Originally Posted by
lemonpeace
having seen y'alls I think I have an idea on how I want to do my Black Lightning family dynamic
defaults/literal family:
Black Lightning
Thunder
Lightning
Lynn Stewart-Pierce
my idea is based in my idea of Freeland as the metahuman capital of the America, so the Black Lightning family will focus largely on (but not limited to) Metahuman crime in their city. so for my Lightning family, I wanted my roster's niche to largely be Metahumans with elemental based abilities, since Jeff has been described as an elemental from time to time. the Bat family are a collective of ninja detectives, the Arrow family are hunters, trackers and survivalists, the Super family are the powerhouse family, the Flash family are the speedsters and metahumans related to the speedforce; so my Black Lightning family are the elemental and metahuman specialist family. I also wanted to avoid just loading it up full of Outsiders since characters like Katana and Geo-force definitely deserve their own families if we're being honest. lastly, I wanted my picks to be characters that bring something unique to the table and who I felt would also benefit from a new collective
1. Peter Gambi - Gambi is one of the few Alfred-types that I think feels natural. the TV show makes a very strong case for Gambi as a mainstay of the Lightning family in any expanded incarnation.
2. Grace Choi (element: none) I feel Grace is Anissa's most prominent love interest and so should be her Lois Lane/Iris West but more like a partnership than a damsel. so I think it's important that she stays a part of the families inner circle once she and Anissa connect. my Anissa and Jennifer are on the younger side (mid and late teens respectively) so I would have Grace be the same and have her be both a metahuman AND and amazon; her strength and stats being amazonian and her enhanced senses being meta.
3. John Stewart (element: light) - I feel that if we are going to go all-in on expanding the Lightning family and their mythology then they should double down on the Stewart-Pierce familial connection. With his new power ring physiology he is technically a metahuman now, plus he's basically an elemental of the Emotional Spectrum as he can now generate and manipulate the Emotional light at will. by linking their family implicitly it primes both John and Jeff for high profile cosmic and otherworldly teams-ups together and, if they bring in Lightning Lad and Tyroc, it could be the start of a new DC dynasty like the Kent, Wayne, or the West-Allen clans.
4. Duke Thomas (element: sun and shadow) - I feel one of the biggest missed opportunities in Bryan Hill's Outsiders is the chance to have Black Lightning take Duke on as a protege like how he used to have with Static. Pouching Duke from the Batfamily would boost Duke's profile by giving him some distance from the oversaturated Gotham collective and adds a bit more variety to the skillsets of the Lightning family by throwing in a unique and more nuanced element manipulater since Duke's solar powers aren't super straightforward. he can fill a somewhat composite role between Static (his mentorship under Jeff) and Brandon from the TV show (his relationship with Jeff's daughters). I would move Duke and his cousin Jay out of Gotham and base them in Freeland.
5. Jakeem Thunder (element: thunderbolt magic) another protege for Black Lightning similar to Duke. I picked Jakeem because with him now honing his own thunderbolt magic, I feel he needs more connections outside the JSA that'll allow him to grow in autonomy and I felt he'd fit nicely in with Black Lightning since he's always brushed up against magic. the magic he received from the thunderbolt functions as his "element" so to speak and he would act as the direct link between the family and magical threats. I also would retcon him as being related to Lynn and John somehow, maybe a cousin or something.
6. Cyclone/Maxine Hunkel/Red Tornado (element: air) I believe Cyclone and Jeff crossed paths on the All-Star Squadron and I don't think she's been used much in the DC since New 52, so I would reintroduce her as part of the Lightning family as an ally in protecting Freeland (like Azrael or Batwing); alternatively, they could go with the android Red Tornado. by introducing either Cyclone or Red Tornado, that would tie the Red Tornado legacy to the Black Lightning mythos and strengthen the elemental angle for the Lightning family since Red Tornado (I think Maxine too) is straight-up a true blue wind elemental.
7. Amazing-Man (element: any and all) one of the most slept on and forgotten black heroes at DC and I feel his legacy deserves a revival. I would have the Everett family have ties to Freeland, like they were one of first metahumans from the "Green Light experiments" (I'd do like the show and have it be DC's version of the Tuskegee study and the Crack era) in Freeland; explaining why Freeland has a high concentration of metahuman civilizations. I would link the Everett family to the Pierce family by having them both descend from the Green Light experiments and, keeping with the elemental theme, his powers allow him take on the powers of pretty much any element making him a powerhouse within the family dynamic.
family-adjacent
1. Henderson - Jefferson's Commissioner Gordon
2. Blue Devil - Jefferson's partner early in his career and his partner when it comes to magical threats.
3. Painkiller - following the TV show, former villain but eventual ally to the family and love interest for Jennifer. he'll be Freeland's Red Hood, he's the rogue antihero of the collective.
4. LaLa/The Tattoo Man - just like the show but eventually rises up to be a Tobias style kingpin but he's more of a neutral entity who tries to keep the streets in check. occasionally works with Black Lightning as one of the few moral OGs in Freeland but does bump heads with Jeff. Painkiller is his right hand.
5. The remaining Outsiders - I would have Geo-force and Katana regularly work with Black Lightning from their time on the Outsiders. all the Outsiders come to Jeff's aid when need be and are close to the Lightning family.
teams with with certain family members as the focal point
Freeland Freedom Fighters - a team of young heros who fight metahuman trafficking in Freeland: Duke, Jakeem, Anissa, Jennifer, Grace, Painkiller, Cyclone
Black Star - DC's most powerful black duo who deal with the cosmic threats facing Freeland or the earth: Black Lightning & John Stewart.
Black & Blue - the dynamic duo of magic and the occult in and around Freeland: Black Lightning & Blue Devil
Elemental Forces - a team of DC's most powerful elementals: Black Lightning, Cyclone (or Red Tornado), Geo-Force, Fire, Swamp Thing, Mera