Empowered/Characters

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


SPOILERS AHEAD!

Empowered and friends

Empowered AKA Elissa Megan Powers

The main character. A sweet, beautiful (despite what she thinks) and kind young woman who had dreams of fighting crime from a young age, but got saddled with an unreliable supersuit that showed everything.

Kid Emp: "Why do I have such a big butt as a grownup...? How did I wind up so old and f-fat...?"
Current Emp: "Thanks a lot, younger version of me."

ThugBoy

Emp's boyfriend and lover. Ex-minion. Has quite a few skeletons in his closet from his younger days.

Ninjette AKA Kozue Kaburagi

Emp's best friend and part-time Lancer. Originally introduced to us as a Punch Clock Villain, she quickly turned into a sparky, confident foil and emotional support for the self-doubting main character. Then plot happened, and we discovered why she drinks so much...

Ninjette: Yet another idea that seemed brilliant when I had a buzz on... turns out to kinda suck once I've sobered up a little.

  • Celibate Hero: Ninjette seems to be be enhancing her Mad Ninja Skillz by avoiding sex, although she is allowed...
    • It's more of a Freudian thing, because she dearly wants to, but as a princess in a Hidden Elf Village she was not allowed, and the only eligible man now is attached to Empowered. The ensuing frustration causes her to focus her attention on ninjaing.
  • Charles Atlas Superpower
  • A Date with Rosie Palms: Often.
  • Drowning My Sorrows: How she became a Bottle Fairy.
  • Drunken Master
  • Fate Worse Than Death: Averted -- before she was rescued by Emp, she narrowly avoided having her hands and feet cut off to facilitate her use as ninja breeding stock. Invoked later, when she tells Emp what could have happened.
    • Fridge Horror: The issue of how she'd be bred is just as bad - this troper doesn't think hidden ninja villages have in-vitro fertilization labs.
      • IVF is expensive. Why waste money when the traditional method is there, huh?
      • It wouldn't be a too good idea to force a woman to breed anyway, even if you cared for the babies only. Besides of the fact that you could probably expect a lot of issues for the children too, babies of women who hate being pregnant tend to be seriously sick.
  • Foot Focus: She doesn't wear shoes on the job, but wraps her bare feet in leather (?) strips, probably for the extra grip/dexterity. Her feet are dexterous enough to pick up and throw stuff and unwrap her footbindings.
  • Gratuitous Japanese: Justified. She was given a full Japanese name to make up for the dilution in the bloodline.
  • Highly-Visible Ninja
  • Master of Disguise: All ninja are taught "hensojutsu", but she's exceptional. To the point where she consummated a marriage whilst disguised as the groom.
  • McNinja
  • Mukokuseki: Subverted. Ninjette is actually from New Jersey, and is of European descent.
  • Pressure Point
  • Rebellious Princess
  • Sexy Walk: There's even a secret ninja magic to do it. "You move like a ████ing jungle cat!"
  • Stripperiffic: Unlike Emp, she does this willingly with skin-tight short-shorts and a midriff-baring tank-top.
  • Tomboy and Girly Girl: The tomboy to Emp's girly-girl.
  • Trying to Catch Me Fighting Dirty
  • "Well Done, Son" Guy: Her clan and her father constantly told her she wasn't good enough, despite her obvious competence, and she took it to heart.
  • Who Wears Short Shorts?

Caged Demonwolf, Molester of Worlds

Eldritch Abomination captured by Emp in some alien power-draining bondage gear. He lives on her coffee table and spouts ranting, wordy monologues.

Ninja

The Ayakami Clan

A group of ninja who try to collect the bounty on Ninjette.

Oyuki

A frenemy of Ninjette who's part of her clan. She shows up to repay an as-yet-unspecified favour by dropping off some equipment.

  • Cluster F-Bomb: Combines this ████ing characteristic with Japanese-style formalized language for a f***ing unusual speech pattern.
  • Dark-Skinned Redhead
  • Deadpan Snarker
  • Dude, Not Funny: Impersonating Mind████.
  • Foot Focus: Again, wrapped feet.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold -- mmmmmmmaybe. Consider that at the end of her first appearance, she indicated that she considered whatever debt she owed Ninjette to be paid, and that the traitor should expect no further help from her. A few days later (in comic time) she shows up to warn 'Jette that the Ayakami clan -- all of them -- are coming after 'Jette. It's possible that she did this because she enjoys Ninjette's terror. It's also possible that she actually cares. We shall see.
  • Master of Disguise
  • Sir Swearsalot
  • The Stoic: In her expressions at least. Adam Warren mentions he accidentally gave her some expression in one scene; he'd intended her to look like a doll.
    • Not So Stoic: subverted when she proclaims her hatred of Ninjette at the end of Vol. 7, only for it to show that that was what she'd like to say, and her expression stayed frozen.
  • Stripperiffic: The Kaburagi clan wear this season - almost nothing.
  • Wingding Eyes: Sports star-shuriken-shaped pupils.

The Superhomies

The superteam that employs Emp. Based on empirical analysis, most of them are either macho, sexist arsewipes or bitchy queens. Somewhat hip-hop themed.

Sistah Spooky AKA Theresa

A demonically-charged sorceress and a senior member of the team. Also a neurotic mess of a woman who continually puts Emp down because she hates and fears blondes. Don't worry, she has a reason.

Mind████

Intensely telepathic super who's been romantically involved with Sistah Spooky in the past. Stays in orbit most of the time to get away from the background thoughtstream.

Major Havoc

A super-strong, none-too-bright Jerk Jock. That's about it for his character. Because of this, we can cheer when he gets his just desserts. ( Although given that he is one of the one and a half survivors left over when his team confronted Willy Pete...)

Capitan Rivet

The leader of the team. Made entirely of metal. Surprisingly, not a Jerkass (he has the decency to at least suppress his laughter at Emp's humiliation).

  • The Cape (trope): In a world full of superheroes that range from idly idiotic to actively assholish, Capitan Rivet stands out as a (mostly) genuinely nice guy and heroic figure. This may be why Emp idolizes him to the point of wearing underwear with his logo on it.
  • Chrome Champion
  • Reasonable Authority Figure
  • The Worf Effect: Have we seen any battles where he didn't get the ████ kicked out of him?

Syndablokk (sic!)

A man with a cinderblock for a head. One of the few truly sympathetic heroes, he gives Emp some fatherly advice and compliments in his first appearance.

Heavy Artillery

Protean

A human who got infected with an alien STD and turned into a blob. Wants you to know that his name means "ever-changing" and stuff.

Phallik AKA Bob

Wields his mighty Phallospear; has a fondness for smacking arses 'male-bonding' with it.

Divangelic

A pair of Conjoined Twins; the twin on the right is Vanity, a devil; on the left, we have Charity, an angel wielding a kind of morningstar. The mind boggles how they manage to live with each other. Since they were bith killed by Willy Pete in #5, we may never find out.

Other Heroes

Maid Man

A Batman (or Robin?) Expy who seems to be the most decent, well-adjusted hero so far. The full French maid dress, stiletto heels and fishnets (with garters) he always wears could be thought of as an endearing character trait. He's introduced to us as a Reverse Mole.

  • Agent Peacock: He stands out even among the other superheroes with their costumes.
  • Badass Normal
  • Blood Knight
  • Combat Stilettos
  • Determinator
  • Made of Iron
  • Nice Guy
  • Ninja Maid: Sort of.
  • Real Men Wear Pink: He wields an explosive broom, throws doily shuriken, fights in stiletto heels with little bows on them and villains are terrified of him. The only male Meido as badass is Kogarashi.
  • Split Personality: Apparently, his civilian identity, while aware of his alter ego's exploits as Maid Man, does not approve of them. Or know how to get bloodstains out of clothing.
  • Superhero Sobriquets: The Garter-belted Gladiator, the Dark Knight Domestic, the Delicate Cycle Detective, the Hard-hitting Hygenist, the Sanitary Sentinel, the Iron-handed Immaculist, the Manservant of Steel, the Squeaky-clean Samurai, the Corset-clad Crusader and the Velveteen Virtuoso of Violence.
  • Wholesome Crossdresser: Does it hurt that I want those spiffy heels of his?

Ocelotina

A former kidnapper of Emp who saw the interest in the market for a Stripperiffic heroine that was constantly getting Bound and Gagged, then used it to great financial effect to become a softcore idol.

  • Absolute Cleavage
  • Bi the Way: Flirts with Emp, Major Havok, and others.
  • Catgirl: "Nyaan!"
  • Even Perverts Have Standards: "Inappropriate, I'm not into breathplay [1], jackass."
  • Exact Words: Empowered is gagged from talking about what happened at the superhero awards (other members of the Superhomeys aren't and start spreading nasty rumors about her), so Ocelotina invites her on her show and duct tapes her head so she can't talk so that Ocelotina can say how awesome Emp was
  • Femme Fatalons
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She respects Emp and considers her a true hero. Is it sad that, even though she has humiliated Empowered in public and over the internet that she is legitimately magnitudes nicer to our heroine than anyone else on Empowered's team?
  • The Load: "Please save me... because I'm really, really cute!".
  • Ms. Fanservice: This is all she is.
  • Sexy Backless Outfit
  • Stocking Filler

Villains

Due to the Sorting Algorithm of Evil, most of the villains that have appeared have been comedic and one-shot. That isn't to say the rest weren't serious.

Willy Pete

A man who was turned into a fire elemental, and consequently gained the appetite of fire i.e. insatiable. Was the Witless Minions' (and thus Thugboy's) last employer, so they've got some history between them; it's the kind of history that usually starts with "The rivers ran red with blood...".

Fleshmaster/dWARf!

A former member of the Superhomies, until he was publicly humiliated (Carrie-style) at an awards ceremony, then disappeared, or so they thought; he used his powers to secretly remould himself into a brand-new super, dWARf!, who was then accepted back in to the team.

  • Chekhov's Gunman: Both played straight (to a degree) and subverted; Fleshmaster is mentioned several times during Volume Four as part of the Capey's debacle that could prove to be Emp's eventual fate if she wins anything - since it's a proven fact (and alarmingly, Sistah Spooky seems aware of this) that the suprahuman community is a bunch of dicks - but we never meet him. Turns out he was under their nose all along as dWARf, which is revealed in a stellar scene mentioned below. Ironically, dWARf sets himself up to be found out by Emp.
  • Clipped-Wing Angel: In his fight with Emp he uses his bio-editing powers to become a monstrous giant...which doesn't even get one hit in before Emp pounds him into the floor.
  • Curb Stomp Battle: Emp defeats him very quickly.
  • Kick the Dog:He promised to spare Emp's friends if she gave him a blowjob at his moment of triumph. Emp didn't take kindly to that.
  • The Mole
  • Not So Different
  • Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Afterwards, of course.
  • Reunion Revenge
  • Revenge of the Nerd: Gender-flipped. Sanity-flipped as well.

Manny

A Littlest Cancer Patient who met Emp thanks to the Grant-A-Wish Foundation in order to tie her up. His greatest dream was to become a supervillain. Through a strange series of events he managed to attain superhuman intelligence and (possibly) cure himself.

  • Affably Evil: To an extreme degree. The mad respect he has for Emp makes for a jarring contrast with the disrespect her own teammates show her.
  • Chessmaster: How he's shaping up so far.
  • Friendly Enemy: He's indebted to Emp and worships her because he could finally play "Ropehappy Supervillain" with her.
  • Kidanova: Manny has a bit of this.
  • Littlest Cancer Patient
  • Mecha-Mooks: Last seen with an army of robot henchmen... that he named after Emp.

Deathmonger

A Necromancer style supervillain who preys upon the SuperZombies SuperDead.

  • And I Must Scream: The fate of any SuperDead he captures.
  • The Dreaded
  • Due to the Dead: Ha, no.
  • Evil Genius: Was a superscience savant before becoming a criminal.
  • Foreshadowing: Warned by Manny himself, to not take Emp lightly.
  • The Ghost: Deathmonger was mentioned in the very first story of volume 1 as the villain the Superhomies were arguing over how to defeat. Later in that volume was described as "a popular sell out supervillain" and an "overhyped jackass" by a disgruntled Big Iron. He was the central villain of the chapter 'Diseased Wench' with an army of "scythebots" but since Emp never made it to the battle nothing of him was seen. After volume 1 he dropped out of the series until volume 6- where he finally appeared after having been reimagined as The Dreaded Complete Monster that he was. Even then, his mask still left him as The Faceless.
  • Hero-Killer
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: Several:
    • Emp lassos him with a Super tongue he severed, causing Ubiquitease, a SuperDead he enslaved, to leave without him at just the right moment.
    • He sets Tommy Tokamak's carcass, which is powering his facility, to detonate his Collapsing Lair... And it does, with him inside thanks to Emp... although it appears that teleport sparkles are appearing around him before the explosion.
  • I Love the Dead: Seems to give off this vibe.
  • Magic From Technology
  • Necromancer
  • Night of the Living Mooks: Literally. The SuperDead, as a result of their abilities, are aware and helpless to do his bidding.
  • Retcon: From his early mentions in volume 1, nothing about Deathmonger suggested that he was anything other than a death-themed supervillain commanding an army of "scythebots", although in the first chapter Emp mentioned him drawing power from a "pan-dimensional link" which she suggested the Superhomies try to cut off. When he reappeared in volume 6, he was reimagined as an actual Necromancer who commands armies of the superdead. This could be purposeful on his part as the cover story on the subject benefits his activities, but the apparent difference was never addressed.
  • Skeletons in the Coat Closet: He wears the skull of the superhero Impakt as a mask.

Ninjette's Father

This so-far-unnamed ninja is the leader of Ninjette's ninja clan, the source of her issues and a complete bastard.

  1. a BDSM practice of denying the bottom air