Pitch Me: Dastardly Demographics

[j9ac9k]

Honestly, I find the "black character with the military background" almost more of a trope these days. It seems to be the most comfortable way to portray a strong black character - they can kick ass, but does (or did) so in a respectable way where they were part of a larger societal construct to uphold order and understand the chain of command. Every black character of note in the MCU is a military person (Fury, Falcon, War Machine, Monica - even Luke Cage was a former cop (which Misty also is) Even Heimdall's most notable quality was his self-professed loyalty to the throne and Valkyrie was, lost her way then came back) aside from the Black Panther cast, but they're royalty or serve royalty. Blade will be the exception when he shows up. (or will he?) On the DC side, John Diggle, Kelly Olsen, J'onn Jones (Martian, but still) John Stewart had a military background retconned in. Maybe it wasn't as much a trope then, but still...

[Midnight_v]

Honestly, I find the "black character with the military background" almost more of a trope these days. It seems to be the most comfortable way to portray a strong black character - they can kick ass, but does (or did) so in a respectable way where they were part of a larger societal construct to uphold order and understand the chain of command. Every black character of note in the MCU is a military person (Fury, Falcon, War Machine, Monica - even Luke Cage was a former cop (which Misty also is) Even Heimdall's most notable quality was his self-professed loyalty to the throne and Valkyrie was, lost her way then came back) aside from the Black Panther cast, but they're royalty or serve royalty. Blade will be the exception when he shows up. (or will he?) On the DC side, John Diggle, Kelly Olsen, J'onn Jones (Martian, but still) John Stewart had a military background retconned in. Maybe it wasn't as much a trope then, but still...

Well, being black... AND a former Marine... Its not a trope. So lets not call it that. Its a reflection of millions of people who actually had that be our life.

So... yeah. There are going to be more military trained badasses than "Not". Just simple demographics.

You're going to have more military background people than "ninjas" or "billionaires" for example you can do that and then leave and become a millionaire or physicists or whatever.

Hal Jordan/Flash etc etc... all military as well

[Korath]

Naomi - Light in a Dead World

Basically, it'll be a follow-up to Naomi's story, where she and Annabelle found themselves stranded on Naomi's birth Earth. They'll have to discover how to survive on a world where no one dares to follow Naomi at first, and then how they see her as a literal Goddess coming to save them all from Zumbado.

The main cast of heroes would be Naomi, Annabelle and Akira, with some support popping here and there. Foes would be Zumbado, his Warlords (various normals he had uplifted to become some sort of super-warriors - think a kind of Holy Zealot of Zumbado, a Psychopath enjoying the possibilities offered to him, a broken and abused woman allowed to run wild and get revenge on whomever she wants, etc.), the returning God-like metas who left Earth (even if some could become allies) and the Howler, a former champion of Naomi's parents, whose family was killed by Zumbado's lackeys but still held fast in his dedication to them, only to desert them when he discovered that they didn't dare risk their precious baby's life, when he had no choice but to lose his owns.

The themes would be one of constant battle against abuse and how one people with enough charisma and dedication to her ideals can save even the worst place on Earth - or the worst Earth.

[Agent Z]

Nubia: The Lost Champion

Long ago, the Amazons found themselves at war with an invading army of demons from another realm. Nubia, the daughter of Philippus and Diana's closest friend seemingly perished but in reality was captured by the demons and brainwashed into being their servant. After being saved by Diana and Donna Troy, Nubia finds herself having to adjust to a very unfamiliar Themyscira.

[Ascended]

Honestly, I find the "black character with the military background" almost more of a trope these days. It seems to be the most comfortable way to portray a strong black character - they can kick ass, but does (or did) so in a respectable way where they were part of a larger societal construct to uphold order and understand the chain of command. Every black character of note in the MCU is a military person (Fury, Falcon, War Machine, Monica - even Luke Cage was a former cop (which Misty also is) Even Heimdall's most notable quality was his self-professed loyalty to the throne and Valkyrie was, lost her way then came back) aside from the Black Panther cast, but they're royalty or serve royalty. Blade will be the exception when he shows up. (or will he?) On the DC side, John Diggle, Kelly Olsen, J'onn Jones (Martian, but still) John Stewart had a military background retconned in. Maybe it wasn't as much a trope then, but still...

I'm not sure if the MCU examples really work, because almost everyone in those films is tied to the military in one form or another. Tony was a weapons designer who sold to the military, Steve and Bucky were soldiers, Carol was an Air Force pilot, Nat and Clint were both SHIELD agents (not quite military, but not not military either), Banner was working on a military contract before his gamma accident, etc. The list of characters with no military ties is a lot shorter than the ones who have it. Just given the structure of the MCU it'd be expected that a majority of the PoC came from such a background, just like everyone else.

Even Shang Chi has ties to British intelligence.

Nubia: The Lost Champion

Long ago, the Amazons found themselves at war with an invading army of demons from another realm. Nubia, the daughter of Philippus and Diana's closest friend seemingly perished but in reality was captured by the demons and brainwashed into being their servant. After being saved by Diana and Donna Troy, Nubia finds herself having to adjust to a very unfamiliar Themyscira.

I'd read it!

[Ascended]

Well, being black... AND a former Marine...

Thanks for your service man.

[Agent Z]

I'm not sure if the MCU examples really work, because almost everyone in those films is tied to the military in one form or another. Tony was a weapons designer who sold to the military, Steve and Bucky were soldiers, Carol was an Air Force pilot, Nat and Clint were both SHIELD agents (not quite military, but not not military either), Banner was working on a military contract before his gamma accident, etc. The list of characters with no military ties is a lot shorter than the ones who have it. Just given the structure of the MCU it'd be expected that a majority of the PoC came from such a background, just like everyone else.

Even Shang Chi has ties to British intelligence.



I'd read it!

Thanks. 10 chars.

[Vakanai]

Steel has always been one of my favorite characters, but I want to clarify I've never read any of the books he's been in and my love is more from his appearances in animation, general design, Superman connection, and bits I've read online, so apologies if none of this works with current comics. But...

Since Grayson ain't doing it anymore I'd have him do the whole spy agent of Spyral thing. Different enough from the rest of the other Super-family stuff, different from Iron Man, and still different enough from when Grayson did it because you know power armor and power hammer. Globe trotting adventures, busting bunkers, Mission Impossible style adventures all in a cool mecha-suit and stuff. James Bond meets Iron Man kind of a thing, don't think there's anything else quite like it.

[titanfan]

So... yeah. There are going to be more military trained badasses than "Not". Just simple demographics.

You're going to have more military background people than "ninjas" or "billionaires" for example you can do that and then leave and become a millionaire or physicists or whatever.

True. I also think that if you're a writer, being in the military/cop is an easy way of explaining why a character is already competent in hand to hand combat/firearms/etc.

A lot of characters previously mentioned were also initially created to be supporting cast--so you didn't want to give all of them a backstory explaining why they just happened to be really good martial artists/had weapons training etc.

[krazijoe]

True. I also think that if you're a writer, being in the military/cop is an easy way of explaining why a character is already competent in hand to hand combat/firearms/etc.

A lot of characters previously mentioned were also initially created to be supporting cast--so you didn't want to give all of them a backstory explaining why they just happened to be really good martial artists/had weapons training etc.

Hell, I spent 5 years in the Army and didn't learn crap about H2H combat...
It's like everyone that's been a Ranger/Seal/SpForces etc become a bad guy/hero in the comics...

Can't we get a Martial Artist that got super good because he was tired of getting his butt kicked by the Kobra Kai and wanted the hot girl?

[Agent Z]

The Tigress & The Cheshire Cat

Combines the comic backstories of Jade Nguyen and Artemis Crock with their Young Justice animated versions. Artemis is the daughter of Lawrence Crock and Paula Nguyen. Jade is the daughter of Paula and a Vietnamese man. Jade was kidnapped into human trafficking years ago and crosses paths with Artemis who is now the superhero known as Tigress while Jade has become an assassin to survive. The story deals with Jade's healing and returning to her family.

I guess the best way I would describe this is sort of an antithesis to Priest's Deathstroke book focusing on a family of former criminals trying to turn their lives around.