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Character Contest 38: Random Name II
Fight Basher… an odd name, even though it was random. I tried to incorporate it in a way that made sense. The belt doesn’t fit his waist. I’m more perturbed by his lack of a nose and ears. Overall, I’m okay with my interpretation. I think his costume and gear say “saboteur.” I will probably tweak his design, give him a new name, then incorporate him into my meta-verse.
Fight Basher
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Backstory
Depending on who you ask, Fight Basher is a terrorist, a revolutionary, or a greedy mercenary. Two things are certain. He is an expert at infiltration and sabotage. He speaks very little English.Interpol and linguists are researching the origins of his peculiar alias to find his nationality. It is believed that “Fight Basher” is a direct translation of “Pacifist”. He is responsible for over one billion dollars in damages to military equipment in twenty-nine countries. Various terrorist networks and private individuals have put a price on his head. Their losses by his hand are understandably incalcuable.
Character Contest 38: Random Name II
Lizardian: Another difficult name to interpret. I went more for the background trying to contrasting light and shadow. One takeaway: Save your patterns and coloring until your ready to finish your designs. Patterns, masking, and color are a real drag on the HM program. Visualize but don’t apply until the end.
His master, the Wizard Urthan, simply calls him Lizardian the Librarian. Lizardian is the Keeper and Guardian of tomes and scrolls.
Lizardian
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Character Contest 38: Random Name II
Ha… “trying to contrasting light and shadow”… and the Forum isn’t updating my editing… But, since I wanted to take a moment to snark my own post, I’ll move on to Shamanesso.
Shamanesso is a one shot character. Couldn’t help myself from the Northwest fusion of “Shaman” and “Espresso.” The only reason why he’s mid-range in my entries is because I don’t like coffee. Go ahead, flame away.
Shamanesso
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Backstory
Jay Kirk is not a name one would associate with a Seattle tribal Shaman. Jay hides his true tribal name for outsiders. He learned a long time ago to politely quiet tourists. Not that he doesn’t like people or helping them. Jay just gets tired of answering repeated questions.He is also the proud owner of the Sky Coffee gourmet café and cultural center. As a businessman and spiritual leader, Jay Kirk is a respected member of the community. Many troubled citizens come to him for advice. He has a special affinity for children and rescued animals.
With his best animal friend “Sealth”, he uses his spiritual might and magic to help those whom he cannot help with wisdom and charity. Sealth is actually Jay’s family totem. The spirit of Chief Seattle himself. Though Sealth is cunning and powerful, he still behaves much like a wild wolf.
Sealth also shares Jay’s love for frothy-brewed coffee. For whatever reason, no one has ever made the connection to Jay Kirk and his alter ego “Shamanesso”.
Character Contest 38: Random Name II
The next random name was “Shadow Crow.” I went with a Three Musketeers, Baroque-ish style. Overall, I like this one enough to include him in my meta-verse.
Shadow Crow: Viscount Eduard Murray, 18th Century Scottish noble, defender of the Common Man.
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Character Contest 38: Random Name II
Number 7 of 10: Alien Chill. Still trying to decide whether to include actual alien races in my mecha-verse. This random name gave me an opportunity to create a space opera villain.
Alien Chill
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Backstory
The expansionist Sogatti Empire has won many decisive battles against the galaxy. Known as the Common Defense, once enemies now concentrate their efforts to repel the invader. It is a shaky, self-serving alliance. Still, the majority of the allied worlds and systems are determined to liberate the Universe from Sogatti tyranny before they return to waging war against each other.The most infamous Sogatti is An’Chall. He is the Aleenal, the Master General of the Sogatti Marines. He uses shock tactics and psychological warfare against civilian populations. Repeatedly, he has sacrificed thousands of his own soldiers for the smallest of gains. His reputation for brutal efficiency and sadism have well earned Aleenal An’Chall’s anglicized nomme de guerre: Alien Chill.
Character Contest 38: Random Name II
I include the Frozen Panther in my meta-verse. Trust me, I can come up with a lot of story arcs for such a character.
Don’t forget! Character Contest: Fifth Anniversay Random Edition is going until May 13th, 2012. Get your entries in this week!
The Frozen Panther
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Origin
Adult film star Tastee Friese was ready to celebrate her 35th birthday. Though she was a top dollar “performer”, she was ready to “retire”. A prominent producer in the business offered her big money for one last photoshoot.So they met in an abandoned studio. The guy seemed like a photographer. He had all the standard lighting gear and cameras. Tastee let her guard down and began to pose. Little did Tastee know that the producer was actually a deranged fan. He wanted her to remain eternally beautiful.
Suddenly, the fire sprinklers started spraying. The force knocked her to the ground. The lunatic was actually an intern at a cryogenics lab. Tastee was standing in a “preservation chamber”.
Now she lies frozen in an isolated warehouse. Will she ever be revived? What if she awakens after a year… ten, fifty, or hundreds of years?
What future awaits The Frozen Panther?
Character Contest 38: Random Name II
My 2nd favorite entry was Shadow Spinner. Another character that I am re-visiting to include in my meta-verse. Definitely change the name from “Mubarak.” (I just plucked the name from a newspaper article on Egypt – Hosni Mubarak, the now ousted leader). Otherwise, her backstory is pretty much set.
Her costume is very provactive. I wanted her to have a “Westernized” look and attitude. As for the design itself, the right arm is way off.
Shadow Spinner
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Origin
Kanika Mubarak is a rarity among superheroes in the Arab world for she is a superheroine.Her six older brothers were radicals in Egypt. Fearing for their only daughter’s life, the Mubaraks sent her to live in England when she was two years old. Her family owned a shipping company. They were very rich; able to afford Kanika’s education. Though her family kept in touch, Kanika found herself to be more Western. Her favorite activities were clubbing and fashion.
When she was eighteen, her parents were killed by a suicide bomber while they were on a business trip to Iraq. To do this day, she does not know that the bombing was an assassination. Her own brothers had funded the attack. They sought to inherit the shipping business.
At University, she met a group of pagans. Druids who taught her ancient arts. She began to study her own Egyptian roots. The gods and magic long forgotten after the rise of Islam and Coptic Christianity. She created her own eclectic style of magic. A mix of dancing and elemental magic borrowing from all over the world with heavy Pharonic influence. She called her new art “Shadow Spinning” after the secrecy of the metaphysical arts and her own exaggerated dance-inspired incantations. Kanika sought to start her own school. A center where all could come together to grow spiritually. That would change when she turned twenty.
The Egyptian government had seized the Mubarak family fortune due to an “irregularity” in her parents’ will. The brothers then openly revolted. They marched on Cairo. During the rioting, two brothers were killed and one was arrested. The other three had stayed away from the coup. Not for fear of their own safety, but to carry on the fight.
Kanika decided to return to Egypt. Not knowing that her brothers were behind the efforts to overthrow the government. Initially, she took their side. Even using her powers to protect protestors, but never deliberately harm anyone.
She began to question her brothers’ tactics when they discovered her powers. They wanted Kanika to be more aggressive. They wanted her to kill their enemies. She would have no part of it.
Though she believed in her brothers’ cause, Kanika feared their ever-increasing demands. Not just for her own life, but she did not want to harm her own family. Kanika had nowhere to go. She was on the Egyptian Security Forces watch list. She could not stay with her brothers. Kanika enrolled in the American University of Cairo. Where she would be under the protection of the U.S. government.
She assumed the identity of Shadow Spinner in her fight for reforms. As a vigilante, she is a priority not just for the Egyptian government but the reformers themselves. She has broken riots, protecting rioters and police alike. As a woman, she is an inspiration to women throughout the world. Especially in Egypt and the Middle East. Because she is a woman, she is perceived as a threat to radicals. Even the CIA, MI-5, and Massad are interested in recruiting her.
Shadow Spinner now tries to fight more covertly. Her last battle was against the jihadist Haboob (“Sandstorm”). The encounter took out several blocks of a Cairo suburb. Praise, no civilians were killed but almost a dozen were seriously wounded. She does not believe joining any one side will necessarily protect her. Rather, it would escalate an already violent struggle.
Character Contest 38: Random Name II
My final and favorite entry is Blue Fool. He is definitely part of my meta-verse. Same goes for the other players in his story. Las Vegas mobster Tony Fatoni and his “Nico’s Casino” were already established. However, Tony did not have a foil. Thanks to HeroMachine and Seventh Sanctum, he now has a fool.
Blue Fool
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Origin
Aspiring Olympic gymnast Roland Deneuf found himself far from his native Louisiana and in Las Vegas. He had always been a champion athlete, straight-A student, and class clown. Becoming a world-class theatrical performer would have been a dream job. Instead, Roland struggles to hold down a job as a part-time blackjack dealer.He was dismissed from the U.S. Olympic Team for testing positive for a banned substance. Though he knows that he has never knowingly taken any. With all his talents, the stigma is powerful enough that even parents would not hire him to entertain children’s birthday parties.
What the Olympic Committee did not tell Roland is that the test results were false. Mutants tend to register positive on standard tests. This was enough that jealous rivals were able to ban him from competition. Roland’s special gift is a highly accelerated metabolism. So high, not only does he rapidly heal, he is able to create blue fire. He is pyrokinetic.
Nurse Jenny, an attendant at a local plasma center, discovered the truth when Roland went there to get extra cash. She was helping Roland learn to harness his power. Until the mob took over the clinic. They tried turning it into a front for drug smuggling and their own mutant and super-human lab.
Before she could testify to a grand jury about the mob’s activities, Nurse Jenny disappeared. Her fate is still unknown. Roland continued his job as a part-time blackjack dealer at Nico’s Casino.
While working a private party for the casino’s owner, Tony Fatoni, Roland overheard the players talk about the clinic and Nurse Jenny. It was then that he decided to find her and shut down the mob’s villain factory.
Roland still works at the casino, keeping his ear open for the latest criminal activity. He fights the mob at every turn as Blue Fool. Whether leaking anonymous tips to the police and media or fighting their super-soldiers in the streets.
He knows that he is in a dangerous situtation. Though Nurse Jenny never kept a record of her work with Roland, the mob has access to the clinic’s old records. Any day, they might discover that their favorite card dealer “Frenchie” is also their worst, not to mention most sarcastic, enemy.
Character Contest 39: Dinomarines
Had a lot of fun with this contest. The first wave is characters with no backstory.
Cliffdiver
Dean Marino
Dino and Marie
Character Contest 39: Dinomarines
In honor of those who served. No backstory, but I did use names that are on the real Vietnam War Memorial.
Rolling Thunder Lizard
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Character Contest 39: Dinomarines
The name escapes me, but another entrant introduced the Phantom and the Shadowed Ones. A villain who unleashed dinosaurs onto the modern world. I thought it was a good story and added my own chapter.
1st Marine Division (Armored): The Dinomarines
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Story
Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California:Marines are always “First In, Last Out.” The Shadow Nation had split the earth open. Rising from downtown Honolulu, Hawaii. Destroying everything in its wake. Soon after, the Shadowed Ones invaded California. The Phantom began transforming the land into his. The Shadowed Ones introduced exotic and extinct flora and fauna. They seemed unstoppable.
However, they could not extinguish the fierce resistance of the humans. They under-estimated the Devil’s Own Nightmare: The United States Marines. They fight with what supplies that they have. Ocassionally, airlifts are successful. The Dinomarines will never leave California until the Shadowed Ones and their “Neo-Tojo” are all dead.
Character Contest 39: Dinomarines
With the Time Pilot, I tried for a “fossil” look: the earth-toned bones, the boot bleached by time and the elements, even the imprint of an ancient fish.
Dinomarine: Time Pilot
Backstory
During World War II, the United States began to experiment with time travel. Various government entities conducted their own trials. The United States Marines was one of them.Early tests were promising. However, the effort was scuttled as the Cold War ended. A decade later, a construction crew discovered one experiment when they were converting buildings at the former Marine Corps Air Station “El Toro” in Irvine, California.
Carbon-dating puts the unidentified Marine’s fate around 132 – 128 million years B.C. Without his dog tags and the continued denials of the U.S. government and the Marine Corps, the brave volunteer’s adventure might remain a secret. His service is recognized at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
That has not stopped families of missing veterans, the tabloids, and the internet from speculating. Dozens of lawsuits and FOIA requests are on file. Loved ones, conspiracy nuts, and even foreign interests want to know the fate of the Dinomarine.
Character Contest 39: Dinomarines
Of all my HeroMachine characters, the Ankylore is a favorite. I want so bad to develop this character as part of a full-length novel or a video game along the lines of Civilization or Age of Empires. Picture a game sequence featuring hundreds of these beasts laying siege to a town or storming a beachhead.
Unfortunately, the Ankylores became extinct when the Nazis introduced the Dinozerschlagungpanzer during World War II.
Iberian Ankylore
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History
Throughout the Medieval Age and well into the Renaissance, European navies were manned with elite shock troops. The Ankylores, semi-bipedal descendants of ankylosaurs, were among the most valued. These marines absorbed the brunt of catapult and bullets; later, cannonballs and grapeshot.They lacked opposable thumbs. Armadas brought them along exclusively for intimidation and invasion. Which suited the unimaginitive, yet physically agile, Ankylores. They did not use range weapons. They preferred to pummel and gore. The brutal encounter often ended with a lethal display of dominance: the coup de tête. Smashing the enemy’s skull with the clubbed tail.
Depicted here is an Iberian “Dinomarine” en route to a reluctant village in the North Sea. He is plated for battle. Strapped to his hand-feet are patas (“paws”). The force of his clubbed tail is augmented by a segundo cabeça (“second head”). This Ankylore holds rank, as evident by his ornate armor.
Character Contest 40: Southern Fried Heroes
The contest was to design characters inspired by the American South. The emphasis was not supposed to be the American Civil War; rather, Southern culture.
Still, couldn’t resist creating the Grey Ghost. The real Grey Ghost was Colonel John S. Mosby. He had earned the name for his late night raids on Union supply lines. He and his troops were expert cavalry. They would ride into a camp unexpectedly then slip into the woods “like grey ghosts.” Granted, the binoculars the my Grey Ghost wears are modern.
The Grey Ghost
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Character Contest 40: Southern Fried Heroes
I based these characters on Southern legends and folktales. If the links to the stories are dead, simply go to your browser’s search engine then type in the names.
The first is the Civil War legend of the Cash Town Inn. Short version: two Confederate soldiers find a murderhouse. In my version, one soldier becomes a victim and the other is so scared that his hair turns white.
Cash Town Inn (link)
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The second legend is the Tailypo. A hungry hermit feasts on a strang creature’s tail. My cousin told me this story when I was little. We were camping on my grandpa’s farm. Though he had a gun and the cowdogs Max and Blue were with us, I could not sleep that night. For that matter, I had trouble sleeping until we returned home!
Tailypo (link)
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