Helm

As he hit puberty, Craig began to suffer headaches. He heard voices and had trouble focusing his vision. He was lucky in that his parents were medical scientists who were able to discover the cause: Craig was developing some kind of superhuman mental powers. His headaches were caused by the fact that he could hear the thoughts of others. His loss of vision was because his vision was capable of detecting thought currents in the air. He was being overwhelmed by his new mental senses and it was killing him and that, in turn, began to cause him to emit powerful bursts of telekinetic energy. The invention of the Helm saved him. Built to block the information that reached Craig’s brain. He was alone with his thoughts again.

In the years since, Craig has tinkered with his Helm and improved. He can open apertures that allow mental impulses to filter in, and with practice he has learned the “language” of these impulses, so he can now essentially read minds. The telekinetic bursts that he can emit are also highly focused now, a useful weapon. All this made Craig a popular consultant for law enforcement agencies, who will often call on Helm to help solve fantastic cases.

Helm is the organizer of a loose-knit collection of mentally powered characters (I’ve mentioned them before). He’s somewhat inspired by Cyclops of the X-Men, though I am confident that many other examples could be found of characters who are trapped in something to contain their powers.

The Scarlet Cannon

Siobhan Reilly has a giant cannon in place of her right arm. It can be used to shoot things. It wasn’t always that way. In fact, she once had a right arm, but one day woke up with a cannon. That’s not a particularly normal situation, and perhaps is less than ideal, but Siobhan had decided to accept her lot in life. She has a giant cannon in place of her right arm. And so, she dresses in a red outfit and fights crime.

I admit, I had no particular idea where I was going with this one (and it shows). I decided I wanted to do another superhero with a color in their name and this is what happened. Such arbitrary methods can create unforeseen greatness, but not always. Still, if someone has to be a D-list superhero, the Scarlet Cannon is perfectly happy to do it.