My Super Ex-Girlfriend

[Bahamut810]

I just got back from seeing this movie.

This is a must see for any Aberrant (or any 'realistic' super-powered) game. And it is *hilarious*.

I dont want to spoil anything, but it is a prime example of someone with emotional problems erupting with superman-esque powers (Flight, Super Strength, Super Damage taking, Heat Vision...). I can easily see Pax getting like this if someone of a lesser station ever broke up with him.

::ultracool

[Sprocket]

This movie looks like a bloody primer for Aberrant players who wonder why so many nova/baseline relationships become troubled. ::laugh ::devil

Not so sure I'll be able to catch it in the theater, but I'm definitely buying a copy once it comes out on DVD. ::sly

Re: Pax's lovelife-

::ohmy You mean that Pax might actually find himself a girlfriend (or boyfriend - the writers' hints about ol' Shelby's possible repressed homosexuality weren't exactly subtle) instead of spending all his free time admiring himself in a mirror? ::lol

[BlueNinja]

Re: Pax's lovelife-

::ohmy You mean that Pax might actually find himself a girlfriend (or boyfriend - the writers' hints about ol' Shelby's possible repressed homosexuality weren't exactly subtle) instead of spending all his free time admiring himself in a mirror? ::lol

I think there's a line from Disney's Hercules movie ... something about Narcissus discovering himself. ::laugh

[madcat82]

Re: Pax's lovelife-

::ohmy You mean that Pax might actually find himself a girlfriend (or boyfriend - the writers' hints about ol' Shelby's possible repressed homosexuality weren't exactly subtle) instead of spending all his free time admiring himself in a mirror? ::lol

Pleas, Pax will probably soon realize that he has arms, and then all hell will break loose...

[Blue Thunder]

Actually, I always took Pax to be homophobic. Very homophobic. It fits in better with his personality. He's a self-loving, over-built, authoritative, powerful, jackass bully from the country that believes he's better than everyone else and that his judgement is beyond reproach, and he has the power to do and say what he wants.

When Pax shows displeasue with gay people, I believe it to be genuine.

[Sprocket]

I can buy Pax as being homophobic instead of a repressed homosexual, no problem. It makes his crushing defeat at the hands of Divis Mal all the more ironic (& bitter for Pax).

I still think he's got a pathological level of narcissism (very likely of aberration-caliber), judging from his writeup in AB:Worldwide Phase 1.

[BlueNinja]

I can buy Pax as being homophobic instead of a repressed homosexual, no problem. It makes his crushing defeat at the hands of Divis Mal all the more ironic (& bitter for Pax).

I still think he's got a pathological level of narcissism (very likely of aberration-caliber), judging from his writeup in AB:Worldwide Phase 1.

I always figured that Pax had at least Taint 8 to have Megalomania, in addition to probable other mental aberrations like Bad Temper, Intolerance or Phobia.

[phoenix]

Well, who's to say that it's impossible to be both homophobic and to have suppressed homosexual urges?

[SkyLion]

don't forget his shiny blad hairlessness! (Shell-head indeed ::wink )

[Alex Green]

One of the writers said she was told that Pax had both Q7 and Node=5. Considering he's unlikely to have Mega-Int(Taint Resist) that gives him at least a taint 6... with it highly likely that some of these will be mental aberrations. Hairless (Plastic Skin?), Blue Aura, Obsession: His Image.

I'm less sure about Meglomania, Pax (unlike Mal) doesn't seem to go in for these massive, grandious plans. Pax has a cult of fan boys and sells toys about himself. Mal has his own cult of Mal-worshipers run by his lover.

[Jackson Creed]

It brings up the old question of which type of high (7+) Taint Nova is the most frightening; is it the big slimy, tentacled, Cthulhu-esque slobbery Teragen monster, or is it the Mega-Social Superman type who has a shedload of pathological, neurotic, psychotic, narcisstic and/or megalomaniacal mental aberrations?

JC

[Alex Green]

It brings up the old question of which type of high (7+) Taint Nova is the most frightening; is it the big slimy, tentacled, Cthulhu-esque slobbery Teragen monster, or is it the Mega-Social Superman type who has a shedload of pathological, neurotic, psychotic, narcisstic and/or megalomaniacal mental aberrations?

JC

I think in abby that question has been answered. Geryon and his cohorts were dangerous but never a true threat to the world, Mal was. For that matter, Geryon (etc) was created by Mal.

[Jackson Creed]

I think in abby that question has been answered. Geryon and his cohorts were dangerous but never a true threat to the world, Mal was. For that matter, Geryon (etc) was created by Mal.

True enough, but Mal was only a threat to the BASELINE world. He genuinely believes that Novas are the natural inheritors of the world, he just speeded things up a bit. Mal is not a bad person when you look at it; he thinks of Novas as his children and never forces them to be a particular way. In fact, he has vast patience with Novas and goes out of his way to try and enlighten them into finding their own path (he didn't even kill Pax when he had the chance; a favour that would not have been returned if Pax had won). Even with baselines he has been shown to be compassionate and patient; he just sees them as lesser, largely unimportant, creatures (much in the same way that we would view pets; we can be very fond of our own, but generally don't care about the species as a whole). Divis Mal reminds me very much of the Magneto character in the X-men films (I'm sure that this is a topic that has been covered before, but the parallels are striking); he is warm and fatherly, a mentor if you will, but with humans he can be utterly ruthless, but never uses excessive force against bystanders (of course, if they get in his way then they're toast). I suspect that much of Divis Mal's character was based, however closely or loosely, on the Magneto character.

My point is that Mal isn't good or evil; he just is. He is his own nation, he follows his own code, and he does what he wnats when he wants to do it. This is at the heart of the Null Manifesto.

Other Novas are not so evolved. Mal is not driven by petty human emotions; he has moved far beyond them. Cestus Pax, on the other hand, is a narcissistic bastard who cares about nothing but his own ratings. He doesn't care about anyone who gets in the way because he is so much more powerful than they are. Pax is the ultimate school bully and when you get right down to it, in my opinion he is the far worse threat than Mal. He knows about the Utopian agenda for controlling Novas, and he his perfectly willing to kill anyone who threatens his comfortable set up. At the heart of my argument is this: Mal is not evil or a bad person; he is more like a force of nature. Pax, on the other hand, IS a bad person and well on the road to being what you might call evil, because he IS governed by (selfish) human emotions and desires.

Just my Two-Cents,

JC

[SkyLion]

From Uma Thurman to Pax and Mal in a single thread.....I love forums! ::laugh

[Blue Thunder]

On the issue of Mal, you're right...to a point. Everything you said describes Mal as of 2008-2015. He changes during and after the Night of Long Knives. In the Teragen book, page 98, the book says this on Mal during and after the Night of Long Knives:

When Divis sanctions the elimination of some of his key supporters in the Teragen, it will cause a massive shism within the group...Divis has always advocated novas finding their own path in life, but his patience is finite. There are certain Terats who refuse to "get it," and in his impatience, Divis helps to seperate the wheat from the chaff. Following the Night of Long Knives, many Terats become disillusioned with Mal. He assassinated those who disagreed with his view of the movement, regardless of whether they were in the right or wrong. Terats believed they existed in a true egalitarian process, where their words had merit. The turmoil, however, reveals that they only had "free" expression as long as it fit within Divis' finite tolerances...The Night of Long Knives sets the Teragen in motion. It goes from a democracy to a dictatorship, from seeking to directing, from movement to crusade.

Divis may seem like Magneto now, but it won't last very long. Divis wants novas to be the dominant life on Earth...and he wants to be the one at the top, lading and directing them. That's what seperates him from Mercer; where Mercer is willing to save humanity from itself and then let it find it's own course, Donighal wants to forcefully shape humanity into his own selfish vision o what the world should be.

...maybe we should move this topic to the Aberrant subforum ;

[phoenix]

Feel free to start a new topic there, BT.

My two cents: just because Mal is more dangerous than Geryon doesn't mean that all shining-armor-clad, Mega-Social types are more dangerous than all raving monsters. In fact, I would say that those are both pretty bad examples, since Geryon actually seems pretty civilized apart from being a political assassin, and Mal is insanely powerful.

I might suggest instead comparing Leviathan to.. oh balls, what's her name. That lady nova who's in the picture with Mal in jeans and a T-shirt in the Teragen book? Anyone? ::unsure

It's like comparing Elton John to Paul McCartney? ::cool

[Sprocket]

Re: The Lady in Question...

... would be Narcosis, the Teragen's resident starlet/pornstar & titular leader of the Pandaimonion sub-faction. Relevant info can be found on pp. 63-66 of Aberrant: Teragen.

[Alex Green]

My two cents: just because Mal is more dangerous than Geryon doesn't mean that all shining-armor-clad, Mega-Social types are more dangerous than all raving monsters. In fact, I would say that those are both pretty bad examples, since Geryon actually seems pretty civilized apart from being a political assassin, and Mal is insanely powerful.

Ignoring power level (stripping Mal of his Q8 stuff)... Mal still wins hands down. The world can survive a certain number of super powered Jack the Rippers, it can't do the same with a "conquor/reshape the world Mega-Social". I think the "Forceful Personalities" cult section reenforces that. A Werewolf can be a serial killer, but a "Puppetman" (from WildCards) can become President. Better/worse still, he can become President legally.

Leviathan can level buildings but his power doesn't really extend beyond his reach.

Narcosis can create the soma trade and found worldwide movements.

[SkyLion]

Perhaps a naive question, but where may I find/download Forceful Personalities? I didn't think it was here on Eon (Have found Brainwaves...)

[Sprocket]

Unless Archer & Wish have been having trouble with the site again, you should be able to download Aberrant: Forceful Personalities from EON's Downloads page without any trouble. It is an EON-produced fanbook, after all. ::wink