Janet Van Dyne invented Pym Particles. Not Hank Pym. Hank Pym is a hack and a fraud, and them doesn't even make sense because 'particles' is hardly helpful. Her name, 'Mega Molecules', still has alliteration, and is even a funny oxymoron, and it works even BETTER because these are molecules that can also make you MEGA!

But Janet and Hank married young, and Hank, the first Ant-Man, was her abuser. I know Hank Pym has a controversial history in comics, and yes, I am doing him dirty, but I think it's an interesting story. So I am turning him into a villain here. If it helps, there's probably a universe where Janet Van Dyne goes by the Puppy Kicker and goes around kicking puppies. Multi-verse! It'll getcha. Besides, Janet has been shoved under the rug far more than her boring old ex, so if there's any place for her to get the spotlight, it's in this little forum RP where I'll do it myself!

Anyway, on with the backstory. Janet had the idea of Mega Molecules when her father, Vernon, first began casually explaining to her the magical nature of the Quantum Realm. The microverse was a wellspring of untapped potential. Janet was a bit of an oddball growing up, and didn't have many close friends. Her exuberant nature often ended up pushing people away rather than bring them closer.

In a whirldwind romance that didn't last, Janet married Hank when she was in college, and together they completed work on the Mega Molecules or rather, the Pym Particles, as they would come to be known. While Janet cautioned her husband and her father on the dangers of Pym Particles, the two of them got swept up in the possibilites. During a terrible accident, her father tore open a portal in space, bringing a monstrous alien onto Earth. It killed her father and the explosion transfused Janet's body with Quantum particles. Hank also survived, and this failure through him further down the path of madness and frustration. Especially when it turned out that the accident had been the missing piece, and Janet's new physiology was the final key that allowed her to don the Wasp suit. She hunted down the alien and avenged her father, preventing the monster from wreaking any more havoc. It felt good to do that. Janet became The Winsome Wasp, and vowed to protect the people of Earth from threats from outer space. She fought against the Dominators in the Battle of New York, and had a short but storied tenure fighting evil from beyond the stars. Her suit was especially suited for it. For a while, she considered joining the Justice League, but disliked the amount of oversight it had. As in, none. Governments were supposed to protect the people, right?

Janet joined SHIELD and was a founding member of the Avengers, coining the name during their first mission together with an offhand comment. That was a good year.

Not long after that, Janet reluctantly allowed Hank to use her blood sample to complete work on the Pym Particle, allowing him to wear a suit of his own, and he became the first Ant-Man. But all the while he felt inadequate, his abilities were less than hers due to the accident. Desperate, after a terrible fight with Janet that no doubt would have became the source of their divorce anyway, Hank went mad. He adopted the persona of Yellow Jacket and invented a crisis that only he could solve, creating yet another portal to summon forth another monster from some far flung dimension of shadow. Only this time, even bigger and badder.

During the scuffle, it became apparent that the portal could only be sealed shut with a one-way trip to the micro-verse. Jan tackled Hank to the other side of the portal and used her abilities to seal it shut before a monster could come through. For a while, Janet thought she was a goner, but eventually the Wasp came across a city in the Microverse! It was here that Hank was thrown into jail for his crimes, for his actions had caused instability in their cities. Called Homeworld, she served for a few months (?) as the Wasp and protected these green-skinned alien looking folks from threats that emerged from the Underspace. Needless to say, this was quite the eye-opening experience and Janet realised she was actually turning into something of a xenophobe with how much she talked about destroying aliens. After all, if such strange and wonderful things could exist right beneath her nose, who was she to judge if they came from above or below?

Janet loved being a superhero, both in Homeworld and on Earth. Just as she was beginning to adjust to her new life, a warp opened right infront of her, attracted to her suit. It pulled her right through and plopped right in the middle of New York...with a T-Rex breathing down her neck! And also...ten years later! And also also...the Dominators were back! And also also also...she gave her life for that stupid Avengers team and the best they could do was a plaque on a bench?!

What kind of wacky misadventures will the Winsome Wasp get into next? She can't wait to find out.

Janet van Dyne is one of, if not the, original feisty and quirky women superheroes. It might be tropy, but I love it. Back in the day she was a founding member of the Avengers in the comics, and even the one who coined the name. She's going to be a merging of her original character and some of the others in the Ant-Man family. Hers is a story of a go-getter with a heart of gold who continually makes horrible life choices. Or maybe she just has bad luck.

I want her to battle and befriend creatures from other worlds. I want her to invent cool new gadgets. I want her to knock heads with supervillains. The versality of her powers allow her to go up against street and space level threats with ease, not being too strong or too weak in any battle. I'm going to write her with her personality traits turned up to eleven- in other words, she's going to be quite the character. She's going to bounce off certain characters and make fast friends with others. Her extroverted and somewhat socially clueless nature means she won't be able to take a hint if it's the former. This dame ought to be flirting with Thor and shooting spit balls at the back of Batman's head. The original mad lass.

She's going to be far different to play from my other character, Batgirl. A chatterbox to her mute, a party animal to her recluse. Despite Janet's hard life, she'll bring levity and joy to any team composition she ends up on. The Wasp will also travel all around the world and beyond, unlike Batgirl, who will stay rooted in the streets of Gotham for the forseeable future.

Jan is also a super genius inventor, though she is very, very wary of multi-versal technology at this point after all the trouble it's caused her. She will not underestimate the link between her Mega Molecules other dimensions ever again. It took her father away from her, and the goodness out of her ex-husband. Jan also makes a good leader, because when it comes down to it, she takes her job as a protector very seriously. She's not in it for the fame or glory, though she often plays it up like she is. She doesn't have a motivation of guilt, like Cassandra. And her trauma does not burden her- she is free to fly. Despite being very often eccentric, Janet is mentally well balanced. Her struggles didn't break her or make her stronger- they don't define her. I want to play Janet because in her I see a chance to represent what I see as a true, ideal superhero. Someone who does it because they want too, and it because it needs to be done. Her character arc is a flat one, she doesn't have to do much changing on a personal level. Another difference from Batgirl, who has a very long way to go. But The Wasp already knows who she is, and it won't be long before you do, too!