Antihero for Hire
From CMC Wiki
Antihero for Hire (AFH) is a webcomic by Mark Shallow.
Preview Follow the life of a hero of the night, and the associated bills that come with it. Shadehawk with his trusty Silver Arrow, and the beautiful yet brainy Wrench as his partner, set off to fight crime at night and solve a mystery that haunts Shadehawk's past.
Contents |
Recurring Characters
Essentially the main characters, or who show up time to time due to the interwoven plots character motivation.
Shadehawk
| Real name Dechs Rashart, he's out to get Tera-Corp for what they've done to his family and friends. He is a registered hero of SHAB (see below), Shadehawk's SHAC is 1007-M0V3-2061. He is ambidextrous, meaning he can wield with either hand without much difficulty. |
Wrench
| Real name Laria Moondale, she partnered up with Dechs to fight crime. She is known as the world's greatest hacker, but as she's never been caught, only a select few know Wrench by her true identity. |
Crossroad
| Real name Celestina Domerelli. She became a superheroine to do battle with The Dom. What has motivated her to do so is unkown, but it was enough to risk herself to take action rather than go to the (supposedly inneffectual) TCPD. She has on occasion came across Dechs while confronting do-badders. She has a partner, Echo, the equivelence of Laria is to Dechs. First appearance here. |
Echo
| Full name Trent Simmons. He graduated in the same class as Laria. And like Laria, he has a hero partner, Crossroad. First appearance here. |
Wizard
| A mysterious character with equally mysterious past. Like Dechs, he has an agenda with Tera-Corp, along the lines of its destruction. He has shown to have telekenetic powers, be it naturally from his mind or from the outfit he wears or from the testing done upon him during his detention in Tera-Corp. First appearence here. |
Baron Diamond
| Full Title Baron Orange Earthsmantle von Potatoflight of the country Miraria. Lost one eye in accident and then both his arms in another. He disappeared for a while and then reappeared in the States for street fights in Triumph City. His first depicted duel was with Dechs, and by deus ex machina he was defeated. He was sent to prison and then some time later was released under questionable circumstances. He sought revenge upon Dechs, though this time Dechs defeated him with his own wits. At some unknown point in time he was hired by Doctor Nefarious as a body guard. After accidentally thwarting his own crime it is assumed Nefarious fired him. First appearance here. |
Hector Syphon
| Presumably the killer of Dechs Rashart, Jacob Rashart, Melissa Neodale, and Leon Patterson. He was head of R&D at Tera-Corp until the incident, where Jacob stole the Silver Arrow. He was then repositioned to security to the present time.
The main villain of the story, he has not been shown much prominance other than his connection to Dechs, unlike Wizard, who thinks of himself one of the good guys. What motivates him to hunt down Dechs and the Silver Arrow remain unknown. Currently, he is aware of Dechs' possession of the Silver Arrow, and has made a number of attempts at retrieval, including sending the bounty hunter Jack, and rearming--literally--Baron Diamond to go after him. First appearance here. |
Rose "Greenie" Kirkins
| She works for Tera-Corp, though what her first job was is unknown. She was recently promoted to Electronic Security Specialist by Hector. She has had direct contact with Dechs, splinting his broken arm when he was facing Baron Diamond for the second time. She also came into indirect contact with Laria, blocking access of Laria's bug. First appearance here. |
Tera Dameon
| President and CEO of Tera-Corp. Her office is not at the top of the building, however, as to be counter-intuitive for would be break-ins. She has a less-than-friendly relationship with Hector, their past yet to be detailed. First appearance here. |
The Vengeful Sisters
 | Orphans who united under a banner. They also don a number of powersuits, varying in ability, developed by Tera-Corp. A scientist named Charles furnished them and on occasion provides maintenance, upgrades, and analysis on their performance. The group, by their pseudonyms, are Dragon, Sparks, Waterfall, Aftershock, and Snow Angel. Notable about this group is their actions, though in good intention, are still crimes under the law, thus Dechs has to stop them. In their first encounter the Sisters managed to escape. The second encounter also included Crossroad, as the latest action was a job for The Dom. Again, none of them were captured. |
The Dom
| His first name isn't known, but his last name is Domerelli. Yes, Crossroad's father. He is a crimelord, with a penchant for killing his subordinates at an ungainly rate. What exactly is his business is unknown. First appearance here. |
Charles
| Last name unknown. A scientist for Tera-Corp, he headed Project Ringmail. A disaster resulted in him losing both his eyes and the escape of Wizard from Tera-Corp custody. He has since continued to work on powersuits, and has given five to the Vengeful Sisters. First appearance here. |
One-Time Characters
This is not to say that they will not return, but that they contributed to the plot with not much probability of returning or have yet to show up again.
Doctor Nefarious
Full name Albert Chairious Airious Nefarious-Smith. A long-time villain of Dechs, he is released from prison on a far-too-often basis in the duo's opinion. He wears a monocle and a light-blue lab coat, using questionable science to do evil, much of which is thwarted by Dechs sooner or later. Nefarious briefly rampaged through Triumph City in his terrifying giant robot, the N-Forcer. Having hired Baron Diamond as a bodyguard, this proved his downfall when Shadehawk angered the former street fighter, causing him to punch the N-Forcer's console. When asked later, Dr. N commented on his defeat "Consoles always explode."First appearance here.Neon
A hacker of great skill, though nothing like Laria. He faces Dechs in belief that it would test his hacking skills, only to lose to Laria when she hacks into his own system. First appearance here.
Crimson Boomerang
A would-be villain, if he stole a real sack of money, instead of a sack of paper. First appearance here.
Jack
A bounty hunter, who went after Shadehawk for a brief time. His trenchcoat is much more spacious than it appears. First appearance here.
Gatemaster
A student "genius," but was at odds with his professor. Won a lottery, but decided to invest the winnings, plus a loan, into developing a technology that allows him to transport himself from varying distances. In the end, he went out for revenge instead of profit, ultimately facing Shadehawk but captured by Corporal Rocket. First appearance here.
Froster
aka King of Ice, aka Cubeinator, aka Icicle Man. A chilly villain, he can control cold, in the sense of fog and ice, and other weather-related conditions. As he claims, he is immune to all temperature, in that he can withstand heat and the lack of it. Given that he has a device for cold-related conditions, he follows that theme. First appearance here.
Other Notables
Places, events, things of signficance.
Triumph City
The setting of AFH, it was erected after the Unexpected War by Americans not wishing to live under Canadian rule.Tera-Corp
From the AFH Databank
The world's most powerful ultra-conglomerate, Tera Corp is near ubiquitous in today's world. They have tendrils in nearly every industry, and have offices in every major country in the world. Word is they even have a Canadian branch, but that's probably a rumor. There seems to be some bad history between Shadehawk and them, involving them killing his father.
SHAB
From the AFH Databank Short for: Superhero Accounts BureauThe SHAB was formed in order to both legalize and encourage the whole superhero way of life. The government formed it when it realized that the Superhero vigilante problem wouldn't go away, so having control over it would be the next best thing.
Every hero registered with SHAB has a Superhero Account Code (SHAC) and whenever they bring someone to justice, they leave their SHAC number with the authorities. A difficulty index is calculated, and money is placed in the account. A SHAB Card can then be used to withdraw the credits from the account.
TCPD
MANTIS
From the AFH Databank
MANTIS (Military Agents Nominally Trained In Spying) is an ultra-elite mercenary organization. Trained from childhood to be MANTIS agents, an indivudal member doesn't even have a name- just a four-digit alphanumeric designation. They provide their services to whoever wishes to spend the money - about a thousand dollars an hour. Gear includes their standard issue sidearm - a pistol with the power and flexibility of a rifle which can be fitted with a number of attachments such as a sniper sight, as well as enhanced vision goggles, and various other tools like explosives and lockpicks.
The biggest difference between a MANTIS agent and a regular person is that the agent is incredibly single-minded. There is only one goal: Success of the mission. Nothing will stand in the way of that - they have no other morals or values. It's rather scary.
Their first appearence is here.
Mechazor L
A mecha hero from a cartooon show. It has appeared twice in the comic, and once as an ad for the comic.Devices of the Future
These are gadgets, weapons, and whatnot that have yet to exist but play a notable role in the story that merits explaination.
The Silver Arrow
From the AFH Databank The Silver Arrow is an interesting design. Taking almost nothing from standard weapon design, and capable of using the widest variety of ammunition ever, the Silver Arrow is one of a kind.Even I'm not sure how some of it works: There's a few unscannable black boxes which are connected to both the firing trigger and the bullet loading device. Bullets are loaded in a circular shape, and - pay attention, this is the big thing - it takes more than standard ballistic rounds. Specially made energy capsules can be loaded into the ammo chamber, and when that ammo is chosen with a flick of the circular side-ratchets the weapon suddenly can become a high-yeild energy cannon, flame thrower, or laser. The gun is made of a nearly indestructable mystery metal I can't even scan.
Ammo Types:
- Standard Bullet - This is the ammunition of choice. Easy, cheap, and plentiful - a real classic.
- Tracer Bullet - Attaches to the target allowing me to track the perp through the city.
- Explosive - A medium-yield explosive. It basically turns the Silver Arrow into a grenade launcher.
- Gas - Much like the explosive rounds, only it releases some sort of gas. Various types available.
- Glue - A glue-like substance explodes at the point of impact, restricting movement.
- Tranq - Fires a tranquilizer needle.
- Capture Net - A net pops out and captures the target.
- Flamethrower - Instead of firing, the capsule releases gas and ignites it.
- Energy Rifle - Fires small energy pulses.
- Electric - Fires an incapacitiating energy blast.
- Electro-Ballistic - Fires a bullet which explodes in an electrical shock on impact.
- Sonic - Fires a sonic shockwave.
- Capture (Non-Net) - Wraps the target in a difficult-to-escape rope-like device
Zipgrappler
From the AFH Databank Simply a grapple-gun (with a 100-story range) which uses a scavanged U-Grip to hold Shadehawk's weight. Since he doesn't have the ability to fly, it comes in handy.Gravetic Pads
From the AFH Databank After the development of Antigravity pads, someone took a look at them and thought 'what if we hooked it up backwards'? After a tragic electrical accident, someone else figured out that a reversed Antigravity Pad couldn't be a full circle, otherwise it would cancel out. As a result, the Gravetic Pad was born. A Gravetic Pad (or U-Grip, as they are known from the way they look) is outrageously expensive, but it comes in handy for on-again-off-again adhesion - a powered Gravetic Pad will be nearly inseperable from what it's touching, but an off one is just like a hunk of metal.MAI
The Mircrocomputer Android Interface. Helps around the apartment for Wrench's needs. Useful for nearly everything (target practice being categorized under the "nearly"). First appearence.
Storyline
Some Conjectures
Project Ringmail
A Tera-Corp research and development project, dealing with full-body suits that enables the wearer powers beyond the normal. The project is still active, continuing to refine and eventually bring it to full production in the hopes of a contract, be it with the government or another entity.
There are six known prototype powersuits: Dragon (#017), Sparks, Waterfall, Aftershock, and Snow Angel each have one. Wizard (#0) holds the first suit made.
The powersuit varies in ability, ranging from control of water, electricity, and telekinesis. The suits interface with the brain for control, but there is the side-effect of causing psychological imbalance. This is most notable in Wizard, though he may have been imbalanced to begin with, and Waterfall, who usually is of passive demeanor until her Sisters have been threatened. The stark change in personality makes the powersuit still dangerous in untrained hands. If such a case were to happen with the prototypes, a global shut down code is available via radio signal.
Wizard in particular has no like being a subject to such experiment, and probably had no choice. It was Hector that provided him with the research. Wizard escaped from Tera-Corp and is seeking revenge. Charles is one of the surviving researchers from Wizards escape. He personally has an agenda of good, stealing the suits that the Sisters wear.
Project Crossbow
Another Tera-Corp research project, it produced the Silver Arrow, now in the possession of Dechs Rashart. Its make is unknown, but supposedly is of a revolutionary product metallurgy. Hector personally headed up the project, and Dech's father, Jacob, was likely one of the researchers.
For unknown reasons, Jacob stole the Silver Arrow, in which Hector killed him and his wife in searching for it. Hector proceded to go after Dechs, who was with friends. He burned down Dechs' friends house, killing them, and thought to have killed Dechs as well, never recovering the Silver Arrow. Dechs, though, was not in the home, and now has no family nor friends. He seeks revenge on Tera-Corp, becoming a superhero known as Shadehawk, wielding the Silver Arrow.
Some years passed, and Hector caught wind of this. He now seeks Dechs and the Silver Arrow. Likely he put the bounty on Dechs' head, which brought the attention of Jack, a skilled bounty hunter. Dechs' survived the encounter, though whether more bounty hunters will show up has yet to be seen. Hector also released the Baron in hopes to killing him and retrieving the Silver Arrow, but that also proved fruitless.
Crossroad and the Dom
The Dom is a crime lord, simple as that. He has various henchmen doing his business in Triumph City. Crossroad is the superheroine that is thwarting his operations. Though it seems neither have personally met as their alter egos, they already know each other as father and daughter.
It is unknown why Crossroad decided to fight against her father in this way. Something in her past, as suggested by her superhero name and character introduction, triggered this "rebellion" and now she seeks wherever the Dom has operations and puts a stop to it.
Color Motif
A number of characters have a dominant color - Laria being orange, Trent blue, Miss Kirkins Green, the Baron red, Jack brown, and President Dameon purple, to name a few.
There are some notable associations, or mere coincidences, with these colors. Laria, Trent, and Kirkins represent a primary color, and all three have superb computer skills. Celestina and Dechs are white and black, respectively, and tend to be at odds with each other in the superhero business.
