How to Be Luke Cage

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Name: Luke Cage AKA Power Man

Game(s): Marvel Ultimate Alliance

Archetype: Tank

Class: Warrior

Skills/Attributes:

• Super dense skin and bones.
• Accelerated healing.
• Super strength.
• Multilingual.
• Self-taught learning.
• Extreme willpower.
• Superhuman stamina.
• Ex-con.

Overview:

Luke Cage is one big, badass dude.  He’s in a cool spot in that he’s obviously superhuman, but he’s also incredibly human.  Like, there are plenty of characters in the Marvel and DC universes that have some variant of super strength/resilience and end up as these sort of demi-gods.  While Luke has a similar set of powers, he manages to remain more real, somehow.  A lot of this has to do with his origins as a wrongfully accused convict, and a willingness to remain humble, and continue to live in the street environment he grew up in.

With his size, strength, and durability, Luke is obviously a member of the Tank archetype.  While he’d probably fit in the Juggernaut category, I feel like his extreme durability in addition to his ability to dish out punishment places him in the Warrior class instead.  Make no mistake, though, he’s still got the Juggenaut’s unrelenting forward drive and determination.  Let’s break down our Cage coverage!

Luke is six feet, six inches tall, and weighs in at over four hundred pounds.  Oh, by the way?  That’s alllll muscle.  This is a dude that will make most pro NFL linebackers look small.  However, I feel like NFL players are also a good place to start for our workout outline!  They’re probably the closest analogue to Luke Cage in real life – big, fast, and STRONG.  As such, in The Luke Cage Workout we’re going to take cues from NFL player workouts (and lift some heavy-ass weights.)

In Power Man, we’re going to go over the wide and varied skillset of Luke Cage.  Yes, he’s strong, and skilled in fighting, but that’s just the surface.  He speaks multiple languages, using this skill frequently in the varied environments he finds himself in.  He’s also a legal expert, and although not a lawyer himself, his knowledge of the law rivals that of Matt Murdoch.  As if that were not enough, all of these skills are self-taught, which is a skill in itself!

Finally, in Hero for Hire we’re going to examine the psychology of Luke Cage, and his growth as a character.  He’s not your typical mild-mannered individual-turned-superhuman story.  Luke’s been involved in some serious stuff, both as a child and as an adult.  It’s given him an occasionally cynical view of the world and the hero business in general, but also allowed him to build some powerful bonds with other, more interesting heroes of his world.

This is going to be great!  I apologize again for the short notice sabbatical last week, but I feel much better having focused on what I needed to focus on, and I’m ready to charge into our Powerman Profile!  I hope you are, too.  I’ll see you again on Thursday, with The Luke Cage Workout

Live boldly, change the world, and continue to be awesome!

Dan “DaRatmastah” Wallace