See, I can do Silver age wacky, too! I’m not always Mr. Grim-and-Gritty…
It turns out all those military officials were just remembering a funny joke as they pulled up...
Villain of the Day: May 9 (Cherenkov)
Alexis Garber knew what she signed up for. She just wasn't prepared to turn it into a career path.
Once a human resources rep at the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Plant, Alexis and her family were in dire straits. Her husband had abandoned the family, leaving her to raise three school-age kids on her own. Her youngest, Marie, suffered from a number of kidney-related issues, driving Alexis deep into debt. She short-saled the family home, cramming the four of them into a two-bedroom apartment in a less-than-pleasant side of town. While her job paid decently and provided them reasonable health insurance, it just wasn't enough to keep Alexis' head above water.
So, when a man in a suit knocked on her apartment door and offered her $50,000, Alexis wasn't about to ask questions. All he wanted was her keycard.
Taking on overtime to make ends meet, it was pure chance that Alexis happened to be working that evening when the suited-man and a compatriot arrived, carrying a number of pieces of strange technical equipment. Among their number was a burly, bald man with a surly countenance. Alexis smiled to her contact as he sidled past, heading for Reactor Room 3.
Following at a distance, Alexis watched the suited man inject the burly one with a number of strange injections, before opening the main access door to the reactor itself. Horrified, she watched as he dove into the submerged reactor, with nary a clean-suit or radiation dampner in sight!
He died, screaming. The raw power emitted by the reactor coupled with the superheated water boiled him almost immediately.
Grimacing, the suited man turned to beat a hasty retreat, only to come face to face with Alexis. "You're trying to make a superhuman," she said, "Try me."
The suited man cocked his head and looked her over. Nodding slowly, he injected her with a glowing blue serum and instructed her, "Now...three minutes in the reactor core. If the serum works, your body will absorb the ambient Cherenkov radiation, turning you into a dynamo of nuclear power..."
Alexis Garber emerged from that reactor chamber with a power she had never imagined. Glowing with a soft blue light, she swiftly found that she could project beams of searing radiation, radiate a force field of heat and energy, and survive in even the harshest of conditions.
Despite it all, she kept her job. "Had to keep a cover, right?" she thought. Her kids are none the wiser, though they certainly enjoy their more comfortable life, their video games, and their new house. However, every so often, the suited man returns to her house with another bundle of money and a job to do. A job that requires her new, unique talents...
Villain of the Day: May 10 (Wrong Number)
Allen Strahler had simply had enough.
A long-time telemarketer who had worked his way up through the ranks at General Dynamic Insurance, Allen supervised an entire group of cold-call agents, offering great life insurance coverage for just pennies a day to literally thousands of individuals a day. Unfortunately, as their direct supervisor, Allen was often on the receiving end of the cursing, the angry hang-ups, and the other abuse that tends to flow towards cold-callers.
After one such call, Allen snapped. After verbally berating a would-be customer for over four minutes straight--all of which was recorded for customer service training--Allen simply could not take anymore. He was placed on administrative leave, pending a lengthy meeting with human resources, who advocated that he use up some of his numerous vacation days.
Now, Allen had something of a hobby in his meanwhile. An aficianado of ASMR videos and podcasts--"They help me sleep," Allen claimed--Allen had begun to experiment with these elements to induce low-grade trances and to relax. However, he believed that he could turn these to a new purpose...
After meeting with HR, Allen was given his job back. This was his first offense, after all. He returned to his team with a spring in his step and a smile on his face, eager to get back to calling the unsuspecting rubes of America. And, little did either HR nor his co-workers know, but Allen had planted a new autorecording into the initial script of the General Dynamic background music...
Since the day of his outburst, Allen and his team have broken countless sales records for General Dynamic, bringing in thousands of new accounts and millions of dollars in revenue. He's since been farmed out to various General Dynamic locations throughout the country, to share his secrets to other branches. Each time, he brings in his ASMR script and brings a whole new team into the fold.
As for what that trance-induced programming actually does, or what will happen when it is activated? Those are secrets that only Allen knows. Just make sure that you don't call the Wrong Number...
Amazing. :D That's truly outside the usual bounds of what constitutes a supervillain, and it's perfect!
Villain of the Day: May 11 (Strut)
Jenna McCannon loved running. A track star through high school and college, Jenna always felt most at home in a pair of well-worn running shoes and her headphones blaring some empowering music.
That came to an end when she was hit by a car.
While on her usual after-work run, Jenna legally crossed Wenger Avenue, only for a car to screech through the red light, slamming into her. The driver of the car immediately called for an ambulance, but the damage was already done. Her lower legs were shattered, the ligaments in her knees shredded. Howling in pain on the asphalt, Jenna was sure that her life was over.
Waking up in a hospital room, post-surgery, Jenna was despondent. Not only was she horrifically injured, but her ability to run--something so intrinsic to her identity--was stripped from her. Her doctors informed her that she'd be bound to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. She bit back, asking about the possibility of physical therapy, experimental surgery, and more. Her doctor merely shook his head; the chance of success was simply too low to risk another procedure, and her recovery already mandated physical therapy. Additional therapy would do little.
Still in shock and rage at her lot in life, Jenna was hardly in the mood to see any visitors, much less some jerk in a suit she didn't know. However, that suited jerk made her an offer that she never would have expected.
Upon her release from the hospital, Jenna was taken to a strange facility where she underwent an even stranger procedure. A number of cybernetic sockets were embedded in her leg joints, as well as a control chip at the base of her spine. After recovering from the procedure, Jenna was provided with a mechanical framework that provided her the stability she needed to stand, to walk, and even to run.
What's more? The framework made her better. She could run faster than ever before, her senses matching her pace, thanks to the neural implant in her spine. She knew real speed. And, all the suited stranger asked in return was some assistance in a few odd jobs now and again. She'd even have a costume, a kinetic flail to defend herself, the best of tools for infiltration, and even a team to work with...
Since that day, Jenna has learned the hard way that her framework is a temporary measure at best. Its use is taxing on her nervous system, which requires a neuroregenerative serum which arrives in her mail every week. Jenna does attempt to limit the amount of time she uses the framework, but every day she spends in her wheelchair is another day she yearns to hook up the framework and break free. Another day where all she wants to do is Strut.
Once again, we've got a shadowy figure setting things in motion... I'm all a-twitter. :D
Villain of the Day: May 12 (REDWYRM)
Alvin Thurlock probably would have stayed a white hat, if he knew how to set his damned alarm clock.
A cybersecurity expert with the TechSpace technology firm, Alvin spent his days developing countermeasures for computer viruses and testing online security for various firms. Among the top 'white hat' hackers at TechSpace, Alvin's code was a thing of beauty and he was a pleasure to work with. Al, as his coworkers called him, was the captain of the company's indoor volleyball team and his eggnog was renowned at the company's holiday party.
That said, he often had issues waking up on time. His mortal nemesis--some pencil-pusher named Greg, over in human resources--seemed to make it his life's work to chart every minute of every day that Alvin was late to work or had to clock out early. At his yearly review, Greg brought this to Alvin's (and Alvin's boss's) attention: no less than 86 days at least 5 minutes late to work, another 46 days wherein Alvin left early. Greg recommended Alvin for immediate dismissal.
Alvin was livid. He stood up, his fists clenched, ready to smash Greg right across his stupid plastic-framed glasses. Alvin's boss intervened between the two, taking Alvin outside. He shook his head, "Al...this can't be right, can it?" Within the hour, Alvin Thurlock had packed up his office, turned in his keycard, and was being escorted out by security.
Now, Alvin knew his talents. He knew he'd have another job soon enough; there were enough tech firms out there who wouldn't mind a few minutes tardiness if it meant having a cogent firewall program. But that meddler, Greg? Alvin had something special for him.
The REDWYRM virus was something Alvin had been cooking up in his spare time, off and on, for nearly a decade. Designed to be a "whaling" malware--designed to target those in the highest eschelons of the financial world--REDWYRM was no mere hardware corruption. Rather, it was designed to rewrite both the computer's programming...and the user's synapses. Even as REDWYRM stole confidential information, passwords, bank account numbers and more, it simultaneously left anone observing it (or attempting to actively de-fang the virus) in a drooling stupor, unable to do anything but watch the little red caterpillar devour all of their most sensitive information.
Unfortunately for Alvin, he was REDWYRM's second victim. After sending the virus after HR Greg, Alvin attempted to copy the virus onto another drive, so that he could physically install it elsewhere and make some quick cash. However, a mis-click on the wrong window left him collapsed in his computer chair for nearly 6 days. Greg, however, didn't make it that long. He died at his desk of dehydration...
Since that day REDWYRM has wormed its way through the web, but no manner of anti-virus, anti-malware, or skill in programming has managed to vanquish it. And, in over 85% of cases, REDWYRM has led directly to the death of its end users. Were someone to get their hands on the source code for such a virus, it may well become a lethal assassination tool in any villain's arsenal.
Hey, gang. I know that this thread is getting really long, so I decided to take on a fairly large undertaking: I've put together every villain in this thread into a Google spreadsheet, so that individual villains are easier to find. The villains are separated by my own creations (which are then sorted by month/theme) and those of others. Within each sheet, you'll be able to see the exact post number as well as a one-sentence summary of what that villain's "schtick" is.
The link for the Villain of the Day Index is HERE. I'm also adding it to the very first post!
Woot!
Also, that first sentence is a fantastic hook. :D
Villain of the Day: May 13 (White Noise)
Erol Mackintosh is the sort of person most sane people wish would just shut up.
A white nationalist, Erol grew up in the deep South. His family were all members of his regions branch of the Klan and, when push came to shove, he often found himself working behind the scenes at various rallies, demonstrations, and revivals. A sound engineer by trade, Erol was used to hooking up speakers, testing amplifiers, and running wires for microphones. But, with all that under his belt, he wanted to do more.
Erol stated working on the Sonic Amplifier harness in his basement as a lark. Occasionally, at various get togethers where firearms were involved, he’d pull it out to show everyone what some White Noise could do, over and above the standard AR-15. More than once, state troopers came out to Erol’s property when neighbours complained of the noise, but beyond a fine and a slap on the wrist, there was little they could do.
That was when Erol received a curious package. Inside was a copy of the schematics for his harness, as well as a strange electronic component, along with inductions as to where and how to install it. Upon doing so, Erol quickly found that his harness could do so much more! It could completely dampen or nullify vibrations, making the wearer completely silent. Or, it could focus sound into a single, laser like beam, capable of destruction far beyond what he was able to achieve without it.
At the bottom of the package was a note, written in a neat cursive hand: “Let 'em have it with both barrels…We will be back!”
This is actually the second white supremacist villain named White Noise I have ever seen. XD Thankfully, different power set.
Was the other one the guy from The Venture Brothers? I remembered him about an hour after finishing my VotD write-up… 
Villain of the Day: May 14 (Witch Hunter Helmut)
Helmut Schneider has no patience for so-called 'wizards'. To date, he has never not found a logical, scientific explanation to any strange or unseemly phenomena.
A mechanical prodigy by day, Helmut comes from a long line of 'witch-hunters', dating back to the days of the Holy Roman Empire. In those dark days, his progenitors were tasked by Louis III--known as Louis the Blind--to seek out those believed to be wizards, warlocks, witches, or other practictioners of the dark arts. And, while his family has performed this task for nearly 1400 years (in various degrees of zealotry), Helmut himself decided to take on a new venue for this holy task.
He started a reality show.
His show, entitled Witch Hunter Helmut chronicles his experiences travelling the globe with all manner of sophisticiated sensor equipment, a crew of trained videographers and sound experts, and a legion of 'haunted' locales, houses and resgions. In each case, he actively debunks so-called supernatural activity--often taking a 'true believer' with him, who inevitably ends up convinced that, yes, their fears were irrational and that no actual supernatural activity had taken place.
In his latest season, Helmut has brought his technology and his fan-base to bear against the supernaturally-powered metahuman community. Helmut, through his network, has offered a $500,000 US prize to any arcanely-powered individual to come onto his show and have their abilities tested on camera for all to see. If his tests fail, Helmut claims, he'll not only pay out the $500k, but also end his show with that very episode. If he, however, demonstrates that those powers are not from a mystical source, he contractually demands the individual to reveal this information live, on-camera. To date, not a single mystically-powered individual has taken up Helmut's challenge.
Going into his fifth season, Helmut has a number of unique spots picked out for his show, not the least of which are a swamp just south of Rook City and a temple hidden in the lower Himalayas...
”All right, heroes, your mission, should you choose to accept it: keep this dumbass TV guy alive this season.”
Witch Hunter Helmut in the Temple of Zhu Long sounds like a comic from one of the worst runs of SC history that everyone tries to pretend never happened. Makes absolutely no sense that he'd be allowed to get there and film an episode, and yet I can definitely see bad comic writers do it anyway.
Yup! So you're in good company. 
Also, a villain with a reality show, you never fail to explore new realms of comic book potential. 
Villain of the Day: May 15 (Dr. Sheila Dawsey and The Cyber Six)
Dr. Sheila Dawsey started, as most do, with the best of intentions.
A robotics expert and co-worker of Meredith Stinson's at the Eaken-Rubendall Laboratories, Dawsey was one of Tachyon's biggest supporters throughout her career, first as a women in the technology field, then as a leading female superhero, then as an icon for LGBT rights. Even as Tachyon became wrapped up in saving the world on a regular basis, Dawsey still made sure to drop her peer an email now and again to check in and compare research notes. On the rare occasions when Meredith wasn't jetting off for Mars, running rings around gladiators in the Bloodsworn Coliseum, or hunting vampires across Eastern Europe, she'd do her best to drop in for a cup of coffee with Sheila to catch up on all the buzz back at E-R Labs. However, as the world faced crisis after crisis, their coffee klatches became less and less frequent.
That led to an idea from Sheila: a set of androids based on the Freedom Five, plus their new intern, capable of standing in for the members while they were injured, off-world, or otherwise outside of Megalopolis. Dawsey had the full sanction of the Freedom Five, the US Government, and numerous other international bodies. And, for about four months, the program worked like a charm. The androids' artificial intelligence were based on that of the originals, with near identical (if mechanically based) power-set loadouts and a state of the art synthetic skin. To a casual glance, you'd never be able to tell the difference between Legacy and his robotic duplicate. The androids stood it at major functions, acted as Wraith when the masked crimefighter shattered her left elbow, and even provided crowd control during the Deadline event.
Then, they disappeared.
Inquests were called immediately. Dawsey was called before a the Senate Appropriations sub-committe, where she was grilled for 3 days by Senator Daniel Ellison. The Freedom Five themselves were subpoenaed, testifying as to their involvement in the project. After the third day of hearings, Sheila tried to apologize to Meredith, but the World's Quickest Woman had no patience for platitudes at this point; she merely shook her head at Dawsey and sped off towards home.
Two days later, Dr. Sheila Dawsey vanished. Her apartment was left untouched; no items were missing and her luggage remained in her hall closet.
That was four years ago. And in that time, no manner of science or sorcery has managed to locate Sheila Dawsey or The Cyber Six anywhere on Earth or in near-space. The only clue remains is footage from a single security camera of Absolute Zero and Dr. Dawsey breaking into an Eaken-Rubendall waste storage facility three months ago. Why? No one seems to yet know...
Villain of the Day: May 16 (Ulcer)
Dr. Matthias Erimond was a noted nuclear physics expert at the top of his field in cold fusion. A jovial fellow, he was noted for his love of bicycling ("I love that feel of coasting down Jerald's Hill through campus."), his inability to keep a smart phone for more than six months at a time ("It just slipped out of my hand...again.), and his awful puns during staff meetings ("...and the bartender tells the neutron, 'For you, no charge!'). His death of a sudden heart attack at age 44 was more than a little shocking, as such, to both his family and his comrades.
More shocking, though? What the medical examiners found during the autopsy. Dr. Erimond's heart was shredded from the inside-out, as if something had literally crawled inside him and started hacking away at the interior of his heart with a kitchen knife.
Which, of course, is exactly what the assassin known as Ulcer did.
Utilizing a hither-to unknown shrinking technology, Ulcer serves as one of the world's top-tier assassins, rarely taking on a job for less than $1m US, often charging astronomical rates. As such, only the most elite, most wealthy, or most well-connected clients ever contact him. Fewer still ever contract with him, leaving Ulcer's appearances rare and often unconnected by law enforcement. GLOBAL has identified at least three other victims matching the death of Dr. Erimond: Michael Hale (a left-wing lobbyist in New York City), Zoe Dagleish (the editor-in-chief of the Sydney AZ Times-Gazette), and Doreen Naumann (a German virologist). In all cases, the victim was pronounced dead of acute heart failure and, upon their autopsy, were found to have their heart mangled from the inside.
Ulcer has been known to track his quarry for over three months prior to striking, learning their lifestyle patterns, favored locations, and daily routines by heart. When the time comes to strike, he activates a molecule-condensing armband to shrink down to microscopic levels before infiltrating his victim's body, typically through food or drink or through an open wound. He then travels through the circulatory system until reaching the heart, whereupon he anchors himself in the left ventricle, increases slightly in size, and then begins hacking away with a nano-edge obsidian blade. Once the victim is dead, Ulcer then beats a hasty escape, only uncompressing his molecular pattern once he's well away from the crime scene.
Ulcer has no known affiliations, nor is his true identity known. However, the high profile of his targets suggest that some greater entity--perhaps TALOS, The Annihilationists, or a governmental entity--might be funding his work. Were someone to finally track down the microscopic killer, they may be able to trace his payment all the way back to the darkest dealings of the criminal underworld.
Villain of the Day: May 17 (Hydragyrum)
The being that refers to itself as Hydragyrum may have been human once, though every known appearance of the creature seems to have every indication to the contrary.
Discovered in the ruins of Fort Adamant by excavators after the fort was destroyed during the OblivAeon crisis, Hydragyrum was first spotted as a mobile pool of silvery goo that seemed to chase after various recovery workers. One such worker, Ben Lamani, wasn't quite fast enough to get away, as an extruded pseudopod wrapped around his ankle, shattering it effortlessly in a gruesome compound fracture. However, as Ben's blood flowed into the pool, it did something most unexpected: It stood up.
Before security and military forces could respond to Ben's screaming, though, Hydragyrum had utterly disappeared, flowing through some crack or fissure in the ruined base. Fearing that Progeny had made its return--a possibility that was roundly dismissed upon further inspection--a full battalion of troops were mobilized, only to find an unconscious Ben Lamani in a pool of blood.
Numerous studies were run on Ben during his ensuing hospital stay, with analysis providing some degree of answers. Residual Hydragyrum tissue found in Ben's blood stream seems to indicate that the creature is something of a cross between a biologically-engineered protoplasm similar to human stem cell tissue and a nanite array with a structure reminiscent of Omnitron's assault drones. Ben himself seemed unharmed--the residual tissue was located and removed with little difficulty--and he was able to make a full recovery.
Three weeks later, he disappeared.
Several investigative bodies including the Sentinels of Freedom have begun a manhunt for Ben Lamani, to little avail. None of his friends or family seemd to have any indication of where he might have gone, but the superheroic community has begun to fear the worst: for whatever reason, Ben has been taken by Hydragyrum. What the creature wants with him and where the pair are now remain to be seen.