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[Let's Read] Freedom City: Every Edition!
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<blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 8549945" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><p>Oh wow, where’d the time go? I’m sorry for the delay, but I’m still a bit unused to the size and scope of this project even though we’re getting close to the finish line. Here’s our next bunch of solo villains!</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/uqbrnJV.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><strong>Gamma the Atom Smasher</strong> is Adam Ward, son of esteemed nuclear physicist Dr. Franklin Ward. Adam was born a mutant who constantly emitted a deadly radioactive aura along with limited mental faculties, preventing him from being able to lead a normal life. His father resorted to drastic and unconventional measures in hopes of curing his son, up to and including the theft of deadly radioactive material which inevitably drew the attention of the Atom Family. Dr. Ward was successful in building a radioactive-repellent device for Adam that also allowed for his mind to properly develop, but at the cost of his own life. Placed into the care of ASTRO Labs, Adam was a quick learner, eventually finding out his own history and blaming the Atom Family for taking his father from him. He became the supervillain, Gamma the Atom Smasher, capable of wielding deadly radioactive energy along with super-strength!</p><p></p><p>He’s also listed as a supervillain for <strong>3e</strong> in spite of his last mention in the metaplot of him becoming cured of his radioactive powers in 2009. I suppose it’s meant to be a matter of time until he goes back to his old life of crime.</p><p></p><p><strong>Goanna (3e)</strong> is the Lizard of Earth-Prime, and with a similar backstory: a herpetologist who wanted to develop an all-purpose “miracle cure” for venom after losing his father to a snake bite. But he lost his funding due to using his research on humans, causing him to suffer a breakdown where he destroyed his own lab and injected himself with the anti-venom which had the side effect of transforming him into a giant humanoid reptilian. When his rampage was stopped by the Raven he turned human again, working with Daedalus to find a cure for his condition. This time the “cure” was worse, causing him to transform again, even stronger and smarter than before, allowing him to escape!</p><p></p><p><strong>The Green Man</strong> is a male version of Poison Ivy: a botanist by the name of Nathan Grovemont who despaired at seeing humanity’s increasing destruction of the environment. He decided that plants would need to be evolved enough to be able to fight for themselves, and developed a “morphological stimulator” to grant animation and mobility to flora. Like Goanna he had the bright idea of using this on himself once he lost his funding, becoming a plant-human hybrid and eco-terrorist known as the Green Man. He also has three cohorts, Brides of the Green. They are women who joined his cause and have plant-based powers as well, although they don’t have stats in this book. Overall, the Green Man’s PL 12 power-set is heavily geared towards the “controller” role, where he can fill up areas with harmful vines, pollen, and summon animated plant minions.</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/ZHAWTgc.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><strong>Hades (2e/3e)</strong> is the Greek God of the Underworld and Lord of Tartarus, one of our heavy-hitters in this book. He’s been banished from Mount Olympus for being a thorn in the side of Zeus, and there hasn’t been much love lost with other powerful figures when he pursued a personal vendetta against Daedalus for spurning his gift of immortality.</p><p></p><p>Hades is very much a mastermind archetype: he has many powerful agents, also statted elsewhere in this book: Taurus of the Labyrinth, Jack-A-Knives, and Cerberus (who is in the 2e sourcebook Freedom’s Most Wanted). He’s unable to be away from Tartarus for very long, and that’s a good thing for Earth-Prime: he’s a hefty PL 15 god with an array of dark magic powers and extremely high ability scores.</p><p></p><p><strong>The Hellqueen (2e/3e)</strong> is an underworld spirit of a more Christian variety. Gwen Nugent was a kind and sweet girl taken in by a cult who summoned a demon to inhabit her body with the purpose of binding the entity to their will. The summoned entity came to be known as the Hellqueen after violently taking over the cult, and but not before Captain Thunder broke up the organization. This caused the Hellqueen to become an obsessed stalker of the superhero, and Gwen was finally able to take control of her own body via the Power of Friendship from her best friend, Nancy Dumont, appealing to her sense of humanity. For a time Gwen was able to return to a normal life, but when Dr. Stratos unmasked Captain Thunder to a global audience, she felt anger and bitterness overwhelm her again. For it was revealed that Nancy was actually the husband of Captain Thunder! That was all that was needed for the Hellqueen to return.</p><p></p><p>The Hellqueen is a PL 11 “succubus mage” with an array of hell-themed magical powers. They’re quite broad in function but as most are in an array she can only use one of them at a time.</p><p></p><p><strong>Jack-A-Knives (2e/3e)</strong> is a Murder Spirit, an extraordinarily brutal killer in life chosen to be an agent of Hades when his soul was sent to Tartarus. He has operated in Earth-Prime via possessing various human hosts over the course of millennia, harvesting souls for Hades and going down in history as inspiring some of the most notorious serial killers. By himself Jack-a-Knives is little more than an incorporeal spirit that can possess others, but when he takes on a host body he grants them pretty high defenses along with the ability to materialize deadly knives. Outside of a host body Kack-a-Knives is at risk of being banished back to Tartarus, which is the major means of sending him back.</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/yU7ei9Q.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><strong>Knightfire (3e)/White Knight (1e/2e)</strong> is a man by the name of Daniel Foreman. Raised by white supremacists, he was angry at the current state of society, resentful of superheroes who seemed to favor positions like being pro-Civil Rights or punching Nazis. Figuring them all minions of a worldwide Jewish conspiracy, throughout his childhood he had little left but to hope that some “white knight” would come and set things right.</p><p></p><p>One day his prayers were answered during a drunken bender by the mysterious figure known as Mr. Infamy, offering to give him superpowers if he truly wanted them. He woke up to find his home ablaze, his own flesh and clothes unharmed, and came to the conclusion that God empowered him with purifying flames. For some time he operated as a white supremacist supervillain, although he would soon die at his own hands after causing an arson during battle with the Freedom League. The fires eroded the (thankfully evacuated) building’s supports, causing it to collapse on him.</p><p></p><p>Daniel was dead for a time, floating in some infernal abyss that stripped at his soul until there was little left but anger. He came back as the spirit “Knightfire,” a wraith of hate that can possess others and empower them with hellfire. In <strong>2e</strong> White Knight was a bit of a straightforward villain, being a fire-based PL 11 foe with flight and super-strength as well as non-powered Minions backing him up. In <strong>3e</strong> he has much the same powers, although he’s stealing a bit from Jack-a-Knives in being able to possess hosts and give them his own powers.</p><p></p><p><strong>Lady Lunar</strong> was born into the Royal Family of Farside City on Earth’s Moon. But she was “mind blind,” not born with the psychic powers that formed the backbone of Farside’s upper class. She was subject to bully and ridicule, forming over time into a hate and bitterness at being denied the seat of rulership she viewed as rightfully hers. She would become Farside’s ruler by forming a coup and seizing control of the Moonstone, the city’s major power source, which she used to gain powerful psychic abilities. Lady Lunar ruled as a dictator for a long time before the Atom Family overthrew her cruel reign. She fled before being captured, and ever since has concocted various schemes and allied with other space-themed supervillains such as Star Khan.</p><p></p><p>She is quite predictably a PL 12 psychic-themed supervillain, having powers such as mind-based attacks and status effects, telekinesis, and flight and teleportation.</p><p></p><p><strong>Lady Seven (3e)</strong> details Seven from the Next-Gen, but as the Dark Lord who took over Una’s role as Queen of the Netherworld. Interestingly she isn’t exactly what I’d call a “villain,” as Seven is trying to make the Netherworld a better place yet is constantly tempted to use that power for selfish ends due to her status as Dark Lord. She is one of the book’s heavy-hitters at PL 15, being a more generalist mage with a wide array of powers ranging from long-range scrying, teleportation, astral projection, and several offensive mystical blasts among other potential spells.</p><p></p><p><strong>Lady Tarot</strong> is a witch who can trace her lineage back to the old covens of Tuscany. Born into a mafioso family, she felt obligated to help the family business as a consultant, using tarot cards to read fortunes which “Big Al” Driogano would use for risk assessment. Her readings have helped thwart several attempts on the Don’s life, and in exchange has been rewarded quite well for this. Her major foil is Foreshadow, for her powers seem unable to make predictions about him and his actions, and from this was born a curiosity that eventually grew into a romantic fascination with the hero.</p><p></p><p>As of <strong>3e</strong> her loyalties were tested upon discovery of a foolproof plan for the Mob to kill Foreshadow. Making use of forbidden magic, she entered into an infernal bargain with the help of Lucius Cabot (lawyer who serves demonic powers), giving up her heart to serve the cause of sin and evil in the world in order to save Foreshadow, even if that meant Foreshadow would be eventually forced to destroy her.</p><p></p><p>While Tarot is still a powerful Mob asset and mage, the result of the bargain has started to turn her more heartless. She is not very powerful, being PL 5 in 2e and 8 in 3e, with her powers being luck-themed abilities that can nullify attacks, debuff enemies, and play around with Luck Points and Hero Points in various ways.</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/VSdGREn.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><strong>Magpie</strong> is a self-styled romantic thief of unknown origin. He has the power to teleport long distances (which he claims to have gained from a magical gem), although he rarely uses it save in more desperate circumstances as he relishes the challenge of breaking into the most secure facilities with but his own skill and wits. For a time he made many impossible robberies in Europe before the Raven (Callie Summers) caught him. Far from being resentful, he respected her for being one of the few on Earth-Prime to best him, and when he broke out he sought to earn her affections; something which she was flattered by but never could accept due to being on opposite sides of the law. He has more of a moral code than other underworld figures, refusing to do more unsavory criminal activities such as kidnapping and murder.</p><p></p><p>As of <strong>3e</strong> he is the rival of the new Raven, and while it’s not a romantic one he enjoys exploiting that one’s relative inexperience and temper. It’s also believed that he’s preparing various apprentices to carry on his work for his eventual retirement. In terms of stats the Magpie isn’t very dangerous for his 11 PL, having only an unarmed attack by default. But his strengths lie in his very high skill bonuses and teleportation power.</p><p></p><p><strong>Malador the Mystic (1e/2e)</strong> is the Freedomverse’s prominent “evil archmage,” an immortal being hailing from Atlantis who was imprisoned in eternal slumber for forging pacts with evil beings that threatened humanity. He would later be accidentally freed by Adrian Eldrich in the 1930s, with that superhero feeling a duty to make up for this with his newfound magical powers. Malador is your stereotypical power-mad undead sorcerer, willing to stop at nothing at gaining more arcane knowledge. In terms of stats he is a tough PL 14, having an array of magical spells.</p><p></p><p>Not much has changed about him in <strong>3e,</strong> where he is statted up in the Superteam Handbook. If one were to compare stats with Lady Seven, he is a bit less powerful and doesn’t have as much spells, although unlike her he is undead (immune to Fortitude effects), immortal (“revives” when someone wears his mask), has a broader telekinetic spell (Seven’s can only move elemental objects of air/earth/fire/water), and can conjure illusions.</p><p></p><p><strong>Madame Zero (3e)</strong> is Rule 63 Mr. Freeze. Victoria Leonard was a cryogenic scientist for ASTRO Labs. She was respected in her field despite her career taking place before the advent of Second Wave Feminism, so like many women she was married to a husband that served as the family breadwinner. When she discovered him having an affair, her life came crashing down, and her husband in no uncertain terms said he no longer loved her.</p><p></p><p>[spoiler=Content Warning Suicide]Feeling she lost the only person who loved her, she tried to kill herself by freezing herself in one of ASTRO Labs’ Freon tanks.[/spoiler]</p><p></p><p>Afterwards Victoria woke up in a hospital room that felt burning hot, but also with the ability to sap the surrounding heat and turn things to freezing temperatures. She escaped, and after building an environmental suit that would allow her to operate in above-freezing environments, Victoria Leonard became the supervillain Madame Zero. After murdering her husband she fell into a life of crime, and due to her condition she was virtually unaging. In modern times she is looking for a cure for her condition in hopes of being able to live a normal life again. In terms of stats she is a PL 12 cold-themed scientific supervillain, having a Cold Control Array of various ice-based attacks as well as the ability to generate environmental obstacles such as extreme cold and impeded movement.</p><p></p><p>But another important ideal Madame Zero has is fighting back against climate change, destroying and sabotaging the operations of oil and gas companies unleashing greenhouse emissions into the atmosphere in spite of government regulations. The book notes that in such cases PCs with an environmentalist mindset may ally with her.</p><p></p><p>So wait, climate change is still a problem on Earth-Prime…and between her and the Green Man, it looks like the only people who want to do something about it are supervillains.</p><p></p><p>Shaking my head right now.</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/Ynf4QYb.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><strong>Mastermind (1e/2e)</strong> was a caveman who got abducted by the Preservers in need of finding human specimens for their experiments. Subjected to myriad painful fates, his essence was distilled into little more than a brain connected to the alien machine’s knowledge banks, absorbing information over time. Thousands of years passed, and when the Preservers were gone he took control of the machines which he used to grow and inhabit a new human body. Being the pre-eminent example of what humanity could be, Mastermind’s body was immortal and at peak condition, with amazing psychic powers making him outright superheroic. He walked Earth for millennia, doing what he could to steer humanity’s fate by taking on the identities of various philosopher-kings, scientists, and political figures. But he was selfish, feeling that most humans were too short-sighted to shape their own destinies. When he exited one of his periods of hibernation in 2003, he looked at the explosion of the superhero population with fear, viewing them as rivals who would be a threat to his rule.</p><p></p><p>Mastermind hasn’t changed at all for <strong>3e,</strong> and is statted up in the separate Threat Report sourcebook. He is a PL 15 psychic but every ability score is at least world-class standards for normal humans, and his defenses weigh heavily towards absorbing damage rather than evading it, and he has a variable array of Equipment Points to use for various hidden lairs throughout the world. Despite being an arrogant being full of contempt for the average human, his own background gives him a heavy dislike for torture and other villains who get off on pain, and he’s been known to be “merciful” during the pursuit of his goals. Mastermind’s hopes at shaping humanity into an ideal species has made him ally with superheroes, such as during 2005 when he worked with Daedalus and Dr. Atom to develop a vaccine for a literal mind-virus unleashed by SHADOW.</p><p></p><p><strong>Thoughts So Far:</strong> There’s a rather large amount of magic and hell/afterlife-themed supervillains in this section, so there’s a lot of overlap even when some entries were removed for 3rd Edition. Lady Lunar and Mastermind both occupy the psychic role, with the former being more heavily focused on telepathy vs Mastermind’s telekinetic focus. Lady Seven seems to have replaced Malador as the “big evil magic guy” for 3rd Edition, albeit not exactly being villainous in motivation. Jack-a-Knives is another cool “puzzle villain” like the Collective in that there may be times when the PCs don’t want to damage the host or need to find an environment where the Murder Spirit can just jump into another body. I feel that White Knight/Knightfire steps on Jack-a-Knives’ toes a bit too much here.</p><p></p><p>In terms of favorites I’d have to pick Magpie, if only because I’ve recently watched Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro and enjoy the “charming thief” archetype. For my least favorite I’d have to pick the Hellqueen. Not only do other villains occupy the “hell-themed villain” concept better, her backstory and obsession is heavily tied to Captain Thunder, who isn’t even active in 3rd Edition anymore!</p><p></p><p><strong>Join us next time as we finish up this book with the last 20 supervillains!</strong></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Libertad, post: 8549945, member: 6750502"] Oh wow, where’d the time go? I’m sorry for the delay, but I’m still a bit unused to the size and scope of this project even though we’re getting close to the finish line. Here’s our next bunch of solo villains! [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/uqbrnJV.png[/IMG] [B]Gamma the Atom Smasher[/B] is Adam Ward, son of esteemed nuclear physicist Dr. Franklin Ward. Adam was born a mutant who constantly emitted a deadly radioactive aura along with limited mental faculties, preventing him from being able to lead a normal life. His father resorted to drastic and unconventional measures in hopes of curing his son, up to and including the theft of deadly radioactive material which inevitably drew the attention of the Atom Family. Dr. Ward was successful in building a radioactive-repellent device for Adam that also allowed for his mind to properly develop, but at the cost of his own life. Placed into the care of ASTRO Labs, Adam was a quick learner, eventually finding out his own history and blaming the Atom Family for taking his father from him. He became the supervillain, Gamma the Atom Smasher, capable of wielding deadly radioactive energy along with super-strength! He’s also listed as a supervillain for [B]3e[/B] in spite of his last mention in the metaplot of him becoming cured of his radioactive powers in 2009. I suppose it’s meant to be a matter of time until he goes back to his old life of crime. [B]Goanna (3e)[/B] is the Lizard of Earth-Prime, and with a similar backstory: a herpetologist who wanted to develop an all-purpose “miracle cure” for venom after losing his father to a snake bite. But he lost his funding due to using his research on humans, causing him to suffer a breakdown where he destroyed his own lab and injected himself with the anti-venom which had the side effect of transforming him into a giant humanoid reptilian. When his rampage was stopped by the Raven he turned human again, working with Daedalus to find a cure for his condition. This time the “cure” was worse, causing him to transform again, even stronger and smarter than before, allowing him to escape! [B]The Green Man[/B] is a male version of Poison Ivy: a botanist by the name of Nathan Grovemont who despaired at seeing humanity’s increasing destruction of the environment. He decided that plants would need to be evolved enough to be able to fight for themselves, and developed a “morphological stimulator” to grant animation and mobility to flora. Like Goanna he had the bright idea of using this on himself once he lost his funding, becoming a plant-human hybrid and eco-terrorist known as the Green Man. He also has three cohorts, Brides of the Green. They are women who joined his cause and have plant-based powers as well, although they don’t have stats in this book. Overall, the Green Man’s PL 12 power-set is heavily geared towards the “controller” role, where he can fill up areas with harmful vines, pollen, and summon animated plant minions. [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/ZHAWTgc.png[/IMG] [B]Hades (2e/3e)[/B] is the Greek God of the Underworld and Lord of Tartarus, one of our heavy-hitters in this book. He’s been banished from Mount Olympus for being a thorn in the side of Zeus, and there hasn’t been much love lost with other powerful figures when he pursued a personal vendetta against Daedalus for spurning his gift of immortality. Hades is very much a mastermind archetype: he has many powerful agents, also statted elsewhere in this book: Taurus of the Labyrinth, Jack-A-Knives, and Cerberus (who is in the 2e sourcebook Freedom’s Most Wanted). He’s unable to be away from Tartarus for very long, and that’s a good thing for Earth-Prime: he’s a hefty PL 15 god with an array of dark magic powers and extremely high ability scores. [B]The Hellqueen (2e/3e)[/B] is an underworld spirit of a more Christian variety. Gwen Nugent was a kind and sweet girl taken in by a cult who summoned a demon to inhabit her body with the purpose of binding the entity to their will. The summoned entity came to be known as the Hellqueen after violently taking over the cult, and but not before Captain Thunder broke up the organization. This caused the Hellqueen to become an obsessed stalker of the superhero, and Gwen was finally able to take control of her own body via the Power of Friendship from her best friend, Nancy Dumont, appealing to her sense of humanity. For a time Gwen was able to return to a normal life, but when Dr. Stratos unmasked Captain Thunder to a global audience, she felt anger and bitterness overwhelm her again. For it was revealed that Nancy was actually the husband of Captain Thunder! That was all that was needed for the Hellqueen to return. The Hellqueen is a PL 11 “succubus mage” with an array of hell-themed magical powers. They’re quite broad in function but as most are in an array she can only use one of them at a time. [B]Jack-A-Knives (2e/3e)[/B] is a Murder Spirit, an extraordinarily brutal killer in life chosen to be an agent of Hades when his soul was sent to Tartarus. He has operated in Earth-Prime via possessing various human hosts over the course of millennia, harvesting souls for Hades and going down in history as inspiring some of the most notorious serial killers. By himself Jack-a-Knives is little more than an incorporeal spirit that can possess others, but when he takes on a host body he grants them pretty high defenses along with the ability to materialize deadly knives. Outside of a host body Kack-a-Knives is at risk of being banished back to Tartarus, which is the major means of sending him back. [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/yU7ei9Q.png[/IMG] [B]Knightfire (3e)/White Knight (1e/2e)[/B] is a man by the name of Daniel Foreman. Raised by white supremacists, he was angry at the current state of society, resentful of superheroes who seemed to favor positions like being pro-Civil Rights or punching Nazis. Figuring them all minions of a worldwide Jewish conspiracy, throughout his childhood he had little left but to hope that some “white knight” would come and set things right. One day his prayers were answered during a drunken bender by the mysterious figure known as Mr. Infamy, offering to give him superpowers if he truly wanted them. He woke up to find his home ablaze, his own flesh and clothes unharmed, and came to the conclusion that God empowered him with purifying flames. For some time he operated as a white supremacist supervillain, although he would soon die at his own hands after causing an arson during battle with the Freedom League. The fires eroded the (thankfully evacuated) building’s supports, causing it to collapse on him. Daniel was dead for a time, floating in some infernal abyss that stripped at his soul until there was little left but anger. He came back as the spirit “Knightfire,” a wraith of hate that can possess others and empower them with hellfire. In [B]2e[/B] White Knight was a bit of a straightforward villain, being a fire-based PL 11 foe with flight and super-strength as well as non-powered Minions backing him up. In [B]3e[/B] he has much the same powers, although he’s stealing a bit from Jack-a-Knives in being able to possess hosts and give them his own powers. [B]Lady Lunar[/B] was born into the Royal Family of Farside City on Earth’s Moon. But she was “mind blind,” not born with the psychic powers that formed the backbone of Farside’s upper class. She was subject to bully and ridicule, forming over time into a hate and bitterness at being denied the seat of rulership she viewed as rightfully hers. She would become Farside’s ruler by forming a coup and seizing control of the Moonstone, the city’s major power source, which she used to gain powerful psychic abilities. Lady Lunar ruled as a dictator for a long time before the Atom Family overthrew her cruel reign. She fled before being captured, and ever since has concocted various schemes and allied with other space-themed supervillains such as Star Khan. She is quite predictably a PL 12 psychic-themed supervillain, having powers such as mind-based attacks and status effects, telekinesis, and flight and teleportation. [B]Lady Seven (3e)[/B] details Seven from the Next-Gen, but as the Dark Lord who took over Una’s role as Queen of the Netherworld. Interestingly she isn’t exactly what I’d call a “villain,” as Seven is trying to make the Netherworld a better place yet is constantly tempted to use that power for selfish ends due to her status as Dark Lord. She is one of the book’s heavy-hitters at PL 15, being a more generalist mage with a wide array of powers ranging from long-range scrying, teleportation, astral projection, and several offensive mystical blasts among other potential spells. [B]Lady Tarot[/B] is a witch who can trace her lineage back to the old covens of Tuscany. Born into a mafioso family, she felt obligated to help the family business as a consultant, using tarot cards to read fortunes which “Big Al” Driogano would use for risk assessment. Her readings have helped thwart several attempts on the Don’s life, and in exchange has been rewarded quite well for this. Her major foil is Foreshadow, for her powers seem unable to make predictions about him and his actions, and from this was born a curiosity that eventually grew into a romantic fascination with the hero. As of [B]3e[/B] her loyalties were tested upon discovery of a foolproof plan for the Mob to kill Foreshadow. Making use of forbidden magic, she entered into an infernal bargain with the help of Lucius Cabot (lawyer who serves demonic powers), giving up her heart to serve the cause of sin and evil in the world in order to save Foreshadow, even if that meant Foreshadow would be eventually forced to destroy her. While Tarot is still a powerful Mob asset and mage, the result of the bargain has started to turn her more heartless. She is not very powerful, being PL 5 in 2e and 8 in 3e, with her powers being luck-themed abilities that can nullify attacks, debuff enemies, and play around with Luck Points and Hero Points in various ways. [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/VSdGREn.png[/IMG] [B]Magpie[/B] is a self-styled romantic thief of unknown origin. He has the power to teleport long distances (which he claims to have gained from a magical gem), although he rarely uses it save in more desperate circumstances as he relishes the challenge of breaking into the most secure facilities with but his own skill and wits. For a time he made many impossible robberies in Europe before the Raven (Callie Summers) caught him. Far from being resentful, he respected her for being one of the few on Earth-Prime to best him, and when he broke out he sought to earn her affections; something which she was flattered by but never could accept due to being on opposite sides of the law. He has more of a moral code than other underworld figures, refusing to do more unsavory criminal activities such as kidnapping and murder. As of [B]3e[/B] he is the rival of the new Raven, and while it’s not a romantic one he enjoys exploiting that one’s relative inexperience and temper. It’s also believed that he’s preparing various apprentices to carry on his work for his eventual retirement. In terms of stats the Magpie isn’t very dangerous for his 11 PL, having only an unarmed attack by default. But his strengths lie in his very high skill bonuses and teleportation power. [B]Malador the Mystic (1e/2e)[/B] is the Freedomverse’s prominent “evil archmage,” an immortal being hailing from Atlantis who was imprisoned in eternal slumber for forging pacts with evil beings that threatened humanity. He would later be accidentally freed by Adrian Eldrich in the 1930s, with that superhero feeling a duty to make up for this with his newfound magical powers. Malador is your stereotypical power-mad undead sorcerer, willing to stop at nothing at gaining more arcane knowledge. In terms of stats he is a tough PL 14, having an array of magical spells. Not much has changed about him in [B]3e,[/B] where he is statted up in the Superteam Handbook. If one were to compare stats with Lady Seven, he is a bit less powerful and doesn’t have as much spells, although unlike her he is undead (immune to Fortitude effects), immortal (“revives” when someone wears his mask), has a broader telekinetic spell (Seven’s can only move elemental objects of air/earth/fire/water), and can conjure illusions. [B]Madame Zero (3e)[/B] is Rule 63 Mr. Freeze. Victoria Leonard was a cryogenic scientist for ASTRO Labs. She was respected in her field despite her career taking place before the advent of Second Wave Feminism, so like many women she was married to a husband that served as the family breadwinner. When she discovered him having an affair, her life came crashing down, and her husband in no uncertain terms said he no longer loved her. [spoiler=Content Warning Suicide]Feeling she lost the only person who loved her, she tried to kill herself by freezing herself in one of ASTRO Labs’ Freon tanks.[/spoiler] Afterwards Victoria woke up in a hospital room that felt burning hot, but also with the ability to sap the surrounding heat and turn things to freezing temperatures. She escaped, and after building an environmental suit that would allow her to operate in above-freezing environments, Victoria Leonard became the supervillain Madame Zero. After murdering her husband she fell into a life of crime, and due to her condition she was virtually unaging. In modern times she is looking for a cure for her condition in hopes of being able to live a normal life again. In terms of stats she is a PL 12 cold-themed scientific supervillain, having a Cold Control Array of various ice-based attacks as well as the ability to generate environmental obstacles such as extreme cold and impeded movement. But another important ideal Madame Zero has is fighting back against climate change, destroying and sabotaging the operations of oil and gas companies unleashing greenhouse emissions into the atmosphere in spite of government regulations. The book notes that in such cases PCs with an environmentalist mindset may ally with her. So wait, climate change is still a problem on Earth-Prime…and between her and the Green Man, it looks like the only people who want to do something about it are supervillains. Shaking my head right now. [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/Ynf4QYb.png[/IMG] [B]Mastermind (1e/2e)[/B] was a caveman who got abducted by the Preservers in need of finding human specimens for their experiments. Subjected to myriad painful fates, his essence was distilled into little more than a brain connected to the alien machine’s knowledge banks, absorbing information over time. Thousands of years passed, and when the Preservers were gone he took control of the machines which he used to grow and inhabit a new human body. Being the pre-eminent example of what humanity could be, Mastermind’s body was immortal and at peak condition, with amazing psychic powers making him outright superheroic. He walked Earth for millennia, doing what he could to steer humanity’s fate by taking on the identities of various philosopher-kings, scientists, and political figures. But he was selfish, feeling that most humans were too short-sighted to shape their own destinies. When he exited one of his periods of hibernation in 2003, he looked at the explosion of the superhero population with fear, viewing them as rivals who would be a threat to his rule. Mastermind hasn’t changed at all for [B]3e,[/B] and is statted up in the separate Threat Report sourcebook. He is a PL 15 psychic but every ability score is at least world-class standards for normal humans, and his defenses weigh heavily towards absorbing damage rather than evading it, and he has a variable array of Equipment Points to use for various hidden lairs throughout the world. Despite being an arrogant being full of contempt for the average human, his own background gives him a heavy dislike for torture and other villains who get off on pain, and he’s been known to be “merciful” during the pursuit of his goals. Mastermind’s hopes at shaping humanity into an ideal species has made him ally with superheroes, such as during 2005 when he worked with Daedalus and Dr. Atom to develop a vaccine for a literal mind-virus unleashed by SHADOW. [B]Thoughts So Far:[/B] There’s a rather large amount of magic and hell/afterlife-themed supervillains in this section, so there’s a lot of overlap even when some entries were removed for 3rd Edition. Lady Lunar and Mastermind both occupy the psychic role, with the former being more heavily focused on telepathy vs Mastermind’s telekinetic focus. Lady Seven seems to have replaced Malador as the “big evil magic guy” for 3rd Edition, albeit not exactly being villainous in motivation. Jack-a-Knives is another cool “puzzle villain” like the Collective in that there may be times when the PCs don’t want to damage the host or need to find an environment where the Murder Spirit can just jump into another body. I feel that White Knight/Knightfire steps on Jack-a-Knives’ toes a bit too much here. In terms of favorites I’d have to pick Magpie, if only because I’ve recently watched Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro and enjoy the “charming thief” archetype. For my least favorite I’d have to pick the Hellqueen. Not only do other villains occupy the “hell-themed villain” concept better, her backstory and obsession is heavily tied to Captain Thunder, who isn’t even active in 3rd Edition anymore! [B]Join us next time as we finish up this book with the last 20 supervillains![/B] [/QUOTE]
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