Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Personalities of Legionnaires

For Triad, it turned out that each one of her selve's had a different personality, which got her/them labeled as mentally ill. Or a freak.

The normal Trip, original, I'm not sure.

Pre-Crisis Lu had only one personality. She was sort of a girl-next-door with self-confidence issues, which she tended to hide from her fellow Legionnaires.

The idea of her bodies having different personalities was a 5YL invention, which was carried over into the reboot. Purple Lu was her impulsive/flirtacious side, Neutral Lu was well-adjusted/balanced, and Orange Lu was shy/quiet.

Thanks much you confirmed what I was thinking.

re: 5YL

i thought the stories was that she tried to hide and repress her different personalities because it was thought of as a mental illness, as other carggites have oen personality, and it was suggested she survived the death of her duplicates because they had different personalities. and she was seen as a freak for being able to survive the death of oen of her dupes. (right?)

so add a big helping of repression and shame on top of 5YL Lu.

Yeah, that's pretty much it. In the reboot this was elaborated on with the idea that multiple personalities are actually the norm for Carggites, but society forces them into conformity, and those in whom the forced conformity doesn't take are institutionalized, as with Lu.

Wasn't the personality split a bit different between the SW6 and reboot versions?

I seem to remember Lu remarking during 5YL that she (Neutral Lu?) wouldn't have survived having one of her bodies (Orange Lu?) destroyed by Computo if not for her other self's (Purple Lu?) tenacity ... does anyone else remember this?

I believe there's a text page with Brainy speculating that the independent personalities contributed to the survival of her other bodies. I'm not sure about the comment you mention.

Random thoughts about Tellus;

Tellus, unlike pretty much every other Legionnaire, grew up in a three-dimensional environment, where 'up and down' where as valid of choices as 'left or right.'

As a result, he observes things in a more holistic 'big picture' fashion, processing data from all directions, since, underwater, anything can come from any direction, and both sound and scent can be bringing real-time information from miles away, that has to be accounted for and processed (or dismissed). This doesn't happen on a conscious level, any more than a human has to remind himself to guage distance visually, or to adjust his step so that he doesn't topple over. It's part of the Hrykrain experience.

In air, with the liquid of Great Mother Ocean no longer connecting him to everything around him in a massive tactile sensory web, Tellus is always feeling removed from everything around him. Underwater (or, liquid, in his case, since Great Mother Ocean isn't just 'water'), if someone moves within 10 paces of him, it creates ripples, and that movement might even move him, if it displaces enough fluid, making every movement of every being around him part of a great dance, everything affecting everything else, and, even if many meters from another, everything touching everything else, on some level.

In the cold empty 'air' of an earth environment, he is the eternal spaceman, as cold and exposed and cut off from his native environment as a human would be in a spacesuit, hovering in perpetual vacuum.

Because of the experential and three-dimensional mode of thinking used by Hyrkrains, they can be seen as 'slow' by surface-dwelling sentients, who, by Hrykrain standards, focus like insects on tiny issues and small pieces of data, ignoring the greater context. When multiple Legionnaires are talking at once, examining different minute points of an issue, perhaps even arguing over whose idea is better or whose insight is important, Tellus is bewildered, because it is alien to his people's slower, more deliberate pace.

He is more likely to make the *wise* decision, but it's quite possible that he'll make it too late to be of any use if surrounded by too-fast, too-loud, hot-blooded surface dwellers, who are always rushing to do something, sometimes before they understand the exact significance of the moment.

What he may or may not realize, is that all of that babbling and arguing is the humanoid way of doing what he's doing, as a half-dozen people combine their individual inputs, through this clumsy, loud and confusing communal process, and end up building a very similar holistic 'big picture.' Thanks to having a half-dozen brains to do this with, each focused like a laser on a different piece of what Tellus is looking at with wider-eyes, they might even come to the same conclusion that Tellus would have, even faster, with the 'argument' serving as a funky sort of human attempt at 'parallel processing' a problem by having multiple brains picking at it from different angles.

If only the process weren't so loud and contentious, and he didn't have to *hear* this human consensual process!

Hyrkrains are not monolithic, or incapable of disagreement, but their nature, perhaps somewhat like that of a school of fish, all wheeling in eerie synchronicity, is to swim *with* the current, and when Hyrkrains 'argue,' they look for points of similarity first to 'sing in harmony,' and only then begin to find the points of disharmony and disagreement.

As a result, Tellus can sometimes seem *too* agreeable, or underconfident, hesitant or 'easily-cowed,' because he's less likely to strenuously disagree, and more likely to start a conversation from a point of agreement, and begin moving towards the contentious points as the conversation proceeds. Since most humanoids would have already finished with the conversation, convinced they had 'won' or that Tellus 'was on their side,' they might never get to the point where a Hyrkrain would say, "But I totally disagree with you here..."

Surrounded by air-breathers, whose movements never ripple the waters around them (because there are no waters), he feels like he's surrounded by pictures of people, not real people. Their movements are sudden and graceless. Their bodies have unhealthy bulges that ruin the graceful lines of a sleek aquadynamic form and too many joints, which flop around like broken limbs to his eyes. They talk very fast, often in emotionally charged statements that make him feel like they are on the verge of sudden violence, and walk away, convinced they've 'won' before he's even stated his complete feelings on a matter.

He is schooling himself to regard *them* as his new Great Mother Ocean. Instead of paying attention to any single Legionnaire, he allows their jabbering words to flow over him, like water streaming off of his flanks, and searches instead for the bigger picture, the holistic representation of the greater conversation, while allowing the individual words and sentences to spin away into the darkness.

In time, he will be able to anticipate the flow of a conversation, and come to the end of it, while the individual voices are still working through their strange group think and hashing out details in their terribly inefficient means of parallel processing. He's not there yet, but he's recognized the patterns and the flow, the mathematical elegance and the rthymns of humanoid communication, and, by allowing it to flow around him, instead of trying to focus in on one word or pay attention to any one speaker, he hopes to apply the strength of his Hyrkrain way of thinking and experiencing the world to his interactions with his teammates.

Hey, anybody remember this thread? I was reading through to try and find assessments on Invisibile Kid (Lyle) and found he didn't get much love. Anybody care to assess his personality for me as well as Superboy's?

I'm still working on my game and I'm putting characters together...and like always...I want it to be right.

Awesome post on Polar Boy, Set. I find myself nodding in agreement. Poor Brek...

IIRC, both versions had the same split. Orange was shy and questioning, Neutral was balanced, Purple was outgoing and volatile.

I don't remember it being mentioned anywhere which Lu was killed by Computo. I do remember that the adult Lu, even in 5YL, had both bodies still retain the same personality. I'm not sure if it was explained, or where, but it seemed that being unhinged in time contributed to the SW6 Lu relaxing and accepting her personality differences.

Kinetix definitely learned the hard way to turn her back on power. The way I read her, though, was that she always intended to use her power for good, but she did have some selfish reasons for wanting power - she felt that power would make her feel useful and "perfected". Dig a bit deeper and you have some deep-seated need for validation, which is covered up by her outgoing, big-sisterly and confident personality and her somewhat flippant remarks. She's confident, she thinks she can handle the power, but she also wants it because being powerless makes her feel useless and insignificant.

One instance that really showed how passionate she was, was in LSH v3 50 - the Conspiracy conclusion. (or was it 49?) Mysa was the Legionnaire most adamantly against using the brain-dead Jaxon Rugarth as a tool against the Time Trapper. She defended her beliefs by stating that life is tied to the presence of a soul, and that nobody in the room could say for sure whether or not he was dead.

Mysa earned my respect for being the only Legionnaire to speak AGAINST the plan before it was carried out. Even moreso because we saw how many Legionnaires voted to condemn Brainy in the trial that followed - so why did they not speak up before it came to a trial?

Ergo, Mysa is not just passionate. She is true.
I'll take a stab at XS.

XS' powers emerged rather recently, and can be used as a metaphor for her life. Born into the bloodline of a hero (Barry Allen), her life has always been fast-paced. Her powers got her and her dad captured by Dominators; both her grandpa (Barry) and cousin (Bart) vanished and her mom and uncle were killed. Then she was drafted into the Legion.

XS matured greatly during the course of the post Zero Hour history. She started as a scared (not shy) girl who felt like she was in over her head. She wasn't incompetent by any means, and she did genuinely want to do good. She was just dumped into a difficult situation headfirst (the Legion draft) and felt unequipped to deal with it on her own.

She thus latched onto Cosmic Boy. She idolized him, and this turned into an obsession. He was the strong leader, the one who would validate her. XS wasn't needy by any means, but she enjoyed the positive feelings.

She later transferred her attentions to M'Onel, when she saw how infatuated Cosmic Boy was with Saturn Girl. M'Onel was another hero who made her feel safe; his calming presence helped boost her confidence.

Finally, towards the end of the run, her friendship with Kinetix, her validation from her teammates, and her big-sister relationship with Lori Morning helped her "catch up", so to speak. She became comfortable with her place in the Legion and in the universe. She was able to let go of her infatuation with the "rocks" of Cosmic Boy and M'Onel, and find love (or at least, the chance of love) with the less intimidating, but no less positive, Dyrk Magz.

Now for Kid Quantum II...

She was always competitive with her brother, the first Kid Quantum. In her first appearance, she was angry at the Legion for letting him die, and at the Xanthu politicians for not honoring him as a hero.

In Legionnaires 60, though, she says that she was angry at him, at first, for making a joke of the family name. That's why she pushed herself to internalize her powers, so she could surpass him and bring honor to the family (and to him, in some way).

Jazmin was always an intense Legionnaire. She was capable of great anger and emotion, but usually was able to keep such under control. Unlike many others, she could channel that intensity into something constructive - bettering her powers, leading the Legion. In most of her appearances, she was a strong team player despite having a hotheaded and rebellious streak. She could question, but would still follow orders.

She was confident, but not arrogant; she was independent, but a great team player - in Legion Lost 2, she stepped in to stop Chameleon and Umbra from arguing. "We need each other, more than over. Got it?" In Legion 6, she stood up to Cosmic Boy - "The Legion I know has never sanctioned the idea of acceptable losses." She would argue for her point, but was mature enough to play along with the rest of the team.

I miss her. She was a great Legionnaire.

Thanks for the effort, Phantom Girl. The below is more of the Postboot Lyle...

With Lyle, I see him as somewhat shy (his reluctance to take the job of Legion leader speaks a lot about that), but shy in the sense that he hates having eyes on him. When eyes are off him, he's extremely confident. He believes in his ideas and his cunning (though he can be shaken - when he wandered into Tangleweb's lair alone he was thinking along the lines of, "please don't let me die"). So, he's confident when his skills are tried and tested, such as when handling espionage missions; but new experiences can throw him off-kilter a bit.

He's incredibly charismatic, and knows it. He can flirt with the best of them, if needed. He's not above using that to help him as a leader. However, he's more used to one-on-one interaction, and not dealing with crowds.

He dislikes distractions, and prefers to focus on long-term goals. This may be why he hates crowds and public leadership - too many distractions. His observant (and somewhat of a control freak) personality dislikes that - too many variables for him to keep track off.

He can be quite hard-headed. If he thinks he's right, you'll have to prove to him with logic that he's wrong. He won't just accept it.

There were whispers that he was meant to be gay. If true, knowing Lyle, it wouldn't have stopped him at all. He'd just accept it in stride, and deal with it as it came up.

I just want everyone to know that although this thread is old, I use it frequently for further work on the Legion RPG. I just wanted to express my gratitude for everyone that participated.

My memory is a bit fuzzy on this, but I believe it was from an entry in Lu's diary published as a text page during the 5YG. As I recall, it was an entry within an entry, the "outer" entry having been written shortly after the death of her second body (Purple) in the battle with Glorith. It was this "outer" entry that referred to Purple's strength making it possible for Lu to survive the death of her first body (Orange) years before. This is illustrated by the "inner" entry, which was written (in two different handwritings) by the surviving two Luornos right after Orange was destroyed by Computo. Neutral's entries are full of angst over the death of her other self, while Purple's comments are of a tough love nature aimed directly at Neutral.

This makes it clear that in the Glorithverse Lu's bodies always had individual personalities. This might explain Lu's somewhat flippant attitude toward her own "death" when she first appears to her teammates during the first Computo story: it was Purple putting on a brave face (maybe Neutral was off making her diary entry at the time).

Anybody want to give their personality assessment of Timber Wolf?

Well, he was originally depicted as a loner. But I see that as more a result of being brain washed into thinking he was an android. I do see him liking being in a group (pack?). He is comfortable being a follower, but can lead if it is needed. I see Brin as being friendly and sociable in a macho/masculine sort of manner.

Timber Wolf is one of the Legionnaires I've always had difficulty getting a handle on. When I started reading the series during the Bates/Cockrum era, TW was by far the coolest looking Legionnaire, and he seemed to have all of the heroic qualities. In spite of being feared dead and then being brainwashed (in Superboy # 197), he rose to the occasion and saved the day.

After that, he faded into the background. When stories did feature him, they played up the loner aspect, such as his discomfort with civilization--which I think was a misguided attempt to create an "animal" nature for him. He was more of a stereotype in those days.

To me, he really started to come into his own after Ayla broke up with him. Pretty much all of the trappings that had come to define the character were erased--including his feral appearance--and he became a well-meaning and hard-working guy, but none too bright: the blundering buddy to straight man Blok.

And, of course, he was still every inch the hero, as his trip to Lythyl proved.

After that he faded into the background again until his horrific and pointless transformation into Furball. I didn't read the Timber Wolf mini-series, so I have no idea how it developed his character or didn't.

The Abnett & Lanning version is, to me, a different character.

For me, TW works best as the hard-working guy who just doesn't get it, whatever "it" is.

Timberwolf actually had a great arc that climaxed during the Magic Wars. Making him a leader under Jeckie was a great idea and showed that he had moved on from Ayla, showing how capable he was of leading the Legion. Too bad 5YL torpedoed that development when they turned him into Furball.

Thank you for the assessments of Timber Wolf. I have a player now that is playing White Witch...would be please assess her personality for me so I can make suitable personality traits to guide the player?

Mysa is, in some ways, the typical kid sister to Nura -- she grew up feeling inferior as well as freakish, due to her lack of precognitive abilities. In her early teens, she was unwittingly transformed into The Hag, so she's definitely in touch with her dark side. Once she was back to herself, she again constrasted with her sister, the timid counterpart to the gregarious Nura. But you what they say about still waters. Mysa's potential power level is awesome, and I think it scares her a bit.

The White Witch didn't have much of a personality until she joined the Legion during the Great Darkness Saga. Even though she must have been about the same age as the mainstay Legionnaires (she first appeared as WW back in Adv. 351, after spending the previous issue as the Hag), she was treated as much younger. I see her as everyone's kid sister: someone the others look out for, who adds sweetness and light (literally and figuratively) to the team, and who comments on the proceedings as a relative outsider, much like Blok.

In her origin story, somewhat later, we learned that she had been obsessive about her magical studies on Zerox. She was so focused that she refused to take breaks and somehow transformed into the pale white beauty as we knew her from the GDS on.

IIRC (and I could be wrong), her dedication came from a certain amount of sibling rivalry. Born without the Naltorian gift of precognition, she felt overshadowed by older sister Nura and wanted to prove herself. This type of sibling rivalry is cliche in comics, but at least Mysa chose a healthier alternative to dealing with it than, say, Mekt.

Mysa's role as everyone's kid sister was central to her downfall in 5YL. She was the sweetest and lightest of Legionnaires, yet had been reduced to Mordru's slave-wife. This illustrated how far the Legion and its universe had fallen, and also the lengths the Legion would go to in order to rescue someone they cared about.