What's Your Favorite Concept Toon?

In the spirit of the other "What X?" threads that have popped up recently, I figured I'd ask everyone about their favorite concept. We've all made at least one. Maybe it was your first toon when you joined the game. Maybe it's a combo you made on a lark to live out a crazy idea. I wanna hear it all. Name, AT, powersets, pictures if you have 'em. And of course, the story behind it all. Go!

Probably my Bot/Force Mastermind, the Crimson Alpha. I made him back when CoV came out and had no idea it would be one of the better Mastermind combos. He's entertaining to play, doesn't require me to think if I feel like playing on +2 or lower, and I have a lot of fiction and head-canon around him (and my alt-filled villain group, which he leads).
Story-wise, he is a grown-up child prodigy, who was badly beaten and mugged growing up in the Rogue Isles (shocking, right?), and built himself a robotic arm during his early teenage years to replace a resulting ruined limb. His interest in robotics went full-blown into AI-driven weaponry as an adult, which he made a fortune developing and selling illegally overseas. He now runs a very successful front as an electronics company, behind the scenes which is essentially an organized crime syndicate.

Second would be my Ice/Storm/Ice Controller, Spirit of the Storm (Formerly Spirit of Frost, lost the name in a server transfer), who dates back to... issue 2 or 3, I think. Ice Control has never been fantastic, but I make it work well enough for me with a very expensive and finely tuned build, though her gameplay does lean more on the secondary than the primary.
She, story-wise, is an adaptation of a D&D character (Wizard/Frost Mage) who died during the campaign she existed in, and was summoned to Paragon City as an elemental spirit by another character from the same game who got here via some accidental dimensional hopping.

Edit: Moar details. Derped out on the reading comprehension.

I24 Proc Chance = (Enhanced Recharge + Activation Time) * (Current PPM * 1.25) / 60*(1 + .75*(.15*Radius - 0.011*Radius*(360-Arc)/30))
Single Target Radius = 0. AoE Non-Cone Arc = 360.

I rarely have any "concept" for my characters. I mostly choose power sets with synergies and try to see how good they get.

Anyway, I've only had one "Concept" Character that I pick powers based on the theme/story and turned out pretty well.

It's Blaster Dark Blast / Mental / Weapon Mastery

After watching True Blood - 4th Season, I've really fallen in love with Pam. I love her funny quotes and her "bitchy" attitude especially after she shot that Rocket when Eric told her no. My Pam toon is full of rage.

Dark Blast and Mental control abilities just fit a Vampire. And I chose Weapon specifically for that Rocket attack.

It has worked out surprisingly well for a Concept character.

My current favorite concept is probably Munitions Dealer.
He's new and I haven't played him much yet, but the name coupled with AR/TA is too much fun. Eventually will be getting mace mastery and grabbing as many temp powers as I can.

I have an earth/cold controller named Salty Toes. The colors for the cold powers are tinged yellows. Earth powers are left default. My character was inspired by Straitoutdacatbox.

I was a bit surprised how very effective this combo is.

It is really hard for me to pick one of my concept toons, since they are all concept toons that I like. From my first character who is a bit of a knockoff from Bleach, to my latest one who was a drug-using Nihilist who ate a Kheldian she found while wondering through the woods during a bad acid trip, grabbing one and just one is hard.

But, there is one idea that I would say would be one of favorite ones I had, even though it spans multiple toons.

It is a reoccurring story that I have on two of my characters, and I plan to put it on more characters I make in the future, and probably my second AE arc. I call it Bartholomew's Legacy. The story is that a doctor named Adrian Bartholomew, a geneticist workaholic who worked at both a fertility clinic and a sperm bank in L.A. 25 or so years ago, discovered that his own genome had a mutation hot spot that was primed to create super powers in future offspring. The (not so good) doctor already had a chauvinistic god complex, and so upon discovering that his future children would have super powers, he silently self-proclaimed himself the progenitor for the future evolution of all mankind. He experimented on his own genome until he was capable of producing sperm that were guaranteed to have the mutation, and then he got to work in switching out all of the donations in the bank with his own. Also, all fertility assisted pregnancies from the clinic were thereafter done with his own genes.

Due to various explanations, denial, legal proceedings, relocation, unions and such he kept at his "work" for years before he was finally arrested. But, damage had been done and no one is still sure if all of his "essence" had been removed from the medical field, let alone how many of his offspring are out there. It became a media controversy when his kids suddenly started developing super powers many years down the line.

Each of the characters that I have made, and will continue to make under the Bartholomew Legacy all have two features in common: pointed ears, and red hair. Another kind of a joke feature is that the women from the legacy have disproportionately large breasts, and men have a similarly shallow endowment that can't be shown in the game. But as far as the backstory goes, it is less about each of the character's origin, and more about how they handled being a part of the controversy and how their predicaments changed depending on what their parents were like.

I can't fit all of that onto a character's profile, but I have a super-condensed version that I put into the profile of each Legacy toon. The grand idea that I envisioned is that it would catch on with other people, and soon there are dozens of players other than me who have a Bartholomew child as a character. It would be like some sort of fannon mass-event that spawned the future toons. Now, I know that is never going to happen, but a man can dream, can't he?

Concept Characters....

Yup, that's me. I have quite a few of them. In fact, if they dont have a good concept, they rarely make it past 20.

The Queen of all of them is my dear, beloved, Doc Vendetta.

When I started playing this game (way back when it was actually two games) I started out on villain side and had ths wild idea for a radiation based healer.

Yup, a healer based on radiation. A set with one heal. I'll give you a moment to let that one sink in.

So, I put together a rad/rad corruptor and stayed with the idea of 'support.' She would take everything from the rad secondary and as little as possible from the assault side.

Even today at lv 50, she has only 3 actual attack powers.

The only reason this one trick pony survived was becuse she became a debuff machine and other people kept inviting her onto teams.

She's still one of my favorites but, would I do that again.... probably not.


And very special mention should be given to the character tha occupies that picture over there. That's Cass. Her whole concept is built around a booster pack.

You see, a while back I was walking around Atlas PArk and I thought, "what this city needs is some street performers" but, since there really wasn't a way to do that well, the idea sat there....

Until the magic booster pack.

Suddenly I had the ability to juggle and do fancy card tricks and read fortunes. A wise cracking, Ms. Liberty dissing, fast talking, street gypsy was born. She also has the distinction of being my only other lv 50.

Apart from my very first character, who was seriously my first character in pretty much any MMO... every single one of my characters has had a concept, and been built seriously to that concept.

(I'm still writing and rewriting my first character's concept, not really happy with whatever comes out... because she wasn't really made with a concept, so everything seems flat.)

By now I have 38 characters spread over four servers (which I am considering parallel universes). And I have histories that explain why those characters exist in their universes, and not in others..

And one server (Pinnacle) is entirely devoted to a particular family line, and the characters related to it. I've only broken that rule once (and even then, I eventually went back and wrote her story to tie in).

Now you want me to choose a favorite?!

Hm...

I think mostly I enjoy Veneer, as a concept, but he doesn't get a lot of play, though at 35 he is my third highest level character.

He's a "magician" who's really a mutant (the magic booster pack was great for him). A former street hustler who used his mutant powers to help things along... (Illusion Control), he spent most of the first Rikti war hiding in one of his bubbles (Force Field).

Eventually something snapped in him, and he decided he could be a hero. He's got a coward's heart, though.

Powers-wise, he's an attempt to build a bubbler without the single-target bubbles. Also, because he's "from the street" he has Boxing and Kick and really wants to get in there and rumble. He did this even before Containment. He has all of the Leadership pool, though I think I might drop Vengeance. I haven't really looked at his build since before they moved the levels of the Ancillary Power Pools.

The entire idea is that he manipulates "light" from a universe not our own. Hence illusions, and the bubbles (and when he teleports, he goes into that universe). He actually started as an Ill/Rad but... I already had a Grav/Rad and I didn't feel like doubling up...

There's an opening for a villainous version of him on one of my servers. I keep waffling. Illusion Control was fun once, but I don't think I'll do it again. Force Field was also fun. If anything, he might wind up being a Thugs/FF Mastermind, so at least we can keep half his powers. And instead of the Fighting Pool, he's got pistols.

Maybe I'll even take the single target bubbles...

My favorite concept character I made is Ghost Nemesis. He has the mutant ability to see, control, and absorb ghosts, using their energy to give him great power and strength. He is a super strength / energy aura brute. He sports the ghost aura. His constant exposure to ghost energies makes some ghostly properties affect him too. That is why he is hard to hit, invisible, and can drain people (/energy aura).

At first, he couldnt control his mutation, which had the negative effect of ghosts entering his body and controlling HIM. So he was a villain early on. After he learned to control his mutant power to absorb/control ghosts, he became a hero and switched sides.

Lewis

Silent Treatment

Mind/Cold controller. She is the Spirit of Rejection made into flesh.

All of my characters have at least a loose concept to them, though I am not what I would call a roleplayer when it comes to MMOs (prolly cause I'm too lazy), but far and away my favorite concept character is my MFin' Warshade, Black.Heat. I was invited by some friends of mine to join a SG where the requirement was that Heat be a part of your name and I had just recently finished reading Dech's guide meaning that pretty much my next character had to be a Warshade. The night prior to making this character I sat down and watched Black Dynamite, which has some of the best one liners from any movie I've seen. And thus the character was born, because few things are as BA as a MFin' WS nor a Blacksploitation protagonist. Combining the two is pure kismet and pretty much the only character I routinely get into with my natural snarky comments on teams.

Rad/Fire defender. Bitten by a radioactive blowtorch, gained great power (and great responsibilities).

At one point, some friends and I got together and made "ourselves" in Paragon City (this was pre-CoV, but I suspect most of us would have gone blue side anyway).

Now, Mind Control is totally my favorite set - it's what I'd really want to have if I had a choice.

But, life hasn't always been kind to me, so I figured I wouldn't give "me" Mind Control. Instead, here's the origin I came up with:

During the Rikti war, my house burned down. I was caught in the fire. In the end, my body was burned beyond recognition. However, I soon discovered that my vocal cords had melted in just the right way for me to be able to focus sound waves on people...

...and if I recalled the fires that burned me, I could make them happen around me again.

Hence, I was born as a sonic/fire blaster.

Many of my characters are based off of names that contain puns related to their powersets. I suppose they could be considered "Concept Characters." Several of them have detailed back stories as well:

The one that seems to get the most comments: My Elec/Shield scrapper is named "Ohm Depot." He is dressed in an Orange vest and Khaki pants, and specializes in home repair advice. I also have a Plant/Elec Dom named "Ohm and Garden."

The one that got me started: I wanted to make a "sapper" character, so went with a Kinetics/Elec Defender (long before even CoV). He looks Egyptian, and has a backstory that he drains the electrical energy from his foes, stores it in himself until he discharges it in his attacks. His name is "Sultan Battery" (Say it out loud). Yes, I know that a Sultan is not Egyptian, but the costume choices were limited.

My favorite "literate" character: I wanted to make an Illusion/Trick Arrow. An Illusionist can be a magician or entertainer. But I wanted to refer to the Bow and Arrow, too. Bow and Entertainer . . . So he became an entertainer for the French Foreign Legion who does magic tricks with tricked out arrows. His name is "Beau Jester." (For those who don't know, "Beau Geste" is a famous old novel and movie about 3 brothers who join the French Foreign Legion.) When the Jester outfit was added later, it was a perfect fit!

My juvenile humor attempt: I wanted an Ice/Ice Tank. I came up with a really tacky name and needed to make a concept to fit. So there are these endangered mice who only live in Ice Banks in the North Pole. Santa, who is environmentally conscious, sent one of his Elves to protect the endangered Ice Bank Mice. So he became "Ice Bank Mice Elf." (Say it out loud.) Yeah, it is a stretch, but I thought it was funny.

I needed a name for my Stone/Fire Tank. Fire and Stone go together in a Fireplace. So he became "Mickey Mantel" with Mantel spelled like the fireplace instead of like the baseball player.

Lots of others: "Pepe LePewPew" is a DP blaster who looks like a skunk and speaks in a French accent. "Storm Drain" is my Ice/Storm Controller who drains heat to control the weather. My Traps/Rad Defender is a master of gadgets: who better than "Ron Popiel"? My Thugs/Dark MM is an evil short guy who likes to boss around others: "Micro-Manager."

I tend to not have concepts (What can I say? my first server was Freedom ) However, I'm pretty happy with my concept for my titanweapon/EA mutant. Born a mutant whose body absorbs a little fraction of the kinetic energy around her all her life. She never knew why, but she enjoyed being around the ADHD kids growing up and her teachers were happy to group her with them because they seemed to calm down a bit with her around. Like most mutants, when puberty hit her mutation changed slightly to allow her to start to selectively burn some of the energy her body had stored over time (giving her the strength to pick up and swing those big weapons). Of course, being in Galaxy City during the Shivan strike and meteor crashes flooded her body with sufficient kinetic energy to power her abilities for quite some time to come.... there's also a lot of kinetic energy in all the bullets flying around her as she uses her now controllable mutation to fight crime. She learns new tricks as time goes on but they're all based on burning stored kinetic energy.

back in the olden days, dark/dark defenders were called 'D3s' on the boards (not sure if they are now).

Anyway. At some point I went "so what's a Dark/Dark Scrapper? a DDS?"

And so, Root Canal was born. A former dentist...

Every character I have has a concept, and I find it very hard to pick a favorite. I have a lot of characters inspired by existing characters like Iceman, Captain America, (an apprentice to) Manticore, Green Lantern, Ironman, and a future reformed version of Maelstrom. At least one of their costumes and certain parts of a few stories are reminiscent of their inspiration, and since most players of this game are familiar with those, I'll choose one of my characters that is completely my own brain-child.

Name: Talsor Vox
Origin: Science
Archetype: Defender
Primary: Sonic Resonance
Secondary: Sonic Attack
Ancillary: Psychic Mastery (Taken only for Mind over Body)

His full origin story, as well as that of The Talsorian Guard SG, can be found at the link in my signature. OR search "Grey Ambition" on these forums for the same story (it's only 3 parts).

A brief summary: Nathan Winters, once just a loyal Vanguard soldier, was chosen by Lady Grey and given the chance to undergo an experimental procedure that, if successful, would result in super-powered defense force loyal only to Vanguard and their goals. He took the opportunity, and became the leader of the Talsorian Guard.

I'd explain more, but hey, I have to try to get people to read somehow!

My Favorite might be a tad messy. Contains Blood. You been warned.

Just a note the Happy Camper gold title was randomly given to me when i was doing a iTrail on a team that had i think A. Hawk and one other. Been a while. I was in a good mood at the time and said so in team chat while waiting and got the title when i was not looking.

Made: 11-27-2010. 50ed: 1-26-2011

Slayan in game bio.

"Born of noble blood to the House of Bloodfire, but shunned by other demons for his half human heritage, Slayan shall be the most powerful incarnate, but not the way the Well of Furies intends. With his blood, he shall slay the other incarnates, and with their blood, he shall have more power. And in the end, the Well of Furies will be no more, and in its place will be the 'bloodwell' that is Slayan.

Blood is his birthright, and through his blood, he has the power over life and creation, destruction and death... From his blood, he creates his army of demons. With his blood, he can grant life to the dead, or curse those that bring upon his wrath.

Death comes in many shapes and forms and sizes. For when you see a small outcast of a misbegotten half-demon, think again of what you will say or do. But it doesnt matter. Eventually all that you will think and do is decide how to die as fast as you can."

I expected this thread to get more swarmed when I first saw it yesterday...

Maybe more are having the same problem as me...

All of my characters are concept characters... and I am having a difficult time choosing a "Favorite"!
There are probably... 4... no 5 that I could put up as candidates for favorite...

It made me think... Just because one is my MAIN (Electric-Knight) and he's my favorite to play... I don't know that it is my favorite concept. An interesting distinction... for me, at least, hehe!

I'll hopefully post one a little later.

William Valence



An Illusion/Sonic Troller that has the power to create Illusions by speaking. Illusions so powerful, individuals under their effect and even reality itself attempts to make the Illusions true. Having fought in WWII, he later became a lawyer working pro-bono to help supers with their legal issues. His greatest work was being part of the group lobbying against the Might for Right act, and working on the defense of Roger Washington, Georgia Reynolds, and Hakeem Muhammad seeing the act become unconstitutional.

He was pulled from the courts back to the streets durring the Rikti war. It was this time that he got to know a hero named Trueshooter, and saw another hero, Moonshatter, for the first time since WWII. With an unknown objective he gathers heroes, with a vested interest in their growth and potential.

I can't pick just one as a "favorite," just like I can't pick one of my kids as my favorite. All my characters have backgrounds and stories, and while most start as concepts, some start from a power combination or look and the backstory grows from there.

I do like having characters that connect with each other, so I guess I'll mention the two sets of sisters I have. The Dark sisters would be first, Daphne Dark (lvl 50 willpower/mace tank) and Nikki Dark (lvl 50 assault rifle/devices blaster). They hunt monsters together and share a background that extends into outfits, macros and quirks. IF I could somehow play them both at once and be able to give both full attention, it would be quite entertaining.

The second set of sisters doesn't get along very well: Lyjia (lvl 48 fire/fire tank blueside) and Mijyla (lvl 50 fire/therm corruptor redside). Both were evil, manipulative creatures in life, and both became evil, manipulative demons after death. Lyjia finally managed to redeem her soul and was cast out of Hell as punishment, stripped of nearly all her powers; Mijyla, the younger sister who had schemed for decades in Hell to finally gain control of her big sister, gave up most of her power to pursue her sister in an attempt to bring her back as a slave.

My current favorite is Herald of Metal.



Metal Spikes-> Metal
Being on Fire-> Even more Metal

You can't kill the Metal (Rise of the Phoenix)

Took Storm Elementals as incarnate summons pet.