Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict/Comicbook Heroes

Walk into any store in Eorzea, gas station in Aquila, or drug store in a Sprawl, and you will find three or four pre-adolescent boys, and occasionally girls, scrutinizing the comic book display. In years past, these racks of cheap ink and cheaper paper were filled with tales of masked brawlers, the heroes of pulp fiction made famous by the radio dramas, or featured war-time tales of Guardian Heroes.

These days, they have Superheroes.

Now, men with extraordinary powers have been the subject of cheaply-produced fiction for years, but the economic turmoil of the 30s and 40s in the Federation, combined with growing political strife in Eorzea with the advent of leaders like Oswald Mosley, the idea of a “Super-Man” had fallen out of style.

All that changed during the GVAW. The sight of a burning exhaust trail streaking over the Aquilan sky, followed by a column of Voshkod tanks exploding and a man in a dashing uniform fighting Voshkod infantry with fists powered by rockets engraved itself in the memory of many an Aquilan soldier.

And so in the latter part of 1958 V.C., an Aquilan Soldier named Jerry Spiegel wrote a story about Captain Rocket that was published in SC's Adventure Comics #1.

World Wonders
In the late 50s and early 60s, a company named Atlas Comics tried to revive their long-dead superhero franchises, only to find those ancient tyrants from under the sea and flaming “artificial men” no longer captured the interests of the youth of the free world. The company drifted in and out of debt until an unlikely alliance was struck: The newly renamed “Wonder” Comics would receive funding to publish a superhero series, and in return, that superhero would be modeled after none other than the new prism weapon. Prismatica was born.

Beaten By Rainbows
"The ability to do great things gives you the obligation to do the right thing."

-Janice Jubilance

The character of young Robin Jubilance, a high school student, was an anomaly from the start. Not only was she a female (the male Captain Rocket being the paradigm of heroes at the time), but she was a teenager, a person with problems and authority issues. Needless to say, the growing unrest among post-GVAW youth caused them to immediately identify.

In the comic book, Robin was observing an AseliaTech demonstration when she was accidentally trapped and struck by a “Prism Projector” machine. The next day, she found herself able to create and control light, which projects into the colors of a rainbow, transforms into and move at the speed of light, and sense other people’s “colors”, and a side effect of permanently dying her brown hair into the seven colors of the rainbow.

Robin initially used her powers for fun, playing pranks, getting revenge on the bullies who had tormented her before, and using her super speed to get rich. All that changed when Robin used her powers to steal a briefcase and laughed in joy when it was filled with money, not knowing that she had actually stolen from an infamous mobster and that the suitcase had a tracker on it. And later that fateful night the mobster came to her home.

Fortunately, she was hanging out with her friends at the time, but in turn, the only occupant at her house was gunned down and the house was razed to send a warning to her: Robins' grandaunt Janice.

When the news came soon after, Robin was distraught, realizing that her childish actions had destroyed her home and killed her grandaunt, who raised her when her parents disappeared when she was a baby. From that day on, she swore to use his powers to help others, becoming the Amazing Prismatica.

Despite the laughable science, the series was a hit, and sales continued to climb through the late 60s V.C., even as public interest turned to the exploits of later conflicts.

Mr. Freeze
"I'll extinguish you with my burning soul!"

-Captain Winter's catchphrase

While Captain Rocket had dominated the Market of the Alliance the unveiling of the Andoran cryotechnology caught the interest of Wonder writer Kirby Jacobs: about a superhero who could control cold itself.

Kirby and fellow writer Leonard "Lee" Wong created a character modeled after the heroes of epics and taking a mythological origin for the first time since Captain Rockets' debut.

By day William "Billy" Kennedy was an exemplary firefighter, charging into the inferno to ensure everyone is saved, but when evil comes he would raise his cane, revealing its true form of a spear, and transform into Captain Winter.

The origin of Captain Winter lies from the very beginning. When a freak housefire had engulfed the young Billy's home, trapping him as the firefighters were too far, when a brave man, which Billy only remembers the blue mohawk he had, rushed in and saved him. And while both of them had escaped the man had lost his left arm in the fire, and soon after disappeared, a mystery Billy is still pursuing today.

Inspired by the man's bravery and sacrifice Billy would model his hair after his hero, and is quick to anger if someone insults it, and trained to become a firefighter, officially joining the Andoran fire brigade at the age of eighteen. But his heroic origin only starts four months later.

A museum was suddenly lit on fire and Billy's team was the first to respond, saving people inside and dousing the flame. When Billy heard that one of the head archeologists was still trapped deep within the building he rushed in, despite his team's protest. And met face-to-face with the firestarter.

It was an elemental of flames seeking out a relic spearhead the archaeologists recently uncovered, and had intended to use to dominate Gaiaterra. Seeing the danger Billy charged to stop him, armed with nothing but a broomstick, and managed to hold off the being.

But the being was too strong and used all of its powers to severely burn Billy, including burning off his left arm, but had lost the spearhead in the process, and in vengeance would burn down the museum and the people around.

Billy, near death yet still determined to stop it, then heard the spear talking to him, telling him to reach out. And, crawling despite the pain, grasp the spearhead in his remaining arm and transformed, ice began growing out of the stump to form a new arm made of ice, yet had the same dexterity and sensation as a flesh and blood arm (and can look like a normal arm when in his civilian mode saved for the blue tattoos), his body was encased in an armor of ice, and his black hair turned blue.

He saw a vision; a great figure who told him that his courage and kindness made him worthy of wielding the frost spear. The spearhead he had grabbed was the Spear of Winter, and as long as he wields it, he would be transformed into Captain Winter. And with his new power Captain Winter blast out and defeated the elemental.

Captain Winter has the ability to shoot ice from his left arm, as well as call it down from the sky. He has a near immunity to cold, heals others with the power of cold, has mastery over his spear, and can create ice only limited by his imagination.

There is also a popular fan theory that the man who saved Billy was in fact his older self, having been thrown back in time by Lady Paradox. Wonder Publishing has neither confirmed nor denied such claims.

Witch Of The Skies
When the Triumvirate had declared that females would be allowed to join the Protectorate military, the Protectorate citizens, whose nations was rather hidebound in culture, rioted. And in order to save face Emperor Tatsu, in what could be called a controversial move, hired a writer of Wonder Comics to work with a mangaka to help make a story that would promote the newly made Rocket Angels.

Thus Lee worked with manga artist Naoko Omino to create Flying Girl Azami.

The series takes place in the year V.C., during a war between the Protectorate and the Principality of Vota, an empire of space-faring aliens. Which started when the Vota launched a surprise attack using their devastatingly effective new humanoid supersoldiers known as Star Marines, catching the Protectorate completely off guard, decimating the Protectorate military, followed up by invading Gaiaterra.

Months later, after the war has dragged into a stalemate, the Protectorate is testing a new warship (an assault carrier named the Tatsu) and a highly advanced power armor known as the Luna Infinity when they come under attack by a small Vota force. Local resident Azami Usagi, an Ordinary High-School Student, ends up piloting the Luna in the chaos of the battle and ended up fending off the Vota attack. With most of the Tatsu staff killed during the battle, Azami and a group of surviving locals are forced to crew the Tatsu themselves in order to survive.

From there, this unlikely group journeys across Gaiaterra, going up against the Vota forces and a variety of villains arrayed against them, in a classic series that is both a superhero and a Coming of Age Story, focusing simultaneously on the horrors of war and the gradual maturing of its teenage cast from frightened, desperate children simply fighting to survive into a tight-knit crew of unlikely heroes who manage, through skill, luck, and determination, to change the course of the One Year War. With Azami own popularity is big enough that she is known to fight alongside Captain Winter and Prismatica whenever they crossovers.

And to say that Azami has inspired a generation of women to join the Protectorate, particularly the Rocket Angels, in an understatement.

Mistress Of Storms
When the news of the Storm Clans joining the Voshkod came to light the Guardians were devastated. As not only did the Storm Clan joined the Voshkod but did so willingly.

I'm the Cosmonaut, Flakker!
Although Wonder is not affected by the so-called "Red Scare" as more "mainstream" media, they have no lack of Voshkod communist villains. Although most of these villains are single-issue threats, one of the more popular recurring ones is Josef Leonis, the Cosmonaut.

Josef was working outside the Mir station when a shower of green rocks struck him. Somehow, he was fused into and with his Gagarin X suit, which was itself transformed. Unable to live a normal life, Josef went insane and began committing crimes as the Cosmonaut.

While certain parts of the suit such as the liquid-O rockets were removed, it has become near invulnerable, and no longer requires energy. The suit provides energy to Yuri himself, as well as oxygen and medical attention. The Cosmonaut does not need air, food, or sleep.

The suit possesses enormous strength, nigh-invulnerability, and can move at greatly heightened speeds. The magnetic boots have been enhanced to the point where standing still, the Cosmonaut is almost immovable.

However, he is not without his weaknesses. For all its power, his suit of armor is still a piece of technology and is vulnerable to extreme cold (how convenient). And while he is strong, Behemoth is the strongest one there is.

And I’m SP.
Founded in 1934 V.C. as National Alliance Publications, by the 1960s SC, short for Skye Publishings, Comics became a giant in the entertainment industry. Aside from the million-dollar Captain Rocket franchise, the company has produced numerous other superhero series, all of which “crossover” with Captain Rocket at least once a month.

It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane
Everyone knows who Captain Rocket and the Rocketeers are. Children everywhere have listened with wide eyes as their fathers told tales of a masked thunderbolt streaking over the Voshkod lines in the GVAW, and went on themselves to turn these tales into the comic books, radio dramas, and television cartoons that exist today.

SP also makes thousands each year from Captain Rocket action figures, Captain Rocket posters, Captain Rocket playsets, Captain Rocket lunch boxes, Captain Rocket bedsheets, Captain Rocket costumes, Captain Rocket breakfast cereal… The list goes on.

Needless to say, the Rocketeer Corps use SP’s media and merchandise shamelessly to encourage young men and women to enlist. Surprisingly, many Rocketeers feel that real life in the Corps is just as, or at least almost as, exciting and romantic as the media. Of course, more cynical Peacekeepers often chalk this up to the Rocketeers' huge egos.

Mystic Samurai
"Power Of The Sun! Henshin!"

-Asurman's transformation call

Since the end of the GVAW, the Guardians have sought to reconcile and grow closer with the Katsuragi Protectorate. The combination of reform-minded Emperor Kamina, the value of Protectorate electronics and other goods, and a shared distrust of the Voshkod have served to slowly bring the two entities together and with that, their cultures.

The recent works of Shotaro Tezuka have become greatly popular in Eorzea, and while Elsword and Cantha have more reason to distrust the Katsuragi than others, many there have also started to dabble in Protectorate culture (it works the other way too; Behemoth and the Talon Knight are immensely popular in some parts of Ulthuan).

SP, while usually advocating a more pro-Aquilan stance, has also been somewhat influenced by the increased interest in Protectorate culture, as seen in their creation of the Steel Shogun. Before long, Jerry Jones proposed creating a Katsuragi character who was actually a hero, and the rest is history.

Takeshi Fujioka was a simple high school delinquent with a heart of gold when he witness a sudden flash not far away and investigate. And saw a critter with a half-dead dog in it. Nursing it back to health the dog then reveal that she could talk and told him of her mission.

Her name is Soleil and she is an alien from the planet Asura before it was devastated by the dark forces known only as Basilisk, and in order to save the kingdom the Sun King sends his only son's spirit to Gaiaterra, which eventually reincarnated, to begin a new life. And in order to save their world she was tasked with finding the "Sun Prince" who could wield the Solar Belt, but she was attacked while in transit, forcing her to morph into the form of a dog to both survive and heal. And, being too weak to find the prince and desperate, tasked Takeshi to complete her mission, gifting him her Solar Belt, begging him to find the prince.

Takeshi at first did not believe what had happened, though he kept the belt on hand. However, as he walked into the nearest town, he found that Basilisk had used the crystals to transform criminals into their minions who were about to kill the people. And though he tried to stop them he was a regular human and in desperation, Takeshi donned the belt, and was transformed into Asurman, revealing himself as the reincarnation of the Sun Prince. And now he faces off the Basilisk minions.

Despite the character's loose relationship with actual Katsuragi mythology, he has become rather popular in both the Guardians and Ulthuan. Although he is still rather new, it looks like Susanoo will eventually become the arch-enemy of the Steel Shogun.

Knight Of Steam
Anthony Moore was a wealthy young Alliance weapons dealer of Gilneas, known for his wastrel attitude and wasting his inheritance on decedant parties. Moore's life took a turn when, in the aftermath of another party, his mansion was struck by a missile, and in a flash a militia came and destroyed everything.

Though he miraculously survived Anthony had lost everything. And for the next four months, he would scrouge anything he could to survive and hunt his attackers. But upon finding them he learned the truth. Those that attacked him were a mixture of the workers he abused, hired mercenaries, and warlords who stole his own weapons to exact payback, and were also now part of a gang that now terrorized his home thanks to his weapons.

Distraught at how he caused his own downfall and gave monsters the tools to hurt the innocent. Anthony went back to the ruins of his house, wanting to find a way to atone when he noticed a hidden door. And opening it he realized his past. His parent, who died when he was just a baby, had belonged to a sacred order of knights tasked with stopping a hidden threat but was slowly being chipped away in a losing battle, with their last sanctuary being hidden within a mountain.

Realizing that this could be his chance to fix his mistake Anthony made a pilgrimage to the mountain, tiring as he walked and using what little money he had left to supply himself. And upon falling on its steps he was met by an old monk, who gave only the name Veritas, who nursed him back to health. Gradually, he explained to Anthony his parent's past and the order they served under in greater detail.

Veritas explained that Anthony's parents had served the Legion of Azrael and were killed by the Black Hand, an ancient organization that sought to rule the world. And that they were the ones who managed to form the militia that attack him, but also stressed that the cult had only managed to manipulate the people in the first place due to Anthony's own mistreatment of them. Veritas explained that he is the last survivor of the Legion, who were dedicated to combating the Scorpions. Through the centuries, the Legion had dwindled, hunted down as the Hand used their control of the world's governments and militaries to further their goals.

Having lost everything and realizing he was the caused of the new threat, Anthony had dedicated himself to atoning for his mistakes. He asked Veritas to train him as a member of the Legion, so that he could stop the Black Hand and atone for his mistakes. The monk accepted.

For over a year, Anthony would train under Veritas, learning the skills of combat, both armed and unarmed, deduction, stealth, intimidation, and focus. Veritas equipped him with the ancient and secret weapons of the Legion: Clockwork-driven armor and devices, secret potions that could harmlessly render a man unconscious, and more.

However, Veritas was an old man, and eventually, he succumbed to age. It was up to Damien, the last crusader, to carry on the mission of the Legion himself.

Returning to Gilneas, Antony discovered that the world was shocked to see him alive. He also discovered that the Black Hand had infiltrated Gilneas and almost every government in Gaiaterra. Donning the ancient armor of the Legion, along with more modern equipment, Anthony took to the streets, seeking to bring down the Black Hand, no matter the cost.

The Talon Knight had been born.

Unique for its time was that the Talon Knight was more of a wild card. While he does fight for the good of the people he is also focused completely on his goal of stopping the Black Hand, often going to extremes the other heroes are reluctant to do in the name of finding the Black Hand, to fighting the other heroes if they refuse to give him information of the Black Hand, and is known to suddenly appear to help the heroes and just as quick to disappear. But, no matter what, he will always prioritize saving others over hunting his foe.

''Grey Steel Order Note: Funnily enough, Crusader Bruce was supposed to be executed for revealing the Order identity and the publisher destroyed for accessing Order information, even if it was barely known, as the author of the Talon Knight had actually seen him facing off against a Herald cell. But in the end, when it was realized that no one believed that what the book showed was real they let him off. In hindsight, we were really lucky that we let the book continue publishing, as it now gave out own soldiers an alibi for their uniforms, as they can call it "cosplay" (don't ask, it's a Katsuragi thing), and in the rare times the Order was revealed in a battle they can easily bluff it as a reenactment of the comic, no matter how strained it sounded.''

Twilight And Thorns
Even in war comics are published, though in such cases they are turned into glorified propaganda pieces. None showed that more than the comics published by both the Commonwealth and the Union during the civil war, which features a hero of the Commonwealth/Union fighting each other.

Hero Of The Legion
Surprisingly, despite the condition they live in, the Legion Of Aden has their own hero kids look up too, and are proud to boast that, unlike other nations, their hero actually exits, something which aggravates Captain Rocket fans. That hero is Ciaphas Cain and his sidekick Ferik Jurgen.

To those who read the comics, Cain is a shining example of a commissar. Tough, unshakeable, and disciplined, charging head first towards his foe and inspiring his men, power sword raised and bolter pistol loaded, and facing many monsters from a Tesla Trooper to a demon prince and winning without a scratch. While Jurgen is his hilariously bumbling sidekick, only ever mentioned when he did something dumb or funny, whose sole contribution is his powerful melta gun.

To those who actually met him in real life, now as a retired teacher. He is a rather humble man with a dry wit who will bravely charge against monsters to protect his soldiers and homeland with a chainsword and laspistol, and considers a bolt pistol too heavy. While Jurgen is a hard-working if quiet assistant infamous for his bad smell and his melta gun, whom Cain considers his best friend.

To those who read his special autobiography, which shows his true feelings and is banned by the Legion. It actually reveals that Cain considered himself a self-serving coward, always ready to leg it once a threat comes unless fighting has a better chance of survival, with almost all of his heroic deeds being completely by accident, from stumbling into the enemies leaders while running away to running into a dead end with the enemy pursuing behind, and is rather miffed by the heavily embellished comics, though its not from the tales changing his character but because of how it treats Jurgen. To Cain, Jurgen was his greatest friend and ally, and he could count the numerous times his behind was saved thanks to him, with the comic turning him into an incompetent comic relief, and Jurgen being considered invisible in real life, being a major point of frustration for him. Jurgen meanwhile doesn't care, to him helping Cain is satisfaction enough.