DC Comics

Characters - Organizations - Locations - Timeline - NPCs

Backstory...

Years ago during the GOLDEN AGE of heroism, a group of government agents, law enforcement officers, and costumed vigilantes banded together to create the JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA, to keep their nation safe from the insidious influences of the Nazis and Communism. After decades of fighting against organised crime, fifth columnists, and an assortment of magical and malevolent foes, a TRAGIC INCIDENT forced most of the Justice Society into retirement or hiding. Some of America's heroes remained active, as part of ARGUS, the DEO, or by establishing the autonomous clandestine agency CHECKMATE, to keep the nation safe from continued danger. Across the nation, small pockets of villainy and vigilantism have persisted, most notably in the crime-infested city of GOTHAM.

It was not until the arrival of KAL-EL OF KRYPTON however that a new era of heroes began, led by SUPERMAN and the JUSTICE LEAGUE. New superheroes, vigilantes, and villains become active every day, and the DEPARTMENT OF EXTRANORMAL OPERATIONS struggles to keep them at bay. Seeking to equip itself with the technology needed to keep the world safe, Checkmate has acquired QUEEN CONSOLIDATED, which has begun conducting secret and often morally dubious R&D at various facilities throughout Gotham. With crime in the city on the rise, BATMAN has joined forces with GREEN ARROW and his OUTSIDERS to aid the GCPD in keeping crime at bay.

Roleplay

The DC Comics setting on TheHolo.net draws inspiration from comics, television, movies, and original ideas. Some characters are similar to well-known portrayals, while others are completely different. Currently, most of the roleplay focus is centred on Gotham City, with storylines explaining why characters like Supergirl, Green Lantern, and Kid Flash are not in their usual locations. Anyone is welcome to tell their stories within our continuity, but new players should be mindful of the existing characters and ongoing storylines that are already in play.

The characters in the DC Comics setting are divided into various teams, groups, organisations, and agencies. Some of the main groups/storylines are detailed below:

A.R.G.U.S.

The Advanced Research Group, United Support or A.R.G.U.S. is the intelligence and investigative branch of the Department of Energy. Similar to the NSA, it monitors and responds to threats to National Security, but with a specific focus on threats that conventional agencies are ill-equipped to address: such as metahumans, extraterrestrials, and advanced technologies. Once neutralised, such threats are either secured or studied, with A.R.G.U.S. often working closely with the Department of Defense, and the STAR Labs network.

Project Watchtower is tasked with surveillance and response, working through operatives and agents with specialist equipment and training, and alongside the Justice League on a somewhat official basis. Project Tartarus meanwhile is tasked with both detention and rehabilitation, securing individuals who pose a danger to the public, and helping those who don't to come to terms with their abilities and capabilities so that they can live safe civilian lives. Unofficially, Project Tartarus operates a team of superhuman individuals known as the Titans, who perform covert missions on behalf of A.R.G.U.S. and the United States government.

In a nutshell: A.R.G.U.S. is S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Justice League are the Avengers.

Characters:

• Project Watchtower ... John Jones, Dinah Lance, Floyd Lawton, Boster Gold

• Project Tartarus ... Nathaniel Adam, Nate Heywood, Impulse, Starfire

• Justice League ... Aquaman, Booster Gold, The Flash, Martian Manhunter

Brentwood Academy

Located across the river from Gotham City, Brentwood Academy is a private school for Gotham's social elite: not to be confused with the Gotham Academy, their inner city rivals. Most students come from wealthy families, ranging from old money to new business. Some less well-off students attend the Academy however, their fees paid for by a scholarship from the Wayne Foundation, financed by Academy alumnus Bruce Wayne. Brentwood Academy caters to students of Middle School and High School age, ranging from ages 10 to 18.

Despite the Academy's fancy halls and seemingly safe surroundings however, the students are under threat from a variety of different influences, including drugs, crime, witchcraft, and religious cults. As well, several students live secret double lives as teen vigilantes.

In a nutshell: Brentwood Academy is Hogwarts, Sunnydale, Greendale, Beacon Hills, or any other fictional school for teenagers where weird stuff happens.

Characters:

• Faculty ... Martin Stein, Hank Hall
• Seniors ... Wally West, Connor Kent, Klarion Bleak, Jason Bromorton, Eleanor Snow, Kip Kettering, Buzz Cohen
• High School ... Rachel Roth
• Middle School ... Billy Batson

Checkmate

An off-the-books branch of the Secret Service, Checkmate is an organization tasked with preserving the United States of America by any means necessary. In addition to various Men in Black style agents (known as Knights), Checkmate operates through various other organisations and agencies, such as Project Cadmus and Queen Consolidated, to finance, facilitate, and equip their clandestine operations. Via the criminal network Intergang, Checkmate uses the city of Gotham as a playground to field test new prototypes and operatives, flooding the streets with prototype technologies and performance-enhancing designer drugs like Frenzy and Green Light. Checkmate is a conspiracy of vast proportions, influencing members of the government, military, and private sector at all levels.

Checkmate is currently under investigation by Oliver Queen. By day, he works with the Gotham Globe newspaper to investigate the clandestine activities of his father's former company, while at night the Green Arrow and his team of vigilantes, the Outsiders, attempt to free Gotham's streets from the conspiracy's influence.

In a nutshell: Checkmate is a cross between Hydra and the Men in Black, with a hint of Star Trek's Section 31.

Characters:

• Checkmate ... Jason Garrick, Richard Grayson
• Queen Consolidated ... William Glenmorgan, Morgan Edge
• Gotham Globe ... Oliver Queen, Ray Terrill, Jesse Garrick, Iris West-Allen, Vic Sage, Walt Johnson
• Outsiders ... Green Arrow, Red Arrow, Mal Duncan, Kid Flash, Connor Kent
• Intergang ... Morgan Edge, Bane

D.E.O.

The Department of Extranormal Operations is a government agency tasked with investigating and prosecuting criminal acts that defy the capabilities and techniques of conventional law enforcement. When a bank vault is robbed by a metahuman who can walk through walls, a city is under threat by terrorists using a bomb of extraterrestrial origin, or a powered individual takes the law into their own hands as a vigilante, the D.E.O. is responsible for finding, stopping, and prosecuting the individuals responsible. This not only involves sophisticated technologies and techniques to surveil and secure superhuman criminals, but also cutting-edge approaches to forensics and other methods of evidence gathering, to ensure that any charges levelled against the perpetrators hold up in court. The D.E.O. recruits the best and brightest from across the full spectrum of law enforcement, and as a result, their Special Agents are not just former police officers and federal agents, but also experts in forensics, biology, psychology, and other disciplines.

The Department is headquartered at the DEO Central facility in Central City. The field office in Gotham meanwhile is seen as something of a lost cause. In Washington, the D.E.O. answers to the Attorney General.

In a nutshell: the D.E.O. is the Department of Homeland Security, mixed with a little CSI, NCIS, and Homeland. This is different from its portrayal in Supergirl: reacting to metahumans and extraterrestrials is the responsibility of A.R.G.U.S.

Characters:

• Washington, DC ... Maxwell Lord
• Central City ... Barry Allen
• Gotham City ... Ted Kord