Hi, CoT. Joined the forums just a bit ago after catching up on all the progress the game's made. Amendment is a hero I've had in a lot of tabletop games the past five years, but his backstory constantly changes for the setting. I don't want him to be a Captain America or Superman knock-off, but... well, that's how he started out, so what more could I do? I'm posting here for some feedback and ideas.
Name: Amendment
Public Identity: Jack Boutell
Powers: Electric melee, flight, super strength
His original backstory starts back in the mid-60s of the Vietnam War. Jack served with the Navy and was awarded the Navy Cross after an engagement with the fleet against some North Vietnamese superheroes. The action was noted by Top Brass and he was sent back to America to be one of the many to partake in a super soldier program to counter the Soviets who (while late in the genetics game) were starting projects of their own.
Jack of course made it, and the military branded him a new super identity which is the Amendment. He skirmished with communist heroes over the Iron Curtain a lot during the late 60s and early 70s, but he finally came back home and protected the country against supervillain threats and did the usual superhero memo.
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Now... I COULD keep Amendment the way he is - be a communist slinging, Silver-Age homage character. Or do you think it would be more plausible and interesting if the Amendment above, Jack, retired in the 70s, and a new someone, Jason Strader, took over the title and legacy and baggage of Amendment in the 80s, right at the rise of the Reagan era and renewed American patriotism.
For this variation... I have no clue who Jason Strader (Amendment II) would be. Nick Fury mixed with G.I. Joe but with super powers?
I love the idea, especially if it's a "Legacy" title, of sorts. The concept of handing off the cape and cowl to a new generation (after finally sacrificing everything/settling into retirement) has always been something I'm a fan of, especially since alot of heroes nowadays (Superman, Captain America, Batman, Wonder Woman, etc.) have been around since the '40s and before. It only makes sense that eventually these extraordinary men and women are going to grow older. A Logan sort of situation, if you will.
Thanks! I think my favorite part of Watchman is when Nite Owl always visits the first just to hang out.
I'm not too savvy with the lore, but if I were to make a Nick Fury-esque protage, I might need to find a SHIELD equivilant. Although, I guess making him a federal agent of PIT is pretty cool, too. I dunno, I think I'm just going to have to think more on that and come back with something.
I'm actually working on a PIT agent character myself. Still developing the backstory, but basically she works with the bureau to locate and contain supernatural artifacts specifically that are too dangerous to be loose on the streets. Of course, stuff goes wrong from there and she ends up having to use one of these "artifacts," and thus takes on the whole superhero persona, blah blah blah, the usual.