Jetstream
(Josie Stronghold)
Context
Sky High was a 2005 Disney super-hero comedy/parody movie. One core hook is a special high school for super-hero children. It was well-reviewed.
Although Jetstream and the Commander were really supporting characters in the movie, I loved the whole idea of this wacky husband and wife super team.
Background
- Real Name: Josie Stronghold (proper first name is probably Josephine).
- Other Aliases: Jetstream, Josie DeMarco (before marriage).
- Marital Status: Married.
- Known Relatives: Steven Stronghold aka the Commander (husband), Will Stronghold (son).
- Group Affiliation: Teamed with the Commander.
- Base Of Operations: Maxville.
- Height: 5’6” Weight: 125 lbs. Age: 45 (in 2005, the year in which the story takes place).
- Eyes: Brown Hair: Brown
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Powers & Abilities
Jetstream possesses flight at supersonic speeds.
She also seems to be able to withstand the realities of breathing and getting hit by small objects and wind friction at such speeds. But I’d mostly dismiss that as the nature of the genre.
She is also a martial arts master. While she is not a gadgeteer , she does have a good working knowledge of gadgets and can use them. However, she does not carry around gadgets. If she gets her hands on one during a fight, she will usually know how to use it though.
Video
Sky High trailer in 720p.
History
We don’t get any information about Jetstream’s early life.
In the SkyHighverse, there seems to be two ways to get super powers: by an accident or by inheritance. As there is nothing said about her falling into a vat of toxic waste, being bitten by a radioactive arachnid, etc., it is most likely that one of her parents had super powers.
Born in 1960, she attended Sky High, a school designed for super children, floating in the clouds on anti-gravity technology. Her Freshman year there was probably the Senior year of her future husband, Steve Stronghold a.k.a. the Commander.
Royal Pain
By 1985, Josie DeMarco has been active for several years as the superheroine, Jetstream. Although heroes who graduated from Sky High were usually assigned a sidekick, she seemed to be operating solo.
She was working as a real estate agent when she got a call from the Mayor about a battle involving the Commander and a super villain called Royal Pain. She arrived to find out they had been captured.
While Royal Pain was trying to shoot her, the Commander broke free. When his gun exploded, Royal Pain vanished and they assumed he had been disintegrated. She and the Commander started flirting right away and they left, talking to each other and forgetting that the Commander’s sidekick, the All-American Boy, was even there.
The story then jumps to 2005. Josie and Steve are married and have a 14 year old son, Will.
Son of the stars
He doesn’t have any powers. Still, he convince them he has some level of super strength.&emps;He used a few simple tricks like putting weights on his bar that are an amount that only someone with super strength could lift and they just assume he has been lifting them.
Josie is not obsessed with his having powers like Steve is though. She is the voice of reason when they find out he doesn’t.
But that changes soon after he starts attending Sky High. A fight results in Will’s super strength manifesting. A subsequent fall resulted in his power of flight appearing.
Though she pretends otherwise, she longed for him to know what it was to soar through the sky as much as her husband wanted him to gain super strength. She is just more restrained and aware of his feelings.
When it is all over, she realizes that even had he not gained powers, he would still have been a hero.
She and Steve walk away, leaving the school to the younger generation after making it clear that there should be no division based on power level because they are all heroes.
Description
Jetstream is an attractive woman decked out in a red, white and blue costume though white is primary. Before teaming with the Commander, she wore a costume that was mostly white and orange with a bit of blue but adapted her outfit to match the Commander’s.
Her color scheme is somewhat different than his. For instance, her cape is red on top and blue towards the lower part while his is blue on top and red towards the lower part. Her hair is long.
As Josie Stronghold, she always wears glasses so people will not be able to tell that she is really Jetstream, who wears no mask.
Personality
Jetstream is generally calm and thoughtful. She is also the one who has to be the adult in terms of raising a child as her husband tends to let things go.
She thinks of her secret identity as more her real life while her husband tends to think of it as just a cover.
Quotes
“Okay, so maybe we won’t be the Stronghold Three, the greatest family of superheroes the world has ever known. But we will be the Stronghold Three, the greatest family the world has ever known.”
“People make mistakes, Will. That’s what high school’s about. Heck, that’s what life’s about. The key is to learn from them. If someone is a true friend, you’d be surprised at how understanding they could be.”
Josie: “We can’t change who he is, not without dropping him into a vat of toxic waste.”
[Steve looks like he’s considering it].
Josie: “Steve !”
Steve: “Oh, where would we even find a vat of…”
Josie: “Steve !”
DCU History
Jetstream and the Commander are said to be the two most powerful super beings on the planet. If so, it is a low-powered world. But they could fit into the DCU. After all, Metropolis is supposed to be New York City and yet New York City was later shown to exist.
Maxville could be another fictional city that is supposed to be New York. Like Plastic Man, Lobo and the early Post-Crisis Justice League, she could show up in the more serious DCU when they want to do a crossover into comedy land. Or she could just encounter Plastic Man, Lobo, Guy Gardner and other generally comedy characters.
Another possibility is to treat her world the way Earth-S was sometimes treated, as an alternate reality operating on a far more four-color level.
Game Stats — DC Heroes RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
Jetstream (Josie Stronghold)
(450 points + 50 points in Drawbacks starting character version)
| Dex: 05 | Str: 03 | Bod: 04 | Motivation: Upholding the Good |
| Int: 05 | Wil: 05 | Min: 05 | Occupation: Real estate agent |
| Inf: 05 | Aur: 03 | Spi: 04 | Resources {or Wealth}: 005 |
| Init: 019 | HP: 012 |
Powers:
Flight: 08, Invulnerability: 09
Skills:
Acrobatics (Dodging): 05, Martial Artist*: 05, Scientist*: 05
Advantages
Attractive, Insta-Change, Lightning Reflexes, Luck, Scholar (High-tech gadgets).
Drawbacks:
Arch Enemy (Royal Pain), Married, Secret Identity.
Jetstream (Josie Stronghold)
(923 points + 50 points in Drawbacks)
| Dex: 08 | Str: 04 | Bod: 05 | Motivation: Upholding the Good |
| Int: 07 | Wil: 05 | Min: 05 | Occupation: Superheroine/ Real estate agent |
| Inf: 05 | Aur: 04 | Spi: 04 | Resources {or Wealth}: 006 |
| Init: 024 | HP: 100 |
Powers:
Flight: 12, Invulnerability: 11
Skills:
Acrobatics (Dodging): 06, Martial Artist*: 08, Scientist*: 07
Advantages
Area Knowledge (City of Maxville), Attractive, Buddy (the Commander), Headquarters (Confined), Insta-Change, Lightning Reflexes, Luck, Omni-Connection, Popularity, Scholar (High-tech gadgets).
Connections:
President of the United States (High), Mayor of Maxville (High).
Drawbacks:
Arch Enemy (Royal Pain), Married, Secret Identity.
Design Notes
I gave her Invulnerability to explain some of her resistance to high-speed flying and to save her when she inevitably gets hit occasionally.
I also decided to make up two versions of Jetstream. The first is what she might have been at the beginning of her career and the second is what she was in the movie.
The first version is a 450 pt. character that could be used as a Player-character in an actual game which was the whole point of doing it, to see if a basic version could be done on the starting points usually allocated to original Player-characters.
I gave her Scholar (High-tech gadgets) rather than Familiarity (High-tech gadgets) for the simple reason that I was keeping track of the points costs for this character. The 3e DC Heroes book I have does not list Familiarity and I could not find it in a site search so I defaulted to Scholar which has a listed points cost.
Source of Character: The Disney movie, Sky High. Jetstream was created by Paul Hernandez, Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle and was played by Kelly Preston.