Open source Super archetype

Yeah, my description of how the powers work was just for the benefit of explaining in-depth during construction. If you want to sum it up, you can basically put it as "Through the manipulation of cosmic energy fields, he has super-strength, super-durability, super-speed, flight, super-endurance and the ability to project defensive force shields to a moderate distance. However, because they all flow from the same source of cosmic power, he can only utilise two powers to maximum effect at one time, with the other powers being present, but at a much reduced level. As he grows older, the cosmic energy in him expands until he can simultaneously utilise all his powers at maximum potential." which allows for both a more strategic hero and also a totally invulnerable Silver-Age Superman, just by setting him a bit older. I would suggest removing the invisibility though, as I'm not keen on invisibility. Was merely explaining how you could work it in with the energy fields if need be. If you do want another interesting additional power, perhaps the astro-fields could allow him to 'see' how specific things affect the fields permeated through everything, so that he can essentially identify anyone by their unique astro-auras and perhaps track them by the disturbances they leave. Just a thought though, not something I would push hard to add if others didn't like it.

As for the names, if it's all going to be B&W I completely understand why you'd want to avoid colour names.

For an origin, perhaps it can be that long ago there was a race from the planet Viro, far away on the other side of the galaxy, who through their astro-field technology gained superpowers and used it to conquer their local space-region. A great war resulted, and the climax of this was the triggering of the Viran doomsday device, the Astro-Field Bomb. It released waves of concentrated astro-field rays that decimated the local space region, driving the Virans to extinction. Whilst most of the rays were absorbed by stars and the like, by chance some of the rays continued to travel deep into the galaxy, unabated, moving for thousands of years at the speed of light, until one of these rays strikes Earth, bathing a man in its astro-field goodness and imbuing him with the same powers that the Virans used the technology to gain. He is now the last known being with the power of the once-feared Virans, the Astro-Man of Planet Earth! The power of the Astro-Field pulses within his very being, and with each pulse the power that he has yet to fully understand and fully control grows, gradually increasing his might as he grows older.

This of course leads to the option of later storylines with other space beings who have been empowered by the Astro-Fields, perhaps long before Astro-Man and thus have greater mastery of the power, or a storyline about Viro probes tracking the rays to find the empowered individual(s) in order to brainwash them and revive the once-great Viran race.

"Astro Man" (no hyphen) is a character in the Mega Man 8 video game, but I haven't come across any comic book characters with that name. I like "Astro-Man" and I also find it odd that the name hasn't been used before in comics.

The "Astro-Field Bomb" concept (I like Vagrant's take on how he gets his powers), as I see it, can help set-up Astro-Man's arch-villain, who uses some device to absorb the Astro-Rays that still float freely throughout open space. The same device can be used to drain Astro-Man of his powers whenever the two face-off. If we say that the "Astro-Rays" changed A.M. on a genetic level, then he'll always be able to recharge his powers even if they're totally drained ... it'll just take time for them to come back.

Regarding Invisibility - I'm not a fan of the idea, but if it were one of his powers, I'ld rather see it used in a limited way, where you can see-through him, but if you looked hard enough or he was moving, you would notice that someone was there (like a certain movie alien).

I think Astro-Man's "kryptonite" should be the downside of using his powers. The more/longer he uses them, the longer it takes for him to recover/recharge. This, for me, takes "super-healing" out of the picture, especially if the idea is to make him more human. If he's from Earth, then his biological make-up should be the reason he physically cannot use all of his powers at once. Like trying to put too much energy into a AA battery or a low-wattage light bulb, his body would rupture if he ran too much of the Astro-Ray energy through it or tried using all of his powers at once.

I know there seems to be a tendency to make Astro-Man's abilities all top-level (super-duper strength, super-fast flight, etc), but I've always seen Superman NOT as the powers he possesses, but as the character he is and inspires others to be. He's the ultimate self-sacrificing hero, willing to protect others at the risk of his own life. It's why I like the "Innocent Bystander Protection Shield", as he's protecting others rather than himself. Superman's also super-confident & fearless, even when entering a battle he feels he may not walk away from. So basically, I don't think we need to load-up Astro-Man with a bunch of powers, as I think flight, strength & the energy shield are enough for the character to be visually interesting.

argosail wrote:

I like Yzz's writing. He's very creative, and I like his origin.

Thanks.

Vagrant wrote:

For an origin, perhaps it can be that long ago there was a race from the planet Viro, far away on the other side of the galaxy, who through their astro-field technology gained superpowers and used it to conquer their local space-region.
[...]
He is now the last known being with the power of the once-feared Virans, the Astro-Man of Planet Earth!

I like this. Riffing off the old "nuclear radiation gives people superpowers.", perhaps the AF-bomb gave some of the few Viran survivors truly cosmic-level powers. Perhaps the Astro-field tech draws upon extradimensional energy. Maybe this energy is what allows things like faster-than-light travel. This also sets up a potential enemy (the Darkseid to Astro-Man's Superman) in the astro-field world. As for Astro-senses used to detect people...I'd say he could only sense/identify astro-powered beings like himself.

~~Yzz

OK, I think the general consensus is that Astro-Man won't have invisibility powers. Just added it as a suggestion to think of something to differentiate him from other Superman like characters.

I like a good portion of what everyone has written, especially the Astro-Field Bomb origin. Also, the concept that there'd be other similarily powered beings seeking out Astro-Man, possibly to eliminate him as a threat or to somehow siphon his abilities?

I still say he needs to have healing abilities. You have to realize, whether or not his super strength is provided by the Astro Field, his muscles and skeletal structure wouldn't be able to handle such excess weight. The fatigue and strain alone would injure him severely. It stands to reason he should have healing abilities but also be susceptible, like the concept where he can only use one ability at a time or he when he projects the Astro Force Field he is vulnerable.

This is all sounding good. I like it.

Now, what about villains? There are plenty of names to use via the PD super hero site itself, and I am currently using hero names as villains. No reason why we can't do the same.

Any suggestions? Aliens, humans, etc.? I say we stay away from anything magic, but that's just my opinion.

Should he have any love interests? Should we stay away from that and just concentrate on the action?

Regarding visuals, I agree with Argosail, he should have a cape.

What else should he have? Why would he have the cape? Mask or no mask? Goggles?

PhantomofDoom wrote:

Now, what about villains? There are plenty of names to use via the PD super hero site itself, and I am currently using hero names as villains. No reason why we can't do the same.

Any suggestions? Aliens, humans, etc.? I say we stay away from anything magic, but that's just my opinion.

Should he have any love interests? Should we stay away from that and just concentrate on the action?

Regarding visuals, I agree with Argosail, he should have a cape.

What else should he have? Why would he have the cape? Mask or no mask? Goggles?

I personally think that The Claw has potential as a cosmic villain.

I personally dislike magic as well.

As for masks, I like the old domino masks.

What about his ethnicity?

~~Yzz

@Yzz: Yeah, I think a domino style mask would be cool. Definitely harkens back to the Golden Age. While I like it I wonder what everyone else says. I can also see why he wouldn't have to have one but just for asthetics I would like it.


It doesn't matter to me one way or the other regarding his ethnicity but I also want to stray away from stereotypes.

Should we add something to the Claw name? The Cosmic Claw? What is his or its motivation and origin?
I like the name "Kalthar". Sounds very alien. Any other suggestions?

PhantomofDoom wrote:

It doesn't matter to me one way or the other regarding his ethnicity but I also want to stray away from stereotypes.

I also want us to stay away from stereotypes. I just want something different from the GWG (Generic White Guy) mold, y'know?

PhantomofDoom wrote:

Should we add something to the Claw name? The Cosmic Claw? What is his or its motivation and origin?
I like the name "Kalthar". Sounds very alien. Any other suggestions?

"I have been called by many names over many years...Nyarlathotep...Kalthar...Har-Un Magathan...Set...And countless others. The only one that has endured is...The Claw."
-"The Claw"

The Claw could be a basic shorthand for him, while Kalthar could have been used by an ancient civilization, coming into use again now that their descendants have reencountered him. As for his origin...we could leave it unexplored. A creature with powers similar to Astro-beings yet somehow unconnected to them.

~~Yzz

Well, if you're going to go by likelihood of being struck by level of population then he'd probably be Asian or Indian, more than likely. I like the idea of cape and domino mask.

Just want to weigh in real quick.

I'd like to ask that we NOT make Astro-Man an African-American. I am planning to introduce a very Superman-like African-American character with a cape on the Free Universe website (well, actually I am waiting to introduce him until I've had time to do his proper first appearance, but you can see his face in the background image of the site). I do think it might be interesting to make Astro asian. I haven't seen too many asian characters with capes. How about Samoan like the Rock? Somebody will need to play him in the movie.

Why a cape? Because capes are cool. They make a character look very regal and that is the only reason for them. Plus, we ARE trying to make Astro a proxy for Superman, and that is a very important design feature. There are no Superman clones that don't have a cape, because really...it just wouldn't be the same. A domino mask like Black Terror's would be fine.

I have to say, I don't see the point in salvaging parts from a PD character like the Claw. If it's not really the PD Claw (and really, that character was kind of a wuss compared to Superman), I say we just start from scratch. I like what others were saying about Astro-Men from other planets. Maybe some are good, and come together like the GL Corps or the "Astro-Corps." Then some are evil, like Sinestro, or in this case, General Zod. We can call the oldest, most powerful and most sinister Asto-Man, Kalthar. Plus, Astro could have a Luthor-like human villain on earth, who uses his scientific genius to siphon or simply nullify his enemy's powers.

Makes me wonder, when this is done should we begin an OpenSauce Project to design several archetypes, as well as this Superman archetype? I'm thinking Speedster, Blaster, Street Crusader, Esper, Mystic and Battlesuit/Gadgeteer as other archetypes that would suit having open-source characters for anyone to use.

@Argosail: I think we're thinking similarily. I was also thinking of making the character of Asian descent after Yzz stated trying to make him something other than the standard Caucasian hero. Not that I mind him being white, but I like the idea of having him of Asian descent.

I want the cape, just didn't know if it was necessary to explain him wearing it.

Glad you also like Kalthar, and that's exactly what I was thinking, Argosail, have him be one of the alien "Astro-Men" characters. I also think he needs some human villains. I don't object to Claw, but that character has been used extensively in one way or another by various companies. That's why I suggested "cosmic claw" but maybe we can drop him or make CLAW the name of an evil organization?

OK. Well, I have to acquire some art supplies and then sometime later this week hope to post something in terms of a rough draft regarding the visuals.

@Vagrant: Well, those wouldn't be bad. However, personally, I only have enough time and desire to do this one open source Super archetype.

Also, if we start creating a number of these under the categories you suggest, I don't know. Hard to say.

I honestly wouldn't want too many of my own ideas being used by anyone else. That's just me. I am willing to be creative for this one Super archetype character but really, that's just it.

I don't know how anyone else feels about it. I have more opinions but let's just say I think there already are plenty of available characters to use from the Public Domain.

Yeah, figured it as more of a thing where people who want to work on a particular archetype do so, no real fixed structure to it. However, if people are against it, I would at the least like to work on an Open Source Armored Hero, given that the only PD Armored Hero I can find is Bozo the Robot, and that's not suited for all types of stories. If anyone is interested in working on that after this one is done, I'd be happy to collaborate.

As for Astro-Man, I've been thinking on the whole Unified Field Theory origin I had intially proposed, and maybe this could be adapted for the science supervillain. Maybe he thinks that Astro-Man's manipulation of the Astro-Fields holds the key to creating a working Unified Field Theory that he could a) help humanity with b) get rich with private rights/patents/etc. Thusly, he wants to capture and study Astro-Man for his nefarious purposes.

Just an idea though, thought I'd put it here for others to muse on or work with if they like it.

@Vagrant: I think the part B of the Unified Theory plan for the villain makes sense to me. I like that idea.

No, man, you can pursue whatever type(s) of open source character(s) you want, I am just stating I think currently we're all just collaborating on this one Super archetype and villains.

I WAS thinking of additional characters like you mentioned but quickly realized it'd "muddy" the waters too much and just be too time consuming for me personally.

Not to say you can't do what you want, it is a free country here in the U.S. and more or less on the Internet and this site. It IS called the Free Universe for a reason!

Heh, I imagine the guy could be quite Luthor-like, justifying the large amounts of money he'd make off the nefarious actions by invoking Part A: Betterment of Humanity, and I wouldn't be surprised if many people felt the same way. He could well be a respected scientist who everyone knows is working towards the UFT, just that they're not aware of exactly how he's working towards it. Could be a pretty influential guy in the right circles, I reckon, especially if his early work is promising enough.

I have the name Talib as a suggestion for him, an Arabic name that basically means 'Knowledge Seeker". Whether it is his first or last name I dunno, but having him as an Arabic scientist/businessman could be cool.

Yes, I like the Talib name/concept. Perhaps in addition to his desire to study the scientific ramnifications of Astro-Man's power, he is also motivated to defend mankind from the Astro-Men himself, after seeing the devestation caused by Kalthar's last battle with Astro-Man on Earth. Perhaps he blames Astro-Man for the death of his wife, who was killed during the battle, an event that Astro-Man accepts a certain amount of blame for (even though it was not his fault). And, of course, in true supervillain style, Talib thinks that only he, being a superior man, has the right to bear the powers of an Astro-Man.

I definitely think that it would be a cool idea to try to create additional super arch types, but I'd suggest a new thread for each one. That way each thread can remain focused until a hero is acceptably complete, and contributors can pick which kind of arch types they'd like to contribute ideas to, and easily find the thread on that character.

Vagrant wrote:

However, if people are against it, I would at the least like to work on an Open Source Armored Hero, given that the only PD Armored Hero I can find is Bozo the Robot, and that's not suited for all types of stories. If anyone is interested in working on that after this one is done, I'd be happy to collaborate.

I'd be willing to contribute for a Speedster and a Battlesuit. I think we should also make some Open Source cosmics ala Darkseid, Galactus, Thanos, etc.

Quote :

I have the name Talib as a suggestion for him, an Arabic name that basically means 'Knowledge Seeker". Whether it is his first or last name I dunno, but having him as an Arabic scientist/businessman could be cool.

How about Hassan Al-Talib?

~~Yzz

The name sounds good, which means it sounds like we have Astro-Man almost stitched up. Powers, origin, name, a few enemies and soon enough a costume too. What else needs to be done here other than the costume?

We need a civilian identity. I propose the name Steve in honor of Ultimo Steve who started this thread. And if Steve wants to tell us the first name of his fiance, that could be the name of Astro's girlfriend.

I also propose that while the character is ethnically Asian, he is 100% American (and a bit of a patriot at that, committed to the country's ideals), because I think that is a big part of why Americans love Superman. I don't think they would respond as well to a foreign hero.

@Argosail: Personally, I was assuming he'd be American. Honestly it never crossed my mind he'd be from any other country, but that's me.

Regarding the costume design, should he have some type of symbol on his costume? Regarding the domino mask, should it be a small thin one like Fighting Yank, Green Lantern, Robin, etc.? Should it be a larger one like the Green Mask or Spy Smasher?

I've drawn a few sketches but need some more input in these areas.

PhantomofDoom wrote:

Regarding the costume design, should he have some type of symbol on his costume? Regarding the domino mask, should it be a small thin one like Fighting Yank, Green Lantern, Robin, etc.? Should it be a larger one like the Green Mask or Spy Smasher?

I was thinking no symbol, small domino mask.

Something like this:

...Only not bald.

~~Yzz

I was thinking along those lines regarding his mask. I've already drawn a couple of sketches, and naturally, he does have hair.

What does everyone else think? Symbol? No symbol? Anything else to add?

I kinda like the idea of a symbol, just because, like the cape, it's kind of a convention among superheroes and we're going for the most common super arch type. It would be okay without a symbol, but I think a big bold "A" on his chest might be pretty spiffy. Great thing about "A's" is that they are symmetrical and can make a pretty nice contour down a uniform.

Like Yzz said, I'd go for a smaller domino mask. But feel free to experiment.

I am now inking the sketch for Astro-Man.

It will be posted sometime tomorrow. It will be in black and white. If someone likes the sketch and wants to add color, either via computer or other means, please do it.

Thanks.

Sounds good. I definitely look forward to seeing it!