Kangaroo
(Frank Oliver)
Context
The Kangaroo (Frank Oliver) is a very minor Spider-Man villain. He was primarily seen from 1970 to 1979.
He’s occasionally listed among ridiculous and dated Marvel characters. But there’s no strong reason to. He’s just a mentally ill athlete with a minor mutation.
Background
- Real Name: Frank Oliver.
- Marital Status: Single.
- Known Relatives: None.
- Group Affiliation: None.
- Base Of Operations: Mobile.
- Height: 6’3” Weight: 235 lbs.
- Eyes: Blue Hair: Blond
Advertisement
Powers & Abilities
The Kangaroo can perform superhuman leaps – about three or four metres straight up.
He is also highly acrobatic, and a strong athlete. This allows him to perform urban acrobatics à la Daredevil or Nightwing, albeit not to their level.
His punches can easily kill a normal person or seriously wound an athlete. His kicks can damage a brick wall or even concrete. The Kangaroo was a good enough fighter to occasionally hit Spider-Man, albeit mostly when Spidey was distracted.
Technologic
He later was equipped with cybernetics by the criminal genius Jonas Harrow. These are fairly crude by super-hero standards. They consist in a pair of boots and a pair of bracers. Both are directly connected to the nerves so Oliver can cybernetically activate the systems therein.
The bracers store compressed air, which can be blasted from the rear to accelerate his punches. There’s apparently something protecting his hands when he delivers these punches, which seem equivalent to a “Class 5” superhuman strength. The implants also somehow gave him enough strength to tear fresh Spider-Man webbing from his face.
Advertisement
The boots have jets (likely using compressed air too) that can propel the Kangaroo a hundred yards in the air. They also seemed to protect his legs from delivering superhuman jumping kicks.
With these enhancements, the Kangaroo can do a jumping kick through ten feet of concrete. But this is only possible with maximum momentum and by concentrating entirely on power, not accuracy. This level of force cannot normally be applied to a moving target.
History
Frank Oliver was an Australian citizen fascinated by the larger species of kangaroo. Due to mental illness, his life’s goal was to jump and run like his favourite animals. His method was to live in the wilderness and imitate their behaviour as best as he could. The strangest part is – it worked.
The most common hypothesis is that Mr. Oliver was a mutant. In this scenario, his obsession was both a result of his mutation and they key to unlocking his minor superhuman abilities.
In more recent years, it has been asserted that many animal-themed superhumans were — usually subconsciously — channelling totemistic forces and might derive special abilities from these. While this hypothesis — wherein Spider-Man (Peter Parker) was a “full” totem — was never proven, it seems intriguing when it comes to the Kangaroo’s obsession and abilities.
In 1970, wanting to make money with his minor powers, Oliver became a wrestler as “the Kangaroo”. However, he wounded his first opponent with a powerful jumping kick. Irrational and feeling hunted, he stowed on a boat and sailed to the USA. Once there; he was arrested and scheduled for deportation. The paranoid Oliver easily escaped in New York City, and became a criminal.
The Kangaroo accidentally took a small vial holding a deadly bacteria as he tried to steal cash. Spider-Man (Peter Parker) intervened and tried to explain the situation, but the Kangaroo assumed that he wanted to trick him. Maneuvering carefully, Spidey recovered the fragile vial. He let the Kangaroo flee so the police could put the vial back in a secure container.
Macropus rufus
The Kangaroo remained in hiding as a New York City vagrant for several years. The superhuman power of Spider-Man had impressed him. Oliver delusionally assumed that Spidey would come after him as soon as he’d try to do something to improve his lot.
Criminal scientist Jonas Harrow approached Oliver and offered to give him great power. As he had been obsessing over finding ways to defeat Spider-Man to be free, Oliver uncharacteristically agreed to trust Harrow. The surgery was successful, and further enhanced the Kangaroo… who promptly swatted Harrow aside and leapt away.
However, Harrow had planned for this. A cerebral implant allowed him to transmit orders to Oliver, and force him to obey by triggering fierce pain. He ordered the Kangaroo to go steal some radioactive isotopes for him. Oliver rushed in, not understanding much to what he was supposed to do.
Though Spider-Man tried to warn him, the Kangaroo charged into a lab bathed in high levels of gamma radiation. He was incinerated.
Post-mortem
In 1997, a proto-husk — a form of weak clone — of the Kangaroo was animated by Arnim Zola, but was soon destroyed by Deadpool.
In 2016, Frank Oliver was one of the clones of dead people created by the new Jackal (Ben Reilly). The clone even had Oliver’s cybernetics. However, none of the clones were stables – daily medication was necessary to keep them functioning.
Other clones in this group included Tarantula (Anton Rodriquez), a Jack O’Lantern, Mirage (Desmond Charne), Massacre (Marcus Lyman), Montana, and Prowler (Hobie Brown). It wasn’t the most stable mob, resulting in frequent internecine brawls.
Almost all the clones were slain when infected by the Carrion virus. The Kangaroo clone seems to have been among them – especially since he was also shot in the chest by a Jean Dewolff clone.
Description
In his second appearance, Oliver employed some Australianisms. So one might imagine that his accent is readily audible.
Personality
Oliver appears to be schizophrenic, and suffers from persecutory delusion. Any sign of hostility toward him will lead to an overblown reaction where he assumes that :
- Everybody hates him and wants to ruin his life.
- He must flee far away or strike back against the whole of society.
He will routinely assume that anybody addressing him is lying because they hate him.
His reasonings are likewise very simple. He uses a lot magical thinking, such as his cargo cult-like approach to his favourite animals.
Quotes
“I don’t care who makes the law ! No one’s pushing me around again !”
Spider-Man: “Hold it ! I’m not trying to trap you !”
Kangaroo: “You think I was born yesterday ? No one’s cheating me out of this haul !”
“You followed me here, you ASKED for it ! You’re a bloody dead man, mate !”
DC Universe History
In the DCU, Oliver might have survived a bit longer. He would have died during a Suicide Squad mission after clashing a few times with the Blue Beetle.
Game Stats — DC Heroes RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
Kangaroo
| Dex: 07 | Str: 04 | Bod: 05 | Motivation: Psychopath |
| Int: 03 | Wil: 01 | Min: 01 | Occupation: Criminal |
| Inf: 02 | Aur: 02 | Spi: 02 | Resources {or Wealth}: 001 |
| Init: 012 | HP: 010 |
Powers:
Jumping: 02
Skills:
Acrobatics*: 07, Martial Artist (EV)*: 07
Advantages
Expertise (Outback survival), Iron Nerves, Schtick (Unfettered fist – but only for his kicks).
Connections:
None.
Drawbacks:
CIA toward Persecutory Delusion, SIA toward Impulsiveness.
Equipment:
Jonas Harrow added the following two pieces :
- BRACERS [BODY 03, EV 08, Note: EV can also be used as the STR of his hands, for instance to shred a small object].
- BOOTS [BODY 03, Jumping: 05, EV 12, Limitation: EV can only be employed to attack large, unmoving items with a jumping kick at maximum momentum].
2016-2017 “New U” clone
The blows from this clone seemed weaker than those of the real Frank Oliver. This may be that the cybernetics were a cheap copy rather than Harrows’s actual design. The BOOTS are down to EV 08, and the BRACERS have no EV.
Game Stats — DC Adventures RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
Kangaroo (Frank Oliver) — Averaged PL7
| STR | STA | AGL | DEX | FGT | INT | AWE | PRE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 03 | 03 | 05 | 01 | 07 | 00 | 00 | 00 |
Powers
Feet of fury ● 6 points ● Descriptor: Skill, possibly mutation or totem magic
– Mighty kicks — Strength-based blunt Damage 2, Reach 2.
– Leaping 2.
Devices
Cybernetic Harrow bracers ● 4 points ● Descriptor: Cybernetics, compressed air
Strength-based unarmed Damage 4, Quirk (only enhances the strength of his hands), Feature (can also be used to shred objects he can fully grip).
Cybernetic Harrow boots ● 9 points ● Descriptor: Cybernetics, compressed air
– Leaping 3 (staks with his intrinsic Ranks of Leaping).
– Blunt Damage 12 (Limited 1 to full-steam jumping kicks against large, unmoving obstacles).
Combat Advantages
All-out Attack, Defensive Roll 2, Evasion, Move-by Action, Power Attack.
Other Advantages
Fearless, Instant Up.
Skills
Acrobatics 5 (+10), Athletics 7 (+10), Close combat (Unarmed) 4 (+11), Expertise (Kangaroo lore) 3 (+3), Expertise (Outback survival) 4 (+4), Perception 2 (+2).
Offense
| Initiative +5 |
| Unarmed +11, Close, Damage 3 |
| Feet of fury +11, Close (Reach 2), Damage 5 |
| Punches w/cybernetic bracers +11, Close, Damage 7 |
Defence
| Dodge | 11 | Fortitude | 07 |
| Parry | 11 | Toughness | 03*/05 |
| Will | 00 |
* Without Defensive Roll
Complications
- Handicap Oliver is mentally ill, and frequently unable to produce coherent reasoning.
- Handicap The Kangaroo is afflicted with severe paranoia.
- Temper Oliver is highly impulsive, and often unable to consider medium- and long-term consequences.
Powers Levels
- Trade-off areas. Attack/Effect PL 8, Dodge/Toughness PL 8, Parry/Toughness PL 8, Fort/Will PL 4.
- Points total 92. Abilities 38, Defences 14, Skills 13, Powers 6, Devices 13, Advantages 8. Equiv. PL 7.
2016-2017 “New U” clone
For this post-mortem clone, the Cybernetic Harrow Bracers had no discernible Effects. The Cybernetic Harrow Boots’ Damage Effect was lowed to 07, and their Leaping Ranks may have been lower as well.
Source of Character: Marvel Universe — namely 1970s Spider-Man stories.
Writeup completed on the 26th of April, 2014.