Buzzer

Strength 6d

Agility 4x

Intellect 6d

Willpower 3x

Hand Size: Edge:

3 (17) 1

Powers:

(none)

Equipment:

Chain Saw (s): this motorized saw, powered by a large tank of gasoline that Dick carries on his back, is his favorite expression of modern technology. Equipped with diamond-tipped blades, this saw can cut through items of up to material strength 16, and inflicts +4 damage in melee.

Grenades (i): in the event that his chain saw just won't do, Dick carries a bunch of grenades pinned onto his makeshift vest. Fragmentary in nature, these miniature explosives can detonate to inflict intensity 10 edged (physical) damage to anything within striking distance that isn't under cover somehow.

Motorcycle (i): as do the rest of the Dreadnoks, Dick has his very own motorcycle - well, occasionally the cycle he rides is, in fact, his property. Either way, he often rides this beast into battle when not sitting on the Thunder Machine. This ride can move with intensity 6 'lightning speed'.

Hindrances:

(none)

Skills:

Chainsaws (s): his personal favorite, Dick will usually wield this weapon above and beyond all others, even though he does carry grenades and a weird chain-axe thing with him while on a job. He can use this weapon in melee at one difficulty level lower than is normally necessary.

Sociology (i): an odd talent for a Dreadnok to possess, this is nonetheless the field Dick was an expert in before his psychotic break. This skill allows him a certain understanding of how people behave, and if he doesn't attack in an exchange, he can always attempt an undeclared contingent action.

Calling:

Demolisher: Dick is a great example of a thug saddled with this calling. Bordering on either the hateful or obsessive hindrance, Dick's overriding impulse to destroy the cute, stylish, and expensive things modern society has created makes more than a few problems for the man, but he still enjoys it nonetheless!

Costume:

Dick's second 'uniform' is similar to his first. It includes worn blue jeans, gray riding boots, a tan vest under green webbing with grenades strapped on, a black leather belt, a black (left handed) glove, a brown (right handed) wrist band, an armored (left) shoulder guard, and his coke bottle sun glasses.

Personality:

Dick is an arrogant sort who is assured of his own superiority, which tends to irk his fellow Dreadnoks some... especially since they know they're somewhat dim. Of course, his psychotic resentment towards the relics of modern society tempers his smarts by forcing him into episodes of destructive violence...!

Real Name: Richard Blinken-Smythe
Occupation: biker thug, former Cambridge sociology student
Legal Status: citizen of England with a considerable criminal record in several countries
Marital Status: single
Alias(es), if any: Dick Blinken
Group Affiliation: the Dreadnoks

Height: 5' 10"
Hair: blond
Eyes: unknown (always wears sunglasses)
Weight: 180 lbs
Other Distinguishing Characteristics: Dick usually wears his hair in a ponytail, though for a while he trimmed it off (or perhaps someone removed it in a fight...). He also has several tattoos, including one of a cobra coiling around a dagger on his left bicep.

Story:

A long time ago, Dick was an extreme left-wing sociology don at Cambridge, who at one point decided to study the phenomenon of bikers and biker gangs in Australia. Something went wrong while he was down under though, for after a short period of time, Dick had become the object of his research.

You see, years of intense intellectual displeasure, coupled with his extreme indignation at society's two-faced morality, finally came to a head in the form of psychotic anger towards the expensive gewgaws of society. That's when he started taking chainsaws to anything and everything within reach.

Before the Man could take him to task for this behavior, Dick had fled on a motorcycle that may or may not have been his own, and eventually resurfaced as one of the Dreadnoks, a gaggle of biker thugs in the service of Zartan - himself a victim of a mental breakdown... and a veritable genius as well.

While Zartan was naturally in charge of the Dreadnoks, Dick often found himself in command of his two fellows, since both Ripper and Torch are about as dim as a black hole. While they don't really like being told what to do by Dick, they nonetheless appreciate his ability to find new and expensive things to smash.

As the thinker of the bunch, Dick often found himself mixed up in more trouble than it was worth, though. Since Zartan works for Cobra, so do the Dreadnoks, and some of Dick's more creative impulses tend to get him on the bad side of the G.I. Joe team - but then, Dick is good at that.

For instance, during an escape from the G.I. Joe headquarters, Dick wound up creating a chain of events that got Ripcord's girlfriend, Candy, killed outside Cobra's Springfield headquarters. Then there was the time Dick took his chain saw to Mutt's dog Junkyard (which he paid for soon enough - and how).

As time went on, though, most of the Dreadnoks' thinking was done by Zandar and Zarana, Zartan's younger siblings - as Zartan himself became too busy to deal with such trivial concerns. Each of these siblings had a group of Dreadnoks to call their own, or so it seemed, and Dick rode with Zarana's bunch.

Much to the chagrin of Zarana's boyfriend, Road Pig. This state of affairs lasted until Zarana quit working for Cobra (a few years after Zartan himself did), and the Dreadnoks resumed their motorcycle-based crime spree... this time in the United States proper. When Zartan returned to them, they even got serious.

These days, the Dreadnoks are a national phenomenon, a wide-ranging biker gang numbering in the thousands, with several actual bases and meeting houses. They have their fingers in all kinds of criminal operations including mercenary work, which is how they got back in Cobra's tangled web.

Though it got wiped out a few years after Dick and company left their ranks, Cobra recently made a startling comeback in America, and needed help that only the Dreadnoks could provide. As such, Dick and company, at Zartan's direction, resumed working for these would-be global domineers.

Though their initial association with this group almost got the leadership of the Dreadnoks arrested after a failed attack on Washington, D.C., they all escaped at the last minute. So, Dick continues to work for either Cobra or the Dreadnoks in various criminal enterprises to this very day...!

Extra Goodies:

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Cobra directories featuring a version of Buzzer:

1985

2007