Sabtu, 07 April 2012

Mary Marvel

The Power of Shazam!

Mary Batson was re-introduced in The Power of Shazam! graphic novel by Jerry Ordway, who also revised the origin of her super-powered alter-ego in issues 3, 4, and 16 of the Power of Shazam ongoing series that followed the graphic novel. Several of the details remain the same, while others are noticeably altered.

Mary and Billy’s parents are archaeologists, and Mary accompanies her parents on an expedition to Egypt while Billy remains at home. Mary’s parents are killed by their associate Theo Adam, who then kidnaps the young girl. Upon Theo Adam's return to the United States, Adam’s sister, a maid named Sarah Primm, learns what Theo has done, and takes Mary into her care. Primm has Mary illegally adopted by Primm’s childless employers, Nick and Nora Bromfield (based on Nick and Nora Charles). As Mary Bromfield, the young girl grows up living an idyllic life in a wealthy family, but continuously dreams of another family with a brother she has never seen.

Meanwhile, Billy, eventually finding himself on the streets, is given the power to become Captain Marvel. He learns that Mary is still alive, but after four years of searching, neither he nor his benefactor, the wizard Shazam, can find the girl. The only thing Billy has to remember Mary by is her favorite toy, a "Tawky Tawny" doll, which was shipped to America with the Batsons’ possessions after their murders.

As a young teenager, Mary enters a regional spelling bee held in Fawcett City and emceed by Billy. After saving Mary from kidnappers twice as Captain Marvel, Billy notices how much Mary Bromfield reminds him of Mary Batson, and has an undercover cop named “Muscles” McGinnis retrieve the girl’s forged adoption record. Learning that Mary is indeed his sister, Billy tries to figure out a way to let Mary know he is her brother. The old "Tawky Tawny" doll suddenly transforms into a full-sized tiger and comes to life a la Hobbes (animated by Lord Satanus, the son of Shazam), and instructs Billy to take the doll to Mary. As Captain Marvel, Billy flies out to the Bromfields’ hometown of Fairfield to deliver the doll and the adoption papers to Mary.

Arriving at the Bromfield estate, Billy delivers the package, but is immediately kidnapped by the thugs who helped Primm forge Mary’s adoption records. Mary takes the package and opens it, discovering the adoption records and the Tawky Tawny doll. Once again, the doll comes to life, and instructs the bewildered girl to say the magic word “Shazam” and save her brother. Mary complies, and is transformed by a bolt of magic lightning into a super-powered doppelganger of her deceased mother. She saves Billy, who transforms into Captain Marvel to help Mary out, but the two Marvels cannot save Sarah Primm, who is murdered by one of the thugs.

In the Power of Shazam! series, Mary's super-powered self is called "Captain Marvel" like her brother, as Jerry Ordway, who wrote the series, felt "Mary Marvel" was an illogical moniker. The female Captain Marvel has the same powers, from the same benefactors, as the male Captain Marvel. In fact, they both draw their power from one finite percentage of Shazam’s power: when they both use it, each of them is only half as strong, half as fast, and half as invulnerable. After the Captains share their power with crippled friend Freddy Freeman so that he can become Captain Marvel, Jr./CM3, the power is split three ways when all
three Marvels are active.

Captain (Mary) Marvel’s costume was originally exactly the same as her original Mary Marvel Fawcett costume. Beginning with Power of Shazam! #28, she began wearing a white costume to distinguish herself from her brother.

Final Crisis

Still under the dark influence of Darkseid, Mary was corrupted and turned into a vessel for one of Darkseid's servants. She was in Blüdhaven just before the Apokolitian forces spread the Anti-Life Equation worldwide, and she was instrumental in turning Wonder Woman into a "plague vector" for a new strain of the Morticoccus virus.
During the superhero's attack on Bludhaven, she was part of the force that defended Darkseid's fortress. She clashed with Freddy, Tawky Tawny, and Black Adam. Almost immediately, Adam tried to kill her, telling Freddy that it was not Mary who was in control — just "a leering old man" as Adam put it. As the battle continued, Mary focused on Supergirl, flying across the city and damaging the remaining buildings. Finally, Freddy managed to grab ahold of Mary and shouted "Shazam", transforming them both back to normal and suppressing or removing DeSaad's influence from Mary. She broke down crying over what she had done, as Freddy reassured her that it wasn't her fault.

Shazam One-Shot

Desiring the power of the Marvels, Blaze strikes a deal with Mary. She will return Mary's powers, provided that she kills Freddy Freeman. Mary, still desperate for her power, agrees, but discusses it with Freddy, and they double cross Blaze. After Blaze is sent back to Hell, Billy, Mary and Freddy continue their search for their powers.

Powers

Powers Of Shazam: The following represents the potential magical abilities available to wielders of the Power of Shazam. Even if demonstration of such abilities has not been explicitly shown in a canonical resource. Not all of the following abilities are represented by the same Deities. Variations of these powers may apply depending upon the wielder in question.


Weaknesses

Powerful Magics: As one of Marvels, Mary Marvel is weak to higher order magic; specifically, the magic lightning that forces her to return to her human form.

Booster Gold

Using the technology he stole from the 25th century, Michael became the superhero Booster Gold, saving the life of the President of the United States on his first adventure. This act rewarded him with instant fame, which he cashed in on, becoming quite wealthy. Unfortunately, Booster's manager stole a large amount of his money, leaving him with only a little.

Early Years

Michael Jon Carter and his sister Michelle Carter where born as twins to a loving mother and an irresponsible father in Gotham City in the 25th century. On their 4th birthday, their father left the household to pursue his true love, gambling, leaving a huge gambling debt behind for the struggling family. Michael became a football player in college, hoping that he would make it into the big leagues, when his mother was suffering from a debilitating disease that required a treatment that his family could not afford. Turning to the same vice as his father, Michael made bets and purposely threw games in order to earn enough money for the treatment. After his mother was cured, Michael was arrested and put in jail for gambling, instantly breaking his mother's heart.

After he was set free from jail, Michael managed to get a job as a security officer for the Metropolis Space Museum, where he saw images of superheroes from the 20th century that were legends in his time. Deciding to change his life and become a superhero himself, Michael stole some artifacts from the museum as well as the security robot Skeets and used Rip Hunter's time machine to travel back to the late 20th Century. It was there that he made his public debut, saving the life of the President of the United States from the Chiller as the new superhero Goldstar. Nervous, Michael misspoke on live television and got stuck with the name Booster Gold instead.

A Commercial Success

Michael hired an agent, Dirk Davis and started Goldstar, Inc. in Metropolis, with Trixie Collins as their secretary. Booster Gold was on his way to becoming rich and famous, not knowing that he had made an enemy out of The 1000. He eventually fought their leader, the Director.
Booster Gold was a main player in the revamped Justice League International, run by Maxwell Lord, during the late 1980's. Booster teamed up with Ted Kord, the Blue Beetle, who quickly became a good friend, together causing some major trouble for the League, and drawing them into some of their funnier adventures, including setting up a casino on a living island. Frustrated at the lack of respect he received from his teammates, Booster quit the JLI and formed The Conglomerate, though he would later return to the League's ranks. During the battle with Doomsday (a name that Booster coined to describe the monster who would eventually kill Superman), his suit was destroyed, leaving him no longer able to function as a superhero. Ted came to the rescue and built him a new suit, although it was much bulkier and tended to malfunction. During a battle with the Overmaster, Booster was mortally wounded, losing his suit and his right arm. Ted built Booster another suit, which also served as a life-support system and included a cybernetic arm.

This incarnation of the Justice League eventually fell apart and Booster Gold joined with Extreme Justice. It was during his time with this team that Booster made a deal with Monarch, who restored his arm and health. Another new costume was constructed, this time in part from Skeets, bringing Booster back to his former power level.

After the death of Sue Dibny, Booster, becoming disillusioned with his fellow heroes, gave up the Booster Gold identity and returned to normal civilian life. This did not last long, as he teamed up with his friend Ted to find who was manipulating Kord Industries, an investigation that led to Ted's death and Booster's temporary hospitalization. During the following crisis, Booster brought together former team members of his version of the Justice League to help find the killers. After this group encountered a trio of O.M.A.C.s, which resulted in the death of Rocket Red IV and the hospitalization of Fire, as well as the destruction of the power source of Booster's suit, Booster left the group, claiming that he was going "home."

Soon thereafter, however, Booster reappeared, with a once-more functioning suit as well as Skeets, who had been previously destroyed, seeking the Blue Beetle Scarab. He found it fused to the spine of teenager Jaime Reyes, whom he promptly brought to the Batcave to aid in Batman's mission to find and destroy Brother Eye.

After Superman lost his powers fighting Superboy-Prime, Booster attempted to fill the void he had left in Metropolis. Signing many lucrative sponsorship contracts, he used Skeets' knowledge of the future to be in exactly the right place at the right time to perform heroic deeds. He also, on at least one occasion, hired an actor to pose as a supervillain and subsequently "defeated" him. The actor later came forward, however, and Booster's credibility was immediately lost.

When a ballostro brought a nuclear submarine into the middle of Metropolis, Booster tried to reclaim his lost glory by defeating the beast. However, he had no luck until Supernova arrived to teleport the creature away. The submarine had been damaged, and was in immediate danger of setting off a nuclear explosion in the middle of the city. Booster managed to lift the vessel in his forcefield and fly it out of harm's way. However, he was seemingly killed in the blast.

It was later revealed that Booster had conspired with Rip Hunter and used his time-traveling capabilities to fake his own death. The Booster skeleton found at the blast-site was actually his dessicated remains from his death at some point in the future. Aware that his longtime robotic ally, Skeets, had apparently turned traitor, Booster secretly adopted the heroic identity of Supernova and traveled backwards in time to a point prior to his apparent "death" in order to ferret out the cause of Skeets' malfunction. 

First appearing as Supernova eight weeks after the defeat of Alexander Luthor and Superboy-Prime, Booster used the identity to form various good deeds without the stigma attached to the Booster Gold identity, as well as collect weaponry for Rip Hunter. While the Daily Star was the first to name the new hero "Supernova," Clark Kent won the exclusive first interview for the Daily Planet by jumping out the window of the office of Perry White.

While battling Skeets, Supernova revealed himself as Booster Gold. While Booster returned to the Booster Gold identity, Rip passed along the mantle of Supernova to Booster's 21st century ancestor, Daniel Carter.
Following the final, Multiverse-saving fight against Mr. Mind, the villain who had taken over Skeets, Booster left Rip's employ and had Skeets repaired by Will Magnus. He also arranged to live with Daniel in exchange for letting Daniel keep the Supernova suit. Eight weeks after defeating Mr. Mind, Booster seeks out acceptance into the Justice League. However, Rip Hunter has other plans and attempts to recruit Booster to aid him in repairing the time stream. However, this would require Booster to sacrifice his reputation, so Booster refuses. But when his certificate electing him into the Justice League turns into Hal Jordan's death certificate, Booster realizes what's really important. He drops his certificate and tells the League that he was only petitioning for membership so he could brag about turning them down.

Booster returned to Rip's lab and agreed to work for him on one condition: that Rip will allow him to change history to save some people important to him, starting with "the best friend [he] ever had." Though Booster and Rip manage to rescue Ted Kord, it is later revealed that with out the death of Ted Kord, Max Lord accomplishes his early plan in killing many of the DCU's heroes. Ted Kord then decides to sacrifice himself and returns to the time were he is killed by Maxwell Lord, in order to save the heroes of Earth. But Booster was not left alone, as Rip Hunter surprises Booster by rescuing Booster's sister Michelle right before she died in one of Booster Gold's early adventures.
It is later revealed that Booster is in fact Rip Hunter's father. Booster is unaware of this, and Rip Hunter hasn't told him.

Equipment


  • Legion Flight Ring: As the name suggests, this ring provides Booster with flight. It is the only piece of equipment stolen from the Space Museum which has survived to the most recent version of Booster's suit unscathed.
  • Power Suit: In lieu of any metahuman powers, Booster Gold uses an advanced microcircuitry-powered all-purpose combat suit that allows him a wide range of options to use in combat.
  • Enhanced Durability: The suit is extremely durable, very lightweight, and easy to wear. The suit itself is able to withstand bullets without losing its integrity (although being shot hurts).
  • Superhuman Strength: The microcircuitry woven into the mesh affords Booster a high measure of super-strength, enough to easily shift twenty tons - and a great deal more if he exerts himself. However, Booster must take into account the fact that attempting to lift things that heavy often causes them to fall apart under their own weight.
  • Force Field Generation: The suit is capable of generating a force-field that in prior incarnations was powerful enough to take a direct punch from Doomsday and leave Booster intact (this fried the force-field though, and eventually the suit didn't fare much better). It remains constant at that level for the current incarnation.
  • Time-Travel Circuitry: At some point between The OMAC Project and 52, Booster had time-travel circuitry built into his suit, enabling him to travel through the time stream, both into the past and the future. The suit has since been upgraded by Rip Hunter to enable him to traverse chronal anomalies without any adverse effects.
  • Gauntlets: The suit is able to provide powerful energy blasts, via blasters in the costume's gauntlets. At their highest setting, the blasts are capable of plowing through two solid feet of concrete.
  • Visor Devices: Booster's visor is outfitted with both sensory amplification devices (both auditory and visual) and a HUD for targeting and threat-identification, along with broad scanning along the electromagnetic spectrum, providing infra-red, ultraviolet, and X-ray vision.

Transportation

Rip Hunter's Time Sphere



Captain Atom (Nathaniel Christopher Adam)

Captain Atom was Nathaniel Christopher Adam, a United States Air Force officer of the Vietnam War era. Adam had been framed for a crime he didn't commit and sentenced to death under the watch of Col. Wade Eiling in 1968. As an alternative to execution, he was invited to participate in a military experiment with little chance of survival, in exchange for a presidential pardon. The experiment involved testing the hull of a crashed alien ship's durability by exploding a super nuclear bomb under it. Adam survived as the metal melted into his body and the excess energy threw him forward in time nearly twenty years (not incidentally, this coating with alien metal gave the revised character a full-body silvered metal look distinctly different from his previous incarnations).

Regaining coherence in 1986, Adam found himself a man out of his time and in the hands of Eiling, now a general and the second husband of Adam's now-deceased wife. Everyone had assumed that Nathaniel Adam had died on the day of the experiment, so his presidential pardon was never issued and the current government refused to acknowledge the previous administration's promised pardon. Seizing the opportunity at hand, the government used the outstanding murder/treason charges against Adam to blackmail him into being a government-controlled superhero (codenamed Captain Atom). And in keeping Adam's true origin a secret, the government gave him a origin and he was assigned the alias of Cameron Scott, an Air Force intelligence operative. It was during this time he met the superpowered terrorist, Plastique, who would become a recurring part of Nathaniel's life.

Upon his initial return from the Quantum Field, Nathaniel Adam was the classic "man out of his time". Early conflicts involved him coming to terms with his lost time with his children (who were now close to his current age as a result of the time jump), the death of his wife (who had married his nemesis Eiling prior to dying), and the overall ramifications of his newly acquired powers.

Atom/Adam served under Eiling reluctantly, while succeeding in clearing his name. Eventually, Atom rebelled against Eiling, resigned from the Air Force and found some fulfillment as an actual superhero. Captain Atom joined the Justice League at the request of the U.S. government, eventually serving as leader of Justice League Europe. During his career, he had a brief romance with Catherine Cobert, developed a friendly "rivalry" with Firestorm, become involved with and eventually married to Plastique (ironically, a one-time Firestorm foe), battled Major Force (his would-be successor), learned basic heroics from Batman when he briefly lost access to the Quantum Field, and commanded the metahuman forces during the alien invasion of the Alliance.

Powers

Dilustel Armor: Captain Atom's metallic shell, or "skin," is composed of a portion of the alien being known as Silver Shield, and is called Dilustel. Pieces of the alien's metal body were used in the Captain Atom Project, Project Major Force and similar projects thereafter. Nathaniel is able to coat himself with the metal, either partially or totally. Atom's symbiosis with the metal is such that even partially armored, he is able to access the Quantum Field.
  • Quantum Field Manipulation: Captain Atom's metal skin is tied into the Quantum Field, which enables him to absorb and manipulate infinite amounts of energy, for an infinite amount of purposes the amount of which he can do is limited solely by his will power and imagination. He truly reinforces this fact when he realized that the Quantum Field is completely under his control and he can do anything he wishes. With this realization he tests his powers and by simply thinking of it, he is able to instantly create a replica of our Earth from nothing, complete with life. His power was such that he was able to easily create his own replicas of Superman, Flash, Firestorm and even his own Spectre. His power is such, that he went even further and by simply thinking of it, was able to instantaneously create an entire universe out of nothing, and just as easily destroyed it, but he has never used this level of power again as a result of him mentally limiting himself. Captain Atom's energy absorption power is second to none in the DCU, as he is able to absorb any form of energy and store it in his person. Captain Atom can fire and control energy of any form. He commonly manipulates his energy into force field bubbles, or explosive bombs, but the most common form is a simple blast. Over the years, Captain Atom has become an expert at his energy manipulation and can fire from any point on his body, though he usually uses his hands for ease of aiming. He can fire in multiple directions at once or from every point of his body at once. Several times he has "detonated," releasing a massive amount of energy at once, destroying objects within a certain radius. On more than one occasion, he has used his ability to manipulate all forms of energy to prevent a foe using their own powers, such as the Ray and Firestorm.
  • Flight: This energy can be used for flight at faster than light speeds.
  • Superhuman Strength: As Captain Atom his strength was such that he was able to go toe to toe with beings such as Superman, Majestic, etc. and hold his own (he can augment his strength with his energy). After absorbing the powers of the 51 versions of himself, Monarch's strength level makes him one of the physically strongest beings in existence, as he was shown to be capable of easily fighting Superman-Prime who had Oan-cosmic powers originating from his involvement in the Sinestro Corps War.
  • Self-Sustenance: Has no need for food, water, or air.
  • Matter Generation: Captain Atom can also create matter in the same manner he creates energy. In the same way, he can absorb and manipulate matter at a basic level.
  • Enhance Physiology: Captain Atom can increase any of his abilities to match the amount of willpower he uses to gain it.
  • Atomic Transmutation: Captain Atom has demonstrated atomic transmutation powers, as he was able to turn both Maul and Engineer back to their human forms. This power can be used instinctively or through concentration. Willful use of this ability is displayed during Generation Lost when Atom transmuted Green Arrows Barbs into butterflies or a gun into a toy spaceship.
  • Techno Interface: He has also shown the ability to telepathically interface with computer networks in addition to those listed above.
  • Time Travel: Captain Atom has shown time-traveling capabilities without quantum jumping. Captain Atom through concentration, can travel ahead in time. The process is exhausting and the period he can interact in the future appears to be limited to a few minutes before he returns to the present.
  • Invulnerability: His Monarch armor is virtually invulnerable to all forms of damage to the point that even energy capable of wiping out the entire universe cannot penetrate it (the only exception was to the blows of Superman-Prime, one of the physically strongest beings in existence and even then, the only reason he was harmed was because he had damaged his armor with his own strength). Recent events have also shown that Atom's Dilustel coating renders him invulnerable to some if not all forms of arcane magic.

Strength level

Class 100+ ; Captain Atom is strong enough to lift far in excess of 100 tons with ease. He can physically engage the likes of Superman in direct combat.

Weaknesses

Involuntary Quantum Jumping: If Atom absorbs too much energy at once, he is sent hurling through time. Depending on the type of energy absorbed, he either goes forward or backwards.

Equipment

Monarch Armor: The updated Monarch armor currently worn by Captain Atom, contains a "nanoweave" designed to contain radiation leaking from a breach in his chest. It also contained instruments for monitoring his vital signs, through a direct neural interface.

Static (Virgil Ovid Hawkins)

Dakota City

The poorest and most crime-ridden neighborhood of Dakota City is Paris Island. Gangs were commonplace, and turf wars a regular occurrence. So much so that eventually all the local gangs agreed to settle things once and for all, at an intersection of the three main gangs' territories, a spot called "Ground Zero".

 This "Big Bang" was no secret, and when more than five hundred gang members converged that night, armed and ready, everyone in the area, police included, knew what was going down. Even Dakota's mayor Thomasina Jefferson, knew about it. Mayor Jefferson decided to take advantage of the unique situation by marking herself as a "tough on crime" candidate for the next election. Once the Big Bang began, she ordered the police to release a special tear gas containing a harmless radioactive marker, which would allow them to track any gang members who got away for days afterwards. Then, the police would move in on the gangs in force and apprehend as many of them as they could. By morning, the vast majority would be incarcerated, and the stragglers could be chased down and picked up over the next few days.

Things went hideously wrong. The gas killed over ninety percent of the people exposed to it, with the survivors either being hideously mutated into monstrous forms or gaining superhuman powers. Those survivors became known as "Bang Babies"; to the world at large the deaths were attributed to gang violence. Fifteen-year old school kid Virgil Hawkins was bullied, like most kids are. But after taking one beating too many he was given a gun by some gangbanger friends, who told him that if he was tired of being pushed around, then he should link up with them at the Big Bang. Virgil showed up, and hid behind some crates and old oil drums, but while he was waiting he decided this wasn't for him. Throwing the gun into the water, he wandered off, deep in thought and heedless to where he was walking. Thus it was that Virgil, although not a gang member, ended up present at Paris Island on the night of the Big Bang. Exposed to the gas he gained a variety of electromagnetic powers, and, inspired by the superhero comics he read, decided to become a superhero, Static.

It's not all good being a superhero though. At school the only person who knows Virgil's secret is his best friend, Frieda Goren; he can't use his powers to deal with bullies for fear of giving away his secret identity. Because his sense of duty means he will drop everything to deal with threats to the city, he finds it impossible to hold down even the most menial job. He's got enemies aplenty - Hotstreak, Commando X, Holocaust, and more. His close friend Rick Stone came out as gay, forcing Virgil not only to deal with his own homophobia, but also to protect Rick when a gay rights rally was attacked by a homophobic super villain.
And then there's Dusk. Dusk was another teen vigilante, with a strong code of justice, whom Static encountered.

He and the young lady hit it off immediately (in spite of having somewhat different viewpoints on what constituted reasonable force), and combined patrolling and dating. Then the two of them assisted the police on a drug bust, only for Static to discover one of the dealers was Frieda's boyfriend Larry. Shocked, Static initially let Larry go, putting a slight rift between him and Dusk. A day later, the two heroes caught up with Larry just as some other dealers decided it was time to silence him. Dusk was shot trying to protect Larry, who died anyway, and if Static hadn't carried her to safety, Dusk might have died as well. Afterwords, Static told Frieda he had decided to abandon his costumed identity. He was convinced not to by Dusk, who was leaving Dakota because she had become wanted for murder.

Powers

Bang Baby: Static's physiology was altered by a mutant-genetic explosion which caused him to adapt unusual powers. Static's body itself can generate raw electromagnetic energy, which he has learned to manipulate, control and enhance.
  • Super-Conductive Electromagnetism: Static can sense sources of electromagnetic energy or objects that can be affected by it such as underground water pipes. He can magnetize and demagnetize metals.
  • Electromagnetic Fields: Static generates an Electromagnetic field just like the earth and the sun generate their own Electromagnetic fields. Static can also create barriers and shields that he can use to block, repel, hold back attacks and defend himself in battle.
  • Electromagnetic Levitation: Static can cause objects to fly (metal is the easiest material to manipulate and wood is the most difficult.)
  • Wavelength Tuning: Static can hear Radiowaves meaning he can listen in on the police broadband and music stations, as well as tapping into the phone lines so he can make calls.
  • Electrokinesis: Static can generate electricity from his body and administer it in a range of different attacks and uses. He can charge devices (such as the JLA Watchtower), drain devices and project his electricity in a variety of controlled ways.
  • Electrical Displays: Electromagnetic Light Displays that Static can shoot into the sky in the forms of pictures and words. With more power behind it, Static can make these into Electromagnetic Nets and/or Cage.
  • Electromagnetic Force Bolts: Static can fire Bursts of electromagnetic energy from his hands for uses like electrifying objects, administering large scale "Static Clings", generating shields and barriers and with a piece of wire he can generate a Nova-Burst.
  • Ball Lightning: Named after Ball Lightning, the weather phenomenon. Electromagnetic Energy compressed into a large ball and thrown at targets; an offensive maneuver in a combat situation.
  • Static Cling: Static can adhere most objects or people to surfaces and other objects, plus Static can magnetize surfaces.
  • Nova Burst: An attack of light and electromagnetic force run through some normal wire, to blind them for a short while.
  • Taser Punch: An electrified punch administered during combat to send opponents flying, similar effects to a Taser Gun.
  • Electromagnetic Pulse: An "EMP" which can knock out all local electrical devices.

Abilities

  • Science: Static is a highly gifted student with a particular interest in the maths and sciences. Static also possesses an almost fanboyish knowledge of comic books, role playing games, and science fiction.
  • Tactical Analysis: Static is able to apply his scientific knowledge in combat and real life situations and does so almost intuitively. This allows him a certain advantage over less clever opponents.
  • Multilingualism: Virgil has learned to speak German for unknown reasons and is fluent enough to carry on a simple conversation in the language.

Jumat, 06 April 2012

The Huntress

The Huntress is a vigilante operating out of Gotham City, and a member of the Batman Family. She is also a devout Catholic, and is very in touch with her Italian heritage. Her career is inspired by a personal vendetta against organized crime, responsible for killing her entire family. At first, her ruthless methods and willingness to kill made her an outcast from the heroic community, but in time she learned to temper her methods and became accepted by her peers. She has also been a member of the Justice League and the Birds of Prey.

Origins

Maria Panessa Bertinelli, wife of Franco Bertinelli of the Mafia family in Gotham City, was the subject of frequent beatings from her husband, though he was sure never to beat her face. Maria decided to have an affair with a man named Santo Cassamento. As a result, Maria became pregnant, with her husband knowing it was not his own child and still beat Maria. Maria gave birth to a girl whom she named Helena Rosa. For eight years, Helena grew up in a Mafia household, never suspecting the criminal dealings that took place there.

When Helena was eight years old, a man barged in to the Bertinelli household during dinner and shot Franco, Maria and Pino Bertinelli, sparing Helena. The hit came from Mandragora who wished for no vendettas against him. Helena's biological father passed the order along with a modification that "the sister" be spared. Santo was referring to Maria. But the gunman confused Maria with Helena and so Helena was spared, though she was not supposed to be.

Helena was placed under the care of her Uncle Tomasso's nephew, Salvatore Asaro. She was taken back to the old country, Sicily, where she would be kept safe and where the family was still strong. When arriving, she was terrified. Helena remained there for a number of years. Watching her cousin and uncle train and practice with weapons and hand-to-hand combat. However, the nightmares stayed with her. One night, her cousin showed her that only she could stop the nightmare by putting an end to those who murdered her family: blood cries for blood. When taken into the barn, she asked her cousin to teach her how, picking up a crossbow on the wall. She trained until the age of fifteen when she was sent to a boarding school in Switzerland to protect her from the Italian authorities who were cracking down on the Mafia. When reading and seeing what was happening, she realized that everything she had been told was a lie about the Mafia. She realized that the Mafia was a force of corruption and evil and for a hundred years, and it had been headed by her own family in Gotham City. At age sixteen, she finally returned to Gotham City to spend Christmas with her uncle. However, she hated everyone there. During the party, Helena witnessed her family finally was frightened of something. Batman had crashed the party and fought with them. Helena realized that she could fight them too.

Helena returned to Switzerland for school where she plotted her vengeance. She went to her old house in Sicily (which had since been abandoned as a result of her uncle and cousin being arrested), and took a crossbow and a number of items for her crusade. Enrolling at the university in Palermo, she learned all about the Mafia. She constructed her costume and a number of weapons. She thought herself as a nun, totally devoted to her quest. She returned to Gotham in pursuit of vengeance as the Huntress.
Huntress ended the lives of Mandragora and the assassin who murdered her family. Sometime later, Nightwing and she began a brief romantic relationship while working together on a murder case of a police officer with connections to the Mafia.

Birds of Prey

Batman eventually funded Helena for a new uniform and a new bike. She would later return the favor by saving his life when he took a fall in Crime Alley by fighting off attackers and putting him into the Batmobile. Huntress remarked in hindsight that he'd never thank her for her heroism. A short time later, the Scarecrow, working with the mysterious Hush, drugged her, and manipulated Helena into attacking Catwoman, who she perceived as her old self. With the aid of Batman, the Scarecrow's drugs wore off and Helena made a full recovery. The Huntress soon found herself allied with Oracle and Black Canary and continued to fight crime in both Gotham City and Metropolis as an official member of the Birds of Prey.
While with the Birds of Prey, Huntress once served with the Outsiders when Arsenal (Roy Harper) was shot five times in the chest and was put out of the line of duty for three months. However, she was at constant odds with Nightwing, despite their past relationship. Immediately after Arsenal was able to serve again, Huntress left the Outsiders.


Abilities

  • Peak Human Condition: Huntress works hard to keep her body in peak physical condition. She stated her costume change to include more skin was a result to her 300 ab crunches a day.
  • Archery: Huntress carries her trademark crossbows on her at all times. Whether they're dual mounted mini-crossbows or one large crossbow is up to her as she has proficiency to use both. She's once used a single bolt to split a bullet in two.
  • Criminology: Huntress grew up in a criminal environment and later spent a few years surrounded by gangs and criminals. If there ever was a street-wise hero who stayed on the straight and narrow it would be the Huntress.
  • Driving: Huntress is an effective driver, able to pilot the Batmobile in high stress and combat situations as well as her own motorcycle at varying degrees of above-average driving situations (being shot at, accelerating to high speeds and over semi-separated bridges).
  • Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced): Huntress is very much a street fighter, before honing her skills in martial arts and kung fu she spent many years getting into intentional fights just to prove and test her mettle. She has since fine-tuned her skill after years of work with Black Canary.
  • Investigation: Batman, himself, has mentioned Huntress's prowess during investigation situations. She is credited as the "Batman" of the Birds of Prey team and regularly spends her free-time solving cold cases especially when the Mafia is involved.
  • Marksmanship: Over the years Huntress realized that firing and reloading bolts at armed individuals may not be the most effective even if they were the most non-lethal. She's adapted her arsenal over time to include various firearms.
  • Martial Arts: One of the first steps on her adventuring career was to learn and enhance her fighting style. She learned various disciplines of martial arts, enough to challenge even Lady Shiva. She prefers to use a specific kind of Kung Fu learned from Richard Dragon.
  • Kung Fu: One of the many disciplines she has learned is Dragon Style Kung Fu.
  • Multilingualism: She can speak both English and Italian fluently.
  • Pedagogy: Before and sometimes during her career she has taught at various schools and varying people the complicated language of English. She has cited her skill as a teacher on a few occasions but prefers to leave her civilian life out of sight.
  • Stealth: Huntress can be very stealthy when she needs to. With her specially outfitted suit and various toys in her utility belt she can sneak into a facility and learn whatever information she desires although she sometimes prefers to fight her way in.
Stick Fighting: Although she prefers to use her martial arts and hand-to-hand combat when it comes to close quarters there has been many occasions where Huntress has used her Battle-Staff to taken on multiple enemies.

Beast Boy

As a child, Garfield Logan contracted with a rare illness called Sakutia and was cured by a serum from a green monkey. This serum had the unintended effect of turning his skin and hair green and gave him the ability to change into any form.

Doom Patrol and Teen Titans

Originally and currently known as Beast Boy, he was adopted by Elasti-Girl and Mento, members of the Doom Patrol. He later joined the West Coast team of the Teen Titans (known as Titans West), and was part of the New Teen Titans assembled by Raven. It was at this time that he took the name Changeling. He remained with various incarnations of the team, forming a close friendship with Cyborg.
He later began using the name Beast Boy again.  Following a failed attempt to recreate "Titans West" as "Titans L.A.," he rejoined the main team.
He has also worked as an actor, playing the role of an alien in the TV series Space Trek 2020

Death in the Family

Whatever team he is part of, he likes to joke around with people and make jokes of the situations the team get themselves into. However, this is only a facade. In reality, Beast Boy is a boy who has suffered many hardships in his life (both his real parents have passed away, and then his foster mother, whom Garfield became very close to, died in battle along with virtually all of the other Doom Patrol members. He was also part of the team. Also, his foster father was driven mad by a helmet he used to fight enemies). He also has lost many teammates and fell in love with Terra (a member of the Teen Titans) and was heartbroken to discover that she was a traitor working for Deathstroke and hated the Teen Titans with a passion. Even after her death, he refused to believe for a long time that she was a traitor and blamed Deathstroke for corrupting her and using her. As a result of all of this, he uses his jokes to cover the fact that he is scared of losing anyone else he is close to. Despite all of his hardships though, Garfield is friendly and upbeat.
His best friend is Cyborg (also a member of the Teen Titans). He is also close with Bette "Flamebird" Kane, a former Titan who helped save his life on an adventure in Los Angeles.

Powers

Terrestrial Metamorph: Beast Boy has the ability to morph into any animal he knows of. He can change into extinct animals and even animals from different planets. When he changes, it only takes a couple of seconds. It doesn't matter how big or small. He can change from a rat to a hippo in seconds. It does not put strain on him to do this. He can stay in an animal's form indefinitely. He can take on the shape of animals without limbs such as snakes or worms. Two times he has changed into multiple animals such as a swarm of fireflies and a group of barnacles. When he changes into an animal, he gains all that animal's abilities. He keeps his intelligence and humanity. The only problem is no matter what form he takes the animal's skin and hair color will always be green. This stops him from hiding in plain sight. Beast Boy has also been shown to shape shift into demonic animals such as the time when Raven implanted Beast Boy with an evil seed of her father. Beast Boy can also change into a hybrid, which has all the animals' powers rolled into one. He can't control this so he doesn't turn into a hybrid unless absolutely needed. As of late, he has demonstrated the ability to transform into animals many times larger than their actual forms: among others, he's been seen transforming into a human-sized tarantula and a giant snake. He has also been seen transforming into mythical animals such as a phoenix and a dragon. Whether this is a progression of his abilities or a new power altogether is unknown.
  • Animal Mimicry: Beast Boy has the power to mimic the abilities of any animal he knows of while he's in their form. The ability apparently gives him intuitive understanding of the animals and what abilities they have that may be useful in the situation.
  • Animal Empathy

    Abilities

  • Martial Arts Expert: A very skilled martial artist in the forms of San Soo and Escrima.

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Raven

Raven, or Rachel Roth, has been a prominent member of the Teen Titans. Raven is an emphatic person, she can teleport, and send out her Soul-Self, which can fight physically as well as act as Raven's eyes and ears away from her body.A dark, moody character, Raven is the half-breed daughter of a human mother named Angela Roth (also known as Arella) and the demon overlord Emperor Trigon. She grew up in a pacifistic reality called Azarath after running away from home, which was possibly in Gotham City, and joining a cult (possibly the Church of Blood), where she was raped by Trigon. In Azarath, Raven was taught to "control her emotions" in order to suppress and control her inherited demonic powers.

Eventually she learned that Trigon was planning to come to her dimension and vowed to stop him. She initially approached the Justice League, but they refused her on the advice of Zatanna who sensed her demonic parentage. In desperation, she reformed the Titans as the New Teen Titans to fight her father.
The team was eventually able to defeat Trigon and seal him in an inter-dimensional prison.  However, Raven still had to fight her father's influence, as he was not completely destroyed. More than once, Raven nearly lost control in various high stress situations in her adventures and barely regained it before Trigon could reassert himself.

Trigon eventually escaped, came to Earth and took control of Raven. Azarath was destroyed in the process. The Titans came together and killed Raven. This allowed the souls of Azarath to possess her and use her as a channel to kill Trigon. Afterward, Raven was presumed dead, but she actually rose from ashes of the battle, finally purged of Trigon's evil. She vanished, and her mother went looking for her.

Dark Raven

Later, another version of Raven appeared, this time, possessed by her evil conscience. She attempted to implant seeds of Trigon's children into new bodies. She crashed the wedding of Dick Grayson and Koriand'r of Tamaran, and implanted one of the seeds into the alien princess. However, she actually implanted the seed of the good Raven, which caused Starfire to leave Earth in order to escape from the evil Raven and go on a spiritual journey. Raven then implanted seeds into several superheroes. The Titans were able to defeat her with the help of Phantasm.
Raven returned later, still evil, in order to destroy her good self which she had implanted in Starfire. The Titans defeated her once again, for the last time. The good Raven was instilled into a new golden spirit body.

Titans

Raven and a group of classmates are attacked by a demonic creature, sent by Raven's resurrected father Trigon. She soon joins Beast Boy, Donna Troy, Red Arrow, Starfire, Flash and Nightwing at New York's Titan's Island where Cyborg and his Teen Titans team were attacked by Deathstroke and the villainous Titans East. These events lead to the creation of the newest team of Titans, which consists of the original New Teen Titans.Raven discovers that Trigon had more than one child, and that a trio of children devoted to her father are behind the attacks. She is affected along with many of the other Titans by these three beings, who prey on the strongest emotions present in the group at the time (such as Nightwing and Starfire giving in to long suppressed longing for one another, and Flash and Donna Troy's mild envy taken to extremes in a usually calm social interaction). For Raven and Beast Boy, the emotion used against them is their subdued rage and insecurity towards themselves and each other. Raven is attacked at one point by an incensed Garfield, but their fight is broken up by the remaining Titans when they begin to gradually recover from the attack. Raven's three half-brothers then use her and Beast Boy to act as keys to open a portal to Trigon's realm. Raven uses her own power to influence greed in others to make her half-brothers steal what little power Trigon had left. The portal is closed, and Trigon's sons, believing they have gained great power, leave the scene.

Deadly Sins

While Raven and Beast Boy go out together on a "not-a-date", she informs him that since meeting her half-brothers, she's felt herself being tempted by her father's evil power and fears she will once again turn evil. Although Beast Boy rejects the idea, Raven fear is made reality as her half-brothers later return, and provoke her demonic side, causing her to leave the Titans and join them. However the team was able to track them down and convince Raven to join the side of good once more with the help of a mystical artifact Raven gave Donna Troy should such a situation ever arise. She later provided a number of other artifacts, all capable of killing her, to the Titans as terms for her staying with the team. However, the experience plays a hand in Raven ultimately electing not to pursue a renewed relationship with Beast Boy.
Raven aided the Titans in capturing Match, who went on a rampage with Jericho trapped inside of him. Through her powers, she discovered that Jericho was actually in control of Match, not the other way around. Before she could warn the other Titans, Jericho used a device to temporarily knock out the lights. When the back-up generator kicks in, Jericho was gone, and Nightwing deduces he must have possessed one of the Titans in the confusion.

Powers

  • Empathy: Psionic ability of empathy, the power to absorb emotions, enabling her to feel the feelings of others.
  • Emotion Negation: She can also use her empathy to steal emotions from others, rendering them emotionally "numb".
  • Empathic Healing: She can absorb the pain of injured people to ease their suffering, and induce rapid healing.
  • Telekinesis: Ability to move objects with mind and she uses this ability to lift up heavy objects like a couch or a car.
  • Soul-Self: Raven can manifest her "Soul-Self" through astral projection. It normally takes the form of either her human shape or a giant raven.
  • Astral Projection: Through the use of her soul-self, Raven can project her consciousness into the mind, for therapeutic purposes (to aid in her own meditation, or to help calm an agitated ally), or for offensive attacks, rendering her enemies unconscious.
  • Teleportation: It also serves as a way to travel into other dimensions. Using her soul-self, she can teleport herself and others over vast distances.
  • Flight: With her new body came new powers and new abilities, the ability to fly being one of them.