Knave
Context
The Knave and the rest of the Crazy Gang — an Alice in Wonderland-themed absurd mob — first appeared in 1980s adventures of Captain Britain. Since these were published by Marvel UK, the Gang only gained real exposure once they appeared in Excalibur, in 1989.
Background
- Real Name: Unrevealed
- Marital Status: Single
- Known Relatives: Sir James Jaspers (creator)
- Group Affiliation: The Crazy Gang
- Base Of Operations: mobile, but generally around London
- Height: 6’4” Weight: 250 lbs
- Eyes: Not sure, but appear black to me Hair: Probably bald, or his red metallic cap could be his hair !
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Powers and Abilities
The Knave possesses great strength and durability.
He also has a natural talent at melee combat.
History
The original Crazy Gang appeared as creations of Mad Jim Jaspers in an alternate reality – Earth-238. In this reality, James Jaspers was a superhuman with vast psionic powers. he succeeded in killing off all of that world’s superheroes.
The Crazy Gang, along with Mad Jim, went on a crime spree terrorising the hero-less England. They were stopped by the sudden arrival of Captain Britain (Brian Braddock of Earth-616 ). Braddock had been sent to Earth-238 in preparation to confront the Jaspers of Earth 616.
Jaspers had unleashed his Reality Warp, which basically turned the Earth, and eventually it’s entire universe, insane. Although both he and Saturnyne tried, they could not defeat Mad Jim. Thus, the Omniversal Council was forced to destroy the reality of Earth 238.
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Meanwhile, on Earth-616
On Earth 616, James Jaspers was just beginning his machinations to take over the world. It started with the registration (and ultimately, elimination) of England’s (followed by the world’s) superheroes. Captain UK, a refugee of Earth-238, tried to contact our Captain Britain and warn him. Too late.
Jaspers created the Reality Warp, and in turn the the Crazy Gang. In the ensuing battle with Captain Britain, Jaspers was killed by the Fury, and the Crazy Gang escaped. Captain Britain had assumed they had been destroyed once Jaspers was beaten.
The Crazy Gang did not know what to do with themselves, but knowing themselves to be criminals, they launched a totally incompetent and unsuccessful crime spree. In desperation, they devised a cunning plan. They placed an ad in a newspaper seeking a leader of extreme genius.
Follow the leader
This was answered by the Slaymaster, disguised as the caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland. Slaymaster planned their crimes, and turned them into a reasonably successful villain team. Once they attracted the attention of Captain Britain, and defeated him, Slaymaster abandoned his team.
Eventually, the Crazy Gang were contacted by the villain Arcade. He used them to kidnap Courtney Ross (Captain Britain’s former girlfriend) to lure Captain Britain into his deathtrap.
During their encounter with Excalibur, Tweedledope managed to switch the team’s minds with those of Excalibur. This created even more havoc before the villains were brought to justice, and everyone was returned to normal.
Technet
At some point, the Crazy Gang escaped or were freed from prison, but continued to lie low in this scary world. Soon, Tweedledope came across the wandering Joyboy. Joyboy had, with the rest of his teammates in the Technet, helped Excalibur on a mission. Tweedledope kidnapped Joyboy, bringing him back to the Crazy Gang.
Joyboy tried to use his reality-twisting powers against the Red Queen, to put her fantasies into reality and twist them. But, as Captain Britain put it, since “the Red Queen’s insanity distorts the fairytale imagery of Alice in Wonderland into a snake pit of dark fantasies, Joyboy reverses the distortion.”
The two negatives cancelled each other out. Thus, the two ended up recreating the world around them into a peaceful, happy wonderland. The Crazy Gang then invited the townspeople around them to share in this paradise, and they disappeared for a long time.
Excalibur investigated this disappearance and Captain Britain briefly clashed with the Gang. The Crazy Gang wanted to simply stay and play with the people around them, and so Excalibur left them in peace.
Description
The tall and skinny Knave resembles a fairy tale character from Alice in Wonderland. His form fitting armour is more likely his actual skin. He also wears a tabbard with a heart symbol on it, a metallic cap, and red boots and gloves.
Personality
The Knave is incredibly stupid, as with all members of the Crazy Gang.
His only motivation is in committing crimes. He has no idea how to commit crimes, or what to do with the proceeds if he did succeed in a robbery.
He is easily manipulated by someone of greater intelligence.
Quotes
“What good is it being criminals if we don’t know how to do crimes ?”
DC Universe History
Crazy villains, they could be used by any number of bat foes to give the Batman some headaches.
Game Stats — DC Heroes RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
Knave
| Dex: 04 | Str: 09 | Bod: 08 | Motivation: Psychopathic |
| Int: 02 | Wil: 02 | Min: 04 | Occupation: Would-be Criminal |
| Inf: 03 | Aur: 02 | Spi: 04 | Resources {or Wealth}: 001 |
| Init: 010 | HP: 015 |
Powers:
Skin Armour: 04
Skills:
Martial Artist (AV): 06
Advantages:
Iron Nerves, No Vital Areas.
Drawbacks:
Creepy Appearance, Innocent, Socially Inept (Serious), Catastrophic Irrational Attraction to committing crimes.
Jack of Hearts (Earth 238)
Thge original Knave was known as Jack of Hearts, and was created by Mad Jim Jaspers of Earth 238. They share similar statistics, however.
Helper(s): Sébastien Andrivet.
Source of Character: Marvel UK.