Character Sheet
Thunderbird II
Category : Comic Books
Subcategory : Marvel universe
Type : Other
Game System : DC Heroes (Blood of Heroes S.E.)
Thunderbird II v1
Source of Character: X-Men comics
Helper(s): Mike
Reasons: This is for James during his early life and Hellions career - *not* as Warpath or as Proudstar. And yes, Running is mostly here as a precursor power -- though he could Push it and thus demonstrate his later potential.
Game Stuff
Thunderbird
"Your pardon, ma'am, but I don't much like the idea of fighting kids. I want the X-Men. They owe me for my brother's life."
(Hollering a warcry) "Hokahey !"
Wolverine: "Oho, nice move, bub."
Thunderbird: "And here, white eyes, is a nicer one !"
"You try anything, white man, I'll gut you. This is my brother's knife, he taught me how to use it."
"I... failed... my brother... myself ! I am no man, no Apache -- only a craven coward !"
"No. You want to sink to Empath's level ?"
"Peace, Mirage. This is a party, let's not scrape."
Thunderbird
| Dex: 06 | Str: 07 | Bod: 06 | Motivation: Seeking Justice |
| Int: 06 | Wil: 04 | Min: 04 | Occupation: Student |
| Inf: 05 | Aur: 04 | Spi: 03 | Resources {or Wealth}: 001 |
| Init: 019 | HP: 025 |
Skills: Acrobatics (Climbing): 04, Military science (Tracking): 04, Thief (Stealth): 04, Vehicles (Land): 04
Advantages: Familiarity (Apache lore, outdoors survival), Lightning Reflexes, Rich Friend (Hellfire Club)
Connections: Hellions (Low), White Queen (Emma Frost, Low)
Drawbacks: MIA toward Apache warrior honour
Background
Marital Status: Presumed single
Known Relatives: Neal (father), Maria (mother), John (aka Thunderbird
I, brother, deceased), Unnamed grandfather
Group affiliation: Hellions I
Base Of Operations: Camp Verde Apache Reservation, Eastern Arizona ;
later Massachusetts Academy
Height: 6'1" Weight: 214 lbs
Eyes: Black Hair: Black
Powers and Abilities
At that point, James is already abnormally tall and muscular for his age. He displays some degree of superhuman strength and endurance, as well as unusually sharp senses and reflexes. He has extensive outdoors experience for a teenager, and excellent fighting instincts and training.
He can also get pretty tricky if he wants, and has occasionally used gadgets such as magnesium flares or canisters of knock-out gas. These are not part of his normal equipment, though - it's something he presumably takes from the arsenals of the Hellfire Club security forces.
Being an American Indian in a comic book, James is of course a capable tracker.
History:
James grew up in the rough-and-tumble Proudstar household, on the res. His grandfather was fixated on the values of the true Apache warrior, and raised his descendants that way. Neal, James's father, served tours of duty in Viet-nam under the leadership of then-lieutenant "Thunderbolt" Ross.
Despite his grandfather's misgivings about an Apache taking orders from the White man, James's older brother John enlisted with the USMC and also fought in Southeast Asia (in Viet-Nam if using a non-compressed timeline, or in Sin Cong in the alternative). Neither John nor James knew at the time that their mother had been exposed to fallout from government nuclear tests before their birth, or that they both were mutants.
James was present when John first distinctly displayed superhuman abilities, by wrestling an escaped tiger to the ground to protect his little brother. At that point, they had just learned that their mother had a cancer, and John was contacted by Michael Whitecloud, a res journalist who suspected something was wrong with how the cancers in Camp Verde were treated.
John and Michael, along with James who had snuck in with them, eventually defeated a plot by a mutant doctor studying and manipulating the cancer patients within the res. This victory allowed John to have his mother medically examined again, revealing that the "cancer" had been made up by the crooked doctor.
A few years later, John Proudstar met with professor Charles Xavier and accepted to join other mutants, the X-Men, under the code name Thunderbird. He died during one of their very first mission.
This loss greatly shocked James, who had always been very close to his brother. When John's body was shipped back to the res, James stole it and took it into the mountain to give John a proper Apache warrior ritual burial. The youngest Proudstar then swore that he would be the next Thunderbird and avenge his brother by killing "that devil Xavier, with his honeyed words and false promises."
To avenge John Proudstar
Some time later, the White Queen (Emma Frost) started looking for young mutants to turn them into a fighting cadre for the Hellfire Club. She was delighted to recruit and train James, codenamed Thunderbird, as part of the Hellions, since they both were enemies to the X-Men. At the same time, another group of mutant youths, the New Mutants, emerged at Xavier's ; the Hellions and New Mutants would soon become, if not enemies, at least competitors.
For a time several Hellions members, especially Jetstream and Thunderbird II, vied for leadership of the group ; eventually Thunderbird emerged as de facto leader. Those years saw several clashes with the New Mutants, though they often amounted to no more than petty rivalry.
Some time after the first such confrontation, James decided that it was time for revenge. He donned a replica of his brother's costume and went to Muir Island, where he ambushed and captured Banshee. Proudstar then sent an ultimatum to the X-Men, telling them to come get Banshee at the site of the first Thunderbird's death -- the NORAD site at Mount Cheyenne. However, fellow Hellion Empath learned about his plan, and decided that it would be fun to liven things up a bit. He took with him another Hellion, Roulette, who also enjoyed mayhem ; Empath further emotionally manipulated Firestar into joining him. Empath and Roulette managed to find the ailing Xavier, coordinating operations near Mount Cheyenne, and take him out.
Meanwhile, Thunderbird engaged the X-Men, who made a series of tactical blunders since their leader, Nightcrawler, was new at commanding. Using gas, Proudstar managed to take out Wolverine and Shadowcat after they freed Banshee -- but then discovered that he was unable to kill his unconscious foes.
Due to Empath's interference, the whole thing turned into a disaster, with the military attempting to kill the X-Men ; the fight that ensued was a terrible blow to the X-Men's relationship with the authorities. Greatly ashamed by his inability to kill, James decided to go straight for Xavier, whom he didn't realize was now defenseless. Again, however, he found himself unable to murder in cold blood, and Xavier convinced him that John had died by his own choice. Xavier also told John that not being a murderer was not being a coward.
Becoming an adult
Realising that he was done walking in his brother's footsteps, Thunderbird returned to the Massachusetts Academy, dragging Empath and Roulette with him ; shortly after that Firestar deserted the White Queen and Thunderbird officially became the leader of the Hellions.
James continued to grow up and found himself more at peace with the legacy of his brother. He left the Hellions to go back to the Camp Verde reservation. Frost put some pressure on him to come back, even verging on threats, but did not push the issue further.
Proudstar soon met with Cable, who offered him to join his militant X-Force unit for the greater good of mutantkind, and agreed to think about it. When he got back to the res, however, everybody was dead ; the only clue left was a battered Hellfire Club trooper mask. Jumping to the (wrong) conclusion that Frost had massacred his tribe as payback for his departure, the furious James joined X-Force as Warpath to gain revenge.
Description:
See illustration. During parties he went for tribal chic, much like Mirage did.
Personality
At the start of his Hellions career, James was pretty brash and macho, though he was fairly level-headed and mature... for a teenager. Although he was competitive and eager to prove himself as a warrior and a man of great courage, he was clearly a good man and did not have the depressive streak that eventually killed his brother.
After he was made leader of the Hellions, Thunderbird continued to grow into his role, displaying increasing charisma, smarts, wisdom and authority. He also seemed somewhat attracted toward Mirage (though nothing ever materialized) and was steadily evolving toward a Responsibility mindset.
