Val CHA Cost Roll Notes 18 STR 8 13- Lift 303.1 kg; 3 1/2d6 HTH Damage [2] 23 DEX 39 14- OCV: 8/DCV: 8 18 CON 16 13- 13 BODY 6 12- 18 INT 8 13- PER Roll 13- 15 EGO 10 12- ECV: 5 20 PRE 10 13- PRE Attack: 4d6 14 COM 2 12- 8 PD 4 Total: 8 PD (0 rPD) 8 ED 4 Total: 8 ED (0 rED) 5 SPD 17 Phases: 3, 5, 8, 10, 12 8 REC 0 36 END 0 31 STUN 0 Total Characteristic Cost: 124 Movement: Running: 6"/12" Leaping: 23"/46" Swimming: 2"/4" Cost Powers & Skills Martial Arts: Classic Comic Book/Crimefighter Training Maneuver OCV DCV Damage 4 Block +2 +2 Block, Abort 5 Flying Dodge -- +4 Dodge All Attacks, Abort; FMove 5 Kick +1 -2 7 1/2d6 Strike 4 Punch +0 +2 5 1/2d6 Strike 5 Takeaway +0 +0 Grab Weapon, 28 STR to take weapon away 18 Electro-Nose: EB 12d6, STUN Only (+0); OAF (-1), 6 Charges (-3/4), No Range (-1/2), [6] 34 Confetti: Entangle 5d6, 5 DEF (Stops Sight Group), 16 Charges (+0); OIF (costume; -1/2), Limited Range (4"; -1/4), [16] 20 Footapults: Leaping +20" (23 1/2" forward, 11 1/2" upward), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2); OIF (costume; -1/2) 13 Handsprings: Stretching 4", Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2); OIF (costume; -1/2), Always Direct (-1/4), Limited Body Parts (arms; -1/4), No Noncombat Stretching (-1/4) Perks 5 Money: Well Off 4 Reputation: Well-known Astro City Hero (Astro City) 14-, +2/+2d6 Skills 10 +2 with HTH Combat 10 Agility: +2 with DCV 3 Acrobatics 14- 3 Breakfall 14- 3 CK: Astro City 13- 2 CK: Bakerville 11- 3 Climbing 14- 3 Concealment 13- 3 Inventor 13- 0 Language: English (idiomatic; literate) 3 PS: Engineer/Toy Designer 13- 2 PS: Mechanical Drawing 11- 3 Shadowing 13- 3 SS: Mechanical Engineering 13- 3 Stealth 14- 3 Streetwise 13- 0 TF: Small Motorized Ground Vehicles 174 Total Powers & Skills Cost 298 Total Character Cost 150+ Disadvantages 15 DNPC: Tamara Johnson 11- (Normal) 15 Hunted: The Brass Monkey 11- (As Pow, Harshly Punish) 0 Hunted: The Trouble Boys 11- (Less Pow, Limited Geographical Area, Watching) 20 Psychological Limitation: Code Versus Killing (Common, Total) 10 Psychological Limitation: Joker And Wisecracker (Common, Moderate) 15 Psychological Limitation: Wants To Make The World A Better Place/Driven To Help Others (Common, Strong) 15 Social Limitation: Secret ID (Zachary Johnson) (Frequently, Major) 58 Masked Clown Bonus 298 Total Disadvantage Points
Background/History: Jack-in-the-Box has been around in Astro City for over thirty years, although he has gone missing for extended lengths of time (such as from 1983 to 1989). This is due to the fact that Zachary Johnson is the second Jack-in-the-Box, the first being his father, who started his crime-fighting career in the early sixties. Zachary knew nothing of his father's secret identity, and thus had no idea why he vanished in October of 1983 to ever return. It wasn't until after his mother died in 1989 and Zachary found his father's gear that he knew. In turn, Zachary donned the costume and became the second Jack-in-the-Box, seeking justice against the man who murdered his father. Finally, Zachary himself, troubled by reports of his future (more importantly, his death and what becomes of his family), steps down as Jack-in-the-Box, handing the costume over to a young man named Roscoe James, thus ensuring Astro City will always have its clown-masked defender.
Personality/Motivation: Jack-in-the-Box's quote pretty much sums his attitude. Since donning his father's costume he's more than filled the vacancy left by the death of Jack-in-the-Box I. He's come to realize that he can make a difference in people's lives and is unable to stand idle when there is a chance he can help. By the same token, he will not kill, and will stop others from killing if at all possible. Finally, Jack projects are carefree attitude (to an extent) while in the costume, and will banter with his foes, hurling wisecracks and simple insults along with confetti and shots from his handsprings.
Quote: "Can I read in the paper about murder—about rape, and more—and know I could have stopped it? How could I live with myself?"
Powers/Tactics: All of Jack's powers are the result of physical training (he is in excellent shape), or from his costume and equipment. His two most obvious "powers" are his footapults, which allow Jack to spring great distances and his handsprings, which allow him to punch foes short distances away. Jack also carries a shoulder bag, in which he keeps several clown noses rigged to serve as tasers. Finally, he can project "confetti" from his hands, entangling his foes in a plastic spray that rapidly hardens to be almost unbreakable (at least for normal people). In combat Jack makes use of movement as his greatest weapon. He bounces around quite a bit, never standing still for long, and often Sweeps his attacks, striking two foes at once.
For the record, Jack's powers were built roughly around a 60 Active Point base, but this can easily be modified to make his more powerful if you so wish.
Appearance: Under his mask, Jack-in-the-Box is a handsome black man in his late twenties (roughly 27 or 28 years old). He's in excellent physical shape, with a strong, muscular build. As Jack-in-the-Box, Zachary wears a red bodystocking with a black diamond pattern over the upper torso, arms, and along the sides of his legs. Thick bands of red and green disks encircle his forearms and calves, marking the location of his handsprings and footapults. A ruff of red fur/hair frames his face, which is a white mask with red lips and black circles around the eyes.
Designer's Notes: Jack-in-the-Box is an obvious parallel to Marvel Comic's Spiderman, what with his method of locomotion, his confetti, wisecracks, and general attitude. However, he's "just" a well-trained normal, and doesn't have Spiderman's superhuman agility and strength. This made it a little difficult to rate his physical abilities. I ended up deciding to give him a DEX and SPD that seemed to go with his general power level, which was someone who could play in the 350-point range (alas, he ended up 298...). You can easily alter these numbers to fit your own tastes. In addition, I could easy see giving Jack Combat Luck and/or some Damage Reduction defined as "Rolling With The Punch." He might have additional powers as well in his bag of tricks, although he hasn't shown any in the stories I have of him.
(Jack-in-the-Box II created by Kurt Busiek, Brent Eric Anderson and Alex Ross, character sheet created by Michael Surbrook)
Jack-in-the-Box II's Hero Designer File
Return to Comic-Derived Character Adaptations