Loopy Loup Garou
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| |
| Can ya smell what the werewolf is cookin'? | |
| Loopy Loup Garou | |
| Player: @Jade Dragon | |
| Origin: | Natural |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Brute |
| Threat Level: | 15 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Branden Lee Thibideux |
| Known Aliases: | Loup Garou, Loopy. |
| Species: | Werewolf |
| Age: | 25 |
| Height: | 6' 2" |
| Weight: | 290 lbs |
| Eye Color: | Blue |
| Hair Color: | Brown |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | U.S. Citizen |
| Occupation: | Professional Wrestler |
| Place of Birth: | New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Base of Operations: | The Arena, Rogue Isles |
| Marital Status: | Unknown |
| Known Relatives: | Vixen/Lady Loup Garou (Girlfriend) |
| Known Powers | |
| Energy Melee, Invulnerability, Leaping (Energy Melee is roleplayed as heat generation) | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Surprisingly quick and agile, extensive knowledge of wrestling holds | |
| Equipment | |
| None. | |
| No additional information available. | |
"Loopy", as he is affectionately known, is an ex-wrestler on the run after he escaped from prison following a steroid scandal. Desperate to clear his name and prove that his abilities are "natural" (to werewolves) he has turned to a life of crime.
Contents |
Affiliations
Identity: Public.
Supergroups: None
Known Associates: Has associated with Blood Wolf, and has access to his hideout in Paragon City.
Personality
Extremely loud, aggressive, and confident. However, it is likely that this is an act, developed over years of playing to the crowds in the wrestling ring. In private, he can be friendly, and even joke around, although in a very rough and physical manner. Despite his reputation as a "Heel", Loopy is actually a good person, and is just trying to clear his name.
Powers
Loopy Loup Garou has the powers one would expect in a werewolf, great strength, regeneration, and a weakness against silver. He does not appear to transform into a werewolf under a full moon, however, as he is in his werewolf form all of the time, even during the day. It is not known if Loopy can actually transform back to his human form, but if he can, he may just prefer staying in wolf form.
Energy Melee
In addition to Loopy Loup Garou's superhuman strength, his muscles are also able to generate vast amounts of heat as he fights. This energy is stored in the chains that he wears around his biceps, heating them until they glow red. Thus, as Loopy throws punches, he does more and more damage, as his foes are burned by the chains, which carry the heat down to the gauntlets around his wrists. He is also able to use his claws to do even more damage, and has even been seen to bite his victims.
It's thought that Loopy only discovered this ability to use the heat generated by his muscles in combat after he escaped from the Ziggarat, as he never used this tactic in the ring, when he was a wrestler. He has always been known as a ruthless opponent, though, and he rarely pulled his punches against the superhuman foes he fought in the UWE. Even so, he knows many submission holds and non-lethal techniques, and even after his escape, he has managed to avoid taking human life.
Invulnerability
In addition to his superhuman strength, Loopy Loup Garou is also incredibly resiliant, to the point where he can take small weapons fire without much effect. When he is injured, his lycanthrope powers allow him to heal it very rapidly. He tends not to rely on his healing ability, however, and instead tries to avoid attacks, jumping around and using walls or trees to bounce off of, much as he would leap off of the ropes in the ring.
Super Leaping
Even when he was a wrestler, Loopy tended to leap off of the ropes more often than would be expected for someone of his size. On a number of occasions, this led to him destroying the ring, although the UWE continually kept building up the strength of their ropes trying to keep pace with him. Out in the open, with ledges and buildings for him to leap off of, Loopy is able to use his great leg strength to leap greater distances than he ever did in the ring. His skill with this ability has grown as he has practices with it, to the point where he can cover great distances very quickly, and leap over high walls.
Weaknesses and Limitations
Like all werewolves, Loopy Loup Garou is vulnerable to silver, and enough foes are aware of this weakness that he can expect silver bullets to be used against him. This is another reason that he prefers not to rely on either his resiliance or his ability to heal. Psionic attacks also tend to be useful against him, as he is strong willed, but not particularly smart.
Character History
"Loopy" had a long and successful career as a Heel in Ultimate Wrestling Entertainment. His catchphrases, "Can you smell what the werewolf is cookin'?" and "It doesn't matter what your name is! You're dogfood!" made him extremely popular with the crowds, and earned quite a few fans, particularly for a Heel. His meteoric rise ended, however, when many of the wrestlers in the UWE were found to be taking steroids to create their superhuman physiques. Loopy protested that his powers were perfectly natural, passed onto him by a werewolf in childhood, but no one seemed to believe him.
Part of the mystery surrounding Loup Garou is that much of his history prior to becoming a wrestler is unknown. He claims that his ability to remain in wolf form during the day, and also to retain his intelligence and personality, is due to the amount of time that he has had to learn to control his "curse". Yet, he was never able to produce the werewolf that supposedly infected him. Many knowledgable scientists who studied Loopy's condition testified that there are specific differences between his structure and those of other known werewolves, such as his human lower torso and legs. There is some speculation that he was the result of experiments similar to those performed by the Council, or, as it was claimed at the trial, that he has merely been altered to look like a werewolf.
Due to the lack of evidence supporting his story, Loopy was found guilty. As the judge was reading the verdict, Loopy burst out shouting, claiming that UWE had set the whole thing up, forcing the wrestlers to take the fall, when in fact the owners were the ones who were providing the drugs. He had to be restrained by several superheroes attending the trial, and swore that he would escape and take the UWE down. Sure enough, after he had only been in the Zig for a few months, he was freed by Arachnos. They recruited him with promises that they would find the evidence he needed to clear himself, but over time, as they have not delivered, Loopy has begun to lose faith in them.
Also freed from prison by Arachnos, and almost always at his side, is Loopy's "Diva", Lady Loup Garou. This lady wrestler was originally named Vixen, but after meeting Loopy, she apparently fell in love with him, and arranged to have him pass his lycanthropy on to her. Now a female werewolf, with powers similar to Loopy's, she tries to help him run the errands that Arachnos has assigned for them, and eventually clear both of their names.
Inspirations and Trivia
Loup Garou was originally a character I created for the WWE Smackdown vs Raw game for the PS2. I had bought the game for my sister and her husband, who are huge wrestling fans, and we had gotten involved in the Create a Wrestler mode. We all pretty much came up with crazy concepts from the very beginning, and my sister's husband had created this huge, grotesquely muscular guy that looked something like the Hulk. I wanted a character that would be just as outlandish, but somewhat smaller and more agile. I was looking through the costume pieces, saw the wolf mask, and just decided that my character had to be a werewolf.
The name "Loopy" was originally his nickname, but as I was trying to create the character in City of Villains I found that Loup Garou was already taken. So I just added the "Loopy" into the front. "Loup Garou", of course, is the Cajun term for werewolf.
