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I recall a villain named The Red Death in a Champions campaign that I was in along with the same people I'd played V&V with. If memory serves (and that's dubious at best), he was the son of a Ukraine farming family, and came into contact with a glowing substance from a meteorite that fell on his collective's farm when he was very young. He was taken in by the state, teamed up with the WWII supergroup The Compatriots as Krasnyy Medved (Red Bear) in the 1940s, and varied between fighting and uneasily allying with the major Western teams through the next two decades.
In the early 1970s, The Red Bear was fitted with large blades on each wrist. Detente may have meant a certain quieting of passions on the military front, but the espionage and metahuman games were still on. The Politburo had decided that a more aggressive appearance on the part of their national hero was advisable in the face of the superhero explosion in the United States. Also, while he still went by Red Bear, in the West, he was dubbed "The Red Menace" due to his new, more fearsome look.
In the 1980s, The Red Bear could see the writing on the wall for the Eatern Bloc. He began consolidating his power and influence, bringing the metahumans The Proletariat (a creepy-looking sociopath with immense duplication powers) and The People's Hero (attractive if stern female energy projector) into his sphere. He had less luck with The Patriot, a very 1980s-style cyborg with a sentimental attachment to The Motherland. The Red Bear also allied himself behind the scenes with certain hard-line politicians and generals opposed to the reforms of Gorbachev.
In 1991, The Red Bear was put in charge of securing the nuclear weapon capabilities of the U.S.S.R. during the coup attempt against the Soviet leadership. He did so, then immediately turned on his allies, giving them up to the current regime in exchange for one favor: Undisputed claim to a large section of territory in Siberia where he could be absolute ruler. Gorbachev, his position completely untenable, was in no position to negotiate with a megalomaniac with access to his nation's nuclear arsenal. The bargain was struck, and he and his allies took hold of their new territory.
Now styling himself The Red Death, the scarred and battle-hardened metahuman rules over his domain with an iron hand, with The Proletariat and The People's Hero acting as his closest advisers. The Red Death is approximately 92 years old by now, but the effects of the meteor have slowed his aging process so that he appears to be in his mid-50s. His regenerative abilities still work, but have never healed his wounds cleanly, meaning that his entire body is crisscrossed with deep scars from decades' worth of battles.
The Red Death obviously works best as a Doctor Doom/Darkseid/Apocalypse world-conquering villain. His influence is enormous, and even an experienced team of heroes would likely be put to the test going up against him.
Game-wise, a rough estimation of what we're looking at would be Heightened Strength, serious Heightened Endurance, Natural Weaponry, and Regeneration. Also let's not forget the fact that he's one of the longest-lasting, most experienced metahumans in the world, meaning that his levels (and therefore his previous training) will be absolutely insane, and his training will have reflected that. Seriously high Charisma/Renown/Reputation/whatever you're using, as well.
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Cold War Era Chacaters (Read 2229 times)
