Monster
(Dark Horse Heroes)
Context
The Monster — at least it’s a straightforward name — was one of the early characters in the Comics’ Greatest World.
Launched in 1993, this was a new super-hero universe from publisher Dark Horse. It mostly died off, but interesting material still gets released under the revised name Dark Horse Heroes.
The Monster had one solo issue, as part of the one-shots during the launch. This may mean that Dark Horse was testing the water for a Monster series. This didn’t happen, but perhaps it would have resembled the Man-Thing stories at Marvel.
Background
- Real Name: Possibly N.A..
- Marital Status: N.A..
- Known Relatives: None.
- Group Affiliation: None.
- Base Of Operations: Arcadia.
- Height: 7’11” Weight: 545 lbs.
- Eyes: Red Hair: None
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Powers and Abilities
The Monster is able to lift about 80 tons, and he’s highly resistant to damage. Small arm fire has proven completely ineffective, and a LAW rocket produced little visible effect.
He’s otherwise a simple, empathically sensitive creature.
History
The Monster likely is a soldier or scientist mutated by the Vortex. He either escaped Block 13 or was never detained there. However, how such a creature could have moved from the Vortex, in the Nevada desert, to the sewers of Arcadia, is unclear.
The Monster was long thought to be a legend. Even by the vigilante X – who’s been living in the sewers, and knows essentially everything about Arcadia.
When the Monster and X met, the Monster reacting badly to X’s hatred and anger. Their fight was quite one-sided, but was broken up when a special SWAT team in pursuit of X found them both. They couldn’t affect the Monster either, but he chose to leave.
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More encounters
X, however, had memorized where the Monster lived. He became quite adept at finding him in the sewers. Thus, when Titan attempted to arrest him, he managed to lead him to the Monster. But Titan was far too powerful, and threw the Monster in the sea outside of Arcadia.
The Monster came back, of course. He was involved in a few other violent episodes – notably during the war in Arcadia. He also struck a sort of friendship with Miki D, the street urchin living in X’s base. Miki D regularly brought him food, and the Monster saved his bacon whenever Miki was in trouble in the sewers.
The Monster was almost killed at one point by Coffin’s postmortem psionic manifestation. But he survived and continued his rat-munching existence.
Description
A massive, deep red creature. The Monster is humanoid, and has Doomsday-like sharp bone protrusions, especially on his back, head, shoulders and forearms.
He’s quite dinosorian, with something of an Alien. His face his reminiscent of Death’s Head II (i.e., a sort of skull). His eyes are of a hateful red.
Personality
The Monster is simply lonely, and would like company. But he’s also quite shy. He only ventures into the light when he feels real lonely or is hungry.
Like the Man-Thing, he mostly reacts to external stimuli. Negative emotions such as fear and anger hurt him and make him aggressive. Sympathy soothes him – he’s then likely to act in an altruistic manner.
Since fear and anger are the most common emotions in Arcadia, and the Monster is hunted by the humans, he’s been known to conduct rare retaliatory attacks on the surface. Thus perpetuating a vicious cycle of hatred and attracting powerful hunters.
Quotes
“Uhrrrrrr.”
Game Stats — DC Heroes RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
Monster
| Dex: 04 | Str: 12 | Bod: 09 | Motivation: Unwanted |
| Int: 01 | Wil: 05 | Min: 05 | Occupation: Quasi-animal |
| Inf: 02 | Aur: 02 | Spi: 05 | Resources {or Wealth}: NA |
| Init: 007 | HP: 020 |
Powers:
Density Increase: 01, Empathy: 06, Skin armor: 03
Bonuses and Limitations:
- Density Increase is Always On and already factored in.
- Empathy is Always On.
Advantages:
None demonstrated.
Drawbacks:
Innocent, SIH of fear and anger, Mistrust, Strange Appearance.
Source of Character: Dark Horse’s CGW.