To those who have expressed interest thus far, and any who come along next, what alternate worlds or concepts would you like to see? Whether it just be a character you like/think is underutilized and would like to see be the focus of a reality the group visits, or a story arc from the comics you felt didn't end properly and would want to see revisited, or something from our real-world history you think would create a unique reality had it gone a different way, etc.

While I have dozens of alternate realities already plotted out, I am interested and open to including others suggested here.

<Snipped quote by Retired>

I think a world that truly, utterly utilized a One Universe approach where the characters had to be drastically different and changed by one another's existence would be interesting. Imagine if Kal-El's rocket landed to Earth at a time when HYDRA was still functioning, or if Thor's hammer were found by Barry Allen instead of Donald Blake. Or if Spider-Man were created by a spider who was an avatar of The Red, making him less of an enhanced human and more of a monster in the vein of Swamp Thing. A world full of fun stuff like that, where the dynamics are completely shifted for everyone.

Another possibility is a DC or Marvel future where the grandchildren of each hero inherit the mantles, like a giant legacy Earth in the vein of MC2. There's a ton of rife potential there if you set it far enough ahead for most of the heroes to be dead or out of action.

Another idea I had is a DC Universe where each hero is a supernatural creature. So Superman would be a horrible monstrosity from space, Batman would be a vampire, Wonder Woman would be an undead Themyiscarian witch, The Flash would be an interdimensional demon, and so on...

None of them are wildly original ideas, but I like simple concept alterations as much as I like massive universe shattering ideas.

Enter the Hero, stage right:

Character Proposal [+]

| Name |

Iron Patriot // Norman Osborn

| Age |

Early 40s

| Character Differences |

In this timeline Norman Osborn is no longer a villain, though calling him a hero might be overselling it. Still as narcissistic, condescending and ruthless as ever, he's humanity's unlikeliest savior. A great deal of his recent life has been dedicated to fighting for humanity's survival, not just because his interests happen to align with the side of light (namely not wanting to die in an alien-induced genocide), but because he sees that fight as a road toward personal redemption. The war with the Skrulls is Norman's chance to prove he's no longer the monster he once was, that he's conquered the Goblin, and that he deserves to see his son again. All the while he continues to struggle with his psychosis in a silent battle for his mind and his soul.

| Brief World Background |

Earth wasn't in the least bit prepared when the Skrulls came for Earth. Unlike in the mainline continuity, Tony Stark never learns of the Secret Invasion, and the Skrulls are able to systematically pick apart every major threat before they're discovered. The Avengers, the Fantastic Four, the x-Men, and even SHIELD all fall, the world none the wiser to what's taken place. It was only after victory was assured that the aliens launched an all-out attack on Earth.

Yet the swift triumph they anticipated never came, for in their darkest hour humanity still managed to resist- led not by its traditional heroes but instead by dictators, conquerors, terrorists and villains of all other stripes. Pariahs once shunned by the world for their misdeeds rose up in earnest to defend it. Among the highest echelons of the resistance sat men and women like Doctor Doom, Emma Frost, and Namor, united in common purpose. They were the strongest mankind had left to lead them, and that ensured their demise. The Skrulls managed to pick off the leadership one by one, carving out a power vacuum within the command structure.

A vacuum that Norman Osborn stepped in to fill.

The war was a long, grueling affair, with neither side willing to give even an inch of ground. It was the bloodiest conflict the world had ever seen, and it raged on for more than a decade before Osborn was able to strike the critical blow that would turn the tide in earth's favor: he punched through the Skrull flagship and put a bullet through their queen. It didn't end the fight by any measure, but it marked the turning point that allowed a united earth to crush the invasion for good.

With the Skrulls pushed back into space, the surviving members of humanity began to reorganize themselves to prepare for further conflict- they knew well that the invasion of Earth was only the start of things. Osborn was, naturally, the best choice to lead the effort. He established HAMMER as a militarized opposite to SHIELD with himself as its director. Construction of a space fleet began, headed by former scientists and engineers from AIM, with the hope of striking back at the Skrulls for all that they had done.

| Brief Character Background |

Norman Osborn gained his wealth selling prototype weaponry to the American military. His company, Oscorp, was once a significant competitor to the likes of Stark Industries, only for the entire industry to be flipped on its head the day the 'Iron Man'- quickly revealed to be Tony Stark himself- appeared on the public stage. Nothing Oscorp was developing at the time could ever hope to live up to the armor, and every country on the planet was looking to replicate it. Osborn was far too proud to stoop to the level of many of his competitors that were racing to make and sell copycat suits en-masse, and he stuck religiously to his current project: attempting to re-discover the Super Soldier formula that created Captain America.

But progress was painfully slow, and USFDA refused to allow human trials to begin until the numerous side effects appearing in the animal testing phase were addressed. Norman flushed more and more resources into the development of the drug, diverting them from the company's more profitable ventures in the hopes of making a breakthrough. It didn't work, the serum remained unstable, and Oscorp was dragged under by his obsession. In a final, desperate bid to prove he wasn't a failure, Osborn injected himself with the incomplete formula, and the psychopathic killer known as the Green Goblin was born. That personality dominated Norman for eight, long years of his life, compelling him to terrorize the people of New York City and do battle with local hero Spider-Man.

This 'second personality' wrought chaos across the city, killing, maiming and destroying whoever or whatever he pleased, showing an intense obsession with proving its superiority over everyone else- most especially Spider-Man. It wasn't until Norman's son, Harry, was caught in the crossfire that Osborn was able to wrestle some semblance of control back. He surrendered himself to SHIELD, beginning down the arduous path of rehabilitation with the hope of one day being allowed to see his son again.

It became immediately clear to his doctors that the chemical mixture Norman had injected himself with was altering the state of his mind in a profound way, causing symptoms of Dissociative Identity Disorder, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and Borderline Personality Disorder to manifest. A treatment plan was written up that involved a great deal of medication and therapy over the course of three and a half years. There would never be a cure for Osborn's condition- not without a miracle- but they were confident they could stabilize him enough for him to return to polite society.

It was the hardest thing he'd ever done or would ever do, but Norman committed to the plan and refused to give up on himself. Norman Osborn wasn't going to let himself be beaten by this.

Unfortunately he was never given the chance to finish the treatment. The Skrulls invaded earth, assassinated its front line of defense and swarmed over the rest of humanity like a plague. It became brutally obvious that mankind wouldn't be able to win this war on its own, and Osborn couldn't simply sit back and watch the planet burn from a padded cell. Freeing himself from his rehabilitation facility, Norman armed himself with stolen commandeered Stark tech and began organizing a resistance movement with many of his old rivals from his time as the Goblin.

<Snipped quote by ComradeMaxx>

Strong concept. Is the serum still pumping through his veins, diminished or not? Without the suit, does he still possess his Goblin abilities?

Updated

Primary Concept - The Mad Scientist [+]

_{Doc Green}

| Name |

Bruce Banner

| Age |

35

| Character Differences |

Doc Green more resembles She-Hulk than the traditional Bruce Banner and Hulk dynamic. Bruce is the dominant persona, with the Hulk persona's savage rage merging with Bruce's own persona when transformed. While Doc Green can grow stronger the more angry he gets, the merging of the two personas has placed a significant "cap" on how strong the Hulk can get. The downside for Bruce fully controlling the Hulk persona: Doc Green isn't capable of reaching the heights the Hulk did. Cosmetically, Doc Green is about half the size of the Hulk, and has managed to retain the beard and hair-style of Bruce Banner. He also tries to wear clothes as much as he possibly can... though finding some that fit is a large ask.

| Brief World Background |

Earth 59301 // "Desert Earth"

In this amalgamated DC/Marvel Universe, the world at large has become a wasteland. The world's greatest minds, from Ray Palmer to Reed Richards did their best to find a way to reverse the effects of Global Warming, but it was all for naught. In the year 2030, as the world was plagued with various ecological disasters. While Bruce Banner and Tony Stark experimented with cleaner energy sources in an attempt to at least slow down the coming ecological doomsday, Victor von Doom and Lex Luthor came up with another strategy: speed up the process. The Illuminati, consisting of individuals such as Black Bolt, Doctor Doom, Mr. Fantastic, Black Panther, Gorilla Grodd, Bruce Wayne, Lex Luthor, and Tony Stark (at the tail end, when convinced his efforts wouldn't solve the problem) worked together to create their own "safe havens" around the world that would house a limited amount of the world population in climate-controlled and shielded environments. They also worked on another plan: create a device that would speed up the effects of global warming in a hope that it the Earth would "reset" itself.

Their efforts didn't exactly work as intended. The disasters became that much more disastrous, and billions died violent deaths due to these incredibly powerful natural disasters. Those who managed to survive, especially those heroes and villains who noticed that some of their counterparts had disappeared while the world needed them most, began searching for the rumored "safe havens." Those heroes and villains who didn't perish in the natural disasters sought refuge within their Safe Havens of choice. However, even as power shifted hands within some of these safe havens, one thing remained the same: free will and knowledge of the Illuminati's plan could not be allowed to circulate. Order needed to be maintained... for humanity's sake. The rest of the world has practically become a desert wasteland.

| Brief Character Background |

Bruce Banner was born in the mid 1990's, and was not raised in the most healthy environment. His father was an abusive alcoholic who constantly tormented his son. Despite the years of abuse, Bruce did everything he could to study hard. He was admitted to MIT when he was sixteen to study nuclear physics, as he believed that the solution to clean energy lied in nuclear power. It was here that Bruce got in touch with Professor Igor Starsky and fellow student Walter Langkowski. The three formed an intellectual trio incredibly interested in the potential of gamma radiation. The three ended up accepting a government contract to work at Desert Base in New Mexico, working on a gamma device. The device was intended to be an alternative power source, but 8 years of work yielded no results. General Ross, the CO of Desert Base, secretly met with Dr. Starsky to discuss the possibility of retooling the device into a weapon. Starsky ultimately agreed, and he set to work on developing the weapon.

Langkowski, after discovering what Dr. Starsky had agreed to, protested the decision for a time before relenting to continue working on the project. Bruce, on the other hand, never bothered to protest as he knew that he needed Starsky's expertise in the future. Of course, Bruce's life would be forever changed by this. He found himself working late one fateful night, picking up a shift from Starsky last minute. When he entered the chamber with the device that night, he found irregular readings. It turned out that Langkowski was attempting to get revenge on Starsky by tampering with the device. Of course, Bruce was the one who found himself exposed to high levels of Gamma Radiation. The Hulk was born.

For some time, Bruce Banner's story was one of a man tormented by his inner monster. He rampaged through the Southwestern United States for years, until one fateful encounter with Charles Xavier and the X-Men. While Charles' X-Men were keeping the Hulk distracted, Xavier delved into the beast's mind to find and confront Bruce Banner. Together, the two managed to bring Bruce's persona to the forefront once again and establish mental blocks to help Bruce maintain control over his alter-ego. Together, the two could form Doc Green and Bruce could control his angry outbursts to become a positive member of society once again. With the coming ecological crisis, Bruce reached out to famed inventor Tony Stark offering his expertise with gamma radiation to find a clean energy solution.

The two worked together until "The Event" in late 2030. Bruce helped Stark create a more powerful arc reactor that made use of gamma radiation. Of course, while Bruce hoped that this would be used to save the world, Stark ended up having a different idea. Instead of commercializing the device, Stark used the reactor to help power Luther and Doom's device. When the event happened, Bruce found himself in Malibu enjoying a vacation. When the earthquakes hit and began splitting California away from the rest of the U.S., Doc Green and other heroes rushed in to help minimize the damage. Despite their efforts, over a billion people died in the span of two weeks.

Bruce began to put the pieces together when Stark reached out to offer the esteemed physicist a spot in his own personal paradise in Las Vegas. Call it ego or personal responsibility, but Doc Green decided to answer Stark's invitation. Once inside Stark's safe haven, the scientist let his rage seethe to its greatest extent. He managed to storm his way into Tony's personal tower, beating away Stark's drone Iron Man suits, until he got the chance to square off against Iron Man himself. Tony had prepared for this contingency, and had designed a Hulkbuster suit powered by the same gamma-arc reactor that the two geniuses had designed. Doc Green got his ass handed to him easily, and his last memory was of being flown out of Earth's atmosphere by the suit and left to die in the vast coldness of space.

Of course, Mojo couldn't let such a specimen go to waste.

<Snipped quote by webboysurf>

Does Bruce have the ability to revert to his human body or is he permanently in this smaller Hulk form?

<Snipped quote by Retired>

That's a good question. I would prefer he have the ability to revert back into his normal form for the sake of being able to "blend in" to other realities. But I honestly feel comfortable having that vetoed and him being stuck as "Doc Green" since that is more in line with the comics.