[Aberrant] Is Cestus Pax a Superman figure?

[Penelope]

Or are the differences between them too great to really say that?

[satoshi]

There are clear influences present, varying depending on edition. Overall I'd say yes, especially in 2nd edition, he is clearly going for being the defender of everything that is right and true, punching evil in the teeth whenever it raises its head.

[Penelope]

Thank you. I agree.

[Mateus Luz]

My impression of Pax is a very human version of Superman, not to the fact he is not an alien, but on the fact that he is not perfect as Superman.

1e Pax is a horrible person, almost a Homelander, but more focused on his career and less on his personal life.
2e is a better person, not the leader Superman is to JL, but a symbol of power and dedication.

[Penelope]

I like 2e Pax better.

[andrewm9]

I actually rather like Pax in 1st edition. I use him as a believer in Utopia’s ideals, but he is quite obsessed with his own image just shy of being a complete narcissist. He is a jerk but he's Utopia’s jerk. He is great foil to my PC’s and they kind of cheered when Mal kicked his butt. My pc’s have friends on both sides of the Teragen - Utopia divide though.

[Mateus Luz]

1e pax is a horrible person that have created a distorted self image, but I think it’s not his fault, it was his Aberrations, sure Megalomania and a few more psychological issues. Come on, he was one of the most powerful Novas, he must be distorted by quantum.

YET, I guess every single group cheered when he was defeated by Mal, even my group cheered and they were there on Utopia side.

[Bunyip]

1e pax is a horrible person that have created a distorted self image, but I think it’s not his fault, it was his Aberrations, sure Megalomania and a few more psychological issues. Come on, he was one of the most powerful Novas, he must be distorted by quantum.

YET, I guess every single group cheered when he was defeated by Mal, even my group cheered and they were there on Utopia side.

It’s arguable whether his jerk-ass nature was Aberration or him just being a jerk-ass. More evidence points to it being an essential part of his jerk personality rather than having any Quantum crutch to put blame on. Pax’s main Aberrations were his Quantum Anima and being Hairless (both of which you can see on the Aberrant cover art and the Project Utopia book. (Not TC: Aberrant.)

[Mateus Luz]

Well... he IS bald... the anima really didn’t appear so far.

Good to know I don’t hate a person for a deficiency, if it’s part of his nature than I feel ok to hate him again with all my hearth.

[Bunyip]

Well... he IS bald... the anima really didn’t appear so far.

In most (if not all) pics in 1e he also lacked eyebrows. Dude was hairless.

[Mateus Luz]

In TC he has eyebrows, but the complete lack of hair can still be a transformation.

[Aliasi]

I feel like a good way to write Pax might be a bit like Major Havoc, from Empowered. He's an self-aggrandizing, self-promoting asshole... who still believes in going out and saving lives, and was the very first to stand up against a villain who'd depowered an entire room of heroes.

The 2e version isn't even necessarily incompatible with this, although there's more emphasis put on "yes, he really does try to be a role model and do the right thing" that I'd feel is necessary to cope with the inevitable Flanderization of any character among the fanbase. Pax isn't Superman, but he's someone who is trying to be Superman without it being a false front (like Homelander).

[Eldagusto]

I feel like a good way to write Pax might be a bit like Major Havoc, from Empowered. He's an self-aggrandizing, self-promoting asshole... who still believes in going out and saving lives, and was the very first to stand up against a villain who'd depowered an entire room of heroes.

The 2e version isn't even necessarily incompatible with this, although there's more emphasis put on "yes, he really does try to be a role model and do the right thing" that I'd feel is necessary to cope with the inevitable Flanderization of any character among the fanbase. Pax isn't Superman, but he's someone who is trying to be Superman without it being a false front (like Homelander).

That’s a good take, also I love Empowered.

[Shepherdboi]

On the one hand, the sidebar in the Aberrant preview PDF says: "he was brought up to believe that power brings responsibility", which has an obvious Spider-Man vibe. On the other hand, he seems to have done absolutely nothing with his power for 40 years, and only stuck his neck out because the Fireman's public eruption made him outing himself as a super powered being safer.

I actually really dislike the Major Havoc parallel since that guy's personality mostly amounts to frat boy obnoxiousness, whereas Cestus Pax has to be at least in his late 50s, since he was driving his car when his family died and he erupted (no telling if the 'family' were a wife and kids or his parents or both).

I see him as wounded by the deaths of his loved ones, socially awkward and introverted since he apparently had no one else close to him and didn't get close to anyone new in the aftermath, and risk averse, but wanting to do something positive with his life and not knowing how. The sidebar explicitly defined his joining Project Utopia as reinventing himself. That means he sees his superhero persona as an act, which implies he doesn't feel like a genuine hero such as the Fireman. Does he envy Randel Portman? Does he feel bad for envying a man whose marriage fell apart due to his fame, and who later died saving thousands?

edit: Also for the bit about Major Havoc being, "the very first to stand up against a villain who'd depowered an entire room of heroes", I just reread the last story from Empowered vol. 4, and that isn't even close to what happened. At least five people (two of whom were non-heroes) fought before him. It wasn't until 24 pages into the story that we got to the panel where he said, "C'mon, capes, let's kick some. With or without powers -- we're still heroes, aren't we?" One panel later, he's on the ground screaming, "Oh god -- get it off! -gkk- g-get it off me!" and has to be saved by The Maidman, a french maid dress wearing Batman expy.

[Lian]

Or are the differences between them too great to really say that?

Obviously not. He has no hair and can beat most people with One Punch. He's clearly a Saitama figure.