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One of two strike teams assembled by the Vanguard, Alpha Team boldly attacked the Rikti as part of a daring counteroffensive that ended the initial war. Led by the Statesman, Alpha Team included over 1,000 heroes from around the world. “They launched a full frontal assault on the Rikti main
troop concentrations, drawing as many alien troops into the fray as possible. This was a dangerous ploy, and it proved costly.
In the ensuing titanic battle, 800…heroes died, along with some 50,000 Rikti soldiers.” The sacrifice proved worthwhile,
however, as the “distraction” caused by Alpha Team allowed Omega Team to infiltrate a Rikti base, battle its way
into the Rikti’s home dimension and destroy a power source supporting the alien invasion.
AXIS AMERICA
An alternate dimension where the Nazis won World War II and have taken over
much of the world, Axis America was home to the villain known
as the Reichsman and his fascists Amerika Korps. The Reichsman eventually invaded Paragon City,
where he was defeated by his freedom-loving counterpart, the Statesman.
DELGADO-HARRIS,
DR. JUANITA
Considered the mother
of “Cyberware,” Dr. Delgado-Harris is a brilliant inventor and pioneer in the field of cybernetics. She was the
first to perfect cybernetic replacement limbs, originally intended for use by amputees and accident victims. Her inventions
have been modified by other scientists to turn normal humans into super-powered soldiers, giving rise to an entire class of
supervillain, including such monstrosities as the Freakshow.
DIRECTED OUTCOMES
One of several superhuman mercenary
groups inspired by the success of Hero Corps, the Britain-based Directed Outcomes “worked guarding diamond mines in East Africa, making
the mines safe for near slave labor practices to go on uninterrupted while civil war raged all around.”
FREE COMPANY
Yet another “super merc” outfit, the “American-based Free
Company fights mostly to protect oil wells and pipelines from any threat, whether terrorist attacks or attempts at unionization.”
HOLLOW EARTH
The Hollow Earth is a hollow, habitable
area near the center of the Earth. In the 1960s, the Soviet villain known as the Red Threat plotted to destroy the world by
first destroying the Hollow Earth. His scheme was foiled by Tammy Arcanus, whose body was destroyed in the process. Tammy
was later “reborn” as the heroine Numina.
Mega Corps is a super mercs organization based in the Cayman Islands.
The group primarily services large, multi-national corporations and specializes in “tracking down and terrorizing anti-globalization
activists” and environmentalists.
Omega Team was the smaller of two superhero strike teams assembled for a counterattack
against the Rikti during the Rikti War. Led by Hero 1, Omega Team consisted of fifty heroes, many with magic-based powers. While Alpha Team distracted the Rikti forces, Omega
Team used an ancient Charm of Invisibility to infiltrate a Rikti base. They then fought their way into a dimension portal
and entered the Rikti’s home dimension. The heroes evidently destroyed an energy source providing power to the Rikti
invaders, although all but “the utterly invulnerable Ajax” died in the process.
A mythical city located deep within the bowels of the earth, Pax has been “settled
by people who had once lived a violent life – who killed, maimed and destroyed – but eventually became sickened
by their own actions. The only place where these poor souls could escape their private demons was in Pax.” Now these
former killers and criminals enjoy a society “almost entirely devoted to learning and understanding.”
After her parents were murdered by the Fifth Column while searching for Pax,
Laurana Wachhorst was rescued by a Pax patrol. She became t he first child from the surface world to be raised within the
city. Eventually, Laurana became the superhero known as Herald.
Portal Corp was founded by Dr. Brian
Webb in order to research travel to other dimensions. Using information gained as a technician for the Freedom Phalanx, Webb was able to breach the dimensional barrier and began exploring alternate realities. Eventually, Webb and his team of
explorers stumbled across the “Axis America” dimension, where they were captured and killed by the Reichsman. The Reichsman’s subsequent invasion of Paragon City resulted in a major battle between the Nazi villain and the Statesman that destroyed the Portal Corp’s headquarters. In the years that followed, Portal Corp was tied up in legal proceedings
as the company’s investors battled Webb’s widow for control of the firm. In 1998, the investors won these legal
battles and reopened Portal Corp.
Portal Corp’s files proved invaluable
during the Rikti Invasion. A decade earlier, Portal Corp explorers had actually made contact with the Rikti in their home dimension. The aliens
did not seem hostile at that time and the Portal Corp scientists were able to collect some data about the species. Dr. Science used information in the Portal Corp files to plan a counterattack that brought the first stage of the war to an end.
PROMETHEAN SECURITY
A private security firm, Promethean Security specializes in providing
clients with personnel outfitted in the latest cybernetic gear. The firm was among the first in the world to actually pay
employees to endure cyberware enhancement procedures.
RABINOWITZ, MICHAEL JAMES
“SPANKY”
Mayor of Paragon City during
the early 20th Century, “Spanky” Rabinowitz maintained control of the city’s politics for nearly
thirty years. He was supported by Southern United Manufacturing Company, which the Statesman later revealed to be a front for the villain Nemesis. Despite this association and the fact that Rabinowitz was both a corrupt politician and immoral businessman, “Spanky”
proved oddly popular. And, in fact, the city flourished during his reign. Today, Rabinowitz “has been elevated
to ‘lovable’ rogue in the eyes of the public.” He is memorialized by a boardwalk on Talos Island bearing his name.
The official site refers to Rabinowitz
as both “James” and “Michael.”
SCALDI, GIOVANNA
A 17th Century Venetian sorceress,
Scaldi formed a powerful female cult that eventually earned the wrath of the Inquisition. “Her cult transcended social
and economic boundaries and centered on a heretical concept of cleansing one’s soul of all sin by actually committing
and then ritually rejecting the sins themselves. This inventive theology didn’t go over very well with Rome,
and Scaldi and her followers were hunted down and killed [by the Inquisition] for their heresy.” Centuries later, Vanessa De Vore discovered a mask belonging to Scaldi. When she donned the mask, she was somehow
possessed by the artifact (and perhaps by Scaldi herself). Under the mask’s influence, DeVore has formed the Soul Scavengers, a bizarre reincarnation of Scaldi’s original cult.
Quoted content taken from a Stratics piece on "minor villain groups", which was culled from a Stratics interview with Community Manager Aura.
The Soul Scavengers may have been
renamed the Carnival of Shadows.
Tens of thousands of years
ago, the Sorcerer Kings were the powerful rulers of the city of Oranbega. They
were seemingly killed during a war with the Warlords of Mu, a conflict that caused Oranbega to sink beneath the earth’s
surface. In 1898, however, Baron Zoria contacted the spirits of the long-dead Sorcerer Kings. “Zoria
and each of his followers took a strange thorn, given to Zoria by the Oranbegan spirits. They simultaneously drove the bizarre
spines into their chests, sinking them straight into their own hearts. The wounds closed as quickly as they had opened, sealing
the enchanted thorns deep in their bodies and imbuing each with unique magical powers beyond anything they had ever possessed.”
Thus was the Circle of Thorns born.
Presumably guided
by the spirits of the Sorcerer Kings, Zoria eventually located Oranbega beneath Paragon
City. Although Zoria and his followers were temporarily defeated by the Dream Doctor and the Midnight Squad, in recent months the villains have resurfaced. Currently, they are
in the process of kidnapping innocent civilians from the streets of Paragon City
and supplanting these victims’ souls with the spirits of the Sorcerer Kings.
SOUTHERN UNITED MANUFACTURING COMPANY
A major Paragon
City corporation in the 1920s, Southern United once controlled most of the Steel
Canyon district. The company used coercion, blackmail, and numerous other immoral
tactics to gain a stranglehold on the city. It also openly supported Paragon City’s
corrupt mayor, “Spanky” Rabinowitz. The Statesman eventually discovered that Southern United was actually a front for
the villain known as Nemesis, who was subsequently defeated by the Statesman and local law enforcement.
Although Nemesis escaped capture, it’s believed that Southern United was dissolved after his disappearance.
SPECIAL COUNCIL ON SUPER HUMAN ACTIVITIES
“In 2000, in response to
[the rise of] blatantly illegal and dangerous ‘super merc’ outfits, the United Nations decided to form the Special Council on Super Human Activities to monitor and police situations around the world involving
super-human threats and non-governmental super-villains and organizations. The Special Council had no enforcement arm, but
rather acted as a mediator for disseminating information and investigating complaints. The council would then pass this information
on to local authorities or the UN Security Council, as they saw fit. Ironically, the biggest beneficiary of the Special Council’s
efforts has been Hero Corps, who lobbied hard for the council’s
creation. With over 100 franchises world wide in 2001, Hero Corps is the group most often called upon to act on the Special
Council’s recommendations.”
SUPER MERCS
“Super Mercs” is a generic term used to describe paramilitary organizations consisting of super-powered
“soldiers” or mercenaries. Such outfits usually work for the highest bidder, including rogue governments and wealthy
megacorporations. As a result, they have been involved in a number of morally and ethically questionably activities. The earliest
Super Merc operations were inspired by the success of Hero Corps, but they have in turn forced the United Nations to form the Special Council on Super Human Activities.
A world famous supermodel
and actress, Jeanette Vesey is also married to superhero and Hero Corps spokesman Luminary. The android heroine, Luminary II, was modeled to resemble Vesey.
Virtually nothing is known
about the legendary Warlords of Mu, save that they were involved in a devastating war against the Sorcerer Kings of Oranbega
tens of thousands of years ago. The conflict actually caused the city of Oranbega
to sink beneath the earth.
A brilliant physicist
with eidetic memory, Dr. Brian Webb was a member of the Freedom Phalanx’s research team during the 1980s. As a Freedom Phalanx technician,
he “had helped perfect the Cosmic Crown that gives The Comet Queen her powers.” When the Statesman and the Back Alley Brawler discovered that the drug Superadine was being used to access alternate
dimensions, Webb strongly disagreed with the heroes’ decision to bury this research. He resigned from the Freedom Phalanx
and “sold his teleportation device patents in exchange for the venture capital needed to start his new research and
development company: Portal Corp.”
“Dr. Webb knew everything
the Supes researchers had learned about peering into other dimensions. As much as he abhorred their methods for moral reasons,
he also eschewed their research methodology as being impractical and unscientific. Dr. Webb correctly reasoned that the ability
to pierce the dimension barrier was not unique to the chemically modified brains of Supes addicts. Rather, the addicts just
happened to be tapping into some greater cosmic law. Dr. Webb set out to discover the science behind that law.
“Four years later,
in 1988, he did just that. Webb created an inter-dimensional portal that allowed him - or anyone for that matter - to simply
walk from one world to another. He announced his discovery to the world at large the very next day, calling a press conference
that resulted in global media frenzy. Webb actually took a group of reporters and cameramen from every major media outlet
through a portal and into a dimension where Paragon City
had never existed and the Europeans had yet to discover the Americas.
They returned to Paragon City, stunned
and amazed. Webb then presented them with a videotape collection containing proof of his visits to over fifty different parallel
dimensions in the past day alone.”
While visiting the dimension
known as “Axis America,” Webb and his fellow explorers were captured, tortured, and killed by the Reichsman.
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