Hardball (deceased)

F Gd 10

A Ex 20

S Ty 6

E Gd 10

R Gd 10

I Ex 20

P Gd 10

Res Ex 20

Pop Fe 2

Health: Karma:

46 40

Origin:

As are most of his fellow Gi Joes, Hardball is naught but a normal human, lacking special powers of any type. He is however rather athletic, being a former minor league baseball player, and has advanced artillery skills both through his pro sports experience and due to military training.

Known Powers:

(none)

Equipment:

Grenade Launcher: Wilmer's main piece, this weapon can 'bloop' grenades at a target anywhere within line of sight. It fires explosives that detonate to inflict Remarkable (30) Edged Attack (fragmentary) damage to all uncovered targets within the area they land in.

the Joe-Com: this is a new device given to all Joes since the group's reactivation. This high-tech wristband functions as an audio/video transceiver with various other goodies built in to help a soldier on the go, and is described in greater detail in its own equipment entry.

Semi-automatic Pistol: whenever he has to inflict less drastic damage, Wilmer often brandishes this weapon at foes instead. He may fire this backup piece (usually holstered on his right hip when not in use) to inflict Typical (6) Shooting damage in a single shot, +1 CS when fired semi-auto.

Quirks:

(none)

Talents:

Guns: a function of his core military training, Wilmer knows how to use most modern firearms with proficiency. Whenever wielding a standard, semi-automatic or fully automatic rifle or pistol, Wilmer may resolve Shooting attacks at his Agy score +1 CS.

Marksman: a skill supplemented by his years of experience in baseball, Wilmer is great with all kinds of line of sight weaponry. Whenever he's operating a mortar, rocket projectile, or even his grenade launcher, Wilmer may do so at a +1 CS, and ignores most range penalties when doing so.

Martial Arts type B: while he could brawl with the best of them before enlisting, Wilmer's fighting skills were truly polished up by the Army. When engaged in unarmed combat, Wilmer may punch, kick, or even bite an opponent as if his Ftg was +1 CS higher than is listed above.

Military / United States: the source of his combat skills, this talent showcases where Wilmer got his killing edge. He has the ability to function effectively in a fighting unit, and knows the Standard Operating Procedure like the back of his hand.

Sports / Baseball: where he got his start, Wilmer was a minor league baseball player for five full seasons. The man excels in all baseball activities, only failing to make it into the big leagues because he lacked 'star power'. He should attempt related actions at a +1 CS.

Trivia / Baseball: supplementing his basic baseball capabilities, Wilmer knows the game inside and out. He's a living breathing baseball historian, and can't help but talk about it all the time. His Rsn should be considered +1 CS regarding any knowledge of baseball, no matter how arcane.

Contacts:

Wilmer is a member of the Gi Joe team, and can consider his fellows reliable contacts at all times; the team tends to look after their own rather fiercely. Wilmer also has several additional contacts in both military and baseball circles, as he's spent years working in both lines of work.

Costume:

As the Gi Joe operative known by the name Hardball, Wilmer wears a casual uniform. It includes a white baseball shirt with blue trim over a gray, long sleeved shirt, brown trousers, black leather boots, black fingerless gloves, a green leather belt, a green gun holster, and a blue baseball cap.

Personality:

Wilmer loves baseball. The man likes to talk about it constantly, even to his fellow Joes who aren't big fans. Of course they have to respect what he's accomplished in the sport over the years, and usually put up with his athletic banter because he's generally likable otherwise.

Real Name: Wilmer S. Duggleby, Grade E-4
Occupation: infantry, former minor league baseball player
Legal Status: citizen of the United States with no known criminal record, legally deceased
Marital Status: single
Alias(es), if any: none
Group Affiliation: Gi Joe

Height: 6'
Hair: black
Eyes: brown
Weight: 200 lbs
Other Distinguishing Characteristics: none.

Story:

Wilmer has always had a love for the great American pastime, and has engaged in it since he could walk. The man has ate, drank, breathed and slept in baseball all of his life, and it shows - he played the sport through high school, college, and then through a significant stint in the minor leagues.

A center fielder, Wilmer valued team work and winning over loud-mouthed show-boating, but this is ironically what caused him to not get picked up by the major leagues. He didn't stand out despite his skills, in either a good or bad way, and the MLB decided he lacked that certain 'something'.

Growing disheartened over the years, Wilmer eventually left the minors, and decided to take his skills somewhere that valued teamwork over 'star power'. In other words, he enlisted! Wilmer found his calling in the armed forces, and proved over time that he was the quintessential team player.

Bringing his hard-earned baseball skills into play while serving, Wilmer became very good at the operation of various line-of-sight weaponry, particularly the grenade launcher. The man proved so good at calculating trajectories in his head and on the fly that he got himself Noticed.

This notice ultimately got him a job on the elite Gi Joe team. Once he'd made it past the grueling Gi Joe entrance exams, Wilmer had finally gotten onto the big leagues - though not in the way he'd originally intended. He got to show what he could do on his very first mission with the Joes!

This involved the team hauling it out into the Caribbean to stop Cobra from claiming a brand new island that had formed a few years after Cobra Island itself came into being, due to the same tectonic processes those villains had tricked the unwitting Joes into unleashing.

Keeping Cobra off until it became apparent the land was transient in nature, Wilmer (under the code name of Hardball) and his similarly new recruits chalked their mission up as a success, and flew back home - leaving Cobra's goons clinging for dear life to the wreckage of their gear.

Wilmer continued to serve with the Gi Joe team until it was disbanded back in '94. He presumably resumed work in the conventional military at that time, only returning to work with the Joes during the second Cobra Island Civil War, during which time all of the Joes were pulled back into active duty.

He stayed on with the team at this point, happy to be reunited with his Joe friends since they needed him anew. Wilmer continued on with them until a fateful mission in South America proved to be his last. He was assigned with Rampart and Glenda to keep an eye on some Cobra goons down there.

When those villains were assassinated, the Joes went to investigate just what went down, only to find that the Cobras' deaths were used both to deal with them and to draw the Joes in. Before they could react, Wilmer and his teammates were gunned down by operatives of the Red Shadows group.

Extra Goodies:

Gi Joe directories featuring a version of Hardball:

1988