Venture 2099
Corporate super-mercenary Venture was first seen in early issues of Spider-Man 2099, in 1992.
Background
- Real Name: Unrevealed.
- Marital Status: Unrevealed.
- Known Relatives: Risque (sister, real name unrevealed).
- Group Affiliation: Alchemax Elite.
- Base of Operations: New York City, in a year 2099.
- Height: 5’9″ Weight: 170 lbs
- Eyes: Red Hair: Dark blond.
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Powers & Abilities
Venture is an elite mercenary, with robust training, a fortune in cybernetic enhancements, and top-shelf weapons.
His most notable assets include :
- Enhanced strength (about “Class 5”).
- Computer-enhanced thermal vision. This suite makes him an extraordinary tracker, seeing barely-there heat traces. Such traces can even be analysed to reconstruct past events at the site.
- Built-in jet boots.
- Weapons including a huge energy rifle, an energised fighting staff, and tangle grenades (“molecularly dense body wrap”).
- Minor systems such as a DVD burner (presumably to hand data over to an air-gapped computer), audial enhancement enabling him to clearly hear whispers, etc..
During his second appearances, Venture could also make his hands leave his body, fly through the air and wrestle Spider-Man 2099 (Miguel O’Hara) to the ground. This seems to have been a contingency measure, added so he could keep fighting when immobilised.
Got psi ? (part 1)
Miguel O’Hara described Venture as being psionically enhanced. However, no such thing is visible. But it’s certainly possible that Venture’s ability to reconstruct past events based on heat traces is a mix of technology and psionics.
Perhaps he has a minor “past vision” power that was enhanced to useful levels using psychotronics , then coupled to a custom high-end IR scanner.
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Got psi ? (part 2)
In his second appearance, Venture demonstrated Terminator-like durability. He kept coming back despite taking massive damage, though it took a little bit of time.
Curiously :
- It wouldn’t fully make sense for it to be additional technological systems. It’s certainly not impossible, but it doesn’t match the flow of events well.
- He didn’t seem to expect it himself, especially the first time.
- It seemed to be above the usual power level for Corporate Elite mercenaries.
It is thus *possible* that his unspecified psionic potential granted him new powers as he awoke from his coma. It’s a No-Prize Hypothesis , but it’s not an unprecedented story beat in the genre.
History
Venture was the first Alchemax Elite agent sent after Spider-Man 2099 (Miguel O’Hara), right after O’Hara gained his powers. Though Venture had a clear initial edge over his quarry, Spider-Man narrowly turned the tables on him and escaped.
Venture was badly damaged by the fight, including neural net damage. Most of it occured after Spider-Man jammed Venture’s own fighting staff into his leg circuitry and activated the shock field.
The mercenary remained unresponsive for months.
I shall return
Alchemax hired Venture’s sister, Risque 2099, to take on Spider-Man 2099. She lost the fight due to overconfidence. But as she was fighting, Venture recovered and came in. He hated his sister so much that a need for preventing her from upstaging him had shaken him from his coma.
Now more experienced, Spider-Man 2099 had the upper hand. However, Venture wouldn’t stay down. Even after a collision with a maglev train , he kept getting up. Eventually, Venture held off Spider-Man long enough to tell him that he didn’t want a fight. He had come to make sure his hated sister wouldn’t win, by helping Spidey if necessary.
As Risque was laying on the floor, fighting Spider-Man’s poison in her system, her brother proceeded to beat her with his staff. Spider-Man heroically left.
Joint venture
Later on, the Superior Spider-Man (Dr. Otto Octavius) found himself in the 2099 timeline. He raided several corporations, including Alchemax, to procure technology. Alchemax sent Venture after him. However, the ruthless, powerful and well-armed Octavius apparently defeated (or at least escaped from) Venture.
Later on, Miguel O’Hara encountered one Kweeg. Kweeg came from a possible, alternative version of the year 2099. He invaded the XXth century using the time portal O’Hara was working on.
Kweeg is the equivalent of Venture in his native timeline, yet a different character. However, when a confused Spider-Man called Kweeg “Venture”, Kweeg thought it was a cool name. He adopted it.
Kweeg also changed his outfit and armament to evoke Venture 2099, though the differences are still readily visible.
Description
See illustrations.
Personality
Venture really, really wants everyone to know that he’s a hard man, a thorough professional, and not impressed. It’s a so-so Clint-Eastwood-as-a-tough-cowboy-bounty-hunter impersonation. Yet he’s got enough charisma to make it work against ordinary people.
He’ll act in a condescending and insulting manner, calling other men “son”. Venture will also keep telling his enemies how their situation is hopeless, and how he could easily beat them since he’s such an awesome pro, blah blah.
If he starts getting overwhelmed in a fight, Venture will get angry – and thus markedly less precise.
Sister act
Venture *hates* his sister with, as is traditional, the power of a thousand exploding suns. He’ll do and endure anything so his sister can’t demonstrated that she’s more powerful than he is. When he found her helpless from poisoning, he seized the occasion to badly beat her (and possibly murder her).
One gets the impression that Venture’s macho macho man attitude stems from feeling emasculated by, and/or having been bullied and harassed by, his more capable and equally cruel sister. She certainly seems to be a sadistic so-and-so, and goes out of her way to make her brother suffer.
Quotes
Cop: “Venture, what are you doing here ?”
Venture: “Your job.”
Tyler Stone: “Ah, Venture. *Finally*.”
Venture: “I do everything finally.”
(After killing a random Thorite) “In case you thought I was kidding, Spider-Man…. I don’t kid. And I don’t scare. But I don’t think you can say the same. I can smell your fear from here, and you’re smart to be scared.”
“Hit and *run*, eh ? Not the way a real man does business.”
“I’m Venture ! I eat guys like you for breakfast !”
DC Universe History
He’d fit without trouble in the Legion’s future, or even as a L.E.G.I.O.N. agent or rival.
Venture could also be a weird human/terminator agent in Dark Horse Comics’ Terminator series. They actually had one such hybrid, which was also seen in one of the later Terminator movies, and Venture has similarities with them.
Game Stats — DC Heroes RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
Venture
| Dex: 07 | Str: 08 | Bod: 07 | Motivation: Mercenary. |
| Int: 06 | Wil: 05 | Min: 05 | Occupation: Mercenary |
| Inf: 05 | Aur: 04 | Spi: 04 | Wealth: 006 |
| Init: 020 | HP: 045 |
Powers:
Data storage: 04, Extended hearing: 03, Flight: 04, Postcognition: 13, Thermal vision: 06
Bonuses and Limitations:
- Data Storage has a +8 Capacity Special Bonus.
- Postcognition is limited to heat traces, and Contingent Upon Thermal vision.
Skills:
Charisma (Intimidation, interrogation): 06, Military science (Tracking): 13, Weaponry (Melee, Firearms)*: 07
Bonuses and Limitations:
Military Science is a Powered Skill, and Contingent Upon Thermal Vision.
Advantages:
Credentials (Alchemax, Low), Lightning Reflexes.
Connections:
None.
Drawbacks:
Attack Vulnerability (-2CS OV vs. magnetic attacks), SID of his sister, MIA toward Macho arrogance.
Equipment:
- Staff [BODY 09, Claws: 10, Bonus: Claws can also do Bashing Damage (by using a stun field instead of the monofilament blade)].
- Plasma Cannon [BODY 03, Energy blast (Scattershot): 09, Flight: 03, R#03. Flight can only be used when the weapon is Taken Away, to fly back to the magnetised rail on Venture’s back. But it consumes no Actions of either kind for Venture, being entirely automatised].
- Tangle grenade [BODY 01, Snare: 10, Grenade Drawback]. This was used as the equivalent of handcuffs, to contain a stunned opponent.
Cyborgin’ harder
By his second appearance, Venture has gained :
- Invulnerability: 09.
- Regeneration: 04.
- Anatomical division: 07 (only for Hands, Body parts fly through the air).
The first use of Anatomical Division against an opponent will often be a Blindside, due to surprise. The hands will normally attempt to Wrestle.
It is possible that they have a bonus for this and a penalty for all other Combat Manoeuvres. But there’s too little information to draw conclusions. One could always assume he was spending Hero Points to leverage the Blindside bonus.
Design Notes
From the flow of the scene, his Invulnerability did work as fast as the Power in the rulebook. This is rare enough to note.
I’m going by the assumption that his Alchemax Credentials are like Police Credentials, which do not come with a free Connection. Expecting Alchemax to do any favour for you, especially under Tyler Stone, is a bad idea. And Venture was outright antagonistic toward the Public Eye. So not having a Connection matches the material.
I also assumed that he didn’t really need Street Connections, given his super-tracking abilities and general misanthropic behaviour.
Source of Character: Marvel 2099 universe. No, not that one, the other 2099 one.
Helper(s): Peter Piispanen.
Writeup completed on the 26th of May, 2018.