Grrl Power VII: Let Me Explain For The Next Thirty Comics!

[Shining Wrath]

I'd have, e.g., thermal detectors that kept a count of the number of human-sized heat sources in the building. And match those with RFID badges. That's doable with modern tech, no magic or aliens or supers needed.

[PoeticallyPsyco]

Is that frickin' For Whom The Death Tolls in the middle?

[tyckspoon]

Is that frickin' For Whom The Death Tolls in the middle?

It's PBS's Imperious Cowl, at least. No reason to suspect it isn't the character as well, but there is the possibility it's a deliberate fakeout/reference to try to get people to assume the wearer is Mr Bad At Names and responding to an incorrect assumption about what his power is.

[lord_khaine]

Eh.. Bells are possibly not the smartest person to mimic, as Archon already learned the primary defence against him is just to ignore him.
Seeing as his power is only defensive in nature.

So more likely it is actually him.
And in hindsight there is a vague connection in that all of these losers also wear capes. Just as he does.

[Kantaki]

Those outfits look incredibly dumb.
Especially the suit. That one is just all over the place.

Generic cultist robe, business attire and that fake fur over the shoulders.
Dude looks like he changed in a hurry after coming in from his day job. And the fluff looks like a left over from last halloween's barbarian king costume.
Couldn't one of his buddies tell him to stick with one style?
The company doesn't help either.

I mean at least Bell has the excuse of his outfit being established. Brand is important for (wannabe) villains.
Also, his costume does keep to its theme.
Still looks silly, but that's partially because who's wearing it.

So I guess the biggest problems are the boss man needs to finish changing and the bell guy needs to leave.

Lady Cultist just looks dumb by association I guess.
Otherwise she could work as a generic cultist/caster/cheap dark jedi cosplay.

[lord_khaine]

Hmm.. yeah leaders outfit likely would work better without the fur.
Else i think it would actually be fairly badass.

Bells has changed slightly. But kept his cowl and cloak. At a glance it seems like all the actual supers have custom cloaks.
The telekinetics were also slightly different. Where i also think calling Death Tolls silly makes light of the fact,
that he did beat up more heroes than anyone but Vehemence. And possibly only Sydney stopped him from beating Archon.

He is unusually powerful, but needs to be teamed up with someone that has a more offensive power.
His is basically an aggressive shield.

[TeChameleon]

There is one other reason that Death Dingaling could be there, hinted at by the (presumptive) leader- the kidnapped people were having powers-related experimentation done on them. He may be looking for a way to make his power more offensively useful, or similar.

And yeah, the faux fur is fairly doofy looking... and there's something a little odd about how Dave draws hoods. I'm not sure I could entirely put my finger on it, but at best guess it's because they're weirdly smooth, with no folding or wrinkles.

[PoeticallyPsyco]

The fur works for me, but the tux/dress shirt needs to go. Not playing nicely as a part of FWTDT's aesthetic either.

[Shining Wrath]

Aesthetically, I'd say the woman in the back looks most dangerous. I do not like the Cyclopian gaze, and you don't just walk up to a bunch of supers without better backup than Tolls.

[lord_khaine]

Eh, Death Tolls is just about the best anti-super bodyguard you can get to work as a minion.
Since actually more effective ones like Max or Vehemence are unlikely to want such a passive role.

[Shining Wrath]

Eh, Death Tolls is just about the best anti-super bodyguard you can get to work as a minion.
Since actually more effective ones like Max or Vehemence are unlikely to want such a passive role.

Death Toll's powers are entirely defensive; he only matters if he is attacked. If Harem ignores Death Tolls entirely and just punches Fur Cloak in his (presumed non-super) face, Fur Cloak will gain no protection at all from DT. And Harem can punch hard enough that a non-Super does not want to experience that. Think of DT as Achilles; if he can get in between you and danger that's great, but anyone quick enough to go around, or strong enough to pick him up and move him aside, can ignore him.

Imagine if Math were there. Would DT even know Math was going around him? For that matter, would Math kicking DT in the face trigger DT's anti-super power?

[lord_khaine]

If Harem decided to ignore the bodyguard and go for fur cloak, then its not like much less than Max would be enough to prevent it, seeing as Harem can teleport past obstacles.
For attackers such as that, much less than super speed wont do.

While for attackers without teleport. Death Tolls is a significant upgrade on Achilles. If Achilles jump between you and your punch target, at worst you hurt your hand.
If Death Tolls does so, you likely get wrecked. Picking him up is unlikely to be an option, we have seen him be stronger than Hiro when needing to counter that.

Even against someone like Math Death Toll is still one of the better bodyguard options. As he is someone Math literally cant afford to touch in fear of triggering Nemesis.
Its not anti-superpower. Its having the needed super power at the moment. We saw that when around 6 flashbangs went off in basically his hands, and he wasnt affected.

[Shining Wrath]

If Harem decided to ignore the bodyguard and go for fur cloak, then its not like much less than Max would be enough to prevent it, seeing as Harem can teleport past obstacles.
For attackers such as that, much less than super speed wont do.

While for attackers without teleport. Death Tolls is a significant upgrade on Achilles. If Achilles jump between you and your punch target, at worst you hurt your hand.
If Death Tolls does so, you likely get wrecked. Picking him up is unlikely to be an option, we have seen him be stronger than Hiro when needing to counter that.

Even against someone like Math Death Toll is still one of the better bodyguard options. As he is someone Math literally cant afford to touch in fear of triggering Nemesis.
Its not anti-superpower. Its having the needed super power at the moment. We saw that when around 6 flashbangs went off in basically his hands, and he wasnt affected.

I'll agree he's better for these purposes than Achilles, but Math may be able to go past him almost as easily as Harem. Also, he can only counter one power at a time (that's how Archon beat him the first time), so he's not effective against a swarm. Against a swarm Achilles might be better.

Now ... what happens if Varia touches him? Feedback loop? Does she gain the ability to out-Nemesis Nemesis?

[Dragonus45]

And in hindsight there is a vague connection in that all of these losers also wear capes. Just as he does.

For all my complaints Dave does a great job at that kind of visual storytelling.

I think FWTBT might be much more dangerous as part of a team where he can pick and chose defensive engagements on the behalf of others while also having cover for when he has to guard against two moves at once. This could get really hairy really quickly if the rest of those goons have powers.

[lord_khaine]

Math can get past most people without super speed. But most others he can at least touch as he vaults over them.
With Death Toll he has to avoid that, as the trigger for his Nemesis power is unknown.
Its basically the difference between a fence, and a high power electric fence. One you can touch. One you quickly wish you didnt touch.

Also he is still much better off against a swarm than Achilles. You just need 1 person to disable Achilles (or mutual disabling, whatever we are talking bodyguard here).
Death Toll meanwhile has shown that he can fight and beat 2 Archon members at the same time.
It took a combination of Max, Dabbler and Goose to bring Death Toll down. Only peak Vehemence and Darude has been able to handle that so far.

But yeah Death Tolls optimal team mate is likely someone with a highly offensive power.
And low defence.

Now ... what happens if Varia touches him? Feedback loop? Does she gain the ability to out-Nemesis Nemesis?

Impossible to say, since Varia's power isnt always related to the power of whoever she touches.

[Dragonus45]

For the Varia question it may depend on intention since his powers may require a person to intent to cause harm and not just use a power on him.

[Keltest]

For the Varia question it may depend on intention since his powers may require a person to intent to cause harm and not just use a power on him.

Indeed. They were able to haul him off somewhere eventually, so its not like they were completely incapable of interacting with him.

[lord_khaine]

For the Varia question it may depend on intention since his powers may require a person to intent to cause harm and not just use a power on him.

I recall him also knocking some flying rubble away. So i dont think intent matter.
A flash bang certainly dont have one.

Indeed. They were able to haul him off somewhere eventually, so its not like they were completely incapable of interacting with him.

Yes after he had been knocked out by a combination attack.

[Traab]

Yeah I think his power is basically "Nuh UHHHH!" to whatever he is dealing with. Super power or not. So in reality he is a really really good bodyguard whose powers seem to react automatically. So if math takes a swing at him, he likely either becomes incredibly damage resistant so the attack is blocked entirely, or something else happens to negate the attack like, I dunno, he turns into luffy from one piece and his now rubber body launches math backwards fist first over the horizon. Also, im wishing sydney was here because you KNOW the first words out of her mouth would be, "AHH! Whats the periwinkle butt sniffer doing here?!" And Death Toll is just instantly ruined rep wise with his new gang.

[lord_khaine]

Eh.. i am uncertain how Sydney slinging infantile insults would hurt Death Tolls standing.
When its Sydney who reveals she has the mental maturity of a school child.

[Pax1138]

I'm just hoping Archon has thoughts about Tolls since they last saw him, and have a plan for summarily dealing with him beyond dogpile and overwhelm.

[lord_khaine]

Well alas there is only 2 options, when his power is basically "Nuhh uuhh!" as Traab so poetically described it.
Either ignore him or overwhelm him. I cant really see any other options.

But also basically called it on the bodyguard thing :D
Is seriously embarrassing for Jiggawat not to recognise the skull mask and the red cloak.

[Shining Wrath]

Yeah, major fail for Jiggawatt not recognizing someone who is known to be quite dangerous. Unsure what happens now - how long can he hold her?
Minor fail for ArcSwat not including "How to deal with FWTDT" in training.
Since Halo is probably the most famous super in the world (along with Max), being dissed by her, however crudely, costs any other super cred in the super crowd.

[Sean Mirrsen]

Yeah, major fail for Jiggawatt not recognizing someone who is known to be quite dangerous. Unsure what happens now - how long can he hold her?

A different question is: can he actually hold her for any length of time?
Since his power is "nemesis", he technically only has one power at a time, as established. So in order to defend against some other attack, he has to let go of Jiggawatt - even if it's offensively like he did last time. Keeping Jiggawatt absorbed may count for continuously being under attack - so if he switched to a different power, Jiggawatt might fry him.

[lord_khaine]

Since Halo is probably the most famous super in the world (along with Max), being dissed by her, however crudely, costs any other super cred in the super crowd.

Except thats not how it works?
There are countless of examples of "famous" people scoring self goals on social media, hurting their own cred.

And Halo is just famous in the "people know who she is" not in the "people respect her" way.
So if people think she is an obnoxious child in the body of a slightly larger child, then its hardly going Death Toll any cred.
Any more than it would if any other kindergardener called him buttface.

Actually right now it would likely just help his case, as he has just taken an Archon member down in a couple seconds.
So slinging insults just seems even more impotent now.

A different question is: can he actually hold her for any length of time?
Since his power is "nemesis", he technically only has one power at a time, as established. So in order to defend against some other attack, he has to let go of Jiggawatt - even if it's offensively like he did last time. Keeping Jiggawatt absorbed may count for continuously being under attack - so if he switched to a different power, Jiggawatt might fry him.

We dont know. Notice his transformation isnt complete. This time is just his arm.
Its possibly he can hold her and react to another thing with the other arm.
But not certain.

[Shining Wrath]

Except thats not how it works?
There are countless of examples of "famous" people scoring self goals on social media, hurting their own cred.

And Halo is just famous in the "people know who she is" not in the "people respect her" way.
So if people think she is an obnoxious child in the body of a slightly larger child, then its hardly going Death Toll any cred.
Any more than it would if any other kindergardener called him buttface.

Actually right now it would likely just help his case, as he has just taken an Archon member down in a couple seconds.
So slinging insults just seems even more impotent now.



We dont know. Notice his transformation isnt complete. This time is just his arm.
Its possibly he can hold her and react to another thing with the other arm.
But not certain.

If there's a pecking order for supers, it would likely be based on power.
Halo is very powerful indeed.

[lord_khaine]

If there's a pecking order for supers, it would likely be based on power.
Halo is very powerful indeed.

And when it comes to a 1-1 fight Death Toll is EXTREMELY powerful.

But the real world pecking orders are based on a mix of influence and social skill.
I cant see why the ones for supers would be different.

And certainly the Ascenders have only shown (understandable) contempt for Sydney.

[KillianHawkeye]

But the real world pecking orders are based on a mix of influence and social skill.
I cant see why the ones for supers would be different.

Because IRL rankings of comic book characters always boil down to "who can beat who in a fight"?

[Traab]

Eh.. i am uncertain how Sydney slinging infantile insults would hurt Death Tolls standing.
When its Sydney who reveals she has the mental maturity of a school child.

Well its more because of how he would likely respond to that. I mean, I dont think ANYBODY takes his name of "For Whom The Death Tolls" seriously, but to outright mock him for it with that name, and likely trigger a very upset response from periwinkle would drag him down pretty fast. If you have to argue about if your name sucks, it means your name sucks. And once someone calls you out on it, I bet it gets a lot of agreement.

[TeChameleon]

The impression that I've gotten is that Archon- especially ARC-SWAT- have a lot of cachet with... well, everyone really. They're considered (rightly or wrongly, this is just the public perception) as the biggest and best around, globally ultra-famous and the most powerful people around- remember, a big part of this attempt was to grab as many Archon supers as they could lay hands on. And Sydney is improbably charismatic and has a way of getting people to go along with her.

So Sydney calling Dingaling out on his crap name and semi-stupid powers would be a bit like... I don't know, there aren't any easy examples that come to mind. A lot of the real-world comparisons would come off as more mean-spirited than this would be... maybe, eh, I dunno, J. Edgar Hoover saying that Al Capone was a moron and a loser?