Background/History: Born in the low-gravity environment of the Zeta Leporis asteroid belt, Nina, like all belters, grew up to be tall and thin, with a lightly-built frame. She also found herself far more interested in the various alien races who passed through Zeta Leporis than in digging ore out of asteroids, and decided to become a xenobiologist as opposed to a miner or system pilot. Excelling in her studies, she applied to attend the Federation Defense Forces academy, graduating with honors, then joining the scout services in studying and exploring the fringes of of the Federation's borders. Certainly her proudest moment of her career was to be selected to be part of the expedition to the distant Olra system, located on the edge of Federation/Mandaarian space, to assist in studying the mysterious ruins recently found there.
Initially the expedition went well, with the team settling in place and starting to explore the fringes of what turned out to be a millennia old complex of streets and buildings. But then, disaster struck. The complex was still operational, and some buildings still possessed automated defense systems; worse yet, the ruins were inhabited by a non-indigenous race of exceedingly hostile xenomorphs who attacked en masse, slaughtering most of the expedition members in their initial attack, before pursuing the rest through the ruins.
Nina, wounded in the initial attack by several xenomorph darts, tried to flee, but was unable to keep up with the others. Instead, weak from blood loss, she stumbled into an open building, hoping to hide and escape later. By chance, it so happened she ended up in a medical station, which activated itself upon detecting her entrance. Unable to resist, Nina found herself placed in an examination chamber, which scanned her body, collated data, and then went to work rebuilding her damaged body. Months later, she emerged, to find the surgical chamber had remade her into a full-body cyborg, with strength and durability beyond her comprehension. With her new body she was easily able to evade the xenomorphs, find a shuttle, and launch a rescue drone asking for pickup.
Upon being returned to the Galactic Federation, Nina found herself to be a major celebrity, seeing as she was the only survivor of the Olra expedition, not to mention her new cybernetic body. Defender, of the Champions, even went so far as to extend an invitation to join his new team, but Nina turned him down, at least for the moment, wishing to first come to grips with the capabilities of her new body, as well as preparing for the eventual return to Olra and the mysterious ruins found there.
Personality/Motivation: Former a good-natured and lively person, Nina has had some problems coming to grips with her new body. She wonders is she's still human, or is now simply a glorified robot. Having the Overrider try and "recruit" her didn't help matters, neither did Mechanon 3000's attempt to capture her for study (which is how she met Defender 3000 and the Champions). And, of course, discovering she could smash robots with her bare hands didn't do much for her peace of mind, either. However, she has decided to not give into depression and despair, and has decided to take a lead from Firedancer, and make the best of her situation. She'd like to remain with the Galactic Federation Defense Forces, possibly working as a scout, exploring hostile environments and works, or as some form of special operative, used for emergency situations (such as accidents and the like). Regardless of what she does, Nina tries to be as gentle as possible when dealing with "normal" people. She's seen the damage her body can do if she's not careful, and she has no desire to kill or injure anyone with a miscalculated application of strength. Interestingly, versus non-sentient objects (such as Mechanon's or Overrider's drones) or physical obstacles, she is more than willing to use her full strength.
Quote: "Overrider says I am a machine because of my body, while Mechanon isn't sure what I am. As for myself, I know I'm a human. It's not my body, but my heart and mind that tells me so."
Powers/Tactics: Nina possesses one of, if not the, most powerful cyborg bodies in the galaxy. Her physical prowess far dwarfs any Galactic Federation battlesuit, and she’s even stronger than the armored suits worn by the Celestial Rangers. She can lift hundreds of tons, and ranks in the top ten of known beings with extreme superhuman strength in the galaxy. Her body allows her to punch through most walls and barriers with ease, she crush most anything she can hold in her hand, and can leap immense distances. The armor plate sheathing renders her virtually invulnerable to most conventional weapons, allows her to survive a wide range of environmental conditions, and grants her immunity to almost all known diseases and toxins. In addition, her body is amazingly energy efficient, and requires very little fuel to operate, with the only waste product being Nina's hair, which grows at a highly accelerated rate and will reach ankle-length in a matter of weeks if Nina doesn't keep it trimmed.
As Nina is still growing used to her new body, her battle tactics are fairly basic. She will close with the largest and/or toughest she can see and engage them in hand-to-hand combat. If hard-pressed she will flee by leaping away. For the most part however, she'd rather not fight anyone, and if given the chance will try to help by getting innocent bystanders out of the line of fire or helping rescue the injured or those trapped by debris. Of course, with time and experience, it is expected she will become comfortable with her body's capabilities and will evolve into a very effective superhuman combatant.
Appearance: Nina stands just shy of seven feet in height, her pale face framed by a thick fall of lavender hair that easily reaches her ankles (and the floor if she's not careful). Her cybernetic body is well proportioned for her height, with gold limbs and white knees, shoulders, hands, feet, and torso. Gunmetal actuators link points on her arms, torso, and hips. As her armored body is more than capable of withstanding virtually any environmental condition, Nina doesn't bother wearing clothing—unless it is absolutely required, at which point she'll dress in something fairly lose fitting and functional.
Designer's Notes: Nina's design comes from the Kia Asamiya series of images (and possible manga series) called "D-Divine." I have no idea of the character's real name, or even if she's a cyborg or wearing a battlesuit. The D-Divine character designs are full of neat concepts, with one of them giving me the idea for Ninja Hero's Tsukikage. I built her for the Galactic Champions setting, because it seemed the best fit for her look and power level. Her origin is a bit dark for the setting, but fits, and isn’t all that much different than Firedancer's. At 785 points, Nina is on the low side for a Galactic Champions campaign, but that's okay, she's really a novice hero who hasn't had time to create tricks and techniques for herself to use. Add in something like Rampart's Brick Tricks to Nina's original Strength Tricks and she'll top 800 points in no time!
As a final note, I have no real ideas for the ruins found in the Olra system. Game Masters can do what they wish with what I've created here, and expand on it at will. The recommended origin for the ruins is the Progenitors (as referenced in Champions Universe and Hidden Lands).
Lord Liaden (from the HERO Message Boards), had this to say about Nina: What first came to my mind was that these were remnants of facilities used by the Progenitors, since her cybernetics are superior to what's available in the Federation. She reminds me a little of Nuada of the Silver Hand, from Kingdom of Champions.
For the record, information on the Progenitors can be found here: Champions Universe pages 20, 94, 130, 132, and Hidden Lands pages 44, 87.
Nina Corovic's Hero Designer File
(Character sheet created by Michael Surbrook)