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Spy Agencies

Is there any spy agencies in Champions Lore? Something like MI6 or S.H.I.E.L.D.
I'm really curious to see how they'd behave in a world full of super-heroes. =)
@bulgarex I once again need your knowledge!

Comments

  • bulgarexbulgarex Posts: 2,310 Arc User
    All the intelligence agencies of the United States and other governments from the real world exist in the Champions Universe, and since the Cold War have used superhumans in covert operations, although their identities and even existence have usually been kept secret from the public. In the present day America and China are particularly active in that field, although the focus of such activities has shifted more toward industrial espionage. The American intelligence community employs at least two supers, a clairvoyant named Frederick Wilson, and a light-manipulator code-named Brightmoon. China's assets include Glorious Mind, with low-level psionic powers and an eidetic memory; Dark Cloud, who possesses powers of intangibility; and a robotic shape-shifter designated Agent 57. (See Champions Universe pp. 61 and 139 for a brief history of "super-spies.")

    Intelligence gathering and counter-intelligence are a major activity of the setting's unique law-enforcement and criminal "super-agencies." Agents of VIPER's Constrictor Division frequently conflict with UNTIL's Intelligence Corps and Electronic Warfare Division, and each will utilize supers with appropriate powers. For example, UNTIL's Project Mind Game will often "lend" Lieutenants Jonas Skucas (a formidable telepath) and Emil Mauch (a machine- and computer-controller) to their intelligence services. (See UNTIL: Defenders Of Freedom and VIPER: Coils Of The Serpent for more details on the above.)

    Freelance super-mercenaries with telepathic or shape-shifting powers often conduct espionage for whoever will pay. Notable among these is the shape-shifter called Masquerade, often considered the world's top spy, who can perfectly duplicate the physical form of any humanoid, down to fingerprints, retina patterns, and DNA. Cybermind, another "cyberkinetic" (machine controller), is the computer hacker most feared by governments and criminals alike. (Cybermind and Masquerade are fully written up in Champions Villains Volume Three: Solo Villains.)
  • brfabeirasbrfabeiras Posts: 182 Arc User
    |That's good to know. I'll try to take a further look into UNTIL.
    Thanks!
  • bulgarexbulgarex Posts: 2,310 Arc User
    Was there a particular type of background you were looking for?
  • brfabeirasbrfabeiras Posts: 182 Arc User
    Now that you mentioned, I've been reading a lot of Master of Kung-Fu lately, and simply got hooked by the spionage plots involving Shang-Chi and the MI6.

    I was thinking about: skilled fighter ends up fighting alongside spy agency because interests briefly aligned, and then reluctantly aids them from time to time. Pretty much Chi's situation, tbh :p
  • bulgarexbulgarex Posts: 2,310 Arc User
    Ah, I see. Shang-Chi's adventures mostly involved fighting normal humans with training, sometimes gadgets, rather than "four-color" supervillains. If you want your character's activities to be similar, IMO you'd be better off using a real-world espionage agency like MI6 or the CIA. UNTIL, PRIMUS and their ilk operate on the level of "four-color" superhero comics, using high-tech equipment to help them combat beings with superhuman powers. Their intelligence work is more focused on super-class threats like VIPER and Dr. Destroyer, than on traditional espionage. OTOH it's hardly unknown for Champions martial artists to have achieved a level of skill making them competitive with some true superhumans, so your character could still fit into that milieu. And UNTIL does regularly cooperate with superheroes on an informal basis.

    If you'd like to really mirror Shang-Chi's journey as a character, you could make him a son of the great Chinese sorcerer master villain, Dr. Yin Wu (Champions Villains Volume One), who makes an appropriate stand-in for Fu Manchu. Dr. Wu has had many wives and children over the centuries of his immortal life, but almost always sends them away and doesn't keep track of them. Your character could be an exception, though, possibly having been groomed to add to his foremost servants, the "Four Sons of the Dragon." Yin Wu is considered a major threat to world security by UNTIL and world governments, so fighting him could definitely be an area where their interests align with your character's.
  • brfabeirasbrfabeiras Posts: 182 Arc User
    That's exactly what I was looking for, thanks a lot, bulgarex!
  • jaazaniah1jaazaniah1 Posts: 5,424 Arc User
    Daddy issues make great plot devices! Hmm, I wonder how many villains and heroes in the CO universe are parents?
    JwLmWoa.png
    Perseus, Captain Arcane, Tectonic Knight, Pankration, Siberiad, Sekhmet, Black Seraph, Clockwork
    Project Attalus: Saving the world so you don't have to!
  • bulgarexbulgarex Posts: 2,310 Arc User
    edited August 2020
    I can think of a few who are still alive. No few currently active supers are the children and successors of others who have retired or died. If you include "creators" of supers through artificial means, rather than the traditional one, in your definition of "parents," the number goes up significantly. ;)
  • bulgarexbulgarex Posts: 2,310 Arc User
    BTW if you would like to add a little extra "oomph" to your character, Dr. Yin Wu has armed his "Four Sons of the Dragon" with enchanted weapons of one sort or another. From their names, Copper Spear's and Golden Axe's weapons are obvious. Iron Whirlwind uses twin swords, while Silver Hand is actually named for the magical prosthesis he wears to replace the deformed hand he was born with.
  • brfabeirasbrfabeiras Posts: 182 Arc User
    Yeah, I was taking a look into their "sons", there's a lot of options to work with =)
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