The Next Ten: The Brotherhood
“The Next Ten: The Brotherhood”
Ok, So last week I did my thoughts on what the “Next 10 X-Men” might actually be, so this week we are going to go with their opposite number in “The Brotherhood” So here are the next 10 members who have not been made into plastic yet. Note that this list is done by list of publication, not popularity or “retconned” characters who were made members in the past
1.) Mastermind (AKA Jason Wyngarde. First Appearance X-Men #4 March ‘64, Joined X-Men #1 March ‘64 (presumed dead before Age of X as of Uncanny X-Men Annual June ‘93) The original Mastermind is a bit of a tough sell. His daughter Regan has already made it to plastic, and has him beat in power level, affiliations, and to be frank, appearance. My wish to include him is mainly so I can complete the “original” Brotherhood lineup. That being said, his influence during the “Dark Phoenix” saga makes me believe he has earned an appearance, even if it’s just with abilities that were left on the cutting room floor for Lady Mastermind. For example, Masterminds illusions are so believable that they affect you even if you know they are illusions...for example even if you know a phantom wall is fake, you still can’t bring yourself to walk through it {root condition}, or if you are stabbed with an illusionary sword, you still feel the trauma “mystic attack with stun}. His classic brown suit is probably too boring, I would cast him in his Hellfire Club outfit, and like his Daughter make him a member of the Hellfire Club as well as Brotherhood (He was also a member of Factor Three, essentially the Brotherhood sans Magneto)
2.) Unus The Untouchable (AKA Angelo Unuscione/Gunther Bain. First Appearance X-Men #8 November ‘64, Joined Amazing Adventures Vol.2 #12 May ‘72) Unus was a classic X-Men foe, but really kind of forgettable. His main power was an “impenetrable” force field who is usually defeated by “overloading” the forcefield in some way usually preventing him from breathing and knocking him out (and once even killing him by suffocation). He made his first appearance as a professional wrestler facing off against the Beast when he himself decided to be a wrestler instead of an X-Man, and to be honest he hasn’t really done much….he usually shows up as a background character getting killed or defeated to “up the stakes” of a story (killed by alternates of Iceman and Thor, as well as the “Noir” version of the Brotherhood), but nowadays the “beat the unbeatable foe” trope has been taken over by Juggernaut. As for powers, give him a high physical/energy defense, possibly with each “wild” counting as two successes. You could even give him a “Dark Dimension” type ability where if he gets too much energy he is “overloaded” and gets the stun/root condition. His powers were mainly defensive...maybe give him a “takedown” ability allowing him to stun opponents to reference his wrestling days, and perhaps a push/throw ability based on the number of skulls rolled when an opponent attacks. As far as affiliations, the Brotherhood, and the Magneto-less Factor Three are it
3.) Lorelei (AKA Lani Ubana First Appearance X-Men 63 December ‘69, Joined Defenders #15 September ‘74) Well first up, I know there is an Asgardian character with the same name who was the sister of Amora the Enchantress who uses more…conventional mean of controlling men. This Lorelei is something different. One of Magneto’s “Savage Land Mutates” (artificial mutants created by Magneto in the Savage Land) Lorelei is one of the few who has done things away from the group (In fact, most of the Mutates I would probably just stick on a Warriors Three/Wrecking Crew multi-base). Lorelei has two powers...first is the ability to control men with her voice, that’s a little problematic as there are no identifiers for gender in Crisis Protocol...then again we don’t have identifiers for things like Robots, but Ultron is still vulnerable to mystic attacks/move effects. So I would just give her basic “mystic attack with move action” ability….it’s weird, but in some appearances she is also given animate hair like Medusa, so you might give her some Medusa-like physical attack with the root condition. Lorelei’s had few appearances, and fewer with the Brotherhood. Other than a hypothetical “Savage Land Mutates” faction your pretty much set
4.) Alpha, The Ultimate Mutant (AKA: None, First Appearance Defenders #15 September ‘74, Joined Defenders #15 1974) Argh ok, talk about your deep cuts. A “mutate” accelerated to the pinnacle of mutant evolution (a la The High Evolutionary) Alpha was kind of a macguffin Magneto thought he could use to “rule the world” originally a 10 foot tall tank who sometimes created reflexive force field, His mind later evolved to give limitless psionic potential…essentially magic...his Marvel wiki says he can manipulate earth/rock, and manipulate biology to “de age the Brothhood. Surprisingly he has popped up again every so often, mainly in “flashback” stories. He can essentially be a a threat “5” give him telekinesis (through size 4 objects, maybe even 5), create force fields (defense bonus costs energy)….to keep him from being “too” powerful give him the ability to heal others, as the sole Brotherhood “healer” it will be too tempting to keep him healing allies rather than being on offense. With his few appearances the Brotherhood would be his sole affiliation
5.) Mutant Force/Resistants (AKA Byron Calley, Ned Lathrop, Peter Quinn, Randall Darby; First Appearance Captain America Annual #4 1977) Technically an “official” Brotherhood created by Magneto the “Mutant Force” has had little appearance in the “X-books” showing up in places such places as Captain America and the Defenders. The Defenders went through a rebranding period in the 80’s-90’s as “The Resistants” an apparent pro-mutant organization with new identities secretly backed by the Red Skull (assumably to give mutants a bad name) The Mutant force was Burner/Crucible, Lifter/Meteorite I, Peeper/Occult, Shocker II/Paralyzer….the Mutant Force also had Slither who was never part of the Resistants as well as characters such as Quill, Mist Mistress, Mentallo/Think Tank and Rust who were only resistants members. Since the “core four” never appeared apart to my knowledge, and were each something of a “power on a stick”. I would put all four of them on a single base, giving the controlling player four abilities...Burner would have a flame blast, possibly as a beam attack that add the burning condition, Shocker a longer ranged attack that inflicts stun, Peeper a range “5” attack that ignores Stealth, and Lifter the ability to throw Objects up to size 3, I would also give them flight as Lifter would often carry the team on a flying piece of rock using his gravity control powers (I think their Resistants look would be more distinctive than their Mutant Force unitards). As they were never really incorporated into any larger groups I would leave them just with the Brotherhood, though they did work for hire vs. the Defenders and were catspaws for the Red Skill, so possibly also Criminal Syndicate
(I just noticed….they have a Quill on the group and a Peter “Quinn” but assuming no Guardians Of the Galaxy Connection
5.) Vanisher (AKA Telford Porter, First Appearance X-Men #2 November ‘63; Joined Champions #17 October ‘77) The second oldest X-Men villian after Magneto (and it’s considered unlikely “Telford Porter” is his real name) Vanisher is really an uncomplicated villian...he’s out for himself and usually that means a quick buck...rarely does he worry about things like mutant politics. He mainly serves as a plot device, ferrying others from one locale to another. Unlike characters like Nightcrawler, there is no puff of smoke, or “beam out” effect, he simply….disapears. To make him more than a one-trick pony, his teleportation power should be able to allow him to take one other character with him (though of course with a higher energy cost) and give him “L” movement. He doesn’t have much in the way of offense, but often carries an a number of energy blasts and gas guns (a simply range 3 energy attack). And while it may look goofy his off the rack costume that makes him look like a Vulture reject would likely be more model-worthy than his black catsuit. Being an “out for himself” character, he has been part of many other groups….the Fallen Angels (New Mutants), a conscripted member of X-Force, A past member of Factor Three (again), the “New Enforcers” (Criminal Syndicate) and O*N*E* (S.H.I.E.L.D.)
6.) Destiny II (AKA Irene Adler/Darkholme, First Appearance/Joined Uncanny X-Men #141 January 1981) Yes, Nightcrawler’s mom is not the first Destiny, The original was a semi regular villain who fought the Sub-Mariner for a year in the late 60’s. This Destiny was the lover of Mystique during a time where you could only hint at their relationship (She was also the literary Irene Adler that featured in the “Sherlock Holmes” novels). Killed by Legion in the late 80’s, Destiny’s death was a touchstone of X-Men history for over 30 years before she was resurrected during the age of X in a youthful body and married Mystique (and was revealed to be the birth mother of Nightcrawler….making Mystique his Father, a situation I still find…weird. It’s hard to simulate “seeing the future” in Crisis Protocol terms without it simply playing like another characters lucks ability. My recommendation is to allow an ability that allows Destiny to “pair” her activations with an enemy character during a single activation, possibly even during an enemy activation (though this could be confusing if not unbalancing)...or give her the ability to add/subtract dice to an ally/enemy’s roll. For offense Destiny has used a variety of generic ranged weapons, but hwile she has regained her youth, historicly she has been an elderly person, so I would reduce her physical defense to “2” and give her only “S” movement
7.) Spider-Woman II/Arachne II/Madame Web II (AKA Julia Carpenter {‘nee Cornwall}; First Appearance: Marvel Super-Hero Secret Wars #6 October ‘84; Joined Uncanny X-Men #206 March ‘86) Ok taking a bit of a curve here, Julia Carpenter was never a member of The Brotherhood, and was never even a mutant, but she WAS a member of Freedom Force under Mystique (which is Mystique’s Team Leader ability) Julia got her Spider-Woman powers by artificial means by Val Cooper (government head of Freedom Force and later X-Factor) Her silver and black costume made Spider-man believe he subconciously used it as a basis for his symbiote/venom suit. She joined Freedom Force for a short time, but later “betrayed” them by freeing the Avengers who were imprisoned on false charges before joining the West Coast Avengers and later Force Works. Changing her name to Arachne (Jessica Drew’s original name since Drew was in Bendis’s Avengers) She was later given Madame Webb’s psychic powers as well as her blindness as the “new” Madame Web. I would go with the original Spider-Woman identity as it’s a more iconic look (heck it’s the version Sydney Sweeny played), and the role of “blind psychic woman” is already taken on this list by Detiny….besides I think she recent lost those powers but kept her blindness. As for powers, pretty basic...super strength (thrown objects) wall crawling and leaping, her main noteworthy ability was creating “psionic webs” that she could string up between objects (area effect with Root and possibly stun condition), you may thrown in a “psychic ability” as an Easter Egg nod to her Madame Web persona) But if we are going with Easter Eggs I wouldn’t mind a tactics card she could use with Iron Man (they were married on the ‘90’s Iron Man TV show. For Affliations, add Web Warriors, Avengers/Force Works, A-Force, Omega Flight, and The Comission On Superhuman Activites (S.H.I.E.L.D.)
8.) Spiral (AKA “Ricochet” Rita Wayword) (First Appearance Longshot #1 September ‘85; Joined Uncanny X-Men #199 August ‘85) That can’t be right….her “first appearance” happened a month after she joined Freedom Force? Guessing either the sites I do my research are incorrect or it’s the difference between cover dates and publishing dates...oh well. Personally I would LOVE a Spiral miniature, as I’m a fan of models that have unconventional body types. Spiral traditionally had six arms...one fully cybernetic, the other half-and-half, though recent depections have shown her with both more and less cyborg parts. Outside of Freedom Force, Spiral is mainly known as a foil for Longshot and henchwoman for Mojo. However she also ran the “Bodyshop” providing cybernetic parts for Lady Deathstrike as well as Reavers members Cole, Reece & Macon, Secondly she is also a magic user of some skill even be considered for the role of Sorceror Supreme once. For her Crisis Protocol stuff it comes down to her extra arms, sometimes weiding blades, sometimes some epty making esoteric hand motions (basic attack, with default bleed, and multiple flurry options on “wilds”). For her magic user side she mainly used it for teleportation (placement effect) And canceling others powers (she once with preperation canceled the powers of 10 Avengers at once), for that a mystic attack that inflicts hex, judgement (or both!) would probably be the closest aproximation. You could also throw in some healing to represent her “Bodyshop” side hustle. As for affiliations, her time as a henchwoman with Mojo is closest to Criminal Syndicate, She was recently in X-Force, and would LOVE to see her in Convocation
9.) Crimson Commando I (AKA Frank Bohannan, First Appearared Uncanny X-Men #215 March ‘87, Joined Uncanny X-Men #223 November ‘87) Well here’s an odd one for me., See The original Crimson Commando was practically a mutant Captain America. Like Cap, his abilities made him the peak of human potential during World War II (a retcon) Who found himself a “man out of time” in the modern era. There are a couple of differences though. First he lived through the decades (no suspended animation) and while his mutant gene slowed his aging like Magneto, the years were definitely taking their toll, secondly, no Vibranium Shield, “CC” used a couple of knives bothe in hand-to-hand and throwing. Another difference is while Cap struggled to adapt, CC refused to….wanting to take the fight to the communists post WWII but denied by the government, he and his fellow World War II Mutants Stonewall and Super Sabre decided to go to war wagainst crime and the decay of American culture. Their plan was to capture criminals and let them go on their ranch to hunt them down in their version of justice and they did this for years before stopped by Storm and Wolverine and inducted in the Suic-,sorry Freedom Force. CC kept swinging back and forth...trying to be a hero, who wishes he was playing with grandkids, to a villian terrified of his mortality and what was wrong with “his” America. Frank’s life took a turn during the “end” of Freedom Force whiel on a mission in the middle east he stepped on a Land Mine taking serious damage particuarly his legs and only escaped thanks to the help of Avalanche. The government rebuilt him as “Commando” a typical 90’s cyborg with a cannon for an arm but still sporting a ponytail. CC died after M-day, apparently losing his mutant health made him incompatible with his cyborg parts and he resorted to kidnapping Hope Summers to force her into giving him a “cure” but is killed by Wolverine. Resurrected during Age of X, he’s gone the Red Hulk route and is now heading the government group O*N*E* saying the mutant nation of krakoa can’t come crawling back to America now their grand expierment ended (which I admit he’s kind of right, but is a bit of jerk about it) For powers it’s hard not just to go “full cap” give him “4”s in defense, and a couple of attacks based on his knives, possibly with flurry. He once was able to “empty his mind” against telepaths like Psylocke which I would recommnd as giving him a couple extra mental defnese dice at the cost of energy. As for affiliations the only other one I would recommend is SHIELD (as head of O*N*E*)
10.) Stonewall I (AKA Louis Hamilton, First Appearared Uncanny X-Men #215 March ‘87, Joined Uncanny X-Men #223 November ‘87) Well, this will be short. Joining the team just a few pages before Super Sabre, Stonewall died a little after 3 years after his debut, electrocuted by Donald Pierce during the “Attack On Muir Island” that also resulted In the death of Destiny. He was a bit superfluous, taking the role of “tank” on a team that already had the Blob. Like The Blob, Stonewall had the ability to manipulate his “personal gravity” making him unmovable, but he also seemed to have an ability to “push back” Like when the Blob failed to push him back and fell backward in the attempt. Make Stonewall a “3” threat, 4 physical defense, 3 energy defense (he was electrocuted after all), make him immune to being placed, and give him an ability that allows him to push an opponent in “2” range back “S” when defending vs. a physical attack. A short tenure makes it hard to give him any other affiliations, though as a WW II hero, like Namor, Cap and Jim Hammond, he could possibly be placed in S.H.I.E.L.D)
Whew, another Top Ten...let me know what you think and if you have any recommendations for the next Affiliation!