Cannonball
(New Mutants era)
Context
Cannonball is a Marvel Comics heroic mutant. He appeared in 1982 to join the New Mutants, and this old-ish profile covers this early part of his career.
For context, we do recommend reading our New Mutant team profiles first.
This profile is part of a chronological series, which should be read in order and goes:
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Background
- Real Name: Samuel Zebulon Guthrie.
- Marital Status: Single.
- Known Relatives: Tom Guthrie (father), Lucinda (mother), Paige, Josh, Jedediah, Lewis, Joelle (siblings – there are certainly other unnamed siblings).
- Group Affiliation: New Mutants, Hellfire Club Mercenaries.
- Base Of Operations: X-Mansion, New York State.
- Height: 6’ Weight: 150 lbs Age: Late teens.
- Eyes: Blue-grey Hair: Blond
Powers and Abilities
Cannonball has the power to emit thermochemical energy like the exhaust of a rocket, which causes him to fly. The reaction produces a skintight force field of a high degree of invulnerability. Anything he is carrying is similarly protected.
There are some discrepancies in Cannonball’s abilities that can’t be accounted for: the mysterious is he/isn’t he immortal, for instance. This version doesn’t address that pending further (unlikely) clarification.
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History
Sam Guthrie is a mutant. His superhuman powers first emerged when he was trapped with co-workers in a coal mine collapse. This allowed them to escape.
He was then recruited by Donald Pierce, a renegade member of the Hellfire Club. Pierce used him as a tool to destroy other young mutants he had discovered – and Professor Charles Xavier, who had also recruited these mutants before Pierce could.
However, during the battle, Guthrie refused Pierce’s order to kill the young mutants. PPierce tried to kill him in retaliation. Xavier saved the entire group by defeating Pierce.
Xavier realized that Guthrie was not evil. Thus, he invited him to join his newly formed training group, The New Mutants. With the NM, Guthrie had many adventures, including trips to the future and past, to alternate worlds, to Asgard, and into deep space.
Description
Guthrie is a tall, lanky teenager with a crewcut. As illustrated above, he wears the basic, black and yellow costume of the New Mutants
Personality
At this point, Sam’s roots as a country boy and a member of the Guthrie brood are at their strongest. He is painstakingly nice and polite (quite naïve, too) and is very big on duty and loyalty.
Having quickly become the co-leader of the New Mutants, he works well with Moonstar. His powers, however, are among the slowest-developing in the team (excluding Cypher) and his lack of control over his trajectories often turns problematic.
DC Universe History
See Kansas Jim’s “Secret history”.
Game Stats — DC Heroes RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
Cannonball
| Dex: 03 | Str: 02 | Bod: 03 | Motivation: Responsibility of Power |
| Int: 04 | Wil: 04 | Min: 05 | Occupation: Adventurer |
| Inf: 03 | Aur: 03 | Spi: 05 | Resources {or Wealth}: 002 |
| Init: 010 | HP: 030 |
Powers:
Flight: 07, Force Field: 11, Projectile weapon: 09, (Invulnerability: 09)
Bonuses and Limitations:
- Projectile weapon usable only while Force Field is active (-1) and has No range (-1) (He must ram something for it to be affected).
- Force field only when using Flight (-1).
- Force Field is Always On in Flight (-0).
- Invulnerability is uncertain (it is possible but not demonstrated that Cannonball is an EXternal).
Skills:
None yet.
Advantages:
Familiarity (mining, science fiction), Immortality (only if he’s actually an EXternal).
Connections:
New Mutants (High).
Drawbacks:
Dependents (Guthrie brood), Mistrust (mutant), Secret Identity, MIA (Xavier’s Dream), Misc.: Poor maneuverability (when in Flight, Cannonball must make a DEX check vs an OV/RV of 02 each Phase – the RAPs are what he can use as his DEX, with a maximum equal to his actual DEX score).
Helper(s): Angel, Hart, Jackson.
Source of Character: X-Force & X-Men comics, Marvel OHOTMU Entry, a little deductive reasoning.