VN Ren'Py Superhuman [v0.996 Public] [WeirdWorld]

[Gtdead]

Deryl, Michael and Jake are very interesting characters and depending on how the player views MC, they have different feelings about them.

Deryl can be a bit of jerk. He owns it and we know about it. I won't say that his attempt to beat MC even under the influence, wasn't a surprise, but I also think he made his point and he won't cheapshot MC like that again. He has more to gain by working together and he knows it. Deryl can be unhinged, but even under Jake's spell, I don't think he wouldn't let things go too far. We have seen his regrets, we have seen his aspirations. Yes it's possible that he may try to cheapshot MC in the future once he gains his new power up, but I welcome the challenge. I always doubted that Deryl never felt jealousy about MC's powers. The fact that he went all in and did his best to help is not something that my MC is ever going to forget. Deryl was there when MC was alone and had no allies. He protected his secret, helped him and was at his side throughout the story.

Michael has done similar things for MC. He has always been a trusted and very capable ally, he trained the MC in combat and taught him his warrior philosophy. If he wants to use MC to challenge himself further, I will welcome it. Even through all this foreshadowing, I don't expect Michael to intentionally threaten MC's life. He may challenge him "no holds barred" style, but this will be good for both. After all MC's life is one of conflict and if he can't beat Michael, who is currently lagging behind, then he won't survive what's to come.

Now Jake. His problem is that he has too much power for such an unstable character. While there are more dangerous people than him around, like Bernhardt and Nico, Jake has the capacity to turns friends into enemies and I don't want him to force MC to fight his friends. I don't care if he decides to challenge MC again in the future and it's likely that I will let him live, but if he ever tries to use his powers on MC's friends he is done for. Power is good and all, but even being a God is lonely and I want MC to be happy. Jake has the capacity to fuck this all up while trying to prove a point and it would suck if a decision made in good faith ended up causing so much grief. So for the time being, I support HERO's decision to keep him in a short leash. He has the potential to be a friend and a great ally, but he has to prove that he is trustworthy.

 

[Dominosaur]

My hope is that Jake stops being a bitch. Like, once Mia is healed and he's away from Ella, I can see him maturing a bit. Whether he does or not is up to WW, and it's not his story, so I doubt he'll get a redemption arc. But I think he *could* come back from this.

 

[xhib]

Is it wrong that the thing I want most is Danica's reaction to the MC reaching Level 3?

As much as I'd love a sparring match or a hunt/mission with Danica, it'd a lot of effort for optional content. Having Danica as spectate on a match in the simulator would be a fun way to get her reaction without wildly divergent paths. She still has no idea how the MC really beat Klaus. Flight, Gorilla strength, metal, the tail, Mantis moves, all of that came after the MC's last dance with Danica.

Definitely more of the simulator. Those fights with Laurie and Tiffany were a fun change of pace. MC needs new training partners. If Lisa is aiming to challenge Nico at some point, there's hope a few Level 3s at HERO are looking to test the MC.

I also want to learn more about the new system Nyx mentioned. Sounds like HERO is reorganizing into divisions after their recent expansion. Good way to introduce new characters.

 

[DrakoGhoul]

My view on Michael and Deryl is slightly similar to everyone else. I just view it all as a friendly rivalry. When you think about it, Deryl, Michael and MC could pass as Henri, Bernhardt and Malik in the future. Their companionship is genuine and was built over shared experiences with each other.

This is where Jake is left out in the cold. Even alive, we can't just overlook what he did to us. At least with Deryl, he didn't drag our friends into it and was either mindraped or a monster for majority of it. Even with the battle this update, Michael and Alice volunteered to go to it. Meanwhile, Jake involved the Twins, Mia, and Deryl. He put us in prison and then threatened to kill us because he refused to stand up to Ella and find another path until the very last second. He didn't have to listen to her and this was proven when he fled after the MC kept him alive. This could've been different if he actually listened to everyone else but Ella.

So for me, I don't see Jake as a worthy ally or companion compared to Michael and Deryl. He's way too volatile and not really that trustworthy. Could he mature over time? Sure, but that train has left for me personally. I trust Danica more than I trust Jake. And she tried to kill me, twice.

As for training partners, I'm hoping for some new ones as well. Like I've said recently, Michael and Alice wouldn't be able to push the MC anymore with him crossing the Level 3 threshold. I'm hoping we spar with some of the Level 3's from the Captains teams, or other agents. Maybe even spar with Lexi. She can use it as an excuse to chill, nap or get her cheeks clapped. I'm definitely down for that last part there.

 

[Dominosaur]

I mean, Michael can probably push the MC. He basically has two of our biggest weaknesses as his basic powers, and he's about to take an evolution serum. He has way more skill too. While his Power may be much lower, He could probably Hold on pretty well. If Michael can 1. Shoot Lightning or 2. Defensively Emit radiation to stop our healing, he'd be a Threat. The better question to me would be "can they spar in a meaningful way that isn't rocket tag."

Alice too, has a power we can't really interact with. While MC won the early sparring matches, she was mostly just Sparring with Bomb Hands, against a regenerating tentacle monster. She's since gotten a lot more tricks that we haven't really prepared counters for just yet. She also evolved recently, so she probably has some tricks to test out too

EDIT: I wonder how the testing chambers work...Now that Michael knows more about his powers, do you think he actually needs to "charge" them to use them in the simulation? that'd be weird... Considering how the chamber works, would be neat if he ca drain the stored MP from the machine.

 

[Gtdead]

Is it wrong that the thing I want most is Danica's reaction to the MC reaching Level 3?

As much as I'd love a sparring match or a hunt/mission with Danica, it'd a lot of effort for optional content. Having Danica as spectate on a match in the simulator would be a fun way to get her reaction without wildly divergent paths. She still has no idea how the MC really beat Klaus. Flight, Gorilla strength, metal, the tail, Mantis moves, all of that came after the MC's last dance with Danica.

Definitely more of the simulator. Those fights with Laurie and Tiffany were a fun change of pace. MC needs new training partners. If Lisa is aiming to challenge Nico at some point, there's hope a few Level 3s at HERO are looking to test the MC.

I also want to learn more about the new system Nyx mentioned. Sounds like HERO is reorganizing into divisions after their recent expansion. Good way to introduce new characters.

I agree that it's high time we got some Danica content. Being under Klaus payroll could allow her to infiltrate Langdon's organization and help out a bit. Langdon shouldn't know what happened to her.

Also yes, MC needs training partners because he has outpaced all his friends. Deryl may manage to put some fight if he finds a good combat expression for his power, but it's foreshadowed that Deryl and MC will try to improve themselves through researching monster bodies, so I don't expect much sparring other than testing their creations.

Truth is that the game doesn't show many level 3 HERO agents. Most of them are weaklings. The two that we knew about, Troy and Gillibrand, are either dead or out of commission. So I expect MC to start training with the Lieutenants. There are bound to be a couple more levels 3 according to Lisa, and it's possible that MC can do well against the level 4s. Jill's performance was pitiful, so she seems like a good stepping stone. (Edit: Apparently some HERO agent claims to have seen a dozen level 3s fight, and half of them took part in Diamond Battle)

I've thought about the "new system". It's unlikely that teams will break up, since the captains are way older than the new generation of level 5s and there is a huge difference in power. Perhaps we may see Henri and Benrhardt creating their own teams since Cthulu is the only team with 2 captains. I think the system will introduce a way for the teams to incorporate 1st and 2nd class agents into their ranks, or at least in their sphere of influence, something like Hogwards Schools. The higher ups will be mentors/handlers to lower class agents.

Unless Ella comes back quickly, I expect some time leaps, and perhaps even MC formally joining Team Reaper.

 

[John Doe Jr.]

People can maintain they aren't "evil" but they aren't good people, regardless of which route you choose given their actions. I'll pick Michael and Alice who've been the cornerstone of friendship this entire game with no indication of being anything otherwise just because Michael is slightly bloodlusted amidst battle vs every bit of trustworthiness I've seen from Deryl or Jake.

Well how are we measuring what makes them good or evil? By what they can do for the MC? In that case Michael and Alice are saints. But in terms of how they are in general then you couldn't exactly say Michael and Alice are good people considering they're part of a crime family and are criminals. Jake might've seen some titties but what makes him actively a villain was trying to take over the government

 

[Dominosaur]

Well how are we measuring what makes them good or evil? By what they can do for the MC? In that case Michael and Alice are saints. But in terms of how they are in general then you couldn't exactly say Michael and Alice are good people considering they're part of a crime family and are criminals. Jake might've seen some titties but what makes him actively a villain was trying to take over the government

I hate to play this card but...This is a videogame. Morality is strongly measured by how much the character works with or against the protagonist, as long as the protagonist is even 51% "Good" and not a villain protag.

Jake has only measurably stood against us, Deryl has fought us a bit, but was mid controlled and Geased for 90% of it (and the 10% of the time he wasn't, he basically won the fight and then didn't kill us, driving home the "Just guys being dudes" vibe). Michael and Alice have only ever been helpful, and their help has been tangible. If Oscar was alive during the Klaus fight, MC would have died. Period, no argument. Even evolved, having to deal with a seemingly unlimited STOP button was not something MC could have handled, while also trying not to get fried by klaus, and without Alice MC couldn't have beaten
Klaus
Jake
Gotten into the Diamond.

It's actually iteresting how many things Jake did to "cross the line." Sexually assaulting Liz and Amber (and half doing it before catching himself to Jess), Then deliberately mind controlling Jared (on Ella's orders, but personal) then mind/brain breaking Mia (Not on Ella's orders, but less personal), then getting us sent to jail (Weirdly, this was a kindness on his part, but it was also annoying so...) to trying to get us to kill ourself, taking over the PM's office...Long track record.

EDIT: One more thing. Because Jake's crimes are so diverse, I'd wager real money that a majority of people who spared Jake, didn't do so because "he didn't deserve death."

I think most people spared on him on the back of one of "Killing you would make Mia sad" or "You deserve to die, but I don't deserve that sin" or "Living is a far worse punishment for you"

 

[Bleh21]

I did spare him because he didn't deserve death.
He got mind fucked and black mailed by a psychopath and did what he thought he needed to do to save the person closest to him.
The only thing that's not part of the blackmail/manipulation is the Liz/Amber thing. It's a bad thing to do but the PC has also done things as worse as ordering Liz/Amber topless. (Joining the cheerleader club and seeing the girls naked, impersonating other characters for own sexual gratification and actually potentially fucking Jared as Amber)

 

[RonaldGrand6969]

I hate to play this card but...This is a videogame. Morality is strongly measured by how much the character works with or against the protagonist, as long as the protagonist is even 51% "Good" and not a villain protag.

Jake has only measurably stood against us, Deryl has fought us a bit, but was mid controlled and Geased for 90% of it (and the 10% of the time he wasn't, he basically won the fight and then didn't kill us, driving home the "Just guys being dudes" vibe). Michael and Alice have only ever been helpful, and their help has been tangible. If Oscar was alive during the Klaus fight, MC would have died. Period, no argument. Even evolved, having to deal with a seemingly unlimited STOP button was not something MC could have handled, while also trying not to get fried by klaus, and without Alice MC couldn't have beaten
Klaus
Jake
Gotten into the Diamond.

It's actually iteresting how many things Jake did to "cross the line." Sexually assaulting Liz and Amber (and half doing it before catching himself to Jess), Then deliberately mind controlling Jared (on Ella's orders, but personal) then mind/brain breaking Mia (Not on Ella's orders, but less personal), then getting us sent to jail (Weirdly, this was a kindness on his part, but it was also annoying so...) to trying to get us to kill ourself, taking over the PM's office...Long track record.

EDIT: One more thing. Because Jake's crimes are so diverse, I'd wager real money that a majority of people who spared Jake, didn't do so because "he didn't deserve death."

I think most people spared on him on the back of one of "Killing you would make Mia sad" or "You deserve to die, but I don't deserve that sin" or "Living is a far worse punishment for you"

I did spare him because he didn't deserve death.

He got mind fucked and black mailed by a psychopath and did what he thought he needed to do to save the person closest to him.

The only thing that's not part of the blackmail/manipulation is the Liz/Amber thing. It's a bad thing to do but the PC has also done things as worse as ordering Liz/Amber topless. (Joining the cheerleader club and seeing the girls naked, impersonating other characters for own sexual gratification and actually potentially fucking Jared as Amber)

I think it varies from person to person.

Spoiler: MY Deryl View/Analysis

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Spoiler: MY Jake View/Analysis

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Spoiler: Good vs Evil

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Spoiler: Conclusion But Don't TLDR and Expect To Know Everything From Just Reading This

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Unless they are being a cunt about it, then fuck em.

 

[Dominosaur]

Point of order, this isn't Deryl. This is a mindfucked geased monster. The fact that it is wearing some of Deryl's skin doesn't make it deryl. It retains some pride and a desire to be the oe to defeat us, but Deryl, the our friend literally helps to fight this thing(s minions) with us, because, again, friends.

 

[JackDiabrew]

I hate to play this card but...This is a videogame. Morality is strongly measured by how much the character works with or against the protagonist, as long as the protagonist is even 51% "Good" and not a villain protag.

Jake has only measurably stood against us, Deryl has fought us a bit, but was mid controlled and Geased for 90% of it (and the 10% of the time he wasn't, he basically won the fight and then didn't kill us, driving home the "Just guys being dudes" vibe). Michael and Alice have only ever been helpful, and their help has been tangible. If Oscar was alive during the Klaus fight, MC would have died. Period, no argument. Even evolved, having to deal with a seemingly unlimited STOP button was not something MC could have handled, while also trying not to get fried by klaus, and without Alice MC couldn't have beaten
Klaus
Jake
Gotten into the Diamond.

It's actually iteresting how many things Jake did to "cross the line." Sexually assaulting Liz and Amber (and half doing it before catching himself to Jess), Then deliberately mind controlling Jared (on Ella's orders, but personal) then mind/brain breaking Mia (Not on Ella's orders, but less personal), then getting us sent to jail (Weirdly, this was a kindness on his part, but it was also annoying so...) to trying to get us to kill ourself, taking over the PM's office...Long track record.

EDIT: One more thing. Because Jake's crimes are so diverse, I'd wager real money that a majority of people who spared Jake, didn't do so because "he didn't deserve death."

I think most people spared on him on the back of one of "Killing you would make Mia sad" or "You deserve to die, but I don't deserve that sin" or "Living is a far worse punishment for you"

I spared him for the exact purpose of you get 1 free pass, all is forgiven unless you try to fuck me over a second time then you're dead.

 

[Gtdead]

I want to expand a bit on Jake because I think his case is complex enough to warrant it.

As an individual, I care for the why of things, not the what. Jake using his powers to see some tits is not important to me as long as I can understand the reason he did it. Mistakes, especially honest ones that can be fixed, are not enough to make me want to kill somebody. There are a lot of things I can forgive without much hassle, but for others he needs to atone for and luckily for him, he is in a position to do it.

Ella was a really poor mentor to him which is a bit odd since all of her children seem to love her. She doesn't lack the experience, nor the patience. Yet she decided to abuse him and turn him against a potential friend (MC) because she wanted them to fight. For all her pep talk, she failed to communicate the urgency in terms that Jake could understand and she used a very adversarial approach. Jake never really understood why he had to fight MC, no matter what Ella told him. He tried to rationalize it but he just couldn't do it. Ella had to use Mia to actually turn him

So for all his crap, like making girls strip, trapping MC in prison and even imprinting Deryl, I can forgive.
He always managed to stop himself and never raped the girls.
He resisted Ella when she urged him to rape or kill Laurie who was at his mercy.
His approach to beating MC was mostly in good faith. Yes it sucked, but imagine how would you act if you were raised to live in fear of some individual and your goal in life would be to kill him? With his power he could do way worse.
Deryl's imprint was superfluous. He would probably accept the infection and my MC would be supportive anyway. This is something easily fixable, although Ella managed to turn it into something terrible with her bullshit control schemes. It wasn't Jake that turned Deryl into a monster, it was Ella using Charlie and it was a good thing she was apologetic because that would be the pin which broke the camel's back.

There exists a point where Jake loses the quality of the "manipulated but mostly good guy" and he turns full "evil overlord". And that's when he uses humans against MC during the PM office fight. This is unforgivable. He sent all these people to the meat grinder, forcing them to battle a level 2 superhuman. If he had such an easy time turning them and puting them at his mercy, why would he ever think that it would be different for MC? Up till then I could trust that when push comes to shove, his true self would overcome his fear and delusions. Yet this one time it didn't. So now I can't know what his true self is. I can't trust him without oversight.

My view on Ella is similar. If she wasn't apologetic with Deryl, that would be the end. I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt because I think that the event she is building towards is inevitable, and her schemes may benefit MC and his values in the long run, but it's not a blank check. It's more of a "the devil you know" thing. I will accept that some ends justify the means, but I won't accept nihilistic behavior and so far she has managed to stay within boundaries even if her sass can get on my nerves. Hopefully I'm not wrong about her, otherwise, no matter how much I like her, she will have to pay.

 

[ItzSyther]

I want to expand a bit on Jake because I think his case is complex enough to warrant it.

As an individual, I care for the why of things, not the what. Jake using his powers to see some tits is not important to me as long as I can understand the reason he did it. Mistakes, especially honest ones that can be fixed, are not enough to make me want to kill somebody. There are a lot of things I can forgive without much hassle, but for others he needs to atone for and luckily for him, he is in a position to do it.

Ella was a really poor mentor to him which is a bit odd since all of her children seem to love her. She doesn't lack the experience, nor the patience. Yet she decided to abuse him and turn him against a potential friend (MC) because she wanted them to fight. For all her pep talk, she failed to communicate the urgency in terms that Jake could understand and she used a very adversarial approach. Jake never really understood why he had to fight MC, no matter what Ella told him. He tried to rationalize it but he just couldn't do it. Ella had to use Mia to actually turn him

So for all his crap, like making girls strip, trapping MC in prison and even imprinting Deryl, I can forgive.
He always managed to stop himself and never raped the girls.
He resisted Ella when she urged him to rape or kill Laurie who was at his mercy.
His approach to beating MC was mostly in good faith. Yes it sucked, but imagine how would you act if you were raised to live in fear of some individual and your goal in life would be to kill him? With his power he could do way worse.
Deryl's imprint was superfluous. He would probably accept the infection and my MC would be supportive anyway. This is something easily fixable, although Ella managed to turn it into something terrible with her bullshit control schemes. It wasn't Jake that turned Deryl into a monster, it was Ella using Charlie and it was a good thing she was apologetic because that would be the pin which broke the camel's back.

There exists a point where Jake loses the quality of the "manipulated but mostly good guy" and he turns full "evil overlord". And that's when he uses humans against MC during the PM office fight. This is unforgivable. He sent all these people to the meat grinder, forcing them to battle a level 2 superhuman. If he had such an easy time turning them and puting them at his mercy, why would he ever think that it would be different for MC? Up till then I could trust that when push comes to shove, his true self would overcome his fear and delusions. Yet this one time it didn't. So now I can't know what his true self is. I can't trust him without oversight.

My view on Ella is similar. If she wasn't apologetic with Deryl, that would be the end. I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt because I think that the event she is building towards is inevitable, and her schemes may benefit MC and his values in the long run, but it's not a blank check. It's more of a "the devil you know" thing. I will accept that some ends justify the means, but I won't accept nihilistic behavior and so far she has managed to stay within boundaries even if her sass can get on my nerves. Hopefully I'm not wrong about her, otherwise, no matter how much I like her, she will have to pay.

Always so thorough and well said!

My stance on Jake and Deryl goes as followed:

Jake: I feel bad for Jake, dude gets pushed around by a lot of people and when he finally gets some power he still gets thrashed by Jared and then constantly fucked with by Ella. Did he dive a lil too deep into the "I have power now" kool aid? Yeah he did. But honestly I can forgive it. He locked MC away much like what Gtdead said was mostly in good faith (hell he was ultimately gonna let him out at some point at least thats what I gathered from what he said).

Yeah Jake made some girls strip, so what? He didn't rape them and he didn't do anything too outlandish if it was just some random chicks I doubt people here would give as much of a fuck with it but because it was Liz and Amber the story is different (even tho Liz is for the streets and Amber is...I have no formal opinion on her).

Jake leans more in the good column for me as he just wanted to do what was right for the most part and was just misguided by a dog shit teacher known as Ella and a taste for power when he took over for a brief period.

Deryl: He isn't a bad guy and I place him in the good boi column. Most of his actions were done under mind control fuckery while only a SINGLE thing was his own doing (deciding to continue the fight when he broke Ella/Jake's control) and this was only to test his power.

I fucking assure you if it was Michael or Alice doing this people would be more forgiving but for whatever reason they got a hate boner for Deryl...I mean come on the dude has all these dank powers and I was kinda happy he wanted to test them out since he expresses later on he won't be a front line combatant and more of a support (despite being a support he did give MC a run for his money with all the shit he prepped mind controlled or not he could be a potential solid counter for MC in the future).

My opinions on Michael and Alice:

Michael is a solid dude and a great friend but ultimately he is Alice's fucking lap dog who does what she says and works for her crime family to a large extent (seemingly).

Michael has probably killed a good portion of people and I can only assume many were also 'bad' guys but some were probably innocent (it just comes with the turf of being apart of a crime family). Michael is a morally questionable character although a great friend but I'm sure plenty of fucked up evil people in human history were great friends to certain people but still all around bad.

I fucking assure you if for some odd reason Michael could gain power of some sort from killing a buncha kids this power junkie would fucking do it...would he have doubts? Sure he even had doubts about bringing in the MC about the crime shit. But this is a dude who has showed a great many times of what he'll do for power even if it fucking destroys his body or kills him I wouldn't leave out the option of this man murdering kids for power or whatever else.

Alice: She's a mob boss's daughter who openly expresses she wants to crush anyone who went against her family and I can only assume this includes those who didn't openly throw their armed support behind Klaus's father and his goons.

Has she fucked with those who probably didn't deserve it? Probably but we never really see it but it's quite clear she has a few screws loose (I know you fucking midspawn lovers love that shit).

Ultimately Michael and Alice are good friends to the MC but not good people by any extent. Yeah they helped the MC and have been good friends but so what? You can get help from a evil mustache man and be the best of friends but that doesn't change that he's evil (or questionable).

If i had to place certain characters on a scale of good and evil I'm most definitely putting Alice and Michael to Lean evil but Jake and Deryl are the opposite with Deryl going Mostly Good and Jake Lean good..if you want a good example of a neutral character look no further than the flat princess herself....Mia of course.

 

[Gtdead]

Always so thorough and well said!

My stance on Jake and Deryl goes as followed:

Jake: I feel bad for Jake, dude gets pushed around by a lot of people and when he finally gets some power he still gets thrashed by Jared and then constantly fucked with by Ella. Did he dive a lil too deep into the "I have power now" kool aid? Yeah he did. But honestly I can forgive it. He locked MC away much like what Gtdead said was mostly in good faith (hell he was ultimately gonna let him out at some point at least thats what I gathered from what he said).

Yeah Jake made some girls strip, so what? He didn't rape them and he didn't do anything too outlandish if it was just some random chicks I doubt people here would give as much of a fuck with it but because it was Liz and Amber the story is different (even tho Liz is for the streets and Amber is...I have no formal opinion on her).

Jake leans more in the good column for me as he just wanted to do what was right for the most part and was just misguided by a dog shit teacher known as Ella and a taste for power when he took over for a brief period.

Deryl: He isn't a bad guy and I place him in the good boi column. Most of his actions were done under mind control fuckery while only a SINGLE thing was his own doing (deciding to continue the fight when he broke Ella/Jake's control) and this was only to test his power.

I fucking assure you if it was Michael or Alice doing this people would be more forgiving but for whatever reason they got a hate boner for Deryl...I mean come on the dude has all these dank powers and I was kinda happy he wanted to test them out since he expresses later on he won't be a front line combatant and more of a support (despite being a support he did give MC a run for his money with all the shit he prepped mind controlled or not he could be a potential solid counter for MC in the future).

My opinions on Michael and Alice:

Michael is a solid dude and a great friend but ultimately he is Alice's fucking lap dog who does what she says and works for her crime family to a large extent (seemingly).

Michael has probably killed a good portion of people and I can only assume many were also 'bad' guys but some were probably innocent (it just comes with the turf of being apart of a crime family). Michael is a morally questionable character although a great friend but I'm sure plenty of fucked up evil people in human history were great friends to certain people but still all around bad.

I fucking assure you if for some odd reason Michael could gain power of some sort from killing a buncha kids this power junkie would fucking do it...would he have doubts? Sure he even had doubts about bringing in the MC about the crime shit. But this is a dude who has showed a great many times of what he'll do for power even if it fucking destroys his body or kills him I wouldn't leave out the option of this man murdering kids for power or whatever else.

Alice: She's a mob boss's daughter who openly expresses she wants to crush anyone who went against her family and I can only assume this includes those who didn't openly throw their armed support behind Klaus's father and his goons.

Has she fucked with those who probably didn't deserve it? Probably but we never really see it but it's quite clear she has a few screws loose (I know you fucking midspawn lovers love that shit).

Ultimately Michael and Alice are good friends to the MC but not good people by any extent. Yeah they helped the MC and have been good friends but so what? You can get help from a evil mustache man and be the best of friends but that doesn't change that he's evil (or questionable).

If i had to place certain characters on a scale of good and evil I'm most definitely putting Alice and Michael to Lean evil but Jake and Deryl are the opposite with Deryl going Mostly Good and Jake Lean good..if you want a good example of a neutral character look no further than the flat princess herself....Mia of course.

Michael is such a guy, he is like:
Your death serves a purpose. For one, I was paid to kill you, but the real purpose is that you will help me achieve the heights of strength that can only be reached through battle and life threatening conflict. Rest in peace, you are a true friend and I will honor your sacrfice by killing your friends the same way I killed you, mercilessly, giving my 100%.

Alice on the other hand:
These people don't have a fighting chance. They have families, friends. They are currently eating and drinking, served by their maids, and talking about business and probably how to reconcile with my family after the shit they pulled. Fuck them! The traitorous cunts. Father said I can do anything, mother left because of it. These cunts have to pay for all my family issues. I was born a killer, I will die a killer. My humor is crap, my cooking is crap, and I will never live a normal life, no one will ever want me as his girlfriend. I will use this anger to summon the biggest fucking bomb and erase them from existence because that's who I am. MC will you give me your heart if I give you mine in return?

And finally Deryl:
Woah you have powers? That's cool. Come on, let's practice, give me some blood. I will be your best friend and I will help you through this buddy. It's you and me vs the world! Oh look, I got powers too! Look at this fucking thing I made! Isn't it cool? Praise me you fucking main character! I'm supposed to be this genius motherfucker and the best I can do is being the sidekick. Oh, you beat me, that's fine! Let's kill some monsters and become the strongest motherfuckers together!

 

[ItzSyther]

Michael is such a guy, he is like:
Your death serves a purpose. For one, I was paid to kill you, but the real purpose is that you will help me achieve the heights of strength that can only be reached through battle and life threatening conflict. Rest in peace, you are a true friend and I will honor your sacrfice by killing your friends the same way I killed you, mercilessly, giving my 100%.

Alice on the other hand:
These people don't have a fighting chance. They have families, friends. They are currently eating and drinking, served by their maids, and talking about business and probably how to reconcile with my family after the shit they pulled. Fuck them! The traitorous cunts. Father said I can do anything, mother left because of it. These cunts have to pay for all my family issues. I was born a killer, I will die a killer. My humor is crap, my cooking is crap, and I will never live a normal life, no one will ever want me as his girlfriend. I will use this anger to summon the biggest fucking bomb and erase them from existence because that's who I am. MC will you give me your heart if I give you mine in return?

And finally Deryl:
Woah you have powers? That's cool. Come on, let's practice, give me some blood. I will be your best friend and I will help you through this buddy. It's you and me vs the world! Oh look, I got powers too! Look at this fucking thing I made! Isn't it cool? Praise me you fucking main character! I'm supposed to be this genius motherfucker and the best I can do is being the sidekick. Oh, you beat me, that's fine! Let's kill some monsters and become the strongest motherfuckers together!

A perfect summary of these 3 characters mah dude.

 

[Gtdead]

A perfect summary of these 3 characters mah dude.

Since you mentioned morallity.

I generally avoid doing it cause of some traumatic experiences arguing in a Dungeons & Dragons forum (WHAT? Your character thought about killing? You are an evil piece of shit murderhobo! Good people don't think about killing! Trust me I'm a lawyer!), but I hope here it will go smoother.

One of the first things that anyone can observe when playing this game is that every named character is some kind of sociopath. And it's not like the rest are better. I always get vibes of the cyberpunk styled cynicism in the writing, although the game doesn't feel like the usual "retropunk" styles, for the lack of a better word.

Unhinged media pushing narratives, people caring more about sensationalism and acting silly in the face of lethal danger just to get a selfie with the hero, everyone seems to be fairly easy going with death. Those times where people act lucid and human, like for example during Supreme Minister's press conference where HERO is introduced, always cause me some sense of surprise. But at the next few minutes this turns on it's head, with some radio caster claiming that humans should put superhumans under the military or something, even after witnessing the death, destruction and the scope of the threat.

I get a lot of "The Boys" vibes, where some company creates superhumans and the management thinks that they can be controlled and used for commercials and marketing.

So the alignment is a bit skewed towards the "chaotic" and "evil" axis, to use DnD terms. People like Jake would be considered decidedly criminal in our world, but in the Superhuman world? I would agree that he would lean towards the "good" just for the mere fact that he isn't unhinged and is willing to think before he acts, without really having to recount his transgressions. Of course in the end, he masterfully demonstrated the concept of "slippery slope". One thing puts you in the path, second thing gives you familiarity, third and thereafter makes you a full blown criminal. So the question we, as observers, have to answer, is if Jake is redeemable or he should be punished by either death or imprisonment. I think WW found a good medium to punish the guy.

I agree with you that Alice and Michael are great friends but evil little bastards. I could characterize Michael as leaning towards neutral, because I can conceptualize him as a weapon to be used by others (which by the way make him more dangerous). For Alice, I'd say part of her allure is that she is very.. human. She is like the evil Amber. She cares, she worries, she can be very emotional, but she also has these same feelings when she wants to destroy her enemies, and as long as she limits it to mafia wars, it's mostly fine, but it can never be limited to just that, can it?

WW has created a great contrast with Alice and Tiffany. One is evil but emotional, the other is evil but cold. As far as fetishes go, that's fucking great! But I think it also shows how while people can find cynicism cool, they tend to "fall in love" with the more hot human emotions. Alice can be the sweetheart to those that like her, but Tiffany will always be the cold bitch, like her or not.

I find characterization and the effects that characters have on the reader fascinating. I could talk about it all day.

 

[ItzSyther]

Since you mentioned morallity.

I generally avoid doing it cause of some traumatic experiences arguing in a Dungeons & Dragons forum (WHAT? Your character thought about killing? You are an evil piece of shit murderhobo! Good people don't think about killing! Trust me I'm a lawyer!), but I hope here it will go smoother.

Oh god I haven't played D&D in years due to some arseholes ruining the game for me with constant bickering over constantly killing or roleplay (ima roleplay boyo but i dont mind goin all murderhobo once in a bluemoon).

WW has created a great contrast with Alice and Tiffany. One is evil but emotional, the other is evil but cold. As far as fetishes go, that's fucking great! But I think it also shows how while people can find cynicism cool, they tend to "fall in love" with the more hot human emotions. Alice can be the sweetheart to those that like her, but Tiffany will always be the cold bitch, like her or not.

I find characterization and the effects that characters have on the reader fascinating. I could talk about it all day.

I'm so glad u mentioned the contrast between Alice and Tiffany. Tiffany is a character who in my opinion was setup to be a big player but has been MIA for a good portion of the game around the start of the crime arc. She's an evil chick who wants to kill her father which also implies killing Claudia as well since she wants to protect her family (Tiffany, Her dad, etc) im kinda excited if we do get an arc centering Tiffany's goals.

 

[Bleh21]

I want to expand a bit on Jake because I think his case is complex enough to warrant it.

As an individual, I care for the why of things, not the what. Jake using his powers to see some tits is not important to me as long as I can understand the reason he did it. Mistakes, especially honest ones that can be fixed, are not enough to make me want to kill somebody. There are a lot of things I can forgive without much hassle, but for others he needs to atone for and luckily for him, he is in a position to do it.

Ella was a really poor mentor to him which is a bit odd since all of her children seem to love her. She doesn't lack the experience, nor the patience. Yet she decided to abuse him and turn him against a potential friend (MC) because she wanted them to fight. For all her pep talk, she failed to communicate the urgency in terms that Jake could understand and she used a very adversarial approach. Jake never really understood why he had to fight MC, no matter what Ella told him. He tried to rationalize it but he just couldn't do it. Ella had to use Mia to actually turn him

So for all his crap, like making girls strip, trapping MC in prison and even imprinting Deryl, I can forgive.
He always managed to stop himself and never raped the girls.
He resisted Ella when she urged him to rape or kill Laurie who was at his mercy.
His approach to beating MC was mostly in good faith. Yes it sucked, but imagine how would you act if you were raised to live in fear of some individual and your goal in life would be to kill him? With his power he could do way worse.
Deryl's imprint was superfluous. He would probably accept the infection and my MC would be supportive anyway. This is something easily fixable, although Ella managed to turn it into something terrible with her bullshit control schemes. It wasn't Jake that turned Deryl into a monster, it was Ella using Charlie and it was a good thing she was apologetic because that would be the pin which broke the camel's back.

There exists a point where Jake loses the quality of the "manipulated but mostly good guy" and he turns full "evil overlord". And that's when he uses humans against MC during the PM office fight. This is unforgivable. He sent all these people to the meat grinder, forcing them to battle a level 2 superhuman. If he had such an easy time turning them and puting them at his mercy, why would he ever think that it would be different for MC? Up till then I could trust that when push comes to shove, his true self would overcome his fear and delusions. Yet this one time it didn't. So now I can't know what his true self is. I can't trust him without oversight.

My view on Ella is similar. If she wasn't apologetic with Deryl, that would be the end. I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt because I think that the event she is building towards is inevitable, and her schemes may benefit MC and his values in the long run, but it's not a blank check. It's more of a "the devil you know" thing. I will accept that some ends justify the means, but I won't accept nihilistic behavior and so far she has managed to stay within boundaries even if her sass can get on my nerves. Hopefully I'm not wrong about her, otherwise, no matter how much I like her, she will have to pay.

Jake never went full evil overlord. Almost any person with enough of an attachment would use the guards like he did (potentially sacrifice some people to save his loved one). You can argue on whether it was morally wrong but it is highly understandable. Certainly not "evil overlord".
And it's entirely up to the PC whether the people brainwashed dies. You can argue he brought these people into danger but he didn't kill them. You can also argue whether he was banking on the PC not killing innocent people or he just doesn't give a shit about lives.

Now Ella literally killed her entire class and likely hundreds to thousands of people for highly superfluous reasons. And is literally the singular reason Jake did what he did. But she fucks the PC and said sorry so it's okay.

I swear a character could commit genocide and some of the community would think they are a good person if they were nice to the PC.

 

[MrFranky26]

Jake feels like a real disapointment. So much friendly effort put in him, help given, shit taken and he still a ungrateful usless prick...

He is like what womens, who get hited by a boyfriend multiple times and still go back to him, stil argue it somehow. Dude just open your eyes, miracle right here, give you hand and nope.. He is like to be used and go to dump.