Grrl Power VI: Stripping The Hero Doesnt Work

[Rakaydos]

He DID seem to have an effect on the supers he brought though. Assuming we can trust the debriefing the bad guys had they felt like it would be rude to not agree to go with him. It seems like he has a subtle mind control effect he can use on people for fairly cheap as this was all done pre violence. Seriously, the harder we think about vehemence the more his power comes around to author fiat. He can do literally whatever the author wants him to do and stop trying to figure him out as it varies depending on what dave wants him to do or be capable of at this point in time.

Super-leadership really sounds more like the equivilant to hypno-boobs, though- a minor power to make feeding easier, but not part of the main power kit.

[Shining Wrath]

Maybe Vehemence's aura is always-on but he can put more power into it and ramp it up as power becomes available to him?

Come to think of it, did Jabberwocky fall victim to the aura and that's why she didn't want to switch out?

[Max_Killjoy]

Jabberwocky just digs fighting.

[Shining Wrath]

Jabberwocky just digs fighting.

And Max kicked Ren off a cliff. That might be Vehemence's escape plan, if he's got one - set the supers against each other, but subtly so they don't realize it's happening.

[Dragonus45]

And Max kicked Ren off a cliff. That might be Vehemence's escape plan, if he's got one - set the supers against each other, but subtly so they don't realize it's happening.

Seems unlikely to work though, they know what he does now and know Sydney can see his violence aura. HE may not know that though, but he does know Sydney was able to work out the details to stop him with her shield the first time around though. Honestly I don't think he personally has an escape plan, if he makes a run for it it will be an outside party intervening.

[Douglas]

Maybe Vehemence's aura is always-on but he can put more power into it and ramp it up as power becomes available to him?

Come to think of it, did Jabberwocky fall victim to the aura and that's why she didn't want to switch out?

He specifically turned it off when Sydney put her shield around him to block it from affecting anyone but her, in this page.

[Shining Wrath]

OK, we now learn in author commentary that Vehemence has no upper limit and when he has enough "mojo" can make up powers he's seen on the spot.

He needs to go back into his safe cage, now. But Sydney just gave us strong foreshadowing that things are about to go wrong, very wrong, and an A-lister will get hurt.

Ren (Redline?) has an upper limit that keeps moving, per commentary.

[Dragonus45]

Ren (Redline?) has an upper limit that keeps moving, per commentary.

Ren's powers just keep getting cooler, and Redline is actually a super cool name conceptually but it's been getting vetoed in the comics comment section over racial concerns. Which is a shame, it's probably the best name I had heard for him so far. (Overclock is also great but MHA already has a super super prominent one of those with super speed powers.)

[Max_Killjoy]

Ren's powers just keep getting cooler, and Redline is actually a super cool name conceptually but it's been getting vetoed in the comics comment section over racial concerns. Which is a shame, it's probably the best name I had heard for him so far. (Overclock is also great but MHA already has a super super prominent one of those with super speed powers.)

"Concerns"?

The shark has been jumped.

E: read the comment there, and... this is why we need an eyeroll emote and a facepalm emote... but we'll have to just point people to read the comments there, nothing we can discuss here.

[Shining Wrath]

"Barbarian" might work for Ren. The longer the battle lasts, the stronger he gets.

Hotblood?

[Traab]

I think with ren its a matter of training. Think Goku. By pushing himself to the limit over and over his limit gets further and further away. He cant just ramp up to nigh on infinite right off the bat. Its like exercising a muscle. You cant start doing ten pound arm curls then go right to 400 kg deadlifts. And im honestly wondering whats going to go wrong. I get the feeling sydney is going to get beaten in a stomp. Not her getting hurt, just vehemence isnt stupid and is aware of a lot of her skills now. He wont take her lightly beyond this being a spar and not life or death. Im pretty sure he is already past her light hook power level, and her lasers really arent that powerful. She can cut a tank in half, woohoo, thats like bare minimum for blaster powers. Vehemence could probably bite one in half at this stage. Her shield and flight are her only advantages, but she cant really do much to him. Dabbler might have options. She doesnt really tend to show off much of her destructive power but we know she was able to force maxima to turtle mode when they sparred.

[Max_Killjoy]

I think with ren its a matter of training. Think Goku. By pushing himself to the limit over and over his limit gets further and further away. He cant just ramp up to nigh on infinite right off the bat. Its like exercising a muscle. You cant start doing ten pound arm curls then go right to 400 kg deadlifts. And im honestly wondering whats going to go wrong. I get the feeling sydney is going to get beaten in a stomp. Not her getting hurt, just vehemence isnt stupid and is aware of a lot of her skills now. He wont take her lightly beyond this being a spar and not life or death. Im pretty sure he is already past her light hook power level, and her lasers really arent that powerful. She can cut a tank in half, woohoo, thats like bare minimum for blaster powers. Vehemence could probably bite one in half at this stage. Her shield and flight are her only advantages, but she cant really do much to him. Dabbler might have options. She doesnt really tend to show off much of her destructive power but we know she was able to force maxima to turtle mode when they sparred.

Dabbler has also likely been working on means of confronting and controlling Vehemence since the first fight.

We've seen Sidney slag those towering Cthulhu-kaiju or whatever you want to call them, which is a bit more firepower than cutting a tank in half.

[PoeticallyPsyco]

Honestly, Foehammer is a great name for a bruiser type hero; I think they dismissed it too quickly. You might get some problems with copyright, though Halo (the game not the character) was able to borrow it without problems, so maybe he'd be fine?.

[Dragonus45]

Foe Hammer is great but I feel like you want it for someone bulkier and a bit more visually jacked. Ren has this more sleep swimmers kind of built. Foehammer doesn't feel right on him.

[Shining Wrath]

For Ren: Rapier. Both swift & strong.

[InvisibleBison]

I've never really understood why members of Archon have superhero names. Superhero names are meant to protect a superhero's secret identity, but the members of Archon don't have secret identities, so what's the point of their superhero names?

[Max_Killjoy]

Marketing.

As dumb as that sounds, it comes up in the comic.

[Shining Wrath]

Marketing.

As dumb as that sounds, it comes up in the comic.

Do not make Ariana angry. She, too, has super powers - specifically, she's a lawyer.

[lord_khaine]

Well. Nice to see they do indeed have a plan to rehabilitate Vehemence.
Or at least get some use out of him. Monthly training bashes against a whole team of supers are one heck of a carrot to dangle.

[Shining Wrath]

Aura being at-will: confirmed.
Dabbler getting bored? Well, she does have ADHD, or the alien + succubus version thereof. But still, damn.
Vehemence is cooperating and can, probably, be made a useful member of the team.

[Traab]

Ok, this is a bad idea. I mean, keeping it to physical attacks and such SHOULD restrain how strong he can get if maxima holds back on her stat dumping so she has a second gear to nuke him with at need, but letting him ramp up to her seems like its a bit more risky than is acceptable for a first try basis. I mean, she is the nuclear option, the one with the power that exceeds everyone else so she is the safety net in case he decides to stop cooperating. Again, im not saying he will take advantage of it, im just saying its a risky move.

That said, i DO like this setup. A true win win for everyone involved if vehemence remains reasonable, which he should as he is a rational kind of guy. He gets all the vitamin V he needs and wants, arcswat gets high level combat training that helps them push their limits then swap off to the next trainee on the power scale. He will even get the chance to play around with his own upper limits fighting maxima and trying out new powers eventually.

[Shining Wrath]

Ok, this is a bad idea. I mean, keeping it to physical attacks and such SHOULD restrain how strong he can get if maxima holds back on her stat dumping so she has a second gear to nuke him with at need, but letting him ramp up to her seems like its a bit more risky than is acceptable for a first try basis. I mean, she is the nuclear option, the one with the power that exceeds everyone else so she is the safety net in case he decides to stop cooperating. Again, im not saying he will take advantage of it, im just saying its a risky move.

That said, i DO like this setup. A true win win for everyone involved if vehemence remains reasonable, which he should as he is a rational kind of guy. He gets all the vitamin V he needs and wants, arcswat gets high level combat training that helps them push their limits then swap off to the next trainee on the power scale. He will even get the chance to play around with his own upper limits fighting maxima and trying out new powers eventually.

I think Sydney was foreshadowing bad things happening in the previous strip. That being said, the other ace in the hole is Dabbler - Vehemence may not have any counters for magic.

[The Glyphstone]

Sydney has also been shown to sometimes be wrong when she predicts events based on tropes though. So I wouldn't take her comments as guaranteed foreshadowing.

[Traab]

I think Sydney was foreshadowing bad things happening in the previous strip. That being said, the other ace in the hole is Dabbler - Vehemence may not have any counters for magic.

He was outright shutting down her magic while ramped up. Spouting magic technobabble at her and instantly pegging her as a succubus. He is well aware of magic and knows how to deal with it. Her tech might be another matter as she has had time to prep for him after seeing the sort of level he was capable of reaching.

[Keltest]

Sydney has also been shown to sometimes be wrong when she predicts events based on tropes though. So I wouldn't take her comments as guaranteed foreshadowing.

This doesnt seem to have anything to do with tropes though so much as Sydney just being uncomfortable with the idea of Vehemence deciding to go all out on them again.

Also, it took me until just now to realize that they switched out his opponent to Hiro between pages.

[lord_khaine]

He was outright shutting down her magic while ramped up. Spouting magic technobabble at her and instantly pegging her as a succubus. He is well aware of magic and knows how to deal with it. Her tech might be another matter as she has had time to prep for him after seeing the sort of level he was capable of reaching.

Question remain how many of those solutions remain viable on a Vehemence at peak.

Well. At the same time. It does look like it does not matter.
From what i can see of the color. Vehemence is charged to the point where he was chocking Max.

But he still seems more motivated by a chance to have a fair slugging match with Max.

edit.
Reread the Vehemence fight for reference.
Max's "im so conflicted" is still funny xD
https://grrlpowercomic.com/archives/...-of-the-grrls/

[Traab]

This doesnt seem to have anything to do with tropes though so much as Sydney just being uncomfortable with the idea of Vehemence deciding to go all out on them again.

Also, it took me until just now to realize that they switched out his opponent to Hiro between pages.

Wow, I didnt notice till you said that. I admit I dont tend to pay close attention to artwork unless there is a specific reason to so I just went with the ren assumption and read the speech bubbles.

[Dragonus45]

Question remain how many of those solutions remain viable on a Vehemence at peak.

When they know his trick ahead of time I'm guessing more of them then not. Dabbler's general disagreement with concepts like Use of Force Doctrines and and a willingness to pack ordinance so heavy it makes Apollo look like he is paper airplaning someone's ribs means she might even be a higher risk to him then Max is here. Either of them could likely stop him cold unless he caught them by surprise again.

[Kantaki]

Both Maxima and Vehemence make absolutely glorious faces at the prospect of a rematch.
Good thing this is a no powers match, because even then they'll probably redesign the landscape.

[lord_khaine]

When they know his trick ahead of time I'm guessing more of them then not. Dabbler's general disagreement with concepts like Use of Force Doctrines and and a willingness to pack ordinance so heavy it makes Apollo look like he is paper airplaning someone's ribs means she might even be a higher risk to him then Max is here. Either of them could likely stop him cold unless he caught them by surprise again.

More the other way around i would say. At full power neither of them can stop him unless they catch him by surprise.
And actually i doubt Dabbler has the firepower. Vehemence is close to Marvel Thor tier toughness. And he regenerates.