Thumbelina
(Mutant Liberation Front)
Context
Thumbelina debuted in Feb. 1990, in the The New Mutants series. She was a member of Stryfe’s mutant super-villain agents, The Mutant Liberation Front.
Most of the time she was a background character.
Her name refers to one of Andersen’s fairy tales .
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Background
- Real Name: Kristina Suggs (or possibly Anderson).
- Known Relatives: Slab (Kris Anderson, brother). It is possible that the since-deceased Hairball (Shaun Michael Suggs) was her husband.
- Group Affiliation: Mutant Liberation Front.
- Base of Operations: Mobile.
- Height: About 3’2″ (1m). Weight: About 102 lbs. (46 Kg.).
- Eyes: Unrevealed. Hair: Purple.
Powers & Abilities
Thumbelina has the power to shrink to a small size (only inches high).
She reportedly increases her density in the process, so she gains minor superhuman strength and some enhanced durability. This isn’t clear in the comics I’ve read, but she could one-shot a security guard from ambush. So she might have increased but not superhuman strength.
A one-off appearance decades later features her much taller, indicating she may have learned to grow in size as well as shrink.
History
Thumbelina starts out invading a military installation with the rest of her team. She uses her shrinking powers to carry out a stealth portion of the operation.
Most of the time she works as a personal assistant/minion to Stryfe (Nathan Summers) himself, stoically doling out information. She’s later sent on a mission with her team to break her brother Slab out of prison.
During the invasion of an M.L.F. base by the X-Men and X-Factor, she and her brother are both entrapped by Iceman (Robert Drake)’s large ice wall. Neither throws a punch.
The character then disappears for countless years until showing up in the background among obvious mutants, in a support group called “Mindfulness of Mutant Appearances”.
Description
The listed vitals assume a twice-baseline body density.
Personality
Thumbelina is very much a non-combatant on the M.L.F… She tends to take care of things back at the base, acting as Stryfe’s assistant.
She’s got almost no showings on the battlefield to her name, does a whole lot of whining, and gets made fun of by most of the team. She just ran in, shrank down, and fixed a bomb that one time.
Thumbelina appears quite worrisome and delicate. She is easily bullied by members of the team like Strobe (who dismissively calls her “lard-face” even as she tries to save the mission by repairing a bomb).
Ms. Anderson stated that Dragoness (Tamara Kurtz) was her only friend in the organization.
Adνеrtisеmеnt
DC Heroes RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
Thumbelina
| Dex: 04 | Str: 04 | Bod: 03 |
| Int: 03 | Wil: 03 | Min: 03 |
| Inf: 02 | Aur: 02 | Spi: 03 |
| Init: 009 | HP: 010 |
Powers:
Density Increase: 01, Shrinking: 08, Skin armour: 01
Bonuses and Limitations:
- Density Increase is Always On and Already Factored In.
- Shrinking used to have 2 APs that were Always On, corresponding to her listed vitals. But it seems that it is no longer the case.
- Skin armour only vs. Unarmed and Blunt Descriptors.
Skills:
Military science (Demolition): 03
Advantages:
None demonstrated.
Connections:
MLF (Low), Slab and the other Nasty Boys (High).
Drawbacks:
None demonstrated.
Motivation:
Uphold Mutants.
Occupation:
Terrorist.
Wealth:
004
Thumbelina as glimpsed in 2018. It seems she can now increase her size but not her mass.
DC Adventures RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
Thumbelina (Kristina Suggs or Anderson)
PL 8 (100)
Created By: Louise Simonson & Rob Liefeld.
First Appearance: The New Mutants #86 (Feb. 1990).
Role: Shrinking Character, Butt-Monkey (to the other M.L.F.ers).
Group Affiliations: The Mutant Liberation Front.
| STR | STA | AGL | DEX |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0/5 | 01 | 01 | 00 |
| FGT | INT | AWE | PRE |
| 05 | 01 | 01 | -1 |
Powers:
Shrinking ● 50 points ● Descriptor: Mutant
– Shrinking 16 (+8 Dodge/Parry, +16 Stealth, -8 Intimidation) (Extras: Normal Strength) [48]
– “Tiny Sized Fighting” — Enhanced Advantages 2: Close Attack 2 (Flaws: Limited to Smaller Sizes) [1]
– “Sneak Attack” — Strength-Damage +2 (Flaws: Limited to When Enemy is Denied Dodge Bonus) [1]
Density control ● 13 points ● Descriptor: Mutant
– Enhanced Strength 5 [10]
– Protection 2 [2]
– “Immovable” — Enhanced Strength 1 (Flaws: Limited to Resisting Movement) [1]
Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+4), Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+8), Deception 4 (+3), Expertise (Terrorist) 2 (+3), Investigation 3 (+3), Perception 4 (+4), Technology 4 (+5).
Combat Advantages:
Close Attack, Teamwork.
Offence:
| Initiative +1 |
| Unarmed +6, Close, Damage 0 (DC 15). |
| High Density +8, Close, Damage 5 (DC 20). |
| Sneak Attack +8, Close, Damage 7 (DC 21). |
Defence:
| Dodge | +5 (DC 15) |
| Fortitude | +3 |
| Parry | Parry +5 (DC 15) |
| Toughness | +3 |
| Will | +3 |
Complications:
- Motivation Mutant Pride.
- Reputation (picked on) Thumbelina is mocked by the other M.L.F. members for her small stature and her uselessness in battle.
- Relationship (Dragoness) Thumbelina is loyal to the only M.L.F. member that does not make fun of her.
- Relationship (Slab) The two are brother and sister, and quite close.
- Relationship (Hairbag) The two are apparently married.
Design Notes
I’ve yet to see Thumbelina actually use real Density-control powers or use her strength in her miniature form, and I’ve read just about every story featuring her. Despite that, every bio site lists these as powers, so maybe they got added during issues I DON’T have.
Either way, she’s a pretty bad combatant, relying on a mix of Density and Shrinking to meet her caps at all, where she’s super-accurate, but still not that tough.
I didn’t go the “Compression” route as an Extra for Shrinking because she only has 4 ranks of it as opposed to 16.
Source of Character: Marvel Comics (mostly X-Force).
Helper(s): What Sébastien Andrivet is cooking.
Writeup completed on the 4th of August, 2020.