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Red Snake, and LadyHawke...

So Just finished another run of helping LadyHawke, and not for the first time had to listen to her making the point of "I've fought Red Snake..." or something of the sort.

Is Red Snake that big of a deal? I remember him as barely even being more dangerous than a regular goon... I usually have a harder time with those bloody BrickBusters... but as with all things this is a video game and not a TTRPG which tends to have a different concept of risk and reward. So...

What do we know about Red Snake and what makes him so dangerous?
Do we know anything about LadyHawke beyond the game text info?

Comments

  • bulgarexbulgarex Posts: 2,310 Arc User
    Ladyhawke is a recent original Cryptic Studios creation, so I'm afraid what you find in this game is all the extant info on her. If the CO devs have more in mind for her, it's up to them to release it.

    OTOH Redsnake is very thoroughly written up for tabletop Champions in the Vibora Bay source book. Santo Barrera is the latest scion of a wealthy Vibora Bay family. A philanthropist in his civilian identity, Santo was a dedicated student of VB's native martial art, Vibora Carmesi, and is one of its greatest living practitioners. His skill includes the near-mythic "Hypnotic Sway" technique, which can entrance his opponents into briefly standing still, leaving them open to attack.

    While surveying swampland outside VB for potential land for housing, Santo found a small carnelian statue in the shape of a viper. Touching it released a surge of energy into his body, enhancing his strength, speed and durability to near-superhuman levels. The incident inspired Santo to adopt the costumed secret identity of Redsnake and use his abilities to fight for people physically as well as financially.

    During a battle with VIPER Redsnake acquired a prototype "energy whip." In addition to its use as a conventional whip, the weapon can release ranged discharges of energy, and drain the strength from an opponent's muscles when wrapped around them.

    Of course all this makes Redsnake sound much more formidable than how he's shown to be in CO. I'm pretty certain all the NPC heroes were deliberately nerfed compared to their tabletop counterparts, to assure that PCs would be the ones to shine and save the day.
  • mordray001mordray001 Posts: 218 Arc User
    Regarding LadyHawke... figured as much, though I was holding out hope that they'd picked up a side character and expanded on them... oh well.

    Huh... I wasn't thinking at all about that guy down in Vibora Bay... in general his alert leaves a sour impression... Though that is an interesting background. So he didn't create Vibora Carmesi?

    I was thinking of a Viper Scientist(?) up in Canada. He was involved in some mad scientist grade biological enhancement research. Could have swore he was called Red Snake...

    But, yeah I fully accept that our characters and the NPC's are both stronger and weaker they really would be if this were a true world rather than a video game.
  • bulgarexbulgarex Posts: 2,310 Arc User
    Ah, you're probably thinking of Redstone, aka Dr. Klaus, in that mission to VIPER's lab, "the Clutch," in the Rime Woods.

    In the PnP source book, VIPER: Coils Of The Serpent, "Redstone" is the code name for the leader of the VIPER Nest in Vancouver, Canada; but his real name is different, and he's no scientist. I think Cryptic just glomed onto the name and gave him the qualities they wanted for that mission. OTOH that Redstone is described as a labyrinthine schemer, and VIPER has been moving more of its projects into less-settled areas of Canada for increased security. So it's possible they could be the same character, with Redstone just supervising the operation under a false ID. But PnP Redstone is a former cat burglar, skilled in that field but with no special combat abilities. If LadyHawke is boasting of her past battles, Redsnake would make a more impressive credential.

    The antecedents of Vibora Carmesi are uncertain, and appear to have grown organically with the city, although some attribute its beginnings to a widely-traveled former slave with a colorful reputation, named Alexander Davis. But VB's oldest school for the art was founded in 1913 by Elijah Selkirk, reputed to be the greatest seguidore de la vibora ("follower of the viper") in history.
  • mordray001mordray001 Posts: 218 Arc User
    Yep, you are correct Redstone is who I was thinking of. That said... he wouldn't be the first to find their identity being co-opted.

    Regarding Vibora Carmesi, Interesting... the oddest part of it for me is that I have fairly good understanding of the methods by which most martial arts are founded... by people teaching each other little tricks and those being cobbled together into a collection of techniques and skills that are over time refined. Which makes Green Dragon's hate speech against Vibora Carmesi make him seem all the more ignorant and less informed then he really should be.
  • jaazaniah1jaazaniah1 Posts: 5,424 Arc User
    Do the source books say that Red Snake sounds like Urkel from Family Matters? :)
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  • bulgarexbulgarex Posts: 2,310 Arc User
    edited December 2019
    mordray001 wrote: »
    Yep, you are correct Redstone is who I was thinking of. That said... he wouldn't be the first to find their identity being co-opted.

    Regarding Vibora Carmesi, Interesting... the oddest part of it for me is that I have fairly good understanding of the methods by which most martial arts are founded... by people teaching each other little tricks and those being cobbled together into a collection of techniques and skills that are over time refined. Which makes Green Dragon's hate speech against Vibora Carmesi make him seem all the more ignorant and less informed then he really should be.

    Green Dragon isn't like a lot of other martial artists at his level. He hasn't found enlightenment or inner peace through their practice. He's a vain, impulsive bully who achieved his current level of skill through a combination of exceptional innate physical ability, love of fighting, and sheer stubbornness in training. He has no respect or patience for the more spiritual and mystical dimensions of martial arts, but as a result his skills are stagnating.

    On top of that, Green Dragon is a rabid anti-Western bigot, considering everything Occidental to be decadent and inferior; and Vibora Carmesi is almost certainly a martial art born in America.
    jaazaniah1 wrote: »
    Do the source books say that Red Snake sounds like Urkel from Family Matters? :)

    Neither Redsnake nor Redstone have anything mentioned about their voices. Mocking them probably isn't a good idea, though. In his youth Redsnake actually went through quite a bit of tragedy (death of both his parents) and soul-searching (guilt over his wealth and privilege), and as a result is a very serious man almost fanatically dedicated to his ideals of helping others. OTOH Redstone is a ruthless backstabber who took over the Vancouver Nest after murdering his predecessor -- not normally tolerated in VIPER, but its leaders apparently considered Redstone a more competent replacement, although they watch him closely for signs of further treachery.

  • heartstringsk3heartstringsk3 Posts: 149 Arc User
    edited December 2019
    bulgarex wrote: »
    On top of that, Green Dragon is a rabid anti-Western bigot, considering everything Occidental to be decadent and inferior; and Vibora Carmesi is almost certainly a martial art born in America.

    Makes sense then, that in the alert, voice-wise he's depicted as a fancy Suthun' gentleman, ah do decleah. :p

    Pretty sure the Red Snake alert has intentionally-bad voice acting though, I think Cryptic was trying to make a joke about bad English dubs of old kung fu films.

  • bulgarexbulgarex Posts: 2,310 Arc User
    edited December 2019
    Yeesh. :s

    I think it goes beyond that alert, though, like CO White Rhino in Dr. Moreau's lab on Monster Island. Of course a thug from Uganda talks like a punk from Brooklyn. Cryptic has a history of going for easily-recognized cliche and pop-culture references when adapting the source material.

    And don't even get me started on what the devs did to the Drifter. :angry:
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