Waterboy
Produces water spontaneously throughout his body. Crippling social anxiety, easily frightened. Lives with his grandmother.
Waterboy, real name Hermann "Herm", is a supporting character in Dispatch and the protagonist of the "Splash" comic. He is a janitor employed by the Superhero Dispatch Network (SDN) and a possible recruit for the Z-Team.
Biography
Background
Waterboy lives with his grandmother, whom he cares for, along with several cats.
Splash
Waking up from a dream where he can touch toilet paper without soaking it, Waterboy wakes up and begins his morning routine, and takes care of his grandmother before heading out. On his journey, Waterboy encounters various issues brought about by his powers, all of which end in him getting harmed in some way. As he crosses the road to get to the SDN Torrance branch office, he is hit by Flambae's car, the hero cussing him out for being in the way and tells him not to tell anyone before driving off. Entering the SDN lobby, Waterboy finds Robert Robertson, dressed as his Mecha Man alter ego, seated in a chair.
Onboard
While Robert is watching an SDN ad featuring Phenomaman, waiting for Blonde Blazer in the lobby, he's nervously greeted by Waterboy, who claims his idolatry of the latter and makes small talk about him. Struggling to fix his tie, Robert sits next to him to tie it himself, noting how soaked it is. Robert asks if he's there for a job interview, which Waterboy admits to, explaining that his powers leave him soaked regardless, leading to others referring to him as 'Waterboy' for it.
While fixing Waterboy's tie, Flambae enters the lobby, causing Robert to inch closer to Waterboy and obscure his face from him. Waterboy recognises him as Mecha Man in return, saying he thought he was dead, and is surprised that he was smaller than he imagined. Blonde Blazer joins in to retrieve Robert for his onboarding, much to Waterboy's awe, standing up to greet her, exclaiming that she's a 'real hero'.
Sometime after Robert's first shift, Waterboy is seen cleaning his desk, nervously clarifying that he wasn't responsible for the mess, and explaining that Invisigal had come by to leave Robert's favourite donut as a gift before doubling back to smash it in her anger. While somewhat disappointed to be a janitor, he insists on cleaning up Robert's desk, and earnestly thanks Robert for helping him, implicitly revealing that he recognises him as Mecha Man as a civilian.
Turnover
Arriving at work, Robert finds a note left by Waterboy on his keyboard, though it is unfortunately soaked to the point it is unreadable.
Restructure
Following Phenomaman accidentally launching glass shards into Robert's chest, Invisigal attempts to flirt with him in the bathroom while picking them out by the sink. The moment is broken by Waterboy dealing with diarrhea, apologising for the interruption, saying he tried not to make a sound. Robert reassures him before scolding Invisigal for her actions, saying that the bathroom isn't the place for 'whatever [this] is.' Upset, Invisigal lashes out at Waterboy, saying he 'ruined this for [her]' before storming off, to which he accepts was his fault, further apologising for it.
Later, Waterboy approaches Robert as he is eating in the break room, asking if he can have the edible arrangement he got from Phenomaman, to which he agrees. As he once again apologizes for interrupting his meeting with Invisigal, Waterboy is interrupted himself by Flambae, who scolds him for throwing his noodles away before he could eat them. Attempting to salvage the situation, Waterboy apologizes and pulls the noodles from the trash bag, stating they are 'probably still good.' Flambae rebukes him, however, and slaps the noodles into his face. Waterboy attempts to protest, but ultimately lacks the courage to do so and leaves to clean himself off. If he is chosen to replace the cut hero in the Z-Team, Waterboy thanks Robert for it in the showers.
The following day, Waterboy joins the team for his first shift with them, but finds himself an easy target for bullying from the upset heroes and accidentally causes one of them to slip in a puddle of water he created. After walking Beef, Robert finds a sad Waterboy in the janitor's closet, who explains that he is upset that the team bullies him over his stutter. Handing Beef over to Waterboy, Robert accurately deduces that he does not have a stutter but is suffering from a confidence issue that is affecting his speech and advises him to stop caring about what others think.
If Robert has dinner with Blonde Blazer, they see Waterboy performing his janitorial duties after work hours. Blonde Blazer attempts to convince him to go home, citing he's either beyond work hours (if not recruited) or that his responsibilities don't cover being a janitor anymore (if recruited). He fails to hear her words through the glass and cheerfully waves at them, before continuing with his work.
Team Building
If chosen as the replacement for the cut hero, Waterboy 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-in-training trying and failing to get the attention of the bartender. Accepting the drink from the dispatcher, Waterboy nervously asks how much he needs to pay him back for, but Robert tells him not to worry. During the bar fight between the Z-Team and the Red Ring, Waterboy is seen cowering.
Victorious, the Z-Team goes to FuGo for Mexican food, where the topic of Robert's former identity comes up. If Robert chooses to reveal he was Mecha Man, Flambae attempts to incinerate the dispatcher, only for Golem to step between them. Before he can make another attempt, Waterboy breathes water on him to douse his flames, humiliating the arsonist, who flies off in a huff. Regardless, the team exchanges their real names, with Waterboy revealing he goes by Hermann, or Herm or Hermy for short, and they spend the rest of the night talking with each other.
Moving Parts
If chosen as the replacement for the cut hero, Waterboy 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.
Waterboy arrives halfway through the party and later rushes over to the bathroom to puke. 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 deeply affected Waterboy, regardless of whether he was chosen for the Z-Team or not.
Noticing the breakroom vending machine won’t accept Robert’s bill, Waterboy offers the dispatcher his own. While they are waiting for the bill to dry in the microwave, Waterboy expresses his frustration and sadness at Chase’s predicament and asks Robert if Chase did the right thing, to which the dispatcher can say he did, didn’t, or that he does not know. Once the bill has dried, Robert inserts it in the vending machine. This time, it accepts the bill, though the Twinkies he bought get stuck inside. Although Robert resigns himself to not getting his snack, Waterboy angrily smashes the machine’s window open with a chair before sauntering off to grab his cleaning supplies.
If Waterboy was recruited into the Z-Team, he is seen sitting in a bucket in the janitor’s closet as Robert gives a speech to boost the team’s morale. After the shift, Waterboy joins the rest of the Z-Team in the boardroom to discuss Invisigal’s membership of the team and joins in the near-unanimous vote to cut her. Golem (and Flambae if Robert revealed his past identity as Mecha Man) are the only dissenting vote(s). During the discussion, Punch Up gets heated with Golem, who kicks him out of the boardroom door. Noticing this, Robert enters the room and demands an explanation. The team obliges and demands Invisigal’s expulsion from the Phoenix Program. If Robert defends Invisigal and refuses to cut her, Waterboy suffers a drop in his morale. Regardless, the door swings open and shut soon after, revealing Invisigal had been using her powers to spy on the meeting, and Robert chases after her.
Personality
Described as easily frightened and suffering from crippling social anxiety, Waterboy is a nervous, awkward, but eager young man.
He is devoted to any job he is given, carefully and diligently cleaning a windowpane on Robert’s date with Blonde Blazer, with the latter attempting to dissuade him from continuing either from his new responsibility as a Phoenix, or the late hours, to no effect.
Meek, insecure, and often suffering from bad luck, Waterboy often resigns himself to being berated, hurt, and insulted with little complaint. When Flambae spitefully spills spaghetti all over him and insults him, Waterboy weakly tries to argue back, before resigning himself to cleaning it up after a shower. As a Phoenix team member, he tries his best to be co-operative and helpful, apologising for the inconveniences his powers create, and eats alone in the janitor closet after his disastrous shift, despondent over his poor performance and bullying from the Z-Team.
Waterboy is also selfless and protective. If Robert chooses him for the Z-Team and reveals his identity as Mecha Man, Waterboy douses an enraged Flambae’s fire to protect Robert from getting killed, standing his ground against him when threatened in return. He dotes on his grandmother, regularly preparing her food and medication, as well as helping her into a stair lift at home. He also fills an empty pond for a flock of ducks and tries to reassure a stunned woman when he's suddenly splashed by a car.
He is somewhat thoughtless, despite his eager personality. He tries to clean a TV while staff are watching the news, throws out Flambae’s labelled lunch to clear out the fridge, neglecting to read it, and offers his contaminated lunch back to try and make amends. As a janitor, he attempts to clean Robert’s computer with his water, and tries to stomp spaghetti remains down the drain, at risk of clogging it. If picked to join the Z-Team, he will try to dispatch himself to missions if not sent enough, often at risk to himself.
Despite his kind and withdrawn personality, Waterboy can harbor a deep level of rage. In Chapter 7: Retrospective, he voices his anger and frustration over Invisigal going rogue, leading to Chase suffering for her actions. Infuriated, he throws a chair into a vending machine after it eats Robert's dollar, admitting he feels slightly better for it when Robert asks. If recruited, he firmly but respectfully says that she should be fired for her actions.
It's implied he's a fan of black metal and gardening, having several rock and metal posters, including one of Abbath, and several potted plants in his bedroom. He used to play the trumpet, but stopped due to the spit valve being an issue. He took a semester in Chiropterology in school, and mentions that ‘bats are magnificent creatures.’
Appearance
Waterboy is a tall and lanky man. He has straight, short brunette hair that reaches his nape. It's constantly soaked, drooping down and framing his face.
He is always seen wearing blue swimming goggles, He wears a waterproof yellow and blue jumpsuit with black shoes with matching elbow and knee pads.
Powers
Default
- Eager Sponge: Waterboy assigns himself when not sent often. He gains +1 to his highest stat for that call. He can only be removed one time.
Hero Training
- Eager Super Sponge: Waterboy now gains +3 to the highest stat for that call.
- Holy Water Spit: Waterboy no longer assigns himself. Waterboy will heal up to two heroes when sent on a call.
Abilities
- Bodily liquid generation: Waterboy's body automatically generates water, which acts more as a hindrance than a boon to him. Everything in Waterboy's house needs to be waterproofed so it doesn't suffer water damage, and he is only seen wearing a wetsuit, as regular clothes would likely get drenched. Anything he grasps gets inevitably wet, meaning he can't properly handle paper without soaking it, and the puddles he leaves behind usually cause people to slip. It is also implied that this power gives him diarrhea.
- This makes Waterboy easily one of the most powerful heroes whose powers we know of, far more powerful than Flambae in particular once properly harnessed. While both could replace the need for the Colorado River in the operation of the Hoover Dam, for example, only Waterboy could do it in his sleep.
- Hydro Vomit/Hydro Spit: Waterboy can expel streams of water from his mouth by vomiting. As a janitor, he frequently used this ability to cover whatever he was cleaning with water, which he would then wipe off. Waterboy can expel water at such a velocity that he can launch himself several feet in the air, allowing him to throw himself at his enemies. With training, his saliva can take on healing properties, as reflected in the Holy Water Spit power.
Relationships
Blonde Blazer
Boss and employee. Waterboy idolises and is respectful towards her, exclaiming his awe when she escorts Robert from the lobby in Episode 2: Onboard, calling her a 'real hero' and later referring to her as 'Miss Blazer.'
In return, Blonde Blazer suggests him as a possible candidate to replace the cut member on the Z-Team. While new to hero work, she believes he will make a 'great addition' to the team. When he expresses doubt, asking if he was added to the team as a joke, she assures him that the arrangement is sincere.
In the ending credits, Herman is showing his lunch to her, seemingly explaining each sandwich as she kneels down to his level, patiently listening.
Robert Robertson (Mecha Man)
Allies, eventual boss and employee. Waterboy looks up to Robert, recognizing him as Mecha Man even as a civilian, and keeping his identity a secret from everyone else, unprompted. He thanks Robert for helping him with getting the job at the SDN, and insists on cleaning up the mess left on his desk from Invisigal. Robert in return has a visible soft spot for him, tying his tie and gently asking if he's nervous for his interview, calling him 'kid.'
In Episode 4: Restructure, Robert is angered on Waterboy's behalf after Flambae lashes out at him for accidentally throwing away his food, insulting him and spitefully telling him to wash it off. Robert confronts Flambae and defends Waterboy, saying it was an accident, which Flambae dismisses. Annoyed, Robert throws trashed leftovers at Flambae's face, forcing him into a similar situation as a punishment. If recruited, Waterboy expresses gratitude towards Robert for giving him a chance, expressing his excitement over joining the team. After his poor performance, Robert finds a demoralized Waterboy in the janitor's closet and comforts him, encouraging him to stop caring about what other people think. Robert accurately surmises that Waterboy's stutter stems from his fear of saying the wrong thing, resulting in him refusing to finish a sentence, much to his shock and awe. After this conversation, Waterboy gifts him a box of his favorite donuts, alongside a considerably more legible note, implying that the conversation helped with his confidence.
In Episode 5: Team Building, if recruited and Robert reveals his identity as Mecha Man to the team, Waterboy defends him against an outraged Flambae, dousing him in water before he can fully reignite, and fearlessly threatening to do it again when Flambae confronts him. Following the reveal and Invisigal sharing her name, he shyly introduces himself as Herman to the team, voicing his preference to be called 'Herm' due to his grandmother calling him such.
In Episode 7: Retrospective, Waterboy is furious over Invisigal's actions almost killing Chase, offering Robert a dollar for the vending machine, and asking him if he thought she did the right thing. If recruited, he addresses Robert respectfully when asserting that she should be cut from the team, shifting between 'sir' and 'boss' before settling on 'Robert.'
In Episode 8: Synergy, Robert can express his concern over a missing Waterboy during the Red Ring's assaults on the city, saying that he's come far since his recruitment, but isn't yet ready to survive a disaster of this magnitude alone. If Phenomaman is recruited, Robert eventually spots an idle Waterboy in the bullpen, and goes over to recruit him as a hero. Shaken and unsure, Waterboy attempts to dissuade Robert, who asserts that he can be a hero, saying that his powers make '[him] the most valuable man in Los Angeles' with everything in flames. Emboldened, Waterboy agrees, and joins the Z-Team roster.
Flambae
Acquainted, eventual co-heroes. Flambae shows little tolerance and care for Waterboy, cursing him out for 'hitting his car' after running Waterboy over, before threatening him not to tell anyone about what happened, driving off. Between shifts, Flambae also insults him for throwing out his food, angrily slapping the contaminated spaghetti out of Waterboy's hands, splattering him with it, and telling him to clean it up by 'water pissing' all over himself. Timid and ashamed, Waterboy tries to explain the nature of his powers before giving up, going to rinse himself off. If Waterboy is recruited, Flambae complains that 'Waterbitch' almost took him out of action during the shift with his puddles.
Despite this, Waterboy tries to be supportive during his first shift, saying that their powers are the best combo. Flambae warns him in return to stay at a distance so their powers don't interfere with each other. When Waterboy is faced with his own mounting insecurities and numerous mistakes, Flambae tries to comfort him, saying that '[he] tried, and [he] sucks,' and that it happens; with the important lesson that at least Waterboy now knows '[he] sucks.'
In Episode 5: Team Building, if Robert reveals himself as Mecha Man, Waterboy confronts a murderous Flambae and douses him with water to protect Robert, fearlessly threatening to do it again when Flambae focuses his attention on him.
In Episode 8: Synergy, if dispatched to save Waterboy, Flambae asks if Robert's sure about rescuing him- before clarifying it was a joke, and heads off to save him.
In the ending credits, they are seen playing poker together. Chad is drinking heavily from a bottle, and Herman has a royal flush in hand.
Malevola
Eventual co-heroes and possible synergy pair. Malevola, regardless of who's cut, is initially hostile towards Herman if he's recruited, angrily asking Robert if he can replace him with 'someone who doesn't suck' instead. If he replaces Sonar, she bullies him, mocking his stutter while sarcastically asking him to 'g-g-go back to cleaning up spills, janitor.'
Waterboy tries to be respectful towards her, calling her 'ma'am,' much to her discomfort, and tells him to stop.
If Phenomaman joins the Z-Team roster in Chapter 8: Synergy, she supports Waterboy and steps in for him when he stutters out his awe for Phenomaman, assuring the hero that Waterboy is a huge fan of him.
Phenomaman
Fan and idol, eventual co-heroes. Waterboy is a self-proclaimed ‘Phemomafan,’ making small talk about him with Robert when seeing a commercial about him, and defends him against Robert either saying he's a poor actor, or a jerk. Herman also has a poster of Phenomaman in his room.
If Phenomaman joins the Z-Team roster in Chapter 8: Synergy, Waterboy is flustered, and proclaims his idolatry of him. Phenomaman asks the team if he’s the ‘wet janitor that shakes like a small, frightened animal,’ which Waterboy excitedly responds to, flattered that he knows who he is.
Phenomaman, assured by Malevola about Waterboy being his fan, only gives a bemused ‘phenomenal’ to the situation.
Punch Up
Eventual co-heroes and possible synergy pair. When paired, Waterboy will try to say his "Top of the mornin'" catchphrase before being interrupted by the latter, who doesn't want to hear it. He also tries to ask about Punch Up's plans after work, to which the man curtly cuts him off, telling him not to push his luck. Despite his sour mood and impatience, Punch Up advises Waterboy to stay out of trouble, which he agrees to.
Waterboy is eager to arm wrestle Punch Up again after work, with the latter amusedly noting that '[he] doesn't know when to give up' after barely lasting four seconds last time, to which Waterboy meekly responds he could get to five.
Sonar
Eventual co-heroes, potential enemies. If recruited in Chapter 4, Sonar is disapproving of Waterboy’s suit, commenting on it: with the latter misinterpreting as Sonar liking it, to which he denies.
After Waterboy is captured by the Red Ring in Chapter 8: Synergy, Sonar threatens to ‘literally eat someone if Waterboy is dead’ if he’s sent to rescue him. If Waterboy is dispatched to save Sonar, Herman confidently proclaims that he will save him, lacking his usual stutter.
Trivia
- In an early bug/oversight in the game, any member of the original Team-Z's crimes (sans the one the player chose to kick out) were randomly listed in Waterboy's bio.
- As revealed in the comics, his entire home is waterproofed, with towels laid along the ground and plastic wraps covering the furniture, as well as a stair lift being available for his grandmother to use safely.
- His favourite melon is honeydew.
- Waterboy's Keywords reuses symbols from other keywords like Hybrid (for Janitor) and Shadow (for Moist.)
- In 'The Floodening' mission, his exclusive character option 'Absorb the Water' results in an auto-fail.
Gallery
Max Synergy with Punch Up
Max Synergy with Malevola
Injured
