A while back I introduced you all to Dr. Andreas Gelé, aka The Refrigerator. He is a socially stunted misanthrope with mommy issues and the intellect to act out in the worst ways possible.
This guy came, literally, out of a nightmare. Around 1982 or so (I was 12) I was hit with a double shot of women being frozen alive, the movies were "In Like Flint" and "Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die". It really bugged the hell out of me and gave me nightmares for a long time. Still kind of bugs me. Of course, later I learned there is a whole creepy fetish thing related to this. I think my issue is far more elemental. I hate being cold and think being frozen is quite possibly the worst thing ever.
What solidified this character for me was a cover from the pulp magazine "Horror Stories" from 1937.
The cover is by John Newton Howett and typical pulp tradition it was reused for the first issue of Startling Mystery. That picture deserves a villain. I have not found the issue yet so I can't say if there is a story that goes with that cover. But I have enough of my own nightmare fuel.
His name, The Refrigerator, has a nice pulpy sound to it, but that is not its origin. He was named for the comics trope, Women in Refrigerators. I figure I will have superheroes in my games fight this trope in a quite literal way.
History of The Refrigerator
Dr. Andreas Gelé was born to wealth and privilege but never to love. His father was a rich industrialist who made his money on the work of others and his mother was a noted and beautiful stage actress. From his father, he gained his intellect and from his mother, he learned lessons in cruelty.
As his mother aged she became more distant and crueler. In his mind's eye, he still saw her as beautiful. This was reinforced by all the pictures of her on the wall of their estates where she was young, beautiful and happy. Frozen in time. Gelé began to work on a process to forever keep the beautiful women young. He was drawn to beautiful women, and his prestige later as a doctor and his wealth made that easy. But he never could talk to or relate to them having grown up socially stunted. So Gelé embarked on a plan so he could have his desires met.
His first experiments in cryonics were failures. Animals would not return to life when frozen and even when he perfected the process they still had damage. Finally through a combination of fluids and gases at supercooled temperatures. He tested it first on his hated father. He died soon after he was free of the ice, but Gelé expected that since the old man's heart was now weak. He froze his mother next. He was overjoyed that the ice preserved her remaining beauty.
All his research though has left his fortunes depleted so he robs banks to keep himself funded for more research and to keep his "beauties" on ice.
The Refrigerator Today
The Refrigerator is very much a pulp style villain. I always pictured his mother as a silent film star and his father cut from the same cloth as the business men of the early 20th century. So how is he still around today? Or more to the point how is he still around in the world of 2040 where Justice is from? Well, that is easy really. Sometime after his last defeat, he escapes the authorities once again and freezes himself to be awakened at a future date. The plot point here is that the future date is much later than Dr. Gelé planned on and now it is the 21st Century. Still, undeterred he goes about rebuilding his "collection".
Dr. Andreas Gelé, "The Refrigerator"
Major Villian
Edge 10
Health 3
Class Major
Group None
ABILITIES
Agility 1d
Intellect 7d
Might 1d
Perception 3d
Toughness 3d
Willpower 3d
TALENTS
Academics 6d
Charm 1d
Command 3d
Covert 3d
Investigation 3d
Medicine 7d
Professional 4d
Science 7d
Streetwise 2d
Survival 4d
Technology 5d
Vehicles 2d
POWERS
Omni Power (Gadget, Cold Protection Suit)
- Armor 10 Points, 5 toughness
- Healing (self only) 10 points
- Hibernation
- Immunity (cold, ice)
- Super Senses (thermal vision)
Omni Power (Gadget, Freeze Ray gun) (Item)
- Blast (freeze ray)
- Elemental Control (ice)
- Hibernation ray (Affect Others)
- Charges (Con) 3 times per scene
- Signature (ice residue)
Expertise (Cryonics)
PERKS
Headquarters (lab)
Resources
Great Wealth (has built it back up over the years)
FLAWS
Quirk (arrogant)
Compulsion (seek out beautiful women)
Insane (misanthrope)
GEAR
Cold Protection outfit
Freeze ray gun
DESCRIPTION
Age: 99 (appears to be in his late 30s)
Sex: Male
Hair: Gray
Eyes: Ice Blue
MOTIVATION
Power (over others, over the ravages of time)
CONNECTIONS
Iron Maiden (sometimes aids him in shared goals)
Horrible bit of work isn't he. But I wanted a villain that people really hate. He is after Justice because all he can see her as is a beautiful prize to add to his collection. He would say it is because of her strength and unique heritage, but he is much more shallow than that. All he sees is a 6'2" supermodel. In his own sense of superiority, he can't even see Justice as equal, even though she is his superior in every aspect.
2 comments:
He's a great villain to hate. I'd love to see a Vigilante City version of him too.
That's coming next week!
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