Nemeses

[Todogut]

As a newcomer to CO, when my character, Todogut, reached level 25, I was able to create my first nemesis.

Here's a video link and image showing Todo's first encounter with his nemesis.



Todogut was bio-engineered from genetic donor material to serve as a living weapon against Earth's enemies (in CoH, he was developed by Vanguard's weapons research division; in CO, by UNTIL). His nemesis was created from the same genetic material... but something went wrong, and the hulking, bestial monstrosity--named Godotut--grew twisted, evil, and fueled by hatred for his heroic "brother". Commanding beastmen minions, Godo hunts Todo relentlessly.

What's your nemesis story?

[CrimsonCapacitor]

No pics, but right now, my highest toon in CO is Keystone.  Think "The Thing," but grey (maybe a Mr. Fixit Hulk version of The Thing?).  Very much a golden age feel to the toon.

Keystone is one of the last survivors from a destroyed planet.  Much like fish move through water or we humnans move through air, the life forms on that planet moved through rock.  That was their "atmosphere."  As the planet exploded, the being that would come to be known as Keystone found himself stranded in a chunk of the crust of the planet, hurtling through space.

The isolation, the confinement, threatened his sanity.  He turned to learning how to manipulate the very rock itself, bending it to his will.  This was how he learned to form constructs out of the rock that he could control, esentially forming bodies.

The asteroid he was trapped on crashed to earth, yadda.  His travel power is tunneling, which is not so much his pulling a "Bugs Bunny," rather it's the alien consciousness flowing out of the rock body and back into the ground.

As a dig at a SG member, and because this is a toon that's VERY rooted in the Golden Age, his Nemesis is Grav-El.  Yes, pure cheese, but it makes me snicker every time.  Where Keystone is a tank, using his powerful attacks to decimate his opponents, Grav-El is a force toon.  I was going for a Luthor/Supes relationship.

Grav-El is from the same planet, but lost it as his shard was hurtling thorugh space.  He represents what COULD have happened to Keystone.  Where Keystone adapted his environment to create more or less a "living rock" suit of armor, Grav-El hieghtened his ability to FORCE the rock into the shapes he wanted, which extended to eventually allowing him to project that force out of the environement.  Grav-El is out to prove that HE is the rightful survivor of the planet, what their race was capable of, and that everyone else should bow to him, as his power was forged in space and that he is desinted to rule.

Keystone is only about level 26 or 27 now, and has only run into Grav-El once (I gave Grav-El the megalomaniac AI, which fits).  Keystone, playing solo, is pretty tough.  He can take a pounding, and it takes him a while to whittle down foes, but he soloed Urkel... I mean, Menton.

Grav-El ALMOST wiped the floor with him.  I was impressed and am looking forward to the rematch.

[JorReno]

My nemesis was my ex(at the time)
 

[Hyperstrike]

Hyperstrike's Nemesis: Lady Domina (My original CoH villain)

[Todogut]

My Fist archetype character, named Red Dragon, created his nemesis, named Black Dragon. I originally created the villain years ago, before Champions Online (and City of Heroes), for a pencil-and-paper Champions campaign... to earn the maximum Disadvantage Points, BD hunted RD fanatically.

In CO, BD doesn't hunt quite so fanatically. Still, he does show up pretty often during Nemesis Alerts.

Here is what I typed for BD's biography:

In ancient, feudal Japan, the code of the samurai class, bushido, demanded honorable conduct. Still, political ambition drove some samurai clans to secretly hire ninjas to perform stealthy, dishonorable attacks upon enemies.

Among this shadowy sub-culture, the Black Dragon ninja clan grew infamous, operating behind the scenes for centuries and shaping the history of Japanese empires through kidnapping, assassination, and terrorism. It was whispered that these ninjas used dark mysticism to pass on the experience and skills of their clan leaders to each successor, thus preserving and growing their power.

Today, rumors suggest that the current Black Dragon leader has brought his cult to Millennium City... but, for what evil ends, none can yet say.

[Todogut]

My Grimoire archetype character, named Doctor Outre, created his nemesis: I give you... the Dread Yurmammy. Very scary.



This villain is your basic extra-dimensional sorcerer overlord, who now has come to Millennium City intent upon enslaving our dimension. But, first, according to the Nemesis System of Champions Online, he naturally wants to rob a bank and terrorize a television news studio.

Luckily, Doc Outre is on the job.

[Night-Hawk07]

Yellow Jacket has actually been Night'hawk's (my main) nemesis since before I even joined CoH.

The arch-nemesis of the hero Night'hawk. Much has changed in the years since Jacket and Night'hawk first encountered each other in a small-but-growing city. The one thing that hasn't changed is their desire to pound each other into the dirt; Night'hawk for Justice, Jacket to have Night'hawk's head on a mantle.

Though both have traveled to Millennium City before, with the cataclysmic events that took place in Paragon City, both rivals found themselves here full-time. Round Three: Yellow Jacket vs. Night'hawk; live from Millennium City.

I do hope we get a revamp to the Nemesis System in the future. It could be so much better than it is.

[General Idiot]

It could be so much better than it is.

That's Champions in a nutshell, really. You can say that about almost any part of the game.

[Night-Hawk07]

That's Champions in a nutshell, really. You can say that about almost any part of the game.

Very true.

[Todogut]

My Glacier archetype character, named Glacial Mass, created his nemesis, named Ms. Magma. Ice versus fire!

[DJMoose]

Finally hit lvl 25 with Void Summoner and created my Nemesis. 

This is Alpha One.  She was once the most promising test subject in the now-defunct ARGENT super-soldier program.  She was the first test subject that survived the modifications, and subsequently became a valuable tool.  She was the oldest of the test subjects, and was an example of the long-term benefits of the enhancement program.

All of this changed when subject #1427, now known as Void Summoner, escaped by killing her captors and damaged a large part of the facility.  After Void Summoner's escape, the super soldier project was quickly shut down; if one subject could become disobedient and escape, what would stop the rest of the test subjects from doing the same?

When the scientists came euthanize Alpha One, as they had done with the rest of the test subjects, she was ready for them.  She easily killed her assailants, but she was greatly angered at the betrayal she suffered.  She had devoted herself completely to her superiors, to the scientists, and they simply wished to kill her off?  Alpha One promptly broke out of the facility and vowed to hunt Void Summoner down.  She would not only demonstrate her superiority to the rebellious Void Summoner, but also to the rest of the world.  A goddess among mere mortals, the world was for the taking and she would make it hers.








Alpha One promptly spanked Void Summoner to the ground this first battle... 

[Todogut]

My Tempest archetype character, Human Taser, created his nemesis, Gadget Master. The villain has robot minions and fights with gadgeteering powers.

[Atlantea]

I do apologize. But I couldn't resist...

[DJMoose]

It's a Nemesis Plot!  LITERALLY!

[Night-Hawk07]

  Too cool!

[Atlantea]

This is a classic case of "reverse engineering to work with limitations".

I designed this villain with an eye toward color-coordination with an already existing set of minions in the Nemesis system. Specifically the yellow and black-suited "Charged Dynamos" set of minions. So this particular Nemesis would look enough like them that you could buy the concept that the minions are of a theme with the villain and have similar powers. In this case - the powers for both the main villain and the minions are Electricity based.

Currently the Nemesis options are bugged so that you can't SEE what your minions look like in-game as you pick them unfortunately. I understand there are posts on the official forums where people have posted screens and documented what the minions look like. But that means I can't just go to the Nemesis system and show you what they look like, but I picked some screens below that had the minions in the shot.

So - I present to you, the Utterly SHOCKING mistress of the Megavolt -

Gigi Watt!

[Atlantea]

Here's some more -

You may have seen my CO rendition of Cyberman 8 in another thread.

http://www.cohtitan.com/forum/index.php/topic,7405.msg99572.html#msg99572


At level 25 I came up with a Nemesis based on an idea from his background. I wanted to keep the idea relatively simple but interesting and in theme, keeping in mind the limitations of the Nemesis system.

So - the reason why Cyberman 8 has the number 8 in his name is that he was the 8th attempt by Dr. Tani to download a human mind (soul, consciousness, however you define it) into an android body.

There were 7 previous attempts, and they all went wrong for various reasons.

Prototype 6 was one of those. The positronic matrix was, like the other 7, flawed in some way. And so never "woke up".

C8 isn't sure HOW Prototype 6 could even be active. C8 understood that the nature of the previous 7 failures was that a consciousness - the "spark" if you will (to use a Transformer term) - of a human intellect and/or soul - simply failed to take hold or survive the transfer intact. So there shouldn't even be any "ghost in the shell" inside of Prototype 6.

Well SOMETHING is in there, now. Whether it's a delayed reaction and the original human implant finally activated in the matrix, or whether somehow it got corrupted by a version of Mechanon or whether someone simply finished Dr. Tani's work in some fashion...  Heck - in his more whimsical moments, Cyberman 8 wonders if maybe Foxbat implanted a copy of HIS mind in there. Because Prototype 6 is decidedly crazy.

My goal on the visual design was to create something that looked like it could have been a precursor to Cyberman 8. Blockier, more "Mecha"-like. Almost like a giant action figure or a toy. He stands almost a head taller than C8. I used a metal texture on the face and the "geometric" pattern. (Kinda almost makes him look like a cross between Robocop and Kryton from Red Dwarf actually. >.>;;; )





He used electricity for his powerset, so I figured I'd use the chest emblem to create the suggestion of an "arc reactor" of some kind.

[Atlantea]

This is a character that is a shared Nemesis between me and one of my best friends both IRL and in the game.

But you need a bit of backstory for this, because the humor of the character started as a private joke. So let me explain -

I live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area of North Texas. And one of the local historical figures in Fort Worth was one Amon G. Carter.

You can find him in Wikipedia, but all you really need to know is - he was a rich entrepreneur who became a philanthropist in his later years and loved Fort Worth. There's a museum named after him. As well as a few place names, like roads.

Okay - to quote Bill Cosby, I told you that story to tell you this one: ^_^

The above mentioned friend Corey (who is part of our regular PnP gaming crew and also plays in CO) hails originally from Oklahoma. So knew NOTHING about the local history.

So shortly after he and his wife moved down here permanently, I was driving them up to a local convention, and the freeway we're on has a roadsign that prominently displays "Amon Carter Blvd - Exit Right"

And as Corey described it later, "I didn't know how Amon was pronounced (it's pronounced similarly to "Aaron") so my mind latched onto knowledge of classic pulp sci-fi - specifically Edgar Rice Burroughs - and Barsoom... and Amon sounded in my head like an Egyption name... two ideas collided forcefully... and out came..."

"AMON CARTER - PHAROAH OF MARS!!"

He called this out in an absolutely STENTORIAN voice, pronouncing the "Amon" like "Ah-moon".

I nearly ran the car off the road I was laughing so hard!!

So naturally, what is one of the first Nemesis creations he makes? Why none other than -

AMON CARTER - PHAROAH OF MARS!!

Undead Alien Ruler of the Zombies of Mars!

(Or at least that's what HE says. He could just be nuts. )

I imagine his voice to be done by BRIAN BLESSED, since that's almost what Corey sounded like when he "created" him.

[Atlantea]

I've done at least one Transformers homage and I might do more. So naturally, I had to make a Nemesis inspired by Megatron.

I call this guy Mechatron.

[Atlantea]

When the movie Megamind came out, I was inspired to create this guy.



What the pics above don't represent well is that his default expression is "pleasant" which means he at least starts out with a rather large grin as in the movie. It works startlingly well, actually... 

I made him with Robots as minions and Gadgeteer as his powerset. He's SURPRISINGLY tough to take down, as witnessed by several Nemesis dockside dustups where I've seen groups fail spectacularly against him! I think the fact that you have to blow through his PFF to get to his HP on that short timer is a big reason for that... 

[Atlantea]

Over in the "Champions Toons Revealed" thread, I posted my Shogun Warriors homage Robot Ronin.

http://www.cohtitan.com/forum/index.php/topic,7405.msg106832.html#msg106832



Naturally I figured that a piloted robot designed to take on Kaiju needed a Kaiju nemesis.

Angiras is a kind of "Mecha-Godzilla" type.

[Atlantea]

"I remember those nights, planning technologies that didn't exist yet, outsider science, futurist dreaming, half-magical. The things I could do outside the university setting, now that I didn't have to wait for the pompous fools at the college! I was building another science, my science, wild science, robots and lasers and disembodied brains. A science that buzzed and glowed; it wanted to do things. It could get up and walk, fly, fight, sprout garish glowing creations in the remotest parts of the world, domes and towers and architectural fever dreams. And it was angry. It was mad science."

Professor Ivanov was never the same after he was exiled during Stalin's reign to the frozen wastes of Siberia. Forced to work endlessly in the labor camps, his genius mind, already teetering on the brink of mad science, snapped. He escaped the camp only to wander into the frozen wastes in the dead of a hard Russian winter. Something happened to him out there. Some say he found lost technology. Some say he merged with the spirit of the Russian Winter.

Only General Winter knows for sure.

[Todogut]

My Mind archetype character, Airhead, attained level 25 and so could create his nemesis. I figured, since Airhead has difficulty hooking up with the ladies, it would be ironical and funny for his nemesis to be a hot chick.

I gave her Telekinesis powers to set up a dueling mental powers theme. That's really all I had for her character concept, so, I simply named her Telekinesis.

I know, it's threadbare character creation (some might say "lazy"). Still, she gives Airhead a nemesis to fight, so mission accomplished.

[Todogut]

For my Mountain archetype character, Geo-Strata, I wanted to create a nemesis that would be thematically fitting. I figured, a villain who could smash through or bust up rock would make for a threatening foe.

In the costume creator, at first I set out to make a massive construction worker; but, nothing I tried looked exciting. Then, I thought, how about a cybernetic monster, like Ripper? Alas, I found that most of the cybernetic costume pieces must be bought, and I didn't want to spend Zen on a costume set. So, I settled for the battle suit shown below, gave him Might powers and soldier minions with military weapons, and named him Crusher.

He can go toe-to-toe with Geo in a savage duke-out, so good enough. Maybe someday, I'll buy the cybernetic costume set and revise his look.

[dwturducken]

OK, that answers my question. You know? The one I never actually asked?

I am nearing level 25 on my first toon, and I was curious if the Nemesis was limited to the same character options as the principle character. It seems a little cheap to place that limitation on a character you don't actually get to play, but whatever. It helps in my planning. Thank you.

[Todogut]

I was curious if the Nemesis was limited to the same character options as the principle character.

No, the nemesis is not limited to the same character options as the hero. When you create your nemesis, you select a power set for the nemesis from a list of options (not all power sets that are available during hero creation are available for a nemesis).

For my Crusher nemesis, shown a few posts above, I selected the Might power set. My hero, Geo-Strata, has Earth powers. So, their powers are not the same.

[dwturducken]

Sorry. Didn't mean it that way. I must have been in a hurry when I posted. And, I've largely ignored the official wiki after the first few things I tried to look up there were horribly outdated, some to the point where they no longer even applied to the game as it is now. I will check out the article you linked to, though.

What I was saying was, as a Silver player, would my Nemesis choices be subject to the same limitations as my character choices. I apologize for not wording that better. You were commenting on limitations to your costume choices, and I think I misinterpretted that. Given your power sets for both your character and his Nemesis, you're not Silver, so it doesn't really answer my question the way I thought it would. On the plus side, I should only be one more good night of gaming away from level 25.

[Todogut]

I am a free, Silver account player. My hero, Geo-Strata, uses the Mountain archetype, which I bought with Zen.

Silver players have the same options for nemeses as Gold players, as far as I can tell.

[Thunder Glove]

Nemesis creation is simpler than character creation.  You don't choose an archetype or select specific powers, you just pick from one of twenty frameworks, and the Nemesis is given powers from that framework.  (Earth and Heavy Weapon aren't available - I think they're newer frameworks, and the Nemesis creator was never updated to include them - and the four Sorcery frameworks are combined).  You can also pick a color with is used for all of the Nemesis' powers.

You then do the same for the Nemesis' henchmen, but they have an even more limited power selection and you can't edit their appearance at all.

[Todogut]

My Radiant archetype heroine, Samantha-Quasar, created her nemesis, Nictus Ascendant. A pick-up group of heroes assisted her in battling the darkness-wielding villain and his alien minions on the docks of Vibora Bay.



Nictus Ascendant was a Warshade hero in City of Heroes. Somehow, when he traveled to Millennium City and put on the Socrates helmet, he became a villain. Maybe there was a remnant of a malicious computer virus in the helmet?

[Todogut]

My Impulse archetype character, Gravi-Metrik, created his nemesis, named Black Hole. They both have Force powers, which makes for a lot of kinetic pew-pewing.

[Todogut]

My Marksman hero, Golden Shaft, created his nemesis, named Ebon Arrow.



Visor-capped archer versus hooded archer.

[Todogut]

My Squall heroine, Windstorm, created her nemesis, named Mastema. Why that name, you ask? Well, it came about this way:

1) I wanted to create a nemesis that would be thematically fitting for Windstorm. My first idea was to create a storm-wielder whose powers were inherent and natural, unlike Windstorm's, which are produced by the high-tech cybernetic battle suit she wears. However, the wind power set is not available for nemeses. I could have selected electricity or ice, but I really wanted wind. Stinging with disappointment, I scrapped my initial concept and opted for plan B, which was....

2) Create a nemesis who uses a power set that's different from the nemeses of my other characters. I hadn't played against a nemesis with the Celestial power set. So, I went with it.

3) Celestial suggests angelic, and a celestial nemesis could be a fallen angel. I Googled fallen angel, which turned up a list of names that are commonly used in fantasy games (such as Lilith) as well as several less common ones. Mastema was on the list. It sounded feminine, so, done deal.

Maybe for Windstorm's next nemesis I'll create a lightning elemental for her to battle against both physically and thematically.

[Todogut]

My Devastator archetype character, Dragon Princess, created her nemesis, named Dragon Spirit. The plucky heroine courageously battled the supernatural beast and his lizard men minions inside the Millennium City Museum of Natural History.

[Todogut]

I forgot to give Dragon Spirit his dragon wings. Thankfully, the Nemesis system allows editing.

[Eldershinjo]

I forgot to give Dragon Spirit his dragon wings. Thankfully, the Nemesis system allows editing.

Maybe you could say he earned his wings!

Todogut, I have to tell you, I love coming here and seeing the stuff you post about your characters and their nemeseses (nemesi?)
Seriously. Helps brighten my day!

[Todogut]

My Master archetype hero, Infra-man, advanced to level 25 and created his nemesis. Here it is: Giant Beetle Monster, straight out of the source kung-fu movie.



 

[Atlantea]

OMG!! These are all AWESOME!

Todogut, you're doing a bang-up job with all of these! Especially the last couple. My giant robot characters could use some new kaiju to go after.

[Thunder Glove]

As much as I will always miss CoH, I really love how monstrous you can make characters look in CO.