Changers

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Changers is the name of a fictional anti-hero group from Wildstorm comics. They became the antagonists of the final story arc of Stormwatch volume 1, entitled "Change or Die", encompassing issues 48-50.

[edit] Members

The team members are:

• the High: inspired by Superman and Master Man. He came from an alternate reality. He fought as a superhero alongside Jenny Sparks in the 1930s, but became frustrated and left the crimefighting occupation long before she did. He was an utter idealist, the ultimate boy scout, but after years detached from society (including a decade spent seated atop a throne of stone in the Rocky Mountains, contemplating his plan) he was left with a somewhat naive apprehension of others, their motives and ability shrinking in the face of his noble plan. He was overly trusting of his cohorts, quick to mistrust anyone who stepped in their way, and eager to force the world to change and be done with it - and he ultimately learned, as Jenny Sparks said, that people only want change on their own terms. His emblem was five arrows in a circle, much like the symbol for recycling - he wore this on his costume's belt and on a t-shirt he wore when out of costume.

• Blind: a vigilante; inspired by Daredevil and Batman. Blind both literally and figuratively sees existence in black and white. He seems to believe that everything can be divided into absolute right and wrong, if enough effort is taken to do so. He was an extremely violent individual, but mostly hid this fact from the other Changers. He wears a black mask that covers his entire head except his mouth and chin - the slits for his eyes were so thin as to be nearly invisible. The rest of his costume consists of black leather jacket, pants and gloves; his belt buckle is engraved with the scales of justice. Ironically, Blind was killed by a fellow Changer, Smoke.

• Wish: a seedling activator; she was also able to influence minds to the degree of near-total control, and because of this ability decided she was inherently better than anyone she could have power over. She chose to spend her life amusing herself by manipulating "lesser" beings. After the world was "saved", she planned to find soldiers uncomfortable with peace and others who'd rather not live without violence, and organize war games for her own pleasure. Her feelings and behavior were very much at odds with the others' ideals, and throughout the events leading up to "Change or Die" she took many actions which were later revealed to have little to do with their grand plan.

• Rite: inspired by Wonder Woman. She is a mystic, from a matriarchial culture which taught her that both combat and spirituality are women's work. She was sent out from her home to fix the rest of the world. Her costume consists of various pieces of armor and tough clothing, including a breastplate in the shape of two coiled snakes.

• the Eidolon: a human who was "not allowed to fully die"; his mission was to teach humans about death, specifically that no god exists, that only oblivion follows death, and that religion is pointless. The upshot of his declarations was that mankind should not be cheated out of the knowledge that we have only one chance to live our life as we want to. Privately, he longed to die again and fully become nothing. He was definitely killed (at least, apparently) by Rose Tattoo.

• Smoke: inspired by the Shadow. His mission was to kill those who were inherently evil and beyond rehabilitation. Privately, he regretted killing and spoke hopefully of the day when the Changers' plans would be complete and murder would no longer be necessary for anyone. Smoke was responsible for Blind's death after being revealed that Blind was mentally unstable. He was killed by Rose Tattoo.

• the Engineer, whose successor would be part of the Authority, a group with a mission similar to the Changers'. His part of the plan was to seed the world with nanomachines of his own design, which would grow techno-organic plants which could be configured to produce almost anything, from food and medicine to basic tools to complex electronic devices. His entire body was covered with a green shell, seeming to have both rigid and flexible parts, surely a product of his nanotechnology.

• the Doctor: a planetary Shaman; his successor would be part of the Authority too.

The main goal of the group was to change the world. Knowing that Stormwatch would try to stop them, Blind was sent to attack Jenny Sparks and to torture Malcolm King (A.K.A Strafe, a former member of Stormwatch) in order to obtain some information. Sparks narrowly escaped. Both teams fought and the battle came to its climax in the Changers headquarters. The Changers died thanks to a Hammerstryke Deep Sanction Missile (a payload and tailored acid bomb) ordered by Henry Bendix. However, High survived and, furious, went to attack Stormwatch's base, Skywatch. The Stormdoor (Skywatch's force field) was activated, and High died at the collision.

Rose Tattoo was a member of the Changers, but left the team years ago, when she met Henry Bendix (who wasn't Weatherman at this time).

[edit] Trivia

• Besides the comparasions seem above, a parallel between the Changers and the (pre-crisis) Justice Society of America can be draw. High stands here as a Superman analogue too, while Smoke can be compared to Sandman, Eidolon can be compared to the Spectre, the Doctor stands for Doctor Fate, Engineer can be seen as a Green Lantern copy, Blind represents Doctor Mid-Nite and Rite represents the Golden age Wonder Woman.