Hero Analogs

Other Games SotM Game Engine
#1

So in another thread there was a conversation about Wraith's inspiration, and while there is no doubt in my mind that Wraith is totally a Batman Analog (sorry Ronway).  It made me curious how different folks see the characters.  Whenever I teach a new player the game I let them pick the characters by quickly summing up each of the characters with a super hero/concept they would know. 

Legacy - Superman

Tachyon - Flash

Wraith - Batman

Visionary - Jean Grey

Omnitron - Ultron turned good

Ra - Cyclops meets indiana jones

Tempest - Storm

Scholar - The Dude

Fanatic - An Angel

Chrono Ranger - Time Traveling Cowboy (or Galaxy Ranger if i think theyve seen the show)

Nightmist - Doctor Strange

Haka - The Hulk

Unity - Forge

Argent Adept - Spoony Bard

Absolute Zero - Mister Freeze meets Iron Man

Bunker - Iron Man

Expatriette - Punisher

Mr. Fixter - Kung Fu movie guy

 

I was curious if anyone has a different summary they use.  For instance, never in my life would i consider calling Wraith spiderman, but it was interesting to hear some folks thought that way.  I'm curious if there are other interrpretations people use

#2

Mostly the same, except I add some qualifiers:

Legacy- Superman, but a cheerleading Superman. Support.

Omnitron- *points to Omnitron* see that guy? This is the good guy version.

Ra- Sun God. He's hot. Wanna see the beard/nipple version?

Nightmist- Magician/sorcerer person. Don't use her, she's mine.

Mr. Fixer- Mr. Miyagi (which I think is who you are referring to?)

#3

I never thought to use Miyagi, i was just being generic...good call.

#4

I think you failed as to what I was trying to get across. I merely pointing out that Wraith is more than a Batman clone.

#5

Omnitron-X makes me think of Brainiac 5.

AZ is more Iron Man, while Bunker is more War Machine

Finest Legacy is like Superman, Greatest Legacy is a little more like Captain America, and Young Legacy is Supergirl

Ra has the feel of Silver Age Thor.

Argent Adept sings the song that the world wants to hear. (The Music Meister, but good)

 

And absolutely none of them are "clones of".

 

#6

Thor's a good call too, i totally missed that one

 

EDIT: For what it's worth, there's nothing wrong with the characters being plays off of iconic characters.  It's part of the appeal of the game and what helps pull folks into it...then over time they get attracted to the Sentinels fluff as well.  But like: The Chairman is Ras Al Ghul meets the Kingpin.  It's clear as day.  That's not bad.  But lets be blind to what is happening.  Wraith is a young titan of industry by day, and the worlds greatest detective by night.  Shes batman.  That being said, she is a different spin on batman. 

Ultimately the stories being told in Sentinels are unique to the world of SotM, but they are wearing their inspirations on their sleeves, and their building blocks are a pastiche of comic book icons.  That's part of what makes the game so cool.  It is simultaniously relateable but has it's own mythos you can buy into.

#7

Gah! Ra makes so much more sense now…  The oddball Egyptian themed deck has always kind of threw me for a loop.  But now that you say it, the emphasis on the power of the staff, the way the title of Ra can pass to different people, all comes together.  They just picked a different mythology. :D  Feeling incredibly dense right about now.

#8

100% agree, cant believe i never saw it before.  Both were doctors too (Thor medicine, Ra archeology)

#9

Also another connection between the two is Dr Donald Blake was Thor's mortal counter part, Dr Blake Washington Jr. is Ra's.

#10

I don't use heroes to compare.  I use more archetypes when I describe the heroes in Sentinels.

Legacy - paragon of good and justice

Wraith - masked detective/vigilante

Tachyon - speedster

Absolute Zero/Bunker - armored combatants

Visionary - psychic

Haka - the heavy

Tempest - alien refugee

Ra - champion of ancient powers

Fanatic - divine agent/angel

Fixer - martial arts master/monk

Expatrette - gritty/steel age hero

Argent Adept - D&D bard (he's the only one that is less stereotypical superhero)

NightMist - mystical detective

Chrono Ranger - man out of time/time cop

Omnitron-X - friendly robot

Scholar - old wise mage (although his specific flavor is obviously Full Metal Alchemist)

Unity - gadgeteer

#11

Legacy = Superman/Capt. America

Visionary = Jean Gray

Tempest = Piccolo (DragonballZ)/ Storm

Ab. Zero = Mr. Freeze

Fanatic = Archangel

Haka = Beast/Hulk

Bunker = Warmachine

Wraith = Batman

Tachyon = Flash

Ra = Thor

ChronoRanger = Bishop

OmnitronX = Ultron

Unity = Forge

Scholar = The Dude

Nightmist = Dr. Strange

Argent Adept = Dazzler

 

Parse = Green Arrow

Naturalist = Beast Boy

Idealist = Green Lanturn

Medico = Elixir

Mainstay = Ghostrider

Writhe = Rorschach/Inque? (from Batman Beyond)/ possibly Venom/Carnage (art based speculation)

Setback = Longshot

KYFE = ? I am drawing a major blank on this one if anyone can help me

 

 

 

 

#12

KYNFE= her powers are definitely evocative of Psylocke, though her affiliations bring to mind Black Widow...

#13

I don't really know all that much about comics to find a parallel superhero, but she really just reminds me of the common movie trope of "Rogue Agent" who was trained by some agency to be the best and then eventually saw the error of the agency's ways and broke off from them and often ends up fighting them… like the Bourne series and stuff. 

#14

Ah brilliant bringing up Psylocke! Kicking myself for not seeing that. 

#15

I’m not a big proponent of making analogies like this, but if you were to do one for Writhe, I think Cloak (of Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger) would be a closer fit, although even that comparison isn’t very strong.

#16

I see her attack strategy being fairly similar to Wolverine, minus healing factor.  Just cutting you up, really.  Everyone else is right by comparing her background to more of a Black Widow character.

It might be a reach to inject manga character similarities, but I'd categorize the Scholar character as being highly similar to Jiraiya from Naruto, if you are familiar with him.  He is wise (giving existential riddles to others) and unaffiliated with the various clans until things go wrong and evil is afoot.  Even down to the signature attack he teaches naruto being a ball shaped energy of similar size and shape to the Philosopher's stone.  Scholar's story as a wanderer also sounds like the Elric brother's father from Fullmetal Alchemist, and there you have the alchemy connection.  Plus, a plethora of man-ponytails.

#17

I understand being hesitant trying and tease out who we think might be influences on these characters, but it is all in good fun. The >G are obviously huge fans of comics in general by the countless references in just Adam's art alone.

Anyway, I have never heard of Cloak&Dagger so thank you for the link. Just reading that wiki quick I think the comparison to Cloak is much better than mine. Inque is obviously more liquid ink based powerset (my mind drifted that way due to the name of a card that I got the definition of wrong. I was thinking of Calligraphy. PTs will hopefully put that mistake together. I cant discuss specific card names here obviously).

I feel pretty strongly about the Venom/Carnage influence atm. I anticipate talking a lot more about that angle on these forums once Vengeance hits.

#18

Bishop is interesting for chrono ranger, though it speaks to a mutant element that isn't there... Maybe lobo would be better?  Or Sam Becket with a gun?

#19

While I readily agree that most of the SotM heroes are (at the very least) done in homage to DC/Marvel superhero comics, I also appreciate the unique twists that make them different.  But, overall--and when billing them to new players--I tend to describe them like this:

Legacy - Superman smashed into Captain America

Wraith - Batman/Moon Knight (minus the Egyptian mythos)

Tachyon - Flash/Quicksilver

Absolute Zero - Iceman meets Captain Atom (in terms of the containment suit)

Bunker - Iron Man (specifically the War Machine armor, worn by Rhodey) and Steel

Visionary - Jean Grey

Haka - The Incredible Hulk, with a more interesting personality

Tempest - Martian Manhunter meets Storm

Ra - Egyptian Thor

Fanatic - This one always gets me.  She's like Hawkgirl in temperament, with a power set closer to Ghost Rider or The Spectre.  

Fixer - Iron Fist/Shang-Chi

Expatrette - The Punisher

Argent Adept - A full-on D&D-style bard, with a touch of Green Lantern's aesthetics.

NightMist - Doctor Strange with a Cthulhu mythos bent.

Chrono Ranger - Cable meets Jonah Hex

Omnitron-X - The Vision or Brainiac 5

Scholar - The Dude abides...with a touch of Richard Dragon (as a mentor role) 

Unity - Magneto gets chipper and becomes a summoner.

KNYFE - Psylocke (in power-set) and Black Widow (in background)

The Naturalist - Beast Boy

Parse - Oracle meets Hawkeye

Setback - Scarlet Witch in terms of power-set, with a Deadpool temperament (4th wall breaking and such)

The Sentinels themselves are a little more complex, though I see Mainstay as a friendlier Lobo and Writhe seems a lot like Cloak.

#20

Cable is a great call for chrono ranger