An Outsider

The League - First Blood (Persistent World Superhero Sci Fi and Fantasy, Always Open)

The extinguisher slammed into the back of Scratchy Mcgee's head, sending the would-be escapee careening to the floor. Looking like tha Surgeon is gonnae needa doctor. Apogee complained about the quality of his one-liners which, while completely justifiable, was still less welcome than a 'thanks' for saving my life' would have been. Now that the Surgeon was down he had a second to fixate on the pain of his wounds, the slashes across his face and chest, the headache which always assailed him when he manipulated magnetism. Small losses for having taken down three villains and saving three of his League mates.

Seemed the universe thought he should have to suffer more for his gains too, as a burning pain erupted in the back of his leg. The suddenness of it made him fall to one knee, more out of shock at the pain than a response to the pain itself.

"I'm going to have fun with you hero." Came a disembodied voice, before a second cut opened up across the Lightning-Slinger's stomach. The wound was shallow, which told Volt the voice had meant what it had said, the villain probably intended to kill him with a death of a thousand cuts. A terrifying prospect, if but for one small detail Been there, done that, got the scars to show for it. Shank tried his hand at thon too, an ah took him down sure enough. Shank had been a teleporter with an unhealthy fetish for knives. During the bank job Volt had been paired up with the knife nut for the big fracas. Shank, realising he was physically outmatched, had tried to confound the Lightning Slinger by cutting Volt once then teleporting out of reach. The Scotsman had responded by sending out a 360 degree blast of energy, catching the teleporter in the field. Perhaps Shade and Shank's modus were different, but their attack style was similar, and Volt reckoned he could catch this one out much the same why he had caught the last.

"Ah hope we dae have fun Shade, in fact ah hope oor time together is electrifying!" He would have to thank Cord for that line. As he spoke the Lightning-Slinger surged to his feet, launching himself into the air. As he came back down he let the energy inside him build up in his fist, blue tendrils dancing across his arm. As he landed he punched the ground, letting the energy burst out from his fist, lightning arcing out across the room. Everyone in the attendance should be hit by it, but that was what he hoped for. Apogee could handle the shock, and if Emmanuel was anything like him then he wouldn't even feel it. The only people who it would hurt were currently trying to kill him and his friends.

The League - First Blood (Persistent World Superhero Sci Fi and Fantasy, Always Open)

Polyphemus said
Just as long as they're not a total stereotype. We're not always represented that we'll in media. Though I'm Cajun, not Creole.

Media very rarely represents anyone well.

The League - First Blood (Persistent World Superhero Sci Fi and Fantasy, Always Open)

Mr Black

Name:

Joe Black

Codename:

Extremely disparaging of codenames. You can call him Mr Black.

Age:

Died at 35 in 2002. Resurrected in 2012.

Gender:

Male

Place of Birth

Tijuana

Affiliations:

The White Fellowship of Sorcerers, Thomas Syed in particular. Former partner of Floyd Price and Vince Kripke. Sister Katy Gamble has taken it upon herself to be Joe's 'spiritual guide' in his second attempt at walking this world. Rachel Hasburas, the best friend he's ever been shot by.

Occupation:

Former actor, thief and cadaver. Currently a handyman 'employed' by Thomas Syed. Also a frequent troller on several online websites, including several Coldplay fansites. Lord does he hate Coldplay.

Appearance:



Very much like the above, except without the spiked collar or chain. Joe describes his fashion sense as 'vintage', though dated would be a better term. Wears rayban wrap around sunglasses at the behest of Thomas, as his glazed over eyes can be quite disconcerting to look into. Joe thinks they make him look cool.

Powers:

Joe's powers all revolve around the fact that he is already dead. Mostly dead anyway. You could say he is a technical immortal, as you can't kill that which is already dead. As a result of decayed nerve endings he also has no pain receptors, which means you can do what you want to him and he just wont feel it (Which doesn't mean he wont complain about it, cause he'll complain like hell.) He has no need of oxygen, food or water.

He is also a little stronger than average, a lack of pain meaning he can hit harder and exert himself more than a normal person without having to worry about harming or straining his muscles. His mystical origins have negated the usual softening of the bone structure during decomposition.

If Joe is dismembered or decapitated then not only will he survive, but all his separate pieces will still have a form of sentience. For example if you were to cut off and remove his head then his body would still move around, while his head would still be aware of what is happening (Even without vocal cords Joe's head can still talk, unfortunately.) or if you were to cut off a hand then the hand in question would begin to function on its own, much like Thing from the Addam's family. This is obviously a result of the bizarre magic's suffusing him, as a decapitation usually means a final end for most other undead.

Any piece of Joe completely obliterated will eventually grow back, but this is an incredibly slow process, and when the new part is in place it is still necrotic flesh, not healthy and alive.

Like most undead Joe can 'sense' the living. No one alive can sneak up on him unaided, as he can always sense their approach. He can also use this to track individuals down, as long as he's already picked up the sense of them before. Once Joe has met and individual he can sense them up to five hundred miles away.

Unlike other undead Joe's bite will not transfer the curse of the mummy, with most experts decreeing that this must be due to Joe's unique nature. However, his teeth and mouth do carry all sorts of nasty bacteria, so any bite from Joe not properly cleaned and attended to will more than likely end in infection and death.

Skills:

Joe is a zombie of very few marketable skills, though he'd be the last to admit it. He spends every moment he can smoking, drinking and watching TV. Since being resurrected he has rekindled his love affair with TV, quickly catching up with everything he had missed in his ten years of being dead. As such he has a brilliant mind for pop culture trivia, the kind of guy that you'd definitely want on your team for a pub quiz. He's also become a big fan of the internet, sometimes spending days at a time trolling sites like Youtube, Comicvine and our very own RPG.

He has retained several of his more 'unsavoury' skills from his former life, being able to break a lock, steal a car, hustle pool, pick a pocket, card shark, and just about any other skill a stereotyped low life should posses.

Equipment/Resources:

His badass raybans. Smokes, cigars if he can get them, marlboro reds if he can't. Zippo lighter, has the marine corps logo engraved on the side, stolen from a pensioner (Joe hopes it had some sentimental value to its original owner.)

Weaknesses:

Joe's most easily exploitable weakness is his vulnerability to wizards of all description. Unlike other undead it isn't just necromancers that can command Mr Black, any sufficiently powerful mage can attempt to do it. While not obliged to obey a command from a non-necromancer mage they can suggest an action to him, which then leaves an 'impulse' on Joe. The stronger the mage, the stronger the impulse. Joe can refuse to obey, but the impulse stays with him for a while, longer depending on the power of the mage.

As discussed before he is completely at the mercy of necromancers. A powerful enough necromancer can bend Joe to their will outright. The only thing a necromancer can't control is Joe's ability to talk.

He is also incredibly lazy. If it wasn't for Doctor Destiny handing out orders then Joe probably wouldn't even leave his couch, except to get more booze or smokes.

Due to being partially decomposed Joe smells pretty rank, but outright refuses to cover up the smell with deodorants or aftershaves, as he thinks they're girl.

While not quite a weakness it should be noted that a lot of todays popular music infuriates Joe. Justin Bieber, One Direction, Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, he hates them all. The one that he hates above all others though, the one that mere mention of will send him into near blind fury, is Coldplay. Lord, how he hates Coldplay.

Psychological Profile:

Lazy. Selfish. Petty. Cruel. These are some of Joes predominate traits. These are the ones he's proud of. Call him a low-life and Joe would more than likely thank you for it, glad to see someone had noticed all his good work. Joe's the type to always be working on some sort of get rich quick scheme, rather than do a full days work. In fact he puts more effort into avoiding work than he would into actually doing the work itself.

Before he died Joe was a coward, terrified of physical pain. Now that he is one of the immortal undead, and no longer feels pain, those feelings still remain. Despite the fact that he can't be hurt, the idea of doing something that hypothetically could hurt still puts him off.

While by no means a good person he does have some qualities that could be described as redeeming. While alive Joe would never wilfully physically hurt a person (though mental and emotional hurt was always fair game.) Since coming back to life he has developed a soft spot for orphans, perhaps because of his attempt to rob an orphanage was what indirectly led to his death.

Biography:

Joe Black was born to two American criminals who met while on the lamb in Tijuana in 1967, his father a Hell's Angel wanted for killing a award-winning porn star in a pool party gone wrong, his mother a former hooker accused of seducing men then stealing and selling their organs on the black market. They found solace in each others arms, and agreed to bring a child into the world. They were terrible parental material, though not for lack of trying. Both tried to shower love upon young Joe, but in their own extremely unorthodox manner. The bizarre family travelled back to America in 1972, assuming the heat would be off by then, eventually settling in New Jersey.

Joe, perhaps not surprisingly, doesn't become what you would call a 'good kid', doing badly in school and falling into a gang. Whenever called about his behaviour his parents would usually respond with a 'boys will be boys' kind of argument. Petty delinquency soon leads to criminal behaviour, and as he grows older Joe becomes a repeat offender for the crimes of breaking and entering and theft. The ultimate crime always remains out of reach however, that one big job which would set him up for life. However, an old school friend named Vince Kripke introduces him to Floyd Price, who claims to be on to a gold mine.

Floyd and Vince have set up a job to rob a local bank, Floyd acting as the brains and Vince as the muscle. All they need is one more man to help ease the process, and Joe has been picked for that honour. Little needs to be said about the job, save that it went badly. Vince was killed in a shootout with the police, Floyd was captured but Joe managed to escape with the money. While deliberating whether to escape to Canada or Mexico Joe is captured by Lieutenant George Ronaldson, a New Jersey police officer. Ronaldson was pointed in Joe's direction by Floyd, thinking if he helped capture his erstwhile partner then he would get a more lenient punishment, not knowing that Ronaldson was a dirty cop more interested in padding his own retirement fund than seeing justice done.

Officer Ronaldson tells Joe that he's going to prison unless he forks over the bank money, with a little extra to keep the peace. Joe, desperate to keep outta prison, doesn't know where to turn, until he see's a local nunnery holding a charity day to raise funds for a close by orphanage. Joe waited until one solitary nun was taking the day's total raised amount and attempted to mug her. Unfortunately for him the nun in question is former karate bronze medallist Katy Gamble, who proceeds to kick his ass. Joe attempts to flee, but runs out into the path of an oncoming bus, dying instantly. Joe goes unmourned, but is buried according to his wishes, and the wishes of Katy who feels bad about what happened to him.

Floyd in jail hears the news and curses his former partner. Since entering prison Price has began to think that somehow Black set him up for the fall, and absconded with all the money, not knowing that Ronaldson now has their take. One day in the prison library Floyd came across a book that probably shouldn't have been there. It was in fact a black text, a series of dos and don’t s for an aspiring necromancer. It was then and there that Floyd made his plan to serve his time, then use the teachings of the book to summon Joe Black back to life, both to find out what happened to the money and to make his old partner suffer for what had been wrought on Floyd.

Price was released from prison on December the 21st, 2012, eager to enact his plan. Arriving at the cemetery were Joe was buried he immediately set about the dark ritual which would raise our 'hero' from the dead. Things did not go to plan however. Unbeknownst to Price his ritual was poorly timed, a critical part of the ceremony coinciding with the Awakening. Yes, Joe rose from the dead, but not in the fashion Price would have wished. The worlds newest undead was surly at being awoken, and resistant to Price's attempts to command him. Price, realising something was amiss, fled the scene, leaving the newly arisen Joe to his own devices.

Joe, without much else to do, wandered down the road and into a gas station, were the attendant, Rachel Hasburas, quite acceptably really after all those Romero zombie movies, shot him in the head. This of course failed to kill Joe, and Rachel, feeling embarrassed and foolish, invited Joe to come sleep on her coach for a couple nights until he figured out what he wanted to do with his second life. Six weeks later and Joe was still loafing on Rachel's coach, and didn't look like he had any intentions of leaving. Rachel was almost at her wits end, but salvation showed it's head after she witnessed Thomas Syed, otherwise known as Destiny, on the TV.

Rachel got in contact with the Magus, begging him to solve her undead problem. Thomas, always been interested by intellectual curiosity's like Joe was only to happy to oblige, arriving the next day. Tom was both intrigued and astounded to find such a unique creature, and asked Joe to accompany him back to his lab. Joe told him to fuck off. Unfortunately Destiny was not to be dissuaded, Joe never having much of a choice in the matter anyway.

Five years on and Mr Black is still working for destiny, though claims loud and often that he will stab the Magus in the back the first chance he gets. Thomas ascribes it to no more than harmless bluster, and truthfully Joe wouldn't have anywhere else to go if he did leave the Captain. No, for the foreseeable future Joe's fate is tied to Destiny.

The League - First Blood (Persistent World Superhero Sci Fi and Fantasy, Always Open)

Arty Fox said
I think there should be a person whose power is simply just being able to disassemble themselves without pain or that messy blood stuff. They discovered this power when they sneezed and suddenly their foot was under the coffee table, palm on the lampshade, left eye in the cup of tea and various other bits of them in different places. They still haven't been able to find their pinkie finger.

That's League quality material if I've ever seen it.

The League - First Blood (Persistent World Superhero Sci Fi and Fantasy, Always Open)

Hey Pixiiboo, glad to have you.

I might get a CS for him up later then MrD. Basically he's be Bender from Futurama, but a zombie instead of a robot, which should tell you all you need to know lol.

Fraid we'll have to agree to disagree Yog. I can't even say Superboy Prime is overrated, because he's not highly rated in most circles, he's just overpowered. He may be a threat in the comic book world he inhabits, but I the reader don't feel he is a threat. Sure, he's killed some characters, but for the most part they were D-Listers, save perhaps Superboy, and we all know how long he stayed dead for.

Dragon Age: The Coming Blight

GreivousKhan said
And almost no ranged support. Looking forward to that dragon doing strafing runs until we're melted piles of gooey flesh. At least we know how we'll die. :P

To offset our complete lack of ranged support I've tweaked Faen a little, making him a crossbowman instead of an out and out swordsman.

The League - First Blood (Persistent World Superhero Sci Fi and Fantasy, Always Open)

Apparently he can heal from wounds instantly, according to comicvine, though to what extent I'm not sure. And even while holding his breath he can zoom into the nanites and burn them out of the air with his heat vision.

Regardless your solution, while imaginative, is extremely deliberating to just about 90% of fictional characters. Superman; nanite bomb to the lungs. Batman; nanite bomb to the lungs. Harry Potter; nanite bomb to the lungs. Goku; nanite bomb to the lungs. There would be survivors, but there wouldn't be many.

Dragon Age: The Coming Blight

The Fated Fallen said
It could be worse, we could survive long enough for us all to die in the joining

Ooo lets do that!

Dragon Age: The Coming Blight

Pyro V said
We'll be fine~I give us a month before we get ourselves killed.

My money is on the first day, but I've always been a pessimist.

The League - First Blood (Persistent World Superhero Sci Fi and Fantasy, Always Open)

Dingo said
Sounds like a job for the Indiana Jones fridge!Also, Didact, I wanted to run a character idea by you:Character was the target of an assassination attempt by a time manipulator who went back and killed the characters parents before he or she was conceived. Instead of erasing the character, they were simply 'removed' from existence. No historical record of their existence exists, no photos, tapes, nothing, but the character themselves did not vanish. They exist as a kind of paradox. Since they were never then they can also never . (See: Chuck Palahniuk's 'Rant')The character be killed by another person with the powers to do so, but nothing else can kill or damage them. They could jump from a plane without a parachute, hit the ground and literally get up, dust off and walk away.Obviously a completely immortal character seems a bit OP, but I figured their main challenge would be making sure don't die. And as I said, they could be killed by people with certain powers.

I had a character idea with similar powers. He is a failed actor who became a crook. He pulled of a bank job that went disastrously wrong, his partner getting caught and sent to the slammer, while he had to use the entire take to pay off a dirty cop. Hitting rock bottom he attempted to mug a former bronze medallist nun, being hilariously brutalised in the process. In his escape attempt from the vengeful woman of God he stumbles into the street and is hit by a bus, being killed instantly. No one mourns him.

His former partner meanwhile stews in prison, believing that the failed actor double crossed him, setting him up to take the fall while escaping with the money. The partner hears the news that the failed actor has died, becoming infuriated he has been denied his chance at revenge. While in the prison library he comes across a misplaced book about necromantic practices, and becomes obsessed with the idea of resurrecting the dead actor to punish him, and find out what he did with the loot. When he is finally released from prison he goes and performs a necromantic ritual to raise the actor from the dead. However, due to a combination of the partner's poor magical skills and the Awakening happening during a critical part of the ritual the actor returns, but not as your typical undead.

He is completely un-killable, due to being 'mostly dead' already. His body is kept in a near constant state of decomposition, and he can survive anything. The only snag is he's lazy, untrustworthy, selfish and petty. The only reason he helps the League at all is because Destiny has cast a binding spell over him.

Obviously he is more of a joke character, but I think he could introduce an interesting dynamic to the League.