Half-Life
Real Name: Trevor Finn, First Appearance: (as Half-Life) Fallout #1, Nov 1970
Background: Tragic, Power Source: Radiation, Archetype: Minion Maker
Personality: Decisive, Principles: Fugitive, Great Power
Status Dice: Green d8, Yellow d8, Red d10. Health: 30 [Green 30-23, Yellow 22-12, Red 11-1]
Qualities: Close Combat d10, Investigation d10, Banter d8, Criminal Underworld d8, Alertness d8, One-Man Army d8
Powers: Nuclear d10, Duplication d10, Vitality d6
Green Abilities:
- Erupt [A]: Attack multiple targets using Nuclear, applying your Min die to each. If you roll doubles, also attack an ally using your Mid die.
- Fission [A]: Create a minion using Duplication. Reference the minion chart to see what size of minion it is. Choose whether it can Attack, Defend, Boost, Hinder, or Overcome. It acts on the start of your turn. You can only use this ability in a situation conducive to how you create minions.
- Radiate [A]: Boost another hero or one of your minions using Nuclear. Either use your Max die, or use your Mid die and make that bonus persistent.
- Principle of the Fugitive [A]: Overcome a problem by directing those pursuing you towards it and use your Max die. You and each of your allies gain a hero point.
- Principle of Great Power [A]: Overcome a situation using one of your highest rated powers and use your Max die. You and each of your allies gain a hero point.
Yellow Abilities:
- Fragmentation [A]: Boost yourself using Duplication. Then, either remove a penalty on yourself or Recover using your Min die.
- Split [A]: Create a minion using Nuclear. Use your Min die. Choose which basic action it can perform. It acts now and at the start of your turns.
- Fissile Duplicates [R]: Whenever one of your bonuses, penalties, or other creation of your powers is destroyed, deal a target damage equal to the roll of your Nuclear die.
Red Abilities
- Dissolution (I): You have no limit on amount of Reactions you can take. Each time you use a Reaction after the first one each turn, take 1 irreducible damage or take a minor twist.
- Point of No Return [A]: Use Nuclear to create a number of d6 minions equal to your Mid die. Choose the one same basic action that they each perform. They all act at the start of your turn.
Out
- Boost an ally by rolling your single Nuclear die.
Our first revised character is the new Half-Life. One thing missing from Venture Comics are heroes who change names, so I figured I might as well have Fission take on a more ominous-sounding name when his powers start to go out of control, creating volatile radioactive duplicates. There is a lot of twist potential there. The basic arc of his story is the same - he’s investigating a suspicious mystery, there’s an explosion of unknown energies that overwhelm him, and his powers go haywire in response. He goes undercover, being chased by criminals and authorities alike, while he tries to clear his name.
Half-Life is not entirely a legal character, because I had a thing I wanted him to do thematically and I struggled and I struggled and I gave up. He has taken Fissile Duplicates as a Radiation power source yellow ability, even though the actual ability only exists in Unknown. It is thematically appropriate so I don’t care, and it sets up his finale where he unleashes a swarm of small minions, then hits everything including those minions with a nuclear blast, and then his minions explode and do even more damage and he probably passes out.
One fun side fact is that Isotope is now an even more direct parallel to Half-Life, having tried to copy his duplicating powers and instead absorbing her workers into a monstrous gestalt.