Midnight Monroe

This specific character was created for the 2015 DC Heroes list Halloween contest. She earned one of the bronze medals (since two entries were tied for third place).

When you go to enough indie film festivals with a friend who writes horror screenplays, some things just stick in your mind…

The “zombie Marilyn” photo used as an illustration features Lindsay Hancock .

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Background

Powers & Abilities

Midnight Monroe has potent psychokinetic powers, capable of controlling matter at the atomic level. The most common use of this ability is to create objects out of the movies (such as a knife from a slasher film) and send them to menace her victims.

It is also helpful in escaping from bonds, turning attacks back on assailants, and is most likely the cause of her superhuman durability.

Her other paranormal ability is her power to cast an illusion over herself. Midnight Monroe enjoys using this to change her appearance to match whatever cinematic theme she is going for at the time but it is also quite handy at secret entrances and exits.

Skills

Dee Lockwood is not a bad actress but her performances rely more on her magnetic personality than any great gifts as a thespian.

She’s also a pretty good dancer thanks to the LA club scene and popping up in the occasional music video.

Dee has learned to work a camera fairly well, mainly from helping out on the set of various low budget productions.

She has a good reputation in the B-movie scene, especially with the makers of slasher films and other exploitation flicks.

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History

A native of Los Angeles, Dee Lockwood grew up surrounded by the film industry thanks to having a mother who was also an agent. Dee’s unknown father was also someone in the business but cut Lisa Lockwood a hefty check to keep his identity unknown.

Being raised by a busy single mother meant having a lot of time at home alone. Dee spent this time devouring movies, not just the classics from the Golden Age of Hollywood but the most shameless exploitation films from the 1970’s.

It wasn’t surprising that Dee decided to become an actress. Rather than study drama in college, she set right out to audition as soon as she was out of high school. She got a few bit parts in some low budget productions and eventually worked her way up to being the leading lady in some low budget productions.

Dee developed a good reputation. She could be topless, get splattered in blood, and still deliver a decent line reading. Some actresses with dreams of Oscars and red carpet interviews might sneer at those sort of performances but a grindhouse fan like Dee loved every moment of it.

Dee’s career took an unusual turn when her latest slasher film was being shot in a house where a famous cult killing took place. While looking over the notorious site, Dee fell through the rotting floor and down into a previously undiscovered secret basement.

She laid unconscious in a pentagram that had been drawn onto the stone floor for quite some time until the crew could get help to rescue her. The incident got the film some unexpected publicity but for Dee it did even more.

Hellraiser

At first objects seemed to have moved from when she had last seen them. Then they began to somehow appear and disappear. At first Dee thought this was just a delusion caused by her head injury. Eventually she realized these strange occurrences were real and that she was the culprit.

After a few months of privately discovering just what she was capable of and training herself, Dee made the only decision a lifelong fan of B-movie could… she was going to be a villain.

In honor of her love of late night showings of cult films and Hollywood’s most famous blonde bombshell, Dee gave herself the name Midnight Monroe. She made her debut at a supermodel’s Halloween party where she changed the hostess’s costume into a prom dress and then drenched her in pig’s blood.

Her subsequent crimes have also been well-publicized but as Midnight Monroe is more of a paranormal nuisance than a dangerous threat the LAPD hasn’t devoted much resources in tracking her down.

Description

Dee Lockwood is a young woman pushing thirty who is attractive in a cliched LA kind of way. Her blonde hair comes from a bottle and other parts from her plastic surgeon. Dee is thin but fit and while she does have a tramp stamp tattoo she managed to resist getting a belly button piercing.

Her choice in casual attire is usually denim cutoff shorts and a tank top.

As Midnight Monroe she dresses like a 1950s Hollywood starlet with half her face painted like a skull. With her powers she can have instant changes in wardrobe and can alter her appearance to fit whatever movie her current crime has been inspired by.

Personality

Dee loves Hollywood, sleaze and all. She is living her dream starring in trashy movies. When not working she is hitting the clubs and parties around town. Dee has developed a bit of a cocaine habit but so far she has it in check. Her choice in reading material is celebrity gossip, both from 50 years and five minutes ago.

Pretty much all her friends come from the B-movie scene and her romantic relationships are casual rather than committed.

As Midnight Monroe her motivations are fun and fame. She loves playing the bad guy. Most of her crimes consist of things like humiliating an actor that annoys her or disrupting the set of a reboot she has decided should not be. Midnight Monroe makes a lot of references to movies, both by quoting them and in how she uses her powers.

As a proper villain, she enjoys clashing with the same hero again and again. She isn’t a killer, even when making an homage to a horror film. Since her victims are also her audience, how could they give her a review if they’re dead?

Quotes

“Lights ! Camera ! Traction !”

“I’m not really bad, I’m just… actually I’m really bad.”

DC Universe History

Dee Lockwood worked with Dan Cassidy early in their careers. So when he became Blue Devil she decided he would be the perfect star to work with. These collaborations, unwilling on his part, consisted of Blue Devil trying to stop whatever mayhem she was up to. The pair remain connected as it turns out they were both empowered by Neron.

A trip to Opal City to steal some movie memorabilia led to a clash with Starman that Jack Knight found pretty cool. Zatanna’s celebrity status also made her a target of Midnight Monroe but this didn’t go nearly as well for the villainess.

Eventually she opened a nightclub for villains, which was how she encountered the Secret Six. In this continuity Midnight Monroe replaces Jeanette both on the team and in Deadshot’s heart.

Marvel Universe History

Midnight Monroe was an early foe of Jessica Drew in her career as Spider-Woman. Along with her macabre nature and aversion to killing, this made her an ideal candidate for the Night Shift. Since the Order is a very public team based in LA and contains members who have worked in entertainment, Midnight Monroe has led her comrades against them.

She also battles Moon Knight on her own when he operates on the West Coast. Satannish is the most likely candidate for the source of her powers.

By Charly Clinch.

Helper(s): Dr. Peter S. Piispanen’s Magic DC Character Creation System, Darci.

Writeup completed on the 7^th of November, 2015.