The Big Villains Thread

Games Sentinel Comics RPG
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Villain of the Day:  February 19 (The Financier)

Much has been made over the years about corporate tax shelters and the ability for persons of significant wealth to store their assets overseas, dodging taxation in their home nations.  Offshore accounts have often been the realm of the proverbial 1%...but now?  The assets of known supervillains are left in the hands of The Financier.

None know his true identity; The Financier works only through proxies and functionaries.  After achieving a certain level of wealth and status within the global community, a villain might receive a cell phone call from an unregistered number, with its international code designated in the Cayman Islands.  The call is only made once; a hang-up, a dropped call, or a refusal of service blacklists that villain in perpetuity.  However, upon acceptance of the offer, a meeting is set, often outside the United States in an area known for its poor security and easily-bribable police force.

The Financier provides three primary services for his clients:  1) wealth storage/investment, 2) money laundering and fencing, and 3) financing options to villains in need of capital.  Known to be a brilliant investor with a metahuman-level intellect, The Financier offers attractive rates and a method for villains to offload wealth into secured accounts that are considered to be among the worlds' most secure.  In the case of non-liquid capital, such as stolen items, The Financier curates one of the most heavily guarded "freeport" warehouses on Earth, accessible only by a thrice-daily changing password and biometrically linked security measures.  Finally, for those villains on the run or in need of a fresh start, the Financier offers liquid capital with most amenble terms, often based on a percentage of the villain's future take or upon the completion of specific operations necessary to maintain a certain investment.  

To date the only information currently available on The Financier has come from Vabanque, following his capture (and subsequent release) during a heist at a French casino resort.  Since that day, Vabanque has become even more desperate, pursuing larger and larger targets; could it be that he has been cut off by The Financier, or is the card-sharp finding himself owing a debt he can never repay?

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Villain of the Day:  February 20 (Stampede)

Bettina Szilard always loved animals; she just never pictured that they'd be so useful to making her wealthy.

A zoologist at the Nahampoana Game Preserve on the island of Madagascar, Szilard was continually stymied by poachers, government interference, and an overall lack of funding.  In the face of numerous natural disasters and conflicts, monetary donations to the game preserve were quickly dwindling, not only was Bettina's job in deep jeopardy, but also the whole of the preserve.  

Bettina, though, had a plan.  While outside observers were always impressed by her affinity with animals, few knew the truth of the matter:  Bettina Szilard was an Omega, capable of not only communing with, but also conjuring various animals from nowhere.  In her day job, she limited these powers towards calming animals, easing animals' pain or distress, and genuinely making animals feel good.  But, through her animal friends, Bettina saw the opportunity to procure the funding she needed.

The announcement of a $100,000 gift to Nahampoana very neatly coincided with the first appearance of the masked villain known as Stampede.  Days prior, Stampede charged through one of the branches of the First Bank of Toliara on the back of a rhino, with other animals in tow to haul away the ill-gotten gains.  Within two weeks, another $50,000 gift arrived...neatly coinciding with a Stampede appearance at a resort casino and hotel.

Naturally, the link between Stampede and the game preserve was easily found by investigators and Bettina/Stampede soon found herself on the run.  Unfortunately, as The Naturalist has been known to say, the most dangerous animals are cornered beasts.  Stampede has been on the run since, making it first to the African mainland, then heading into the depths of the Central African jungles.  Stampede remains at large, only occasionally popping up in Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Central African Republic.  In all cases, she raids supply houses--particularly of known poachers or even legitimate hunters, often destroying such bases and stealing whatever supplies she can carry off.  Stampede's most daring raid in recent years has been on a military encampment along the border between the CAR and South Sudan, though her motives there are quite unclear...

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Villain of the Day:  February 21 (Masquerade)

With the increasing number of metahumans worldwide and the effective destruction of FILTER as a solvent organization, Interpol has had to steadily increase their efforts regarding metahuman crimes.  While world-threatening supervillains and criminal syndicates have typically fallen to the Sentinels of Freedom--despite increasing international friction--many 'lone gunman' metahumans have been relegated to more conventional law enforcement.  Chief among these is the shapeshifting figure known as Masquerade, currently sitting at #1 on Interpol's Most Wanted Metahumans list.

Little is truly known about Masquerade, beyond a few facts and a degree of conjecture.  Masquerade first appeared on the scene during a European Union conference in Berlin.  Vice-Attache Franz Biedermann made a stunning reversal during an EU summit meeting, forming a coalition against an arms-proliferation treaty.  This was particularly notable as the German position to date had been one of non-proliferation, hoping to stabilize Eastern Europe.  After the vote, however, Biedermann was found hanged in his hotel suite.  The mysterious figure posing as Biedermann?  Nowhere to be found.  However, even after a reconvenement of the conference, a pro-proliferation coalition managed to filibuster the vote, leaving no arms treaty in place.

Masquerade surfaced again at an MI5 sting operation, posing as a British Intelligence officer.  This time, they tipped off a series of Libyan terrorists as to the identity of several MI5 agents, leading to fourteen casualties and a terrorist organization now in possession of six long-range ballistic missiles.  Similar other incidents have occurred worldwide, with numerous countries' intelligence agencies left stymied by Masquerade's actions.

Secretary General of Interpol Morgann Fevre currently has a full team of investigators looking into Masquerade's crimes, but to little avail.  None know Masquerade's true identity or even their gender.  Fevre believes that Masquerade comes from Southern Italy or Corsica, as on two several occasions, a talisman known as Saint Lucy's Eye--the shell of the turban snail--have been left in sites known to have been infiltrated by Masquerade.  This has been corroborated by one occasion in which a Polish diplomat (who was later discovered to be Masquerade) was overheard humming a Corsican folk song; this was noted primarily due to the strange, polyphonic melody.  In both cases, these would fit the general locale of Masquerade's actions; all have been in either continental Europe or in Northern Africa.

To date, Masquerade is a ghost in the wind.  After all, how do you locate someone who literally has every face imaginable?

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That's far more interesting than what your average face-stealing supervillain tends to get up to. :)

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Gotta wonder what their objective is beyond causing pure chaos, if there is anything.

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Villain of the Day:  February 22 (Eliot Marklund and Nautilus Industries)

"What can the man who has it all do for you?"  So opens one of the most famous advertisements for Nautilus Industries, one of the world's newest think-tanks and design firms.  Technology magnate Eliot Marklund, sitting in front of a fireplace, holding a glass of scotch, invites the viewers into his world of jet-skis, beautiful women, clean lines, and high adventure.  To date, he ranks among the most favorably viewed CEOs and executives, with a charismatic smile and a keen mind for negotiation and persuasion.  Born to an old-money family in Britain, Marklund had all the trappings and wit of a suave English gentlemen.  

Marklund founded Nautilus two years ago, personally headhunting the best designers, engineers, scientists, and technicians from the world over to engage in a series of high concept think-tanks.  With Marklund at their head, the group began setting forth a progressive design on the world:  free clean energy, high-speed global infrastructure, short-range inanimate telepotation-based shipping solutions, and biologically-enhanced farms.  While much of the think-tank's concepts were pipe dreams, enough of them were attainable enough that, when Marklund announced his departure from the CIO position at the Eaken-Rubendall Laboratories, it came as no surprise that he promptly founded Nautilus and caused an exodus to his new flagship venture.

Nautilus's primary facility is a privately-owned island in the Caribbean, about 40 miles northeast of Hispaniola.  Nautilus has literally become a self-sustaining facility unto itself, with housing, numerous amenities, and the finest in laboratory and work-station facilities, with Marklund himself living in a palatial apartment high atop the island's central mountain, with the occasional visitors to Nautilus residing in the relative equivalent of a four-starred hotel just off the laboratory campus.  Marklund's employees eat and live for free at Nautilus, with their (particularly substantial) pay deposited into tax-sheltered offshore accounts for their private use.  The myriad patents and copyrights now held by Nautilus have made Marklund and its silent angel investors immensely wealthy, with Nautilus' net worth approaching the trillion dollar mark.

Many have begun to question, however:  what exactly does Nautilus do?  While the Nautilus logo appears on few consumer products, Nautilus caters primarily to the world's governments, providing their phenomenal technological innovations at a premium price.  Of particular concern--particularly from scientists within Nautilus itself--has been an increasing focus on dimensional folding and extraction of energy from spaces outside of the current dimensional paradigm.  Even the most favored visitors to Nautilus are kept from visiting Design Bay L, wherein the strangest research is said to take place...

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Villain of the Day:  February 23 (Wayang, The Puppet Man)

The art of glove puppetry has always had a special place within Taiwanese Culture.  Dating from the 17th century, puppetry has been used to tell epic tales of heroes, dragons, and other legends throughout time.  Chia-wei Tseng has turned this art form into a thing of horror.

First appearing in Hong Kong, the figure known as Wayang, the Puppet Man emerged on the streets, seeming a mere alley-performer outside of Ms. Yeh's noodle shop.  Children would gather around to watch Tseng's famous puppet shows, following him from place to place, watching shows over and over again.  Ms. Yeh, though, was the first to notice:  the children had begun to mimic the actions that Tseng's puppets took on his ramshackle stage.  The old women went to approach Tseng...only to find her own actions limited, as if someone were pulling along her limbs.  Tseng smiled as she staggered, herky-jerky, back into her noodle shop. 

Those children never returned home.  Within a few weeks, Tseng had a whole series of new puppets.

The Taiwanese National Police Agency immediately began an island-wide investigation.  Children were disappearing at an alarming rate, with sightings of the mysterious Puppet Man attached to each disappearance.  Over time, the division managed to track Wayang to a port warehouse in Keelung City, just north of Taipei.  

Fourteen armed members of Taiwan's storied Fifth Corps entered that warehouse.  Three managed to emerge, their bodies twisted and broken from Wayang's mysterious manipulation.  The others?  Shredded by a seeming legion of puppets, animated by Wayang's power and wielding everything from hypodermic needles and razor blades to forgotten kitchen knives.  Their wood-carved faces each bore the depiction of one of the children Wayang had abducted.  Now, as a legion of construct servents, they serve him...

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I think you changed his name in the middle, from Tseng. >.>

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Chia-Wei Tseng is the actual name of Wayang. Same guy…

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Ugh, I can't read, ignore me. D:

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Villain of the Day:  February 24th (Eidolon)

Within the realm of the ultra-wealthy, there exists a concept known as the "freeport".  Within certain logistical hubs or port cities, freeports serve as massive warehouse repositories where non-liquid assets--art, sculpture, gemstones, precious metal ingots, and the like--are securely held for their owners.  One solitary user at such freeport singley holds more than 3,000 unique art pieces from the world's great masters; by comparison, the British National Gallery holds only approximately 2,300 unique art pieces.

Transactions made in a freeport are made effectively tax-free--taxes are only paid by the owner upon their withdrawal from the freeport itself--which makes freeports an ideal place to do business for the financially elite.  Such warehouses have the finest in the world's security--biometric locks, vibration-sensitive walls, and titanium-alloy vault walls--and their use certainly does not come cheaply.  Average yearly cost of a 10' by 10' room in a freeport is around $20,000 US.

Eidolon robs freeports.

Born Anja Golic outside of Zagreb, Croatia, Eidolon was raised on the streets by a borderline-alcoholic mother who lost her husband during the Bosnian conflict in the late 1990s.  Growing up, Anja quickly found herself frustrated with her lot in life.  So close to the Adriatic coast, she could easily watch Europe's elite cavort and enjoy the coastal resorts.  They flung their money around with aplomb; they never knew hunger or fear or warfare.  They only knew luxury and wealth...and Anja was ready to take it from them.

For years, Anja had practiced as a pickpocket, but only as a teenager did her metahuman abilities develop. Anja found herself with the ability to shift her atomic structure into a separate dimension, becoming translucent and effectively able to phase through solid objects.  Over time, she found that she was further able to disrupt electrical and electronic flow, functionally serving as a living EMP generator who could disable electronics merely by touching them.  

Anja spent three years in the Croatian military's engineering corps, learning basic combat skills as well as systemic-engineering.  After this, her plans began in earnest.

First Le Freeport Luxembourg; that netted her over $15m in gemstones, as well as five pieces of Renaissance era art.  Next came Zurich and Geneva:  another $8m in precious metals, a state-of-the-art concept car from Mercedes-Benz, and a series of small sculptures dating back to the Etruscans.  

Eidolon shows no signs of stopping, having been sighted across Europe, the United States, in Japan, and in Hong Kong.  She has only been confronted three times; upon each occasion, Eidolon has managed to take down multiple armed combatants, many of whom died of internal trauma, as Eidolon would phase back into reality, literally grasping their heart or other internal organs.  The world's freeports have stepped up security across the board, increasing both passive and active security measures, even as their clients have started to pull out.  

However, to date, Eidolon has targeted and successfully robbed no less than 12 separate freeports across the world.  While she shows no signs of stopping, her efforts are beginning to draw attention...

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Villain of the Day:  February 25th  (Komodo)

The villain known as Komodo isn't a complicated man.  In fact, he's barely a man.

Komodo grew up in the jungles of Indonesia, on the island of Gili Motang.  As an apex predator, he spent the majority of his time crawling through the underbrush, ambushing birds, mammals, and other creatures he could sneak up on....just like any other lizard.  

Human, however, was a particularly tasty treat.  While he'd only ever manage to eat human twice--once from a dead hiker, having fallen while climbing up a steep hill; once more from a small child, lost in the depths of the jungle--the sweet, sweet taste of human flesh consumed his mind.  Surely, there could be a way to have more.

Had this particular komodo dragon continued on its current course, it surely would have been killed by the residents of Gili Motang, as it had encroached closer and closer to civilization, in search of an easy meal.  However, Isoflux Alpha had something to say about that.

While still digesting the remains of the two humans, the creature found itself in a pool rife with the mysterious chemicals, and quickly began a strange evolution.  The DNA therein blended with his own, rewriting his basic genetic structure and turning him into a man-sized, bipedal creature with an expanding intelligence.  Within weeks, Komodo could speak and reason...and hunt.

Indonesian authorities attempted to track down the killer creature, but to little avail, primarily because Komodo had already left.  Having met with a strange man from a place called South Africa, Komodo found himself on the Indian subcontinent, serving as a personal bodyguard for this Dr. Laurent, and being fed all the dead man-flesh  he could eat.  

As a combatant, Komodo is particularly dangerous, with superhuman strength, a scaled hide, a lashing tail, and a lethal bite.  Two glands within Komodo's jaw secrete toxic proteins making his bite particularly venomous, but also difficult to heal, as the proteins act as natural anticoagulants.  Many of Komodo's victims have outright bled to death, even after Komodo himself has retreated.  He is utterly loyal to Laurent, though Komodo is particularly cunning and is always on the lookout for a better offer...

 

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Villain of the Day:  February 26 (Leopard Walks Over Glass, the Jomo Darkala)

Daga is a tiny town nestled in the Bhutan Himalayas, home to just over a thousand souls.  Or, at least it was.

The patron spirit of Daga for centuries has been the Jomo Darkala:  a force represented in sculpture by a black-necked crane, its wings spread wide as if about to take flight.  The Jomo Darkala supposedly brought temperate weather, health and success to the villagers, and safety to the town itself. As the town's patron spirit, the local Shaolin temple revered the black-necked crane, using it as a precept for the education of the martial arts.  Within the temple proper, the statuary of the Buddha with the crane alight upon his palm served as a sanctuary of peace and safety for all.

Little did the populace know, but the actual spirit of the Jomo Darkala was inherently tied to that statuary.  A primal force dating back milennia, the Jomo Darkala traded its physical body for a step towards enlightenment, literally on the hand of the Buddha, where it could guide the people of Daga towards nirvana.

Then came the stranger.  A surly, goateed man, he called himself Leopard in Snow.  He claimed to want to train at the temple, offering reverence to the Buddha and to the temple master.  However, it quickly became apparent that Leopard in Snow wanted much more than simple sparring partners.  His mastery of Wing Chun was unsurpassed and he defeated even the most veteran monastics with ease.  "More!" he bellowed, "Have you none better?!"  

The grand-master of the temple--a stern, wizened man who had taken a vow of silence--stepped forward, his bamboo staff a blur of motion.  Grimacing, Leopard in Snow reached forward, snapped the staff in twain, and flung the grand-master through a display cabinet before the Buddha.  Injured, the grand-master called out to the Jomo Darkala for aid; amazingly, the spirit rose from the statuary and made to inhabit the old man's body....until Leopard in Snow interposed himself.  He grasped the spirit with a Phantom Palm technique, drawing it into himself.  For what seemed like hours--yet took only seconds--Leopard in Snow's consciousness fought with the Jomo Darkala.  Eventually, the surly stranger bested the defender spirit, subjugating it and taking its power for its own.

Having stolen the spirit's power, Leopard in Snow stepped forward over the shattered display cabinet, slew the grand-master with his bare hands, and left the broken body at the sundered Buddha's feet.  Dubbing himself Leopard Walks Over Glass, the stranger left as quickly as he came, with Daga burning behind him.

Leopard Walks Over Glass wanders the Earth, seeking mastery over all martial and spiritual arts.  While he is not a magician, per se, the forces he commands border on the supernatural, and his mastery of Wing Chun martial arts is unparalleled.  He craves power and mastery, and is eager to challenge himself against any who might prove a worthy combatant.  He cares little for wealth or political power; rather, he strives for personal mastery and will stop at nothing to gain that perfection.

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Now there's a villain for you! :D

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Villain of the Day: February 27 (Apollyon, The Trumpet of Revelation)

"Lord, make me an instrument of war.  Where there is blasphemy, let me reap blood.  Where there is impiety, let me bring wrath.  Where there is doubt, let me command.  Where there is deviation, may I bring rapture.  And where there is no faith, eternal night."

The man now calling himself Apollyon did not begin as the zealot he is now.   Growing up, Jozef Anton was raised in a strict Catholic household, attending mass thrice-weekly and serving as an altar boy, a Eucharistic minister, and even as a lay-priest.  While strict, his faith was wholesome--he was a believer in peace, mercy, and forgiveness.  As an adult, Jozef maintained his faith, becoming a theology teacher at a parochial school in Trieste, on the border of Italy and Slovenia.  

As OblivAeon first manifested in the skies over the Mediterranean, Jozef was fully convinced that the Biblical apocalypse was upon him.  As heroes and scions clashed over the Adriatic, as Basilica of St. Peter's shook and crumbled, Jozef prayed for the forgiveness of this world.  Something, somewhere answered his prayers.

As Apollyon, Jozef is absolutely convinced that the apocalypse, as delineated in the Book of Revelations and several apocryphal documents, has begun, and it is his role to act as of the herald of the impending Four Horsemen.  As such, he began traveling the world in naught but a simple brown cassock and a crown of thorns.  While inhumanly strong, Apollyon's true power comes from a red-orange nimbus of energy that allows him some degree of levitation, increased toughness and durability, and the ability to lash out with searing blasts of energy.  After a raid on a medieval-era church in France, Apollyon has been seen wielding a barbed scourge as well as a spiked censer on a long chain, both of which have been known to cause wounds that bleed profusely and are notoriously hard to mend.

One of Apollyon's stated goals has been the utter annihilation of all non-Christian faiths, as well as the forced conversion or destruction of groups that actively stand against religion.  He has attacked Islamic countries on numerous occasions, and came close to overthrowing Jerusalem, before being driven back by the Israeli Military, several international heroes, and Project: Jericho.  Apollyon is labeled by nearly every major government on Earth as a terrorist, though certain extremist Christian groups have, in fact, offered Apollyon safe-harbor, deludedly believing in his vision of apocalypse and a Christian ascendency.

With his self-professed faith, Fanatic was among the first heroes consulted when Apollyon emerged in Istanbul, assaulting the remains of the Hagia Sophia.  However, while she was quick to fight against such a villain that would twist the words of her faith, it quickly became apparent that his own abilities bore no similarity to her own.  Some magically-attuned heroes have detected a degree of Void energy emanating from Apollyon, though none have had the opportunity to investigate this further.

With the quickly escalating metahuman arms race in the Middle East, it may well be a Christian terrorist that ignites the world into war.  And that's just what he wants...

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Villain of the Day:  February 28 (The Annihilationists)

Some men just want to watch the world burn.  The Annihilationists have a front row seat to the inferno.

A cabal of 5 enigmatic plutocrats from across the world, The Annihilationists have a deep-seated belief that the world is overdue for its destruction.  Between the Celestial Tribunal, Baron Blade's Terralunar Beam, Deadline's incursion, and eventually OblivAeon, this group of individuals believe that humanity has fully run its course and deserves nothing more than annihilation.  In the past, they have been satisfied in watching the world slowly move towards entropy; but now, they have begun to mobilize their resources towards making the apocalypse into a reality.

Not much is known about the true identities of The Annihilationists.  At least one is an American industrialist, while at least one other is a high-ranking political figure from either Russia or Eastern Europe.  The five Annihilationists only gather once per year at The Refuge--a massive vault/bunker built beneath one of the Austrian Alps--to provide in-person updates as to their progress in destroying all life on Earth and to survey the castle that will be their final home and their tomb.  Two of them have no explicit metahuman abilities, while at least one is capable of discordian sorcery.

Having watched so many failed apocalypses, The Annihilationists have begun to provide subtle manipulations necessary to bring about mankind's downfall.  While in the past, this might have been something along the lines of trying to acquire and activate the terralunar impulsion beam, their machinations have become much more discreet.  Over the past 15 years, The Annihilationists have utilized their status, wealth, and position within society to orchestrate a global metahuman conflict capable of devastating the globe.  They act through proxies, such as Dr. Emershan Laurent, or field operatives such as Masquerade.  To each these, they have promised a seat within The Refuge, whereupon they will live like kings while the remainder of Earth burns.

Currently, The Annihilationists' global chess board is not quite set.  While the Middle East has become a volatile powder keg, the United States grapples with internal strife, and the European Union struggles with general security, The Annihilationists are nothing if not thorough.  They want armageddon, not a mere battle or even a world war.  In time, only a few pieces will remain before the world plunges into global conflict, with metahuman soldiers entering an unlimited, nuclear/biological/chemical battlefield.  And on that day, The Annihilationists will retire to their Refuge and watch the world burn.

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This brings to an end the second month of our Villains of the Day series.

Next month, it's Mystic characters for March!  Villains with sorcerous, arcane, eldritch, or occult powers and origins.

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Welcome to March:  Home of the Mystic, occult, arcane and outright weird.

*     *     *     *     *

Villain of the Day:  March 1 (Mad-Man)

Erikson Sanitarium for the Mentally Disturbed has a poor reputation.  As the premier mental health services facility in Rook City, the Sanitarium is torn between serving as an incarceration ward for the most violently-psychotic criminals and as a geniune service for those in need of mental-health assistance.  While there is a stigma for some to receive therapy or counseling from Erikson Sanitarium, the romanesque building looms over the trees of Overbrook State Forest, ever watching over Rook City below.  Its labyrinthine halls are home to many who have lost hope, both inmate and doctor alike.

Enter one Dr. Nelson Samuels.  A doctor of psychiatry, he served for years as one of Erikson's premier doctors, aiding the mentally ill for years.  Samuels specialized in schizophrenic disorders, often working with the elderly and with patients who were indefinitely institutionalized.  One of the Samuels' latter patients was Zachary Cooper.  After a harrowing (and quite enigmatic) encounter in the swamps outside of Rook City, Zachary had snapped, his personality vacillating between numerous fragments.  Zachary's only outlet?  His art, which was one Zachary's few passions before that fateful encounter.

None know exactly what happened to Dr. Samuels.  Some thought that the stress of his position, coupled with some home-life stressors, finally caused him to break.  As with most things, the truth is much stranger.  Latent within Cooper's art were the fragments of an ancient ritual, with arcane symbols and words to an incantation scattered across countless sketches and paintings.

Fleeing Erikson Sanitarium with Cooper's art, Dr. Samuels next emerged in the midst of Rook City mall.  Anyone who met his gaze was flung into a headlong, slavering madness.  When Rook City police finally managed to regain control of the mall, four people were dead and countless others injured from the fracas.  Seven other, similar incidents have struck, each time the Mad-Man leaving nothing but chaos and insanity in his wake.

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A memetic ritual hidden in art! Great idea! :D

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Villain of the Day:  March 2 (The Helicopter Dead of St. Joseph's Parish)

The town of Derry, Pennsylvania is a town living in trauma.  To drive through the town now, you'd find mainly a series of run-down industrial plants, some apartments bordering on tenements, and the Catholic Church of St. Joseph nestled in among the foothills of the Laurel Mountains.  The streets are quiet, with few out and about, simply because there is so little remaining to Derry.

In 1978, this was not the case.  In 1978, Derry was a bustling town, eager to celebrate its annual Labor Day celebration with a parade featuring the the Derry Trojan Marching Band and a festival, featuring games, carnival food, and rides.  The featured attraction, however, was the grand giveaway.  At 3pm, a Hughes 269C civilian helicopter took off from the local Latrobe Airport, with a load of ping-pong balls, set to drop into the St. Joseph's Parish parking lot.  Colored balls within the sea of white, represented a range of prizes from a new Atari 2600 game system to a color TV to $500 cash.  At 3:18, the helicopter arrived, hovering over the mass of eagerly awaiting revelers.

At 3:19, the helicopter plunged into the crowd.

The number of dead numbered in the hundreds.  Blood spattered the streets, limbs flew akimbo, and shrapnel from the flaming wreckage scattered across the churchyard.  The screams of the injured and dying filled the town.  For hours, emergency personnel scoured the carnival, placing severed limbs and body parts into plastic bags, unable to tell from whence they came.

To this day, no one knows what caused the plane to crash, but something changed in Derry that day.  The town's economy nose-dived, the citizens began moving away in droves.  Naturally, the Labor Day festival was never held again; rather, Derry began celebrating "Railroad Days" the weekend following.  If someone asked about the incident, no one ever seemed to know what happened.  Or, if they did, they would not speak of it.

The first spectre appeared on Labor Day, 1987.  Standing in the lot at St. Joseph's, the ephemeral form of a little girl, her head split in twain and missing her left arm, stood staring at the night sky.  Only one person engaged her that day--Gerald Berman, a traveler from Rook City.  Gerald's body was found in the first pew at St. Joseph's, his wounds identical to that of the victim.

Since then, the Helicopter Dead of St. Joseph's Parish have struck every year on the evening of Labor Day.  An out-of-towner trapped within Derry is hunted by the undead spirits, their bodies emerging the next day in the pews at St. Joseph's.  

And the citizens of Derry?  They don't want to talk about it.  Just let it go; you wouldn't understand...

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Villain of the Day: March 3 (The Spirit Eater)

Miles Lawson knows the truth of this world. After the events of OblivAeon, it swiftly became apparent to the world that the physical theory of multiverses was, in fact, correct, and that this realm was only one of many. During that event, Miles met himself. Or, rather, a version of himself that was a supervillain known as Wrathbringer. Wrathbringer was a Miles Lawson who was inhabited by a Host spirit of anger, bent on naught but chaos and destruction.

However, that alternate universe Miles maintained enough sanity and control to seek out his prime Earth counterpart for help. However, prime Miles was merely a man.... until the anger spirit took over the alternate-Miles and attacked prime-Miles. Prime-Miles held up his hands in defense, only to start leeching away the intrinsic power of the host spirit.

Within moments, he devoured the anger spirit utterly, leaving a panting, but free, alternate-Miles on his kitchen floor. Miles' eyes flared with power; his place in this world was finally clear. Today, the Spirit-Eater travels the world in search of any victims of possession, regardless of their origin. In all cases, he extracts the Host spirit, imbibing it and using it as a reserve of arcane energy. He has been known to release magical blasts, form illusions, and to influence others' emotions based upon the spirits he has most recently devoured.

And, with each dead Host spirit, his abilities only grow in strength.