz'etta. Roz'etta and Nightshade sit down and talk about Azrael, Roz'etta's enemy in campaign one turned teammate in the Force of July, who would die protecting her between campaigns. For all their differences, for all their disagreements, they're sisters-in-arms, although that sort of statement would make Nightshade flustered like she is every time Roz'etta approaches her not with a problem, but with a desire to just be nice to her friend. Nightshade was awkward about hugs in campaign one, and that hasn't changed.

I am so happy every time Roz'etta manages to get under Nightshade's skin a little. The first time was the reveal that Roz'etta had a daughter. Nightshade, with her tendency to be loudly drinking at all times, drank some of her darkness down the wrong tube, leading to a coughing fit, and proof that Roz'etta could get one over still on her mentor. Eve did the math in her head, and figured out that the possible timelines didn't work out for the suspected father, Azrael, as Nightshade is casual about dropping that Azrael had a thing for Roz'etta but never said anything before. Another recent case was when Nightshade made an idle comment about Roz'etta's age, and was reduced to laughter by learning about Jaime Reyes thinking his Abuela was over 100. Two completely different forms of surprise, both extremely charming, and both something that only a student of Nightshade can pull out of her.

Nightshade is clinical, she's frank about what she feels has to be done. It's very interesting that she has such disdain for Amanda Waller, because in that way they're very similar. Nightshade justifies herself with how much her deeds are needed, just like Waller does. Scarlet gave each of our characters a single word to describe them, and for Roz'etta he used the word monster, for the history of monsters in the Martian blood in her veins, for the people she surrounds herself with. But left out in his list of monsters was Nightshade. I don't know if that was intentional, but I think of all the members of the Shadowpact, Nightshade at her worst I think expresses views the party would find most monstrous, willing to just so quickly kill someone. I think for some that's more unsettling than even Enchantress's desire to steal souls. But Nightshade is not necessarily wrong in her actions. She's just so casual about it, and that's possibly more frightening than anything. Roz'etta is a product of monsters, and Nightshade may just be one of them.

Or Eve Eden may be the edge, the absolute edge of being a monster, with the control and discipline to know exactly where the line is. Exactly where to stop. Good luck figuring out which it is.

Hint for #7: This characters likes one of the PCs far more than the rest.

Our time with Nightshade was brief in campaign 1, but I loved her costume so much that it was a huge inspiration for the hero costume commission for my campaign 2 character

My guess is again Iron Munro!

Could this one be Vostok?

i guess the cat

#7: Valentina Vostok
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/5/0/AAQcMAAADjL2.jpg
Every organization needs a certain someone. Someone who pushes others to do as much as they can. Someone whom your efforts are very rarely enough. Something who carries some authority, but doesn't carry all the authority, so questioning them is still possible, even if it's a bit foolish. For Checkmate, that person is Valentina Vostok, the Negative Woman.

Vostok's role is to oversee the growth of our headquarters, and as such every expansion we make will be met with her comments. And almost always, as her name suggests, her comments will be negative That is a terrible joke, I know. I don't feel bad about it though, because as far as I'm concerned, Valentina Vostok's insults of us are the funniest thing in the campaign. We built the docks in preparation for acquiring boats? She chastises us for investing resources into something we aren't using at this moment. We build an airfield at the last minute because of an emergency 'having acquired a plane'? Vostok chastises us for waiting until the last minute. I did a search, and I believe we have built about 55 expansions. Vostok has had nice things to say about less than 10 of them. Yet every time, it just feels...fun.

The reactions of our characters to Vostok might be one of the big ways to define how different they are. Lush openly antagonizes Vostok. Saoirse sees Vostok as a competitor, one whom she does not want to have any sort of power over her. Pepper sees Vostok as an authority she needs to stay on good terms with, to keep herself on the straight and narrow, terrified and saddened by the possibility of angering someone in such a powerful position. Data 7 sees Vostok as a serious human, and while there are plenty of opportunities to utilize his ability to shrink, she is really the one who gives him opportunities to utilize his ability to grow around Z'onn Z'orr. Roz'etta sees Vostok as a fellow engineer, someone who also eyes the greater picture of growing the world around them. Castling, the city around Z'onn Z'orr, exists as a result of the combined efforts of Roz'etta and Vostok. And Brennus...well, Brennus is cute and sloppy, and Vostok treats him like a child. He's the one person she openly likes. She doesn't dislike Data or Roz'etta, but their association is built more on respect than friendliness. Vostok with Brennus...it's just hilarious to see the coldest person in Z'onn Z'orr so warm with someone, and Brennus happily embraces being treated like a kid. I'm curious if that will keep up when either of his parents are found.

This isn't to say Vostok treats people unfairly. If anything, she is brutally fair. If you cause her enough problems, she'll toss you out of the Communication Hub. But when you do something she approves of, she'll also let you know. She might even smile! She simply has high standards, she expects most of us to be as good as her, if not better. She despised the idea of bringing Mento into our fold, and really has little nice to say about the Doom Patrol. It turns out Mento is an enormous asshole, and her frustration with the Doom Patrol is because, well, they lock themselves up in their mansion and live there. Vostok was part of the Doom Patrol, and she left the mansion to go on to better things, after all.

Vostok is just so satisfying. She has something brutal to say about our latest building? We sit back and laugh and go 'Oh Vostok'. She has something nice to say about something we built? It comes with a weird sense of accomplishment, having done something she approves of. She's such a needed part of the campaign. I could make the case that she plays the most important role in Checkmate, the person whom we, as players, simply have to prove ourselves to. She's someone all our goals work around in one way or another. Of the characters in this campaign at the beginning, I think she's the one who, when it comes to putting a character in a role, is most irreplaceable. I can see other people in charge of the last resistance on Earth, even if that list is extremely small. I can see other people as our science expert instead of Mister Terrific, I can see an emotionless robot as our security instead of Thinker. I talked about how valuable Etta is, but Steve Trevor could have fit in her spot. Not quite as well as Etta, but he could have filled her shoes. Snapper has a case, but if we had a different teleporter given that much screentime, could they have had the same connection? I can see all of them being replaced with someone else and the campaign having the same feel, the same core function. But nobody is more perfect for the role Vostok fills than Vostok. Just look at her picture, she even looks like someone who simply is not going to be pleased with whatever plan you have brought to her. She's even the perfect superhero for it, Negative Woman. It's a credit to scar's decision making that in a campaign with so many characters so well-placed, Vostok's placement as the hard to win over builder, staring into the future, towers over them all. Yet, sometimes, she's won over, and winning over Vostok is one of the greatest successes this campaign has to offer.

Hint for #6: This character cares about animals and nature.

i guess the cat

I'm honestly quite floored Vostok ranked so highly for you, even with the explanation!

I'll go with Catman here.

Gonna go Manitou Dawn

#6: Catman (Thomas Blake)
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/9/7/AAOJ0pAADY6x.jpg
Catman, of the Secret Six, cannot win. Prior to campaign one, he was a massive loser. No Man's Land provided him an opportunity, an opportunity to make a new man of himself. A man that the woman who caught his eye, Catwoman, would be interested in. Despite his best efforts to improve himself (and boy did he succeed at that), they were for naught and so Catman was left in a funk yet again. A funk that ultimately he was pulled out of by the players, but it took time and struggle. Through all of this, though, Catman was a constant for the players, a person we greatly respected, to the point where he was extremely high on our list of people to lead Gotham out of the entire crisis. This was a position of respect, of honor...and not one for Catman. For all his charisma, for all his leadership, for all the good he can be, Catman is not a man of the city, he's not a people person. At least when those people in question are humans. He's a man of the animal kingdom, his best friend is a lion, his family are lions. When he attaches himself to humans, he gets hurt. So when No Man's Land ended, it was under the leadership of the Cluemaster, and Catman and his pride disappeared to the jungles of Africa. A happy ending for Catman, a happy ending for Hector, for Little Cub and the rest of his pride. And Catman would still be there, regardless of the Society and the Darkseid, of Batman bothering him to offer him membership in the Batmen of Many Nations (an offer Catman soundly rejected), were it not for one thing. Catman had no interest in joining the Society, and thus Deathstroke killed Catman's pride as a warning to everyone. Do not reject the Society's call.

Catman is about focus on two things. Through campaign one, no matter what the second thing was, his first was his pride. With the death of his pride, that first became revenge. Revenge on Deathstroke, revenge for his people. The second, for a while, was Cheshire. When we first met the Secret Six, he and Cheshire were in a relationship, although how much of it was emotional and how much was two people letting loose was up for debate. When Cheshire betrayed the Six, she let out another cruel reveal, that her and Catman's intimacy had produced a child, that Cheshire was pregnant. Catman had another chance at a family, another chance ripped away from him, torn from him by the Society yet again. The only good thing for Catman here was that he was able to replace Cheshire with two things, more revenge, and the need to find a new member of the Six, ones to replace her, and The Fiddler, who died in Cheshire's betrayal. And so Catman laid in wait, arguing with Deadshot, training, and all-around preparing for when the time would come to strike.

This was until a singular moment changed everything. Roz'etta, with her daughter Susie in tow, sought out Catman, and Catman noticed something about Susie. Susie reminded him of people he knew. Villains, killers, all sorts of horrific people. So Catman made an offer to Roz'etta, that he would teach Susie, to help her turn into as good a person as she could be. Now Roz'etta respects Catman. She likes Catman. Her friends like Catman. But she was a new mother, and liking someone is very different from trusting them with your child's education, with who that child will be. To teach a child how to use weapons, how to fight in the streets of a war. Yet Roz'etta saw the same signs he did, it was an inevitability that Susie would be drawn into fights. With that, Roz'etta came around to approving Catman being a teacher, and thus Susie would learn from 'Mr. Blake'.

Through having to meet up over Susie, Roz'etta and Catman had to talk. One of those discussions began as talking about fairness. Roz'etta was horribly wronged by humanity, with No Man's Land happening, by both enemies like Lex Luthor and friends like Batman, ultimately leading her to leave Earth entirely. Catman despises Earth society in general, which is why he retreated to the jungles, where things can be fair. In a way, both acted on their disdain in the same way, disappearing to where they felt comfortable. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor used the villain community, the Society, to try to craft a fair world. The problem is that in a fair world, humanity suffers for its sins, and there is no shortage of villains who bought into the fair world of the Society who are regretting it with the realization that in a fair world, the strong rule, and that means everyone is under Darkseid's thumb. It's always easy to want things to be fair until fairness works against you. Catman and Roz'etta both enjoy fairness, but they aren't under any delusions of the world being fair being a good thing.

So the trio reached a bit of a system, Susie goes to Mister Blake to learn, much to the concern of many others who simply don't get her, who don't get why she would be allowed to have knives and guns, that she isn't like most children. Catman was the wise teacher, teaching Susie the skills and the responsibilities she needed to function as best she can despite her unique nature. Caught in the middle was Roz'etta, the young mother who just wanted what was best for her daughter, even if what was best was Susie learning things most little girls shouldn't. Roz'etta and Susie have had many conversations while Susie sat on a countertop sharpening knives, and Roz'etta and Catman spoke often as Susie was cleaning her gun. It was an odd relationship, perhaps enhanced by Catman's tendency to walk around in his underwear, made all the funnier by the fact that Roz'etta has absolutely no interest in him. Neither of them had any interest in each other. It's weird, but it worked.

Then a trip to his old grounds in Lamumba revealed that it was Deadshot killed Hector and the rest of Catman's pride, not Deathstroke, and Catman left the Six in anger. In losing the Six, that became another piece of revenge on Catman's plate, and Catman did what Catman does, he retreated. Retreated from Susie, retreated from Roz'etta, retreated from Z'onn Z'orr in general. Not even Hector has been able to help his precious Blake. This is where things stand now, and the question is what does Catman find to be his second thing to focus on. From way back in the early days of campaign one, Catman needs two things. His constant in campaign one was his pride, and he'd fall apart when he lost his second focus. In campaign two, his one constant is revenge, and without a second focus, he becomes a man consumed by anger. Roz'etta doesn't know how to help him yet, and I don't know if she'll ever figure it out, but no matter what one day Catman will find his second. When he does, he may yet again become a bit more of a great hero than he was when he lost his old second.

The greatest heroes are forged by the most trying of times, and Catman is a man who hates society, whose very morals are built to tear what society stands for apart piece by piece. Hero society, villain society, it doesn't matter. Both forged the disaster of a world the campaign takes part in. Maybe Catman is the one we need most to rip it in half. God, I hope so. I adore this tragic wildman so much.

Hint for #5: This character was part of the Uncle Sam session.

Jesse Custard

Now fall Manitou Dawn.

And Catman's at the nadir of his career, for the moment, but I think the PCs are about to really reforge him.

I think Campaign 1 gives the bump to Jesse to crack top 4

so yeah Dawn time

#5: Manitou Dawn
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/2/8/0/AAQcMAAADjm4.jpg
On a mission to Four Corners, the agents of Checkmate encountered a person of immense spiritual strength. A Native American shaman in tune with nature itself, able to use it for power, for wisdom, for whatever they may need. One carrying the mantle of Manitou. That person, as I'm sure you've surmised, was Manitou Raven. By Manitou Raven's side was his wife, Dawn, who possessed none of his power, little of his wisdom, she could not even properly communicate with the agents there, for she lacked the knowledge her husband did. Manitou Raven would spend all his strength, all his remaining power, to help seal back a horrific monster called Antithesis, sacrificing himself so others could live. In his sacrifice, his journey among the living would end, and in some ways, his wife's journey would finally begin.

So the first fateful meeting of Dawn and Roz'etta occurred, in the spring outside Z'onn Z'orr, for Dawn had no interest in living in a tower made of metal. Dawn immediately showed respect and deference to Detective Chimp, in her own way, trying to paint a symbol on him, and Chimp's dislike of this quickly put her in my good graces. Dawn sought to grow as a person, grow wiser and smarter, and so Roz'etta opened an offer to her, one of a teacher and student. Roz'etta would teach Dawn English, so she could speak to the people around her with ease, an offer Dawn eagerly accepted. To get into the mechanics very briefly, I even spent stat points to specialize in teaching just so Roz'etta could be as good a teacher as possible. I was invested in Dawn, I was invested in getting her able to talk to others in the campaign! I must admit that part of this is because in another campaign I was in completely unrelated to this one, sharing none of the players, there was a character whom I only referred to as 'my good friend Dawn'. So attaching myself to Dawn started partially as a joke I would get and literally no one else. That said, I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into, because Dawn is damn near the best character in this campaign.

I love stories, I love encouraging characters to tell about their lives, their history. If the campaign were a book I'd read it a dozen times over, poring over scar's ability to take any small piece of DC lore and turn it into something grandiose, something so much bigger than a couple panels in a single comic, and it turns out Dawn has a great deal of history to her. As her knowledge of English grew, as her comfort with Roz'etta grew, she began to tell greater and greater tales. She and Raven were not Native Americans of the modern time, no, they are in modern times because they chose to follow the Martian Manhunter into the future, our present, to live on the moon with him. Already, a mind-blowing realization, that Roz'etta and Dawn both owed so much in life to him. Dawn and Raven's visions, their journey, led them to join the Justice League Elite. Another revelation, for Roz'etta had recently learned that the Force of July's old headquarters became one for the Justice League Elite after her old team had broken up. It's possible Dawn's room there even was Roz'etta's. Each tale brought with it more revelations. Stories of ages long since gone, of how she aided Raven in his journey, and of how she was often looked down upon.

It is where past meets the present that Dawn shined brightest of all, though. She told a tale of the gods, who once were one pantheon, until a single man manipulated them into turning on each other. Manipulated the old gods' wisdom and patience against the ambitions of the new gods. This destroyed the language that could create anything, leaving the gods of Earth shattered into many pieces. This lone man, this lone manipulator, was Uxas, better known as Darkseid. And the symbol Dawn tried to paint on Chimp, that she did paint on Roz'etta's face from time to time, that she saw on the face of a man from Tokyo named Sonny Sumo, was Kaii'nito, a protection, a way to protect ourselves from the perils of the Anti-Life Equation and the influence of Uxas. She held this powerful secret, not out of malice, not out of ignorance, but purely because we didn't know the right questions to ask. In many ways the method by which we learned of Kaii'nito make it all the better than if we reached the questions on our own. We gained this knowledge through our work with Dawn, but ultimately it was Dawn's wisdom that got us over this finish line. The purpose of being a teacher to Dawn wasn't to do Dawn's work, after all, just to give her enough of a push to get her to where she needed to be.

That push has born fruit in another way, one that is me leaving out the far more important part of Dawn's journey. Raven was Manitou, Dawn was not. She was not the wise leader, connected to the earth like her husband was, living for the first time in many ages without him by her side, and being forced to become Manitou on her own. In order to become Manitou, she needed to find her Inukchuk, a totem. She could not tell what her Inuchuk would be until she found it, and so she prayed to the Earth. She prayed to the tree spirit Matango. Her prayers went unanswered, as she continued to learn, to better herself, to believe. Until one day, a dog walked into her tent, a curious dog by the name of Data 7. Data 7 adores magic, and is always especially curious about it. In Dawn, he found a teacher, someone to teach him the ways of the shadog. In Data 7, Dawn found her Inukchuk, and in doing so, became Manitou. I can't express properly how happy this makes me, that devoting time to a character for the purpose of letting them communicate with others yielded such an important character for another. I especially know that Ermine plays Data 7 as someone who isn't particularly fond of humans, even on Oa he strays away from the more humanoid Lanterns in favor of beings made of goo, so for Data to embrace Dawn the way he has holds a lot of meaning to me. Thank you.

Dawn is wise, Dawn is intelligent, Dawn can even be critical when Roz'etta tries too hard to sound like her, or cute when Roz'etta asks a question just a bit too personal. She is also filled to the brim with absolutely ridiculous stories, ones she's happy to share with a curious woman who shares so many small similarities. Roz'etta and Dawn could have easily crossed paths and become friends years ago, but they just missed each other, had Roz'etta's decisions been made slightly different. If Roz'etta accepted a spot on the Justice League proper, she might have become close friends with Dawn and Raven. If Roz'etta hadn't left Earth, perhaps she'd have met Dawn and Raven on the Justice League Elite. But perhaps with Raven around, Dawn would have declined to learn English, content to let Raven be Raven, and Dawn staying to the side, and instead Roz'etta and Dawn would be vague acquaintances. Perhaps the only chance these two had to become friends was with Raven' soul in the Heartlands, and these two sitting in a tent under the ice of Antarctica.

Also the tale she's in the middle of telling Roz'etta is about handling one of the most selfish people in history, one who will take what they want, one you cannot hope to stop, Dorothy Gale. What the hell is your life, Dawn. How do you come up with these things, scarlet?

Hint for #4: This person's voice is, or was, very special.

Black Canary

Crazy Shy Jesse Custer

Father Jsse

Dawn's story about Dorothy Gale is so much fun to tell. I'm always so glad that a player like you exists, War, because it rewards me with so many opportunities to really pore over backstories and tattered shreds of history to build towards what's to come. And I think Dawn really has a voice - a clear, distinct narration with no flowery language or frills. It's that classic pre-agricultural style of storytelling, and I'd like to think it befits the storytelling styles I've seen over the years from tribes like the Hopi.

Dawn probably is in my personal top ten? It's tough to say.

And I'll go with Jesse.

Honorable Mention: Blackrock (Peter Silverstone)
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/3/0/0/AAQcMAAADjnM.png
Did you really think this list would be completed without Blackrock, the best Blackrock, better than those Blackrocks on the Convoy, or one who became a woman of Kryptonite? I mean, he might have appreciated having some Kryptonite on hand to fight Superman, you understand, right? Right. Now I'm sure I can go on and on and on and on and on about characters, and so can scarlet, but nobody is as outspoken as Peter Silverstone, inventor of the television. Why I bet he could talk the ear off of anybody. If Gloriana's dress were made out of ears instead of hands, well, then maybe that would have a chance, but unlikely. Unlikely I say, for there is no limit to the amount of words that Blackrock will say to an open person. But Julie Bowen, well, she is a lovely woman and who is Blackrock to deny a lovely woman who wants to hear a tale of times gone by? Have I told you about his black rock, that's why he's called Blackrock you know. It's from the Amazon, if you have an interest in that, and not the company either, the rainforest. I'm sure he could tell you all about the Amazon if you care to listen, but I do know she is a busy woman, one whom he would like to remain acquainted with if you understand my meaning. She is so much more interesting to speak with that Bloodsport and Demolitia. And there is so much happening behind the scenes of Boston so hopefully Julie Bowen and Blackrock will meet again and once more engage in conversation that will go on for hours without end, something that perhaps entertains me and scarlet and nobody else. But that doesn't matter, I would use rather coarse language to describe anyone who doesn't find Blackrock to be among the highest caliber of character but that would be rather improper to do in front of a young lady, and that would get you kicked off of television. At least how broadcast television should be, I'm sure as time has passed the world has grown more vicious, but I harken back to the younger days when a man and a woman, well, it would be very rude to simply proposition for deeper relations in public as well back in those ages. One must court a woman properly, by proving oneself with their history, and have I mentioned I invented television? Well it all started in a bar back when one could drink all that they could without fear of being shunned or judged by society, in the year...

Blackrock, much like Patch when he first got his voicebox and Bart Allen in general, is one of my favorite types of characters to RP. And, more recently, Prowley around Roz'etta.

WarThaNemesis2 posted...

On a mission to Four Corners

????

Dawn's story and interactions sound great

#4: Jesse Custer
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/9/2/7/AAOJ0pAADYC_.png
Jesse Custer, the preacher man, is another character who came in first in campaign one. In his travels during his own crisis of faith, he ended up in Gotham just before it completely fell apart due to an earthquake. In control of a small piece of No Man's Land, he was able to lead his people, people of all faiths, through trying times. Of course, I doubt he expected welcoming people of all faiths to lead Roz'etta to him, an alien, first off, and one who is quite open about who her primary god is, H'ronmeer, Death. And Jesse Custer was beloved. He had such a presence to him, partially because he was armed with the Voice of God, there was nobody Jesse could not command, from the Scarecrow to a demon. And close to the end of No Man's Land, Jesse Custer left, one personal mission completed, and a great deal left to do to finish a job that needed done. That job, of course, was to rise up and kill God for being an asshole.

Enter campaign two, and in the city of Warpath, trying to hold out against the forces of the Society, you have Jesse Custer's return. Well, some of Jesse Custer. He's missing two things from his days in No Man's Land. One, as you might guess from the picture, is an eye. The other, perhaps less obvious, is his great power, the Voice of God. He lost the Voice of God because...well, God is dead. Yes, between campaigns, Jesse Custer marched up uo God Himself, and put Him down. Well, that's what he says, at least. Not many players believe him, because, well, killing God is crazy, right?

The mission to Warpath ended in the death of a player character, Taliesin Howe, and Jesse Custer returning to a post he hadn't held in quite some time, back to being a simply preacher man, one sitting in a chapel, writing up sermons for the people of Z'onn Z'orr.

And while most players haven't reached out to Jesse, he's had quite an impact on other NPCs. First off, the chapel used to be Alice's place to sit around and smoke weed. With Jesse taking over, Alice was forced to wander Z'onn Z'orr more, leading to her ending up under the tutelage of Nightshade. And when Alice became vengeful towards Brennus for leading her on, she made a truly foolish decision and attempted to tap into the power of God to bring down her vengeance. Now, ignoring the obvious part about why tapping into God for holy anger is a bad idea, there is also the second part that God is not there. No, sitting on the throne of God now is the Saint of Killers, and the Saint of Killers was not happy about this teenager trying to take his power over a boy. He ended up branding Alice's back, and it is only through the intervention of Father Jesse that she lived. But once the scare was over with, many people came to another realization. If God wasn't sitting on His throne, why not? The most logical answer is, of course, that He's dead. Who has claimed this entire time to have killed God? Why, Jesse Custer. Father Jesse. I do like calling him Father Jesse more than Jesse Custer. Father Jesse just carries so much more respect, reverence. And maybe, just maybe, he isn't crazy.

But this is just one character Jesse has had a profound impact on. Another he's impacted greatly is Roz'etta's daughter, Susie. When Roz'etta first adopted Susie, she knew the girl would need people in her life, and the list of people Roz'etta trusted to that extent, and actually could be such an influence, were limited. Limited more or less to one person. Father Jesse Custer became Susie's spiritual advisor, a position both have relished. Jesse, despite sometimes having misgivings about being dragged into Roz'etta's religion, puts forth great effort to provide her guidance, and Susie is always full of questions, but holds great respect for this old friend of her mother's, this person who has all sorts of answers for her questions about Death. Susie often has a rebellious side to her, but that is non-existent when it comes to Jesse Custer, following his instructions and taking in his lessons. And she is even so happy to tell people like Mica'kel about her Father J'see. It's so clear how much adoration Susie has for Jesse, how in his presence she's a child instead of whatever horrific thing people may think of her. Jesse is both an incredibly strong character on his own, and a character who enhances those in his orbit, and I love it.

All of this, and I haven't even dipped one toe onto what he's meant to Roz'etta herself during this campaign, and there are a lot of angles to this. Jesse is as proud a Texan as it gets, red-blooded America through and through, from the tips of his shoes to the 'Fuck Communism' lighter in his pocket. He's a cowboy, riding into town and opposing injustice wherever it may lurk. Opposing authority who dare take even one step too far. This man stood up to God, for Christ's sake. Well, for humanity's sake, actually. Because even God is not free from the crimes He's committed, the wrongs He's done. And in the eyes of Jesse Custer, there are a group of people who have greatly, deeply wronged Roz'etta. One of them is even on this top 52!

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/3/5/4/AAQcMAAADdRy.jpg

That's right, Scar, and the Guardians of the Universe, have perhaps wronged Roz'etta to the point where Jesse Custer, if he still had the Voice of God, would tell them to Go Fuck Themselves (he still would without it, just in lowercase). For the origin of Roz'etta's fear of a fire, a fear she worries will ultimately make her struggle to be as perfect a mother for Susie as she can, a fear that drives her and her people to collapse in puddles of pain at the mere sight of a flame, is with the Guardians of the Universe 11.5 million years ago, when the Burning Martians, quite literally Martians made of flame, were split into White and Green by the Guardians, and had a fear of fire implanted in them to prevent the Burning from ever rising up again. To the Guardians, I'm sure this seemed like a deed for the greater good, the preservation of the universe. To someone like Jesse Custer, this is God delivering a punishment that far outweighs the crime, punishing an innocent woman for something long, long, LONG before her time. It's at these moments when the fury and rage of Jesse pops up, lingering underneath all the wisdom and kindness. Sometimes the people with the most kindness are the ones with the most powerful fury, because they know exactly when to use it, and how much. Where much of the universe sees a monster, Jesse Custer sees a victim, and those who tamed the monster are perhaps the greatest ones of all. I hope he gets to meet Scar at some time, and the Guardian just beginning to embrace emotions faces the full fury of a Texan.

But cracks have begun in that Texan, at the hands of perhaps his second-favorite hero. I say second only because John Wayne exists, but Uncle Sam is a good second. I've gone over Uncle Sam as it came to Roz'etta, but there was a third person in that conversation inside the spirit of America, and he was not a particularly big fan of Uncle Sam's portrayal of America. For every argument about the sins of America Uncle Sam brought up, Jesse countered about how could America be so wrong, yes America does wrong sometimes, but isn't it about freedom, the spirit of the cowboy? Sam would counter back, Roz'etta would chime in to help Jesse understand Sam's point, all while slowly tearing down the myth of America. It was a little painful, to see Jesse Custer in the position of the self-assured student, the one who had thought he knew everything there was to know, only to discover that he knew so little. Jesse had been the wise teacher since the first time we ever saw him in No Man's Land. The only time he stopped being that, the only time he was the vulnerable one, he nearly left us altogether. This time was different though, because he was standing in front of Uncle Sam, and Sam is a damn good teacher himself, and Roz'etta had grown so much in the years that had passed that she was more than capable of holding her own.

So instead of the reveal that America was broken, had been broken long before Jesse had ever been born, breaking Jesse Custer, it strengthened him. After all, Sam wasn't only trusting Roz'etta, he was trusting the cowboy too. That cowboy grew to the point where the sight of John Wayne's own attire, which at one point would have inspired him, instead just focused him more on Sam's need. This cowboy has grown beyond John Wayne, he's chasing something bigger than the world of John Wayne. He's chasing The American Dream, the real deal. Jesse wasn't wrong to chase the ideal world, it's just that his understanding of the ideal world existed was wrong. It had never existed. At some point, at some time, things had gone wrong, the ideal America slipped through the cracks, but it could be real, if we put in the right work towards it. It's with this understanding that Jesse Custer was approached by the staff of President Horne, who sought photo opportunities, and were soundly rejected. Jesse Custer is busy fixing the very essence of America, and those who only care about appearances instead of actions, well, they're the ones who helped make a mess of their country. Jesse did respect Horne, and through Roz'etta, Horne did in fact join Task Force Sam, although it was made extremely clear, he was there as Jonathon Horne. He's there for being a good American, for being someone who genuinely cares, not to make his office look good.

There are just so many facets to Jesse Custer that I've explored over two campaigns. We met him first in the middle of his journey, as a lost man. For us, he was a key part of our whole adventure. For him, we were one stop. Now we've met again, this time Jesse's tale, at least with God, was finished, he found his peace, and we're in the middle of ours. Then, with Uncle Sam, it is Sam, America itself, in the middle of his journey, and yet both Roz'etta and Jesse's entire experience with him will be just another stop. This is what may best describe Jesse, paths constantly having no way of crossing, until disaster forces them together.

Also God might still be alive as a boy named Wally in Leesburg and Jesse killed the wrong person but that is a whole different can of worms that will probably blow up in our faces when the time comes for those two to meet face to face. Roz'etta believes Jesse though!

Hint for #3: This character left their boss between campaigns.

Data 7

The Spectre?

Jesse really does play such a key role in Roz'etta's existence. It's kind of amazing when you think about it.

I'm guessing Waller for this one.

I think this one is Lashina. I think the sheer screen time of Waller puts her forward for 2

WarThaNemesis2 posted...

Also God might still be alive as a boy named Wally in Leesburg and Jesse killed the wrong person but that is a whole different can of worms that will probably blow up in our faces when the time comes for those two to meet face to face. Roz'etta believes Jesse though!

Oh my

#3: Lashina
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To this point we have discussed kings, men with a divine right to rule, we have discussed beings with the power to change people with but a single thought, beings who can change all of reality, those who seek the gods for blessings, and those who curse a god who doing wrong. Even a god has taken a spot on this list for themselves. Roz'etta is a very religious person, one who follows a very unique path compared to what one may expect from someone who lives on Earth, perhaps very different from what one would expect from someone called a death cultist. Now, it is time for another god to take their spot on this list. Not an ancient god, a god of millennia gone by, but a New God.

Lashina entered Roz'etta's world at one of the lowest points in the Saturnian's life in campaign one. Roz'etta had lost her love to magic, quite literally, she was incapable of loving the person she had prior to the magic's interference, she had, in a moment of depression and desperation, made a deal to work for the person she feared most in the world, and at that very moment, she was imprisoned within another player character's stone form by the machinations of the League of Assassins and one of her closest friends, the vile Varra De Luca. Enter the Suicide Squad, and Lashina among their number. Roz'etta's rescue had come, and, once the League was dealt with, this towering woman looked to the pathetic Roz'etta and asked her where the most fun place is, then left, singing a song as she walked off into No Man's Land proper, without a care in the world.

So Roz'etta sought out Lashina, finding that the woman hadn't gone to the ruined nightclub as suggested, but instead to a stadium filled with a nuclear man and horses that attacked anyone they particularly felt like, which was most people. Immediately, Lashina became just the most badass person in the world, one who is so far beyond anything that these issues that would be horrific problems for any of us is...nothing to her. Roz'etta saw Lashina and saw so much of what she herself wanted to be. Strong, powerful, respected, tethered to a cause that valued her, and so she...let go, just a little, and the two entered a...relationship of sorts. Oracle would call Lashina a rebound, but this one decision would have an immense impact on both aliens.

Roz'etta needed someone to make her feel strong, and Lashina, well, Lashina needed something to garner her interest. When you're Lashina, entertainment is hard to come by. Even the actions of the Joker, taking down an entire wedding consisting of many of the most powerful players in the world of No Man's Land, did nothing to sate the New God's boredom. But Roz'etta, Roz'etta was strange, she asked questions, she came to Lashina when others would not, or if they did, would do so with grating voices. The two reached a level of understanding, of a bizarre amount of care for one another. There was only one really thing truly standing between the two. That is, of course, Lashina's job when she isn't on the Suicide Squad, which is being one of Darkseid's Female Furies.

It is in the moments in Lashina's hut between the two that campaign two truly began. Lashina intended to have a ship built, one that could allow her to return to Apokolips, to Darkseid. She even invited Roz'etta to join her, although she didn't expect Roz'etta to accept. It was simply her way of proving how right she was, that it is freeing to have options taken from you, options in your life held in the hands of another, in this case, Roz'etta's responsibilities to Oracle kept her bound to Earth. If that sounds weird, think of Lashina as a twisted version of Wonder Woman. Instead of a Lasso of Truth, Lashina, through her own bindings and her words, uses her form of lasso as strength, as freedom. There's power, relief, happiness, in accepting one as your better. It's a truly uncomfortable view on life, which is really how Lashina is in general. She makes you uncomfortable in all she does, but in doing so makes you comfortable in accepting that discomfort. The very language of the New Gods is impossible for beings like Roz'etta to comprehend in words, only in feelings. One hearing it loses themselves, Roz'etta knows exactly how it feels to be Lashina through this, and it was lonely, heartbreaking, and beautiful. Of course, Roz'etta's responsibility to Oracle meant she had to tell Oracle about Lashina's goal, and Oracle concocted a plan, sabotage Lashina's ship so she can't return to Darkseid. Through Fastbreak and the Calculator (a person who tried to take down Oracle, was stopped by us and Captain Marvel, and then given to Lashina as a prisoner because Oracle is a vengeful, vengeful woman), the ship was sabotaged, and Roz'etta was perhaps at her most helpless in those final moments of Lashina, watching her leave. The two would possibly never see each other again.

All of this is to set up campaign two. You know the score. Darkseid and his armies are conquering Earth, and a question rattling in the back of Roz'etta's mind is 'where is Lashina?'. Roz'etta knows Lashina is among Darkseid's forces, one of those bringing destruction down on the planet. Why, she might even be leading the Female Furies, the truest Furies. It was a topic of conversation at times, such as when The Thinker openly wonders if Roz'etta would be willing to find a way to Apokolips and use her connection to Lashina as an in with the very homeworld Darkseid leads. When K'Ray is captured, but before he is turned to truly being one of the Secret Six, Roz'etta questioned him, and learned one of the most terrifying facts of the campaign. Lashina's part in the war for Darkseid was to take Superman as her consort. When this was brought to Waller, she revealed to Roz'etta that there were reports of Lashina succeeding, as Superman had been sighted in Asia leading Darkseid's armies, with glowing red eyes. Superman was Equated.

This is where things stood with Lashina, a specter hanging over Roz'etta's head, the question of what that first meeting would be, until a field team went to Yellowstone. Roz'etta was forbidden to go, for the entire park was on fire, and there a single letter flipped the campaign on its head. HIVE was to be on the lookout for a dangerous enemy, a traitor who had turned against Darkseid, someone whom they all needed to be careful of, lest they be killed. Lashina. Lashina had betrayed Darkseid.

That simply isn't possible. Only one had ever betrayed Darkseid before, and that was Big Barda, and for that betrayal Lashina despises Barda. Whenever Lashina's song would make a reference to someone in a terrible way, there was a strong chance she was referring to Barda. Darkseid's cult is the most powerful thing in the world, in many ways it's what this entire campaign is built around. One does not leave Darkseid. Lashina doesn't betray Darkseid.

How could this have happened? Could this have been a bizarre trap set by Lashina to find remnants of a resistance? It was certainly possible. Darkseid would absolutely kill a few HIVE soldiers for a greater gain later, and HIVE wouldn't really be in a position to stop him. It's Lashina, so anything was on the table. The hunt in Yellowstone would lead to the center of the Earth, to the land of Skartaris, where we would get reports of a rampaging goddess. One who was a concern for both the natives of Skartaris and the Society presence. That certainly sounds like Lashina, and so the stage was set for the fateful reunion.

So Roz'etta would follow Lashina's trail, leading her to a destroyed temple, another piece of destruction brought about by Lashina, and in the hunt for a piece of magic in an altar, the symbol of Superman was drawn, and flashed into the sky.

That symbol would be what was needed to call upon the goddess. Lashina leapt, seemingly from the very sky, and appeared before us. She spoke of betrayal, and more than that, of a terrible infection that had corrupted her. An infection that broke her, something she is incapable of dealing with. That infection..is hope. So Lashina sang a song for us, a song that showed us what happened to her. Her sabotaged ship ran out of fuel over a ruined planet, a planet full of the symbol of Superman, a symbol that meant hope. Something she didn't understand, something she couldn't understand, and so she was forced to witness it until she understood. Until she could comprehend something that doesn't exist in Darkseid's world. Hope.

Lashina was prepared to follow Darkseid, to lead his forces, but then something happened. Darkseid noticed this hope in Lashina's head, and so he gave her a gift. Superman. Our understanding of the situation was completely wrong. Lashina was not meant to break Superman, to rid him of hope. It was the other way around, Superman was to marry Lashina to keep her under Darkseid's foot. Lashina intends to take her revenge, to fight Superman, and has demanded the one who betrayed her be by her side when she does. That one is, in her mind, Data 7. Her ship ran out of fuel on the way to Apokolips because she went to Venus on a favor for Data 7, she was stuck over Krypton because of him, her suffering is because of him. So now he will die fighting Superman with her. Worst of all, thanks to the hope poisoning her, she believes she might actually be able to win.

So Lashina ran. She ran through the forces of Darkseid, through man and machine, and fell to Skartaris. And Lashina cried. Lashina cried because she was weak. Her impossible levels of confidence were built on two words. Darkseid is. There is nothing after the is. It means everything around you is Darkseid. Hope turned that into Darkseid might be. And if Darkseid might be, the end result of that is Darkseid might not be. And for someone who has only known Darkseid, that is strange, impossible. So Lashina begged Roz'etta to help her, help her become Lashina again. Lashina knows where she needs to go to become Lashina. She must go to the ruined planet that cursed her in the first place, Krypton. Roz'etta accepted, because at the end of the day Roz'etta believes in the goddess, for Roz'etta has always clung to the slightest bit of hope when it comes to Lashina, and now there was hope in Lashina's heart as well.

Of course, having hope doesn't make you kind, or nice, or peaceful. Lashina is still very much Lashina. If you wrong her, she'll be ready to rip off your head. She did so to one who tried to betray Roz'etta. She uses people, she used Jennifer Morgan to get through a portal to the stars, because at the end of the day what matters is getting to Krypton, to heal. Everything else can be sacrificed. Everything else is simply in the way.

Except, of course, for one person. Lashina has always been utterly shameless in terms of what she wants from Roz'etta, but now Lashina's are filled with more passion, with, dare I say it, love, something else foreign to those in Darkseid's thrall. And now that Lashina has hope, perhaps that hope is wanting to believe that Roz'etta can embrace the monster that is in her blood, encouraging Roz'etta to become a bit of what she wasn't before.

Nobody is more uncomfortable to talk to than Lashina, simply because of how utterly foreign and alien she is, but I reached out one time, and it grew into something far, far beyond what it started as. Roz'etta has always had enough hope for the both of them, all the hope Lashina lacked, and Lashina had all the confidence and strength Roz'etta didn't. But now Lashina has hope dragging her down, and Roz'etta has the strength to hold Lashina up, just a bit. Time will tell where their balance will be made, but their efforts have pulled Lashina from Darkseid's influence. Darkseid is became Darkseid might be became Darkseid isn't.

The question facing the two now is in a world where Darkseid isn't, what is Lashina? All I know for sure is she's Roz'etta's. After that, well, there's a lot to get through. But now that she knows Darkseid isn't, maybe we can truly get started on answering that one. Roz'etta has always seen Lashina as someone with so much potential, and quite a bit of innocence, if only they could get past those words. Darkseid is is no more. Now it's time to see if Roz'etta's hope was a shining light, or a blinding one.

Hint for #2: This character has an intimidating stare.

Leslie Thompkins

Amanda Waller

That makes the campaign sound so much better than it is. What an amazing write-up.

Waller, obviously.

Not Pepper

The Wall

Lashina and my characters have not had the best of times. Fastbreak helped sabotage her ship in campaign 1 at the behest of Big Barda who was his Super Buddy. Lashina would smell that on him and chuck him around for it. Menawhile my C2 character Lush simply had her ribs cracked the second Lashina even looked in her direction.

Fun times

Susie

#2: Amanda Waller
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/9/4/9/AAOJ0pAADbtt.jpg
Sitting in at #2, it's The Wall. The Black Queen of Checkmate. Very few people enjoy working with her, and where her strategies go, bodies will be left in her footsteps. She is someone who controls any room she's in, one of the most frightening people in either campaign. Her shadow has been hanging over Roz'etta since before campaign one began, and it only briefly let up. It's Amanda Waller, one of the worst people to ever live.

It all began with a shapeship, and a young woman within. Roz'etta Schtone, of the planet Saturn, was making her way to Earth, to analyze humanity for Jemm, Prince of Saturn. She was caught up in a meteor shower, and her ship crashed in the outskirts of Gotham. Unconscious, she was captured and subjected to an experiment. An experiment to grant someone the ability to speak any language, talk to any being. In essence, creating a Rosetta Stone. Amanda Waller was not settling for making a Rosetta Stone though, she needed to go further, manipulating Roz'etta's fear to getting her to shapeshift into a less...alien form, that of Reese Witherspoon. With Roz'etta's shapeshifting then sealed away, Waller's job was done, and the alien was left to sit in a cell, until one day, she was able to make her escape into Gotham City.

This is where Amanda Waller and Roz'etta part ways, with the terrifying figure of Waller only present in Roz'etta's life as a nightmare, one that pushed Roz'etta to be cautious, careful about anyone knowing her true skin underneath, the abilities she had. With Waller's presence gone from her life, Roz'etta was able to experience a different side of humanity, the poor underbelly of Gotham, the hard-working GCPD struggling to keep the city together, the rumors and legends of the Batman waiting to take down any evil in his city. She found friends among the humans, learned their customs, read any book she could get her hands on, experienced holidays, and heard the Nutcracker Suite about 100 times.

This is where Roz'etta was when campaign one began, until then she entered the world of superheroes, and the nightmare became so much more real. Black Canary had done some digging for Oracle, and discovered why Roz'etta's powers were sealed away. Inside the alien's neck was a inhibitor, and that inhibitor doubled as a tracking device. Suddenly a roof over her head no longer was a protection, for Waller's eyes could see wherever she was. Had seen wherever she was. Waller had always been there, watching. So Roz'etta did as Roz'etta does. She ran. She ran to the end of life itself to escape Waller, and then dragged herself back once the tracker was dealt with. She could shapeshift again, and perhaps now she could sleep easy. Were life only that simple, and fate not so cruel.

This is, after all, a game, and my write-ups have focused on the story, but when it comes to Waller, it must be said. For in a game of dice rolling, sometimes the dice are harsh, and one time in a factory, I rolled a 20-sided die for Roz'etta's shapeshifting, and came up with a one. What horrid form would Roz'etta take, what monster would Roz'etta be? The answer was the worst monster of all.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/7/5/AAQcMAAADkUH.jpg

Roz'etta knew she looked like Amanda Waller. Her teammates though? They did not know who this woman really was, but they knew whose face it was. And they had not seen where their friend had gone. So they placed threats, with heated words and hands alit in flame. Roz'etta was helpless to do anything but beg the people so close to her to believe her, yet there was no sympathy, no faith in her, only doubt. Dice are cruel sometimes, and the rule of funny, that the dice will produce the funniest result if given the chance, is sometimes crueler.

Waller had a massive presence in No Man's Land. She did so without ever stepping a toe in. Roz'etta attempted to get ahead of Waller, only to find herself beaten down mentally, feeling more and more defeated by life, falling further and further behind, even her mentor Nightshade couldn't get her feeling permanently ahead, if anything Roz'etta's feeling of failure as a student pushed her more in the direction of seeking escape and in the end her way of escape was by ensuring herself a future, by talking to the horrible woman who plagued her thoughts. Amanda Waller was willing to talk, under one condition. A promise from this alien to work for her when No Man's Land was done. Roz'etta agreed, and her future was sealed. A future of red, white, and blonde, of the Force of July. When Batman came calling, offering Roz'etta a chance to be part of the Justice League, if only as a courtesy, since the spot was going to be Oracle's, Roz'etta outright declined. She had given her word to Amanda Waller, she knew what Amanda Waller was capable of, and she knew that in a war between Waller and the Justice League, nobody would win. This is the level of respect Amanda Waller commanded in No Man's Land.

I will talk further of Waller's actions in No Man's Land later, in the context of our current campaign, but I'll leave this introduction to Waller will this: Amanda Waller commands every room she's in, every conversation she is a part of. She knows it, and I dare you to challenge it.

In between campaigns, Roz'etta joined the Force of July under President Lex Luthor and Defense Secretary Amanda Waller, alongside Sparkler, Katana, Nightshade, Resurrection Man, and Azrael, an often mad man who was very much Roz'etta's enemy during No Man's Land, tamed, healed by the wonders of Waller's methods, turned close ally.

In that time, Roz'etta grew to respect Waller, she even somewhat grew to like Waller. Waller was no longer the terrifying force hanging over her head, she's a person giving orders, providing resources, still a pain to deal with, but in a different way. One doesn't question Waller, one doesn't handle Waller the leader the way one handles Oracle the leader, but it worked. It functioned. Waller, in her own way, cared about the well-being of her team.

Until Lex Luthor tried to turn the power of America against Batman and Superman, and Waller was caught in his manipulations. Roz'etta walked in on what it still, to me, one of the most terrifying moments in comic book history.

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Lex was using Waller to his own ends, and Roz'etta needed answers. This is how Lex informed Roz'etta of one of his great secrets. He had imprisoned, tortured, and manipulated Roz'etta's prince.

Three thoughts went through Roz'etta's mind.

First: Betrayal. She had been betrayed by Lex, by Oracle, by Batman, by so many people she trusted. Even Waller had betrayed her.

Second: Anger. Roz'etta was furious over this, she was furious with humanity itself, for manipulating her, for using her. She had even aided Batman when he needed her, managing to make time in her life in the Force of July to help him when he was under suspicion of murdering Vesper Fairchild! How dare he do this to her?

Third: That she needed to focus. Forget a war between Waller and the Justice League, a war between Saturn and Earth would be magnitudes worse.

So Roz'etta did what Roz'etta does, she ran. She ran to Saturn, to be by Jemm's side. To ensure that this would not boil over into an interplanetary war. She would fix this much, if it took every breath she'd ever have. This, perhaps, was the little bit Amanda Waller had been able to plant in Roz'etta. One tiny seed that, if it had a chance, could grow.

And in that time, Roz'etta did grow. She grew from a hero just stepping into the world into a veteran, and one day, she would return to Earth, with a different face, that of Julie Bowen. That day would last only a few minutes before she would be captured, caught in a trap and put in a tube, to sleep as the world fell apart.

Roz'etta would awaken in a world ruled by the Society and by Darkseid. She would soon find herself under the ice of Antarctica, in front of the tower of Z'onn Z'orr, staring into the eyes of Amanda Waller once more. Waller commands every room she's in, she commands every situation. But Roz'etta took a step forward and introduced herself.

For perhaps the first time in their relationship, it was Waller who was left shocked, if only the slightest bit. And so the curtain rises on campaign two, and these two sharing the stage together, something built to since before campaign one, would finally occur in earnest.

Roz'etta, more than any other character, had reason to doubt Waller, to try to foment something against her within the organization of Checkmate. Yet she didn't, as much as Waller suspected Roz'etta, the feeling was not mutual. The reason for this is threefold. One, given the state of the world, the list of people Roz'etta believed could lead humanity through this is limited. On a list with the Martian Manhunter, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, the fifth name is Waller. The second is purely by accident. There are, undeniably, two sides in this war. One is Waller. The other is Lex Luthor. For some this seemed like a choice to support Waller as best one can. For Roz'etta it wasn't. Waller was not Luthor, and that should be that. The third, however, is what pushes Roz'etta from siding with Waller to fully prepared support. Nightshade, back in campaign one, told Roz'etta about Waller, about what kind of person The Wall was. It could be summarized in one sentence. The worst part about Amanda Waller is that she's always right. Meant to damn Waller, perhaps instead it had the opposite effect.

So it's time to explore how, when dealing with Roz'etta, Amanda Waller is right. Recall how Waller turned Roz'etta into Reese Witherspoon? This is for two reasons, one is that white women have a better time in American prisons than non-white women. This bluntness is especially biting coming from someone who was at that point in time, probably the most or second most prominent black woman in the country. She might be undisputed number one given that Condi was actually a Green Martian.

Recall the fear Waller instilled in Roz'etta? She needed Roz'etta to fear, to be cautious, to be careful around humanity. Humanity is dangerous, and Waller knows that as much as anyone. She's seen all the evils humanity can do. For better or worse, if Waller hadn't harmed Roz'etta, someone else would have, someone with worse intentions, someone who lacked the self-control Waller did. If you know someone is going to die, and you can save their life by breaking their legs, do you do it? Amanda Waller knows what the right all is, and has the stomach to go through with it, and defend it. Sometimes it feels like she's only justifying it to herself, but...even if you want to make the case she isn't right, she's right enough.

Every action, every misdeed, it's all calculated against the alternatives. It's a heavy burden, and Waller carries it. Some hate her for it, and not just people sharing similar outlooks on life. Deadshot, Nightshade, and Oracle hate Waller. The latter two don't understand what Roz'etta sees in Waller, how Roz'etta can look past their history.

The truth is that Roz'etta and Waller aren't entirely different. Roz'etta looks towards the future, she pictures victory, and this war being won but in a way that leads to a larger one is not a victory. Saturnians used to be servants of the Martians, and their rebellion only led to war amongst themselves. In her mind, the leadership that formed the rebellion was poor. They won the battle, but so many more would die as a result of the flaws in their plan. This attaches her to Waller's way of thinking, of accepting that some losses now are better than greater ones later. A view that so many others see as proof of Waller the monster.

The other thing is that Roz'etta sees a side of Waller that others simply don't. Roz'etta saw Waller at her most used, in the Oval Office. She sees Waller the person, the woman weighed down by carrying humanity's fate on her shoulders. She sees Waller struggle sometimes, to justify how she treated Roz'etta in the past, how it was necessary, and instead of judging Waller, she lets Waller's reasoning hold, instead of challenging it as she would have every right to.

All of this has led to the most recent revelation, that Amanda Waller did act when Lex Luthor had captured and harmed the Prince of Saturn. Waller spoke to Jemm, and they came to an agreement. If Roz'etta wanted it, if she was going to work for it, she would be Waller's heir. Waller had been answered Roz'etta's questions for years, providing guidance. In many ways, Roz'etta was Waller's student for years, and now she's in position to be the next Black Queen, to take the reins of Checkmate.

Waller's leadership style, perhaps, is what most makes Roz'etta respect her. Waller commands rooms, but she does not conquer them. She gives agents freedom, encouraging people to work their way up the ranks, to pursue their passion projects. So long as they deliver results, there's no need for her heavy hand to watch over them. This is needed, because it is our individuality that separates us from Darkseid, whose presence weighs over every action the Society takes. It's funny to think about it that way, that Waller's presence hung so heavy over Roz'etta in campaign one, but in campaign two Waller is a source of freedom.

This is not to say that Waller does have not the potential to weigh down on us. When we say something that she truly finds wrong, she will let us know, and it is the fact that she has given us so much freedom that gives her criticism such weight. When it is time to celebrate, she is the one to insist we enjoy our accomplishments. When she suspected Brennus was too trusting, she plotted with The Thinker to train that out him. When she thought Saoirse felt underappreciated, she personally told her how valued she was. When Fire needed answers about Max Lord, Waller provided them, and saw her seen out of her office in a secretive way. It's possible not even any of the other four on my list could truly accomplish what Waller has here, because what truly makes Waller such a special is knowing exactly what personal touch to put on any situation.

Even Roz'etta is not immune from Waller's criticism. Roz'etta promised to keep the identities of our White Martians a secret, and when she tried to keep that from Waller, she was furious. She cursed up a storm and told Roz'etta, in no uncertain terms, that attempting to protect the White Martians without her help would result in failure. Perhaps it is because Waller is the most personal with Roz'etta, most experienced with Roz'etta, that she holds Roz'etta to the highest standards. But Waller is never unfair. She's still Waller, she always has to be right, and in this, she was most certainly right.

Waller even has a great deal of comedy to her. She made the incredibly obnoxious robot L-Ron her secretary, both to keep a close eye on him and to discourage anyone from attempting to bother her unless they had something very important to say, for L-Ron will get his pound of sanity before you get in her door. When Paul McCartney showed up in Z'onn Z'orr, Waller got a bit hot under the collar. Horne calls Waller Mandy, and Waller's casual request for respect makes both characters all the funnier. It happens very rarely, and is gone in a moment, but it's a nice reminder sometimes that Waller is, at the end of the day, not a superhuman.

What pushes Waller to the peak is the comparisons to other characters. If she commanded any less respect from everyone, she'd risk running over King Faraday's niche. If she showed slightly less respect, she'd risk running over Vostok's. If she were slightly more burdened by the world around her, she'd be campaign one Oracle instead of showing specifically why Oracle is unfit for being in Waller's seat. She can stare down Patch and request respect, and from her it comes off as respect for him, treating him as a real person as opposed to just a rat.

Waller had an incredibly small window to fit into, and in order to deliver she needed to hit it perfectly.

I genuinely don't know if anyone could write her into that window better. If they can, I've never seen it.

Hint for #1: Pick her up!

Traci 13

Pocus
And then bounce her pretending to talk for her.

One of my favorite small Waller moments comes from Bobby Garibaldi. At that point, there was no blood for donations in the largely empty Z'onn Z'orr. But Amanda Waller is a universal donor, so when the call went out, it wasn't a lackey or a minion or anything like that who arrived in Spirit's medbay - it was Amanda Waller, who rolled up her own sleeve and put her arm on the table.

Obviously, Susie

amanda waller