Mr. Mysteries' So-True Histories Episode 21 - Supervillains and Global Threats

Hello Eager Learners! I am Mr. Mysteries, formerly of the Learned League, and this is my KARENcast series on the history of our Reality, Reality 69. Our last episode discussed the rise of the Megacorporations that dominate so much of our lives. Our area of interest today is a bit of a guilty pleasure for many, a look at those who choose to utilize their Neohuman expressions, Exo technology, or even raw human ingenuity to cheat the system, wreak havoc, or profiteer - in other words, Supervillains.
For our purposes in this discussion, Supervillains is a term that can be applied to any group or individual that uses their ability in a method that is not typically seen as beneficial to society. There are some examples of Supervillains who proved to be considered Superheroes in the fullness of time.
One of the most notable early Supervillians was a holdover of the Nazis - Reichstagg, also known as SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS Richter Bauchmann. Reichstagg rose to prominence due to his utilization of an early short range teleportation power in an attempt to bomb the UN building in 1948. The plot was foiled by Paragon, in his first public appearance out of costume. Reichstagg was able to escape and was an ongoing terroristic threat to Europe, Canada, and the United States for another three years until he was accidentally killed by one of his own Reichbombes during a standoff with the Justice Coalition.
During the Chaos there were far too many people that could have been broadly labeled as Supervillains for that label to really be useful. One interesting example worth calling out during this period is the rise of Sovereign Gold. Many people considered her a Supervillain due to her leadership in multiple Neohuman riots at various military bases around the world. Conversely, in the eyes of many early supporters of Neohuman rights, she is considered an early hero, if radical and careless in the loss of life that rose from her actions. Of course, inherent bias plays a major part in how any given person may feel about such a controversial character.
One of the most influential early Supervillain groups, at least in terms of overall societal impact, was a group that is rumored to have their start even before World War II, the Society of Logical Unisophical Theory. This powerful magical cabal arose out of the Theosophical Society, but also had connections with Thule Society sorcerers as well as Indian Vedic sages. While their plots were many and varied throughout the Chaos and afterwards, their most impactful was the usurpation of Brazil. Through a slow infiltration of multiple governmental and social organizations, the S.L.U.T. was able to stage a psychically backed seizure of 90% of governmental bodies overnight on September 13th, 1969. This takeover was not fully identified for more than five years and required the combined efforts of hundreds of Neohuman heroes from around the world to fully excise. The restructuring of the South American states would not be complete until the mid 1980s and led direction to the foundation of Asociación Nacional Latinoamericana, or the Latin American National Association (LANA).
One of the first true Supervillain groups of Neohumans (and Exos) was the Eternal Exarchs. This group of fascist Neohuman group attempted to forcibly dominate the area between Daugavpils, Latvia and Utena, Lithuania. Through the use of telepathic domination, duplication and superspeed, the take over of the region officially occured on October 17th 1975 and held until a combined military force was able to orchestrate a multi-front attack that overtaxed the capabilities of the Exarchs more powerful members such as Zot, Druig, and Hungry Horde. This attack, taking place on February 14th, 1976 resulted in the death of most of the Exarchs as well as several thousand casualties.
Not all of Earth's threats are necessarily from it's own inhabitants either. While many may consider the Myrnean migration the first alien, the first truly hostile alien invasion was known as the Peazzle Blockade. An alien fleet of the Bulrathi Emperium attempted to establish a blockade around Earth, making their arrival known on March 19th, 1982 It is still unclear as to what impact other than psychological the Bulrathi expected this blockade to have as Earth still only had intermittent interplanetary travel at this time. Regardless, many of the sapients of Earth found this concept objectionable and a coordinated attack by numerous corporate and national military forces attacked and disrupted the blockade, eventually driving the Bulrathi to fully retreat, never to be heard from again.
As one can easily see the variety of threats that present themselves to the world are many, varied and neverending. Especially as we continue exploration into extradimensional and Reality bridging technologies, we only increase the vectors by which new threats may present themselves.
Our next episode will focus on some of these extradimensional areas that are known to be attached to our Reality and how those spaces have impacted our history.