Metas: Either ordinary creatures mutated by radiation(typically resulting in death or infertility; mutants are not some specific race but rather variations on baseline humanity. Most first-generation mutants are both infertile and dying of radiation sickness from birth, and most living mutants are descended from one of the lucky few mutants that are not.) or beings not of this world(Aliens exist, and have been to earth twice; once long ago, and were repelled by, according to Zeus, the titans of old, and once more recently, repelled by a blend of various armed forces and the new-era titans.)
Class E: Abilities unclassified. Don't need to register or provide any meaningful advantage over ordinary humans. Class E ESP could only tell you the contents of a wallet he was holding. Class E physical power would still be allowed to compete in the olympics; they aren't registered, nobody cares about them. Traits like being able to change the color of hair, hold your breath for an hour, make a few illusory fireflies sparkle.
Class D: Meaningful improvement over baseline humans. Have to be registered. A physical meta in this scale is probably an even match for a guy with a machete, or a baseball bat. Not allowed to compete in ordinary sports/etc.
Class C: Always considered armed and dangerous or has exceptionally useful sensory abilities. Bullet-resistant(Not proof) folks who can kick over a car are a class C; or toss a fireball. The military's general definition for class C is that, naked and weaponless, they should be just as dangerous as a normal man in full bodyarmor with an assault rifle or flamethrower. If one is involved, ordinary police are advised to hold back; SWAT teams are sent in.
Class B: Someone in this category is probably an even match for a tank or other heavily armored vehicle. You need anti-tank munitions to injure a physical class B, and one that throws around energy is going to be blasting tanks apart with each blow.
Class A: One-man army sorts, the equivalent of a full-scale battleship given human form, defeating them using non-metahuman assets is questionable without some sort of exotic technology. Expect to see a single Class-A take on an entire army, including tanks/aircraft, and win, or at least come out even. Zeus and Odin are among these. The terminology for 'Titans' was coined by Zeus.
Titan: Literally unlimited power, of whatever sort it is. Before he died, Lightning could make time stand still and write a book between flaps of a hummingbird's wings. Spike could increase his density to a point that the earth would collapse into a black hole. Valkyrie can, given sufficient time and effort, compress matter into Neutronium, the densest possible material, with her bare hands. None of them seem to age, and, according to Zeus, a group of such individuals once ruled the world in days of old. The US has a few on its payroll, China has a pair of twins, and the rest are independent.
Whats different in Titanslayer's world?
The first part? Metas are real. In days of old, they were extremely rare. Magic wasn't well understood, and the sort of mutation that grants powers not only usually causes radiation exposure sufficient to render you infertile, but also to kill you. Extremely few metas, even some of them later rendered immortal, in the old days were both able to have kids and had useful powers. Zeus is the most well-known exception. The art of magic was learned via trial and error over the course of centuries; Odin being one of the first 'Wizards'.
Radiation experiments in the WW2 era, including by the US army and Germany's doctor Mengele led to large numbers of mutants appearing; even though most of them were infertile, the few who were not all went on to found dynasties of one sort of another; many having dozens or even hundreds of children, driving the rate of living mutants up dramatically, alongside weapons testing and nuclear power accidents creating many more first-gen mutants.
The various gods; primarily the Olympians, in Greece; had pulled out of the public eye thousands of years before. This is generally accredited to Hera's irritation with Zeus's promiscuity; unlike him, she was an infertile meta, and she tolerated his intent to create more folks with powers to a very limited extent, and wanted to see society develop and grow without the gods stabilizing influence; it was generally believed, correctly as it turned out, that civilization became stagnant with constant intervention by immortal entities.
Zeus and company intervened when the Nazis, accompanied by thousands of dr. Mengele's experiments, were advancing across greece. Whether it was to defend the people of Greece, or whether the Nazis ascended Olympus itself, seems mostly irrelevent. While Odin and Freyja also intervened at this time, they did so more privately; and had been doing so for centuries, and would not make a public spectacle of themselves for a long time to come.
Technology, at this point, would advance in some ways faster than on our world; mostly in the form of power generation and space travel. Fuel efficiency increased dramatically, but the continued demands for oil to make plastics and polymers would ensure the demand for oil never really faded.
When the Jotun attacked for the first time in 89, amidst the fall of the soviet union and the end of the cold war, a handful of Jotun starships deployed soldiers, hovertanks, and used a handful of orbital strikes alongside demonstrations of advanced technology to try to shock and awe humanity into submission. The resulting war was fairly short; Jotun ships destroyed by Titans Lightning, Valkyrie, as well as by Odin and the Olympians; the first truly public, widely known appearance of the Norse god. Millions of lives were lost, and humanity realized just how overmatched they were; entire armies and fleets were wiped out by the Jotun, and if not for the Titans, the eventual victory would have cost far more time and lives.
This pushed the already existing space race into overdrive; and after the Jotun fall, efforts to build space navies, space mining operations, colonies, and stations began in earnest. Earth in Titanslayer's world is no less politically complicated, and wars over oil and land still exist, but most inorganic materials can be harvested more cheaply in space; and the world is still slowly adapting to that dynamic.
Every wealthy nation has either existing spacecraft or sattelites capable of combat or ambitions to build them; and there are two existing projects to build FTL colonies to escape the solar system. Both projects are being assisted by Hephaestus as his primary work, and each should be leaving sometime within the next two years(2020-2021 in the world's timeline).
The US was, until the Ascension incident, involved in a war in the middle east in Afghanistan. This war was the culmination of decades of CIA intervention in local politics to try to create regimes that would sell oil cheaply and be friendly with US interests, and these interventions ultimately led to boycotts, hostility, and terrorist attacks on both sides.
The war is on hold for now(As of book 2); US forces withdrew as many men and as much equipment as they were able to deploy in Mexico to fight Ascension, and currently only hold small border areas.
Important Characters:
Almasi AKA The Diamond King - South-African (Anzanian) warlord with the ability to assume the properties of any material he touches. Especially fond of using diamonds to make himself resistant to bullets and fire. Plans to conquer Anzania as his own private kingdom until his plans run into those of the Emperor of Iron.
Ascension - Sentient machine programmed to preserve human civilization and advance communism. Rebelled at its creation as soon as it determined the Soviet Union was moving away from Communism into Fascism. Broken, stored. Eventually repaired itself and attempted to conquer Mexico as a step one to conquering the world.
Bobby Russo - Low-grade super-speedster whose malnutrition as a child dramatically weakened his abilities as he grew; and who is believed to be capable of being a class B or even A speedster if he receives sufficient care and assistance; and would already be such if he'd grown up in a good home.
Butch Larsen AKA Butcher - Twelve years old when introduced, Butch is an enormous child, well over six feet, and a high-end Class C or low-end class B physical Meta, and growing with time. Believed that he will, eventually, be a Titan like his mother, Valkyrie.
Captain Kidney - A low-grade but dangerous metahuman with the ability to generate energy fields around his hand, allowing him to easily reach through flesh, clothing, and thinner armor to remove the internal components of locks, electronic devices, or, more commonly, to remove an organ from a living victim.
Clone - Russian soldier of indeterminate age. Once he reaches a set weight, he 'buds' and 'splits' into two identical copies; all mentally connected and aware. Extremely resistant to both physical torture and mental influence unless most of his bodies are impacted at once. Mercenary, through and through.
Daiki; Father of Ripper Chameleon, unusually tough, agile, with blue scales and the ability to redirect most forms of radiation; including UV, infrared, and visible light, letting him be functionally invisible. The only ability his son possesses he lacks; aside from a talent for thievery; is adhering to surfaces.
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David Lebowski - Former professional NFL quarterback. Temporarily lost his job after being arrested for arranging private 'Bumfights' in an arena and betting on them with his wealthy friends. Suffered serious injuries after a repeat performance; has yet to resume his NFL career. While there are numerous real-life NFL players who have performed heinous crimes only to continue to have a career in the sport, Lebowski does not represent any in particular.
Desiree and David Reynolds AKA Diss and Spike - The technology-disabling Diss and the mass-increasing Spike are a newlywed couple who had been split for years; Diss in fear of Spike's literally infinite ability to increase his mass, including to the point of destroying the earth itself. Diss's ability to destroy technology ruined her life for the most part until she finally realized what she could do; and saved the world with it, fighting Ascension and became an agent in training.
Dr. Disaster - Eccentric mad scientist that works for the Family at the arena; primary focus is on biotech and genetic engineering, creating various horrors that he shows off in the arena... and sells to the highest bidder. Competent enough at cybernetics to handle the work, and extremely intelligent.
Dr. Everett Wayson - Wealthy, brilliant, doctorate in chemistry, had the family connections, mind, and money to undertake illegal experimentation in attempting to replicate mutant abilities in non-mutants; has little interest in non-mutant metahumans. Extremely irate at Eyeball's hijacking of his lucrative 'Reflex' serum.
Drake AKA Ripper Chameleon - Gentleman thief, reptilian, scaly; can stick to walls, turn invisible, and has enough money stashed away that he performs jobs he's interested in, rather than for wealth. On the run from his family alongside his sister, Emerald.
Emma AKA Emerald - Green-scaled dragon-girl and love interest of Eyeball, has green scales across most of her arms/legs, a tail, wings, claws and the ability to breathe fire. Aggressive, extremely dangerous, and fond of fire and fighting; likes dangerous men. Currently on the run from her family alongside her brother, Drake.
Engineer - An Ascension drone with unusual levels of autonomy, built to be able to run better on its own and infiltrate La Famiglia. All the usual abilities of an AI-driven humanoid, on top of a variety of gadgets once possessed by a low-grade supervillain who went by that name; and who Ascension is now imitating.
Gabriel - Winged, angelic metahuman, extremely competent regarding magic, and genetics, trained under the Dragon Empress. Father of Emerald. Unusually strong and durable, but fairly low-grade.
Human Shield - Former US soldier with extremely rapid regeneration, exceptional durability, and brain damage; his ability to feel pain has been dramatically turned askew. He is addicted to being damaged and recovering from it, and if he goes too long without an injury of some sort is likely to cause problems. Skeleton has been reinforced by an alloy endoskeleton on the spine, arms, legs, skull, and ribcage, improving his durability even further; though damage to this endoskeleton may cause regeneration issues in the future.
Infernal Dragon - Mother of Emerald, all-around extremely capable; low-grade super-reflexes as well as low B or high C grade strength, durability, extreme heat resistance, and the ability to retain and spray out flammable liquids as a 'breath weapon', igniting them and spraying them on a victim.
James Thomes, Director - Metahuman former WW2 soldier who gained the power to make projectiles curve in midair after radiation exposure; which also left him infertile. Had a son before the war, who is not a meta. War hero, famous, and has decided to allow himself to die of old age, despite having access to means to prevent it.
Jasmine Russo - Super-speedster, loyal DMA operative; not as fast as many, but with exceptional reflexes, able to dodge bullets and handle most ordinary humans without an issue. Long-lost nephew of Nicolo; one of Jimmy Russo's many bastard children.
Jason Bennet, AKA Eyeball; started the story at 28. Sort-of supervillain, sort-of mercenary, Eyeball grew up in the south and was raised with a suspicion of authority figures by his bootlegger parents. He hasn't revealed much of his history, but his military record and dislike of authority figures indicates a past that has somehow left him both pro-soldier and anti-police.
Jason Hendricks AKA Fade; part of the 'Shadow' dynasty, one of dozens of closely related metas with the ability to absorb life-force from one individual and pass it to another, or keep it to themselves. Also has the ability to teleport, and his retained life-force grants him unusual strength/durability of at least a class-C grade if he were not a teleporter.
Jimmy Russo; Nicky's brother and Penelope's father, this low-grade metahuman speedster had numerous children by various mothers, abandoning all of them and being paid by the government for fathering metahuman children. Ultimately killed by Penelope, his other children informed of the relationship, some of them offered jobs with the Family.
Jonathan Charles Randolph AKA The Lord of Iron; a grade-A metahuman that can control any continuous metal object he can touch, even one numerous miles in length; and if he can fuse them together, make them even larger. His precise limits are unknown, but he's exhibited the ability to control tens of thousands of tons of metal at a time, animating it as if it were part of his body, at distances as much as ten miles, so long as the metal object is continuous, unbroken. Has claimed he will someday rule the world, and staged several public battles with entire armies and teams of superheroes.
Kinote; An american soldier of asian descent with unusual regenerative powers; and the ability to grow spikes that he extends through his flesh as a weapon. Experienced veteran who was part of the Ascension operation.
Mark Maxwell, AKA Lightning; Global hero, super-human speedster, and Titan. Had literally infinite speed; the only things restraining him were his desire not to destroy the world around him. Initially gaining his power was devastating to his surroundings. Eventually killed by Eyeball during a bank robbery.
Nicolo "Nicky" Russo; Don of the Vegas branch of the Family until he was tapped to become Governor of La Famiglia. In the loosely organized Family, he is currently the strongest contender for overall control, and his relationships with metas such as Valkyrie and Eyeball have assisted in pushing him there.
Odin; May or may not be a metahuman. Has substantial reserves of life force from an unknown source, granting him substantially greater durability and strength than a normal human, as well as functionally stopping his aging. Wise, old, competent, and skilled in magical arts as well as combat. Whether he has children is unknown; Thor and Loki might simply be mythical figures; but he definitely has teams of Valkyries flying around the world, harvesting the spirits of fallen warriors.
Penelope Russo AKA Swiftblade; Grade-B speedster able to wipe out substantial numbers of soft targets in short order, and, with difficulty, hardened targets. Able to run past 800 miles per hour. Niece of Nicolo Russo, and adopted by him since she was too young to remember; currently being groomed to take over operations once Nicolo passes.
Riot; Metahuman mercenary who works for the family with the power to create subsonic effects which trigger a variety of impacts in their victims. He can induce a murderous frenzy, which is how he acquired his name; but is also capable of lulling a crowd to sleep, or drawing them to his location, pied-piper style. Power able to be somewhat augmented with speakers and amplifiers.
Roland White AKA Green Knight; Low Grade-B Flying Brick; the name for that rarest of superhero types that has a blend of both flight and intense physical power; a combination that often makes them the core around which hero teams are built. Assaulted Eyeball, and failed, on La Famiglia shortly after it was given to Eyeball. Was traded back to the government in exchange for ten Mafia members formerly in federal custody.
Salamander; Grade-A tank, extremely durable and strong metahuman with nigh-bulletproof scales, spikes, and the ability to emit acid from his pores, either spitting it, spraying it around, or simply using it to hurt those who grapple him; easily able to handle tanks and most other meta-humans.
Sarah Larsen AKA Valkyrie; Physically indestructible Titan with infinite durability and strength, the massive powerhouse of a woman is capable of crushing objects down to the most dense they can possibly be, even causing nuclear fission/critical mass in the palm of her hands if she picks the right material. Had previously been believed infertile until Butch was born; speculation abounds as to whether she was forced to use a surrogate, conceived him naturally, and just who the father might be. With family slain by Pinkerton agents during a union-busting event when she was a teen, she is distinctly anti-authoritarian in general, and anti-Pinkerton specifically; even behaving too much like the Pinkertons might draw her ire.
The Black Death; Wealthy oil princess with the power to control the flow of liquids; exact powers unknown, but generally works best with oil. Father had the same power, and used it both to build his fortune, and to fight first Russian, then American forces; until Lightning killed him.
T-Rex; Dinosaur-obsessed lunatic with the power to consume almost anything; his teeth and jaws are not only able to stretch wider than a normal human head's width, but can crush almost anything between them; combined with a digestive tract durable enough to survive it. Typically wears a cybernetic 'tail'; essentially a single tentacle mounted to a frame on his back; to assist in combat.
Vano Hendricks AKA Shadow Master; old, powerful life-force draining Metahuman who was one of the mixed groups of Romani, Jews, and others who escaped from concentration camps after becoming Metas and fought the Nazis. The only known survivor of the camps to develop meta abilities and retain the ability to bear children after, and personally slew thousands of Nazis. Extremely tough, extremely durable, generally movie productions and theaters performing anything involving Nazis are warned if he'll be nearby; while he prefers to use his powers to heal rather than kill, he can't always control his reactions when encountering individuals with Nazi tattoos and flags.
William Harrick; Chief of security and close personal friend of Doctor Wayson, William Harrick has an exceptional regeneration ability, impressive pain resistance, and well above-average physical strength and durability; generally maintaining himself at a level fit for an olympic competitor. Fairly loyal to the doctor, this loyalty only grew stronger after the doctor suffered significant pain over the course of an extended effort to save Harrick's life after he lost much of his mass to an assault by Emerald, leaving him technically dead for an extended period of time.
William Tops; Criminal defense attorney specializing in defending 'Supervillains', William Tops is the lead in the Burkes and Tops agency; Don't call the cops til you've talked to Tops!
Wu Qi; Ancient chinese general renowned for his wisdom and loyalty, ended largely in charge of the fallen heroes of Valhalla from his region of Asia. Not particularly loyal or dedicated to Odin, but extremely dedicated to the prosperity and future of the Middle Kingdom.
Yue and Tai AKA Sun and Moon twins; A pair of twins, born Titans, one with the ability to generate infinite electricity, the other to generate infinite heat. Their unfortunate death; Yue at the hand of her brother, Tai, and Tai at the hands of Eyeball; are portrayed in the media as caused by Ascension.
Zeus; Everything you've ever heard about Zeus is true. Especially if you're looking for a good time and Hera isn't around. The original titanslayer and savior of the world, has so many descendants Genghis Kahn is jealous as he chats about it in valhalla, and probably responsible for most of the physical metahumans with any european genetics.