ULTIMATE Teen Titans setting

[kevperrine]

I'd be happy to brainstorm some stuff, although I'm in a rush right now, but I'll be back later. To contribute something now, though, I think Project Cadmus seems like a great organization to play a role. They've got a long established history for doing genetic manipulation, cloning, etc. with a focus on trying to create supers. And they seem to be both tied to the government and almost somewhat rogue/off-the-books at the same time, so they can fill a variety of roles from legitimate research to something much more shady.

More later...

Can't wait... I'm looking more into Cadmus!




A neat idea another poster mentioned.... thought I'd see what you folks though!

I would like to suggest linking everything to one of the big nasty fellows who lives a long time. Vandal Savage, perhaps? Maybe human genetics were tampered with by Darkseid as part of his quest for the Anti-Life Equation? Maybe it has something to do with Lazarus Pits? If you want to be a little more unorthodox, how about tying everything to the Speed Force? Shazam?

I like these ideas of tying things to those other points!
I'd love to hear more thoughts on how and why things would be tied to:
- Darkseid's Anti-Life Equation
- Lazarus Pits
- Speed Force
- the power of SHAZAM

[Lindharin]

One thing that I stumbled across while searching for organizations in the DC universe was Kobra, and the Lazarus Pits are mentioned in there, crediting Kobra with being the only one to figure out the formula of the pits and he made his own versions (with mind control, to boot!). There might be some gems there that can be mined.

I've always liked the concept behind the power of SHAZAM, and the mythological element would tie into the mythological Titans who were foes of the New Teen Titans in the 80s. You could certainly play that up, if you want a more mythological feel.

If someone wants to play Starfire, then the Psions, Vega, etc. could all play a role. The Psions have the advanced technology to create supers and have an interest in the metagene in humanity (although I think primarily to destroy it, viewing it as a threat). Maybe Starfire's escape from them leads to their ship crashing on Earth and a biological or chemical agent gets introduced into Earth's environment that leads to some people gaining super powers, governments (and mega-corporations) trying to discover/harness that process, etc. And of course the Psions want to wipe it out, and if that requires wiping out the entire species then so be it...

Or maybe the Ultra-Humanite is the inventor of the first "super soldier" process, and it grows from there. He was apparently the first recurring supervillain, so having him be the first villain in an Ultimate DC universe could be kind of cool. And as an earlier version of a Lex Luthor-type villain, he could easily be the scientist who unlocks the metagene (maybe while working at Cadmus).

EDIT: And that could be tied into the prior one, where the metagene is introduced due to the Psions / Starfire's escape, but the Ultra-Humanite is the first one to discover it or figure out a semi-reproducible way to unlock it, etc.

Gotta get to bed now, but I'll keep thinking about it, see what else comes to mind.

[kevperrine]

I've always liked the concept behind the power of SHAZAM, and the mythological element would tie into the mythological Titans who were foes of the New Teen Titans in the 80s. You could certainly play that up, if you want a more mythological feel.

This is an interesting direction.
I'd probably like to toy with this the way they treated Thor in the Ultimates... largely as a hoax, hinting at godhood or decidedly not. And they don't (themselves) know.

I glanced at those Titans as I was looking... I'd have to read more to get a good grip for them. Neat idea though.

Or maybe the Ultra-Humanite is the inventor of the first "super soldier" process, and it grows from there. He was apparently the first recurring supervillain, so having him be the first villain in an Ultimate DC universe could be kind of cool. And as an earlier version of a Lex Luthor-type villain, he could easily be the scientist who unlocks the metagene (maybe while working at Cadmus). .

How do you mean Ultra-Humanite was the first recurring supervillain? Do you mean first TITAN recurring supervillain? Or first real DC recurring supervillain?

I'm not familiar with this.

I do like the idea of the Ultra-Humanite though!

[Lindharin]

I'm not really familiar with it either, I was getting that from various DC fan/info sites I was skimming through for this. Supposedly the Ultra-Humanite was the first supervillain that Superman fought. I think he was introduced in issue 13, if I remember what I read last night correctly, so presumably Supes dealt with more mundane foes for the first year. And if Superman is considered the first superhero, then I guess the reasoning goes that Ultra-Humanite was the first supervillain. I don't know if the Ultra-Humanite was ever a foe of the Titans.

[RED-X]

WOW - Very cool Idea and to throw my 2 cents in I would explore this as an underlining theme: Project Cadmus attempted to clone Superman and in order to add a little twist to the mix a similar project under the banner of STAR Labs.

With these projects in play a whole host of character origins could come out of things (both hero and villian). And to tie another element into the whole "TEEN" aspect of things picture if you will the JUSTICE LEAGUE ACADEMY - a school/training program sponsered to create replacements (if need be) for the "adult" versions of the goverment sponsered team the Justice League.

They say the purpose is to teach these youths how to become heroes. However, the students soon discover that they were selected because their profiles indicate they are the most likely to become villains. If you wanted to add a bit more of a darker tone.