Superheroes and Supervillains

Introduction
The following sections contain names and brief descriptions of heroes, villains, agencies, and other NPCs who can be used by players in the Earth-Prime campaign as Hunteds, Dependents, Contacts, Rivals, or just background detail. This listing is broken down into the following sections:

American Heroes and Hero Teams

VOID (Vigilante Observation & Investigation Division)
Originally organized to deal with costumed crimefighters, the agency has evolved into a high-tech force that deals with supervillains all over the country. It also runs "Super Pen", an incarceration facility for super-powered criminals, outside of Oklahoma City. VOID is a branch of the Department of Justice.

Phalanx
A terrorist organization that has declared itself the "friend of the people" against the monolithic corporate forces that dominate the United States and the world. It intends to restore "true democracy" to the people of the earth.

GANDALF (Greater Aryan National Defense And Liberation Front)
A right wing band of survivalists, white supremacists, and other assorted crazies. They run training camps in the Northwest and elsewhere, planning to overthrow the government. Some like-minded supervillains have joined up with them to form "Storm Troop".

USAC (United States Aerospace Command)
This agency is responsible for the military use of space and the development of space weapons for the United States. It currently operates a working spaceplane and maintains a manned orbiting laboratory and reconnaissance station called Skybase One.

War Dogs
This is a high-tech mercenary organization established and commanded by Tempest, who hires it out for bush wars in Third World countries in exchange for portable wealth and concessions to natural resources like oil, gold, and strategic metals.

Barker, Hamilton
Hamilton Barker is a showman and restaraunteur notorious for his ownership and management of the Orchid Club, which has its origins in the speakeasy of the same name run by Orchidia Vivaldi, Hamilton's great-grandmother and the Phantom's nemesis. Under Hamilton Barker, the Orchid Club became a favorite watering spot for a group of paranormal villains and mercenaries. This served to make his nightclub one of the most popular New York City night spots, and Barker has taken steps to make sure that at least some members of his eponymous villain group are always around. He has paid for their lawyers, given them jobs or at least salaries, and managed their careers much like a fight promoter or a talent agent. Recently, Barker decided to open a branch of the Orchid Club in Phoenix City. He spends his time shuttling between the two cities.

BioVeritas
BioVeritas is a grassroots organization which supports political candidates and launches public awareness campaigns to warn people of the danger to humanity posed by "artificial life" such as AIs, nanotechnology, and robotics. It is suspicious of mutants and paranormals, and there are rumors to the effect that radical members of the group have carried out sabotage on factories and laboratories involved in computer technology. Its leaders are Professor Miller Renfrew, a professor of English literature, and Rev. Dwight Davis, a Baptist minister. [stolen from Kieran Mullen]

Brandywine, Dr. Felix Robert
Dr. Felix R. Brandywine is the founder and head of the Kennedy Institute, a non-profit research organization specializing in paranormal abilities, mutations, and psionics. Brandywine is best known for his work consulting on the design and construction of specialized holding facilities in Super Pen.

The Business
A super-secret shadow organization about which only rumors are available. It is supposed to recruit the most talented individuals as agents in order to infiltrate, expose, and destroy high-tech terrorist organizations and criminal syndicates.

Challenger, Jonathan
The head of Starport International, Jon Challenger is one of the most brilliant , as well as richest, men alive. He made his fortune in the early days of the personal computing boom, and expanded into high-technology engineering. Born in 1955, he spent much of his youth travelling around the world in the company of his father, the well-known archaeologist George Challenger III. Today, Jon Challenger specializes in solving intractable technical challenges for the government and other large corporations.

Chan, Ernie
A television reporter who made his reputation covering the Atlanta incident between the Peacekeepers and SPARTAN Group, Chan is an inquisitive and hard-working videojournalist who resents accusations that he has "sold out" for money and ratings. He believes that paranormals are "the biggest news around," and that their activities require close scrutiny. Chan has developed an extensive network of contacts in law enforcement, the insurance industry, high-technology firms, and other organizations affected by the existence of paranormal villains and vigilantes.

Flagg, MAJ (ret'd.) Roger T.
A former operations officer for SPARTAN Group, Major Flagg is well-known in Washington as a lobbyist for a more liberal vigilantism policy and for the re-establishment of a SPARTAN Group-like organization to combat paranormal villains like Pharoah and Schwarzadler and high-tech terrorism of the sort conducted by GANDALF, Phalanx, and Tempest's War Dogs.

Helsing, Dr. Nimrod
A professor of Slavic languages at the State University of the City of New York (SUCNY), Nimrod Helsing is also one of the world's foremost investigators of the supernatural. He achieved a great deal of notoriety in 1991, when he supposedly exorcised the ghost of Abraham Lincoln from the White House with the aid of Megaman.

Kennedy Institute
The foremost center for the study of paranormal and mutant powers. Its founder, Dr. Felix Brandywine, is a world-reknowned expert on mutations and paranormal phenomena. It is located in a quiet New Jersey suburb.

Man-Plus Program
Cancelled in 1972. A NASA program intended to enable humans to function in space more effectively. Some spin-off technology was derived, and most Man-Plus facilities, equipment, and personnel were transferred to Project Argos.

Phoenix City, Florida
The primary campaign city, Phoenix City is a major regional metropolis, with shops, museums, a large college campus, a military base, manufacturing and business districts, and other important cultural, economic, and political facilities. It also suffers from the typical array of urban problems, including poverty, homelessness, crime, and drugs.

Porfiliot, Senator Claude P. (Dem.-Va.)
Long the chairman of SCOPE, Senator Porfiliot is an influential figure in the national paranormal policy process. Popular in his home state for his tough on crime position, Porfiliot has shown that he can be a powerful orator and a shrewd negotiator. He is generally opposed to paranormal vigilantism, and distrusts the idea of sanctioning quasiofficial "superteams". The deputization of the Defenders was only achieved after Porfiliot had left the chair of SCOPE, and it was his influence that resulted in a condition of that deputation being the attachment of a VOID observer with the responsibility to report directly to the Committee to the staff of the team.

Project Argos
USAC's program to develop advanced abilities useful in the colonization and exploration of space.

Project Myrmidon
Cancelled in 1959. A super-soldier project initiated during World War II by the War Department and continuing until the 1950s. Myrmidon resulted in the creation of three successful super-soldiers, codenamed Captain Courage, Arsenal, and Ranger.

SCOPE (Senate Committee On Paranormal Entities)
The committee does have powerful influence on government policy regarding super-powered villains, vigilantes, and mutants. Its hearings can often be seen on C-SPAN.

SPARTAN (SPecial Assignment Reconnaissance, Tracking, And Neutralization) Group
Disbanded. The original government superteam. Its former agents have largely entered the world of paranormal activity, either as villains or vigilantes.

Starport International
Headed by Jonathan Challenger, SPI is a high tech firm specializing in aerospace and computing technology. It has offices in New York City, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, Phoenix City, Buenos Aires, London, Paris, Bonn, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Sydney.

"Superhero Update"
A popular syndicated show whose anchor, Ernie Chan, can often be seen on location at superpowered fight scenes.

Super Pen (the United States Federal Ultimate Security Incarceration Facility)
Located outside of Oklahoma City, the FUSIF -- or "Super Pen," as it is known colloquially -- is run by VOID as a penitentiary for paranormal criminals. The facility itself was constructed by Technocorp contractors, and is staffed by battlesuit-wearing SPEAR guards

Technocorp
An industry leader in high-tech weapons, devices, and other equipment. Holds numerous patents in battlesuit technology and particle weapons. Its security force is a high-tech SWAT team using corporate-designed equipment, and Technostar is its official corporate hero.

Virgil A. Grissom Aerospace Base
A USAC base located just outside Phoenix City, Grissom Base is the primary launch site for the SP-25 space plane.

Wagner Publications
Wagner Publications produces a tabloid-style weekly newspaper that reports on the activities of paranormals, vigilantes, and mutants of all kinds. Called Superstars!, the newspaper has a national circulation and can be purchased in supermarkets, bodegas, and convenience stores around the country.

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