From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe

There is nothin' you can name that is anything like a dame. -Rodgers & Hammerstein

PinUp Girl
Player: @Masked Shrike
Origin:	Natural
Archetype:	Scrapper
Threat Level:	50
Personal Data
Real Name:	Paige Rockwell, nee West
Known Aliases:	Paige Turner
Species:	Human
Date of Birth:	Unknown (Age 23)
Height:	5' 9"
Weight:	150
Eye Color:	Blue-green
Hair Color:	Black
Biographical Data
Nationality:	USA
Occupation:	Tailor, designer and non-profit organizer
Place of Birth:	Paragon City, RI
Base of Operations:	Paragon City, RI
Marital Status:	Married
Known Relatives:	Grandmother: Paige Peabody, nee Turner, the original PinUp Girl; deceased Genetic grandfather: Jake Johnson, aka The Muck-Raker; status unknown Grandfather: William 'Billy' Peabody, aka Bold Face, her mother's stepfather; deceased Mother: Betty Peabody West, once known as Cutline Father: Nathan West Husband: James Rockwell aka Proud Citizen Children: Jacob Rockwell aka Young Citizen, Valerie Rockwell aka Poster Girl
Additional Data
Known Powers:	Dual blade knifefighter with extraordinary willpower Control of magical darkness
Known Abilities:	Knife fighting Krav Maga Sewing Design Piloting
Known Equipment:	Two matched V-42 Case Commando Knives
Footnotes:	Battle cry: Now it's my turn to pin YOU!
[ Source ]

Contents 1 Background 2 The Fourth Estate 2.1 The original PinUp Girl 2.2 Cutline and the New Edition 3 Affiliations 4 Personality 5 Powers 6 Abilities 7 Weaknesses and Limitations 8 Equipment 9 Known Enemies 10 The Ongoing Story 11 Trivia 11.1 Character Trivia 11.2 Meta-trivia

Background

Few now remember Paragon's scrappy crimefighters known as the Fourth Estate, who came together to clean up corruption and, later, aid in the war effort: The Muck-Raker! Girl Friday! The Public Eye! Newshound! And, of course, that young lady who became so popular with the G.I.s: Miss Paige Turner, aka PinUp Girl! She joined up in 1942 as part of the Fourth Estate's 'junior' group, the Late Edition. Sadly, both groups broke up and drifted apart after the war, and the names of those heroes have fallen into obscurity. But recently, a figure reminscent of PinUp Girl has been seen on the streets of Paragon City. Only the most diehard hero fans recognized the costume, but word is getting out. Could it be Miss Turner has somehow returned to heroing, untouched by time? Or has some other woman taken up the slender knives and the familiar cry: "Now it's my turn to pin you!"

In reality, the 'new' PinUp Girl is a legacy hero, Paige Turner's granddaughter, Paige West. Determined to maintain the tradition of Paragon's wartime pinup heroine, Paige trained most of her life in preparation for the day she would take to the streets in the familiar sailor suit and pumps. Luckily, she fell in with a large group of experienced heroes, the Gods of the Golden Age. There she made new friends and found a mentor, Colossal Girl, for whom Paige has great respect. At a party hosted by the Gods, Paige met another young combat-trained legacy hero, Proud Citizen. The two of them hit it off immediately and soon they were head over heels in love. Their fledgling relationship hit a snag when Proud Citizen revealed his true identity: James Rockwell, wealthy playboy and jetsetter. For a time, the firmly middle-class Paige felt too out of place in his world, but his patient devotion made her realize that they were meant to be together. It was as a couple that they were honored with Security Level 50 on one giddy, happy day.

Though she maintains her secret identity and tries to play the part of the WWII PinUp Girl, Paige is a very normal young woman in many ways. She has a close relationship with her parents, who recently retired to Phoenix. Her strange heroing hours caused her to lose her job as a retail buyer for a clothing chain, and her repeated applications to work at Icon were never successful. James has offered to help her go into business for herself. Additionally, she hopes to start a clothing donation program and a thrift shop to aid St. Bonniventure's Mission in Bloody Bay, which she learned about from the mission's champion, Sister Courage. When she's not working, Paige is enjoying her chance to live it up with James and be romanced by such a handsome and generous man. After she had to give up her Steel Canyon apartment, she agreed to move into a luxurious Founders Falls brownstone owned by him. They spontaneously married during the next Golden Age Festival.

The Fourth Estate

The Fourth Estate got its start in the early 1930s. Reporter Jake Johnson became fed up trying to fight corruption with his pen in the pages of the Paragon City Times, and took to the streets in 1931 as the masked crimefighter The Muck-Raker. The strange events of that July 4th left him more effective than ever, able to channel darkness into his two-fisted fighting style. With his buddy The Public Eye, a photographer who wielded his flash equipment as a weapon, The Muck-Raker went up against dirty cops and politicians, as well as local gangsters. Joined by Girl Friday and Kid Extra, they formed the loose association known as the Fourth Estate. Soon they welcomed a few other crusading journalists into their fold, some of whom had also felt lasting effects of the July Fourth phenomenon. Newshound, a gentle artist who was afflicted with some sort of permanent lycanthropy which rendered him unable to write or draw; Hot Type, a scrappy girl press mechanic who packed a mean wrench and the ability to sheathe herself in fire; and others besides.

The original PinUp Girl

The Turner family came through Paragon in late 1941, somehow eking out a living on the remains of the vaudeville circuit and occasional carnival gigs. Their act? Knifethrowing by six scantily clad young ladies in a frenetic, comedic style. Playing at the Lyric, one of the last remaining houses to feature live acts interspersed with movies, the Turner Girls were spotted by a local 'photographer' who asked the youngest, Paige, to come to his studio as he could shoot her and get her into show business by means of his 'connections'. The sisters were all restless and ready to move on, either into marriage, movies or modeling. Paige naively accepted his offer but as soon as they were alone, it was clear the fellow didn't have show business on his mind. As it happened, the lecherous gent had made others his prey before, and had come to the attention of The Public Eye. The Eye busted in on the scene, intent on finally taking out the sleazy photographer, and of course rescuing the girl. He was surprised to find that Miss Turner did not, in fact, require rescuing, having already incapacitated the wolf and pinned him to the wall. Impressed, the Eye offered to get her in touch with a legit photographer of his acquaintance--and he also brought her to the attention of his crimefighting cronies.

Not wishing to endanger a girl only in her teens, the rest of the Estate argued over her inclusion while Paige had her first photo sessions. Then after December 7th, the group's attentions were focused elsewhere. Just after the first of the year, the Eye arranged for her to meet with Kid Extra, who had decided to form up some of the younger, newer heroes into an offshoot of the Fourth Estate, the Late Edition, as it seemed most of the elder heroes would be called off to war. Excited by the notion of a new direction in life, and hoping to do her part to aid her country, Paige eagerly accepted. She bade her family farewell and donned a mask, hitting the streets as the wily, knife-wielding PinUp Girl. Soon the pretty, flirtatious heroine was a favorite of Paragon City boys going off to war, especially as she volunteered with the USO and handed out hundreds of signed pictures. She made it her business to see off as many soldiers, sailors and Marines as possible, giving each one a kiss to take with him 'for the duration'. At least one aircraft, a B-17, was named for her and painted with her likeness. Even The Muck-Raker had to admit that she grew into a tough and determined crimefighter while taking her role as a 'hero' very seriously. She was even more thrilled to go on tour with the USO, ostensibly to do her act, but really to perform covert operations overseas in both the ETO and PTO. During this time she worked with other heroes, including the Last Musketeer, the original Proud Citizen, and several others. Little is known of her activities during these years, but it seems she aided the French Resistance.

After the war, PinUp Girl took up with the aging leader of the Fourth Estate, the two-fisted, hardboiled reporter known as The Muck-Raker. Always a bitter and cynical man, his relationship with Paige deteriorated completely when she fell for the young up-and-comer Billy Peabody, known as Bold Face. The tensions involved contributed to the breakup of the Fourth Estate, already torn by Senator McCarthy's paranoid rampage. The Muck-Raker, blacklisted and apparently on a one-way slide into alcoholism and self-hatred, left Paige pregnant and distraught. Yet she and Billy were wed and retired to live normal lives. The Muck-Raker disappeared, and his fate is still a mystery. Paige Peabody had a daughter, Betty.

Cutline and the New Edition

During the 1970s, Betty Peabody was an idealistic young woman with a journalism degree from PCU and a desire to save the world from racism, war, poverty, and corruption. Her work as an angry young writer for the Paragon Free Press didn't seem to be having an immediate effect. As a rebellious teen Betty had rejected her parents' tutelage and their 'outdated' heroic ideals, but along with a few new faces, she decided to revive the Fourth Estate as the New Edition. Betty donned tights and a cape, took up her mother's old knives, and called herself Cutline. By the combined efforts of idealistic young heroes such as Newshawk, Color Key, Layout and Quarterfold, the New Edition began to make a small dent in Paragon's villainous population. Only a few months after their debut the New Edition, assisting a visiting Israeli heroine named Shoah, found themselves getting in over their heads. On a solo mission, Cutline attempted to liberate information from a Fifth Column stronghold, but she was herself taken captive. After a three-day ordeal the New Edition, aided by Shoah, managed to extract her, but she was so shaken that she immediately retired her knives. The New Edition fell apart mere months later. Betty met and married Nathan West, an accountant with no superhero ties whatsoever. To this day, Betty Peabody West will not speak of her time in Fifth Column hands. She was dismayed to learn of her daughter's desire to become a hero, but she has done her best to support the new PinUp Girl.

Affiliations

PinUp Girl is a member of the Gods of the Golden Age. She still has contact with the last known surviving member of the Fourth Estate, her 'uncle' Herman Vogel, aka The Public Eye; he supplies Paige with useful gadgets and information. She continues to work with her strict, stone-faced trainer Ari Rubin. Paige is married to a fellow member of the Gods, Proud Citizen, aka James Rockwell. She values her time with her friends, including Colossal Girl, the Queen of Swords, Spectral Lad, Primadonna, Star Flair, Kid Quarry, Captain Flyboy, and the troubled young man whom she considers her 'little brother,' Triune Mode.

Personality

As PinUp Girl, Paige tries to maintain a persona she imagines would be similar to her grandmother's: sweet, flirtatious in an innocent yet sexy way, cheery, saucy, outgoing and good-natured. This can be difficult as she is in reality rather shy. Paige herself is a sweet and somewhat naive young woman, the product of a sheltered upbringing. She wears her heart on her sleeve and is given to deep emotion. People know her as one who 'takes in strays' literally as well as figuratively. She tries to see the best in people, but her hero career has put a bit of a strain on her open-hearted nature. She is also fiercely protective and, due to the abduction of her mother at the hands of the Fifth Column back in the 70s, she will not stand for anyone to be abused in such a fashion. In fact, it can be difficult for her to rein in her anger when faced with such a situation. Though she is in many ways shy, Paige is not at all self-conscious about bodies and nudity, her own or anyone else's.

Powers

PinUp has trained as a knifefighter since she was 16. Her skills are exemplary. Recently it seems that she did indeed inherit a touch of The Muck-Raker's affinity for magical darkness. Perhaps this touch of magic in her blood has made her tougher and more dextrous than most humans. Her talent for channeling and controlling darkness is weak and mostly untrained.

Abilities

At the age of 16, Paige made a deal with her mother: she could train to take up the family hero mantle, but she'd have to obey her trainer in every way. Paige accepted, and her mother found her a trainer: Ari Rubin, a former member of Israel's Mossad. Ari refused to let the girl take part in anything but school, family activities, and a strict training regimen that included knife fighting techniques along with Krav Maga. Paige's only hobbies have been sewing and design, and superhero fandom. After high school she went on to get a degree in design at PCU. She hopes to open her own small design business with help from her boyfriend, Proud Citizen. Her father, an avid private pilot, mentored her through her pilot's license.

Weaknesses and Limitations

Paige has all the limitations of any nomal human. She has to rely on skill and pluck rather than augmented abilities or superhuman powers. This fact has begun to cause her a certain amount of worry as she begins to truly learn what it means to fight against, and beside, metahumans. The PinUp Girl persona is one of easy confidence and flirty humor; none of these things come easily to Paige. She has been known to act rashly and get herself in over her head, as well. Teleportation tends to make her feel nauseated and disoriented.

Equipment

Paige uses her grandmother's brace of fighting knives, a pair of matched V-42 Commando Knives given to the original PinUp Girl by the Case company during WWII. These slender two-edged knives are similar to daggers. The knives are named Lilli and Marlene. She also carries several small throwing knives. All of her knives are stashed about her person in a concealed harness she made herself--and when asked from whence she produces her blades, her usual answer is "You don't really want to know." To help her get around Paragon faster, her 'Uncle Herman' gave her a pair of shoes enhanced with 'gravjump' technology. Paige wears various costumes based on actual outfits worn by the original PinUp Girl, all of which she makes herself. She often wears a lovely antique necklace with a pendant shaped like a starburst and set with diamonds; it was given to her by Proud Citizen, and once belonged to his deceased mother. PinUp always carries a small emergency toiletry kit containing aspirin, Pepto Bismol tablets, tissues, and a comb.

Known Enemies

Because her mother was traumatized into hanging up her cape due to an encounter with the Fifth Column back in the 1970s, Paige has an intense loathing of the Fifth Column and their successors, the Council. As a lifelong resident of Paragon, she fights the Rikti invaders with great zeal. Early in her hero career, she had a run-in with a villain known as Loverboy, whose pheromones allowed him to control many females, including Paige. The incident shook her to the core. Not long ago she was made aware of the Masters of the Golden Age, the alternate universe version of the Gods. The Masters, while not seeing themselves as villains, have a strict and authoritarian viewpoint. Proud Soldier, the alternate version of Proud Citizen, snuck into Paragon and convinced Paige he was 'her' James. She was totally fooled, and nearly left the country with him. Only a last-minute confrontation between the two men kept her from making a huge mistake. Little does she know that she too has a mirror image in the Masters: Teardown, a knife-wielding, darkness-shrouded Amazon with a broken heart and a huge chip on her shoulder. It may be that Teardown will emulate her former boyfriend and visit Paragon City before long.

The Ongoing Story

Following their throwdown with Proud Soldier, James treated Paige to a romantic week in Paris. During breaks in the shopping and smooching, Paige did a bit of research into her grandmother's time in Europe during WWII. She found little of interest, but someone may have found her of interest. Shortly after her return to Paragon, she received a strange package containing two photos: one of her in Paris, one of her grandmother in some unknown location, both held together by a jeweled paperclip.

Another recent event was a visit by a young hero from the future, or at least a possible future, who identified herself as the daughter of two Gods. During a lengthy chat with Paige and James, this visitor revealed that she was a friend of the Rockwell twins: Jacob, aka Young Citizen, an expert swordsman gifted with powers over magical darkness, and Valerie, aka Poster Girl, a whizkid inventor with her father's sterling martial arts skills. Though initially shocked by this revelation, James and Paige are now excited and happy about the prospect. It seems that the twins may have snuck into present-day Paragon following their wayward friend, but PinUp and Proud Citizen have yet to meet them.

Trivia

Character Trivia

• Paige grew up as a starry-eyed superhero fangirl. She still has a huge collection of scrapbooks, photos, and autographs as well as a large resource library of hero material. She was once an addicted user of various Internet hero fansites, usually known by the alias PinUpFan.

• Recently she became the owner of Nyx, a kitten rescued from a Crey Corporation lab. Nyx is now exhibiting shadowy powers.

• PinUp Girl has been honored by a local flight museum, which named its newly restored B-17 for her, and painted her on it as nose art.

• PinUp's trademark is a very red lipstick 'kiss' mark that she leaves on friend and foe alike, courtesy of the bright sticky lipstick she uses especially for that purpose.

Meta-trivia

• PinUp Girl is a not-so-subtle homage to Bettie Page, and the classic pinups of Evgren, Vargas, and the like.

• Her personality is largely based on Gretchen Mol's portrayal of Miss Page in the recent film, The Notorious Bettie Page.

• Her knives are named for the poignant German love song Lili Marleen, made famous by Marlene Dietrich.

• PinUp's theme song is There is Nothin' Like a Dame from the musical South Pacific.

• Were she to be cast for a live action movie, short list contenders would be Gretchen Mol (as above) and Dita von Tees, but the final choice would probably be Jennifer Connelly as seen in The Rocketeer. (Proud Citizen would of course be played by Billy Campbell as seen in the same film.)

• The Fourth Estate was a concept I had when I first started playing CoH, but I then realized it would be no fun to play all the members of a supergroup by myself.

• The Fourth Estate's gimmick: everything about the group relates to journalism and publishing.

• One other member of the Fourth Estate has now been revived as a legacy hero, by another player, as the character News Hound.

• PinUp's player met Proud Citizen's player in CoH. They are now married in Real Life.