Tag: Crime
11/02/2012: Frank Marcello, Agano Private Eye
NAME: Frank Marcello  ORIGIN: Zuras  OCCUPATION: Private Detective
As a young initiate in the order of Ga’uum, Frank, then known by his birth name, Makaro, came to Nexus City on pilgrimige, a ceremony undertaken by all Agano peoples beholden to the “Wanderer God.” During a trip to the Undercity, he and his fellow initiates were assaulted by gangers. Left for dead, Frank climbed out of the Undercity, vowing to take his revenge on the criminal scum that ruled the labyrinthine tunnels below. After changing his name and serving seven years as an officer of  Nexus Security, Frank went into business for himself, opening a small detective firm specializing in gang-related cases. Several gangs have tried to assassinate Frank over the years and, though all attempts have failed, he has sustained numerous injuries and mutilations including a missing finger and a hoarse, raspy voice as a result having his throat cut by a vibro-machete.
Model designed in TinkerCAD and Sculptris (3D print pending…)
https://tinkercad.com/things/lyUX9LAOLZl-frank-marcello-agano-private-eye-30characterschallenge
#13 Doppelgängster
Doppelgängster
DOPPELGÄNGSTER: THE VILLAIN WHO COULD BE YOU!
Your doppelgänger is not unique to you: no, in any given year he may appear as the ghostly double to hundreds of people. Their appearance usually means that something terrible is about to happen to the poor person being doubled. For most such spirits, it’s not malevolent — it is simply their nature, and they don’t think to question it. But the Doppelgängster is different.
From each misfortune he presages, he takes careful note of the name and place of his appearance, and makes sure to send someone back for valuables after the victim is dead or incapacitated. When he is you, for a few moments, he knows all of your secrets. He knows what valuables you have, and where you’ve hidden them. And he knows, roughly, at what time such bad fortune will overtake you.
In this way, the Doppelgängster has amassed a fortune, and an army of thugs and miscreants who will do his bidding for the promise of future treasure. Sometimes, even when misfortune isn’t imminent, he can cause it to happen and reap the benefits. The authorities are at a loss to explain this ghostly presence running the London underworld.
So when you see an image of yourself, performing ghostly actions you have yet to perform, stop. Clear your mind of everything that is dear to you. Otherwise, the Doppelgängster will use all that you hold dear to grow his criminal empire.
#9 David Wise IS The Hard Man
The Hard Man
Growing up poor in the worst parts of Glasgow, David Wise saw the results of violence firsthand – and chose a different path. He went to school, moved to London, and became first a poet and then a journalist, to pay the bills. In his off time he was an activist, doing what he could to reduce violence of all kind – gangs, military, police, domestic abuse. Catching wind of an illegal military experiment, he broke into their lab to gather evidence. It all went wrong, and he was exposed to whatever the substance was they were testing.
Whatever it was, it made him… enhanced. With sharper senses, a more agile mind, and improved observations, his poetry reached levels undreamed of, and his journalism more sharp-edged and perceptive. Along with this, however, a long-repressed aggression grew as well. Now stronger and tougher, he realized that the practice of these new sensory abilities increased his propensity for violence, and he began to stalk the streets at night, searching for answers via the medium of punches with a Statham-esque intensity. But he’s unable to let go of the improvement in his work, so he attempts to channel the violence towards those he feels deserve it.
He now searches for more answers about his condition and the people behind the experiment, while finding those worthy of his fists at night. As his life starts to fall apart, his only connections are to a lonely and outmatched night policeman, and to a rowdy mob of thugs, ravers, and general hooligans known as THE HOODIE MOB, who act as a network of informants and a Greek chorus of sorts. They seem to show up at very coincidental times, and seem to know more about Wise than they let on, which makes him wonder at times if they’re actually fully real, or some side effect of the experiment. They call him the Hard Man, and to David’s dismay, the name is starting to stick.
Track: Timber Timbre, “Black Water”
#6 The Wheel
The Wheel
Soledad Spears was raised by her parents to be a bullet aimed at the future. They trained her to hunt, cook, fix things, fight, and use every weapon, tool, artifact or vehicle imaginable for the liberation of the common man. They taught her to track, to think critically, to read, and to understand her dreams and respect the words of the prophets. They sent her off to school, which she hated. But when she came back for vacation, they were gone, their camp destroyed.
She dropped out, and went underground. Now she drives for criminals while fighting for the people and exposing crooked politicians and police. While driving for the MEDUSA LEAGUE, she realizes that the car she’s using is an experimental prototype, that will be used for evil. She takes off with it, and the MEDUSA LEAGUE gives chase.
A chance encounter with EZEKIEL, the last of the renegade prophets, results in them teaming up to escape the religious assassins of THE ELECT. Although The Wheel is more skeptical of the partnership, Ezekiel sees in a dream that they should stay together, fighting crime and exposing magicians as they search for clues to the location of the elusive School of The Prophets.
(notes: original text from my notebook: “He’s a renegade prophet, she’s a hellcat getaway driver -Â together they fight crime! Â EZEKIEL AND THE WHEEL“)
#3 King, the Locksmith
Once upon a time, there was a town in Kansas. Seriously. Kansas. A town that was not Kansas City or Topeka or Lawrence or Smallville. And this town, despite being geographically anchored in Kansas (of all places), was quite adrift in time, which caused no end of confusion. This also caused certain criminal elements in town to be composed of, at least in part, sentient dinosaurs.
King, an albertosaurus, took the name because of the number of people that mistake him for a tyrannosaurus rex. It might also help that the moniker matches up with the sort of role he sees himself in. Most anyone engaged in criminal activities around here answers to him; I mean, it helps that he’s the biggest and toothiest of criminals. Though he’s “a very reasonable creature” by his own admission, his rather morbid predilection for impaling those he dislikes on several ivory spikes – perhaps to suggest his own toothy maw – has earned him a level of Machiavellian respect.
Those who do not wish to invoke his chosen name often called him “the Locksmith”, a nickname which has stuck for years and, like many nicknames, has its origins lost to the mists of time.
#4 – Sal “Minor Key” Scarfonie
Another addition to my silly Scarfonie clan; Sal, Uncle Sal, or “Minor Key” Sal, if you want to be cryptic. Â Sal used to play jazz piano, now he plays chumps when they need a lesson. Â He is a man of few words and even less empathy. Â He does not use that piano wire to floss.
Wish I’d spent more time on this character design, but in fear of falling behind, I must plow on. Â 🙂
#2 – Crimson Valentine, The King in Red
Digitally manipulated photos were used for this sketch. All original photos are © their original owners and are used without permission.
Crimson Valentine, The King in Red
It ain’t easy being the new kid in town. But it’s all good… life’s never been easy on Crim. Clawed his way to the top of the Erebus Krewe only to be run out of the city by the woman he loved the most. He took a shot in the gut, twelve pins  in a voodoo doll, and a swim in the river, but he made it out. Spent the next three months piloting a riverboat up through waters no boat has business going. Found a new city. New krewe. He spent his last dimes turning the boat into an offshore casino – something both the cops and the local mobs aren’t thrilled about. But he ain’t worried. Nobody keeps the King in Red down. Not for long.
He’s biding his time, building his power base. Gonna head back down south one day, and have a word with his wayward lady. Till then, I suggest you stay out of his way, unless of course you’re the gambling type. Betcha five dollars he’ll shoot you dead.
#1 – Mama Scarfonie
The first in a set of characters I am working up, based on a very silly web comic idea I had awhile back.
Mama Scarfonie is the tough, fashion backward, ruling matriarch of the Scarfonie crime family. Â She is the proud mother of 12 felons, has not seen her waist since 1977, been married 5 times and divorced 1. Â As well as money, she still launders her son’s clothing. Â She firmly believes that starch is the most essential food group. Â She ate Snooki for breakfast.
(still trying to find a more original font for this set. 😉 )
#30Characters Chatter…