Why is Reichsman Reichsman?

Maybe after drinking fromt he well, Stefan Richter went to Austria for a family visit, and Marcus Cole went with him? An alternative timeline could evolve from that point.

Because he hates you Durakken, that is why.

Hrmm, Reichsman, Reichsman, Reichsman. In true comic-book fashion I find the alternate dimensions of the CoH multiverse tend to revolve around one critical event in the origins of the protaganist.

"This Marcus Cole, from an alternate dimension, was a rogue and a mercenary who was exposed to mustard gas during World War I."

Around October 1918 Hitler was blinded by a mustard gas attack.

I can easily imagine a finely crafted backstory for Reichsman which centred around how Marcus Cole had heroically stepped in to prevent a young Hitler from the effects of the same gas attack. Perhaps he handed the young soldier his own gas mask for arguments sake. This led to those two individuals having very different lives from their counterparts on Primal Earth.

The self-sacrificing act which Hitler witnessed might have made him a more compassionate individual not interested in ruling the world, and Marcus Cole found the Well of the Furies as a result, drank the waters there and became Incarnate. With such raw power, and seeing how his sacrifice wasn't rewarded, he became Reichsman.

That's my guess anyways.

I want to see the Marcus Cole who found a Nictus in the cave after after drinking from the well and never got the chance to open the box to give the rest of us powers.

This part of the story is the key:

Even if the Cole-Who-Would-Be-Reichsman was in the US during the rise of the Nazi Party, it should be remembered that there was support in the US for Germany against Britain. Plus being gassed / sick can change a person - once Reichsman was healthy again, his attitude towards those less fortunate may have become a lot more insensitive.

Cole is typically seen as a self-centred adventurer / mercenary type at that stage of his life. The difference between the two versions may simply have been who he decided to fight for - a Germany who was trying to stand on its own two feet again (following the Treaty of Versailles) where things were happening might have been attractive to that version of Cole.

I find it amusing that someone insists that something can't happen one way "in another dimension", because other stuff happened a certain way "in our dimension". Hi, welcome to my friend, "in another dimension". What Durakken is talking about is divergent realities, where reality "trees off" based on decisions, also called "many worlds" and other various terms. What Durakken is NOT talking about is other dimensions. Other dimensions can be COMPLETELY different than our own. Other dimensions can be only a little similar to our own. Other dimensions can be mostly similar to our own. Other dimensions can be so similar as to not immediately be able to tell the difference.

Divergent realities/many worlds/etc. can also be all of the above, but the differences are hinged on certain events/decisions/etc. Other dimensions are just... different, and not necessarily because of a certain thing or things.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dispari I don't know why Dink thinks she's not as sexy as Jay was. In 5 posts she's already upstaged his entire career.

Why do people think using a lot of words to say the same thing is going to change someone's opinion? You just said "It's a comic" again and that doesn't refute what I said. Congratulations on being wrong and unable to read.

I will have to say by all the points above that I agree more with the others on their points then with you Durakken.
As I see it Reichmans dimension may or may not have followed our in-game dimension (and real history out of game). Reichman might have been twisted, evil and corrupt for all we know without having Statesmans ethics.

I suggest though, since we do have a new Dev on board (Protean) and he is part of the Lore department, to direct this question to him?
Cause no matter how much the question is discussed we will not know unless an official speaks out and says.. This is how it is!

Okay, say it IS a divergent reality.

What if the divergence in Reichsman's world was before Marcus Cole was even born?
If Cole was raised in Germany (or raised by Stefan Richter's family in Austria perhaps?) he would have probably been on the Axis side in the first place.

Also, assuming that Marcus Cole is a good person in every possible reality is flat out foolish. The kind of person you become is largely determined by the environment you are raised in, if that dimension's version of Cole had a crappy life prior to him becoming a mercenary, chances are he wasn't a very nice guy to begin with.

Note my bolding of the word "mercenary". Mercenaries generally don't care what they do to other people, as long as they are well paid for it. If he was a mercenary to begin with in that dimension, he probably would have remained one after finding the Well. Germany just offered him the most money.

Where you fail is assuming that he was a good person who just got corrupted. Maybe in that dimension he was just a power-hungry mercenary and saw the best chance for the most gain was by allying with Germany. There is nothing that says he had to hate Jews or even care what Hitler's reasons were for anything if it gained him power.

At the beginning of the war, when Germany was crushing any country they went after, it would probably have looked pretty good to someone who was just after personal power regardless of the cost.

Reichsman lived a different life than OUR Marcus Cole, expecting him to have the exact same personality is just dumb. Any number of things could have led to him being an evil SOB, up to and including the possibility that he always was an evil SOB.

Spoiler Warning





If you have so much trouble accepting Reichsman how do you accept the Rikti since they come from a world that diverged enough that humans are psychic mutants.

QR

I just sort of skimmed through most of the posts but I don't think I saw this one, so here goes (at the risk of offense).

During the 1930's in America, pre-WWII, there were a lot of well-intentioned intellectuals who thought that the fascist movement in Europe was the way to go. Top-down control over the social order backed by private industry. Heck, even Woodrow Wilson wrote a few admiring things in that regard. Of course, this was before the extremists took the ball and ran with it.

It's not outside the realm of possibility that the Reichsman Cole was simply an American fascist sympathizer who enlisted with the Nazi cause in the years leading up to the war. Or, if he was indeed a more mercenary version of Cole-Prime, perhaps the German nationalist movement simply made him a better offer.

All Marcus Coles we've been introduced to have been mercenaries. By definition. Don't add conotation to the word.

Even if you don't accept the idea of divergent reality, which is stupid, you are forced to assume that most if not all of the history was exactly the same. Especially all major events and people, save for those stated be different and those proceding after that point.

If you want to say "it's fiction" stop. You have no more reason to post. You have nothing to add. Everyone gets that it is fiction and you can do anything in it. However, fiction that works on the princple "it's fiction so i can do whatever" is almost universally panned. Guess why.

And AGAIN I never said all Coles were inherently "good". They all Share the exact same environment for most of his life which would produce, the exact same person or close to.