The Renegades were a group of outlaws who first appeared in 1889, consisting of six Overmen and twenty to thirty normal humans, organised by the Overmen Silver Annie and Gunslinger. They were the worlds second supervillain group. They raided banks and bullion depositories across the Southern and Western USA. Although the Guardians of Democracy were sent after them they managed to stay ahead of the law for over two years until late 1891 by hiding out across the border in Mexico (although at the time the US government did not have enough evidence to conduct a cross-border raid). In late 1891 the Guardians of Democracy finally caught up with the Renegades in Albuquerque. In a pitched battle much of the town was destroyed and over half of the Renegades were captured. After being tried they were imprisoned or executed. The rest of the Renegades managed to escape, but the Renegades never reformed and their members went their separate ways. The Overman members of the Renegades were :
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Anne ('Annie') was born in 1868 on a homestead in Kansas to parents of Texan origin who had moved there to make a fresh start. She was the oldest of three children. Always pretty and clever, Annie always had a great liking for pretty things, and collected them when and wherever she could.
In 1872, when Annie was four, her father was killed in a dispute with a neighbour, leaving her mother to cope with the three children alone. This situation did not last for long, as in 1873 her mother married the owner of another neighbouring farm, a widower and friend of her father, and the family moved in with him. Although things were all right at first, Annie soon came to deeply dislike her stepfather, which caused a lot arguments usually ended by Annie getting a beating. Her stepfather also often punished her by burning some of her nice things, something which did not endear him to her.
Annie learnt stealth as the years went by, doing her chores and tasks around the farm but in general keeping out of her stepfathers sight. In 1882, when Annie was fourteen, a travelling medicine salesman passed through. He was fairly handsome and very charming, and when he left Annie left with him, running away from home. The salesman soon persuaded Annie to become his lover, and in addition she helped him in his demonstrations as they went from place to place. He was nice to Annie, and gave her pretty dresses and a lot of small pretty things, and at the time she thought she loved him.
Then they reached a medium-sized town, and after a few days the salesman vanished, leaving Annie on her own, miles from home, with almost no money. Initially Annie was distraught, but the harsh realities of survival soon made her take notice of what was going on around her. She saw that there were lots of rich men about and used the last of her money to get clean and prettied up, then went out to charm herself one of them. Although young her good looks and intelligence soon attracted a man to her, and she was soon ensconced in style, with all the nice things she liked so much. Eventually the relationship cooled, so Annie packed up and left town, moving to a new area and finding another man to whom she could be a mistress.
It was a fairly good life, and certainly beat working in Annies opinion. Although two of her men asked her to marry them, in each case Annie was able to avoid this fate, and left them soon after. In late 1887 Annie was on her fourth man when she noticed that she seemed to be becoming somewhat metallic. At first she was able to hide her condition with make-up, but eventually it became impossible to hide.
When her current lover found out, he didn't take it well. Calling her a freak and a whore he tried to beat her up. Never really having had to fight before, near-panic Annie tried to defend herself. Suddenly there was a flash of light, a crack of thunder and the man fell unconscious to the floor. Terrified that she had killed him, with the Sheriff hammering on the door, Annie quickly packed a bag, climbed out the window and ran off. She stole a horse and rode off out of town. Holed up out of town Annie tried to figure out what to do. She quickly figured out that she was an Overman, and later that with her powers she could give up being the mistress of rich men and get money directly by robbing banks - it should be much quicker and easier than seducing men whom she sometimes didn't like anyway.
She practised with her powers, finding them getting stronger as time went by. She also seemed to be getting stronger, faster and tougher. However, her appearance was a disadvantage, but by disguising herself in widows weeds, with full veil and gloves she could move among normal people without their noticing. She robbed a bank in a small town on her own using the name Silver Annie, killing no-one and ignoring gunfire, and used the money to buy herself a hideout across the border in Mexico.
After doing a few more banks, she was well on the way to being rich enough to buy the things she wanted, and had a small band of hired thugs working for her. By this time robbery had become almost an game to her. Her plans suffered a few set-backs when a lot of her stuff was blown up by the friend of a man she had killed who was out for revenge. It was when she was trying to recover from this set-back, and the loss of her gang in late 1888 that she met up with the man who called himself Gunslinger while robbing a bank. After an inconclusive fight they left together.
This was the start of the gang known as the Renegades, who were the scourge of the West for two years. Unfortunately, in 1891, in Albuquerque, the Guardians of Democracy caught up with them, and after a prolonged fight Annie was captured. She was imprisoned in solitary in a specially reinforced cell for 20 years, finally being released in 1912. By this time she was older and more tired, but still had a few resources hidden away here and there with which she was able to retire on in Texas. She lived a quiet life there, running a ranch, until her death in 1954 at the age of 86. Her biography, "Baubles, Bullets and Bank Vaults", written in 1935, became something of a best-seller.
In her prime Silver Annie was a strikingly beautiful woman, apparently made of animated metal. Her skin was mirrored silver, her hair bright metallic gold (usually worn long in a plait) and the whites of her eyes had a metallic silver tint while her irises were bright metallic blue-green. Her powers consisted of superhuman strength, speed and toughness, plus the ability to generate a powerful bolt of electricity. Her reflective skin made her practically immune to light-based attacks, and under the right circumstances (i.e. in bright light) would reflect a bright flash at people attacking her hand-to-hand. Her eyes were practically immune to bright light and she could see in the ultra-violet. Also she seemed immune to extremes of temperature, diseases and toxins of all types (including alcohol).
Silver Annie in Champions terms.
A bank robber, outlaw and cowboy, Owen gained his powers when the gang he was with became holed up in a bank vault after a robbery went horribly wrong. In the battle everyone but Owen (including the leader) died, but Owen suddenly found himself able to move and react with blinding speed. Easily dodging bullets he shot his way out and escaped. He then began a crime spree, recruiting himself a gang, aided by demonstrations of his prowess, and robbing a number of banks. In 1888, while robbing a bank, he met up with the female bandit known as Silver Annie. After an inconclusive fight to see who would get the proceeds from the robbery, they agreed to join forces, and made off together. Together he and Silver Annie created the Renegades and led them along their short but glorious career. After their defeat by the Guardians of Democracy in 1891, Owen escaped, and fled across the border into Mexico where he became a gun for hire. After a long and successful career he finally met his match in a booby-trapped building in 1921 and died in a huge explosion.
Although of average looks and height, Owen was a very striking man with dark-blonde hair and brown eyes. His Overman powers were essentially superhuman speed and agility; he could accurately fire two guns at once, one in each hand, easily pick out the weaknesses in a targets defences, and perform seemingly impossible trick shots. He also healed much faster than a normal person. Because of his abilities he was somewhat over-confident, often rushing in to a situation unprepared and trusting his skill to protect him. He also had a tendency to show off, which also led him into trouble on a number of occasions.
Gunslinger in Champions terms.
A male card sharp and general bunco artist who lived from gambling and scams, he gained his powers when there was an argument over the outcome of a game. Guns were drawn and in trying to escape he fell backwards through a wall. After figuring out that he was now an Overman he began to use his powers on a crime spree across the West. He was recruited into the Renegades when they robbed a casino he was in the process of ripping off, and after deciding he could make a better living with them than not was a fairly loyal member. He escaped the Guardians of Democracy after the clash in Albuquerque and, having made enough money and faced enough danger for his taste, retired to Las Vegas, where he owned a casino until his death in 1931 (this became clear when his private papers were released after his death).
An average-looking man with brown hair and green eyes, 5'5" tall, he had a quick tongue and a quicker hand, especially when any kind of card-sharping was involved. His powers consisted of an ability to render himself desolid. By inserting his hand into objects and partially resolidifying he could cause the target pain (although no lasting damage). He could also lift small amounts of material while remaining desolid.
Greta was the child of Scandinavian immigrants who lived on a homestead in the mid-west. Greta was always plain, dull and totally unimaginative, to the disappointment of her parents, but was very good with animals, and quite competent on the farm. She also had a strong interest in mythology, especially the Nordic legends. In 1884, while having problems with looking after a recalcitrant animal, she suddenly became hugely strong, and grew to about nine feet tall (although she was able to turn her growth ability on and off). Her parents were appalled and somewhat frightened by this, especially when she also developed the ability to generate some kind of energy field about herself which could seriously damage anything it touched. Greta was also frightened by these developments, but soon got used to them. However her parents did not, and they got more and more distant from her. Some months after gaining her powers the owner of a travelling show which was passing through the area heard about Greta. He came and talked to her parents about letting Greta join his show. After some initial reluctance money was able to convince her parents that it would be for the best, and Greta left with the show's owner. She became one of the show's best attractions - 'Goliatha, the Strongest Woman on Earth'. Although she didn't enjoy the show much Greta didn't think of leaving and did what the shows owner wanted. In 1889 the Renegades heard about Greta and Gunslinger came to the show in disguise in order to see her. They came back after the show and Silver Annie talked Greta into coming with them. Greta soon came to idolise Silver Annie (to Annies occasional annoyance) for her beauty and general attitude. In an unheard of (for her) feat of imagination took the name Valkyrie. She was very useful to the Renegades, but was captured by the Guardians of Democracy in Albuquerque in 1891. Because of her great strength, after she was found guilty it was deemed that she could not be safely locked up, and so was kept under sedation. As the years went by and she was kept sedated Greta gradually wasted away, until, in the 23rd year of her 25 year sentence, she finally died.
Greta was a plain, unimposing, obviously Scandinavian woman of average height and somewhat muscular build with blonde hair and blue-grey eyes. Her main powers were her superhuman strength and toughness, which were aided by her ability to grow to about nine feet tall. She could also generate an energy field around her body which could inflict severe damage to anything touching her, and in a living thing also weaken and uncoordinate it.
Valkyrie in Champions terms.
The child of a rich family from the deep south of Georgia, she was always a headstrong child despite the best efforts of her parents and tutors, wanting fun and excitement. When she was eighteen she met and fell in love with a boy from a family of "white trash" who were living in the area. Her parents disapproved, and practically locked her up in order to keep them apart. In desperation and heartache she decided to run away. However, she was seen, and was close to being captured when suddenly she saw and felt a nimbus of energy around herself, and flew into the air. Landing near the house of her lover she talked him into running off with her. They moved West. As they went she toyed with her powers (which she had very soon revealed to him; he took it very well at the time), learning their limits. They had little money, and she didn't see much fun in working. When she heard about the Renegades she decided this was for her, and her lover agreed. She tracked down the Renegades in the midst of a robbery, and managed to convince them to take her and her lover in. The Renegades lived up to her expectations, she soon adapting to a life of crime, quickly becoming quite hardened. She and her lover lived the good life for a time. However, they found themselves gradually drifting apart; he was becoming less and less able to cope with her powers and attitude of rapidly-hardening criminality, and she was getting closer and closer to the Overmen in the Renegades. After the destruction of the Renegades in Albuquerque in 1891, she escaped with her lover. However there was little between them by now, and they sadly soon split up. After this she lived on the move for years, living by crime. Once she tried to kill a member of the Guardians of Democracy who had hurt her in Albuquerque, but she barely got away and didn't try again. In 1919 the net of the Law finally closed and in a warehouse in Atlanta she was ambushed and although given the chance to surrender chose to fight, dying in a crossfire which included some of the Guardians of Democracy.
Rebel was a blonde, blue-eyed woman of 5'6" who, although not anything special in terms of attractiveness was very striking. Her powers were telekinetic in nature - she could lift hundreds of kilograms at range, as well as performing fine work, fly, form a quite powerful force field around herself and into a 'wall' at range, and also generate a powerful telekinetic force bolt.
The only black member of the Renegades, he was born the son of a tenant farmer in Louisiana. His family worked for a highly racist landowner, and as he grew up he grew to dislike the landowner, and eventually all authority in general. Eventually he snapped, and failed to show the landowner the respect he demanded. Although nothing happened at the time, the landowner made threats and left. That night armed members of the KKK arrived, to drag him off for justice. When his father and brother tried to stop them they were clubbed down and taken too. The three men were given a 'trial' by the KKK and unsurprisingly found guilty. Before his eyes his brother was killed. As his fear and rage grew the KKK started on his father, when suddenly he felt something shift within him and his bonds fell away, somehow cut though. Acting almost instinctively he began to teleport around, shooting bolts which removed parts of his targets, and sometimes even teleporting people high into the air. Almost all the KKK people died before he regained control and ran off with his badly-injured father. He knew he couldn't stay on the farm where he had lived all his life, so ran off into the countryside. Although he was able to keep his father alive, he was crippled and never recovered the use of his legs. After his father had partially recovered they began to travel west. As time passed he slipped into a life of crime, stealing things to live, from the rich and powerful when he could. Eventually the Renegades heard about him, and he was recruited. Although there were a few problems between him and the somewhat-racist Rebel the rest of the group always stopped them getting out of hand. When the Guardians of Democracy attacked in Albuquerque in 1891 he was captured, and after being tried and found guilty he was executed with a field gun in the summer of 1892.
Flicker was a handsome, fairly striking black man who was constantly surrounded by what seemed to be flickering, constantly shifting planes of force. These protected him from harm and could, when he wished, also harm anyone who touched him by apparently teleporting parts of them away. He was very fast and agile, and had a number of ranged attacks - teleporting parts of a target away, teleporting targets as a whole or just teleporting air into a person, causing them pain but no permanent damage. The planes of force surrounding his body also protected his vision from bright flashes, made it slightly more difficult to hit him, and also let him see completely around himself.
Flicker in Champions terms.