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Archaeologists in CO?

I am always alarmed at the number of villains who seem to have some connection to archaeology. Are there an equal number of archaeology related heroes in CO? I mean, it's bad enough that bumbling archaeologists in movies release horrors on the world (and the guys like Indy are not great archaeology role models, though they are certainly heroic)! We don't need to have these outmoded stereotypes in this game ;)
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Perseus, Captain Arcane, Tectonic Knight, Pankration, Siberiad, Sekhmet, Black Seraph, Clockwork
Project Attalus: Saving the world so you don't have to!

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  • bulgarexbulgarex Posts: 2,310 Arc User
    edited March 2021
    Well, to the best of my recollection there's only one archaeologist super in Champions Online right now, but I could easily be forgetting. But there are quite a few on the PnP side, although most if not all of them are supervillains. :p They include Anubis, primary servant on Earth of the god Set; the secret identity of the Black Paladin; the mummy-like super assassin known as The Curse; the host for the awesome god or demon of darkness called Eclipsar; the sonic supervillainess Howler; the discoverer of the tomb for The Slug, now transformed into that Elder Worm ruler; and two members of villain teams, Tartarus of the Devil's Advocates, and Bloodstone of the Crowns of Krim (the only one in CO AFAIK).

    The closest to an heroic archaeologist I can remember who's still active is Aric Roston Rhodes, a famous "explorer of the unknown," who's part adventurer, part self-promoter (he has his own very popular cable television show). He's not superhuman per se, but an exceptionally competent all-around explorer, investigator, monster hunter, and the like. I'd have to dig around to try to find more.

    For full write-ups, the Slug's in Champions Villains Volume One: Master Villains, Bloodstone and Tartarus in Volume Two: Villain Teams, and the other villains mentioned are written up in Volume Three: Solo Villains. Aric Roston Rhodes (he always uses all three names) is detailed in Champions Universe.
    Post edited by bulgarex on
  • bulgarexbulgarex Posts: 2,310 Arc User
    FWIW there are Champs heroes who stumbled across relics and gained powers thereby, such as Vanguard the setting's Superman analogue, Myrmidon of UNTIL's official superteam, UNITY, and Corrente a hero of Portugal. But they weren't archaeologists as such, and their discoveries were mostly accidental. There may be other named heroes who turn out to be archaeologists, but their backgrounds haven't been defined yet.
  • jaazaniah1jaazaniah1 Posts: 5,424 Arc User
    Okay then. In order to address this bias in the source material against archaeologists I will tweak the origin of the tank I am currently working on, Apademak, so that he will be a Sudanese archaeologist who becomes the avatar of the lion-headed Nubian war god. Think a less psychotic Moon Knight.
    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 March 2021
    Cool.

    I did think of one relatively benevolent person from the setting who kind-of fits, but it's not simply that he studies or practices archaeology, but more that he IS archaeology.

    Dr. Ibrahim Khalseran: When the Nazis unearthed this Egyptian priest-magician’s tomb, they awoke the mummified priest, who expressed his dislike of graverobbers quite forcefully. He eventually created the identity of Dr. Khalseran and found work in the Egyptian National Museum. Khalseran doesn’t look for trouble, but he protects the museum — and the legacy from his era — with a terrifying array of curses. Mystics who need to learn about ancient Egypt’s magic... can find no better teacher than Dr. Khalseran. (Preceding paragraph quoted from The Mystic World p. 60.)
  • jaazaniah1jaazaniah1 Posts: 5,424 Arc User
    How do Dr. Khalseran and Dr. Ka get along?

    There are many still undiscovered tombs in Egypt. I wonder if he patrols the countryside at all?

    Repatriation of artifacts is, of course, a hot topic these days. I wonder how Dr. Khalseran feels about legally excavated (though under colonial regimes) and plundered artifacts in foreign (e.g. European and American) museums? Is he proactive about getting artifacts back to Egypt? I could see that someone from the pharaonic world might not feel bound by modern property laws and treaties.
    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 March 2021
    Interesting questions.

    The part of the paragraph about Dr. Khalseran that I excised mentions Dr. Ka as one of the mystics who might be motivated to consult him about the legacy of Egyptian magic, since that's the source of Ka's own power. Other than that, though, there's no more information about Khalseran than what I transcribed. He's suggested as a potential NPC contact for PCs, not as a fully developed character. He's to be used as a Game Master sees fit. As for getting along with Dr. Ka, I expect that would be affected by how devout Dr. Khalseran is toward his gods -- he was a priest, after all. Dr. Ka hates the gods generally for their overall callousness toward mortals, and particularly the gods of Egypt for manipulating his family for generations.

    Although Ibrahim Khalseran "doesn't look for trouble," the activities you suggest could fall within the parameters of, "protects... the legacy from his era." I understand your point about him maybe not respecting modern laws in that area, but if so he's sure to be discreet about it. He's had over seventy years of experience with how we do things.
  • jaazaniah1jaazaniah1 Posts: 5,424 Arc User
    Interesting. I didn't know that Dr. Ka was on bad terms with the Egyptian gods. He seems nice enough when Apademak talks with him in RenCen ;)

    Maybe the curator of the MC Museum will turn out to be a closet super as well ;)
    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
    In 1938 a young American doctor named Robert MacDonald was a tourist in Egypt when the god Osiris appeared to him and granted him powers of darkness with which to combat evil. MacDonald became the Golden Age hero, Dr. Twilight. But Osiris was lying. It was prophesied that a powerful champion of Set would be born who would destroy the world. Osiris wanted to implant a seed of divinity in a mortal so that a child would be born to become his own champion against Set. Twilight's powers were just a side effect.

    MacDonald had twin sons, but his marriage was strained by meddling by the Egyptian gods in how they were raised, and conflicts between the gods and Earthly mystics over the boys' future. One of the boys was secretly touched with malevolence by Set. That and other developments led the MacDonalds to divorce in 1952, and Robert disappeared two years later.

    The boys were trained in magic by the gods, but the one tainted with evil became leader of Set's cultists on Earth, calling himself Serpentine. (Ironically, Osiris' intervention may have created the very menace he feared.) His brother became an heroic super mage, Dr. Scarab. Dr. Scarab ultimately killed Serpentine, but the evil sorcerer had fathered a son, the future Dr. Ka, whom Scarab rescued from the cultists and gave up for adoption. He was given the name Khalid Harris.

    When Khalid was a teenager Osiris revealed to him his true history and destiny. Khalid reluctantly agreed to magical training, but resented his family being used this way. His resentment boiled over when he learned Dr. Scarab had died fighting Takofanes when the Archlich first arose, and the gods did nothing to help him. Khalid renounced all involvement with Osiris and all gods, moved to Vibora Bay, and took the identity of Dr. Ka.

    (The above summarized from Dr. Ka's back story in Vibora Bay, where he's written up. Dr. Twilight also gets a full write-up in Golden Age Champions.)
  • jaazaniah1jaazaniah1 Posts: 5,424 Arc User
    Wow. No wonder Dr. Ka is so bitter. Quite the back story. I didn't realize that a chunk of his ancestry was American. I always thought he was Egyptian all the way.
    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 March 2021
    When Dr. Ka berated Osiris and the other Egyptian gods for using mortals as pawns, Osiris was unmoved; but one of the gods, Ma'at, who represents the Egyptian conception of order, truth, and justice, began considering whether it would be in the best interest of humanity for the gods to withdraw from Earth completely and leave mortals to their own devices, or whether they should take an even more direct hand in guiding them. To help her reach a conclusion Ma'at created an avatar to dwell on Earth and study modern Mankind directly. When she decides what the best course would be she'll plead her case to the other gods. Because of her nature Ma'at's avatar opposes evil and injustice like a superhero, based mostly out of Egypt.

    Ma'at is fully written in Champions Worldwide, the primary book dealing with super activities outside the United States. Considering their activities overall, the Egyptian gods have been among the most active in the modern world of all the mythic pantheons.
  • bulgarexbulgarex Posts: 2,310 Arc User
    The problem with archaeology in this context is that it necessarily digs up things buried in the past, to better understand that past. Often the archaeologist can't anticipate what they're going to discover. In the real world this is rarely problematic. In a super world, sometimes something was buried for a really, really good reason.
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