Super-Villain
Academy World Background
NOTE:
Please do not read this page until the Game Master asks you to
World Background Snippets
The Marauding Five
The Marauding Five was
one of the first super-villain teams to endure more than a week.
This small-time band
of misfits surfaced 10 years
ago, pulling off petty capers and barely getting away. At a glance,
the hapless members – Day Job, Soft Shoe, Horizontal, and The
Stoat – had no reason to survive. And yet, despite their initial
bumblings, they seemingly overnight acquired savvy enough to accomplish
bigger and more lucrative heists.
The Five soon ascended
to priority #1 on Third Wheel’s to-do
list, where they evaded the super-heroes at every turn. Until that
fateful University Museum job. Somehow Third Wheel got wind of the
planned heist and prepared an ambush. The Marauding Five were caught
unawares, and were destroyed in the subsequent super-powered battle
along with some nearby property. Now the Marauding Five are just a
memory.
Third Wheel
Third Wheel was one of the first organized super-hero teams. They
formed 18 years ago and operated in a Major Metropolitan City until
about 7 years ago when they mysteriously broke up. Only Spark continues
a heroic career, as a junior member of the Sentinels. The other two,
Red Raptor and Ajax, dropped out of sight. They are best known for
the Massacre of the Marauding Five, putting an end to the crime spree
conducted by that super-villain group.
The Sentinels
The Sentinels are the most
prominent super-hero team operating in the City today. Critics says
they are more interested
in their image
than in stopping crime. Lately, crime is on the rise, and the Sentinels
seem to be spending more time chasing evil-doers around the globe and
less time within the City proper. Where they are is anybody’s
guess. The current roster includes:
- The Soup Soldier – Leader of the Sentinels, product of Campbell’s Secret Souper Soldier program
- The Broletariat – Self-proclaimed Champion of Working Class Frat Boys
- Iron Can – Inventor and technical expert of the Sentinels
- Mighty Thick – Other-worldly muscle of the Sentinels
- The TiraMasseuse – The … novelty … member of the Sentinels
- Spark – Receptionist of the Sentinels
The Muncie Massacre
About six years ago, the town of Muncie, Indiana was the sight of
a bloodbath. According to sketchy news reports, a lone gunman seized
control of the town by shooting anyone who protested. After a lengthy
stand-off with the Indiana National Guard, the Governor backed off,
ceding control of Muncie to the gunman. Since then, Muncie has not
officially been a part of Indiana.
Pulp Era Adventures and
Chronicles
The late 1930’s saw the rise of larger-than-life criminals,
who made headlines with personality and style. The police were no match
for these menaces, and soon larger-than-life vigilante heroes arose
to oppose them. The accounts of these adventures were published in
magazines made of cheap pulp paper, and they comprised a new literary
sub-genre. Heroes like Zap Rogers and Tommy Yesterday had their following,
but the interest in the villains bordered on the fanatical. Johnny
Ramses and Yang the Uncanny were just two popular real-life scoundrels
whose adventures sometimes out-sold the heroes. Ironically, the most
popular real-life pulp villain, the Golden Gopher, was never immortalized
in print. After retirement, he left the public eye – some say
to teach a whole new generation of villains. Sadly, the onset of World
War II forced the decline of unnecessary paper usage, and these publications
all went out of print.
About a decade ago, there
was renewed interest in Pulp literature. Several old serials were
re-published for a new
generation. In the
midst of this popularity, a new book was published, written in the
same Pulp-Style so popular in the 1930’s. The Age of Empress
series, featuring the galactic adventures of Empress Jhakarta, was
a huge hit with fans. Since then, new author Garth D. Klein has published
four of the five books planned in his series:
Book
1 – The Empress’ New
Clothes
– Published
12 years ago, the first book tells how Princess Jhakarta ascended
to the
Imperial Throne of the entire Thorakian Galactic Empire though a combination
of charismatic leadership, bold actions, and sexy wardrobe. Together
with her cryptic grey-cloaked advisor (a character whom long-time readers
swear was missing from the first edition), she took over the Galactic
Council and drove the Oom Knights into hiding, but not before they
destroyed one of her best weapons.
Note: There is an unusual
controversy surrounding certain editions of this book. A large number
of fans have reported
what can only be
described as a “temporary variance” in the material. Many
people remember reading about the “mysterious grey-cloaked advisor,” however,
there is no such character in the book, and upon re-reading, these
fans find no trace of the character. Fan forums are full of conspiracy
theories, but to date the mystery has not been solved.
Book
2 – The
Empress Strikes Bach
– Published
10 years ago, the second book depicts how, upon learning that some
Oom Knights
gained access to temporal displacement technology, the Empress pursues
them personally in a fun time-traveling romp through the Baroque period.
She finds the Oom Knights conspiring with Vivaldi, Purcell, Handel,
and Bach. She crushes them, and turns their own scheme against them,
altering their musical compositions to contain subliminal messages
to reinforce allegiance to her Galactic Authority. The most popular
book in the series.
Book
3 – In
Space Nobody Can See the Sun Is Always Setting On the Galactic
Empire
– Published 9 years ago, the third book was
a very strange dark work which still mystifies readers. Jhakarta is
particularly brutal – with very little provocation, she rounds
up a billion innocent rebels into an antique spacecraft shaped like
a rickshaw, takes them to a planet full of ancient lava beds, and executes
them with atomic artillery. The only decent part of the book has almost
nothing to do with the overall series story arc: There are extensive
scenes inside the Oom Rebel Base, where the reader learns the secrets
of Mindetics, the unique style of meditation which endows Oom Knights
with their confidence and unlocks their inner abilities. The book won
an award for longest title.
Book
4 – Wholly Roamin’ Empress
– Published
5 years ago, the fourth book depicts the Empress traveling around
the Galaxy
suppressing rebellions personally, engaging in snappy dialogue, and
meeting all sort of interesting characters. The book is a well-written
return to the form of the first two books, but it did not sell well.
Reviewers were disappointed at the re-hash of earlier books, and at
the de-emphasis of the popular Oom Knights.
Book
5 – The
Rise and Fall of the Last Galactic Empress
– The
unreleased fifth book in the series is planned to be the last. Its
exact contents are unknown, but rumors fly around the online fan forums.
Supposedly the Empress will finally confront the Leader of the Oom
Knights, a mysterious man named Shade. They allegedly have a romantic
encounter, and fulfilling an ancient Oom prophecy, one of them does
not survive. Fan speculation says it will be the Empress.