Maria Renard

Background:

No one is going to dispute that Dracula is a bad man. Hell, Dracula would probably encourage the accusation (he's even gone so far as to have EVL BSTRD made as a novelty plate for his carriage). So when Dracula plotted the kidnapping of four local girls, all as a big "haha, sucker" taunt at Richter Belmont (one of the girls happened to be Richter's fiance), this seemed like just another day under the evil dictatorship of the Dark Lord EVL BSTRD.

What Dracula hadn't anticipated was that one of the four kidnapped girls, Maria Renard, would join up with Richter in the fight against Dracula (once she was freed, of course, because she totally wasn't going anywhere locked in a cage). That Maria proved to be an even more capable fighter than Richter only made circumstances even worse for the Dark Lord.

Knowing how Dracula's story always plays out, it should come as no surprise that Maria (with the help of Richter Belmont, although Richter tends to tell the story the other way around) freed the other girls and defeated Dracula quite handily. Richter might have had the Vampire Killer, but Maria had cunning, guile, and helper animals, and that's how she got shit done.

It was four years later that Maria had to step in again. Dracula's castle returned, and Richter went missing. Who else was going to save the day but Maria? Sure, Alucard played his part in the adventure (although, as he likes to tell it -- late at night at the pubs -- the adventure was really Alucard's), but it was Maria that explored through the castle, found the way to free Richter, and stopped the Dark Lord's full resurrection once again.

The only question remaining is: why isn't Maria the main hero of the series?

Personality Details:

Of the two Renard girls, Annette is the quiet one -- shy, reserved, rarely seen. Maria, though, is the brash, courageous one. Maria is not known for shying away from a fight (or, really, any encounter), and will get in someone's face if they cross her. While Annette was sitting at home, working on penmanship and crocheting, Maria was out in the fields, learning to fight, forage, and train animals to do her bidding.

Of course, her no nonsense attitude means that, as much as Richter wants to sleep with her (as Richter does with every female, ever), Maria wants little to do with him (regardless of the fact that he's married to her sister). She has slept with most of his friends, though, just to rub it in his face a little.

But don't think that she's some wild child, chaotically roaming the countryside looking for fights (and sex). Maria has a strong moral code, and will help those that need helping. Heck, she's saved the countryside from the forces of darkness. Twice.

Richter may be (leaning towards) evil, and Cornell may be useless, but Maria is the real deal.

First Appearance: #36: Yeah?! Now What?!
Last Appearance: #12: CVRPG Six, Part 2

Medusa

Background:

As a figure of Greek mythology, Medusa is famous (infamous maybe) for being an ugly, horrific she-beast. Half-woman, half-snake, the Medusa was so ugly that, were you to stare upon her, you would instantly turn to stone.

Now, of course, any myth is going to get exaggerated over time. Medusa isn't, honestly, that bad a person to look upon. Maybe being half-snake isn't going to get her a lot of guys (some men aren't into serpents), so sure, she could gain a reputation for being hideous.

And sure, staring at her doesn't turn you into stone. It's a magic, something she has to actively turn on and off. It tends to be a wise idea not to meet her gaze, since she could turn you into stone if she wanted.

She is an absolute beast, though. Some women are appreciated for their personalities. Medusa is quite the opposite. There's a reason a hero was willing to chop her head off (she eventually recovered).

Personality Details:

Gorgons (of which Medusa is one) are not charismatic people. Medusa relishes in the pain and suffering of others. She loves to watch the fear build in victims' eyes, watch the dread, the resignation, the willingness to die. And then she turns them to stone, just so she can look upon the frozen face any time she wants.

In combat, aside from her gaze, she also has her snake hair she can use. With a head full of snakes, Medusa can shake the reptiles free. The snakes are independent attackers, and will go after any given target until defeated.

Medusa has also been known to use a sword and shield in combat. As a thousand year-plus-old warrior, Medusa has had plenty of time to perfect her sword skills.

First Appearance: DSWC Villains Introduction #5: The Villainesses
Last Appearance: #7: CVRPG IV

Melinda

The Sorceress

Background:

Much of the Sorceress's story is bathed in secret, starting simply with her name. Everyone around her, from the lowliest minion to Dracula himself (although Dracula calls her by her title as a sign of respect). Few use her real name, Melinda, and fewer still know the rest of her background.

Although where she came from has been lost to the storytellers, this isn't just a matter of narrative convenience -- even Melinda has forgotten her past, who she was before her change. Many vampires can live to be very, very old, and as the year tick by their ealier memories slowly fade away. Who she was before the change was lost, and the Sorceress now barely resembles the girl that once called herself Melinda.

What can be assessed, though, is than the Sorceress has always had great magical power. It's possible the vampire that embraced her was drawn to Melinda for her devastating magical abilities. Working with her he crafted her magic to feed from her vampiric powers, greatly boosting what she was capable of.

This is what eventually brought Dracula to her, looking for assistance with a simple problem: how to attain true immortality. While Dracula (and many of his minions) were capable of coming back from the dead over time, the ability to simply never die had not yet been discovered It was hoped that with Melinda's help the problem could be solved.

As of yet she has not cracked the matter, but she expected to have the problem solved soon enough...

Personality Details:

As a powerful mage, the Sorceress's primary skills are all magic-related. From alchemy to scrying, the Sorceress relys on her magic for all her day-to-day needs.

Of course, in combat her magic makes her a force to be reconned with. As a near-iimmortal vampire the Sorceress has spent her many, many years on the planet learning all she can, mastering the six affinities of magic, and she uses all of them on the field. Although she is weak to Light (as are all vampires) she can cast it as effectively as any other magic tupe, giving her an edge over most other magic-users.

And since she's a vampire she has all the vampiric tricks at her disposal as well, from vampire charms to shape-shifting. She does have their weaknesses though, paricularly sunlight and holy items. Still, there is no doubt the Sorceress is not a foe to take on lightly.

First Appearance: #563: After-Battle Wrap-Up
Last Appearance: #7: CVRPG IV

Michaelangelo

Mikey

Background:

New York is a dangerous place. It's the kind of place where a kind could go into a pet store to pick up four turtles one minute, and end up nearly crushed under a truck filled with barrels of mutagenic waste the next. Sadly, this happened, the kid lost his turtles in the incident, and their bowl rolled off into the sewers... followed promptly by a barrel of the waste.

The mutagen covered the turtles, changing them into humanoid creatures. It also transformed their soon-to-be sensei into a giant, talking rat. He raised the turtles, trained them to be ninjas (because all talking rats know ninjitsu -- it's in their union bylaws), and sent them out into the city to act as silent, shadowy protectors.

While Mikey was great at the ninja, he wasn't so good at the "silent" or "shadowy" parts. The fun-loving one of the group, Mikey was much better at making distractions and finding direct routes through problems. While stealth and subtlety have their place, sometimes what you need is something loud (and amusing) to get through a situation (or, at least, to distract the bad guys while the others work their stealthy magic).

Mikey's addition to the team proves that, for a team to truly work, diversity is required. He's the goofball, to fun one, but also an essential member of the group.

Personality Details:

Although often considered the "dumb one", Mikey is actually smart in his own way. Sure he is at times a little distractable, and other times he focuses on things that aren't really important, but he also has a quiet intelligence within him that's sometimes hard to see.

For one, Mikey has an eidetic memory, the ability to see something and reproduce the results without having to think about it. While he may not have the book smarts to be able to work experiments like Donatello, he can watch what Donnie does and redo the exact same thing over and over (useful sometimes in the lab).

He can also naturally work out quick scenarios and find the most direct route through a problem. This is handy in situations where the normal resources the turtles would use (shadows, cover, Donnie's tech) aren't available (like in Dimension X), and suddenly Mikey is in charge, handling the unusual as if it's just another day at the beach.

First Appearance: DSWC Villains Introduction #13: The Lustrous Chrome Dome
Last Appearance: #12: CVRPG Six, Part 2

Mimi Sandford

Petty Officer

Background:

Mimi was one of the new crew hired on to the Siren once it became a space-faring vessel. She didn't originally have any designs on being a crew member on a "military" ship; unlike many of the members hired on, Mimi wasn't current or former military. Instead she was working at a space station as a short-order cook, one of a number of blue collar workers who went out into space to find fame and fortune but instead just found another job much like they had on the planets they left. When an opportunity, with better pay, came up on the Siren, Mimi took it just to get away from fry grease and bad shakes.

Since joining, Mimi has steadily worked her way up in responsibility, getting promoted to Petty Officer within a few short months. This makes her a reliable comrade among the "Lower Decks", someone that's always there to assist and help her fellow crew mates.

Personality Details:

Mimi is dutiful and resourceful but, due to her personal background, brings a different perspective to dealings on the ship than other, military-trained members. Her "civilian" insights can be relied on, though, to provide a new perspective on situations. This can be helpful, sometimes, when the ship has to serve in capacities outside that of a warship.

She's not sure if she'll stay with the ship long term but as long as the pay is good and she feels appreciated she doesn't really feel the need to go anywhere else.

First Appearance: #3006: Back on Deck
Last Appearance: #12: CVRPG Six, Part 2

Mummy

Background:

To say that we're talking about a single mummy here -- the entombed remains of an egyptian pharaoh reanimated -- would be a bit of an error. There are several mummies who reside throughout the halls of Dracula's castle:

• Akmodan I, king of a unified Egypt and the originator of a long dynasty.
• Akmodan II, son of Akmodan I. Considered to be an even stronger ruler than his father. Increased Egypt's territory drastically, making the country an empire to be feared.
• Akmodan III, also known as Akmodan the Intolerant. Pushed the border of Egypt too far, into lands he couldn't easily control. The empire his father, Akmodan II, had built crumbled.
• Akmodan IV, also known as Akmodan the Callow. Took the throne when he was very young, and was little more than a shy, fearful puppet to the clergy.

The list goes on. For whatever reason, this dynasty of pharaohs all had a penchant for coming back from the dead sometime after their mummification process. Maybe it was magic in the blood, potentially some mythical species who had taken human form and mated with one of the pharaohs - mythical creatures are randy beasts.

Whatever the case, no one has really had a chance to study these mummies up close -- mostly because they keep trying to eat the researchers' faces.

Personality Details:

The Mummy we all know and love (presumably Akmodan XIII, but who can really tell when they all look the same) is a pretty mellow dude. He only really gets angry when he's hungry... and it really isn't even anger, just the uncontrollable need to feed (a horrific case of the munchies, if you will). Of course, lacking a stomach, the Mummy is always hungry (and not, as one would naturally assume, never hungry). So it's always best to give him a wide berth.

If confronted, the Mummy will lunge at any attackers (or non-attackers, or anything that vaguely looks like it might move) in an attempt to eat it. The flesh of the living is what he craves, but he's very up-front about it.

If he can't sink his teeth into a would-be target, the Mummy will strike with flying bandages and poison dust. He's very good about using what he naturally has at his disposal, which is (by and large) bits of himself.

Attempts to communicate with the Mummy are largely ineffectual. It's not that the Mummy can't understand you -- he totally can. But, he has no tongue (cut out during the mummification process) and can only communicate through groans. More common languages, such as English, French, Spanish, or Esperanto, are beyond his abilities.

First Appearance: DSWC Villains Introduction #2: The Villains Plot and Plan
Last Appearance: #12: CVRPG Six, Part 2