What do all of these characters have in common? Well, they’re all well known by mainstream audiences. True, the average person on the street may not have heard of them, but anyone who follows comic book related material knows all about them.
As a life long comic book nerd, I’m tired of seeing nothing but popular characters dominate these lists. That’s why, here, we’ll be looking at the Top Ten Obscure Characters Who Should Be Playable in Injustice 2.
10. Danny the Street
Starting off, we have perhaps the most obscure character on this list.
In case the name and image didn’t tip you off, Danny is literally a living street. A long-time member of the Doom Patrol, Danny’s personality is fantastic. He’s friendly, hyper flamboyant, and although it’s very hard to make him angry, when he does get mad, his wrath is massive.
Now at this point, you’re probably wondering, “Unclepulky, you handsome, comic book genius, how could a street be playable in a fighting game?”
Well, Danny has the ability to teleport, along the power to transfer his consciousness to a brick, an island, and an alley. Also, at one point, he was able to become the Earth itself.
The way I see it, Danny could be playable in a mode similar to the one in Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 where you play as Galactus. You’d control the environment on a random stage, and attempt to beat an AI controlled fighter. It might be difficult to implement, but I think it could work great.
9. Elongated Man (Ralph Dibney)
Batman can eat his heart out, because the world’s true greatest detective is Ralph Dibney: The Elongated Man.
A long-time member of the Justice League, and a founder of Justice League Europe, Ralph got the power of super elasticity after drinking extract of gingo fruit. He is skilled in combat due to all his experience, his expertise is solving mysteries, usually alongside his wife, Sue.
Having a character who stretches in a fighting game isn’t difficult. In fact, since characters in Injustice are already more brutal than their comic counterparts, we could very easily have Ralph fighting like Monkey D. Luffy from early One Piece fighting games.
While Plastic Man would be most people’s pick for a stretchy fighter, I’d go with the Elongated Man any day.
8. Blue Beetle (Ted Kord)
Yes, the Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle is already confirmed to be in the game. However, there have been three Blue Beetle’s over the course of the character’s history. And while this spot could easily go to the archeologist with inconsistent powers, Dan Garret, I’m going with my personal favorite Blue Beetle, the genius goofball, Ted Kord.
A technical genius and a founding member of Justice League International, Ted is known in the hero community for being the class clown among them, and for “potentially” being smarter than Batman. Why did I put “potentially” in quotes? Because even though that’s what the characters say, I believe without a doubt that he’s smarter than Batman.
With an acrobatic fighting style, and gizmos like a sonic gun, his fighting style could be very Spiderman like, while still having its own spin. And, of course, I can’t think of a better ultimate move than for Ted to call in his best friend Booster Gold to help deliver the final blow.
7. Starman (Jack Knight)
Like Blue Beetle, several people have held the mantle of Starman. However, none did the name more justice than Jack Knight.
The second son of the original Starman, Ted Knight, and a member of the Justice Society of America, Jack became a hero after his older brother, who was the Starman before him, was killed in action.
While some proficient in martial arts, that’s not where Jack’s true power lies. Wielding the Cosmic Rod, Jack can fly, shoot and absorb energy.
With this combination of abilities, Jack could potentially play similar to Lucario from Super Smash Bros. The lower his health bar gets, the more powerful his melee attacks and energy blasts would get. And, speaking of Super Smash Bros., Jack’s ultimate attack could resemble Mega Man’s final smash, and he could call in all the other Starmen to deliver a massive blast.
6. Fire and Ice (Beatriz da Costa and Tora Olafsdotter)
That’s right! These characters are almost always seen together, so it seems fitting for them to share an entry.
Originally members of the Global Guardians, Fire and Ice later joined the Justice League International. These two are best friends, and while the love of Ice’s life is and always will be Guy Gardner, there’s also strong romantic subtext in their relationship. This could provide some fun interactions between the two.
While Beatriz is an extroverted former model, Tora is an introverted ice goddess. These natures are reflected by their powers, which, as you’d expect, are the ability to generate fire and the ability to generate ice respectively.
I shouldn’t even have to explain what the movesets of these characters could be. Any developer worth his salt should be able to come up with fire and ice based characters.
5. Mera
Everyone knows who Aquaman is. Whether or not they know him for being one of the greatest heroes in all of comics, even better than Batman, or for being the butt of jokes is a different story, but he’s not who I’m talking about here.
Aquaman’s wife, Mera of Xebel, is arguably even more of awesome than her husband.
Short tempered and serious minded, Mera is almost as strong as her husband, and through her ability to control water, is even more powerful. Naturally, she can do things like summon waves and create hard-water objects, the ability that makes just a wee bit overpowered is her ability to dehydrate people just by looking at them.
I can see her ultimate now: Filled with rage, she raises her arm, and we slowly see all of the fluid in her enemy get drained away until they’re nothing but dust.
4. Catman (Thomas Blake)
Originally nothing but a minor Batman villain, as a member of the Secret Six, Thomas Blake has become a much more rich and nuanced character than Bruce Wayne could ever hope to be.
The world’s greatest tracker, Catman is an absolutely brutal fighter, deadly in hand to hand combat, and thanks to his claws, very few of his fights end without blood flying.
When he gets angry, he goes completely feral. This could be integrated into his play style in that when he drops down to half of his health, he could start fighting on all fours. His attacks would get stronger, but he’d lose the ability to block.
Also, Deadshot is in the game. And in the comics, those two have a hilarious relationship/rivalry, which could lead to a plethora of funny interactions.
3. Ragdoll (Peter Merkel Jr.)
Two Secret Six members in a row? Works for me!
Ragdoll, AKA Peter Merkel Jr., is one of DC’s least child friendly characters of all time. Lets count the ways: His dad was a sociopathic cult leader, he had an incestuous relationship with his criminally insane sister, his genitalia has been surgically removed, and any attempt to fight him will more than likely result in one or more of your limbs being removed.
Truly demented, Ragdoll had all of his joints removed and replaced with fully-rotating, self-lubricating, prosthetics. As a result, his flexibility in unmatched by anyone’s.
Ragdoll could potentially be a top-tier fighter, with a heavy focus on combos. He could jump all over and around his opponent, pulling off some absolutely brutal maneuvers.
2. Orphan (Cassandra Cain)
MY FAVORITE SUPERHERO OF ALL TIME!!!
I love this girl. And I have no qualms about saying that she’s one of my all time favorite fictional characters, and is the character most worthy of taking on the mantle of Batman.
And even though Barbara Gordon is unfortunately most likely going to be in the game as Batgirl, Cassandra has held more positions than just Batgirl, including her current alias, Orphan.
Caring, determined, friendly, Cassandra has both one of the most compelling backstories in comics, having been raised by the assassin David Cain to be the ultimate warrior, but never speaking to her.
Because of this, Cass learned to speak in the language of violence, able to understand people just by how they moved, and able to predict people’s moves before they made them.
Despite her father’s intentions for her to become a killer, Cassandra has a hatred for murder, and, save for when she’s written poorly, would always rather die than take a life herself.
Cassandra Cain is the greatest martial artist in the DC Universe, and as such, her play style would be all about hand-to-hand combat. Like Ragdoll, she’d be all about the combos.
1. The Legion of Superheroes (Any of Them)
Injustice is meant to be the definitive DC fighting game. And frankly, it just wouldn’t seem right if no members of one of DC’s oldest teams made it into Injustice 2.
The Legion, made up of teenagers from the 30th Century, has had over 100 members throughout its almost 60 year history. So, as a rapid fire list, here are my Top Ten Legionaries I Want in Injustice 2.
Andromeda: A xenophobic terrorist with all the powers of Superman, she went on to redeem herself, becoming a space nun.
Umbra: With a bitchy attitude and the ability to control and manipulate darkness, the guardian of Talok VIII would make a great addition to the roster.
Leviathan: Head strong and rash, this boy with the ability to grow giant sized is one of the Legion’s longest serving members, and also had one of the most tragic deaths during their 90’s incarnation.
Chameleon: A Durlan spiritual leader with the power to shapeshift into literally anything, the possibilities for this character’s move set are endless.
Bouncing Boy: One of DC’s silliest characters, Chuck Taine beats his foes by bouncing on them. And what more is there to life than that? Well, love, I suppose. And in the first incarnation of the Legion, he went on to marry…
Triad: You thought playing as two characters at once as the Ice Climbers in Smash Bros was fun? With Luornu, you’d have to tackle playing as three girls at once.
Livewire: My favorite founding member of the Legion, Garth Ranzz can generate electricity, and if any Legionnaire gets included, it’ll most likely be him.
Gates: An insectoid alien with firm Communist beliefs, Gates can… wait, I don’t even need to say what his power is. That premise alone should be enough to sell you on his greatness!
Ferro: A boy with the power to turn himself into iron, Andrew Nolan, depending on which incarnation of the team you look at, is either one of the universe’s greatest heroes, willingly sacrificing himself just a few issues after his introduction… or he’s an adorable little cinnamon roll who you just want to hug.
And number one is:
- Karate Kid: While Cassandra Cain may be the best martial artist in the 21st Century, in the future that title belongs to Val Armorr.
The Legion were my introduction to comics, and so, above all else, I hope that one of them gets into Injustice 2.
Which Characters Do You Want in Injustice 2? Do You Like Any of My Picks? Let Me Know in the Comments!
Aside: if you’re wondering why I keep taking shots at Batman, the answer is simple: I’m petty and I hate him.
