Freedom City Play By Post

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"Like a Saturday Morning Cartoon that airs on HBO."

Currently in its eighth year of operation (est. October 2007), Freedom City Play by Post is the largest and most active Mutants and Masterminds play-by-post setting on the Internet. Set in M&M's default Freedom City setting in the present day, the game has become a massive shared universe involving dozens of active, semi-active and inactive players. It's a rigorous game, one where the GMs and experienced players are unafraid to heckle Trolls and Mary Sues out of existence. Most of the staff are fans of both comics and TV Tropes, which means they expect characters to draw from the common tropes and themes of comic books.

That said, they prefer to avoid certain comic book tropes. No Stripperific costumes, please, and no crazy Iron Age vigilantes. Hero(ish) PCs only, sticking to somewhere between Silver Age, Bronze Age, and Modern Age in feel, though the Refs are open to good arguments about all sorts of characters. Characters should be basically the Good Guys, and concepts should pass tests like, "Would people buy a comic book about this character?" and "Why would anyone talk to this character?" If your character would fit as a recurring character in a DCAU series, they'll probably fit in well here.

Many of the tropes in the game can be found on the pages for the M&M game or the FC setting, but there are quite a few largely unique to FCPBP. Please note that only tropes related to active characters will be listed here.

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Tropes used in Freedom City Play By Post include:

A-C

• The Ace: Ace Danger.
• Ace Pilot: Victory, before his accident. He still has the mindset.
  • Geckoman has developed into one of these.
• Action Girl: The superhero genre is brimming with this trope, and FCPBP is no exception. Fulcrum, Fusion, Jade Dragon, Sage, Wander...
• Action Mom: Fusion.
• All-American Face: Victory.
• Alliterative Name: Erik Espadas (Jack of all Blades). Ellie Espadas (Jill O'Cure).
  • Chris Kenzie (Geckoman) and Liz Lawlett (Spellbound). See Shout-Out below.
• Alternate Company Equivalent, Captain Ersatz, Expy: Most PCs, intentionally or not. (See the "Expys" folder on the Character Sheet.)
• And I Must Scream: This trope basically sums up Dead Head's entire existence. But he's cool with it.
• Animal Motifs: Geckoman wears a green jumpsuit, and has most of the powers of his namesake.
  • Fusion is an Octopus-Woman. Do NOT make hentai jokes around her.
  • Arrowhawk can't fly, but he is death from above.
  • Jade Dragon.
• Animal Superheroes: Ani-Earth's Infurceptors visited Earth-Prime in pursuit of the Factor Fur. They included Avengemouse, Calico Angel, Feline, Foalcrum, Jackalope of all Blades, Jestnut & Lambkos.
• Anything That Moves: Ace Danger. And it's mutual.
• Arch Enemy: Fleur de Joie vs Bee-Keeper II.
  • Jade Dragon IV vs Crimson Katana III
• The Atoner: Doktor Archeville is actively opposed to just about everything his Nazi Mad Scientist grandfather ever did...except when he isn't.
• Awesome Anachronistic Apparel: Changeling's civilian wear is always large layered dresses from the late 18th century.
• Awesome McCoolname: Ace Danger.
• Badass Abnormal: Given the setting, a lot of otherwise skilled characters opt for a little boost.
  • Geckoman. Jack of all Blades. Midnight. Crow. Silhouette.
• Badass Beard: Wail has one.
• Badass Bookworm: Doktor Archeville doesn't look very formidable, but he already used his Super Intelligence to figure out how to take you apart before the fight even began.
  • Voltage has shades of this too. He's super smart and can connect to the internet directly. He uses this ability to research villains and their capabilities in order to gain an edge.
• Badass Family: The Martels, a line of super-rich psychics. The current generation consists of Paladin and Sage.
• Badass Grandpa: Arrowhawk, in his 40s, is a borderline example. He's got a decade or two on the majority of his fellow PCs, physically if not mentally.
  • Wail is in his late 50s, having been an active superhero off and on since the 1970s.
• Badass Longcoat: Equinox. Jack of all Blades. FCPBP attracts a lot of these. And Doktor Archeville.
• Badass Normal: FCPBP had surprisingly few of these, but their ranks are steadily growing.
  • Arrowhawk. Mad Dog. King of Suits, Catalyst.
• Badass Spaniard: Erik Espadas, the Jack of all Blades.
• Bald of Awesome: Wail. Back in the Bronze Age, he was the Bald Black Leader Guy for 1-800-JUSTICE, a Heroes For Hire Expy.
• Bat Family Crossover: The most common type of crossover story arc, given the sheer size of the site and how difficult it is to run a major story arc with dozens and dozens of players contributing.
• Battle Couple: FCPBP has had a lot of these.
  • Avenger + Phantom
  • Dark Star + Fleur de Joie
  • Dragonfly + Jill O'Cure
  • Ironclad + Warlock (a.k.a. "Kid Cthulhu")
  • Midnight + Wander much to Hellion's chagrin
• Beta Couple: Geckoman and Spellbound turned into this for the Claremont Academy.
• The Berserker: Wander has Tranquil Fury.
  • Dead Head is Wander's Berserk Button personified.
• Beware the Superman: Averted. Except for the Iron Age in the '80s and early '90s, Freedom City has always loved its superheroes.
  • The "Terminus Babies" (see Mutants below) are about as close as the setting comes, and they're not even official F.C. canon.
• Bi the Way: FCPBP seems to get very few gay characters, but plenty of bisexuals. This is less surprising when one considers that Freedom City is a setting full of shapeshifters, immortals, and other archetypes more likely to be "open-minded."
  • Nick Cimitiere, Changeling.
• Big Damn Heroes: The PCs, hopefully. The Freedom League are the primary in-universe NPC hero team.
• Bilingual Bonus: Fleur de Joie.
  • Half of Doktor Archeville's character sheet.
• Black and White Morality: Often subverted, much to the annoyance of older heroes with stricter moral codes. Our stories aren't explicit, but they are often mature.
• The Boxing Episode / Let's You and Him Fight: "Fisticuffs," and the sequel, "Fisticuffs 2: This Time, It's Not Fisticuffs 1."
• Broken Bird/Troubled but Cute: Wander.
• Bronze Age/Modern Age: The general tone FCPBP strives for.
• Can't Have Sex Ever: Dead Head. Unlike other undead, such as Avenger, nothing of his body works. Made even more sad by the fact that he was still a virgin when he died.
• The Cape (trope): Fulcrum is trying to live up to the legacy of The Centurion.
  • Dark Star doesn't have a cape (or clothes, or a body), but he sure acts like one (and thank the fates for that).
  • Supercape. It's even in his name.
  • Superman: The local Expy, The Centurion, has been dead since the Terminus Invasion of 1993. He hasn't gotten better, and Word of God says he never will.
• Catch Phrase: "Stabpunch." "KISS HIM/HER, YOU FOOL!"
• Changing Clothes Is a Free Action: Technically true for any of the Voluntary Shapeshifters or speedsters listed below.
• Chest Insignia: Alternately played straight or averted, depending on the character.
  • Arrowhawk's chest is emblazoned with a stylized logo of a white hawk in flight.
  • Geckoman has a bright yellow G across his costume.
  • Warlock has a white Elder Sign on his black bodysuit.
  • Crow has an emblem of a bird in flight on his chest. Three guesses what kind.
  • King of Suits has a white card suit insignia on his armor's chest.
• Chivalrous Pervert/Good Bad Girl: Ace Danger, Jack of all Blades.
• Christianity Is Catholic: Mostly averted, given that Freedom Angel is a Universalist who lives in a Methodist church.
• Civvie Spandex: Alternately played straight or averted, depending on the character.
  • Coat, Hat, Mask: Midnight II inherited his costume from his namesake, notably including a very Nice Hat.
  • Jack of all Blades favours a Coat/Wig/Mask combo.
  • Nick Cimitiere wears black rockabilly-style clothes, a leather jacket, and face makeup.
  • The only thing that keeps Cannonade from looking like a standard issue skinhead is a steel Trojan-style helmet.
  • Catalyst wears a bright yellow fitted Hazmat Suit as a costume. It's Other then a pair of goggles instead, it looks like a standard hazmat suit and has been used to pose as a faceless chemical worker or someone from the city.
• Combat Medic: Jill O'Cure has both healing powers and a devastating "disease touch."
• Combat Pragmatist: Many of the Badass Normal and Badass Abnormal PCs are, out of necessity, ruthless cheating bastards, with brutally efficient "anything goes" fighting styles.
  • Arrowhawk, Crow, Mad Dog, Myrmidon.
• The Commissioner Gordon: While training under The Raven, Geckoman forged a working relationship with Detective Giordano from the FCPD Homicide division. Geckoman saved his life, almost at the cost of his own.
• Confusion Fu: Geckoman's preferred "fighting style."
• Cool Airship: Geckoman flies The Ptychozoon, more commonly known as "The Pitchoo."
• Cool Bike: Arrowhawk rides a 1920s American Indian motorcycle, allowing him to fire while steering with his knees without the engine cutting out.
  • Midnight II has the original Midnight's Night Cycle.
• Cool Van: Catalyst drives a bulletproof one that has a built in workshop, chemical lab, at least five different types of paintball guns and a coffee maker.
• Cool House: The interior of Doktor Archeville's home in Hanover has more in common with the TARDIS or the Enterprise than it does with the typical McMansion. It's Bigger on the Inside, with a fully-stocked Mad Scientist Laboratory and command center. And it even has a robot gorilla butler.
  • The Brownstone: The Interceptors HQ.
  • Caldwell Manor: Young Freedom's HQ.
  • Midnight Manor: Home of Trevor Hunter, A.K.A. "Midnight II."
• The Cowl: Midnight. Crow.
  • Arrowhawk dresses and acts more like Batman than Green Arrow.
• Crapsack World: Averted on Earth-Prime. The main universe of the Freedom City setting is an optimistic place where most people are basically good and most people love superheroes. Other dimensions, like Erde and the Terminus, on the other hand...
• Crazy Prepared: If you can think of it, Midnight probably has it in his Utility Belt, or can build it from the contents thereof.
  • Arrowhawk's arsenal of trick arrows has extended to fire extinguisher arrows.
  • Doktor Archeville's electromagnetic screwdriver was designed to be "the perfect tool," and there isn't much he can't do with it.
  • Crow has a rune for everything. EVERYTHING.
  • Anything Catalyst doesn't have, she can probably make in her van.
• Create Your Own Villain: Geckoman stole his airship, gadgets and powers from Spellbound. Then they met in their civilian identities...
• Crisis Crossover: The demonic invasion, when Hellion's father came with a demonic host to bring him home. It wasn't technically a Red Skies Crossover, but the skies above Freedom City were red...
  • The third Grue Invasion, when they finally activated their experimental bio-weapon, Atlas. (Oh Crap.)
  • The "Halloween Special," where the fight between Hades and Baron Samedi spilled over into massive waves of undead and cultists flocking to Freedom City.
  • "ArchEvil" had Doctor Archeville's Super-Powered Evil Side finally take over and unleash a number of magical and scientific monstrosities in the name of "reshaping" the world.
  • Then there was the time the Gorgon showed up in orbit, threatening to encase the Earth in gray goo due to the taint of the Terminus.
  • Most recently, there was "Hot Zone," where the city came under quarantine after a villain released an airborne mutagen that resulted in most of the city developing superpowers... control not guaranteed.
• Curves in All the Right Places: Fleur de Joie, Spellbound.
• Cute Mute: Sage
• Cyborg: Victory

D-F

• Dark and Troubled Past: Any of the characters listed under "Death By Origin Story" qualify for this trope.
• Darker and Edgier: The Midnighters, Freedom City's team for dealing with magical threats. Though they're much more sociable than most. Given that they're made up of an alien-powered Hulk, a heroic zombie, a vampire, a half-demon, and a witch, maybe it's not so surprising they don't play well with others.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Characters listed above, as well as Midnight II. And Crow.
• Dating Catwoman: Geckoman and Spellbound.
• Deadpan Snarker: Jack of all Blades Shall Taunt You, explaining in detail The Reason You Suck. (Chances are You Fight Like a Cow).
  • Arrowhawk, being the premiere Badass Normal PC, tends to react this way toward the other heroes.
• Death by Origin Story: Wander is the sole survivor of a global Zombie Apocalypse in her home dimension. She's trying not to let it get her down, though.
  • Arrowhawk's vendetta against organized crime started when they murdered his best friend in college.
  • Dead Head lost all his college friends when his head exploded at a New Year's Eve party. He got better. Kinda. Then he tried bringing all his friends back, which (again, kinda) worked. Then they all died in a fire.
  • Nick Cimitiere's origin story began with his own Near-Death Experience involving a guided tour of the various underworlds.
• Deconstruction: AvengerAssembled ran a story called "House of L", a Fifth Week Event wherein his luck controller Mark Lucas (A.K.A. "Edge") was killed, and his father Rick Lucas snapped, manifesting the same reality-bending powers as his son. He used them to transform the World of Freedom into an idealized version of the Silver Age, a world where technology marched on, but culture never advanced past The Fifties. What could have been a simple lighthearted romp through an old man's nostalgia turned out to be Nightmare Fuel as AA began to shine spotlights onto the hypocritical nature of such an idea, and the horrible things which Rick had to keep doing to maintain the illusion that it was a better world. The whole story turned out to be a particularly well-executed Take That against the likes of Geoff Johns, Dan DiDio, Joe Quesada, and all the other contemporary creators who seem hell-bent on purging from the Canon any characters or stories which didn't exist back when they were kids (no matter how many people have to be Stuffed Into the Fridge to make it happen).
• Determinator: Arrowhawk, Jack of all Blades.
• Did You Just Romance Cthulhu?: Ironclad and the be-tentacled Warlock (a.k.a. "Kid Cthulhu").
• Doesn't Like Guns: Most superheroes, but explicitly Arrowhawk and Jack of all Blades.
  • Arrowhawk turned this Up to Eleven, with disastrous consequences.
• Dope Slap: Silhouette has a tendency to do this.
• Dr. Jerk: Jill O'Cure won't let saving someone's life get in the way of telling them they're an idiot, or vice versa.
• Dysfunction Junction: FCPBP has no shortage of emotional problems among the cast. (Or the players, for that matter.)
  • Doktor Archeville does not know what you are talking about. And neither does Doktor Archeville.
• Egomaniac Hunter: Orion, the premiere NPC example of the setting, came closer to killing Jack of all Blades than any villain Jack had faced before (even villains several Power Levels higher). However, the fight did not end well for Orion (see Crowning Moment of Awesome above).
• Elaborate Underground Base: The Interceptors base is actually called "The Underground."
  • Malice had a secret multi-story bunker under his house, until Arrowhawk blew it up.
  • Geckoman's Arborealair is part-underground, part-underwater and part-in a tree, due to its location on the river running through Wharton forest.
• Emo Teen: Wander grabs this trope by the neck and holds its head underwater until the bubbles stop.
• Mr. Fanservice: The majority of the male Claremont students have world-class Charisma scores. They run the gamut, from Tall, Dark and Handsome to chivalrous and chaste, to free-spirited and artistic, to endlessly cheerful.
  • Jack of all Blades is half-Latino, half-French, and all-sexy.
  • Ace Danger is the most interesting hero your hero could smell like.
  • Jack Faretti (A.K.A. Avenger) is a Tall Dark And Handsome, Troubled but Cute, leather-clad vampire, with a Dark and Troubled Past and a disturbing habit of taking ripping his shirt off at dramatic moments.
• Equivalent Exchange: Equinox has to sacrifice her magic for 24 hours to use mind-altering spells.
• Everybody Has Lots of Sex: Superheroes work hard, play hard, live fast, and die young. There's even a chart to prove it ^{[dead link]}. But keep it off-screen and PG-13.
  • Doktor Archeville is usually devoted to his work, except during Oktoberfest. That's when he returns to his homeland and goes on a nationwide bender as his Other Side is given free rein). His new relationship with Fulcrum will probably curtail that.
• Evil Counterpart: The Young Imperials ^{[dead link]} are the Evil Counterparts to Young Freedom.
  • Thanks to his madness, Doktor Archeville is his own Evil Counterpart.
• Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Ghost Girl. The Satyr.
• The Faceless: Midnight II wears the same mask as his predecessor. Think The Question, only pitch black, with glowing red eyes.
  • Silhouette's mask(and the rest of her costume) is full face cloth and completely expressionless.
• The Fettered: Fusion has a husband, a kid, and a career.
• Fiction 500: Doktor Archeville. Paladin & Sage.
• Fire-Forged Friends: The Knights of Freedom. Even after the team formally disbanded, most of the former members will leap to each other's aid without hesitation, in all matters. Even if it just means making sure they get a decent burial.
• Five-Man Band: The Midnighters. Avenger is The Hero, Dead-Head is The Lancer, Phantom is The Smart Girl, Atlas is The Big Guy, and Hellion is The Dude (no, not that one).
• Fun with Acronyms: One of Doktor Archeville's robots, a Helpful Electronic Robot with Thoughts [formed] Out of Light, could be known as HERTOL. However, the robot's German designation is Nützlicher Elektronischer Roboter, mit Gedanken Aus Licht, or NERGAL.
• Fun Personified: Geckoman.
  • Dead Head, for certain values of "fun."

G-I

• Gender Bender: Doc Otaku tested a Gender Reversal Ray on Avenger, Dark Star, Doktor Archeville, Geckoman, and Wesley Knight. Hilarity Ensued.
  • Earth-XX is an entire (player-created) Alternate Universe of gender-swapped characters.
• Glowing Eyelights of Undeath: Dead Head.
• Gratuitous German: Herr Doktor Viktor Archeville. Or is he?
• Grease Monkey: Midnight has a natural aptitude for working with engines of all types.
• Gray Eyes: Equinox.
• Hair of Gold: Gossamer's is not just symbolic, but functional, too.
  • Victory, when not wearing his helmet. It does have a hint of red, though.
• Haunted Castle: Schloss Wissenschaft, Doktor Archeville's base in Germany, is a rare heroic subversion. But it still has plenty of Dramatic Thunder.
• Heroes Prefer Swords: Freedom Angel, Jack of all Blades, The Cheshire Blade.
  • Gaian Knight technically carries a magic sword, for which he is The Chosen One. But in a rare inversion of Possession Implies Mastery, he's not any good at wielding it, so he relies primarily upon his powers.
• Herr Doctor: Herr Doktor Viktor Archeville, Genius of Science SCIENCE!
• Hidden Badass:
  • Crazy Awesome: Geckoman.
  • Cultured Badass: Doktor Archeville.
  • Southern-Fried Genius: Dead Head.
• Hollywood Voodoo: Somewhat averted. Nick Cimitiere doesn't practice voodoo, but he least knows enough about the religion that he feels comfortable taking the name of one of the Guede.
• Hot Amazon: Fulcrum.
• Hot Scoop: Joan Collier (Fusion).
• Hot Witch: Equinox.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Inverted with Doktor Archeville + Fulcrum. He's a 5'10" Gadgeteer Genius. She's an 8'2" Flying Brick. They Fight Crime.
• Human Mom, Nonhuman Dad: Inverted with Crow (see "Half-Human Hybrid" below).
• Hypocritical Heartwarming: Jack of all Blades and Jill O'Cure exchange insults almost constantly, but woe to anyone else who disparages one of the siblings in the other's presence.
• I Just Want to Be Beautiful: Part of the reason Miss Americana was built.
• I'm a Humanitarian: Dead Head is something of a subversion. He consumes flesh to accelerate his Healing Factor, but he refuses to eat human flesh.
• Incredibly Lame Pun: "Jack of all Blades?" Really?!
  • "Dead Head," given his origin.
• Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Bee-Keeper II, before he Took a Level in Badass.
• Inner Monologue: Doktor Archeville has one in every post (on account of his disassociative identity disorder.
  • Geckoman frequently narrates internally, holding conversations and even arguments with his monologue.
• Insistent Terminology: Silhouette is a sneaky, black clad ambush oriented character, but she is not a ninja and she will explain in detail why she isn't one if called so out loud.

J-L

• Knight in Sour Armor: Arrowhawk.
• Kid Hero: The students of the Claremont Academy, especially the members of Next-Gen & Young Freedom. And the Irregulars.
• Large Ham: Doktor Archeville is a Large Black Forest Ham.
• Latin Lover: Jack of all Blades is only half Latino, but the other half is French.
• Le Parkour: A Running Gag had Jack of all Blades resorting to this and wishing he had a grapple.
  • Jade Dragon uses the style to confuse opponents.
• Legacy Character: Bee-Keeper II, Cannonade, Fulcrum, Gaian Knight, Ironclad II, Jade Dragon IV, Marionette II, Midnight II.
  • Redeeming Replacement: Doktor Archeville.
• Living Shadow: Silhouette's costume is completely black without logos so she can pass as this.
• Long-Range Fighter: Catalyst is exclusively this, if you can and disarm her she is SOL.

M-P

• MacGyvering: This is Doktor Archeville's superpower.
• Mad Scientist: Doktor Archeville wavers between this and The Professor.
• Mad Scientist Laboratory: Doktor Archeville has a handful of these. He eventually turned them into a Mega Corp, "ArcheTech."
• Magic Versus Science: Played straight with Doktor Archeville, who believes that all "magic" has a rational explanation (mutant powers, alien tech, or some other as-yet-unexplained "natural" phenomena, combined with "you people are gullible superstitious idiots"). Ironic, considering that Archeville's Super Intelligence is the result of being the descendant of an Eldritch Abomination. Please pass the Brain Bleach.
• Manly Gay: Wail.
• Martial Pacifist: Freedom Angel will always try to talk foes out of combat before he begins to show how Good Hurts Evil in a very real and literal sense, with his sword of holy fire. Infernal and undead foes, of course, get a different reception.
• Master of Disguise: Any of the Voluntary Shapeshifters listed below.
• Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus: Fusion has engaged in epic no-holds-barred combat with Megalodon.
• Mighty Glacier: Wail.
• Most Common Superpower: Surprisingly rare. It's usually the men who are the pretty boys, especially at the Claremont Academy.
• Musical Episode: FCPBP had one! ^{[dead link]}
• Must Have Caffeine: As his name suggests, Midnight keeps World unusual hours, and drinks a lot of coffee to make up for the lack of sleep.
  • Geckoman's regenerative powers make him resistant to drugs like caffeine. Thus he drinks the strongest coffee they sell in bucket-sized containers.
  • Nick Cimitiere usually works very late hours trying to help ghosts resolve their business. There's a reason he works at a coffee shop.
• Mutants: The "Terminus Babies" concept created by Kit on the Atomic Think Tank has been adopted into FCPBP canon.
• Necromancer: Nick Cimitiere, and to a lesser extent, Dead Head.
• Nerves of Steel: Many PCs have immunity to fear. Much to the chagrin of other characters with loads of scariness.
• The Nicknamer: Jack of all Blades. This has not endeared him to his peers.
• Nobody Over 50 Is Gay: Averted with Wail.
• Non-Idle Rich: Eve Kurosawa would have kept the Rich Idiot With No Day Job persona if she hadn't been forceably unmasked on live television. She's embraced her public identity since then.
• Non-Human Sidekick: Oliver The Super-Kitty. Subverted in that, while he is incredibly intelligent, he can't talk.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Jack of all Blades gives the impression of a Handsome Lech at best, and The Fool at worst. This conceals a serious and committed personality.
  • Geckoman is nowhere near as absent-minded as he acts.
  • Dead Head plays up the stereotypes associated with both zombies and Southern accents to hide the fact that he's just as limber and intelligent as any living human, if not more so.
• Occult Detective: The Midnighters are a full-blown Vampire Detective Series, thanks to Avenger.
• Omnidisciplinary Scientist: Doktor Archeville.
  • Averted with Arrowhawk and Gossamer, who are both scientists in their secret identities, yet, unusually for superheroes, have a realistic level of specialty in their chosen disciplines.
  • Same with Catalyst whose entire arsenal is built around chemical expertise.
• Only Sane Man: Malice, who wanted nothing more than to keep the people of Freedom City safe from their enemies.
• One Steve Limit: Averted. Avenger's real name is Jack, which is also what most people shorten Jack of all Blades to. Luckily, they're pretty difficult to confuse in-person.
  • The arrival of Jack's time-displaced son, Jack Jr. (A.K.A. Ouroboros), has pretty well killed off this trope at FCPBP once and for all.
• Outdated Outfit: Both Changeling's civilian and heroic wear, the former is clothing that was in style around the late eighteen hundreds, the later during the Reniassance.
• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Appropriately, Midnight II has Shiny Midnight Black hair.
  • Changeling has dark curly hair, and is very pale(mostly because she wears very covering clothing to protect against her weakness to iron based metals.
• Person of Mass Destruction: It's generally agreed that Dark Star is the hero whom the player community least wanted to see ever go evil.
  • Doktor Archeville has an orbital HQ. Any guess as to how long it'd take him to repurpose the communication and sensor suites into an energy beam? (Hint: Not long.)
  • Atlas had the ability to break things with his bare hands at a level comparable to The Centurion and Omega, and he's tough enough to survive a nuke to the face.
  • Arrowhawk is aware of this trope and has plans in place to deal with the event of any of these characters pulling a Face Heel Turn.
• Pocket Dimension: Doktor Archeville's house in Hanover is Bigger on the Inside. As are the pockets of his labcoat.
  • Fleur de Joie traps subdued villains in a giant flower.
• Power Glows: Equinox.
• The Professor: Doktor Archeville teeters on the brink between this and a Mad Scientist.
• Puberty Superpower: Sage's Psychic Powers first manifested when she was 14, during a gymnastics competition.

Q-S

• Quick Nip: Stesha Madison's date with Jack Faretti (A.K.A. Avenger). He got in trouble for it later, but not as much as he might have deserved.
• Rage Against the Heavens: Despite his unassuming nature, Freedom Angel gets this a lot. He tries to be understanding, given his own circumstances.
• Rapunzel Hair: Fleur de Joie.
  • Gossamer has this as her superpower.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Midnight's mask is designed to intentionally invoke this trope.
  • Arrowhawk, taking inspiration from the original Midnight, has a similar effect on his domino mask.
• Science Hero: Doktor Archeville, Dragonfly, Ironclad, Catalyst.
• Secret Public Identity: Doktor Viktor Archeville.
• Shout-Out: Chris Kenzie (Geckoman) and Liz Lawlett (Spellbound) are deliberate references to another character whose mythos loves Alliterative Names. (Pay attention to the initials...) His origin story also involves a rocket crashing into a field, and he wears a large yellow letter on his costume.
  • Doktor Archeville was indeed named after Doctor Arkeville, a villain from Transformers.
  • Wail was named after Keith David and Phil LaMarr, the voices of Goliath and Green Lantern John Stewart respectively.
• Sibling Team: Jack of all Blades + Jill O'Cure.
• Silver Fox: Wail is a textbook example of a "Polar Bear." The gray streaks in his Badass Beard only add to his appeal.
• Something Person: Despite this being a superhero game, this trope is almost always averted.
  • Geckoman!
• Space Station: Archestern, Doktor Archeville's orbiting satellite HQ.
  • Nichtuberall, Archeville's secret retreat in the Mars/Jupiter asteroid belt.
• The Speechless: When Sage's Psychic Powers first manifested, during a gymnastics competition, the trauma of linking with every mind in the room rendered her permanently mute. However, her Telepathy subverts this trope rather than playing it straight.
• Spell My Name with a "The": The Blank.
• Spicy Latina: Averted by Jill O'Cure, who is more sardonic than "spicy."
• Split Personality: Doktor Archeville. He even has a shoulder devil.
• Statuesque Stunner: Female PCs at FCPBP tend toward the petite more often than not. At 8 feet tall, Fulcrum is a notable exception.
• Steven Ulysses Perhero: Nick Cimitiere's civilian ID is Eric LaCroix... and Baron Cimitiere and Baron LaCroix are both ghede, or death gods, in voudon.
• The Stoic: Midnight is The Quiet One.
• Stout Strength: Wail would be a big guy even if his body wasn't five times more dense than a normal human. He weighs over a thousand pounds.
• Superheroes Wear Capes: Alternate played straight or averted, depending on the character.
  • Fulcrum wears the cape of The Centurion himself.
  • Other cape-wearers include Arrowhawk and Supercape.
• Superpowerful Genetics: Several PCs inherited their powers.
  • Paladin and Sage are both psionic scions of the same Badass Family.
  • Jack of all Blades and his sister Jill O'Cure are descended from a long line of mystically-enhanced mutants.
  • Midnight II's powers are the result of his grandfather's prolonged exposure to his "midnight mist."
  • Cannonade inherited his powers from his grandfather, like his father before him. Unlike his dad, however, he was the first person in the family to experience the kind of situation where he'd need powers.
  • Doktor Archeville's father, his father's father, and so on, back over a dozen generations, have all shown some degree of superhuman ability and madness, thanks to their "heritage".
  • Crow's mother, the Morrigan (also known as the Irish goddess of death) was hoping for this when she slept with his father, the famous hero Red Hand. It didn't work.
• Super Serum: How Wander got her powers.
  • Cannonade inherited his powers, thanks to his grandfather's consumption of Super Serum.
  • Geckoman got his powers from an accidental injection of Super Serum.
• Super Team: The setting has several already, and the players have formed more.
  • The Freedom League (Justice League, Avengers). A primarily NPC team, but a few PCs are members.
  • The Liberty League (JSA, The Invaders)). Made up of either the heirs to Golden Age legacies or characters who were actually there for the Golden Age.
  • The Knights of Freedom (Outsiders). IC, The Knights were intended to be this sort of group - a "gray ops" team, less concerned with public relations than the Freedom League and dealing with cases beneath their notice. OOC, they were an excuse for a group of players who liked each other in Real Life to play together. Unfortunately, while the team was a very effective investigative and fighting force, it was also a volatile mix of Capes and Cowls that eventually collapsed under the weight of their own differences. However, the former members still come to each other's aid regularly.
  • The Interceptors (New Warriors, Outsiders).
  • The Midnighters (Nightstalkers, Midnight Sons).
  • Young Freedom (Comicbook/Teen Titans, X Men). Most of the teenage superheroes belong to this team, rather than the canon Claremont Academy superteam, the Next-Gen. In fact, YF usually has the largest roster of any active super team at FCPBP.
• The Swashbuckler: Jack of all Blades.

T-Z

• Teen Genius: Dragonfly.
• Telescoping Robot: Victory makes all manner of boosters and thrusters shoot out of his body when he goes "on-duty." He'll do it right through his clothes, too.
• Thememobile: The original Midnight got around in the Night Cruiser. His grandson, Midnight II, favors the Night Cycle. Both are housed in Midnight Manor.
• This Is Your Brain on Evil: Jack of all Blades died. He got better! Lately, though, he's Not Himself... Oh no! He Came Back Wrong! Corrupted by Hellfire!
• Thou Shalt Not Kill: See What Measure Is a Non-Human? below.
• Time Abyss: Willow and her dryad sisters were engineered by The Preservers before behavioral modernity in homo sapiens, at least 50,000 years ago.
• Tomato in the Mirror: Atlas, when he learns that he's a Grue bio-weapon experiment.
• Trash Talk: Geckoman and Jack of all Blades. So damn much.
• True Companions: Most of the Super Teams formed by the players (see below).
  • The Knights of Freedom. Even though the team is now defunct, the former members still come to each others aid on a regular basis.
  • Young Freedom. To the point where The Power of Friendship was able to stop Hellion (under his father's influence) from destroying the city.
• Tyke Bomb: Edge. The cheerful, happy-go-lucky emotional anchor of Young Freedom is also a monstrously powerful Reality Warper capable of blowing up everything within a square mile of him if suitably pressed.
• Underwater Base: Fjölnirskraft, Doktor Archeville's massive submarine.
• Utility Belt: Most Badass Normal and Badass Abnormal characters at FCPBP carry one.
  • Geckoman is fond of his Geckorangs, smoke pellets, and grapple-gun.
  • Doktor Archeville has a Utility Labcoat.
  • Midnight has a variety of modular gadgets stored in both his belt and jacket, which he can combine to make just about anything.
• Violent Glaswegian: Arrowhawk (although he's technically from Aberdeen).
• We Can Rebuild Him: Victory was rebuilt by AEGIS (Freedom City's equivalent of S.H.I.E.L.D) after a flight accident.
• Weak but Skilled: Doktor Archeville. Geckoman. Ace Danger. Crow, if he's caught without his runed longcoat. Catalyst.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Crow, though he'd never admit it. In both Well Done Son Guy and Well Done Mom Guy varieties.
• What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: Mostly subverted, given the game's inherent balance.
  • Heart Is an Awesome Power: Edge, The Pollyanna of Young Freedom, is a slightly deranged Legacy Character who is physically incapable of feeling despair, much to the chagrin of his Darker and Edgier teammates. He's also a Born Lucky probability controller who can make his teammates much, much luckier, or give bad guys a case of Your Head Asplode.
• What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Robots, undead, demons, cosmic horrors, and the like are explicit exceptions to the game's policy on killing.
  • Dead Head's on both sides of this. When he and Wander finally met, some heroes showed concern for him over the beating he was taking, but others did nothing, knowing that even if she did manage to 'kill' him, he'd eventually reanimate.
• What the Hell, Hero?: The Moderators would prefer that any player think twice before writing their character as taking an action which would invoke this trope. Please do not list specific examples here.
• Where the Hell Is Springfield?: Partially subverted. Word of God on the site (and from developer Steve Kenson) is that Freedom City is somewhere around Atlantic City, New Jersey.
• When All You Have Is a Hammer: Three guesses what Jack of all Blades's favorite method of problem solving is. (Hint: it's STABPUNCH!)
• White-Haired Pretty Girl: Sage.
• World's Strongest Man: Atlas.
• Wrench Wench: Liz Lawlett (Spellbound), Geckoman's girlfriend.
• You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Justified with Fleur de Joie. She's a Plant Person, and her green hair is the result of photosynthesis.
• Zombie Apocalypse: It happened on Wander's home world, one that was very much like Earth-Prime, until the dying started.
  • Dead Head is (rightly) concerned that Evil Sorcerers will try and use him to start one.

Our Monsters Are Different

• Eldritch Abomination: Warlock, Omega, The Unspeakable One.
  • Doktor Archeville is descended from one (Ew).
• Green Thumb: Fleur de Joie.
• Half-Human Hybrid: Doktor Archeville (Ew).
  • Crow's mother is The Morrigan. He has some family issues.
• Our Angels Are Different: Heyzel, A.K.A. Freedom Angel, is a Lawful Good angel from a Fluffy Cloud Heaven where God has been absent since The Low Middle Ages. Naturally, Heyzel is a bit concerned about this, particularly if word gets out.
• Our Demons Are Different: Belphegor.
• Our Elves Are Better: Willow, a dryad.
• Our Gargoyles Rock: Custos, Etain's friend and occasional ride (cause she can't fly), is a sixteen foot tall gargoyle. He is made completely out of stone, very intimidating, but also like the original intent of gargoyles a guardian against evil supernatural beings. In truth he a conciousness of the original gargoyles who can travel and inhabit the bodies of any of the local ones, he was inactive for centuries because no one ever thought or remembered to ask gargoyles to help with their original purpose.
• Space Alien: Atlas is the result of Grue experiments with biological weapons.
• The Undead:
  • Our Zombies Are Different: Dead Head did not lose any of his intelligence, nor does he crave brains. He can animate corpses as mindless, non-hungry zombies...usually.

Stock Super Powers

• Awesomeness By Analysis: Doktor Archeville's fighting style.
• Batman Can Breathe in Space: Most of the Flying Bricks and Undead heroes.
• Cannibalism Superpower: Dead Head can accelerate his regeneration by consuming animal flesh. But he refuses to eat human flesh.
• Clothes Make the Superman:
  • Powered Armor: Ironclad, Malice, Paladin.
• Combat Tentacles: Fusion.
• Elemental Powers
  • Gravity Master: Dark Star.
  • Green Thumb: Fleur de Joie, Willow.
    • Petal Power: Subverted. Though Fleur doesn't actually shoot beams of flower petals at her enemies, she does entrap them in a giant flower for easier transport.
  • He Will Rock You: Gaian Knight.
  • Hellfire: Belphegor.
    • Briefly Jack of all Blades, but he came back.
  • Light'Em Up: Freedom Angel.
  • Make Me Wanna Shout: Wail.
  • Shock and Awe: Zap.
• Energy Absorption: Jack of all Blades can absorb energy and channel it into Laser Blades and Flaming Swords, which he is VERY good at using.
• Flight: All of the Flying Bricks, obviously.
  • Doktor Archeville's Gravimetric Belt allows him to fly.
• Flying Brick: Fulcrum. Victory emphasizes the "Flying" half of this trope.
• The Force Is Strong with This One / My Significance Sense Is Tingling: Jack of all Blades. His Energy Absorption power includes detection.
• Functional Magic: Equinox, Nick Cimitiere, Phantom, Crow.
  • Dead Head and Belphegor have both picked up a few rituals over the years, but they are mostly minor effects that take some time to perform.
• Gadgeteer Genius: Doktor Archeville, Dragonfly, Ironclad.
• Healing Hands: Jill O'Cure. She also has the reverse power.
• Immortality: Several PCs and NPCs have some variation on this power.
  • Type 0 (Plot Armor): Every single Player Character.
  • Type 2 (Unaging): Ace Danger, Belphegor, Doktor Archeville.
  • Type 3 (Healing Factor): Atlas, Fleur de Joie, Fulcrum, Geckoman.
  • Type 4 (Staying Alive): Fleur de Joie (after drinking ambrosia, OverShadow.
  • Type 5 (The Undead): Dead Head, Jack Faretti (A.K.A. Avenger), Lugat Vorkolaka.
  • Type 8 (Legacy Immortality): Midnight.
  • Type 10 (Vampiric): Jack Faretti (A.K.A. Avenger), Lugat Vorkolaka.
  • Type 11 (Fighting a Shadow): Blozan, Jack-A-Knives.
• Implausible Fencing Powers: Jack of all Blades, naturally.
• Improbable Aiming Skills: Arrowhawk.
• In a Single Bound: Neither Cannonade nor Wander can fly, but they can both totally jump hella high.
• Intangible Man: Doktor Archeville's Gravimetric Belt has an intangibility setting.
  • Energy Being: Dark Star and Phantom.
• Doktor Archeville's "Gravimetric Belt" projects a force field, which can render him invisible and inaudible, as well as mask his scent and brainwaves.
• Lovecraftian Superpower: Warlock (formerly known as "Kid Cthulhu").
• Made of Iron: The system does this to most Badass Normals.
  • Arrowhawk is a good example, standing up to Malice's firepower, continuing to fight Lugat Vorkolaka after getting impaled with his sword, and surviving the blast from an exploding ammunition dump at point blank range by hunkering down in an elevator.
• Master of Illusion: Changeling's main ability.
• More Than Mind Control: When he puts his mind to it, Doktor Archeville can talk someone into doing pretty much whatever he wants them to.
• Nigh Invulnerability: Cannonade, Wail, Wander. Any of the Flying Bricks, obviously.
  • Dead Head, due to a combination of his undead nature and his "healing factor."
• Omniglot: Between Immortality, Super Intelligence, and Psychic Powers, FCPBP is filled to the brim with these.
• Paper People: This is Silhouette's only power, used in such a way that most people think she's a Living Shadow with Absurbly Sharp Fingers.
• Prehensile Hair: Gossamer's Hair of Gold is not just symbolic, but functional, too.
• Psychic Powers:
  • Agony Beam: Psyche and Sage can both attack a foe's mind directly, inflicting pain and even psychosomatic injury.
  • Mind Over Matter: Psyche and Sage both have telekinesis as well as Telepathy. Sage can focus pure telekinetic energy into Laser Blades.
  • Psychic Block Defense: One of Midnight's powers. Psychics have a hard time even perceiving him, let alone affecting him.
  • Surveillance as the Plot Demands: Sage is a "psychic bloodhound," capable of finding the location of anyone on Earth.
  • Telepathy: Paladin. Psyche. Sage.
• Shapeshifting
  • Body Horror: Dead Head. But it's not a big deal.
  • Size Shifting: Doktor Archeville recently added a shrinking function to his Gravimetric Belt, allowing him to shrink down to atomic size.
    • Cubic.
• Sherlock Scan: Doktor Archeville performs these routinely, thanks to his Super Intelligence.
• Smoke Out: Midnight II.
• Super Intelligence: Doktor Archeville. Dragonfly.
• Super Senses: Jack of all Blades (energy detection), Midnight, Wander (hearing).
  • Everything Sensor: Doktor Archeville's electromagnetic screwdriver and Victory's body are both equipped with these.
  • I See Dead People: Dead Head and Nick Cimitiere, on account of being Necromancers.
  • The Nose Knows: Geckoman.
  • Spider Sense: Most psionic heroes, such as Sage, are (almost) impossible to surprise attack.
• Super Strength: Cannonade and Wander, as well as any of the Flying Bricks, obviously.
• Teleporters and Transporters: Most super-geniuses (and thus, their teammates) in the setting have access to this technology. Doktor Archeville, Young Freedom, and the Freedom League all have teleporters in their bases.
• Wall Crawl: Fusion. Geckoman.
• White Magic: Equinox.

Weapon of Choice

• Abnormal Ammo: Catalyst's real weapon is in fact her cartridges filled with self designed chemical filled paintballs, the paintball guns she uses are really just accessory vessels which are otherwise normal paintball guns.
• The Archer/Trick Arrow: Arrowhawk.
• Cool Sword: Jack of all Blades can create a variety of Flaming Swords and Laser Blades by manipulating Pure Energy.
  • Freedom Angel's holy spatha.
• Magic Wand: Equinox uses one.
  • Jade Dragon need a focus for her magic, this is why it's more a wand than a bow.
• More Dakka: Malice's "Mantle of Freedom" was the epitome this trope.
• Simple Staff: Wander's collapsible baton was custom-made, both to stand up to her Super Strength, and to redirect her original fighting style toward less brutal methods.
  • Midnight fights with a pair of Escrima sticks.
  • Dead Head fights with a shovel.
• Swordbrella: Changeling's weapon of choice when her glamour fails.

Out-Of-Character Tropes

• All There in the Manual: Green Ronin has published over a dozen supplements with information about the Freedom City setting, and most of the active players have read ALL OF THEM.
• Anthology Comic: What the site would be, if it were an actual comic imprint. The Moderators encourage players to run their characters as if they were the protagonists of a monthly superhero comic book. One of the first questions in the auditing process for a new PC is "Why would someone buy a comic about them?"
• Ax Crazy: Generally averted. PC Villains were banned in part because the Moderators grew weary of explaining to some players the difference between a Super Villain and the protagonist of Grand Theft Auto.
• Canon Immigrant: Several characters played at FCPBP were created for and/or played in other games over the years, especially the site administrator's signature character, Doktor Archeville.
• Cardboard Prison: PC Villains were banned in part due to the desire of the Moderators to avert this trope.
• Cast Full of Writers
• Catholic School Girls Rule: Averted. Several blocked attempts have been made to play hyper-sexualized adolescent female characters. The Moderators have been neither amused nor impressed. DON'T DO IT.
• Comic Book Fantasy Casting: FCPBP players periodically ^{[dead link]} discuss ^{[dead link]} which real-life actors they would cast as their character, and some even use their headshot for their "out-of-costume" character pictures.
• Comic Book Limbo: The Archives sub-forum. Or more harshly, the X-Vault.
• Comic Book Tropes: In a game inspired by comic books, these are not only common, but encouraged.
• The Danza: Several players at FCPBP run characters whose codename and/or secret identity match their usernames - Dr_Archeville plays Doktor Archeville, Supercape plays Supercape, etc.
• Demoted to Extra: This is bound to happen to most characters. Players come and go. Interest fades and revives. Real Life gets in the way sometimes.
• Elites Are More Glamorous: Players who stick with a character over the long haul gain not only in-game bonuses, like power-ups or extra character slots, but also nifty titles like "Gold Status."
• Fifth Week Event: Several times a year, the Moderators announce "Vignettes" - short stories about a certain topic or in a certain style. Players can write the Vignettes about their characters for extra power points.
• GMPC: Technically, Any PC has the potential to become this for any given story thread. Players are allowed to GM their own threads, so the lines between "Player" and "GM" blur at FCPBP. The overall atmosphere of the game is less "competitive" and more "cooperative." However, the Moderators have the final authority over any use of, or change to, any characters or locations from the canon setting.
• House Rules: FCPBP has them. They are constantly evolving. The Moderators are generally reasonable people, receptive to player input and willing to change.
• Hurricane of Puns: The chatroom degenerates into this with embarassing regularity.
• Loads and Loads of Characters: There are usually several dozen active PCs at any given point in time.
• Long Runners: FCPBP has been online since October 2007.
• Not Wearing Tights: The Moderators specifically want to avoid this trope. This is a game about superheroes, not people-with-powers. If you don't want to play a superhero, don't join this game.
• The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: It has also been stated by the Moderators many times that this is the sort of character they don't want to see. This is a game about superheroes, not "people-with-powers." Think Justice League Unlimited, not Series/Heroes.
• Play Every Day: This certainly isn't required, but it does help. Hitting 100 IC posts, which will gain a character the maximum power points for the month, and get the player into the 100 Club, would require an average of 3-4 posts per day. Such a posting rate would also allow the player to start earning Veteran Rewards in 6 months. But, again, players are by no means required to keep up such an insane posting rate to play at FCPBP, and most of them don't.
• Random Number God: FCPBP uses Invisible Castle to resolve and keep track of die rolls.
• Retcon: Usually averted. Once a character is submitted and approved, they are a part of the FCPBP canon from that day forward.
  • There has been one situation where a very active and well-liked player wanted to play a Legacy Character whose Super-Hero Origin story would have been incompatible with a previous player of said legacy. Since that previous player wasn't active anymore, and had hardly played the character at all, the Moderators decided to Retcon the previous character out of existence.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: Electra & AvengerAssembled's baby. They have hundreds of pictures, which they'll happily share with their fellow players.
  • Alderwitch and Angrydurf's toddler also fits this trope.
• Rule of Cool: FCPBP lives by this rule...
  • Screw the Rules I Have Plot: ...and this one.
• Shared Universe: The premise of the entire game. All story threads take place within the same 'Verse, unless otherwise indicated.
• Talking Is a Free Action: Especially in a play-by-post game. There are no other players sitting around the table to interrupt each other, so everyone gets a chance to ham it up. However, since power points are awarded based on number of in-character posts, not the length of individual posts, most players avoid full-blown walls of text.
• There Are No Girls on the Internet: Men vastly outnumber women on this site, so much so that new players are generally assumed to be male unless stated otherwise.
  • Cross Player: Despite the large gender gap among players, the gender ratio among characters is more or less even.
  • GIRL: This being The Internet, there have been a few players who were (and possibly a few that still are) doing this.
• All The Tropes as a Gateway Drug: It's gotten to the point where perhaps half the player base (and one of the Refs!) has found the site through TV Tropes.
• Why We Can't Have Nice Things: Despite superlative roleplaying by the players of characters like Malice and Belphegor, FCPBP ended the days of PC Villains after one too many threads descended into an orgy of weeks-long PvP and weapon measuring contests.
  • There was also concern that character creation and advancement as a whole was turning into a metagming arms race.
• Wide Open Sandbox: Freedom is a big city, and an even bigger 'verse.
• The Wiki Rule: FCPBP has a Wiki, and players can earn bonus Power Points by contributing to it.