Classic Enemies: Jonny Li's Temple of Kung-Fu!

One thing that strikes me as I go through Classic Enemies is how well it covers multiple power levels.  Yesterday, we looked at the ridiculously overpowered Menton. Today, we get quite the opposite.

Mongoose was created by Glenn Thain. He's a low-powered martial artist (240 points, 10 of them in Bases) with a particular hatred for Cobra's COIL (they kind of tried to kill him, so it's justified). In another world, he might be a hero, but in the Champions Universe, he finances his war against the scaly villains with bank robberies and the like.  In this respect, he's like Dragon Master without the anti-China politics, or Lady Blue without the charity. What he might lack in complete and total originality, he more than makes up for in fun factor.  Mongoose is a flashy hyperconfident showoff who'll leap before he looks nine times out of ten (and the last he'll do with his eyes closed).

He's also got kind of an Iron Fist thing, where he focuses his chi and unleashes a potent Armor Piercing kick.  It's easily his most powerful attack, but it does tire him out quickly.

With his flashy (possibly annoying) style, he makes a great foil for a PC martial artist, particularly one with an overly serious outlook.  His hatred of COIL makes him a potential uneasy ally, though almost certainly an annoying one.  Or a DNPC, looking to enroll in a self-defense course finds herself not only studying at Jonny Li's Temple of Kung-Fu (a chain of martial arts studios owned by Mongoose's secret identity), but she might get recruited into his army of martial artists, hellbent on taking down COIL.

Or, she could end up dating him...

It took me a while to warm up to Mongoose, because my second ever PC had the same name.  When I got the Enemies books, I was honestly less than thrilled at the time.  Eventually, I grew the hell up, and came to the realization that he's a great character.  Thing is, he's a great character if you've got COIL in your game.  Otherwise, he loses a lot of his charm.  In my games (since I'm not a huge fan of Cobra), I've played up the kung fu school angle (making him akin to the mighty Count Dante) and shifting his rivalry to Dragon Master.  It worked pretty well.