ASSORTED CHARACTER ADAPTATIONS
SUICIDE SQUID
Val CHA Cost Roll Notes 40* STR 5 17- 200kg/6400kg; 8d6 15 DEX 15 12- OCV: 5/DCV: 5 28 CON 36 15- 15* BODY 0 12- 13 INT 3 12- PER Roll 12- 18 EGO 16 13- ECV: 6 15 PRE 5 12- PRE Attack 3d6 6 COM -2 10- 21 PD 18 Total: 36 21 ED 15 Total: 36 3 SPD 5 Phases: 4, 8, 12 9 REC 0 56 END 0 37* STUN 0 *Growth bonuses figured in Total Characteristics Cost: 116 Movement: Gliding: 5”/10” Running: 6"/12" Swimming: 17"/34" Cost Powers & Skills END 33 Size: Growth: 5 Levels (x32 mass, x3.1 height, DCV Penalty: -3; PER Penalty: +3) 0 END Persistent, Always On 10 Stretching (2", NC: 4), END 1 44 Beak: HKA: 2d6+1 (Total 4 1/2d6), END 1 50 Black Ink: Multipower (50 pt reserve) 3 u- Darkness (Smell, Sight Group, 4" radius), Underwater Only, END 5 3 u- 8d6 Energy Blast, 1/2 END, END 2 4 Black Ink: END Reserve (30 END, 1 REC/turn) 45 Invulnerability: Armor (15 PD/15 ED) 20 Life Support: Breathe Underwater, Immune to Aging, Immune to Disease, High Pressure/Vacuum, Life Support: High Radiation, Life Support: Intense Heat/Cold 60 Regeneration (4 BODY/Turn), From Death 26 Time Travel: Extra-Dimensional Movement, Group of Dimensions, Any Time, Carrying Mass: None; 0 END, No Conscious Control, Side Effects: 21d6 EB 5 5" Gliding (NC: 10"); MPH: 11 19 Swimming (+15", 17", NC: 34"); MPH: 33; 1/2 END, END 1 4 Mind Link, Related Group, Aquatic Animals Only (-1 1/2) 5 Extra Limbs (8 Tentacles) 5 Discriminatory Smell 10 Tracking Scent Skills 50 Follower: Alonzo (100 pts) 40 Followers: The Black Ink Irregulars (50 pts, 8 Followers) 40 Talent: Danger Sense (All Attacks, General Area) 16- 3 Acrobatics 12- 2 AK: San Diego Harbor 11- 3 Animal Handler 11- 3 Breakfall 12- 2 TF: Water Vehicles 491 Total Powers & Skills Cost 607 Total Character Cost 100+ Disadvantages: 5 Dependence: on Sea Water (3d6 STR Drain/5 Hours) 20 Distinctive Features: Anthropomorphic Squid (NC, Maj) 10 Enraged: at Environmental Abuse (11-, 8-) 15 Hunted: by Dr Calimari (As Pow) 11- 5 Physical Limitation: Limited Manual Dexterity (Infrequently, Slightly) Psychological Limitation: 15 Bipolar Personality (Common, Strong) 10 Fear of Sushi Chefs (Uncommon, Strong) 20 Paranoid (Very Common, Strong) 5 Poor 10 Public ID 10 Reputation: Ten-Tentacled Avenger of the Deep (11-) 25 Unluck: 5d6 357 Experience Bonus 607 Total Disadvantage Points
Also Known As: the Baby Squid God, the Calamari Kid, the Cephalopod of Self-Infliction, the Dark Ink Avenger, the Dark Ink Detective, the Dark Water Avenger, the Death-Seeking Cephalopod, the Eternal Nemesis of Sushi Chefs, the Great Tentacled One, the Ink Elemental, the Kamikaze Cephalopod, the Murky Mollusk, the Seventh Eternal (that one's a long story), Squiddy (the most common), the Ten-Tentacled Avenger of the Deep, the Thanatonic Cephalopod.
Background:
The history of the legendary hero known as Suicide Squid is a difficult and often confusing series of events. These events seem often contradictory; however, there is a strange sort of sense to them.
In the early 1960s, Biff Peters was a marine biology student at the University of San Diego. He was a "surfer dude" even before surfing was really popular in California, a happy-go-lucky type despite his father's strict Navy upbringing.
Then, shortly after some of the earliest nuclear weapons tests in the South Pacific, a squid was irradiated by the explosions and washed ashore near Biff's beach house. Biff went out to investigate, and without warning the two of them were somehow merged into a single being.
Lieutenant Chuck Ricks, a marine biologist with the United States Navy, was present at the original nuclear test, and was in San Diego on leave shortly afterward. A longtime friend of Biff's, he happened to be the only other person present when Biff and the squid merged.
For a time, the new, blended creature was only half-aware, and barely sentient. Chuck tried to care for the poor creature, but was sorely challenged. Then, about a week after the transformation, he was about to dump what was left of his old friend into the ocean, when a dolphin appeared nearby. This dolphin, which could speak perfectly clear English, explained to Chuck that Biff would become one of the world's greatest forces for good — a grand champion of freedom, animal rights, and environmental responsibility. As the dolphin's eyes glowed, Biff abruptly regained his health and consciousness.
When Chuck looked again, the dolphin was nowhere to be seen.
(It's been observed over the intervening years, and correctly so, that simple gamma radiation would not cause two separate beings to merge into a single one — the more common effect of gamma radiation manifests as incredible physical characteristics and a green pigmentation. A number of explanations, all of which are probably contributing factors to the event, have been proposed. One is that Biff Peters was actually of extraterrestrial origin, and not human at all — his father revealed to Chuck on his deathbed that Biff was a foundling. Another, discovered during a time-travel adventure, is that a shift in the cosmic axis took place just as Biff came into physical contact with the squid. That same adventure also revealed that an attempt by one of Suicide Squid's arch-nemeses to look upon the creation of the universe created such a cosmic evil that a cosmic force for good had to be created — one which took the form of the magical dolphin which gave Squiddy his powers and restored his sentience. There have been some hints that a batch of contaminated kelp may have played a role in Suicide Squid's origin as well.)
Initially, Biff's personality was remarkably changed. Far from his original happy-go-lucky outlook, he now had a morose view on things, and tried more than once to kill himself. This was largely due to Biff's sudden loss of his charming good looks (girls just don't date squids). At the same time, Admiral John Peters, Biff's father, became convinced that this strange squid-creature had killed his son (rather than merging with him), and set out to destroy it. With the help of his little sister, Rosie, Chuck worked hard for several weeks, trying to keep his new friend safe from both his own hand and his father's.
Eventually, Biff attempted suicide in a bizarre ritual involving a gun, a particle accelerator, an experimental argon laser, and some creme-filled chocolate sandwich cookies. In his near-death experience, the Powers of the Underworld recognized him for what he was, and sent him back (a couple of them muttering something about wanting a commemorative T-shirt).
After this, Biff pulled out of his terrible funk. He dedicated himself to stopping environmental hazards and looking out for marine animals' rights, and while his periods of depression continued to surface from time to time he became a hero for environmental issues as well as civil rights. His friends began calling him Suicide Squid, after a legendary hero from World War II.
In the mid-1970s, Suicide Squid was sent back in time to World War II, where he soon became interested in the ongoing war. He joined the Air Corps as a pilot, and became noted for passionate attacks in which he'd jump out of his plane, ensnare an enemy plane with his tentacles, and drag his enemy down into the ocean. It was this tactic which once again earned him the nickname of Suicide Squid. It wasn't until the name was given to him during this time, in fact, that he realized that he'd actually be named after himself — though in both periods, the name seemed somehow fitting.
After the war, Suicide Squid was deactivated from military service, hypnotized to forget any sensitive military information he'd come across, and given a job as a special agent with the FBI. He served for some five years before a mission which ended in him being accidentally frozen in a block of arctic ice (this also led to the eventual origin of his later arch-foe, the Pacific Dr Calimari). He was discovered and thawed out only a couple of years after being sent back to World War II (and those years were fairly easy to catch up on — this was the mid-70s, after all).
Sadly, Admiral Peters died in the interim between Suicide Squid's disappearance (that is, his departure into the past) and his thawing out. He went to his grave believing that the heroic Suicide Squid of World War II and the "monstrous" one of the Sixties were two different creatures.
To this day, accompanied by numerous friends (see Allies below), Suicide Squid fights relentlessly and tirelessly against the forces of evil (see Notable Foes below).
Personality:
Suicide Squid's general outlook seems to alternate periodically, being variably cheerful, morose, and impassioned. This is typical of bipolar personality disorder (more commonly referred to as manic-depression), though the actual cause may be his dual squid and human nature rather than any traditional or familiar form of mental illness.
In his morose periods, he does exhibit a definite suicidal streak. Probably contributing to his depression is his lost humanity. He is no longer capable of living a normal life as Biff Peters — he can still hang ten with the best of them, instead of toes what he's hanging ten of is tentacles. Fortunately for him, his friends (colloquially known as the Black Ink Irregulars; see below) stick close to him during these times. His attempts at actual suicide would probably not succeed (given his ability to regenerate from death; see below), but they'd also probably hurt a whole lot.
When he's in his impassioned phase, he's virtually fearless, often placing himself in situations where he could scarcely survive but always surviving after all. Often his survival is through pure luck, though sometimes it's because of his regenerative ability.
Quote: "The seaweed of crime bears bitter sushi."
Powers/Tactics: Suicide Squid is, basically, a squid-man, though with many extremely unusual abilities.
His main form of attack is his "ink blast," which can knock even a superpowered foe for a loop. The ink is projected in a single huge droplet. Normally, a blast of ink, even one of this size, should not be able to knock over cars and tanks like Squiddy's can, but his ink is "genetically curious" and has many unusual properties.
In a close fight, he's also capable of bringing all ten of his tentacles to bear on an opponent. His beak delivers a pretty nasty bite as well.
Probably the strangest of Suicide Squid's powers is the ability to regenerate any physical damage done to him, even if it kills him. The source of this isn't known for certain, but is assumed to be the Cosmic Goodness that originally gave him his powers — as long as there is evil, there must be a Suicide Squid. (Indeed, tales of a Suicide Squid date back to 14th century Europe, and may go back even further. Whether these tales are merely tales, evidence of another being called Suicide Squid, leftovers from more Suicide Squid time travel adventures, or something else is unknown.) The fact that Death refuses to accept Suicide Squid until he (Death) can get a Suicide Squid T-shirt may also be a factor.
Nonetheless, Squiddy has actually "died" on a couple of occasions, exploring various facets of the afterlife before becoming restless and returning to his body to fight (mostly environmental) crime once again.
His time-travel adventures seem to be linked to an ability to travel through time at will. For instance, his travel back to the beginning of World War II was sparked by his wishing that he could have been the great World War II hero (which he was, even though he didn't know it at the time). However, his control over this ability is highly limited, and seems to be managed by his subconscious.
Squiddy is also a talented (and highly underrated) comic book inker. He avoids advertising that fact, though.
Though he's used a number of locations as bases of operation, the place he feels most at home at is his Trench of Solitude, located in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean. The base with which his fans are most familiar, of course, is the San Diego beach house that he once lived in when he was simple Biff Peters.
The best known weakness of Suicide Squid's is radioactive seaweed (kelp, specifically). This substance, which comes in a variety of colors depending on what sort of radioactive material was dumped into the ocean in order to produce it, can have a variety of effects on him.
Another weakness of his is a tendency to emit ink when under extreme stress. This has given away his location in supposedly stealthy situations numerous times.
Suicide Squid is also known to have an irrational fear of halibut. The cause of this fear is unknown. His fear of sushi chefs is better known as well as more reasonable.
Appearance: In ways, Suicide Squid resembles a grey anthropomorphized squid, such as one might see in a children's Saturday-morning cartoon. Standing at his tallest, he's about 20 feet tall, though he generally mushes himself down a bit to fit through doors and under ceilings. All told, he weighs about 3 tons of solid mussel (uh... make that muscle).
Normally, he divides his eight lesser tentacles into two groups of four for locomotion on land, and uses his two greater tentacles for manipulation, though occasionally he operates the other way around (especially when he needs more than two limbs to work equipment). He doesn't seem to be particularly less capable of fine manipulation with his tentacles than a human is with hands, with the exception of things that are specifically designed for ten-fingered operation (such as typing, or playing most musical instruments).
In action, he wears only a white headband with the letters "SS" in red.
Allies: Suicide Squid has garnered a number of allies over the years. Colloquially (though only occasionally amongst themselves), they are known as the Black Ink Irregulars.
One of his earliest allies, during his World War II days, was a mercenary named Dulcy Fruer. Dulcy sacrificed himself to detonate an experimental German intercontinental missile. After thirty-odd years in hell, he escaped by becoming a mental construct maintained by Stanley's Monster (a longtime Suicide Squid foe), at first acting as an influence for good but gradually degenerating into a vengeful spirit. Before his eventual destruction, however, he did reveal the presence in hell of two of Squiddy's friends, Angle and Arcangle (below), and those two were eventually released.
Betty Cooper, though she shares her name and appearance with another comics character, has virtually nothing else in common with her. This Betty Cooper was actually genetically altered to exactly resemble the other one by one of Suicide Squid's long-time nemeses. Though relatively normal (at least, compared to many of Squiddy's other friends), she has Suicide Squid's heroic spirit.
Blaze was a talking, telepathic cat which "belonged" to Betty. A close friend of Squiddy and a hero in his own right several times over, he was unfortunately killed in action a few years ago, uttering as his final words, "Exit, stage left, even."
Clarice Cakes was originally hired as Suicide Squid's personal secretary, and has undergone some serious transformations over the years. The most profound transformation, of course, is her sex change operation; Clarice was originally a man (though, oddly, he was still named Clarice — a name of which he was apparently embarrassed, since he insisted that everyone just call him "Sweetcakes"). She has also let her hair go to its natural black, from the natural blond(e) that he dyed it when he first came to work for Squiddy. She has frequently been in a position to help Suicide Squid with her numerous former occupations, including FBI agent and pearl diver.
Gordon was a mystic guide which worked with Suicide Squid for a brief time just before his teleportation back to World War II. When Squiddy returned, Gordon was nowhere to be found. However, Gordon was a great help in Suicide Squid's dealing with a number of young sidekicks that were gathering around him at that time. These youngsters, collectively known as the Sea Urchins, included as two of their most notable members Speed Limpet and Safety Shrimp.
The only members of the Sea Urchins still with Suicide Squid are Angle and Arcangle. Though best friends, this pair came to join Suicide Squid's team separately. Angle is so called because, before meeting Squiddy and learning the ways of animal rights and responsible environmentalism, he was a devoted angler. Arcangle is a slightly demented architect and civil engineer who designed Suicide Squid's personal superhero base; his greatest dream is to modify the St Louis Gateway Arch into the supports for a huge bridge over the Mississippi River, forming an equilateral triangle. Both are masters of trigonometry and the mathematical aspects of geometry, and have used that skill to get Suicide Squid out of many tight scrapes. Though they spent some time in hell (or a place amazingly similar to it), they didn't die to get there, and were recently released after Clarice cleared up the paperwork error that had put them there.
In recent years, Suicide Squid has taken up with a new friend, a cigar-chomping alien named Alonzo, who looks exactly like a lobster (to the point that some villains have tried to cook and eat him) and acts as Squiddy's sidekick and emotional sounding board. More than merely a member of the Black Ink Irregulars, Alonzo is a full-fledged sidekick and confidante for Suicide Squid. He has also become engaged to marry Clarice, apparently not knowing that Clarice was born male (his arrival occurred after her operation), or about his fiancee's relationship with one of Suicide Squid's enemies, the Evil Witch of North by Northwest. Of course, it's not as though he's told her everything either; Clarice still thinks that Alonzo is a real lobster who just happens to talk and smoke cigars.
During a brief time in the 1960s, Suicide Squid worked with the brother-sister team of Gastropod Girl and Bivalve Boy. The pair retired from superheroing, mostly because they weren't very good at it. They returned even more briefly to Suicide Squid's life in 1980, only to be killed by Suicide Squid's evil extradimensional counterpart, Slaughter Squid.
Another frequent ally is Slimy the Marvel Squid. Most of the time Slimy is just a mutated squid who is perfectly normal other than the ability to speak, but when she says the word, "CEPHALOPOD," she gains the powers of the legendary and mythological figures Clytemnestra, Electra, Phaedra, Hippolytus, Actaeon, Laocoon, Orestes, Philomela, Oedipus, and Daphne.
For a short time Suicide Squid and the Black Ink Irregulars worked with a mysterious figure known as Amanda Walrus. She seemed to function for a time as both friend and foe, but after a couple of years vanished as mysteriously as she'd appeared.
In recent years, Suicide Squid has been receiving notes from a mysterious figure known to him only as the Scarlet Scripter. The Scripter's messages have included philosophical musings, tips on cases, and (on one occasion) a short grocery list.
Squiddy has also allied himself at times with a massive food-themed superhero team from the future, the Legion of Supper Heroes, and an Australian team known as the Just Us Lads of Australia. Among the solo heroes he's become acquainted with are Barabbas the Barracuda, a tough-guy fish who wears way too much gold jewelry; RACMers, a robotic hero whose creator sadly died before he could either install fully-functional hands, or explain what its acronym stands for; Matman, a brooding vigilante with a pro-wrestling theme; Sandamn, a profanity-spouting vigilante; Shad the Changing Fish, a talking fish of ever-fluctuating species who is able, among other things, to always have exact change on hand for any purchase; Siderman, a superpowered damage-control expert who (among other things) repairs buildings after super-battles; and Swapthing, the legendary elemental of bargain basement hunters.
He has also become personally acquainted with the cosmic personification of Death. The two have a love-hate relationship; in his more cheerful phases, Squiddy likes to annoy Death by playing with the latter's pet goldfish, Slim and Wandsworth. Death, as noted previously, refuses to collect Squiddy's soul until he (Death) can have a Suicide Squid T-shirt.
Notable Foes:
By far, Suicide Squid's greatest foe over the years has been Dr Calimari. Actually, there are two individuals who use this name; it's the Pacific Dr Calimari that is Squiddy's greatest foe. The Atlantic Dr Calimari is sort of neutral to friendly, depending on what kind of day he's had.
Other foes of Suicide Squid have included, to list them alphabetically: Norman Batson; Black Flipper; Calimarith (with his servant, Time Flipper); Cerbutz the Aanemone; Chomper; Clarence/Clarissa; Cyborg Squid; Doc Lobster; Hannibal Ector; the Evil Witch of North by Northwest; Homicide Squid; the Horrible Aquatic Monster from Outer Space; Mr Mentality; Ruhr Shark; the Scaler; Seafood Samurai (aka the Yellow Hook); Slaughter Squid (Suicide Squid's evil twin from another dimension); Stanley's Monster; the Weed Warrior; and Zuicide Zebra (active during the Golden Age).
There have also been those who have been both foe and ally to Suicide Squid. The most prominent of these have been a group of Sand Fleas (who have never been identified originally) who started out as enemies of Suicide Squid, though more recently they've been acting as unofficial mascots and helpers of sorts (though they mostly just drink up all his cocoa). Others along this line have included Kraken the Huntress (rumored to be Suicide Squid's sister) and Punisher Cod.
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