Known Villains/Criminal Organizations
ORGANIZED CRIMEIn addition to the various super criminals, more mundane criminals abound in the city. Various organized crime organizations, such as the Mafia, Chinese Triads, the Japanese Yakuza, Russian and Albanian Mafia, Jamaican and Nigerian drug gangs, have all made their presence known in Empire City.
THE MAFIAThe two dominant Mafia "families" are the
Moretti's and the
Marcucci's.
Anthony Moretti is the so-called "Godfather" of Empire City's organized crime families but tends to stay out of the limelight allowing his "captains" to run the day to day operations of his organization.
CHINESE TRIADSAn up-and-coming threat to their power is the
Jade Dragons Triad, a Chinese criminal organization operating primarily in the “China Town” area of Empire City. The group is originally based along the West Coast, (out of San Francisco and Seattle), but looking to expand its operations eastward, its recently set up shop in Empire City. Empire city was chosen as the Dragons’ next “franchise market”, due to its sizable Chinese immigrant population, its central location, and diverse industry base. The group is involved in human trafficking, narcotics smuggling (heroin), illegal arms sales, gambling, and protection rackets. They currently confine their activities to China Town, but they’re looking to move outward. Unlike their underworld brethren, they seem to have no compunctions about killing members of the law enforcement community.
Tiger Lilly - A deadly female assassin currently in the employ of the Jade Dragons. She's got a train of bodies from Hong Kong to Empire City.
The Whispering Dawn - A rival Chinese criminal organization that's making headway into Empire City's underworld.
Snap DragonORGANIZATIONS
The Black NeedlesA Mexican criminal cartel operating throughout Mexico, and along the Southwestern U.S. Border, they are involved in firearms and narcotics smuggling, human trafficking, prostitution, protection rackets, and other criminal activities. They're known to have made use of superpowered operatives in the past, namely, a Mexican national named the Coyote, and they're their newest operative, the assassin/enforcer
El Diablo Rojo.
The CabalA cabal of witches, warlocks, and others who dabble in the "dark arts". They're longtime rivals of the Dark Circle. Originally formed in Boston, Massachusetts in the early 20th century, they came to prominence during the mid-1930s, battle several of that era's costumed mystery men, they've recently resurfaced.
The Dark CircleA group of powerful mystics dedicated to the return of "
He Who Has No Name", one of the otherworldly monstrosities known as the"
Old Ones".
The group's members tend to keep out of the limelight, preferring to orchestrate things from behind the scenes, leaving their underlings to handle more mundane tasks.
The Servants of SetThe Servants of Set is a fanatical religious group dedicated to worshiping the god Set, or the Egyptian pantheon of deities. While primarily based in the Middle East and North Africa, a number of their order made their way into North America during the early 20th Century, as travel became easier. Settling in in several major American metropolitan areas, they spread their influence and slowly began to build a network of supporters amongst those in positions of power and influence. BSI's predecessor, the FBI's Office of Paranormal Investigation began to take notice, and during the course of their investigation, several cult safehouses were raided, assets were seized, and the cult's US operations were thoroughly disrupted.
However, its recently been revealed that those raids only succeed in driving the cult's operations deeper underground. While it took them decades to rebuild their network, they're back in force. More worrisome to authorities, is the fact that they seem to have recently acquired several extremely powerful enchanted items, making them all the more dangerous.
The Brotherhood of SilenceA secret society of assassins, thieves, and saboteurs who've primarily operated in the Middle East, Asia, and Eastern Europe. Within the last decade, they've begun to make inroads into North and South America.
The Trust
The Trust, short for “The Brain Trust”, is an informal gathering of the world’s most brilliant criminal minds, who've gathered together to share information, and to provide each other mutual security. What they're long term plans are remains to be seen, but you can be assured, that whatever they are, they bode ill for the law-abiding citizens of the world.
Some of its known members include:
•
Hannibal•
Janus•
Mr. KnowMoriarty - The Trust maintains an AI computer network, called Moriarty, which contains files on the world’s major law and security services, as well as potential threats to its existence, such as superbeings and rival criminal organizations.
While a wide range of so-called "supervillains" are currently in existence, some of the more well-known ones are listed below:
INDEPENDENTS
AtomixBlood Witch - A witch from the small Eastern European nation of Morovia.
The HuntsmanLord ArcaneRadianGROUPS
The Cybertribe
A group of "cybernetically enhanced" villains created by the sadistic scientist
Splice. Their current membership includes:
TigersharkHarpiTiger PawThe Dominators
The supervillain group the Dominators are a group of superpowered terrorists with a penchant for high body counts. With the Guardians disappearance, rumors abound that the Dominators will soon be reappearing in Empire City.
Over the past half decade, the group's membership has remained relatively steady. On their last public appearance, the group's membership consisted of:
Ballistic - A cybernetically enhanced Native American super-soldier. A weapons expert, he's the group's field commander.
Cyberpath - A machine controller.
Host - A malevolent psychic entity with the ability to possess the bodies of living creatures.
Killstreak - A bloodthirsty Aussie super-speedster
Mind Reaver - A powerful telepath, and the group's second in command.
Pyre - An African American pyrokinetic mutant with a taste for violence.
Razor - A British mutant who's hands generate an energy field that enables her to cut through most matter as though it were paper.
Wraith - Permanently non-corporal Russian mutant. His touch disrupts organic matter and electrical devices.
Former members include the telekinetic
Wrath, the temperature controlling
Shiver, and the "zombie"
Cadaver, who is believed to be deceased, after accidentally being killed in a battle with the Guardians.
Todesengel - The group's transport aircraft.