Heavy Duty
| F Gd 10 |
A Ex 20 |
S Ex 20 |
E Ex 20 |
R Gd 10 |
I Ex 20 |
P Ex 20 |
Res Ex 20 |
Pop Sh 0 |
| Health: Karma: |
70 50 |
Origin:
As are most of his GI Joe teammates, Heavy Duty is but a normal human, if one possessed of above-average strength. He lacks ascendant abilities entirely, be they a result of an occult background, genetic mutation, or even bodily changes inflicted by freak occurrences.
Known Powers:
(none)
Limitations / Enhancements:
(none)
Equipment:
Grenades: Heavy Duty carries two of these explosive devices whenever he's on the job. Both of these baseball-sized bombs can be tossed at an opponent to inflict Remarkable (30) Edged Attack damage to all uncovered targets within the area they detonate inside.
Knives: Heavy Duty always carries knives on his person, one of which is always stored in a boot sheath, with more in another boot sheath or a bandoiler). Either way, these blades are made from Incredible (40) m.s. metals, and can be used to inflict Edged Attack damage in melee.
Man-Portable Heavy Weapons System: his first weapon as a member of the GI Joe team, and the device that earned him his code name, this rather large implement of destruction is indeed a heavy duty, fully functional arsenal. It is armed with the following weapons:
* Chain Gun: mounted between the twin guns on his man-portable heavy weapons platform, this rotary-barrelled death-dealer can fire a short burst of rounds to inflict Excellent (20) Shooting damage, or fire a continuous hail of lead to inflict Remarkable (30) Shooting damage.
* Twin Guns: Heavy Duty can discharge a single round with these weapons to inflict Typical (6) Shooting damage, a short burst of such to inflict Good (10) Shooting damage, or fire continuously to inflict Excellent (20) Shooting damage. Firing both at once increases this by +1 CS.
* Twin Rocket Launchers: these laser-guided rockets (for a +1 CS to hit) can be fired at anybody Heavy Duty desires. They inflict the listed damage per blast when fired singly, but Heavy Duty may launch both of them to inflict +1 CS damage. They work as follows:
| C Ex 20 |
S Am 50 |
B Ex 20 |
Damage Rm 30 Edged Attack |
Sidearm: a backup should he lose all of his other firearms, Heavy Duty always carries one of these weapons while on the job. This large handgun can discharge one round to inflict Typical (6) Shooting damage, or a three-round burst to inflict Good (10) Shooting damage.
Quirks:
Ambidexterity: whether he was born with this ability or developed it with intense personal discipline, Heavy Duty has learned how to use both of his hands equally well. As such, he can perform tasks with both hands, sometimes simultaneously, with no Column Shift penalty.
Talents:
Guns: one part of Heavy Duty's basic training involved learning how to discharge firearms in a competent fashion. As such, when using standard, semi-automatic, or fully automatic rifles or pistols, or even weapons like a shotgun, he does so as though his Agility was +1 CS in rank.
Marksman: Heavy Duty feels as intensely about rocketry as he does making music: each is like unto an art form, and he finds both immensely satisfying. When utilizing any line-of-sight weaponry, like his laser guided missiles, Heavy Duty does so at a +1 CS to his Agility.
Martial Arts type B: another facet of his basic training, one that has been continuously honed in battle against Cobra, this talent describes Heavy Duty's ability to defend himself while unarmed. When attempting to hit in unarmed melee, Heavy Duty does so at his Fighting score +1 CS.
Military / United States: being a member of the United States Army, Heavy Duty has this talent as a general matter of course, and it serves as a handy origin for most of his other skills. It grants Heavy Duty an almost instinctual understanding of military protocols and procedures.
Performer / Musician: before enlisting, Heavy Duty had begun a love affair with classical music, whether performing or just listening to it. If playing for an audience, Heavy Duty will receive ten Karma points for a week's worth of such work - or one particularly well-done set.
Vehicular Combat: having served as a vehicular combatant for a large portion of his time with GI Joe, Heavy Duty has definitely picked up the finer points of this form of battle. As such, when attempting offensive FEATs while behind the wheel, Heavy Duty does so at a +1 CS.
Contacts:
As a member of GI Joe, Heavy Duty can easily rely upon his fellows for aid in a pinch - the Joes look after their own, after all. In addition to this assistance, Heavy Duty also has numerous additional military and musical contacts, though they're likely not as dependable.
Costume:
Heavy Duty's first GI Joe field uniform was a simple affair. It consists of green camouflage trousers, a tan, collared shirt with the sleeves ripped off, a green baseball cap (usually worn backwards) with JOE written on the front, a black leather belt, black holsters, and gray boots.
Personality:
Heavy Duty is gutsy. He has no problem training a laser-guided rocket down a body's throat, even when they're shooting at him! He's rather cultured, though, seeing his martial prowess as being but one of his many skills, almost an aside for him when he's not performing onstage.
Heavy Duty is also incredibly good-natured. While you'd expect someone who can lug and fire a .50 cal Browning uphill to be full of meanness, Heavy Duty can do so with a smile on his face, which is probably the only reason people can forgive his being such a horrible mess hall chef!
Real Name: Lamont A. Morris, grade E-5
Occupation: heavy gunner, indirect fire infantryman
Legal Status: citizen of the United States with no known criminal record
Marital Status: single
Alias(es), if any: none
Group Affiliation: GI Joe, the Star Brigade (GI Joe sub-group)
Height: 6' 1"
Hair: black
Eyes: brown
Weight: 185 lbs
Other Distinguishing Characteristics: Heavy Duty occasionally wears a moustache or goatee, though not all that often. Heavy Duty also has at least one tattoo, worn on his upper left arm.
Story:
A Chicago native, Heavy Duty has always been talented, possessing remarkable hand-eye coordination, the ability to multitask under duress, and ambidexterity. These abilities can make for quite a skilled musican, or as Heavy Duty's vocational choice wound up, a heavy gunner.
He demonstrated early on in his career that he has what it takes to do the job, and won a position as a laser weaponry system operator. His skills with such gear, being able to train a rocket on a body despite being the target of enemy fire, earned him a job on the GI Joe team.
For a couple years, Heavy Duty served the group well, doing all kinds of damage to the forces of Cobra and their expensive gear. He did so well at that, in fact, that when the Joes needed a heavy ordinance carrier for their hastily formed Star Brigade, Heavy Duty was first in line.
Donning a highly advanced, exoskeletal weapons platform, Heavy Duty got to do the same job he basically did on earth, only the Cobra gear he got to trash in space wound up being even more expensive than before! This gig didn't last forever, however, thanks to government budget cuts.
(Historical Divergence)
Determining that Cobra was a threat that conventional forces could handle by '94, the Pentagon deactivated the GI Joe team, though when Cobra resurfaced just a few years later, it was decided that the Joes were needed after all. As such, Hawk got the band back together again.
Though he missed the team's first mission against Cobra, Heavy Duty indeed returned to dish out some damage, working as a MOBAT operator with Thunderwing. Once again having proven his prowess with incredibly dangerous ordinance, Heavy Duty received a brand new ride.
A refurbished Hammer, this thing was christened the Brawler by Heavy Duty. The name is apt, as Heavy Duty tends to drive into the thick of Cobra forces with it, taking them apart before they can even react to his presence. He can barely hear the sound of his own explosions, though.
What with the symphonic music he's usually got blaring in the Brawler's stereo system, that is!
1993 Variations
Equipment:
Machine Gun: while wearing his Star Brigade armor, Heavy Duty carries a weapon that inflicts Typical (6) Shooting damage when discharging a single shot, Good (10) Shooting damage when firing a short burst of rounds, or Excellent (20) Shooting damage when firing continuously.
Laser Rifle: because his usual hardware simply comes with too much recoil in space, Heavy Duty also carries this directed energy weapon with him while working with the Star Brigade. He can fire it to inflict Good (10) Armor Piercing Energy damage with every deadly blast.
Star Brigade Armor: for a very short period of time, Heavy Duty utilized an extremely heavily armed suit of space-fitted combat armor, used while serving in GI Joe's 'Star Brigade' division. This powered combat armor is fully detailed in the Star Brigade description.
Costume:
When he was assigned to the Joes' Star Brigade, Heavy Duty wore a new suit into battle - a powered suit of space armor! This bulky thing was mostly bright green in hue (with darker green on the shin guards), spiked knuckles, a spiked helmet, and a rocket launcher for its left arm!
1998 Variations
Equipment:
MOBAT, Mark 2: Heavy Duty assisted Thunderwing in the use of the Motorized Offensive Battle Attack Tank when he first rejoined the GI Joe team. This tank is a modernized version of the classic GI Joe MOBAT vehicle, and is detailed fully in its own equipment description.
Costume:
Heavy Duty's third field uniform is a variation on his first. It includes gray camouflage trousers, a tan, collared shirt with the sleeves ripped off, a tan baseball cap (usually worn backwards) with JOE written on the front, a black leather belt, black holsters, and black boots.
2002 Variations
Equipment:
the Brawler (v2): yet another of GI Joe's off-road vehicle reanimations, the Brawler is a heavily modified version of their old Hammer, which originally saw service back in 1990. Heavy Duty is used to refurbished rides like this, though, which is featured in its own entry.
Browning .50 (v1, v3): a more recent addition to Heavy Duty's arsenal, this back-breaker needs to be fired with a tripod. It inflicts Excellent (20) Shooting damage when firing a short burst of ammunition, or Remarkable (30) Shooting damage when fired continuously.
Costume:
Heavy Duty adopted an all-new uniform in 2002. It is comprised of tan camouflage trousers, a long-sleeved, collared camouflage tan shirt, black leather boots and gloves, a green leather belt, green web gear, equipment pouches, and weapon holsters/sheathes, and a green bandana.
When driving his Brawler, Heavy Duty adopts a variant on his fourth uniform, which includes tan trousers, a collared, long-sleeved tan shirt, brown leather boots and gloves, a bronze belt, bronze web gear, equipment pouches, and weapon holsters/sheathes, and a red bandana.
Another variant on his fourth uniform, Heavy Duty's sixth consists of a long-sleeved, collared green and brown camouflage shirt and trousers, black leather boots, brown leather gloves, a tan leather belt, tan web gear, pouches, and holster/sleeves, and a green bandana.
2003 Variations
Equipment:
Rotary Barrel Machine Gun: a more recent addition to Heavy Duty's arsenal is one you would normally see mounted on an aircraft. It can be fired in a short burst to inflict Excellent (20) Shooting damage, or Remarkable (30) Shooting damage in a fully automatic hail of doom.
Spy Troops Disguise: with its recent emphasis on espionage and other dirty tricks, a large portion of the GI Joe team has taken to using special infiltration disguises. Heavy Duty's is a complete, fully functional Nullifier uniform, confiscated from a captured Cobra operative.
Costume:
Heavy Duty's seventh uniform is again an all-new ensemble, including a skin-tight, grass green T-shirt, gray padded trousers, brown leather boots, black leather gloves with steel wrist guards, a brown leather belt with a chrome buckle, brown web gear, and a green bandana.
2004 Variations
Equipment:
M-16 (v2): though smaller than he's used to, Heavy Duty can squeeze off a single round with this weapon to inflict Typical (6) Shooting damage, a short burst of such to inflict Good (10) Shooting damage, or fire continuously to inflict Excellent (20) Shooting damage.
But wait, there's more! Equipped with an underslung grenade launcher, it can also bloop explosives upon enemies lurking within three areas of Heavy Duty. They detonate to inflict Remarkable (30) Edged Attack damage, affecting all uncovered targets in their area equally.
Rifle (v1): when fighting at a greater distance, Heavy Duty will generally wield this weapon instead of his shotgun. He can discharge a single round with this weapon to inflict Good (10) Shooting damage, and can generally hit just about anything he can see with it.
Shotgun (v1): Heavy Duty can fire birdshot with this close-quarters weapon to inflict Typical (6) Shooting damage in a thirty degree arc, buckshot to inflict Good (10) Shooting damage to adjacent targets, or slugs to inflict Excellent (20) Shooting damage to a single foe.
the Sledgehammer (v3): for a time, Heavy Duty traded in all his firepower for the Sledgehammer, a BTR vehicle he can reconfigure in the field, taking the form of either a tracked or wheeled gun platform. The versatile Sledgehammer is described in its own vehicular entry.
Costume:
Heavy Duty's eighth field uniform is a variant on his seventh. It is comprised of a skin-tight gray T-shirt, two-tone green padded trousers, black leather boots, black leather gloves with steel wrist guards, a black leather belt with a black buckle, black web gear, and a blue bandana.
Another variation on his seventh uniform, Heavy Duty's ninth consists of a skin-tight, grass green T-shirt, pastel orange and brown padded trousers, black leather boots, black leather gloves with steel wrist guards, a black leather belt, black web gear, and a black bandana.
Heavy Duty's tenth uniform is another new creation. It includes a dark gray, long-sleeved shirt beneath a bright green, pouch-laden vest, tan trousers, dark gray boots and wrist guards, a dark gray leather belt, tan holsters/sheaths for his weapons, and a pastel orange bandana.
2016 Variations
Equipment:
Browning .50: returning to Heavy Duty's arsenal of death-dealing devices, this back-breaker needs to be fired with a tripod. It inflicts Excellent (20) Shooting damage when firing a short burst of ammunition, or Remarkable (30) Shooting damage when fired continuously.
M-60: because one heavy machine gun isn't enough, Heavy Duty also carries this weapon in the field. It can generally be fired to inflict the same damage as his Browning .50 cal, but gives Heavy Duty the benefit of being able to fire on Cobra goons while on the move.
Rifle: when fighting at a greater distance, Heavy Duty will generally wield this weapon instead of his big guns. He can discharge a single round with this weapon to inflict Good (10) Shooting damage, and can generally hit just about anything he can see with it.
Costume:
Heavy Duty's eleventh GI Joe field uniform is a variant on his first. It is comrpised of green camouflage trousers, a collared, short sleeved tan shirt, a black leather belt, black leather boots, gloves, knee pads, holsters, and sheathes, a pouch-laden black vest, and a green bandana.
Extra Goodies:
GI Joe directories featuring a version of Heavy Duty:
| 1991 | 1993 | 1998 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2016 |
* Note: 2002 saw three versions of Heavy Duty (Versions 4, 5 and 6), as did 2004 (Versions 8, 9 and 10).
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