Libra Villain
Real Name: Gustav Brandt
Occupation: Crimelord, mystic, former soldier.
Identity: Known to the authorities.
Legal Status: Citizen of the United States with a criminal record.
Other Aliases: None.
Place of Birth: Unrevealed.
Marital Status: Widower.
Known Relatives: Wife, daughter (names unrevealed, allegedly deceased).
Group Affiliation: Zodiac Cartel.
Base of Operations: Honolulu, Hawaii.
First Post-Reboot Appearance: CAPTAIN AMERICA #
History: The man known as Gustav Brandt claims to have lost his sight, his family, and his home in a fire after retiring from military service in the Far East, though details are sketchy. He claims that he was taken in by a monastery not long after and taught to compensate for his blindness. While he achieved enlightenment of sorts, he left the monastery to relocate to Honolulu, where he became involved with the organized crime syndicate there, eventually becoming its acknowledged leader. His success was noticed by the budding Zodiac Cartel and he was offered a position in its ranks, taking the position of Libra.
Brandt recently came into conflict with Captain America and his young partner, Bucky, over Brandt's organization's white slavery trade. Brandt neither confirmed nor denied that he was aware of his organization's slave trade, instead claiming to be more focused on achieving further enlightenment. Brandt's lieutenant in the organization took the fall, committing suicide after confessing everything. Brandt then vanished from sight, and was later seen surfing.
More recently, Libra was present when the Zodiac attempted to hold the island of Manhattan hostage, using the power of the Zodiac Key wielded by Scorpio to power an impenetrable force field. Just when the Zodiac appeared to be on the verge of success, half of the cartel leaders, including Libra, who had sensed the scheme's success would result in a disruption of the balance of power in the world, abandoned the scheme, with Scorpio using the Key to teleport the dissenters away.
Libra presumably continues to manage his criminal empire and on his quest for further enlightenment.
Age: 41.
Height: 6' 0".
Weight: 195 lbs.
Eyes: Brown.
Hair: Brown.
Uniform: Brown floor-length robe, black blindfold covering the eyes, sandals.
Strength Level: Libra has the normal human strength of a man his age, height, and build who engages in regular intensive toning exercise.
Known Superhuman Powers: Libra claims not to have superhuman powers, just an acknowledgment of what he calls the Balance. He has limited mystical abilities, but does not cast spells in the same manner as sorcerers such as Doctor Strange (see Doctor Strange). He is able to affect the perceptions of others, perceive where to strike to immobilize others, and shift to a place he calls The Place Between Places, enabling him to teleport anywhere in the world at will. His mystic senses are such that he can read the printed page as though his eyes still functioned.
Other Abilities: Libra, despite his physical handicap, is a highly skilled hand to hand combatant who relies on non-visual cues to determine where his opponents are. He is also a skilled surfer.
Limitations: Libra is blind.
650 points
| ST: 12 [20] | HP: 12 [0] | Speed: 6.75 [0] |
| DX: 13 [60] | Will: 13 [10] | Move: 6 [0] |
| IQ: 11 [20] | Per: 13 [10] | |
| HT: 14 [40] | FP: 14 [0] | SM: 0 |
| Dmg: 1d+1/2d+2 | BL: 29 lbs. | |
| Dodge: 10 | Parry: 11 | DR: 12/4* (concealed vest) |
Languages: Cantonese (Accented Spoken/Semi-Literate) [3]; English (Native) (Native Language) [0]; Thai (Accented) [4].
Cultural Familiarities: East Asian [1]; Western (Native) [0].
Advantages: Combat Reflexes [15]; Inner Balance 4 [60]; Invisibility (Glamour (Will-5), -5%; Switchable, +10%; Chi, -10%) [38]; Organized Crime Rank 5 [10]; Perfect Balance [15]; Protected Vision [5]; Silence 8 (Glamour (Will-5), -5%; Chi, -10%) [34]; Striking ST +4 (Chi, -10%) [18]; Trained By a Master [30]; Warp (Gyroscopic, +10%; No Strain, +25%; Range Limit: 10,000 miles, -10%; Reliable +10, +50%; Chi, -10%) [165]; Wealth (Filthy Rich) [50].
Perks: Style Familiarity: T'ai Chi Chuan [1].
Disadvantages: Blindness (Mitigator: Daily Meditation, -60%) [-20]; Discipline of Faith (Mysticism) [-10]; Incurious (6) [-10]; Loner (12) [-5]; Overconfidence (9) [-7]; Social Stigma (Criminal Record) [-5].
Quirks: Broad-Minded [-1]; Devout Buddhist [-1]; Seeks Knowledge of the Balance For Its Own Sake [-1]; Surfing Is a Form of Meditation [-1]; Tries Not to Take Sides in Disputes [-1].
Skills: Acrobatics (H) DX+1 [4] – 14*; Autohypnosis (H) Will+3 [2] – 16†; Blind Fighting (VH) Per+3 [4] – 16†; Body Sense (H) DX+5 [8] – 18†; Breath Control (H) HT+4 [4] – 18†; Climbing (A) DX+1 [2] – 14*; Immovable Stance (H) DX+6 [1] – 19†‡; Judo (H) DX+2 [12] – 15; Judo Art (H) DX+1 [6] – 14§; Karate (H) DX+2 [12] – 15; Light Walk (H) DX+2 [1] – 15†; Lizard Climb (H) DX+2 [1] – 15†; Meditation (H) Will+4 [4] – 17†; Mental Strength (E) Will+7 [8] – 20†; Pressure Points (H) IQ+1 [8] – 12; Savoir-Faire (Dojo) (E) IQ+0 [1] – 11; Sports (Surfing) (A) DX+1 [4] – 14; Stealth (A) DX+1 [4] – 14; Sumo Wrestling (A) DX+1 [4] – 14.
Techniques: Arm Lock (Judo) (A) def+4 [4] – 19; Pressure Point Strike (H) def+1 [2] – 14; Roll With Blow (Sumo Wrestling) (H) def+2 [3] – 14; Sweep (Karate) (H) def+3 [4] – 15.
Starting Spending Money: $400,000 (20% of Starting Wealth).
* Includes +1 from Perfect Balance.
† Includes +4 from Inner Balance.
‡ Includes +4 from Perfect Balance.
§ Defaulted from Judo.
Role-Playing Notes:
Libra is a patient man who prefers to not get involved in disputes between the other Zodiac members, and spends his time either in study, meditation, or surfing as opposed to actually running his criminal empire, letting his lieutenants run the day to day operations.
Design Notes:
1. Organized Crime Rank is built as 2/level as per the guidelines on p. 15 of Social Engineering.