Characters / Corpies

PEERS

Owen Daniels

Former Hero code-named Titan due to due to the fact that he is considered to be unstoppable and virtually unkillable, like the Titans of old. It is explained that people think it is because of his strength and size, but that was not the motivation of the person who suggested the name. Hershel/Roy's estranged father. He used his adaptation ability to turn his body into a powerful fighting machine, becoming one of the physically strongest Heroes in the world.

• Adaptive Ability: His main ability is to adapt to anything that is used against him. He has used this to become incredibly strong (his muscles also never atrophy even without exercise). Certain powers also only work against him only once. He is able to temporarily disable his ability, but it requires a lot of concentration.
• Affirmative Action Guy: The only reason the PEERS team agrees to hire Titan is to calm down the LGBTQ people, who claim that they promote a hostile work place for "women and homosexuals."
• Armoured Closet Gay: No one even suspected that the great and powerful Titan was a homosexual until an Intrepid Reporter caught him in flagrante delicto with another man in a hotel. The scandal ruined his reputation, and he left both his job as a Hero and his family to run a gay bar. It's mentioned that society has become more accepting since then, and a number of openly gay Heroes exist.
• The Atoner: After the above-mentioned scandal, Owen left the world of Heroes in disgrace. An eye-opening visit from his sons in the Super Powereds series, he's back in the game and trying his best to make amends... not so much for the scandal itself, but for how he gave up and ran away from people who needed him.
• The Big Guy: At almost 7' tall, Titan's powerful build makes it hard to mistake him for anyone else. He was one of the physically strongest Heroes of his time.
• Breakout Character: A minor character in the main series, Titan returns to his Hero days in the Corpies spin-off, as the main protagonist.
• Clark Kenting: Despite his mask, it should have been pretty easy to find out Titan's secret identity. There aren't many guys of his size. Also, after leaving, he opens a gay bar in Colorado called Tartarus. Hershel, well-versed in ancient mythology, thinks the name is too obvious for someone like Titan (in the Greek myths, the gods cast down the titans into Tartarus).
• Comm Links: In Corpies, he wears two. One is the standard earpiece worn by all Heroes to connect them to Dispatch. The other is the slightly less advanced version that links him to his team.
• The Dreaded: In his heyday, the name "Titan" was whispered by supervillains in fear, as no one has been able to stop him.
• Game-Breaker: Invoked by the Big Bad in Corpies, who believes it is playing a computer game and finds itself continuously frustrated by Titan's frankly obscenely powerful abilities, both as a super in his own right but also as a motivator of other supers who can bring out the best in them.
• Genius Bruiser: Justified. Dumb Muscle doesn't a Hero make. As strongman either learns to think and act strategically, or he doesn't even graduate HCP, since other Supers will easily find ways of outsmarting him. Titan likes to get as much information as possible about his opponents, so that he can plan for their possible moves and come up with counters. Even in the middle of a heated battle, he can often figure out what his opponents are planning on doing and make split-second decisions that, usually, help thwart the attack.
• Gentle Giant: Titan is this by necessity. It took him a long time to learn to control his strength in order to avoid pulverizing everything around him. Most of the time, he holds back on his strength in order to avoid hurting or killing someone. He even makes Galvanize promise to never use his Status Buff ability on him, since it would remove his control and result in untold damage. During the Decisive Battle, he asks Galvanize to buff him, since, at the moment, he needs all of his strength. Even Titan's first team was called Gentle Hammers, made up of heavy hitters.
• Healing Factor: His ability provides him a measure of healing, which is useful, since his ability makes him immune to Healing Hands.
• Heel Realization: He goes through two notable ones, though both are played with a little.
  • The first, and most dramatic one, he goes through before the book starts, after he's been thoroughly called out by Roy and Hershel for his decision to not only leave his family but quit the hero business entirely after the afore-mentioned scandal. As the story goes on, though, we seen that he'd already come to this realization on his own and his sons' calling out of his actions was mostly the final kick he needed to feel bad enough that he actually decided to do something about it.
  • The second one is a little more gradual and subtle: he starts out thinking of the PEERS as a glorified cleanup crew who don't have what it takes to become actual heroes, who spend their time playacting, and who don't deserve much respect. At the start of the story he's not happy about having to "babysit Corpies," and though he's civil enough to them, he can't quite subdue his mild disdain for both them and his situation. As the story goes on and he gets to actually know his teammates and other PEERS (as well as getting a few The Reason You Suck speeches), he comes to realize just how unfair he's been to not only his teammates but to PEERS in general. He begins taking them much more seriously, and works pretty hard on adjusting his attitude from then on, even if it takes a little time for him to be completely rid of it.
• He's Back!: Meeting his sons again has forced Titan to realize that he has failed not only them and their mother but the world. He chooses to go back to "the life" several months later, which is where the spin-off Corpies starts. He quickly finds out that things would have been much better if he'd been simply hated. Instead, some hate him and others lift him up as an ideal.
• In a Single Bound: Titan can cover large distances by leaping, but he reserves it for emergencies due to the risk of damaging something or hurting someone.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Owen is, above and beyond everything, a hero. He's always ready to drop everything at a moment's notice in order to help someone in need, even if that someone is a person he doesn't like. He's generous, he's very kind to children, he's usually willing to give people a second chance, and when all is said and done he cares a lot more about saving lives than he does about his personal image and comfort. But for all that... he's still a bit of a jerk. He's extremely arrogant and often takes his own superiority for granted, he jumps to conclusions about people and treats them with disdain based on those conclusions. Often he's downright condescending to people he views as "lesser." And he has a ton of prejudices that he isn't even aware of. Part of his Character Development is to recognize and overome these flaws in himself.
• Lightning Bruiser: For his bulk, Titan is pretty quick on his feet, especially if he's able to launch himself off a wall.
• Manly Gay: After coming out of the closet, and after he stops hiding from the world, Owen pretty much settles into this role. A man's man who is attracted to other men.
• Mentor Archetype: Roy and Hershel eventually agree that Titan should be their mentor after graduation, despite all the family drama. In the Distant Finale of the main series, Owen mentions that, with Dean Jackson retiring, he will be taking the position of the HCP dean at Sizemore Tech.
• Parental Abandonment: After his closet was burst open, Owen chose to leave his life behind, both his Hero-ing and his family. Since then, Hershel and Roy have despised him for causing so much pain to their mother.
• Story-Breaker Power: Owen is head and shoulders above literally every other character in Corpies, with his abilities allowing him to go one on five with an entire team of top level heroes and come out on top. He personally denies this, citing his belief in the Tactical Rock–Paper–Scissors nature of super-powers, specifically listing a super with the power to induce fatal aneurysms that the government keeps on hand just in case he goes rogue (at his own suggestion). Even this power would fail should he encounter a similar (but less lethal) superpower in the field and survive, as his body would adapt to this and similar attacks.
• Your Costume Needs Work: During his first public appearance after coming back, he is mistaken by a kid for an impersonator, who insists that the real Titan is taller and his costume isn't quite right.

Galvanize

Young leader of the PEERS team employed by Morent Holdings. An all-around nice guy with an ability to temporarily boost a person's physical stats to their maximum potential. Proves himself to be a capable leader, who knows how to best use his teammates and make life-or-death decisions on the spot.

• All-Loving Hero: Galvanize doesn't appear to hold any prejudices towards any group. When Titan finds out that Galvanize doesn't automatically see Powereds as lesser beings, his measure of respect for the guy grows exponentially (his own son being a former Powered).
• The Leader: Frequently tries to get the other members of the team to interact with one another socially but to no avail.
• Old Shame: During a team bonding moment, he admits to having been in a porno once, although not as a "participant", merely as an extra, who finds the couple doing it.
• Status Buff: Galvanize's ability. It only affects the target's natural physical stats (i.e. doesn't affect abilities) and temporarily makes that person perform at his or her best. Owen tells him to never use his power on him, since Owen has spent decades developing control over his strength. If he suddenly lost the ability to not be so strong, he would unintentionally cause untold destruction. During the Decisive Battle, his ability proves invaluable to the dozens of Heroes battling the robots, as he runs around the battlefield telling everyone to "Do [their] best!" (one of the ways he activates his power).

Hexcellent

Teenage goth girl, who can summon a number of demons that do her bidding. Spends much of her free time on her smartphone or playing video games. She is just itching to fight a supervillain, even though it's illegal for non-Heroes. Real name: Hannah.

• Adaptive Ability: Hopcules can morph when facing new threats. For example, when a giant mech nearly kills him with a powerful beam, the bunny manifests better armor and a set of wings to allow him to fly.
• The Cameo: Hexcellent shows up as part of The Cavalry during the Final Battle in year 4 of the main series, riding atop Hopcules. The Distant Finale also establishes her as a well-known Hero, who has a crush on Roy.
• Dark and Troubled Past: She made some bad choices when she was younger, which is what is preventing her from applying to join the HCP, despite her other qualifications. At the end of the novel, Titan puts in a good word for her to his old dean, who agrees to give Hexcellent a shot at Sizemore Tech. The last Titan hears in Year 4, she's doing well in her freshman year, and he has little doubt that she'll graduate.
• Lady Swears-a-Lot: Her first words in the novel are "fucking bullshit horsecock dickgarglers". It doesn't get any better from here, although she keeps it down during public appearances.
• Nice Girl: Despite her Goth appearance, heavy swearing and criminal past, Hexcellent is by far the friendliest and most outgoing of the PEERS.
• Old Shame: Her first summon was a giant rabbit in medieval armor named Hopcules, which definitely clashes with her Perky Goth image.
• Perky Goth: Dresses in this manner both as part of her costume (complete with logos from sponsors, including Fiery Discussion) and when off-the-clock.
• Reformed Criminal: Hexcellent fell in with the wrong crowd and got into trouble with the law when she was younger, which is why she isn't a Hero despite being more than powerful and talented enough for it. She ends up going to Sizemore HCP after Owen gives her a recommendation.
• Summon Magic: Hexcellent can summon demonic constructs controlled by her. Given the difficulty of doing so, she only has three in her repertoire and can only use them one at a time. Impers is a small flying demon used for scouting and relaying messages. Huggles is a five-foot-tall vulture-like demon with scythes for arms, useful for cutting through objects to rescue trapped people. Big Henry is a huge monstrosity, who can lift heavy objects (e.g. rubble) and even temporarily support buildings. She also reveals that her first construct was a bunny named Hopcules, which she is no longer able to summon. During the Decisive Battle, her fear causes Hopcules to re-appear... as a twenty-story fire-breathing rabbit in medieval armor.

Bubble Bubble

Not to be confused with Bubbles from the main series. The opposite of Hexcellent in terms of style and personality. Tends to dress tastefully. Creates bubbles of various sizes that can be used to move people and objects inside them, though they're not very strong.

• Barrier Warrior: Bubble Bubble can manifest energy spheres that can protect people inside them and slowly move them. She can also use them to provide support for Zone's Le Parkour.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: At the beginning of the book she's introduced as polite, but reserved and aloof. At the end of the book she's become far warmer and more companionable — partly thanks to being involved in a sex scandal and adopting a new Good Bad Girl image as a result, but also because she becomes more comfortable with being herself around her teammates instead of keeping up appearances 24/7.
• Good Bad Girl: Titan's agent convinces her to adopt this image after her "wholesome girl" image is ruined by a sex scandal. She ends up being more open and less reserved and has no problem calling people out on their outdated stereotypes of women. She ends up growing to like that image.

Zone

A wiry guy, who focuses on agility as opposed to strength. His ability enhances his agility, strength, and reaction to slightly superhuman levels.

• '90s Hair: Has frosted tips in his hair.
• Armoured Closet Gay: His brother is one, which is why he hates Titan for running away during the scandal instead of owning who he is. After the scandal, many closeted gay Supers, including Zone's brother, chose to end their dreams of becoming Heroes. Zone's brother works in construction, and Zone thinks he could have been a great Hero. At the end of the novel, Titan gives Zone a card with his personal number to give to his brother, in case the latter wants to talk about the challenge of being a non-traditional Hero.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: At least from Titan's viewpoint, Zone is the most jerkish, sullen and confrontational team member... but this doesn't mean he doesn't care about the others.
• Old Shame: He once crapped his pants at a sports tournament. Since he couldn't just ditch it, he instead strapped his helmet on over his crotch and rode out in the nude, pushing a bad boy angle.
• Le Parkour: Tends to climb buildings and navigate rubble in this manner, occasionally assisted by Bubble Bubble providing energy spheres as jumping off points.
• The Resenter: He spends the early parts of the book playing this role to Titan, thanks to the devastating effect the Titan scandal had on his brother. He slowly grows out of the role as the book goes on; he will work together with Titan without too much protest if innocent lives are on the line, and while Titan acknowledges that they'll never be close friends, the two eventually come to view each other with mutual respect.
• Super-Strength: No more than at Olympic standards.
• Uninhibited Muscle Power: This is Zone's ability. He always performs at his peak. Unfortunately, it quickly becomes apparent that he's destroying his bones and muscles with this. His doctors are aware, but he continues to ignore them.

Elemental Fury

Gale

Leader of the team. She is an air elemental, allowing her to use wind as a weapon and a means to fly. Very protective of her city and views Titan as a threat.

• Blow You Away: Gale can control the air, allowing her to fly and using wind as a weapon. She can also immobilize people by lifting them up in a small tornado.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: By the end of Corpies, Gale has mellowed out and no longer sees Titan as an Attention Whore. During their cameos in Year 4 of the main series, they're downright friendly.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Granted she's a Hero and a good person at heart, but she still immediately wrote off Owen's return to the business as a ploy for attention and consistently belittled him, insisting he's a reckless Attention Whore and forced him to go one on five with her team of top level heroes under the guise of testing his certifications.
• The Leader: She leads the Elemental Fury team.
• Mentor Archetype: Becomes Alice's mentor at the end of Year 4 of the main series, after seeing great potential in a Subtlety Hero with a strong offensive ability.

Granite

The strongman of Elemental Fury. Already a big Scary Black Man, he can turn into an even bigger (bigger than Titan even) man made of solid rock. While in this form, he can reform his shape at will, even able to come back from being pulverized.

• Always Someone Better: He might be very strong, but even he can't compare to Titan's sheer strength. During the assessment, Titan beats the ever-loving crap out of Granite (including ripping off one of Granite's arms and using it as a club) and then reveals that he was holding back.
• The Big Guy: The biggest, most muscular member of the team. And that's before he shifts into his rock form. When facing him, it's Titan who, for a change, has to look up.
• Elemental Baggage: In his shifted form, Granite's weight is measured in tons. This makes it inadvisable for him to climb buildings that are nearing collapse.
• Friendly Enemy: While they're not really enemies, Granite will follow Gale's orders, who considers Titan dangerous. That said, he is friendly towards a fellow strongman.
• Healing Factor: In a way. While shifted, Granite can reform at will, even if broken into tiny pieces. As long as those pieces aren't crushed into dust, he's fine.
• Rock Monster: Being made of solid rock makes Granite nigh-impervious to damage. Even if he's broken into pieces, he can reform at will.

Birdsman

A veteran Hero, who was already famous when Titan was still in college. Can summon powerful elemental birds. Considered to be the team's heaviest hitter.

• Cool Old Guy: Birdsman may be way past his prime, but he is still the strongest Hero on the team in terms of sheer hitting power.
• Odd Name Out: He's got four summons: Fire Eagle, Lightning Falcon, Plasma Hawk and a giant stone roc named... Rocsteady.
• Summon Magic: Birdsman is a powerful summoner, able to conjure up his three elemental birds (Fire Eagle, Lightning Falcon, Plasma Hawk) simultaneously and command them much better than Hexcellent. He can also summon a much larger stone bird, which he can ride. This one is called Rocsteady.

Misdirection

A Subtlety Hero with the ability to manifest illusions. She can blind an enemy by manifesting a black sphere around his head.

• Master of Illusion: Misdirection's ability.
• Psychic Static: Her cameo in Year 4 of the main series implies that it's either a part of her ability or some kind of training.
• Secret Test of Character: Gives one to Will in Year 4 of the main series (also making her cameo), before offering to mentor him for his internship.

Spring

The team's speedster. She uses her speed to avoid getting attacked and to confuse enemies. She can also quickly bind them by wrapping them in rope or a similar material.

• Super-Speed: Spring's ability.

Wild Bucks/Gentle Hammers

Topsy

Titan's old teammate from his days in the Gentle Hammers, a team of heavy hitters. While he's not technically a full member of the Wild Bucks, having retired from full-time Heroing due to age, he is their mentor. He can create energy vortices and was the only non-physical member of the Gentle Hammers.

• Old Master: Unlike Titan, Topsy hasn't aged well. Now a Retired Badass, he has been brought on by the Wild Bucks as their mentor. Despite this, his power and training mean that he's still a tough son-of-a-bitch. At the end of the novel, he takes over for Titan as the PEERS Hero Liaison, while Titan becomes a full member of the Wild Bucks.
• Swirly Energy Thingy: Topsy can manifest energy vortices that can be used either defensively (as a shield) or offensively (to blow stuff up).

Deadlift

The leader of the young team. He's capable but still fresh out of his internship, just like all the other team members. He is capable of lifting almost anything with little effort and throwing it.

• The Leader: While he's still new at this, Deadlift does his best to inspire and guide the rest of the team. He still tends to defer to Topsy for many issues, though. Loses two team members after a botched public fight (they're not dead, just restricted to non-Hero duties), leaving the team short-handed. After Titan joins the team at the end of the novel, Deadlift offers him the leadership role, only for Titan to decline, pointing out that his job is punching things and getting punched. He doesn't want the administrative headaches.
• Super-Strength: A version of this power that only applies to lifting and throwing things. He doesn't have the ability to use super strength punches, and his endurance is that of a normal human's. Nevertheless, many a bad guy have had to dodge the boulders he threw their way. Titan theorizes that what he's actually doing is temporarily altering the object's effective mass. Deadlift habitually keeps a steel beam he uses as a club.

Juiced

A girl with temporary enhanced strength and endurance that comes from drinking a special cocktail.

• Super-Strength: A temporary version, which requires an ingestion of a concoction, whose composition she keeps a secret.

Kaiju

A shifter, who is able to turn into a 14-foot-tall red lizard.

• Voluntary Shapeshifting: Can turn into a big lizard at will.

Others

Jeremiah

The leader of Modus Operandi, a team made up exclusively of Subtlety Heroes. The only member of the team known to others.

• Mentor Archetype: Makes a cameo in Year 4 of the main series in order to make an internship offer to Vince, of all people, in order to teach him to use his head rather than his fists.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Whenever he introduces himself to someone, he immediately confirms that, yes, "Jeremiah" is his Hero name, not his real name.
• Religious and Mythological Theme Naming: Tends to borrow his aliases from The Bible.
• Resurrective Immortality: Turns out to be Jeremiah's power. He has frozen his body into a particular state, and it periodically resets to that state, even if he is killed. While not certain, it might also mean he doesn't age, effectively making him immortal.

Aether

The leader of Transcendental Justice, a team of Heroes with less-than-direct powers. She can make herself and other people intangible, which is very useful for rescue work.

• Flight: Her power also allows her to fly, although she's not quite as fast as Gale.
• Intangibility: Aether can temporarily shift herself and others out of phase with normal reality, allowing them to move through solid objects. This power doesn't work on Titan, since he was once attacked by a Super with a similar power, so his body developed an immunity to it. While he can consciously suppress his ability, it wouldn't be good if it resurfaced, and he ended up reappearing inside a wall.

Dispatch

An unknown Super, who uses her ability to link all active Heroes through their Comm Links. All Heroes use her to figure out where they are needed. She is a master coordinator, and yet no one knows who she is or has seen her in person.

• Comm Links: Special earpieces connect every active Hero to her.
• Seen It All: She's been working with Heroes for years, if not decades and knows just about every trick in the book. Subverted when even she is given pause by a twenty-story fire-breathing rabbit in medieval armor.
• Voice with an Internet Connection: Dispatch keeps an eye on all events in the Hero world. She is somehow able to communicate with multiple Heroes simultaneously, giving each a different message.

Herbert Jackson

The dean of the HCP at Sizemore Tech. Titan's old dean. A great believer in integrity and judging people by their actions instead of their image. Makes several appearances in Year 4 of the main series as part of the council of all HCP deans and during the final battle. Used to be known as Grasp in his Hero days.

• Cool Teacher: Titan has fond memories of him during his days at the HCP. He is a little miffed at Titan for sending Roy/Hershel to Lander instead of his alma mater. He also doesn't like that colleges like Lander get all the attention, even though the HCP at Sizemore Tech is just as good.
• Hollywood Density: Dean Jackson is able to manipulate his density, a power he uses to make himself a superb hand-to-hand combatant.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Dean Jackson has no qualms about throwing out the rule book, if he believes it's the right thing to do. He's even willing to give Hexcellent a shot at the HCP on Titan's recommendation despite her criminal record, something normally frowned upon. During a fair, he asks Titan to stand next to him at the Sizemore Tech booth. When Titan points out that some Supers might avoid it specifically because of him, Dean Jackson just shrugs and says "Fuck 'em!" As far as he's concerned, people who are judging Titan have no place at his HCP.

Leonard "Lenny" Nicolo

Titan's agent. While not a Super, he's very good at his job. A workaholic, not having had a single vacation in decades. It also cost him his marriage, but he doesn't seem to mind.

• Brutal Honesty: Lenny's way of speaking to his clients. He doesn't like to beat around the bush. While they might be turned off at first, they tend to grow to appreciate it.
• Manipulative Bastard: An unusually benevolent and honest version. He's good at steering people in the direction he wants them; not only the heroes he works for, but also other people like opponents and to a lesser extent the public opinion. Unlike most examples of the trope, Lenny is completely honest about what he's doing, citing it as part of his job as an agent and pointing out that his goal is to make his clients look as good as possible.
• My Rule Fu Is Stronger than Yours: He's very good at Loophole Abuse and shutting down his opponents' attempts at the same. He helps Hexcellent defend her right to own the Hopcules brand, despite Mr. Greene's attempts to argue about "preexisting conditions".
• Only One Name: In Corpies, Lenny's full name is never mentioned. You have to read Super Powereds for his brief appearance and full introduction.

Eli

A young member of a gang of Supers. He can fire blasts of corrosive energy. While initially involved in large-scale destruction, Titan quickly realizes that Eli is a good kid at heart, who just got involved with a wrong crowd.

• Boxed Crook: After crippling Eli's legs, Titan gives him a choice: Eli can help rescue the innocent people trapped on the damaged highway in exchange for a healer taking care of his legs, or he can spend decades in jail with legs that will never quite recover. Grudgingly, Eli chooses the former. Furthermore, Titan quickly realizes that Eli was deliberately not trying to kill anyone during the fighting and was simply lashing out, after the Wild Bucks killed his criminal brother. Titan promises to be a character witness at his trial. During the robot attack, Eli is recruited as a temporary asset in order to help battle the Humongous Mecha. At the end, Titan gives Topsy, who has replaced him as the PEERS Hero Liaison, Eli's file, asking him to consider hiring Eli to the team in order to fulfill his community service sentence and to help the kid turn his life around. Since Titan wants Hexcellent to join Sizemore Tech's HCP, this is also an attempt to prepare a possible replacement for her.
• Hand Blast: Eli can shoot blasts of corrosive energy out of his hands, which can damage most man-made materials, although tough Supers like Titan can handle it.

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