A group of superhumans brought together by the Amazon to act as an adjunct to the Minervan Monitors, and in some senses the successors to the Liberators who aided in the formation of Minerva. The members of the Defenders are:
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Played by Matthew Fitzgerald
Blackheart first appeared in 1883 when she aided the British Royal Elite Guard in foiling a plot to kidnap the Overman inventor known as Pendragon. Of Spanish origin she was one of the identical twin daughters of the Duke of Cordova; her sister, Francesca, was involved in the plot to kidnap Pendragon and she felt honour-bound to stop her.
After working with the Royal Elite Guard on several other occasions she left them in the early 1900's to return to the family estate, as her father was ailing. In 1905 he died, and Carmen took over the running of the estate. By this time it had become obvious that Carmen was not aging, but she remained popular with the people under her despite occasional calls from clerics that she was in league with the devil due to this, her reddish skin, pyrokinetic powers and extravagant lifestyle.
Over the next 31 years, although Carmen was nominally in charge of the estate, she and Francesca tended to alternate running it between them, with the other going off around Europe enjoying the high life. However, everything changed with the start of the Spanish civil war in 1936. Although Carmen and Francesca supported neither side in the conflict and tried to keep aloof from it this was impossible. Eventually the family estates were invaded and in the fighting Francesca was killed. Although Carmen exacted a terrible revenge upon the attackers, as her families men were wiped out and the mansion destroyed, it became obvious that she had lost all chance of keeping the family holdings and so she fled, with the few survivors of the family household, northwards into Minerva. Eventually the small party reached border and on crossing it were able to obtain asylum. However, the Velasquez family had lost everything.
Still somewhat in shock from the death of her sister, and not really caring any more Carmen ended up married to a wealthy but elderly industrialist. Although he was quite nice she never really loved him and shed few tears when he died in 1943, leaving her with his fortune. Although she had enjoyed the high life with her husband and enjoyed it now even more on her own, Carmen felt that something was missing and in 1946 she joined the Minervan government as a wide-ranging troubleshooter. Slowly she worked her way up the ranks of the Minervan government until in 1957 she was made head of the Minervan intelligence services. In 1979 she retired from this post to take up a position as the field leader of the Defenders of Minerva, a position she held (despite being injured in the bomb blast from an attack by a Chilean sabotage squad in 1985) until 1987, when she retired from active membership of the Defenders of Minerva to take up a position as the Chancellor of Minerva, a post she holds to this day.
When she appeared Blackheart was an almost stereotypical hot-blooded Spaniard but over the decades experience has mellowed her so that although she still enjoys a good time she knows when to restrain herself. Her years of experience also mean that she does her job as Chancellor of Minerva very well.
Blackheart appears much the same now as she did when she appeared in 1883 - an immensely attractive woman apparently of about twenty, with faintly reddish skin and a higher than normal body temperature making her always appear to be slightly feverish.
Blackheart in Champions terms as she was in 1883 and 1995.
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The clone-daughter of The Amazon, Minerva was born from an artificial womb in 1960. Like her mother she is very intelligent, fast, strong and tough, but unlike her she had these abilities from childhood. However by the time she started school she had already been taught to restrain her strength around normal people. She was educated like most other Minervan children, in the excellent Minervan state education system, and graduated from the University of Minerva with doctorates in politics and biophysics in 1974, at the age of sixteen. Despite her high intelligence, powers and several attempted kidnappings and assassinations (which were always prevented by either herself or her bodyguards) she grew up to be an articulate and sociable young woman, although she does tend to be rather over-confident in the use of her abilities. After her graduation, at the suggestion of her mother, she spent years travelling anonymously around the world in order to gain more experience for the inevitable day when she would succeed The Amazon as the ruler of Minerva.
After her return, in addition to her beginning to take a role in the running of Minerva she also took an active part in the Defenders of Minerva, and in 1988 took over from her mother as team leader, a position she has held ever since.
Minerva Montpellier is an attractive young woman of medium height (she is taller than her mother due to having a better diet as a child) with dark brown eyes and hair. As time has passed she has aged only slowly due to her regenerative abilities so that although over 30 years old she only appears to be about eighteen.
Minerva in Champions Terms.
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The most recent addition to the Defenders of Minerva, Moonshadow is one of the worlds few known psionics. Although this has not been confirmed one way or the other, she appears to be about sixteen and of German origin. Due to the scarcity of psionic powers in the world, Moonshadow can be very effective in a fight, although she prefers to avoid direct confrontations where possible. Apart from her duties as a member of the Defenders of Minerva Moonshadow also assists doctors and scientists in psychological treatment and research.
Moonshadow disappeared in early 1991 after being accused, along with Degat, of causing The Amazon's collapse in her New Years broadcast. Although with the ending of the civil war her name has been cleared her whereabouts are still unknown.
Moonshadow appears to be a fairly attractive teenager with pale skin, brown hair and eyes. For some reason she always wears a haunted expression on her face.
Moonshadow in Champions Terms.
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An Italian woman with feathered wings who could shrink to tiny size, and fire bolts of electricity. Killed by the super-assassin Anguish.
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A distant descendant of the original Pantera, the Bolivian Overman enslaved by El Libertador with his taking of that country, Pantera (as she was then known) was born to a poor Chilean family in the mid-1960's. From birth she had great strength and toughness, claws and a prehensile tail. Unfortunately, she was also born with an animal-like mentality, as had other of her relatives with similar powers, and the original Pantera. Soon after her birth Chilean troops came and took the child away to Guaqui, where she grew up as El Libertadors personal pet/hunting animal, her hunters instincts and bloodlust being honed by him in numerous hunts of both animals and people.
In early 1984 the Defenders of Minerva infiltrated the Chilean Empire and managed to remove Pantera from El Libertadors clutches and bring her to Minerva. After she had come to accept the Defenders as her 'family' (a fairly short process giving her severely limited reasoning capabilities) and been taught not to indiscriminately attack things, she became a member of the Defenders of Minerva under the name of Serval, serving with them ever since.
Servals personality is very much that of a large hunting cat. She sees the Defenders as her family, and will fight to protect them. She has learned to respond to their commands and will usually do what they want. Serval tends to react very much to tone of voice rather than to words and is especially protective of Moonshadow.
Serval appears to be a fairly attractive woman of about twenty with claws on her fingers, pointed teeth and a prehensile tail. What mainly distinguishes her from normal people, however, are her very animal-like movements, behaviour and especially eating habits.
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A secretive teleporter and energy blaster.
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Back to the Overman 1994 Biographies Index.