Vixen Appreciation 2020

[LordAllMIghty]

nice, he is right though, Vixen should be bigger then she is.

[Incognito]

I think Sportsmaster could be a good villain for Vixen. He could be hunting for animals for sport or value.

[nj06]

I think Sportsmaster could be a good villain for Vixen. He could be hunting for animals for sport or value.

Agreed. I also think the following would act as great foes/villains for Vixen:

-Poison Ivy
-Chemo
-Cheetah
-Father Lost
-Lord Battle

[Sutekh]

While I'm not normally a fan of villains cross-pollinating *too* much, I do feel like some of the more hero-specific villains could do to stretch their wings, and it would be on-theme for some to end up coming up against Vixen.

Poison Ivy (plant kingdom vs. animal kingdom)
Chemo (pollution vs. nature, although he's kind of a crazy threat for someone at her level...)
Cheetah (one specific animal totem vs. another more general 'all animals' totem)
Dr. Sivana (a scientist who seeks to understand and steal the power of magic and myth, the Tantu totem and 'Red' being just two more things he'd want to cut apart and codify and steal for himself)
Deathstroke (a big game hunter, before he became a hunter of men)
Felix Faust (another stealer of big magic, from a more mystical bent than Dr. Sivana, other magical sorts, like Jinx, from the Fearsome Five, could also work here)
The Hyena(s) (one or both presumed dead, and mysteriously back again, more than once, perhaps there's a secret material that can kill them for good, like silver for werewolves, and they aren't telling what it is (if they even know!))
Killer Frost (everybody's got a cold-villain, Captain Cold, Icicle, Mr. Freeze, why not one for Vixen? It's not like Firestorm's using her at the moment, and he had some great villains!)

[nj06]

While I'm not normally a fan of villains cross-pollinating *too* much, I do feel like some of the more hero-specific villains could do to stretch their wings, and it would be on-theme for some to end up coming up against Vixen.

Poison Ivy (plant kingdom vs. animal kingdom)
Chemo (pollution vs. nature, although he's kind of a crazy threat for someone at her level...)
Cheetah (one specific animal totem vs. another more general 'all animals' totem)
Dr. Sivana (a scientist who seeks to understand and steal the power of magic and myth, the Tantu totem and 'Red' being just two more things he'd want to cut apart and codify and steal for himself)
Deathstroke (a big game hunter, before he became a hunter of men)
Felix Faust (another stealer of big magic, from a more mystical bent than Dr. Sivana, other magical sorts, like Jinx, from the Fearsome Five, could also work here)
The Hyena(s) (one or both presumed dead, and mysteriously back again, more than once, perhaps there's a secret material that can kill them for good, like silver for werewolves, and they aren't telling what it is (if they even know!))
Killer Frost (everybody's got a cold-villain, Captain Cold, Icicle, Mr. Freeze, why not one for Vixen? It's not like Firestorm's using her at the moment, and he had some great villains!)

This is a very interesting list. I agree with your reasons for each character acting as a rival to Vixen.

[9th.]

While I'm not normally a fan of villains cross-pollinating *too* much, I do feel like some of the more hero-specific villains could do to stretch their wings, and it would be on-theme for some to end up coming up against Vixen.

Poison Ivy (plant kingdom vs. animal kingdom)
Chemo (pollution vs. nature, although he's kind of a crazy threat for someone at her level...)
Cheetah (one specific animal totem vs. another more general 'all animals' totem)
Dr. Sivana (a scientist who seeks to understand and steal the power of magic and myth, the Tantu totem and 'Red' being just two more things he'd want to cut apart and codify and steal for himself)
Deathstroke (a big game hunter, before he became a hunter of men)
Felix Faust (another stealer of big magic, from a more mystical bent than Dr. Sivana, other magical sorts, like Jinx, from the Fearsome Five, could also work here)
The Hyena(s) (one or both presumed dead, and mysteriously back again, more than once, perhaps there's a secret material that can kill them for good, like silver for werewolves, and they aren't telling what it is (if they even know!))
Killer Frost (everybody's got a cold-villain, Captain Cold, Icicle, Mr. Freeze, why not one for Vixen? It's not like Firestorm's using her at the moment, and he had some great villains!)

Brother Blood and Queen Bee as well

[Sutekh]

Brother Blood and Queen Bee as well

Ooh, Queen Bee, definitely, she's got that regional connection / vibe (and I could see her somehow weaponizing African killer bees, as part of some scheme, perhaps replacing their toxic sting with a will-sapping toxin that makes folk more susceptible to her pheremones over a country-wide range or something), although I did want to avoid the temptation to go all Wonder Woman with her Rogues and make them all women, hence my throwing Dr. Sivana and Felix Faust into the mix.

[Agent Z]

Ooh, Queen Bee, definitely, she's got that regional connection / vibe (and I could see her somehow weaponizing African killer bees, as part of some scheme, perhaps replacing their toxic sting with a will-sapping toxin that makes folk more susceptible to her pheremones over a country-wide range or something), although I did want to avoid the temptation to go all Wonder Woman with her Rogues and make them all women, hence my throwing Dr. Sivana and Felix Faust into the mix.

Not all of Wonder Woman's rogues are women.

[Sutekh]

Not all of Wonder Woman's rogues are women.

Well, Ares has that skirt, so it's an easy mistake to make. :/

[Tzigone]

It's been discussed before how Vixen's home is a hodge-podge of different places. But if you were to really define and flesh out Zambesi (or give her a real country), which region would you put it in and which ethnicity would be the majority (and would that be Mari's)?

I feel like that setting a place would go a long way to establishing prevailing culture, foods, languages, etc. Then establish her place in the society - rural or urban (or some time in both), financial status growing up, etc. That would all inform her character. Since she is the important one, I'd start with what she is or I want her to be (at any given point in her life) and work backwards from that to create a role that works with her being what she is. But keep to at least somewhat realistic landscape, culture, languages, and political history for the region she is in. And, of course, timing matters as we all know timeslide can render a character's past unworkable or unlikely. We're in the present day, and have to work with what we have. But would you have an eye towards making it a history that can last (contrary the way that retconning Black Canary to the daughter of a 1940s heroine or Fire to the dictatorship in Brazil basically means their histories have to be rewritten in 10 or 15 years).

Also, how old you perceive the character as figures in there. Does she age to you or do you still perceive her as the same age as you did in her debut stories, even if you perceive other heroes as older? What era of hero-history is she to you? What age does she debut and with what cohort?

[Sutekh]

It's been discussed before how Vixen's home is a hodge-podge of different places. But if you were to really define and flesh out Zambesi (or give her a real country), which region would you put it in and which ethnicity would be the majority (and would that be Mari's)?

I get an East Africa vibe from it. In the Ivory Coast/Ghana area, perhaps, or maybe a little more south, near Gabon?

But West Africa (near Kenya?), or South Central (replacing Zambia) could also work, just not too far South, and definitely not too far North.

Also, how old you perceive the character as figures in there. Does she age to you or do you still perceive her as the same age as you did in her debut stories, even if you perceive other heroes as older? What era of hero-history is she to you? What age does she debut and with what cohort?

She feels like even when introduced, she was more 'adult' than Vibe, Gypsy or Steel, IMO. I'd put her in her generic never-ending thirties. Late twenties at the youngest (perhaps when first introduced?). Younger than Bats, Black Lightning, etc. in her early 30s, though.

[Tzigone]

She feels like even when introduced, she was more 'adult' than Vibe, Gypsy or Steel, IMO. I'd put her in her generic never-ending thirties. Late twenties at the youngest (perhaps when first introduced?). Younger than Bats, Black Lightning, etc. in her early 30s, though.

Makes me wonder - what's the top general age for being a superfamous fashion model? Is she at the end of that time in her career? I know some remain known names as they get older, but they aren't what they were then in terms of exposure and fame (getting one's own company keeps them in money, though). Though now, of course, we're more reality show stars and actresses and such for that role than just the supermodels that I think of (from the early '90s, mostly, though, so of an era later than Vixen was introduced).

[Incognito]

Zambesi should be set somewhere where there is a lot of wildlife (South or West Africa maybe), it could give Vixen a natural empathic affinity for animals before she claimed the Tantu Totem.

I pictured Vixen to be somewhere in her mid-late 20s when she first started as a hero. Older than the Titans but younger than Batman and Green Arrow.

[Tzigone]

I pictured Vixen to be somewhere in her mid-late 20s when she first started as a hero. Older than the Titans but younger than Batman and Green Arrow.

Hmm, puts her about Barbara's age (pre-COIE, anyway). Not that I recall them interacting, just I like figuring out peer groups. Really doesn't matter for characters introduced as adults, though. It's the teen teams where it matters.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I figured she was mid 30s in Justice League of America but she felt like a veteran than a rookie. So she could be an active hero for 5-7 years or even 10.