Category: Superhero
#27 The Scientific Community
Defeated repeatedly in their bids for world domination by the mysterious and violent girl superhero “Z”, these 5 evil scientists decided to join forces and combine their brainpower to crush their enemy and finally dominate the world.
To gauge their relative success after having met with Z once in their new incarnation, it is illustrative to mention that there were originally six members.
Day 27 – Captain Brazil
Real Name – Xavier Domingo
Powers – inhuman agility and reflexes.
Weapons – goggles allows him to see in the dark and in spectres unseen to human eye
Day 18: Crimson
Story: His name is spoken in sheer dread. A mysterious force that is known simply for his great strength and terrifying anger. Reports of his origin are mixed, ranging from a prison experiment gone wrong to a demon made flesh, the rampaging beast known as Crimson is a difficult to defeat as he is to contain. He is known for rampages starting in the Canadian wilderness and follows and all along the Midwest. Where he goes, no one knows, but any who try to stop him end up a pulpy mess.
The most infamous incident is the Second City Tragedy, where the Second City Armada attempted to Apprehend Crimson, only have Crimson kill the heroes Tempest, Kamen Brawler, and their leader, The Samaritan, while severely injuring both Ryuji and Battalion.
It was then that the Frontline, returning from an extra dimensional battle against the Archangel Corporation, did they fight the monster Crimson. With the strength of their newest member, Tyger, Crimson was stuck in a physical deadlock, with E.S.C.O. delivering range support,while the combined powers of the Alchemist, Duo, and Stasis created a containment cell, with enchanted bindings to hold the silent killer. The final assault came when Azrael, carrying Boost, dashed at Crimson, taking a vicious blow to the head, nearly knocking it off if not for his healing factor, hurled Boost to overload Crimson’s own powers. This weakened Crimson enough to contain the savage juggernaut and contain him in a special prison developed by the Loman Organization.
Abilities: Crimson possesses mystically enhanced strength and invulnerability. Crimson’s strength is such that he is capable of leveling buildings with a punch and shattering vehicles with a stomp. Should anyone engage Crimson to a physical confrontation, he is capable of tapping into infinite reserves of power to increase his strength to overcome his opponent. A painful demonstration of Crimson’s strength was his punching of the Kamen Brawler’s torso, resulting in perforating his organs and sending his rib cage and spine out of his body. With Tempest, Crimson swatted away an attacking Tempest, shattering nearly every bone in his body.
Crimson’s mystical enhancements prevent Crimson from experiencing fatigue and the need for food, water, or air. However, Crimson has shown a vulnerability to psionics and mystical attacks. Crimson can be fought to a physical standstill, as the Tyger was able to fight Crimson toe to toe without yielding.
Conception: Crimson was one of my high school creations as I was looking for a Juggernaut/Bane fusion and developed this character over time as I originally had him with enchanted boots, gloves, belt, and a mask, but abandoned those aspects due to the convoluted look of him and streamlined it down to a few armor components with aspects of a special prison/asylum uniform.
#26 Aphid
“My aphid senses are tingling! Even at the size of an insect I can handle whatever it might be, bring it — ” SQUISH!!
Day 13: El Cuco
Story: Rafael Velasquez comes from a long line of brujos and brujas, who once making a contract with the Natural Spirits of the Island, are endowed with supernatural powers to defend the Island from threats both spectral and mundane. As the latest family member to earn the title of Brujo, Rafael felt these great powers could be better served to aid the world. While fighting to stop a child slave ring run by the Sack Man, El Cuco ended up working with the 5th El Boriken in apprehending the Sack Man. Impressed by his skill, El Boriken offered him a spot on a the Latin American Alliance’s newest venture, the development of a super team dubbed Los Superiors.
Though his family looked upon the task as shirking the responsibilities of their family line, Rafael promised that by aiding to make the whole world a better place, he in turn makes protecting the Island and its spirits. After a communal with the Nature Spirits, who too, saw this as beneficial to the Island, allowed Rafael continued access to their powers while away from the island.
With the cover of a tech based, scientist to not cause an uproar with the general public, El Cuco became a stalwart operative who is by default, second in command the team. When the 5th died at the hands of La Sayona, El Cuco was the only operative able to subdue her and calm her frenzy. When Luis Mendez becomes the 6th El Boriken, El Cuco took it upon himself to ensure that this one stays alive as long as possible.
Abilities: El Cuco is a trained sorcerer, capable of casting spells of both defensive and offensive variety. He draws powers from the Nature Spirits of Puerto Rico he made contracts with that bestow upon him various abilities. These abilities include; flight, energy blasts, protective shields, receiving aid from familiars, elemental manipulation, restoration, sealing, summoning, and exorcising. El Cuco’s fiery face is rooted in his access of the Natural Spirits as a visual representation of his contract with the Spirits.
El Cuco’s main weapon is his Foci, a stylized warrior’s club where El Cuco casts both his spells and serve as an offensive weapon. His utility belt contains items to aid in spell casting and practical aid. These items include; chalk, small notebook, vials of herbs, medical kit, pre-drawn summoning circle, smoke bombs, flashlight, and other items depending on the situation.
El Cuco wears a ceramic plate tunic, warded to protect from practical and mystical weapon attacks and a Protective jumpsuit made of a Kevlar-Nomex weave for further protection. Both El Cuco’s boots and gloves are made of specially treated leather that enhances El Cuco’s spells and allow him to touch supernatural entities such as ghosts.
Conception: The character came upon me challenging myself to create heroic or villainous personas of mythical beings, and El Cuco’s design draws heavily from Nighthawk from Superme Power from the tunic design. The should pads were a design that I developed over time as well as dropping elements of El Cuco, as I initially was giving him tortoise patterned forearm guards and shin plates with the shoulder plates going over the tunic instead of under as the final image shows. The war club is based mainly from Sokka’s club from Avatar: The Last Airbender, as well as having cultural meaning from ancient weapons. The fiery head and tunic titling were the elements I preserved from my development of the character.
Day 12: La Sayona
Story: Her name lives on in story, as she has lived a long and lonely life. Â Before the curse, she was Melissa Velez, a beautiful young woman who was adored in her home town in Venezuela. She was eventually married to a wealthy man and had a child with him.
One day, she was swimming in a river by her home, when a strange man saw her and stayed to watch her. Irritated, she told the man to leave or she will call her husband. The man said he is here to warn her that her husband is having an affair with her mother. At first, she didn’t believed it, until the man led her to her home and she saw the mother leaving her home while adjusting her clothes. Enraged by what she witnessed, the man handed Melissa a machete and told her to take her vengeance on her unfaithful husband and treacherous mother.
Melissa approached her home and entered the bedroom. There, she saw her husband asleep with her son. She raised her machete… and then stopped. A moment of clarity came to her and she felt ashamed at what could possibly a misunderstanding. Melissa drops the machete and joins in her husband and son in slumber.
The next time she swam in the river, the man appeared before her, admonishing her for not taking action against an unfaithful man. Melissa chastised the man, accusing him of instigating what could be a horrific misunderstanding. Enraged, the man tries to attack Melissa, she fights hard and nearly drowns the man, until she lets go. She warns the man to never come near her or her family ever again or she won’t be so merciful.
As she is walking back to her home, she once again sees’s her mother leaving the home in a hurried pace and looking slightly disheveled. Confused and angered, Melissa rushes towards her home to find her husband adjusting his pants and looking on her with shock. This was all she needed to see. As the husband tries to explain, Melissa hacks away at him with the machete, killing him. Melissa, losing all sense of reason, sets fire to her home while she carries away her son, with the bloody machete still in her hand. Her mother come running back to the house, and she sees a visibly upset Melissa. Her mother tries to console her; only to have a machete blade plunged deep into her abdomen. The mother asks Melissa why she did it, and Melissa says “Because you slept with my husband.†As her mother lies dying, the strange man appeared, complimenting Melissa on taking her revenge on her unfaithful mother. He leans down and whispers some words to her, and with a smile, steps back as the mother delivers a curse to her daughter, forever cursing her to be a force of vengeance to all those who are unfaithful, with the price of the spell being the her life and the life of her daughter’s son. As her son disappears before her eyes, Melissa’s tears turn to blood as she painfully changes from human to a vampiric monster. The man approaches Melissa and changes the machete into two blades and with a wave of his finger, binds her to her weapons and to serve as a servant to him, Canaima, the God of Death.
For Centuries, Melissa served under Canaima as La Sayona, the Spirit of Vengeance to Unfaithful Husbands, killing those she deems unfaithful to their partners, and then disappearing over time as the modern age makes her only a legend, yet La Sayona still exists and she still kills. It wasn’t until a joint operation by the 4th El Boriken investigating the slayings of 15 men in the Venezuelan forests did the legend become fact and after a lengthy battle, did El Boriken successfully apprehend La Sayona.
Imprisoned, La Sayona is kept under close watch and after a breakout caused by her killing an officer under investigation of extramarital relations, did any security detail undergo thorough background checks to ensure La Sayona remains docile. She became a field operative at the behest of the 5th El Boriken, who feels the need for a powerhouse and La Sayona fit the bill. Unfortunately for him, he dies under her hands for cheating on his wife with her sister. The 6th El Boriken, Luis Mendez, follows up on the 5th’s idea of using La Sayona as an operative and meets her. When La Sayona sees him, she finds herself strangely drawn to him, and liking the idea of not being cooped up in a cell, agrees to work for Los Superiors.
As an operative, La Sayona serves as a reliable operative in combat and a helpful lie detector in obtaining information. Her attraction El Boriken has caused some tension for the young recruit, as he is aware of her killing the former Boriken and the fact she is a vampire. Other than that, she generally keeps to herself, save for a casual friendship with La Llorna and a good friendship with El Cuco.
Abilities: As a Vampire, La Sayona possesses the enhanced strength, speed, and healing of her kin, as well as her vulnerabilities to silver and direct sunlight. What differs from other vampires is La Sayona does not get destroyed by sunlight, only gets weakened by it via intense pain and discomfort, therefore, she wears protective clothing and contacts. She drinks blood, but is capable of eating regular food, as her bloodlust is triggered solely by her senses.
As per the curse, La Sayona is capable of sensing and seeing the impure thoughts and actions of men who have been unfaithful. Upon sensing an unfaithful man, La Sayona’s strength increases to incalculable levels and she is whipped into a frenzied state that gives her a single minded goal of killing or punishing the unfaithful. Her curse does not just limit it to unfaithful men, but also to rapists, sadists, and individuals who commit atrocities towards women. This ability is not limited to determining fidelity, but also serves as a form of lie detection for the team.
La Sayona possesses two enchanted machete blades that are capable of cutting any surface. The Blades are capable of draining the blood of its victims without the need for La Sayona to use her fangs. They are spiritually linked to La Sayona and can come to her by sheer thought.
Conception: The La Sayona story interested me and I wanted to add a strong female character to the roster. Her design is influenced from Psylocke in Wolverine and the X-Men and styled after the Arrancar from Bleach. Her back story is actually literal adaptation of one of the La Sayona stories, with the added element of the Pemon God of Death, Canaima, playing the role of the man who tells Melissa of the infidelity.
Day 11: El Cadejo: White
Story: Tomas Martinez, while his brother, Ramon is a hot head, Tomas is the diplomat who often tries to mediate or diffuse situations his brother gets into. One day, Tomas gets involved in a situation he can’t get his brother out of, and he and Ramon are executed by the syndicate Ramon fought with. But their bodies were buried in a sacred site to the Trickster God, Coyote, and the God makes a pact with both brothers for a chance at justice and a new lease on life. Imbued with the Spiritual Flames, Tomas is brought back as El Cadejo: White.
Since Tomas was the mediator of his brother, Ramon’s fights, Tomas White Dog persona was given the title of the Pacifier, and his abilities are geared toward healing and subduing threats. As he represents the white dog that tries to subdue the black dog from going out of control, Tomas is responsible from preventing his brother, Ramon, from going into a beserk state by utilizing his pacifying flames and chains to subdue his rage.
Following their resurrection, Ramon immediately sought out to take revenge on the syndicate, while Tomas opted to use his powers to protect their town. As the brothers separated, Tomas began by ousting the cartels that ran amok in their town. While doing so, his Manacle of Bonds flashed and he felt his brother’s rage nearly overwhelm him. Concerned for his brother, Tomas rushes to the location he felt and saw the aftermath of the carnage his brother has wrought. Once Tomas calmed his brother down and witnessing the emotional turmoil he experienced from killing everyone in the manor, Tomas understood what the Coyote meant about the price of their bonds means they can never truly be apart and set about the slow process of building his brother back into being the hero he knew he could be when they were kids. Soon, The Hermanos Cadejos became a household name of their town.
He and his brother soon were local heroes in their town, until the Latin Intelligence Alliance approached the brothers to work in establishing a new super team, Los Superiors. The Brothers leapt at the opportunity Tomas saw it as an opportunity to continue doing good works and as Ramon saw it as further proof of redemption. The El Cadejo Brothers have remained members of Los Superiors since their enrollment.
Abilities: El Cadejo: White transforms into a supernaturally enhanced Spirit of Vengeance. With it, he possesses enhanced strength and speed while capable of manifesting Pacifying Fire, a spectral flame that saps the strengths of enemies by incapacitating their resolve for battle. His flames can also shift into the Purifying Flames, a spiritual fire that can heal almost any injury. El Cadejo is able to create Spectral Chains, chains of spirit energy that can extend to infinite lengths, split off into multiple chains, can channel his flames through, and are inherently unbreakable.
Both Cadejos are effectively invulnerable, but this state is conditional for as long as they are close, they are invincible, but the farther one is from the other, the more vulnerable to injury they can be.
El Cadejo also possesses a Manacle of Bonds that enables both he and his brother to call the other forth should they separate or are a part of each other. They also serve as both a telepathic and empathetic link to both brother’s thoughts and feelings. This serves as an emotional tether so that one will always find the other.
Both Cadejos are able to manifest a Vengeance State, where they done a fiery cape of their respective flames, but with the ability to unite their fires to create punishing tandem attacks such as flame tornadoes and webs of spectral chains.
Conception: I designed El Cadejo: White first as I had an idea for his look the fastest as I based it on the White Lantern designs, as it a color scheme/ pattern combo that works. The hardest elements for this character are the same issue I had with Fenris; being the incorporation of fur and the mask. Earlier concepts gave me numerous issues in incorporating fur along the boots, his free hand, and I originally had a lengthy fur capelet to simulate a tail, but thanks to the New 52 Firestorm designs, I turned the actual fur into spectral flame components to simulate fur. As for the mask, I combined elements of fan art for the patterns while using the overall head shape from the live action series, Garo. As for the brother bond, I based it on the relationship between the brothers Rin and Yukio from Blue Exorcist as one is calm while the other is wild and reckless and the difficulties each has with each other, while showing both will genuinely protect and help the other.
Day 10: El Cadejo: Black
Story: Ramon Martinez, while Tomas is the level headed one, Ramon is a hothead who often gets into fights that are triggered for various reasons that require his brother, Tomas, to bail him out of such situations. Until one day, Ramon got into a fight with a some thugs at bar for insulting his mother, that he hospitalized three of the four men. Unbeknownst to Ramon, those men belonged to a vicious syndicate that executed both him and his brother. However, their deaths were on a sacred site where the Trickster spirit, Coyote, offers them a chance at revenge in exchange for serving him. Imbued with the Spiritual Flames, Ramon is brought back to life as the Demon Dog of Folklore, El Cadejo: Black.
Since Ramon was a physically aggressive and intimidating person in life, His Black Dog persona is deemed the Warrior and given abilities meant to cause harm, however like the demon dog of myth, his rage slowly can overtake him and he will become a rampaging brute unless his Brother, Tomas, is there to stop him.
Upon their resurrection, Ramon’s first goal was revenge on the syndicate that killed him and his brother, however Tomas tried without luck to talk him out of going after the syndicate and Ramon went off on a rampage at the syndicates main base. By the time Tomas came, he comes across a blood soaked and frenzied Ramon, who effectively slaughtered every single man,woman, and child in the syndicates manor.
Devastated by his actions, Ramon now defers to his brother in regards to course of action so as to prevent himself from losing control again. He and his brother soon were local heroes in their town, until the Latin Intelligence Alliance approached the brothers to work in establishing a new super team, Los Superiors. The Brothers leapt at the opportunity as Ramon saw it as further proof of redemption and Tomas saw it as an opportunity to continue doing good works. The El Cadejo Brothers have remained members of Los Superiors since their enrollment.
Abilities: El Cadejo: Black transforms into a supernaturally enhanced Spirit of Vengeance. With it, he possesses enhanced strength and speed while capable of manifesting Punishing Fire, a spectral flame that burns all enemies who possess fear in their hearts. El Cadejo is able to create Spectral Chains, chains of spirit energy that can extend to infinite lengths, split off into multiple chains, can channel his flames through, and are inherently unbreakable.
Both Cadejos are effectively invulnerable, but this state is conditional for as long as they are close, they are invincible, but the farther one is from the other, the more vulnerable to injury they can be.
El Cadejo also possesses a Manacle of Bonds that enables both he and his brother to call the other forth should they separate or are a part of each other. They also serve as both a telepathic and empathetic link to both brother’s thoughts and feelings. This serves as an emotional tether so that one will always find the other.
Both Cadejos are able to manifest a Vengeance State, where they done a fiery cape of their respective flames, but with the ability to unite their fires to create punishing tandem attacks such as flame tornadoes and webs of spectral chains.
Conception: I designed El Cadejo: Black second and consistently revised his design over and over again as his was the most difficult in body, but easiest in facial markings.  The hardest elements for this character are the same issue I had with Fenris; being the incorporation of fur and the mask. Earlier concepts gave me numerous issues in incorporating fur along the boots, his free hand, and I originally had a lengthy fur capelet to simulate a tail, but thanks to the New 52 Firestorm designs, I turned the actual fur into spectral flame components to simulate fur. As for the mask, I combined elements of fan art for the patterns while using the overall head shape from the live action series, Garo. For his body, I wanted his look to feel primal, but each pattern I drew up did not meet my satisfaction. One day, Ucame across a happy accident while doing some sketching that I found a pattern and design style that worked for Black’s look and commited to the design since. As for the brother bond, I based it on the relationship between the brothers Rin and Yukio from Blue Exorcist as one is calm while the other is wild and reckless and the difficulties each has with each other, while showing both will genuinely protect and help the other.
Day 9: The Samaritan
Story: Michael Weismann was an ordinary man with an extraordinary ability. Born of a family of police officers and civil servants, Michael believed in the law and the responsibilities that fell under those who wear the shield. When his powers manifested, Michael took a cue from the police hero called E.S.C.O. and became the second Superhuman to become a member of the Powers Division, the S.W.A.T. equivalent to superhuman encounters in law enforcement.
When E.S.C.O. left the Powers Division and turned in his badge when the Frontline, the primary super team of Chicago, went to war with the Archangel Corporation, The Chicago Police Department looked to Michael to become the “premier†hero to fill the vacuum left in Frontlines’ wake. With the backing of the city and the police, Michael developed the Samaritan persona and recruiting several other individuals, formed the team, the Second City Armada.
With the Armada, The Samaritan made an impact by busting gangs on the South Side and the Logan Square areas. Then, the Armada routed illegal arms and drug deals around the former Industrial and Warehouse sectors of Chicago. Occasionally, the Armada fought with several of the city’s own villains’, like Jagan and Sliver, and occasionally faced off against one of the team’s rogues like The Renegade or The Pulse. But Michael felt something lacking in the team’s endeavors, sparked more so by the comparisons of his team to the Frontline, which has drawn unfavorable reviews of his team. He decided that the team needed a challenge to prove to the city that the Armada is a worthy successor to the Frontline. That challenge came in the form of the powerhouse fugitive, Crimson.
The Samaritan gathered Intel on Crimson’s whereabouts and prepared his team to face him at the city limits. Confident in his battle with the mystical juggernaut, The Samaritan launched a press conference announcing his team will go off and halt Crimson’s march and invited the media to observe it via helicopter. Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse for our Michael and his team.
At the City limits, The Second City Armada established a barricade around the vicinity and stood at the front, ready to face off against Crimson. When the rogue goliath came forth, the Armada leapt into action, with The Kamen Brawler being the first to fall as his torso explodes from Crimson’s fist. Tempest gets swatted several counties away, shattering every bone in his body. The Samaritan, shocked by two members falling, still pressed his attack and for a while, seemed to gain the upper hand. That is, until Crimson powered up. He delivered a devastating right hook that made the Samaritan actually feel his ribs and jaw crack from the impact. His team mates, Battalion and Ryuji, provided range support to give the Samaritan time to recover. Battalion took action and charged at Crimson with a battering ram construct, only to have it shatter and Crimson slamming him down hard to ground, and was about to stomp him, when The Ryuji flash froze Crimson in place, giving the Samaritan the chance to uppercut him into the Stratosphere.
As Crimson is propelled skyward, The Samaritan flies up and continues his assault, only for Crimson slamming The Samaritan down hard into the ground. Crimson lands on top of the Samaritan and proceeds to pummel him repeatedly, blacking out. When Michael awakens, he sees Ryuji down on his knees, clutching what remains of him left arm. Enraged, Michael charges and delivers blow after blow after blow to Crimson. Then, in a last stand, both The Samaritan and Crimson engaged in a brutal back and forth, exchanging devastating punch after devastating punch, with each of Crimson’s blows slowly killing Michael, he wouldn’t give up. Finally, when he couldn’t take much more, the Samaritan collapses to his knees and Crimson, crushes the Samaritan’s head. The Samaritan is dead.
Crimson is shortly defeated by the returning Frontline, who also rally to get the Second City Armada memorialized for their actions. Michael died a hero and the city will remember him as long as his and his team’s memorial stands in Millennium Park.
Abilities: The Samaritan possesses super strength, flight and invulnerability. With Strength, the Samaritan is capable of lifting a maximum of ten tons and capable of bending steel and crushing stones. The Samaritan is capable of flying at speeds up to Mach 2. His invulnerability makes him resistant to a majority of weapons fire, acids, and burns.
The Samaritan wears custom made body armor composed of metal and ceramic plates and a bodysuit of Kevlar weave. Unlike E.S.C.O., The Samaritan developed his suit to be more heroic than resembling the police, while having an oversized police star serve as his emblem and connection to the police.
The Samaritan is skilled in self defense and hand-to-hand combat as per regulation from the Chicago Police Department and advanced training from S.W.A.T. As such, the Samaritan is proficient in handling both small arms to assault weapons.
Conception: From a stockpile of blank character slates awaiting development, I developed the Samaritan based on the premise of using a hero to take over another prominent character with a general enough power set that should it get killed off, it will be forgettable and able to resonate for a story arc. His arc serves as a cautionary tale of taking on more than you can handle, while showing the noble sacrifice that all heroes eventually have to do for the good of those that they vow to protect.
Day 8: Kamen Brawler
Story: Justin Chen lived with his family in Pilsen, close to Chinatown. While active in his school in both his studies and member of both Student Government and The Wrestling Club, Justin desired to be more than just a “regular Joe.†With the rise of Paranormals and costumed vigilantes, Justin desired to be a super hero.
Upon starting college at UIC, Justin crafted a home-made costume, based on Sentai characters, and began to call himself the Kamen Brawler. First thing Justin did, was get accustomed to the costume and mask, then familiarized himself with the neighborhoods and taking notes on navigation during his off days and free periods from classes. The next step, find a superhero to learn the ropes, seeking out Pilsen’s hero, the Bonesplitter. As Bonesplitter is around the same age as Justin, the two often worked together, which the media dubbed them “The Masked Brawlers.â€
When Frontline disappeared to wage war with the Archangel Corporation, The Kamen Brawler operated solo for a while, until he was approached by the Samaritan to join the Second City Armada to fill the power vacuum of heroes in Chicago. With an upgraded suit, Justin became just as popular in Pilsen as his comrade. But that all changed when the Samaritan decided the Armada was to face the mystic brute, Crimson.
At the city limits, the Armada awaited for Crimson’s arrival. Kamen Brawler was the first to rush at Crimson, which would be his final act, as Crimson completely destroys Justin’s Torso, killing him instantly. He was the first to fall and as the battle raged, so too did the Second City Armada. Justin’s heroic identity is memorialized, alongside the Samaritan and Tempest in Millennium Park. Bonesplitter visits the memorial every morning in remembrance of his fallen friend.
Abilities: The Kamen Brawler is a proficient hand to hand combatant capable of close quarters combat and specializes in one-on-one and multiple opponents at once.
His suit is a modified Kevlar suit that is resistant to small arms and melee weapons. His gloves, joint pads, boots and helmet are heavily reinforced to ensure maximum damage to put down opponents.
Conception: A listing of character templates I had in back stock that I decided to flesh out and develop for this challenge. I modified his look after the character Casshern and developed his look while adding details for a modern design. The name is just a throwaway that I decided to commit to for the look. However, when I decided to pair him with Bonesplitter, the story took a life of its own and as I set him to die in the Samaritan’s back-story, that made his death much more significant.
Day 7: El Chupacabra
Story: Hector Sandoval was a prolific drug runner, known for sneaking and delivering his cargo past borders and federal detection, until he made a mistake in taking a job that involved trafficking humans. Instead of returning the cargo, Hector set them free, upsetting the cartel he worked for and resulting in the loss of his mother and younger brother for his actions. Hector turned over his cartel for clemency, but ended up serving a 20 year sentence. Hector volunteered as a test subject in a kinetic molecular stimulation experiment for a reduced sentence. The experiment accelerated his molecules to a supersonic state that resulted in giving him enhanced speed and phasing through solid matter. Hector wears a special suit that allows his abilities to function while select items retain solidity for sight and touch. However, the experiment causes his body to be unstable after every use, so Hector must spend a full day in a special isolation chamber to restabilize his body. To Hector, this is a small price to pay for the loss of his family over his own crimes. Being a part of a super team is Hector’s chance at redemption.
Abilities: Super speed, ability to phase through solid matter, and hyper kinetic reflexes.
The Suit is made of flexible metal and cloth compounds that are resistant to intense heat and friction. Gloves and Boots are made out of heavily reinforced polymers to retain solidity for the Chupacabra, enabling him to interact with objects. Gloves also contain tranquilizer darts housed within the forearm ports. Special lenses enable Hector to retain his vision while in phase shift mode.
Conception: I like the idea of designing a Hispanic super team and given our culture’s fascination of myth and monsters; I felt a monster based on Latin America’s most popular urban legend deserved the superhero treatment. His design has a direct influence with Ultimate Quicksilver, but I broke up sections of the outfit to give him an insectile appearance while using edges to accentuate speed.
Day 6: El Boriken
Story: Luis Mendez was a U.S. Marine Corp Captain serving a tour of duty in Afghanistan, before that, he worked ops in Iraq and Pakistan, before being approached for a Special Ops in Project: El Boriken by his superiors. Â At first glance, Luis thought it was merely a publicity job, until he meets the first two supernatural members of the team, Los Superiors, El Cuco and La Sayona.
He is the sixth individual to wear the Boriken Suit as prior wielders had great difficulty handling the Tactical A.I. affixed to his helmet and as a result, were killed in action subduing various paranormal threats. Luis’s ability to handle intense stress during his time in the Iraq town of Fallujah made him a prime candidate for the Tactical A.I. So far, Luis has been able to handle the interface, thanks to mental exercises taught to him by El Cuco and his own military training. Luis understands the need for a Latin American Team to serve as a response to the growing amount of superpowers in the States and Japan. As well as Luis having to deal with the existence of the supernatural as he and his team are deployed to combat paranormal threats under the guise of terrorism and underworld combat. Add to the stress of representing Puerto Rican cultural pride, combating of paranormal threats, and the advances of La Sayona, make Luis’s life a difficult one. He has formed a good friendship with both Cadejos, a friendly rivalry with the Skull King, and has good friendship with El Cuco.
Abilities: The Boriken Suit provides the user with enhanced strength, speed, and reflexes. Suit is made of a Kevlar-nomex weave for resistance to bullets and melee weapons. Armor plates are ceramic armor dipped in memory polymers for extra durability. The Boriken suit uses carbon nano tubules to regulate and power the suit while all operations and main tactical data are housed within the helmet.
Helmet contains Tactical A.I. interface that calculates and assess tactical data to suggest host of best course of action during combat scenarios. Suit also allows the user to access and interface with various computer and electronic devices via USB cables located in the gloves.
The Boriken Suit is able to generate short term hard light constructs, such as shields and melee weapons in the event of an emergency. As a fan of comics, Luis’s favorite construct is an energy shield formed like flag of the Puerto Rico, as a nod to the character, Captain America.
Utility belt contains survival equipment, stun batons, shatter discs, emergency backup armor and portable handguns.
As this is sixth inception of the Boriken Suit, Luis has access to use the prior Suits for select mission parameters.
Conception: This is the character I go through so many revisions over, as I had a primary design in mind, but Alex Ross beat me to it with his render of Buck Barnes as Captain America (which strongly resembles the Puerto Rican Flag), so I tried and I tried to make a character that won’t resemble Captain America pastiche, ultimately just saying “screw it” and drawing him as is. His suit is now another revamp of a previous rendition, as I initially made it a combo of armored top/pants combo, until watching Young Justice made me design the suit more form fitting and added the components to give it a more super hero look. I wanted to showcase both his weapon and construct, as the shield is a big deal and him using stun batons were his main weapons.
Day 5: Fenris, Avatar of the Devouring Wolf
Story: The fourth of the four Sects from the Cult of Ragnarok, The Fenris Sect believe that the world will end by a devastating winter that will kill all plants and living things, giving those that survive a new, pure world to rebuild. With that ideology, The Fenris Sect dedicates themselves to delivering an extinction event caused by an epic winter.
The Fenris Sect go about this by utilizing nuclear devices to awaken inactive volcanoes to coat the sky in ash, blocking out the sun or seeding the sky to cause an eternal winter. For smaller experiments, the Fenris Sect has experimented with using chemical weapons that will flash freeze entire cities.
Overseeing special missions for the Fenris Sect is their Avatar, Fenris. Capable of generating ice structures and freezing any who stand in Ragnarok’s way, Fenris eliminates all who dare to delay the End Days. Like its Sect brethren, Fenris’s abilities are thanks in part to possessing Shards of the Philosopher’s Stone, making him an enemy of the Alchemist and to the Agents of John Dee.
Abilities: With the aid of shards of the Philosopher’s Stone embedded with Fenris’s gauntlets and helmet, Fenris is able to manipulate the air molecules around him by subtracting heat and multiplying the moisture in the air to generate intense cold. This power enables Fenris to create various ice constructs such as Claws, swords, and pillars of ice. The helmet enables Fenris to deliver a vicious breath attack that combines elements of a snowstorm and a sonic boom called the “Howl of Fenris†that simultaneously freezes and sends his targets back within his blast radius. Fenris also possess a freezing touch that will encase his victims in a perpetually frozen state unless he commands it to stop.
Fenris is also a superior hand-to-hand combatant that is capable of both close quarters and the weapon arts. Fenris is also shown to demonstrate an understanding of thermondynamics, electrical engineering, and meteorology.
Conception: Fenris was my second idea after splintering the Cult of Ragnarok into different sects, but the last character that I got a clear idea on his design. One difficulty I encountered was incorporating fur elements into his suit design and two, the mask. The mask went through multiple revisions until I came up with a design I was satisfied with. For the suit, I utilized elements from the animated Loki and the Executioner from the cartoon, Ultimate Spider-Man while the helmet was a mixture of elements from various sources, like the Wolf Head Gang from the anime Chrome Shelled Regios, fan art on wolf helmets, and my own tweaks. My finishing touch was to make his gloves coated with ice claws as a showcase of Fenris’s abilities.
Day 26-Forever
Forever is an immortal warrior who has battled evil in all it’s many forms for centuries. Nothing is known about his past as he never shares anything about it. He continues to fight against evil today using the weapons he has for centuries, but adding the outfit so many of today’s heroes seem to favor because he thinks it is fun the way modern heroes like to play dress up all the time.
#6 – Gimmick
Name: Aaron McKay, aka Gimmick
Hair Color: Reddish-brown
Eye Color: Grey
Skin Tone: Reddish-Brown
Gimmick is one of the more subtle Name Criminals and a great deal of his fame is self-promotion and bragging. He’s a classic bully and narcissist, and somewhat of a loner, choosing to spend time with very few people. He has no real friends, but the people he spends the most time with are those that can compete with him intellectually, like Techrat, or that will flatter him, like Jill. He’s intimidated by many of the other more dangerous Name Criminals and tries not to show it by upping his bragging.
He’s usually hired by another criminal to plan jobs for them, and uses a different gimmick for each client. He’s liable to spend more money to do the crime than it brings in, but since it’s all for show for him he doesn’t care.
He has profound hearing loss from childhood and wears very discreet hearing aids of his own design. He makes a fair amount of money off the patents for them. He also wears glasses for reading. He has multiple sclerosis and finds the flare-ups very frustrating, and smokes both tobacco and marijuana. He won’t admit how badly he’s addicted to cigarettes, but he comes close to chain-smoking when frustrated, nervous, or bored.
Gimmick is a villain for my comic series, The White Knight.
#5 – Swordcat
Name: Leon Smith / Lenxoli, aka Swordcat
Hair Color: Red
Eye Color: Yellow
Skin Tone (fur): Gold
Leon Smith was a fairly ordinary man. Divorced with shared custody of his daughter, Melinda. He preferred to spend his time camping, hiking, and fishing, well away from people. It was on a camping trip that he found a strange sword in the debris from a recent landslide. He made the mistake of picking it up and found it had a personality of its own, Lenxoli.
Lenxoli had gone somewhat mad after the destruction of its home planet, floating in space for countless eons, and laying buried on Earth for millions of years. It wants nothing more in the universe than to recreate the civilization it came from. The first two steps, in whatever order necessary, are to destroy the hairless beasts and uplift the felines, the creatures that are most like its makers.
It meant to completely overwrite Leon’s mind, but didn’t quite succeed. An unexpected side effect was for Leon to change from a grumpy misanthropist to someone who wanted nothing more than back scratches, good food, and a nap in a sunny space. Lenxoli’s mind is connected to the sword which is usually kept in the mental institution freezer, which helps quiet Lenxoli. The staff otherwise find Leon quite pleasant to deal with, especially compared to many of the other inmates.
Swordcat is a villain for my comic series, The White Knight.
#18 The Scroll
He is the worlds most powerful mage. Â A man of magic. Â A sorcerer of supernatural powers!
DAY 26: 21st Century Sandshark Studios Presents- THE NEXT KIND’S JARDEEN
On the distant world of Jorol seven offshoots of mankind. Â Three million years later, we account the future we account the tales of THE NEXT KIND.
In the Jungles and grassland plains of  the central continent lies the Grand Chiefdom of Jumbai: A warrior society that have centered their civilization along an honor code and religious devotion centered around the hunt.  One of its most decorated hunters is the warrior maiden, Jardeen.  By the time she was  10 she had already brought down a Bramabeast single handedly.  When she had reached the age of majority she was made the youngest head of the Monga or honor pride.
Then the Frahl Wraiths returned, and all changed in their wake…
First the Frahl Wraiths laid waste to much of the nearby land of Korath. Â Those who were not killed were taken as slaves. Â One who did manage to escape, was fame noble and general Doule. Â Jardeen had known Doule as a child when his family spent some time on a diplomatic envoy in her land. Â Doule had once saved her life, and as such Jardeen owed him an honor debt. Â Doule collected that debt, and as such Jardeen reluctantly joined his ranks, and swayed the Jumbai to pledge alliance and aid to the cause of turning back the Frahl Wraiths.
Jardeen is an expert warrior, hand to hand expert, and master hunter. Â Her claws are as strong as steel, and she has super human strength and dexterity. Â Which has come in to be invaluable in Doule’s quest to liberate Jorol from the Frahl Wraith threat…
#15 Toon Face
Don’t let his looks fool you. Â This crazed super villain can warp reality into his own demented vision.
#26 Tormenta
Real name: Unknown
Height: 5’8Â Â Weight:198 lbs.
Tormenta is a demigod from parts unknown and is set to destroy the human race.
Powers: Has the ability to mind control to control all men and has them do her bidding. Uses telekinesis for flight
Personality: Vindictive, thinks only of herself, among other things.
Day 26 | Bone Burner
2012 – DAY 26
All characters are created by my 5 year-old son, The Junior Partner.  He has either drawn these characters on his own and I have recreated them here, or he has sat at my elbow dictating design and conceptual ideas like a creative, but frenetic, taskmaster.
BONE BURNER
So, shockingly, another villain from the Junior Partner, but not surprisingly, not a ton of detail in the bad guy’s back story.
The original idea was a zombie who was on fire.  I drew a skeletal, emaciated zombie and then it became just an animated skeleton engulfed in flames.  I added some gigantic, stylized gauntlets to give the idea of mysticism and age.
Yeah…that’s pretty much it.
#30Characters Chatter…