John Hancock
Context
Hancock was a 2008 movie starring Will Smith and Charlize Theron. It was an unusual mix of super-hero, drama and comedy movie. It received mixed reviews.
Hancock is a failed Superman figure attempting to redeem himself. He has a lot of depth and some surprising twists for a super hero.
Advertisement
Background
- Real Name: Unrevealed, John Hancock for legal purposes.
- Marital Status: Divorced or separated.
- Known Relatives: Mary Embrey (ex-wife and possibly sister).
- Group Affiliation: “All-Heart” Charity.
- Base Of Operations: New York City, formerly Los Angeles.
- Height: 6’2” Weight: Apparent weight 170 lbs, actual weight likely circa 400 lbs.
- Eyes: Brown Hair: Black
Powers & Abilities
Hancock possesses the classic super abilities of strength, flight and invulnerability. He is more powerful than a locomotive and able to leap tall buildings without effort. He can bounce bullets off his chest or even swat rockets out of the air like flies.
His fingernails can etch solid concrete or cut through glass. He has even flown to the moon under his own power without ill effect.
The source of Hancock’s small income (originally chiefly used to buy alcohol) is unrevealed. It could be welfare, selling a few old things such as valuable coins, money from admirers, the sale of scrap metal, etc. etc.
Video
1080p version of the official trailer.
History
The “birth” of Hancock
The man known as John Hancock remembers waking up in a hospital in Miami with two theater tickets in his pocket and a skull fracture. Confused and remembering nothing before that moment, he had no idea who he was. When an orderly asked him to sign himself out by putting his “John Hancock” on the form he mistakenly thought that was his name.
Advertisement
He waited, but no one came to claim him. He determined that he must have been some sort of horrible person since no one came looking for him.
He soon found that he possessed abilities other people didn’t. It took him a little longer to realize he didn’t age and was seemingly immortal. The mystery of how he came to be in the hospital with a skull fracture deepened, as did his guilt over whatever imagined crimes led him to be alone in the world. He presumed he was the last of his kind.
Over the next 80 years he wandered and eventually found himself in Los Angeles.
Down and out
Hancock became severely depressed and drank heavily. He tried to be a hero, but his bad attitude earned little respect. Crowds often jeered at him and instead of love, he usually found the general public angry at him for property damage, recklessness and his general drunkenness.
He did find some release in the arms of the occasional superhero groupie but no real lasting relationships. Lost and alone, Hancock lacked direction.
All that changed the day he saved public relations expert Ray Embrey from a train after his car stalled on the tracks. Grateful, Embrey decided to help Hancock be accepted and to improve his image. With property damage fees mounting, the District Attorney was calling for Hancock to stand trial.
Embrey talked Hancock into turning himself in and let the public see what the city would be like without his help. Hancock grudgingly agreed to Ray’s plan and was imprisoned.
A Hero Reborn
As Ray expected, the crime rate began to rise dramatically without Hancock’s frequent intervention. During his visits to Hancock in jail, Ray advised Hancock on his image and what changes he could make to be seen in a more heroic light.
He helped Hancock think about how his actions impacted others, especially innocents and law enforcement officers around him. Eventually, the Police Chief calls on Hancock to help the police with a hostage situation during a bank robbery. Hancock donned a new costume provided by Ray and flew to the scene.
The robbers were well equipped with automatic weapons and rocket launchers, stymying the efforts of police to apprehend them. Hancock saved one officer from heavy fire and made quick work of the gang. He took out the leader, Red Parker, by cutting off the hand holding a dead man’s trigger which would detonate a bomb the hostages were tied to.
The public embraced Hancock after the rescue. He became the toast of the town.
One night, after going to dinner with Ray and his wife, Mary, Hancock realized that Mary also had powers. Threatening to expose her secret, he convinced Mary to meet him the next day and give him an explanation.
Gods… Angels… Superheroes
Mary revealed that they each were over 3,000 years old and they had been known by many names over time. Their race had been created in pairs, of which Mary and Hancock were the last. Hancock threatened to tell Ray, which lead to Mary attacking him to prevent it. The resulting battle culminated in Ray witnessing the two and realizing that his wife was like Hancock.
After a discussion with the 3 of them, Hancock left and stopped by a local convenience store to buy alcohol. A man chose that moment to try to rob the store and Hancock was shot in the process of stopping him. Much to his surprise, he was actually wounded and needed to be rushed to the hospital.
Mary visited and revealed that she had been with him in 1931 when he had been mugged. Their kind loses their powers when in close proximity of their paired partner for too long, rendering them vulnerable. Seeking revenge and having escaped from jail, Red Parker led several thugs who had their own reasons to hate Hancock in raiding the hospital.
Hancock managed to stop the thugs, but Mary was wounded in the process. Ray managed to disarm Red, cutting off his other hand with a fire axe. Realizing that Mary would die without her powers, Hancock fled the scene putting enough distance between the two. This way they would regain their powers and Mary could survive.
To the moon
Hancock moved to New York City and continued his heroic career utilizing the advice Ray had given him. In gratitude for his help in turning his life around, Hancock painted the logo for the “All-Heart” charity Ray was trying to start on the moon to give it world-wide recognition.
Description
Hancock is a tall slender African-American with well-toned features. Before his time in prison, he is unkempt, unshaven and could easily be mistaken for a homeless person. During this time, he usually wears a stocking cap with an eagle on it and large sunglasses. He almost always reeks of alcohol.
After his time in prison, he appears well groomed and often wears a tight black leather outfit with an eagle on the back. When not “on the job,” he dresses in the height of fashion in expensive suits.
Personality
At the beginning of the movie, Hancock is a lonely man with little to care about. He is plagued with insecurities involving his perceived abandonment 80 years before. He has no memories before waking up in a hospital and believes he must have been some sort of horrible person since no one came for him.
He is plagued with guilt over his imagined crimes. He drowns his sorrow in gallon jugs of whiskey, while trying desperately to do something that might redeem himself.
After his redemption with the help of Ray, he is a more focused individual, but retains a sardonic wit. He retains a tough-guy attitude and doesn’t like being criticized. He often says too much of what he thinks, without thinking about the consequences. After all, what’s anyone going to do about it?
Quotes
(Drinking from a gallon bottle of whiskey) “SSSshhhhh… Hey hey ! Fellahs, fellahs… I don’t give a shit what you did. I don’t care. Three guys in the car… no girls… rave music… hey, I’m not going to judge. But if you don’t pull over and give yourselves up QUIETLY, I swear to Christ your head is going up the driver’s ass, his head is going up your ass and you drew the short stick, cause your head is going up my ass.”
Girl he met in a bar: “So this is where you live. This is your hideout. Your batcave. Your fortress of solitude.”
Hancock: “It’s a couple of trailers I hitched together.”
“Call me asshole… one… more… time.”
Ray: “People don’t like you, Hancock.”
Hancock: “Do I look like I care what people think ?”
“Your head’s going up his ass.”
Ray (showing Hancock drawings of superheroes and their spandex costumes): “What do you think of this ?”
Hancock: “Homo.”
Ray: “And this ?”
Hancock: “Homo in red.”
Ray: “And this ?”
Hancock: “Norwegian homo.”
Ray: “I’ll give you that.”
Hancock upon landing next to a police officer is seeing Hancock for the first time in his superhero attire: “What ? It’s a little tight. What you got ?”
“Good job. Good job.”
(After he cleans up his act, and telling the story of waking up in the hospital with amnesia) “Gotta wonder, though. What kind of bastard must I have been, that nobody was there to claim me? I mean, I’m… I’m not the most charming guy in the world, so I’ve been told, but… nobody ?”
(After he cleans up his act, reading a prepared text) “I apologize to the people of Los Angeles. My behavior has been improper and I accept the consequences. I ask my fellow Angelinos for their patience and understanding. Life here can be difficult for me. After all, I am the only one of my kind. During my incarceration, I will be participating in alcohol and anger management treatment. You deserve better from me. I can be better. I will be better.”
DC Universe History
After waking in a hospital in Miami, Hancock wanders for a time trying to understand his powers and takes to trying to right wrongs wherever he sees them. He is initially seen as a hero wherever he goes. But after a few decades, his friends start to grow old and die.
He continues to wander and begins to wonder how he got his powers, where he came from and why no one came to claim him at the hospital. Slowly sinking into a depression over his loneliness, he takes to drinking. He ends up settling in Star City after the death of its famous hero, Green Arrow.
In the beginning, the public is happy to see him, until his drunkenness and depression begins to take its toll on his heroics. The more the public seems to turn against him, the worse Hancock becomes, until Hancock is spending more of his time drunk than sober. This continues for years until mayor Oliver Queen makes cleaning up the streets part of his campaign rhetoric.
Shortly after Mayor Queen’s election, the events of the movie take place. But what Hancock doesn’t know is that Ray Embrey is actually an old associate of Oliver Queen’s. He was once saved by Green Arrow. He swore to find a way to use his marketing experience to save the world once he heard of Green Arrow’s demise.
Upon the return of the Green Arrow, the hero could take the cleaned up Hancock under his wing and introduce him to the hero community.
Of course, Hancock still doesn’t have the idea of tact down, and his interactions with the likes of Superman and Batman should be entertaining.
Marvel Universe History
Hancock could easily be one of the Eternals, or his race may have been another experiment of the Celestials. Either way he opposed the Deviants for centuries and somehow lost all contact with his people, perhaps when most of the Eternals left the planet and headed to space.
Hancock may have encountered some Deviants when his skull was fractured, which awakened his powers without awakening his memories.
Game Stats — DC Heroes RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
Hancock
| Dex: 08 | Str: 22 | Bod: 15 | Motivation: Responsibility of Power |
| Int: 05 | Wil: 04 | Min: 05 | Occupation: Hero |
| Inf: 08 | Aur: 04 | Spi: 06 | Resources {or Wealth}: 003 |
| Init: 020 | HP: 070 |
Powers:
Flight: 16, Reflection/Deflection: 08, Regeneration: 08, Invulnerability: 19, Telescopic Vision: 07, Extended Hearing: 05, Claws: 12, Sealed Systems: 12, Density Increase: 02
Bonuses and Limitations:
Density Increase is Weight increase only and Always on.
Skills:
Charisma: 05 (at the end of the movie), Weaponry (Thrown): 08
Advantages
Attractive, Confidant (Ray Embrey), Near-Immortal.
Note:
Considering the cultures mentioned that he lived in at one time; he likely has the Language advantage multiple times over, but does not know it.
Drawbacks:
MIA (Mary), MIA (Alcohol), MIH (Being called Asshole), MIA (Jiffy Pop), Misc (Amnesia), Guilt (at the beginning of the movie), Limelight, Mistrust (during the events of the movie), Power Loss Vulnerability (All Powers, Gradual, Rare – see below), Public Identity, Catastrophic Bulletproof Syndrome, Partial Attack Vulnerability (-1CS RV vs. alcohol).
Wonder Twin Powers DE-Activate !
Whenever Hancock spends time near Mary for an extended period, their powers begin to wane. After about an hour (10 APs of time before the loss starts), they begin to lose their powers and abilities until they become “normal” humans.
This process can speed up each additional time they are exposed to one another at the GM’s discretion. Eventually this means that they will permanently lose their powers so they can grow old and die.
After he spends time with Mary, Hancock’s physical statistics reduce to 4/6/5 and all Powers are lost (Hancock’s flight instead becomes Jumping: 04). It is possible that with prolonged exposure or multiple exposures, these stats could degrade further.
Bulletproof Syndrome
This is a list created drawback, for more details see the New Drawbacks document. It is meant to represent a character not using his full abilities in order to evade attacks. Either due to his basic naïveté or supreme overconfidence, he’s unable to grasp sensations of imminent threat when faced by hostile beings.
In Hancock’s case, he will stand and verbally challenge people, daring them to hit him. He generally makes no attempt to dodge obvious attacks from automatic weapons, or buses thrown at him other than saying something like, “Don’t you dare hit me with that bus !” In fact, he’s been known to egg someone on by insulting them while letting them hit him with their best shot.
In game terms, this means he suffers a -3 CS penalty to his OV for physical attacks until any RAPs of damage have been scored against him. After that, his OV is normal.
Design notes
Telescopic vision is surmised based on his ability to tell what’s going on in a situation even as he’s flying in.
His Flight speed and Sealed Systems are based on the assumption that he flew to the moon, painted it somehow, and flew back within a 12 hour period (roughly moonset to moonrise). It is possible he actually has a slower flight speed and higher sealed systems since the scene with the moon is 1 month after previous events.
However, this would mean he had to paint darkened portion of the moon while it was not reflecting sunlight in order for it to remain a surprise.
The Attack Vulnerability reflects the fact that it’s feasible for Hancock to get drunk, which would be nearly impossible with his BODY score.
Source of Character: Hancock movie starring Will Smith.
Helper(s): imdb.com , Wikipedia, Malcolm Roberson, Pufnstuff, Doug Mertaugh, Pufnstuff, Dr. Peter Piispanen, Jobe.
Writeup updated May 9th, 2013.