Strange, weak superheroes

[Iden]

Hey guys,

I'm running a mutants and masterminds game with the stipulation that it's like Mystery Men. I need ideas for superheroes that fit in these guidelines. Not necessarily ineffective, just unique and odd. So far I have a guy who controls animals, though set in a city setting his choices of animals are very limited. I also have a a guy who was trained by Clowns. He throws marbles. He throws marbles very well... But throws marbles nonetheless. So I need some ideas for some more heroes. It will work best if they can actually do things just in odd or interesting ways.

Thanks.

[Pharaoh's Fist]

A superhero who can drink lots of water. Guess how he releases it?

[HamsterOfTheGod]

Supergeek: uses really geeky devices for everything. Segue like device for increased speed and mobility. Remote control to animate machinery. Nightvision goggles. Bluetooth phone and wireless computer for comm. Hands free super coffee/energy drink carrier for enhanced performance.

Dr. Schrodinger: powers loosely based on quantum mechanics. If not "observed" can move freely to any place within his normal move even one he could not normally be in without ill effect, for ex inside a wall. If observed, can still do his little "teleport" but he can only jump to a "safe" spot and only through a "wall" or "barrier" of some kind.

[Grynning]

What power level are we talking? 6-7ish is what I'd imagine for this type of game...hmmm...

If you've seen "Sky High" (which is actually a decent supers movie despite the hand of Disney), the sidekick powers are pretty good inspirations (turning into a gerbil, liquefying but being unable to move, etc), with a sequence at the end showing how they can all be pretty handy.

Also a spiritual companion of Mystery Men is "The Specials." While most of the team members actually have pretty good powers (never shown due to the low budget), one team member has the ability to...lay eggs...which the team leader then hastily explains are trick eggs filled with useful gadgets. Could be a good gimmick.

Also, look to the Tick. The Civic Minded 5 all have really goofy powers but use them somewhat effectively, as do the superhero trainees in that one episode. The villains are all pretty interesting too. The Breadmaster and El Seed both show very creative uses of a limited scope of powers (super-baking and animating various crops, respectively).

[Iden]

Yeah power level 5. Do you have a good source to look at Tick characters? Those sound like what I'm after.

[pingcode20]

Mighty Microwave, the man with the power to control Microwaves! Unfortunately, creative interpretation of words helps little - he was gifted with the power to control Microwave Ovens. Remotely, yes, but still only Microwave Ovens.

[Berserk Monk]

Rowsdower: A man who gets more physically powerful as he gets drunker.

Ram McStrongfist: a 6 ft. man with a twenty foot fist. It lets him deliver slam attacks equal to a colossal creature and gives him bonuses to grapple checks.

Mr. Indestructible: a man who takes no damage from anything except spit. The spit deals the amount of damage a solid object that size would deal, but every attack made with spit automatically threatens if it hits.

[HamsterOfTheGod]

Yeah power level 5. Do you have a good source to look at Tick characters? Those sound like what I'm after.

The Tick like characters are easy. Just take any level character and refluff to funny.

So for ex, suppose you make a character with the Additional Limbs power, sort of like Medusa of the Inhumans.

Except instead of a femme fatal with prehensile hair, the character is guy with a prehensile handlebar mustache called Sal Vador "The Lip".

Or you can go the other way. Take a name and mechanize to funny.

The Bat Man. Dresses in a dark cowl and cape. Has a utility belt full of...baseball bats. Everything is a bat. So give him Weapon abilities with different bats like Stun.

[amanamana]

(...) one team member has the ability to...lay eggs...which the team leader then hastily explains are trick eggs filled with useful gadgets. Could be a good gimmick.

cO-co! Coco!

[OracleofWuffing]

Jell-O Man (http://www.daveexmachina.com/wordpress/?p=790). :smallannoyed:

And while we're talking about Jell-O Man and The Tick, see if you can dig up anything interesting on Bobobo-bo bo-bobo. It's, uh... Kind of somewhat sorta like a manga/anime version of The Tick. Off the top of my head, there's a guy who specializes in rice-based attacks.

[AstralFire]

http://www.smbc-comics.com/comics/20060608.gif

[Zuki]

Jell-O Man (http://www.daveexmachina.com/wordpress/?p=790). :smallannoyed:

And while we're talking about Jell-O Man and The Tick, see if you can dig up anything interesting on Bobobo-bo bo-bobo. It's, uh... Kind of somewhat sorta like a manga/anime version of The Tick. Off the top of my head, there's a guy who specializes in rice-based attacks.

Doesn't the main character in that fight with his super-long, prehensile nosehair? Or mustache?

[Milskidasith]

Doesn't the main character in that fight with his super-long, prehensile nosehair? Or mustache?

Yes. And one of the characters fights with the "Fist of the Back Wind."

Here's an idea for a villain.

The *insert the name for the guy who takes down notes during a court proceeding.*

He appears to be a small, short, mostly useless looking man, constantly lugging around an old typewriter. However, if he desires, any speech he types on the typewriter becomes real. If he views something going on and wants to change the outcome, his fingers move near instantly, replacing somebodies words as they speak. He can also change what people say after they have spoken, although they are more likely to dismiss that as misremembering the event.

[archon_huskie]

Yes. And one of the characters fights with the "Fist of the Back Wind."

Here's an idea for a villain.

The *insert the name for the guy who takes down notes during a court proceeding.*

He appears to be a small, short, mostly useless looking man, constantly lugging around an old typewriter. However, if he desires, any speech he types on the typewriter becomes real. If he views something going on and wants to change the outcome, his fingers move near instantly, replacing somebodies words as they speak. He can also change what people say after they have spoken, although they are more likely to dismiss that as misremembering the event.
The word you are looking for is stenographer.

[Milskidasith]

Fine. The Stenographer, then. MUHAHAHAHA!

[Strawman]

Agua Man, lesser known cousin of Aqua Man. Has the ability to summon bottles of mineral water from thin air.

[HamsterOfTheGod]

Fine. The Stenographer, then. MUHAHAHAHA!


The word you are looking for is stenographer.

The Grammarian. He kills you with "Gramma" Rays.

Lexikong. A 900 pound gorilla with an overdeveloped brain and vocabulary.

[Bob the Urgh]

From the tick there was chippendale, the BBEG whos head was a wooden chair. There was also their version of wonderwoman, the american maid, she threw her high heels at the enemy like ninja stars.

[BobVosh]

I had one guy who use the time power to do montages.

Each montage took 5 minutes, and gave 1/10 the amount of training that really doing those things do. I think I mainly used it as a slideshow, of fights that other people did.

I think he was PL 10 though. Time travel costs a lot :(

[Grynning]

Yeah power level 5. Do you have a good source to look at Tick characters? Those sound like what I'm after.

Unfortunately, I haven't seen the animated series in a while. Apparently its official website is still up, http://video.movies.go.com/thetick/ and it has a little heroes and villains guide with brief descriptions of some of the characters I was referencing.

But as an example, you have Captain Mucilage, a member of the Civic Minded 5. His glue attack would be a Snare, maybe with AP's for an area version, and that's really all he can do. Most of the Tick characters are like that, kind of ridiculously narrow in scope.

[chiasaur11]

Yes. And one of the characters fights with the "Fist of the Back Wind."

Here's an idea for a villain.

The *insert the name for the guy who takes down notes during a court proceeding.*

He appears to be a small, short, mostly useless looking man, constantly lugging around an old typewriter. However, if he desires, any speech he types on the typewriter becomes real. If he views something going on and wants to change the outcome, his fingers move near instantly, replacing somebodies words as they speak. He can also change what people say after they have spoken, although they are more likely to dismiss that as misremembering the event.

Oh!

Like Grant Morrison during his short lived tenor on the suicide squad!

Also a good source of inspiration: Section 8, from Hitman.

Especially Dogwelder.

[Jack_Banzai]

Another good source of inspiration: Flaming Carrot comics and the Mysterymen comic from which sprung forth your Mystery Men movie.

My favorite is the guy whose only ability is to turn into a chair.

[chiasaur11]

Another good source of inspiration: Flaming Carrot comics and the Mysterymen comic from which sprung forth your Mystery Men movie.

My favorite is the guy whose only ability is to turn into a chair.

That reminds me.

Look up old Hostess ads. Trust me, those are insane.

[Skorj]

The Bat Man. Dresses in a dark cowl and cape. Has a utility belt full of...baseball bats. Everything is a bat. So give him Weapon abilities with different bats like Stun.

That is an incredible character idea! You could build a theme from that!

But wait, didn't we see this guy in TMNT? "Nobody understands cricket!". :smallbiggrin:

[chiasaur11]

That is an incredible character idea! You could build a theme from that!

But wait, didn't we see this guy in TMNT? "Nobody understands cricket!". :smallbiggrin:

Well, technically Casey Jones used gear from every sport.

[Night Monkey]

My favourites are ones themed after animals, like Batman and Spiderman, but randomly obscure ones, which would actually have some useful powers. For example, Tardigrade Man who has the ability to go into a coma and resist any kind of harm, including asphyxiation and decompression, or The Clown Fish, who can breathe underwater, induce hideous laughter (TM) in people by pointing at them, and turn into a woman at will to slip inconspicuously into the crowd.

There's also the superhero idea that came to my as I was walking past a shop of the same name: Hat Man! A bit like a more benevolent Oddjob maybe?

On a similar vein, when a flatmate of mine meant to say, "Just his shoes," I hazily interpreted it as Justice Shoes, stomping the corrupt and immoral into the dust with a stylish array of footwear.

Yeah, I'm done.

[Eloel]

How about, Lord of Drinks? He can conjure, alcohol!

[Tengu_temp]

Jigsaw Man. Focusing on the Anatomic Separation Power, he can literally become a human jigsaw.

[imp_fireball]

Dr. Schrodinger: powers loosely based on quantum mechanics. If not "observed" can move freely to any place within his normal move even one he could not normally be in without ill effect, for ex inside a wall. If observed, can still do his little "teleport" but he can only jump to a "safe" spot and only through a "wall" or "barrier" of some kind.

It'd be funnier if he couldn't do anything at all when observed. So to defeat him, stare at him, he's done for!

When he was a little boy, he tried to prove to his parents that he had superpowers, but they never believed him. Probably because they couldn't witness it. He thinks they're ignoring him though and it has affected him up until now.

Otherwise, he seems too much like the girl from xmen whom could move through walls (minx or whatever?), or Dr. Manhatten being a more broad comparison.

[imp_fireball]

Ram McStrongfist: a 6 ft. man with a twenty foot fist. It lets him deliver slam attacks equal to a colossal creature and gives him bonuses to grapple checks.

Mr. Indestructible: a man who takes no damage from anything except spit. The spit deals the amount of damage a solid object that size would deal, but every attack made with spit automatically threatens if it hits.

For Mcstrongfist, the bonus to grapple should be grab instead since he'd technically only be grappling with the one big fist. Give him improved grab too if you want.

For Mr Indestructible, it'd make sense if the spit worked like acid, also depending on size. If you rule that spit is usually diminutive, a single salvo might do 1d2 acid damage (only to Indestructible of course) with a huge critical multiplier (acid in the eye is a terrible thing).
------

And another reference - Rage Rabbit! Type 'rage rabbit hotbox' on youtube, if interested.

[Bagel]

now is this human saliva or the saliva of any animal, otherwise any large dog would be able to reduce him to a quivering fetal position from the pain.

[derfenrirwolv]

The lizard.. he can regrow his own tail (much to his parents dismay when they tried to have it cut it off when he was an infant)

Nerf It With the amazing ability to control nerf and nerf weapons.

Scottish chameleon : can turn any shade of plaid he wants.

Eye Scream: His eyes pop out of his sockets and he can still see.

The mime: The invisible box is real!.. but only around himself.

Shag Carpet: obscene amount of body hair.

Macaw: Has the ability to talk to parrots. They can still only respond as normal.

Mr Whiskers: Claims he has the ability to talk to cats. Since the cats never LISTEN to him (or anyone else) everyone thinks he's nuts.

London bridge: has the ability to fall down quickly. He's from arizona.

Conservation of human ninjitsu: The fewer humans there are, the stronger the human ninja gets!

Geraint Bowen: can put anyone to sleep... if they can understand gaelic.

Ghost writer: can make their name appear on any nearby computer screen or peice of writing.

Count of Montefeltro: can know how many of an object are inside something. (jelly beans in a jar or cornflakes in a box)

Alioune Bâ: His hands and feet come off and can act indipendantly of him.

Erke: can make andean folk music appear out of thin air.

Flyweight: The worlds greatest boxer.. under a centimeter tall.

Stat: Can diagnose any disease by looking at the person. Still flunked med school.

Lycian: Can make 1/10th of an inch marks in stone.

Typecast: A white guy with the ability to make everyone think he looks asian, but only on camera.

Toymaster: can control any toy without a remote control, as long as its value is equal to or less than 29.95

Cerium: Glows different colors when exposed to light.

Daisy: Can look like a female version of the person they're talking to.

Loser: Is absolutely guaranteed to loose any game of chance they bet money on.

Escritoire: can turn into a desk. Is trying to branch out into other forms of furniture

[derfenrirwolv]

Behold the newfie of death!

http://www.dogguide.net/images/drooling/Slobbering%20Newfoundland.jpg