The Centurions were a team of heroes formed in Superior City at the dawn of the Modern Heroic Age. During the course of the half-dozen or so years the Centurions operated they faced a variety of superhuman criminals and other foes, both individually and as a team. A great many of these foes would later become pawns of the villain Carnage and his years-long scheme to take revenge on Superior City.
The epitome of the Gentleman Thief, Malcolm Somerset IV sees criminal acts as a means to test and hone his myriad skills rather than a means to make money. The self-named Ace of Thieves follows a strict code of causing as little harm as he can when committing crimes. The Ace refuses to kill, and will avoid physical violence as much as possible. He will also not perform any robbery if he knows the theft will cause undo suffering to the victim. As such the Ace usually chooses high-end targets like large corporations, art galleries, museums, and the extremely wealthy - most of whom will usually have insurance to cover any losses due to the Ace of Thieves and his actions.
A Jack-of-All-Trades and Master of Several, the Ace began his criminal career in Europe and spending time in Asia before coming to the United States. His arrival coincided with the early years of the Modern Age of Heroes and the Ace eagerly sought the challenge of pitting his skills against super-hero crime fighters. After a short stint in Gotham City matching wits with the Batman, the Ace of Thieves moved on to Metropolis before heading west and arriving in Superior City. In Superior, the Ace of Thieves found an ideal opponent in the hero Paragon. Another who had honed himself to the peak of human potential and mastered a wide variety of skills, Paragon was the Ace's equal and opposite in every meaningful way.
The Ace of Thieves stopped his wandering and settled in Superior City, rarely venturing outside the city's borders to commit a crime. As time went on he planned more and more elaborate schemes to challenge Paragon, and occasionally crossed paths with the other heroes of the area. For the Ace of Thieves the challenge was itself the reward, and more than once he would abandon the loot from his crime if the opportunity arose to face off against Paragon one-on-one. In one memorable adventure he actually teamed up with Paragon's sidekick Edge in order to rescue Paragon from the clutches of another villain.
The Ace of Thieves was eventually apprehended by Paragon and incarcerated in Mercy Island Penitentiary. There he was forced to serve Carnage, choosing to do so voluntarily rather than have his brain ravaged by Carnage's psychics to force obedience. After Carnage's plot was put into action, the Ace of Thieves found himself captured by the Enforcers of Justice. Seeing a means to free himself, the Ace happily spilled as much information on Carnage and the plot as he knew to the heroes in exchange for being allowed to go free. His intelligence was a key part of the heroes' victory over Carnage, and they kept their word. When last sighted the Ace of Thieves was headed for Europe to start his own adventures anew.
The Ace of Thieves has no superhuman powers, but he has trained his body to the level of an Olympic athlete. The Ace is a highly skilled acrobat and athlete, and he can appear to have superhuman abilities thanks to his training in the legendary martial art of Shaolin Kung-Fu, including training on how to be so stealthy as to appear to be able to turn invisible, and so nimble as to appear to sometimes be able to walk on air.
Besides his martial training, the Ace of Thieves is also an expert in the myriad skills of thievery as well as in forensics, to better conceal his crimes and confound the police. He is an expert with computers, and is well versed in a variety of scientific disciplines including such diverse ones as archeology, botany, and chemistry. He is an expert in human psychology, a skill which the Ace uses frequently to thwart both his victims and his opponents.
Though he tries to avoid violence, the Ace of Thieves has shown himself to be proficient in a dizzying array of martial weapons and firearms. He also appears to be an expert driver and pilot and has been seen to use a variety of vehicles in his capers, from expensive sports cars to helicopters to speedboats and even an experimental fighter jet one time. The Ace of Thieves is also a highly skilled painter, based on the quality of a number of the self-made forgeries he has substituted in galleries and museums in place of those works of art he has absconded with.
The Animus is a mystical force, one of the Avatars, in this case the Avatar of Malevolence. The original identity of the current host of the Animus is unknown, but he has been this incarnation for over a decade. When the Animus first appeared in Superior City it faced off against Paragon and was defeated. The host would be imprisoned but would escape several more times over the years, ultimately being defeated by the Centurions, as a team and as individuals, each time.
The Animus escaped custody during the anti-hero riots set off during the Legends crisis. It fed off the negative energies and used its emotion manipulation powers to worsen the riots in Superior City. The teen heroes Edge and Whiz Kid were able to subdue the Animus, but the damage had already been done and many of the city's other heroes would fall victim to the riots.
The Animus host was held at Mercy Island prison, where it became part of the army being assembled by the villain Carnage. Years later the Animus was part of Carnage's assault on and attempted conquest of Superior City. When the villains were defeated the heroic White Sorceress was able to sever the Animus' hold on its host. The Animus force was banished, but it was discovered that being host to the malevolent entity for so long had destroyed the mind of the host.
Though possessing superhuman strength and vicious claws, the Animus usually only resorts to physical attacks as a last resort, though it is more than happy to incite violence in others. The Animus' true danger lies in its power to spread anger, hatred and distrust. The Animus has a number of powers related to its malevolent purpose. It can affect emotions in a victim, primarily to cause anger or hatred; and it can also use a form of hypnosis to manipulate a target, again usually to force them to take actions that will cause their own or another's suffering. The Animus can also alter its shape to take on the form of a victim's loved one, at which point it will act against the victim in a way that looks like the loved one has betrayed them in some fashion.
Lastly, the Animus has the ability to place a Curse on a target. This Curse takes the form of bad luck for the target, where they will suddenly make mistakes, trip up, miss appointments, forget important things, and other events that will increase the victim's suffering.
A genius at electronics and business, William Randall combined his talents to predict the stock market and make his fortune. He then began financing super-criminals around Superior City, funding their initial costs for a cut of the back-end profits from their activities. When he began losing money on many of these investments due to his clients continually thwarted by the members of the Centurions, Randall took out a contract on the team itself. This backfired, leading to the hero Paragon unmasking Randall as the money behind many of the city's criminals. In the end it was not the heroic Centurions that brought down the Billionaire but the Internal Revenue Service.
Incarcerated at Mercy Island after his conviction, Randall's lawyers would have had him released years ago if not for Carnage's manipulations. Carnage made sure the Billionaire stayed in Mercy Island where the villain could make use of Randall to fund his efforts. Since Carnage's scheme was thwarted, Randall's legal team has been working hard at getting their client released.
Randall has no super powers, but is extremely intelligence and an expert in finance, computers, and electrical engineering. He is also very charismatic and experienced in the psychology of manipulating others.
A descendant of Prussian aristocrats, the self-styled Baron Heinrich Schwarzwulf prided himself on his hunting skills. He became a renowned big game hunter, but found himself a wanted man after hunting several endangered species. Schwarzwulf started operating as a bounty hunter, a tracker of men, locating individuals who were wanted by powerful organizations and men. Now using the English translation of his name, Blackwolf, he became very much in-demand.
Eventually tiring of hunting ordinary men, Blackwolf decided to start hunting super-powered beings. He headed to America, and selected Superior City as his new hunting ground. Black Wolf was a frequent foe of the hero Lynx, never managing to defeat her but also managing to escape each time until he was finally apprehended. Blackwolf was incarcerated in Mercy Island prison, where he became part of Carnage's super villain army. He was arrested again when Carnage's plot to take over Superior City was thwarted.
Blackwolf is an expert tracker and hunter, able to pursue a target through any terrain. He can operate a variety of vehicles, and is a crack shot with a rifle.
Myron Wakely started developing psychic powers as a teenager. He initially used his powers to easily pass tests in school. As his powers grew he moved into manipulating others to let himself live the high life. Eventually he decided use his powers to take on the Centurions, figuring that defeating the heroes would make him the big man in the city. Calling himself Brain Freeze, Myron would face off against the Centurions on multiple occasions, but would be defeated each time.
Brain Freeze was incarcerated in Mercy Island prison when Carnage began recruiting imprisoned villains into his army. As a psychic, Myron became one of Carnage's Espers, whose combined mental powers were used to make the city forget about Carnage and the Centurions and let the villain proceed with his plan uninterrupted. Brain Freeze was imprisoned again after Carnage was defeated.
Brain Freeze possesses an array of psychic abilities. He can speak telepathically, deliver painful psychic blasts, mentally freeze a target in place, and take control of another's mind.
Paul Germaine is a misogynistic opportunist with the ability to make people love him. He prefers women and has left a trail of broken hearts (and a few illegitimate children) across the country. In fact he has an almost pathological need to make women love him and will hardly ever use his powers on men. Charm of the Femmes Fatales is his daughter (though he does not know this). He has been in Mercy Island ever since Lynx captured him years ago.
Charmer was one of the psychics used as Carnage's Espers for his plot to take revenge on Superior City.
Charmer has the psychic ability to manipulate emotions in others, specifically to induce strong feelings of love or hate. He has the additional ability to mentally dominate and control anyone he has used his emotion manipulation on, so long as it was to make them love him. Charmer does not appear to age, despite being in his 50s he still appears as a handsome man in his mid-20s.
Brian Montclair was a steelworker when an accident transformed him, giving him superhuman strength and steel-like skin. Calling himself Chrome, Brian turned to crime and was frequently used as muscle by various criminal masterminds. He battled individual Centurions and the whole team on various occasions. Incarcerated in Mercy Island, Chrome became part of Carnage's villain army as part of the latter's plot to take revenge on Superior City.
Chrome is a towering figure at over 10 feet tall. His skin and hair are steel-hard and have a reflective, metallic appearance and are strong enough resist high explosives. Chrome is immensely strong and has been seen to lift a small building with little effort.
C.L.A.W. was a criminal organization that frequently battled the Centurions. The group began a couple of decades ago, initially named F.A.S.T. (Federation for Anarchy, Sedition, and Terrorism). At the dawn of the Modern Age of heroes a super-villain mastermind named the Black Adept took control and changed the organization to C.L.A.W. (Council for Lawlessness, Anarchy, and Warfare). C.L.A.W. was a frequent rival to H.I.V.E. during the latter organization's early days, but C.L.A.W.'s efforts tended to be focused on the west coast of America.
The organization was finished off once and for all when the Centurions destroyed C.L.A.W.'s main base of operations and the Black Adept was killed. A group calling themselves the Shadow Masters took control of the remnants of the group and reformed it under the new name of T.A.S.K. (Terrorism, Anarchy, Sedition, and Korruption).
C.L.A.W. was well-funded and served as an agent attempting to disrupt Western society. They had access to advanced technology, which was typically used to equip their seemingly unlimited supply of foot soldiers. C.L.A.W. operations usually involved terrorist activities like kidnappings, bombings, or threats of mass destruction.
Once upon a time there were three small-town teenage pranksters. After high school the trio left their hometown to attend a west coast university, albeit with forged academic credentials. They continued with their pranks, with their antics becoming more and more outrageous until they became borderline criminal. A cell for the organization F.A.S.T. blackmailed the trio into working for them, but the cell was busted by the authorities a short time later leaving the trio free. Having had a bit of a taste of the criminal lifestyle, the trio found they enjoyed the thrill and soon committed their first robbery as a costumed team using the identities Merry Andrew, Slapstick, and Pop Gun.
Pop Gun proved to be violent and more than willing to kill so the other two left him to be captured on a job. After Pop Gun's arrest, Merry Andrew and Slapstick re-evaluated their priorities and decided to form their own organization, which they dubbed C.L.O.W.N. (Criminal Legion of Wacky Non-conformists). The organization grew quickly in size, rivalling other villainous societies like H.I.V.E. and C.L.A.W., but with a different, less violent and seditious, objective. Focused primarily on the west coast, C.L.O.W.N. continued the tradition of outrageous pranks and jokes, though centered on criminal activity. Their robberies and other activities were less aimed at gaining wealth and more at embarrassing the authorities, heroes, and people in positions of power. They were not above even targeting the occasional super villain if the joke was worth it.
Early in their existence the members of C.L.O.W.N. took a special interest in the Centurions and made Superior City a frequent location for their activities. As the metahuman scene began to take on a more serious edge, Merry Andrew and Slapstick chose to retire to control and advisory positions leaving their lieutenants and foot soldiers to perform the physical tasks. C.L.O.W.N. is now an international group, its members focused on their goals of high-visibility pranks, grand jokes, and “pun”-ishing those who cross them (or who they feel deserve it).
The main members of C.L.O.W.N. are:
A talented engineer, Cedrick Danforth worked for a military contractor designing protective systems for soldiers. A greedy man, Cedrick took his designs and prototypes for himself and built the first version of his Crashpad powered armor. He immediately started using the armor to commit crimes, its power letting him smash through walls and vault doors. Cedrick also started hiring himself out as muscle to villain groups and criminal masterminds.
Cedrick operated as Crashpad for a few years, tussling with super heroes but usually escaping until he was finally taken down by Edge and Whiz Kid, the teen members of the Centurions. The Crashpad armor was destroyed and Cedrick was imprisoned at Mercy Island. There he was recruited by the villain Carnage, and when Carnage finally instigated his plan to take revenge on Superior City he provided Cedrick with a new version of the Crashpad armor. Crashpad served in Carnage's villain army and was incarcerated again when the villains were defeated.
The Crashpad powered armor was a large, heavily armored suit that gave the pilot enhanced reflexes and superhuman strength. The armor was completely sealed and was waterproof with an air supply good for several hours of operation.
The man known as Doctor Dimension is a sorcerer from another dimension. Seeking after power he arrived on Earth and targeted the area around Superior City. Never specific about what he was seeking, Doctor Dimension nevertheless was not subtle in how he went out about it. The sorcerer would blast his way into museums, kidnap archaeologists, and steal a variety of objects and artifacts as part of his quest. This brought into frequent conflict with the Centurions. He would typically flee to his home dimension, or another dimension, in order to evade capture. For a time Doctor Dimension had an assistant whom he named Hellspawn; a teenage runaway who Doctor Dimension imbued with demonic power, but who eventually turned on the sorcerer. It was Hellspawn's betrayal of Doctor Dimension that finally allowed the Centurions to capture the villain and he was sent to Mercy Island prison. There he was recruited by Carnage and provided occult support to the latter's plan to exact revenge against Superior City and the Centurions.
Doctor Dimension is a sorcerer who specializes in traveling between dimensions. He can manipulate dimensional energies to create shapes and forms that he can manipulate to a variety of functions. Doctor Dimension can also fire off powerful magical blasts.
The Fun Bunch was a collection of homicidal maniacs with a taste for mayhem who have all adopted identities that revolve around an "evil circus performer" themed persona. The organization was secretly created by C.L.A.W.; founded by Pop Gun (see C.L.O.W.N.) at their behest when they broke him out of jail. Most members were recruited (kidnapped) and trained (brainwashed) by C.L.A.W. operatives at the "Fun Factory", an underground base hidden beneath an amusement park. There were always 10 active members of the Fun Bunch; when one died they were replaced by a new recruit from the Fun Factory. The true identities of the members of the Fun Bunch, with the exception of Pop Gun, remain unknown.
The murderous activities of the Fun Bunch were frequently opposed by the Centurions. Near the end of the heroic team's tenure in Superior City, the Centurions were finally able to stop the Fun Bunch for good. With the exception of Pop Gun, who had been less involved in field operations with the group, all of the Fun Bunch had been apprehended by the Centurions and other heroes and were incarcerated at Mercy Island. There they were secretly recruited into Carnage's villain army and took part in the villain's revenge scheme against Superior City. After that plot was thwarted they were once again incarcerated.
The final roster of the Fun Bunch was:
Kimberly Travers was an admin assistant working for a particle physics lab when C.L.A.W. terrorists attacked the lab. The villains were attempting to steal an experimental laser canon, but were confronted by the new hero Astra. Astra's energy bolts combined with some of the C.L.A.W. agent's high tech equipment and the laser canon to cause an explosion of exotic energies that swept over Kimberly, who had unfortunately been a bystander to the confrontation.
When she recovered, Kimberly discovered that the accident had granted her energy powers. She immediately decided to use her new powers to become rich and started using them to rob jewelry stores. She was frequently opposed by Astra and was eventually apprehended. Incarcerated in Mercy Island prison, she would become one of many villains recruited by Carnage into his long term scheme to take revenge on Superior City.
Incandesca has a wide range of energy-based powers. She can fly at high speeds, move at superhuman speeds, and can project powerful energy blasts and blinding flashes of light. She also had a powerful forcefield and could absorb all forms of energy directed at her.
Jack Dawson, aka Jackdaw, was a super-powered thief who frequently crossed paths with the hero Lynx. Jackdaw claimed to have gained his powers from a Native American artifact he stole, but this has never been confirmed. He operated around the Pacific Northwest, quite often in the Superior City and Paradise area, specializing in upper story break-and-enters and the occasional industrial espionage. He was eventually captured by Lynx and imprisoned at Mercy Island, where Jackdaw became part of the villain army for Carnage's attack on Superior City.
Jackdaw was a skilled thief with a talent for lockpicking and defeating security systems. Whatever the origin of his powers, they were useful for his profession. Jackdaw could fly; had sharp, retractable claws that he would use to cut through glass windows in addition as offensive weapons; and could project bolts of electricity. His skin was also toughened, enough to repel small calibre bullets.
Samantha James was a talented all-around athlete who was banned from competition for gambling after betting on herself to win gold at the Pan-American Games. Despondent and unable to find any work in athletics, Samantha sought more esoteric means to return to competition. Somehow Samantha managed to replicate the magical formula that had given Olympiad his powers. Thus empowered she began challenging the hero to a variety of competitions to prove herself the superior athlete. She made a point to never deliberately harm anyone during these challenges, but there was often property damage and other disruptions as the two super-athletes did battle. Olympia became Olympiad's main rival and was jailed after one of their more spectacular battles. Since his death during the Crisis she had a change of heart but became caught up in Carnage's scheme.
Samantha was a gifted athlete before gaining her powers. The magic formula she took gave her superhuman strength, speed and resilience. She could run faster than a car, clear a football field in a single jump, and deadlift a few tons.
Milo Steinbrenner suffered from a hormone deficiency that had stunted his growth, leaving him small and weak for his age. Tired of dealing with his condition, Milo sought a solution, any solution that might help in. In the end Milo ended up volunteering for a secret Cell 13 experiment where he was dosed with a variety of chemical compounds designed to grant him a superhuman physique. The experiment was a little too successful; Milo was transformed into a hyper-muscled giant, but his already limited intellect was further diminished. Milo was now a creature of mostly instinct, and that instinct was rage.
Cell 13 was unable to keep Milo under control and he broke free from the secret lab and started to carve a path of destruction across Superior City. The mindless rampage was finally stopped thanks to the efforts of the teen speedster Whiz Kid in his very first public appearance. Rage, as the media had dubbed Milo, was imprisoned but would frequently break free. In each case it was usually Whiz Kid, sometimes with the aid of Apex, who would put a stop to the creature.
After his last defeat Rage was again incarcerated in Mercy Island, but this time he fell under the control of Carnage and became part of the villain's growing super-powered army. Rage was a prominent foot soldier in Carnage's takeover of Superior City, but was again imprisoned when the plot was thwarted by the city's heroes.
Rage possesses massive superhuman strength, with the ability to lift a small building. When under great stress, Rage's adrenal gland is capable of pumping out chemicals that can further increase Rage's already prodigious strength for a short period, making him an even more dangerous foe.
Diana St. Gerard was a successful European super-model, until she reached her twenties. When the brutal fashion industry decided it wanted nothing to do with her anymore, Diana lost the means to maintain the lavish lifestyle to which she had become accustomed. Out of desperation she married a much older, but very wealthy, man. Her husband died shortly after the wedding, leaving his fortune to Diana. The death had been an accident, but that did not stop high society from secretly suspecting that Diana had somehow been responsible.
Spurned, Diana decided that if society thought she was a black widow assassin then that's what she would become. She sank most of her money into the training needed to become a master thief and expert assassin. When she returned to public life she was a changed woman. The death of her first husband had been old news long enough that Diana was safe to rejoin high society. This time she used her charm to gather intelligence about potential targets. She would steal valuables that she found pretty, and would sell her skills as an assassin to supplement her income.
When Diana's second husband died under mysterious circumstances she decided that Europe had become a little too hot for her and left for North America. She took a liking to the west coast and started operating up and down the Pacific, from Los Angeles where she mingled with, and stole from, the A-List celebrities all the way up to Superior City and the neighboring Paradise Cities.
Inspired by the rise in masked heroes and villains, Diana created a costumed identity for herself to use in her high-end thefts and so the Silk Spider was born. She made Paradise her new home, and relished in thwarting the efforts of heroes like Lynx to stop her robberies. Diana restricted her Silk Spider activities almost exclusively to Superior City and Paradise, leaving the identity behind on the increasingly rare occasions she took jobs elsewhere. As Silk Spider she generally worked alone, but was not above a rare team up with fellow thief and Lynx adversary Jackdaw. She also teamed with the Ace of Thieves, who had mentored her in the early days of her robbery career, from time to time.
Silk Spider was finally captured by Lynx and unmasked. Incarcerated in Mercy Island Penitentiary, Diana followed the Ace of Thieves' lead and voluntarily served Carnage during the latter's plot against Superior City. After the villain was defeated the Silk Spider was once again incarcerated, but out from Carnage's rule she does not plan to stay in jail for very long.
A strikingly lovely woman, who still looks younger than her age would indicate, the Silk Spider hides a set of deadly skills behind the façade of a leading lady of high society. She is an expert thief, a master at breaking locks and evading security systems. She parlayed her physical skills as a model into becoming an expert in several styles of martial arts, and has augmented her offensive arsenal with a marksman's skill in pistols and rifles and a mastery of a variety of blades.
The most notorious and dangerous of the Centurions' enemies.
