posted
The Legionnaire descriptions that Jim Shooter (in 1976) and Tom and Mary Bierbaum (in 2000) wrote. The original can still be found on the Interlac's official site here.
Jim Shooter: Kind of a yutz - - manly, strong, secure, and yet no one suspects that he isn't bright enough not to be. Questions of a philosophical nature rarely form in his mind. He is a good counterpart to Bouncing Boy, having that dumb ego B.B. lacks. He will shave around his ears forever. On the good side, he is dedicated, direct, and reasonable, he knows his lack of high intellect and delegates the thinking, rather than attempt it himself. He is a good leader, a quick thinker if not a deep thinker, and one who relates well to those behind him. Even as a leader he is a team player.
Bierbaums: Literally the "rock" of the Legion, the foundation, the corner stone. Quietly, unobtrusively personifies Legion heroism. Not really a natural leader, tends to let others take the initiative. Never acted on his love for Imra and let Lydda choose him.
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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Shooter: Pretty much as she's been pictured. An organizer, a businessmanlike, clever, smart competent women's libber who scared away every guy she met until Lightning Lad with his overwhelming ego treated her like a lady, and she loved it. She is a wild, wild woman in bed, who undoubtedly has occasionally accompanied Lightning Lad on his forays into Dream Girl's boudoir.
Bierbaums: Tough, dedicated and self-disciplined, but not the iron-butt some of her teammates regard her as. She's built many emotional barriers around herself because she's all too familiar with and vulnerable to the intense personalities that surround her. When it's needed (and she knows when), she's the most empathetic and supportive of the team, as every Legionnaire who's gone through a real crisis knows.
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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Shooter: One of the reasons for his sister's retiring personality. He is a showman, a proud, powerful exemplary hero. A confident, dominant man, man enough for the likes of Imra Ironass Ardeen. Certainly his revival from death has affected him. Doubtless he feels now that he has a great role to play -- a mission. He is good. He knows it -- he strives for it and will not be denied his place in the heroic limelight.
Bierbaums: The original Garth was a charismatic bad boy who nobody was quite able or willing to straighten out. He finally found real valor in himself when he sacrificed his life for Imra. When the team tried to resurrect him, they instead gave him Proty's personality, which was the heroic, dedicated and slightly unbalanced Garth we knew during most of the Legion's run.
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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Shooter: The only girl with a frail enough ego to make Bouncing Boy secure. She is bright, pretty, clever, thoughful and artistic chick with a lousy self-image. One of the best catches of the Legion girls -- note that B.B. got her! All the way through the courtship he probably told himself, "Naw, she really can't like me." And with the same ruthless resignation he faces danger, he courted and charmed her until he got her, surprising no one more than himself! She recognizes Chuck's value. She even recognizes her own value, but insists on judging herlsef against starndards carefully suelected to paint a failure. Like the hopeless crush on Supes.
I'm sure there were some jokes made about the two for one bit long before B.B. courted D.D. -- probably the Legion guys were afraid of messing with D.D. because of the razzing they'd get, werd sex humor and suspicion of troilistic perversion, etc. I'm sure D.D. got some funny looks occasionally from the Legionnaires. A girl with a power so weirdly suited to weird sex (and not much else) has reason to wonder what's aid behind her backs.
Bierbaums: Luornu has a triple personality, an oddity they try to suppress on Cargg. The "purple" Lu is reserved, well-behaved, the "orange" Lu is a trouble-making rebel and the "white" Lu (the one Computo killed) is nervous and fatalistic, the repository of all the anxiety the combined Triplicate Girl suffered through. Usually, the "purple" personality is dominant, making Triplicate Girl one of the strongest links in the Legion chain. ...Usually.
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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Shooter: No wonder Ultra Boy worships her. She is bright, pretty, thoughtful, sensitive and charming. She also knows Ultra Boy well, she understands him better than he understands himself. She sees the good in him, but she surely knows he is unfaithful. I imagine she doesn't care, she accepts it as part of the price she pays -- just as she accepts dealing with his negativism. I suspect she can manuever him pretty handily, and wind him around the finger of her choice, though he doubtless believes he is running the show and she isn't on to him yet.
Bierbaums: Strongly driven to rebel against her stuffy, disapproving elitist mother, but also has lots of tendencies to follow in her mother's footsteps. Sort of the snooty cheerleader who sneaks a smoke in the girls' room.
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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Shooter: Hmm. A little paranoid, but he is a fighter. He knows people stare at him, but he is almost defiant. His personality is reminiscent of a slightly militant black, circa 1969. His relationship with Proty I and II should not be overblown. Cham of all people would not patronize a truly intelligent creature. Despite the Weisinger-era "dialogye" of the Proteans, I suspect they communicate simple feelings or pictures and are not human-equivalent. I doubt he resents L.L., but he may be jealous of Saturn Girl's rapport with Proty, his pet. Cham is unique, for a shape shifter he can identify with beauty the other Legionnaires misss. He could turn up with a shaggy, horned alien chick as easily as Elwinda. Liberal, he is -- even philosophical. And probably a little kinky.
Bierbaums: Another collection of contradictions. Mysterious, unfathomable, utterly alien, the consummate detective and spy. But also emotionally vulnerable, especially in matters involving anti-alien bigotry and the secretive father who "abandoned" him, R.J. Brande. Cham lacks the patience to really enjoy the leadership positions he's thrust into.
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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Shooter: Middle-class, yes, naive in the sense of firm belief in middle class values. Home, family, apple pie, flag, country, motherhood. He is convinced of everything -- I doubt he is insecure. Everything seems blacka nd white, value wise. Power-wise, height is one of the best psychological allies you can have. I'm certain he is unconcerned, even oblivious to things that worry other Legionnaires. He has an easy confience others envy, and yet it sometimes works against him. Sometimes he blundwers into easily avoided situations.
Bierbaums: Somewhat insecure, especially when comparing himself to some of his more "macho" teammates. Feels pressure to prove himself by hooking up with a steady girlfriend, and there just is no interesting partner within the Legion (until Yera comes along).
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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Shooter: (Though Lyle Norg was one of Shooter's most used Legionnaires, he was killed off by Cary Bates when no one was looking, and before Shooter wrote these bios of then-current line-up.)
Bierbaums: Extremely intelligent, quiet, possibly gay. Very much prefers to quietly blend into the ranks, but is also very capable of asserting himself as a leader when called upon.
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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Shooter: A big fullback of a guy, he is slow, steady. faithful, honorable, reliable, loyal, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent. And dumb. And probably hung like a horse, which will be the deciding factor in Dream Girl's settling down with him in that isolated observatory.
Bierbaums: Maybe not as bright or as deep as most of his teammates, but Thom is a good man who really believes in the Legion way. And he's determined and earnest enough to make it work. Initially, he and Dream Girl were a good match, but as Nura matured, she came to overshadow him in virtually all areas except simple strength of character, and that's left a gap in Nura's life since they split.
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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Shooter: (Supergirl had departed the Legion befire Shooter wrote his bios.)
Bierbaums: (Supergirl/Kara Zor-El was written out of continuity before the Bierbaums' tenure. Andromeda has an entry later on this page.)
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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Shooter: A computer-brained adolescent. A child genius, who always has the rigth answer but most likely hasn't been laid yet. His emotions have reached from soppy-sentimentalism and self-pity to tantrums of rage. He is, however, intellectually aware of his short-comings, giving him a bit of control. He knows his long suit, and he attempts to think his way out of immaturity just as he thinks his way out of everything else. On his side he has confidence, leadership and a healthy ego. His self-approach is confined to his personality, and in any situation against any odds he has faith in his brain. Setbacks merely inspire new intellectual efforts, he treats adversoty as a problem to be solved. This is a strength and a weakness, for should a foe ever shake that self-confidence or somehow negate the value of Brainy's mind, he would fall apart! All his eggs are in one basket, albeit an armor-clad one.
Bierbaums: Too intelligent for his own good. It seems like he doesn't understand his teammates, but he actually understands them down to their tiniest impulses. He just hasn't quite figured out how to process all that information. He's forced himself to live in such emotional disconnect that he doesn't always respect the emotional needs in his teammates he perceives so easily. His biggest hangup: Colu genetically manufactured him and hammered into his childhood psyche the notion that his happiness didn't matter. His duty is to serve the common good of Colu.
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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Shooter: More than a little like a female version of Ultra Boy. She is very hung up on Ultra Boy. She is very hung up on Duplicate Boy and is rather a depressive sort -- but not as extreme as U-Boy. Just being a girl helps, because it is easy to relax into a follower's role and her essential underlting morbidity is interpreted as shyness. She is very emotional, bright, attractive, and confusing to simpler types like Colossal Boy who can't understand that she is happiest when wallowing in loneliness, suspicion, doubt abd fear. She gets all her weird sex from Duplicate Boy and waiting and worrying just makes it sweeter.
Bierbaums: Painfully shy, insecure and possibly not quite competent in the early years. Probably was dealing with issues of sexual identity, not able at first to accept her lesbian nature. Never really had it together until she found Ayla, but after that, she become one of the Legion's best.
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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Shooter: This could take volumes. But it won't. He is the most complex character, and the best. Not for nothing is this guy the greatest hero ever. He is control of himself, his life and his power, incredibly so. A fantastic person.
Bierbaums: He's basically what we tried to turn Mon-El/Valor into -- the greatest hero of them all, the standard by which all that follows would be measured. For the Legionnaires, his presence is something akin to a contemporary club of U.S. presidents being joined by Abraham Lincoln.
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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Shooter: Your typical upper-middle-class happy, well-adjusted A & B student, put-together fun guy. He doesn't have to screw Dream Girl, he undoubtedly gets enough action on his own.
Bierbaums: He turned out during our run to be a tragic hero, raised on the notion that you had to win, no matter what the cost. He really tried to rise above the fuzzy morality of his upbringing and win within the rules, but that meant pushing himself beyond his limits and he suffered a nervous breakdown. Probably never fully recovered from that, leaving himself all too vulnerable to corrupting influences during the Great Collapse of the Five-Year Gap.
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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