Mouse Protector
| “ | Some heroes specialize in that. Mouse Protector was an early one that I think stuck in people’s memories. Ruining perfect records, humiliating villains, knocking them down a peg. Making their reputation the thing that gets hurt. She was a good one. | ” |
| {{#if:Victoria to Aroa Vasil| —Victoria to Aroa Vasil{{#if:Blinding 11.6|, Blinding 11.6}} }}}} | ||
<infobox> <title source="name"><default>Mouse Protector</default></title>
<image source="Image"></image> <image source="image"></image> <group><header>Basic Information</header> <label>Civilian Name</label> <label>Aliases</label> <label>Gender</label><default>Unknown</default> <label>Death</label> <label>Age</label><default>Unknown</default> <label>Post-timeskip</label> <label>Ward start</label> <label>Relations</label> <label>Family</label></group> <group><header>Professional Status</header> <label>Occupation</label> <label>Classification</label> <label>Unique Features</label> <label>Alignment</label>
<label>Status</label><format><label>Location</label> <label>Teams</label> <label>Previous Team(s)</label> <label>Base of Operations</label></group> <group><header>First Appearance</header> <label>Worm Debut</label> <label>Ward Debut</label></group> </infobox> Mouse Protector was an independent hero and former Inaugural Ward. She was fused with Ravager to create Murder Rat.<ref name="11H">She felt Murder Rat’s biology snap into her consciousness, until she could see every cell, every fluid, every part of the woman. The two women. - Excerpt from interlude 11h</ref>
Personality[edit]
As a child, she was loud, outgoing, and oblivious to the feelings of others. She acted silly in situations that didn't call for it and could be quite vulgar at times. Additionally, she wasn't impressed by authority and was irreverent when she was told what to do.<ref name="I24 e2" />
Later in life as an independent superhero, she made her mark by playing up her superhero persona, making cheesy puns and acting dorky when fighting villains, which made her opponents' defeats at her hands all the more embarrassing.<ref name=":0" /> She enjoyed starting drama, which drove her needling personality in costume.<ref name="SB1">A Mouse Protector who's wired to find conflict addictive starts some drama. - Wildbow on SpaceBattles</ref>
Appearance[edit]
During the first meeting of the Inaugural Wards, Mouse Protector carried a sword and shield and wore a homemade helmet adorned with mouse ears. The helmet was impractical and obscured peripheral vision.<ref name="I24x e1">At the far end of the scale, opposite the two professional, serious looking young heroes, there was a girl with a shield and sword. Her helmet sat on the table beside her, a homemade piece of equipment with ridiculous mouse ears at the sides. It wasn’t a great helmet either; it didn’t offer enough peripheral vision, was more decorative than protective. She stood off to one side, but two others had gathered near her. She was grinning, the one who’d stood out from the rest with her over the top welcome.
And the images, the glimmers, they showed the mouse-ears girl laughing. For her companions, there was a strange writing system patterned on one boy’s skin, and the other boy swirled with a smoke that wasn’t there. - Excerpt from Interlude 24.x</ref>
It is unknown what her costume looked like as an adult.
Abilities and Powers[edit]
Mouse Protector was a Grab-Bag Cape<ref name="26.3">She was a composite of two ‘kitchen sink’ capes. Mouse Protector and Ravager. Two primary powers that had blended into the one, a dozen other minor powers. Flexibility, a bizarre kind of enhanced strength, reflexes and agility that had peaks and valleys, and skin as tough as leather. - Excerpt from Sting 26.3</ref> who could mark objects and people via touch and teleport to them whenever she wanted. She used this ability to harass her opponents, both physically and verbally, using her teleportation to make escape impossible.<ref name="SB3">Prim-the-Amazing said:
What was Mouse Protector's power, before she was transformed into Murder Rat?
Wildbow said:
Multiple minor powers, including enhanced agility and stamina, as well as a teleportation power where she could mark a target via. touch and then teleport to them at whim.
In execution, an agile opponent who could harass her opponents mercilessly, verbally and physically, where escape was impossible. - Comment by Wildbow archived on SpaceBattles</ref>
Mouse Protector also had several minor powers that enhanced her agility, coordination, and stamina.<ref name="SB3" /><ref name="List">Mouse Protector Could teleport to tagged people or objects. Had lesser powers including increased coordination and agility - Parahuman List, bolded edit by Wildbow.</ref>
History[edit]
Background[edit]
Mouse Protector was an Inaugural Ward, being present during their first meeting. She was excited to become a hero and was flippant when warned of the dangers of being one.<ref name="I24 e2">“I think we all know what you’re saying,” Hero answered. “You’ve made arguments about what you want the team to be, your desire to be taken seriously.”
Chevalier watched the exchange carefully. His eyes fell on the figure behind Hero, and he tried to focus his attention on it. It moved with glacial slowness, a four-legged creature with legs so long that the ‘window’ around Hero didn’t even show its main body. Finger-like appendages at the base of each leg carved diagrams and ideas into the ‘soil’ beneath as it walked.
“We’ve got the serious part down,” the girl with the mouse ears said. She drew her sword, thrusting it into the air, “Huzzah!”
“So bogus,” was the mumbled response. “As if her group has the majority.”
“I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” Hero said. “A lot of you have been through a lot, and some of you have only just stopped. Stopped running, stopped fighting, stopped dealing with a long series of crises.”
Hero’s eyes briefly fell on Chevalier. Chevalier lowered his eyes to the floor.
“The important thing to remember,” Hero said, “is that you’ve got time. You have time to figure out who you want to become, time to figure out what this team will become, time to breathe. To be kids again.”
Hero paused, glancing over the room. He sighed. “And you have zero interest in that, I’m sure. You’re in a hurry to grow up, to be heroes.”
“You’d better believe it, boss,” the mouse girl said.
“Just be careful,” Legend said, as he strode into the room. He was accompanied by Eidolon and Alexandria. “This is about training, not thrusting you into the midst of trouble.”
“That comes later,” the mouse girl said.
“If you decide you want it,” Legend answered. - Excerpt from Interlude 24.x</ref> She made a bad impression with Chevalier, acting overly forward and making vulgar remarks about him and Miss Militia.<ref>“I’m curious why you sat next to Hannah,” Hero commented, as he served himself some cake.
Chevalier glanced at the girl with the weapons. He felt uncomfortable, “People are making it a bigger deal than it is. It was just me sitting down. I didn’t put much thought into it.”
“Maybe,” Hero said. He laid a hand on Chevalier’s shoulder. “But it’s good that you did. She could use a friend. Might make a world of difference, in the long run.”
Chevalier shrugged, stepping up to the tray and placing a slice of cake on each plate.
“We’re all ignoring the obvious reason,” the girl with the mouse ears said, getting in Chevalier’s way as she reached for a plastic fork. “He thinks she’s hot. He wants the poontang.”
Hero cleared his throat in a very deliberate way.
“Don’t be juvenile,” the leaf-boy told her, from the front of the line.
Chevalier shifted awkwardly. The girl with the mouse ears was in his way, and he couldn’t move down the table to get a drink. She wouldn’t budge until this was resolved.
“I got the vibe she and I are similar,” Chevalier said. It was honest. The images he’d seen, of the girl…
And it was apparently the wrong thing to say, because mouse-ears was only more insistent, now. She smiled, cooing the word, “Similar?”
“You didn’t figure it out yet? Chevalier’s the vigilante that went after the Snatchers,” the leaf-boy said.
Hero turned around, and his voice was a little hard, “Reed. That’s not your story to share.”
“It’s okay,” Chevalier said. “They’d find out eventually.”
Mouse-girl looked confused. “The Snatchers? Are they supervillains?”
“No,” Chevalier said. He used the distraction to push past her and get to the area where the two-liter bottles of soda were lined up. He poured the drinks for himself and Hannah. “They were ordinary people. Bad people, but ordinary. Except maybe the leader.”
“Maybe?” Mouse girl asked.
“I didn’t give him a chance to show me.”
Her eyes widened.
Chevalier felt strangely calm as he spoke, “Not like that. Alexandria caught up with me at the very end. When I was trying to decide what I’d do with him. She told me she’d stand by and let me kill the guy, if I really had to, but I’d go to jail afterwards. That, or I could come with her. Come here.”
Hero frowned, glancing at Alexandria, who had gathered at one corner of the room with Eidolon and Legend. They were looking at the kids, talking, smiling. “I’m glad you made the right choice.”
Chevalier shrugged. I’m not sure I did.
He was still angry. Still hurt. His little brother’s absence was still a void in his life.
“Maybe now you can stop asking questions,” Reed told the mouse girl.
“Never!”
Reed sighed.
“Everyone has their baggage,” Hero said. “Sometimes it’s in the past, sometimes it’s in the present, other times it’s fears for the future. But this is a fresh start, understand? I’m pretty mellow, believe it or not, but I’m going to be upset if I hear that anyone’s holding any of that stuff against a teammate, or if you’re letting it hold you back. Understand? This is a second chance for everyone. You’re here to support one another.”
There were silent nods from Chevalier, Reed and the mouse girl. - Excerpt from Interlude 24.x</ref>
She eventually left the Wards, becoming an independent hero.<ref name="SB2"> ughzubat: Mouse Protector's is, yeah. Homemade-looking
Wildbow: *was
Wildbow: Then she was Ward for a while
Wildbow: Then independent
dragonkid11: WAIT
dragonkid11: INDEPENDENMT!?
dragonkid11: SHE QUIT!? - IRC conversation archived on Spacebatles</ref> She specialized in ruining the reputations of villains, humiliating them with her campy behavior and tarnishing their perfect records. She was an early and well known example of such a strategy.<ref name="II11.6 e1">“Why not make him fuck up?” Aroa asked.
“Because not everyone can make people do things, hon,” Chastity said. “We’re kind of unique because most of us can do that.”
“Some heroes specialize in that,” I told Aroa. “Mouse Protector was an early one that I think stuck in people’s memories. Ruining perfect records, humiliating villains, knocking them down a peg. Making their reputation the thing that gets hurt. She was a good one.” - Excerpt from Blinding 11.6</ref>
Later, a villain named Ravager decided that she'd had enough of Mouse Protector and hired the Slaughterhouse Nine to kill her. The Slaughterhouse Nine defeated Mouse Protector and collected her, then tracked down Ravager and collected her as well, just to make it clear that they didn't take orders. The two were then operated on by Bonesaw, who fused Mouse Protector and Ravager together into a gestalt being that Bonesaw dubbed as Murder Rat.<ref name=":0">“Murder Rat used to be a heroine, called herself the Mouse Protector. One of those capes who plays up the cheese, no pun intended. Camped it up, acted dorky, used bad puns, so her enemies would be embarrassed to lose to her. Ravager decided she’d had enough, asked the Nine to take Mouse Protector down. So we took the job. Beat Mouse Protector, and I took her to the operating table. The other Nine tracked down Ravager and collected her, too. Just to make it clear that we don’t take orders. We aren’t errand boys or errand girls either. Now Ravager gets to spend the rest of her life with the woman she hated, making up.” - Excerpt from Interlude 11h</ref>
Post-Leviathan[edit]
Murder Rat, and by proxy Mouse Protector, was mercy killed by Flashbang during Bonesaw's test for Panacea.<ref>“Okay.” Mark walked over to Murder Rat and adjusted her position against the wall until she was more horizontal, almost lying down. He crossed her claws over her chest, and then formed an orb of light the size of a tennis ball.
“Rest in peace, Mouse Protector,” he said. He placed the orb of light in the gap where two claws crossed one another, just over her heart, then stepped away.
There was a small explosion and a spray of blood. - Excerpt from Interlude 11h</ref>
Post-Timeskip[edit]
Several clones of Murder Rat were created as part of the Slaughterhouse Nine-Thousand. They were all presumably killed.
Character Appearances[edit]
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Fanart Gallery[edit]
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Illustration by XeroKey on DeviantArt -
Illustration by JediqueerArt on DeviantArt -
Illustration by Uberpigeon on Reddit
Trivia[edit]
- Despite popular belief, Wildbow confirms that Ravager and Mouse Protector are not part of the same cluster.<ref name="notcluster">Broadcast: wasn't Mouse Protector and Ravager a two cluster
Justiego: We don't even technically know if they were a cluster
Wildbow: They weren't
Justiego: They were, I believed it was mentioned and they are on the cluster page
Oh fuck really
Wildbow: Unless my memory fails me - Conversation with Wildbow on Discord</ref>
References[edit]
<references/>
[edit]
| Subway Cluster | Flechette • March {{#switch: deceased | deceased=† | noncanon=≠ | former=‡ | unknown=* | #DEFAULT=
}} • Homer {{#switch: deceased |
deceased=† | noncanon=≠ | former=‡ | unknown=* | #DEFAULT=
}} | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mall Cluster | Snag {{#switch: deceased | deceased=† | noncanon=≠ | former=‡ | unknown=* | #DEFAULT= | deceased=† | noncanon=≠ | former=‡ | unknown=* | #DEFAULT= | ||||||||||
| Smugglers Cluster | Goddess {{#switch: deceased | deceased=† | noncanon=≠ | former=‡ | unknown=* | #DEFAULT=
}} • Tori Heflin {{#switch: deceased |
deceased=† | noncanon=≠ | former=‡ | unknown=* | #DEFAULT=
}} • Megan • Jace {{#switch: deceased |
deceased=† | noncanon=≠ | former=‡ | unknown=* | #DEFAULT=
}} • Ysmine • Bill {{#switch: deceased |
deceased=† | noncanon=≠ | former=‡ | unknown=* | #DEFAULT=
}} |
| The Stable | Oxfair • Ramfair • Foulcock • Foulpig | ||||||||||||||||||||
| The Graeae | Dino • Enyo • Pephredo | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Unknown Clusters | Circus • Grace • Hoyden • Ixnay • Jotun • Mouse Protector {{#switch: deceased | deceased=† | noncanon=≠ | former=‡ | unknown=* | #DEFAULT= | deceased=† | noncanon=≠ | former=‡ | unknown=* | #DEFAULT=
}} • Watch | ||||||||||
| Anchorage | Auroch • Feint • Roulette • Vellum | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austin | Hoyden | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Baltimore | Houndstooth • Avenguard • Avian • Stungun • Keychain • Blush • 10-59 • Pigeonhole • Optics {{#switch: former | deceased=† | noncanon=≠ | former=‡ | unknown=* | #DEFAULT=
}} | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boston | Hunch • Reynard • Roulette {{#switch: former | deceased=† | noncanon=≠ | former=‡ | unknown=* | #DEFAULT=
}} • Weld {{#switch: former |
deceased=† | noncanon=≠ | former=‡ | unknown=* | #DEFAULT=
}} | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Brockton Bay | Aegis {{#switch: deceased | deceased=† | noncanon=≠ | former=‡ | unknown=* | #DEFAULT= | deceased=† | noncanon=≠ | former=‡ | unknown=* | #DEFAULT=
}} • Chariot • Clockblocker {{#switch: deceased |
deceased=† | noncanon=≠ | former=‡ | unknown=* | #DEFAULT= | deceased=† | noncanon=≠ | former=‡ | unknown=* | #DEFAULT=
}} • Gallant {{#switch: deceased |
deceased=† | noncanon=≠ | former=‡ | unknown=* | #DEFAULT=
}} • Glory Girl {{#switch: former |
deceased=† | noncanon=≠ | former=‡ | unknown=* | #DEFAULT=
}} • Kid Win {{#switch: deceased |
deceased=† | noncanon=≠ | former=‡ | unknown=* | #DEFAULT=
}} • Shadow Stalker {{#switch: former |
deceased=† | noncanon=≠ | former=‡ | unknown=* | #DEFAULT= |
| Chicago | Annex • Bearach • Cuff • Garnett • Golem • Grace • Raymancer {{#switch: deceased | deceased=† | noncanon=≠ | former=‡ | unknown=* | #DEFAULT= | deceased=† | noncanon=≠ | former=‡ | unknown=* | #DEFAULT=
}} | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Houston | Gentle Giant {{#switch: former | deceased=† | noncanon=≠ | former=‡ | unknown=* | #DEFAULT=
}} • Chronicler • Young Buck | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Los Angeles | Arbiter • Auroch • Flambé • Leister • Vantage | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New York | Flechette {{#switch: former | deceased=† | noncanon=≠ | former=‡ | unknown=* | #DEFAULT=
}} • Jouster • Shelter | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Raleigh | Cask {{#switch: former | deceased=† | noncanon=≠ | former=‡ | unknown=* | #DEFAULT=
}} | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| San Diego | Gully {{#switch: former | deceased=† | noncanon=≠ | former=‡ | unknown=* | #DEFAULT=
}} • Scapegoat | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| San Francisco | Trapper {{#switch: former | deceased=† | noncanon=≠ | former=‡ | unknown=* | #DEFAULT=
}} | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas | Chronicler • Intrepid • Strapping Lad • Young Buck | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Unknown Location | Eviction • Fisherboy • Greenhorn • Hype • Sunflower | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Inaugural Wards Team | Chevalier {{#switch: former | deceased=† | noncanon=≠ | former=‡ | unknown=* | #DEFAULT=
}} • Miss Militia {{#switch: former |
deceased=† | noncanon=≠ | former=‡ | unknown=* | #DEFAULT=
}} • Mouse Protector {{#switch: former |
deceased=† | noncanon=≠ | former=‡ | unknown=* | #DEFAULT=
}} • Reed {{#switch: former |
deceased=† | noncanon=≠ | former=‡ | unknown=* | #DEFAULT=
}} | ||||||||||||||||||||