Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Bits o' Legionnaire Business Legion Worlds fanfics authors notes

One of the things that has appealed to me over the years about the Legion is how mutable and forgiving it is of its cast members lives. You can have super smart green guys and angry black men mix it up with radical communist bugs that can fight alongside royal snakes with robot arms as love blossoms between unlikely pairings from not only different worlds and species but in one memorable example from entirely different and totally incompatible states of matter altogether - a certain angelic Native American tracker falling for a blowhard bag of anti-energy - and we love it!

With this in mind when setting out to write the Legion Worlds series I wanted to look at the state of the team as it was at the end of the last run and figure out how to increase this incredible vista while remaining true to the history of the concept. As the stories were planned to take place in the retro-Boot the 31st Century team urgently needed to be reunited with their Lost members and I also really wanted to mix up the membership with characters from the various reboots... and also throw in some new faces that could hopefully add to the richness of the story. So, alongside nine other characters from various previous 'boots and points in history that hadn't made the cut in that last run on the comic Backlash, Lexikon and Titan all joined in the first arc - Legion Worlds.

I've found that until I write down the parameters of any new characters personality or motivations that it's difficult to put them into a storyline so here are most of my original notes alongside a few asides that hopefully you'll enjoy.

Currently there are quite a few original characters and with the latest try-out introducing seven more from the cast introduced in the Legion Worlds - Academy arc I thought it might be the right time to give you my notes on the new faces that have joined our favourite future friends in the Legion Worlds fan fic version of their ongoing adventures.

There will be a few spoilers coming up so if you don't want to know too much stop now and go read the fics first.

Backlash - a Tigerram from Simballi.

The Tigerrams have only, as far as I'm aware, been shown in stories that involved Otto Orion as these majestic beasts being shot in the background, but boy they make a great visual: A tiger with great big horns! How sci-fi superb is that? Seriously, I loved the look of them and was debating whether or not to introduce a character that had one as a pet when it struck me that we don't know how intelligent these beasts could be, so why not have one join the team?

My initial idea was to have a Tigerram join that could burst into flames - A tiger with horns - On fire! Great visual idea, eh? Just imagine it, that would be like a Hindu deity made real!

Only it didn't work as we have Dirk and Marya already on the team so what would a fiery tigerram bring to the party other than the great visual? And considering all this work is in the medium of words not pictures it made sense to drop that idea and think it through a bit further.

One thing I agree with Shooter with is there are too many characters that point and zap at things so I wanted to add more physically impressive characters and if we face facts a tiger with horns would be physically impressive, only it could be even more impressive if it was a GIANT tiger with Horns!

So... that was my very initial idea behind Backlash.

Only I also had an idea that it would be nice to introduce a non-human character that didn't understand why the humans of the team are all so selfish and even nasty to each other - something with a pack mentality that would stand up for its teammates and take the higher path when the chips came down. I mean they wouldn't be totally naïve like say Blok was for a while, but still a gentler soul than most when it came to caring for their pack mates. Which contrasts nicely with the very intimidating visual of a tiger with horns. I highlighted this in particular when M'Windaji's wife arrived on Legion World - Backlash showed his displeasure at Gahaji as the tracker hadn't shared the fact he was already married while dating Zoe, thereby in his eyes acting in a disrespectful way towards her in front of the team, his new pack.

And, while I do appreciate that tigers are generally solitary creatures by nature, the idea of a pack mentality alien and a Tigerram married themselves nicely - my idea box was overflowing as I started to write about the Tigerram's history - created by a mad eccentric multi-gazillionaire to be his beautiful guardians but then he died mysteriously leaving them alone on this distant world until the Orion Foundation decided to hunt them into submission... the end result is the introduction to Backlash in the first Legion Worlds fic.

So that's the back story, and the end result is we have the gentle giant Mrruaw M’Nau , a twelve foot long tiger with big rams' horns, as intelligent as any person, that can absorb kinetic energy and use it to fuel his own growth and mass. He adores Lightning Lass, his mentor when he joined, and shows incredible loyalty towards her. And who will absolutely carry a grudge if you mess with any of his new pack... you have been warned!

Lexikon - A Tamaranean Princess


Lexikon was an idea that wouldn't let go... she tugged and fought and struggled and yelled and wouldn't let me not use her in the story.

She actually started as Andromeda in the Dream Boy fan fics - exactly the same basic character - a feisty Tamaranean warrior with her strength and speed and durability amped up along with her race's natural semi-telepathic tactile language absorbing ability maxxed out so she can understand any living creature around her and communicate clearly with them. But Andromeda in that series was woefully underused and I felt really disappointed by the poor service I'd shown her so she needed a re-birth and maybe a little bit of a make over.

As I wanted to reintroduce the survivors of Vega to the 31st century in the very first arc it gave me the perfect opportunity to plant a seed for a Legionnaire from those worlds. Princess Shooradel of Tamaran iv was introduced and became part of Brainy's ad-hoc team on Webber's world. So, when I was thinking about introducing a few new members to the team at the end of that first fic, I knew I had to either re-introduce her or... and this is where I stumbled for quite a while as she wasn't who I wanted to join but there was no real reason why not until it struck me that she may have a sister who is also a maxxed up warrior princess... and then the back story of the Vegans wanting to learn about this galaxy they were slowing opening up to fit in. Why wouldn't there be more than one of these super Tamaraneans? Everyone loves the Tamaraneans so they would be the perfect species to go out into the galaxy and meet the people who inhabit it and learn about their ways - So, why wouldn't one stay on Webber's world where she could learn everything the Vegans (ha, creepy non meat or dairy eating aliens - sorry to anyone on that diet but I just love meat and cheese too much) needed to know about the formal political reality of the UP (and Khunds, etc.) and another join the Legion where they would have the opportunity to learn about another less well heeled side of life in the UP - and who knows, maybe a third applied to join the Khund Battle Brigade?

Anyway, my original ideas:

Lexikon: she's tough, strong as Timber wolf, fast as a bullet, very well trained in battle tactics so unafraid of getting physical, able to understand any living beings communication and highly polished and adept at finessing a conversation if need be - charm itself as butter wouldn't melt in her mouth, she's that cool. She'll be sensitive to psychic interference _ especially telepathy as her own language skills are semi-telepathic in nature - though she's not immune to Pysyche as under that aloof surface is a Tamaranean with all their feist and fury.

There's a duality that she presents that keeps her teammates on their toes. Tough and unafraid of violence, and then smooth and charming... but with all her royal training do we ever really get to see the real her?

As the Vegan's have sent her to join the Legion it's suspected that she reports back to them. She'll watch people and learn and use the information she picks up in... and smile... my, aren't Tamaraneans lovely? So pretty! So charming and disarming. Everybody loves a Tamaranean Princess - but should they trust her?

Not sociable generally. Quite a few of the team would like to spend more time with her on a more personal level but she doesn't mingle like that. A couple of her team try to get close but none succeed. She won't rebuff them in a way that would upset them but she'll be like Teflon when they try.



There is a backstory that I've drafted out regarding her fiancé and the terms for their being allowed to marry, but that's not as straight forward as it sounds and it will give too-o-o many spoilers away so you're not getting any more than that for now.


The Sphere: Vegans created a billion or so indestructible spheres about the size of a soccer ball that patrol their Oort cloud - these indestructible constructs are built to have incredible stealth, move at close to light speed, are virtually indestructible and have hyper-sensory capacity. Think of a super aware invisible cannonball of space... Lexikon owns one and she talks to it, sharing her news with it, using it to keep in touch with her sister and who knows who else... Her sphere also has a holo projection facility - so far we've only seen her betrothed and we don't know if it can create more than that.

Titan - a telepath from the recently destroyed moon of Saturn.

Nasir N'Cube of Titan, an über-telepath with a work ethic to scare you. Imra Ardeen for the current generation. Pragmatic, determined and compassionate in equal measure.

He's cool, calm, collected, totally on the fast track to become a senior team leader. A former sci-cop with an exercise addiction. He's always in the gym, or studying or doing something to improve himself, we won't see him in Shakes drinking with his friends as that's not his thing as he doesn't stand to gain anything from being there and doing that.

He'll be well liked by the newbies and old guard alike, always personable, suave, considerate and totally determined to do the right thing. His colleagues are all in awe of his strength of will and team spirit which are seen as second to none.

Give him the powers of Shazam (Black Adams Daughters?) to make him the apex Legionnaire. Then take it away. haha.

How will he react when it's taken away. Is he still so cool? How does he cope when he's no longer able to do everything? Will he try to get them back, a la Kinetix power hungry attitude? What are his fatal flaws? As Thunder will take the Shazam powers away how will he react to her?

He'll be Psyche's unwitting pawn against the team, slowly amping up their natural aggression and making them more volatile and less cohesive as a group. He's friends with Ferro to start with as they are both keep fit fanatics though things start to go a bit askew when Aven manipulates Nasir. In the end Ferro will bust him and it'll all unravel spectacularly.


(That was my initial ideas)

So, Nasir, dear sweet exercise machine Nasir, is initially perceived to be without a flaw. IB even commented on this in a response which gave me a little laugh as it was exactly what I was planning.

While possessing the Shazam powers Titan would never succumb to manipulation by Psyche's slave Aven so that powerset had to come to an end for the traitor story to happen.

He had his Shazam powers for longer than I initially planned purely as I really liked having a black Kryptonian+ level powerful member of the team, and he was fun to write as this uber powerful perfect man. Wonder woman from the distant dimension fell for him and he fell for her though they were so duty bound to their positions on their respective teams that they didn't admit it until just before she left. Also, it was good to write about him facing doubts when he lost those abilities so having him keep them for a while made their loss all the more bittersweet. And this was the perfect point for Aven to come along and mess with his mind.

Still, all good things come to an end and I knew from his introduction that he would be the betrayer of the team - not intentionally, but through him Aven and Psyche would cause a lot of problems for the group and he would need to face the repercussions for this. One of which is, as of the end of LW5, his mind is very damaged by the cruel manipulation they have used on him.

He will be out of action for a while (at least until the end of LW6) as he relearns how to balance his prodigious psychic powers.

With the introduction of the Khund Battle Brigade and the seconding of members between the Legion and that group Gazelle became a Khundian warrior and I introduced another : Deathstorm

Able to assume an energy form, super strong and tough, quite bloodthirsty, he expects to be given far more glory than he receives (or deserves!) so can be a bit of a dick. Kind of respects and hangs out with Ultra Boy, but no-one else really, just getting the job done until he can return to Khundia and be allowed to kill people he dislikes again.

(That was my original character notes and as it sums him up perfectly I'm not going to add anything. As I don’t enjoy writing bloodthirsty characters he was sent back to Khundia pretty quickly)

The Deadly Brain - the leader of the Khund meta-program

A Khund warlord, brother to the current Emperor. He's a cyborg with massive intelligence that runs the Khund Battle Brigade. Has set this group up to be their version of the Legion. He runs them with an iron fist, no-one will argue with him. Not more than once anyway.

He's a suave and cunning political monster. He can see a day when the UP and the Khund empire either joins together or goes to full scale all out war so is preparing for either eventuality.

Surprisingly, he gets on very well with Brainiac 5. No-one else trusts him.


Those were my original ideas.

Due to a typo he became the Dead Brain and I also decided he would be a dwarf as it added a hint at his strength of character. For someone who could easily be perceived as weak due to physical disabilities to the Khunds to keep control over a group like the Battle Brigade they must have incredible resilience and determination.

He built Brainiac 5's robot arm after the Legionnaire lost one in the battle against the Daughters of Black Adam so I could highlight how close these two are. It's never said outright but it must be fairly obvious that they are in regular contact and count each other as their intellectual peers and friends... as much as either of them actually have real friends.

While Henry's main consciousness was merging with the Time Beacon on Naltor I mentioned the Dead Brain's internal armament as he rescued some of the Naltorian scientists from the collapsing building - you just know that little fella packs a mighty big punch.

He's taken on a life of his own in my imagination and has become this cheeky, helpful, self depreciating and generally decent (for a Khund Warlord) chap. He still rules with an iron fist but at least he wears a nice velvet glove over it most of the time.

And, although he didn't become one of the support staff until Legion World Three we were also introduced to the young man that captured Dragonwing's heart -


Hethuk Bran Drommsi, Smith from the Green Rift Forge of Talok viii,

A young Smith of a Talokean Forge - One of the Forest People he has mauve skin and pointed ears. He's a bit of a geek, loves to tinker with mechanics, especially weapons. Highly competitive but a bit lost off his home world. Falls for Dragonwing - Talokean women are more feisty than human women so he copes well with her sass and gives her a balance she has never had. He will speak up if needed but otherwise keeps his opinions to himself. Is very supportive of Marya though won't take any nonsense from her either. Doesn't really miss Talok as he knows the traditions of his folk are keeping them in a stagnant place technologically.

He's intuitive and quick witted, will spot a problem before it arises and deal with it. Maybe not so quick witted when he socialises as he's been brought up to 'perform' - to be the next Smith for his people's Forge - it's doubtful he would socialise with many of the team or support staff and he'd find the gossipy, sometime even bitchy Chemical Kid (one of Marya's main pals on the team) to be unpleasant. Hethuk will be as happy being locked away with some engineering problem to solve as he is being anywhere else.


That was all my first notes really had to say about Hethuk as I never planned on using him too much, he's a background character that happily remains there.

Legion World Two introduced a couple more new people to the team:


The Spear of Artemis - Amynta of Nostos ii

A Wonder Woman (of sorts) for the 31st century.

The back story of why the Amazon's are out in the galactic hinterland is that Thermyscira was destroyed in the 23rd century and the Amazons have been relocated by their gods to a non-paradise planet.

Amynta is vain and stubborn, blood thirsty and battle hardened yet compassionate and caring, eager, inquisitive and always, always honest... as a character I wanted her as a reluctant participant that only joined the group to hunt down Black Adam's daughters but who will slowly realize that she is amongst a true peer group that respect and honour her far more honestly than the fawning crowds on Nostos ii.

She definitely has an air of arrogance that is partly due to her confidence in her physical abilities - and she could wipe the floor in a fist fight with any Legionnaire if she really wanted - also she had probably never left her home world before and doesn't want to embarrass herself by showing her ignorance so has a barrier in place to keep her one step removed from her teammates.

She was the youngest Spear (senior military position under a set of priestesses, in this case, of the goddess Artemis (funnily enough)) in the Amazons history. It's hinted that she is a descendent of Diana, the original Wonder Woman, perhaps her grandmother was Diana's daughter? She never mentions her own parents but has a strong bond with one of her grandmothers who appears to be of quite high status on Nostos ii.

Incredibly strong, fast and durable already, she has immense combat skills making her a fearsome opponent. She also carries a mystical spear that always hits the target she wants and returns to her hand - it also seems to disrupt magic, as witnessed when it struck Black Adam's daughters returning them to their non-Shazamed form. She wears arm bands given to the priestesses of her temple by Bronte and Astrape (the goddesses of thunder and lightning) that, for limited periods of time increase her already prodigious strength and speed as well as making her invulnerable to just about everything - force, energy, magic, psychic attacks....

Initially she'll befriend the more physical members of the team, as they are most like the people she knows prior to joining.

I really want her to fall in love, as the idea of an Amazon in love is tremendous - their passions and characters are so full on that being in love must be the most immense thing going for them. I toyed with her falling for Titan when he was Shazamed up but couldn't see how their personalities would match up. Instead I decided that once she returned from the alter-dimension she was sent to when the team defeated Captain Adym she'd have met someone there and need to go through the mood swings that being kept apart from someone you feel strongly for brings up.

I'm not sure if she'll ever meet up with her drill sergeant from that distant reality again, I've very rough drafts going forward for her currently and both options have their pros and cons. As I see each of the posted stories - Legion Worlds, Two, Three, etc - as covering roughly three months then it will be at least LW 8 or so before we have had a year to get to another meeting of the teams - I've drafted up to the start of seven so there are no promises...

The Green Lantern of Xudar, Dkyun Mu

Feels out of her depth but will try her best - doesn't realise quite how potentially powerful she is yet.

An Astro-engineer that Soddam Yat had invited to the Corps only a month or two before the Legion asked him for one of his crew.

She is unfamiliar with the United Planets as her life experience has never really taken her out of Xudar's influence. As a result she may not rush into a situation, instead she'll want to assess it first then find a solution that minimizes potential trouble.

For all her power she is careful and considerate when using her abilities - she'll only do what is absolutely the minimum to resolve a situation. So, an energy bubble may hold a potential convict, and a shovel will move rocks, but no more than that. Nothing hideously overly complicated. Like all good (astro-)engineers she knows that the simpler the solution the more likely it is to work.

She enjoys being outside of the base, in space where she can see the stars. Or in engineering where she can get her hands dirty fixing engines and stuff.

Several of the team will comment on her voice - it's squeaky, almost like that of a small child. Something else else incongruous about a being wielding one of the most powerful artefacts known who sounds like a toddler...

She won't tolerate unprofessional behaviour and holds herself to some pretty high standards. This may rub several of her teammates up the wrong way as she will intervene if she see's something that she disapproves of - I'm looking at you there Brin, be on your bestest behaviour or Dkyun will get you!

Initially she won't mingle though over time will develop a friendship with Dawnstar, Thunder and Andromeda. Without realizing it she prefers company of woman to men - nothing sexual in this just a caste-type social thing from Xudar - and why not? Xudar can be as delightfully bonkers as needs be as not only is it alien in the truest sense of the word but it's 1,000 years in the future alien!

Karate Kid – Mithindrivithis Ngandraffa of Lythyl, strength, heightened reflexes, mimetic motor learning skills giving incredible combat skills

Her family were bred to be warriors on Lythyl. After Brin broke the rulers control her parents fled to Steeple with her. She's had a fairly lo-tec upbringing with the shadow of Lythyl's brutality hanging over her.

In amongst the peaceful life on Steeple her family have trained her in combat - something she picks up intuitively as she mimics movement pathways instinctively - you show her how to do it and she does, just like that. She'll watch a martial arts exhibition by a grand master and immediately afterwards will be able to repeat it exactly. She's also fairly strong and durable - way, way stronger than she looks though not Timber Wolf class. Infra red vision and ultra-sharp reflexes round out her skill suite.

She is quite imp-like, almost sexless in appearance. Pale yellow skin, big bird-like eyes, two thumbs on each hand - one either side of the palm, elbow spikes... she ain't human! She's the latest line in a breeding population from Lythyl, designed to fight and struggle and battle and hit things (and people) in their gladiatorial games.

She comes across as very open to interpersonal relationships, her basically kind nature and childlike appearance making her seem unthreatening. She is eager to learn though can be a bit depressive - she has seen some fairly brutal things in her life and is trying to make sense of them. Probably has quite a wide spiritual streak. She will struggle with hi-tec gadgets.

Still, she knows that ultimately the Legion are responsible for her families escape and she understands that if she becomes a Legionnaire she too may one day help a family as hers was helped. Paying Karma back...

Is she going to turn into Timber Wolf's stalker?

No, not really, though play with this idea. Give Brin a legacy that he needs to acknowledge. Send her on a mission with Brin where his clay feet are highlighted.


Those were my ideas. I kind of forgot to include her in the Zuun storyline (which was originally dreamt up as a way to get KK and TW together on a mission, whoops) and so have dropped the stalker-ish element of her character for now.

Her friendship with the Spear of Artemis seems like a natural fit and it worked out well.

Thirteen – Dann Hortra of Naltor, line of sight probability manipulation

Thirteen is hot! Not just hot as that isn’t enough, he’s HOT!

Think profession athlete with model looks and physical confidence of an A+ list film star.

He’s from Naltor so is fairly open minded about sexuality generally so he’ll be quite indifferent to any glances he catches, he’s not only HOT but he’s super cool with it.

Don't you just hate him already?

Kinetix will have an immediate crush and several of the others will comment on his looks too. He'll be all "Meh", he won't reciprocate or even acknowledge it...

He’s connected to the High Seer of Naltor, having been brought up by the High Seer after his mutant abilities were discovered, so is not particularly star struck by anyone as he’s used to being around senior politicians and famous folks. This will add to his too cool for school persona, the senior team won’t intimidate him.

He’s a nice guy at heart, wants the best for everyone. But he's not what he seems.

His ability is to alter probability in his favour... and that includes his own appearance. And his true appearance isn't nearly as HOT!

Now imagine being a less than marginally attractive, grossly over weight and unfit Naltorian - you're a teenager on one of the most sexually permissive planets in the galaxy and you can alter probability in your favour... what would you change? Yup, you got it - he alters how he looks!

His abilities are kind of curtailed as a result of keeping his HOT form, so he must be able to see what he is affecting and it's not going to be anything major he manipulates - like the Scarlet Witch when she first appeared; trips, falls, breaks, fires etc. Just enough to be random but not a 'No More Mutants' type scenario! We'll have none of that malarkey, thank you.

He's whip smart and has great empathy for those in poor situations. He's a team player who has seen the Machiavellian politics of the High Seer's Court so will know how nasty that can be, and is also still young and idealistic enough to think he can make a world (galaxy?) changing difference as an individual.

For all that he now is a walking talking sex bomb he doesn't sleep around like Dirk on speed as would be expected - is this because he is worried that he might lose concentration at an inappropriate time? Who knows, perhaps he just loves the attention but doesn't want to go any further? Whatever the reason he's not a sleaze bag. This will confuse some of his teammates and others will think higher of him as a result. Does he have a partner already back on Naltor, or somewhere else?

Overall his teammates like him, though he won't have a 'crowd', as he actively avoids the politics and in's and out's of those sort of social groups. He's friendly, honest, smart, totally HOT, and has a weird power set that's pretty useful in most circumstances - what isn't there to love?

Timber Wolf, of course, will twig that there's something not quite right with Thirteen but will show a high degree of support when he finds out the truth (as Brin has also had a history of altering his appearance to better represent himself). They won't become close buddies as such but will get on better afterwards.

Starkling – Unknown, telepathic swarm-being composed of indestructible ball bearing sized components.

Starkling’s origin was covered in LW4 in more detail but here’s my original notes:

Composite swarm being, made up from inorganic invulnerable ball bearing sized parts. Telepathic.

When compacted together the beings that are Starkling would be about the size of a beach ball.

No idea how it fuels itself/ves... make up some pseudo-scientific sounding ambient energy absorbing thingy to explain then move on fast.

Very naïve around people as it is made from thousands of parts it will kind of see the Legion as an extension of these so will read everyone’s mind and share its sensory data without wondering if this is intrusive or welcome - it's what the group does, isn't it? As a living group itself/ves, it won't understand if these sort of behaviours are not welcome.

Will learn to control its form better so instead of just a relatively random swarm it can become different shapes where its component parts lock together giving it a relatively solid form, though initially it’ll be simple shapes like balls, cones, etc. Starkling will learn to take on more complex shapes, and as its parts can operate independently it can assume several at a time.

Never state specifically the distance that its component parts can be apart, though roughly a klick or two? Perhaps bigger groups can survive further away, while smaller groups lose their telepathic cohesion?

Psyche will kill it.


Those were my notes. I've been surprised by the amount of Starkling love that has been shown as I thought it would be seen as annoying and weird and only introduced it to kill it off against Psyche. It becoming friends with Yera was a pure throw-away thought - I wanted to show her some attention that would give an obvious steer towards her and Gim teaching in the Academy, and also highlight how strange it is. Everyone liked their friendship so I've referenced it a few times. Also, to stop any hate mail after it became so popular I didn't kill it...

Loutrahim Mango - ‘Death Boy’ - Professor Li’s laboratory assistant, bio-chemist, sweat activated neuro-toxic secretions

Poor Loutrahim... He is a geek's geek from a very rough district of town. He's the poor kid that has taken a kicking every day of his life just because he isn't big enough to stand up for himself, socially adept enough to win over friends that could support him or street smart enough to hide! He's also potentially a galaxy class bio-chemist - Lyle Norg class smart. And he's damaged - by his environment, his upbringing, his family... Very defensive and unused to affection or respect. Believes that somehow he deserves the horrible upbringing that he's endured - actually, he wasn't brought up, he dragged himself out of the swamp. Has been brought up to (wrongly) understand that physical strength and threats equal authority and deserved respect.

Harmonia Li, that insufferably unemotional know-it-all will take him under her wing - show a human side to her while highlighting his background and how he has had to develop the spiky exterior to get through the day as he received absolutely no support growing up. It's a wonder that he hasn't already turned to a life of crime and random savagery as that's all he's ever known.

At heart a really good kid and his lack of confidence needs to be tackled straight on - have H set him some tough challenges that push him.

He developed a neuro-toxin in his sweat that will kill people as a defence. It's his protection against the daily kicking he's endured. Long term of course he'll never have a lover as he could kill them too but he didn't think of that at the time... he may have realised it by now though and perhaps that's why he wants to join the Legion - find some way to neutralise his toxic touch?

His father is Mantis Morlo... or is it Morlo Mantis? Weird name anyway...

Loutrahim has never met him, as daddy dearest ran away from the responsibility of caring for his child. His father had drugged his mother into falling in love with him and when he left she suffered horrid withdrawals and hit the bottle to numb the pain. Loutrahim is kind of interested in finding out who his father is but also still very angry that he was left with an alcoholic desperately unhappy mother in the Venus slum he grew up in.

Mantis will recognise his son when he sees the footage of the try-out and reach out to him. The elder bio-chemist will tell his son that he is proud of him for not following in his footsteps and wasting time being a criminal. Loutrahim will rebuff him and it'll ultimately be a very unhappy meeting.

How stable is Loutrahim? Query it. Have him act up sometimes when he doesn't get his own way, or get really over protective when he thinks his crowd (e.g. any Legionnaire that has ever acknowledged him) are getting slighted. This is a young man who is desperately intelligent and horribly lonely finally being accepted into a group as a peer rather than as a punch bag or footstool, he'll be confused and over-eager to be accepted.

So, those were my original thoughts.

I ended up killing his mad daddy dearest and driving Loutrahim over the edge in his grief and regret... that story kind of ran away with itself there. Sorry, I just saw the opportunity to write out Harmonia Li for a while by having her feel responsible for his situation and so take him to Utopia to heal.

Joined in Legion World Four:


Sister Eclipse - of Rhoohanisett iii, durability, heightened senses, physical possession of any living being.

Calm, serene, always helpful and considerate, possible fairly irritating... her faith is central to her being. She is devoted to the One That Is Next - the next great prophet to lead the galactic masses. Her faith is non judgemental, actually does practice what it preaches.

In honour of this supreme being her sisterhood are galactic Mother Theresa's without the dodgy accounts. They travel to the poor, down trodden and hopeless to offer support. That has been her life prior to the Legion.

Her name amongst her own kind is created from scent markings so she only uses Sister Eclipse. No alter ego, in fact very little of any kind of ego at all.

Interesting how a genuine nice person will stand up against some of the morally ambiguity that the Legion deals with - let's be straight here, the Legion's motto could easily be 'peace through punching people who disagree with us in the face', we haven't see too much rescue work or disaster relief or curing the blind... And those should be her focus. Not that she wouldn't step up to a physical confrontation if absolutely necessary, but it would be her very last resort.

Her abilities are pretty straight forward. She possesses people and intuitively takes over their bodies and any abilities they have. She cannot mine their thoughts while possessing them as she has effectively submerged their consciousness in hers during the possession process but will get a feel for whatever is upmost in her victims minds at the point of possession. She's physically very durable and has a tremendous sense of smell.

Her kindness to her fellow teammates will gain her a lot of support though she will never be particularly popular, partially as her culture is very different from any current members, but also as she will be focusing on her own life - her religious duties, for instance. she will be quite wise about people's motivations and this will irritate the more junior members.

I wanted to introduce her in such a way that she fell into the team's orbit rather than she actively seek them out - like the majority of the student body. So, as the Shadowmancer story was plotted up she was included as one of the twenty or so prisoners that the dark mage was using as his food source.

Atom Girl -Sylva Nrilsan of Imsk, can shrink herself to microscopic size.

She will win the Imskian planetary contest to find a replacement for Salu Digby.

Initially she'll come across as competent and tough, and she is, though she has a sense that she can never match up to Shrinking Violet's legacy so will fall into either bouts of self depreciation or over stimulation.

She is clever - street smart rather than technical smart, and has extensive combat training, so will be head and shoulders above other students in those areas. Quite empathic towards those in distress but this could be turned into real destructive anger against those that have caused it. A bit of a fire brand, she won't make friends too easily, other than her immediate former student peers.

She expects to be recognized for all her achievements - her insecurities at play.

Will say the right things at the right time but do her actions always match up?

May be a bit of a bully, expecting others to live up to her own overly high standards and can overlook the needs that her peers have in the race to achieve her own impossible goals.

What is she like in a relationship? Would that soften her? It would have to be with a fellow student as none of the established team would touch her. She needs someone that outranks her somehow so she doesn't get too bossy, otherwise she could be a nightmare control fiend given the chance. How would she cope with being dumped? Break things? Sulk? Throw herself into work or retreat? She will need to deal with it.


To be honest, I'm unsure where to go with Atom Girl exactly as I don't want just another Vi so will probably focus in on her a bit in the next couple of arcs.

Comet King - Drinchnar Lamment of Extal colony, spaceflight, comet gas extrusion

I like Grava in the same way I like other peoples puppies - cute, fun for a while, pretty, but don't want to clean their mess from off my kitchen floor. Not that Grava would be that crass (hopefully), but what I mean is I don't need any more information than the sweet superficial aww-bless-ain't-that-cute... though as a character on the team I needed to think about what to do with her to giver her a bit of growth, an arc of sorts. I didn't just want to get rid of her because I didn't know what to do with her so decided to cut her some slack and introduce some love into her rather tragic life.

And Drinchnar Lamment was created!

He's the love of Grava's life!

He speaks the same lingo, he knows her social expectations as he's from the same colony, he thinks she's beautiful, so what's the problem?

Oh, he's a hairy soldier with a bit of an attitude - not really a bad attitude as such, more that of someone who life has perhaps not always dealt too kindly - not woe-is-me-I'm-a-victim so much as a pragmatic what-shit-is-this-I-need-to-deal-with-now? He can be very direct and unsubtle in his thinking so perhaps doesn't always come up with the best solutions.

And he's in l-o-v-e!

After meeting Grava the young soldier tries to transform himself into someone he thinks will be appropriate for her, a fellow superhero! Instead, after trying to gain abilities by freefalling into a comet he gets incredibly damaged and almost dies. A blood transfusion from Grava saves his life though the after effects drive him a bit potty as the meta-gene affects his mind - is the love of poor comet Queen's life actually just a madman? What if she's the only person who sees it? Everyone else already thinks he's a bit potty so why would they think that any behavior short of the truly horrific would be out of character for him? Who would listen to Grava's concerns and give them the latitude they deserve?

After another transfusion, some tailored DNA treatment and interference from Hadru's catalytic abilities Drinchnar Lamment is transformed into a similarly orange skinned, smooth bodied, gas emiting, space flying, babble speaking member of the Comet family.

A king fitting for Grava the queen.

For all his smitten puppy eyes for Comet Queen he is still a seasoned soldier and has a far more pragmatic approach - shows less empathy than his queen, a bit more gung-ho when needed, totally devoted to her in a way that would be quite suffocating sometimes but she absolutely adores it, and their relationship is all wrapped up in stellarific c-speed blasting red shifting event horizon diving swirly galactitious speech patterns that drive everyone else batty.

She's very much the 50's stereotypical 'girl' - caring, nurturing, non-aggressive (usually), open with her emotions, a bit ditzy, always tries to be kind to others, heart emblazoned onto her sleeves and fiercely loyal to and protective of her friends and loved ones. Meanwhile he's a stereotypical diamond in the rough boy - a bit of a scrapper, bluntly spoken, determined, works hard, drinks beer and has a laugh with the boys when he can (but not around his girl) and is very much family (well, Grava in this case) orientated.

They will be inseparable - totally co-dependent - which can annoy some and cheer others.

this is cool Harbi, thanks, I love reading about your thought processes.

I love how you plan for the long term so to speak, that is, when you create your characters you generally do so assuming they will stick around. all your characters, original or not, come through as so organic and their growth is so natural


Only finished the intro so far, but looking forward to reading the rest

This is great, Harbi! You are inspiring me to do something similar with my homemade characters

I didn't know the tigerrams were an existing species...one of the things I love about the Legion is that there are so many throwaway concepts and characters to expound upon.

Also, Starkling is one of my favourite fanfic characters so I'm very glad you decided not to kill it! It's fun how characters can take on a life of their own and go in directions you hadn't anticipated

Hey, Harbi,

Very grateful for this.

With this thread, you have single-handedly inspired me to start writing again. You are truly awesome!

At the same time, I feel I have to apologize for being remiss in reading LW v5. It was, as you had warned us in advance, very dark indeed, and while I could, as always, appreciate the quality of your work, I just wasn't in the right frame of mind for it. But I did glance at some of the comments after the wrap-up, and it seems you ended it on a cautiously positive note. So I will get to it in time add my 2p worth of thoughts.

Looking forward to LW v6.

Keep up being you.

xoxo Annfie

Thank you for your kind support all, it is appreciated. I didn't really expect any feedback on these so I'm very grateful for your replies.

Raz, the tigerrams were only shown in a couple of background shots and as a head on a plaque as far as I remember so it was an obscure choice. Glad to hear I didn't make a mistake keeping Starkling alive

Raquel, hi, haven't seen you around Bits in quite a while, I'm definitely looking forward to seeing whatever you come up with. And the last few pages of LW5 are anything but dark as they focused on Night Girl and Cosmic Boys wedding,. I wrote it to be uplifting after the traitor storyline finished, perhaps that'll put a smile on your face if you need a pick me up.

Thanks again you lovely people,

C

Hi Harbi, finally managed to read up!

some random thoughts -

I like how Backlash contrasts with other "alien" characters like Tellus or Starkling. Backlash has the same curiosity, like you said, but also the fierce drive to protect his pack!

Lexikon! I laughed at how you leave meat and cheese too much, and so find the Vegans creepy. Tee-hee. I've never thought about Vegan as a pun for vegan... and I love meat and cheese too... brilliant! I really love the duality of being a warrior and a diplomat (the Legion needs both, especially in your expanded role for them!), and you certainly use her language powers to full effect.

Titan, I remember commenting on him like you said, hee! Happy to hear that my comment was exactly in line with what you wanted for the character. As an infallible human, I get both awestruck and a little envious of people like Nasir. It will be interesting to see how he climbs back from his fall, especially considering his drive and work ethic. But something tells me he will be fine, though he may struggle; he seems to have the right attitude to deal with this setback! And I do like how you had his loss of Shazam powers shake him up; very realistic that he is not 100% perfect.

Your scenes with Dead Brain at the end of LW5 shone. I like how he's ruthlessly smart and pragmatic, but resides in that grey "ally" zone. Yet, we would be foolish to trust him completely!

Hethuk - background character that happily remains there. Sums it up nicely, you gave him a very interesting dynamic with Marya. But I agree, not every character needs his or her heroic spotlight. Some work very wekk as backgrounders, and a fully fleshed out world needs them.

Amynta. I confess I usually don't go for characters who are tough, strong, powerful fighter types; they often don't interest me. But you picked up on the whole idea of Amazon love, and that is one thing that got me to liking Wonder Woman so much too! Your Amynta has grown on me, you have added a lot of nice layers to her.

Dkyun. I like her cautious nature,you write it well. We see too many brash types out there, so having a cautious type who carefully rations force without hanging back is great. It's a nice contrast to the overly-unsure Tellus of Levitz v3.

Karate Kid. I like the angle of paying it forward, helping free others as she herself was freed.

Thirteen. "Don't you just hate him already?" I had to laugh, I know I made a comment almost exactly like that! I loved your surprise reveal of him using his powers to become that hot. It humanized him for me, made him a lot more likable - if I had his powers, I would do the exact same thing... I also like how you have him be super hot, but not sleeping around. I look forward to you developing that further, but it makes a big difference for me that - at least as of now - he is not taking advantage of his hotness. That would be false representation.

Also glad you left Starkling alive! I think there is space for it alongside Tellus. Both are telepathic, somewhat naive aliens, but the whole ball bearing thing differentiates Starkling a lot. And though naive, you somehow make it different, I can't really put my finger on it, but Starkling is unique.

Death Boy's "fall" felt organic, no worries. It will be interesting to see where he goes from here, too many characters with his power set have gone off the deep end.

Sister Eclipse is easily one of my faves of your original characters. Her non judgmental faith is very appealing, especially because there are so many self-righteous believers in real life. Smart move to have her fall into the Legion's orbit, as her personality and beliefs make it so she would NOT actively seek the Legion out. I like your note about her being focused on relief efforts and such.

I look forward to seeing more of Atom Girl. I think it would be great to explore her insecurities more. From what I remember of her appearances in your stories, her competence has been highlighted a lot; her respect for Salu has also been, but the insecurities not so much. I think that would be a great thing to explore when you focus on her soon.

though not an original character, I liked your mention of Comet Queen being a "what you see is what you get" type. And that's very refreshing, to have someone who is just so transparent! to be honest, when you first introduced Comet King I thought he and Grava would soon become annoying... but you make them just so much fun! I love their love, it's so honest and pure

this has reminded me of how rich your characters are, Harbi. quite a nice treat. and as usual, more more more please!

Woo, I love author's notes and behind-the-scenes looks!



Ooh, basing it around a rakshasa or similar Hindu monstere or deity could be awesome! But yeah, fire or light auras like Agni or Surya are Sun Boy's thing, and illusions like Maya/Mara are Sensor Girl's thing, and darkness and night like Ratri are Shadow Lasses thing, and lightning like Indra are Lightning Lad and Lightning Lasses things... Probably easier to skip that.



The team has a fair number of independent or even contrary and challenging-of-authority members already, so it's a breath of fresh air for some of the 'newbies' to be a bit more team-players.



I love playing against type. Too often, writers take shortcuts in characterizing aliens with animal characteristics. Dog-headed aliens are loyal and pack oriented. Cat-headed aliens are aloof and finicky. Bird-headed aliens are flighty and easily startled bird-brains. Snake-aliens are cold-blooded, patient and treacherous. Bug-aliens are hive critters who can't handle independence. The Spider Guild webs people up and eats them.

That sort of thing is perfectly understandable, as the reader is already familiar with cats and dogs and bugs, and it's playing to expectations, and yet I like it when those expectations are challenged, and in the case of an alien creature that happens to look like an earth-animal, it feels like a wild coincidence that the alien also *acts* like the earth-animal it resembles.

So I'm totally on-board with this decision to have the Tiggeram not be a proud solitary hunter, as his 'tiger' nature would suggest.

The notion of the tiggerams also being an engineered species is super-cool. The Legion has a ton of evolved members, so it's interesting to have some engineered species as well.

Here ya go.
Backlash's people.



Starkling.