Sentinels // Marvel-DC Parallels

I feel like I can't possibly be the first person to pose this question, so if anybody knows of another similar thread, I would love a link.

Every time I introduce a new player to SOTM they always struggle picking a Hero.  I find it's helpful to give them a Marvel/DC parallel (or blend of parallels) to give them some flavor behind the various hero themes.  Regrettably, I am not very well-versed in comics and know most of the characters from movies and television (although i'm slowly working to improve that).  As a result, I found it pretty easy to come up with parallels for the heroes in the core game but now that I have literally every expansion and mini-expansion I have realized how completely unprepared I am to develop a comprehensive list. 

However, if anyone has any oppinions on who they consider a similar or "parallel" from Marvel/DC - or if you disagree with what I have listed - I would appreciate your input.

Thanks!

Kakariko

- Note: I realize that each of the characters were uniquely designed and I don't intend to cheapen them by tagging them with a mainstream "lookalike".

Core Game

1. Heroes

• Absolute Zero - - 
• Bunker - - Iron Man, Warmachine
• Fanatic - - 
• Haka - - The Hulk
• Legacy - - Superman, Captain America
• Ra - - 
• Tachyon - - The Flash
• Tempest - - Aquaman, Martian Manhunter
• Visionary, The - -
• Wraith, The - - Batman

2. Villians

• Baron Blade - - Red Skull
• Citizen Dawn - -
• Grand Warlord Voss - - Thanos
• Omnitron - -

Rook City

1. Heroes

• Expatriette - -
• Mister Fixer - -

2. Villians

• Plague Rat - -
• Spite - -
• The Chairman - -
• The Matriarch - -

Infernal Relics

1. Heroes

• Nightmist - -
• The Argent Adept - -

2. Villians

• Akash'Bhuta - -
• Apostate - -
• Glooomweaver - -
• The Ennead - -

Wrath of the Cosmos

1. Heroes

• Captain Cosmic - - Captain Marvel
• MSky-Scraper - - Ant-Man

2. Villians

• Deadline - -
• Infinitor - -
• Kaargra Warfang - -
• Progeny - -

Shattered Timelines

1. Heroes

• Chrono-Ranger- - Jonah Hex
• Omnitron-X - -

2. Villians

• Iron Legacy - -
• Kismet - -
• La Capitan - -
• The Dreamer- -

Villians of the Multiverse

1. Villians

• Ambuscade - -
• Biomancer - -
• Bugbear - -
• Citizen Hammer & Citizen Anvil - -
• Greazer - -
• La Capitan - -
• Miss Information - -
• The Operative - -
• Plague Rat - -
• Sergeant Steel - -

Vengeance

1. Heroes

• K.N.Y.F.E.- -
• Parse - -
• Setback - -
• The Naturalist - -
• The Sentinels - -

2. Villians

• Baron Blade - -
• Fright Train - -
• The Friction - -
• Ermine - -
• Proletariat - -

Oblivaeon

1. Heroes

• Luminary - -
• Harpy, The - -
• Akash'Thriya - -
• La Pomodora - -
• Lifeline - -

2. Villians

• Aeon Master - -
• Borr the Unstable - -
• Dark Mind - -
• Empyreon - -
• Faultless - -
• Nixious the Chosen - -
• Progeny - -
• Rainek Kel 'Voss - -
• Sanction - -
• Voidsoul - -
• Oblivaeon - - 

Mini-Expansions

1. Heroes

• Guise - - Deadpool
• The Scholar - -
• Unity - -
• Void Guard - -
• Benchmark - -
• Stuntman - -

2. Villians

• Infinitor - -
• Wager Master - -
• Chokepoint - -
• Miss Information

This thread on Reddit went through that a while ago reddit.com/r/sentinelsmultiverse/comments/6qf2zc/herovillain_analogues/

This has been done a number of times before, but rarely with the full list of characters consolidated.  For what it's worth, here are my thoughts:

Core Game

1. Heroes

• Absolute Zero - - Iron Man + Iceman
• Bunker - - Iron Man, Warmachine, STRIPE
• Fanatic - - Hawkgirl, with a touch of Ghost Rider
• Haka - - The Hulk
• Legacy - - Superman, Captain America
• Ra - - Thor, Hercules
• Tachyon - - The Flash, Quicksilver
• Tempest - - Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Storm
• Visionary, The - -Jean Grey
• Wraith, The - - Batman

2. Villians

• Baron Blade - - Baron Zemo, Doctor Doom
• Citizen Dawn - - Magneto
• Grand Warlord Voss - - Thanos, Darkseid
• Omnitron - - Ultron, Brainiac

Rook City

1. Heroes

• Expatriette - -  The Punisher, Domino
• Mister Fixer - - Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Bronze Tiger, Daredevil

2. Villians

• Plague Rat - - Man-Bat, Morbius the Living Vampire, Killer Croc
• Spite - - Bane, The Joker
• The Chairman - - Carmine Falcone, Bruno Mannheim
• The Matriarch - - Nico Minoru, Scarlet Witch

Infernal Relics

1. Heroes

• Nightmist - - Doctor Strange, John Constantine
• The Argent Adept - - Doctor Fate,  

2. Villians

• Akash'Bhuta - - Gaea, Poison Ivy
• Apostate - - Mephisto, Lucifer
• Glooomweaver - - Dormammu, various Cthulhian entities
• The Ennead - - The Salem Seven

Wrath of the Cosmos

1. Heroes

• Captain Cosmic - - Green Lantern
• MSky-Scraper - - Ant-Man, The Atom

2. Villians

• Deadline - - Silver Surfer, Beta Ray Bill
• Infinitor - - Sinestro, various non-green Lantern wielders
• Kaargra Warfang - - Mongul, Arcade
• Progeny - - AMAZO, Metamorpho

Shattered Timelines

1. Heroes

• Chrono-Ranger- - Jonah Hex, Cable
• Omnitron-X - - Vision, Mega Man

2. Villians

• Iron Legacy - - Various alternate Superman/Captain America versions ("Red Son" Superman comes immediately to mind)
• Kismet - - Scarlet Witch, Jinx, Hazard
• La Capitan - - Kang the Conqueror, Chronos
• The Dreamer- - Ace (Royal Flush Gang)

Villians of the Multiverse

1. Villians

• Ambuscade - - Kraven the Hunter
• Biomancer - - Suma-Ket, Nekron, other sorcerous/necromantic archetypes
• Bugbear - - Sabretooth
• Citizen Hammer & Citizen Anvil - -  I mean, they're Christopher and Adam's WoW characters, aren't they?
• Greazer - - Lobo, with a 50s veneer
• La Capitan - -  see above
• Miss Information - - any number of 'office assistants', like Edwin Jarvis; Terra; various reality-manipulators
• The Operative - - Lady Shiva
• Plague Rat - - see above
• Sergeant Steel - - Nick Fury, Amanda Waller

Vengeance

1. Heroes

• K.N.Y.F.E.- - Psylocke, Black Widow
• Parse - - Mister Terrific, 
• Setback - - Longshot, Domino
• The Naturalist - - Beast Boy
• The Sentinels - - The Fantastic Four

2. Villians

• Baron Blade - - see above
• Fright Train - - Blockbuster, Brick
• The Friction - - Reverse Flash
• Ermine - - Catwoman
• Proletariat - - Multiple Man/Jamie Madrox

Oblivaeon

1. Heroes

• Luminary - - see Baron Blade
• Harpy, The - - see Matriarch
• Akash'Thriya - - Swamp Thing, Man-Thing
• La Commodora - - see La Capitan (note:  this was spelled "La Pomodoro" in the original post.  Is that the Foodiverse version?)
• Lifeline - - Deadline

2. Villians

• Aeon Master - - (I mean, he's literally a non-speaking, faceless villain meant to be a source of mooks.  Could be any number of characters.)
• Borr the Unstable - - Speedball
• Dark Mind - - Phoenix Force/Dark Phoenix
• Empyreon - - Firewalker, Terrax the Tamer, other Heralds of Galactus (which could apply to most of these)
• Faultless - - Lords of Order, Nabu
• Nixious the Chosen - - Mephisto, the Oghru Jahad
• Progeny - - see above
• Rainek Kel 'Voss - - see Voss
• Sanction - - The Living Tribunal
• Voidsoul - - Eclipso, Shadow King
• Oblivaeon - - Galactus

Mini-Expansions

1. Heroes

• Guise - - Deadpool
• The Scholar - - The Dude, Iroh
• Unity - - Terra, Rick Jones, Magneto
• Void Guard - - see The Sentinels
• Benchmark - - Cyborg, Iron Man
• Stuntman - - Stunt-Master, see also Ambuscade

2. Villians

• Infinitor - - see above
• Wager Master - - Mr. Mxyzptlk, Bat-Mite
• Chokepoint - -  Graviton, Magneto
• Miss Information -- see above

I once asked a friend if he had a favorite Marvel/DC hero to try and pick his Sentinels deck. He answered "Spider-Man," which totally stymied me! Personality-wise that'd be Setback, but I didn't want to introduce him with that character and I couldn't think of a gameplay analogue. Eventually he added, "or the X-Men," so, okay, boom, I gave him Tempest.

But now that I've played the heroes that releasd with OblivAeon, I know exactly who I'd give him: Void Guard Writhe! He's not really the same power set or personality, but the way he swings in, does a cool thing, and then vanishes, while having to be careful not to get squished, seems exactly right for Spider-Man.

Writhe as Spider-Man, you say? Interesting. I've always found him to be a glaring oversight. I can't even think of a Spider-Man-ish hero in the Cauldron!

I usually just go with Absolute Zero when I need a stand-in, for maximum sarcasm.

I always saw Baron Blade as more of a Lex Luthor then a Red Skull.

Wager Master is so totally Q from Star Trek The Next Generation that I have trouble imagining anything else when I play against him. Especially in Celestial Tribunal (also totally from TNG)

Bunker has more connections with War-Machine than he does with Iron Man, in my humble opinion. Military man in a giant suit of power armor COVERED in hard munitions and armor. They're both technically under the Power Suit Architype, but they play incredibly different: Benchmark's a scalpel, Bunker is a sledgehammer.

I see Blade as more a Doctor Doom mixed with Lex Luthor as well. Who knows, maybe Blade's father was more a Red Skull?

I can see what you're saying about the parallel between Writhe and Spider-Man. I'd say he's more Full Symbiote Spidey, or maybe even a non-beserk and more calculating Venom.

Cauldron spiderman analogue would probably be Cricket. Teenage character with insect themed instead of arachnid themed powers feels close in my mind.

Who is Cricket. I don’t recognize that hero. Also Cauldron?

The Cauldron is a fan-made (and GtG-approved) collection of Sentinels characters available as a print-and-play on Board Game Geek.

Cricket is one of the characters in those expansions.

If you google 'Sentinels of the Multiverse Cauldron', they're the first link that pops up.

I don't know why I never thought of Cricket. Obvious, really! XD

I think he Doctor Dooms mostly

I always think of Baron Blade as Chairface Chippendale.  Probably because of moon shenanigans.

Haka is more like Wonder Woman, a historical cultural icon, fighter / warrior beat stick

Wager Master could also be Impossible Man from Marvel comics 

Guise as shape shifter is also Plastic Man also 4rth wall break can be Ambush Bug from DC 

Marvel comics for Chairman would be Kingpin and the Maggia 

OblivAeon also Anti-Moniter DC

Sky Scraper more "Hank Pym" than Antman 

Thanks, now I have an image of Haka in a tiara and Wonder Woman top. -.-

And he looks fabulous. :-D 

Seriously, I can totally see him pulling off that look with no trouble. :-) 

Yeah, no, he would totally rock it.

I usually equate Wonder Woman with Fanatic, though.

I always thought of Fanatic as a religious version of The Hulk. Her origin story involves her being spared a certain death by divine intervention, just like Dr Banner is changed into Hulk by gamma radiation that should have killed him. Most of her one-shot cards are related to her getting angry or delivering judgement. And lots of her ongoing cards assist her allies at the cost of her (or their) health. Even her card mechanics feel like they could be a Hulk deck to me. Divine Sacrifice is Hulk pushing too far forward in a fight in order to create a window for other heroes to engage. Final Dive is Hulk punching one baddie into another. Prayer of Desperation is either Banner discovering some science thing that helps the team, or Hulk buying time for the team by raging. Divine Focus is Hulk getting mad at just one baddie and tunneling on them. Chastise is Hulk grabbing someone in his hand and preventing them from attacking anyone. And End of Days is Hulk getting so angry that he jumps high enough that his punch shatters the entire city when he lands. Which is totally possible because comics.

Also, I totally buy the Haka / Wonder Woman parallels. I mean, he tutors kids and she works at a museum!

I tend to see Fanatic as a cross between Hawkgirl (particularly the Justice League animated version, in both aesthetic and attitude) and Ghost Rider (in terms of power sets and link between spirit and human forms).  The idea of a Spirit of Vengeance is much closer to Fanatic than rage-fueled science monster to me. 

Fair enough! I guess I was focusing on how both Hulk and Fanatic seem to grow in power proportionately with the strength of their emotions. Fanatic's fights in the Cosmic Contest sent me down that train of thought. But yeah, now that I'm thinking about it, Ghost Rider is a pretty good comparison. 

Southwest Sentinels not really Fantistic Four

The FF are one of top teams in setting at least 3 of them can carry a solo comic

SS are really only seen together and the 4 working together are fighting at the level of one A list hero 

Sentinels = Power Pack 

Also we have not discussed seperate members of Sentinels 

Dr Medico = healing and energy shenanigens = Raven DC comics Teen Titians

Writhe = Shadow Thief, Obsidien DC

Mainstay = Super strong + tough biker dude = pick a 90's character

Idealist = young + energy constructs the cute elf girl green lantern 

I think a lot of the comparison between the Sentinels and the Fantastic Four comes in the aethetics:

Johnny Storm -- guy made out of living energy, with emotional control issues -- Doctor Medico (especially after the whole Gloomweaver thing)

Ben Grimm -- tough guy with a stony exterior and a heart of gold -- Mainstay (especially his Shard-Strength look)

Reed Richards -- Obsessive science nerd with amorphous powers and a bunch of super-science gadgets no one else can use or understand -- Writhe

Sue Storm -- (as much as I hate to say this, because casual sexism in comics) the girl one, with powers related to her concentration and mental state -- Idealist

True, the FF are individually very powerful.  I'm not sure which 3 you think "can" carry a solo comic--The Thing and The Human Torch actually did so, and both of the other two are even harder to deal with when they aren't holding back.

But Power Pack?  Even collectively they never take on any serious threats except in a joke/kiddie sort of way, where either they get incredibly lucky or the bad guy lets them off easy.  They're hard to compare because it's a very different sort of comic.

Nobody has nominated Kaagra Warfang as Grandmaster yet?

My wife would like to suggest K.N.Y.F.E. as Captain Marvel. She's quippy, punchy, has energy powers, and certain backstory details with the new movie.

3rd i was thinking of was Sue with all the Lady Liberator content.

Don’t forget the military history too, pretty prominent for both of them.

Yeah, I was shying away from spoilers, because as I understand it from my wife who reads the comics, they significantly reimagined Captain Marvel’s backstory for the movie. But, yeah, what she was thinking of was that both were a member of a military organization separated from her original home; she went through an arc where she started devoted to that organization, learned their darker side, and then came to fight against them; and then she goes off into space to have space adventures.

Personally, I view Cricket as a Daredevil analogue. Telescoping staff, martial arts, great hearing and echonavigation?

Also,  Benchmark is thematically closer to Robocop than Iron Man.  The body modification certainly, but it's the "unwitting tool of evil corporation recognizing he should disobey" that comes through so clearly in his flavor text.

True, bus as far as relating him to either Marvel or DC, I’d say Iron Man is more acurate.

[quote=“PlatinumWarlock, post:3, topic:18931”]
Plague Rat - - Man-Bat, Morbius the Living Vampire, Killer Croc[/quote]

The Lizard is particularly apt, especially the version in the Amazing Spider-Man movie, where he tries to turn other people into mutants like himself. Granted Plague Rat isn’t trying to do that…

I would equate him particularly to the Scarlet Witch, because his powers are all about making slight adjustments in favor of the hero team, which feels similar to Wanda’s hexes (comic book Wanda that is; the movie Wanda is more like Visionary without the mind-reading).

Who?

More than anyone else, the Injustice version of Supes is the ideal fit here.

Isnt Ace the big strong robot? I’m not seeing the parallel here.

A buddy of mine claims that Sgt. Steel and his team are an exact match for the characters of the video game Team Fortress 2. I don’t know the game myself, but his description sounded pretty spot-on.

Wolverine, obviously! She has energy blades rather than adamantium claws, but it’s very spot-on otherwise, especially with some of the attitude in her flavor text.

Her archer powers are obviously Hawkeye/Green Arrow, while her deck control and such makes me think of Oracle or Professor Xavier.

I always describe Setback as “spider-man without spider-powers”. The parallels are overwhelming, ranging from the art on his incap side to the fact that his enemies include a Venom analog, Plague Rat as a stand-in for various animal-monster-people, and a Sinister Six led by Kraven the Hunter. But the most defining aspect of Spidey as a character, to quote another old friend of mine, is that he’s “the only super-hero with more problems than powers”. So Setback’s cursed luck and his obliviousness about same are a perfect fit; like Spidey, he constantly suffers but never gives up.

Juggernaut, obviously! I don’t even know who Brick is (unless you’re just using it as a term for a general character archetype).

Crossbones is the one who actually was Borr, Speedball just blamed himself Wanda-style.

I would also equate him to Darkseid, particularly the Infinite Crisis version. Other DC characters who have played this kind of “ultimate destroyer of everything” role have included Imperiex from Our Worlds At War and the Anti-Monitor from the original Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Since these both come from outside the superhero comics universe, I should clarify that The Dude is from the film The Big Lebowski (he isnt superhuman in any way, he just provides the look and the attitude), and Iroh is a mentor figure fro the anime Fullmetal Alchemist. There really isn’t a character even vaguely like the Scholar anywhere in Marvel, DC, or even Image or Dark Horse as far as I can recall.

Benchmark has a particularly specific inspiration (as far as I know; it’s possible the idea actually came from something else, but it sure seems like it must have been this). There’s a specific 90s-ish story arc where Lex Luthor founds an organization called Infinity Inc, where he uses a serum to give superpowers to several normal people, who then work as a superhero team to generate good PR for him. (The most notable member of this group is Natasha Irons, the daughter of Steel.) The whole Revocorp/Benchmark situation seems very analogous to this IMO.

There were multiple Royal Flush Gangs, a different Ace was probably being referred to.

What? Searching for “Iroh” and “Iroh Fullmetal Alchemist” on Google only turns up results about the character Iroh from the American Avatar: The Last Airbender show. Furthermore, in The Scholar’s episode of The Letters Page, it was confirmed that Iroh from Avatar was a source of inspiration for Christopher & Adam. (They also name a character who apparently is from Fullmetal Alchemist, so you might be crossing the streams a bit.)

IMHO Parse is basically “What if Karnak used a bow instead of fists”.

I mean I don’t think that was intentional since C&A have never seemed particularly familiar with the Inhumans, but they definitely have similar abilities and demeanors.

Interesting. But a more direct parallel to the Ennead (and I can’t believe I didn’t think of it sooner) would be the Seven Deadly Sins as portrayed in the Shazam comics. Less so the movie, since in that they’re kind of all the same, so less able to justify having them as separate character cards…but in the comics, they’re all wildly different, while still having a lot in common, and in both of those aspects they match the Ennead quite well.