DC: Earth J

[David bar Elias]

Yet another take on the DC Universe, this one taking place on a significantly Jewish world...

~~~~~

The Fist of G-d

The only survivor of the destruction of the planet Krypton, the infant Kal El was blasted into space by his father. In the year 5699 Anno Domini [1], just the High Holy Days came to an end, his ship came to a final landing on a farm in the lush Emek [2], in the Restored Kingdom of Israel, tended to by Abraham ben Israel and his wife, Sarah. Having prayed for years for a child, they were overjoyed (and astounded) to discover an unscathed infant beaming up at them. Viewing this new development as nothing short of Divine intervention, they granted him the name of Baruch ben HaShamayim (literally: Blessing, Son of the Sky).

Growing up on the family farm, and instructed fully in the rituals and joys of Judaism, Baruch began to discover over the years that he possessed skills that no one else around him seemed to have: superstrength, flight, x-ray, telepathic, heat, microscopic, and infa-red vision, and invulnerability to pain. His parents told him that his powers were a gift by G-d, and that he was only to use these powers for the protection of the Jewish people as a whole. After his passage into manhood, his parents told him the full story of how he came to them.

With a strong moral upbringing, and now fully convinced that he was meant for a higher calling, Baruch, at the age of seventeen, was sent to the gleaming city of Tel Aviv [3] to study at the world-renowned World Yeshiva, operated by the ancient Mesopotamian rabbinical Dynasty. The metropolis made an immediate impression on Baruch, as he had never been out of Emek in his life.

Quickly standing out at the center due to his seeming superhuman abilities to memorize vast swaths of all manner of holy works in short sittings, he soon became the favorite pupil of the instructors. He was also immensely popular among his fellow students. The notable exception in this regard was Alexander Lukor, a genius student from the Third Roman Empire. Lukor, who had grown up abused and neglected in a broken home, instinctually loathed Baruch, becoming enormously jealous. In sheer desperation, Lukor pretended to befriend Baruch, and then tried to trick him into blaspheming within earshot of the visiting Grand Rabbi Mizrahi.

This backfired horribly for Lukor: Baruch, deducing his “friend’s” true intent, exposed the scheme to the Grand Rabbi and the other instructors. Angered greatly (and trusting Baruch wholeheartedly), they expelled Lukor from the yeshiva, putting a permanent black mark on the Roman’s record. Stalking away, as spiteful as Cain himself, Lukor vowed revenge on Baruch, on the yeshiva, and anything that remotely reminded him of them…

This incident was an eye-opener for Baruch. Incredulous that anyone as loathsome as Alexander Lukor could insert himself into a position to manipulate upstanding students, he began to wonder just how many lesser versions of Lukor were out in the world…

Upon completing his studies at the World Yeshiva, Baruch thought he had deduced the reasons for his coming to the world: G-d wanted someone of great power to prevent the wolves from preying on the lambs; to prevent another Cain from killing his brother; to stop people like Alexander Lukor from leading the vulnerable astray.

Fashioning himself a costume, Baruch vowed to do everything he could to stop a descent into sin and un-G-dliness, and to hasten the coming of Moshiach.

And so, Baruch forged a new life: by day, he served as Rabbi ben HaShamayim at the World Yeshiva, explaining the joys and wonders of all manner of Jewish laws and life to his students. But, whenever he ceased to study, he transformed himself into the Fist of G-d, dedicated to stamping out the corrupting forces within the realms of Jewry.

His adventures would begin in earnest as Alexander Lukor dedicated his life and genius to the twin principles of revenge and domination…


[1] 1938 A.D.

[2] Our world’s Bekaa Valley.

[3] Our world’s Beirut, Lebanon.

[Snake Featherston]

I likey.

This gives me the option of using a certain character:

Masque.

Born when extradimensional energy empowered a stillborn baby, Deborah bat Omri is this world's Raven. An exceptionally powerful mystic, she has been raised in a Charedi home, as a Sephardi. She is from a different era, the 3rd Millenium, as opposed to the 6th Millenium. As an immortal, she has witnessed the changes on planet Earth since the 20th Century, and has seen many of her friends die. She has become nostalgic in recent days for the past, even with its violence and primitiveness. Representing, for Earth-J, a link to a very different time and place, she has become not only known as The Masque, but as Rabboni, the teacher, the link to a Judaism of a far distant time. Her powers display a hint of an extrahuman origin, with an acrid Black Smoke coming loose from her at times of anger that turns enemies into nothing but smoldering bone and burned clothes. Deborah bat Omri's knowledge of Halacha and its rules that stretches back, according to her, to the year of our Lord 1962, when she received induction into the rites of Judaism, makes her an invaluable resource, one that has become zealously garded by the Yeshiva Azarath, but who is willing to aid people such as The Fist of G-d, though with an (as yet unexplained to her disciples) mournful look, as though she knew something they didn't...

and another:

Ezekiel the Two-Faced:

A person who considers himself a Via Media between hero and villain like Masque, he is affiliated with neither, but works to unite them as one fraternity. Scarred by acid thrown on half of his face, he dresses in robes half-light, half-dark, which suits the role that he plays, neither in one side or another, but working with both. Masque is an obsession of his, however, one that has a slightly darker tint to it, because if Ezekiel Two-Face can ever take Masque to the past, he's coming too...armed with future weaponry. Ezekiel Two-Face also has uncovered startling scriptures upon one visit to Masque, scriptures that she has sworn him to silence about at the potential cost of his life. They are called "Vedas" and a "Quran"......

[David bar Elias]

The Black Heart

Benjamin Sabriel, the man who would become famous as the Black Heart, was born in Atil in the early days of 5699 Anno Domini [1] to extremely wealthy parents. The son of retired tudun [2] George Sabriel (who had achieved great wealth as the Head of the Radhanite Trading House by investing in new industrial projects in and around Atil), and his wife Miriam, Benjamin grew up in a sheltered home, tended to by his loving parents and their butler, the Sephardi Abraham Peretz. However, just after his eighth birthday, tragedy would strike.

Despite the new growth, Atil remained a pale shadow compared to its ancient glory as the seat of the Khazar Khaganate (now centered in the glittering metropolis of Sambat [3]). Spread over the Volga Basin, it had the dubious distinction of boasting some of the most infamous criminal fraternities and syndicates this side of Ashkenaz. Among the run town slums and tenement houses of the outer rings of Atil, numerous petty criminals struggled to stay afloat.

One of these desperate thugs was a small-time robber known only as Joseph. Crossing the Volga to the ancient business center of Kharazan (home to the wealthiest residents of the city), Joseph wound up brutally murdering the Sabriels, escaping into the river to avoid justice.

This tragedy would mark the end of Benjamin’s childhood. Sadness over his parents’ death quickly turned to a desire for vengeance.

Into this void stepped Abraham, who viewed young Benjamin like his own son. A highly moral individual who was sickened at how the underworld had crippled Atil, and not having any faith in the corrupt Judges to keep do anything about it, he decided to forge Benjamin into a weapon, which would tear a swath through the criminals of the city.

Thus began ten years of intense physical and mental conditioning. Abraham, a veteran of the Israeli Foreign Legion, proved his weight in gold as an instructor, putting his Master through many harsh trials. During these sessions, Benjamin drew the line at killing: having remembered his religious instructions as a child, he could not take another man’s life, much to Abraham’s exasperations. He had to remind his butler that his mission was to protect the innocent, not to copy the monster who had taken away his parents.

In the meantime, Abraham also groomed Benjamin to take his place at the Radhanite Trading House…

At the age of eighteen, Benjamin Sabriel was ready to assume his new life’s mission. By day, he maintained his job as the Administrator of Technical Development for the massive Trading House, giving him access to many useful gadgets.

But by night, his identity, hidden underneath the stylized armor of a Khazar Knight, and wearing a jet-black cloak and mask, was the Black Heart, a vigilante who set himself on the criminal world of Atil with all the fury of a winter storm, leaving them only with their lives to face the justice of the Judges.

His first target was the Falcon Fraternity, the biggest crime syndicate in Atil. But his many victories over the unprepared crime lords would cause unexpected blowback, giving the Black Heart one of the most infamous rogue’s galleries in the world…


[1] 1938 A.D.

[2] Administrator

[3] Our world's Kiev, Ukraine.

[Tony Jones]

Good stuff! Like it!

[David bar Elias]

Good stuff! Like it!

Thanks! :D

Any other comments? Additions?

[Mr_ Bondoc]

The Galactic Golem- The Galactic Golem was created in 5733 by Alek Lukor in one of his plots to destroy the Fist of God. The Golem is an artificial creature that draws its energy from starlight. During its first battle with the Fist of God, it releases so much energy that it appears to wipe out all life on Earth, leaving only the Fist of God, the Golem, and Lukor. A remorseful Luthor discovers that the energy had safely shifted all Earth's inhabitants into a parallel world. After the Fist of God manages to hurl the Golem into space, the Earth's inhabitants safely return to the correct plane of existence. The Galactic Golem has the ability to absorb stellar radiation, which in turn provides it with incredible strength and durability. Cutting off the Golem's access to this radiation renders it inert.

[David bar Elias]

The Rogue’s Gallery

Having decimated the biggest of Atil’s criminal syndicates, it wasn’t long before a new breed of criminal confronted the Black Heart. Garish, colorful, and in most cases completely insane, these figures would become a more or less permanent thorn in the side of Atil, with only the Black Heart keeping them from dominating the ever-grim city. In a seemingly endless system of revolving door, these men and women often find themselves locked away in the decrepit Arkam House for the Criminally Insane, only to escape to wreak havoc another day.

These are a few of the more notable characters in this menagerie…

Born into a cruel life of poverty and violence, Helena Kol knew how to defend herself by a very early age. By the time of Benjamin Sabriel’s final transformation into the Black Heart, Kol had established herself as the most skilled thief in Atil’s East End. She first ran afoul of the Black Heat when she began to aim for more upscale targets in the wealthy enclaves of the metropolis, and they’ve clashed ever since.

During all of this sneaking and running, Helena Kol’s obsession with cats (stemming from her blackened childhood years) reached new heights, not least because of the fact that they could vanish into the shadows when cornered…

* * *

Ra’s al Ghul, a son of the backwaters of the Himyar Empire, claimed to be immortal. Though the Black Heart didn't believe this bellicose claim, he was obviously extremely well connected, with enough wealth to fund his private group: Those Who Remember, an international league of assassins who strike at any locale that their leader deems immoral, with Atil high on his list of targets deemed necessary for destruction. This eventually led to a brutal duel between the Black Heart and the Head of the Demon during Tish B’Av of 5733 Anno Domini. [1]

In the meantime, his daughter, Talia, forged a career of her own, becoming a trusted confidant of Alexander Lukor…

* * *

Eldad Nicanor is the victim of his own obsessive-compulsions. Against his better judgment, he all too often felt the overpowering urge to create intricate criminal plots, and leave clues for the Black Heart in the forms of puzzles or riddles.

Despite proving to be a persistent annoyance, the Black Heart didn’t consider Nicanor a danger, if only because he knew that he wasn't evil. He just needed a lot of help…

* * *

One of the earliest beneficiaries of the collapse of the old criminal guard was Obadiah C. Cobble. Like Benjamin Sabriel, he was the scion of a very wealthy and well-connected family in Atil. Unfortunately, in the multiple academies he attended as a child, he was the subject of brutal ridicule due to his beak of a nose, short fat frame, and an obsessive love of birds.

Ultimately turning his back on what he saw as a world undeserving of his intellect, Obadiah would remake himself into a self-proclaimed “Gentleman of the Underworld”…

* * *

Julian Davids gained the dubious distinction for being one of the Black Heart’s most ineffectual (and mocked) adversaries, due to his rather foolish tendency to only commit crimes on important holidays…

* * *

Ezekiel the Two Faced always despised the Black Heart for failing to see that the coin has two sides…

* * *

Professor Jonathan Caro, a completely mad research scientist, had long been enthralled by the power and the nature of fear, using it to great advantage to advance an infamous criminal career. Ultimately however, the Black Heart proved to be far less malleable than the good professor had thought…

* * *

Doctor Hephzibah Qorzel was regarded with derision from her fellow psychiatrists in Atil, for her poorly thought-out theories and plagiarized books. It wasn't long before she was forced to take a menial job tending to the mentally ill of Arkam House. It was there that she would set herself to the path of damnation, as she became infatuated with its most terrifying inmate…

* * *

Currently the most feared (and infamous) criminal in Atil, The Jester remains a blank slate. Nobody knows his real name, or where he came from, or even the point to his acts of mayhem, murder, and destruction. Unlike the other notorious criminals in the city and Arkam, he seems disturbingly unconcerned with the acquisition of wealth.

With his green hair, pasty white face, ruby-red lips, and razor sharp teeth, the closest to an origin that anyone has gotten out of him is one very cryptic statement: “I had a bad day once.”

* * *

That isn’t to say that the Black Heart was alone in fighting this Rogue’s Gallery. Besides always-loyal Abraham the Butler, his biggest ally in this black hole of a city was Judge Joshua Khozarig, an honest dispenser of justice in a town gone round the bend. Despite his initial reluctance to go along with this kind of vigilantism, Judge Khozarig recognized the role that the Black Heart now played in the shadows of Atil.

His daughter, Bella, would prove to be a love interest for the Black Heart, as well as much, much more in the long-term…


[1] 1972 A.D.

[David bar Elias]

Bump...

Any more additions? :o

[Milarqui]

The Winged Lightning
Born to loving parents in the city of Neapolis (Third Roman Empire) during the year 5701 Anno Domini, Bartolomeo Allenius was educated by his parents in the faith of the ancient Roman Gods, like Jupiter. However, if he had to choose one God, he would have followed Hermes, the God of thieves and road travelers, because he liked to walk everywhere he could so that he could see everything. He took a job as a messenger between the cities of the whole known world, always riding his precious mare Iris, and even met the Fist of G-d in one of his travels to the former Roman province of Judea. Upon seeing how lauded the Fist of G-d was by the people, he thought that it might be nice to be much like him, but his love of travelling was bigger than this.

Everything changed when, in the road between the cities of Alexandria and al-Qahirah, several thieves tried to steal Iris from him. He fought them, and although he managed to hold his own, in the end Iris was accidentally killed when she stopped on of the thieves from killing Bartolomeo from behind.

As Bartolomeo heard the whining of his mare, he turned around to see Iris fall down in front of his eyes. The shock provided the thieves an opportunity to knock Bartolomeo down and rob him of all the possessions he had in him.

When he woke up, completely naked and with only Iris' corpse as company, he cried shamelessly on his loss and befouled the name of the god of thieves for not protecting him. It was quite fortuitous that a storm started in that moment, and even more that a lightning impacted on him, nearly killing him. However, this would end changing him completely, because when he woke up and tried to run towards a nearby inn in order to rest, he realised that he was able to run many times faster than any living being he had ever met. Using this power, he was able to recover his possessions and money, send all the thieves to the nearest vigile office, bury Iris, plant an obelisk to remember her and her work and carry the message he had been travelling with to its addressee.

After finishing his last work, he went back to the obelisk where Iris had been buried, sitting down under it and sleeping. There, he dreamt of the god Hermes, who had been so pained by the loss of one of his most faithful followers, had decided to bestow him with the power to run as fast as he (Hermes) could, so that the thing that had happened to him didn't happen to anybody else. Waking up, he decided to forgive the god of road travelers and, disguising himself with two winged sandals, a mask and a red robe with the drawing of a lightning on it, the Winged Lightning travelled through the world, fulfilling his wish of seeing everything while he made sure no one suffered at the hands of those who worked for their own benefit regardless of the other people's lifes.

[tinoking]

Julian Davids who's he the counter part of?

[David bar Elias]

Julian Davids who's he the counter part of?

He's the counterpart to Calendar Man (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calendar_Man).

[tinoking]

thanks I feel stupit