Board 8 > MI also also rank his Top 52 characters in Scarlet's DC TTRPG.

(+) Yeah! (+)

#22: Tommy Jagger

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/2/6/AAcguBAADmmO.jpg

Jagger was the first very NPC that Brennus got to RP with after he first arrived in Z'onn Z'orr. He was the one that Amanda Waller asked to escort Brennus to his quarters. In this one scene, Jagger demonstrated a lot of his character. We talked about his past as a trainer at Langley. We talked about how he was at the Battle of Metropolis, where he quickly got pulled away when he was injured. He punched the metal wall near my quarters, denting it in a very sudden burst of anger. But Brennus was able to make him smile after the anger. A tiny, quick smile. But a smile nonetheless.

Jagger's anger seems to mostly come from the Battle of Metropolis. His father, Judomaster, was there. And he died. His body is presumably still in Metropolis and Jagger can't seem to get over this. He asked Brennus to recover the body, but the party hasn't made their way to Metropolis yet. So his body sits there and Jagger's anger sits in him, continuing to grow? Jagger would be an excellent field agent, except for the fact that he's been benched by Waller. She sees the anger in him and doesn't want him to get himself or others in danger based on how he reacts. He has been attending some therapy sessions - Amanda Waller required them for him and Brennus gently pushed him to play the game and follow through. I'm not sure if they're helping - Brennus doesn't want to bring them up with Jagger. Maybe I should check in with LaGrieve sometime...

Jagger is also gay. When Brennus first came out, Amanda Waller arranged for Jagger to come talk to Brennus about the experience. Jagger told Brennus this was his one and only chance to talk about this topic and they talked a bit about coming out and how others reacted to it.

Jagger is one of the field trainers, along with Brennus and Data 7. After every training scene (which honestly I should do more often than I do) Brennus approaches Jagger to get his thoughts on the session and chat briefly. I've been close to asking Jagger in these scenes if he'd want to go shower off together... but I always either chicken out of Jagger says something really heavy that would make it really awkward to proposition him immediately after. Maybe some day! And I might get a classic Jagger response: "No."

I mentioned in Marie's write-up that a trusted source told Brennus not to put Marie in the field. It was Jagger. He wouldn't go into the reasoning, nudging Brennus to investigate himself. Turns out he knew the truth - he knew that Waller was getting the pills from Marie so that others wouldn't know she was sick. He was a good soldier and didn't reveal the secret, but also thought it was important enough for others to know.

He's a solid presence in Z'onn Z'orr. Moody but a good soldier. And a good friend for Brennus.

Hint for #21: This character has appeared in at least one art commission.

Fastbreak posted...

I heard they are canceling the HBO Blue Beatle along with everything else. It sucks.

What the fuck

Parch!

Gotta be Parch

Jagger is a lot of fun. He was one of the earlier gay entrees in the DC Universe (though his role was minor), just at the outset of their real push to have a sense of diversity in their characters. I always think, however, that realism is to have gay characters who are more than gay characters. Marvel is an especially big offender at really painting people by just race, gender, sexual orientation these days - I hope I do Jagger justice as being well-rounded.

Gonna guess Pixie.

I can't imagine MI ranks Pixie

Starsa

I'll go with Parch too.

And I agree with Jagger being great. Whether it's with Mento, with Susie, or with any of the complete nonsense that training devolves into, he's just so much fun. He's a serious character, but so serious that sometimes he comes off as cartoony, and I mean that in every positive way possible. If there were a 'Checkmate: The Animated Series' in the same vein as Superman or Batman, Jagger would be the easiest character to place his scenes without losing any of what makes him so good.

Jagger is essentially Roy Kent and he's been great

List of commissioned characters I believe is

Patch
Pixie
Starro
Winged Victory
Snapper
Starsa

Oh! Jiro. This... may be a bit low for Jiro? I'm not sure!

I thought Jiro would flirt with top 20.

Johnbobb posted...

Starsa

She already got ranked!

I'm going off the wall and guessing Leroy

HanOfTheNekos posted...

She already got ranked!

I never claimed to know how to read

#21 - Batman Japan (Jiro Osamu)

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/8/8/AAcguBAADmqU.jpg
When we were creating our Campaign 2 characters, we got to pick four contracts - character's that our PCs have an existing history with, three positive and one negative.

Three of mine were decided very quickly - Count Vertigo was my father so that was an easy one. I quickly loved the idea of Black Canary starting Brennus' training when Varra went to meet with Oliver to return his bow and Hal's lantern to him. And Whisper as Brennus' enemy was obvious. But I couldn't decide on my third positive. I had a couple other characters I considered, but none of them felt right. I ended up messaging scar and asking for help - while Brennus was moving county to country, I wanted someone that he could have been friends with, continued his training with and developed his first crush on. I told scar there was no expectations that this character be gay - it's a rite of passage in my experience for a gay teen to fall in love with his best friend when they're unable to separate platonic and romantic feelings. Scar asked me a couple follow up questions before he gave me Jiro, telling me we would have meet in Tokyo and sent me a picture of him. I added Jiro into my backstory. I was curious who he was in DC lore, but I resisted Googling him, knowing that time would answer my question.

Eventually we made our way to Tokyo. We weren't sure what were going to find - there was a magical dome around the city, isolating it from the world at large. Brennus did some research before coming and found out that Jiro was employeed by Wayne Enterprises in Tokyo. When the party arrived, Brennus suggested going to Wayne Enterprises to try to find some trace of him - but before they could, they found a group of heroes attacking a golden giant. Batman Japan was doing crowd control and told the party to find somewhere save to hide - Brennus offers to help, saying that we're also heroes. But surprise! Well, not really if you read the name in the ranking, but Batman Japan is Jiro!

The other heroes are able to deal with the kaiju and Jiro takes us back to his apartment in the city. He hasn't been Batman Japan for long - his father is a Japanese hero known as Mister Unknown. The suit arrived addressed to him, but Mister Unknown was out of town, unable to return because of the dome, and Jiro decided to don the costume instead, since Tokyo needed heroes.

Jiro became our first ally in the city, filling us in on the current state of things in the city, the issues it's facing. Brennus and Jiro were both happy to see each other again and scar did a great job of making them feel like old friends who were reunited again. Jiro would ask Brennus things like 'Remember when you were super into parkour?', giving them a history together. Jiro was very serious with his role as Batman Japan, but he had an ease with Brennus.

Brennus found out that their family left suddenly because the League of Assassins found them. Jiro tried to get in contact with the family after they left, but Varra answered the phone and told him never to call again before changing their number. The League came after Jiro and his father instead, hoping to use them to find Varra...

Throughout their adventures in Tokyo, Jiro's apartment becaomes a base for the party and their allies that they recruit. Brennus ends up telling Jiro that he is gay, which catches Jiro off guard. Before the final battle for Tokyo, Saoirse urges Brennus to talk to him more and Brennus admits the feelings that he had for Jiro and that seeing him again and brought them back up and he just thought it was fair that Jiro knew. Jiro tells Brennus that he is gay as well, but that the timing isn't right. He takes Brennus hand and the two of them talk about what might have been and what might still be, depending on how things go.

During the final battle, the party fights Izanami, a goddess of Japan who believed she was protecting Japan with the dome when in reality the dome was killing those within. The dome had to come down. Unfortunately in doing so, it led forces of Darkseid to the party's location and they struck down Izanami. She could survive if she bonded with a host - a hosrt who has strong ties to Japan and love for the country. Brennus looks to Jiro, who quickly agrees. He bonds with Izanami, becoming something else. As the party is preparing to leave to return to Z'onn Z'orr, Jiro thanks Brennus for all that he did, and grabs him for a kiss.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/14AM1FwzfsUqnoG28pZFLbKXdonHJIR7h/view

We have a field team focused on contnuing to assist the people of Tokyo, so Brennus can check in on Jiro and how the resistance is going. It's a brutal, battle heavy location, keeping Brennus and Jiro separated for now, although they both are thinking of the other. Where do things go from here? When the war is over, will they get together or are they a story of right person, wrong timing? I'm not entirely sure. Brennus as a character might have no issues waiting around for the war to end to reunite with Jiro again, but it's a harder sell for the player when the campaign likely has years ahead of it still. There are others Brennus has interest in as well, some of which are in Z'onn Z'orr with him still. No matter what, this reunion was important for Brennus to build some confidence in himself and I'm grateful for Jiro for that, no matter what happens next.

Hint for #20 - This character is frequently seen yelling at another NPC.

Man, I was just a few off on my prediction.

I know Jiro's role wasn't huge given he had to share screentime with a massive cast in Tokyo, but I think it will be really interesting to see the fallout of all of your actions in Tokyo and how they bear out with Jiro especially.

Gonna guessJohn Constantine?

Batman Japan is fun times. Perhaps the most straightforward person we met in Japan.

Let's see... It's not true anymore, but for a time, an answer to this question was Ferdinand.

William Knightly

Jiro I thought for sure would be Top 20

No idea for this one

#20 - Arion... I mean, William Knightley

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/0/4/7/AAcguBAADmuX.png

Lord Arion came along to Z'onn Z'orr alongside the rest of Oblivion. Arion is an Atlantean demigod, a Lord of Order and one of the greatest mages of all time. He's over 40,000 years old and has survived multiple Ages of Magic. His attitude is exactly what you would expect an ancient mage to be - extremely boisterous, confident and a bit of an ass!

He quickly became Brennus' magic teacher. He claimed to see the potential for great things in Brennus and for Brennus' ego that all that was needed to have Brennus' loyalty. Brennus could see that he was a rude to others, how could he not? Look at the way Arion would treat Flippy, Oblivion's bartender:

"I know that, in your mind, the quality of a drink seems to hinge less on its contents and more on the number of wood umbrellas you bedeck a mug with, but I assure you I would like something that puts me on my rather prolific and historically-regarded ass, not something that puts splinters in my mouth."
"And let me tell you that, furthermore, this is less a drink and more sugar water with what seems to be a layer of tepid pisswater disguised as beer," Arion says, berating Flippy.
"...and the salt goes on the rim, not the bottom of the glass, you absolute nitwit!"
"If I wanted to listen to a dolphin cackle, I would talk to your mother," spits Arion at Flippy.
"...and for the ninetieth time, if I wanted something to annoy me, I'd have a Shirley Temple. Now, did Lady Luck suck the alcohol out of my drink on the way to my booth or did you just forget that you run a bar for men and not boys?"

Poor Flippy.

Right from the beginning, there were signs that Arion wasn't all that he claimed to be. We had a riddle for Freddy's quest that dealt with Lords of Atlantis and Arion seemed to have a hard time remembering the names of his children. He asked Brennus that when they went to Atlantis to go to his chambers and acquire a book that was left behind. Brennus asked what kind of wards or protections would be on Arion's chambers and his response was there was no way to know what Arion would have done. He quickly corrected himself - there's no way of knowing what protections he would have placed on it 40,000 years ago, he meant. He claimed to be proficient at removing curses, but when Lush brought him a cursed axe he made excuses for why he couldn't get around to fixing it.

Suspicions grew. Was Arion going senile or was this an imposter? Brennus had an idea to have Alice, who can tap into other mage's powers, tap into Arion to see what powers she would gain to see if this gave them a clue. After a failed first attempt (more on that later), they enacted their plan. Before they do, Brennus notices intense magic coming from a brooch that Arion wears, and he asks Alice to instead tap into that. Her hands begin to bleed and she feels overwhelmed by the amount of pure magic she feels. The wounds on her hands look like they were caused from banging against a solid wall repeatedly. Even suspecting Arion wasn't really Arion, Brennus still wanted to trust him. But with this, Alice and Brennus pieced together that the real Arion was trapped inside this pendant - whoever fake Arion was, he was holding Arion prisoner.

Brennus and Arion go back to his quarters for training and Brennus tries to play dumb, claiming to sense something very powerful contained in it, but he overplays his hand. Arion instantly realizes that Brennus knows and quickly begins preparing runes for battle. Fake Arion reveals himself as William Knightley, a mage that was present to battle The Spectre during the Crisis. He was standing next to Arion in the battle, the real Arion, but when they were attacked and scattered, he tried to cast a spell to bind them together, to keep them safe. Instead, he trapped Arion and decided to use Arion's power to bolster his own. He had been pretending to be Arion for a decade now and wasn't about to let me reveal his deception. Before the battle starts, Brennus uses a spell to send a message to Alice... and they fight.

And it's a brutal fight. Turns out, Knightley had an ulterior motive in training Brennus - Knightley has a gift. Whenever Brennus demonstrated a new spell to Knightley, he was able to steal it, learn it for himself. All of Brennus' spells were being used against him and it was all Brennus could do to keep things at a stalemate. Brennus realizes the trick in this battle is to use newer spells that he never demonstrated to Knightley and he begisn to get the upper hand until some bad dice rolls result in Brennus on his back, Knightley atop of him, pummelling him. Brennus casts one last spell - not at Knightley, but at the pendent Arion was trapped within. It cracks, distracting him just as Alice brings reinforcements from within Oblivion. They restrain him, allowing Brennus to smash the pendant, releasing the real Arion.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/0/4/8/AAcguBAADmuY.jpg

Knightley gets imprisoned and the real Arion...

Arion lifts a hand, raising you up into the air, binding you invisibly. "That you have released me is the only reason I do not kill you."
"You are an organization so blinded by foolish self-service that you failed to recognize the charlatan parading his malfeasance beneath your very noses."
"If the Spectre seeks to eradicate the universe of sin, let him begin with the sin of Pride, which hath wrought this wrathful end, now."
Arion turns and looks at you, Brennus. "Camelot falls. Let Oblivion meet oblivion."
And with a wink of silence that oppressively forces itself into your ears like an assault on your eardrums... he teleports away.

I don't know where the real Arion went to. But I can't wait to find him again. Oddly, even though the Arion Brennus knew was always an imposter, he still feels a sense of attachment with the mage. He wants to prove himself to the real Arion and perhaps actually learn from the man he thought he was learning from for all this time.

Hint for #19: Another character who has only appeared in a single session... so far.

Cullen?

I had thought Zoom might rank at this point, but he's got two sessions under his belt. Maybe... Cullen or Bluebird?

Arion's story is one of my favorites so far. Getting to tell it with you was a real treat!

I want to be different and not say Cullen, but the other contenders are like Volcano Man, Ghost Pilot and Drummer Boy since I don't think the Reverse Flash Misty cameo counts.

So I'm also going with Cullen

I think Bluebird is more likely than Cullen, even if Cullen is superficially more on-point.

I really wanted to guess Hardrock but he's been in a few sessions lol

I think Cullen is more likely than Bluebird

Antithesis

Oh wait could it be

Kid Eternity?

Both of those have been in more than one session

And before you say it, so has Mantle Feeder

That feels untrue but I can't remember

#20 - Bluebird (Harper Row)

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/3/4/9/AAcguBAADmzF.png

In Highland Park, we found a city being ran by Talons from the Court of Owls. A teenage boy was being pursued by one of them and we tried to fight the Talon to help him. Turns out, this was no ordinary Talon, but a Prime Talon and we were lucky to get away from him alive. We did, however, get Cullen away and Cullen took us to meet with his sister.

Bluebird was immediately suspicious of us and was short tempered, for legitimate reasons. Turns out, shortly before we arrived, the two of them made an ally with someone named Goatboy. They helped Goatboy get into Chicago, but on the way he betrayed them, leaving her suspicious of any newcomers. I dont believe we ever got specifics on the betrayal, but it makes sense that she would be more cautious. Cullen's more laid back attitude, and the fact that the group saved his life, causes her to relax slightly, even as the two of them bicker as only siblings can. Cullen shares with us that Bluebird is a fangirl of Ted Kord, she did an internship at Kord Industries and afterwards, used her resources to deduce Blue Beetle's secret identity and named herself after him, even if she never has actually met Ted Kord.

While most of the party and Bluebird ended up at ease with one another, Lush was a major exception. When Lush says were the goodest guys youre going to get, Bluebird corrects her grammar, causing Cullen to chime in that Bluebird was a dual major, her second major being in English. Lush and Bluebird keep bickering - Lush warns her that if she belittles her again, Lush will punch her in the face. Bluebird responds by belittling her and well, Lush doesnt believe in empty threats and punches her in the face. Shortly after, Bluebird ends up tackling Lush and punching her until Pepper convinces her to stop.

Bluebird was great by herself, but her relationship with Cullen is what really causes her to stand out. When we offer to take them back to Zonn Zorr with us, Bluebird declines, wanting to stay until her home is safe. But she wants the party to take Cullen with us, so that hell be safe. He, of course, refuses, not wanting to leave his sister alone in Highland Park. Despite how annoyed she acts by Cullen, her love and desire to protect her little brother is apparent.

We should hopefully be going back to Highland Park soon. I cant wait to get more of both Bluebird and Cullen. I can imagine both of them ranking even higher on my list the more we see of them. Highland Park was a great session and a large part of it was because of these two characters.

Hint for #19: This character has a disability.

I'm really surprised Bluebird ranks so highly! I mean, I thought Cullen might rank on the low end, but Bluebird on the high end REALLY surprises me.

I'm going with Bobby Garibaldi for the ne- I mean, I'm going with Oracle. I think this is wrong, but I can't imagine Jesse makes it, too low for Freddy, I, Spyder is a non-starter I would think, and that just leaves Bobby- I mean Oracle.

scarletspeed7 posted...

I'm really surprised Bluebird ranks so highly! I mean, I thought Cullen might rank on the low end, but Bluebird on the high end REALLY surprises me.

I relistened to our scene with Cullen and Bluebird before writing this because I was a little fuzzy on some of the details and my notes for Highland weren't up to my usual and I walked away from it thinking maybe I should have ranked her higher. I really, really liked her.

For the RECORD, Lush was about to put Bluebird in a submission and make that bitch tap, but Pepper responsed before I could. Hmph

Bluebird is my favorite that I haven't met.

Jack Knight ADHD doesn't count as a disability. I don't know if Tina qualifies.

I can't imagine it's Oracle. Has to be a swerve. But who?

Madame Xanadu

I think I got it

if he ranks at all this is Snapper

#19 - Oracle (Barbara Gordon)

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/0/2/AAOJ0pAADY9-.png

I'm not entirely sure how I ended up ranking Oracle higher than both Han and War, but here we are. Actually, I might know how. I think both of them tried to rank characters primarily through the lens of Campaign 2. I have a harder time with that and my rankings are absolutely a mix of both campaigns.

Oracle was THE character in Campaign 1. Without her influence, our entire campaign would have been different in ways that I cant even imagine. She had a relationship with each character and most of them were unique. Best friend, sister, mother figure, lover, reluctant allies as much as she needed us, we all needed her.

Ive been trying to not talk too much about Campaign 1 in these write ups, focusing instead on the current campaign. Oracles role this time around has been more limited. Shes still in Gotham and still trying to lead the resistance there, but Oracles entire schtick is built around tech and her having access to anything she needs. And now she doesnt have that. With the Anti-Life Equation airing wherever it can, she doesnt have access to the internet. Shes limited to what she has on hand and what she already knows. Shes being as resourceful as she can be - Harley Quinns hyenas, Bud and Lou, are part of the resistance and Oracle has strapped go-pros on their heads to see whats happening around the city - but still, shes working with limited resources and has a limit to what she can do.

One of her main resources is Nightwing. But hes going through his own issues as well - Bludhaven was nuked by the Society and Nightwing failed to stop it. He was injured in the attack and blames himself for everyone who died. Hes not the reliable ally he can be while he works through these issues as well, but Oracle is patient and is trying to help him as best she can, while he still is trying to help her with her lack of resources as best he can. They have a sibling relationship with Nightwing, who is quick to tease her and distract her from issues as they come up.

She calls Brennus Little Brennus which annoys Brennus, but makes complete sense based on the context of his kidnapping and Oracles role she played in rescuing him. But despite calling him that, shes never treated him as a kid. Shes honest with him - perhaps too much so when it comes to Varras past. Oracle also was the first to express to Brennus that Varra might have gone back to the League of Assassins - Brennus disagreed but the more weve been learning lately, the more it looks like Oracle was right, unsurprisingly. We should learn not to doubt Oracle.

We have to hide the fact that were allying with The Joker from Oracle. Joker was the one who paralyzed her and left her in a wheelchair. In Campaign 1, the mere mention of the Joker could leave Oracle in a funk for a while. I cant even imagine her reaction if she were to find out whats happening now. And Im certain she will, its just a matter of time. Nightwing knows about Joker and agreed not to tell her, but he wants to meet with the Joker himself. To talk to him and try to figure things out.

Gotham has transitioned well from the entire campaign setting to one of many locations and I think a big part of that is Oracles continued presence. She gives us a sense of familiarity while still dealing with the changes in the city and exploring new things. She gives us a dependable ally. And perhaps well help each other as much as we all did in Campaign 1.

Hint for #18: Brennus has shared a meal with this character.

Parch!

I think you summed up Oracle well. The first campaign required Oracle as a stable central presence for the campaign, but in this sprawling high-stakes sequel, she needed to take the backseat to Amanda Waller. This is the Wall's show this time around.

<3 Babs

Guess Patch

Drinks bitches mean this could be anyone from Oblivion or who showed up. But I'm scratching my head on an actual guess.

I'm going to go left field and say Sivana.

Constantine

#18 - Starman (Thom Kallor)

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/0/5/0/AAOJ0pAADZyS.jpg

Thom has had a variety of roles in our campaign so far. He was initially found in Opal City and appeared to be a Starman, although no one seemed to recognize him and he also had no idea who he was either. When he came back to Zonn Zorr, the uncertainty of who he was caused him to get placed into our holding cells. Saoirse would go to visit with him regularly, getting to know him and realizing hes not a threat. Not physically, at least. As our resident fourth-wall breaker, he might be a bit of a threat to our sanity. His first occurrence of this (as far as I know, I dont know what was said in Opal) was mentioning how Captain Cold and Heat Wave hung out with Lori. Because Captain Cold and Heat Wave in the Arrowverse are played by the main two actors in Prison Break. The main actress in Prison Break also played Lori in Walking Dead. Genius.

Eventually, Saoirse gets Thom released from the cells. Thom joins debriefings regularly where he would chime in, aware of other PCs thoughts - if they typed out what they were thinking about. He often pulls sloppy joes out of somewhere to eat, sometimes sharing them with Brennus. His charm won over the others and when our group headed to Tokyo, he came along with us. He went undercover with another group, becoming in a relationship with Shiny Happy Aquazon. We initially thought this was to win the group over to our side, but I think he ended up forgetting what the mission was and just thought he was a member of the group. We end up overcoming their popularity on Twitter which mean we won the battle that Thom totally knew we were in. We became the most popular thing in Tokyo until Thom ate a burrito and the burrito became the new most popular thing in Tokyo. I know. Tokyo was weird. A good weird. But still weird. Thom fit right in.

Since then, Thom has remained on the Tokyo field team under Doctor Light. She was reluctant to take his nonsense on her team, but she seems to have come to a bit of an understanding with him. Or at the very least, she broke him in, saving his life from a group of Parademons and causing Thom to realize he needs to take things a little more seriously than he had been. Its an odd pairing - potentially our most serious team member alongside the least serious.

Writing this I realize the necessity we have to put Thom Kallor and Jack Knight in a scene together. Lets put the two Starmen with their own quirks in a room together and see what kind of mischief they come up with.

Thom is far from our only light hearted character, but hes one of the most effective ones. He can inject a more carefree attitude into a scene just by being present. And in a world where everything is going to hell, its an attitude that we often find ourselves needing.

Hint for #18: This character is a teenager.

There's a Starboy waiting in the sky.

Guessing Cullen

Thom has faded into the background a little - which is a shame. I don't think anyone really is sitting on top of his sidequest!

Cullen would make sense, but my impression was that you liked Bluebird more than Cullen. So I'll risk guessing Cullen knowing there might be a better option.

Thom has a side quest?

This might be Misty? No idea because I feel like a good chunk of the top 10 is teens and I don't want to guess them yet

Well if Cullen is strong enough off one session to guess this high I'm going to say Billy is too