I'm honestly not sure if this is the right place to post this. It's going to be a novel someday, but right now I'm just looking for critique on the characters I'm planning to use in it. If this belongs in a different part of the forum, just let me know. Okay, so a little background...This is a world where, a few decades ago, people suddenly started developing superpowers. Nobody knows why for sure (I do, but it's a seeeecret) but before long we had a real life superhero/villain thing going on just like in the comic books. Their version of the Justice League or Avengers was called the Knights. It began as the Knights of New York, then expanded to the Knights of the United States, then North America, and then finally just became the Knights when so many different countries got involved that it was pointless to try and list them all. But then an extremely powerful Awakened (don't really like that name, might change) calling himself Lord Sovereign Imperion, the Knight King, took control of the Knights, raised an entirely new continent up from the ocean, and declared it his kingdom. All the Awakened in the world were invited to come be with their own kind, with him as their ruler. But it soon became obvious that Imperion was building an army to take over the entire world. Just as he rose up to begin his conquest, a force field appeared around his country. Things could enter through it, but nothing could leave, and it was so strong that even Imperion couldn't breath through. Now when a new Awakened discovers his or her powers, they're forced to go to Imperion's country, still blocked from the rest of the world by the force field. So, the heroes and villains I have so far... Lord Sovereign Imperion, The Knight King, aka Copycat, aka Orson Zael, one of the five original Knights. His power is to steal powers from other Awakened and use them. He was always frustrated with other Knights' "soft" methods of crimefighting, thinking that only efficient brutality would cleanse the world of evil. Eventually he turned his powers on the other Knights, destroying them, and created duplicates of himself to take their place, created his new country, Urigan, and became the Lord Sovereign Blah Blah Blah. He now holds so many powers inside himself that a normal person would have been torn apart by the sheer force of them, but Imperion combines them in clever ways to keep his powers under control--namely, two of them. One lets him control the weather, so he created a massive hurricane over Urigan. The other power increases his physical strength by absorbing electricity. By striking himself with lightning, thus absorbing it, Imperion has achieved nearly godlike strength. Nobody knows the full extent of his powers, just that challenging him is suicide. Tadpole (named to sound as unintimidating as possible) aka Tad Klein, also has the power to steal powers from other Awakened. He never knew about this power, though, and so has no stolen powers to use yet. Imperion knows that the only person who could ever challenge him is someone who could potentially build up as many powers as him, and is hellbent on destroying them all as soon as they're forced into Urigan. He's rescued by the resistance (I'll come up with a name for them someday), and is sent out on a quest to start collecting powers and eventually kill Imperion. To start with, the resistance gives him the power to levitate, and the ability to "push" energy into anything he touches, giving him telekinetic control over them until that energy is used up. Gatekeeper, aka Trina Morning, also has the power to steal powers from other Awakened, but with the added benefit of any power she steals being amplified tenfold. The downside is that she can only hold one power at a time. To use another, she has to give up the one she's currently using. The resistance took her in, intending to use her the way they're using Tadpole now, but when they discovered she could only use one power at a time they decided it was too risky. As of now, she's the one holding up the Mirage Veil, the force field that's preventing Imperion from leaving Urigan, since with her power-amplifying-powers she's the only one who can make it strong enough, though that takes constant focus and effort on her part. Copycat, aka Orson Zael, aka Imperion Duplicate V, is the leader of the resistance. Originally one of the duplicates created by Imperion to masquerade as the original Knights, thus strengthening Imperion's claim to power, Orson eventually discovered himself becoming self-aware. He decided he didn't like what Imperion was doing, thinking it was a disgrace to the name that group of heroes that Orson now helped to imitate, broke away from Imperion's control entirely, and tried to fight him. All of Imperion's duplicates were given a large chunk of Imperion's powers when he created them, but they were nothing compared to what Imperion himself held. Orson was gravely injured, crippled, but managed to escape. He formed the resistance, hiding from Imperion and waiting for someone to come who could hopefully someday challenge the godlike Awakened. He's also the one who gave Tadpole his first two powers. Briar, aka Triss Colvetta, has the power to turn herself into plant material and grow however she wants. She's not able to un-grow herself, though, meaning that she has to chop off the bits she doesn't want and regrow those limbs in a human shape before she can turn back. She's fond of turning her body to wood and sprouting thorns from her fists while fighting. Flashbang, aka I Don't Have A Name For Him Yet, can expel his own body heat to create explosions. Comes with the risk of using up all his heat and freezing to death, even during hot days. Roadrage, aka Ben Settler, can summon a firetruck out of thin air. He named it Brunhilda. He can also drive it telepathically, and make it do things that firetrucks normally can't do, like going up on two wheels or jumping. Brunhilda is almost indestructible, and can accelerate from 0 to over 100 in just a few seconds. Then he just...you know...runs her into stuff. He has issues. Checkers, aka Eric LastNameI'llComeUpWithLaterson, can control and give physical mass to the colors red and black. Meaning that if he's making physical contact with something that is either red or black, he can make that color come up off of whatever it's attached to, and attack you with it. The purer the color is, the farther he can stretch it, but its color will lighten the farther it goes from its source and loses solidness as it does. He can not disconnect the color from the thing that the color is attached to. He's been known to cut himself open and use the red in his own blood in emergencies. Stormcloak, aka I Don't Know Yet, gets her name from the hooded cloak she always wears. She has the power to turn her body into air, and then merge it with the air around her to manipulate the wind. Usually by creating tornadoes and wreaking havoc on anything in her path. She likes to keep herself in air-form at all times while out in the field, thinking the intangibility makes her invincible. Slipstream, aka NoNameYet, sprays energy from her hands onto the surfaces around her. That energy has a sort of forward momentum in it, so anything that touches it will be dragged in that direction for as long as its in contact. Uses it as a way to get around quickly, and to throw things at the bad guys without needing to lift them. Stonewall Straus, aka Christopher Straus, can turn into a statue of unbreakable stone. He's unable to move in that form, but still has a vague sense of what's going on around him. He's generally used as a human shield to protect civilians, since he's unable to move and use his power at the same time. So what do you guys think? I might add more later as I think of them.
Well, what jumps out to me is something I've noticed with many other authors who want to write superhero stories: an emphasis on flashy elements like powers or costumes over actual character. Only two of the characters--your antagonist and the resistance leader--have motivations included in your post. Even then, we aren't given insight into why they came to hold these views. None of these entries provide a firm sense of their personalities. I can't tell who's arrogant or humble, who favors subtlety and who prefers a more direct approach, who's always cracking jokes and who never smiles, who's a good leader and who prefers to be led, who's always planning and who's making things up as they go along, etc. For the most part, everyone seems like a name attached to a power set. If you haven't already, I'd encourage you to think about the wants, needs, loves, fears, motives, and quirks of your characters. And if you have, I'd encourage you to post that information here. It's impossible to properly critique your characters without it. The powers themselves are perfectly fine, and some are quite creative. However, even the coolest, most original superpowers will fizzle without a compelling character behind them.
