
Blue Snowman
Context
The Blue Snowman was a Wonder Woman encounter back in 1946.
What makes her remarkable is her uncharacteristic return in 1948, during the Villainy, Inc. story line.
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Background
- Real Name: Byrna Brilyant.
- Marital Status: Single.
- Known Relatives: Mr. Brilyant (father, deceased).
- Group Affiliation: Villainy, Inc..
- Base Of Operations: Originally Fair Weather Valley.
- Height: 5’5” Weight: 120 lbs.
- Eyes: Brown Hair: Black
Powers and Abilities
Miss Brilyant uses her father’s inventions to sow terror – whether she has technical skills of her own is unclear. This entry assumes that she does, but it is not demonstrated.
Byrna Brilyant has a light and dexterous touch. That makes her an expert pickpocket. She is also able to move around silently, and can run pretty fast when chased. She’s about as fast as an excellent amateur athlete.
The Blue Snowman also had robots. She mostly used these as messengers and bodyguards.
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Fear the snow ray
The Blue Snowman’s chief weapon is the telescopic snow ray. It looks more or less like a full-sized 1940s telescope in a cupola on top of her building. And it can indeed observe distant scenes like any telescope.
The snow ray trigger local snowstorms. These are heavy and fierce enough to down a plane through the accumulated weight of snow and ice, which may even break the wings. The cold can also be devastating against targets not equipped for near-Arctic conditions.
Furthermore, the snow and ice are a special, blue chemical formulation. Thus, it will ’freeze” living beings it falls on, turning them into blue statues if they get exposed to too much blue snow. No amount of thawing, or brushing the snow off, will ever free the target. However, some superhuman beings can shrug off the effects. And the Blue Snowman has an antidote.
History
Miss Brilyant is the daughter of a famous scientist, who invented blue snow to serve humanity. Presumably, her father intended the strange snow to serve as some sort of flash-freezing compound. Or perhaps a new type of refrigeration, such as the magnetocaloric effect. As to the daughter, she became a local schoolteacher.
Some years after her father died, the money-mad Miss Brilyant came up with the identity of the Blue Snowman. That was part of her plot to ransom the community she was living in – the farmland of Fair Weather Valley.
Fear the Blue Snowman
Using her blue snow weaponry, she turned livestock and loved ones into blue statues. She then extorted funds from the terrorised farmers while the incompetent local authorities bickered. One of the Holiday Girls stumbled upon the situation and called Etta Candy. Soon an Army plane flown by Steve Trevor and Diana Prince came to Fair Weather Valley to investigate.
The Blue Snowman destroyed the plane, but Wonder Woman saved Trevor and investigated. She soon ruined the Blue Snowman’s plot and unmasking her. And it would have worked too, were it not for this meddling Amazon !
Miss Brilyant was imprisoned by the Amazons. Presumably the local authorities were only too happy to pass the problem on to somebody else. The Amazons also stored the… unusual Blue Snowman costume.
Oh, the villainy
Some time later the dastardly Eviless organised a breakout in the Amazon prisons. She formed Villainy, Inc. – see our entry on writeups.org for more about that.
Villainy, Inc. took over Paradise Island, and set up an ambush for Wonder Woman. The Blue Snowman, having constructed a new version of her blue snow ray, was the first to attack, catching the invisible plane in cold and snow.
It didn’t work. Miss Brilyant was one of the Villainy, Inc. members who were recaptured before they could leave Paradise Island.
Description
See illustrations.
Personality
Not much was apparent, though we’re told that she’s money-mad.
Quotes
“Robots – fill the vat !”
“No living creature can resist a blow at the base of the brain, and an unconscious Amazon can’t resist blue snow ! Ha ! Haaa !”
“Ha ! My telescopic snow ray has caught Wonder Woman ! Even if she can get out of her plane, she’ll freeze to death instantly !”
“Wonder Woman makes a nice foot cushion !”
Game Stats — DC Heroes RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
Blue Snowman
Dex: 03 | Str: 02 | Bod: 02 | Motivation: Power |
Int: 04 | Wil: 04 | Min: 03 | Occupation: Schoolmarm |
Inf: 03 | Aur: 02 | Spi: 03 | Resources {or Wealth}: 005 |
Init: 010 | HP: 015 |
Skills:
Gadgetry: 05, Scientist: 04, Thief (Pickpocket, Stealth): 05
Advantages:
Expertise (Her father’s inventions), Headquarters (Expansive).
Connections:
None.
Drawbacks:
MPR (Slight stuttering, mostly on “s” sounds at the beginning of words), Secret ID (before her encounter with Wonder Woman).
Equipment:
- TELESCOPIC SNOW RAY [BODY 06, Petrification: 10, Telescopic vision: 06, Weather control: 12, Bonuses & Limitations:
- Petrification has a Continuing Effect (like Disintegration) and Variable Material (BODY 04).
- Weather Control only to create snowstorms of blue snow.
- Petrification is active throughout Weather Control in the sense that targets covered with blue snow will be attacked by increasing APs Petrification.
- Petrification can only use its full APs when the target is covered by a large mass of snow – the GMs can assess the APs of Petrification based on the amount of blue snow in contact with the subject].
- BLUE SNOWMAN ROBOTS (x6) [DEX 03 STR 05 BODY 06 INT 01, Flight: 07, Self-Link (Gadgetry): 07]. The capacities of these robots are not clear, but they could fly and were far too weak to threaten Wonder Woman. The robots look pretty much like the Blue Snowman in costume.
Design Notes
This obscure character has just one appearance and a half, and the stats are thus tentative.
Source of Character: Early Wonder Woman material (1946).
Helper(s): Darci.
Writeup completed on the 22nd of May, 2010.