The Pack were a group of physically mutated Overmen recruited by the Ringmaster in order to satisfy his desires to hunt humans. They formed the worlds first supervillain group. Although originally some of them at least were fairly nice individuals, the Ringmasters mental powers turned all of them into ravening killers subservient to his will. Although the membership varied with time for various reasons, all the members of the Pack were :
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Born in 1866 as the only child of a family of rich landowners living near Nantes, Dominique was terribly spoiled by her parents as a child, becoming an arrogant and temperamental teenager. She was doing well at school and looked set for one day marrying into a top-class family when over the course of one night in the spring of 1881, at the age of 15, she mutated while she slept into a fully functional bird-woman with edged metallic feathers and claws. Her parents were terrified and disgusted, and they threw Dominique, still in shock over what had happened to her, out of the house. They then proceeded to try and erase all aspects of Dominiques existence, which although difficult was possible as she had always had private tutors and not to much contact with people outside the family. Dominique flew off, but whenever she tried to make contact with people (something she wasn't very good at anyway, especially with people of the lower classes, due to her being so spoiled) she met with terror and vilification, and often attempts to kill her. As time passed she was forced to live by theft and hunting, and she became more and more bitter and twisted, soon hating all of normal humanity. She decided that if she could not be one of humanity then she would prey upon them. She had only killed a few people, in isolated areas, and was living in an abandoned chateau in the Massif Central, having driven off most of the local peasants, when she was contacted by the Ringmaster who wanted her as a member of his pack. When he told her what he intended the pack to do, Dominique needed very little persuasion to join, and the Ringmaster purchased the chateau, renovating it and turning it into his new base of operations. She was involved in the abortive plot against the British Royal Family in 1883, and was captured by the Royal Elite Guard but managed to escape. She and the rest of the pack merely hunted normals under the Ringmasters orders until 1909, Dominique becoming madder and more vicious with time (in part due to the assistance of the Ringmaster). In that year the Ringmaster attempted to kidnap English Rose of the Royal Elite Guard. They failed, and all but the Ringmaster and Lamprey (by now his wife) were captured. Greymalkin of the Guard, after more than a year of psionically-assisted psychotherapy managed to rehabilitate Dominique, and she joined the Guard. In 1917, at the age of 51, she died with most of the rest of the Royal Elite Guard in a Russian nuclear attack.
After her transformation Dominique was short, about 5' tall, with a wiry build. Her legs were birdlike in shape, with large talons on the feet. Her arms were considerably longer than normal and also serve as wings. She still had hands,about halfway down the wing, with three separate clawed fingers and a thumb, with the remaining finger supporting the wing. She had feathers instead of hair and down her neck and back. All these feathers were an iridescent metallic colour and very sharp-edged, capable of being thrown at ranged targets, used in hand-to-hand combat or deflecting ranged attacks aimed at her. They also provided some protection against attacks.
Originally a farmers son from near Montlucon in France, at the age of sixteen, in late 1881, he spontaneously turned into a very dense, thickset, apparently wooden humanoid with immense strength. His family and neighbours managed to keep his new state fairly secret, and Hubert continued his farm work, wanting little more from life and being content with his lot. However, the Ringmaster heard the rumours of this new Overman, and came to investigate. Using his powers he easily took Hubert away, and twisted him into the type of Pack member he wanted. Like most of the rest of the Pack he escaped after capture in the abortive attack on the British Royal Family in 1883, and served the Ringmaster until his capture by the Royal Elite Guard in 1909. After long months of psionically-assisted therapy Greymalkin managed to rehabilitate him, and in 1911 he joined the French Imperial Guard. Like the rest of the Guard he died in the Russian nuclear attack of 1917.
Hubert was about 6'4" tall, and about four times the mass of a normal human. He was hugely tough and didn't need to eat or breathe. His vision also extended into the ultra-violet, and his eyes adapted rapidly to bright light. His hair was like an unruly mass of twigs and his skin was a dark bark-like colour and texture.
Originally a farmer from near Erfurt in eastern Germany, Wolfgang was married with a young son, and very happy with the farm and his life, when in mid-1882, while out working on his own, he was caught in a landslide and buried deep underground. Just as he felt his life slipping away Wolfgang felt a great change come over him, and suddenly he was rising up through the ground and out into the air. His eyesight had become phenomenally acute, but he seemed to have no other senses, and his body was a glowing ball of light! He discovered that he seemed to completely out of touch with the material world and nothing he did allowed him to touch things. He flew back to the farm, but unsurprisingly his wife and son reacted in terror to this apparition. Despondent, he flew off. His despondency only grew when he found there was nothing he could do which would allow him to interact with the real world, or even talk to people. He also discovered that he didn't seem to breathe, or get hungry, or need to sleep, or be affected by the weather any more, and could fire beams of light which did affect things in the real world. His body also seemed to hurt anyone who touched him. As time went by his inability to interact with anything apart from in a destructive manner drove him deeper into depression. It was at about this time, early in 1883, that he was contacted by the Ringmaster - using telepathy he was first person to talk to Wolfgang for months. Pathetically happy Wolfgang willingly went with the Ringmaster and joined his Pack (though the Ringmaster tampered with his brain to ensure he became what he wanted in any case). Although he soon became less than enthusiastic about being in the Pack he had nowhere else to go, and was a miserable, despondent creature. Then in 1883, while involved in the abortive plot against the British Royal Family, he met Greymalkin, another telepath, and a much nicer one than the Ringmaster. He immediately switched sides and joined the British Royal Elite Guard with Greymalkin vouching for him (and treating the damage isolation and the Ringmaster had done to his mind). Over the following years he served the Guard loyally and well, always close to Greymalkin, and with her help was even able to re-unite with his family in 1887. He continued to serve in the Guard until 1917, when he died in the Russian nuclear attack.
In appearance Chimera was a 4' diameter glowing sphere of yellow-white light which was permanently desolid with no senses but sight, and incapable of speech. The only way he could communicate was by psionics, which unsurprisingly made him very isolated.
Born in 1853, the man who became known as Der Wilde was apparently abandoned at birth in farmland to the north of Salzburg due to his freakish ape-like appearance. He was found by a travelling farmer who took him in and raised him, giving him the name Franz. As he grew up it became obvious that in addition to his ape-like appearance he also had a lower intelligence than normal. Although the farmer apparently only used him as a source of free labour, Franz was reasonably happy during this time. When he was eight, in 1861, a circus with a freak show came to town. When the circus left it was found that Franz had vanished; people assumed he had run off with the circus; his father was annoyed at the loss, but only because it deprived him of a source of cheap labour. In fact Franz had been kidnapped into the freak show. Although he was unhappy about it there was nothing he could do, and Franz spent more than 20 years in the freak show. In 1882, after a particularly savage bout of teasing and abuse from one of the circus people, he suddenly became much stronger and escaped, going on a rampage in which several people died. He also discovered that he could steal peoples strength and endurance. The circus people formed a lynch mob to kill Franz, and were hunting him through the woods near to where the circus was camped. At this point the Ringmaster arrived, and misled the mob with his mental powers before taking Franz away with him. It took little work on the Ringmasters part to turn Franz into an ideal Pack member, giving him the name Der Wilde. Like the rest of the Pack was involved in the plot against the British Royal Family in 1883. Like the rest of the Pack he was captured in 1909, but it proved impossible for Greymalkin to rehabilitate him and he was permanently incarcerated in a specially reinforced cell, where he died in 1923 at the age of 70.
In appearance Der Wilde was a short, squat, apish man, with long muscular arms, hairy skin and simian features. He was a vicious fighter, and touchy about his looks. He never learnt to read and his only amusement was apparently violence.
Were was born somewhere in western Bohemia, apparently in 1881, and from birth looked like a humanoid cat-man. His parents and their neighbours, superstitious peasants, apparently left the child to die in the woods somewhere, but despite the odds he survived and grew with surprising speed, becoming a feral creature of the forest. Early in 1883, already nearly fully-grown, he was tracked down by the Ringmaster. The Ringmaster was kind to him and taught him rudimentary speech, in addition to twisting his mind with his powers, so Were soon became utterly loyal to him. Were was captured, but escaped, after the plot against the British Royal Family in 1883, and then captured more permanently in 1909. Despite Greymalkins best efforts she was able to do nothing for him but halt his more vicious urges. However, he was able to serve under supervision with the Royal Elite Guard in WWII, and like them died in the Russian nuclear attack of 1917.
In appearance Were was a light brown humanoid cat (similar to Greymalkin, only much more animalistic, with a more feline head). He had a wiry but very strong build with retractable finger- and toe-tip claws and a non-prehensile tail. He was about 5'4" tall.
Born in Austria in 1858 to a family of circus trapeze artists, Marcus followed in his fathers footsteps and soon became a master of aerialism. Always highly religious, kind and caring, Marcus never missed a service, and often considered joining the priesthood, although he always knew he loved the life of a trapeze artist too much to ever leave it. In 1881 he found himself growing small white-feathered wings from his back. These rapidly grew too large to hide, and his colleagues in the circus were amazed when he revealed what had happened. Marcus thought of his wings as a gift from God, especially after he discovered that they allowed him to fly, and also when discovered another of his powers when he healed a number of people hurt in an accident. Marcus decided he should leave the circus to preach across the country. Unfortunately, before he could do this the Ringmaster appeared, and using his mental powers forced Marcus to come with him. Over the course of several months, purely for fun the Ringmaster twisted Marcus's mind so that although still a kind, gentle man, Marcus would go into a killing rage with very little provocation. Also during this time Marcus's strength, speed and physical beauty greatly increased and he became mute, although still able to communicate with people near to him by a limited form of telepathy. He also manifested an ability to illuminate a huge area as well as generate a blinding flash of light and neutralise energy-based powers in other people. Once his twisting was done the Ringmaster added Marcus to his pack. Marcus was a member of the pack for only a short time when in early 1883 Greymalkin was delivered to the Ringmasters chateau by agents of the Order of the Silver Twilight, still in shock after being transformed into a cat-woman. Together they helped and supported each other so that eventually they were able to escape, the chateau burning to the ground as they left. Marcus returned to England with Greymalkin and was her companion for decades. Greymalkin's psychological help eventually enabled Marcus to overcome the Ringmasters twisting of his mind, and he lived a long and happy life using his healing powers to help the sick and injured. He assisted in a purely non-combative, medical capacity in WWI and WWII, and died with the Russian nuclear attacks in 1917.
Originally a fairly plain, if lithe and agile, blonde-haired brown-eyed man, when his Overman powers activated Marcus transformed into an incredibly handsome, golden-haired and golden-eyed figure with huge white wings. Although mute he had a limited form of telepathy which he could use to communicate with those around him. Also he could heal all people standing within a certain distance of him, negate individual Overman powers if their wielders were close to him and generate light, either to illuminate a large area or temporarily blind people in a smaller area round himself.
Marcus in Champions terms.
Born in 1865 to rich middle-class parents in Amiens, Diana was always a clever, attractive but rather weak-willed girl. In early 1881 she was seduced by one of her families servants and soon found that she was pregnant. When she was no longer able to hide her condition her parents, enraged, disowned her and threw her out on the street. The servant who seduced her had long since left and she was left with nothing and nobody. Diana managed to find work as a seamstress in a tiny backstreet sweatshop, though she lost her job when her son was born and she was taken into a charity hospital. After coming out of hospital she managed to get another seamstressing job, but in early 1882 her son became ill, and she had no money for a doctor. Desperate, she started to walk the streets as a prostitute in order to get the money she needed for a doctor. She managed to get just enough money for a quack doctor, but despite this her sons condition continued to worsen. One night while working on the streets she was attacked by a drunken man who was obviously going to beat her severely, as well as rape her. Diana was terrified and as the man forced himself upon her she felt herself change and grow and suddenly the man was screaming in terror and running. Almost reflexively she chased him down and grabbed him and before she knew it, wanting to silence his screams, had bitten his head off. Terrified by what she had done she slithered off. Eventually she found a deserted park and calmed down a bit; then she looked down at herself and saw that she had become a slimy eel-like creature. This almost sent her over the edge; she closed her eyes and prayed she would change back. Eventually she felt herself shift and change back. Despite her horror at what she had become she realised that whatever this new power was she could use it to get enough money to save her son. She took to luring men into alleys and using her new form to rob them. She soon found she could incapacitate people by secreting sticky slime which drugged them into unconsciousness. Although she had enough money for better doctors, still her son got worse, and the police were after the woman who could turn into this monster. Then her son died. Enraged she hunted down and killed the last doctor she had hired, but was seen and injured by gunfire. She fled, not noticing the man who watched from the crowd. Later on she was approached by this man, Ivan Zerstoiten, who offered her a chance to really strike back at humanity. Diana found herself agreeing, and went off with him, joining the Pack. As time passed her will got even weaker, and she came to love Ivan as he used his powers on him. She was involved in the plot against the British Royal Family in 1883. In 1897 she and Ivan were married and in 1901 she bore Ivan's first child, Erich. In 1907 she bore his second child, a daughter, Andrea. Both of the children showed signs of superhuman powers almost from birth, and were groomed by their father to succeed him. In late 1908 Ivan began to show signs of incurable illness, and by early 1909 he was nearly dead. In a desperate attempt to save his life Ivan had the Pack, led by Diana, kidnap English Rose away from the Royal Elite Guard and used his powers to coerce her into aiding him. Although his illness was cured, the Royal Elite Guard arrived soon after and, using the Pack as a diversion Ivan, Diana, Erich and Andrea fled while the rest of the Pack were captured. After re-establishing themselves elsewhere Ivan and Diana kept a low profile, throwing themselves into training their children. In 1912 Diana bore Ivan's third and last child, Albert, the man who became Dr Destroyer. She and Ivan lived fairly quietly as he slipped into senility and madness. Despite her devotion to Ivan, he came almost to despise Diana, and in 1926, in a fit of rage her forced Diana to kill herself. She was 61 years old.
In human form Lamprey was a pale, attractive woman with straight black hair, blue eyes and slightly clammy skin. In her superhuman form she was a limbless lamprey-like creature about 19 feet long and 12 inches in diameter with tiny eyes and a large sucker-like mouth. In both forms she could breathe underwater, healed much faster than normal and had greatly enhanced senses, especially her sense of smell. In her Lamprey form she was very strong and could move very fast, both on land (even up sheer surfaces) and in water. She could also grab and hold targets very effectively by wrapping herself around them. If she grabbed a target she could then bite it for variety of effects, either just to cause damage, to drain blood, or to cover the target in a numbing neurotoxic slime. On the negative side of her powers, Lamprey was very vulnerable to fire, and could be injured very badly by it. Her already-weak mind was twisted by the Ringmaster after she joined him in order to make her more tractable, to make her love him (Diana being the only human-looking Pack member, at least some of the time) and to make her love killing and blood. She remained in this state until her death.
Lamprey in Champions terms.
Eventually rehabilitated by Greymalkin in 1911 after capture in 1909. Originally an unmarried middle-class Spanish businessman, handsome and intelligent, in late 1883 he fell into a coma, and over three weeks metamorphosised into a scaled, clawed, tailed lizard-man. When he woke up he found his intellect had been severely diminished by his transformation as well. Paranoid of a plot against him because of his new freakish appearance, Ricardo easily escaped the hospital he was in, despite it being guarded by the Spanish government who wanted to recruit him. As he wandered the countryside he was approached by the Ringmaster who was looking to rebuild his pack after the capture of many of its members in the 1883 plot against the British Royal Family. Ricardo had no choice but to go along with him. The Ringmaster gradually twisted Ricardo's mind into a shape more to his liking, and from then until 1909 Ricardo was a loyal member of the Pack, hunting with the rest at the Ringmasters direction. In 1909, like most of the rest of the Pack, he was captured by the Royal Elite Guard. After long months of work by Greymalkin he was declared sane in 1911, and joined the Royal Elite Guard, and like them he died in the Russian nuclear attacks of 1917.
Terata was 5' tall with a stooped gait, clawed fingers and toes, green-scaled skin and a long prehensile tail. He was quite tough, superhumanly strong and could run at over 170 kph. His senses were also greatly boosted with the result that it was almost impossible to surprise him.