TAKEN

[calloperators]

PETER VENKMAN ☎ neverstudied

Dr. Peter Venkman was quite literally born and raised in a carnival, and raised by a conman father, an ailing mother, and just about anyone else at the carny willing to deal with his shit for more than a few hours. He's a skilled con artist, and more than willing to resort to blackmail, cheating, extortion, and general trickery for what he considers to be the greater good. Usually, the greater good is "whatever's best for him and his partners". After getting unceremoniously fired from his job as a Psychology and Parapsychology professor in the early-to-mid-80s, Venkman now spends his time shooting ghosts, demons, gods, and cryptids with unlicensed nuclear weapons for a living.

A demon once told Venkman that he's probably going to hell when he dies. For some people, that might be a chilling concept, and possibly inspire some changes in personality or lifestyle. For Venkman, he either doesn't care, or just doesn't let himself think about it. He's perfectly content staying the same as always- a lazy bastard, who alternates between being too dumb to live and cleverer than he has any right to be.

MR. SATAN ☎ worldchampofmartialarts

The strongest man on the face of the Earth, the courageous hero who singlehandedly defeated the monstrous Cell, and an overall shining example of unwavering bravery and selfless heroism! ...absolutely none of that is applicable to Mr. Satan, but he'll do anything to fool the world into believing it, anyway. This overblown glory hound hangs his whole identity on the championship belt and the social clout that comes with it. While he may make a pretty penny stealing the spotlight from those more deserving of it, make no mistake: he does it all for the fans... mostly because his reputation hinges on the attention he gets from them.

THE PYRO ☎ rainblower

What, exactly, is Pyro? Only two things are known for sure about the mysterious Pyro: they set things on fire and they don't speak. In fact, only the part about setting things on fire is undisputed. Some believe their occasional rasping wheeze may be an attempt to communicate through a mouth obstructed by a filter and attached to lungs ravaged by constant exposure to their asbestos-lined suit. Either way, they're a fearsome, inscrutable, on-fire Frankenstein of a man. If they even are a man.

GROG STRONGJAW ☎ beardcheck

The brains and clear leader of adventuring party Vox Machina (formerly the S.H.I.T.s), Grand Poobah deDoink of All of This and That of Whitestone, and alcohol enthusiast Grog Strongjaw is a man of action who attacks first and asks questions third, maybe fourth. Devoted to his friends, fighting, alcohol, whoring, and shiny things (in that order), Grog uses his massive strength score and stunning intellect to defend those weaker than himself. And occasionally to loot large numbers of shiny things.

PETER QUILL ☎ orforfun

Peter Quill? Perhaps you know him better as the infamous outlaw, Star-Lord. Who is Star-Lord? Well, geez, someone has been living under a rock. Born of an Earth woman and a planet-sized Celestial, Quill was always destined for the stars. This would, unfortunately, become much more literal at around the age of eight. Taken from Earth at that early age, Peter would become a Ravager, traveling across the galaxy stealing shit and being kind of a jerk. Eventually, through a series of unpredictably awesome events, Peter would assume the mantle as leader of the newly-formed Guardians of the Galaxy. There, his plucky attitude and occasional charisma serves him well in his newfound heroic path.

...well, mostly heroic.

ALICE ☎ conceivesfrenzy

With such illustrious titles of "Lady Alice," "That Crazy Sadist," and "You Little Bitch," Alice is best known as the leader of the combat squad of the Sylveranti Liberation Front (also known as the Vanguard). Her sickeningly sweet demeanor and sadistic tendencies strike fear and bodily harm into the hearts of her subordinates and foes alike. One time, I heard that when she was coming up in the ranks, she challenged the previous combat squad leader, Hawk, to a fight. I didn't see it, so I can't be sure, but I heard he still has scars from that battle on his back that form the words "Alice's Pet." That can't be real, right...?

LADD RUSSO ☎ boxingbuff

The infamous hitman and assassin of the Chicago-based Russo crime family, Ladd Russo reached the position by the tender age of twenty-five through his natural talent and bloodlust. With only his uncle to reign him in, (and even then it's a struggle,) Ladd merrily skips from one gruesome murder scene to the next, laughing a lot and slaughtering a lot all the while. His favorite targets? People who believe themselves to be above others, and he's never met anyone who thought they were more invincible than his Lupara. It's just so exciting to him, he can't get enough of it!

His latest plan? Hijacking the intercontinental steam train, The Flying Pussyfoot, and holding it for ransom under the threat of crashing it into New York. A few people will die, some have already, and probably more if Ladd has anything to say about it.

XANDER ☎ advancements

Xander is the King of Nohr, having just been crowned after the death of his father, King Garon. While Garon pushed for war and ended up sparking a conflict between the kingdoms of Nohr and Hoshido, Xander seeks peace and plans to put an end to the suffering brought on by the war. That's not to say he's pure and innocent, however. He's done some really terrible things in his father's name, all with the misguided belief that Garon was actually still his dad and not some horrible slime monster masquerading as Garon. It's probably fine and not at all traumatizing! As far as anyone knows, King Garon died in the battles leading up to Nohr's victory over Hoshido, so the less people that know about that whole slime monster thing, the better.

Aside from trying to be a good king, Xander is immensely loyal to his family and his country and tries his best to help people. He's got his work cut out for him after Garon's rule.

MICHALIS ☎ iote

As King of Macedon, Michalis is a strict ruler whose life goals are geared toward improving his country's standing in the world and helping his people thrive and prosper; this would probably be a lot easier if he weren't so prone to whacking his countrymen's heads off for failing him. His ambition is both a blessing and a curse, just as effective as it is brutal; some see him as a savior, some see him as a tyrant, and which he is that day all depends on whether he's aiming his lance at you.

He's also the older brother to two sisters who mean more to him than he's willing to describe, and he holds himself responsible for them - especially since their father died under, ah, "mysterious circumstances."

KIMBERLY ANN HART ☎ rangerslayer

Once, Kimberly Ann Hart was a member of a team of superheroes known as the Power Rangers, teenagers with attitude and amazing abilities, protecting their city from evil. Then, one boy plunged her whole world into darkness, killing her friends, overturning governments, and turning the entire world into his dictatorship. Once, Kimberly fought bravely for justice and believed despite the horrors endured, everyone deserved another chance. That was very many years ago, before the boy, now a man, made her his second-in-command against her will, and had her commit many atrocities in his name.

Now, after being displaced in time and space, she's made her goal atonement. Maybe something she does can help her sleep at night. Someone she saves, someone she mentors. Maybe, something can take away the memories of being the Ranger Slayer. But probably not.

VILLANELLE ☎ knifegf

Oksana Astankova, codename Villanelle, is an international assassin working under the crime ring known as the Twelve. Trained to kill from a young age, she is their most skilled operative thanks in large part to her total lack of empathy. She is a master of disguise, able to slip into any role she must to complete her job, and a professional in the art of murder. Her drive for the job is that it lets her afford a lavish lifestyle of expensive designer clothes and freedom to do what she wants off the clock. She holds no loyalties but to herself.

Recently MI5 agent Eve Polastri has been hot on her trail, chasing her down across the European continent to bring her to justice. Villanelle has become severely infatuated and obsessed with Eve in a short amount of time, much to the chagrin of her employers. She believes they are in love and therefore must remove all obstacles in the way.

Nothing else matters.

TESTAMENT ☎ seventhsign

Testament is the infamous once-human turned Gear, deciding to give himself completely and totally to the cause to fight against Gears once upon a time before he was turned into one. After his short stint in his failure to raise Justice back to the living to raise hell upon the human race, and his subsequent defeat, he began to walk the world for a time. Then, he retired for the most part to a solitary forest, seeking penance for his past actions.

BOOSTER GOLD ☎ boosterrific

Booster Gold, real name Michael Jon Carter, was will be born in the distant year of 2442, where he grew up in poverty after his father lost all the family's money gambling and then bounced. He earned the nickname "Booster" playing football, and he was sure to go pro as soon as he graduated college, but before he got that far, he became embroiled in a gambling scandal and was kicked out of both college and his family.

He found employment thereafter as a night security guard at the Space Museum, where he eventually decided to steal a number of exhibits and a security droid and time travel back to the 1980's to become a superhero. And also exploit the resulting fame to make some mad dosh off doing advertisements. Y'know. As one does.

RAY STANTZ ☎ gether

Dr Ray Stantz is a lifelong enthusiast of the supernatural, and have devoted his life to researching the topic, particularly ghosts. He and a few other friends decided to create a business devoted to capturing ghosts. He is considered both the heart of the team and one of the head engineers, providing both moral support and most of the technology.

Also almost destroying the world that one time. He helped with that.

Currently he also runs a bookstore specializing in the occult. Make sure you stop by Ray’s Occult Books today for a special on a copy of the necronomicon!

THE MEDIC ☎ malpractices

Despite the implications his codename carries, Medic is not actually a legally recognized doctor — that distinction was taken from him following a series of murky events involving the theft of a skeleton from a still living patient's body which ended with his medical license getting revoked. Thankfully, this setback has not diminished his optimism and natural wonder for the world and all its mysteries, nor has it stopped him from continuing to find gainful employment in the field of medicine from people who have been more than happy to make use of his intellect, skill and sizable bloodlust for their own ends. Now, as the doctor of a team of multi-international mercenaries handpicked for their mastery over their fields, Medic seems to have finally found his calling in life: murdering people for obscene amounts of money while using his knowledge of science and medicine to keep his teammates alive, improve their quality of life, and use them as guinea pigs for whatever new experiment he has cooked up. Not necessarily in that order.

TIMOTHY WRIGHT ☎ butwhoareyou

Timothy Wright is a man with a troubled past. He tends to keep to himself, not wanting to allow himself to get close to many people in fear of losing them - or having something happen to them. After having to lose just about everyone in his life, Tim ran away from home after throwing away the mask that made him the bad guy he sees himself being. He just wants to start his life over and become a better person than he used to be.

Besides.

Everything is fine.