Bird-Man
(Ani-Men) (Henry Hawk)
Sequence
This profile is meant to be read after our Ani-Men team profile, which explains most of the context and history.
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Background
- Real Name: Possibly Henry Hawk. It may be an alias.
- Known Relatives: None.
- Group Affiliation: The Organisation, then the Unholy Three, then the Ani-Men.
- Base of Operations: New York City area.
- Height: 5’9″ (1.75m). Weight: 180 lbs. (82 Kg.).
- Eyes: Blue. Hair: Dark.
Powers & Abilities
Hawk seemed to be an experienced small-time criminal.
He had some skill with handguns.
Unlike the others, he didn’t seem to have either an unusual speciality or military experience.
Gear
The Bird-Man suit had the usual radio headset and the chest camera.
It also had wings. Flapping them with one’s arms somehow allowed for flight. What tech was used for this is unrevealed, but it emitted little noise.
The aerodynamics could get weird. Bird-Man is once seen flying sideways (though it likely was a weird skidding manoeuvre). He also repeatedly stays aloft with little if any forward motion to provide lift.
This and the lack of noise suggests some form of anti-gravity tech.
Lacking other combat assets, Bird-Man usually carried a handgun. At first it was a dated, compact piece in an older calibre. He eventually switched to a .45 ACP semi-auto.
Gear – talons
At first, with his arms busy flapping, Bird-Man had no means of prehension. He twice had to carry an attache case using his teeth.
Prehensile, avian “feet” were then added. Presumably, these gadgets had teething issues, preventing their use during his earliest outings.
These talons were strong enough to carry an adult. They presumably were cybernetically operated. They were soon equipped with sharp ends, though doing this sort of swooping attack isn’t easy. Plus, swooping is bad.
Once the talons became reliable, the wings’ tech was also strengthened. Before that, Bird-Man couldn’t carry much in flight. Maybe 40 pounds (18Kg.) top.
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Supernature
Bird-Man was then turned into a superhuman by Count Nefaria. He thus became a mutate with an avian appearance.
There are but a few panels depicting him in this state, but he :
- Could fly in confined spaces.
- Consistently dodged Cyclops (Scott Summers)’s optic blasts whilst flying defensively.
- Took Cyclops out with a single feet-first charge.
- Bird-Man then started carrying Cyclops away with his talons. Presumably the goal was to fly outside and drop his prey to his death.
- Which implies that his talons weren’t sharp enough to claw a person open.
History
Back in 1965, Henry Hawk was working as a small-time bookmaker. He was taking small bets on horse races. Hawk quit shortly after the Organizer called him.
See our Ani-Men team profile for more.
Vulture & Hawk
The Organizer called Hawk a “specialist”. But Bird-Man didn’t display special skills.
Howbeit, a Marvel secondary source notes that the Bird-Man suit might be based on the Vulture technology of Adrian Toomes.
If this hypothesis is correct, *perhaps* Henry Hawk was a tester for Toomes, helping him refine his design by risking life and limb. Thus allowing Hawk to fly as Bird-Man without further training.
(The Vulture debuted in 1963. He only had four appearances when Bird-Man debuted. So the timing seems reasonable.)
If you want to get weird, Hawk might have ties with Red Raven. Perhaps he’s a Bird Person born without wings and who fled Sky Island with some tech goodies during the 1950s. Or some such far-out scenario.
Adνеrtisеmеnt
Description
Henry Hawk has an aquiline nose and piercing eyes.
He also had male-pattern baldness. Thus, when in his civvies, he wore a hat. This no longer was the norm by 1965, though it wasn’t rare either.
In his mutated state, he could make raptor noises. Don’t you wish you could make raptor noises ? If so you should learn.
Bird-Man is the only Ani-Man who seemed more human when the team attacked Stark, than when they fought the X-Men. Specifically, his arms no longer were elongated, spindly and partially merged with his wings.
Personality
He’s just, like, this guy. He lacked any special mannerism or resolve, though he had experience with being around killers.
When he wielded one of the Exterminator’s T-Ray blastersA gun shooting energy, like in Star Wars, he suddenly acted confident, domineering and cruel. Funny how it works.
Bird-Man tends to fly past his opponents, grapple them from behind, and hold them for one of his colleagues to punch. It’s not a bad tactic, until someone goes for a Dupe Manoeuvre…
DC Heroes RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
Bird-Man
| Dex: 03 | Str: 02 | Bod: 03 |
| Int: 03 | Wil: 02 | Min: 03 |
| Inf: 02 | Aur: 02 | Spi: 03 |
| Init: 008 | HP: 015 |
Skills:
Vehicles (Land): 03, Weaponry (Handguns): 03
Advantages:
Familiarity (Horse races and bookmaking).
Connections:
Street (Low).
Drawbacks:
None demonstrated.
Motivation:
Mercenary.
Occupation:
Mercenary.
Wealth:
004
Equipment:
- BIRD-MAN SUIT [BODY 02, Claws: 04, Flight (Winged): 06, Radio communication (includes video): 12, Thief (Stealth): 03, Limitation: Thief only in flight, and only for audial stealth].
- Early on he packed some old .380 semi-auto [BODY 02, Projectile weapons: 03, Ammo: 07, R#04]. This was replaced by a .45 [BODY 03, Projectile weapon: 04, Ammo: 08, R#03].
- When serving the Exterminator, Bird-Man was the most enthusiastic about using his T-Ray handguns. See the Exterminator’s profile for stats.
Rodeo on bird-men isn’t even a real sport
Whenever Daredevil (Matt Murdock) tried to grab him in mid-air, Hawk knew enough to twist, roll and turn in flight. This forced Daredevil to cling to him, rather than try offensive manoeuvres. Like punching.
This isn’t a quantified attribute of Hawk’s. Anybody with a flying suit and half a brain could do it.
OTOH, you need numbers to solve this in-game. Thus, if a non-flying person pounces atop Bird-Man for some aerial wrestling :
- Hawk can use his APs of Flight as if they were APs of Acrobatics (Dodging). This is atop of the normal use of Flight as OV.
- During any Phase where he does that (even if he lost Initiative), the attacker can elect to just cling to Bird-Man. If they try to attack despite Bird-Man’s high OV, they also need to make a DEX/STR roll against Bird-Man’s Flight/Flight. This consumes both Automatic Actions. Lack of RAPs means being thrown off.
- APs of Cling or other means to stick to Bird-Man may entirely negate this defensive tactic.
Design Notes
His Stealth rolls will often receive sizeable bonuses. Since people do not generally expect some dude to swoop in from the blue.
Bird-Man (mutated)
| Dex: 07 | Str: 05 | Bod: 04 |
| Int: 03 | Wil: 02 | Min: 03 |
| Inf: 02 | Aur: 02 | Spi: 03 |
| Init: 014 | HP: 015 |
Powers:
Flight (Winged): 06
Skills:
Acrobatics (Dodging)*: 07
Advantages:
Lightning Reflexes.
Connections:
Ani-Men (Low).
Drawbacks:
Strange Appearance.
Motivation:
Mercenary.
Occupation:
Mercenary.
Wealth:
004
Equipment:
RADIO HEADSET [BODY 01, Radio communications: 10].
Design Notes
Other raptor-like abilities are certainly possible. APs of Telescopic Vision are the first that come to mind.
DC Adventures RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
Bird-Man — Averaged PL 3
| STR | STA | AGL | DEX |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00 | 01 | 00 | 01 |
| FGT | INT | AWE | PRE |
| 01 | 00 | 00 | 00 |
Devices:
Bird-Man suit ● 8 points (Removable) ● Descriptor: Technology, anti-grav
– Talons — Close slashing Damage 3.
– Wings — Flight 5 (Winged).
– Silent — Enhanced Skill (Stealth 4), Limited (Audial only), Quirk (Only in flight).
– Feature — Real-time video/audio transmission.
Combat Advantages:
Close Attack 2, Defensive Roll 1, Ranged Attack 1.
Other Advantages:
Equipment 2.
Skills:
Athletics 1 (+1), Expertise (Horse races & bookmaking) 3 (+3), Insight 1 (+1), Perception 2 (+2), Ranged combat (Pistol) 1 (+3), Vehicles 4 (+4) (Limited 2 to common land vehicles).
Equipment
Light pistol.
Offence:
| Initiative +0 |
| Unarmed +3, Close, Damage 0. |
| Handgun +3, Ranged, Damage 3. |
Defence:
| Dodge | 03 |
| Fortitude | 03 |
| Parry | 03 |
| Toughness | 01*/02 |
| Will | 02 |
* Without Defensive Roll.
Complications:
- Mercenary He does risked crimes for money.
Powers Levels:
- Trade-off areas. Attack/Effect PL 3, Dodge/Toughness PL 3, Parry/Toughness PL 3, Fort/Will PL 3.
- Points total 34. Abilities 6, Defences 9, Skills 5, Powers 00, Devices 8, Advantages 6. Equiv. PL 3.
Notes
His Stealth rolls will often receive sizeable bonuses. Since people do not generally expect some dude to swoop in from the blue.
And yes, this guy is just… there. In a very PL3 way.
Bird-Man (mutated) — Averaged PL 6.6
| STR | STA | AGL | DEX |
|---|---|---|---|
| 04 | 02 | 04 | 01 |
| FGT | INT | AWE | PRE |
| 05 | 00 | 00 | 00 |
Powers:
Mutated ● 7 point ● Descriptor: Mutate
– Flight 5 (Winged).
– Enhanced Advantages (Defensive Attack, Improved Defense, Evasion, Move-by Attack) (Limited 1 – must be in flight).
Combat Advantages:
Defensive Roll 2, Improved Initiative, others in flight per above.
Other Advantages:
Equipment 1.
Skills:
Athletics 4 (+8), Close combat (Unarmed) 6 (+11), Perception 2 (+2)
Equipment
Radio headset
Offence:
| Initiative +8 |
| Unarmed +11, Close, Damage 4. |
Defence:
| Dodge | 11 |
| Fortitude | 06 |
| Parry | 11 |
| Toughness | 02*/04 |
| Will | 02 |
* Without Defensive Roll.
Complications:
- Mercenary He does risked crimes for money.
- Mutate Hawk’s appearance is now decidedly non-human.
Powers Levels:
- Trade-off areas. Attack/Effect PL 8, Dodge/Toughness PL 8, Parry/Toughness PL 8, Fort/Will PL 4.
- Points total 69. Abilities 32, Defences 19, Skills 6, Powers 8, Devices 0, Advantages 4. Equiv. PL 5.
Notes
Other raptor-like abilities are certainly possible, such as Senses (Extended vision).
Source of Character: Older Marvel comics.
Helper(s): M. Ficklin.
Writeup completed on the 13th of January, 2020.