Black Viper

[Andreah]

Rhea O'Connell, was born in 1999 in Kings Row. Her parents, Elena Reyes and Marcus "Mac" O'Connell, were murdered when she was fifteen, a traumatic event that ignited her desire to fight injustice. After this tragedy, she was raised by her aunt, Isabel Reyes, who taught her discipline and strategy. She honed her martial arts skills in underground fighting clubs and developed super reflexes that grew from her high-stress environment. Operating outside the law at first, her actions eventually led the FBSA to register her as a vigilante due to her success in curbing gang activity. She has a strong sense of justice and independence and views herself as a vigilante who is more effective operating "in the shadows" rather than as a conventional hero.

Rhea had her heart set on a musical career, singing and song-writing, before the tragedy that took her parents. Instead, she embarked on a driven effort to become a crimefighter. However she still has music in her soul, and currently in her civilian secret identity, Rhea works at "Back Alley Beats", a music and instruments store in King's Row, not too far from the monorail. The store aims for a slightly gritty and underground feel, appealing to local musicians and people in the area. The name references the "back alley" aspect of Kings Row, and its slightly darker, grittier side. They also have some iconography of Back Alley Brawler on display, though he is not commercially associated with the store.  A few others at the store are aware of her secret life as Black Viper, and sometimes put on costumes as well, and play as a band for tips at local bars and clubs after hours as "Black Viper and the Midnight Choir".

 

She also occasionally sings on missions about the superhero-life, enemy groups she faces, and missions she's been on, and so forth.

 

Edit: Unless otherwise noted, music in this thread uses lyrics written by me, with vocals and instrumentals by genre & style prompted AI's such as Udio.com, and Riffusion.com, both of which I recommend. I claim no copyrights to the lyrics. Udio and Riffusion both allow unlimited non-commercial distribution.

Edited February 26 by Andreah

[Andreah]

 

Black Viper's song about the first time she faces down criminals, when her corner grocery store was robbed right in front of her.

https://www.udio.com/songs/j4EebYRhTduNA6tttoEbZb?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

(My lyrics, music composed and sung by Udio.com.)

[chase]

I'm so impressed.   I've never heard of Udio before and while some diss on AI creations, I think this perfectly illustrates how it can be used to enrich creations.   Your lyrics, your vision, their audio based on your instruction... a winning combination.   I've had a few music-themed characters in the past that could have really been fleshed out better with this.  

Also. If you don't mind me asking, what/who's the source for the images?

In theory, the  Cyrus Thompson Community Center (mentioned in the Coh Comics, but only the statue was ever put in the game, IIRC)  should be "a block or two" from your music store.    arc rooms to teach self-defense Tuesday nights.  I have a college-age martial-arts-themed character focused on opposing gangs in Kings' Row who teaches self-defense classes there Tuesday nights.  She lives in some beat-down loft apartment nearby that probably breaks every building code in the city and often wears gang colors when wanting to travel the street without being noticed.  

If you don't mind me asking- what/who is the source for your cover images?  I struggled through photoshop back in the day for my comic images- never created anything this calibre.
 

[Andreah]

  On 2/6/2025 at 6:07 PM, chase said:

If you don't mind me asking- what/who is the source for your cover images?  I struggled through photoshop back in the day for my comic images- never created anything this calibre.

Expand  

I used Google Lab's ImageFx ai generator. It takes careful prompting and some trial and error to get the vision out. https://labs.google/fx/tools/image-fx

 

Udio.com also has a built-in album cover generator, and the covers for the songs following the link were made using that. I use the free version of the tool, the paid pro version allows you to upload your own cover art from an image file.

Edited February 6 by Andreah

[Andreah]

After the incident in the grocery store, Black Viper is encouraged to take up heroism, and gets a costume. In this short, she sings about shopping.

 

"Elegance in Black Leather"

 https://www.udio.com/songs/5GPJ9BJz8TeSqGFdkVN1Bb?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

 

Edited February 6 by Andreah

[Andreah]

Out and about with other heroes, fighting thugs and criminals, even low level ones, she finds exhilarating, and writes a song about it.

 

"Thunder and Grace"

https://www.udio.com/songs/tqGYwNZasb1vTQyViRDAVp?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Edited February 6 by Andreah

[Andreah]

She meets up with other heroes in Atlas Park, and they get a call about troubles in the city sewer... and, of course, she writes a song about it.

 

"Sewer Dance"

 

https://www.udio.com/songs/fJvanE9ZHvrzdcpLe5XZsh?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

 

Edited February 6 by Andreah

[Andreah]

[Andreah]

Black Viper composes a pair of short songs in Pocket D, related to Valentine's day.

 

"Pocket-Hearts"

https://www.udio.com/songs/f9ehKGqvi1ff5dfEB3JrBL?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

 

"Heated Rhythm"

https://www.udio.com/songs/iiSKQjGFfbcysXXuuF4Pui?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

 

Edited February 7 by Andreah

[Andreah]

"Black Viper and the Circle of Thorns"

https://www.udio.com/songs/e3UeuFNXRH3WUXyVFHz1kg?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

 

Edited February 8 by Andreah

[Andreah]

"Go! Hunt! Kill Skulls!"

https://www.udio.com/songs/cupcvM5jLhEfZCzaGvHzGG?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

 

[Andreah]

"Heroes Rising", a City of Heroes Theme by Black Viper and the Midnight Choir.

https://www.udio.com/songs/4DaeoP55yRxGRSEtsZRkLt?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

 

[Andreah]

"MegaMech Falls", sung by Black Viper after completing the Ernesto Hess Task Force: "MegaMech Cometh"

https://www.udio.com/songs/xrV4eZfFmXVAfrhdpREJnJ?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Edited February 10 by Andreah

[Andreah]

Black Viper and The Midnight Choir perform "Duality"

 

 

[Andreah]

Black Viper and the Midnight Choir perform "Shadows of Rome", an ode to the Imperious Task Force.

https://www.udio.com/songs/cwtyboVcfckmpTSyYhEaHe?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Edited February 27 by Andreah

[Andreah]

Black Viper and the Midnight Choir perform "The Ghost Ship of Talos Island"

 

 

[Andreah]

Black Viper and the Midnight Choir perform "Katie's Soul", for the Katie Hannon Task Force.

(AI assistance was used in casting my lyrics into Elizabethan English)

 

Edited March 4 by Andreah

[Andreah]

Black Viper and the Midnight Choir perform "Midnight Masks", expressing conflicting feelings on secret identities and the draw of fame.

 

 

[High_Beam]

My brain, working the way it does, thinks Jem and Rio in a couple of those.

[Andreah]

Black Viper and the Midnight Choir perform "Breaking the Veil".

 

 

[Andreah]

Black Viper and the Midnight Choir are invited to play at a multi-band street event organized by the Independence Port Citizen's Action League to rally opposition to Family criminal activity. Black Viper composed a song for the event and performs it live to the largest crowd she's ever sung for.

 

 

 

[Andreah]

After a mission where Black Viper and a few other girls on the team laughed about the awful (council) men that kept raining down from the catwalks above them, she composed a song.