J.K. Rowling is once again in trouble after the Harry Potter author liked a tweet supporting LGBTQ conversion therapy.
Posting on Twitter, someone shared a screenshot of a tweet that opposed a bill trying to criminalize conversion therapy. After Rowling liked the tweet, the person sharing the screenshot wrote, "If you were on the fence or thought people were overreacting before, now is the time to take a stand." This is the most recent occasion in which Rowling has been accused of transphobia.
Canada's Bill C-8 has proposed that forcing someone to undergo conversion therapy against their will and making a child undergo conversion therapy should be made illegal. The controversial bill has caused arguments from both sides, however, Rowling has revealed her views on the matter. If passed, the bill would give Canada the "most progressive and comprehensive" ban on conversion therapy. Elsewhere, Bill C-16 would add categories on gender identity and gender expression to the Canadian Human Rights Act.
The We The Females collective has said that while it opposes LGB conversion therapy, it is against Bill C-8 because it bans transgender conversion therapy. The organization has argued transgender conversion therapy will "criminalize those trying to help children find the root of their body dissociation and heal it." Transgender conversion therapy is a practice designed to change someone's gender identity to the sex they were assigned at birth and has been condemned by the World Professional Association of Transgender Health.
As well as liking the tweet about C-8 and C-16, Rowling also liked a tweet that featured a photograph of a woman wearing a hoody bearing the slogan, "LGB Drop The T" on it. The controversy began in June when Rowling made a number of comments about transgender people, as well as disagreeing with an article that used the headline, "People who menstruate," instead of "women who menstruate." Rowling penned a lengthy letter where she doubled down on several remarks about transgender people.
A number of Harry Potter stars, including franchise leads Daniel Radcliffe and Eddie Redmayne, as well as Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, have made their own stance on transphobia clear. A number of other celebrities have spoken out about Rowling's views, and only recently, Rowling deleted a series of tweets praising Stephen King when the fellow author stated, "trans women are women." Things have escalated as staff at publishing house Hachette have refused to work on Rowling's latest book.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalkerfeatures an action-packed finale on the ghostly world of Exegol. The final battle is split into three fronts; the most intense fight happens between the Sequel Trilogy's heroine Rey and the resurrected Emperor Palpatine.
Fan and YouTube user Jon H has posted his edit of that final battle, which inserts footage of several iconic Jedi knights, including Luke Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker, Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi; in ghost form. When Rey declares "I am all the Jedi" and uses Luke and Leia's lightsabers to reflect Palpatine's Force Lightning back at him, the knights raise their hands, seemingly using the Force to aid her.
In the film, the voices of several Jedi knights and masters can be heard, guiding Rey during a critical moment during the final battle. In addition to Yoda, Obi-Wan, Anakin and Luke, are the voices of Jedi past, including Mace Windu, Kanan Jarrus and Ahsoka Tano.
Directed and co-written by J.J. Abrams, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is currently available on DVD and Blu-ray and is also streaming on Disney+.
With a design as iconic as Iron Man and his signature series of high-tech armored suits, it's no wonder that the toy market for his varied arsenal continues to produce high-quality items for fans to add to their collection.
Hot Toys is once again releasing a new Iron Man figure, based on the iconic Mark IV Armor from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But, there's a twist: the design is being crafted out of translucent material to create the illusion of it being a holographic projection of the suit.
The figure is in 1/6th scale, and is a 2020 Toy Fair Exclusive, meaning it will only be available through select markets. It includes some parts made out of diecast metal for strengthened articulation, while the rest has been crafted meticulously in translucent matte plastic. It will also feature light-up LED's on the chest Arc Reactor and palm repulsors, as well as in the figure's eyes.
The Mark IV was introduced to the world with Iron Man 2, and also made an appearance in the following film, Iron Man 3. Its design is an in-between of the suit seen in the first Iron Man, and the one later seen in 2012's The Avengers.
As one of the most famous characters in pop culture, it’s no surprise that Superman has an almost equally well-known cast of supporting characters and villains. For most of Superman's eight-decade history, the billionaire evil genius Lex Luthor has usually been seen as Clark Kent’s opposite number and character foil. But while Lex Luthor is inarguably Superman’s greatest foe, the Man of Steel’s has an unlikely but well-suited foil in the Main Man himself—Lobo.
The last sons of their respective worlds, Kal-El of Krypton and Lobo of Czarnia couldn’t be more different. One strives to fight for the ideals of truth and justice while the other fights only for himself -- and occasionally space dolphins. With these two titans set to meet in the upcoming animated film Superman: Man of Tomorrow, we’re taking a look at these differences, as well as more than a few of the similarities that come along with them.
Lobo was initially introduced as a villain in Omega Men #3 by Roger Slifer, Keith Giffen, and Mike DeCarlo, but he was soon reinvented in the '90s as a parody of the grim and gritty characters that were popular at the time. As an intergalactic bounty hunter with an affinity for over-the-top violence, Lobo’s origin is almost like an Elseworlds twist on Superman's own background. As an infant, Superman was rocketed away from a doomed planet by loving parents who wanted their only child to survive the collapse of their home. Meanwhile, Lobo himself was responsible for his world’s demise.
Differing from Superman, Lobo grew up amongst his own people on Czarnia, a near-perfect paradise that rivaled Krypton. It knew nothing of civil unrest, until Lobo decided to unleash an army of deadly insects of his own design and wiped out the entire population of his home planet. Unlike Clark, Lobo revels in his status as the last member of a near-extinct race, even going so far as to murder the only other remaining Czarnian in Lobo: The Last Czarnian by Alan Grant, Keith Giffen, and Simon Bisley.
These days, the character is typically portrayed as an antihero, but Lobo is still a homicidal womanizer whose morality is drastically different from that of a simple Kansas farm boy like Clark Kent. Where Superman is famous for his policy against killing, Lobo has no such qualms, doing whatever he needs to complete a contract. If anyone gets in the way of the Main Man, there’s a good chance that it’ll be the last thing they ever do, and violence isn’t the only thing Lobo lusts after.
In the pages of 52 by Keith Giffen, Grant Morrison, Chris Batista, and many more, Lobo only agrees to aid the marooned Adam Strange, Animal Man, and Starfire, after taking the opportunity to ogle the Tamaranean princess. On the other hand, mild-mannered Clark Kent’s humorously wholesome reactions to Cat Grant’s overt advances in Geoff Johns, Gary Frank, and Jon Sibal’s Superman: Brainiac highlight just how much Lobo could use some lessons about respect from the Kents. Despite his brutish personality, Lobo has displayed a slight altruistic streak at times. He protects his favorite creatures --space dolphins-- and even joined Batman's JLA during Rebirth.
Personality differences aside, the two are fairly evenly matched in terms of power levels. Both characters have unparalleled strength and durability that lets them pulverize mountains or survive the vacuum of space entirely unaided. Hal Jordan even remarks in Green Lantern #55 by Geoff Johns, Doug Mahnke, and Christian Alamy that Lobo is one of the few people he’s ever seen give Superman a bloody nose. Like Superman, Lobo’s sensory abilities are also greatly heightened, which allows him to track bounties across the cosmos. He can even cheat death like the Kryptonian, thanks to both to his own innate healing factor and to the fact that he was kicked out of both Heaven and Hell, which makes him functionally immortal.
In many ways, Lobo represents much of what Luthor claims to despise about aliens like Superman and his allies like Supergirl or the Martian Manhunter. He is the personification of raw power with no regard for human life. Lobo can wipe out entire populations if left unchecked, and he's annihilated his entire species just out of boredom.
As an orphan of an extinct race with incredible power, Lobo resembles a twisted version of what Kal-El could’ve become without the Kents’ influence. The Last Son of Krypton and the Last Czarnian may have quite a few things in common, but there’s still a galaxy’s worth of differences between the two. In that sense, Lobo perfectly challenges the Man of Steel in a way Lex Luthor -- contrary to his ego -- never could.
Thanks to a fantastic first season, One-Punch Man is one of the most popular anime around. However, there are a number of Original Video Animations (OVAs) that are only available on the DVD and Blu-ray releases of One-Punch Man. These shorts, which exist outside the story's central plot, provide further insight into the One-Punch Man universe.
Here's are some quick synopses of what happens in those shorts, which are absent from legal streaming sites.
With a movie-length runtime, Road to Hero delves into Saitama’s past and the specific events surrounding how he got his trademark mustard-yellow/ketchup-red hero suit. As he continues to grow stronger, Saitama chases down a gang that has been extorting small shops out of business, including the clothing store he frequents for repairs to his tracksuit. Driven by the bounties posted and a need to pay rent, he brings the villains to justice, only to have the landlady kick him out since the crooks were her tenants and a major source of income. The clothing store owner decides to shut down anyway, and he gives Saitama his suit as a parting gift.
Set before Genos became Saitama's apprentice after the latter defeated Mosquito Girl, the cyborg hero goes to painstaking lengths to uncover the secret to Saitama’s power. After watching a movie on stalkers the night before, Saitama becomes paranoid that he too might have a stalker. Later, Saitama orders a plate of french fries at a diner and returns home. However, this causes Genos to abduct one of the fries, convinced that they might be the source of his power. On the way home, Saitama pummels B-Class criminal Men’s Esthetician Man, thinking he is the stalker, while Genos’ fry sample yields no results at the lab.
After Saitama gives Genos a key to his apartment, the two split up to take advantage of a sale for hot pot supplies. However, along the way, Genos loses the key while helping a fallen pedestrian who happens to be a high-ranking member of the Typhoon Family. This then leads to C-Class criminal Don Pacino trying to strike a deal with Genos so as to get information on the Typhoon Family member, for which he'll trade Saitama's apartment key. Genos tells the story of receiving Saitama's key to Pacino, and they eventually realize there's been a misunderstanding. The two fight, and Genos frees the captured man.
After his humiliating defeat at the hands of Saitama, Speed O’ Sound Sonic retreats to a forest to train for their next battle alongside a hunter, who is seeking revenge against the bear that wounded him. While training and taking advice from the hunter, Sonic develops a surprising bond with a boar he names Ino. Saitama eventually arrives and kills the bear, later serving it for hot pot.
After Saitama obliterates a meteor headed for Earth, Bang tracks him and Genos down to assess their strength. He tries to recruit the duo to his Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist dojo by proving his martial arts is superior. Bang beats them readily in a series of contests and games, angering Saitama. However, Bang eventually admits Saitama is powerful, though the hero refuses a place at the dojo in the end.
After the attack by Deep Sea King and his fishmen, Fubuki/Blizzard tries to cope with the news that their group’s efforts in suppressing the threat failed to make the paper. Genos and Fubuki end up on the same train along with a young hero named Swim. They're then attacked by the Serial Bomber. Fubuki, Genos and Swim try to thwart the Serial Bomber's attack. Eventually, they're aided by Tatsumaki/Terrible Tornado, Fubuki's sister, who deals with the bomb without any casualties.
During a hero retreat following the Dark Matter Thieves invasion, Child Emperor investigates the sudden stabbing of Zombieman that happened the night before. He interrogates various heroes, including Saitama, Atomic Samurai and King, in his search for clues. It's eventually revealed that, after Saitama told her she couldn't drink because she looked like a child, Tatsumaki got very drunk and wanted to test Zombieman's immortality by stabbing him with Atomic Samurai's sword.
Saitama happens upon a group of pitiful villains in a public restroom. After mistaking him for a fellow villain, they attempt to take him down, nearly self-destructing in the process. Saitama ends up saving them, and they change their ways, longing to be respectable top-class heroes. Saitama then saves them again from an attack by Dirt Earthworm. At the end of the episode, Saitama decides to train them.
On a mellow fishing outing, Bang and Atomic Samurai reminisce about the past and what it meant to be a true hero. However, they're attacked by Giant Salamander. Chain'n'toad and Mumen Rider try and take the monster down, but Atomic Samurai is forced to intervene so as to save them. In the end, the two complain about the Hero Association’s commercialization and the bastardization of the essence of heroism.
An errant backhand from Saitama scrambles Genos’ memory, and the latter hero wakes up with Dissociative Identity Disorder. He says and does things in a very un-Genos way, going so far as to openly flirt with Fubuki and insult Saitama. The Lord of Mountains attacks, and Genos kicks into action, drawing the monster away from civilians. However, he's forgotten how to fight and gets stomped. But after a jolt of electricity, Genos returns to normal, dispatching the monster easily.
In this OVA, Saitama and Genos participate in an online fighting tournament for a game called "Wild Animals," which has a grand prize of five million yen. Saitama is defeated in the first round by someone with a koala avatar. Garou and Suiryu also compete in the tournament, facing off in an epic battle that results in the latter’s victory. In the finals, Suiryu takes on the same koala avatar that defeated Saitama. In the end, the koala -- which turns out to be King -- defeats Suiryu.
During a fight with a monster at Smelly Lid Prison, Puri-Puri Prisoner accidentally damages the prison's electrical system, which allows several prisoners to escape. Puri-Puri Prisoner has a brief confrontation with Speed O'Sound Sonic, to whom he offers a place at Smelly Lid Prison. However, the villain rejects the S-Class hero's offer. Meanwhile, a monster named Urn Eel shows up at the escapees' hideout. Puri-Puri Prisoner arrives and fights Urn Eel, whom the prisoners cheer on. Mistaking their cheers as meant for him, Puri-Puri Prisoner beats the monster and brings the escapees back to Smelly Lid Prison.
Zombieman, Superalloy Darkshine, Metal Bat and Child Emperor are sent to hunt a monster at a snowy mountain lodge. However, the they encounter meet Saitama, Genos, Flashy Flash and Speed O’ Sound Sonic. Learning about his rival’s presence, Speed O’ Sound Sonic tries to hunt Saitama down, but ends up captured by the heroes. He escapes, has a quick fight with Genos which stirs up enough dust to make Saitama sneeze, causing an explosion and power outage that knock out Zombieman. At first, Child Emperor and the S-Class heroes think this must be the result of the monster they're hunting, though eventually they figure out the truth. However, they do end up finding and defeating they were looking for, which is named Crazy Brown Bear.
One of the 2020 Toy Fair exclusive items, this 1/6th scale Stan Lee collectible is highly detailed. These details include a newly developed sculpt head that features a stunning likeness to the character in large, red framed glasses; a costume that has undergone a natural weathering process in order to capture its on screen appearance and even a lock of real fabric hair--belonging to Thor--that has been "recreated in a life-size scale collectible accessory."
In addition, Hot Toys Collectibles made sure to put just as much emphasis on the apparatus the barber uses when cutting hair. All of these devices are of different sizes and can be switched, and with the figure display stand, this allows collectors to pose and display their newest piece however and wherever they choose.
The barber is part of the Stan Lee collection, which includes sixth scale figures of Lee as he appeared in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and of him outside of his many, memorable cameos.
Collaborating with other Marvel artists and writers, Lee helped bring life many popular characters, including Spider-Man, the X-Men, Iron Man, Thor and more. Lee passed away in 2018 at the age of 95.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Batman: The Adventures Continue #7 by Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Ty Templeton, Monica Kubina and Joshua Reed, available now.
Batman: The Adventures Continue may take place after Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures cartoons, but the comic book series is taking things much further than its predecessors. Instead of simply revisiting the old grounds of the DC Animated Universe, The Adventures Continue expands its tapestry by introducing new elements and characters including Deathstroke, Jason Todd, the Wonderland Gang and The Dark Knight Returns' armored Bat-suit.
Issue #7 of the comic series by Burnett, Dini and Templeton introduces another character new to the DCAU: Jean-Paul Valley, aka Azrael. In the comic books, Azrael is popular in no small part thanks to his iconic, 1990-infused Bat-suit, which he wore during his brief stint as the Dark Knight -- and returns to in the comic.
In the first chapter of "The Darker Knight," Batman is once again chasing Catwoman, who just stole another priceless artifact. However, while Bruce is able to catch Selina with ease, they are both attacked by a mysterious third party: A masked figure with a red cape and flaming sword. Of course, fans instantly recognize this character as Azrael. Here, the character is seen wearing the DCAU version of his original costume, before he stepped in to replace Batman.
Batman also recognizes the foe. Although the two start with a fight, they later reunite in the Bat-cave, where it's revealed Bruce and Jean-Paul have previous history. As it turns out, during his formative years, Bruce spent some time training with the Order of St. Dumas.
Jean-Paul is in town to track the very artifact Catwoman stole: An ancient, allegedly powerful shawl that belongs to the Order. With the shawl missing, Jean-Paul puts on a costume to track it down. However, now that Batman knows the Penguin is behind this theft, he teams up with Azrael to help him get the shawl back for the Order.
Better yet, he even offers to give his suit some upgrades to make it less threatening and a little more... Batman-y. The result is Jean-Paul Valley's classic Azrael costume -- with a DCAU twist, of course.
In the original comics, Jean-Paul put on a blue and yellow Batman suit to replace Bruce Wayne as the Dark Knight after the superhero got his back broken by Bane during the 1993-1994 epic, Batman: Knightfall. The costume had sharp shoulder pads, claws and glowing red eyes -- all of them key aspects of the outfit that have made the jump to The Adventures Continue. The costume is still instantly recognizable as Azrael, from the color scheme to the thigh belt and gauntlets.
Azrael was the perfect, edge-fueled Batman for the '90s. Now his legacy lives on in the DCAU.
Inspired by Josei manga, manga oriented for teen girls and young women, comic book creator and editor Jamila Rowser set out to create her own publishing platform in Black Josei Press. Producing comics and merchandise by Black women creators, including titles by Rowser herself, the publisher has been putting out new titles steadily since May 2018, including the award-winning debut title Wash Day, showcasing the Black female creative voice in the comic book medium.
In an exclusive interview with CBR, Rowser shared her inspiration behind starting her own comic book publishing company, its mission statement and teased upcoming projects being published by Black Josei Press.
Let's start at the beginning; what's the story behind the launch of Black Josei Press?
Jamila Rowser: My love for Josei manga and Black women is what created Black Josei Press. I really love josei manga, especially slice-of-life, drama, and romance, and wanted to read more comics like that, but that had characters that looked like me and my friends. That showed our lives, everything from the mundane to the extraordinary. But most importantly, I wanted those comics to be made by Black women, too. I really just wanted something for us. I know it’s hella FUBU but it’s true! That desire lead me to create Black Josei Press.
As someone who not only runs Black Josei but also writes for it, what made you want to write and edit for the comic book medium in particular?
Rowser: I have a deep love for the comics and want to do what I can to help more Black women see themselves in comics and the industry. At the same time, I have my own stories that I want to tell, too. So I figured why not do both?
How was it curating and editing the Sun and Sand Comic Anthology for FCBD?
Rowser: It was a lot of fun! Sun and Sand Comic Anthology is a free publication featuring comics about South Florida. I partnered with Neil Brideau of Radiator Comics to edit and publish this anthology. Sun and Sand is very South Florida, which I love. Even the RISO printer we’re using KSY Press is local. It was interesting (and pretty funny) to see the different ways the creators depicted South Florida and all its...uniqueness.
You've got two upcoming titles in a new edition of The Saddest Angriest Black Girl in Town and Egungun. What can you tease about these projects?
Rowser: Yes! I’m super excited about these projects. As you probably know, I worked with Robyn Smith on Wash Day, she also has Nubia coming out from DC. Robyn is such a talented cartoonist and I’ve always wanted to publish her solo work. So when I found out her autobio comic, The Saddest Angriest Black Girl in Town, was out-of-print, I wanted Black Josei Press to bring it back. The comic is about Robyn’s experience as a Black woman in a small, predominantly white town, and how it affected her mental health. Robyn depicts her experience with such honesty and thoughtfulness it blew me away the first time I read it. We’re planning to launch a Kickstarter campaign later this year to help raise funds for printing. Updates to come later thissummer.
Egungun is an upcoming comic written by myself with art by Samantha Wade whose work I was instantly a huge fan of. We also have J.A. Micheline as the editor who also edited the scripts for Wash Day and Wobbledy 3000. Egungun is still in progress so we don’t want to announce too much yet, but I will say it is a deeply personal story about belonging. Stay tuned for more updates.
What are some Black comic creators and titles that you would like to personally recommend?
The term 'shonen' was never meant to signify a certain genre of manga; 'shonen' is a demographic that a specific type of manga – that happens to meet the standards of the Weekly Shonen Magazine – is aimed towards. However, these standards unknowingly developed into a formula widely used by manga aiming to be published at the Weekly Shonen Magazine, hence the dawn of a new genre.
Fighting is an aspect that is pretty much inseparable from the shonen genre. It is the one aspect that encapsulates a wide variety of unique series. The importance of fighting by extent highlights the importance of characters' individual strengths. Comparing the strengths of two characters from two different manga is nothing new to the community. It is, and will always be, a widely discussed topic between fans.
10 Gintoki (Gintama)
Gintoki, the main protagonist of Gintama, is quite possibly the most quirky protagonist in the Shonen verse. Nothing he ever does comes out as conventional, but that’s where he stands out.
Strength-wise, Gintoki might not be the strongest out there. But when it comes to the other aspect that builds up an amazing character, not a lot of characters could hold a candle to him.
9 Yami (Black Clover)
The cast is not exactly Black Clover’s main forte. Plenty of characters with lots of potentials could be considered to have fallen short. But if there was one character who the fans are a hundred percent satisfied with, then it’s definitely Yami.
Yami is the captain of the Black Bulls squad. He is a magician specializing in dark magic; a rare attribute of magic that allows him to manipulate extreme darkness. Those who could challenge Yami in the Clover Kingdom are few and far between.
8 Netero (Hunter x Hunter)
There's something about old-timers in anime that make them stand out. Maybe it is because they are always portrayed as these badass characters, or maybe they are just badass. Either way, it is difficult to not love these elderly.
Isaac Netero is Hunter x Hunter's badass old man; his very fabrics scream badass. His battle against Meruem was easily one of the series’ most hype-inducing battles, if not the most.
7 All Might (My Hero Academia)
My Hero Academia is a series that provides meticulous details to its characters. The entire cast is vivid and has no disappointing characters whatsoever. All Might was one of the first characters to be introduced in the series, and to date, he still remains one of the most loved by the community.
This continued even after his hero career came to an end. For the majority of his career, All Might was the number one hero – a clear statement for his absurd strength.
6 Luffy (One Piece)
Arguably the best Shonen series to ever exist,One Piece is a manga/anime with a title preceding it. When it comes to an original premise and worldbuilding, One One Piece easily beats the competition, and it does so in spades.
Luffy ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi, which in turn turned him into a rubber man. While definitely not the most catchy ability, there is certainly more than meets the eye to it.
5 Ichigo (Bleach)
If it came to a one on one fight between Luffy and Ichigo, Ichigo would clearly have the edge. First things first, Luffy is still developing as a character whereas Ichigo already reached his final form. With that said, being a rubber man, blades are Luffy's nemesis.
Until Luffy reaches his final evolution as a character, he won't be any close to this part-time soul reaper.
4 Naruto (Naruto)
Naruto is a character that is dear to a lot of anime fans. Fans have watched him grow from a nobody to a man respected by all and a Hokage. He holds the title of the strongest shinobi for a reason; honestly, calling him a demi-god at this point won't be an overstatement in the slightest.
One of Naruto's fancy achievements is splitting the moon into two halves. A power move that further solidified his position.
3 Saiki (The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.)
Saiki is an expert in all things psychic; pyrokinesis, telekineses, and teleportation are nothing but a walk in the park to him. The strength he has showcased throughout the series is nothing but the tip of the iceberg.
With that being said, the little strength he has showcased is more than enough to secure him a position on this list.
2 Giorno Giovanna (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)
The Stand ability of Giorno, the fifth JoJo of JoJo’s Bizzare Adventures, is easily the most overpowered in the JoJo franchise. The Gold Experience Requiem is an ability that defies the norm, in bypassing the physical limits. Hence, regardless of how strong his opponents were, Giorno can successfully nullify their efforts to zero.
In more than way, Giorno's Stand feels almost like a hack. Then again, one can’t really judge JoJo’s Bizzare Adventures by common sense
1 Goku (Dragonball Franchise)
Last but definitely not least is Goku, which should not come as much of a surprise to anyone. Without beating around the bush, anyone acquainted with the Dragon Ball saga can presumably vouch for this.
No one is more deserving of the title of 'Shonen Jump's strongest' more than Goku. Seriously, this guy can casually destroy planets with a wave of a hand, and his stock only continued to rise in Dragon Ball Super.
Though he wasn't part of the original five Power Rangers that made up the heroes of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers when it debuted in 1993, the Green Ranger became one of the most popular characters of them all. Tommy Oliver debuted in the "Green With Evil" arc under the influence of Rita Repulsa's magic. When the spell was broken, he became a hero and never looked back.
Since he began his tenure as the original Green Ranger, Tommy Oliver has gone on to become a member of three more teams and is one of the most decorated Rangers in history. It's no wonder that fans want to know more.
10 What Did Tommy Want To Do When He Grew Up?
When a fan club video released for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the actors answered interview questions in character. One of those questions concerned their post-high school plans.
While Tommy wanted to attend college, he also made a point that he would like to run a karate school. That would make perfect sense. Tommy, Zack, and Jason all taught martial arts classes at the Angel Grove Community Center. In the comic book miniseries Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Pink, former Rangers Zack and Trini taught martial arts in Central America, but in the television arm of the franchise, Tommy became a scientist.
9 Why Did The Green Ranger Sit Out So Many Battles?
Many fans know today that the Power Rangers franchise doesn't always feature original footage. Instead, costumed footage is repurposed from the Super Sentai series from Japan. That started with the original series.
Unfortunately, that meant that Tommy couldn't do battle quite as often as the characterization might have called for. That's because his Sentai counterpart was a character whose life was ending. That meant Tommy had to deal with stories that drained his powers to account for the absence of the Green Ranger on the field.
8 How Did Fans Learn Tommy's Birthday?
The original lineup of Rangers had their birthdays revealed as part of an interactive CD-ROM. That's not where Tommy had his birthday revealed.
Instead, during the first season of the series, a toy was released that featured Tommy with the Dragonzord as well as an information card about the character. On that card, and the packaging for the toy, Tommy's birthday was revealed to be October 20.
7 Which Teammate Did He Share A Birthday With?
That October 20 birthday didn't just belong to one team leader for the Power Rangers. Tommy shared it with the leader that came before him.
Jason led the team as the Red Ranger. Though he and Tommy were often rivals, they had a lot in common, including their birthday. They both wanted what was best for the team and shared the weight of the guilt for every bad call.
6 Did Kimberly Really Think Of Tommy As A Brother?
After Pink Ranger Kimberly chose Kat to take her place, she and Tommy tried to make their relationship work long distance. It didn't last. Kimberly sent him a letter that revealed she thought of him as a protective brother and met someone else.
Some fans are still angry about that break up two decades later. The Pink comic book miniseries, however, gave that letter new context. There, it was revealed that Kimberly didn't actually meet anyone new or think of Tommy as a sibling. Instead, she thought telling him that would make their break up easier so he could focus on his team and move forward.
5 Could He Play Any Instruments?
When morphed as the Green Ranger, Tommy's dagger played a tune to call the Dragonzord. That skill wasn't entirely exclusive to his morphed form.
Thanks to the Dragonzord toy that gave fans Tommy's birthday, they also knew some of his hobbies. One of them was playing the blues. Specifically, he could play the blues on a flute. It's lucky he became a Ranger whose weapon doubled as a musical instrument.
4 Was There A Green Ranger Before Him?
This particular question depends on just which Power Rangers medium fans examine. The original series never gave an explanation for how Rita Repulsa ended up with the Green Ranger power coin. The 2017 movie remake posited that Rita was the Green Ranger first, but that's not the only explanation.
Boom Studios comic book series inspired by the original TV show had another Green Ranger as well. Loriyan was one of Rita's minions in the comics, and it was Loriyan that stole the power coin from Ninjor for Rita. He became greedy and wanted the power for himself, and tried to use it to morph. While he morphed, it was unstable because he was "unworthy" of the power.
3 Did He Marry Another Power Ranger?
Tommy was a Ranger through his high school years. He passed the torch during the Power Rangers Turbo season and moved on. As an adult, he returned for a few team-ups, but also without a spouse, to mentor a new team in Power Rangers Dino Thunder. By the time he returned to help again during an arc in Power Rangers Ninja Steel, he had a son, and quite possibly a wife.
It's never outright stated during his appearance, but he and his former teammate Kat left at the end of the arc hand-in-hand. In the Soul Of The Dragon graphic novel, the two were married with a son who also was on track to become a Power Ranger, so the television series may have borrowed some inspiration from there.
2 How Did His Wardrobe Change For Power Rangers Dino Thunder?
It's common practice in the Power Rangers franchise that every Ranger always wore the color associated with their Ranger status. Tommy went through a lot of color changes on the show: green, white, red, and black. The color wasn't the only thing that changed in Power Rangers: Dino Thunder.
Tommy had a penchant for sleeveless shirts in high school. In Dino Thunder, he tended to wear long sleeves. That's a result of Jason David Frank having a lot more tattoos in the years that had passed. The sleeves hid his tattoos without the makeup department having to do it.
1 How Many Different Power Rangers Did Tommy Work With?
Thanks to appearing on several different teams, and for almost every major anniversary team-up episode, Tommy Oliver is the Power Ranger who has worked with the most other Power Rangers.
He worked with the original five, plus their replacement Rangers. Tommy also worked with the Rangers from Aquitar, Trey Of Treyforia, Turbo additions Tanya and Justin, the second generation of Turbo Rangers, and every Red Ranger in the first 10 years of the franchise. That's in addition to the Dino Thunder Rangers, the Ninja Storm Rangers, several SPD Rangers, the Megaforce Rangers, the Hyper Force team-up of Rangers, and the Ninja Steel Rangers. All in all, Tommy Oliver has worked with more than 60 Power Rangers directly.
With Revelation coming to small screens via Netflix sometime in the near future, it may be a good time to reflect on the legacy of the original He-Man andMasters of the Universe. As the new series will pick up where the old one left off, it will be essential for fans to revisit the main settings, characters, and themes of He-Man and his world.
Those with discerning tastes and full-time jobs may not have time for a full series recap, so it may be prudent to start with the best 10 Masters of the Universe episodes (according to IMDb).
10 TO SAVE SKELETOR (Season 2, Episode 10 - IMDb Rating: 7.6)
To be fair, there are several episodes in the series that carry this rating, but “To Save Skeletor” was notable in that the Masters and the Evil Warriors had to band together to save Eternia from the threat of an overpowering foe named Sh’Gora.
Although it wasn’t uncommon for He-Man and his gang to spare the lives of their foes, it was the first time both factions worked together so thoroughly. Granted, it was from a threat Skeletor himself conjured, and he did double-cross He-Man at the climax of the episode, but it was fun to watch nonetheless.
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe was always progressive compared to other cartoons of its time in its depiction of women. Teela and Evil-Lyn were powerful and well-developed characters who were pivotal warriors for their respective factions, and in “The Rainbow Warrior,” Queen Marlena got her turn to show her worth.
The episode was partly an origin story that illustrated her arrival to Eternia from Earth as an astronaut and her subsequent marriage to a young King Randor. Most importantly, it showed her as a daring and competent adventurer who was more than capable of facing and beating Skeletor to save her friends and family.
Orko was always a popular character with younger fans of the series, despite his constant tomfoolery and often grating voice. Several other Trollans popped up as the series progressed, and in the episode “Orko’s New Friend,” his old friend Squonge paid a visit.
As Orko explains to Prince Adam and Teela, Squonge had issues with telling the truth since he and Orko were studying magic at the Trollan Academy. Consequently, when Orko gets captured by space criminals, Adam and Teela have difficulty believing Squonge's story. The episode is basically a retelling of The Boy Who Cried Wolf, which fits in well to the series’ pre-credits morality bumper.
7 THE CAT AND THE SPIDER (Season 2, Episode 1 - IMDb Rating: 7.7)
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe never really focused on a newly introduced character from the toy line as extensively as The Transformersor G.I. Joe did. After their one episode spotlights, they were usually consigned to the background as the series rotated around the core heroes and villains.
“The Cat and the Spider” introduced Webstor, the arachnid member of the Evil Warriors who unlike the usual cowering miscreants Skeletor surrounded himself with, had no qualms about plotting against him behind his back. The episode also featured an intriguing original character in Kittrina, who demonstrated quite a crush on Battle Cat.
6 THE DRAGON’S GIFT (Season 1, Episode 34 - IMDb Rating: 7.8)
Part of the appeal of the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe was its fantasy-based setting, and what is a fantasy world without a dragon? In “The Dragon’s Gift,” fans are introduced to Granamyr, a dragon so old and powerful his magic rivals that of the Sorceress.
To save Man-At-Arms from life as a crystal statue, He-Man and Teela seek him out, but the ancient being is not overly fond of humans. After the heroes prove themselves worthy of his trust, Granamyr becomes one of their staunchest allies, giving the means to restore their friend to life.
One of the running mysteries of the series was Teela’s true parentage. Although she knew she was adopted by Man-At-Arms as an infant, she knew little of her biological father and nothing about her mother. “Teela’s Quest” followed her desire to learn more about her true lineage. Running afoul of Mer-Man, who bore a grudge against her adoptive father, Teela was aided by He-Man and Battle Cat in a fight with Bakkull, a sea-demon.
It was ultimately revealed that the Sorceress was Teela’s mother, who wiped her memory until the time Teela could take her place as the protector of Castle Grayskull.
One of the great things about the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe was the fact that it went beyond the toyline in introducing original characters to the series.
One such character was Evilseed, a plant-based villain who nearly conquered Eternia in its eponymous episode. His plan to rule the planet by overrunning it with plants vexed both He-Man and Skeletor, who had to join forces to defeat him.
Origin stories are often fun episodes, especially when they’re about characters or relationships fans were always curious about. In “Battlecat,” it is revealed how Prince Adam came across Cringer, the green talking tiger who would eventually become his faithful partner-in-arms, Battle Cat.
Penned byStar Trek writing alumnus D.C. Fontana, the episode revealed how Cringer was found in a forest as a young cub. Traumatized by being abandoned and threatened by larger predators, Cringer was timid and jumpy, but the Sorceress encouraged Adam to be loyal to the cat, as he would be important to Adam in the future. Eventually, Cringer learns of Adam’s secret, inadvertently becomes Battle Cat, and proves to be essential to He-Man’s battle against evil.
2 INTO THE ABYSS (Season 2, Episode 18 - IMDb Rating: 8.1)
Castle Grayskull is the source of He-Man’s power, but the source of Grayskull’s power has always been shrouded in mystery. Feeding into that mystery were the environs around the castle, particularly the bottomless pit that surrounded it.
In “Into the Abyss,” Teela falls into that pit after a spirited bout of hide-and-seek with Prince Adam. Although she’s eventually found by He-Man and Man-At-Arms, Teela witnessed first-hand the enormous amounts of energy that emanated from the pit when Adam transformed into He-Man. The episode also highlighted the extremely close relationships that Teela had with Prince Adam and the Sorceress.
1 THE PROBLEM WITH POWER (Season 2, Episode 45 - IMDb Rating: 8.3)
Unlike most comic books and superhero films, where the collateral damage from the titanic battles between super-powered beings is usually swept under the rug, “The Problem With Power” examined the fallout of such fights head-on.
When He-Man believes he has inadvertently caused the death of an innocent villager, Prince Adam gives up his alter-ego. When it is revealed that Skeletor faked that death, Adam reclaims his identity as He-Man, however, the episode explored the consequences and consciences of those who would wield great power responsibly.
Fighting games are still a big part of the gaming industry with tournaments held year-round with some of the most dedicated professionals in their repertoire. Among some of the greats of the last decade such as Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter, Injustice has come out as one of the more popular fighting titles in recent memory, with its sequel gameInjustice 2 cleaning up a lot of the complaints players had with the original.
One of the biggest improvements to the industry within the last few years is the inclusion of fighter cosmetics, though there are some bad eggs in there. And, one character in Injustice 2 with some A+ skins is the Amazonian Princess herself, Wonder Woman. In the sequel, she makes her allegiance to Superman (who is still evil in this universe) even more abundantly clear, and it's likely why they have such similar skins. So, let's take a look and talk about each and every one of them. Though, keep in mind, only the skins will be taken into consideration, not the equipment or the Premiere costumes.
12 Diana's Default: It Does The Job
Starting things off with Wonder Woman's default costume, this is a bit more tasteful and streamlined than something that might have been seen in the olden days of comics.
The metallic vibe of the whole costume works really well with the classic gold, red, and blue, while still integrating fantastic texture work and showing off Diana's insanely buff arms. The flip-flopped colors in the alternate work well too, though not as well as the original.
11 Sapphos Sapphire: An Homage To Poets
Many DC fans aren't aware of just how many of Wonder Woman's classic exclamations have an in-canon history behind them. For example, when WW used to yell "Suffering Sapho!" anytime she saw anyone in pain, this was in reference to a figure well known by the Amazons who, obviously enough, was called Sapho. Sapho was a poetess who hated the sight of any suffering, even flowers being crushed, and would weep openly in response.
Therefore, this all-blue color scheme is likely in reference to both Sapphires and the tears of the poetess so well known by Themyscira. It looks decent, but the costumes that are all one color tend to be weaker than the rest. Plus the alternate is basically just the Electrum skin done again.
10 Themysciran Legend: A Bit Plain For Something "Legendary"
Speaking of Themyscira, Themysciran Legend is another cooler color skin that goes for sky blue rather than sapphire blue. Thankfully, they used two different shades for the leggings and top armor, as it would have otherwise just been a slightly brighter Sappho rip-off.
Though as it is now, it does have flashes of Batman's classic costumes that use blue and grey as well. But, sadly, the alternate does suffer from the same thing as the Sappho alternate, with its white-on-grey that simply looks like they took the top from the default God skin and the leggings from the alternate God skin.
9 Queen Of Hearts: From The Royal Flush Gang
There is not too much that ties the title of this skin to Wonder Woman, but the Leader of the Royal Flush Gang in the Batman comics goes by the name Queen of Hearts. And, in most of her appearances and iterations, she's wearing red and white.
Probably, NetherRealm just found a cool comic name that matched the color palette they went with for this skin, but it still works quite well.
8 Electrum: For The Chrome-Lovers Out There
Electrum unsurprisingly is another word that has Greek origins and is simply a naturally occurring mish-mash metal of gold and silver.
This skin seems like one for those types of people who saw the all-chromed-out Krusty Krab in that classic time-travel episode of Spongebob Squarepants and thought "Wow is that the aesthetic for me."
7 Great Hera: Glamourous In Green
With a step-mom like Hera, it is no wonder Diana would try to emulate her from time to time. The Great Hera skin is both a reference to Hera in the DC Universe Lore and also a reference towards Wonder Woman's classic phrases that usually use both these terms.
One would think that the Goddess of the Hunt Artemis or maybe the Goddess of the Fields Demeter would be characterized by the color green, but in the DC Universe, it's Hera. Again, the full green ensemble in the default feels like a bit much, but the white and green mix in the alternate works much better.
6 Flashpoint Princess: A Bit Less Color & A Bit More Tasteful
So this skin has to be a reference to the Flashpoint Paradox universe right? No way NetherRealm named this skin Flashpoint Princess for any other reason. For those unaware, the Flashpoint universe is one that pops up in the DC animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox and is an alternate timeline where Wonder Woman used the Amazonians to take over the United Kingdom.
Injustice 2 has both niche playable characters and niche references in spades, and this skin is just more proof of that. Hopefully, for the third game, they get even weirder with the fighter choices.
5 Circe: Pretty In Pink
Next are the Circe skin and its alternate version, both of which go for bright colors contrasted with gold and silver. It works quite well. The top armor in both versions is a very desaturated purple with gold and silver accents, while the bottom is bright fuchsia in the default and a darker lavender/purple in the alternate.
The skin gets its name from the Greek Enchantress Circe who was the daughter of both Helios and Hecate.
4 Nth Metal: Stealing Hawk Girl's Gimmick
Most of these skins are named after specific elements from the comics, and Nth Metal is no different. For fans of these games, it is recommended they check out the comics, as they clear up a lot of the questions of what happened between games.
For those unaware, Nth Metal is the substance both Hawkgirl and Hawkman use to fly, as well as to enhance their strength, durability, and regeneration. In any case, this skin seems to be implying that the Amazonian is wearing Nth Metal for armor, and the grey and blue/red and gold contrasts are great.
3 Demon: Not Too Little Not Too Much
The Demon skins were part of the Gods and Demons Shader Packs that gave every character some angelic and demonic variants to play around with. These skins tend to be a bit more "out-there" in comparison to the other palette swaps but they still work perfectly as part of the set.
Diana seems to pull off the dark crimson incredibly well, although the pure black eyes don't add as much as NetherRealm likely thought they would.
2 God: It's Just A Raiden Skin
Considering the company behind Injustice is the same one as the Mortal Kombat franchise, is anyone surprised that Wonder Woman got Raiden-esque skin? Again, this was part of the Gods and Demons Shader Pack but clearly, this is referencing more than just the stereotypical depiction of a God/Gods.
The white eyes are usually characteristic of Greek Gods in media (see Zeus in the God of War franchise), as well as Raiden. For those who think this is a bit blinding, don't worry, the alternate slightly tones it down by going grey instead of white, but still, with how well this skin works, it would be cool if it found a way to become canonized in the comics.
1 Tournament: Gold Always Glistens
Lastly, the tournament skin is one of the only skins to feature Diana in a darker shade of gold. Most of the other skins used bright gold colors and kept it to the accents, but this one has the gold as its main feature.
It's simple, a bit garnish, and looks great. There's not much more to say than that gold goes well with anything, and this might be one of the more simple costumes, but it also looks the best.
When people think about Aqualad, the character that comes to mind these days isn’t Garth. Thanks to Young Justice, people these days know Kaldur, a young teen who lead Robin, Kid Flash, and Superboy on secret missions for the Justice League.
But how much do fans really know about Kaldur? And better yet, how much do fans know about his comic counterpart, Jackson Hyde? Introduced shortly after Kaldur was created in Brightest Day, Jackson Hyde has been a part of the DC Universe off and on for the last decade. Here we go into detail on both halves of Aqualad, showing you what he’s like both on-screen and in the books.
10 SON OF BLACK MANTA
Both within the DC Comics and the original Young Justice cartoon, Aqualad is actually the son of Black Manta, one of Aquaman’s oldest and most dangerous villains. Within the show, this leads to Aqualad joining with Black Manta and pretending to work with him. In the comics, he learns this shortly after joining the Teen Titans. There, his father uses him to gain access to a magical Atlantean artifact that allowed control of the seas. Fortunately, he’s able to defeat his father with the help of his new team.
9 LEADER OF THE JUSTICE LEAGUE
Despite being a team that has Dick Grayson on it, Young Justice is very inexperienced when things begin. Robin is overconfident, and Kid Flash is childish, so the only one who has what’s necessary to lead the group is Aqualad. Aqualad proves to be such a capable leader that he’s placed in charge of the Justice League during season three, working as chairman alongside Wonder Woman.
8 A CHILD OF XEBEL
Kaldur’s powers include the ability to control the density and shape of water, allowing him to make it into special weapons. This ability is given only to individuals from the people of Xebel. In the cartoon, this appears to be the power that could go to anyone who properly practiced sorcery.
Born of Black Manta and a citizen of Xebel, in the Rebirth timeline Black Manta just happened to convince a member of the tribe that he’d take her with him if she showed him what he was looking for, romancing her along the way. His mother escaped for the purposes of keeping him safe from both Xebel as well as Black Manta.
7 DUMPED BY TULA
Initially in the Young Justice series, Kaldur’ahm learned how to master his powers by training at an Atlantean school. But during a battle between Aquaman and his brother, Aquaman winds up needing help and is rescued by Garth and Kaldur’ahm. Afterwards, they were asked by Aquaman to become his apprentices, but only Kaldur took him up on the offer. This turned out to be rather unfortunate for Kaldur, as a woman he was interested in, Tula, wound up connecting with Garth instead. Guess that’s what happens when you’re always saving the world.
6 IN A RELATIONSHIP
If anyone’s concerned about Kaldur’s love life, there’s no need. Though Aqualad was confirmed bisexual for quite some time, no one ever did anything with it in the first two seasons. But in Young Justice: Outsiders, we meet Kaldur’s boyfriend, Wyynde, a young Atlantean guard. Highly trained, there’s a good chance Wyynde has shown Kaldur a thing or two in combat, as he was actually able to finish training. He has no problem helping Kaldur during a dangerous mission, working alongside him.
5 KEPT OUT OF THE WATER
In the comics, Kaldur is named Jackson Hyde. When he was introduced in the bi-weekly comic Brightest Day, he was a teenager that was forbidden from ever going near the water. Of course, later he would learn the reason for this was that his adopted parents believed that his actual parents would be able to find him if he ever got into the water. Eventually he’s drawn into their world though, and needs the protection of both Aquaman and Mera.
4 LOST HIS BOYFRIEND BECAUSE OF HIS POWERS
In the comics, Jackson Hyde is introduced again during Rebirth, and is revealed as gay. This is something his mother tolerates, though she isn’t particularly happy about it.
In an issue of Teen Titans, Jackson reveals his powers to his boyfriend while they were on a date together. It’s a benign display, but watching the Atlantean manipulate water causes Jackson to get dumped.
3 WASN'T LET INTO THE TEEN TITANS AT FIRST
When Jackson Hyde was introduced in the Rebirth era, it was within the pages of the Teen Titans. At the time, Damian Wayne was attempting to lead the team to prove he could run his own superhero organization. When Jackson Hyde arrived needing help, Damian initially rejected him because that wasn’t part of what his initial plans were when he started things. However, Jackson proved to be incredibly useful thanks to his powers, and he was soon invited to work on the team.
2 MEETING AQUAMAN
In the cartoon, Kaldur’ahm met Aquaman while he was battling against Ocean Master. He helped save his King, and got asked to become Aquaman’s young apprentice. In the comics though, there have been two separate origins for the character. In the first, Arthur is asked to find Jackson before people looking to kill him can find him. Both Aquaman and Mera manage to save Jackson, but they wind up battling against Black Manta, where Jackson is just barely able to help the two take him down.
1 TRAINING UNDER AQUAMAN
Jackson Hyde’s Rebirth origin has the character distanced from Arthur for a long time. But for the 50th issue of Aquaman, Jackson is forced to ask Aquaman to bail him out of prison. The next issue, he decides to ask Aquaman for help in learning how to use his powers, which is how he winds up working with Aquaman in helping to accommodate a bunch of ancient beings with incredible powers.
Both Batwoman and Catwoman are dangerous in their own rights, being able to take down supervillains and common crooks down with ease at times. They go about it in completely different ways, however, their success rate is rather high though Catwoman is often likely to high tail it when forced with a high-end foe.
There's more to being dangerous than just combat though. You need a wide variety of skills to be truly considered such, but which of them has more in their tool belt? Is it Batwoman or Catwoman?
10 Batwoman: Demolitions
Due to her time in the military, Katherine Kane knows her way around C-4 and other explosives. This was on full display when she was tasked with unmasking Batman by the DEO, part of her plan is to have a section of roof cave inward.
This knowledge is dangerous in the hands of a criminal, but even more so with someone as smart as Batwoman. She'll know how to lure her prey into a trap, letting her explosives do the rest.
9 Catwoman: Seduction
While Kate has a few tricks under her sleeve, no one in the entire DC universe can match Selina in natural seduction. She has both the looks and the demeanor to put anyone under her spell. Hell, she even managed it with Batman at times, well before they were ever engaged to marry.
It's a trait that anyone in her profession needs. While the stealth and acrobatics are nice, you need that plan B in case you get caught, Selina's has always been her charm.
8 Batwoman: Genius Level Intellect
Kate's intellect may be the most dangerous facet of Batwoman's persona. She was in the top 95th and 99th percentile while in the army academy at West Point. For a military campus, those numbers are rather astounding, and her areas of expertise are so wide-ranging.
She's a top-notch investigator, having the ability to deduce Batman's identity from only a hand full of clues. That led to a tactical awareness that was so high, that she was able to ambush Batman and succeed.
7 Catwoman: Stealth
Stealth has always been a strength of Catwoman's, and you kind of need it if you want to be a thief of any renown. It's hard to ever steal anything if you're always getting caught in the act. In Selina's case, she's honed everything you'd need to be the top-notch jewel thief that she is, from being able to repel quietly down from roofs to moving silently.
If she wants to be, she can be like a ghost, there one minute and gone the next, leaving you wondering if she ever was truly there.
6 Batwoman: Martial Arts
Kate outclasses Selina by an immense degree when it comes to hand to hand combat and martial arts as a whole. Few in the whole DC universe can match her in fact. She's been able to fight and beat people while black our drunk, a talent very few have.
A big reason for that is the fact that she knows at least 14 different martial arts. She's so skilled that even Batman compliment how fluid, precise, and efficient her strikes were. There are no wasted movements.
5 Catwoman: Swordfight
You wouldn't think this when looking at Catwoman, especially not when her weapon of choice has always been her trust whip. Rarely do you ever see her running around with anything else, particularly not a sword.
Yet, she's extremely skilled with one, as shown in her battle with Talia Al-Ghul during the arc that centered around her coming marriage to Batman. Beating Talia in her chosen discipline is no easy task and if she could do that, she could easily best Batwoman.
4 Batwoman: Peak Human Condition
Kate's at the absolute peak that a human can be at, putting her in a category with Captain America or Batman more than Nightwing or the rest of the bat family. She's been able to shrug off stab wounds and even survived being stabbed directly in the heart.
Add in the fact she can break stone statues and stagger monsters like Bane with a single punch, and you have a very dangerous woman. She's even been able to withstand full blows from Killer Croc and only take superficial damage.
3 Catwoman: Multilingual
Due to her background, Catwoman's been able to pick up a few different languages, just as Batwoman has. What separates Selina is she's fully mastered other languages, being fluent in Mandarin as an example.
This doesn't make her dangerous in any sort of physical sense, but it makes blending in easier, allowing her to gather information with more ease due to how vast her grasp of the language is. It also certainly helps with moving some of the items she's stolen.
2 Batwoman: Weaponry
While Catwoman may have the edge with blades and her trusty whip, she lacks the arsenal that Kate has. Unlike Batman, she has no qualms against using guns and utilizes them quite regularly in fact. Given her training, she's a better shot than most of the foes she's up against, giving her a swift and easy way to take them down when she needs to.
On top of that, she's naturally skilled with using batarangs and other thrown objects.
1 Catwoman: Thievery
This one is a bit self-explanatory, no one is a better thief in DC than Catwoman. Batwoman, for all her strengths, would never be the one you'd go to if you needed a top-secret document stolen. That's Selina's bread and butter, the riskier the job, the more likely she is to give it a whirl.
While she has a high level of self-preservation, there's a reason she always goes after the high valued targets, and it's not just about keeping her name out there or the money the jewel would fetch. It's the thrill of the theft.
While all gag anime are comedies, not all anime comedies are gag series. Gag anime are not concerned with telling overarching storylines or pursuing elements like drama or humor – they merely want to make viewers laugh through frequently over-the-top but generally insignificant situations. In a gag anime, anything goes and continuity is disregarded.
Typically divided into short segments and often based on 4-koma manga, gag shows tend to be accessible due to their jokes being self-contained within each respective sketch. Here are the best gag anime of all time, shows known for delivering short but gut-bustlingly hilarious skits that can be rewatched endlessly.
Honorable mentions go to Daily Lives of High School Boys and Azumanga Daioh.
10 Tentai Senshi Sunred
A parody of the superhero and sentai genres, Tentai Senshi Sunred is about the endless struggle between good and evil. While Sunred might be a "hero," he is far from a positive role model, as he seems to fight for justice merely as an outlet for his violent tendencies.
Conversely, Florsheim's General Vamp might just be the most sociable and kind-hearted sinister villain of all time, one who wants to destroy Sunred without offending him in any way.
9 Asobi Asobase
With an overly cutesy intro luring viewers into a false sense of security, Asobi Asobase is like a mix of "cute girls doing cute things" and horror, albeit with humor replacing the scares. Revolving around the activities of a middle school's Pastimers Club and its three members, Asobi Asobase can turn something as simple as a game of tennis or an innocent kiss into an exercise of irreverence and shock humor.
Most episodes feature two or three sketches and primarily highlight the awfulness of the three main girls.
8 Mr. Osomatsu
Set a decade after Fujio Akatsuka's beloved Osomatsu-kun, Mr. Osomatsu throws any of the original's innocence out of the window in favor of adult jokes and endless parodies. It features five main characters stuck in an endless struggle to out immature each other while Choromatsu, the only remotely responsible sibling, just watches hopelessly.
Mr. Osomatsu can be frankly disgusting, but it approaches all of its situations with such reckless abandon that it is difficult to not laugh at the sextuplets' antics. While still decent, Mr. Osomatsu's season 2 is considerably more hit and miss than its predecessor.
7 Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu
Full Metal Panic! started out as an action-comedy before dropping the latter genre. Thankfully, the anime's great sense of humor is on full display in Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu. Focusing on the period Sousuke Sagara spent undercover in Jindai Municipal High School as Kaname Chidori's bodyguard, Fumoffu plays up the former's social ineptitude and military-themed stupidity to craft a hilarious gag comedy filled with misunderstandings.
Although part of a more serious franchise, Fumoffu's skits can be enjoyed in isolation and are generally inconsequential to the wider story.
6 Lucky Star
Based on a 4-koma manga, LuckyStar's slice of life component means itis more subdued than most gag anime. Following an admittedly slow initial few episodes, Lucky Star eventually picks up momentum once it firmly establishes its four main characters.
While some segments are situational, this classic series' humor is fundamentally driven by the personalities of its likable protagonists. Most skits revolve around simple discussions, as the characters' differing attitudes lead to some truly entertaining exchanges. It also helps that Konata Izumi is among anime's funniest characters.
5 KonoSuba – God's Blessing On This Wonderful World!
KonoSubais the isekai anime for people who appreciate fantasy but hate power fantasy. In a genre defined by overpowered protagonists and idealized love interests, KonoSuba shows up with a relatable degenerate for a lead and three female characters who are simultaneously the best and the worst.
KonoSuba is a touch more story-driven than a traditional gag anime, but the individual episodes revolve around parodying RPG and isekai tropes without advancing the main story or developing the characters in meaningful ways. The movie is a (hilarious) fantasy comedy but the series is a gag anime.
4 The Disastrous Life Of Saiki K.
Originally released in batches of five-minute episodes, The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.is about a psychic with all of the abilities one can imagine. While Saiki makes Mob Psycho 100's Shigeo Kageyama look like Teruki Hanazawa, he lives in an otherwise "normal" world and consequently spends all of his time trying to keep his powers hidden.
Unfortunately, Saiki has a habit of attracting just the strangest of classmates who refuse to leave to him alone. Each sketch is a battle for normalcy that Saiki, the most powerful being in the world, cannot hope to win.
3 Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun
A splendid adaptation of Izumi Tsubaki's 4-koma gag manga, Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun is about a girl in love with a schoolmate who, unfortunately, is better at writing about romance than noticing it. Chiyo Sakura's declaration of love inadvertently leads to a position as Umetarou Nozaki's assistant, as the shojo mangaka mistakes her confession for fan appreciation.
Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun parodies romantic comedies while developing a cast of characters that are relatable and likable. It is a gag comedy that should hit the spot with people who love or hate shojo romances.
2 Gintama
When not delivering vicious battles and dramatically effective scenes, Gintamacan be found staging a masterclass in comedic writing. Along with arcs spanning multiple episodes, Gintama mainly consists of 10-minute sketches that highlight a specific character or center around crazy situations.
Be it a snow building contest, a forgotten one-night stand, or anytime the Shogun appears, Gintama can be relied upon to deliver laugh-out-loud moments that are awe-inspiring in their absurdity.
1 Nichijou
Nichijou is anything but ordinary. It takes place in a town that seems normal on the surface but is always one second away from anarchy. Each episode is split into multiple skits that revolve around a rotating roster of characters, albeit with a special focus on three high school girls, a child professor, and an android.
Everyday situations like petting a dog or performing a high jump are given a surrealistic edge through stunning animation, brilliant reactions, and wacky personalities. Nichijou is the pinnacle of gag anime.
Science-fiction has explored the concept of alien invasions since the early days of the genre, with H.G. Wells using alien invasions as an allegory for British colonialism back with his seminal novel The War of the Worlds. However, come the fifties, aliens were yet again somewhat generic invaders, a force that just wanted land and resources. While some sci-fi from this era, like The Day the Earth Stood Still or Invasion of the Body Snatchers, attempted to tell political commentary via alien narratives, evil Martians with their space rays dominated the screens, which happened to last for decades, with several exceptions.
The trend of generic, evil aliens died out following their last bombastic hurrah with Independence Day. This insanely goofy, fun blockbuster is a throwback to 50s sci-fi where aliens are straight-up bad guys and humans are morally good. While aliens have become increasingly political and complex figures in the years before this film, Independence Day marked a transition point between the fun bombast of the past and the moral ambiguity of the future.
During the mid-1990s, America was not engaged in a decade-spanning war, with the Cold War and Gulf War over. When Roland Emmerich wanted to capture an element of Americana, in this case, the 1950s B-Movie, he made a tribute to those films divorced from the Red Scare political context from which they initially came.
In many respects, Independence Day is a remake of Earth vs. The Flying Saucers, complete with a sequence of the UFOs destroying Washington DC. However, Emmerich added the bombast of action films from the 80s and 90s to this mix. The aliens were also generic bad guys, coming to take Earth's resources and leave a devastated planet, but this motivation is hardly relevant to what happens. The film also gives fans a kind-hearted President who genuinely cares for the public, as well as a world that stands united against evil, with America leading the fight.
Coming off the Cold War, this is America as America saw itself, which was as a morally white knight charging into battle against any enemies in the way. However, the aliens weren't a political metaphor for some real-world threat since America was facing a relatively peaceful time.
Movies like these are harder to make when real-life war is fresh in the minds of viewers, as well as when there are conflicts at home. Even in the 1950s, when America was engaged in multiple military conflicts, the common person had not witnessed this sort of large-scale violence before, and few people actually saw the attack on Pearl Harbor, however, everyone saw 9/11, which forever changed invasion narratives, as Lindsey Ellis, film critic, explains in her youtube video.
The fun of Independence Day is perfectly countered with similar, disturbing visuals in Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds, where audiences see visual tributes to the immediate aftermath of 9/11 in every destructive scene. If that film were made in the 90s, viewers would not see Tom Cruise covered in dust, walking home with fear in his eyes. They would more likely see a big miniature blown up with everyone moments later going back to shouting one-liners. It was impossible to further have fun when that "fun" triggered real trauma.
The Bush Era further made things difficult as America entered yet another unpopular war. Soldiers left, expecting to fight the people who caused this collective trauma, however, the complexities of this war proved that nothing was crystal clear. This moral ambiguity impacted the stories people wanted to make and see, with narrative capturing this moral confusion. Villains either became unexplainable threats that no one could truly understand, or they were morally ambiguous people who believed themselves to be the heroes of their own wars, even as they caused unbridled damage.
Man of Steel, for instance, presents a morally ambiguous alien in Zod, whose actions result in destruction comparable to that in Independence Day. His motivations are understandable, even sympathetic. Of course, he is a villain who will kill everyone in his path, but audiences understand why he is there and why he is so angry. Meanwhile, the few unambiguous aliens, such as in Slither or The Color Out of Space, exist beyond human parameters of morality.
Over time, aliens became not the enemy; they were victims of invasion or displaced people. Films like Avatar and District 9 portray aliens as a metaphor of the outsider, much like in 1950s films. However, unlike those, the outsiders are vulnerable people of a colonized state or victims of gentrification. With contemporary audiences cynical about their military and government's role in combating other people, film has humanized the "other" and "alien."
The best comparison of initial receptions to films like Independence Day is with its 2016 sequel. While both feature bombast and destruction, the latter felt artificial and fake, even when doing the same thing as the last film. This illustrates the difference between audiences today and audiences of the 90s, where a film like Independence Day thrived.
Though the entire Fire Nation in Avatar: The Last Airbenderitself is presented as a massive threat towards the other three nations, certain members among them come off as much more threatening than others, and for very good reason. There's Azula, the sadistic and power-hungry princess of the Fire Nation, and Zuko, who's more of a misguided child led astray by Azula's influence as well as his desire to be recognized by his father.
Although the latter has completely understandable reasons for acting how he does before his eventual redemption, that doesn't mean Zuko didn't still do some heinous things, and Azula went on to continue her sadistic rampage far after Zuko began his redemption.
10 Azula: Destroyed Ty Lee's Home
Due to how blindly Ty Lee seems to adore and follow Azula after deciding to go along with her, it can be pretty easy to forget just how she was manipulated into doing so in the first place. While she was watching Ty Lee perform, Azula had the safety net set on fire, endangering the lives of the performers there- as well as releasing all of the troupe's animals, potentially endangering the audience as well. Because the circus was destroyed, it wasn't like Ty Lee had anywhere else to go.
It's safe to assume such a mishap didn't bear well for the circus' ratings, either, so it's highly likely that all of those performers lost their jobs- and home- because of Azula.
9 Zuko: Believing Azula Over Iroh
Since the very beginning of the series, viewers are shown that Uncle Iroh has wanted nothing more than to see Zuko attain a bright, happy future, meanwhile Azula consistently lied to, berated and manipulated her brother. Naturally, whenever the two are both trying to persuade Zuko to listen to them, he'd choose his uncle who truly loves him, right?
Of course, things couldn't be that easy, and one of Zuko's worst decisions was choosing to believe Azula, who'd never been truthful with him in the past, and betray his uncle who'd wanted nothing more than to subtly guide and watch over him.
8 Azula: Utter Apathy
Azula is shown throughout the series to possess a complete and utter lack of empathy for others, which is shown perfectly both in how a very young Azula spoke of Iroh handling his son's death, and how she reacted when she was shown up by Ty Lee.
She berates Iroh for not staying and 'burning Ba Sing Se to the ground' despite him clearly being consumed with grief after losing his only son. She also shoves Ty Lee to the ground after being shown up by her in gymnastics, despite her friend being willing to do absolutely anything for Azula. She makes it incredibly clear that she doesn't value the people she uses in any way.
7 Zuko: Returns A Kind Act With Thievery
During Zuko and Iroh's time in the Earth Kingdom, when they had to be on the run from the Fire Nation, they get taken in by a family who'd been incredibly negatively impacted by the Fire Nation and the effects of the war. Not only do they heal Iroh from being poisoned, but Zuko actually seems to develop a genuine friendship with the family's daughter.
This doesn't last, however, and that night Zuko steals the family's ostrich horses, and to make matters even worse, the daughter sees him do it- effectively shattering any bond the two had formed prior.
6 Azula: Attacking Iroh
At one point, Azula is effectively cornered by Team Avatar (who are joined by Zuko at this point) as well as Iroh, and being as cunning and remorseless as she is, Azula understood the only way to both survive and escape the encounter- but that doesn't make her actions any less heinous.
After falsely declaring her own surrender, Azula strikes a distracted Iroh with a precise blast of fire, which wounds him pretty badly before making her immediate escape. The lack of hesitation or remorse while severely injuring her own uncle is downright terrifying, and a great sign that family bonds don't mean anything to her.
5 Zuko: General Treatment Of Iroh Early On
If Zuko never got his redemption arc and learned how precious his Uncle really is to him along the way, he'd certainly be one of the most hated characters in the series. His treatment of Uncle Iroh early on is downright hard to watch at times, as Zuko unreasonably loses his temper with him, knocking over or destroying both his game pieces and beloved tea sets.
It's truly a testament to how pure-hearted Iroh is that he stuck around by his nephew's side despite how he was treated.
4 Azula: Disregarding Zuko's Life
Going as far back as to when Azula and Zuko were children, her treatment of him had always been unnecessarily cruel. For one, whenever Ozai states that Azula was born lucky meanwhile Zuko was "lucky to be born", Azula is seen smiling with pride aside her mortified brother.
She also toys with Zuko's feelings after his mother's disappearance, stating that "Dad's going to kill you!" in an incredibly cheery voice since the only one who'd clearly cared for Zuko's safety was now nowhere to be found.
3 Zuko: Siding With Murderers
During Zuko's desperate several-year journey to locate and capture the Avatar, he knowingly teams up with some pretty unsavory characters while attempting to do so. He comes across a band of pirates who are trying to hunt down the Avatar and his group for stealing a scroll from them, which they had originally stolen in the first place.
On top of being thieves, they also were later revealed to have accepted a large amount of coin to assassinate Zuko himself, which leads viewers to wonder just how many times they'd done something similar. Of course, Zuko was incredibly desperate, but this was still the wrong move.
2 Azula: Overthrowing The Earth Kingdom
While Zuko has to travel through the Earth Kingdom and keep his true identity a secret, fans are given quite the humbling look into the lives of the people of the Earth Kingdom and how negatively affected they'd been by the Fire Nation. Of course, this doesn't stop Azula (along with Mai and Ty Lee, who still followed her) from making things exponentially worse.
With the trio disguised as Kiyoshi Warriors, they were able to take control of the city's police force, and overthrow the Earth King with their help- igniting utter chaos in a kingdom that simply wanted to be left alone.
1 Zuko: Breaking Up With Mai Via A Note
Mai and Zuko's relationship was one that started from mutual childhood buds of affection for each other, blooming into a full-on romance later down the line, and he even helps bring out a warmer and more passionate side of Mai. That isn't to say Zuko handled everything about their relationship perfectly, and he particularly messed up when ending it.
Whenever Zuko decided that he was going to go against the Fire Nation and join Team Avatar, instead of trying to talk with Mai in person or express any of his true plans to her, he simply leaves her a note stating that he's breaking up with her- could the banished fiery prince get any colder?
The first night of AEW'sFyter Fest has come and gone, and it definitely delivered. There were several outstanding matches, including Hikaru Shida versus Penelope Ford for the Women's World Championship. It was also announced that Jon Moxley's championship match versus Brian Cage would not be happening until Fight for the Fallen -- thanks to the outbreak of COVID-19 at the WWE Performance Center, oddly enough. As you can imagine, Taz was spitting fire over this.
To say that WWE has not been taking the pandemic seriously is a bit of an understatement. Beyond the rules that have been imposed on it from different levels of government, the company has done its best to act like everything is business as usual. Recently, WWE finally started testing everyone at the Performance Center and found multiple people infected with COVID-19, including talent who were quickly sworn to secrecy.
WWE's response was consistent with its attitude throughout the last few months. The company has been telling anyone who is infected to not admit to it publicly. Renee Young broke with that line and openly admitted on Twitter that she was one of the infected. So did Kayla Braxton, who now has COVID-19 for the second time. Young is reputedly in the WWE doghouse for admitting to the diagnosis, though she doesn't seem too upset about it. She's too busy basking in the glow of her wonderful cookbook announcement.
This is where AEW comes into the equation. As most wrestling fans know, Renee Young is married to AEW World Champion Jon Moxley. Since her diagnosis, Jon has been quarantining at home to make sure the disease doesn't spread to his co-workers at AEW. Though the decision is certainly causing problems with AEW's pay-per-view bookings, it's the responsible move for everyone involved.
While Brian Cage will still challenge Jon Moxley for the AEW World Championship at Fight for the Fallen, it does mean that his title shot is delayed and his dance card is free at Fyter Fest. Taz came to the ring and unleashed a promo on Moxley about him ducking Cage. The promo had a lot of anger behind it, though one couldn't help but think that the anger wasn't so much directed at Moxley as it was WWE.
In it, Taz said "And if you decided to get your ass here to work next week, you would get tested again here in AEW. Because, Jon, as you know, we don't run a sloppy shop."
It's hard to blame Taz for being annoyed. AEW has been running actual tests on all staff and talent for months while WWE has only been taking people's temperatures. This can indicate the presence of COVID-19, but it's not exactly foolproof. Even now, WWE is reputedly only conducting swab tests while AEW has apparently been conducting blood tests, which check for the virus and related antibodies. Regardless of the specifics, AEW certainly appears to be taking the crisis more seriously than WWE.
AEW has been putting the work in to try to keep its operation running smoothly and safely, only to have its main competition upend everything because it hasn't been. Anyone would be upset at that situation. Taz might have been cutting a promo for himself and Brian Cage, but in a way he was speaking for the entire company. The WWE outbreak could have easily spread to AEW and more families from there. What if Trent's mom got sick when dropping him off at Fyter Fest?
Reputedly, WWE officials are not happy with Taz's comments, which is bewildering to say the least. Had it started even swab testing sooner, many of these infections may have been avoided. This doesn't just affect WWE talent and employees. These people have families, friends and roommates they could have taken this virus home to. Being that the WWE Performance Center is in Florida, a state with one of the highest infection rates in America, taking this seriously from day one would have been the right move -- and kept Taz from having anything to throw shade over in the first place.
When Star Warshit theaters in 1977, few people could have guessed the 40+ year legacy that was being born that day. This was a legacy that grew far beyond the silver screen, one that included TV shows, video games, comic books, books and more. All of this continuity fit on a comprehensive timeline that told one of the biggest stories ever imagined -- at least until Disney came along and uprooted the whole thing, which was probably for the best.
The House of Mouse has long seemed to be on a mission to buy up all media in the world. In 2009, Disney purchased Marvel, giving it access to a litany of established characters and what would become one of the biggest film franchises of all time. Disney then followed that up by buying Lucasfilm and LucasArts in 2012, and then Fox's entertainment assets in 2019. All of these moves quickly made Disney the most dominant player in the entertainment game.
When they took over the assets of Lucasfilm and LucasArts, that made Disney the guiding force behind Star Wars, including the Expanded Universe. That was the name given to all of the non-major motion picture aspects of the Star Wars story, which was a lot, to say the least. The huge gaps between movie releases were filled with hundreds, if not thousands, of novels, comic books and video games. There were a few animated series, as well, though nowhere near as many as the other media forms.
Disney quickly made a decision that angered many long time fans and declared the entire Expanded Universe was no longer considered canon. All that remained would be the six films that existed at that point and the animated series The Clone Wars. This meant that none of the other media published before the Disney buyout was relevant anymore, changing the landscape of Star Wars for many hardcore fans.
For people who had invested time in consuming all of that media, finding out that it was no longer relevant was a tough pill to swallow. There were a lot of great stories and characters never seen on the big screen. It wasn't just a theoretical removal of all of this story; it was practical, too. Most of this content would no longer be published or available for purchase in any form. It was, in effect, erased from the timeline.
While it was hard to deal with at first, fans started to realize that this was the only common-sense approach to the situation. The new reality trying to tell stories that would resonate with fans while being burdened by so much previous history would have been difficult, if not impossible. No one could expect Disney to kill a new idea that could be a gamechanger because of a plot point laid out in a comic book decades earlier.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe deviated from the comics starting in its first movie for a similar reason. Some of the characters in their movies have comic book arcs going back decades, filled with contradictions and recons. Trying to accurately represent that in the movies and TV series that make up the MCU would have been impossible. The producers and writers took the elements they could work with from the source material and built the rest themselves. Disney then decided to take the same approach with Star Wars.
Over time, characters, planets and stories from the Expanded Universe are being slowly brought into the Disney-era continuity. A prime example of this is Grand Admiral Thrawn, a brilliant villain from Timothy Zahn's classic books. As part of the Expanded Universe, he was initially eliminated from the Disney continuity but he made his return in Star Wars: Rebels.
While not every aspect of the Disney-era has been perfect for Star Wars, it has produced some pure gold. Star Wars: Rebels is a great example as are The Mandalorian, the new run of Marvel Comics and the recent video game, Star Wars: Fallen Order. Several new characters like Doctor Aphra have also grown the fan base. The loss of the Expanded Universe was hard at first but it has more than proven to be the right choice for Disney, Star Wars and fans.
The plane of Innistrad is Magic: The Gathering's take on Gothic horror, and on this plane, the archangel Avacyn is humanity's best and only hope against the vampires.
For many years, this angel stood at the top of the Church of Avacyn, and all prayers for protection and strength went directly to her. This gave humanity the strength needed to fight off the darkness, but after one tragic day, Avacyn vanished, and the tides turned against humanity's defenders. Avacyn was desperately needed, and what her followers didn't realize is that she was locked inside a prison meant for demons.
Even the highest-ranking members of the Church of Avacyn are unaware of this archangel's origins, and the truth of this story would shock them. Many centuries ago, Sorin Markov was already a planeswalker and a vampire native to Innistrad. He saw a serious problem unfolding around him. His fellow vampires were rampaging across the plane unchecked, feasting on humans with impunity. This was unsustainable; the vampires would wipe humanity out, then turn on each other in desperation. Something had to be done.
Sorin went on a quest to create a check on the vampires' hunger, and he wandered Innistrad and the Multiverse at large to find the answer. He summoned every ounce of his formidable strength to concoct a spell, and he created the archangel Avacyn with his combined knowledge and powers. This was no easy feat, but the effect was immediate. Avacyn and her fellow angels sided with humanity and acted as a bulwark against vampiric hunger. This didn't completely end the vampire menace, nor was it meant to. It created a sustainable balance, and the vampires could feed as needed while not abusing humanity to the point of extinction.
Other monsters of Innistrad also preyed on humanity, from werewolves to vampires to vengeful geists. However, the real problem was the four vampire families, and once Avacyn was gone, humanity's arcane defenses quickly weakened. The remaining angels did what they could, but they and their human charges were put on the defensive before long. Vampires in the four provinces pushed humanity to the brink, and the other monster races only made this worse. Some humans even sided with the monsters to save their own skins, or simply because they had gone mad. Many of them began to worship powerful demons in Avacyn's place. Soon, monster hordes were knocking on the front gates of Thraben, humanity's last stronghold.
What no one realized was that, during her effort to contain a powerful demon, Avacyn had gotten herself dragged into the Helvault by accident and locked inside. This was a great silver prison designed to contain the most powerful demons, and now Avacyn was stuck in it with no way to escape or cry for help. Just as the forces of darkness were about to drive humanity extinct, Liliana Vess arrived, since she had business with one of the Helvault's most powerful demonic occupants. She needed that Helvault destroyed, and pressured Thalia the cathar to shatter that prison.
Reluctantly, Thalia obeyed, and all the contained demons broke free and scattered across the plane. That was the bad news, but there was a ray of hope. At once, a helix of light streaked into the sky, and Avacyn emerged to restore humanity's defenses. The Church was revitalized, and balance was restored once again. Avacyn was humanity's only hope, and without her leading the Church, the people of Innistrad were helpless lambs in the slaughter. But hope never dies, even on this dark world.
