[Cosmosdex] The Universal Encyclopedia

[Cosmosdex]

Vanderglory
     

Heroes / Good Samaritans

Vanderglory
“Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! ..Wait, no, it's an airferrier!! ...Er, no it's.. uhhm..” — Innocent bystander trying to identify a flying vanderglory.

Art by, Maggotsboy

A liar, really......does he really deserve any rewards? You'll understand reality once he's finally unmasked.

Emblem by Maggotsboy
  • Strength-10
  • Intelligence-10
  • Charisma-10
  • Endurance-10
  • Agility-10
  • Luck-10

Common Jobs: Vigilante, Law Enforcement, School Mascot
Likes: Justice, Equality, Fighting the forces of evil, Protecting the innocents
Dislikes: Evil Doers, Crime, Littering

Attack Method: Vanderglories are blessed with several different super abilities that they utilize in combat, most commonly being an unnatural strength to beat their enemies into submission.

Attributes
Homeplanet: Victropolis
Lifespan: 150 years
Size: 7.5 ft tall
Diet: Anything Edible

Bodytype: Bipedal
Type: Anomalous Mollusk
Social Class: Middle Class
Rarity: Mythical
Common Traits
[Perfect] Mystery
Nobody is perfect.
Gods

Vanderglories practice limboism under Helper, however they have their own interpretation of the god, similar to a comic book villain.


Gods: "The Heinous Helper"

Original Creator: Maggotsboy


Physical Description

Vanderglories are a proud race of colorful, bipedal gastropods. Your typical vanderglory stands anywhere between 7 to 8 feet, many sporting a very muscular build. In spite of their humanoid-esque appearance, those who have encountered vanderglories will often describe them as immaculate, pristine creatures, as well as being shockingly handsome.

The body of a vanderglory is vibrant, coming in mostly primary colors with many accents. Vanderglories wear skin-tight suits, specifically designed to help keep moisture in, and will only take them off in the safety of their own homes. Although appearing as a part of their wardrobe, the cape and mask of a vanderglory is a part of their body, known as the mantle. Their flowing organic capes are usually decorated with glittering materials and inked with personal brandings. The mask of a vanderglory will always be the same color as their cape.

Upon the top of their heads, vanderglories have a full head of 'hair', which are actually cerata (a type of gill). This 'hair' is always a glistening, snowy white. From their foreheads are a pair of antennae that emote with the vander's facial expressions.

Personality

A vanderglory is a creature driven by their passion for justice. The urge to act upon heroics is both cultural and down to an instinctual level, as almost no vanderglory can stand aside idly while there is crime to fight. Whenever possible, vanders will put aside time to actively help others in one way or another, making vanderglories a collectivist species, as well as social butterflies. The call to justice is so strong that many will drop everything that they are doing in the moment that they hear a call for help, or spot impending disaster. This is most true for the majority population, the super-powered individuals, who are on constant patrol for any wrongdoings that they may come across during their daily lives.

Most vanderglories are born with anywhere between one to three or more anomalous abilities. These vanderglories make up more than half of the population, and have a handful of monikers to refer to them (Supers, Superheroes, Super-Powered, etc). While their abilities will be discovered throughout their adolescence, their first and what will become their 'main' ability typically appears around their first birthday. Following that, vanderglories will build their entire identity around the powers that they had been born with, finding appropriately matching colored outfits and a symbol that represents themself. Vanderglory children that develop powers will be sent off to specific schools and programs to train and test their abilities, so that they may use them to the fullest extent in their futures.

Curiously, vanderglories are noted for being highly resistant to leaving their home planet, in favor of attracting tourism towards it instead. They are highly accepting of other races from beyond the stars, eager to become acquainted by all that they come in contact with. A very small percentage of vanderglories will ever leave their home planet in their lifetime, and even fewer never return to Victropolis for one reason or another. It is said that vanderglories change rather drastically as people when they leave their home, and those that have returned back to Victropolis often remark they had felt homesick. For all the vastness of the universe, no vanderglory feels more at home than where they started.

History

History has never been a large concern of the people of Victropolis. A common phrase often said by vanderglories goes along the lines of "Today is a gift, and the future is brighter than ever!". The past stays in the past, focusing on the here and now. It's highly unlikely to come across a vanderglory that's willing to divulge much information of the past and development of Victropolis, and until then there is not much to be said.

Home Planet

Victropolis is described as a clean, bright and active planet with a utopian-like society. The many populated continents are dotted with cities, most of which are encased under large, clear domes that help regulate weather conditions within them. Although vanders are mollusks and prefer a damp environment, the suits that nearly every individual on Victropolis wears keeps them at perfect hydration levels, while enjoying the warm weather provided under the domes.

Victropolis, in spite of the super-variant's constant vigilance, is still home to a fairly significant rate of crime. However crime is more of a spectacle than it is truly a problem. Rarely do these acts ever end in death, excessive blood shed or tragedy. Rather, to commit a crime on Victropolis is in itself an open invitation for challenge to any superhero that wishes to engage. Or, perhaps it's a game of chicken, seeing how far one can go before they are ultimately caught by the law. Either way, rather than being a deterrent for tourists to visit Victropolis, it is seen as a selling point to see the local superheroes in action. Vanderglories readily encourage tourism as a result, and adore visitations by other species, no matter the intention.

Subspecies

Civilian: The majority population of vanderglories is made up of the super powered, while all else is filled in by the civilian variant of vanderglory. They're virtually physically indistinguishable from superpowered vanders, however they lack any anomalous abilities since the day they were born. Although powerless, they are not looked down upon by their superpowered brethren, instead the civilian vander is revered and honored in their society. Simply put, they are the glue that holds Victropolis together, filling in jobs that super vanders would not normally fit into.

The following quote is taken from a vanderglory produced educational film, that of which perfectly sums up the value that is placed upon civilian vanderglories. In it, a superpowered father speaks to their civilian son about the importance of their birthright;

- "Well son, when you're born with superpowers, then your fate is sealed. You'll be a superhero, no matter what you do. But my son, you were born a civilian, do you understand what that means?"

- "No papa?"

- "It means you can become anything you want to be."

Special

Super Powerful!: The large majority of vanderglories are born with anomalous powers, with some individual abilities being more common than others. These include, but are not limited to: Flight/levitation, super strength, super speed, invulnerability, heat vision, x-ray vision, telekinesis, invisibility, and more. While the majority of super-variant vanderglories will develop two to three abilities, some develop only one, and others many more. As aforementioned, they are not limited to the more general abilities, and super powers may be incredibly specific- such as having the super ability to generate a certain type of object, the ability to teleport but only into a specific place and nowhere else, or the ability to speak to a single species of migratory bird, etc.

It is entirely unpredictable as to what powers a vanderglory will be born with, as they are not inherited by either parent. Even civilian vanderglories may have a super powered child, just as two super powered vanderglories may have a civilian child.

Trivia

• The relationship between vanderglories and drattles is rather complex. On the surface, as either party would go on to explain if asked, the two species detest one another and see each other as rivals. However few are willing to acknowledge that it goes deeper than petty rivalries. It's implied by the way vanderglories regularly invite notorious drattles to their home planet, or the fact that there is an unaccounted for growing population of drattles living on Victropolis. Or even that many drattles that station themselves on Victropolis will end up escaping from jail, in spite of the Perfect nature of Vanderglories, and will throw themselves at each other time and time again- the two species seemingly want the attention of the other, in one way or another. Their mutual hatred for each other also fuels their respective, primal instincts to fight for justice and commit crimes. A proverbial yin and yang, eager to go against one another.

• Older religious beliefs by vanderglories, one that only a handful of the population still practice in modern day, tell the tales of a trickster god that would trap vanderglories in the forms of animals, and that some vanderglory abilities stem from shedding the skin of their animal form. Those who escape the grasp of the trickster wear their former skin as their cape, and hold whatever abilities could be translated from the animal they once were. Although these practices and religious script are largely defunct now, the stories are still passed down along generations, mostly enjoyed by child vanderglories. It's said that proof of their beliefs come from the fact that out of every hundred or so vanderglories born, one is born with long, lopped and pointed antennae. Considered a genetic defect by some, a victim of the trickster god by others.

• Films, tv shows, even cartoons that originate from Victropolis are highly popular around the universe. Vanderglories doing what they do best, fending off bad guys and saving the day, hit it off rather well even with their detractors early into their introduction to other species. The entertainment value couldn't be denied, and it became the turning point for many species that were wary of the Vanderglories upon first meeting.