Name: Mayfly Server: Guardian Rank: SL12 Powers: Natural Defender - Empathy/Energy Description: Real name: Maylee Smith, a second-year student at Paragon Technical College. Determined to get a good grade in her Superheroes in the Modern Era 203 elective, she's going beyond the call of duty by hitting the streets to get real-world experience watching and assisting real-life heroes. Battle Cry: Let's you and him fight! Notes: If you're into challenging game play from the moment you step into Atlas Park, I can recommend no better course of action than to start an Empathy defender (effectively the "healing" class in City of Heroes), switch on your "Looking for Team" flag, and accept every invite that appears on your screen. As inexperienced new players rush into dangerous situations and fumble their powers, you'll be busy non-stop keeping them from eating pavement. And they're actually grateful to you when it's all over! Some of my most fun and personally rewarding experiences in the game came while playing Mayfly.

Name: Hi-Hat Server: Virtue Rank: SL3 Powers: Natural Scrapper - Katana/Super Reflexes Description: Hip to the cool sweet groove of Liberty, and dedicated to the Ace lick that all cats and kitties are created level in front! Battle Cry: Relax! Notes: See here. As cool a cat as Hi-Hat is, it can't disguise the sad fact that being a scrapper is boring. There, I said it, and I'll say it again if I have to.

Name: Dr. Bonaventure Server: Virtue Rank: SL8 Powers: Science Defender - Radiation/Radiation Description: The quite mad Dr. Mei Bonaventure's poorly thought-out career in supervillainy came to an abrupt end when her plan to take over Cleveland, Ohio with a plague of mutated common household pets was easily foiled by local law enforcement. As part of her work-release program she has been seconded to DATA with strict orders to use her powers for good, never for evil. Most heroes are grateful for her radiation-based aid, less so for the severe hair loss and vomiting the morning afterwards. Battle Cry: Up and ATOM! Notes: Best. Battle cry. Ever. (Though Mayfly's is a close second.) Dr. Bonaventure is a prime candidate for turning back to the dark side if and when City of Villains comes out and lets you do so.

Name: Forgetter Robo Server: Virtue Rank: SL5 Powers: Magic Tanker - Fire/Super Strength Description: In the '70s, Toshiro Koto was at the top of his game. As the top stuntman for a variety of NHK Television's most popular "sentai" shows, millions of Japanese watched him nightly stomp on a variety of scale-model cities and defeat gaudily-costumed monsters. The decreasing popularity of sentai shows left him unemployed, however, and in the grip of increasing delusion (as well as disinclination to ever take off his robot costume) he now believes himself to be the worldly incarnation of Earth's greatest hero, Forgetter Robo. Battle Cry: Heroes of Japan! Do your best!! Notes: Forgetter Robo's name is of course a very stupid pun. He was a fun character to play, but it was hard getting team invites and so I never got to use him much.

Name: Red Tragedy Server: Virtue Rank: SL9 Powers: Science Blaster - Assault Rifle/Devices Description: Gunslinger, scientist and explorer all in one, born on July 4, 1900, famous science-hero Red Tragedy found the source waters of Lake Victoria in Africa, escorted Charles Lindbergh on his historic solo flight across the Atlantic, entered Berlin at the head of the allied armies and struggled with Hitler's elite pilots on board a crashing Dyna-Soar loaded with atomic bombs headed straight for New York at the conclusion of World War II. She finally vanished in 1954, giving her life to fend off an invasion of giant insects from the Earth's hollow core. Or did she? Battle Cry: Draw. Notes: Red Tragedy was an effort at making an overblown, backstory-laden science hero in the Alan Moore/Warren Ellis tradition. She was a solo character I used to try out some of the new content in The Hollows and Striga Island (although I never got quite that far, unfortunately.) Her description has gotten compliments.