1001 Interesting Deviant Character Ideas

[lladas]

Wanted to start one of these threads for Deviant. Thought it would be good if people listed the Clades, Origins, Forms, Variations, Scars and inspirations they used to help people workshop ideas.

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Idea Name: True Believer
Origin: Pathological Clade: Cephalist Form: Transmissible
Variations: Hybrid Form •• [Carapace • (Kevlar); Lash • (Bruising Brawl Lash; Disabling)]; Telekinesis •••• [Versatility].
Scars: Alternate Persona •, Persistent [Hybrid Form]; Concentration •• (Self-Doubt); Controlled; Wits; Deviation: Identifier [Telekinesis].
Inspiration: Captain Marvel (Billy Batson); Control; Solar (Alpha and Omega).

A young comic book fan has spent his youth escaping into the world of capes and cowls to get away from the pain of his day-to-day life. Growing up a military brat, bouncing around the globe, and living a less than supportive father has left him with only one true refuge—his imagination. One day he finds a first issue of a comic that he has never heard of—Vector Zero, Agent of W.I.L. He asks the store keep about it, but they have never heard of it. So, he decides to buy it. It seems like it will be a good read and the art catches his eye (Pathological).

Reading it late one night after a fight with his father, the boy falls asleep (as many have) with the comic sprawled out next to him and a flashlight still on. In his dreams, he finds himself pulled into the world of Vector Zero. He has dreamt about superheroes before, but nothing like this (Cephalist). He has heard of lucid dreaming so this must be it. Being able to feel like you are the character. Doing things they can do. The power. The excitement. He loves it.

The next day at school, the boy comes face-to-face with one of the older brats who had been his bully for this posting. While most youth read comics and enjoyed geeky things, this bully seems to find particular joy in terrorizing the young fan. On this day, the True Believer happens to be rereading his issue number one of Vector Zero to school. When the bully reaches to rip up the comic, the boy--lashing out with all of his pent-up rage--grasps his aggressor with his mind and throws him across the playground (Telekinesis). Most of the other kids chalk it up to a freak surge of spaz strength from an angry preteen, however, the True Believer knows that he didn’t touch the bully.

Since then, the True Believer and his family have moved to a new posting, and with that he has decided to use his powers for good. Experimenting with his powers he has found that he has all of the same powers as Vector Zero. Powerful telekinesis and the ability to sheathe his body in a thin and flexible telekinetic field (Hybrid Form). When he practices for a long time, he even finds himself starting to think and act like Vector Zero (Alternate Persona). Now he just needs to figure out how he can sneak out from under his father’s radar to fight for the powerless…

…what he doesn’t know is that comic book blogs and dream journals are exploding with posts from local residents describing dreams about a comic book no one can seem to remember reading (or even find) (Identifier). Worse yet, that bully from the previous posting has been having more and more intense dreams about a Mr. Gold, CEO of Black Pyramid Technologies--arch-nemesis of Vector Zero (Transmissible).

[The MG]

Idea Name: The Oracle, the Last Queen of Ys
Origin: Unknown (functions as Pathological) Clade: Cephalist Form: Devoted
Variations: Anomalous Biology (Ageless, Mindless) 2, Aquatic 3, Astral Travel 3, Onomantic Influence 2, Telepathy (Attune) 1
Scars: Amnesia 5: Astral Travel; Conspicuous Appearance 2: Anomalous Biology; Missing Limb (Leg Wrack) 2: Onomantic Influence; Silence 3: Aquatic
Inspiration: Abe Sapien (Hellboy, BPRD) the Asset (The Shape of Water)

The Oracle's first memory is of waking up in the bathtub of one Joseph Harper, head of the Hudson River Gentlemen's Society. Her first few years were spent learning English and to read and write, as well as growing closer to Harper. Claiming to have found her while exploring undersea ruins off the coast of France, the man termed her the last queen of the sunken kingdom of Ys, and claimed that he would restore her to her throne. Isolated and charmed as she was, she did not think to wonder if he was lying.

Over a hundred years later, her promised throne amounts to a particularly comfortable chair in the Hudson River Gentlemen's Society lounge. Now headed by her great-grandson, Robert William Harper, the Society still scrapes and bows to their Oracle, just as the late Harper taught them, but she has grown wise since her awakening in 1883. She sees now that they think of her as a tool more than an object of worship, and those of her descendants that take after her – wide eyes and silver skin, gill slits down their flanks – are neglected in favour of their too-human siblings.

The queen would abandon her insulting, useless throne, but there is nowhere else for her to go. She's glimpsed the outside world in psychic sojourns in service of the Society, and it is empty of her own kind, if her own kind ever existed. Leaving even the facsimile of a court for a life in the shadows does not appeal to her, and neither would she want such a life for her family.

[lladas]

Idea Name: The “Kino Lau” One
Origin: Genotypal Clade: Chimeric Form: Amalgam, Devoted
Variations: Animal Transformation ••••• [Shapeshifter]; Otherworldly Connection •• [Spirits]; Pheromones •.
Scars: Maintenance ••, Persistent [Otherworldly Connection; Pheromones]; Native Environment •••••, Persistent [Animal Transformation].
Inspiration: Buffy; Māui; Whale Rider.

She was raised believing that all the things of the islands are her elder kin. From her oldest brother taro to the recently adopted chital (axis deer), all the beings of the land are part of her extended family; connected through the innate mana in all things (Pheromones). Moreover, each animal and plant could also be one of the akua or kupuas in disguise; visiting the kanaka under good circumstances--and bad (Otherworldly Connection).

But she wasn’t raised on the islands. No, she was raised--like many kanaka are--in the diaspora. On the “other big island” of California, she was the latest in a long history of kanaka who had made California their home because of the exclusion and destitution of kanaka on the islands. Moreover, like many, her family could never afford to send her back. So, she was brought up in the ways through the stories and teachings of her tutu. How to pray to the family amakua and meditate on one’s kuleana (Maintenance).

Even though she grew up in a large community of Indigenous Pacific peoples, she was confronted with the erasure and appropriation of the kanaka constantly. From, tiki bars to the perplexed look on the face of others when she had to explain that Hawaiians are a people group, she had to fight to keep the spirit of the things she knew to be true alive. It was this tension and the support of her family that pushed her to excel as an athlete and student. While she knew she knew she never wanted to assimilate she also wanted the power to push back. It was also at this time that she started to develop chronic health issues (Native Environment).

At first, the illness was nothing more than bad seasonal allergies, but as she got closer to leaving for college, the illness had grown to resemble a mix of a variety of autoimmune disorders. Being sick shot her opportunity to go to school on an athletic scholarship, but luckily her academics were enough to ensure that she could get a full ride to a number of schools. On her list were University of Michigan, Michigan State, and other big state schools with great Native Law programs. She had even applied to UH Manoa. While the offer wasn’t as good as some of the other more endowed universities, the opportunity to go home finally was enticing. It was her tutu who implored her to go home. That the islands would heal her and make her strong.

So, with all of the money her family could muster, she left the continent for the islands. Surprisingly enough, her tutu was right. The moment she touched down on the islands she felt her strength return. Revitalized she decided to get more involved in the sovereignty movements active on campus. Knowing that she was in a position to make a change she wanted to use her newfound energy for the land and the people. It was during an offshore protest against coastal development and the attempted privatization of beaches that she learned how much she had changed. Freak swells came out of nowhere, and while other protesters were more experienced canoers, she was new to the ocean. Pushed over and separated from her group she started to drown. In this moment of need her family answered her call. Through her lines of genealogy her amakua (Amalgam) awoke inside of her and she transformed into a shark (Animal Transformation).

Since then, she has learned that she can turn into any of the creatures of the islands. Moreover, her tutu revealed the truth to her, that she was a member of a group of kuhunas who had been tracking and manipulating the genealogies (Genotypal) of kanaka to reawaken the power of the akua and kupua (Chimeric). Finally feeling connected to her birthright, the Kino Lau One works to protect the land and identify other empowered keiki for her tutu.

[The MG]

Idea Name: The Pilot
Origin: Autourgic Clade: Invasive Form: Devoted
Variations: Gigantic 5, Hybrid Form (Anomalous Biology [Bloodless, Breathless, Heartless, Painless] 3, Carapace [Steel, Dense] 3, Superhuman Stamina 3) 5, Superhuman Resolve 1, Superhuman Strength 5
Scars: Alternate Persona (Bestial +3; Relentless Variation +1, Suppressible Variation [Power Failure]) 5: Hybrid Form; Frozen Heart 1: Superhuman Resolve; Maintenance (Identifier +1, Nightmares, Relentless Variation +1, Suppressible Variation [Power Failure]) 4: Gigantic; Thin Skin (Disfiguring Scar, Suppressible Variation [Power Failure]) 5: Superhuman Strength
Inspiration: The mecha genre.
Note: All instances of Power Failure have the same condition, requiring the Pilot to enter the Tower of Jericho to access the majority of his Variations.

All his life, he desired power. All his his life, he resented the frail body he was born with. When the cult of the Tower approached him, he didn't balk at their offer.

It was years ago now that he first gazed upon the Tower of Jericho, his other self. It is a titan of bronze and inhuman flesh, supposedly forged in Biblical times, though its pilot knows it to be much older. He feels it in his bones when he crawls into the spinal cockpit, and sees it in the red and ancient dreams the Tower sends him.

The pilot longs to tear open the cavernous temple that holds the Tower, but the engineers of the cult won't let him. In accepting the keys to the Tower – spun-glass nerves drilled into his spinal column – he also accepted the duty of battling the Tower's otherworldly enemies. The cultists tell him he is protecting the world, but he doubts their counsel.

It doesn't matter. Any doubts are forgotten in the rush of the titanic stride, and the dream of freedom can't survive the mad glory of crushing alien cities and ripping apart their guardian giants. The pilot pays for these joys between missions, emerging from the cockpit in tatters and with the psychic imprint of the Tower burned into his brain.

[lladas]

Idea Name: Moon Racer
Origin: Exomorph Clade: Coactive Form: Symbiote
Variations: Hidden Compartments •••; Precognition •••; Specialized Sense • [Sixth Sense]; Superhuman Dexterity •; Superhuman Wits •; Translocation •• [Blind].
Scars: Amnesia •••, Persistent [Specialized Sense, Superhuman Dexterity, Superhuman Wits]; Persistent Drawback ••• [Glitch], Controlled, Wits [Precognition]; [Preparation ••, Controlled, Dexterity [Hidden Compartments]; Preparation ••, Controlled, Wits [Translocation].
Inspiration: Simon Dark, Devs.

Moon Racer can often be found wandering around his small part of the Bay Area counting the number of discarded water bottles in a waste basket, calculating the flight path of a flock of pigeons, or recounting the last 15 orders a person has made at the local Baja Fresh. Everyone has heard the legends of Moon Racer in the neighborhood. Some say that he was a child prodigy who dropped out of UC Berkeley after he took way too much Molly. Others argue that he was a tech innovator who got too close to the singularity. Regardless, of his origins, everyone agrees that sometimes Moon will show up out of nowhere to help you out of a pinch. A few people even owe him their lives.

What many don’t know is that he isn’t really sure of who he is either (Amnesia). Heck, the name Moon Racer came from the Lion graphic on the t-shirt he was wearing when he woke up. What he does remember is the pain and the static (Exomorph). Images come to him of being strapped into a metal chair. Eyelids pulled back. Screens playing back endless code. Needles and wires leading into exposed parts of his anatomy. Alarms and screams.

Moon Racer wasn’t alone in his escape (?) from those nightmares. Waking up on a park bench, he found that his mind was filled with "it". He still isn’t really sure what “it” is, but he knows there is something there rewiring his mind and reality; infusing him with power and knowledge beyond any Baseline (Coactive). It communicates with him through phantom images of calculations and numbers overlaid on reality (Symbiote). By following these formulae (Preparation), he can wander around city corners to enter splits in space (Translocation). Rummaging through trash for a specific constellation of discarded items (Preparation), he can reach into other realities to pull out whatever he needs (Hidden Compartments). The Calculation (or “Cal” as he calls "it") directs his movements (Superhuman Dexterity) and perception (Superhuman Wits) to guide him to areas of the city where space and time glitch into splinters (Specialized Sense). He isn’t sure why, but when he really focuses (Persistent Drawback) on a formula Cal provides, he can see horrifying realities (Precognition). Mechanized overseers on wings of phosphorus leading droves of human slaves into glistening engines and biomechanical fiends bartering over barrels of liquefied soul (Glitch).

No wonder he is a little off.

[TerrorCooper]

Idea Name: Meander, the Prototype Industrial Cyborg-Drone
Origin: Epimorph (Volunteer) Clade: Invasive (Cyborg) Form: Externalized
Variations: ???
Scars: ??? (Unsure, but would most definitely include Distinctive Appearance)
Inspiration: Warren (The Surge)
Note: The Redundancy Adaptation is replaced by the Spare Parts Adaptation, to represent Meander's ability to switch out both Variations, and their connected Deviations.

Meander, despite how he acts, can't really remember all that much about the life he led before his transformation, beyond that he may(?) have had a Girlfriend and that he was a down-on-his-luck blue-collar worker. The rest got drowned out by the pain and horror of his Divergence, where the R&D Eggheads of the Mega-corp he worked for strapped him down in a laboratory/operating theatre, practically lobotomized him, then pieced him back together as a prototype 'industrial-class drone' to earn the execs a couple extra bucks. And all under the pretense of it being some new-dangled ‘medical treatment’ to enhance his physical abilities.

P/N: I'm going to update this later, since my computer is beginning to wig out.

[wrecksalot]

Idea Name: Zordon Devoted
Origin: Elect Clade: Mutant
Variations Sacred Flesh(Fragment(Monstrous transformation 5(Carapace 3(Bulletproof) Superhuman Dexterity 3 Hypercompetence 3(Martial Arts)))), healer 5, Rapid Healing 5, Anomalous Biology 1(Ageless)
Scars: missing limb 5(Sacred Flesh) Involuntary Stimulus 3(being touched)(uncontrollable+1, unpredictable+1)(Healer) Fragility 5(Rapid Healing)
Inspiration: it's in the idea title

The Zordon Devoted had always been obsessed with tokusatsu shows, so when he received a message from the company that produces them, saying that his heroes were real and they could give him powers, he accepted immediately. The process had severe side effects, and at first they were mad, but there was really nothing they could do about their situation, and the people who were being trained to be the real rangers were really nice, and after the conspiracy showed them what their enemies really looked like without the copious video editing and special effects, he gladly uses his powers to help his friends fight what goes bump in the night,