The Fairy Godmother
(played in the movie by Hedy Lamarr)
Influences: Tanith Lee's fairy tales.
Quote: Be sure to be home before dawn ...
The Fairy Godmother was an idea I came up with while shooting the breeze about what kind of character I'd play in a Vampire campaign.
Once upon a time, there was a Toreador woman who practiced a very particular art form. Some Toreadors like sculpture, others like painting, still others like music. This Toreador practiced her art on the living bodies of women, creating from the lowest of drudges the most beautiful and refined of creatures. Alas, most of the mortals so endowed burn brightly like candles, and then are blown out. But some very few prove worthy of the gift, and are Embraced into the life eternal, to give to others what their fairy godmother gave to them.
Lady Danger
aka Virginia Dare, Stuntwoman Extraordinaire
(played in the movie by Lucy Lawless)
Influences: Guy Gardner as Green Lantern in Justice League International.
Quote: I may not be as tough as that goody-two-shoes Captain Triumph, but I'm tough enough to kick your sorry ass!
I came up with Lady Danger as a more conventional back-up for the campaign in which I played the Messenger. The GM was looking for an iconic female superhero and liked her so well that he adopted her as an NPC. I'd still love to play her, because I think she has so much potential. Lady Danger isn't exactly original, but I like the idea of playing a superhero that breaks the mold of beautiful, feminine, and polished. We can't all be Jean Grey.
Lady Danger is Wonder Woman as white trash. She's not a role model; she drinks, smokes, and cusses. She was a daredevil stuntwoman (think Evel Knievel or Super Dave Osborne) who accidentally ended up with a standard suite of brick-like superpowers. Having an Origin didn't change Lady Danger--she's still the same obnoxious publicity hound she always was. But she's also a stand-up gal, which is what makes her bearable. She's also cannily intelligent, if uneducated and unskilled.
Lady Danger's secret identity is another one of my history geek in-jokes.
Norma Jean Baker
(played in the movie by Madonna)
Influences: Reading the Weekly World News at the checkout counter once too often.
Quote: That doesn't add up.
Norma was conceived for a never-played campaign where all those stories you read in the National Enquirer are true. The campaign seed came up in the late eighties or early nineties and wasn't really influenced by the obvious sources (e.g., The X-Files).
Norma is the love child of Marilyn Monroe and John F. Kennedy. The twist is that she's an accountant, smart as a whip, and really has no clue she's a knockout. Her two companions, who were equally developed, were Aaron Preston, singing DEA agent, and an unnamed spoonbender who couldn't perform when flustered, either by unbelievers or beautiful women.