Earth 52

Earth 52 is an earth in which there are mutant superheroes and villains. In the year 1916, occurrences of humans exhibiting unusual powers began being recorded, with increasing frequency as the years go on. Superhumans fought in both World Wars, on both sides. During the Cold War, both the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. developed the technology to create superhumans, using a process involving radiation and genetic manipulation. This was very quickly made illegal by the U.N. for humanitarian reasons. The Cold War ended at much the same time as in Earth 9, as the Soviet Union having superhumans did not prevent their economy from collapsing under its own weight. In modern day, superhumans are treated similarly to a minority group in the U.S., with groups like the SRA (Superhuman Rights Advocates) advocating for equal protection under the law, with moderate success. A new term emerged, called Superphobia, referring to bigotry against supers by normal humans. The word "Mutant" is a derogatory word used against Supers. To be fair, there are also extremist Superhumans who are bigoted against normals, who use the term "mundanes" or "mundies" as a slur against normal humans.
Several Superhero teams have emerged, including the U.S.-based-government-sponsored Super Corps. Europe also has its own superhero team known as the European Defenders. Supervillians also exist, and prisons equipped to hold them exist across the world. Also, as a result of the property damage generally caused by superhero fights, an insurance industry rose up to pay for it. Any superhero team that wants to have any standing without being affiliated with a government has to pay their superhero insurance. Governments generally don't interfere in the operations of superheroes, as long as they are affiliated with a superhero team that pays their insurance. Most governments, including the U.S., don't try to unmask superheroes if they are part of a superhero team that pays their insurance.
In recent years, supervillains have become more organized, oftentimes creating rival organizations or guilds in order to be able to stand a chance against teams of superheroes. These organizations tend to have moving headquarters, like blimps, satellites, or giant submarines, or have housing on tiny island nations (like in the example of the Lemon Guild, who are based in the totalitarian state ruled by General Lemon).
Waylendium is an extremely hard and tough metal. Its utility is only matched by its rarity.
== Power-Ranking System ==
Since superheroes have been around for over a century (and getting more and more common over that span of time), scientific research has been conducted on super-powers, their origins, and relative strengths. While research into the origins of all powers has not produced much results (some supers are known to arise due to scientific accidents or experiments, while others claim supernatural origins), research has been able to create a system for classifying relative strengths of powers.
=== S-Tier, aka Universe-Tier ===
* The highest level of super-powers, this has only been theorized to exist. People of this level can reshape the very fabric of reality, or alter the fate or destiny of the universe if they so choose. Think someone with the power of the Judeo-Christian God.
* ██████████████████████████████████████████████████████
=== A-Tier, aka God-Tier ===
* This level of power can make someone functionally immortal, giving them powers strong enough to alter the fate of a planet. Think someone with the power of any one of the Greek lowercase-g gods.
* Ex: Jupiter, Der Blitz, Lionheart, Bjork (if he is as powerful as he claims), 
=== B-Tier, aka Mid-Tier ===
* People with this level of power exist at a middleground--their powers put them far beyond the abilities of normal humans, but not strong enough to defeat any God-Tier ability.
* Ex: The Furball, Techhead, Dracula Jr., General Lemon (Armored), DeezNutz, The Engine, Cuhullin 
=== C-Tier, aka Street Tier ===
* People at this level of ability have enough power to defend a city, but could not stand a chance against national or global threats on their own. Certain non-powered heroes are listed here, because they, by dint of technology, training, or trickery, are able to compete with other C-Tier talents.
* Ex: Double-Sight, The Fox (who, due to sheer training, is listed here despite not having super-powers in the technical sense), The Vagabond, The Chevalier, Pendragon
=== D-Tier ===
* People at this level of ability have some power which makes them distinct from baseline human, but are not necessarily stronger or more powerful than baseline humans.
* Ex: General Lemon (when not wearing his armor), Frankenstein, String Theory, Alvin Chipmunk 
=== F-Tier ===
* At this level, the superpowers of people inhibit some ability to function as human beings.
* Ex: N. Somnia, X. Clamatio
== Active Teams ==
=== Superhero Teams ===
* The Super Corps: the U.S. Govt Sponsored Superteam. Unusual among superhero teams in that they are actually considered a part of the military, and as such have a clear hierarchy of ranks. Flashy clothing is optional, given the right paperwork is filled out and the costume design is approved by the higher ups. Some in this service maintain a secret identity, preserved with the aid of the U.S. Government. 
* The Justice Club: Another major Superhero team in the U.S., renowned for being inclusive of anyone who wants to join, given that they are able to prove through a series of tests that they can handle themselves. Members of this group tend to vary wildly in terms of powers, ranging from Badass Normals like the Fox, to god-tier abilities like Jupiter, to flat-out oddballs like the Furball (Jordan Alexander 52-a speedster whose hair grows faster than he can cut it).
* The European Defenders: Operate in Europe, and members are all typically from EU countries. 
* The Rising Tiger League: Members are from the four Asian tigers (Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea).
* The Loyal Seven: A group of seven heroes operating on the behalf of the Chinese Communist Party.
* Megazord Bortherhood: A group of Japanese crime fighters who claim to use alien technology.
* The Union Jack Social Club- a new team of superheroes from the UK, emerging as Britain voted to leave the EU. 
* The Earth Defense Crew- a group of super-powered individuals from all over the world committed to stopping climate change and protecting the earth's natural resources. They are commissioned by the UN, and only rarely do actual superhero battling, often instead being more or less figureheads for an ecological movement. 
=== Supervillain Teams ===
* The Cult of Bjork- An extremist religious cult lead by the (supposedly) immortal Incarnate Deity Bjork. Their teachings proclaim the day wherein all the world will be ruled by Bjork and his chosen few superpowered acolytes. All members of this cult have being Superhuman as a prerequisite, and are ranked in a hierarchy based on the relative strength of their power. This hierarchy is denoted by robe color based on the rainbow, ranging from red robes (for lesser talents) to fancy purple robes (for god-tier abilities). His inner circle of archbishops go by names taken from zodiac signs. 
* XTREEM BLÜDLUZT INCORPORATED- an organization of villains who tend to like giant guns, xtreme kewl letterz, and themes involving skulls, blood, or sex. And lots and lots of utility belts. They're more or less villains for hire, and while they have a main group of about a half dozen members, they are actually a real company with board meetings, office politics, and everything else offices do. Their corporate headquarters is in Lemonia.
* The Lemon Guild- A guild for supervillians based out of the tiny island nation of Lemonia. Membership in this guild is earned by a certain yearly dues paid into the royal coffers of General Lemon himself. Privileges of Membership include limited diplomatic immunity (for high-performing members), fancy magitech armor, and solemn, unbreakable alliances among members (enforceable by death). Generally, members tend to be gimmicky, low-power villains with a strong sense of melodrama
* Evil, Amalgamated.
* The Sunshine Gang
* WINGMEN- one of the most notorious terrorist groups in the world, they kidnap and brainwash superhuman youths from around the group into a fierce army, all with the goal of taking over the world to establish a society ruled by those with superpowers.
== Major Figures ==
=== U.S.-Based Heroes ===
==== The Super Corps ====
* In General
** Created in 1942 to counter the Axis's super powered units, consisting of both a more traditional, army-style organizational structure, and later a covert part which partnered with the CIA and FBI. While all are funded by the DoD, the Super Corps Army has been demobilized and remobilized based on when the U.S. was involved in active conflicts, where the Covert Super Corps has remained active since its founding in 1945.
** Initially dissolved after the end of the second world war, President Eisenhower reactivated the military wing during the Korean War to defeat the super strong Kim Il-Sung (in this universe he actually had super powers).
** The Super Corps was active for the rest of the Cold War, until they were again demobilized by President Ford in the wake of the Vietnam War (except for the covert wing, which has always been active).
** The Super Corps Army were re-mobilized in the 1980s as part of a large wave of defense spending.
===== Platoon 548- The Black Knights =====
* Lieutenant Jessica Gardner- aka the American Patriot V. She comes from a long line of people who served in the Super Corps, all with the name of the American Patriot, originating with James Gardner, who was the figurehead of the Super Corps at its foundation in 1942. Like the three other American Patriots before her, she has enhanced strength (her greatest strength feat is in lifting an enemy car over her head and smashing it against the side of a hill), enhanced agility (ability to leap tall buildings in one go), and speed (with her fastest recorded speed being 650m/s). She also has a mild healing factor, enabling her to recover from injuries much faster than the average human.
* Sergeant Aaron Armstrong- has the ability to create portals between any two points within his line of sight.
* The Red Phantom- a vigilante originating from New Steel City, this mysterious figure in a dark red cloak brought fear into the local mob scene, until getting shanghaied into service in the Black Knights. She's more or less on reserve status, only getting called in when her expertise in stealth is needed.
* Private Raymond Reagan- has superhuman elasticity, giving him the ability to stretch his body into all kinds of different shapes. Was briefly an actor in a few indie horror flicks back in the day, until he got tired of always playing some freakishly deformed monster.
* Miles Per Second - A powerful speedster who works for the super Corps. She and the Furball had two races for charity back in the day, though both have had less time for frivolity since the arrival of the Cult of Bjork.
===== Historical members =====
* James Gardner, aka American Patriot I (active 1930-1957) - James Gardner was the first metahuman to take on the identity of American Patriot. Born in 1900 with the strength of ten men, the ability to jump 1/6th of a mile, and a mild healing factor, he was the first in his family to display superpowers. His parents were Irish Immigrants who moved to New York City before he was born, and it was in the Irish communities where he grew up. When he grew older and discovered his abilities, he saw the levels of crime and corruption in the city continue to rise, especially during the Prohibition Era, and by the beginnings of the Great Depression, he realized the poor people of the city needed a hero. So, garbed in a navy blue uniform with red pinstripes (inspired by the New York Yankees uniform), and a mask like Zorro, he fought to protect the people of his city. When WWII started, he became the mascot of the newly formed Super Corps in exchange for immunity for his vigilantism.
* Robert Gardner, aka American Patriot II (active 1950-1963)- Having inherited his father's strength and agility (But not his healing factor), he enlisted in a more secretive branch of the Super Corps at the age of 25, which essentially partnered with the CIA and did badass, Bond-style spy work. He died in action, having just failed to prevent the assassination of JFK. He took the codename of American Patriot after his father retired from the service in 1957. His costume consisted of a red, white, and blue tuxedo, and a red domino mask.
* Ronald Gardner, aka American Patriot III (active 1969-2001)- He was drafted into the Super Corps in 1969 and spent his first few years as the American Patriot fighting in Vietnam. After the U.S. left Vietnam, he was sent on a few spying missions until the Watergate Scandal, at which point he cut his ties with the military and operated as a solo hero, traveling around the globe as a kind of nomadic hero, battling supervillains and monsters wherever and whenever they appeared. His powers were the strongest of the Gardners, including not only James' strength, speed, and healing factor, but also limited precognitive abilities, enough to be able to sense danger a minute or so in advance. He used this in tandem with advanced martial arts training to be one of the most dangerous men in the world in his prime.
* Daniel Gardner, aka American Patriot IV (active 2001-2012)- After 9/11, he enlisted in the Super Corps to fight terrorism abroad. Despite his powers being the weakest of the Gardners (including moderately enhanced strength and speed, only barely above peak human levels), the U.S. military used him constantly, both in actual combat situations and as a symbol of American values and ideals. Which was why he got kidnapped by the terrorist group WINGMEN, tortured for months, and beheaded on a live broadcast. His daughter Jessica was 16 at the time. His uniform looked like a camo patterned BDU, except with the colors being red and blue rather than tan and brown.
==== The Justice Club ====
* The Furball- A speedster based out of Horizon City and member of the Justice Club, this hero is gifted with a super-fast metabolism and incredible speed and reflexes. A downside to his super-speed is that his hair and nails grow at an accelerated rate when he uses his powers, generally leaving him in a disheveled and furry state after a superhero battle. Recently is in hiding due to conflicts with the Cult of Bjork, but still goes out on team missions.
* The Fox- An animal-themed vigilante with no powers, he takes to the streets in his hometown of Crimsonopolis, fighting the mob with the help of his "cubs", a gang of ragtag street children orphaned by the mob.
* Jupiter- A strange robed figure, this man claims to be the demigod child of Zeus, and has the lightning to prove it. Nigh-invulnerable, super-strong, and wielding lightning bolts, he typically fights supervillains in his home town of Olympia, Washington.
* Double-Sight- A strange goofy weirdo, Double-Sight runs around in a trench coat and dark sunglasses, fighting baddies wherever she finds them. Her powers? She can split into several copies of herself (reduced in size relative to her original). She also claims to be able to see the future, but this ability has never been proven. Regardless, she does have a tendency to be at the right place at the exact right time.
* Dracula Jr.- A vampire with a heart of gold, this guy claims to be the actual son of Dracula, and quests to fight that which goeth bump in the night.
* The Fixer- A reformed lower-level member of the Lemon Guild, he has the power to telepathically repair things, and people. This power can also be used to reform broken things into a new shape. He is a refugee from Lemonia, and has a distinct Lemonish accent.
* Associates and Honorary Members:
** Vagabond - A one-eyed wandering scientist and ex-secret agent. Despite his lack of powers, Vagabond sometimes works with the Justice Club. He provides much of their technology, and even recruited a few members on their behalf despite not technically being a member himself.
=== European Heroes ===
==== The European Defenders ====
* Frankenstein- a sentient and relatively erudite zombie from Austria, who pretends to be Frankenstein's monster from the story.
* Chevalier- A French superhero with superhuman reflexes, agility, and just-slightly superhuman speed, who fights with a rapier.
* Incendio- An Italian superhero with power over fire. Enjoys blowing things up.
* Der Blitz-A German super-hero who is essentially sentient electricity. She doesn't like it when people call her Blitzkrieg.
==== The Union Jack Social Club ====
* Pendragon - This leader of the team. This Welsh SIS agent worked undercover for years, picking up skills, stealing technology, and learning secrets from rouge nations and super villains alike. Pendragon is the group's strategist, though he is also a competent fighter and uses pyrokinetic technology both for combat and communication.
* Lionheart - This English hero has incredible strength and speed in addition to impressive damage resistance. She wields a broadsword made of Waylendium. (Real name: Margarete Richardson)
* Engine - This Scottish cyborg built himself new body parts after losing an arm a leg and an eye during an SAS explosive disarmament exercise. Now he uses his augmentations to defend his country and his nation. (Real Name: James Boulton)
* Cuhullin - This spear wielding warrior claims to be the same Cú Chulainn from Ulster legend.
=== Supervillains ===
==== The Lemon Guild ====
* General Lemon- A dictatorial ruler of a tiny island nation, he runs around in shiny yellow magitech (magical technology, patent pending) armor proclaiming how he is UNSTOPPABLE and whatnot. His main actual superpowers seem to be in being an absolute ham and having a gift with making magical technology. What a guy.
* Lemon, Jr.- Lemon's illegitimate daughter, she, for some reason, is a half-human, half-citrus hybrid. Her main line of attack is an ability to grow little citrus-y bombs out of oneself and throw them. These bombs generally are good at only two things--hurting a lot if it hits eyes or an open wound, and making the target smell like lemons.
* DeezNutz- a somewhat doofy guy, his power is that he can instantly kill people with a kick to the groin. He has no other powers. Was defeated once by a codpiece.
* String Theory- a woman who can psychically control rope. Just rope. Her power has a range of ten feet.
* Alvin Chipmunk- A man whose only ability is to alter the pitch of sounds. He generally likes to prank people by making their voices high-pitched, and then rob them blind.
==== The Cult of Bjork ====
* Bjork- A mysterious figure, he is never seen without his Golden Skull helmet. He claims to be able to stop and restart time itself, which, if true, would make him one of the most powerful supers around. He wears purple robes with prominent clock motifs.
*Archbishop Cancer- A blue robed figure with who reportedly has the ability to give someone a talking cancerous growth by touching them. This growth can be controlled remotely using his powers.
*Archbishop Aquarius- an orange robed figure, she has limited shapeshifting abilities, which allow her to turn into any type of boat or seafaring vessel.
*Archbishop Libra- A yellow robed figure, who claims she manipulates "the scales of justice". Her power deals out ironic punishments based on any individual's flaws and insecurities.
*Archbishop Sagittarius- a green robed figure who has the ability to manifest a six-shot revolver, which shoots sentient, self-aiming bullets.
*Archbishop Gemini - a yellow robed figure who has the ability to split himself into two doppelgangers, one with speed and the other with strength. The doppelgangers fight with impossibly perfect coordination. Rumor has it, his twin sister is Double-Sight. The two do seem to fight an awful lot...
*Archbishop Aries- a red robed figure who has the ability to strike his opponents with bolts of incredible force.
*Archbishop Pisces- A Merman with the ability to telepathically control all sea life, including often summoning krakens (yes, there are apparently more than one). Formally the hero known as King Neptune, until he was thrown out of the Justice Club for embezzling and repeated sexual harassment. He wears a deep blue robe, with a fishbowl helmet filled with water, so that he can survive on land for long periods.
*Archbishop Leo- was initially a title held by The Furball working undercover, until his real identity was found out and he had to escape into the Justice Club's hidden base (which is a cave in a volcano, by the way). Since then, he has been replaced by a woman who was raised by lions, and can transform into any animal, real or imagined. Both figures wore dark blue robes, the second Leo's robes are more tattered and worn, as if they were shredded to rags by some large jungle cat.
*Archbishop Scorpio- Really a mad scientist/supergenius who rides around in a robotic mecha-scorpion of his own design. His robe is of a forest green shade.
==== XTREEM BLÜDLUZT INCORPORATED ====
* BLOODGUN- a very buff villain with very tiny feet, whose main gimmick is that he carries around, at all times, twenty different guns, stored in various utility belts around every appendage conceivable. When he's not having a boring corporate meeting on branding or committing violent crime, he is an accomplished ballerina dancer.
* Ragequit- a supervillian whose strength increases with his anger--up to a certain point. When he reaches a certain maximum level of rage, he faints, and has to go lie down for a few hours.
* Killzbabyz- Wears a orange and red suit with shoulder pads and no sleeves, his big thing is that he carries knives, and yes, he kills babies, generally with a pillow after being sent to assassinate their parents. He's seen some things.
* Big Dick Energy (BDE)- his thing is that he carries around a lot of huge guns shaped more phallically than usual--essentially means that, to all the world, he appears to be fighting with gigantic dildos. Even the other guys in XTREEM BLÜDLUZT INCORPORATED are embarrassed to know him. He has a lot of trouble getting other villains to agree to go on missions with him.
* MOTRET, LORD OF DEATHSKULLZ, RULER OF THE KILLSQUAD- team leader and CEO, actually a dark-haired Welsh man with some weird grudge against the Union Jack Social Club's leader for some reason. Wears a black and red Chevron suit with a big skull wearing a crown on his chest. His trademark move: the MOTRET shimmy, wherein he shimmies away from attacks and responds with a knife to the enemy's eye socket. Also really likes fire, as evidenced by the flamethrower he had built into his suit, despite the clear danger it poses to him at all times.
* Maxwell Killroy- A psychotic villain, he has a silver hammer for a left hand, and takes great joy in smashing people's brains in. His superpower has turned him into silver, giving him increased durability and shininess.
=== Unaffiliated Villains and Heroes ===
These villains and heroes operate on their own, without any team behind them. These guys are usually either 1) too lacking in social skills to be any good in a team, 2) so powerful they feel no need to be in a team, 3) too arrogant to work well in a team, or a combination of those factors. When it comes to heroes, these operate with no official status, and are often hunted down by governments with the same energy they apply to catching supervillains.
* Bronze Bowman- a skilled thief and heist-master wielding a gold-colored bow, he travels around the world stealing from corrupt politicians, amoral businessmen, and, in general, the kind of terrible people who manage to destroy lives and worlds for their own gain. If stories about him are true, he uses the stolen money to finance his operation, and whatever remains after that is donated anonymously to charity. Leaves mocking notes in every place he robs stuck to a wall with a single gold-colored arrow as his calling card.
** According to rumor, the arrows were originally real gold, but he stopped doing that after his first victim made a net profit.
* Mr. Nowhere, aka the Nowhere Man- A secretive assassin and master of disguise, Mr. Nowhere is one of the most expensive, most dangerous, and most mysterious mercenaries in the worldwide criminal underground.
* Gaia- A woman who can control all the animals and plants in a region, she is always plotting to rule the world, claiming she needs to restore the natural beauty of the world before man created civilization. How committed she is to her stated goals is questionable, however, given the fact she seems neither to know or to care much about actual ecology. Every single one of her plots has led to a devastation of the local ecosystem she manipulates with her powers. Archnemesis of the Earth Defense Crew.
* Zachary Jordan (Zakarr Yordon)- an isolated and traumatized figure who claims to be from the future, he has cutting edge technology integrated with his biology which gives him advanced levels of strength, speed, durability, as well as flight powers, enhanced sensory perceptions and eyeball lasers. He hides off on the wilderness most of the time, only emerging when major threats to the world arrive, at which point he flies to Earth's defense.
== Major Cities ==
In this version of Earth, there are some cities that exist in no other versions, due to high levels of technological advancement and the aid of superpowers in construction.
* Horizon City- a bright, futuristic Midwestern tech hub, known for bright costumed heroes and intensely science-based villains. The main base of the Justice Club is here, and it is the home town of the Furball and the Vagabond.
* New Steel City- a dirty, smoggy, East Coast city, filled to the brim with mobsters and gangsters, ever since its founding by a crew of pirates who had gained enough money to seem respectable. Despite its name, is actually not known for production of steel--most historical cartographers seem to think its name comes from a corrupted spelling of the verb "to steal". Superheroes from here tend to fight against corrupt leadership. Notable heroes from here include the Red Phantom, and this city has the home base of XTREEM BLÜDLUZT INCORPORATED. XTREEM BLÜDLUZT INCORPORATED is actually a prominent part of the city skyline, a tall skyscraper with the intialism XBI emblazoned in bright neon on the side.
* Queen City- a sunny west coast city, known for its bright shores and its being constantly attacked by giant mutant monsters. It probably has something to do with all the chemical plants they have downtown, and their being a major hub of nuclear power. 
* AVALON
* Orbital Township Wayne