Taki & Olivia McGill (Takio)
Context
Takio is a creators-owned 2011/2012 comic by B.M. Bendis and M.A. Oeming. More stories were planned, and they stayed that way.
It’s an all-age story, with Bendis’ usual emphasis on dialogue.
This entry doesn’t discuss the (light) plot. So there aren’t *quite* S P O I L E R S. But it still spoils a bit.
It takes place more or less in the real world. One without superhumans.
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Background
Our young heroines are Taki and Olivia McGill. Their dad died some months before the story starts. Their mum’s given name isn’t.
They live in Portland, OR.
Taki is 13, and seems to be about 5’1″ (1.55m) and 95lbs. (43 Kg.). She has black hair, and brown eyes with blue reflections.
Olivia is 7, and seems to be about 3’11” (1.19m.) and 50 lbs (23 kg.). She has light brown hair and blue eyes.
Powers & Abilities
Olivia and Taki’s powers seem telekinetic in nature. Applications include :
- Telekinetic blasts, “launched” with a punching or kicking motion. These are powerful enough to smash a city bus and send it flying for a dozen metres.
However, their effect on living beings is closer to being punched by a big strong guy. Perhaps due to subconscious restraint. - Telekinetic super-jumps. The girls can land precisely and with but a small amount of force.
- Telekinetic blocking of incoming projectiles, including bullets and telekinetic blasts. This is quite reliable.
The girls also seem more resilient to falls and collisions than they should. Life would be easier if it were true of all kids.
Attempting to empower soldiers in a similar way didn’t work. It may be a matter of age, body mass, sex and/or other factors.
Other capabilities
Otherwise, they are about as useful as most other kids that age. Though I guess you can send those ahead of the party to trigger dungeon traps.
One notable quirk is that they don’t have cellphones. Their parents didn’t want them to.
Taki has a solid vocabulary and decent grammar. Olivia doesn’t.
Soundtrack
Something middle-school girls would listen to in 2011… Mmm, I guess you can stray too far by going with some Rihanna. Though I ain’t sure their mum would let them listen to this album.
Unfortunately, this track also had some Jay-Z on it. Look, *not even* Rihanna is perfect. What hope is there for the rest of us ?
History
Taki and Olivia live in a typical suburban area of Portland. Their parents are overprotective, though they seemed otherwise nice enough. Both kids seem adopted.
Some time before the story starts, their father died. Their mum is still grieving. Depressive symptoms mean that she isn’t too communicative. One also gets the impression that she took a second job to keep the lights on.
To compensate, Taki is doubling down on her big sister role. She’s acting as responsible as she can to raise Olivia while their mum is incapacitated.
But one day, something strange and sudden happened…
Description
They pretty much are always dressed in jeans and t-shirts. Though Olivia also likes cargo shorts.
They don’t get to dress in fun ways like many other Portland kids do, presumably due to parental orders. Still, Taki has a pair of tough girl leather bracers.
The “costumes” are pretty much children’s dancing unitards, plus Halloween masks, plus cobbled-together novelty accessories.
When using their powers, they both emit blue-white energy.
Personality
Taki
Taki is a reserved, responsible kid. She’s also currently acting as a mini-mum for Olivia.
Taki isn’t really introverted, but she doesn’t mind being alone. She likes having contemplation time, and keeps a diary.
She also wishes she were a bit older, and is concerned with maintaining her in-school social status.
Though she’s not aggressive, she doesn’t shy away from confrontation. Especially if insulted for being Korean-American.
She also reacts well in a crisis.
Olivia
Olivia is an extrovert. She’s always, always, alllwaaayyyysss talking about some dumb childish thing.
She’s also particularly affectionate and touchy-feely, even by 7-year-old standards. She’s quite excitable and loves super-hero stuff.
Olivia thus often gets on Taki’s nerves. But they’re obviously close friends, and work together to shield their mother from additional bad news.
Relationships
Taki doesn’t have a bunch of friends. But she has a particularly close bond with her BFF Kelly-Sue. To the point where they and their friends will often describe that relationship in romantic terms.
Taki’s *actual* romantic interest is an older boy. But he’s in high-school, dating a cheerleader his age. He likely doesn’t know that Taki and her puppy crush exist.
Olivia has a bunch of friends among other second-graders. But they’re all too small for these relationships to be complex. It’s Taki who’s the central person in her world, especially while their mum is out of it.
Quotes
“Kung-fu telekinesis !” (Olivia’s mandatory cry before launching a blast)
“Olivia, NO !” (Effectively Taki’s battle cry)
Taki: “I’m thinking.”
Olivia: “Let’s go tell mom.”
Taki: “You’re right.”
Olivia: “I’m always right.”
Taki: “You are almost never right.”
Olivia: “Today was fun.”
Taki: “Of course it was fun. You’re in second grade… all you do is nap and poop.”
Olivia: “We learned about the Moon !”
Taki: “How did we do that ?”
Olivia: “I don’t know.”
Taki: “I KNOW you don’t know. I am asking rhetorically.”
Olivia: “Well, I don’t know what that means and I don’t know what happened to us… but I think we should get costumes that I design…”
Taki: “Shut up.”
Olivia: “It’s telli… co… Netflix.”
Taki: “Telekinesis.”
Olivia: “KUNG FU TELEKINESIS !”
Taki: “The *deal* is, we wear *masks*.”
Olivia: “Which only adds to the- the- the thing.”
Taki: “Mystique.”
Olivia: “Yeah, good word.”
Taki: “We wear the *masks* !! That’s where it stays. I want to go to school. I want to come home. Every one in a while we’ll do the superhero thing. And only after we get more practice, because right now *we suck !!*”
Olivia: “*You* suck !”
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Other Universes History
That they are the first known superheroes in their world would likely have played a role in further stories… But these stories are unlikely to ever exist.
Portland doesn’t have much superhuman action in the main universes. In the DCU Green Lantern Jessica Cruz lives there. But generally the coast is clear for the McGill sisters.
DC Heroes RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
Taki & Olivia McGill
| Dex: 02 | Str: 01 | Bod: 02 |
| Int: 02 | Wil: 02 | Min: 02 |
| Inf: 02 | Aur: 02 | Spi: 02 |
| Init: 012 | HP: 010 |
Powers:
Damage capacity: 06, Enhanced Initiative: 06, Force shield: 11, Jumping: 07, Mental blast: 12, Shrinking: 02 (Olivia)/01 (Taki).
Bonuses and Limitations:
- Damage capacity is limited to Physical damage with the Structural Descriptor.
- Force shield has No Range, takes an Automatic Action to form, and doesn’t move with its creator.
- Mental Blast has a Range of but 04, and has the Structural Descriptor.
- Mental Blast’s EV caps at 05 against living creatures. Though I wouldn’t be surprised if they could go higher against large scary animals, like bears. And they always use it for Bashing Combat.
- Shrinking is Always On, but *not* factored into the given STR. It also leaves Olivia with a land speed of 01.
Skills:
Accuracy (Mental blast): 03. I suppose Olivia can also have Artist (Crayons drawing): 01.
Advantages:
None demonstrated.
Connections:
None.
Drawbacks:
Age (Very Young), Secret Identity.
Motivation:
Uphold Good.
Occupation:
Middle-schooler.
Wealth:
N.A..
Source of Character: Takio (collected edition).
Helper(s): Marcin Wrona.
Writeup completed on the 14th of January, 2020.