Zarana
| Melee RV 20 |
Coordination RV 20 |
Brawn RV 6 |
Fortitude RV 20 |
Intellect RV 20 |
Awareness RV 30 |
Willpower RV 40 |
Lifestyle RV 30 |
Repute RV -10 |
| Health: Fortune: |
66 90 |
Origin:
As do her siblings, Zarana possesses abilities beyond that of other humans. She has the seemingly inherent power to blend into the background at will. This, when combined with her intense acting method, makes her an excellent impersonation artist.
Known Powers:
Blending: Zarana has the mutant power to blend in with her environment, a feat she can accomplish with rank value 30 ability. Others must pass an Awareness ACTION against this basic value to spot Zarana, though with a +2 RS bonus if she's moving while blending.
Limitations / Enhancements:
Weakness to Sunlight (optional): in some GI Joe storylines, Zarana is assumed to have the same vulnerability to sunlight as does her brother, Zartan. Exposure to such drops all her traits to rank value 2, which lingers for 1d10 turns after she escapes it.
Equipment:
Dagger: carried on a convenient thigh sheath, Zarana always has this blade at the ready. She can use this implement, made from m.v. 30 metals, to inflict her Brawn value in Slashing damage, or to cut through items of up to a like m.v., given the time and inclination.
Motorcycle: as do all the Dreadnoks, Zarana utilizes a motorcycle - and usually, it actually belongs to her! Regardless of who owns it, Zarana often rides this beast into battle when Thrasher doesn't chauffeur her about in the Thunder Machine. It has these characteristics:
| Handling RV 20 |
Velocity RV 150 |
Durability RV 20 |
Protection RV 0 |
Sidearm: kept in a shoulder holster for easy access, Zarana may discharge a single round from this firearm to inflict rank value 6 Piercing damage to whoever has irked her ire, or a semi-automatic burst of ammunition to inflict rank value 10 Piercing damage.
Spur Cutter: a makeshift contraption, this weapon consists of a trigger-activated, razor-honed whirling spur that Zarana can use to cut through items of up to m.v. 40, or to inflict her Brawn value +1 RS in Slashing damage.
Quirks:
Fast Healing: like the rest of her family, Zarana heals remarkably fast. She is treated as if her Fortitude trait was +4 RS for the purposes of her overall healing rate, which means her rate of Health point recovery is determined as if her Fortitude was rank value 75.
Greed: possibly her only weakness, Zarana is utterly miserly in nature. She constantly quibbles about expenses, pinches every penny she has, and incessantly reminds those in her debt what they owe her. She must pass a Willpower ACTION at -2 RS to quell this tendency, if she wishes.
Skills:
Artist: while not quite the master of disguise that Zartan is, Zarana considers herself an artist of impersonation. She has any number of wigs, ensembles, and props to help her pose as another, and may gain 10 Fortune for a particularly convincing attempt to appear as them.
Demolitions: though nowhere near the bomb-maker Monkeywrench is, Zarana has a superior grasp of how to effectively use these destructive devices. She should gain a +1 RS on any attempt to destroy something with bombs, whether it be a vehicle or a structure.
Guns: Zarana has become an expert in small-arms weaponry over the years, though she can fire most firearms with competence. Whether holding standard, semi-automatic, or fully automatic rifles or pistols, Zarana can hit her targets at a +1 RS to her listed Coordination.
Martial Arts type B: despite her best efforts, Zarana's work occasionally exposes her to violence when her victims realize what she's done to them. As such, she's learned how to defend herself even while unarmed, and may assault others in that state at her Melee value +1 RS.
Performer 2: while she excels at looking like others, Zarana's true talent is in getting into the head of another, adopting their mannerisms and thought processes to seemingly become them. She can gain 20 Fortune per week she spends living as another, specific individual.
Sharp Weapons: though she can fight unarmed, Zarana prefers to face her foes with some sort of edged implement in hand. Whenever wielding any such item, ranging from a dagger to a sword to her spur cutter, Zarana may do so without any penalty to her Melee trait.
Contacts:
Zarana is the second in command of the Dreadnoks, behind only Zartan. The gang looks favorably upon her despite her genuinely evil treatment of them, possibly because she's usually so effective in making them money. And if there's anything Zarana is good at, it's making money.
Though most of the Dreadnoks have an only passing association with Cobra, Zarana was all-in for several years, drifting into the position of Cobra Commander's chief lieutenant after Destro and the Baroness repeatedly left the organization to pursue their own agendas.
Costume:
Zarana's original ensemble consists of a threadbare and shredded pink shirt, pink pauldrons, shredded blue jeans over pink stretch fabric pants, black and magenta padded gloves, black and magenta knee-high boots, a brown belt, and a brown shoulder holster and hip sheath.
Personality:
Possessed of a terrible cruelty, a gnawing greed, and a vicious temper, Zarana is always chasing down her next big score. An inherently nasty human being, she's rude, calculating, and miserly, and never hesitates to milk others - even her own family - for all they're worth.
Real Name: unrevealed
Occupation: assassin, hustler, grifter
Legal Status: wanted for numerous crimes in various nations, though her land of birth is unknown
Marital Status: single
Alias(es), if any: too numerous to account for
Group Affiliation: the Dreadnoks, Cobra
Height: 6' 1"
Hair: orange, though it often varies wildly
Eyes: green
Weight: 160 lbs.
Other Distinguishing Characteristics: aside from her brilliantly-hued hair, none.
Story:
Unlike her sullen, introverted brother Zandar, or her freakishly strong brother Zartan, the young woman who would grow up to become Zarana was seemingly gregarious. She didn't hide from others, and was always happy to converse with just about anyone who came her way.
But Zarana wasn't personable, no. She was studying everyone that crossed her path. A student of humanity, Zarana became an expert in behavioral psychology, and developed a knack for sussing out how someone was thinking just by spending a scant few moments with them.
While gifted like her siblings, Zarana became something like a psychological chameleon, and could convincingly impersonate almost anyone she encountered. With the right props here and there, she could even fool others into thinking she was the target of her portrayals.
She could have gone extremely far in an acting career, but that was not meant to be for Zarana. Though others may never see it, due to her playing some part or another, Zarana is consumed by dark desires, harboring a cruel streak, uncontrollable greed, and naked ambition.
That's why she ultimately wound up in the family business, the Dreadnoks. This gang of biker malcontents was the scourge of Australia, an uncontrollable menace the authorities there were ill-equipped to handle, and everything went swimmingly for a time.
But then, Zartan left for America, taking a few of the Dreadnoks with him. Since Zandar didn't have an assertive bone in his body, it fell upon Zarana to keep the Dreadnoks going, and her insatiable greed led them on one lucrative criminal spree after another.
But Zarana always wanted more. Knowing that Zartan had hidden a huge cache of gold somewhere, she journeyed to America with Zandar to retrieve it - and him, if necessary. When the two arrived at his New Jersey hideout, however, they found out that he'd been captured by GI Joe!
Thanks to Buzzer, the Dreadnoks knew where the Joes' headquarters was, so they journeyed there, along with a recently resurrected Storm Shadow, and broke Zartan out of the Pit. Narrowly escaping GI Joe's pursuit, the reunited family then made their way to Cobra Island.
As Zartan worked for those terrorists, the Dreadnoks felt their new, legally recognized state would be a great place to lie low after assaulting an American military installation. Of course, Cobra used their information to head right back to the Pit, waging a full-scale assault!
The Dreadnoks participated in this, of course, and escaped along with most of the Cobra hierarchy when the facility was utterly destroyed. Having secured the trust of Cobra's new leader, Serpentor, Zarana and company then participated in numerous operations for that organization.
While most of the Dreadnoks were content to simply do whatever, as long as it kept them well-stocked in grape soda and powdered donuts, Zarana's ambitions helped her maintain a constant presence in the Cobra Command, even as other stalwarts slowly fell by the wayside.
That's why, when Serpentor was supplanted by a fake Cobra Commander, and then he was done in by the original upon his triumphant return, Zarana quickly became Cobra's second in command. After all, she was one of the few Cobra operatives the Commander trusted.
The Commander knows people, you see, and he knew that Zarana's motivations mirrored his own - even more so than his other, remaining hand-picked lieutenants, like the Crimson Twins. She remained in this capacity until the activation of Doctor Mindbender's clone body.
Cut loose after this, and a particularly harrowing incident involving the Decepticons, Zarana returned to the Dreadnoks. They'd been ill-used by Cobra of late, and though Zartan was nowhere to be found, they knew that Zarana was ready and capable of taking care of them.
(Historical Divergence)
Running the show for a while, Zarana led the Dreadnoks with a tight iron fist, and though she was generally horrible to them, she kept them in creature comforts - and didn't work them too hard. This lasted for some time, at least until the return of Zartan.
His mind scrambled by the Brain-Wave Scanner for a good long time, Zartan came to his senses when GI Joe sabotaged that device, and returned to take command of his group. He then expanded the loose band into a criminal organization that operated throughout America.
Though she was content to be Zartan's heir apparent, this all went south upon the appearance of Zartan's daughter, Zanya. Once she proved herself to Zartan, she then took command of the group, much to Zarana's chagrin... particularly since Zartan sidelined himself again.
In time, Cobra came back into the lives of the Dreadnoks. Though they'd been scattered to the winds in the wake of that mission involving the Brain-Wave Scanner, they were in the process of reassembling themselves, and needed help from the new Dreadnok organization in doing so.
Zarana and her fellows indeed did Cobra's bidding, because as always, the villains paid well. When their latest attempt to overthrow the government went south, the Dreadnoks laid low for a time, only occasionally taking further jobs from the Commander or his many lackeys.
On one such job, Zarana was hand-picked by the Commander to pose as an elite American operative, along with a few other Cobra associates. Posing as Friday, a member of the so-called Phoenix Guard, she invaded the Joes' latest headquarters, the Rock, in an attempt to kill them all.
This mission racked up a huge body count in GI Joe support personnel, but didn't actually take out any of the Joes proper. But then, most of them were inactive at the time, and were only assembled to the Rock for missions as needed. In the wake of this failure, Zarana was captured.
She was incarcerated in the Coffin, a remote prison in Greenland that GI Joe maintained specifically to hold captured Cobra officers. This situation persisted until Cobra forces invaded the facility, wanting its best operatives on hand while it waged a literal, third World War.
Soon after, the Dreadnoks learned that Tomax had Monkeywrench killed instead of freeing him from the Coffin, so they severed ties with Cobra forever. Zarana then presumably resumed her high-ranking role in the group, if not seizing control of it entirely.
Since, you know, Zartan had managed to disappear yet again.
2003 Variations
Equipment:
Ghille Suit: while she can blend into the background easily enough, Zarana occasionally makes use of a ghille suit to augment such attempts. While so equipped, Zarana may impose a -1 RS on Awareness ACTION rolls made to detect her in overgrown areas.
Uzi 9mm: Zarana often uses this small hand cannon for, you know, emphasis. It can discharge a single round to inflict rank value 6 Piercing damage, a short burst of such to inflict rank value 10 Piercing damage, or fire continuously to inflict rank value 20 Piercing damage.
Costume:
Zarana's second costume is comprised of a black leather vest worn over a cutoff white camisole, black leather pants with brown pouches attached, a black choker, black leather gloves, brown leather riding boots, brown knee pads, a steel belt, and a pair of silvered sunglasses.
2004 Variations
Costume:
Zarana's third ensemble is a variation on her first, including a threadbare and shredded purple shirt, steel pauldrons, shredded gray camouflage trouers, black and steel padded gloves, black and steel knee-high boots, and a black belt, shoulder holster, and hip sheath.
2011 Variations
Equipment:
Rifle: for unknown reasons, Zarana carried Ripper's weapon this year. It can fire one round to inflict rank value 6 Piercing damage, a short burst of ammunition to inflict rank value 10 Piercing damage, or a fully automatic spread for rank value 20 Piercing damage.
What's special about this weapon is the oversized bayonet attached to the barrel. Made from m.v. 50 metal, it can be used in Zarana's hands to cut or pry her way through just about anything, whether organic or metallic, and inflicts +1 RS Slashing damage.
Costume:
When dressed as a Cold Slither groupie, Zarana's costume consists of a tattered black tour shirt, shredded black leather pants over fishnet stockings, black leather riding boots, black leather gloves, black pauldrons, maroon knee pads, a maroon belt, and a maroon thigh sheath.
Extra Goodies:
Cobra directories featuring a version of Zarana:
| 1986 | 2003 | 2004 | 2011 |
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