Board 8 > Inviso Also Also Also Ranks Their Top 52 Characters in Scarlet's DC TTRPG

(+) Yeah! (+)

Amanda Waller

Actually it was Carmen who was burned by Tali. Bonnie was being a gatekeeper keeping me away from her

that jerk

ScareChan posted...

Actually it was Carmen who was burned by Tali. Bonnie was being a gatekeeper keeping me away from her

that jerk

thats what I said. Carmen got roasted.

Ah, I misread it then. Whoops

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12. Stargirl (Courtney Whitmore)

As far as this list goes, just off the top of my head, Courtney is probably one of the most recent characters to either make the list, or least make enough of an impression on Pepper to break into the top fifty-two. I think it says a lot for this sort of character that not only did she make the list, but she also cracked the top quarter. But Stargirl, aka Black Hole, managed to find the EXACT right storyline to land with me, and thats in spite of her coming from a two-part mission that I was not even involved with. I never even got to interact with her until she came home onboard a special airplane, and Pepper made the awkward comment of understanding life in a small town because she grew up in Provo. Its certainly quaint compared to Austin or ANY of the major cities weve visited in the campaignbut cmon Pepper. Provos not some one-horse town.

To start, we had a mission (which Pepper was not on, mind you) to Blue Valley, Nebraska, specifically because wed heard that Stargirl (one of the bigger-name heroes we have on our Whatever Happened To Them big board) might still be based there. I say we, but Pepper never actually went on either trip to Blue Valley, so my knowledge of events is a bit muddied compared to the players who were there on the ground. Anyway, the players went to Blue Valley and found out that it was being run by one of the many, many, MANY iterations of the Royal Flush Gang weve found in the campaign. But on top of that, it was REALLY being controlled by a Malevolent and demonic force known only as Goth. Before I continue from here there, I do need to give a little backstory that I dont think has come up yet.

As some background info for our non-campaign readers, Darkseid invaded Earth, which is simple enough to understand, but Darkseid has a particular penchant for taking the best and brightest women he can get his hands on, and forcibly converting them into lieutenants for his cause. These are known as Furies, and they have largely been given a far more thorough brainwashing than just having the Equation mentally enslave them to Darkseids service. After all, the Equation kinda renders the more complex functions of the human mind inert, making Equated individuals good for menial labor, but they lose more valuable traits that could further Darkseids agenda. With the Furies, theyre subjected to special treatment, and giving a boost to their power levels, turning even non-power humans into dangerous adversaries.

Thus far, weve run into (or at least heard of): Miss Martian, Campaign One fan favorite Argent, Catwoman, Batwoman, Ramseys mom aka Manhunter, and the biggest one of allWonder Woman. Thats what Darkseid does: he finds the strongest specimens and defenders of Earth and co-opts them for his own purposes. For someone like Pepper, with her feminist streak and general fear of having her own power and autonomy taken away, this is horrifying. And this is the mindset we had in place when the party went to Blue Valley. Were already expecting the worst, because more often than not, the biggest-named female superheroes are either off-world, imprisoned, or converted into Furies. I dont think we had the highest expectations for Stargirl, and this was further exacerbated when VERY early on into the first Blue Valley mission, it was revealed that yes, she was one of the citys four major Furies.

Eventually, the team fought their way through the city, because one of our major M.O.s has been trying to rescue the family and friends of known heroes, so at least THEYLL be safe, even if their loved ones arent. This led to the discovery of Courtneys stepdad, Pataka S.T.R.I.P.E., who is a superhero in his own right. Hes been holed up and leading his own sort of resistance in Blue Valley, doing the best he can against the Equated, and Goths quartet of homegrown Furies. It's at this point that Stargirl herself made her first appearance, and it went exactly as you might expect. She threatened Brennus and was all-in on the whole evil Fury thing until Pat stepped in to calm her down. Yeah, turns out Courtney still maintains control over her own mind, and shes just playing the part to keep funneling information back to the resistance.

We didnt get much more on this storyline until the return to Blue Valley, which saw the rescue of Pat, Courtney, Patton (their dog), and Robotman. Courtney had maintained her cover, but she had an enemy in fellow Fury Whistle (who is a bitch). The party fought their way through Blue Valley to take the fight directly to Goth himself, but it turns out things werent as simple as they seemed. Yes, Courtney still maintained control in a way, because she hadnt been forcibly converted to Darkseids cause by Desaad, but Goth had his own means of exerting control over his personal band of Furies. As a result, Courtney wound up getting taken out of the fight as she struggled to control her own mind, meaning that the ultimate battle came down to the teams earlier efforts to intervene in the Speed Force-addled life of Lady Flash, who saved the day instead.

This is what brought Courtney to Zonn Zorr, having extricated her and her closest allies (and that bitch, Whistlewho I feel bad about calling a bitch since shes only fourteen, but also, fuck that bitch) to safety, onboard their personal jet. Its here that we get to the meat of why she ranks this highly, because this is the first time that Pepper really met Stargirl. And honestly, it was really the perfect storm of a bunch of different factors all coming together at once to create this amalgamation of a plot that appeals to me on a personal level. Its the sort of thing that could very easily get her into the top ten moving forward, but at it stands, she just doesnt have the same history that I have with the characters whove placed above her.

First and foremost, there are several aspects of MY personality and also several aspects of how Im playing Pepper, that directly fed into the development of a relationship with Courtney. Keep in mind that this is a character I had not met until after two field missions that I was not a part of. I fully acknowledge that it is often difficult for me to jump into a conversation with this sort of character at times (apologies to literally every character from Opal City), even though on paper, shes someone Pepper should ABSOLUTELY have sought out on her own. My first time having an RP conversation with her wasnt even an instance of Pepper going to talk to her, but rather Courtney happened to be nearby and witnessed Pepper in the midst of a very upsetting argument with Jaime.

This gets to the first aspect I feel I should discuss. Its certainly the lesser of the two factors that led to Courtneys high placement on this list, but it matters all the same. I dont know the psychological reason, exactly, but to a certain extent, I enjoy the relationship melodrama inherent in putting a bunch of people in pressure cooker situations where you never know when youre gonna draw your last breath, and you just go looking for any bit of companionship and affection you can get. Peppers had a bunch of this with several of the guys around Zonn Zorr, with varying results. And in that initial interaction with Courtney, there was a certain level of kinship in that sort of mentality.

Courtney Whitmore is only fourteen-years-old. Theres nothing inherently wrong with this, or with her getting into a relationship, so long as its with someone of an appropriate age. Heck, her boyfriends are theoretically less likely to get shot in the head than those of Zoe Lawton, for instance. But Courtney fell in love with Billy Batson, who is comparably-aged to her. The problem is that their interactions began as a result of their superheroing, and in case youre not aware: Billy Batson is Captain Marvel. Captain Marvelwhile inherently a fourteen-year-old boy since he IS Billy Batson at hearthas the body of a full-grown man. This does not sit well when you consider the potential optics of a romantic relationship between an underaged girl and what looks like a groomer. Yeah, theres some drama there.

More than that though, by the time we met Courtney, wed already come across Billy and discovered the changes hes going through. Shazam, the ancient wizard that imbues Captain Marvel with his powers, has passed on, and this meant Billy needed to step up and claim that mantle. Now, Courtneys star-crossed boyfriendfor whom she already has to deal with familial and societal judgmentsis an ancient wizard who needs to focus on life as said ancient wizard above all else. Needless to say, Courtney is less than happy with this arrangement, and shes displeased by Billy casting her aside in such a fashion; she didnt even know he was still alive, and hed apparently made no effort to contact her since shit hit the fan with Darkseid. Between Jaime and Billy, the two girls found a common bond in their irritation at the poor behavior of their male counterparts.

That initial common bond led to the greater common bond shared by Pepper and Courtney. I dont believe Ive mentioned this a TON yet, because it hasnt necessarily impacted NPC interactions as much as just giving Pepper personal development. Pepper is not big on magic, so that largely pushes her away from a lot of the more magic-based plotlines. And shes also not an especially competent fighter, so the Equated and OMACs are threats to her as unfeeling and largely unthinking monsters. Thus, the main focus of Peppers efforts in terms of the three prongs of enemies we face out in the field has been the Society itself. If the Society is made up of free-thinking individuals, no matter how evil they may be, there is still the possibility of using ones mind and ones words to manipulate them for positive gains.

At first, this desire came out in the form of Operation High Society, with Pepper cooking various drugs in her chem lab, with the intent of either A. offering them to the Society to gain favor and infiltrate, and B. just getting the grunts and goons drugged up so that theyre less threatening when its time for the heavy-hitters to do their things. With this somewhat successfulparticularly in the wake of what Pepper considered a decent victory in Las VegasPepper then began putting together a squad for specific Society infiltration missions. This is where Courtney eventually comes into the fold, although admittedly, she was more a personal suggestion on my part, rather than the grouping that volunteered for the squad.

As discussed in the Blue Valley missions, Courtney already has experience as a Society infiltrator. Sure, she has her sparkly red, white and blue costume and all-American blonde locks, but at the same time, she has the evil costume from when she worked under Goth. Red and black is inherently evil and cool (hi there Biohazard). It was an obvious choice to bring someone onboard who already knew what Pepper was looking for with this squadron. But honestly? Courtney getting closer with Pepper was just something I personally needed as a player.

Up until she showed up in Zonn Zorr, I think Pepper was a little bit isolated in terms of the uniqueness of her mindset. The villains agreed with her more ruthless side, but scoffed at any efforts at goodness, and the heroes took a very hard stance in terms of good above all else. And the handful of Checkmate agents who might view things through a more morally-gray lens also had a much greater wealth of experience that it could be intimidating to go them. As such, Pepper was kinda stuck in this position where she doesnt view the world as completely black or completely white, but shes also too inexperienced in the hero community to really have the broad expanse of knowledge to know how to process the heavier subject of morality when it comes to heroic or villainous activities.

With Courtney though, this is a girl who has actively been out in the field, surviving Blue Valley by doing exactly what Pepper has tried to do. It was just so refreshing and nice to have a character that so largely understands what Pepper is going through, and I think Courtney really benefitted from having someone who understands what SHES going through. Even though she was put up to the infiltration task by Pat, Courtney had to undertake some heinous actions to maintain her cover. And sometimes, youve gotta let the dark side (not to be confused with Darkseid) in order to keep from breaking down and shattering into a million tiny pieces. Courtney hurt people, and she killed people, and its not heroic, but given the circumstances, its not entirely villainous either. Shes just morally gray, and thats okay.

Pepper and Courtney have become closer since Courtney revealed that initial trepidation about doing bad things and kind of liking doing them. Weve had only a couple one-on-one conversations thus far, but Ive really enjoyed them every time. Its really amazing how at least on my part, it feels like weve developed such a strong, sisterly bond. Just having another character that kinda feels the way you feel and understand what youre going through is honestly vital. At least for me, since I get far too personally invested in my characters as an extension of myself. But yeah, Pepper and Courtney both have that darker side inside them, and Courtneys had her moments where Goths mental conditioning unlocks a little bit, and she reverts to her eviler side. Its not the cuddliest version of her, but its something Pepper can still understand on a personal level, and hopefully help Courtney as a guiding force, while Courtney does the same in return.

Hint for #11: Has specifically given the field team a mission briefing card.

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Cheetah

Fire

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11. Jaime Reyes (Blue Beetle)

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. For a good chunk of the early campaign, Jaime occupied the top spot, only occasionally swapping with this character or that, only to end up here in eleventh place, just barely missing the top ten overall. A lot of that is for similar reasons to those I described when ranking Courtney as high as I did. Jaime was character that filled a very important role for me in the early campaign, when the plot was very bleak and otherwise harsh: sometimes you just need to have a character that you can feel is just there for you when you need them to be there. Honestly? As much as Pepper and Jaimes relationship has changed from that initial interaction, those early weeks still resonate enough to keep him relatively high on my overall list.

Like a surprising number of characters to make this list (especially in my most recent rankings), Jaime is not a character that I met in his initial appearance in the campaign. There was a mission to El Paso, and for some stupid reason on my part, despite Pepper being from Texas, I didnt think to maybe step up and say Hey, I should be part of this mission. As a result, the party that WAS in attendance met Jaime Reyes as a coyote, working to ferry people out of El Paso and into Mexico, where at least things were moderately safe from the Society, and from the influence of El Paso drug queenpin La Dama. However, as is to be expected when dealing with Jaime Reyes, he soon found himself subjected to Khaji Da, an alien symbiote that latched onto his back and formed a suit of blue armor that christened him as the new Blue Beetle. Caught completely off-guard by this new development, Jaime got hauled off to Zonn Zorr for his own protection, leaving behind his friends and family in the process.

This backstory establishes two things that I think are central to understand Jaimes character. First off, hes heroicor at least he has a strong sense of justice, and doing what he believes is right, no matter the cost. Granted, I think it was easier to look danger in the face when dealing with a single crime boss, rather than the combined forces of an alien invasion, robots taking over human beings, and a union of international supervillains. But still, he wants to do good, and at the very least, I cannot personally fault him for that. Its good to have someone around who at least is trying to come at heroics from a place of sincerity, rather than cynicism.

The second point about Jaimes personalityand this is the one that initially drew me to him in the early days of the campaignis that early on, he was one of the most normal and down-to-earth characters in the entire campaign. A lot of the characters we met in Zonn Zorr had either very specific personality traits to make them stand out as unique, or some sort of catch phrase. And then we go out in the field, and many of the characters we meet up with have some sort of gimmick. Im not knocking this at all, by the waywere talking a campaign based around comic books. Theres an inherent cartooniness involved there. Thats what made Jaime stand out in a lot of ways to me. Yes, he had a few quirks, but they were also understandable in the context of his situation. Theres a lot of learning you have to do extremely quickly when youre suddenly subsumed by an alien symbiote, after all.

This normalcy on the part of Jaime made him extremely approachable. Admittedly, I probably wouldve approached him regardless, as I did with the other two teens that joined Zonn Zorr in the early campaign, but it was just different with Jaime. Early in the campaign, I was still very much invested in Peppers story, and hadnt had some of my more recent misgivings about her as a character, and one of the things that I found intriguing about her character in this world is just how much of a rookie she is to everything going on around her. She was barely in the hero community for more than a few months before she got sucked into this apocalyptic scenario that shes nowhere near equipped to handle. And then you bring in Jaime, whose story is almost exactly the same from a certain perspective.

Both Jaime and Pepper were doing what they believed was good and right, but could also be viewed as underhanded and sneaky, before having dangerous superpowers thrust upon them. Theyre both wrenched away from their friends and family, and suddenly theyre meant to be part of the team trying to save the world. Neither one of them had the mental fortitude to take on such a challenge sight unseen, but theres no one else. We cant just say Oh, youre not ready for this? Okay, take your time. No, this is a Redback Spider situation where with impressive skill comes important duty. In those early days of Zonn Zorr, even before the romantic subplots came into full force, I liked having Jaime around because he was basically the main character I could bounce Pepper off of in terms of having someone who kinda knows what shes going through.

However, one important distinction between Pepper and Jaime is their initial differences in training and general aptitude. Yes, Pepper is a rookie to heroing, but she still had those several months prior to being tubed, and she at least understands somewhat of the situation she finds herself in. She might not be able to do much to improve her situation, but at the very least, she is aware of the expectations. Jaime doesnt even have that; he has gone from normal high school kid to superhero in the blink of an eye, and it shows with how unprepared he is to handle that responsibility. A lot of his superhero actions tend to involve Khaji Da, a force of will in its own right, simply overwhelming Jaimes better judgement and taking the most direct course of action needed to accomplish its goals.

Beyond that though, when I created Pepper, while I regrettably gave her relatively average stats across the board (rather than min-maxing to make her exceptional at certain traits and terrible at others), shes still meant to be rather intelligent. I mean, shes a girl who, through a dormant meta-human gene, still had a high aptitude for chemistry-related matters. As such, while Pepper might come across as a bit of a teachers pet or a tryhard, when it comes to straight up book smarts, shes usually on the ball. Never mind that time Inviso forgot that palladium is a real element and not something created solely for Mass Effect. Shhhh. Shhhhhhhhhh.

The point of this particular tangent is that Jaime does not have that same exceptional ability as Pepper. He is, quite literally, the most normal high schooler anyone could ask for. But because he was tapped by Khaji Da to serve as the Blue Beetle (when even Ted Kord largely created an equivalent suit and chose to assume the mantle), hes suddenly thrust into a position WELL beyond his pay grade. In a way, hes sort of the everyman avatar of the early campaign, sitting in on debriefing sessions because Khaji Da insists on it, and everyone just allows this because hes the Blue Beetle. But because hes not exactly qualified for planning and debriefing purposes, Jaimes presence largely resulted in him asking questions to get filled in on what most of the group already understood. Again, its a minor quirk, but it makes him feel more fleshed out as a character since hes trying to play catch-up a lot more than most of the more seasoned Checkmate agents in Zonn Zorr.

Now, initially, though he was separated from his family and friends by coming to Zonn Zorr, Jaime was able to be a bit at ease because he had the field teams regularly visiting El Paso and checking in on everyone. Aside from Traci getting captured by La Dama, there wasnt ever any real threat posed to Jaimes loved ones (and even Traci was more of a I was supposed to protect her as her coyote sort of thing, rather than a personal connection). As such, I dont think the gravity of everything had really hit home, because even before Khaji Da, it wasnt like Jaime was facing off against the Society, or against the Equation or OMACs on a regular basis. His biggest adversary was La Dama, so nothing had really changed for him that much in the wake of A-Day. To me, this made him a comfortable character to be around, to kind of defuse the tension and serious nature of the campaign as a whole.

Part of this light-hearted approach to an otherwise dire situation was Jaime becoming entangled in a series of romantic subplots. You see, early in the campaign, since Pepper was such a rookie and just wanted a sense of normalcy in her life (having been kidnapped and had no contact with her loved ones in months), she began making a concerted effort to bond with the other young members of the Zonn Zorr population. There werent a ton, given that most of the staff were older and more mature, and even the majority of the PCs were in their twenties (in terms of Earth years). But this meant you had this young, pretty blonde girl (with the Attractive Appearance perk) going out of her way to try and befriend and buddy up with Jaime. Not unexpectedly, a red-blooded boy like him developed a bit of a crush.

I should point out that at this point in time, both Pepper and Jaime seemed to share a mindset when it came to romance. Neither of them had ever seriously gotten into the whole dating scene in high school, and in fact, both were virgins who (Im pretty sure, on Jaimes part) had never been kissed. But when the end of the world rolls around, your body starts sending signals about procreation, and you just cant help yourself but feel feelings. Of course, this lack of experience also led to some of the dorkiest courtship scenes, with Jaime talking to other people about how smart Pepper was, and how she should be included alongside the 8th Age Magicians, despite being completely out of touch with magic herself. Or even more impressive was Jaime trying to stand up against Lush (in a roundabout way to defend Peppers honor), which led to him getting stabbed, since Lush was NOT in the mood to deal with his bullshit.

Meanwhile, Pepperinitially oblivious to Jaimes intentfound herself smitten when his crush was revealed to her through a second-hand source. Given her general antipathy towards men after the events surrounding her meta-human awakening, it was comforting to have a guy who she knew liked her, but wasnt some macho-posturing creep about it. Thus began HER efforts to flirt with him and try and awkwardly make the first move. Thisdidnt go great for her, as Khaji Da found her to be a threat, and charged up his deadly laser cannons to terrify her on numerous occasions. Yeah, its not a good sign when you wet yourself in terror from your potential boyfriend. Also, not great to try and show off how badass you are about spicy foods, then roll a Nat 1 and become a slimy mess of flowing sinuses, again in front of your potential boyfriend.

This storyline was just really cute, because both Pepper and Jaime came across as socially awkward dorks, and every time either one of them mightve mustered up the courage to make a move, something interrupted. Whether Jaime was getting dragged away by Ferdinand for shirking his duties in the mess hall, or Thinker found the exact right moment to pipe up and make any attempts at kissing awkward, it seemed the fates conspired against the pair from ever truly sealing the deal with one another. Still, this was the exact sort of cutesy storyline that could play out over a decent length of time without getting stale (to me, at least), and I really enjoyed it.

Ultimately though, one of the major hurdles to romancing a pre-established character in the DC canon is that those characters have their own canonical relationships that you have to deal with. In Jaimes case, there are two such characters Pepper had to contend with right off the bat. In the fledgling stages of her flirtations with Jaime, Pepper first ran afoul of girl code. That is to say, one of Jaimes best friends, Brenda del Vecchio, met the party on one of their multiple trips down to the Convoy. Having stayed behind while Jaime went off to Zonn Zorr, I guess absence made the heart grow fonder, and despite the pair having avoided romance before, suddenly Brenda was interested in a real relationship. She handed Pepper a note to deliver, and though she was conflicted, Pepper delivered it, fully aware that she could lose out on her burgeoning crush by doing so.

Jaime didnt crush Peppers dreams in this instance however, admitting that though he had feelings for Brenda, he couldnt wait around for her like she requested. Ever the tactful one, Pepper leapt at the opportunity to ask him out on a date, but it proved too awkward of timing to truly get those wheels spinning. This meant Pepper once again slowly worked her way towards establishing a proper connection, which opened the door for a second adversary to swoop in. Yeah, Brenda might be one of Jaimes girlfriends in the comics, but shes not the only one. And even though Cheshire might be the this bitch of the overall campaign, Traci Thirteen is most certainly the this bitch of Peppers personal life.

Basically, Traci showed up after we rescued her from La Dama, and she immediately swooped in with a charm offensive to get on Jaimes good side. No matter what Pepper tried to do, Traci seemed to have the edge on her. It got to the point where, despite wanting to befriend all of the teens in Zonn Zorr, Pepper had to start actively avoiding Traci, if only to keep from getting shown up whenever she tried to make a move with Jaime. This led to a rivalry where Traci went nuclear and bombed both of their chances by using Misty to make out with Jaime in a way that both Pepper (a notorious prude) and Traci would witness. Needless to say, Jaime got absolutely fucked over on this exchange, since this landed him (however temporarily) in the doghouse with both girls, and Misty wasnt exactly mentally stable enough to parlay their kiss into something real.

I should mention at this point that, at the time we rescued Traci from La Dama, we also wound up bringing back several other refugees from El Paso, including Jaimes parents and little sister. You would think that having his family reunited would be a good thing, but Berto Reyes is extremely xenophobic due to his time in the war, and when his son revealed himself to be bonded with an alien symbiote, it did not go well. Berto all but disowned Jaime, Bianca went along with her husband out of meekness, and Milagro didnt really have a say in the matter. Essentially, despite all the build-up to getting his loved ones back some place safe, Jaime found himself even more isolated as he couldnt rely on his family to have his back. And then Traci masterminded the breakdown of the status quo for his and Peppers relationship, effectively sending Jaime into a downward spiral that he hasnt really recovered from in my eyes.

Now, I get it. From a writing perspective and a character perspective, Jaimes not behaving out-of-character. He was just minding his own business, and then he got trucked by MULTIPLE unfortunate instances that shattered most of his pre-existing relationships, and he didnt really have anyone else he could talk to after that. It didnt help that he ran afoul of Harley Quinn (because one genuine flaw Jaime has is an inability to see the world as anything other than black and white, good and evil), and couldnt keep his mouth shut about how shes the basis for his derisive claim that someone can be Harley Quinn Crazy. So yeah, disowned by his parents, rejected by TWO lover interests, and barricaded into his room by a psychotic criminalits understandable how his mind might go to a dark place.

Its at this point that, havent burned (or been burned by) most of his Zonn Zorr relationships, Jaime decided to leave and head back to aid the Convoy in its journey to Tierra del Fuego. This would be fine, if not for the scorched Earth policy he left en route to this departure. Not only did he kind of snub Brennus, but he especially raked Pepper over the coals, calling her evil and just generally diverting all of his pent-up anger and emotions her way while she was trying to be nice. Again, I do get it from a character perspective, and it makes sense that he would lash out in a stressful situationbut it still sucks to experience from a player perspective. Pepper was genuinely trying to be nice to him, and even if he wound up rejecting her romantic intentions, she still wanted to stay friends since they shared so many similarities to their background. It just really stung at a time when I was already feeling pretty low about Pepper as a character.

Jaime went on to beokay with the Convoy. Honestly, he only had one real session where he left a major impression, and that was when we wound up wandering into the jungles of South America and found a cult in the process of resurrecting the Kryptonian goddess Cythonna. Despite Jaime being all about heroism and being a good guy, he would up puking in his helmet and obscuring his vision, which allowed Khaji Da to take control and utterly murder a bunch of cultists, unbeknownst to Jaime. No one told him what Khaji Da had done, of course, and Jaime left that encounter thinking he was still a pure and unblemished hero. Oh yeah, and then he flailed around mostly helpless and trying to keep the party from plummeting to their deaths when fighting Cythonna, only for Pepper to allow herself to get frozen solid (earning my first set of death saving throws in two campaigns) while saving the day. Does that earn her any respect from Jaime? Nope.

Yeah, we got back from protecting the Convoy, with Pepper even DIRECTLY protecting Brenda from harm during the final battle at Tierra del Fuego, but Jaime has been completely unable to make amends. Instead, he just doubled down and decided to further heap his anger and irritation onto Pepper. He acted like she was out of line for finding a new love interest when he made it clear that he didnt care about her feelings, and he even went so far as to bring up Peter Robinson as though his death isnt one of the only things Pepper constantly regrets and laments during her time in the campaign. Its really painful for me personally, because I dont want to hate Jaime, and I dont want him to hate Pepper. I just get sad and upset when RP scenes happen that end with Pepper getting yelled at, or yelling at someone, so its like that avenue just gets cut off for me, like with several other characters who probably wouldve made this list otherwise.

Trying to be objective though, I do genuinely find Jaimes character arc fascinating. I just find myself drawn more as a player towards (or viewer, or reader, depending on the media) younger heroes, and while I cant put a finger exactly on why, I have put some thought into it since starting these write-ups. I think part of it is that, due to hormones and general puberty-related changes (along with the general transition into adulthood), its more interesting to watch younger character navigate the already difficult life of a superhero compared to their (comparatively) stabler, older counterparts. Plus, the stakes feel that much higher when dealing with younger characters, because theres always that mindset of being inferior to the veterans, while wanting to step up and prove themselves.

More than any character in the campaign, I feel like Jaime represents this mindset. Early on, he was still behaving in a rather childish fashion with regards to his new powers, not quite grasping his role in the impending war. But then all of this pressure starts bearing down on him, and all of these expectations of the hero hes supposed to be started weighing on his as well. He didnt ask to be the Blue Beetle; he just wanted to help people out while still being Jaime Reyes. This wasnt his choice, yet everyone is treating him like an adult with way more experience than he has. And I think part of him wants to live up to that expectation, because he knows its the right thing to do, even if hes not able to meet that impossible standard. But with every new mission, life just gets harder and harder, because hes forced to do things that weigh him down, mentally. And he just doesnt have the support system he needs.

After Hawaii, Jaime feels utterly broken as a person. I think theres a certain level of machismo at play with him, where he needs to be strong and he needs to be independent, and he cannot allow himself to think he needs help. When it was suggested he see Simon LaGrieve about whatever mental pressures are bearing down on him, he initially rejected the idea; to him, admitting weakness is a failure on his part. Plus, he views the idea of seeing a therapist as tantamount to being Harley Quinn Crazy in his own right, and that flies in the face of his good is good, evil is evil mentality. Its hard to acknowledge that even someone like Harley Quinn might have her own demons that shes dealing with, and there might be something that she and Jaime have in common, in that regard.

It wouldve been so easy for me to say Jaime hurt Pepper and he makes me feel bad whenever we interact, so Im not even going to put him on this list. I fully acknowledge that several characters missed the cut for that exact reason. But the more I think about it, the more I realize just how personal Jaime is to me. Because everything Ive said about him, even down to the more negative stuff about how he reactsits like looking into a mirror. Ive played Pepper in a largely similar fashion to how Jaime has acted. Easily angered and emotional, often shifting blame rather than acknowledging ones own failings, and just generally struggling to exist in a world that expects far more from them than theyre capable of being.

Pepper and Jaime are, in my eyes, two sides of the same coin, and there are times when I hate Pepper too. There are times I strongly regret creating her, and there are ESPECIALLY times when I regret abandoning Tali in favor of a new character. Shes just so unpleasant to deal with, and so weak, and there are a lot of instances when she rubs people the wrong way, and it makes me hate playing as her. But then there are times when I love her, and I love the story Ive crafted in the campaign for her. Thats how I feel about Jaime as well.

Thereve been times in the past when Ive asked Scarlet who he thinks would be the party in this campaign, and that question is admittedly intended to get a response of Jaime. Jaime feels like a PCspecifically a PC that I would be playing (albeit male, which is less likely). So, I cant truly hate him, because I dont truly hate myself. The emotions are complex with regards to my personal feelings towards both Pepper AND Jaime, and I feel like theyre intrinsically linked in that regard. I just wish they could be friends again, because its not fun having them so intensely at odds with one another.

Hint for #10: First appeared in a session that I was a part of.

I feel the 11th party member is Freddy, but right behind him is Jaime

I think there's something to be said for Jaime's perspective though. There are similarities between him and Pepper as you've outlined, but as you've said, he's a starry-eyed hopeful young hero. Pepper is perhaps the PC most willing to dip into evil. So when Jaime calls Pepper out, it's highlighting the biggest difference between them, and in some parts, it's chastising Pepper for not being as good as he wants/thinks she can be, and some parts chastising himself for liking her in the first place. Regardless, it's about what one is willing to give up and turn into for the sake of their goals.

Jaime wants to be the best man he can be. Pepper wants to win the war. That helps create a rift for sure.

Guessing Starsa

Starsa good guess

Jaime is complex and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens with his family. It's easy to see Berto's issues, and it's even easier to see Jaime is born to be a hero. How they resolve things will be interesting

That was a really good write-up.

In my limited DC experience Jaime is one of my favorite characters. His part in this campaign also seems really good/interesting even if he seems to have some really horrible luck.

Maniac64 posted...

That was a really good write-up.

In my limited DC experience Jaime is one of my favorite characters. His part in this campaign also seems really good/interesting even if he seems to have some really horrible luck.

His luck isn't as bad as Catman's though. Poor Catman.

Is Starsa actually going to rank? I'll guess her but I don't really think so at this point.

Don't forget to predict who makes the top ten, everyone!

Alice
Waller
Freddy
Patch
Roulette
La Dama
Bane
Oracle
Brother Eye
Starsa

Bane is probably wrong but I couldn't think of anyone that felt more right.

TotallyNotMI posted...

Bane is probably wrong but I couldn't think of anyone that felt more right.

Somehow, Harry Matthews returned

I'll make a list when I get home

Actually I'll cheat and say that's my list but sub Bane for Fire

Oh yeah duh

Hmm Cheetah hasn't dropped either

I'll take out Brother Eye for Cheetah

I'll take out Oracle for Cheetah

Alice
Waller
Freddy
La Dama
Brother Eye
Starsa
Fire
Patch
Roulette
Cheetah

If that holds, we'll have 127 unique ranked characters over 4 lists. Most TTRPG campaigns struggle to get above 10 characters with significant depth. Add in all the honorable mentions (and lists that would have changed at this point), and we've got maybe the largest cast of intricate and complicated NPC's in any campaign that's ever been. And the number keeps going up!

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/9/4/9/AAOJ0pAADbtt.jpg
10. Amanda Waller

After a fucking LONG examination into the complex emotions I feel towards Jaime Reyes, it almost feels impossible to write about Amanda Waller with the same passion. What is there to say about Amanda Waller that cant easily be summed up by the fact that she is the boss bitch of the campaign, and is the central figure that we as players have all interacted with on a regular basis, for better or worse. In the VERY first session of the campaign, myself and a ragtag group of freedom fighters barely survived the overwhelming power of the Spectre, plus a glowing-eyed horde of Equated overrunning Metropolis, to reach safety in Zonn Zorr. And who was there to greet us? Amanda Fucking Waller, the former Secretary of Defense under President Lex Luthor, and the current Black Queen of Checkmate.

As frightening as that first session was, feeling so feeble and helpless (especially without our powers at the time), Amanda Wallers presence honestly gave me hope. Im someone who does not deal well with bleakness and sadness and depression, and its so easy for me to start wallowing in self-pity, and just generally feeling like theres nothing I can do to improve a situation. But Amanda Waller is just such an intense, commanding presence, that no matter what might happen, knowing that she was on the case at least offered a solution to the worlds greatest problems. Just knowing that someone was in-charge and would at the very least be doing everything in her power (beyond the limitations of standard heroes) to save the day was refreshing.

Plus, I already love Amanda Waller from her appearances in DCparticularly at the leader and boss lady of the Suicide Squad, so it was nice to get to work with her for real this time. In Campaign One, she showed up a few times via communications with Oracle, offering assistance in the form of sending the Suicide Squad into No Mans Land to help us out (specifically rescuing a wee baby Brennus and a two-year-old Rozetta from the clutches of the League of Assassins). Oh, and she insisted on us finding a way to get Azrael out of Gotham and into her custody, lest she send her Homicide Squad in to extract him personally. Now granted, the Joker made this task much easier, so Tali didnt have to betray her husband, but still, that was ice cold.

Anyway, Campaign One has Oracle as our central point of contact, and she was much beloved because she was basically the brains behind everything we pulled in No Mans Land. Sure, our two groups had autonomy, but Oracle still served as our overseer, giving a glare whenever we misbehaved. In that regard, Waller is very similar. Shes the leader of Zonn Zorr, and the buck stops with her. She even has a withering stare that Pepper had to roll a Nat 20 to avoid cowering from (which apparently made Pepper come across as way more of a badass than she has any business beingparticularly since for the glare was because Pepper was biting off more than she could chew, and was about to push for some shit that would look really stupid in retrospect.)

Because of all of this, Amanda Waller is a very strong stabilizing figure for Zonn Zorr, and I feel like every PC is able to go to her and have a different relationship with her. For Brennus, Waller knew him as a baby, and she looked after him when he got rescued from the League of Assassins. With Spirit, she still looks at him somewhat as a child, in spite of all his accolades, and shes hesitant to push him in spite of his hero credentials. Lush needs a firmer hand because shes dealing with some shit in her Zatanna-riddled brain, whereas Bloodfruit needs a crash course in how the mundy world works. Amanda Waller just happens to be a chameleon, adjusting her response to best suit the personality of the person coming to see her. At the same time though, she makes it very clear through these responses that shes still the one fully in-charge, no matter what.

With Pepper specifically, Peppers very much a teachers pet when it comes to working within the Checkmate organization. She kisses butt to Waller in a way that admittedly has an element of respect (Pepper is, again, feminist-minded and respects powerful women whove made their way in life), but ultimately is a bit self-serving. She wants to be regarded as useful and valuable by the Checkmate organization, and since she absolutely cant do this as a physical combatant, she instead focuses on trying to be a go-getter, coming up with ideas to benefit the organization and the resistance. What Im saying is that its very easy to bend Pepper to doing what you want her to do, because ultimately, she tries her hardest to be a people pleaser, and all it really takes is a decent attagirl to make her fall in line.

Waller easily clocked Pepper, and she knows how to play her just right to maximize efficiency from one of the PCs most likely to dedicate themselves to the cause of Checkmate, even beyond saving the world from Darkseid. This isnt to say she gives Pepper free reign to do whatever she wants though, because sometimes you need to lay down the law and keep your agents from overstepping their boundaries. Theres a distinct level of respectful fear in Peppers relationship with Amanda Waller, and while theyre not exactly on friendly terms, its still helpful whenever I have a PC conversation between the two, since Waller can offer guidance in a way that Pepper might not be willing to accept from anyone else. Dont get me wrong, Pepper is still strong-willed at times, and stubborn, but ultimately, if she cant convince Miss Waller that she has a good idea, then she largely it willing to be cowed into dropping it.

Beyond my personal feelings with Pepper though, Wallers just a great support character for enhancing other characters in the campaign. Yes, shes the central figure of Zonn Zorr, but that means she interacts with just about everyone. You can be the sternest, most serious character around, or a complete joke, and youre still going to have to deal with Amanda Waller reading you for filth. Whether shes completely shutting down a comic relief character, or letting a strong-willed character get the better of her, Amanda Wallers presence is always good for establishing a characters personality in the campaign. I hate to make this comparison, because Wallers personality doesnt suit itbut Amanda Waller is almost like a wrestler who is used to put over other talent, either by making them come across as a monster, or as a chickenshit heel. Its great.

Just for some examples, you have our holding cells, where we captured a lightning-powered supervillain named Rayhan during our quest to help Freddy gain all the powers of Captain Marvel. Rayhan is this big, bad, tough guy who we only brought back with us specifically because Waller suggested that capturing prisoners could be more useful than killing all of our enemies (which Pepper took to heart, and used as the basis for her infiltration concept). Well, we brought Rayhan back, and he didnt want to talk; hes a tough guy. What does Miss Waller do? Well, she determines his country of origin, and then calmly tells him that if he doesnt start talking, shes going to use all of the powers of Checkmate, as well as her remaining connections with the DoD to wipe his homeland off the face of the Earth. And this is absolutely something she CAN and WOULD do. Needless to say, Rayhan bent the knee after that (though he still was a dick and tried fucking with us during the Kobra incident).

We have Patch, the lovable rat with a voice box that he uses a LOT. Patch is young and largely exuberant, and he will yammer on non-stop unless the right person gets him to hush. Amanda Waller is that right person. We had a debriefing where Patch was being boisterous, and all it took was for Amanda to approach him and look him square in the eyes to put the fear of God in him. Patch shut up, and he even insisted that everyone ELSE shut up to avoid angering Miss Waller. For his (big) troubles, Patch later on met with Miss Waller to discuss terms for trading a giant missile that he and Data scavenged from a downedI wanna say airplane? She got him to give up his missile and all leverage that entailed, just by letting him live in the pipe system that he honestly couldve taken up residence in regardless, and no one wouldve told him not to.

Beyond building herself up as a badass though, she uses those badass credentials to bolster the credentials of others. When Kimiyo Hoshi (the Japanese Doctor Light) came to Zonn Zorr, she immediately started barking orders like she owned the place. For several characters like this in the past, Waller has stepped up and shown them who was in charge, but Dr. Light didnt back down from her personality. Because of this, the scene ended with a begrudging respect between the two women, and Dr. Light largely getting what she wanted. By building Waller up as so strong in the first place, this helps establish Dr. Light as a force to be reckoned with immediately. Similarly, despite everything else he did, the fact that Kobra was able to pull the wool over Wallers eyes, and even take her down during his attack, helped build him up as an absolutely terrifying adversary.

Amanda Waller is just such an important part of the campaign that I felt like I would be remiss if I didnt include her in my top ten. The only reason shes not higher is because, honestly, shes almost TOO obvious of a choice, and because shes so prominent, shes almost lost some of the personal touch that makes me love the characters I rank above her. Thats not a mark against herI just always feel like I have to justify why great characters dont get higher placements than other great characters.

Hint for #9: Has required notable medical aid (in some form or another) during the campaign.

Bobby Garibaldi

I'm glad you brought up the Rayhan scene because it's probably my favorite Waller moment of either campaign. I think it's her at her best, and it was entirely improvised and unplanned. But I think it distills the essence of her character - calculating, cold, focused on the big picture before anything else. All stands to serve the resistance, and the resistance is Waller.

Cheetah

scarletspeed7 posted...

I'm glad you brought up the Rayhan scene because it's probably my favorite Waller moment of either campaign. I think it's her at her best, and it was entirely improvised and unplanned. But I think it distills the essence of her character - calculating, cold, focused on the big picture before anything else. All stands to serve the resistance, and the resistance is Waller.

Cheetah

Yeah, that is THE scene, more than ANYTHING else, that has been Waller's crowning moment thus far. Going from zero to "I will fucking annihilate your home COUNTRY, and you will know it is YOUR fault that millions are dead" is SUCH an amazing power move.

"God help me for saying this, but we need to find Xander Stray" is the unanimous best Waller line, I polled everyone don't worry

And yeah let's go Cheetah here

Waller is the Queen in the perfect way for this campaign. Oracle was the right older sister/girlfriend figure for campaign 1. Waller is the perfect encouraging boss for campaign 2. And she didn't outright say she didn't arrange for us to be tubed at the top of the campaign.

Starsa guess

Corduroy

That was a very good writeup for Jaime, his connection with Pepper made for a very compelling read.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/2/1/AAOJ0pAADYwN.png
9. Rex the Wonder Dog

If youve followed my rankings in the various Board 8 Watches Movies lists, youll know that one of the commonalities thats usually guaranteed to boost a movie in my opinion is that of a father/child dynamic. Whether its father and son, father and daughter, or even a surrogate father situation where the characters dont really address their relationship, but the implication is there all the same, its an easy way to tug at my emotions. Theres just something about the inherent personality of a protector that a father brings to a story, because the best dads are the ones who look out for their kids, often even sacrificing their lives for those of their children.

In the context of this campaign, there are a bunch of dads by the letter of the law, but very few of them really fit the role Im describing. If you look at this list, the only real dad Ive ranked thus far is Deadshot, and even hes got his own storyline beyond being a parent to Zoe. Granted, his fatherhood is what makes for a fun dynamic between him and Spiritu, but hes not the poster child for this archetype. Beyond him though, Zonn Zorrs dads just dont connect with me that well. Bertos a jerk, Carls Equated, Catmans only expecting, the Martians have their own story going on, Iron Munro is more of a grandpa, I barely speak with the Jordans or Garibaldis.

Tom Curry, Pat Dugan and especially Vari Dzerchenko are all pretty solid choices, but they also all feel (to me at least) like theyre largely extensions of their childrens story, rather than being the focal point of things. Thats not necessarily a bad thing (and believe me, Vari absolutely gets an honorable mention for being the hardest working human dad around), but Im just saying that theres a reason why Rex makes this list, and in my top ten, no less. Yes, he is strongly defined by his relationship with his child, but he honestly shares that sort of father figure relationship with several characters, while also having his own storyline as an individual to counterbalance things. Suddenly its not him as a purely supporting character for his son, but his son is similarly a supporting character to his own story.

I should point out that the son in question is none other than Data 7, which adds another level to the relationship since theres more of an emotional investment from a PC in maintaining that father/son bond. Data and Rex first met in No Mans Land, when Data (still going by Artemis) wished for a magical crown that would allow him to summon any animal of his choosing, once a day, for a minute. Im PRETTY sure I got that right, but I was never actually paired up with Artemis during that campaign (we had a far more rigid 5/4 structure, and even during the Patchwork, I think I got paired up with Fields/Riev instead of Varra/Artemis), so I may just be completely oblivious to things that happened in the other half of the plot. My point is, at some point, it was suggested to Artemis that he summon Rex the Wonder Dog, since Rex was a superhero dog in his own right. And the rest is history.

Rex was a good influence on rambunctious Artemis in No Mans Land. Artemis was largely detached from the more human element of the story, and thats reasonable, since the whole reason he exists as a talking dog in the first place is due to human experimentation. He got along more with other animals, and most other animals he interacted with operated under a more law of the wild mentality. Rexs appearance kind of provided the occasional sense of structure for Artemis, and while he was still young and rambunctious, I think Rex helped Artemis mature a little bit, and just generally get more comfortable in the human world (even if he wasnt necessarily comfortable with humans). Also, Rex helped Artemis take great strides in his oral hygiene by introducing him to dental bones, which is the most important information to take from this paragraph.

Rex in Campaign Two is honestly very similar in his purpose. Now granted, this time around, hes not just some character who gets called away from his duties once a day to spend a minute of time with Artemis, but if anything, I think that makes him far more of a stabilizing force, since his presence is felt at all times. I dont remember how exactly Rexs location was ascertained, but Data 7 fought hard to take a trip to Orlando, all to seek out his Papa. They found him at a corrupted Fountain of Youth, looking after his boy, Danny, and after fending off a dragon (again, this was NOT a mission I was part of, so Im probably getting a TON of details wrong), Rex returned to Zonn Zorr with us, once again reunited with his surrogate son.

I really love the relationship between Data and Rex, because theyre so different, and those differences bring out a side of Data that we dont often get to see in his interactions with the various other animal characters around Zonn Zorr. A lot of the interactions Data has around Zonn Zorr ultimately finding some cute animal and/or robot to mess around with (not judging, since Im a grown man playing a blond girl who has spent a decent amount of time flirting with boys; weve all got our things), and they either play along, act confused, or get annoyed. With Rex though, this is a character who has had time to get to know Data (or Artemis, I should say) in the interim period between the two campaigns. As such, when Rex arrived and learned of Datas backstorythe very backstory that caused Artemis to abandon his birth name and start going by the edgier Data 7he was able to help Data cope with his past trauma from a place of comfort and love.

I think its important to note that Rex, as a character, is the ultimate good dog. Hes a heroic dog, but hes not like a Krypto who gets it done with superpowers. Hes just a normal dog that helped soldiers on the front lines during World War II, and drank from the Fountain of Youth to gain the longevity needed for him to still be alive in the modern day. As such, Rex has spent a lot of time around humans, both working with him, and serving as a kind of pet to some of the better ones. Not Wonder Woman though; hes not like Krypto or Ace where having a word in his name immediately means he belongs to the associated superhero. Meanwhile, Data is largely uncomfortable with humans. There are some he lets past his defenses, but after being experimented on, hes much more in favor of animal supremacy, or at least equality. While this translates to harsh treatment of, say, Pixies desire to be nothing more than a pet, Data is unwilling to speak out against Rexs affinity for humankind.

I dont see Rex as really pushing his lifestyle on Data, either, but rather he simply exists to serve as an example for how you can still hold your head high without needing to be combative about the assumed societal role a dog (or other animal) has compared to humans. When Rex is around, he tempers some of Datas more reckless impulses as a result. Additionally, I mentioned that Data messes around with the other animals (or anthropomorphs, in Ferdinands case), both out of youthful exuberance, but also because he views himself as a failure for allowing several of the friends that he made in No Mans Land to be hurt or captured on his watch. He views himself as weak, and needs to better himself and be the kind of strong dog that wont let anyone take his friends away. Data 7 is his attempt to cast aside the innocence and naivete of Artemis, in this way.

I think Rex understands where Data is coming from, and when Data tries to train with him or wrestle with him, those are the scenes that feel the most genuine in tone. This isnt some random animal that Data is fooling around with out of animal solidarity, but rather his father, who he loves and respects, and has experience with becoming strong and solid in his own right. Rex will allow Data to practice his fighting, endurance and stealth, with the understanding that its what his son feels that he needs at this point in time. Aside from the occasional line, like how Data shouldnt sneak into Rexs medical supplies because said supplies are very important, Rex is just there for Data in a way he needs in his life, particularly with so many of his friends and allies missing at first, when he got tubed.

If this was all Rex had going for himself, I think it would still be enough to land him on my list, but certainly not a top ten spot. No, thats a more recent development, where I feel like Rex became a fully-realized character in his own right, outside of just his connection to Data 7. As I mentioned, Rex is a very old dog. He served in World War II, and the campaign has reached into the end of 2007/beginning of 2008. The only reason Rex has lived as long as he has is because he drank from the Fountain of Youth, which is how the party was able to locate him in the first place. But with the Fountain becoming tainted, theres no real way for Rex to refresh his youth. Thats fine thoughhes still got plenty of life in him, serving as one of the highest-ranking medical staff of Zonn Zorr, right?

Well, thats when Kobra struck Zonn Zorr. We got hit hard by an enemy from within our own ranks, and their goal was largely to take out any potential threats to their devastation of the base. Jack Wyznorski, a Checkmate agent that Data had somewhat befriended and trusted, showed up to try and shoot him, but Rex dove in front of the bullet to protect his son. Suddenly, all the power of the Fountain of Youth started fading away as Spirit (one of Rexs closer contacts as a fellow medical professional) had to perform emergency surgery to save Rexs life. Suffering from his wound and finally acting his age for the first time in a long time, the results of this attack have been heartbreaking.

Ive had many dogs in my life, and I know theres the whole concept of dog years, but that doesnt make it any easier to watch a friend you grew up with your whole life grow older and weaker, and start to struggle with even simple tasks. Its just different, because dogs are so inherently full of energy and life, and watching that fade away hurts a lot. So, when Scarlet started this new storyline for Rex, its absolutely gutwrenching for me. Sure, you have some funny moments, like Rex being seated in Technomancers ever-stolen hoverchair and having no idea how to operate the contraption properly, but really, the focus is on Rexs age shining through.

Im getting tears in my eyes, just describing the set-up right now: Rex in pain, weary from a long life, just wanting to life down and sleep while Data tries to keep him perked up and active. If youve ever lost a dog, you know this feeling. At some point, they just get so tired that they need to life down, and you never know if this is the time when theyre not going to get back up. I feel like Ermine, working as a veterinary assistant, knows this feeling all too well, and he plays into that with his characterization of Data, fearing for the worst with his dad. In a way, its almost a twofold emotional gut punch in that regard, because you have an aging dog, but that dog is also very human in his mannerisms, and he has a son whos experiencing that age like we would with our own aging relatives.

Its really hard to watch play out because its so tragic, and theres a genuine concern that the end of Rexs stoy will have him dying before we can restore him via a new Fountain. But thats the kind of sad emotions that I actually enjoy in a story like this. Sadness and melancholy are dramatic and interesting without being aggressively upsetting like having people get upset with one another. Now granted, Im sure Ermine has a much different view on this than I do, but I admittedly have a certain level of detachment from Rexs story, so Im largely watching it play out from an outside perspective.

On a lighter note (as we near the end of this surprisingly-long write-up), recent discussions with Half-Life have revealed that Rex was once a member of his spacefaring gang alongside Superboy. Apparently, stern and steadfast Rex was once a literal party animal, getting drunk and doing keg play deads. Its just a funny little quirk to Rexs established character that makes him a little more complex to me. It gives him another layer of understanding the kind of youthful attitude Data possesses (Data being a fan of alcohol in his own right), rather than just having been some sort of Boy Scout dog his whole life.

Now, this whole write-up may be filled with inaccuracies, because I admit that I have very little in the way of personal interaction with Rex. I was not part of any of the missions that brought him to Zonn Zorr, and I rarely get involved with him outside of the occasional scene where Pepper is recuperating from a mission in the med bay. This ranking is based entirely on how well-written I feel Rexs plot is without needing to get Pepper involved. That being said, I certainly wouldnt mind to build a relationship with Rex. I mean, Pepper is a good Mormon girl at heart (most of the time), and her boyfriend is an old pal of Rexsso theres certainly room there for some work to be done. Really though, itd be nice to take an old dog and just let him rest a bit, getting pets while hearing that hes a good boy. The best, even.

Hint for #8: Has been involved in romantic drama during the campaign.

Good job for Rex!

Guess Starsa

Cheetah

Lil Alfred

Rex is a good boy

but he doesn't like bad grrls

Barbara Annie Minerva

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To get us to a new page, here's Pepper's supervillain secret identity.

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And here's Alyssa with her loving family.

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8. Patch (aka Boss, aka Parch)

Patch is fucking adorable. I could honestly end the write-up right there and it would still totally justify this placement on my list. But, I mean, cmon now. The thing about Patch is that hes one of a handful of characters I would say could serve as a mascot for the campaign, and Ive already ranked several of those. But whereas Pixie and Susie, for all their content and comedic antics, still have moments of brattiness that hold them back a little bit, Patch is without burden. Patch is innocent and sweet and nave, and hes just generally incapable of doing or saying anything that might be construed in a negative fashion. Theres a reason why he has the most fanart of anyone else in the campaign. Granted, that reason is because Ermine is obsessedbut be that as it may, I think several of us are more than pleased with the various depictions of Patch that weve gotten thanks to Ermines hard-earned paychecks.

Admittedly, when it comes to discussing Patch in Campaign One, Im a bit lacking in knowledge. Campaign One was far more divided than Campaign Two, largely because we had two established parties, rather than ten players would could be divvied up depending on the missions. As a result, Im a little in the dark when it comes to most of the content that came up with the Greensleeves, and Im sure most of them are less knowledgeable about the events revolving around JLNML. Patch is one such character, in that he was associated with Ratcatcher, and naturally Artemis developed an affinity as an animal character he could talk to (to the point where Patch was on Artemis finale team alongside Isis and Hector the Lion, I believe?).

I only really remember him in Campaign One because Trish built and fitted him with a voice box, so that he could express his thoughts out loud, instead of needing to speak through Artemis. I believe this is the point where Artemis began deferring to Patch though, and allowing Patch to assume the mantle of Boss, even though I think the gang of Big Troubles was only established in Campaign Two. Also, just as a final funny note from Campaign One, there was a running gag about Riev, a rather stoic and serious sniper/assassin on the Greensleeves team, constantly leaving his base to find that someone had left flashlights outside. No one knew why, and I think Riev made several false accusations, but this was a total mystery until Campaign Two, when Patch revealed his animosity for Riev being so ungrateful for all the helpful flashlight Patch brought to him.

This is the essence of Patch thoughhes innocent and sweet, and ultimately, he just wants to help people out above all else. He lacks the killer instinct needed to be whatever kind of gang leader Data 7 wants him to be in this campaign. Again, I was not on the session where he made his triumphant return to our lives, but I know that he wound up solo with Minerva (or Nervie as he calls her), and he mostly just spent his time chattering away and giving sage advice as to how to best use the various supplies Rex insisted the party take with them on their mission. Minerva wound up being the one with all the supplies though, so the rest of the party was shit outta luck, but thats still fun. Patch certainly made the best of those supplies, so really, I think it was worth it.

But yeah, upon returning to Zonn Zorr and reuniting with his bested buddy Artemis (oops, I mean Data 7), Patch has been nothing short of a beam of light in the darkness of the apocalypse. Its nice to have a character whos so oblivious to the horrors of the world around him that hes just able to have fun little misadventures without getting weighed down by stress or depression. Now, I will give Patch a little bit of credit for occasionally guilting Data by mentioning that they lost Isis because of something he (Data) did, but thats more of a case of Patch just being unable to use tact of keep his mouth shut when necessary. Its like having a little kid around, and the younger they are, the more incapable of lying or politeness they are. Fortunately, Patch never comes across as a brat or anything like that.

Honestly, this isnt going to be a very in-depth write-up compared to some of the more recent entries on the list. I dont love Patch for being a heavily complex character or anything like that. But hes able to pop up in scenes every now and again to inject a light-hearted sense of comedy, and thats majorly appreciated on my part. I also appreciate how many of the PCs have had different relationships and interactions with Patch, so we get to see how hes viewed from several different sides. With Saoirse, shes a biologist, so she treats Patch like an animal she can actually talk to and question (which happens regularly, since Patch has a not-so-secret crush on Starsa, who lives in Saoirses pack). With Lush, theres just something amusing about having a little rat going full Ratatouille and trying to help out in the kitchen, but being forced to wash his hands first in order to be sanitary.