Henchman
Mercenary-For Hire
Comic Book Store Owner
Founder/CEO/President of Henchman Inc.
Ronald Blake was always an underachiever. With his entire existence being able to fall under the one word descriptor of 'mediocre', Ron always dreamed of making something more of himself in life by becoming an UNTIL liaison. When a series of unfortunate events left Ron a broken man barred from seeing his own child, however, he found purpose again among the multitude of henchmen working for VIPER. After accidentally killing a group of Steelhead soldiers and a hero, however, Ron rose to fame and fortune as the luckiest henchman alive. Motivated into cashing in on his success by his daughter, he founded Henchman Inc. and became the 'hench-for-hire' known as the Henchman, using the smattering of skills he's learnt over the years to earn his keep in the criminal underworld.
Genre savvy, cynical and just cowardly enough to be both effective and cautious, Ron doesn't see himself as much of a bad guy; just as a regular person in a bad situation he's desperately attempting to make the best of. Though he has no particular horse in the race between good and evil, the Henchman happily goes wherever the money, and more of his daughter's affection, is.
Contents
Biography
Ronald Blake was born in Wichita, Kansas to an accountant father and a homemaker mother. From a very early age, Ron was an exceedingly average individual. In academics, he maintained straight Cs. As far as looks went, he was a particularly unremarkable person. In the social sphere, he had a small circle of friends and was well-known about his school as that one guy everyone was completely neutral towards. For the most part, Ron was just like every other person who never really stood out from the crowd and who had no strong desire to do so, which made him a perfect candidate for a position as a henchman.
An avid fan of superhero and comic book culture growing up in a town where superheroes had virtually no presence, Ron always dreamed of one day leaving Littlewood and moving to Millennium City, where he would sign up with UNTIL and become a liaison, working closely with his superhero idols. When he graduated from high school with unremarkable grades and no strong references from his unimpressed teachers, however, he was forced to compromise his dreams for the sake of reality.
Living in his parents' basement and taking a job as a waiter at a local fast food joint, Ron slowly built up the funds needed to get into a mediocre college where he could major in Superhuman Studies and have a better shot at getting a job with UNTIL. Thought it took an entire year of scraping and saving, with a little help from his ever-supportive parents, Ron was eventually able to apply for a Superhuman Studies sandwich course at the local college. For the first time in a while, it seemed that things were finally looking up for him.
However, things took a turn for the worse when, after attending a party with his work friends to celebrate his success, Ron ended up meeting a sleeping with a friend of a friend named Carolina Whitney. A few weeks later, Carolina revealed that she was pregnant with Ron's child, thereby ruining any plans he had for going to college. With his dreams once again shattered, Ron reluctantly did the right thing, marrying Carolina and agreeing to get a job to help raise their child.
Getting a job as a telemarketer and placing a down-payment on a small apartment for his new family to live in, Ron, like most others in his position, resigned to an unfulfilling life of mediocrity and misery, mindlessly dragging himself through the motions and slowly but surely losing the will to live. As the next eight years of his life passed by and the family moved into a larger house, the one thing that kept him going was his dedication to his daughter, Gretchen.
Being a decent father to his child wasn't enough to hold a strained marriage together, however. Tensions between Carolina and Ron grew more and more intense as their marriage went on, eventually culminating in a heated argument which ended in Ron being forced out of his own house by a teary-eyed Carolina. Though they attempted many times to reconcile their differences for Gretchen's sake, within a year the couple were divorced and Ron, who was once solely motivated by his daughter, was only allowed custody of her every other weekend.
With no other alternative, Ron moved back in with his parents and withdrew into the world of comic books, online messageboards and weekly Dungeons and Dragons sessions with his co-workers for a few months, not wanting to face the reality of his situation and attempt to get back on his feet.
Although he only spent a minimal amount of time with Gretchen, it was his daughter that eventually inspired him to take after the comics he loved so much and pull himself out of his rut, giving as motivating a speech as a nine year old could muster. With a new resolve and nothing holding him back, Ron sold his comic book collection and his rare Magic the Gathering cards and applied for a short course in Superhuman Studies at Millennium City University, temporarily saying goodbye to Gretchen and moving to Millennium City.
With a sum of the money earned by selling his comic books still left over, Ron rented out an apartment with a few of his fellow Millennium City University students: Dean Dauterive, Sasha Levenstein and Richard Johnson. Though he was slightly older than his roommates and somewhat less optimistic about life, he quickly befriended them and worked his way into their circle of friends, using his newfound freedom as an opportunity to cut loose and forget his worries.
Getting his degree in Superhuman Studies after three years, Ron finally sought to put his life back on track. His degree earning him access to opportunities previously unavailable to him, Ron took up a low-ranking, low-paying job as a Superhuman Registrations Officer at UNTIL's headquarters in Millennium City and, within a year, had worked his way up to being a Liaison-In-Training. With Carolina allowing Gretchen to visit him for a week every month and a steady income keeping him afloat, the future had never looked so bright for Ron.
When a data filing mistake allowed a powerful metahuman to break out of an UNTIL containment facility and rampage through New York causing wanton property damage, the handful of UNTIL liaisons responsible for the catastrophe, looking to save their own hides, manipulated records to place the blame entirely on an unsuspecting Ron. With the forged evidence pointing directly to him, Ron was quickly fired and blacklisted by UNTIL, once again sending his life spiraling down the drain. Unemployed and quickly on his way to bankruptcy, Ron fell into a deep depression and began heavily drinking. This prompted him to drunkenly call Carolina and beg her to come back to him, revealing that she had long since married successful lawyer and ex-classmate of Ron, Kevin Hammer. Aggravated by the shocking revelation, Ron threw a drunken and belligerent tantrum over the phone.
Using the drunken outburst as a chance to completely remove Ron from Carolina's life, Kevin brought the issue to court and persuaded the presiding judge to deem Ron as being not suitable to have any custody of Gretchen. Furious at Kevin's meddling, Ron punched him in the nose, breaking it and getting three months in a minimum-security prison on assault charges. His life at an all time low, Ron used most of his time in prison working out and getting his body into shape. Though this gave him some purpose whist residing in prison, he quickly found that, upon his release, his life had become almost completely meaningless. With no job, no money and an assault charge on his record, Ron's future looked to be an overwhelmingly bleak one.
Still stuck in his depression and with his life only getting worse, Ron reluctantly decided to leave his apartment and go shopping for groceries one day. Much to his surprise and embarrassment, however, he into his old roommate, Dean Dauterive, and the two old friends caught up at a local cafe. There, Dean told a despondent Ron that he, along with Sasha and Richard, had gone into 'henching', signing up with VIPER and working as infantry. Though initially appalled by the news, Ron quickly began to change his mind when Dean enthusiastically listed the perks of working with an organisation like VIPER and its relatively simple hiring criteria. Promising to put in a good word with the recruitment office, Dean urged Ron to consider his offer and return to him with an answer.
After mulling it over for a few days and weighing the costs and benefits, Ron bit the bullet and contacted Dean, informing him of his interest in becoming a member of VIPER. After two and a half months of training and psychological exams, Ron was a full-fledged VIPER soldier stationed in Canada with Dean, Sasha and Richard. With fancy training, an awesome costume and an arsenal of weapons at his disposal, Ron was certain things were going to finally start going right for him.
One day, while Ron, his friends and a small army of his fellow VIPER soldiers were stationed at a VIPER research facility in the Canadian Wilderness and tasked with protectingit from any potential infiltrators or passing heroes, a strike team of Steelhead soldiers launched an attack on the facility, causing a massive firefight between the two warring factions. Knowing all too well the fate of a henchman who doesn't play it smart rather than brave, Ron crept away from the conflict and attempted to flee into the mountains. However, having caught a nasty cold earlier that day, he accidentally let out a sneeze, causing a massive avalanche which buried and killed the Steelhead Soldiers moments after they dispatched the last of the VIPER troops. Surprised and alarmed by the development and not used to killing others in cold blood, Ron swore at the top of his lungs just as the high-ranking VIPER soldiers exited the facility. To them, it seemed as if the brave henchman had somehow managed to eliminate an entire Steelhead strike force and was now mocking them from on high. Needless to say, they were impressed and quickly promoted him through the ranks as a reward.
Ron became a legend amongst VIPER troops after the incident. Known as 'The One Who Lived', 'The One That Got Away' and 'The Henchman Supreme', the very ground he touched was practically worshiped by his fellow henchmen. Quickly letting his newfound fame go to his head, Ron would regale his fellow henchmen with tall tales about the incident and would revel in their hushed gasps of awe.
Ron's tall tales ultimately landed him in hot water. While giving a lecture to new recruits at a VIPER base in Colombia, the Colombian vigilante, El Chupacabra, launched a one man assault on the base, slaughtering VIPER soldiers one after another. With the trainees scared out of their mind and counting on Ron to single-handedly defeat El Chupacabra, the terrified Ron found himself stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Forced to don his gear and charge against his first metahuman, Ron charged in with the rest of his VIPER comrades and prayed for a miracle. When El Chupacabra tore through the screaming soldiers in a matter of minutes, Ron promptly wet his pants.
Unexpectedly, though, the sharp smell of Ron's urine dazed El Chupacabra, a blind man who 'saw' through a heightened sense of smell. When Ron ceased his cowering, he realised that El Chupacabra was staggering about, dizzily. Taking his chance, he quickly reached for his sidearm and fired, hitting the hero in the shoulder and sending him crashing through the window behind him, where he plummeted from the top of the mountainside base to the jagged rocks below, his mask getting caught on the shattered glass in the windowpane.
When VIPER reinforcements arrived on the scene and saw Ron grasping El Chupacabra's mask and looking down at his broken body from the shattered window, they again assumed that he had overpowered the man and, in a show of ruthlessness, had defenestrated him. Earning him a promotion to Squad Leader and the nickname 'Ron the Defenestrator'. Though glad for even more fame and money, Ron decided that he had to leave his job before his incredible luck ran out.
Spending a year doing easy and low-danger jobs and allowing his squad to do the heavy-lifting for him, Ron endured for six more months before finally tendering his resignation and using his acquired funds to open a small comic book store named 'Of Dice and Henchmen' in Downtown Millennium City. At the somewhat ripe age of 33 and with his youth more or less behind him, Ron was content to retire into a stable and relatively safe job which would give him a shot at winning joint custody of Gretchen back.
Travelling back to Littlewood and meeting with a reluctant Carolina, Ron apologised for his past mistakes and promised that he had changed. Trusting his word, Carolina hesitantly allowed him to have joint custody of Gretchen again, stating that she would fly over to stay with him in Millennium City for a week every month on the condition that Ron kept his life together. Overjoyed at the prospect of seeing Gretchen again, Ron quickly accepted.
Flying back to Millennium City with a non-talkative Gretchen in tow, Ron, desperately trying to connect with his daughter like they used to, attempted to win her over by showing her his comic store and telling her about his (exaggerated) exploits with UNTIL. Gretchen, however, had little to no interest in the comic books or video games she and her dad once enjoyed anymore and, much to Ron's despair, she seemed desperate to get as far away from her father as possible.
Despite further efforts to make Gretchen enjoy spending time with him, Ron eventually came to the realisation that his efforts were too little and too late. With Gretchen's first month with him coming to a close, Ron gave up hope and became despondent himself.
That night, however, Gretchen stumbled upon the basement of Ron's store. Curious, she picked the lock and entered it. Much to her surprise, Ron's old VIPER gear and reports about his many exploits were what greeted her. Woken up by Gretchen's snooping, Ron quickly rushed to the basement to try and convince her that she was mistaken in her assumptions, only for Gretchen to show the first signs of genuine admiration for her father since their reunion. Impressed and amazed by Ron's history as a legendary VIPER agent, she begged him to tell her more. Startled but glad to finally have Gretchen's respect again, Ron agreed to share everything with her.
Gretchen, enthusiastic about her father's old career, urged him to get back in the game of 'henching'. Though initially reluctant to work closely with VIPER once more, Ron was eventually swayed when Gretchen proposed he become a 'freelance henchman', which would allow him to both make greater profits and be selective with his jobs. Using Gretchen's business model in an attempt to get closer to her again, Ron became the Henchman (pronounced Hench-Man), a roving 'hench-for-hire' who promised the perfect blend of experience, expertise and expendability.
With Gretchen acting as his secretary/tech support/manager both in Wichita and in Millennium City, Ron sought to earn some recognition in the criminal community. His first lucky break came from ARGENT who, due to a data mix up, accidentally called him instead of the mercenary Warhawk, requesting that he assassinate an ex-ARGENT soldier who murdered his commanding officers, stole several blueprints and files worth millions of dollars and went into hiding. Though uneasy about having to kill someone, Ron agreed to take the job to support his failing comic book store and to win more of Gretchen's affection.
With Gretchen narrowing the ex-soldier's location down to somewhere in Ohio, Ron quickly flew there on ARGENT's dime and began seeking him out. When a week passed with no luck, however, Ron began to question his capabilities. On his way to buy an ice cream cone to drown his sorrow in, Ron accidentally ran into the ex-soldier, himself looking to purchase some ice cream. The ex-soldier, realising almost immediately that Ron was sent by ARGENT, quickly turned tail and ran, resulting in a chase which ended on the rooftop of a nearby apartment complex.
Drawing his knife, the ex-soldier attacked Ron. Ron, still relatively unused to being stabbed at, narrowly evaded his attacks and managed to disarm his attack using a move from his basic training days to break his arm. Injured and panicked, the ex-soldier pleaded with Ron to spare his life, causing him to hesitate slightly. Taking his chance, the ex-soldier lunged at Ron and attempted to throw him off the roof. Quick to act and characteristically lucky, Ron managed to grab onto his aggressor as he plummeted, leaving both men dangling from a thirty story rooftop, Ron clinging to the side of the building and the ex-soldier clinging to Ron.
Quickly losing his grip, Ron flailed wildly in an attempt to shake his hanger-on loose, to no avail. While the ex-soldier managed to cling on, though, Ron's ill-fitting pants did not. Before either of the men could react, Ron's pants slide off of his waist and fell off, taking the ex-soldier with them. Once again saved by circumstance, Ron counted his blessings and returned home to Millennium City, securing the stolen documents and picking up a hefty paycheck from ARGENT.
With his ARGENT clients recommending him to others, Ron's popularity began to steadily increase and the 'henching' and mercenary came rolling in. Before long, Ron had made a name for himself as a hench-for-hire and, with his profits, Ron set out to expand his little business.
Buying an old gym down in Westside, Ron converted the lower floor into a comic book store to act as a front for his less-than-legal activities on the upper two floors. With the comic book store drawing the attention of the average person, the second and third floor became the headquarters of Henchman Inc., a 'company' that specialises in training new henchmen and, subsequently, finding them placements in villainous organisations. With the founding of Henchman Inc., Ron swore to finally give the average henchman a voice and a fighting chance, so long as they gave him 10% of their paycheck from each job with him, of course, taking the best jobs and placements for himself.
For a while, Henchman Inc. functioned primarily as a company which specialised in dealing with henchmen. However, this all changed when Ron was sent on a job to kill the South African terrorist known only as 'Amani'. Amani, famous for his ability to build ingenious technology with few resources, had recently provided anti-white revolutionaries in South Africa with powerful weapons which allowed them to destroy a sizeable portion of a small city and was made into South Africa's most wanted criminal for it.
Though finding Amani was relatively simple enough with the right connections, Ron was surprised to find that Amani was nothing more than a young boy in his 20s who used his genius to make weapons for the sole purpose of keeping his village fed. Feeling sympathy for him, Ron decided to cut him a deal: he would come to America and design weapons and gadgets for Henchman Inc. and, in return, he would send half his paycheck to his village to ensure they stayed well-fed. Amani quickly agreed and the two set off to America.
When they returned, Ron, with the help of Amani and Gretchen, began to expand Henchman Inc.'s business enterprise and established it both as a henchman agency and a small weapons and gadgets development company in the criminal underground. Hiring a team of engineers to work under Amani and opening a production factory within the Westisde sewers, the Henchman quickly made a name for himself in the world of crime and villainy. Now, with Gretchen and Amani at his side and nowhere to go but up, Ron works as a henchman and mercenary for a number of criminal organisations. From terrorist groups such as VIPER and GAIA to modern day cults such as DEMON and Ouroboros, the Henchman will take on anything challenge - so long as the price is right.
Abilities
--Jack Of All Trades--
You don't work in the business for as long as Henchman has without picking up a few tricks. Though he isn't the world's greatest marksman or a master martial artist, he makes up for his lack of raw natural talent and extensive training with a sizeable collection of combat and non-combat skills which puts him on a different level than your standard henchman. A true 'Jack of All Trades' and a definite 'Master Of None', Henchman makes the most of what he has and, like any good employee, is always looking to expand his skill set.
- Marksmanship (Various)
- Archery (GAIA)
- Throwing Weapons (The Human Dart)
- Swordsmanship (The Swordmaster)
- Military Training (Various)
- Boxing {The Brass Knuckle)
- Judo and Jujutsu (The Cheshire Cat)
- Ninjutsu (The Black Blood Clan)
- Aikido (Killer Crab)
- Krav Maga (Major Payne)
- Karate (Cult of the Red Banner)
- Staff Fighting and Eskrima (Bo-Lista)
- Knife Fighting (Bladedancer)
- Parkour and Acrobatics (Nimble Jack)
- Stealth and Espionage (The Infiltrator)
- Reconnaissance (VIPER)
- Botany (GAIA)
- Biology and Chemistry (Dr. Death)
- Mechanical Engineering (Various)
- Safecracking (Jimmy Two-Hands)
- Sleight-Of-Hand and Pickpocketing (Wildcard)
- Mystic Arts (Cult Of The Red Banner)
- Dark Magic and Demonology (DEMON)
- Psionic Defense (PSI)
- White-Collar Criminal Skills (ARGENT)
- Combat Strategy/Tactics (Various)
- Survival Skills (Various)
- Advanced Weapons Knowledge (The Quartermaster)
- Egg Trivia (Egghead)
- Playing Possum (The Possum)
- Cooking and Baking (Pat-A-Cake Patty)
- Computer Skills (The Gremlin)
- Piloting (The Devilhawks)
- Mech Piloting (Super Villain Death Despair Force)
- First Aid (Various)
- Escape Artistry (The Circus Of Crime)
- Tracking and Hunting (Jungle Jim)
- Cryptography (The Codebreakers)
- Multilingualism (Various)
Equipment
Personality
Weaknesses
Tropes
Gallery
The Henchman, reporting for duty!
Don't just hire any henchman. Hire the Henchman.
Shoot first, run screaming later.
GAIA Outfit
VIPER Outfit
ARGENT Outfit
RP Hooks
Trivia
- The best candidate for Henchman's voice is H. Jon Benjamin
