Malta Group Villain Backgrounder
By
abplands,
Posted on: 2006-07-07 24:18 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
I gotta say I get mixed up when I see Malta being portrayed as a sinister evil group. I'm a Maltese-American, although I'd rather be just called an American but had to throw that out for just the sentence sake.
I know the real history of the Island Country of Malta and have even been to the island on a vacation. I think the biggest part is knowing the Maltese Cross is used by groups like the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Fire Fighters in their emblems just shows that those I see as true heroes have embraced what the cross stands for.
Now, in another matter it's somewhat of an honor to realize that one of the most hated villain groups shares the name of the country is so cool. Especially most people probably dont even know that Malta is a country or that its in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, on most maps a dot just south of Sicily.
So, you may see why at times it can be confusing for someone who's proud of his Maltese Heritage to see the Country used for a villain group. However, at the same time its an honor. Who knows maybe people will actually look up what the Maltese Cross stands for or Google the country itself.
The key thing being its a great background and now maybe just maybe we can get beyond that whole Maltese Falcon thing. 
Are Malta really portrayed as evil in-game?
It's a grey area. Not unlike Civil War in the Marvel Universe right now. To them, they are just trying to protect everyone from metahumans, even if their means of doing so might come off as a little heavyhanded.
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Are Malta really portrayed as evil in-game?
It's a grey area. Not unlike Civil War in the Marvel Universe right now. To them, they are just trying to protect everyone from metahumans, even if their means of doing so might come off as a little heavyhanded.
[/ QUOTE ]Well, they believe they're in the right and is doing what is the best for everyone. But yeah.. grey area... Some of their agents probably believe they are fighting the good fight...
In the Arena of Logic, I fight unarmed.
Are Malta really portrayed as evil in-game?
Yes. There's nothing grey about them. They'll shoot down a jet liner full of people to kill one man, kidnap people to chop them up and stick their brains into war machines, or blow up an office full of innocent people just to frame a super and destroy his life. They treat people like tools, and no one who does that is any kind of good, no matter what his intentions.
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"And I say now these kittens, they do not get trained/As we did in the days when Victoria reigned!" -- T. S. Eliot, "Gus, the Theatre Cat"
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They'll shoot down a jet liner full of people to kill one man, kidnap people to chop them up and stick their brains into war machines, or blow up an office full of innocent people just to frame a super and destroy his life.
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Really though, would you expect any less from an international mercenary group? Hmm, mercenary isn't really the right word, but I'm not finding the apropriate conspiracy kind of descriptor I had wanted.
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Ahem, we can -SO- use a couple history badges on these sort of things in-game.
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Yeah, I like the idea of a bunch of plaques around Paragon City talking about all the deepest details of this incredibly security-minded secret society that has powerful friends everywhere. 
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So, you may see why at times it can be confusing for someone who's proud of his Maltese Heritage to see the Country used for a villain group.
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The main thing to remember is that they're not the country; they're a group that uses the country's name in their name. There could be a terrorist group called America Eternal whose mission was to destroy the economies of all other powerful nations - that wouldn't make it official US policy. Though that would be an understandable assumption. 
Do we even know why the Malta Group is called the Malta Group? Is it supposed to be a take off of the Bilderberg Group? Or are they actually based in Malta (perhaps an offshoot of the Knights of Saint John)?
They're called the Malta Group because the conspirators who started it did so at a meeting on Malta.
There's another possible reason, but it would be a spoiler.
Current Blog Post: "Why I am an Atheist..."
"And I say now these kittens, they do not get trained/As we did in the days when Victoria reigned!" -- T. S. Eliot, "Gus, the Theatre Cat"
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Men in black with blank identities, and deadly women with a dozen passports.
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Huh, what women agents?
Nice work, but there's something that really bugs me.
Calling these 'Backgrounders' rather than 'Backgrounds' sounds wrong.
It's like 'Burglarized' instead of 'Burgled'.
Sorry.
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