Golem
Large mass of clay and dirt. Enjoys poetry and basketball. Difficulty with squeezing through doors.
Aiding and abetting, disturbing the peace, vandalism
Defender
Versatile
#eebca4Golem, real name Bruno, is a supporting character in Dispatch. He is a reformed villain employed as a superhero for the Superhero Dispatch Network (SDN) under the Phoenix Program.
Biography
Background
Golem is a sentient construct made out of mud, given life through magic.
At some point, Golem entered the Phoenix Program.
Onboard
Golem first appears in a file shown to Robert Robertson by Blonde Blazer along with the rest of the Z-Team.
As the Z-Team makes bets on when Robert will quit as their dispatcher during his first shift, Golem bets that he will not last a day.
Turnover
At the start of the day, Golem and the rest of the team were informed that the lowest-performing member on the leaderboard gets cut from the Phoenix Program. Golem bumps into Robert on his way to his cubicle. The dispatcher can call him out on this or let it go. Either way, Golem moves along his path with Robert suspecting he did it on purpose. During the shift, the Z-Team sabotages each other to secure their own position on the leaderboard, with Golem being pushed into wet cement.
Fed up with the team's infighting, Robert recalls the team to the office for an emergency meeting. Golem arrives late and, not looking where he is going again, swings the door open and sends Robert flying. Robert can reprimand Golem by throwing a chair at him and telling him to "take a seat" or by making him wait outside. Giving a speech, he manages to convince the team to work with each other. If Golem was 'offered' a seat, he chuckles at the play on words Robert made. If forced to wait, he refuses a call out of spite.
Golem and the rest of the Z-Team overhear Invisigal and Robert catches Lightningstruck and celebrates her success as she returns to the office.
Restructure
With either Sonar or Coupé being cut, however, Golem and the rest of the Z-Team struggle to complete their duties, especially when either Melovela or Punch Up (depending on who was cut) leaves in the middle of the shift.
The day after, the cut hero is replaced with either Phenomaman or Waterboy, who, respectively, prove difficult to work with due to their depression and hazardous power.
Team Building
With their shift at an end, the Z-Team decides to go out for drinks at The Sardine, inviting Robert to come with them. Arriving at the bar, Robert finds Golem listening to music outside, as he is too big for the building, and offers the construct a pair of drinks, which he accepts. Seeing a goon thrown out of a portal created by Malevola, Golem enters the bar through the portal and joins the heroes in battling the Red Ring.
Victorious, the team goes out for Mexican food as the topic of Robert's identity comes up. If Robert reveals his identity as Mecha Man, Flambae attempts to incinerate him, only for Golem to step in front of the blast as thanks for the drinks Robert got him. Before Flambae can make another attempt, his flames are doused by Malevola or Waterboy (if he is chosen to replace the cut hero), and he flies off in a huff. Regardless, the team exchanges their real names, Golem revealing his is Bruno, and the team enjoys the rest of their night out.
Moving Parts
If Robert revealed his identity as Mecha Man to the Z-Team, Golem, and the rest of the team attend the latest Proto Pulse test to confirm his identity as part of the bet they have. As the Proto Pulse starts to malfunction, Golem watches helplessly as the Mecha Man suit explodes with Robert inside. Though Robert thankfully survives and lands in the infirmary. If Robert kept his identity a secret, Golem and the team are ignorant of the incident.
Regardless, the team buys Robert an expensive bottle of vodka as a 'get-better' gift and is invited by Invisigal to have a housewarming party at the dispatcher's apartment to find a way to track the Astral Pulse down, as it has been recently discovered to be intact. With Robert indisposed, Blonde Blazer took over his post for the day and proves herself to be a rather rusty dispatcher. Fortunately, Robert recovers swiftly and reassumes his dispatching duties. At the end of the shift, the team makes plans to travel to Robert's apartment.
Golem arrives late to the party. He and the rest of the team would bear witness to Invisigal and Chase's argument over whether to storm the warehouse where the Astral Pulse is being kept or not, which swiftly turns personal as Chase lets it slip that Robert used to be Mecha Man. The argument ends with Invisigal punching Chase and storming off, after which the Z-Team is told by Blazer to leave and keep quiet over what happened.
Retrospective
Following the housewarming party, Invisigal disobeyed Blond Blazer's orders and assaulted the warehouse on her own. Although she was successful in retrieving the Astral Pulse with Robert’s reluctant aid, she was ambushed by Shroud soon after, who seemingly left with the pulse. This forced Chase to use his superhuman speed to rescue her, and he fell into a coma afterward because of his accelerated aging. As punishment, Invisigal was suspended from the Z-Team until further investigation.
This hit the Z-Team hard, who decide to hold a meeting regarding Invisigal’s membership. Before the shift, Golem raided a beer truck for its contents and got drunk on the job, requiring the other Z-Teamers to fetch him before he caused more damage to Torrance and himself.
Following the shift, the Z-Team holds its meeting, with Golem (and Flambae if Robert revealed his identity) being the only dissenting vote(s) against Invisigal’s expulsion. During the meeting, a heated Punch Up gets up close to Golem, who kicks him out of the boardroom door in response, earning Robert’s attention. Entering the room, Robert demands an explanation. The team obliges and demands Invisigal to be cut from the Phoenix Program. If Robert defends Invisigal, Golem (and Flambae if he also voted against her expulsion) do not suffer a morale decrease. Regardless of Robert’s verdict, the door swings open and shut, revealing Invisigal had been listening in on the meeting, and Robert leaves to pursue her.
Personality
Golem is a mellow, levelheaded construct.
He tends to speak informally, making a habit of calling other heroes ‘baby,’ and using slang such as ‘kobe’ and ‘that’s the gravy, baby’ when succeeding a mission. He practices being polite, trying to smile more but remarks that he doesn't have enough teeth for it, and resolving to try and not ruin anyone's carpet when dispatched.
He has a proud side, boasting 'let's show these molehills a mountain' and 'someone order a mudslide?' Despite this, Golem admits to being dimwitted, saying he has rocks for brains. He mispronounces ‘humongous’ when angrily asking who called him ‘a humuncuous', though it's also possible he was attempting to express someone had referred to him as 'a homunculus[1]'.
He occasionally makes excuses for his failures, blaming a failed mission on a headache for his subpar performance. Otherwise, he takes his failures in stride, saying ‘better luck next time.’
Blonde Blazer thinks he’s lonely, a claim somewhat evidenced with him being on dating apps, and having dated a cliff side before, citing it didn’t work out. He enjoys rock climbers, saying that they're handsy.
Appearance
Golem is a towering construct of brown colour and varying size, changed by the amount of material he absorbs on a given day. He has a built torso and comparatively smaller lower half, having shorter legs and large arms and hands. Several debris are stuck in his body, including a large tire in his right bicep, and several unidentified pieces half-sunken in his back. Large pieces of rock are embedded in his arms and legs.
He has yellow-orange eyes and a prominent underbite.
Powers
Default
Diamond in the Rough: When Golem is in a call with 2+ slots, certain ones may grant +2 to a stat and −1 to others when he’s assigned.
Hero Training
Spread Thin: Golem expands to fill each empty slot, increasing his stats by 25% per slot up to 200% when beneficial.
Found Himself: Once per shift, all of Golem's stats can be reset within the Hero Database, allowing redistribution of points.
Relationships
Robert Robertson (Mecha Man)
Dispatcher and hero. Golem doesn’t place much faith in Robert’s ability as a dispatcher, betting that he would quit on the same day as his first shift.
Despite this, he carefully follows his orders to ‘stop, drop, and roll’ when dispatched to ‘Bigger Blaze in the Burbs,’ reciting it slowly to himself before following it through.
Invisigal
Friends and co-heroes. Golem is amiable towards her, comfortably sharing the latest events in his life when dispatched together. He admits to taking a break from dating apps, to which Invisigal responds that he does better in person anyways. He's used to her using her powers, lightheartedly telling her not to disappear on him, to which she acquiesces with little complaint.
Trivia
- Golem is one of the few heroes that Danny Diaz hasn't antagonised, being amused at the nickname 'Bone Zone' for the host.
- Golem not opposed to eating garbage, asking anyone if they've seen any, saying he's starving.
Gallery
Key art
Max Synergy with Invisigal
Injured
