Board 8 > Inviso Also Also Also Ranks Their Top 52 Characters in Scarlet's DC TTRPG

(+) Yeah! (+)

Are Lex Luthor's whereabouts known at this point?

As far as we know, he's in New York City as Darkseid's right hand man, but we haven't seen him in the flesh yet this campaign.

Fastbreak posted...

I think he meant Susie would kill Squeak if we brought her back

That was my thought, yes.

Someone should post a picture of Mockingbird, for reference.

Lex is like, the driving force behind the Society. He's so antithetical to us and Waller.

But he's also the kind of guy who wouldn't want Darkseid to take over the planet, so

(I tried to attach the image 5 times and it won't let me)

HanOfTheNekos posted...

(I tried to attach the image 5 times and it won't let me)

This sounds like a Mockingbird thing IMO.

No image? Safe to come back to topic

17. Pixie

Yes, a dog that was apparently in only one or two panels of one comic is not only a character in this campaign, but she has also become somewhat of the mascot for the campaign as a whole. Obviously, this placement indicates that shes outdone by a decent number of characters, but for a character whose main interactions with Pepper are yips and barks (while calling Pepper a troll to her face), Id say ranking this high overall is a testament to the quality comic relief Pixie provides whenever she appears. Shes a character who manages to make me laugh, just by the posting of her picture in chat, because that is quite literally her resting bitch face. Pixie absolutely shines as a result, and she just keeps evolving in weird new ways to keep herself fresh as a character.

The funny thing about Pixie is that, while she has become one of THE most prominent characters around Zonn Zorr in terms of sheer content, her origins are those of a non-character we could easily have overlooked without a second thought. We happened to be in Gotham City early in the campaign, and we just happened to be heading towards Arkham Asylum when Lush heard a noise in an alleyway, and we found this dog living in a box; she was living in a cardboard box. Wounded and hungry, Lush picked the dog up and discovered a nametag denoting her as Pixie, belonging to Osgood Pellinger of Bristol Township. While Pixie remains her namelets just say Osgoods probably not gonna get his dog back. Not while Lush has anything to say about it, thats for sure.

Pixies early time in the campaign was that of a timid dog, with very little real-world experience. She was obviously pampered, and life on the streets of Gotham was less-than-ideal, but this couldve been a very simple characterization that wouldnt have stood up all that much. However, it should be noted that we have a talking dog amongst our PCs, and as such, Data 7 has been able to give us a great deal of insight into the various animal personalities living around Zonn Zorr. Based on this list, I would say no animal character has benefitted more from Data 7s presence in the campaign than Pixie, because he has been a major part of her character growth, if not the establishment of her core character in the first place.

For context, other dog characters in the campaign are relatively standard dog archetypes. Rover is a bit stupid, but lovable. Patton and Rex are more stoic and loyal. Even Data is very much playful when hes not trying to act like an emotionless badass fighter. Note: Im not complaining about any of this; sometimes archetypes are common because they just work. But with that in mind, I think it would have been extremely easy to just characterize Pixie as the kind of spoiled brat dog one might expect her to be. Instead, Scarlet made that somewhat out-of-left-field choice to treat Pixie as though she is living in a Downton Abbey-style costume drama, while NO ONE ELSE views the world this way. Its such a BIZARRE character choice that it instinctively makes Pixie stand out as an intriguing character.

Between referring to Lush as marm and Data as sir, while constantly acting as though her poor little heart has been set all aflutter by Datas strong and protective presence, Pixie in the early campaign was just a funny contrast to Datas attitude. Heres the thing: Ermine as a player seems to enjoy the act of RPing this dog character, and largely just play-fighting and roughhousing with the various animal characters around Zonn Zorr. Thats not a criticism, by the way; we all have our personal focuses that tend to be the core of our RP styles (Hombad and doctoring, me and shipping/relationship drama, etc.) Ermines playing of Data actually gives us more time with the animal cast who would otherwise be impossible to interact with on a more personal level (except poor Moozart and Moozerella), so its good that he is interested in having these different scenes with different characters. But if theres one animal in Zonn Zorr that is NOT gonna be down with goofing around and wrestling, its Pixie. Hence the hilarious dichotomy in their priorities.

So, early campaign, you have this uptight, spoiled dog in Pixie (and shes VERY spoiled, given how much Lush dotes on her and keeps her bed baskie nice and tidy), and shes in love with this white knight who turns out to be extremely immature and just wants to goof off all the time. For a long time, this gave Pixie a weird story where shes trying to do all the prim and proper and ladylike things necessary to woo Data (so that hell receive permission from Marm and Osgood to allow them to be wed), and he is having NONE of it. If anything, Datas interactions with Pixie largely revolved around trying to break her out of this mindset where she is a pet and needs to be a pet at all costs, relying on humans for everything because they are her masters. Yeah, Datas not down with that attitude; hes not entirely comfortable with humans after having been experimented on. Thus, the fun clash of ideologies between Pixie and Data.

Now, Pixie has been around long enough in the campaign that her act could have gotten stale, but Scarlet has absolutely evolved her character as the weeks have progressed. Data bashing his head against the wall that is Pixies pre-established worldview has finally cracked her just a little bitbut not necessarily in the way he wanted. Initially, Pixie was this whimpering mess of a dog, operating completely at the whims of those around her. Yet due to Datas influence, she started taking on just a little bit more independence and assertiveness. Once in a while, shed even BARK (namely out of irritation for one of her many roommates in Starro the Cat). That first bark was a big moment for Pixie, let me tell you.

Slowly, but surely, Pixie began to become more assertive, taking on the attitude that while Marm might still be the Queen, that makes her (Pixie) a Princess. Naturally, she began to expect that everyone treat her as such. We had a whole week of Christmas sessions where wed all get to go on little adventures with the various NPCs around Zonn Zorr, yet EVERY time, like clockwork, Pixie would manage to show up. And EVERY time, she would insist on receiving some sort of gift from the PC in question. Its around this time in Pixies story arc that she became a bit more independent of Lush in general, and thus interacted more with Pepper, leading to the aforementioned troll nickname. Pepper, meanwhile, thinks Pixie is just being cute, and constantly refers to her as Pretty Girl. I personally find that to be another fun dichotomy.

But Pixies story really does revolve the most around Data 7, and as she grows more assertive and independent, she also becomes less enamored with Datas immaturity. Despite his constantly efforts to sneak up on her and play around with her, she constantly denies him, saying she wants a man (dog) not a boy (puppy). This, of course, only makes Data ramp up the immaturity, teasing her constantly, while simultaneously spurning her affections. You see, despite Data having a lot of growing up to do, he still isnt immune to the affects of love and romance. Hes in a position where hes caught in multiple romantic entanglements, but Pixie is kind of the option he knows hes SUPPOSED to take. After all, hes a boy dog and shes a bitch (sorry, GIRL dog), so thats what nature intended, right? Welltheir personalities clash, and Data has eyes for another, both male AND of a different species.

This revelationdoes not sit well with Pixie, who was already reeling from Datas misguided efforts to induce jealousy in an attempt to get Pixie to stop being stuck-up and start acting more like him (Data licked Rover, accidentally convincing Pixie that hes gayand a harlot!) So, what does Pixie do? Well, she capitalizes on the wedge already driven between Data and T.C. (Datas cat friend from his time living with Animal Man) to scoop T.C. away and start her own gang to rival Datas Big Troubles. The Passable Persuasions is such a Pixie name for a gang, too. I dont even know whos in the gang, save for Pixie and T.C. (Im sure Lena will end up there eventually), but its just amusing that she has decided to make his life difficult, purely out of spite.

Despite this though, its important to note that Pixie definitely seems to still have feelings for Data. All it takes to get her to swoon, just a bit, is for Data to show her a teensy bit of affection. Granted, shell soon revert to her standoffish self, but we all know that Pixie is just putting on a front to try and come across as tougher than she really is. It might be a bad idea for Data to keep outfitting her with weaponry and salves that help her grow to massive sizes (like he can), though. Just a thought, because those items in the paws of someone who is assuredly not equipped to handle their massive responsibility? Not the smartest of ideas. Still, Pixie is ever-evolving, and continuing to bolster her in this bizarre fashion, by forcing her into a warrior roleextremely interesting to see where this goes.

Hint for #16: Is shorter than 3.5 feet tall.

Rover would be the other revealed Passable Persuasions member! Although I'm not sure he's aware of it...

This certainly is Spirit, I mean, Crazy Shy Shy Crazy Shy Lolita Canary

This is Pixie

Parademon laying facedown on the ground

one of my favorite Pixie moments has been her trying to convince Data 7 that Lush has been teaching her vine powers. So she went to Twiggy, Saoirse's familiar stick, and begged him to grow and move around to sell her lie

she's such a good girl

ScareChan posted...

one of my favorite Pixie moments has been her trying to convince Data 7 that Lush has been teaching her vine powers. So she went to Twiggy, Saoirse's familiar stick, and begged him to grow and move around to sell her lie

That's awesome.

Twiggy is good boy

Passable Persuasions is a wonderful name.

Almost 14 hours without a ranking...

https://i.imgur.com/6P6f8hS.jpg
16. Crazy Shy Lolita Canary

Despite being one of the more recent additions to this list, Canary has made a huge impression on the campaign since her arrival in the early sessions of Tokyo. I dont think Pepper has even interacted with her, aside from a brief greeting upon purchasing some swimwear, yet despite that, Canary still nearly makes it into the top fifteen of my list. Shes just such an eclectic personality who makes for a great source of comic relief, much like Pixie just above her, but Canary edges Pixie out just a little bit, because not only is her role a tiny bit more focused, but also, Canary has the benefit of being part of a multi-session arc where we got to experience her in all of her voiced glory.

Aside from the lengthy storyline of the El Paso/Juarez Convoy, the paired missions to Las Vegas and Tokyo wound up being two of the most epic (and I mean that in the true sense of the term, rather than the internet definition that just replaces awesome) plots weve experienced in the campaign to date. I was personally on the Las Vegas mission, and it holds a special place in my heart as a result, but unlike a lot of missions where Im unfortunately able to attend or listen in, Vegas/Tokyo was always on a Tuesday/Thursday schedule, so I just about witnessed every moment of each. As such, the individual characters introduced in Tokyo, while not personally connected to me, resonate that much more, even before taking into account their time in Zonn Zorr RP.

Canary was a member of the Super Young Team, which was the younger of two factions vying for supremacy in Tokyo. The party wound up choosing to side with Big Science Action (largely because theyre older, more established, and more rational), which meant that, in order to fully cement the team as the top dogs in Tokyo, we needed to not only boost them up, but also tear Super Young Team down. Fortunately, this proved somewhat easy when you consider how much backbiting and animosity existed within the team itselfparticularly between Canary and Aquazon (already ranked).

While Aquazon is very much leader material, wanting to rule over Tokyo like a Taylor Swift of Beyonce cult of pop star personality, Canary is a bizarre construct, created entirely to maximize the Q-score of Super Young Team. Everything about her personality and her design was focus tested to appeal to the largest audience in a way that would create blind devotion and loyalty. She was willing to play second fiddle to Aquazon while Aquazon was the top dog in the city, but Canary always harbored some hidden ambitions to usurp that authority. Everything we got from her character in Tokyo revolved around manipulating social media and the numerous Twitter accounts of Tokyos population (the city was sealed off from the anti-life equation, so all of their tech remained intact), and this led to some quality interactions with the PCs.

Canarys general attitude was that of ooh hoo hoo I am so shy and craaaaaazy, so when the PCs started their ad campaign to try and bolster good will among the populous, she was an easy get. All they needed to do was bolster their profiles as American Hero Speedy (Saoirse), Ashamed Blonde Babysitter (Minerva), Spirit of Gotham (Spirit), Singing Dairy Girl (Bloodfruit), and Marquis Magus Who Isnt Real (Brennus), and suddenly they became exactly the kinds of people that Canary would want to allow in her circle of friends, if only to mooch off of their rising popularity.

Given that the PCs wanted to take Aquazon down a peg, it was easy to rope Canary in by promising to boost her profile and make HER the most prominent face of the Super Young Team. Since Aquazon made a power play to start dating Thom Kallor, Canary fired back by dating Singing Dairy Girl and maximizing their social media outreach. Naturally, Bloodfruit was flattered and fell madly in love with the small fairy, perhaps feeling kinship for the first time since waking up in the tube. But alas, their relationship was not to be; Bloodfruits popularity on Twitter fell, and Canary left her for a burrito. Yes that is exactly what happened, dont question it.

The point is, Canarys obsession with social media and gaining the biggest following possible made her a fun counterpoint to Aquazons sort of vapid ideals, even though both of them are very much in the wrong for how they handle things. Aquazon is a Twitter socialist and all the negatives that entails, but Canary is like the Twitter equivalent of companies trying to be hip by hiring social media managers that try to be the next Wendys Twitter account. We wound up bringing Canary and Aquazon both back to Zonn Zorr, and their rivalry has only intensified as theyre both competing for the same market share. Ultimately though, they both come down to the age-old battle of capital versus labor, as each one focuses on a different aspect of how to appeal to the masses (in the most obvious and exploitative manners possible).

For Canarys part, shes a manipulative little fairy, yes she is. Once granted access to Zonn Zorr, and by extension, the Antarctic city of Castling, her first thought was to recreate her superstore from Tokyo. In and of itself, this would be a cute little quirk to get her established in the city, but much like Vostoks snarky comments whenever we upgrade our base, every week, Canary offers another item up for purchase, complete with an adorable item card trying to guilt us into buying whatever she has up for offer. The items themselves are fun, but as someone who doesnt really make many purchases, Im always more intrigued by the descriptions, because theyre a great source of Canary content.

More than just the special items though, Canary follows the Glengarry Glen Ross rules to the letter: Always Be Craaaaaazy. She will find any excuse imaginable to try and get the PCs to make purchases from her, and while there are certainly times when we try to manipulate her right back (not for free stuff, but just for discounts), ultimately, Canary ends up coming out on top whenever it comes to making money. Shes roommates with Spiritu (aka Spiritu), and despite this, she STILL managed to convince HIM to pay HER money to furnish the bedroom they they BOTH live in together. Shes a ruthless businesswoman, all wrapped up in an adorable little package. Also, Bloodfruit bought a body pillow of Canary. I dont know if thats necessarily relevant, but it is important to note that Canary is not above creating body pillows of herself for lonely weebs (and fairies) to cuddle. All-in-all, shes just a fun character who brings a lot of light-hearted energy to the campaign, even if its not directed specifically towards my character.

Hint for #15: A current member of the Suicide Squad.

Inviso posted...

Shes roommates with Spiritu (aka Spiritu), and despite this, she STILL managed to convince HIM to pay HER money to furnish the bedroom they they BOTH live in together.

She's given him some free stuff too, and fifty dollars because she doesn't really understand how friendship works.

The best part of the body pillow is that it's the size of ten Canaries stacked on top of each other.

Great write-up for Canary, I think it really hits all of the high points of the character! And it's always rewarding when an outsider to another set of sessions is that drawn in.

I'll be bold and guess Nocturna.

Inviso posted...

Bloodfruits popularity on Twitter fell, and Canary left her for a burrito. Yes that is exactly what happened, dont question it.

Still hurts man

Inviso posted...

Also, Bloodfruit bought a body pillow of Canary. I dont know if thats necessarily relevant, but it is important to note that Canary is not above creating body pillows of herself for lonely weebs (and fairies) to cuddle

Look I was told it was normal to buy a full size pillow of your ex and I'm not gonna argue earth customs

Bonny

Oh gee mistah j it shoaw is nice to be ranked on this list

Kid Karnevil

Johnbobb posted...

Look I was told it was normal to buy a full size pillow of your ex and I'm not gonna argue earth customs

:Brennus: :heart: :Bloodfruit:

Oh, it probably is Harley.

I hope it Harley so she beats the other craaaazy lady

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/3/7/7/AAOJ0pAADbkx.png
15. Harley Quinn (Dr. Harleen Quinzel)

You wanna know something funny? Despite being, you know, HARLEY QUINN and all, when she made her appearance in Campaign One, Harley barely made an impact. Thats not a slight against Scarlet, mind youit was just a weird confluence of events where both myself and Johnbobb had a personal investment in Harleys co-leader, Duela Dent, and I think we kinda pulled the rest of our party in that direction as well. So despite being a major villain in the pantheon of DC villains, Harley was relegated to a scene of making Rozetta turn into a skin suit of the Joker, so she (Harley) could make out with him (the role of Joker being portrayed by Fastbreak). Oh, and there was a running gag about Riev trying to figure out who Buds mom was.

Anyway, what Im saying is that, going into Campaign Two, despite having made an appearance in Campaign One, I think Harley was basically a blank slate in terms of our impressions of her. And then we broke into Belle Reve prison, and our first impression of her was Harley being so oblivious to the world around her that Nocturna was able to slip a Suicide Squad bomb bracelet on her without Harley either knowing or caring. She just thought it was a pretty gift of jewelry. But we escaped the prison with her all the same, choosing to take her with us as the Spectre stomped down and destroyed the half of the prison we were trying to escape from. And the funny thing is, just based on her introduction, you might not think she did enough to warrant inclusion on this list, let alone a top fifteen berth. But Harley is one of the biggest examples of a character from outside Zonn Zorr and just CRUSHING it every time she gets an RP scene.

While Scarlet might alter certain characters personalities to make them stand out more in the campaign, Harley Quinn is Harley Quinn, and when it comes to her, you can accept to substitutes. As such, she is the epitome of Chaotic Neutral (dipping her toes occasionally into the Good and Evil ends of the spectrum). Upon arriving in Zonn Zorr, she quickly lassoed Brennus into being her roommate, which is NOT a combination I wouldve expected going into this campaign (impromptu roommate expectation ranking: Xander/Steve > Lush/Snapper/Pixie/Starro > Pepper/Sarah > Rozetta/Susie > Data/Rex/Mr. Stubbs > Saoirse/Starsa > Bloodfruit/Goldilocks > Silhouette/Demon of the Poster > Brennus/Harley > Spirit/Canary > Minerva/Loose Cannon), and soon after that, she began expressing a desire to start using her doctorate degree once more, serving as a secondary therapist, in a makeshift office across the hall from Simon LaGrieve.

Harleys relationship with LaGrieve is contentious in a hilariously one-sided fashion, where she wants to be the big shot psychologist around Zonn Zorr, and LaGrieve really doesnt mind if she takes some of his caseload off his hands. Still, she considers him her ultimate rival, and even went so far at one point as to break into his office, tie him up (poorly, since he got free and spent his time relaxing, while pretending to be captive), and put a sign on his office that said he was on vacation. Now, I feel like tensions might eventually boil over, especially as its so easy for people to get Harley on their good side by accusing LaGrieve of working against her, but at the same time, I feel like LaGrieve is so used to Harleys machinations that hes going to be able to find ways of outmaneuvering her, while still letting her think shes won.

Anyway, Harley has pretty much taken over as the resident psychologist of Zonn Zorr at this point when it comes to diagnosing the PCs, while LaGrieve is still in charge of working through the trauma of our NPCs. As such, Harley has had direct and lengthy interactions with many (not all, but many) of the PCs, with each one featuring a unique sort of flavor. Different personalities require different approaches to therapy, after all. And the thing about Harley is that shes able to take complex and difficult emotions, but because shes not a completely serious character, she breaks those emotions down in a way that makes them less daunting or difficult to deal with. I know that Im either THE player, or at least ONE of the players for whom the campaign is psychologically rough, so having a character like Harley who can serve as a therapist and still lighten the mood is very refreshing. Ive only had one session with her thus far, but it was a session that pulled a lot of weight off my shoulders.

Beyond my own personal experience though, the character who has had the biggest relationship with Harley is definitely Brennus. Theyve had several therapy sessions together, and its led to the toaster metaphor, where Harley somehow managed to work her desire for a brand new toaster into Brennus therapy. She asked him to pick out the toaster that felt most like him, and she used that input to buy a new toaster from Canarys store. But at the same time, she also managed to bullshit her way through a justification about how Brennus is like burnt toast and thats not a bad thing. Its weird, but a funny way of looking at life, and I think it kinda proved that Harleys brand of chaos is a perfect complement to Brennus kind of aloof attitude. They really play well off of one another.

This brings us, however, to the other aspect of Harley Quinn: the fact that shes batshit insane. Harley Quinn crazy might be an insult, but its also not entirely without merit. That insult got bandied about by a nave Jaime Reyes, and naturally, Harley took offense to it. Its not nice to make fun of a persons emotional disordahs, after all. But this led to a brief period of time where Jaime was public enemy number one for Harley, and she even set up a Looney Tunes-esque falling furniture trap to hurt him in retaliation. It didnt work, because Harley got bored of waiting and fell asleep long enough to disable the trapbut the effort was still there.

This became a running gag, getting funnier over time. Alice punched Brennus in the face, and Brennus relayed this to his roommate. Next thing we know Alice has had a piano dropped on her in a LITERAL Looney Tunes gag, and had a concussion for the foreseeable future. Somehow, it didnt cross anyones mind to think that it might be the psychotic clowngirl behind this attack, and Harley managed to shift the blame unto Kid Karnevil, sight unseen. After that though, well, she wouldnt be Harley Quinn if she didnt have an unhealthy fixation on the Joker, now would she? And in an astounding sequence of events, the very next session after we rescued Harley from Belle Reve, we were in Gotham City, and found ourselves unexpected working alongside the Joker himself. Naturally, we didnt see fit to reveal this information to Harley right away, and it wouldnt be until the better part of a year had passed before it finally leaked out.

Basically, between Jokers appearance/allyship, and Harleys furbabies (a pair of hyenas from campaign one named Bud & Lou), we were keeping a LOT of information from her. And eventually, it reached a point where I think people just forgot that we werent telling her things, to avoid confrontation and general Harley insanity. Naturally, it was forgetful Lush who broached the subject. Oh yeah, Brennus team worked with Joker in Gotham that one time. Didnt you know? Harley didnt know, and this was a particularly painful betrayal from her toast bestie, Brennus.

The next time they met up, Harley wanted to show him something on the computer, and even the extremely imperceptive Brennus could see a mechanism attached to the computer chair, which would fire a crossbow bolt squarely through his head if he were to sit down. Yeah, Harleys not subtle, and its wonderful. What we got from there was a great comedic scene of Brennus moving the chair, Harley looking visibly sad that hed thwarted her master plan, Brennus feeling bad about her being sad and moving the chair back, Harleys smile immediately returning, and Brennus triggering the trap from a safe distance. Truly, these two are made for each other in terms of the level of weird, emotional dumbness they both display at times.

Anyway, they talked over what happened, and Brennus smoothed things over by saying he didnt mean to work with Joker (which is true, as Joker was in disguise), and everything was great. Well, it was great until Brennus mentioned Bud & Lou, which led to an IMMEDIATE reaction from the other players in our story discussion channel. That made TWICE in the same day someone revealed a secret to Harley that wed been withholding to try and maintain a semblance of her emotional stability, and at that point, I think we all just threw our hands up and went along with it. It was great, but at least Harley took the new news better. If anything, I think Bud & Lou are itching to find her more than shes itching to find them at this point.

Ultimately, Harley has been a bundle of hyperactive chaos energy, and I havent even mentioned how shes so desperate to be acknowledged as a good therapist that most scenes open with her puppeting a mannequin as her secretary, pretending to be accepting appointments from big names and powerful political figures. Its just a quirk, but even saying it aloud makes me want to see a scene where L-Ron starts working as Harleys receptionist. I think theyd get along swimmingly.

Hint for #14: Has an alter ego.

I think it was Brennus who shifted the blame to Karnevil to protect Harley.

Candice Evergreen

For the record if this was a campaign 1 character ranking, Duela Dent easily would've placed in my top 5

Might've even claimed #1

Has an alter ego?

Mockingbird

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/9/3/6/AAOJ0pAADrVg.jpg

An alter ego...hmm.

Stargirl?

Some Ego Ethan Page

Thinking this one could be Courtney?

Predicting Jaime

Inviso posted...

This became a running gag, getting funnier over time. Alice punched Brennus in the face, and Brennus relayed this to his roommate. Next thing we know Alice has had a piano dropped on her in a LITERAL Looney Tunes gag, and had a concussion for the foreseeable future.

Yeah probably shouldn't mess with Brennus.

ScareChan posted...

Some Ego Ethan Page

Wait, is this a real character?

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/3/0/7/AAOJ0pAADaVj.png
14. Susie Suzie Thompkins

In terms of characters who have just become go-tos for whenever Scarlet just wants to fuck around in RP (which is fun for everyone, really), Susie is right up there, neck and neck with Pixie in terms of overall screentime. And honestly, the reason Susie ranks higher than Pixie is because shes just that little bit more consistently funny when these scenes occur. There are times when Pixie doesnt QUITE land (probably because only two PCs can actually understand her when she speaks), but Susie scenes ALWAYS hit it out of the park. Hell, on top of that, weve brought Susie along as a team member to the ever-popular Vegas mission, so she gets a major boost from that as well.

For Susies origins, the party was initially heading to Calvin City in search of information on the Doom Patrol, and Mentos helmet. Zonn Zorr needed a powerful psychic to help power its psionic shield against Societal incursion, so it seemed like a good choice of locale in which to make our first effort. This turned out to be a literal nightmare, as all of Calvin City had come under the control of a mentally-unstable little girl, whod been given Mentos helmet to amplify her latent, psychic abilities. This is bad enough with someone mature enough to understand the consequences of their actions, but given that level of power to a prepubescent girl, and suddenly you have a situation where a massive, mutated Bugs Bunny is chasing a speedster throughout the city, and the party winds up chased off by an ever-increasing army of Wile E. Coyotes.

Even though I wasnt part of EITHER Susie session to Calvin City, holy shit did she leave a big impression. In one of the larger mindfucks weve experienced in the campaign thus far, the four party members sent to Calvin City found themselves separated and put through their own, personalized psychic hells. Rozetta had constant streams or fire and flames to accompany a perpetual vision of Lex Luthor forcibly kissing Amanda Waller. Taliesin had to stare into the eyes of the sneering face of Mirror Master, the man responsible for his sisters death. Spirit found himself in an operating room, forced to perform surgery on his mentor as his greatest fear of cannibalism reared its ugly head.

But the most memorable scene of all saw Brennus, forced to repeat the same sitcom scene, over and over: deal with his murderous mom and dad portrayed as goofy sitcom parents, Alice trying to force a relationship on him despite his clear lack of desire towards her, and all of this culminated in the Spectre showing up, over and over, to murder everyone is gruesome and creative ways. These scenes stick in the head (and apparently there were more in the works for the rest of the PCs, if they happened to be the ones unfortunate enough to run afoul of Susies mental machinations). Its only because of Taliesins inherent anti-psychic abilities that the group was able to escape their unending torment. It took ages after this session for the group to finally muster the courage to return and finish their job of liberating Calvin City from Susies clutches.

Admittedly, I missed the follow-up session I think, but long story short, we wrenched the Mento helmet away from Susie and Rozetta took the crying girl under her wing, bringing Susie back to Zonn Zorr in a manner not unlike Pepper rooming with Sarah. However, while Pepper viewed Sarah as more of a little sister than anything else, Rozetta quickly adopted the role of mother to an orphaned outcast, and this has impacted Susies development ever since. Now, (and I want to preface this by saying it is in NO way a criticism of Wars playing of Rozetta), you have this sociopathic little girl, and her primary source of familial love and education is an alien who strongly worships the god of death. Its ironic that Rozetta is Saturnian, because shes very much stoking the fires of Susies underlying mental condition by playing it straight and allowing Susie to become more and more absorbed into a world of death and violence.

The thing about Susie is that she has seen into Rozettas mind. Susie is a psychic, and when she wielded Mentos helmet, she saw everything. Shes aware of every last one of Rozettas darkest secrets. But more than that, she knows how to manipulate her adoptive mother. Rozetta came to Earth as a diplomat of Saturn, and after being coopted into the Force of July, she became a brand ambassador into heinous circumstances led to her leaving Earth. Ultimately, Rozetta is a people-pleaser, and she tries extremely hard to keep everyone happy at all costs (again, no insult, especially since this applies to Pepper to a certain extent as well). But if Rozetta wants to keep everyone happy, then all Susie needs to do is play up her own sadness or discomfort, and Rozetta becomes putty in her hands.

Because of this, theres this refusal to acknowledge Susies worst instincts. Rather than address some of the things she does and says in a manner that might help teach her to behave more acceptably in society, Rozetta largely gives Susie carte blanche to do what she wants. I think Susie is knowingly manipulative in this way, playing up some (I think real, but exaggerated) feelings of betrayal and isolation from the Doom Patrol, who treated her like an outcast and a monster. If Susie acts hurt by these emotions, Rozetta would simply be piling onto a sad and frightened girl if she called them into question. As a result, Susie is able to get away with quite a bit of misbehavior, especially since she became aware of Rozettas addiction to Chocos, which she carries with her at all times as a little treat for her Mommy.

Knowing that Susie is special (to put it nicely), Rozetta has engaged in the only solution she can without breaking the trust shes built with her new daughter. If Susie is going to be a sociopath, and calling this out would hurt her, psychologically, then the best option is to direct her sociopathy towards positive pursuits. Thus, a series of teachers have been employed to try and channel that energy, and at least get Susie to exhibit a modicum of control over herself. Father Jesse was a friend of Rozetta from No Mans Land, and hes able to offer Susie spiritual guidance to the point where shes grown to love and respect him (even giving the nickname of Jsse). Granted, Susie is still very much in the camp of worshipping Death, like her mommybut, you know, baby steps.

Catman was another No Mans Lander, and hes able to teach Susie how to best wield weaponry and channel her violent side. Whether with a gun or a knife, Catman has no problem teaching Susie how to kill, exhibiting a similar level of detachment from the concept of life and death that she has. Granted, this relationship has recently come to a close, as Catman is dealing with the violent betrayal of one of his best friends, leaving Susie somewhat adrift and seeking guidance in her violent tendencies. This led to Tommy Jagger, who is still very much by the book and heroic, giving Susie a taste of the police style of confrontation. There is something both extremely unsettling and extremely funny about hearing the voice of a little girl screaming Get the fucking ground! whilst brandishing a gun.

In the time it took me to start this write-up and finish it, Susie seems to have gained another teacher in the form of yet ANOTHER of Rozettas No Mans Land contacts (man, I really messed up by not bringing Tali back): Xander Stray. It turns out that while violence is awesome, Susie is awestruck by the fact that Xander was able to bring down the former Vice President of the United States (in the DC universe, just to be clear. I know youre reading this, FBIby which I mean Eddv.) So now, Susie wants to learn politics, with an end goal of becoming President some day so that she can wield complete and absolute power. Oh Susie, youre such a goofball. Youre never gonna be president. Not because youre a sociopath or anything, but because America sucks at equality and will never elect a woman to the office.

But, theres more to Susie than just her sociopathic tendencies. Some of the scenes that ground Susie in reality stem from the fact that, at heart, she is still a little girl. She loves cats, and there are plenty of cats that roam around Zonn Zorr, sending her heart all aflutter (probably another reason she liked learning from Catman so much). Rozetta even downloaded a bunch of nature documentaries for them to watch together, and Susie gets all excited and childlike when the lions and tigers and whatnot are on-screen. It licked its paw! indeed. Heck, Rozettas a loving mother, and as a shapeshifter, she has even transformed into a massive cat for her daughter to cuddle while she sleeps. Its adorable. Of course, Susie is all too willing to exchange this affection for the feeding of her mothers Choco addiction, pulling the cookies out of her Bloody Jonn Jonzz doll in a total power move. But still, the intent is adorable.

Recently, even though its forless-than-cute reasons, Susie has also formed a bond with fellow child character and Peppers roommate, Sarah Washington. Susie is very aware that Sarah carries the OMAC virus inside her, even though its dormant and otherwise has no effect on her. Because of this, Susie regularly talks about how she wants to use Sarah to infect others and bring about death and destruction, as is the desire of Hronmeer. I do feel just a LITTLE bad for Sarah, that this is her closest friend in Zonn Zorrbut then again, I look at Pepper and her best friend and I think maybe opposites just attract. On a surface level though, it is cute to see them together, and when Susie isnt taking charge and leading Sarah around, shes very protective of her at least, which is nice, since I rarely have time anymore for Sarah RP.

All of that is just around Zonn Zorr, but I do have to give special commendations to Susie for her role in Las Vegas. For whatever reason, we decided to bring this little girl along with us to a wretched hive of scum and villainyand she thrived. From minute one, she adopted the persona of Candice Evergreen, a poor street urchin, to bring down the guards of her enemies and kill them for their access bar codes to infiltrate the city. After we joined forces with the citys Royal Flush Gang (whoits hilarious how often we absolutely destroy those clowns, wherever we go), she proceeded to ply her mommy with alcohol (Rozetta is a notorious lightweight) to get her good and drunk. With mommy out of the picture, Susie kidnapped Squeak and proceeded to IMMEDIATELY assume a position of power within the Olympians gang. She works fast.

Admittedly, Susies best moments in Vegas came early on (well, aside from regularly calling for Squeaks demise), but still, she came in useful in the final battle, when we needed to subdue a paranoid and rampaging speedster. Also, Scar regularly saying Pick me up! with the implication that Susie was alone and calling from a payphone, made for much comedy in how sad it made War. Not Rozetta. WAR.

And with Vegas such a success, Susie is now part of the Society Infiltration Task Force, where she gets to bond with Ramsey, Stargirl, Teloktelar, Paul McCartney himself, and of course, the super stealthy Owlman. I laughed SO fucking hard during a recent scene where Owlman was doing the whole disappear and reappear Batman shtick, only for Susie to yell at Pepper He just walked around you! Genuinely, I laughed for a full minute after that. It was great, and Susies great for those little one-liners. Shes just a really fun addition to the campaign as such a major character.

Hint for #13: Has been wounded, injured, or otherwise attacked by a PC at some point in the campaign.

Sea-Thief

Maniac64 posted...

Wait, is this a real character?

No, sorry

Although we made the joke that the monster being kept in the Georgiadome is an Equated Goldberg, and have had a Hulk Hogan parody character in Major Mayhem

I'm so glad that you included Susie into your infiltration team! It's great.

Mah Jamie

Also yeah this has to be Jaime

...Maaaaaybe KK

Alice

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/8/3/AAOJ0pAADW_H.png
13. Bonny Hoffman

As I mentioned way back when I did my write-up for Carmen Leno, I mentioned how in Campaign One, Carmen quickly became the favorite half of the Body Doubles among most of the playable characters who interacted with the pair. She was the one who got very badly burned by Tali and required months (in-universe) of recuperation, only for Xander to get sweet on her and double time poor Peyton Riley by taking Carmen to a fancy party as his date. The point is, Carmen was in the spotlight, and Bonny rapidly fell into her shadow, to the point where I genuinely cant remember any Bonny-specific character moments from our time in No Mans Land.

It's because of this that I actually find Bonny in this campaign to be so interesting. I wasnt there when she was picked up and brought to Zonn Zorr as a prisoner (I missed pretty much the entire Dayton storyline, which makes some of my favorite Pepper relationships REALLY funny), but one day, she and Carmen just showed up in Holding. And I guess it was a combination of so few of us actually going down to talk to the prisoners, and Pepper being kinda in her fledgling I want to infiltrate the Society, so I should try getting in good with them phase, but I decided to go down and start up a conversation. We already knew the Body Doubles from No Mans Land, so it seemed like an oversight that wed ignore them so heavily.

However, even though Carmens the big draw of the duo, shes not exactly the kind of person Pepper would be drawn to. Carmens boisterous and a little bit of a chaos gremlin in her own right, and Pepper has a pretty big stick up her ass, all things considered. So, when it came time to meet the Body Doubles, while Pepper interacted with them both, she was far more drawn to the more normal and rational of the pair. In a lot of ways, Bonny is like what Pepper might have become if she werent raised in such an inherently upstanding household (her fathers political opinions notwithstanding). Shes not EVIL per say, but shes a complete mercenary, and she has no qualms with doing bad things if they help her complete a mission and get paid. Pepper still has somewhat of a line she wont cross, but that line blurs with every new day of survival in the apocalypse.

Anyway, Pepper started talking with Bonny, and at first it was a little cagey. I mean, Pepper was new to the whole infiltration concept, so she went to Bonny with an offer of You know, Im not entahrely happy around here, and Ah math be looking for an in with the Socahety. Bonny opened up a little bit at this and gave some information. But it was during this conversation that Pepper got to understand Bonnys mindset for being a villain. Shes not one of those people whos an unreasonable zealot in their evil beliefs, nor is she someone who just does crime because they like causing mayhem and committing atrocities. No, Bonny is absolutely, 100% just in it for the moneyand those are the kinds of criminals you can actually bond with somewhat and get on the same page with. Sure, they might never be completely trustworthy, since their loyalty can be boughtbut at least you know they have a price and nothing they do is personal.

Admittedly, I really need to talk with Bonny more, because I feel awful that shes been left hanging for as long as she has, but after that initial interactionwhere Pepper both tried to convince her to join Checkmate AND tried to convince her that she (Pepper) was interested in abandoning CheckmatePepper is sloppyshes had a few further interactions. You see, Bonny and Carmen were captured together, but put in separate cells, and this has led to some maddening circumstances for Bonny. Carmen feels compelled to speak louder and be as obnoxious as possible to keep Bonnys attention, and Bonny cant physically go over and shut her up. Pepper feels Bonnys pain in this regard, and has tried to assuage it on several occasions, via earmuffs, or offering drugs that would at least take one or both of the Body Doubles out of the realm of consciousness for a short while.

It's the personal conversations that Ive found most interesting though, and those are a big reason why I need to get back down to Holding to talk to Bonny. Knowing the history of Campaign One, and knowing that Bonny is the more rational and plan-oriented half of the duo (with Carmen being the more creative, think-on-her-feet type), it almost feels like a meta-commentary on how the Body Doubles have been portrayed. Carmen is the popular one because shes so wild and outgoing, while Bonny is the quiet nerd by comparison, who feels either overshadowed, or just like a disappointment when it comes to crime. She praises a lot of Carmens more outlandish strategies (that have proven successful in the past), while struggling to puff herself up in a similar fashion. Its a subtle and interesting portrayal of a person with low self-esteem, which is actually pretty sad, because I find Bonny really fun and down-to-Earth as a character.

The other thing about Bonny is that her relationship with Carmen is quite interesting to analyze. On the surface, you have relatively straight-laced Bonny regularly showing annoyance towards an uncaring Carmen, who is just irritating for the sake of irritation, it seems. But the second Pepper suggested drugging Carmen, Bonny got really defensive. Shes not stupid, you know. It very much seems like one of those relationships where you have the shy nerdy girl, and the exciting girl brings her out of her shell, but the nerd would never admit she likes this. But then we had Kobras breakout, and the Body Doubles escaped without really trying to do any harm. Bonny got shot because Silhouette is a killer at heart, and in her wounded state, she finally seemed to give up the ghost.

Basically, the running gag for the Body Doubles in this campaign is that Carmen keeps claiming that Bonny is a lesbian, despite Bonnys constant protests. And addled by pain, Bonny just wanted to feel safe and warm in her besties arms. She hasnt officially admitted to anything, but it certainly seems like Bonny IS at least partially attracted to Carmen. Its not something to really push her on, because she has a lot of other interesting traits to look into (especially since the Body Doubles have officially signed on to join the new Suicide Squad), but its a fun little trait to add a teensy bit of romantic comedy to the campaign in that regard. I really do need to speak with Bonny sometime soon, because itd be really nice to give her a hug, since shes not locked behind a force field anymore. At least, itd make up for Pepper forgetting to grab her shotglasses while she was in Las Vegas.

Hint for #12: Wears black.

Damn, two spots too early

NOW it's alice

Susie seems like a perfect infiltration member given she did it in Vegas and has a history of villainy.

I feae the day she becomes president.

ScareChan posted...

No, sorry

Although we made the joke that the monster being kept in the Georgiadome is an Equated Goldberg, and have had a Hulk Hogan parody character in Major Mayhem

Thanks. I knew Ethan Page was a nerd so the possibility of him stealing his persona from a minor DC character was all to real.

And equated Goldberg is amazing.

JB, Alice is number 1.

Has Jesse ranked yet?

HanOfTheNekos posted...

JB, Alice is number 1.

Has Jesse ranked yet?

He has.

Into the top quarter now:

HM. Honorable Mention OR Harry Matthews
52. White Lightning
51. Ice Sickle
50. Nightshade (Eve Eden)
49. Lono
48. Misty Kilgore
47. TNTeena
46. Shiny Happy Aquazon (Kim Kimura)
45. Carmen Leno
44. Toyman (Hiro Okamura)
43. Dewormer
42. Till'all
41. Mike the Rooster
40. Radio Tuner
39. Batgirl (Stephanie Brown)
38. Half-Life (Byron Stark)
37. Jesse Custer
36. Ramsey Robinson
35. Sarah Washington
34. Rover
33. Blackbat (Cassandra Cain)
32. Traci Thirteen
31. Nite-Wing (Tad Ryerstad)
30. Thinker (Clifford DeVoe)
29. Fiddler (Isaac Bowin)
28. Miracle Molly (Mary Kowalski)
27. Jack Cross
26. Leroy
25. King Shark "Nanaue"
24. Lucas "Snapper" Carr
23. Valentina Vostok (Negative Woman)
22. Deadshot (Floyd Lawton)
21. Arthur Joseph "A.J." Curry
20. Catman (Thomas Blake)
19. Squeak
18. Cheshire (Jade Nguyen)
17. Pixie
16. Crazy Shy Lolita Canary
15. Harley Quinn (Dr. Harleen Quinzel)
14. Susie "Su'zie" Thompkins (aka Candice Evergreen, aka Athena)
13. Bonny Hoffman