So this is a very interesting team, and the first of three movie-based character teams. The Universal Movie Monsters are your classic movie monsters like Dracula, the Mummy, and Frankenstein's Monster. These guys are the oldest characters in this tournament, with their original novels having been published as early as 1897 (Dracula by Bram Stoker). The first Universal Movie Monster ever was the Hunchback of Notre Dame in 1923, starring Lon Cheney "The Man of a Thousand Faces". His son, Lon Cheney Jr., during the 1940's, became the KING of the Monster Movies, taking the reigns from Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff. Lugosi, of course, starred as Count Dracula in the 1931 film, as well as many other monster movies (as Dracula and as other characters) including The Wolf Man; which starred Lon Cheney Jr. as the titular character. Boris Karloff starred as both Frankenstein's Monster (credited as "?") in 1931 and as Imhotep (the Mummy, known as Ardath Bey in living form) in The Mummy in 1932. All characters we're using for this tournament are based on these original characters but with a comic book twist. Meaning that they all have character attributes and abilities like the other participants in this tournament, including their character's history, which will combine the movies (past and present) novels, and comic books. Anyway, the Universal Movie Monsters!:
Count Dracula - the Lord of the Vampires! Just like the rest of these characters, he is a legend. There are SOOOOOOOOOOO many stories that feature Dracula. So let's just focus on his abilities. Dracula has all the abilities that come with being a vampire, multiplied by 100! Seriously, think about it. All of the modern vampire tales are because of the success of this original character! Ok, anyway, Dracula has superhuman strength and speed, he can fly as both a human or as a bat. Speaking of which, he can transform, not only into a bat, but also a wolf, AND into mist. His abilities are magic based, and since he is technically not living, Dracula is extremely durable. His thirst for blood is not a vulnerable point for Dracula either, but more of a way of enhancing his already great powers. Dracula can survive off of any kind of living creature's blood, but gets the most benefit from human blood. Now, imagine what would happen if Dracula was able to drink the blood of someone like...Superman. Yeah, it's absolutely possible! Dracula also has telepathic and hypnotic powers. He can hypnotize someone by just staring them in the eye (the smarter you are, the harder it is to hypnotize you), then reach into their mind from great distances. Dracula's bite can kill, then infect a body causing it to turn into a vampire. In one of my favorite What If..." comics, the X-Men were fighting Dracula, and losing! He was able to bite all of them, making them rise again as his vampire slaves. THE X-MEN WERE ALL VAMPIRES! Then Wolverine challenged Dracula and cut his head off and became Lord of the Vampires. It is an awesome story, and my first introduction to the What If...? comic book series (I have a nice little collection). Dracula has fought Superman, Batman (a few times), Spider-Man, and many others including his fellow team members.
Frankenstein's Monster - The Creature! My second favorite Universal Movie Monster! I remember reading Mary Shelley's Frankenstein back in 5th grade, just for fun! Anyway, the Creature has superhuman strength and is nearly invulnerable. His body is thick and dead, so he can't feel pain and is difficult to stop. His strength and energy is enhanced by electricity, primarily lightening, but can assumingly withstand long periods of time without needing a charge up. The Creature is also not very fast nor agile, mostly stalking after opponents. In the comics, he has been shown moving at decent speeds (nothing superhuman), surprising for something his size.
Wolf Man - My favorite Movie Monster! I have been a fan since I saw the original 1941 version on tv as a kid. I was always a big fan of the secret identity troupe in comic books and the Wolf Man had a secret identity much like Bruce Banner. The Wolf Man even goes crazy and tries to destroy stuff and kill people, like the Hulk likes to smash things. Unlike the Hulk, the Wolf Man isn't immeasurably strong. Once transformed, the Wolf Man exhibits some enhanced strength, as if his strength as a man combined with the strength of a wolf. As do his other attributes like speed and agility. I guess you could say that he runs as fast as a wolf can, which is faster than an ordinary human. He's ferocious and resiliant to pain, but is vulnerable to most weapons.
The Mummy - I have honestly never seen the original mummy movie from 1932. I saw (and loved) the 1999 version with Brendan Fraser, of course, but never saw the original. To be even more honest, I am a little scared of the Mummy. Heh heh. Imhotep was cursed and buried alive, then reawakened and allowed to walk the Earth again, still cursed and this time with powers. He is probably the most magical being on this team, maybe moreso than Dracula, there's a good arguement there. Anyway, he's an ancient undead being and therefore cannot be killed by modern weapons. Now, we're not giving him powers like the Imhotep in the 1999 remake, but Imhoptep was an Egyptian priest and therefore could be considered a capable spellcaster.
The Invisible Man - Just like the Invisible Man II from the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, except the original and movie version. The original movie came out in 1933 and starred Claude Rains as Dr. Jack Griffin a scientist who discovered a formula that can turn a person invisible. He is often seen wrapped in bandages with dark glasses and a fedora, when uncovered he is completely invisible. Dr. Griffin is a great villain! His experiment works and so he immediately starts to plot for world domination and starts killing people.
The Creature from the Black Lagoon - Another "the Creature"! This one looks like a humanoid fish or Gill-man as he's referred to as. Gill made his debut in the Creature from the Black Lagoon in 1954, and starred in two more sequels Revenge of the Creature (1955) and The Creature Walks Among Us (1956). He's like the Aquaman of this team, but less cool. If you consider Aquaman "cool" that is. So, like Aquaman, Gill (do you mind if I call him Gill?) can swim quickly underwater. Unlike Aquaman, he can't swim at superhuman speeds, but at speeds comparable to, say a shark. Gil was more into the kidnapping game then the killing one, though I believe he killed a dude or two in his day. I haven't seen any of the Creature movies, so I don't know for sure, you never know with sci-fi movies even though it's also considered "horror".
King Kong - Technically not an original Universal Movie Monster (the original 1933 King Kong was produced by RKO Radio Pictures), but the movie rights are currently owned by Universal Studios so that's good enough for me! SO, where Gill kinda leaves the team a little flat, Kong kind of takes over the whole show huh? He's a giant ape, and so has the physical strength, speed, and agility of a giant ape. We've seen what Kong is capable of in Peter Jackson's remake, the 1976 remake, and the original when he took on the jungle creatures, and dinosaurs of Skull Island! He stood atop the Empire State Building in New York City and swatted at planes until finally succombing to their gunfire. So he's a giant ape that can handle machine gun shots to his body. Kong is a, no pun intended, enormous threat and so must be dealt with immediately, but as formidable as he appears, Kong can still be beaten.
hahaha lol I love this face!
The Odds:
These paranormal and supernatural characters offer a unique threat to their opponents in this tournament. The discussion over their first round matchup should be a lot of fun! The enormous immediate threat of Kong followed up by Frankenstein's Monster, the Wolf Man, Gill, and Dracula, plus the magic and of both Dracula and the Mummy. Lots of great points will be made in the next episode of the Good Shit Podcast.
We are recording tomorrow (Thursday August 25), and so the episode should be available tomorrow evening on soundcloud.com. Thanks for reading, be sure to check out the podcast! Here's smiley again
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