Mentallo Villain
Real Name: Marcus "Mark" Flumm.
Occupation: Professional criminal, former private investigator and part-time costumed hero.
Identity: Known to the authorities.
Legal Status: Citizen of the United States with a criminal record.
Other Aliases: None.
Place of Birth: Watford City, North Dakota.
Marital Status: Single.
Known Relatives: None.
Group Affiliation: Lethal Legion, partner of Techno.
Base of Operations: Chicago, Illinois.
First Post-Reboot Appearance: ASTONISHING ANT-MAN #
History: Mark Flumm grew up idolizing superheroes. After his telepathy manifested as a young teenager, Flumm prepared to become a superhero himself, inspired in large part by Charles Xavier, then known as Professor X, during Xavier's time in the superhero team known as the Shadowguard. Flumm began his superhero career by working as a private investigator in the Chicago, Illinois, area, using his telepathic and psychometric talents and self-defense training to fight crime using the name Mentallo.
This meager success drew the attention of an unnamed criminal subversive who found Flumm's heroism "sickening", but thought that Flumm's psychic talents could be useful to his organization. This subversive had his associate Doctor Faustus begin an operation designed to turn Mentallo into a villain. First, Faustus began by planting evidence – some manufactured, but some of it the truth which had been suppressed by the authorities – designed to portray Flumm's heroes in a negative light. Discovering that Flumm could not fully filter out the thoughts of those around him, Faustus then had his agents walk around thinking about how easily those with powers, including the Shadowguard and the Midwest's hero team of the '90s and '00s, the Rust Belters, got away with certain crimes. On top of all that, the only people who approached Flumm's PI office were those seeking to prove their spouses and significant others were cheating on them; these affairs were all secretly arranged by Faustus. Finally, when he felt Mentallo had sufficient doubt and a rising cynicism, Faustus arranged a meeting with Mentallo.
Mentallo walked away from that meeting a changed man.
Now determined to put his talents to use for himself rather than others, Mentallo committed a number of low-profile crimes. According to a later conversation, those were test runs. He then telepathically contacted the criminal technologist Techno with plans for them to steal some experimental technology. This scheme brought the two of them into conflict with the crimefighters Ant-Man and Wasp, and the two were arrested.
Some time later, Mentallo and Techno were recruited into the Crimson Cowl's Lethal Legion. While with the Legion, Mentallo clashed several times with Ant-Man and Wasp, as well as Iron Fist, his allies, and the Avengers. Although arrested a few times during these conflicts, the Cowl always sprung him from prison.
Age: 34.
Height: 5' 10".
Weight: 175 lbs.
Eyes: Brown.
Hair: Black.
Uniform: Orange-red jumpsuit, brown boots, brown gloves, brown belt, brown cowl with hyperspectral goggles.
Strength Level: Mentallo possesses the normal strength of a man of his age, height, and build who engages in moderate exercise.
Known Superhuman Powers: Mentallo is a mutant with a number of telepathic powers. First, he can read the surface thoughts and communicate with anyone in a five mile radius around him, although he has trouble reading the thoughts of fast-moving targets. His ability to read surface thoughts cannot be fully turned off, which creates a sensation in his mind which he likens to "background noise" or "white noise". Because of this noise, he cannot concentrate on conversing telepathically with more than three people at once; he can, however, broadcast his thoughts to everyone around him, though he prefers not to do so. He has been known to project images into the minds of others, occasionally producing hallucinations. A side effect of his telepathy is that it is virtually impossible to surprise him in combat, as his telepathy gives him advance warning if someone near is about to attack.
In addition, Mentallo possesses psychometric powers enabling him to "read" the psychic imprints on anything he touches. He normally has to concentrate to use this ability, though particularly strong impressions can trigger it without warning.
Paraphernalia: Mentallo's cowl contains psychotronic circuitry designed to block out telepathic "white noise", and his cowl's goggles include both infrared and ultraviolet lenses with a false color display. Although not specifically designed for such, the cowl also helps protect against psychic attacks.
Mentallo has also used a number of high-tech devices developed and built by Techno, including but not limited to a gun that fires a grappling hook and line, a jet pack, a personal force shield gauntlet, and a laser pulse-beam pistol.
324 points
| ST: 11 [10] | HP: 11 [0] | Speed: 5.50 [0] |
| DX: 11 [20] | Will: 12 [0] | Move: 5 [0] |
| IQ: 12 [40] | Per: 12 [0] | |
| HT: 11 [10] | FP: 11 [0] | SM: 0 |
| Dmg: 1d-1/1d+1 | BL: 24 lbs. | |
| Dodge: 9 | Parry: 10 | DR: 12/4* (uniform) |
| Block: 10 | ||
Languages: English (Native) (Native Language) [0]; Sioux (Accented Spoken) [2].
Cultural Familiarities: Western (Native) [0].
Advantages: Combat Reflexes (Mutant Psionic, -10%) [14]; Danger Sense (Mutant Psionic, -10%) [14]; Foresight (Bait-and-Switch) 1 [5]; Gizmo 1 [5]; Hyperspectral Vision (Gadget/Breakable: DR 2, SM -7, -25%; Gadget/Can Be Stolen: Forcibly Removed, -10%; Electronic, -30%) [9]; Impersonator 2 [10]; Mind Reading (Accessibility: Max Range 5 miles, -30%; Long Range 1, +50%; Multiple Contacts (+50%; Accessibility (Maximum 3 Contacts) (+6), -60%), +20%; Mutant Psionic, -10%) [39]; Psychometry (Mutant Psionic, -10%) [18]; Telecommunications (Telesend) (Broadcast, +50%; Short-Ranged 1, -10%; Video, +40%; Mutant Psionic, -10%) [51]; Telepathy Talent 2 [10].
Perks: Accent (Bostonian) [1]; Accent (Deep South) [1].
Disadvantages: Bad Sight (Farsighted) (Mitigator: Corrective Lenses, -60%) [-10]; Low Pain Threshold [-10]; Pacifism (Reluctant Killer) [-5]; Selfish (12) [-5]; Social Stigma (Criminal Record) [-5]; Supersensitive (Mitigator: Psychotronic Cowl, -60%) [-6]; Wealth (Struggling) [-10].
Quirks: Bad Dreams [-1]; Careful Planner [-1]; Cubs Fan [-1]; Cynical [-1]; Sarcastic [-1].
Skills: Acting (A) IQ+2 [2] – 14*; Beam Weapons/TL8 (Pistol) (E) DX+1 [2] – 12; Body Language (Human) (A) Per+2 [2] – 14*; Brawling (E) DX+1 [2] – 12; Carousing (E) HT+1 [2] – 12; Climbing (A) DX+0 [2] – 11; Computer Operation/TL8 (E) IQ+0 [1] – 12; Current Events/TL8 (Headline News) (E) IQ+0 [1] – 12; Detect Lies (H) Per+0 [4] – 12†; Fast-Talk (A) IQ+2 [8] – 14; First Aid/TL8 (E) IQ+0 [1] – 12; Forced Entry (E) DX+1 [2] – 12; Games (Baseball) (E) IQ+0 [1] – 12; Guns/TL8 (Grenade Launcher) (E) DX+1 [2] – 12; Guns/TL8 (Pistol) (E) DX+1 [2] – 12; Hidden Lore (Supers) (A) IQ+1 [2] – 13; Holdout (A) IQ+0 [2] – 12; Intelligence Analysis/TL8 (H) IQ+0 [4] – 12; Interrogation (A) IQ+1 [4] – 13†; Jumping (E) DX+0 [1] – 11; Knife (E) DX+1 [2] – 12; Law (Illinois Criminal) (H) IQ+0 [4] – 12; Musical Instrument (Clarinet) (H) IQ-2 [1] – 10; Observation (A) Per+2 [8] – 14†; Photography/TL8 (A) IQ+0 [2] – 12; Piloting/TL8 (Flight Pack) (A) DX+1 [4] – 12; Research/TL8 (A) IQ+1 [4] – 13; Running (A) HT+0 [2] – 11; Savoir-Faire (Mafia) (E) IQ+2 [1] – 14*; Savoir-Faire (Police) (E) IQ+2 [1] – 14*; Shadowing (A) IQ+2 [8] – 14; Shield (Force) (E) DX+1 [2] – 12; Shortsword (A) DX+1 [4] – 12; Speed-Reading (A) IQ+1 [4] – 13; Stealth (A) DX+1 [4] – 12; Streetwise (A) IQ+2 [2] – 14*; Swimming (E) HT+0 [1] – 11; Telereceive (H) IQ+2 [4] – 14‡;Telesend (H) IQ+2 [4] – 14‡; Throwing (A) DX+1 [4] – 12; Thrown Weapon (Knife) (E) DX+1 [2] – 12; Wrestling (A) DX+1 [4] – 12.
Starting Spending Money: $2,000 (20% of Starting Wealth).
* Includes +2 from Impersonator.
† Conditional +2 from Telepathy Talent.
‡ Includes +2 from Telepathy Talent.
Role-Playing Notes:
Mentallo is a bitter, cynical man whose childhood dreams of becoming a hero have been crushed; he stopped caring a while ago how the world perceived him.
| BRAWLING | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TL | Weapon | Damage | Reach | Parry | Cost | Weight | ST | Notes |
| – | Brawling Punch | 1d-2 cr | C | 10 | – | – | 11 | |
| – | Brawling Kick | 1d-1 cr | C, 1 | n/a | – | – | 11 | |