The Undersiders

The Undersiders are first introduced as a team of minor superpowered criminals, all teenagers, carrying out petty thefts and engaging in other thrillseeking behavior. Their in-setting wiki pages are missing details, suggesting that they were considered fairly inconsequential at the time. Only Armsmaster's complaints about the group's elusiveness and continued successes marked them as anything different. It was Armsmaster's commentary and an unexpected meeting with the group that led to Taylor being invited to join. Intending to gather information and turn them in to the authorities, Taylor joins.

Over the course of the story, the Undersiders feature predominantly, and while Taylor/Skitter evolves in the public eye, the Undersiders also come to a position of some prominence.

Founding & Members

The Undersiders were gathered together by Coil through a combination of subtle pressure and bribery. Their then-anonymous benefactor offered a monthly allowance contingent on them remaining together as a group, as well as individual enticements for several members of the group. Grue was offered falsified records to suggest a position at a company owned by their employer to increase his chances of gaining custody of his sister. Bitch received properties and supplies to host her collection of strays.

As of the team's founding, the team consisted of Grue, the unofficial leader, Tattletale, Bitch and Regent. The bonus interlude in the Extermination arc offers a flashback of the first meeting of the newly founded group from Tattletale's perspective.

Skitter would later join in the Insinuation arc, roughly one year after the group was formed. Imp would join offscreen between the Extermination and Parasite arcs (Arcs 8 and 10) after the aftermath of the Endbringer attack triggered her powers. Circus, Spitfire and Panacea have been offered positions on the team at various points, but each refused for their own reasons.

The Patron

It was revealed during the Tangle arc that Coil was the one sponsoring the Undersiders. In addition, in the last chapter of Extermination, Tattletale revealed that some of the group's adventures were influenced by his power.

Coil seeks to control the city, and viewed the formation of the Undersiders as a win-win scenario, where their failure would remove some of the local parahumans from the area while their success would advance his goals.

Ideology

The Undersiders don't have a shared ideology, but their actions do fall into a general set of broad rules and goals - they don't kill, they avoid hurting non-capes, though they will if said individuals get in the way, for lack of a better phrase, and they do seek money and status in the local 'cape' scene. The individual reasons and the value any Undersider places on these respective ideas varies.

Bitch places little value on the well being of anyone outside her group, but a high priority on status, and she's driven potential members away from the group in the interest of keeping a larger share of the group's gains (one could argue this has more to do with territory than the value in wealth itself). Grue's only serious concern in status or prestige as a villain is in the protection it affords, in that it can give potential enemies reason to hesitate before attacking. He would prefer not to harm bystanders (if largely to avoid making enemies) and places a high value on income.

By contrast, Skitter would (and has) put herself at great risk to save bystandersT, and values status, but has repeatedly commented that the money is not a major concern for her. This may have changed as she began taking care of her territory and hiring employees.