Look! Out in the pasture! It's... "Super Collie"!
Faster than a speeding farmbike!
More powerful than "Federated Farmers"!
Able to muster whole flocks in a single bound!
She's the new force in rounding up wrongdoers and putting them through
the sheepdip of justice!
Description:
General Appearance -
Super Collie is a female anthropomorphic Sheltie Collie, standing about
5' 8" (1.7m) tall. She has what can be described as a generous yet athletic
figure. Super Collie has medium-thick yellow-gold fur over most of her
body, except for creamy white fur on her chest, tummy, forearms and inner
thighs and a dark brown/black 'saddle' fur pattern on her lower back. Her
eyes are a blue-green colour, and she has a long flowing aubern mane which
usually winds up draped over one shoulder.
Outfit -
-
Dark-blue spandex bikini with gold trim.
-
Dark-blue heavy velour cape with gold and obsidian "love-heart" breakaway
clasp.
-
Dark blue leather boots, medium heel.
-
One gold bracelet on each wrist, each bracelet inlaid with a single ruby
gem.
-
Metallic "garter" band on left leg, inlaid with mysterious jewels.
Super powers:
-
Super Speed (Running and able to perform combat manoevers at no penalty
- 93.6km/h. Flat-out run - bursts of up to 187.2 km/h, but needs
to rest for at least an hour afterwards)
-
Super Strength (Casual strength - 200kg. Maximum strength - 1600kg with
an extreme limit of 6400kg in exceptional circumstances.)
-
Super Bark
-
Low power - acts like a stun grenade, knocking people down.
-
High power - can shatter things.
-
Spirit of the Shepherd Force Field (protects her from heat, cold, disease,
nasty villain bullets and the like)
-
Digging (14.4 km/h through dirt and other friable material. Can dig a 3m
long tunnel, big enough for her to crawl through, through dirt in less
than a minute)
Equipment:
-
Shepherd's Crook - telescopes by up to 4 metres for hooking crooks. Brings
a new meaning to "It takes a crook to catch a crook..."
-
Shepherd's Pendant - by holding the pendant in both hands and focussing
her mind upon it, Esmerelda transforms into Super Collie, and the pendant
changes into her Shepherd's Crook. The pendant itself is on a long fine
(but quite unbreakable) golden chain, and is in the form of a small gold
shepherd's crook mounted on a small silver medallion. Esmerelda wears it
hidden from view, usually it can be found hanging down her cleavage under
her clothes.
Secret ID:
Esmerelda Braithwaite, a.k.a Super Collie, works as a beta-tester at a
Wellington software company, ELB Industries. Tapping into the company's
computer network allows Super Collie to keep close tabs on crime situations
(besides, if she worked on a farm it would be too easy for someone to guess
her secret!). At work Esmerelda wears big glasses and puts her hair up
in a bun. Though her office has a 'business casual' dress code, Esmerelda
prefers the more formal jacket and tube skirt.
Origin:
While looking for a farmhouse in the Canterbury high country in New Zealand
after her car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, Esmerelda Braithwaite
stumbles across an ancient cave amid the rocks, tussocks and lupins. Looking
for shelter, she enters it, and finds an ancient skeleton clutching a crook.
Compelled by some strange force Our Heroine picks it up - and in a flash
of light finds herself imbued with the Mystic Power of the Shepherd...
Disadvantages:
-
Obsessive/Compulsive: Every little bit of her personal space, at
home and at work, must be precisely arranged. When she goes to the
market, if the shelves aren't neatly arranged she arranges them. She's
very good as a beta tester because of her attention to detail.
-
Hyperkinetic: She types 120 words per minute, works out twice a
day, and fights crime because she doesn't get enough activity at
work.
-
Impulsive: Though very intelligent, her first impulse is always
to charge right in and start bashing heads.
-
Love Interest: Super Collie is madly in love with a fellow who paints
impressionistic art. The inherent disorder in his work and his personal
life drives her insane. Super heroes and their mates are always shockingly
incompatible, aren't they?
-
Dependent: Again, her boyfriend. He hangs out with unsavory characters
and is always getting into trouble. Naturally, as a sensitive artist, he's
no use at all in a dust-up.
Enemies:
-
Vyacheslav Soborin (Cat Burglar): This Russian Blue cat (Russian
in both his breed and nationality) is a professional sneak thief and enforcer
for -
-
Paul-Constandinos Ulysses (The Big Bad Wolf): An underworld kingpin
who, like Al Capone, maintains an ostentatious and legally untouchable
public facade. Publicly, this heavyset lupine is the owner of a chain of
super-discount warehouse stores, which also acts as a cover for his more
illegal activities. Wellington police have not merely a file on Mr Ulysses,
but an entire cabinet on him.
-
Albert Algernon Apple (Squid Vicious): A sleazy walrus tabloid reporter
who has made a career for himself sensationalizing Super Collie's exploits
- focusing, of course, on the fact that she is a sexy woman in a skimpy
costume. Super Collie hates him because his reporting completely misses
the point of what she's doing and fosters a public impression her as some
sort of costumed bimbo.
-
Daitakerou Sotohoji (Katakana Kat): Swordsman for hire, currently
working for The Big Bad Wolf. This Siamese cat originally tried to call
himself Katana Kat, but due to a misprint in the local paper now
has to make do with slashing his trademark Japanese characters into his
victim's clothing with his katana sword (like Zorro). Member of a Yakuza
gang in Nagasaki, Japan. Has the ability to cloud people's minds so that
they do not see him unless he wants them to see him.
-
Alexsia deHaviland (Okker Chick): Livestock rustler, poacher, claim
jumper, all around Bad Girl (Dingo).
-
Matilda Wollenston (Waltzing Matilda): Okker Chick's sidekick and
sometime lesbian lover (Australian Shepherd).
-
Jenny, Helen and Ruth Romney (The Waiourou Blondes): Three genetically-enhanced
sheep-morph femmes who once were part of a research facility on the Central
Plateau before escaping and creating various kinds of mayhem. Now associated
with Okker Chick and Waltzing Matilda.
-
Zalika Corby (Daughter Night): An undead female Jackal, with jet-black
fur and golden eyes. The person now known as Daughter Night is made up
of the sprits of an ancient grave-robber, a powerful wizard priest, and
the body of an Egyptologist who opened up her tomb. Carries the spirits
of Isis, Bast, Anubis and Sekhmet, which makes her immune to bullets, allows
her to walk through solid objects, read and influence people's thoughts,
create illusions, and move things with the power
of her mind.
-
Colonel Bathsfield: Head of the Civil Defense Unit in Auckland.
A heavy-set rhinoceros with a hide and temper to match, he has a strong
dislike of super-heroes and heroines because, as he sees it, "They purport
to uphold the law - but by their very nature they operate outside of it."
Would like nothing better than to see Super Collie off the streets and
the SASVS (Special Anti-Super Villain Squad) under his control replacing
her, but is frequently frustrated as Super Collie saves the day just often
enough for the SASVS to remain in her shadow.
-
Bronwyn Morgan-Jones (Dark Collie): A female Border Collie super-villian,
a former Guardian Shepherd that went to the dogs...
Allies:
-
Constable George Kremmin: Super Collie's contact and unofficial
liaison at the Wellington Police Station. This bulldog-ish looking fellow
could pass for a stereotypical British policeman in any BBC drama production,
right down to his rather plummy British accent. Unfortunately, in the Antipodes,
this means he gets a fair amount of teasing by his colleagues, but on the
other hand he is held in high esteem by them (mostly because he's the one
who gets to deal with Super Collie!). Once married, but is now divorced
after his wife left him to return to Bristol in England.
-
Inspector Tekukuni Samson: A whippet, Constable Kremmin's boss,
and a chronic chain-smoker (now having taken up chew toys in preference
to cigarettes).
-
Officer Takanobu Hamacho: The Japanese Government's official Super
Hero Liaison officer. A rather flustered feline, he is charged with overseeing
the activities of foreign super-heroes and super-heroines while they are
in Japan, in order that they fit the Japanese publics' general perception
of what super-heroes are like. While this is nominally an honoured position
in the Japanese police force, Hamacho is starting to wonder whether a career
as a train-stuffer at Shinjuku station would be more rewarding, as he usually
winds up losing battles of will between himself and his visiting charges.
He is in perpetual fear of what might happen if his superiors find out
the compromises he has made in order to keep foreign super-heroes happy,
and for them not to take the next flight out of Narita...
-
John Palmer: A golden-brown cocker spaniel, struggling Impressionist
painter and Esmerelda's boyfriend. He and Esmerelda met through a mutual
acquaintance at a Christmas party, and immediately hit it off with her,
finding her to be delightfully charming, witty and intelligent. In turn,
Esmerelda likes him for his consideration, sensitivity, and sense of playful
fun, even though she can't stand his chosen style of artwork - it conflicts
with her obsessive sense of order and drives her crazy! Being a typically
unworldly artistic type, John finds himself in all sorts of scrapes and
dangers, necessitating his rescue on several occasions at the hands of
Super Collie. As a result of this, John secretly has a crush on Super Collie,
but is unaware that she and Esmerelda are in fact the same person.
-
Doctor Cymbeline Lathasar: Egyptologist. This Abyssinian cat was
the assistant to Dr Columbarnus who discovered Daughter Night's tomb, and
barely escaped with her life as a result. Managed to discover the source
of Daughter Night's power, but is unable to tap into that power herself
except in small doses. Currently working at Te Papa as part of the Egyptian
artifacts exhibition, while learning more about Egyptian magics.
-
Agent Tommy Smith and Agent William Jones: Agents of the
United States Department of Super-Hero Affairs. Agents Smith (a tall male
black dog) and Jones (a shorter male white cat) are always impeccably dressed
in black suits and dark sunglasses, and are seldom fazed by anything.
-
"Jato Impala": Trainee American super-hero. "Jato", a young male
Impala, won a contest at MIT to use a rocket-suit that had been developed
as part of an Advanced Science class. However, his inexperience and clumsiness
in using the suit, as well as a tendency to be over-awed in the presence
of beautiful women, doesn't really inspire Super Collie with a lot of confidence.
-
"ZigZag": Female skunk porn film actress and owner of the production
company "Double Z Studios". Instead of the standard skunk patterning of
black fur with white stripes, ZigZag can best be described as a white skunk
with tiger-like black stripes, with a distinctive chevron stripe patterning
on her tail. Smart, sassy, and very attractive, ZigZag is not a lady to
be trifled with. ZigZag is the creation of "Max Blackrabbit", used with
permission.
Bystanders:
-
Captain Wilkes: Commander of the New Zealand SASVS (Special Anti-Super
Villain Squad). A lean and powerful spotted hyena, Wilkes is frequently
in the front line when it comes to dealing with super villians in New Zealand,
but often finds his role is governmental backup for Super Collie. Unlike
his superior Colonel Bathsfield, Captain Wilkes has no particular axe to
grind when it comes to Super Collie; his primary aim is to do a professional
job and resolve the matter at hand even if it means that Super Collie winds
up getting the glory.
-
Thomas (Tom) Braithwaite, and Jeanette (Jean) Braithwaite (nee
Mackenzie): Esmerelda's parents. A typical country couple, Tom
and Jean have retired from the shop they used to run in Albury, and live
in a farm cottage just out of town. These two Sheltie Collies are second
and fourth-generation New Zealanders respectively: Tom's father emigrated
from Wales, while Jean's great-grandparents came from northern Scotland.
Tom and Jean care very deeply for their beloved daughter Esmerelda, and
hope one day to see her settle down with a nice young man and raise a family
(preferably in the country near to them). While they think that Esmerelda's
boyfriend John is 'a nice enough young lad', they feel that Esmerelda could
do better in the choice of a mate as they feel John simply wouldn't be
able to support her when (they assume) they have children. Esmerelda's
parents naturally have no knowledge that their daughter is in fact Super
Collie - but what may be surprising is that they have very little knowledge
about Super Collie's exploits either! To be honest, both have a fairly
insular view of the world, concerns about the running of the local Country
Woman's Institute, parish cake stalls and the next production of the local
Operatic Society forming a bigger part of their lives than events in the
rest of the world. What do they think of Super Collie? "Well, she's
a nice enough girl, but I don't understand why she has to wear such a skimpy
costume - she'll catch her death of cold if she's not careful. And what
about all those young men, mmm? She's leading them on, and that's not right..."
Of course, Esmerelda privately finds this a bit much to swallow sometimes,
but usually the topic of Super Collie is skipped over by her parents in
favour of the next flower show, summer holidays, and "You remember young
Rangi Fletcher from when you were in fifth-form at school? Well, he was
asking after you the other day..."
-
Friday Mackenzie (deceased): The Guardian Shepherd predecessor to
Super Collie, Friday was a worker on a high country sheep-station in South
Canterbury in the mid nineteenth century. Friday, a male Border Collie,
voluntarily emigrated to New Zealand from Scotland as a Guardian Shepherd
to protect the then-new colony from evil outsiders, especially from
a mad Irish Setter named Donaldson who was intent on taking over and turning
the colony into his own personal fiefdom. Friday managed to defeat Donaldson,
but lost his own life due to exposure while returning to the sheep-station
where he worked. Dying before he could properly pass on his legacy, his
spirit lingered for over one hundred years before Esmerelda happened upon
his final resting place...
-
Jaleel "The Ram" Bronson: As his stage name suggests, Jaleel is
a ram porn star working for the New Zealand film company Cinema Perversio.
Formerly a building site worker, Jaleel's main claim to fame in the porn
industry is the impressive dimensions of his manhood. Despite being one
of the top properties of Cinema Perversio, fame hasn't really gone to Jaleel's
head and he remains a fairly likable guy.
-
Frederika "Blitz Knockers" von Braun: A very busty German Shepherdess
and Jaleel's main co-star (and probably his girlfriend as well) at Cinema
Perversio, Frederika emigrated from the town of Bickenbach in southern
Germany to New Zealand with her parents when she was a teenager.
Biography
Esmerelda
Braithwaite is an anthropomorphic Sheltie Collie, and the only daughter
of Thomas and Jeanette Braithwaite. She grew up in the small township of
Albury in the South Island of New Zealand, and for the most part had a
fairly uneventful childhood. Her sense of logic and order, coupled with
a very active personality, enabled her to do well at school, although she
did tend to be a little socially withdrawn from her schoolmates. This was
further exacerbated during her teenage years, as although she was well-liked
by her peers (and was a keen player in the school's girls hockey team)
Esmerelda as a teenager did have a rather plain appearance, which meant
that it was a long time before boys would have anything much to do with
her apart from a casual friendship. Despite these setbacks, Esmerelda was
able to leave school with high marks, and promptly enrolled at a technical
college in the city of Christchurch to study computing (she wanted to go
to university, but her parents, being simple shopkeepers, were unable to
afford to send her to one).
Esmerelda did very well in her studies at technical school, excelling
in all of her work, and after completing her courses she managed to secure
herself a job in a small local Web design company. After a matter of months
though, Esmerelda became bored with her work - it wasn't challenging enough,
and it never seemed to give her enough to do during the day - so she left,
and after a succession of other jobs she finally gained a position of a
beta-software tester at ELB Industries in Wellington. It was a challenging
position, to be sure, and for a while the amount of work satisfied her,
but again it wasn't long before Esmerelda felt the familiar tugs of boredom.
But one day Esmerelda's life changed forever - and mere boredom became
the least of her worries.
While she liked the life in the city, Esmerelda still enjoyed spending
time in the country, especially the near barren, treeless plains and mountains
of the South Island high country near where she was born. It was on one
of her holiday trips to this wilderness, driving along a deserted country
road, that her car suffered a mechanical breakdown, and Esmerelda was forced
to try and find a nearby farmhouse to get assistance. At one point striking
out cross-country, she stumbled across an ancient cave amid the rocks,
tussocks and lupins. Looking for shelter, she entered it, and found an
ancient skeleton clutching a crook. Compelled by some strange force, Esmerelda
picked the crook up - and in a flash of light she is imbued with a strange
unearthly power. What she has discovered is the final resting place of
the last holder of the fabled Mystic Power of the Shepherd, and this long-forgotten
power transforms Esmerelda into Super Collie!
On discovering her new powers - speed, strength, a sonic Super Bark,
not to mention gaining a body that a good number of supermodels would die
for - Esmerelda found herself initially at a loss as to what to do next,
but quickly realised that with careful management she could become a force
for good as well as preserving her own privacy. The latter was the most
important to her, as Esmerelda had no wish for all of her life to be on
public display if she was going to use her new powers to fight evil and
corruption in the world. Plus, she saw no reason to give up her day job
- after all, even Super Collie had to eat - and with her new found abilities
Esmerelda was sure that she had found the solution to productively occupying
her days!
Esmerelda quickly learned the extent and capabilities of her new powers,
after getting her car repaired she returned to life in Wellington. She
covertly set up her workstation at ELB to monitor news and police reports
for signs of trouble where her expertise may be required, and after Super
Collie is involved in exposing and catching several notorious criminals
she became a duly accredited and registered Super Heroine, licensed to
actively assist the authorities in fighting crime. Of course, Esmerelda's
colleagues and friends are totally unaware of her double life as Super
Collie, and after judging the initial publicity surrounding her exploits
as Super Collie, Esmerelda is happy to keep it that way.
But the Mystic Power of the Shepherd has changed Esmerelda in other
ways, even when she is not being Super Collie. She has more confidence
in herself, feels fulfilled in her life, and has recently fallen in love
with John, a struggling impressionist painter who she cares for very much.
In addition, the formerly rather dowdy-looking Esmerelda has been transformed
into a very attractive woman, a fact which is not lost on her work colleagues,
as among other things several of the programmers at ELB now deliberately
put bugs in their code so they'll have more opportunities to meet her (she
suspects, but has never been able to prove it). Surprisingly, Esmerelda
never really noticed the change in behaviour of people around her in her
workplace, and is largely oblivious to the new effect she now has on other
people.
It is with her boyfriend John that Esmerelda feels the most conflict
regarding her super powers and covert crime-fighting. On one hand, she
would dearly love to share the fact that she is Super Collie with him as
sometimes she feels she needs someone to talk to about it, but on the other
hand the fewer people know of her double life, the better she feels. Esmerelda
has kept her secret well, but she feels guilty about holding back such
an important part of her life from John.
Standing for truth, justice, and the absence of flystrike!
Super Collie's Staff and the Mystic Power of the Shepherd
"It's not about the staff," Cymbeline said. "I mean, the staff
is a symbol of your power but not the power itself. The staff is- is a
point of focus you use to call the spirit into yourself." - "Dark Designs"
Perhaps one of the most important things about Super Collie and her
powers is her Shepherd's Staff. Not only it is a weapon in its own right,
but it - and the pendant that is its alternate form - is the focal point
of Super Collie's transformation. Without the pendant, Esmerelda effectively
cannot transform into Super Collie, and without the staff Super Collie
cannot revert to being Esmerelda. (Theoretically, it is possible for Esmerelda
to transform into Super Collie and vice-versa without the staff or pendant,
but it would be extremely difficult and require complete and uninterrupted
concentration for several minutes - which, given a super hero's life, is
not exactly practical.)
The staff does have some protections against either being lost or being
misused by others though. In its pendant form, when being worn by Esmerelda
- which is more or less constantly - it can only be removed by conscious
will of Esmerelda herself, and cannot be removed by anyone else. If someone
did try to forcibly remove it, they would find that no matter how hard
they tried they could not break it or pull it off over her head without
her active consent. While the staff in its natural form can (and often
is) separated from Super Collie's person, mere posession of it does not
automatically confer Super Collie's powers to that person, and for that
person it loses its other fighting qualities such as its ability to extend
upon mental command. If the staff does become separated from Super Collie,
she can sense its location through the Power of the Shepherd, and she can
quickly locate it again.
The only way that someone can receive the Mystic Power of the Shepherd
is to have it transferred to that person by the consenting holder of that
power. In other words, Super Collie would have to consciously give
that power to someone else - and once she does so, the person who she gave
it to is now posesses those powers instead. Super Collie would revert to
being plain ordinary Esmerelda, and the only way she could get the powers
back would be for that person to freely return them to her in the same
manner.
Giving of the Mystic Power of the Shepherd to another is the way that
previous Guardian Shepherds (the past equivalents of Super Collie) passed
on their powers from generation to generation. Esmerelda, however, did
not receive the Power in this manner, which raises the question: how did
the Power become transferred to her? The answer is that when Friday Mackenzie,
the previous Guardian Shepherd, passed on in the cave, he died in his
Guardian Shepherd state - in other words, in his incarnation of a Guardian
Shepherd rather than his ordinary self. When Esmerelda found what remained
of Friday's body - as well as his staff - his power had essentially been
circulating around the cairn in what could be termed an 'ungrounded' state,
and when Esmerelda took hold of the staff the Power was able to enter her.
This was made easier by the presence of Friday's spirit (as well as those
of the other Guardian Shepherds) who had finally found the combination
of need and suitable person for a new Guardian Shepherd to arise.
Return to the Welcome page!
Copyright 1999, 2001 Terry Knight and John Plunkett.
Last Updated November 2001
For more information contact: Terry Knight