WIP Focus: Hyperion by Hyperion76

As some of you may remember, Hyperion76's Mugen Madness representative, Savage Hulk, did pretty well. Because of his finishing 2^nd, part of the prize that was won, was the ability to select a future piece of content to be written by me for Favorite Fiction Blog. Obviously, since he was a creator himself, he chose his current WIP Hyperion. Ironically, I was already extremely interested in his progress, so odds are even if he did not win, I would have written an article on him anyway.

1) So how did you decide upon bringing Hyperion to Mugen?

Well, I've been a huge fan of Mark Gruenwald's Squadron Supreme since I was a kid. So naturally after discovering Mugen, I wanted to bring some of my favorite characters to video life as it were. I mean Hyperion, Power Princess, Dr. Spectrum, these aren't going to be in Capcom's next big game. But that's the great thing about Mugen.

2) Please share your thoughts about his general comic back history and about the character in general.

Now that's interesting. See there are no less than four different versions of Hyperion in the comics. There's Gruenwald's classic version, King Hyperion from Exiles, Straczynski's in Supreme Power, and the one in the Earth X story line. For this Mugen character, I'll be focusing mainly on the classic one. If you just know him from the occasional Avengers crossover it might be easy to just write him off as another Superman copy. Yet there is much more to the character. In the original 12-part mini-series you see Hyperion struggle with the burden of being the most powerful man in the world, and the consequences of exerting that power.

3) So tell the readers what bases you are using for the character and for the various moves themselves.

At first I'd talked to Hannibal who gave me permission to use his Superman as a base. But then over at Scruffydragon.com it was suggested to use Sagat's upper body and Capt. America's lower body as a base. My initial thought was that Sagat was too big, but after testing out several sprites I found a combo I really liked.

4) I like how it turned out too! How is the progress going on Hyperion?

Real life is taking a lot of my time right now, so I don't really get to spend as much time on him as I'd like. But I figure it's better to take my time than rush out a sub-par character.

5) What has stood out the most during the creation process in a positive manner? What has been giving you the most trouble?

Here's a good example of what I've enjoyed. The other day I was trying to code a move and I just couldn't get the look right. So I was messing with all the different variables, then suddenly it comes together and it works great. It just feels awesome when it goes as envisioned in your mind. As far as trouble, I'd say probably the normal mistakes made with a first character. Like when I realized three series of sprites I'd saved in the wrong format.

6) Since Hyperion is similar in stature to Superman, due you intend to have his powerset to also be similar? And how will you differentiate those things with his Mugen capabilities?

Yes there will be some similar powers, like flight and flash vision (Hyperion's version of heat vision). But I think throughout the comics Hyperion has evolved into a more physical fighter

than Superman, and I hope to show that in this character.

7) You have been quoted, as saying he moves will be of a more brutal nature. Can you please elaborate on that comment?

I'm glad you asked that. Some seem to have taken from this remark that I would be making him in a MK style. So to make it clear, no t

here's not going to be blood flying everywhere. To me a brutal character is more like Wolverine, Zangief, or Bison. Hyperion will have distance attacks. But in general he'll be more in your face, hitting his opponent with swarms of close attacks. (editor's note: Hyperion76 has recently been quoted as saying he will have some of the stronger basics in regards to effects in all of M

ugen, taking some inspiration from Acey's recent Incredible Hulk release.)

8) Do you have any special plans in regards to intros/exits with any other characters?

In my opinion intros breath life into a character, and help define their personality. So yes I have a few intros in mind. I'd like to do one for Gladiator a

s well as several DC characters. But intros, exits, and taunts will probably be the last things I do.

9) Is there anything else about the character that we have not covered that you would like to share?

Just keep an eye out at CVGUnited.com for further updates.

10) So what are your general thoughts on beta releases? Can you give a possible timetable on a beta to release and/or a goal for the full release?

Personally not a fan of early betas. I mean, I like seeing a characters progress too, but my internet download is limited, so characters with large chunks missing aren't worth it. Like I said above, progress is slow, so a release is still a while down the line. But I'm determined it'll be worth it.

I'm sure he will be! If you would like to follow the further progress of this character, you can do so at:

http://cvgunited.com/index.php/topic,24.0.html

If you'd like to know more about the character in general, go to:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperion_(comics)

Hyperion is a central figure in the recently announced CVGUnited.com project, Crisis in the Mugen Multiverse, which can be read about here:

http://cvgunited.com/index.php/topic,328.0.html

Hyperion personality will be a little more similar to this version of him from the comics for that storyline, but with some differences.

http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Mark_Milton_(Earth-4023)