France & Manaco

France has known its share of heroes since the time of Roman conquest. Starting with the druids and their pupil, the famed Lancelot du Lac of Arthurian legend, the list also includes Joan of Arc—the first and only incarnation of the spirit of France—and Nostradamus, the master mage of the 16th century. France has also seen a number of villains, like the cursed LeBlanc family (whose progenitor Henri “Lupus” LeBlanc visited Freedom City in the 1690s) and the draconic enchantress Melusine.
The first true modern superhero appeared in 1935, when the police inspector Jean-Michel Aumont was captured by a party of serpent folk while investigating a series of crimes in Paris. In the catacombs deep beneath the city, they removed his eyes and replaced them with those of a Morlock. Day-blind but armed with a darkness-generating device, Aumont became the Nyctalope, scourge of crime in Paris. He was followed by Belphegor, “The Phantom of the Louvre,” whose fear-inducing mask inspired terror in the hearts of criminals.
The German occupation saw the rise of powered resistance fighters like the Reynard Rogue and Guillotine, as well as powered Vichy collaborators like the wolfman Isengrim (Pierre-André Leblanc, then the recipient of the Leblanc wolf curse). Belphegor also sided with the occupiers, although it is not known if he was turned, blackmailed, or even replaced. Each is now part of French history: the Reynard Rogue (Amelie Dutemps) was killed in Utska; the Nyctalope and Belphegor killed each other in a gunfight during the Paris liberation; and Isengrim was captured by the Allies, sentenced to death in the post-war trials, and executed by a firing squad using silver bullets.

COLORFUL HEROES

For the two decades following World War II, France was mostly void of powers because the majority of them were killed during the conflict. In 1961, the brutal invasion of Paris by SHADOW reminded the French government that superheroes were a luxury they couldn’t afford to be without, and the first French super-soldier program was initiated. This led to the creation of the Tricolor in 1965, a mutant whose abilities allow him to switch between three sets of electromagnetic powers: blue (lightning), white (light), and red (fire). The Tricolor served his country until 1968, when he was dishonorably discharged without explanation. The public soon learned the Tricolor was dismissed because he refused to stand against protesters during the demonstrations and general strikes of May, 1968. This information lead to massive public support for the hero, and the Tricolor declared himself free from the government, who retaliated by making it mandatory for powered operatives to be supported by either a local or national administration. Defying the law, the Tricolor remained active until the late 1970s, making his interactions with the government notoriously tense. The powers-regulating law softened in the eighties after the Tricolor retired. The changes allowed unions, associations, and private corporations to support heroes provided they also take responsibility for any resulting property damage (or worse, civilian casualties).
The amended law encouraged a new generation of heroes and villains. A woman claiming to be the enchantress Melusine appeared in 1987 and battled a hero named the Zouave (who’s since retired). In 1993, two French heroes, la Rose Rouge (the Red Rose) and Rorqual, fought and died in Freedom City during the Terminus invasion. This time also saw the creation of the first French superteam—la Brigade Fantastique (the Fantastic Brigade)—led by the late crime fighter Docteur Justice.

DEEP UNDER: THE YS CRISIS

In 2003, a team of archeologists discovered the sunken city of Ys off the coast of Brittany and brought a few pieces of Atlantean “artwork” back to the surface. These scientists did not know this Atlantean colony had been destroyed because of its corrupt leaders—worshippers of the Nameless Ones—and that some of the artifacts they recovered were cursed. When one of the items was unwittingly activated by the unscrupulous French diplomat Alexandre Taillard de Würms, he was transformed into a strange, aquatic creature (the future Frog Prince, now a member of the Fables). When the Sea King became aware Ys had been discovered, he immediately sent a small army of Atlantean forces to occupy and protect the sunken city from scavengers. The French government was unhappy with that outcome and relations have been tense between the nations for years. Ys is still under Atlantean control, and the Atlanteans continue to search for artifacts and secure the ruins. A few “eldritch incidents” have spread chaos on the French Atlantic coast, like the near-destruction of the city of Lorient by a sea monster in 2009. The French—who derogatorily call Atlanteans “les poiscaille” (“the fishies”)—seek to regain control of the city as they feel they should oversee such a clear danger to their people. Atlanteans see surface people as children playing with powers that humanity was never meant to know, let alone use.
France, in its role on the U.N. Security Council, has made trouble for Atlantis and thrown up roadblocks to it gaining status as a U.N. country. Unless Atlantis somehow makes peace with France, it’s entirely possible it will never join the U.N. fully. Unfortunately, Atlantis is unwilling to cede any of its underwater territory to surface dwellers, partially due to it being the French and partially because of the precedent it would set. For now, the two nations remain chilly toward one another, to say the least.

PARIS

Beautiful sights aside, the City of Light has also been a place of crime and vice, from the Apache gangs of the 1910s to modern suburban youth gangs. The northern suburbs of Paris, or the “Nuef-Trois” (nine-three) as they are called (la Courneuve, Saint-Denis, Saint-Ouen), are the least safe due to high gang activity, but crime is not limited to the suburbs. Large organizations, like the Labyrinth, don’t operate in the slums, but they have locations in the main business areas, like the futuristic western area of la Défense. Supervillains, like the art thief Magpie who sometimes operates here, prefer the tourist areas filled with museums, art, and riches.
Crime in the 1970s and ’80s saw the rise of villainous figures like the misshapen Quasimodo, a Morlock who was later revealed to be the same individual whose eyes were switched with Nyctalope. Quasimodo’s organization, the Cathedral, was the scourge of Paris and the nemesis of the Tricolor. Quasimodo was killed when he was buried alive in the Catacombs in 1985. His favorite pet, the orichalcum gynoid Esmeralda, was subsequently deactivated by the Red Rose a few years later. The current criminal masters of Paris are the drug lord le Furet (the Ferret) and his rival, the stylish dandy known as BCBG. Both men are normal humans, but they often employ paranormals like the femme fatale Vénéneuse (Venomous), the mad psychic Docteur Bizarre, or the scythe-wielding cyborg Ankou to deal with other superbeings.

Type

Geopolitical, Country