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 Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale

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argosail

argosail


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PostSubject: Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale   Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale EmptyTue Apr 05, 2011 3:27 am

So, as the open source "Free Universe" expands, we need to develop new villains as well as heroes. A common comic book arch type is the femme fatale, a female villain or anti-hero who doesn't play by the rules, but confuse the poor male heroes that she fights, because deep down, there is some spark of goodness in her heart. The great examples include Cat Woman, Elektra, Valkyrie and a few of the bond villains.

If were going to create one that's open source, let's start with a name and a theme idea. She will also need an occupation and goals. How is she good, how is she bad, and how do her ends justify her means?
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GoldenBard

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PostSubject: Re: Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale   Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale EmptyTue Apr 05, 2011 4:07 am

Oh, this is a good one and should be a lot of fun!

Just throwing this out there: How about an environmentalist with a psychology and medical background, Belle deMerci?
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argosail

argosail


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PostSubject: Re: Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale   Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale EmptyTue Apr 05, 2011 4:16 am

Sounds good as a secret identity, but we'd need to spice her up...she needs a unique gimmick or theme...and let's make it a little dark....
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GoldenBard

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PostSubject: Re: Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale   Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale EmptyTue Apr 05, 2011 4:36 am

Okay, I see where you're coming from. In that case, I just came across a phrase that I think might work. How about "The Bloody Rose?" Then we can go with a whole flower/plant/botany theme.
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argosail

argosail


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PostSubject: Re: Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale   Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale EmptyTue Apr 05, 2011 5:11 am

The neccisty of calling her "the" makes the name a little long...i would go with "Blood Rose." Does that sound over the top though? We can't use just "Rose," because there is already a femme fatale of that name...how about "Red Rose?" The red still implies something sinister, but the outwardly benign name underscores the fact that she sees what she is doing as beautiful...she sees herself as humanity's red rose to the earth...or visa versa....but this love for the earth and/or humanity is psychotic and stalkerish and unrequitted....she feels scorned by the earth and humanity and she is going to make both love her if it's the last thing she does.....

There is always something fun about a master of psychology who can't grasp their own mental illness, and believe everyone else is crazy.

Red Rose: "Behold my lovers, I am here to remind you that the earth is here for you! I bring you the healing flower of love. I shall cure your heads of the disease you have been infected with by the dirty harlots of technology. You shall kiss the soft cheek of the earth, when I remove the hideous veil of this city! Love your planet. Do not reject her!"

Red Rose (to hero): "Vile corrupter! You think you can make my petals wilt with the heat of your breath? I am true to my love. Try to pluck me from the earth and you will feel my thorns!" (procedes to cut him with thorn shaped blades)
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argosail

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PostSubject: Re: Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale   Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale EmptyWed Apr 06, 2011 4:58 am

Hmmm...maybe my ideas are a little too over the top. I guess the question is, what kind of character is this?

Bard, it sounds like you were going for more of a pulp fiction, semi-realistic, plain clothes villain. I was thinking of a low powered costumed villain like Cat Woman or Poison Ivy. Another option is to go for a more powerful costumed super villain like Star Sapphire or Volcana.

So what kind of villain is she and what makes her dangerous? Is she the leader of a mob or a cult or a terrorist cell? Is she a lone assassin or terrorist? Is she an unstoppable bully who terrorizes cities with her power? What kind of abilities or weapons does she have?
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GoldenBard

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PostSubject: Re: Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale   Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale EmptyThu Apr 07, 2011 3:21 am

When you say "femme fatale," Argosail, the pulp feel is always the first thing that comes to my mind, but that doesn't mean that it's the only way to go. Given the way we've gone with some of the other OS characters, I think we'd have to "kick it up a notch." Here's some random thoughts; hopefully something in them will click with someone:

My original name came from the Keats poem, "La Belle Dame Sans Merci," or "The Beautiful Lady Without Mercy." Keeping that as an inspiration, maybe she has a bunch of pale-skinned followers. Can she control minds somehow? Or was she chosen and raised to be the "high priestess" of some cult (I kind of like that idea)?

Could we go with a split personality idea, where the ***** Belle deMerci doesn't even realize that she sometimes becomes the even worse Bloody Rose?

Staying with the environmentalist/flower motif, my first reaction is to give her a selection of plant-based poisons, sleeping drugs, etc., but I think that may be a bit too close to Poison Ivy? If so, maybe see should scrap the flower motif for something else: lamia? succubus? medusa?
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argosail

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PostSubject: Re: Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale   Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale EmptyThu Apr 07, 2011 4:38 am

Yeah, that's why we need to narrow it down, because femme fatale is a term that can apply to any kind of deadly female villain, but those didn't show up too often before the pulp fiction era, so I can see why you'd picture that. Because there are so many PD golden age female mobsters, I was thinking more of an Elektra type of killer, who can physically challenge a hero (something rare for the Golden Age).

I REALLY like the name Belle de Merci...it is the perfect name for any femme fatale, epsecially one with a rose theme. If we keep the rose aspect though (and especially if we go with the pulp fiction feel), I'd maybe go with her real name being Rose Belle de Merci. That way her name code name is more like a nickname.

The posions thing is a little Poison Ivyish, but I do like the rose theme, as the thorn gimmick could be played in many different ways. That doesn't mean she has to be an environmental extremist though. If we went the cultish way, she could be some kind of priestess of Venus or Cupid, obssessed with shaping the world with her own warped vision of how love should be (or maybe a priestess of Medusa, who wants to destroy all love). Or she could be a mobster who manipulates or destroys relationships for her own profit. Maybe a master of disguise who impersonates a woman, to kill her lover, and then frames her? Something like that?
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argosail

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PostSubject: Re: Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale   Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale EmptyMon Jul 04, 2011 2:59 pm

Okay, so here is what I was thinking for Red Rose:

Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale RedRose1

You can't tell from the picture, but she smells lovely. Her favorite bands are Guns-n-Roses and Poison.
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GoldenBard

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PostSubject: Re: Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale   Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale EmptyTue Jul 05, 2011 5:45 am

Great design, Argosail! I especially like the thorn-like points on the boots and the knife handle.

Now that we've got a look, we'll have to start playing around with her character/powers/origin again...
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argosail

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PostSubject: Re: Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale   Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale EmptyMon Jul 18, 2011 6:23 am

Anyone else have ideas on this character?

I like the name Red Rose because I think it's a little more understated than Blood Rose, but I could see using that name also. Anyone else have opinions?

I love the alter ego Rose Belle de Merci. Anyone else have opinions?

I like the idea of connecting her to some kind of warped, psychotic version of love. Anyone else have opinions?

Right now, I'm thinking of her as something like a human crime boss or assassin who tries to seduce people to get her way, but when they spurn her aggressive, psychotic and completely selfish "love" proposals, she guts them. That means that nobody refuses her and lives (except our hero).

Should she just have bladed weapons to kill? Should she have poison or plant control like Poison Ivy? Can anyone think of rose related powers? Maybe she is a mind controller who makes others share her psychotic visions of "love?" Looking for ideas here to make her special.
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Transmooky

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PostSubject: Re: Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale   Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale EmptyTue Jul 19, 2011 2:48 pm

Nice design, similar to a character I created called Mantrap (only she wore lots of PVC and fishnets) I like the name Red Rose and I can just imagine her carving someone up to Guns n Roses soundtrack!!

Very Happy
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GoldenBard

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PostSubject: Re: Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale   Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale EmptyWed Jul 20, 2011 10:42 pm

Here's what I've come up with, based on what we've already discussed. Please edit, add, or delete as necessary!

Rosabelle deMerci was born a month early, while her wealthy parents were vacationing on a small island off the coast of Greece. Because they were unprepared, rather than get to a hospital, they depended on a local midwife. What they didn't know was that this midwife was a member of the centuries-old Cult of Medea, a group dedicated to using the power of love to conquer the world. Because Rosabelle was born in the month of June (the month of the rose) and had a rose-shaped birthmark on her left shoulder, the midwife decided that she was the foretold Warrioress of the Rose. She used her hypnotic power of suggestion to convince the deMercis to hire her as Rosabelle's nurse & nanny.

The nanny seemed excellent at her job, but she secretly indoctrinated and trained Rosabelle in the teachings of the cult. When Rosabelle became an adult, she took over one of her family's smaller companies: Venus Cosmetics. She also began writing books on empowerment for women. But hidden, almost subliminally, in all her writings and all the company's advertising, was the message of using love as a source of power. She decided that this wasn't enough to fulfill her mission, however, so she created a more powerful persona: Blood Rose. She sees herself as a vigilante, striking against society for the power of love and its proper use; those "heroes" who stand in her way are obviously working for the forces opposed to love and must be stopped.

Blood Rose is a skilled fighter and uses knives and thorn-shaped darts in combat. She also has mastered the power to hypnotize others, especially putting them to sleep and suggesting dreams for them to have and convince those with weak minds that they like (or even love) her and will do her will. She can also communicate with plants. As a result, she can learn what a plant has "seen," and even connect to a "baby" plant through the parent; one of her favorite tricks is to send a cutting of the rose bush in her office to those she wishes to spy on; then she can use her plant as a "receiver" for whatever the cutting "sees."
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argosail

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PostSubject: Re: Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale   Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale EmptyThu Jul 21, 2011 2:15 am

Wow Bard, I...ahem...LOVE it! It has all sorts of pulpy elements with the hypnotism and the secret cult and all that. Rosabelle is perfect. This is a great character...

Anyone else have additional ideas? This feels pretty solid to me....
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GoldenBard

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PostSubject: Re: Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale   Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale EmptyThu Jul 21, 2011 6:04 am

There was one other idea I forgot to add, let me know if you think it would work. At first it just seemed as a fun way of playing off the "rose" theme, but now I think that it might help with the OS aspect by making Rose a villainess who could be appropriate for any kind of hero: The strength of her powers fluctuate with the seasons. She is strongest in the summer and weakest in the winter, with spring and fall being in-between.

That work? Or is it going too far?
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Transmooky

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PostSubject: Re: Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale   Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale EmptyFri Jul 22, 2011 3:26 pm

Nice idea Bard,

she has different heroes against her in different seasons depending on her power.

It's not a step too far, in fact I would go so far as to say it's a damn original idea.

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argosail

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PostSubject: Re: Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale   Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale EmptySun Jul 24, 2011 9:41 am

I do like it when open source characters have variable power levels to accomodate different kinds of characters. I'm not sure about the season thing though, because that would effect how and when a story could take place....what if she just gained strength through exposure to sunlight (like Superman and Cyclops)? Or what if she grew stronger the more people were in love with her. This would create an interesting problem for her...if she betrayed someone, she would loose that energy...something to keep her violence in check....
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GoldenBard

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PostSubject: Re: Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale   Open Source Arch-Type 4: Femme Fatale EmptySat Jul 30, 2011 10:20 am

argosail wrote:
Or what if she grew stronger the more people were in love with her. This would create an interesting problem for her...if she betrayed someone, she would loose that energy...something to keep her violence in check....
It would also be a good reason for the cult... I like it! Let's go with that!
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