Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Tyroc: What do we really know about him?

Hey Legion fans, it looks like I have a new player for the Legion game in the works and he expressed an interest in playing Tyroc. When he was first introduced in the 1970's his power seemed pretty random. Now he's reappearing in our new Legion comic.

I need some help defining what he can and cannot do with this power and then turn it into game mechanics. Because he seemed to be able to do whatever was needed right on the spot, there are really no guidelines that I'm aware of.

Can anyone help me out with his Power?

His powers have always been annoyingly vague but this should give you a start -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyroc

I love this character to bits but his powers (and now his costume and haircut) have always been the worst thing about him IMO.

In a role-playing scenario, you would definitely need to put limitations on his powers I would think. How exactly is up to you but personally, I would limit them to 'sonic force' (like Black Canary) and teleportation. Those other abilities listed enroach too much into the power-sets of the other members IMO.

I would also make him like Ultra Boy so that he can only use one of his powers at a time (which makes sense because you can't really say more than one thing at a time). And as a DM (or whatever that role is called in your game) I would play up the fact that he needs air and the ability to speak to activate his powers. Highly powerful characters need weaknesses.

I got a chuckle when the wiki page even gives the sound effects to Tyroc's powers.

From his first couple of appearances, I'd also add

RRYGGG! - creates force bubbles around targets connected with little chains.
UUAGGG! - more telekinesis - hurls ship into space.
OYUUU! will teleport as below, but without the extra "U"s perhaps over a shorter distance.
ARRRHHH! - Creates an explosion
ARRRHH! - is also an explosion but without the focus of the one with the extra "H" - it will blow up devices nearby.
SQUEEEE! - jumpsuit zipper catches on sensitive area. Not a superpower belonging only to Tyroc.

He can also emit an ultrasonic whistle that gets Superboy's attention. Possibly also the attention of every dog in the city, but that's not shown. He also has an ultrasonic cry.

From wiki:-

"EEYYAAAHH! - pyrokinesis
AHHRRRRRR! - force field
OYYUUUUUU! - teleportation
ARRRRHHHH! - explosions
ZZZRRRUUGGHH! - telekinesis
UIUUIEEEE! - transmutation
ARRREEEEG! - weather manipulation
IRRRRWWWW! - plant manipulation
CCCIIIRRR! - vertigo
RRRYYYY! - wind manipulation"

Thankfully, if you go with Retroboot Tyroc you can just stick with sound manipulation

I think his powers contributed to his lack of use - they were just so ill-defined. Worse than Kid Quantum's or Chemical King's.

As a Tyroc upgrade he could always be emitting a universal harmonic that breaks down and alters the physical laws around him.

But he's very very powerful. You know that in any battle he can scream and knock his opponents right out into space. Actually the suggestion was that he pushed the enemy ship "right back to where they came from" or some other less than tactful phrase.

Little chains between the force bubbles... >shakes head<

I'm fine with just the sonic powers Although I suppose if he screams loud enough he could atomize some substances.

Tyroc's powers have been compared to Black Canary's. Oddly, when Black Canary got her sonic powers there were also hints that she could do much more. That was quickly dropped.

I liked Jacques having unexpected side effects to having his powers. I like super powers not to come with handy users manuals.

I remember a scene with Canary combining her sonic scream with someone else to vaporize an Amazo. or some other really powerful robot. I suppose Tyroc could do the same as well.

It was quirkier things, much like Tyroc. telepathy for example. I'm reminded of Myg's sonic flying as well while I'm typing.

He originally seemed like a cross between Black Canary and The Scarlet Witch. I love what they have done to him in all other areas except making him like a black Banshee. Blanshee if you will. While it does help limit and define him it takes away a little of his uniqueness. I miss the sonic probility altering screams. Don't miss the chains or elf boots. Do miss the afro.

I'm trying to recall, but in his original appearances was he ever shown to have supersonic screams? I know his screams altered reality but was he ever shown just really making a lot of noise and shattering eardrums/matter because of it?

I mean, besides the screams that can cause explosions.

*Some* of his powers could be backfit into sonic effects.

Vertigo, for instance, could result from him creating a low hum that caused the fluids in someone's semi-circular canal (in the ear, which is how we balance) to start sloshing about, making the subjects feel like they were falling in all directions at once.

Making something explode could involve finding the right vibrational resonance, at which the object itself vibrates, and matching it, causing the item to shake itself to pieces (which, if it happened fast, would be explosive).

A similar effect could cause something to catch on fire, simulating pyrokinesis.

Transmutation, teleportation, telekinesis? Not so easy to justify, and kind of problematic, Tyroc shouldn't necessarily be a swiss army knife, able to replace Element Lad, Gates and Tellus / Kinetix, etc.

For the same reason that Wildfire and Star Boy lost a bunch of powers when they became full fledged Legionnaires (such as Wildfire's ability to grow like Colossal Boy and phase through things like Phantom Girl, or Star Boy's Superman-powers and Electrical Vision), a 'playable' Tyroc should probably stick to a bunch of sonic-themed powers (which could include super-hearing and creating fields of silence and sonic attacks that can disorient, deafen or explode stuff and sonic / sonar probes, etc.).

I think I am definitely in the minority here, but I actually much prefer Tyroc with the crazy reality altering screams. Like Blackout Boy said, it takes away from his uniqueness if he's got the same power as Banshee/Siryn/Black Canary etc...I don't think it's really that unbalancing as a power, either in a comic or a roleplaying scenario as long as you establish specific rules for it. For example:

• He has to make a specific scream for a specific effect, so bad guys could potentially anticipate what he's gonna do if they study some footage of Tyroc in action
• Tied into the first one, he has to be able to move his mouth enough to make that specific scream. Put your hand over his mouth, he's powerless.
• He has to learn different effects. If I were going to have someone play him in a game, I would make them come up with a list of specific effects that he can do like the wiki article and they would need to spend experience points on coming up with new effects and have a random chance of something completely unexpected and horrible resulting whenever they try something new. "Oh, you want to try and freeze Cosmic King in a huge block of ice? OOPS looks like you opened up a portal to Earth-3 instead and here come the Legion of Crime!"

In a roleplaying game you'd want to make sure the gamemaster is confident enough to say no when necessary and that the player can be trusted not to try and derail the game constantly, but honestly I think you could say the same thing about someone playing any Kryptonian, Daxamite, Martian, Zatanna, Firestorm, Element Lad, Green Lantern, the Flash, etc etc...a lot of DC characters are insanely powerful and insanely versatile, I don't think pre-Crisis Tyroc is really any more of a pain to use than pre-Crisis Mon-El or Superboy...