Tag: villains

#6 – Gimmick

| November 26, 2012 | 0 Comments

Name: Aaron McKay, aka Gimmick
Hair Color: Reddish-brown
Eye Color: Grey
Skin Tone: Reddish-Brown

Gimmick is one of the more subtle Name Criminals and a great deal of his fame is self-promotion and bragging. He’s a classic bully and narcissist, and somewhat of a loner, choosing to spend time with very few people. He has no real friends, but the people he spends the most time with are those that can compete with him intellectually, like Techrat, or that will flatter him, like Jill. He’s intimidated by many of the other more dangerous Name Criminals and tries not to show it by upping his bragging.

He’s usually hired by another criminal to plan jobs for them, and uses a different gimmick for each client. He’s liable to spend more money to do the crime than it brings in, but since it’s all for show for him he doesn’t care.

He has profound hearing loss from childhood and wears very discreet hearing aids of his own design. He makes a fair amount of money off the patents for them. He also wears glasses for reading. He has multiple sclerosis and finds the flare-ups very frustrating, and smokes both tobacco and marijuana. He won’t admit how badly he’s addicted to cigarettes, but he comes close to chain-smoking when frustrated, nervous, or bored.

Gimmick is a villain for my comic series, The White Knight.

#3 – Darius Mandrake

| November 4, 2012 | 0 Comments

Darius Mandrake was supposed to be it. The man, the next big thing. When Darius discovered his abilities at age 12, he immediately became “the next big thing” to come along in the superhero community. Prodigiously gifted, standing 6’2“ in 9th grade, with super-strength, near-invulnerability, and the ability to manipulate time, his potential was said to be nearly limitless. He was to be a era-defining superhero, if he lived up to his abilities.

“If” has come to define Darius’ life. If he actually worked at making the most of his gifts. If only he had better friends. If only he had surrounded himself with better people. If he’d had someone to guide him, to teach him about the wages of fame. So much was expected of him, so much was given to him immediately because of that potential ability.

Darius was being “recruited” by the biggest superhero groups across the globe, told he was the second coming. It all came far too much, too soon, too fast for Darius. By 14 he was a handful, by 17 he was beyond anyone’s control. He came to believe the hype about himself. He ceased working to perfect and understand his abilities, taking them for granted. He partied, openly feuded with other heroes, had repeated skirmishes with the police and generally acted above the law, above society, as if he was something wholly different to everyone else.

Darius is 25 now, a living “cautionary tale”, the object of derision. He has squandered several chances to make a life for himself, getting thrown out of no less than three superhero collectives already in his short life. He still prioritizes his vices over actually doing anything material, and finds himself with even less understanding and control of his abilities than he did when he was a teenager.

For all of this, however, Darius blames everyone else. He blames “the system” for treating him unfairly, when he says he was living in a way that all other heroes were. He blames other heroes for spreading rumors and lies about him, for publicly shunning him from their community. He still believes he is earth’s greatest hero whenever he wants to, he simply justifies his apathy by believing that there is little out there that poses enough of a challenge for him to genuinely engage with it.

Darius has surrounded himself with a small entourage that act more as enablers and Yes Men than friends or helpers. He still has his loyal fans, and is still capable of commanding a certain amount of celebrity, but few doubt that his life is already on the downside. Darius is bitter, petulant, cruel, and unwilling to take responsibility for anything he’s done. He still believes his redemption is just around the corner, even as it slips away with each passing day.

Darius still looks the part of the hero, now standing 6‘7“, with the physique of an olympian. The only thing he has committed himself to is his look and his style. He still demands to wear only the finest, cutting-edge fashion. Darius’s face, once warm and inviting as a child, has darkened, but he still retains a certain leading-man look, with his square chin and inviting eyes.

G. Brett Williams #25 – Stephen Strickland (Rumspringa)

| November 25, 2011 | 0 Comments
The first villain the group encounters is energy tycoon and COO of Jupiter Power, Stephen Strickland.  Strickland is a Texas businessman and all around shark of a man.  He has climbed to second in command of the Jupiter Power company, a subsidiary of the global corporate/military group, Obsidian.  Obsidian is a centuries old secret society that has hidden itself inside the structure of a global corporation with its fingers in many pies, similar to Blackwater in our own world.  Stephen Strickland is aware, to a certain extent, of the secret society behind Obsidian, but he doesn’t know the full extent of that society’s scope or structure.  He does want to be a part of the society and uses his position at the top of Jupiter, an Obsidian company, to impress them.  Strickland’s ability to govern and produce results has been called into question though, as an increase in public support for alternative energy sources and more environmental oversight have thrown a monkeywrench into the Jupiter Power works.  Strickland is seen as a hardline supporter of fossil fuel, mainly because he made millions as a Texas oil baron.  Obsidian begins to see Strickland as something of a dinosaur, a man not capable of adapting to the future.  Strickland, desperate to retain his relevancy, gets a gift when he discovers Sarah and her abilities.  He believes that if he can somehow capture the girl, he can spirit her away and use her to launch a renaissance of cheap, renewable energy.  Strickland becomes the villain of the first arc.  He aggressively pursues Sarah, using everything in his power to do so.  He even goes so far as to kidnap and kill Sarah’s brother to try and influence the girl.  Strickland is defeated by Sarah.  This defeat leads Obsidian to cut their losses with Strickland.  For his service to the cause, they allow him to live, but they bankrupt him and completely erase his identity.  Strickland is left homeless and broken.

Character No. 4 & 5- Black Rage and White Fury

| November 4, 2011 | 0 Comments

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