Horace the hate bug
Sequence
Horace is an evil version of Herbie. He was an interesting enemy for the love bug.
For more context, you can first read the Herbie the Love Bug character profiles.
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Background
- Real Name: Horace.
- Other Aliases: “Devil car”, “The hate bug” (though he was never called this on film).
- Known Relatives: Possibly Herbie. Dr. Stumpfel said his creation must have a piece of the original to come to life.
- Group Affiliation: Simon Moore III is his owner.
- Base of Operations: Los Angeles, California.
- Length: 13’4″ (4m). Weight: 1800 lbs. (816 kg.) (6APs).
- Eyes: Dark tinted headlamps. Hair: None.
Powers & Abilities
Horace was made using the same blueprints and manufacturing techniques as Herbie. Therefore, they are virtually identical in their abilities.
Like Herbie, Horace is much faster than your average 1963 Volkswagen Beetle. And like Herbie, Horace can:
- Move all his moveable parts on his own.
- Start and stop his engine and drive himself.
- Push his speed to go even faster.
It’s presumed Horace could perform stunts similar to what we see Herbie do in other films – if only he was more disciplined.
On top of this Horace has three modifications.
- His passenger side front wheel houses a powerful drill able to shred opponent tires.
- A short range grenade launcher is fitted at the rear of Horace, to take out cars coming up behind him.
- Inside his hood handle Horace has a deadly laser capable of cutting through the competition.
Rear grenade launchers.
History
Herr Doktor Gustav Stumpfel is the creator of Herbie. Through his genius and sheer luck he built a living car.
In 1997 Dr. Stumpfel was contacted by Simon Moore III and persuaded to build a second little car.
A car is born
Herbie was built using the love Stumpfel felt for his wife. Horace on the other hand was made using Simon’s malice towards Herbie.
Dr. Stumpfel was quite shocked by Horace and demanded he be destroyed. But Simon and Horace had other ideas.
Horace drove around town and found Herbie in a narrow alleyway. An attack so savage it had to occur off-screen completely destroyed Herbie.
Horace wasn’t good at sitting around waiting. When Simon took him out Horace was hard to control.
They were both surprised to see Herbie in one piece again. Horace wanted to attack again immediately. Simon calmed him with the promise of future retribution.
Groovy
Simon challenged Hank Cooper, Herbie’s new owner, to a race of little cars at dawn. Winner takes both cars. Hank accepted but had no idea what he was going to be up against.
The next day they raced on a closed course. Horace took an early lead but realized soon enough that Herbie was just as fast – and could even overtake him.
Simon unveiled Horace’s modifications and used them to even the odds. Horace even used his powerful laser to cut Herbie in half.
Herbie fought on, driving each half on two wheels, and won the race taking first and third. With his occupants out, Horace angrily attacked again.
However, his blind charge sent him careening over a cliff to his explosive end.
Laser.
Description
Horace may look like a 1963 VW but he sounds like a jet engine.
His appearance is similar to a normal Beetle. However he’s painted jet back with distinct aesthetics, like louvers on the hood. He has molded bumpers instead of metal ones.
Personality
Horace acts more like an animal than a person. A mad dog barely held back by a chain.
He hates being cooped up. He will hop up and down revving his engine anxious to get out.
Horace was built with a lot of contempt and anger and it shows through at all times.
When Horace is driving he always drives fast. Simon had a hard time controlling him.
Quotes
“ggggggrhrhrhrhrhrhrh” (sounding like a growling bear)
Alex Davis: “Ok boys, very simply, we ‘re up against more horsepower, faster aerodynamics, and one really nasty Scotsman. We could get our tails kicked.”
Doctor Stumpfel: “I must burn the blue-prints.”
Roddy: “The blue-prints to what ?”
Doctor Stumpfel: “The little car. I did something horrible. I must make amends. No, there cannot be another one.”
Roddy: “Another Herbie ? Nah, that’s impossible.”
Doctor Stumpfel: “Not only is it possible. It has already happened.”
Tire shredders.
DC Universe Adaptation
(This section proposes ways of using this character in DC Universe stories).
Put Horace alongside Herbie in the Wacky Raceland mini-series or on his own.
He was destroyed at the end of The Love Bug. However, bringing another Horace back to life shouldn’t be too difficult. Small parts and at least one wheel remained. He could be rebuilt with new and more powerful modifications.
DC Heroes RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
Horace
A 274 points Character (Without equipment).
| Dex: 02 | Str: 04 | Bod: 07 |
| Int: 01 | Wil: 01 | Min: 02 |
| Inf: 01 | Aur: 00 | Spi: 02 |
| Init: 004 | HP: 010 |
Powers:
Jumping: 01, Running: 07, Self-Link (Animate Object): 11
Skills:
Vehicles (To drive himself): 05
Bonuses and Limitations:
Vehicles skill can be used to aim any fluids he has at his disposal. Water, oil, whatever. Since the skill usually covers a vehicle’s weapons.
Advantages:
None demonstrated.
Connections:
Simon Moore III (Low).
Drawbacks:
Cannot Heal (may be repaired, 25 points), Serious Irrational Hatred of Herbie, Power Loss: Running drops to 00 APs if out of gas/air to run the engine. Note: This does not mean Horace can’t move! He can still move all his parts, even his wheels but uses Running rules based on his Dex instead.
Motivation:
Nihilist.
Occupation:
Race Car.
Wealth:
000
Equipment:
I placed Horace’s modifications under Equipment because each of them were controlled by the driver or his passenger and not Horace himself.
- TIRE DRILL [BODY 04, Claws: 05, R#5, Cost: 24].
- GRENADE LAUNCHER [BODY 05, Range: 02, Ammo: 03, R#5, Cost: 10].
Grenades (X3) [BODY 01, EV 05 (Area Effect 00 APs), Grenade Drawback, R#5, Cost: 01 each]. - LASER [BODY 04, AV 06, Laser Beam: 09, Bonuses & Limitations: AV for the Laser Beam can’t be used without locking onto its target first. Targeting is an Automatic action but a character may not perform a Dice Action during the phase in which he targets, due to time requirements, R#5, Cost: 43].
Design notes
Horace attacks Herbie in an alley. Since they have near identical stats it’s hard to understand how Herbie was smashed to bits and Horace took no damage at all. Herbie was trapped in an alley and couldn’t maneuver. I’ve given Horace an AP of Body to help explain this.
Horace is doing ramming attacks and got one good running start with his first attack that must have done most of the damage. After that he was just repeatedly bashing Herbie.
Source of Character: The 1997 film The Love Bug.
Helper(s): IMDb .
Writeup completed on the 9th of July, 2018.