Detroit, MI

**Detroit** is a major city in Michigan, known for its Motown sound, rock music, world class museums, automobile culture, sports teams, arts and theaters. After decades of decline and population loss, **Powers Consolidated** is leading the way to "reawaken Detroit" by renovating its many historic buildings. Today, its downtown core is bustling with new developments and attractions. Despite this, Detroit is still plagued with crime, violence and drugs.

## Overview

Detroit is a major port on the Detroit River, one of the four major straits that connect the Great Lakes system to the Saint Lawrence Seaway. The Detroit Metropolitan Airport is among the most important hubs in the United States.

The City of Detroit anchors the third-largest economic region in the Midwest, behind Chicago and Minneapolis, and the 14th-largestin the United States. Detroit and its neighboring Canadian city Windsor are connected through a tunnel and the Ambassador Bridge, the busiest international crossing in North America.

Detroit is best known as the center of the American automobile industry, and the "Big Three" auto manufacturers General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler are all headquartered in Metro Detroit.

Once a major automobile manufacturing city, due to industrial restructuring, the loss of jobs in the auto industry, rising crime rates and rapid suburbanization, the population suffered a heavy decline.

Detroit's diverse culture has had both local and international influence, particularly in music, with the city giving rise to the genres of Motownand techno, and playing an important role in the development of jazz, hip-hop, rock, and punk music.

### Crime

Despite an improving crime rate in recent years, Detroit remains the most dangerous major city in the United States. Many neighborhoods within the Detroit city limits, including some relatively close to the downtown core, have high crime rates and should be avoided. Many areas in the city also suffer from extensive urban decay.

Detroit has struggled with high crime for decades. Detroit currently holds the title of "American Murder Capital" with a murder rate around 58 per 100,000. About half of all murders in the state occur in Detroit. Other types of crime--including theft, assault, vandalism, etc--are also in the Top 10 highest, if not the Top 5, across the nation.

Crime and corruption have leeched into the government, as well; the mayor is notoriously corrupt.

## Climate

Detroit's climate is continental, therefore subject to rapid change and a variety of weather. Winters are snowy and very cold, with an even colder wind-chill factor. Snow usually doesn't remain the entire winter. Spring and fall are normally pleasant but colder temperatures will likely creep in during late fall and remain during early spring. Summer is rather short, but often times it is hot and muggy with sometimes strong to occasionally severe thunderstorms.

## Culture

In the central portions of Detroit, the population of young professionals, artists, and other transplants is growing and retail is expanding. his dynamic is luring additional new residents, and former residents returning from other cities, to the city's Downtown along with the revitalized Midtown and New Center areas.

A desire to be closer to the urban scene has also attracted some young professionals to reside in inner ring suburbs such as Ferndale and Royal Oak, Michigan. Detroit's proximity to Windsor, Ontario, provides for views and nightlife, along with Ontario's minimum drinking age of 19.

### Music

Live music has been a prominent feature of Detroit's nightlife since the late 1940s, bringing the city recognition under the nickname 'Motown'. he metropolitan area has many nationally prominent live music venues. Concerts hosted by Live Nation perform throughout the Detroit area. Large concerts are held at DTE Energy Music Theatre and The Palace of Auburn Hills. The city's theatre venue circuit is the United States' second largest and hosts Broadway performances.

In the 1990s and the new millennium, the city has produced a number of influential hip hop artists, including Eminem, the hip-hop artist with the highest cumulative sales, hip-hop producer J Dilla, rapper and producer Esham and hip hop duo Insane Clown Posse.

Detroit is cited as the birthplace of techno music in the early 1980s. The city also lends its name to an early and pioneering genre of electronic dance music, "Detroit techno". Featuring science fiction imagery and robotic themes, its futuristic style was greatly influenced by the geography of Detroit's urban decline and its industrial past.

### Entertainment & Performing Arts

Major theaters in Detroit include the Fox Theatre (5,174 seats), Music Hall (1,770 seats), the Gem Theatre (451 seats), Masonic Temple Theatre (4,404 seats), the Detroit Opera House (2,765 seats), the Fisher Theatre (2,089 seats), The Fillmore Detroit (2,200 seats), Saint Andrew's Hall, the Majestic Theater, and Orchestra Hall (2,286 seats) which hosts the renowned Detroit Symphony Orchestra. The Nederlander Organization, the largest controller of Broadway productions in New York City, originated with the purchase of the Detroit Opera House in 1922 by the Nederlander family.

Motown Motion Picture Studios with 535,000 square feet (49,700 m2) produces movies in Detroit and the surrounding area based at the Pontiac Centerpoint Business Campus for a film industry expected to employ over 4,000 people in the metro area.

### Sports

* **Football:** Detroit Lions
* **Baseball:** Detroit Tigers
* **Basketball:** Detroit Pistons
* **Hockey:** Detroit Red Wings

## Districts

### Downtown

Detroit's central business district, contains most of the prominent skyscrapers in Detroit, the nation's second largest theatre district, several parks, three casinos, and three major league sporting venues.

### Midtown-New Center

Detroit's cultural center, home to several world class museums, art galleries, and Wayne State University.

### East Side

Detroit's eastside, a collection of former blue collar neighborhoods that have suffered from extensive urban decay, has many hidden gems worth checking out in a car, including Belle Isle and The Heidelberg Project.

### Southwest Side

Detroit's southwestside, an industrial region home to trendy and ethnically diverse Corktown and Mexicantown neighborhoods.

### West Side

Detroit's westside, a large residential area that has a mix of numerous historic neighborhoods with mansions and blue collar neighborhoods built in the early 20th century.

### Hamtramck-Highland Park

While never annexed with the city of Detroit, the cities of Hamtramck and Highland Park are entirely landlocked by Detroit and function as neighborhoods of the city. Hamtramck has a large Polish population and is known for its numerous bars and restaurants.

## Landmarks

* Ambassador Bridge
* Belle Island Aquarium
* Belle Island Park
* Campus Martius Park
* Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History
* Detroit Film Theatre
* Detroit Historical Museum
* Detroit Institute of Arts
* Detroit Zoo
* Ford Field
* Fox Theatre
* Greektown Casino-Hotel
* Hitsville USA
* MGM Grand Detroit
* Michigan Science Center
* Renaissance Center
* The Spirit of Detroit

## Points of Interest

* **49 Pleasant Road:**
* **Black Cat Lounge:** An exotic dancing club known for its techno beats and rave culture.
* **Bryson's Family Treat Restaurant:** A small family diner.
* **Gold Gym:** A chain of workout spas throughout the United States. Offers a discount to "masks".
* **Ho-Ho Charlie's Chicken Shack:** Locally-owned chicken place in a shitty park of town. Offers discounts to "real heroes".
* **Masterson Storage Facility:** An abandoned store facility located in the suburbs of Detroit. The Skull & Bonez use this facility to manufacture their drugs.
* **Pete's Deli:** A sandwich place with a lot of outdoor seating. The owner is a paragon whose grandfather opened the shop in the 20's.
* **Powers Consolidated:** The main headquarters for technology company Powers Consolidated, which is one of the leading voices in trying to save Detroit.
* **Stopwatch Bar:** A run-down drinking establishment frequented mostly by criminals.

## Paragons

Detroit is dangerous. The population is shrinking, the police and government are corrupt and even superheroes often find themselves drowning in the human misery and violence that has consumed its streets. Most paragons keep their heads low, if they stay in Detroit at all.

Those heroes who remain in Detroit are among the toughest, most determined and most fearless vigilantes in the country. The villains of Detroit are among the most dangerous, psychotic and power hungry.

### Major Superheroes

* **Protocol:** Founding member of the Guardians and Detroit's premier superhero. Protocol is beloved by Detroit, but they have an uneasy relationship with him. Unlike the other Guardians, Protocol still lives and operates in Detroit, only leaving when he needs to help the Guardians. He is an expert detective and combatant, and wields an impressive array of high-tech gadgets. Known as one of the best in the world.
* **The Shield:** An African-American hero who patrols the slums and ghettos. Has enhanced strength and uses a shield. Mostly tackles gang activity and drug dealers.

### Major Supervillains

* **Armadillo:** A villain is a suit of armor that allows him to curl into a ball and travel at high speed/velocity. A more recent addition to the Detroit criminal scene.
* **Basilisk:** A villain who gives off a sort of "virus" that paralyzes those around him.
* **Bedlam:** A cackling, bloody woman with the ability to induce vertigo, which she usually does while cackling wildly. Usually has lackies with her that incite riots.
* **Conundrum:** A mysterious underworld figure who offers his services to certain crime families, as well as pulling various jobs (mostly heists or kidnappings) of his own. He always leaves clues in the form of puzzles or riddles, challenging the authorities to outwit him and figure out his schemes. Although the police were always left baffled, Protocol was not. He has matched wits with Conundrum many times over the years. Over the years, he has proven remarkably adept at prison breaks. It is unknown what powers he has, if any.
* **Fear-Master:** A college-geek-turned-super-criminal, Fear-Master uses his power of Emotion Control and Fatigue to induce fear and sap the energy from his victims. Generally operated alone, though he has worked with various Detroit villains over the years to work against Protocol.
* **Jack-a-Knives:** A Murder Spirit, the soul of a vicious killer from "the ancient world" that possesses a living host and becomes a remorseless killing machine.
* **Malware:** Protocol's archenemy, Malware is a remorseless psychopath with a love of inciting social unrest and committing horrible acts of depraved violence. Corrupts whatever machinery or electronics are around him and he can speak through them.
* **Professor Psion:** A brilliant intellect, omnilinguist and telepath. A cold, impersonal scientist who studies the human mind--physically and psychically.
* **Stormtrooper:** A white supremacist who dresses like a Nazi and can control the weather.
* **Warden:** A non-powered criminal obsessed with creating the perfect prison. A control freak of tremendous proportions, he fights using police tactics and gear and is a master of fortifications, traps and infiltration tactics.

### Teams

#### Larceny, Inc.

A quartet of villains specializing in heists and robberies. Known as minor-leaguers, though they should not be underestimated. While they've been stopped by Protocol several times, they consider The Shield to be their main enemy.

* **Get-Away:** She's an impulsive, reckless, rebel superspeedster.
* **Grab:** A grifter and pickpocket with elongation powers.
* **Smash:** Former boxer with super strength and enhanced durability.
* **Trap Door:** A teleporter with a talent for booby-traps and devices. Sometimes operates solo in New York.