Name: Badurong Broadcasting Network Executive Spandez, Ordained Master of the Late-Night Timeslots, The Almighty Lord of Bloodsport
Age: Yes
Appearance: "IT'S TIME FOR THE LIGHTNING ROUND, FOLKS!"
Personality: On stage, Spandez is cheery, jovial, and constantly smiling. As a gameshow host should be. However, he is also a bloodthirsty tyrant who draws sustenance from sentient creatures' desire for violence. He relishes the sights and sounds of combat, and is eager to throw contestants at a planet until it's ready for conquering. He speaks Japanese, but it's obvious that he's a foreigner. He gets furious when someone mentions the word "Hiatus." He can't resist showing off. He also has a very low pain threshold until transforming, meaning he tends to chicken out fairly quickly. As the Almighty Lord of Bloodsport, he is easily angered and becomes incredibly bloodthirsty, lashing out at friend and foe alike. Thus, he will not return to his giant form unless absolutely necessary. Perhaps most damningly, he's bound by the most powerful force in the universe: ratings. While he COULD just have his ship blow a chunk out of Earth and render it uninhabitable for human life, that doesn't make for good TV.
Abilities: Spandez is, surprisingly, quite quick and quite heavy. His chitinous shell is fluted like a bird's bones, but due to his compressed body, his nerve endings are tightly packed. Thus, while his shell can stop tank shells, it will still hurt like the dickens. Being the Lord of Bloodsport, he's immortal. As long as something somewhere in the universe gets a kick out of violence, he'll be back eventually. Additionally, he can call for a "Lightning Round"- reviving a destroyed monster as a giant. When the situation gets dire and there's no other way out, he can return to his true form- an insect the size of a city block called The Almighty Lord of Bloodsport.
Skills: A talented presenter, a flawless spokesman, and a ruthless dictator. Also knows how to hype up fights like nobody's business.
Brief Backstory: Spandez is, in fact, older than many benchmarks for "old." He might actually be among the oldest living beings in the cosmos, as he was born when the first sentient creature thought how awesome it would be to see two animals fighting. Spandez is the literal embodiment of bloodsport, from gladiatorial combat to violent sporting events. He spent a long time as a spacefaring conqueror, setting up gladiatorial arenas to amuse and feed himself. But he began to notice that a lot of other creatures would pay to get in… which led to profits, which led to faster expansion, which led to more spectacular arenas, which led to more power for himself.
One day, thousands of years later, an agent for the Badurong Corporation came to Spandez's Skull-Palace of Pain and explained the wonders of television to the Dark Lord of Bloodsport. The Network could not only broadcast his gladiatorial matches to the universe, but harvest the energy created by those enjoying the battles. They even offered to provide more unique equipment and gladiators (be they insubordinate employees, a bored Action Commander, or a prisoner from another world), provided they got a cut of the advertising revenue. Spandez even got a free cable package, which led to him discovering a gameshow.
His gladiatorial matches had many contestants, but very few were volunteers. It had many fans, and many viewers, but also many decrying the barbaric spectacle. But gameshows… people were willing to do insane things for those prizes. They would humiliate themselves in public. They would take candy from children. They would leave people stranded on alien worlds with no food and water if the prize was great enough. And that's when Spandez hit upon the idea that all his gladiatorial matches needed was a fresh spin. And thus he hit upon an idea. Badurong would offer prizes to his contestants. The contestants would sow chaos and discord on planets. If the contestants won and managed to conquer the planet, they'd get legal ownership of it and a choice between becoming a planetary governor or handing it over to the Network's Mining and Exploitation Branch for a hefty prize. If they lost, they'd often do enough damage to the planet's infrastructure through the gameshow's challenges to make conquering the planet much easier for the mercenary forces of Badurong. This brilliant stroke elevated Spandez from a powerful warlord to chief executive of the Badurong Broadcasting Network and a trusted enforcer of the CEO.
Now, for the Spandez Conquest Hour's 5,104th season, the show has come to an unassuming little planet in the sol system to continue the Badurong Corporation's systematic subjugation, exploitation, and commercialization of all sentient life.
Age: Yes
Appearance: "IT'S TIME FOR THE LIGHTNING ROUND, FOLKS!"
Personality: On stage, Spandez is cheery, jovial, and constantly smiling. As a gameshow host should be. However, he is also a bloodthirsty tyrant who draws sustenance from sentient creatures' desire for violence. He relishes the sights and sounds of combat, and is eager to throw contestants at a planet until it's ready for conquering. He speaks Japanese, but it's obvious that he's a foreigner. He gets furious when someone mentions the word "Hiatus." He can't resist showing off. He also has a very low pain threshold until transforming, meaning he tends to chicken out fairly quickly. As the Almighty Lord of Bloodsport, he is easily angered and becomes incredibly bloodthirsty, lashing out at friend and foe alike. Thus, he will not return to his giant form unless absolutely necessary. Perhaps most damningly, he's bound by the most powerful force in the universe: ratings. While he COULD just have his ship blow a chunk out of Earth and render it uninhabitable for human life, that doesn't make for good TV.
Abilities: Spandez is, surprisingly, quite quick and quite heavy. His chitinous shell is fluted like a bird's bones, but due to his compressed body, his nerve endings are tightly packed. Thus, while his shell can stop tank shells, it will still hurt like the dickens. Being the Lord of Bloodsport, he's immortal. As long as something somewhere in the universe gets a kick out of violence, he'll be back eventually. Additionally, he can call for a "Lightning Round"- reviving a destroyed monster as a giant. When the situation gets dire and there's no other way out, he can return to his true form- an insect the size of a city block called The Almighty Lord of Bloodsport.
Skills: A talented presenter, a flawless spokesman, and a ruthless dictator. Also knows how to hype up fights like nobody's business.
Brief Backstory: Spandez is, in fact, older than many benchmarks for "old." He might actually be among the oldest living beings in the cosmos, as he was born when the first sentient creature thought how awesome it would be to see two animals fighting. Spandez is the literal embodiment of bloodsport, from gladiatorial combat to violent sporting events. He spent a long time as a spacefaring conqueror, setting up gladiatorial arenas to amuse and feed himself. But he began to notice that a lot of other creatures would pay to get in… which led to profits, which led to faster expansion, which led to more spectacular arenas, which led to more power for himself.
One day, thousands of years later, an agent for the Badurong Corporation came to Spandez's Skull-Palace of Pain and explained the wonders of television to the Dark Lord of Bloodsport. The Network could not only broadcast his gladiatorial matches to the universe, but harvest the energy created by those enjoying the battles. They even offered to provide more unique equipment and gladiators (be they insubordinate employees, a bored Action Commander, or a prisoner from another world), provided they got a cut of the advertising revenue. Spandez even got a free cable package, which led to him discovering a gameshow.
His gladiatorial matches had many contestants, but very few were volunteers. It had many fans, and many viewers, but also many decrying the barbaric spectacle. But gameshows… people were willing to do insane things for those prizes. They would humiliate themselves in public. They would take candy from children. They would leave people stranded on alien worlds with no food and water if the prize was great enough. And that's when Spandez hit upon the idea that all his gladiatorial matches needed was a fresh spin. And thus he hit upon an idea. Badurong would offer prizes to his contestants. The contestants would sow chaos and discord on planets. If the contestants won and managed to conquer the planet, they'd get legal ownership of it and a choice between becoming a planetary governor or handing it over to the Network's Mining and Exploitation Branch for a hefty prize. If they lost, they'd often do enough damage to the planet's infrastructure through the gameshow's challenges to make conquering the planet much easier for the mercenary forces of Badurong. This brilliant stroke elevated Spandez from a powerful warlord to chief executive of the Badurong Broadcasting Network and a trusted enforcer of the CEO.
Now, for the Spandez Conquest Hour's 5,104th season, the show has come to an unassuming little planet in the sol system to continue the Badurong Corporation's systematic subjugation, exploitation, and commercialization of all sentient life.