The Assassins' Pantheon
This was an international association of killers for hire, each of whom used a different mythological motif or code name. It is thought that Hunter was part of this organization under the guise of the Master of the Hunt, but if so he never did anything to evidence that. The other members are too numerous to list, and were very seldom variants, merely trained humans with some variant technology and the hope that having a code name and motif would make them more attractive as killers for hire in a world of similar costumed people. The success of this move was debatable, and the Assassins' Pantheon was believed broken up in 1985, though its remnants might been absorbed by the Shadow Conglomerate.

Countdown
A minor threat to Ground Zero, this was a small group of variant criminals of disparate backgrounds and moderate power. Their apparent leader was Tenor, a man with a variety of sound control gadgets to rival Feedback in London (Impulse theorized that their technology is related). The other members of the team were the Ice Princess and Travice Bloodaxe (a minor mage and her 'barbarian' bodyguard—she claimed to be a former apprentice of Traveler), White Dwarf (who later left to join Carnival) and Gorgon (a variant youth with energy-projecting eyes). Tenor claimed to have some major plan, but the fractious nature of his team constantly led him into pointless and unwinnable battles with Ground Zero. They first appeared after the Plovian Invasion, and were disbanded/captured in early '86.

Giabaldi, Anthony
The aging leader of the Giabaldi Mafia family, Anthony Giabaldi was a criminal power across New England. He took limited stock in the idea of using variants as agents, finding them unpredictable in the long run and preferring mercenaries for specific assignments. When Ground Zero appeared he was already an embattled monarch, being threatened by the uncontrolled gangs and Sidari influences. After Wildcard made it his personal mission to destroy the Giabaldi family, Anthony hired Spyder and Hunter to deal with the problem, spending a fortune for top of the line talent that didnšt save him. Giabaldi was found dead in his home in October 1986—already under indictment for his criminal activities, he was believed a victim of the Concussion murders. His son took over the shattered organization, but is incompetent.

Hunter
Elijah Trevor was, or perhaps is, the world's greatest paid assassin. His variant abilities include limited shape-shifting to mimic anyone in his line of sight, telepathic invisibility, and instinctive weakness detection. He was hired by Anthony Giabaldi to assassinate Wildcard, and spent two years launching assaults against the vigilante, each time barely missing his target. When the two had their final battle, Trevor fell to his apparent death off the Prest Towers in Harborview, but no body was ever recovered. He was enough of a fanatic about his reputation and abilities that he might have continued the attacks later, but Wildcard died shortly thereafter in the Daemonwar. If Hunter is still alive, his whereabouts are unknown. In addition to his powers, he was an expert with all weapons and a skilled unarmed combatant.

It
Originally It was Dennis Spinozo, leader of the Harborview gang that first allied with the Sidari. When Rapidfire broke up that alliance, the Sidari took Spinozo and used him as their first attempt at manipulating human genetics. The result was a superhumanly strong unkillable mindless creature that generated the energy it needed to survive and released the excess as light. The Sidari quickly lost control of It, and It rampaged through Harborview several times. Split Second trapped It in orbit in late 1985, where it remains, perhaps still alive.

The Nicotines
A national-scale gang organization, the Nicotines began in New York and have radiated outward from there, using tactics similar to the California based gangs like the Bloods and Crips. The Nicotines tried in the early '80s to establish a strong foothold in Harborview, but were repulsed by various events: Ground Zero, betrayal by their supposed allies (the Sidari), the Giabaldi Mafia and the various Skull gangs under Death's leadership. The Nicotines very nature as a gang organization made them a prime target for Ground Zero even if they weren't in Harborview, as the variant team often concentrated on gang violence when not working on larger cases.

Sabertooth & Gila
This pair of monstrosities haunted the city of Harborview for years, striking from the shadows and leaving a string of corpses in their wake. While both appeared to be human female variants, they were utterly animalistic; cunning and highly intuitive, neither showed any long term reasoning or communication skills. Gila had a reptilian appearance, Sabertooth a feline one. Both were armed with natural weaponry, possessed superhuman speed and durability, and drained the life force of their victims; the more they had killed recently, the stronger they became. They operated in the tunnels under Harborview, venturing out a night. Ground Zero managed to corner and kill Gila in late 1981, but Sabertooth lived until the Daemonwar. Their origins were unknown, but genetic manipulation or magical origins have both been advanced.

The Sidari
While these beings undoubtedly deserve a longer entry, there is too little information available for us to even make reliable guesses. They are believed to be extraterrestrial—most likely of the same race that produced Split Second, though the Sidari are silver in appearance as opposed to Split Second's golden skin. They operate across all of New England, and are most likely telepath/teleporters of some scale. They have access to highly advanced bio-technology, and are assumed to have created the monstrous It, as well as other, more controlled, variant beings. They were persistent behind the scenes foes of Ground Zero, but were very seldom seen in person. Their current whereabouts and activities are unknown.

The Shadow Conglomerate
Led by the mysterious figure known as Jack of Shadows (or Shadowjack), the Shadow Conglomerate is a secretive criminal organization that acts as a middleman for villains of all types. They provide trained henchmen, combat training for would-be variant criminals, technology upgrades, construction of secret bases—you name it, as long as it isn't murder. They'll act as a go-between to put people in touch with assassins, but they don't employ them. Consider it business ethics. The Shadow Conglomerate might or might not be part of an even larger criminal organization, but Ground Zero's best efforts uncovered a miasma of false trains. It is thought that the vigilante Concussion killed Shadowjack in 1986.

Spyder
Spyder's origins are unknown (see Host Campaign), but he first surfaced fighting the Host in Los Angles in 1980. In 1982 he arrived in Harborview acting as an enforcer and assassin for the Giabaldi family. A delta level variant, Spyder's reflexes approached and possibly equaled those of Split Second, his strength exceeded Wildcard's and possibly approached Black Flag's, and his variance-enhanced martial arts skills equaled Black Dragon's. He was able to engage and equal Ground Zero on several occasions, was never incarcerated, and suffered only one true defeat when Wildcard rigged the field of battle to his best advantage (and even then Spyder escaped). His whereabouts are unknown after the death of Anthony Giabaldi. [Note: his name and abilities are based on the character in FGU's Most Wanted volume I]

Traveler
One of Ground Zero's few mystical foes who was not associated with the Coven, Traveler is an enchanter who possesses magically increased charm and the ability to control any primate, from monkeys to humans (though total dominance of humans is much harder to achieve). He is also somehow magically bound to his 'pet silverback gorilla; not only does the beast follow him everywhere, but Traveler somehow shares the animal's strength and resilience. Traveler claims to be from the other dimensional world of Shandamir (perhaps the origin of the Shandamirian mythology prevalent in modern fantasy) and is able to return to that dimension with his ape, vanishing in a flash of light. He also claims to be royalty, leading a resistance against the Shandamirian monarchy, and a leader of vast armies. He may also just be crazy.

Toxyn
A walking sentient pile of chemicals, Toxyn was a brilliant biochemist working for the Giabaldi Mafia family before an accident that replaced his body with a protoplasmic pharmacopoeia. After that, Toxyn worked for Giabaldi briefly before striking out on his own. His goal was the development of new and better addictive chemicals, each providing some degree of variance in the imbiber, so that he might produce a variant army under his control. It was one of these experiments that produced the variants who eventually became the Skull Legion, and another that created Black Flag. Toxyn's body was repulsive to sight and touch, but could slide through cracks or compress itself down to a foot square. He could produce any chemical substance he knew from his skin, from antibiotics to lethal poisons.

White America
This white supremacist group and its agents—usually Genocide or the Dead Man's Hand—made several incursions into Harborview for various reasons, and had a variety of other encounters with Ground Zero across the United States. Genocide died in the Plovian Invasion, but Dead Man's Hand continued to menace Ground Zero until the Daemonwar. White America is a large if disorganized group, and have a lot of people, if not a lot of resources. They have been actively cannibalizing Plovian technology for new weapons, and have several potent variant scientists working for them. They are very much still active today.

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