Cantor, Vera Supporting Cast
Real Name: Vera Cantor.
Occupation: College student, librarian.
Identity: Vera does not use a dual identity.
Legal Status: Citizen of the United States with no criminal record.
Other Aliases: None.
Place of Birth: Salem Center, New York.
Marital Status: Single.
Known Relatives: None.
Group Affiliation: Ally of the X-Men.
Base of Operations: New York City.
First Post-Reboot Appearance: UNCANNY X-MEN #1.
History: Some romances are love at first sight. In the case of Hank McCoy and Vera Cantor, however, it might be better said that it was love at first fight.
The two first met while Hank was attending the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters in Vera's home town of Salem Center, New York. Vera worked part time in the local library after school, where Hank spent a lot of his spare time away from the Institute. One day, the two got into an argument over the meaning of a passage in Homer's Odyssey, which abruptly ended when Hank asked Vera out to dinner.
After they graduated from their respective high schools, Hank and Vera enrolled at Empire State University in Manhattan, where she took a part-time job at the university library to assist with her expenses. She and her roommate, Zelda Kurtzburg (who is currently dating Bobby Drake, the X-Man known as Iceman) have occasionally come to the X-Men's assistance. Vera's relationship with the Beast is public knowledge; she's not entirely comfortable with her face in the tabloids because of it. She has commented at times on how "normal" the more dangerous elements of the X-Men's lives are to her, while finding the more "mundane" world of college and the paparazzi following her around extremely frustrating and incomprehensible.
While always slightly overweight from childhood, Vera has started working out to slim down. Zelda blames the tabloids' unflattering photos of her for Vera's recent health kick.
Even more recently, Vera and Zelda were hypnotized by the mutant Mesmero; Mesmero's plans for the two are currently unknown.
Age: 18.
Height: 5' 6".
Weight: 170 lbs.
Eyes: Hazel.
Hair: Brown.
Uniform: None.
Strength Level: Vera Cantor possesses the normal human strength of a woman her age, height, and build who up until recently engaged in little regular exercise.
Known Superhuman Powers: None.
Other Abilities: Vera has a quick mind and is seemingly unflappable about unusual people and circumstances. Her studies into anthropology have aided the X-Men several times, especially when dealing with the Savage Land Mutates.
60 points
| ST: 9 [-10] | HP: 11 [4] | Speed: 5.00 [5] |
| DX: 9 [-20] | Will: 12 [0] | Move: 5 [0] |
| IQ: 12 [40] | Per: 12 [0] | |
| HT: 10 [0] | FP: 10 [0] | SM: 0 |
| Dmg: 1d-2/1d-1 | BL: 16 lbs. | |
| Dodge: 9 | Parry: 8 | DR: 0 |
Languages: English (Native) (Native Language) [0].
Cultural Familiarities: Western (Native) [0].
Advantages: Combat Reflexes [15]; Luck [15]; Unfazeable [15].
Perks: Famous Face [1]; Permit (Conceal Carry) [1]; Pet (Sassafras, pet dog (cocker spaniel)) [1].
Disadvantages: Bad Sight (Nearsighted) (Mitigator: Glasses or Contacts, -60%) [-10]; Overweight [-1]; Pacifism (Reluctant Killer) [-5]; Shyness (Mild) [-5]; Wealth (Struggling) [-10]; Workaholic [-5].
Quirks: Attentive [-1]; Dislikes Being a "Tabloid Princess" [-1]; Obsession (Lose Weight) [-1].
Skills: Anthropology (Human) IQ-1 [2] – 11; Archeology (H) IQ-1 [2] – 11; Artist (Drawing) (H) IQ-2 [1] – 10; Computer Operation/TL8 (E) IQ+1 [2] – 13; Expert Skill (Egyptology) (H) IQ-2 [1] – 10; Geology/TL8 (Earthlike) (H) IQ-2 [1] – 10; Guns/TL8 (Pistol) (E) DX+1 [2] – 10; Linguistics (H) IQ-1 [2] – 11; Literature (H) IQ-2 [1] – 10; Paleontology/TL8 (Paleoanthropology) (H) IQ-1 [2] – 11; Professional Skill/TL8 (Librarian) (A) IQ+0 [2] – 12; Research/TL8 (A) IQ+0 [2] – 12; Sociology (H) IQ-2 [1] – 10; Writing (A) IQ-1 [1] – 11.
Starting Spending Money: $2,000 (20% of Starting Wealth).
Role-Playing Notes:
Vera is an otherwise normal woman who has had the public eye thrust on her, and isn't really able to cope. She finds the world of the superhuman more "normal" to her than the world of the press and paparazzi hounding her every move.
Design Notes:
1. In the '60s, it was essentially a running gag in X-Men that Vera and Zelda would be stood up or have their double date with Hank and Bobby cut short without a word of explanation. This worked while the X-Men were keeping their identities secret (although how Vera never figured out that Hank was the Beast during that time was beyond me). As the Beast is no longer keeping his identity secret in the Reboot, I decided to play with things a little and make Vera a "tabloid princess", something she does not like.
2. In case it's not obvious, Vera is the slightly overweight "nerd girl" who suddenly finds herself in the press due to no fault of her own. She is not equipped to handle the press. I plan to have her contrasted with Candy Southern, the high society debutante dating Angel who grew up knowing she might one day have to handle the publicity.