Gotta fix up that sheet later. I think the plan was that Steve is surviving on a Skrull world, and the rest of humanity is stuck on an "ark" of sorts floating in space. Not much of humanity left.
Steve is one of the only humans left in Skrull captivity. There's a chance there could be more... And those that are left are in a precarious position. Not a great reality to be stuck in.
Alright, well, for story purposes, I need everyone to have been on Earth (or an ark where Earth formerly was, I suppose) when their abduction took place. So if you could work that in, that'd be great. Shouldn't change too much of the concept so long as the Skulls maintain control of Earth orbit, etc. Sort of like Agent of SHIELD's fifth season plot with the Kree.
I also have to admit, I'm on the fence about accepting a Hulk concept. I want to let you know now so there's time to submit a different proposal if you would prefer. Right now I'm not sure how I feel about the viability of a true Hulk in a group that will be together indefinitely. It's not the same as him making frequent Avengers appearances in comics or the team-ups over the years. It'll be an ongoing, nearly inseparable group format. I think if it was more of a Professor Hulk or Joe Fixit-esque concept I could see it being more viable, and I know I would be okay with a She-Hulk. But, while I like the concept itself, I'm just not entirely sure that a full-blown Hulk who is the dominant personality would work well for this.
I haven't made a decision one way or the other yet, as I said just want to let you know my current thoughts long before the app deadline. If you have further ideas for the concept and want to ask me about them directly, feel free to DM me.
Figured I'd toss my hat in the ring here, see how it lands. Might make a few changes before the week is up.
Hulk, the Gladiator
| Name |
Bruce Banner
| Age |
38
| Character Differences |
What sets this version of the Hulk aside from the general understanding of the Hulk is that the roles have been reversed for Bruce Banner: he is now the voice that the Hulk attempts to keep hidden away. The Hulk feel betrayed and broken, and I imagine this Hulk as one that Mojo has had in captivity for a long time. Just long enough that the Hulk would be willing play nice with others. The goal with this version of the Hulk is that the Hulk will have to learn how to live and let Bruce Banner have control from time to time, instead of the more typical story of Bruce learning to live with his other half.
Some inspiration for this drawn from the Planet Hulk storyline.
| Brief World Background |
Earth 59301 // "Desert Earth"
In this version of Earth, the world at large has become a wasteland. The world's greatest minds, from Ray Palmer to Reed Richards did their best to find a way to reverse the effects of Global Warming, but it was all for naught. In the year 2030, as the world was plagued with various ecological disasters. While Bruce Banner and Tony Stark experimented with cleaner energy sources in an attempt to at least slow down the coming ecological doomsday, Victor von Doom and Lex Luthor came up with another strategy: speed up the process. The Illuminati, consisting of individuals such as Black Bolt, Doctor Doom, Mr. Fantastic, Black Panther, Lex Luthor, and Tony Stark (at the tail end, when convinced his efforts wouldn't solve the problem) worked together to create "safe havens" around the world that would house a limited amount of the world population in climate controlled and shielded environments. They also worked on another plan: create a device that would speed up the effects of global warming in a hope that it the Earth would "reset" itself.
Their efforts didn't exactly work as intended. The disasters became that much more disastrous, and billions died violent deaths due to these incredibly powerful natural disasters. Those who managed to survive, especially those heroes and villains who noticed that some of their counterparts had disappeared while the world needed them most, began searching for the rumored "safe havens." Those heroes and villains who didn't perish in the natural disasters sought refuge within their Safe Havens of choice. However, even as power shifted hands within some of these safe havens, one thing remained the same: free will and knowledge of the Illuminati's plan could not be allowed to circulate. Order needed to be maintined... for humanity's sake. The rest of the world has practically become a desert wasteland.
| Brief Character Background |
Bruce Banner was born in the early 90's, and was not raised in the most healthy environment. His father was an abusive alcoholic who constantly tormented his son. Despite the years of abuse, Bruce did everything he could to study hard. He was admitted to MIT when he was sixteen to study nuclear physics, as he believed that the solution to clean energy lied in nuclear power. It was here that Bruce got in touch with Professor Igor Starsky and fellow student Walter Langkowski. The three formed an intellectual trio incredibly interested in the potential of gamma radiation. The three ended up accepting a government contract to work at Desert Base in New Mexico, working on a gamma device. The device was intended to be an alternative power source, but 2 years of work yielded no results. General Ross, the CO of Desert Base, secretly met with Dr. Starsky to discuss the possibility of retooling the device into a weapon. Starsky ultimately agreed, and he set to work on developing the weapon.
Langkowski, after discovering what Dr. Starsky had agreed to, protested the decision for a time before relenting to continue working on the project. Bruce, on the other hand, never bothered to protest as he knew that he needed Starsky's expertise in the future. Of course, Bruce's life would be forever changed by this. He found himself working late one fateful night, picking up a shift from Starsky last minute. When he entered the chamber with the device that night, he found irregular readings. It turned out that Langkowski was attempting to get revenge on Starsky by tampering with the device. Of course, Bruce was the one who found himself exposed to high levels of Gamma Radiation. The Hulk was born.
The bomb was destroyed, and half the base was destroyed as part of the Hulk's rampage. It was assumed Bruce had been killed in the rampage, and he was presumed dead for years as the Hulk continued to be a menace. However, by the time a hero like Superman could arrive on the scene as another town in the rural Americas was destroyed... the Hulk would be gone as Bruce would have reverted into his normal self.
Tony Stark and Clark Kent were the first to discover Bruce's identity. He set up a trap for the Hulk in 2028 after creating his "Hulkbuster" armor. Of course, Stark's armor wasn't quite enough to subdue the Hulk. Just as the Green Menace was about to land the final blow on Stark, Superman arrived and helped defeat the Hulk for the first time. He calmed down and reverted back to Bruce Banner. The two heroes chose to keep Bruce's identity secret, so long as Bruce worked with Stark on finding a clean energy solution.
The two worked together until "The Event" in late 2030. Bruce helped Stark create a more powerful arc reactor that made use of gamma radiation. Of course, while Bruce hoped that this would be used to save the world, Stark ended up having a different idea. Instead, Stark used the reactor to help power Luther and Doom's device. When the event happened, Bruce found himself in Hawaii enjoying a vacation. The volcanoes all activated at once, and the Hulk was activated. This wasn't helped when a suit of Stark's armor arrived and informed Bruce that Tony had to do what needed to be done.
From that point on, Bruce Banner has remained as the Hulk. He was betrayed by the closest thing to a friend he had, and the rage never subsided. The Hulk eventually managed to hit the West Coast of the U.S. It took him nearly four months to discover Stark had made his safe haven in Las Vegas. The Hulk was happy to have a rematch with Iron Man, but it didn't exactly go as planned. Tony's plan this time wasn't to subdue the Hulk... but instead to lure him away from the Safe Haven. Stark was able to encase the Hulk in a modular Iron Man suit that launched the Hulk into space and let him go in wild space. He found breathing in space difficult, and ended up falling unconscious. Of course, Mojo couldn't let such a fine specimen die like that.
Hate to borrow from the MCU, but it's the best look I could find.
| Name |
Steve Rogers // The Captain
| Age |
30 years old
| Character Differences |
In this reality, Steve Rogers was, for most of his life, the hero the world needed. Like the main marvel continuity, he served as Captain America in World War II before taking a bit of a dip in the Artic Circle for a few decades. He was awoken in a post-9/11 world, and brought on to a SHIELD sanctioned Defenders team consisting of the She-Hulk, Hawkeye, Powerman, and War Machine. Steve Rogers never received his well-known vibranium shield, and instead picked up two collapsible vibranium shields. The biggest change in this Steve from one's traditional understanding of Steve Rogers: he's broken. Two years as a gladiator for the Skrulls and living as one of the only survivors of Earth's demise at the hands of Galactus has left Steve a shell of the symbol of freedom he used to be.
Some inspiration for this drawn from Marvel's Exiles.
| Brief World Background |
Earth 1313 // "A World Apart" Earth has been torn asunder. The Fantastic Four were never formed, as they were all killed from radiation poisoning on a routine space experiment. The only defense from Galactus a few years ago were the Illuminati (Stephen Strange, Tony Stark, Namor, and Bruce Banner), but they didn't quite have what it took to save the world from the imminent threat. Instead, they were able to create an "ark" for a limited amount of the Earth's population to escape. Most galactic heroes were able to survive, as well as the Defenders who were on a long-term intergalactic mission in Skrull Territory.
| Brief Character Background |
Steve Rogers was recruited from the age of 18 into Project Rebirth for the United States Army, a secret project designed to create Super Soldiers to stop the war with Nazi Germany. Things didn't go according to plan, and all the research was lost. Steve Rogers remained the only relic of the project, and was drafted into service almost immediately. He became a national celebrity, and was given the name "Captain America." He dedicated himself to fighting HYDRA, a scientific and supernatural research wing of the Nazi army. HYDRA had developed a nuclear bomb, and crafted a bomber to deliver it on New York City in 1945. Steve Rogers caught wind of the plan, and gave his life trying to protect his home city.
Or so he thought. He awoke in the 21st Century to meet Nick Fury, the Director of SHIELD. He was given an offer: continue fighting the good fight and stop the remnants of HYDRA as The Captain. He could hardly refuse, and became an official member of the Defenders team. He helped them successfully defeat the remnants of the old organization, to the best of his knowledge. With his old foes defeated for good, The Captain was made the official leader of the Defenders. About a year before Earth's destruction, Richard Rider (Nova) arrived on Earth to warn of an impending threat: Annihilus. He had nowhere else to turn, and needed to gather allies. The Captain, of course, gathered his team of Defenders to search the stars for other allies to take down the galactic threat.
Of course, thinking he could trust Richard Rider was the biggest mistake The Captain could make. The galactic hero was secretly a Skrull in disguise, and used the "threat" as an excuse to drag away some of Earth's mightiest heroes away from their prized Earth. Of course, the Skrulls were hoping to invade. Imagine their shock when they realized they had primed Earth for a feast by Galactus himself. With no other use for the heroes, the Skrull captured the Defenders and made them slaves. Of course, the best use of their talents was to use them for gladatorial combat. Over time, the Defenders began to drop one by one: first was Rhodes, then Barton, Cage, and finally Walters. Even Steve Rogers fell, in a way. He was no longer the symbol of freedom and the American Way: he was simply a gladiator and a killer. He was simply The Captain.
Interesting concepts. A question about the Captain's world, though. Was the entire Earth destroyed and the survivors are on a Skrull world now?
The OG Batman largely used batarangs, rope, smoke pellets (practically his go-to, in those days) and the occasional firearm, so you're not far off. I think the biggest difference for nessescity is that he'd still have some kind of super-computer, frag/flash grenades, and The Batmobile, which would be militarized... all of which he'd probably lose anyway as an abductee. But he's definitely way more reliant on basic cunning than high-tech prowess.
Alright, makes sense to me. And, yes, the tech-based characters will definitely have lost out on some of their gear upon abduction. For the purposes of making his games more entertaining, Mojo would have the slaves provided with certain equipment and costumes - gotta be flashy for the audience. I imagine for certain characters their equipment/armor would also suffer damage in the death games. Upon acceptance, these sorts of details will be worked out. But you would have a limited supply of gear to utilize.
Which makes it interesting when arriving on alternate worlds and realizing you need to replenish. What's that? Pull off a heist on this reality's Batcave to restock on batarangs? What could go wrong...
If he were ever outed, I imagine it'd be like discovering one of the Kardashians were secretly Jeffrey Dahmer all along.
I don't see how this is farfetched...
But, noted. Also, given he is both more modeled after his pulp iterations but still exists in a modern world, what sort of gadgetry does he operate with? I don't need a full layout at the moment, just a rough idea of the sort of equipment quality this Batman is used to. I'm imagining more simple batarangs and grappling hooks over sonar grenades and infrared vision.
Would you want me to go into more detail about her combat abilities were she accepted? or even before?
That won't be necessary at the moment. Should the character be accepted we can figure that out in more detail then. I may have more questions as the week progresses and I get a better idea of potential team dynamics. Thank you for the answers you've already provided.
Spiders aren't the only animals out there, ya know.
| Character Identity | The Batman / Bruce Wayne
| Age | 31
| Character Differences | In 1939, Batman was created to be less a superhero and more of a pulp hero who dished out vigilante justice wherever it was needed. He didn't hold life as sacred as his contemporary reimagining, he had no qualms with using firearms, he had no supporting cast to ground him (not even a faithful butler), and his enemies were often of the scientific and supernatural variety - his rogues' gallery being far off from introduction. This Batman is an attempt to boil those traits down to how they'd appear in 2019, with a version of The Dark Knight who operates alone as an enemy of the law, primarily due to the fact that he has taken it upon himself to act as a selective judge, jury, and executioner.
| Brief World Background | Earth 940 - Society Earth
A DC Universe that exists in a cynical America of 2019, where the criminal element is more ruthless than most. A group of self-imposed heroes have descended onto the populace to try and forcefully restore the distant memory of order. The first metahumans were not heroes, but the creations of illegal genetic tampering, igniting a brutal conflict between the nations of Khandaq and Bialya that would only be resolved with the arrival of the socially conscious champion of the oppressed, Superman, and the warrior-born mystic of Paradise Island, Wonder Woman. As the world became quickly aware of the fact that an age of gods and monsters were upon them, rogue geneticist turned terrorist Lex Luthor came out of hiding to elicit chaos in a bid to prove himself superior to the likes of Superman and Wonder Woman, aswell as the bearer of the emerald flame, Green Lantern, and the master of speed who'd modeled himself after the diety Mercury, The Flash. Thus, the age of the supervillain began. Those who stand outside of Luthor's war against the metas, such as Batman, Aquaman, Doctor Fate, Hawkman, and The Spectre, loom over their corners of the US with a territorial ownership, inspiring both admiration and fear from the public.
| Brief Character Background | Witnessing the murder of his parents, Bruce Wayne became psychologically scarred by the trauma and was soon placed into the Arkham Institute to cope with his growing disillusionment from reality. From the walls of the Asylum, he felt as though he could take an objective stance as Gotham City descended into a breeding ground for serial killers, cultists, gangsters, flamboyant opportunists, and elaborately themed madmen. Deciding to adopt the guise of a bored, but importantly sane young billionaire in the making whose only interest in life was high-octane racing and supermodels, Wayne was released from Arkham by the age of 20 - and promptly vanished for the East. When he returned seven years later, he had mastered every form of urban combat and guirella warfare, combining his skills to become a one-man war on crime. Adopting a fearsome avatar of a bat to inspire fear in his enemies, Wayne announced his intentions to all of Gotham with a gruesome message: the decapitated head of the "vampire" occultist known as The Monk, strapped to a giant floodlight atop of GCPD. Commissioner Gordon has since made it his mission to arrest The Batman before his madness inspires even more heinous acts of vigilante justice. Only the young mechanic and weaponsmith Dick Grayson, known as "Robin" by his clientele, knows of Wayne's true identity and mission.
Finally cornered by the GCPD after a five-year reign of terror against the underworld, having been lured into a trap by planted evidence tying a routine robbery to the vicious Joker Card Killer, Batman was about to break his vow of never harming the innocent in a desperate bid to escape Gordon's men. But someone else got to him first - someone with a more cosmic intent for one of the multiverse's Darkest Knights.
| Character Identity | Wolverine/James Howlett - ローガン
| Age | 492
| Character Differences | In a vast departure from 616, this version of Logan was both never a member of Weapon X or The X-Men. Instead, most of his skills were honed as an honorary Samurai in the age of feudal Japan, and his adamantium claws were grafted to him under a voluntary surgical proceedure sometime in the year of 2029. He doesn't have an adamantium skeleton or any other protections beyond his healing factor, which isn't as extreme as the healing factor for 616 Wolverine and can't bring him back from the dead.
| Brief World Background | Earth 141-81 - Days Of Future Present An alternate reality where the events of the storyline Days Of Future Past was the definitive end for the Marvel Universe and the beginning of a mutant-human dominated society. The Uncanny X-Men were formed out of Charles Xavier's need to preserve the species rather than fight for a utopia where man and mutant co-existed, and Magneto's Brotherhood Of Mutants were born out of a need to overthrow the regime of Sentinel oppressors by any means. Marvel heroes like Captain America, Spider-Man, and Thor exist only as a memory, the fuel that a rebellion needs to fight back against a world enslaved to protect it. The year is now 2035, and the end of the war seems near, but Bolivar Trask's cybernetic forces aren't going down without a fight.
| Brief Character Background | WIP
I would have been disappointed had you not applied for a Batman. I think this route is a smart one to take for this game, too.
I am curious, though, when you say he has adopted the guise of a young billionaire, do you mean he is simply behaving as the playboy, heir apparent everyone expects him to be, as is normal for the character, or that he has crafted himself a new identity? I assume the former and you're going the typical route, albeit more extreme, but I'm just checking.
I also like the Wolverine concept thus far and am interested to read it once it's complete.
I think both provide a lot of interesting avenues for the narrative to develop should either be accepted, and already they could play off several alternate worlds I have plans for.
@Retired I added Iron-Woman to my post! She's my secondary character. Let me know what you think, I just came up with her tonight and to be honest I really like her. If I get accepted, feel free to pick whichever two you think will add more to the group dynamic. Spider-Gwen is a bit of a wild card and violent, but Iron-Woman is very reserved, doesn't really get people nearly as well as she gets her machines, and is just trying to figure out what the right thing even is.
Congratulations on being the first truly wild concept! I was wondering who would be the first rise to the occasion and utilize the freedom provided the most. While a genderbent Stark isn't wild, the universe she comes from is pretty extreme.
So the sun, however and for whatever reason it is shielded, both prevents those outside of the solar system from seeing/scanning within as well as prevents those on Earth from seeing/scanning outside? So the concept of other galaxies and universes don't even exist on this Earth?
@Retired Thanks! If I get accepted I'm sure she might rub some of the other heroes the wrong way, but she's not that unreasonable, lol.
I don't think I will. If I don't get in with Spider-Gwen, I probably wouldn't get in with anyone else and that's fine. But I might throw together an Iron Man or IronHeart? I'd have to come up with the concept, I've had this Spider-Gwen rattling around for a while.
Well, just because one concept doesn't get accepted doesn't mean a different one might not. I'm not just measuring each player's prospect as a writer, but the characters themselves in a group dynamic. It's a process of figuring out which individual characters from among all applied for best fit together for the narrative. So while I may like a concept, it may not be accepted ultimately because it is too similar to another I plan to accept or it clashes with the rest of the team makeup I am planning for. Which means chances are I may like the secondary concept as well, and if it's different from the first it'd have a good shot.
Oof, two webheads already! I was gonna throw my own take on Spidey into the mix, but at the risk of making this a Spider-Verse game, I might sit this one out unless a secondary concept comes to me. Happy to see this up, though-- I'll be reading along either way!
There can never be enough webheads. Like I said in the opening post, don't let any other competing apps for the same character/archetype prevent you from applying. You may have a concept I think better fits the team dynamic. I could end up not accepting any previous Spider-app by the end, and then you'll be left feeling like you missed your chance.
I can't stress this enough. This is not a typical roleplay. The way I am reviewing apps will not be typical of other games. This isn't a sandbox where out of two prospective Spider-apps I am guaranteed to accept one to fill the role. I could accept neither. I could even accept both if I feel it'll work properly. Give your characters a chance. Every app will be weighed equally regardless of player history or amount of competing apps.
Here she is! My Spider-Gwen. I'm 100% certain the most optimal outcome is to have every single character be a Spider-Hero. Spider-Man into the Spider-Verse 2, this time with more gladiatorial combat. The only thing that movie was missing.
She changes outfits depending on her mood. Like a mood ring, only deadly and full of teeth. Isn't that cute?
| Spider-Gwen |
| 19 |
| Character Differences | While usually Peter Parker is the one to get bitten by the radioactive spider, in some universe it is Gwen Stacy instead. She developed the proportional strength of a spider, the ability to climb walls, precognition and incredibly fast reaction times, and heightened intelligence allowing her to invent web fluid. She has also gained the powers and drawbacks of the Symbiote suit quite recently, granting her even more strength, durability and altering her physical form, camoflauge and mimicry, as well as immunity to various pyschic attacks. She is also a lot meaner and bitter than most interpretations of the character, sucked into gladiatorial combat at her lowest point. Gwen and Venom are not one, and the two often bicker about what should be done, though currently Venom is the more powerful identity.
| Brief World Background | In Gwen's world, she is the only super-hero, ever. The world is filled to the brim with mundane folk, it is a magicless and godless place. Earth has never come into contact with any alien life. This is what makes her story so remarkable. New York City is on the brink of a technological revolution, and humanity is finally breaching into the future. In the year 2056, the modern day is evolving into something else. Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Scorpion, the Vulture, the Lizard, Sandman, Mysterio, Mister Negative, in her world these are people who whether they wanted to or not, had the next stage of human evolution thrust upon them. Eventually all of them saw themselves as the superior being, the ultimate life form. It was Spider-Woman who lead the fight against these villains, with no help outside of the police force who often regarded her as no different from the villains she battled. In the near future, advanced technology is extremely rare but is becoming more and more common.
| Brief Character Background | Gwen Stacy was bitten by a radioactive spider when she put on a ballet shoe that had a radioactive spider in it. Go figure. At 14 she became The Spider-Woman. Her father was a police detective, and imparted upon her lessons of great power and great responsibility. George Stacy was his name, and sometimes it felt like he was the only good cop on the force. Corruption was rampant, greed was everyone, and New York City was in the hands of the common crook. Gwen saw these issues and adopted The Spider-Woman persona, using her powers as a vigilante to fight crime. Eventually, of course, she came to be hunted by her own father.
As time went on, Gwen Stacy was not the only person to become a super-being. The man who created the Spider that escaped and bit her, Norman Osborn, re-attempted the formula and pushed it even further, eventually going mad. What a weirdo. Yeah, no, it's like it would have been great to have a Spider-Man running around and helping her or anything.
Doctor Octopus fused himself with machinery and rained havoc over the city. What a pyscho. There were many more of this type that the teenager put herself in harms way to stop, inspired by her father that did the same thing every day, only he had no super powers. What right did she to not do the same thing? Sometimes she knew these villains before, and sometimes they figured out who she was. It's been a stressful few years, to say the least. But what else she could do? So many people could die if she stopped. She just had to keep going. Even if everybody in the whole world hated her or didn't appreciate her, or whatever. That didn't matter.
When she was 18 years old, her father died. The criminal that killed him was someone that Spider-Gwen felt pity for. A pathetic lowlife, scared and alone. So scared that he went home and fetched his back up gun. So scared that as he hobbled along the street, he assumed the first cop he saw was someone trying to silence him, when infact it was just her father trying to help.
Gwen Stacy swung to the scene to see her dying father, the arrested lowlife, and fell into a deep depression. That hurt. That really, really hurt. Her hero was dead. Her mother couldn't exactly cheer her up and Gwen couldn't open up to her, not really. So she sulked. Sulked, brooded, looked out a window on rainy day. She dropped out of high school despite being almost done, despite all of her mother's protests. That way she would have more time to be Spider-Woman. Too bad she didn't want to be Spider-Woman anymore. Her life changed again when one day she woke up and she was wearing her suit. Panicking that her mother would find out, she went to remove only to find it impossible. It was glued directly to her skin, and felt...slimy? Her normal suit hugged her form pretty well, but this looked painted on. Turning on the light, she found that it wasn't just the dark room, the entire thing was black save for a few stylish highlights. That was the day she met the symbiote. That was the day she really became the badass she was supposed to be. It told her it was an alien. From another world. That it sought her out because it knew that she was the only one who could handle the responsibility to do what needed to be done.
It- he- she- they- it was hard to tell sometimes, told her what she wanted to hear. It gave her the confidence to do what needed to be done. The police were incompetent, crime ran amok, and prison was just a revolving door. She had to take it into her own hands if she wanted to get anything done. That was was the night she took her first life. It was so much easier than knocking them out or dying them to a wall. Just...throw them against the wall. And it's over. Easy. Rejuvinated, she got her GED, finishing out her education and went on to go to college. Her mother was happy that her little girl was out of her "rut." You know what? So was she. This was going to be a good year.
Or not. Two months ago, while beating Kingpin to a bloody pulp, they were transported to another dimension and forced to battle interdimensional beings for survival. Yeah, that esclated pretty quickly. Really took a wild turn, there. Wowee zowee. Whatever. They'll get out. Soon enough they'll get out, kill whoever put them there and go home. Put all of this behind them.
Interesting take on Gwen. It would certainly provide a lot of unique conflict among the group where she around, I'm sure. Just so I know, do you plan on applying with a secondary?
Captain Uni
Eddie Brock
Cyberlad
Neziul
Supermaxx
Scrawl Banditta
Sistros
AndyC
King Kindred
