I was reading or rather trying to find more info on the Jade Men as a Titan City faction, and surmised that they are martial artist who patrol Lotus Hills and protect citizens by utilization of chi infused martial arts.
I was inspired to create or at least brainstorm the idea of a Lotus Hills native who due to some happenstance, is taken in and trained by the Jade Men, before ultimately striking out on his own as a hero.
Any ideas for a potential alias or name? Eastern influence and naming conventions are welcomed, as the character is a second generation Chinese American.
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Broken Jade
Jade Lotus
"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."
How about Jade Fist, since he was trained by the Jade Men? He could even literally have green hands (it would be cool if they were glowing and translucent).
Interesting, apparently a jade fist necklace is a vintage thing that was popular in the Victorian era:
Jade is “Yu” in Mandarin so if you want to incorporate it into a given name (Jimmy Yu?) that’d fit.
The Jade Men are said to have a glowing green aura or energy that surrounds them when they use their abilities, so it would fit.
My only stipulation would be not sounding too similar to Iron Fist or other established characters.
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Green Dragon
"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."
Jade Strike maybe?
Punchy punchy man.
Jademerald Man.
Quick Kick
Kickback
Jade Fist (Which I just looked up the line and saw was already posted by someone else)
Fat Fist.
I've been playing way too much with our Fat Morph transfers that I need to see this happen.
Charles Logan
www.cloganart.com
crimson jade
not my video just one I lke ===> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6-SdIN0hsM
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Bruce Chi... I'll see myself out..
The Carnival of Light in the Phoenix Rising
"We never lose our demons, we only learn to live above them." - The Ancient One
Avatar by lilshironeko
Already been done.
[img]http://www.myuselessknowledge.com/joe/characters/quickkick2.gif[/img]
I had him as an action figure when I was a kid. He was originally G.I. Joe’s answer to Cobra’s Storm Shadow.
How about [url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c6/Large_mutton_fat_jade_displayed_in_Hotan_Cultural_Museum_lobby.jpg/220px-Large_mutton_fat_jade_displayed_in_Hotan_Cultural_Museum_lobby.jpg][b][i]Mutton Fat[/i][/b][/url], for the overweight Kung Fu expert who is [u]not[/u] a panda. (mutton fat is a kind of jade that looks white and creamy like its namesake)
[hr]I like to take your ideas and supersize them. This isn't criticism, it is flattery. I come with nothing but good will and a spirit of team-building. If you take what I write any other way, that is probably just because I wasn't very clear.
I do like the appearance of Quick Kick kinda.
That aside, I’d like to have a name that means some, possibly related to his heritage and not the color of his energy (that’s kinda overdone), or perhaps maybe make him simply a named martial artist.
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Kung Pow... yeah I’ll see myself out too...
"A sad spectacle. If they be inhabited, what a scope for misery and folly. If they be not inhabited, what a waste of space." ~ Thomas Carlyle
Szechuan Chuan (“chuan” is “fist” or “boxing hand” in Mandarin). His family might come from Szechuan originally.
I know of Quick Kick. The name however could still be used, as long as he's not a copy. :p
The Lotus Fist
The most esteemed Earl of Punchington the third
The Great Rumpus Cat!
https://www.google.com/search?q=rumpus+cat
Or is that Claws only?
Be Well!
Fireheart
Qilin Lotus. The Qilin was an antlered dragon horse thing in chinese mythology. And google translate pronounces it like "cheeling" (chillin') so that's cool
Um, inspired by a completely non-related comic, you could name him 'Bad Burrito'.
Be Well!
Fireheart
Something Lotus or Flower would be nice, if his background was Korean Hwarang would be something I would use.
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Lu Lian is Green Lotus in Mandarin.
I may take Lu Lian or Green Lotus as a name.
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I'm not great with martial arts characters, but I'll give this a go.
I'd start with Youxia, because that's the Chinese version of a knight-errant. AKA do-good vigilante/adventurer. The word for Jade is Yù. This provides alliteration with:
Youxia Yù (translation: the Jade Knight-errant).
You said the character is Chinese, and uses chi. This sounds like the character is definitely Taoist. I'd probably lock down the sect of the religion they follow before you start playing. You can rule out Quanzhen if you don't want him to be too restricted. Zhengyi is better for a busy wanderer. Lingbao combines more elements from other ideas so might be easier to work with. (wiki is fun)
I believe I will make him a Zhengyi Taoist, as it more fits his lifestyle at the moment, as he has drifted from his parent’s form of Buddhism.
That being said, I was thinking about potential ways to make or rewrite his background to make it more compelling, as I know the Jade Men were the individuals who trained him, but I wish to add more narrative elements, and such.
Any suggestions?
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I'd say he only started training with Jade at most two years ago, but developed chi through natural every-day hard work, not poisoning his body, and living with unattached action. With Zhengyi, the tao is in everything you do. So, one day his place of work gets attacked by two gangs having a turf war. In defending his coworker, his chi flares up for the first time and he doesn't even realize he's using it until the battle's over.
This may be a bit underwhelming compared to getting the power from playing punch the dragon, but it would mean his power really is his.
He fails to develop it any more on his own, so goes to work with Jade and train with them to learn to do more. This explains why he doesn't start the game at max level.
Gotta be honest, I got this plot directly from a movie. The guy was a traffic cop who one day just manifested master abilities and was taken in by some old masters who helped him train. I remember it had comedy elements too, but for the life of me, I can't remember what it was called.
Still needs more substance, though.
If he drifted from his parent's religion, maybe he drifted from them, too, and doesn't have a good relationship. Maybe they were involved in something illegal. Maybe he discovered their "family business" has something to do with the China-US drug trade, and got outta dodge, getting a random day job in the city (and you know what happened next).
There you go...
Drifter.
Maybe we could combine elements from the first and third points here, being recent training and knowledge of chi powers, coupled with parents maybe involved in criminal business, like the Five Dragons or US/China Drug Trade?
Ideas on backstory as far as before he was a hero combining these elements?
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How about this for a twist... He grew up wealthy and privileged, his parents doing quite well with their participation in lucrative illegal dealings, while allied with powerful organized crime groups.
He was a bit of a nerdy kid, pressured by his parents to succeed. He was sent to private schools, given the finest education. He focused on his academic schooling and didn’t participate much in organized sports or other athletic endeavors. He learned violin and piano, went to space camp, wrote computer programs as a pre-teen, etc.
In his teen years his family’s lifestyle caught up to them. Driving home in their luxury SUV, they were attacked by a hit squad from a rival group. Both of his parents were killed in the hit and he was critically injured.
He survived, but only after being in a coma. While in that coma he went on a strange “vision quest”. Upon waking he could remember almost nothing of what he dreamed, or the event that sent him to the hospital.
Rehabilitation was hard. He struggled to walk again and dealt with severe, crippling pain. For the first time in his life he was forced to develop himself physically. It was a new and torturous experience. But slowly he recovered, and at times he went through sudden and dramatic surges where he felt stronger and more capable than before his accident. His physical therapists were at a loss to explain them. And by the time he was released he was in remarkable shape.
Another oddity was that during those “surges”, he had flashes of what he experienced while in the coma. Feelings mostly, of peace and purpose. They haunted him and he wished to unlock more. So he wandered, seeking enlightenment from one place or another. His journey eventually led him to the Jade Men, and through their training he learned that these surges are tapping into his Chi, and in time he learned to harness and develop that power.
He could be wealthy with what he inherited from his parents, or poor because their wealth was confiscated by the government by RICO law, or stolen by enemies/former criminal allies. It depends on what you want his current lifestyle to be, Bruce Wayne or Kwai Chang Caine?
I was thinking of the regular drug trade, but now that you mention it, in a comic book world there's really no such thing.
But if it were me I wouldn't have the parents or any siblings have any chi powers. That would make chi feel like just an inherited trait, which cheapens it a bit.
That doesn't mean they couldn't have a connection to Five dragons, though, possibly with a relative of his being that connection.
What if his "all-in on the family business" older brother convinces their parents to expand the business by becoming suppliers for the Five Dragons. The older brother then becomes a liaison to the Five Dragons. On a mission with Jade Men he has to fight his own brother. The hero brother defeats his older brother, but this only prompts the older brother to agree to a Five Dragons blood trial that results in a fire spirit being joined to him. This is very different from chi, but this way the rivals don't fall into the trope of having the same powers.
Edit: I take too long to post. Didn't see Atama's.
The Five Dragons tend to dominate Lotus Hills, and openly fight the Italian mafia-like Black Rose in Ironport for Territory. They use eastern magic mixed with martial arts and elemental abilities, in relation to the five traditional Chinese elements of wood, metal, water, fire and earth.
I imagine instead of a fire spirit, his brother would train in mystical martial arts, using perhaps metal as an assassin, or fire as a Five Dragons enforcer, hoping his new edge will be enough to take on his brother, perhaps?
I liked Atama’s post, and I feel we could use elements of it-I do like the idea that he stands alone almost vs his family and now the Five Dragons, but gained perhaps a new one and a new purpose with the Jade Men.
Lu Lian, or Green Lotus as a name also strikes me as a possible moniker, as a Lotus is special in Chinese mythology and writing as rising pure from the mire and grime around it. It could be metaphorically representing his rise from his family’s criminal actions and the poverty of his home.
As far as powers, instead of having a chi infused fist or whatever, I was thinking his powers are more restorative? Like aside from his martial prowess and enhanced speed and feats of agility, he can stimulate his own healing that of others around them with his presence?
I’m spitballing at the moment though, any thoughts to narrow this down?
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While it doesn't come from Chinese lore, I've always liked using the "pain taking" shaman ability when I need low powered healing in a story.
It's a very limited healing, but basically, he takes part of the wound from the target onto himself. If he's more fit and strong than they are, he might be able to survive it while they would have died. Also, he could heal himself slowly over time and then the wound would be gone from the both of them. But, this is still very limited because A) he'd have to be physically in contact with the target to heal, and B) he'd get injured from the act.
This could be explained with chi if he's connecting his chi to the target's and pulling the damaged energy into himself, and/or pushing his healthy chi into the target. Re-aligning his own could explain his own healing.
So making him a support focused Guardian or Martial artist, instead of a melee focused enforcer or brute.
I also wonder if, career wise, he strives for the same purity he ascribes by with his faith as a social worker, which possibly can involve him in some cases as a hero?
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Beefcake
not my video just one I lke ===> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6-SdIN0hsM
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Hadn't considered the social worker angle, but it could be good for information gathering.
You'd probably get inside information about problems in the community, like a new incursion by an external gang, long before the police do.
Martial Art
Both are names, vague, so no copyright.
As a child, I thought my name was handsome, cause that is what everyone called me.
Have their daytime employment as a couple's counselor but by night they patrol as... Marital Art!
I'll see myself out.
Puns are terrible. You should be ashamed.
Oh hey, I found a picture of Martial Arts:
[img=400x400]https://i.imgur.com/f5Szzc4.jpg[/img]
I lol'd.
A vigilante hero I played in a tabletop RPG worked at a youth center during the day, doing activities with inner city kids, teaching them sports and being their buddy. Keeping them off the streets and giving them something constructive to do.
At night he put on a costume to fight gang members and stop their crimes.
He basically worked both ends to keep the streets clean. I liked that guy. He had trouble finding time to sleep though.
Given that he more or less lost his parents to crime and didn’t have a stable childhood, I imagine the center he works at kinda gives him that now by virtue of making sure these kids have a childhood and someone looking out for them.
At night he fights crime on his own, occasionally with the Jade Men, but he feels he may be called towards a different path.
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Green Chinese Lantern (potential copyright issue)
It's worth noting, here, Chinese religion is very syncretic, blending bits of Confucian philosophy, Taoism, Buddhism, ancestral worship, etc. This is common among the modern Chinese diaspora, to the extent that a lot of later-generation migrants wouldn't necessarily [i]know[/i] what specific strain of belief their parents follow.
I'm ethnic Chinese, I have literally [i]no idea[/i] what my great-grandparents believed, because by my [i]grandparents[/i] generation, on both sides, they were mostly atheist. A Chinese coworker can identify the specific sect of Buddhism her father follows. My best friend, also Chinese, his parents practice a mix of Buddhism and ancestral worship - he has no idea what to call it besides "Buddhism".
In other words, this is, in all seriousness, something you don't need to worry about getting wrong. By being able to identify a specific kind of Taoism, you're already doing better on the subject than most of the real-world Chinese diaspora.
The blending of religion isn't a terribly new thing, insofar as, say, folk tales and legends around... for example, Sun Wukong, in Japanese Son Goku, the Monkey King, includes both Taoist and Buddhist elements. The Goddess of Mercy, Guan Yin, is technically a Buddhist deity... well, bodhisattva, but definitions get odd with drift... but Taoists might consider Guan Yin an Immortal as well. It's really more of a spectrum of belief, therefore, than any rigid separation between stuff.
Face claim/actor portrayal for Lu Lian/Nian Zhen
Justin H. Min
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b9/e8/6e/b9e86e36e119fc29d8def117a715db9c.jpg
https://www.instagram.com/p/BfbrF9glTol/media/?size=m
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNjNiOTM2MmYtNWE2Yy00MWFiLTg3OGEtZjBkOTJhMDVhM2M1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjQwMDg0Ng@@._V1_SY1000_CR0,0,1505,1000_AL_.jpg
Social Worker and director of the Yeung Quong community center in Lotus Hills (YQ by the kids), Nian or Nathan Zhen came from a background of crime and misfortune fermented by his parent’s involvement with the Five Dragons.
High ranking drug peddlers, the elder Zhen’s lived a life of careful luxury and privilege at the expense of their home and community, a lifestyle and criminal game that was ultimately halted thanks to a dedicated TCPD investigation and the intervention of the Jade Men.
With their wealth taken by RICO law and assets siezed, the only child of the Zhen family was sent adrift in the foster care system, bouncing from home to home, either seen as a charity case or a product of the crime his neighborhood faced, unwanted and alone until he made it to the doorstep of Yeung Qoung.
A former member of the Five Dragons himself, the retired enforcer has since become a pillar of the community, a director at a struggling but nessecary community center and a kind and tempered man who saw that without help or guidance, Nian was headed for a life similar to his own.
Taking the boy in, Yeung worked every day to help the boy process his pain into positive emotions, understand himself, find his place and most importantly, gave him back the childhood he thought he would never have. Raising the boy from a alone, despondent youth to a functioning, prosocial young adult was not easy, but little by little he broke through.
Knowing that he still needed a place to grow and discover who he is and realizing that there was far more to his adopted son then meets the eye, Yeung Quong hoped to save the boy’s soul by revealing his secret. After he himself fled the Five Dragons, the elder man sought refuge with the Jade Men, who taught him how to harness his Chi, and channel it for feats and abilities beyond that of regular man; skills and techniques he began to teach Nian.
By learning to harness his chi, he began to master himself, and in mastering himself, the elder man turned a potential story of tragedy into one of hope and success. After his passing, Yeung Quong left the care of his now successful community center in the hands of Nian, who came back to Lotus Hills with a degree and social work and a drive to make things right.
Realizing however that he could not save the place he loved through youth outreach and resources alone, Nian began to moonlight as a costumed vigilante, relying on tips and rumors from his field to stop petty crimes or small bits of gang activity before moving to now defend the neighborhood from all manner of threats.
Despite wielding secondhand techniques and still being quite young, Nian’s depth of character and unique upbringing makes him a powerful font of chi and thus a skilled warrior, channeling his energy not into blasts of destruction but into enhanced speed, agility, healing of himself and others, and empathy. Armed with these supernatural gifts as well as martial arts, firsthand knowledge of the criminal world and a wealth of contacts, Nian Zhen serves his home of Lotus Hills and all of Titan City as Lu Lian, or the green lotus.
For so as a lotus flower rises from muck and mire, crime and adversity, pain and chaos, he does too.
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