From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe

The Mad Manta has calmed the monsters in the deep and now will focus on the education of young villains, and the destruction of all do gooders.

Contents 1 Background & Basics 2 Appearance & Biology 2.1 Voice Alterations 3 Personality & Associations 4 Interests

Background & Basics

No one besides the Manta herself knows where she came from, and even then the story is a little dodgy for her. What has been pieced together is that she came to the surface about two years ago via the Arachnos Villain Exchange program, and was relocated into the successful Entropy Legion. Her outlandish plans -- which have included giant magnifying glasses and an oppressive aquarium-based torture chamber full of carp -- never seem to catch hold.

Appearance & Biology

Manta is mainly human, but altered just enough to make her a much more suitable water-breather than anything else. She isn't too tall, and has a heavily curved, hydrodynamic body. Her entire body is covered in thick, soft iridescent scales that shine silver, adorned with a subtle blue leopard pattern. Her face has much more delicate scales, though there is a thick line of them that go from ear to ear, over the bridge of her nose and cheeks, that swell and flush obviously if she is flustered. The cycloid scales have a much more reptilian feel to them, though they tend to ripple when affected tactilely (like goosebumps). Though fish do not traditionally shed, Manta's changed lifestyle of constant non-humid conditions have started to cause small amounts of molting. At this point, Manta has no idea why her scales will occasionally peel off and show clean, fresh scales underneath.

Manta also has a variety of delicate webbing-like fins in the crooks of her knees and elbows, as well as in her underarms, which are malleable and sensitive. The webbing between each finely scaled finger and toe is much the same as what connects the shells of her ears together.

She prefers to be under water, but has been slowly adapting to landwalker life by wearing an assortment of moist-friendly clothing, including a kelp body suit, an armor set and helmet with an internal water circulation unit, clothes made of aquaanimal hide (orca-skin pants), and a combination of sea plants and coral. Without her clothes, she can stay comfortable in a low-humidity climate for a maximum of six hours. The more humidity in the air, the more easily she can pull water from it in order to increase her own comfort. Manta is able to stay conscious out of water without a re-breather for an absolute maximum of 10 minutes -- loss of life is likely if she is not submerged in sea water within minutes.

Manta's physiology is mainly human on the outside. However, she has several aquatic organs (such as a swim bladder, a labyrinth organ (to assist in air breathing), and a thick set of gills) and is missing a few human ones that have rearranged her insides completely. This would potentially make it very difficult to operate on were she to require immediate medical assistance without an ichthyologist around -- unless you called 911 and asked for a local empath.

Manta has never reproduced and isn't sure that she can, being borne of magic (not that anyone knows that). She does often make cutting remarks about making great home-made caviar -- so interpret that how you like.

Voice Alterations

Manta's voice will change depending on whether she is in the water, on land, wearing her re-breather, or wearing her armor.

Her voice sounds most natural without her re-breather and under the water. It is crisp and sweet, soothing the way you would expect a cooing mother to be. Outside of the water, her voice echoes slightly in the air, and the dry conditions cause her to sound a bit more gruff and sultry. When she wears the re-breather, her voice gets much higher, and distorts her normal laughter into what sounds like that of a manic dolphin.

Manta's specially made armor is made to carry a thin layer of water between the armor and the wearer. Water also fills the helmet. Her voice carries at a normal volume, though it sounds wavy, nearly robotic, and much lower (specifically created that way to add terror to her evil persona).

Personality & Associations

After living under the ocean for nearly a millennium, the way you act with other bipeds starts to change. Watching the sea become more and more polluted -- physically as well as sonically -- caused an old fury to fester in her. Being essentially a magical orphan did not help with her social skills. During her time under the sea, she met with very few aquatic humanoids, spending most of her time socializing with a variety of fishes, eels, sharks, sting rays, sea snakes, mammals, and crustaceans. On the rare occasion that she would come to the surface and meet with an airbreather, it was always some kind of pirate. Since a pirate can always appreciate a good looking fish, she developed an affinity for the swashbucklers and their less than honest way of living.

Manta is naturally gregarious, an exceedingly social animal that thrives off of conversation. She can speak Aquan and several offchute dialects, making it possible for her to talk to any fish of "average or above intelligence". Carp, for example, are too dumb to talk, so she raises them as pets -- or eats them.

Her namesake comes from her affinity towards manta rays. Manta is capable of calling fish from a long distance away, a la Aquaman, though her biggest talent is to draw huge crowds of rays and skates. She always had at least one lead manta ray as a guide, who she could also ride when feeling particularly superior (or lazy).

When Manta came to the surface, social adjustment was difficult as she was overwhelmed with a nasty hatred for the entire human race for what they did to her long-time home. Fortunately, her gregarious nature began to take over, and while she still freely killed most airbreathers without issue, she began to make a large group of friends.

Interests

In order to keep the Manta's interest, the following topics are suggested:

• The ocean, fish, swimming mammals, the general superiority of water folk
• Pirates (and how great they are)
• Mage torture devices
• Global climate change
• Pollution, nuclear waste, and other reasons why flooding the Earth would ruin her post-homo sapien utopia
• Anything involving the mistreatment or harassing of Desdemona, one of Manta's most hated arch rivals
• Anything involving general Hero spirit crushing
• Where to buy clothes made of kelp
• The smoking of purple kelp
• Fishermen (and how evil they are, usually)