WESTERN ANIMATION-DERIVED CHARACTER ADAPTATIONS
METAL HEAD
(Stuart A. Finlay)
Val CHA Cost Roll Notes 15 STR 5 12- 200 kg, 3d6 15 DEX 15 12- OCV: 5/DCV: 5 15 CON 10 12- 12 BODY 4 11- 10 INT 0 11- PER Roll: 11- 13 EGO 6 12- ECV: 4 15 PRE 5 12- PRE Attack: 3d6 10 COM 0 11- 5 PD 2 Total: 13 PD (8 rPD) 5 ED 2 Total: 13 ED (8 rED) 3 SPD 5 Phases: 4, 8, 12 6 REC 0 30 END 0 28 STUN 0 Total Characteristics Cost: 54 Movement: Running: 8"/16" Swimming: 2"/4" Cost Powers & Skills 60 Metal Head Missile System: RKA 5d6, Armor Piercing (+1/2), No Range Modifier (+1/2); 6 shots (-3/4), OIF (-1/2), Incantations (-1/4) 8 Generic Pistol: 1d6+1 RKA; 12 shots (-1/4), OAF (-1) 12 Armored Body Suit: Armor (8 PD/ 8 ED); Activation Roll 14- (-1/2), OIF (-1/2), 4 That Boy Can Run Good: Running +2" (8' Total), END 2 10 Miniature Radar: Radar Sense; OIF (-1/2) 9 Multi-Optic Targeting Goggles: IR Perception, Nightvision, +2 PER to Sight SenseGroup; OIF (-1/2) 2 Communications System: Radio Reception and Transmit, OIF (-1/2) 3 Laser Targeting Systems: +2 OCV with Metal Head Missile System; OIF (-1/2) Perks 6 Contact: Cobra (Organization) 11- 3 Membership: Cobra 6 Prerequisite: Access to Cobra Facilities, Computer link to Cobra computer Skills 10 +2 levels with Ranged Combat 0 AK: Cobra HQ of the Day 8- 3 Breakfall 12- 3 Climbing 12- 3 Combat Driving 12- 3 Concealment 12- 3 Demolitions 11- 2 KS: Cobra 11- 2 KS: Anti-Tank warfare 11- 0 Language: English (Native) 2 PS: Metal Guitarist 11- 3 Shadowing 11- 3 Stealth 12- 3 Streetwise 12- 3 Tactics 11- 3 Systems Operation 11- 7 TF: Common Motorized Ground Vehicles, Tracked/Wheeled Military Vehicles,Railed Vehicles, Helicopters, Small Military Ships, Skiing (Snow) 5 WF: Common Melee Weapons, Small Arms, Anti-Tank Weapons 178 Total Powers and Skills Cost 232 Total Character Cost 100+ Disadvantages 10 DNPC: Granny (Normal, Useful Skills, Unaware, 8-) 15 Hunted: Cobra (More Powerful, NCI, 11-, Watching) 25 Hunted: GI Joe team (More Powerful, NCI, 11-, Capture) 15 Psychological Limitation: Hyperactive, easily excitable (C, S) 15 Psychological Limitation: Moron (C, S) 10 Psychological Limitation: Thinks He's A Rock Star (U, S) 5 Rivalry: Overkill (Professional) 15 Social Limitation: Secret ID (F, M) 20 Social Limitation: Subject to orders (VF, M) 2 Mullet-Head Bonus 232 Total Disadvantages Cost
Background: Stuart Finlay dropped out of high school to follow an interesting career choice. Rather than becoming a beach bum or struggling rock star, he became an International Terrorist. Nobody is sure why. It may have been his only known relative, his crazed Grandmother who was a colonel in the Polish resistance in W.W.II. Or it could have been the fact that he got picked to be the football team's mascot. It could do it to you. Somehow he ended up as a member of Cobra, a ruthless terrorist organization bent on conquering the world.
At some point, Metal Head (as Stuart now called himself) landed the role as an antitank soldier. However, rather than using a bazooka (like Cobra's HEAT Vipers), he was equipped with a high-tech battlesuit armed with six antitank missiles and an advanced targeting system. How the suit ended up in the hands of a hyperactive monkey like him is anyone's guess. Most people put it down to the general level of goofiness which had taken over Cobra at the time. Between hiring horribly disfigured CEOs, taking over kindergartens, plotting to destroy the ozone layer, unleashing armies of ninja mummies and fighting the war on drugs, these sorts of things could be expected to happen.
Metal Head was a part of just about every major Cobra operation in the early 90's, regardless of whether the operation needed an antitank specialist or not. This was acceptable in a way, as Metal Head wasn't particularly suited to the role. All he really wanted to do was blow stuff up and become the world's greatest heavy Metal Guitarist.
Personality/Motivation: Let's not beat around the bush. Metal head is a moron. That's all there is to it. He is a hyperactive, easily excitable wildman who spends a lot of his time shouting about how good he is and what he's going to do, oblivious of whatever's going on around him. He has been known to endanger operations by overlooking the blatantly obvious because he was bored or had nothing better to do. He has accidentally blown up Cobra tanks at least twice when he forgot that he was wearing his suit. Speaking of which, he will wear his missile launchers wherever he goes, be it walking around the base, working out in the gym, at a briefing or meeting his grandmother. He also occasionally suffers from the delusion that he's the greatest guitarist in the universe, and will go to great lengths to prove it. (During an operation involving an experimental guitar-powered sonic weapon, this got decidedly out of control...)
Unlike most Cobras who hide what they're doing from their families, Metal Head has been writing letters to his Grandmother telling him all about what he does. Unfortunately, he's somewhat embellished them, to the point where he's the supreme commander of Cobra, a special counter-terrorist force. For some reason, Metal Head doesn't get along with Overkill, the Cobra android force commander. The two of them spend their time trying to outdo each other. This usually results in Metal Head goofing up and Overkill coming home in a wheelbarrow in pieces.
Powers/Tactics: The combat suit that Metal Head wears is a quite amazing piece of equipment, which is virtually wasted on him. The centerpiece of the suit is a trio of missile launchers (one on the back and one on each hip), each containing a pair of short-range antitank missiles. The missiles are controlled by a sophisticated eyeball-movement targeting system built into the suit's goggles. Rather than being launched by a conventional trigger, the missiles are launched by a command word spoken by the operator, in Metal head's case, the word is "Bang". This allows for a completely hands-off control system which results in greater accuracy as well as leaving the user's hands free to do other things. Metal Head has been known to fire his missiles while hanging on a rope lade, piloting a helicopter, driving a car, falling and skiing.
In his less hyper manic moments, Metal Head is well versed in antitank warfare. He specializes in ambushes, lurking behind available cover before striking, he prefers urban situations where he can use his mobility to position for a good shot where the tank can't reach him. At other times, he'll just run at whatever's available and shout "BANG" a lot. Metal head wears an armored uniform to protect himself from enemy fire. He's meant to have a helmet to go with it, but he never wears it. Maybe it messes up his mullet. Maybe he's just too stupid to think about it. Maybe a blow to the head wouldn't make much difference.
Appearance: Metal Head appears to be in his early 20s. He is of average height and a slightly muscular build. He wears his black hair long in a "mullet" cut and has a goatee beard. His small brown eyes are usually hidden behind his targeting goggles. His uniform consists of a black armored jumpsuit with red shoulders, with yellow-tinted one-way targeting goggles that cover his eyes.
Conversion Notes/Disadvantages Notes/Campaign Use: This is a pretty fair (and unflattering) representation of Metal Head as he appeared in the DiC cartoon. Rather than use the "analytical" character from the filecard, the writers decided to make him a loudmouthed overactive screw-up. Oddly enough, he's one of only three Cobra characters to appear regularly in both seasons. The write-up of the missile launchers was based on the stats of the LAW and TOW missiles in the FRED rulebook; I chose to make them a midway based on their size. The rest of his gear is pretty normal; the body armor was an assumption more than a given.
Metal Head's disadvantages are pretty well covered in the fluff text. Basically assume that at any one given time, he'll be shouting about wanting to blow something up, air guitar, carrying on about nothing in particular, or just generally making a nuance of himself. His grandmother only appeared once. She beat him up.
Metal Head could be used as a super-agent in a Superheroic campaign as an antitank agent or perhaps some sort of super anti-superhuman. To reduce his lethality, you could swap his missiles for conventional attacks (Like 12d6 EB explosions). You'd probably want to change his Psych lims as well.
Metal Head: Comic Version: Metal Head only appeared in two issues of the comic; and one of them only for a page or so. His character in the comic worked for Cobra, but was actually a spy for the Iron Grenadiers. He was far more intelligent (INT 13) and wasn't the manic goober described above. Instead he was a very cunning anti-armor ambush specialist who managed to destroy an entire GI Joe convoy single handed. On the other hand, he talked to himself a lot. Loudly. He also probably didn't have the DNPC.
Metal Head: Version 2: A second version of Metal Head's figure was made but was never used in the comic and coming too late for the Cartoon. This version replaced the missile multiple launchers with a more traditional, albeit large (at least 6d6 RKA), single missile launcher, a Heavy Machine gun and a SMG. The optics and targeting systems from the goggles were all integrated into a cybernetic headpiece that replaced his left eye. He was also a vicious downhill skier and a member of a "Ninja Clan" (Add Ninjitsu)
Return to Western Animation-Derived HERO System Character Adaptations.