Phenomaman
Has graciously chosen to live here on Earth and protect our feeble bodies. Occasional commercial actor.
#f3d6ffPhenomaman is a supporting character in Dispatch and one of the two protagonists of the "Shellshock" comic. He is a hero employed by the Superhero Dispatch Network (SDN) and a possible recruit for the Z-Team.
Biography
Background
Phenomaman is an alien from Urgot-52dc. At some point, he came to Earth and worked at a Nordstorm Rack. Afterwards, he used his alien powers to become a superhero and gained the reputation of the world's greatest superhero, and joining the Superhero Dispatch Network (SDN) as their mascot, appearing in commercials advertising their services. At some point, he entered into a romantic relationship with Blonde Blazer.
Pivot
Although he does not appear in person, Phenomaman does appear in the training module given to Robert Robertson by Blonde Blazer and on the billboard where they held their interview.
Onboard
Phenomaman appears in an SDN commercial seen by Robert as he waits for Blonde Blazer in the lobby of the SDN headquarters.
After Blonde Blazer and Robert leave the headquarters, they are approached by Phenomaman, who is surprised by Robert's small stature. Blazer informs Phenomaman that what he said was inappropriate, and the hero apologizes, stating that the things he heard from Blazer about Robert made him think he would be taller. He then invites Robert to join him and Blazer in Japan for sushi, though Blazer signals Robert to refuse. If Robert accepts despite Blazer's wishes, she reminds Phenomaman that Robert's body would be crushed under supersonic speeds. Regardless, Phenomaman picks Blazer up in his arms and, after warning Robert to stand back, flies off.
Shellshock
Blonde Blazer and Phenomaman arrive at the sushi restaurant in Japan and are immediately swarmed by fans who take pictures of them, much to her chagrin. Phenomaman fails to notice his date's discomfort and explains that the chef has invited them to taste his new dish so they can offer their endorsement. As Phenomaman eats the uni the chef prepared, Blazer asks where he sees their relationship in five years. He replies that he sees them still doing superhero work and expresses his hope that they remain doing so until they both die, much to her disappointment. She attempts to bring up the possibility of settling down and "be normal" so she can "be Mandy for a bit." Although Phenomaman expresses his fondness for Mandy, he urges Blazer to eat the uni, ending the conversation. Blazer cups Phenomaman's cheeks and thanks him "for helping [her] see the problem" before bidding him goodbye and walking away, ending their relationship and leaving Phenomaman shellshocked.
Restructure
Phenomaman has fallen into a deep depression after his breakup with Blonde Blazer. Unable to do his job because of it, Phenomaman was suspended indefinitely from SDN's downtown Los Angeles branch and hopes to get back with his former love by sending her edible arrangements made out of melons.
He is later seen on the news walking in front of traffic and shaking his fist at it. Later, Invisigal mentions that she passed him witnessing him at the Interstate 405 who has moved on from "shaking his fist at cars to sadly directing the traffic".
After lying down on and denting a car in the SDN Torrance office parking lot, Phenomaman was fetched by Robert on Blazer's behalf. During their talk, Phenomaman suddenly realizes that she may have fallen in love with someone else and shoots up, sending shards of glass into Robert's chest. If Robert has kissed Blazer, he can reveal this, though Phenomanan becomes convinced that the dispatcher had nothing to do with their breakup after kissing Robert himself. Either way, Phenomaman leaves the parking lot. If Phenomaman is chosen by Robert to replace the cut hero on the Z-Team, he corners the dispatcher in the locker room and embraces him in thanks.
The following day, Phenomaman joins the Z-Team on their first shift, though they find it difficult to work with him because of his depression. On his first mission dispatched with the heroes, the remaining heroes react to Phenomaman ditching them, stating that he thought he saw a Blonde Blazer in distress. In the middle of the shift, while the team talks about what place they would like to work at, when Prism talks about working at a pet shop, Phenomaman brings up opossums, confusing Flambae, disgusting Prism, and Malevola clarifying to him that opossums are not pets. At the end of the second shift, Robert finds Phenomaman rewatching footage of him and Blazer rescuing civilians, who states that Blazer was the only thing he was ever passionate about, so Robert advises him to look for something else he is passionate about to move past Blazer. Recognising he is right, Phenomaman once again embraces Robert.
Team Building
If chosen as the replacement for the cut hero, Phenomaman joins the rest of the Z-Team for drinks at The Sardine at the end of their shift. As Robert is distributing drinks, he finds the hero has cornered an unfortunate patron to drama dump to and quietly leaves his drink at the table and leaves before he becomes his next target. During the bar fight between the Z-Team and the Red Ring, Phenomaman remains seated, too depressed to contribute.
Victorious, the Z-Team goes to FuGo for Mexican food, where the topic of Robert's former identity comes up. Regardless of if Robert reveals his former identity as Mecha Man or not, the team exchanges their real names, with Phenomaman revealing his is Katon-Ur, and they spend the rest of the night talking with each other.
Moving Parts
If chosen as the replacement for the cut hero, Phenomaman was invited along with the rest of the Z-Team to Robert's apartment for a housewarming party, after the dispatcher got injured during a failed Proto Pulse test. The true purpose of the party, however, it to gather the team in one place and use it as an opportunity to use the team's connections to track the original Pulse down. With Robert indisposed, he was replaced by Blonde Blazer. Fortunately, he relieves her half way through the shift, at the end of which, Phenomaman offers the team to fly them over to Robert's apartment.
Phenomaman arrives halfway through the party, having lost his muttonchops, and greets Robert and Blazer with a hug. Over the course of the night, the heroes party and eventually figure out that the Pulse is being kept at a heavily guarded warehouse by the docks. Although Blonde Blazer wishes to formulate a plan and attack the warehouse the next night, Invisigal insists on raiding the warehouse the same night, arguing the Pulse may be stolen by then. This angers Chase, who verbally snaps at her. This swiftly escalates into a verbal argument, ending in Invisigal punishing the old hero and storming out of the apartment. Blazer tells the gathered heroes to keep quiet about the incident and leave.
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. As Robert gives a speech to the team over radio at the start of the shift, Phenomaman is seen drinking beer on the moon. During the shift, he expresses concern about the 'suboptimal' outcome for Chase's situation. However, Malevola assures that if it happens, Chase will be well taken care of, which slightly spooks Prism.
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. Phenomaman, however, abstained from voting as he was neither a reformed villain nor particularly interested in the conversation, only joining because he believed they would be playing Magic: The Gathering, expressing his hopes that they still may do so. 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, Phenomaman suffers a morale decrease despite his supposed disinterest in the outcome. 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
Phenomaman is polite yet seems to struggle with social cues. Due to being from another planet, Phenomaman isn't accustomed to human customs and terminology (believing 'to make love' means to hug someone), which may cause him to come over as awkward and insensitive. Despite this, he is kind at heart and does make a genuine effort to understand humanity. He also views humans as weak and believes their efforts to be more than what they are to be in vain, but admirable. He also does not seem to know his own strength, causing him to accidentally injure Robert on multiple occasions.
Phenomaman is used by SDN as a mascot; though he does not seem to be comfortable acting in commercials, constantly glancing at a teleprompter, repositioning his hands constantly, and smiling awkwardly, with Robert being able to note his poor performance.
After Blonde Blazer broke up with him, Phenomaman becomes deeply depressed to the point that he considered flying into the sun and absorbing its energy so ‘[he] wouldn't have to see her or anyone else ever again,’ and was unable to perform superheroics, leading to his indefinite suspension from the SDN downtown L.A. branch. Should he be chosen to replace the cut hero on the Z-Team, he later states that he learned that he hates himself. By the time of Robert's housewarming party, he seemed to have largely gotten over his depression, though he had not gotten over Blazer quite yet, looking saddened if Blazer kisses Robert.
Despite appearing handsome to humans, Phenomaman considers himself to be hideous as he is considered ugly by the beauty standards of his race.
He seems to completely identify himself as an other in the world, with himself stating that he is "not people."
Appearance
Phenomaman has short brown mullet-like slicked back hair and gray eyes. He also sports a moustache. Phenomaman wears a sleeveless blue body suit and a red belt, with a red cape and a high collar with yellow on its rim. He is muscular and has red arm cuffs with silver near the wrist and yellow rimming it.
By Episode 3, he sports mutton chops, with a healthy amount of unshaved hair extending between them through his chin, and developed eye bags. These are no longer present after Episode 6, showcasing that he has gotten over the worst of his depression.
Powers
Default
- Easily Depressed: Phenomaman needs only 2 seconds of rest. However, if any calls fail or miss, he will be depressed and need 45 seconds of rest.
- Fly-Nomenal: Phenomaman flies to call locations, greatly reducing travel times.
Hero Training
- Heavily Medicated: Phenomaman rests for an additional 10 seconds and cannot fly, but is no longer depressed.
- Phenomenal Motivation: Heroes sent with Phenomaman have their rest time reduced by half if he completes the call with them.
Abilities
- Superhuman strength: Phenomaman can lift a large boulder with one hand and a bus with ease. During the final battle against Shroud, Phenomaman was shown to be strong enough to crush one of his mech's legs in a bear hug and send it flying with a punch. Said mech was strong enough to temporarily immobilize him until it charged up its laser, however.
- Superhuman durability: Along with superhuman strength, Phenomaman possesses superhuman durability as well. During the battle against Shroud's mech, Phenomaman took several hits from its claws without sustaining any injuries. Even a laser powerful enough to shoot him past the clouds was not enough to damage him, only pushing him away from the fight.
- Mental fortitude: If Phenomaman is dispatched to defeat SmileMore, he states that he is immune to brainwashing.
- Energy absorption: Although not shown, Phenomaman claims to be able to absorb the entire sun if he wanted to.
- Flight: Phenomaman can fly at supersonic speeds, making a trip from California to Japan a trivial matter with Blonde Blazer noting he is slightly faster than her. The velocity at which he takes off is known to stun regular humans.
Weaknesses
- Cuffs: Phenomaman has an odd respect for cuffs, likely stemming from the fact that they are a tool used by law enforcement. As such, when cuffed, Phenomaman refuses to break free from them, making him surprisingly easy to capture.
Relationships
Robert Robertson
Robert's initial impressions of Phenomaman depend on the player, though he will later call him the greatest superhero who ever lived if he accepts him into the Z-Team.
Upon first meeting Robert, Phenomaman was surprised to see that he appeared to be short and frail, having gotten the impression from Blazer that he would have looked more impressive. He apologizes for the comment after Blazer pointed out that it sounded insensitive and happily invited Robert to join him and Blazer for sushi in Japan.
After his breakup, Blazer encourages Robert to step in and help Phenomaman with his depressive issues. If Robert kissed Blazer in Episode 1, the player may choose to have Robert confess to this to Phenomaman, though he clarifies that he likely was not the cause of their breakup, admitting that he is not a good kisser. After kissing Robert, Phenomaman agrees that Robert indeed had nothing to do with their relationship falling apart.
Should Phenomaman be chosen for the Z-Team, he is thankful to Robert, who continues to aid him in getting over his depression.
On shift, Phenomaman sadly remarks that his physique is considered grotesque by the standards of his home planet. When Robert tries to assure him that ‘he looks great,’ Phenomaman whines that ‘Robert is bullying me’ and asks the Z-Team to tell him to stop.
Blonde Blazer
Phenomaman's ex-girlfriend. When they were together, Phenomaman considered her the only thing he was interested in and was deeply in love with her. His inability to take breaks from superheroics and Blazer's desire to be perceived as normal did ultimately make them incompatible, leading to Blazer breaking up with him. This hit Phenomaman particularly hard, causing him to fall to a deep depression and send her edible arrangements in an attempt to get back with her. Despite this, Blazer does believe Phenomaman would make a good choice to replace the cut hero in the Z-Team.
If accepted into the Z-Team, Phenomaman seemed to have gotten over his breakup with Blond Blazer, though he still looks saddened if Robert and Blazer kiss, suggesting there are still some lingering feelings.
Z-Team
If Phenomaman is chosen to join the Z-Team, they initially react with confusion and annoyance upon being introduced to him, but seem to warm up to him in time, inviting him to The Sardine. He also has synergy with either Punch Up or Malevola, depending on whether Coupé or Sonar was cut.
Invisigal
Eventual co-heroes. If recruited in chapter 4, Phenomaman is unaware of her true age, referring to her as a ‘mean child’ when she teases him for his issues following his breakup with Blonde Blazer.
Trivia
- Prior to becoming a superhero, Phenomaman worked at a Nordstrom Rack.
- It is implied that on his home planet, physiques that resemble traditionally masculine forms on Earth are considered disgusting.
- In an early bug/oversight in the game, any member of the original Z-Teamer's crimes (sans the one the player chose to kick out) were randomly listed in Phenomaman's bio.
- Phenomaman's Keywords reuses symbols from other keywords like Fighter (for Impenetrable) and Pop Star (for Alien).
- Phenomaman is a Magic: The Gathering player.
- In an early version of Episode 8, Phenomaman has a Synergy with Blonde Blazer if she joins in the 3rd shift, replacing Punch Up/Malevola if Phenomaman was chosen in Episode 4. This was later patched out possibly cause they didn't have a max synergy art.
- Alongside Phenomaman's abilities and concept likely being heavily inspired by DC Comics' Superman, his design shares characteristics from Invincible's Omni-Man, particularly his mustache. This is likely an intentional design choice in an attempt to subvert the "Evil Superman" trope.
- Despite appearing human, Phenomaman's genitalia are very different, making it impossible for him to have sexual intercourse with human women.
Gallery
Key art
Max Synergy with Punch Up (If Coupé was cut from the team)
Max Synergy with Malevola (If Sonar was cut from the team)
Mustache Depressed
Injured
Injured (Mustache)
