Monday, May 28, 2018

Supervillain #5: Gorgonex

And last, but certainly not least, is the petrifying Gorgonex:  a beast out of legend, a horrific hybrid of a minotaur and gorgon.


Gorgonex has made his lair beneath the ruins of the Athenian Acropolis. Contracts in Europe and Africa are within close reach.

Thematically, my goal was to include one supervillain that tied into ancient mythology. In part, because comics have always tapped mythological traditions for amazing story-lines (see Wonder Woman for a good example of this). Also because, in some general sense, comic books are a form of modern myth. Part of what draws us, and our children, generation after generation to comics is because they present archetypal stories of good vs. evil, of human frailty and strength.  

My original conception of Gorgonex was more medusa than minotaur, because mechanically I wanted a villain whose strength was an enhanced ability to attract henchmen but whose weakness was a penchant for overly extreme punishment. When Rob heard the general idea, he pitched a minotaur-medusa hybrid and we all loved it.

Gogonex's strength is "Intimidation," which grants you 1 free attraction point at the start of the Henchmen Phase. The timing of this is optimal; at this point, everyone has played their rooms for the round and made their "bids" for various henchmen types. You can then use this 1 extra attraction point to give yourself that final push you need to score a key henchmen.

His weakness is "Pitiless Contempt." Mechanically, this ability went through numerous versions before I hit on this one. Your henchmen can never heal (Gorgonex doesn't care about their pain!), so Injury tokens are permanent. Furthermore, if a henchman ever gains a 2nd Injury token, they are immediately Captured. This weakness becomes a real nuisance once you realize there are Scheme cards out there that let your opponents directly injure your henchmen. So if you play Gorgonex, you've got to continually push for lots of henchmen and treat them like expendable commodities. After all, you cannot make an omelet without breaking some eggs, eh?

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