Titania a.k.a. Lascivious
(Davida DeVito)
Sequence
Lascivious (previously Titania) is a minor Marvel Comics character, first seen in 1979.
This here profile is meant to be read after the Grapplers team profile. Which has the bulk of the material, so the individual profiles can be short and focused.
Advertisement
Background
- Real Name: Davida DeVito.
- Former Aliases: Titania.
- Other Aliases: DeVito once impersonated Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau).
- Known Relatives: None.
- Group Affiliation: Original Grapplers ; New Grapplers ; the Hood’s Deadly Dozen (defunct) ; the Masters of Evil (Shadow Council Bagalia version) ; the Masters of Evil (Baron Zemo’s Bagalia mob).
- Base of Operations: New York City, then Los Angeles, then Mobile, then Bagalia.
- Height: 6’1″ (1.85m). Weight: 149 lbs. (67 Kg.).
- Eyes: Blue. Hair: Black.
Powers & Abilities
Titania was noted for her presence. That is, her ability to work crowds, play out wrestling storylines, give in-ring speeches, deliver taunts, etc..
Stage #2
During stage #2, her gear was :
- One-inch (2.5cm) diameter discs with detonating warheads – usually explosives.
- A rope with a grapnel.
- A rod firing concussive energy blasts.
- A small needle loaded with enough knockout drug to fell even Thundra. This was issued for one specific mission.
The discs were *apparently* used for sabotage, by slipping them into machinery. Which means they have some sort of timer.
Stage #4
During stage #4 :
- There’s little data to evaluate her super-strength. My loose, unsubstantiated guess would be “Class 5”.
- Her durability seems low superhuman, but with a strong regenerative component. An electrical Green Goblin grenade took her down, but not for long – and the wounds faded over minutes. One panel *might* imply that she can regrow limbs. So she’s a bit Wolverine-esque.
- Her emotion-manipulating power was to make her target fall madly in love with somebody — or something — else.
1980s Titania costume.
History
Davida DeVito hails from Maine.
She was recruited to train at Auntie Freeze’s wrestling school. DeVito then led the Grapplers – her fellow graduates.
Super-cards
When the UCWF created its women’s division, Titania held the championship belt for a while.
However, she was defeated by Battleaxe (Anita Ehren). Who had considerably greater mass and superhuman strength.
Ms. DeVito thus lost both her title, and her position as leader of the New Grapplers. In a rage, she attacked Ms. Ehren after the match was over. They had to be separated by the Thing (Benjamin Grimm) and other Grapplers.
Angry and dejected, Ms. DeVito stormed off to take a shower. But she was murdered there by Caprice (Kendra Price), one of the Scourges of the Underworld.
In 1993, Titania’s shade was glimpsed among the dead, discussing with the 1940s Whizzer.
Can’t keep a bad girl down
After she was resurrected by the Hood, Titania changed her name to “Lascivious”, based on her new powers. While DeVito was dead, the Titania moniker had been claimed by the far stronger Mary McPheran-Creel.
Though Letha returned to New York City in 2017, Lascivious wasn’t with her. Presumably, she decided to remain in Bagalia.
Description
Officially, Titania is 6’1″ (1.85m). I’ve kept that in the Background block, but she’s almost never drawn that tall. In the material, it usually seems that she and Letha are about 5’8″ (1.72m).
DeVito’s weight is listed as 194lbs. (88Kg.) in secondary sources . I assume this is a typo, and listed her as being 149 lbs.. It seems unlikely that her body density was increased, especially since Letha (who received similar augmentations at all stages, and is just 2″ shorter) is listed at 145 lbs. (65 Kg.).
149 pounds is credible on the “Handbook scale”. A more realistic estimate for a 6’1″ female athlete with her proportions is 170+ lbs. (77+Kg.).
Stage 4
After her resurrection, DeVito’s skin was markedly paler. Since she already had long black hair, she eventually added a torn fishnet sleeve to her costume. As a nod toward goth girl aesthetics.
But her skin gradually recovered its usual tone.
When she uses her emotion manipulation power, her eyes glow a bright green and she speaks in a demon voice. The eyes of her target also become green.
She briefly switched to a so-so costume with a boobs window. That was soon phased out.
2009, second Lascivious costume.
Personality
As Titania she was proud, dominant and aggressive, and hated losing a fight.
She also liked delivering action banter, half-way between wrestling taunts and super-villain bants .
She was reluctant to use equipment, as she wanted to demonstrate her martial skills.
Undead
After her resurrection, DeVito was uncharacteristically quiet. One imagines that she was struggling with the “demon static” within her head. She therefore let Feliciano take center stage, and looked a bit as if she were dealing with a constant migraine.
On the other hand, the limiter on her domineering character burned out. She gleefully, cruelly used her psychic power to crush and humiliate. Though she was much less murderous than the enraged Letha.
Ms. DeVito seemed traumatised by her experience of death, which she referred to as “the darkness”. That made her emotionally dependent on Letha, as she needed her friend’s support to maintain a degree of mental health.
Bagalia
By early 2011, she had finished recovering. Ms. DeVito now behaved much like her old self.
Once in Bagalia, the pair seemingly caroused all the time. They essentially lived in pubs. They drank lots ‘n’ lots of liquor and had sex with terrible dudes. For *years*.
Maybe they simply loved to party, maybe they had to deal with trauma from their demonic resurrection, maybe both.
Quotes
(To Thundra) “Red, I owe you a little something after the way you tossed me around the gym the other day.”
(As the Black Goliath appears) “Whoah ! Poundcakes, get a load of Bobo Brazil ’s big brother !”
“Get your paws offa me, you big jerk – before I bite your thumb off !”
(As Lascivious, demon voice) “You *love* me, Desmond. Deeply. You *lust* for me. I’m your entire world. Nothing else matters […]. On your knees. Love is not unconditional, Desmond. Beg me for it. Plead like a dog.”
Advertisement
DC Universe Adaptation
(This section proposes ways of using this character in DC Universe stories).
I suppose that Titania’s Female Fury equivalent might be Bernadeth, though this is the least convincing equivalency.
She was likely more envisioned as a Big Barda analogue. Hence the 6’1″ stated by the writers, ja ?
DC Heroes RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
Titania – Stage #2
| Dex: 06 | Str: 04 | Bod: 05 |
| Int: 04 | Wil: 03 | Min: 04 |
| Inf: 04 | Aur: 04 | Spi: 04 |
| Init: 016 | HP: 020 |
Skills:
Acrobatics: 04, Artist (Wrestling speeches): 04, Martial artist: 06, Vehicles (Land): 03
Advantages:
None demonstrated.
Connections:
Wrestling scene (Low), New York City mobs (Low).
Drawbacks:
Public ID.
Motivation:
Mercenary.
Occupation:
Mercenary, wrestler.
Wealth:
004
Equipment:
- Blast rod [BODY 02, Energy blast (Diminishing): 09, Ammo: 04].
- Explosive mini-discs (x5) [BODY 01, EV (Area of Effect 0 APs): 06, Grenade Drawback].
Design notes
Before the Roxxon enhancements, her Physical Attributes and her Skills likely all were one AP lower (except for Vehicles). Ditto for her Wealth.
The Blast Rod’s Diminishing and Ammo are arbitrary.
Stats are even more arbitrary for the mini-discs, which are never actually seen or used. Presumably it was part of Gruenwald’s concept for Titania (he co-created her with Macchio (no relation)) and he only got to mention it in the OHOTMU.
Vehicles (Land) is assumed. She’s from Maine and lived in L.A., after all.
Titania – Stage #3
STR rises to 07. Wealth rises to 005 (perhaps even 006).
Her BODY remains a 05, but she gets the Conditional Soaking (Blunt, Unarmed) Advantage. She keeps her HPs for that, allowing her to go the distance even against superhumanly powerful blows – to everyone’s surprise.
No Equipment, but the rest seems unchanged.
Lascivious – Stage #4
*Tentatively*: STR 08 BODY 07, Regeneration: 07.
Broadcast Empath: 05, limited to feelings of love, lust and adoration. But her track record is weird, so some *tentative* notes here :
- OV/RV is adjusted by -1CS if the target is a loving and/or affection-deprived person.
- OV/RV is adjusted by +1CS if the target has a low ability to feel or express affection. Or just low romantic/sexual needs.
- Lascivious has a special +8 Duration Bonus against other Dormammu-resurrected persons, if she can land RAPs.
- The Power’s effects fade if she falls asleep (this is noted by Letha).
- Broadcast Empath likely painfully backfires if used against the Hood (this was seen with Miracle Man’s psychic powers).
Both Lascivious and Letha were weirdly effective against Spider-Man (Peter Parker), who normally resists mental effects quite well.
Since it also worked well on Bird-Man, perhaps people with a link with magical animal spirits have a -2CS OV/RV Attack Vulnerability toward them. Due to some obscure stuff about the Faltine and such totem entities.
Lascivious – Stage #4 (cont.)
Lascivious seemed to have maybe 010 Hero Points max, being weirdly passive. The alternative explanation (and I’d lean that way) is that she had 025, but kept most of it for her Broadcast Empath attacks on Spider-Man.
Also add WRIST RADIO [BODY 02, Miniaturisation: 01, Radio communications: 06] while working with the Hood gang.
*If* the demonic powers faded over time, by 2011 she may have been down to STR 06 BODY 06, Regeneration: 04, Broadcast Empath: 03.
None of the crowd she hanged around with after her resurrection was conducive to Connections. But she might have acquired Area Knowledge (Bagalia).
Lascivious – Stage #5
We never see DeVito in action during that stage. Unless you count guzzling beers.
*If* she’s like Letha, then she’s back to her Stage #2 stats, without equipment.
But it’s possible that, say, Letha left Bagalia because her powers had faded out – but Lascivious stayed since they didn’t.
Source of Character: Marvel Comics.
Helper(s): Charly Clinch, Darci.
Writeup completed on the 18th of June, 2021.