Switch Gears
| Melee RV 20 |
Coordination RV 10 |
Brawn RV 15 |
Fortitude RV 10 |
Intellect RV 6 |
Awareness RV 6 |
Willpower RV 30 |
Lifestyle RV 10 |
Repute RV 0 |
| Health: Fortune: |
55 42 |
Origin:
As are the vast majority of his fellow Joes (except for bizarre cases like Robo-Joe), Switch Gears is but a normal human, lacking ascendant powers of any variety. No, he fights the forces of evil with either his fists or in the driver seat of anything with bogey wheels.
Known Powers:
(none)
Limitations / Enhancements:
(none)
Equipment:
Helmet: a must for most standard arenas of battle, this headgear has repeatedly saved Switch Gears's life. It provides him rank value 10 protection from physical attacks that strike him in the cranium, though the rest of his head is still vulnerable to assault.
Knife: should he need to cut something in the field, Switch Gears carries a blade on the job. Made from m.v. 40 materials, this serrated metal blade can be used to cut through items of up to like m.v., and allows Switch Gears to inflict Slashing damage in melee.
M-16 Machine Gun: Switch Gears can discharge one round from this military standby to inflict rank value 6 Piercing damage, a three-round burst to inflict rank value 10 Piercing damage, or fire it continuously to inflict rank value 20 Piercing damage.
It also features an underslung grenade launcher, which can bloop its projectiles anywhere within three sectors of his person. These deadly canisters inflict rank value 30 Slashing damage to all uncovered targets within the sector they detonate inside.
Sidearm: a backup for his main gun, this one-handed firearm is nonetheless just as valuable. Switch Gears can discharge one round from this hand cannon to inflict rank value 6 Piercing damage, or instead discharge a three round burst of pain to inflict rank value 10 Piercing damage.
Spy Troops Disguise: arguably the part of his job Switch Gears likes the most, this disguise allows him to play 'dress up' and impersonate Overkill, Cobra's Battle Android Trooper commander. It even includes a hand attachment that duplicates the function of his sidearm, too!
Quirks:
High Pain Threshold: in addition to being stubborn and tenacious, Switch Gears has an incredibly high pain threshold; he even foregoes Novocaine at the dentist! He can attempt all ACTION rolls related to pain, and resist the effects of pain-inducing powers and weapons, at a +2 RS.
Skills:
Detective / Espionage: his secondary military specialty, Switch Gears works as a field op to collect information on enemy forces. As such, he should make any ACTION required in regards to the collection of information, or to determine if someone is spying on him, at a +1 RS.
Driving: his primary military specialty, Switch Gears is a tank jockey, and can drive almost any tank the Army has put together with ease. He should receive a +1 RS on any ACTION required while piloting any treaded vehicle, except for cannon attacks (that's what his marksman skill is for).
Guns: since he is prone to leaving his tank to gather intelligence on Cobra activities, this skill comes in very handy. Switch Gears can fire any standard, semi-automatic, or fully automatic rifle or pistol as though his Coordination trait was +1 RS higher than is listed above.
Marksman: supplementing his tank driving talent, this skill represents Switch Gears's ability to effectively target and obliterate an opponent with a tank's main gun. Whether using automated systems or calculating trajectories manually, Switch Gears should receive a +1 RS on such efforts.
Martial Arts style B: while he's more than adept in the use of tanks and machine guns to tear enemy forces apart, Switch Gears truly prefers to rough his opponents up with his bare hands. He can make unarmed strikes of any variety as though his Melee trait was +1 RS in value.
Military / United States: the source of almost all his skills, Switch Gears has been well-trained by the Army in the fine art of combat. Furthermore, he knows military protocols like the back of his hand, and can lead fighting men and women into battle when necessary.
Contacts:
As a member of GI Joe, Switch Gears can naturally rely upon his fellows for assistance should he need it; he's more than willing to save their bacon, after all. Furthermore, as an intel field op, Switch Gears likely has several contacts in espionage circles.
Costume:
Switch Gears' first GI Joe field uniform includes tan trousers, an off-white T-shirt beneath a green vest, steel knee pads, steel thigh pads, steel shoulder pads, steel wrist guards, black leather boots, a black leather belt, and of course his life-saving, Army green battle helmet.
All the steel plates make sense when he dons his Spy Troops disguise, however. This adds a different, red helmet on, not to mention various false robotic parts that allow him to pose as the evil Overkill, Cobra's strange cybernetic Battle Android Trooper commander!
Personality:
Jerome is a surprisingly straight-forward fellow for a guy who worked with Army intelligence. Whether he's using a Patriot tank or his fists, Jerome is an incredibly tenacious combatant who doesn't know the meaning of 'surrender'. He believes in toughing life out, for better or worse.
Real Name: Jerome T. Jivoin, grade E-5
Occupation: GI Joe tank jockey
Legal Status: citizen of the United States (though born in Columbia) with no known criminal record
Marital Status: single
Alias(es), if any: Overkill (Switch Gears poses as him with special Spy Troops gear now and then)
Group Affiliation: GI Joe
Height: 6' 1"
Hair: brown
Eyes: brown
Weight: 200 lbs
Other Distinguishing Characteristics: none
Story:
Switch Gears got where he is in life thanks to his incredibly tenacious nature. His innate stubbornness and incredibly high pain threshold has proven the better of many would-be enemies throughout his life. Of course, being exceptionally strong helped him out in that regard.
Large and solid, Switch Gears was seen as an ideal tank jockey upon enlisting; sometimes it takes considerable strength to repair a slipped tank tread out in the rain and mud while the Bad Guys are dropping mortar shells on you, after all. Naturally, this suited Switch Gears just fine.
Trained to operate all the tanks the Army has ever utilized, Switch Gears can drive anything with treads and bogey wheels if he puts his mind to it. He's also competent in the use of all heavy machine guns, though he truly prefers to fight not with tanks or guns, but with his bare hands.
This is how he's dealt with troublemakers his whole life. Seeing a special potential in him, Switch Gears's superiors put him through intelligence training, and when he finished this, he was carted off to work with the GI Joe team, where his indomitability would serve his country well.
Using all his skills constantly with the Joes, Switch Gears has found the team to be to his liking. He thinks in an unorthodox fashion, and will occasionally pose as an Cobra courier with written orders to retreat. When this works, he often ends a battle before it can begin.
He often poses as Overkill. As this Cobra gives most of his fellows the creeps, they're unlikely to give Switch Gears serious scrutiny as he walks through their ranks in his likeness. Should this villain meet him while he's at work, though, Switch Gears could be in for the fight of his life!
2004 Variations
Costume:
Switch Gears' second field uniform is a desert-themed version his first. It consists of tan camouflage trousers, a tan T-shirt beneath a dark tan vest, steel knee, thigh, shoulder, and wrist guards, dark gray leather boots, dark brown gloves, a brown leather belt, and his tan helmet.
Extra Goodies:
GI Joe directories featuring a version of Switch Gears:
| 2003 | 2004 |
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