Basic Action Super Heroes!

As I work towards getting the Zenith Universe ready for publication, I find myself in a bit of a conundrum...

Lady America.

As I have her now she is a martial artist, sort of a female Captain America.

Here she is from City of Heroes as a Scrapper (Martial Arts/Willpower for those who know the game);



Once upon a time I also had her as a flying brick/tanker;



Clearly a Ms. Marvel inspired character.

As I continue to work I find myself torn between keeping her as a martial artist or making her a flying brick again.

I can't really decide. In fact I am a bit paralyzed by indecision on this one.

On the one hand she has been a hand-to-hand martial artist as long as I can remember.

On the other she is the iconic hero for the Zenith Universe and for some reason having her be able to fly and lift heavy things, etc... sort of appeals to me as a creative person.

What do you guys think?

Your input is sought and desired.

Hmm. Captain America is an iconic hero, and he's not a flying brick.

I don't see why she can't be both. Your example, Ms. Marvel, is a flying brick and she also has a military background.
She could be super strong and tough, and her training could give her an edge against equally strong villains who rely only on their raw power.

Well if I went the flying Brick route, I would certainly keep her background, which is heavily Cap influenced.

Decisions, decisions.

It's possible that she has a long lifespan, and has had many looks and power sets over the years. Her baseline might be a flying brick, but maybe she was de-powered for a while and became a Scrapper. But like any iconic character, a major change does not last, and she returned to her flying brick form after a while.

What hero picture maker did you use in those pics?

Yeah that was one idea I had before, though I think it is best to keep her powers consistent for the most part.

As for the images, they were done for me by another City of Heroes player.

Personally, I'd go with a skilled flying brick. Strong, but maybe a 4 at most, with some Weapon Technique or Martial Arts to enhance it. And maybe instead of having lots of armor to beef up her defenses, go with a decent agility and either Deflect or Danger Sense or boosted agility for defense.

Gotta say I like the scrapper better...the higher-powered version gives me more of a "Miss Victory" vibe.

Who, you ask?

http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/m/msvictor.htm

Nothing wrong with that, but the former character feels unique.

Oh I know who Miss Victory is sir

I read FemForce as a teenager and then researched the character

I suppose there may be something to what you say. I just am feeling that she is a bit stale.

That's all.

In my opinion, and take this with a grain of salt, the story is more important than the powers. You have Lady America, with a similar origin to Captain America, a similar name, a similar gimmick... What are you going to do to make her stand out? What makes her special? What makes her different?

Her stats aren't necessarily going to reflect that and neither are her powers. If you make her super-strong, able to fly, able to see through walls and so on, then she's a female Superman until you pull back the curtain and let people see what makes her her.

What I'm saying is that you've got a good idea and a great character, but you gotta come up with the story to make her stand on her own two feet regardless of whether she's a brick or a scrapper. Either one works (though I prefer the flying brick ).

As a side note, I love the Nightmares disadvantage you came up with in her build. That's hot.

I loved Ms Marvel. Many heroes have a similar build to Superman. I agree with Kinetic in that she only needs a stand-out story element or character aspect. Keep the Captain America-ish origin story but just build into it some uniqueness.

An idea to chew on:
Maybe the serum only partially worked: giving her only Brawn 3 and Armor 1 type tough skin. Not wanting to waste their investment they worked her physical combat training to bring her to a scrapping level unmatched by any soldier. Then, half-way or so into the war, some event (maybe the Manhattan project) kicked the serum's boost into it's final stage - resulting in the kick-* flyer we know and love today!

I love the Infinity Serum name, by the way.

There is a backstory for Lady America (and the Infinity Serum and the Zenith Universe as a whole) that I will reveal to you, but right now I need to go to bed as I get up waaaay to early for French Classes

I think you guys will like it a lot... or maybe not... who can say?

I have to expound on this concept as much of it is tied into my overall campaign meta-plot.

Check this thread.

Also just a quick note that after talking here and with my Comic Book Guru buddy Matt, I have decided to keep her as a deconstructionist Captain America character.

As for her story, watch the other thread, it will evolve and be revealed, though a few hints have been given already, and at least one red herring

Cool!