History TabletopGame / VillainsAndVigilantes

** Kind of a subtle one, but the module "Enter the Gene Pool" has the title villains kidnapping the star of a 70's superhero show from a book signing event.[[note]] They're a new team trying to earn some notoriety by kidnapping low-risk targets who still have ties of some kind to the superhuman world.[[/note]] From what details are revealed, it sounds a lot like real 70's superhero shows like ''Series/TheGreatestAmericanHero'' or ''Series/TheSecretsOfIsis''. Where, thanks to budgetary restrictions, the hero would usually save people in trouble and fight normal organized crime at most, instead of supervillains.

--> Sure! And then next thing you know -- '''BAM!''' They're back again as good as new! Or worse, back with new powers, a new name, a new costume! No thanks!

Publishing new content petered off by the late 80's. After a ''long'' hiatus, in 2010 Fantasy Games Unlimited began releasing new material for the game, including quite a bit that had apparently just been sitting around unpublished since the game's heyday in TheEighties. A legal battle between Fantasy Games Unlimited and original designers Jeff Dee and Jack Herman over the trademark ended with Dee and Herman being awarded ownership of the game, and being able to license the trademark from FGU.

* ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman: In the foreword for his "Danger in the Depths" module, writer Ken Cliffe notes he always liked seeing normally marginal aquatic heroes be put in their element and get the chance to dominate. Prompting him to write a double-length underwater adventure so aquatic player-heroes would have their time in the spotlight.

* DenserAndWackier: The book ''Opponents Unlimited'' has a selection of weird, comical villains and scenarios. One of the first the reader will see is a character who actually goes by "Prankster" and has powers that are strictly humorous in nature.

* AnIcePerson: Characters with ice powers seem oddly abundant throughout the various sourcebooks. The most prominent example is probably Blizzard, member of NPC hero team the Crusaders.

* CanadaEh: "Now, put on your toque, grab a brew and jump on the dogsled, we're movin' out."

* GovernmentAgencyOfFiction: C.H.E.S.S., written at least originally to give a quick example of how to design a "good" comic book-style organization. Showed up in modules sometimes as a nebulous group that could give player heroes missions or show up to take supervillains into custody. Since there was no cohesive setting, seemingly due to individual ownership rights, a lot of contributing writers would make up their own for these purposes in the modules they wrote. Thus also giving us F.I.S.H. (really, standing for Federal Intelligence Security Headquarters), G.I.A.N.T. (Government Investigation into the Application of New Technologies), the A.S.A. (American Security Agency) and more recently A.C.T.I.O.N. (the Allied Counter-Terrorism Intelligence Operations Network).

* ThePrankster: There is a supervillain by this name in the book "Opponents Unlimited", which is full of pretty silly characters and situations anyway.

** Kind of a subtle one, but the module "Enter the Gene Pool" has the title villains kidnapping the star of a 70's superhero show from a book signing event.[[note]] They're a new team trying to earn some notoriety by kidnapping low-risk targets who still have ties of some kind to the superhuman world.[[/note]] From what details are revealed, it sounds a lot like real 70's superhero shows like ''Series/TheIncredibleHulk1977'' or ''Series/TheSecretsOfIsis''. Where, thanks to budgetary restrictions, the hero would usually save people in trouble and fight normal organized crime at most, instead of supervillains.

* RainbowMotif: From the adventure "Assassin". The ASA (American Security Agency) has a rank structure based on the color spectrum. It includes violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and red, in order of increasing rank. The book "Villains Unleashed" includes a color-motif villain team.

** Kind of a subtle one, but the module "Enter the Gene Pool" has the title villains kidnapping the star of a 70's superhero show from a book signing event.[[note]] They're a new team trying to earn some notoriety by kidnapping low-risk targets who still have ties of some kind to the superhuman world.[[/note]] From what details are revealed, it sounds a lot like real 70's superhero shows like ''Series/TheIncredibleHulk'' or ''Series/TheSecretsOfIsis''. Where, thanks to budgetary restrictions, the hero would usually save people in trouble and fight normal organized crime at most, instead of supervillains.

* OneSuperOnePowerset: The rules specifically advised players not to significantly change their PC hero's powers.

* JapanTakesOverTheWorld: "Enter the Dragon's Claw: Honor", the first module to include ninjas, also had news items echoing mid-80's fears that Japan would secretly seize economic domination of other countries include the US.

* BadHumorTruck: One of the solo villains in "Opponents Unlimited" is a killer ice cream man. It's to lure kids in so they can be sold to organ harvesters.

* GovernmentAgencyOfFiction: C.H.E.S.S., written at least originally to give a quick example of how to design a "good" comic book-style organization. Showed up in modules sometimes as a nebulous group that could give player heroes missions or show up to take supervillains into custody. Since there was no cohesive setting, seemingly due to individual ownership rights, a lot of contributing writers would make up their own for these purposes in the modules they wrote. Thus also giving us F.I.S.H. (really, standing for Federal Intelligence Security Headquarters), G.I.A.N.T. (Government Investigation into the Application of New Technologies), and the A.S.A. (American Security Agency).

* BigBad: Many of the main villains of adventures qualify; examples of [[BigBad/TabletopGames genre-specific baddies]] are Doctor Apocalypse (from "Death Duel with the Destroyers" and "The Island of Doctor Apocalypse"), the Purple Mask ("To Tackle the TOTEM"), and the Organizer ("Organized Crimes").

* BreakingTheFourthWall: Adventure "Dawn of the Devil" has the character search a weird fantasy castle near the end, where they frequently explore rooms that show them weird and terrifying illusions. One is none-too-subtly supposed to be of the players' own gaming session.

* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: Deconstructed lightly in an issue of the comic series. The villains have captured the heroes and hit them with a coma-inducing vapor. New member Manstar asks why they don't just kill the heroes, and veteran member Mace explains that when a superhero "dies", they usually just come back with a vengeance, and the Crushers are actually saving themselves a bigger headache later.

** Kind of a subtle one, but the module "Enter the Gene Pool" has the title villains kidnapping the star of a 70's superhero show from a book signing event. From what details are revealed, it sounds a lot like real 70's superhero shows like ''Series/TheIncredibleHulk'' or ''Series/TheSecretsOfIsis''. Where, thanks to budgetary restrictions, the hero would usually save people in trouble and fight normal organized crime at most, instead of supervillains.

** Kind of a subtle one, but the module "Enter the Gene Pool" has the title villains kidnapping the star of a 70's superhero show from a book signing event. From what details are revealed, it sounds a lot like real 70's superhero shows like ''Series/TheIncredibleHulk'' or ''Series/TheSecretsOfIsis''. Where, thanks to budgetary restrictions, the hero would mostly save people in trouble and fight at most against normal organized crime, instead of supervillains.

* TheTeamWannabe: Character sourcebook "Super Crooks and Criminals" has Wonder Boy, a teenager with some marginally powerful gizmos who's there to try to become a PC's sidekick.