Discussion: Going Rogue Website Update: Emperor Cole

Nemesis sent future Hamidon, who is the Coming Storm after assimilating the Rikti, to Praetorian earth. Yes, I'm a crazy genius.

I know we won't be able to, but I would sell my children into white slavery to have that armor he wears as a costume piece!!!!

Cole addressed what was left of the United Nations Security Council. In that momentous speech, Cole spoke of the Roman Empire, and how in times of greatest peril, Rome would elect one man to lead its people and its armies against its enemy. "Divided," said Cole, "humankind will fall, but united in this conflict, it will triumph." To silence cries of "Dictator!,"

They were quite correct. The title of the person who could be elected by the Roman Senate for a six month term of absolute power both military and civilian in times of great emergence was "dictator." They were elected by the Senate for six month terms and after a term the Senate could re-elect them for another six month term as dictator. The Senate could also vote them out of office at any time.

Interested. Its about time this info was released.

Suprised it was hami and the DE. I was expecting Nemesis or Requiem to have been a major factor. I guess they went away from Nemesis being responsible for EVERYTHING and having something with Requiem and the 5th column would be too much of a connection with the Reichsman.


Looking forward to finding out what made the Hami/DE different in that dimension than in our home dimension.

Mind you, all this info seems to come from a skewed perspective and makes him out to be as much of a good guy as possible. Though we've seen that this is clearly not the case.

Unless some major retcons are in the works, i don't see how anyone (in-character) would buy any of this, even for a moment.

Of course, if Cole is this way, I'm wondering how the devs will "grey" out the Resistance. Because if they're completely in the right (life, liberty, yaddayaddayadda) then it sorta diminishes everything for me.

Does the Resistance have internal strife, differing agendas, etc., who all have Cole as a common enemy and will promptly turn on each other once he's gone?

Were bargains that ought not be made struck in order to have an advantage against the thought police? A deal with a devil (or devils), so to speak?

Is the resistance itself just a plot to keep dissenters controlled and monitored?

Is the resistance just a pawn in the greater scheme of things? Maybe they're being controlled by someone/something else that wants Cole's position?

Are they incredibly radical, deeming anyone who has bought into Cole's way of things to be fattened sheep, so civilian casualties are not only acceptable, but deserved by the populace for not rising up? (edit: just remembered a bit from The Dark Knight Returns, where the S.O.B. cut off a clerk's fingers for not standing up to some thugs).

In short: what if part of the resistance is as bad as Cole and company, if not worse?

I mean, seriously, if its just "Okay, here's Tyrant's folks and if you're with them you're obviously wrong, but if you're with the Resistance and they're squeaky clean good guys so if you're with them you're obviously right" cut and dry then I'm going to be massively disappointed. If I can't be a villain (or rogue) by going through the resistance or be a hero (vigilante) by going through the Loyalists...

Well, Tyrant doesn't have a goatee, and they haven't even given him a moustache to twirl, so that means he might be not so obviously evil at first - he'll probably grow a moustache as the storyline progresses and you uncover the truth about him

The resistance is a plot constructed by the decendant of a Prussian nobleman ;-)

I think people are quite clearly misunderstanding what makes the Resistance grey.

Emperor Cole and the Praetorians are not Black. Therefore, the Resistance fighting them cannot be White. Really, it is a massive deal to do with opinion on whether the Praetorians are "bad guys". I accept everything that's in Cole's bio as fact. I have no doubt that that is exactly what happened, it's not like Statesman magically turned evil in another universe. Exactly like Statesman, he believes what he is doing is right.

It is the opinion of the Resistance that he is a "Tyrant". I'd imagine that he sees the Resistance as the bad guys.

The greyness of the Resistance, possibly even darkness, comes from the fact that it is hard to build a case for Emperor Cole being "evil". Countless millions of people are content with his rule. It's not like they're all secretly suffering but wandering along regardless, because the existence of the Psychic Friends Network inherently contradicts that. The regular citizens DO NOT have thoughts of dissent. Otherwise they would be eliminated. They live a utopian lifestyle and consequently they would have little cause for concern.

I'm not saying that everything is perfect in Praetoria, because we know it isn't. We also know that if the Resistance were to bring down Cole, it would cause the world to descend into anarchy, become a worse place even in the world we currently live in, where suffering and inequality is rife. Praetoria vs. Resistance is no simple moral battle. It is an extremely complex ethical issue.

I think there's some built-in sympathies towards the resistance, giving them a "free pass" of sorts, which is why I'm asking these things.

BR: At exactly what point along the moral horizon is kidnapping Statesman and trying to invade another dimension considered "right"? At exactly what point is it okay to turn people into insane mind-slaves? At exactly what point is it okay to have a granddaughter, named Dominatrix, take care of your "every need"? (btw, do we even have an AGE for Ms. Liberty/Dominatrix? She's short in-game and comes across like a teenager in the comics...)

Unless Nemisis invaded Paertoria with FP automations to goad them into striking here ALSO, the Praets made the first stike, and we're going to need some major retconning in order to put any positive spin on their actions. And I actually wouldn't mind the retconing and re-doing of the original arcs, just as long as everything fits together.