Saturday, September 4, 2021

PANTHEON

 


PANTHEON

Roster: Achilles, Agamemnon (Vali Halfling), Andromeda, Atalanta, Cassiopeia, Delphi, Hector, Hulk (Robert Bruce Banner), Jason, Paris, Perseus,

First Appearance: The Incredible Hulk (Vol. 1) #368, April 1990

History/Powers: Several millenia ago, a youth named Vali Halfling, the offspring of a human and an Asgardian god, made a pact with the alien Troyans: In exchange for immortality, the aliens would be allowed to collect an occasional tithe in the form of Vali's descendants. His immortality manifested during his adolescence, never physically aged past 16 years of age. Realizing that Vali's descendants would retain less of his power in their genetic structure with each generation, the Troyans aided him in the form of genetic manipulation, allowing him to pass considerable amounts of his godly attributes to his offspring. After spending an extended period in Asgard, he returned to Earth taking the name "Agamemnon".

Centuries ago, Agamemnon assembled the massive Pantheon organization, a think-tank dedicated to observing the world for potential disasters and averting them. They built a mountain-sized base in the Nevada desert called the Mount, a self-sufficient community of over 1,500 inhabitants and science facilities far ahead of the outside world, also employing many agents and bases around the globe. Over the centuries, Agamemnon has gathered many of his descendants to act as core members of the Pantheon.

Due to their genetic conditioning, many of his descendants develop superhuman levels of strength, endurance, reaction time, durability, and regenerative powers. This includes Jason, Atalanta, Casiopeia, Hector, Perseus, and both Ulysses.

Ajax also has superhuman physical power, but his body cannot stand the strain of all his muscle. He has Class 100 strength, superhuman stamina and near-invulnerability, but requires an exoskeleton to constantly support his mass.

Many members also employ plasma-based energy weapons. Ulysses carries a collapsible energy shield built into his wristband, and a hilt that generates a plasma sword, Perseus carried a plasma spear, Hector carries a charged morning star that could produce gale force winds when spun, and Atalanta uses plasma arrows which she can guide by remote control and mentally aim towards specific targets.

Hector also seemed capable of self-levitation at times, and Cassiopeia can also absorb and process stellar energy, generating "white dwarf" power as blinding flashes of light and blasts of explosive and concussive force.

Another member, Achilles, is practically invulnerable to all assaults including physical force, temperature extremes, ingested or inhaled poisons, radiation, hard vacuum, and even forms of mind control. His only vulnerability is gamma radiation, which shuts down his power completely.

Other members are not direct combatants, and so seem not to possess the physical enhancements of their brethren. Prometheus has superhuman physical senses and near-psionic intuitive tracking skills. He is able to follow virtually any trail by locating and tracking spore across hundreds of miles.

Paris is an empath capable of sensing the emotional state of other beings and gauging their empathic reactions to different situations.

Delphi is a clairvoyant and precognitive who focuses her psychic powers through water. She can sense events happening around the world in the present or months into the future, generally based on if the events are somehow relevant to her or to others close to her physically or emotionally. These visions can appear in pools of water when she touches them, helping her to achieve greater clarity in honing her "sight". Her mother, Andromeda, shared a similar ability.

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