Fly
(Jason Troy)
Context
MLJ was one of the Golden Age comic book publishers. It had its own super-heroes, but these were overshadowed by the tremendous success of Archie. MLJ eventually reorganised around the Archie lines, but still made some attempts to use its super-heroic IP over the decades.
The !MPACT Comics imprint, done with DC in 1991/92, was such an attempt. There were interesting bits, but it never really went anywhere. Which of course alos means that the material is just there for Gamemasters to pick.
Background
- Real Name: Jason Troy.
- Other Aliases: “Buzz”, the Flyster.
- Marital Status: Single for most of the Series, Married Afterwards.
- Known Relatives: Richard “Brew” Troy (Father, mistakenly believed deceased), Jason “Gramps” Troy (grandfather).
- Group Affiliation: (Early) None, (later) The Mighty Crusaders.
- Base Of Operations: Crowns Pointe, Ohio.
- Height: (Troy) 5’ 5” (Fly) 5’ 11”. Weight: (Troy) 130 lb. (Fly) 170 lb.
- Eyes:(Troy) Lt Blue (Fly) Yellow, Insectile. Hair: Blond Age: Mid-teens.
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Powers and Abilities
The Fly has superhuman strength and insect-like wings that allow him to fly. The wings have also been shown to have a vibrational effect.
He can stick to (and climb) most surfaces, such as walls, ceilings, etc.
The Fly’s costume acts as an exo-skeletal body armor, though it is not completely invulnerable. It is knife-proof, and offers some protection against bullets, and even (allegedly) small amounts of radiation.
It is especially resistant to blunt force. This was demonstrated when teh Fly allowed Black Hood to punch him in the abdomen. Hood hurt his hand rather than the Fly.
The Fly’s oversized, multi-lensed eyes allow him 270-degree vision. Thus, he can see anything that happens except what is directly behind him. In his superhero form, he can remove the suit and mask, but his eyes appear to be compound eyes, similar to those of an insect.
The amulet that is the source of his powers allow him to transform from a skinny teen to a muscular adult. Jason does this by touching the amulet and picturing himself as The Fly. The amulet is required in order for him to change back into Jason Troy.
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History
Teenager Jason Troy was given a magical amulet that transformed him into the heroic Fly.
Jason Troy was given an extra assignment by his substitute mythology teacher, Mr. Abin (likely a nod to Abin Sur, the alien that bequeathed Green Lantern Hal Jordan his power ring) for playing video games in class. The task was to create a modern mythic hero based on humble circumstances. One of the criteria for ancient mythic heroes was they be from humble beginnings.
Jason designed a superhero patterned after a fly, as he could think of nothing more humble than a housefly. His teacher rewarded him for his efforts with a pendant made of amber with a fly trapped inside.
Alter ego
Jason soon learned that the pendant was not just jewelry. Rather, it turned him into the superhero from his assignment. He became the Fly, and used his powers to foil an arson attempt by a super-villain named Burnout. After he defeated the flame-throwing thug, he suddenly changed back into Jason.
Obviously confused, he went to find his mythology teacher and question him about the pendant. When he returned to school to ask his teacher about the pendant, nobody in the school remembered ever seeing the substitute.
Jason learned that the pendant could change him into his heroic alter-ego at will, so he continued his exploits as the Fly. He learned that using the Fly powers for a prolonged period of time physically exhausted him, and that he had cravings for anything high in sugar, like jelly doughnuts and pineapple juice. But he soon mastered his insect-like abilities (and urges).
He also seemed to often lose track of time as the Fly. That landed him in trouble at home several times.
Adventures
He fought flying thieves, mechanical spiders, and the occasional crimelord, and defeated them all. But he found himself in a sticky situation when his pendant was ripped off in a battle, but he did not lose his powers. He couldn’t return home, since even when he took off his costume, he still looked like a muscular adult with fly-like eyes.
He got a job as a bouncer in a bar (calling himself “Buzz”) for a few days until he recovered his pendant.
Jason also had some personal problems. In trying to juggle his home life with the super-heroics, he failed. Suspicions arose about his exact relationship with the Fly. In the wake of his disappearance, people suspected the Fly was having an “improper” relationship with Jason Troy.
Things seemed to get better after Jason denied those charges against his Alter-Ego. He joined the Crusaders, and when they got lost in another dimension, he spent years there with his teammates and fell in love with the Jaguar. When they finally returned they were married.
Description
Jason is a nondescript high-school freshman. He’s usually in jeans and tees, often with a skateboard or a portable videogame unit in hand.
The Fly is a tall, lean superhero with transparent wings. He has a blue-green bodysuit with gold-yellow boots, gloves, shoulders and chest, and a set of large, round convex goggles.
If he removes his goggles, his real insect-like eyes can be seen underneath, which can be quite startling.
Personality
The Fly is a free-spirited, enthusiastic hero in the vein of early Spider-Man. He is a traditional “Thrill of Adventure” character.
Quotes
(On first seeing the world thru his insectile eyes) “Neat !”
Burnout: “You’re no cop ! What are you ?”
Fly (thinking): “Good question.”
(Fighting some Really Big Goons) “Next time, pick on somebody your own size… Like a garbage truck, maybe.”
DC Universe History
Technically since the Fly appeared in DC’s Impact line, He already exists in the DC Extended Universe, and thus can appear at any time.
Oddly (or perhaps not), the Fly seems to be more a DC replacement for or a variant of Spider-Man. For instance his first major foe was Arachnus, an obvious foil for Dr. Octopus. He can therefore be used whole-cloth as DC’s Spider-Man replacement in any combined history universe.
Azrael added :
One minor note for a combined universe like mine. Jason could be a student at the Xavier School.
He would lose a lot of the subplots related to his identity (at least as far as his classmates are concerned, and the school would probably cover for him with his parents as a matter of course). But he would be involved in events centered around the school and would probably develop his powers to a level a bit closer to Peter’s.
Also it could have actually been Hal, or Guy who was the teacher that day and presumably saw in this kid something of himself. Maybe he had a bad home life like Guy. Thus they gave him the assignment then created the amulet as a permanent item with his ring.
This could also lead to a Green Lantern bringing his parents in (only if they were actually abusive in the original comics) and being his path to Xavier’s. Whew kinda had an inspiration right there as I was typing, I may have found a place in my setting for Jason. :) Thanks Puf :).
Oh one more idea as an alternative he could be Spider-Man’s sidekick rather than his replacement.
Game Stats — DC Heroes RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
The Fly
A 688 Point Character
| Dex: 08 | Str: 08 | Bod: 06 | Motivation: Thrill of Adventure |
| Int: 06 | Wil: 06 | Min: 04 | Occupation: Student |
| Inf: 06 | Aur: 04 | Spi: 06 | Resources {or Wealth}: 001 |
| Init: 022 | HP: 030 |
Powers:
Skin Armor: 02, Blunting: 02, Flight: 08, Sonic Beam: 10, Super Breath: 08, Full Vision: 08, Telescopic Vision: 05, Cling: 08
Bonuses and Limitations:
- Blunting: Contingent to Skin Armor (-1).
- Flight: Winged (-1).
- Sonic Beam: No Range (-1), Contingent to Flight (-1).
- Super Breath: Contingent to Flight (-1).
- Full Vision: A result of his wide-set and Multi-lensed eyes, Full Vision is Innate (+1) and Not Usable Directly Behind (-2).
Skills:
Acrobatics (Athletics): 04, Artist (Skateboarding, Drawing): 04
Advantages:
Area Knowledge (Crowns Pointe), Lightning Reflexes, Sharp Eye, Shtick (Crowd Control).
Connections:
Mighty Crusaders (High), the WEB (Low), Black Jack (Low), Lieutenant Walker Odell (Crowns Pointe Police Detective, Low).
Drawbacks:
Enemy (Chromium, Arachnus), Attack Vulnerability (Piercing Attacks, -1 Column Shift), MIA (Girls, Video Games, Sugar, Practical Jokes), Secret Identity, Creepy Appearance, Uncertainty.
Equipment:
- FLY AMULET [BODY 12, Insta-Change, Controllable Alter Ego, HP Cost: 100]. Note that if he does not have the Amulet, Jason cannot transform to the Fly and vice versa. When transformed, the Amulet is part of the Fly costume.]
- Crusaders Signal Device [BODY 02, Radio Communications (Signal Only): 15].
Alter Ego – Jason Troy
| Dex: 03 | Str: 02 | Bod: 02 | Motivation: Thrill of Adventure |
| Int: 03 | Wil: 02 | Min: 03 | Occupation: Student |
| Inf: 03 | Aur: 02 | Spi: 02 | Resources {or Wealth}: 001 |
| Init: 006 | HP: 010 |
Advantages:
Sharp Eye.
Drawbacks:
Age: Young.
New rules – Age (young) [Bonus: 20]
A Character with this Drawback is a teenager between 13 and 16, and thus much younger than traditional heroes/villains. This has two main effects.
First, the Character will have to contend with the limitations of not being legally and financially autonomous. He has to attend school or run into troubles, respect parental authority, cannot enter some public areas such as bars and some theaters, cannot have a driver’s license, etc.
He also lacks the credibility of a grown adult and risks being patronized or ignored under many circumstances.
Second, the Character lacks experience. He cannot use any Skill Unskilled ; all Skills he has must be learned and detailed, and the Character will have to content himself with Skilled Use. The GM may occasionally lift this restriction when the action in question sounds like what a teenager could do.
Very atypical teen heroes may not be penalized by the first or second aspect ; for instance a very rich orphan with effectively no guardian, who received education at home through preceptors and has a costume specifically designed to make him look bigger and older would not really be penalized by the first half of the Drawbacks. In this case, lower the Bonus by 10 points for each half that does not actually penalize the Character.
A Character can elect to have the Age (very young) Drawback. This has a Bonus of 25 points, and applies for Characters that are between 9 and 12 of age. The personal limitations and lack of credibility are even stronger for this type of Character, and should be made ever-present by the GM.
Alternate Enemy Rules
For purposes of this writeup I’ve used a proposed alternate Enemies Rule that was proposed from the list, originally by Vincent P. Bartilucci. I’ve tried to recreate the Drawback as closely as I understood it when proposed… IIRC there wasn’t much discussion of it beyond a few “This could work” comments.
Note that all of these must be recurring enemies to count, not just “enemy of the week” Examples are based on Spider-Man’s possible Enemies list.
Enemies in comics basically fall into three general types:
- Enemy/Rival (5 HP) Not necessarily a superhuman foe, but someone who is an extreme annoynance to the hero, either in his personal life or his heroing career… Rivals can be included, (Flash Thompson), as can crotchety old land-ladies, or demanding bosses (J Jonah Jameson). A recurring villain who is at best a minor threat can be filed under this (any one of a hundred villains-of-the week like the Spot)
- Arch-Enemy (15 HP) Your typical signature enemies that plague a hero on a regular basis.
Scorpion, Electro, Doc Ock, etc. - Nemesis (30 HP) The defining enemy of a hero…not just an Enemy, but what amounts to the hero’s opposite number. (Venom, Scorpion, Green Goblin… were all at one time Nemeses).
Most heroes will have only one at a time, but often one will be replaced by another if the original Nemesis is killed. Using Spider-Man as an example again, originally his Nemesis was Green Goblin, which was replaced by Scorpion, then Hobgoblin and eventually Venom.
Helper(s): Sébastien Andrivet, Vincent P. Bartilucci ( for the original version of Enemy), Azrael.
Source of Character: This is the 1990s version of the character, sourced from Impact Comics The Fly series 1-17, Annual #1.