Dr. Robert Alan 'Bob' Hawkins / Starforce

Taken in Stockholm during Nobel Week,
December 1991

The Clown Prince of the Keyboard. Co-winner of the 1991 Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of the Magnetic Monopole. The Son of Doctor Destroyer.

• Adaptive Armor: An interesting subversion in that it's his *forcefield* that's adaptive, not the entire battlesuit. If he knows what to expect -- and has the time to reallocate his forcefield to compensate for it -- Starforce can shrug off damage which would kill anyone else on TASK FORCE.
• Badass Arm-Fold: One of his standard poses
• Beware The Silly Ones: Giant kaiju threatening the Central Business District? Riff effortlessly from the Killer Rabbit scene of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Master supervillain converting a giant particle accelerator into a cannon which will leave a giant smouldering hole in the middle of Texas instead of attacking the friendly alien spacecraft in orbit? Insult his (lack of) engineering skills after casually locating and destroying the fuse box. Drown the object of his unrequited love? Pray that his teammates can restrain him, because he WILL destroy you *and* your city if they can't.
• Blazing Inferno Hellfire Sauce: His specialty dish in the kitchen is his chili, which Julie describes in 'Fields of Saguenay' as being two thumbs up... before the screaming starts.
• Boldly Coming: with Nebula in 'The Paradox of Doctor Destroyer'. The conversation between them, Julie, and Vikon the morning after has to be read to be believed.
  • he admits to Aida Lerner in 'Piranharecho' that it was a moment of weakness on both their parts
  • also, he's still living down the reputation *years* later in-universe...
• Busman's Holiday: Pretty much describes the following stories, in which he ends up doing something heroic in a situation that for him started out as perfectly unremarkable:
  • "Heart of Darkness"
  • "Crowns of Krim"
  • "Extinction Event"
  • "Nobel Week"
  • "What Happens in Vegas..."
  • "Mechanon, Inc."
• Chick Magnet: We see a hint of this in 'The Evil of Doctor Destroyer' when Ted, Julie, and the CEO of Sequoyah Holographic are amazed at the speed with which Bob and Natalie Morales hit it off.
  • The speed with which Bob and Aida Lerner hit it off at the beginning of 'Piranharecho' is nothing short of breath-taking. In Aida's defense, she was using Bob to set up a meeting with the rest of TASK FORCE
• Child Genius: Invented the field of Holographic Computing while *still* *in* *Junior* *High*.
  • Word of God says he started at Purdue University at age 16, having tested out of THREE YEARS of its Honors Physics undergraduate curriculium.
• Clue, Evidence, and a Smoking Gun: He enjoys pulling this on people:
  • This sequence in 'The Paradox of Doctor Destroyer' when Bob is reviewing Lady Blue's folder of research on Die Glocke

    (Bob finishes ruffling through the folder, flipping the last page of information back and forth a few times)
    Starforce (beat, then to Julie): "Tara didn't happen to mention WHERE our military had stashed Die Glocke, did she?"
    Ladyhawk: "Wait, HOW did you know she saw me?"
    Starforce: "Ted takes his lunch at his desk, you require fresh air and sunshine during your lunch, *and* you're easier for her to beat one-on-one in a fight should it have come to that." (beat) "Also, you just admitted it to my face."

  • He inverts the order of evidence presentation to Aida in the opening scene in 'Piranharecho'

    Ha'Pele: "For someone you believe to be out of your league, you think of Julie Dormyer quite a bit."
    Starforce: "I'm pretty sure MOSSAD is not paying you to psychoanalyze my love life. Or lack of it thereof."
    Ha'Pele (beat): "How did you know?"
    Starforce: "Other than by tricking you to admit it to me right now?" (beat) "The most recent PRIMUS Superhuman Survey reported that Menton came in second-best against an Israeli psionic last year. Said psionic was female and working with a MOSSAD special ops team."

• Comedic Sociopathy: It's all part of his obnoxious charm...
  • This gem from "Ghosts from the Past", during a rather awkward conference call with UNTIL:

    Union Jack: "Imagine my surprise to be revived after half a century of suspended animation only to find the United Nations actively taking the side of a Nazi war criminal."
    Starforce (murmured, to Julie): "I'd kill for videoconferencing right now."

  • in Vanshakarana's express elevator from 'Leap Day'

    Starforce (deadpan AND annoyed): "You're using your powers of space-time manipulation like they were DVR controls."
    Captain Chronos (lunatic smile): "I know! Isn't it great?"
    (awkward pause)
    Starforce (to Ladyhawk): If you need an alibi, I'll provide one. Nobody will miss him."

• Comically Missing the Point: Of all the times he pulls this trope on someone in-universe, there are few times better than the one he pulls on Biomaster in 'Jurassic City':

  Biomaster: "Yes, well anyway. I recently acquired a rough draft of a book [Michael Crichton] intends to publish in the next year or two about an amusement park consisting of cloned dinosaurs."
  Starforce: "So what are you saying? That Michael Crichton is the real villain here and not you?"

• Comic Book Fantasy Casting: Let's just let his daughter Jillian explain it as she hangs this lampshade in 'Resistance is Futile':

  Jillian: "It is SO unfair that my father can realistically cosplay David Tennant!"

• Country Mouse: Both Lady Blue and Ladyhawk have accused him of being a 'Small Town Hoosier Boy' for so long it's become a running gag.
  • Dammit, Indianapolis ISN'T a small town!
  • This trope is meta-humor because the series creator actually DID grow up in a small town in Indiana.
• Crazy Awesome: How ELSE do you explain his, um... modifications to the VIPER pulson rifle in 'What Happens in Vegas...' that took down the Sargon Armor?

  Ranger: "You DUCT-TAPED a TOASTER to a PULSON RIFLE!"
  Starforce: "You say that like it's a bad thing!"

• Cultured Badass: Surprisingly for a nerd, knows his way around a high-society party thanks to his participation in a presigious Men's choir in college.
  • He is also very well-versed in several different styles of piano playing.
• Dating Catwoman: Anytime former co-worker (and current supervillain) Tara 'Lady Blue' Lemick shows up.
• Deadpan Snarker: And how...
• Deceased Parents: Killed by Doctor Destroyer when he was only six months old
• Finishing Move: His "Vortex of Chaos" attack, first seen in "The Jewel of Awad". It requires a lot of debris to form the vortex and several seconds to get up to full size and speed, but every time opponents have given him that much time the results have been deadly.
  • In "Malva Awakens", he was sort of able to get it to work underwater, which caught Firewing by surprise when he launched the entire vortex at him.
  • Averted in "Mechanon, Inc.", as Mechanon is able to stun him and disrupt his concentration before he can really get it going within the remains of its factory.
• Fun Personified: In secret identity, he is reserved and controlled. As a superhero, he cracks jokes, deploys hideous puns, sings situationally-appropriate lyrics to the current action, comically misses the point, and is otherwise outrageously obnoxious.
• Good With Numbers: He has done tensor calculus. nuclear yield, and orbital mechanical calculations in his head. Not, to the best of our knowledge, at the same time.
• Grand Romantic Gesture: His first date with Ladyhawk in 'Operation Phoenix' was to take her to see her favorite story growing up. As a Broadway Musical. On Broadway. With its original London Cast (Phantom of the Opera)
  • what, no love for the staging of his engagement photo with Ladyhawk in the prologue of 'The Battle of Detroit'? How many people do YOU know that can use the CORE OF THE MILKY WAY GALAXY as a *live* backdrop for their engagement photo?
• Heroic BSOD: He tries to do this in 'The Legacy of Doctor Destroyer' after it is confirmed that Albert Zerstoiten is his biological father
  • ...and finally succeeds in "Return of the Destroyer" when it appears that Doctor Destroyer has returned from the dead
• Impossible Genius: Though his skill set would normally personify the trope "Gadgeteer Genius," he is responsible for a few hardware hacks that are the stuff of legend in-universe:
  • The antisatellite rockets built out of parts available from a hardware store in Dalhart, TX in 'Reign of the Destroyer'
  • The man-portable gauss gun created from a pulson rifle, a toaster, and lots of duct tape in "What Happens in Vegas..."
    • When Cateran incorrectly guesses that Bob is attempting to build a plasma rifle, Bob responds with a perfectly straight face that he wishes he had heard that idea two minutes before. Almost as if he thought it was entirely possible to do that.
  • Weaponizing the sanctuary sound system of Carrollton Park Church to defeat Shadow Destroyer's minions in 'Castle Doctrine'
    • He confesses later to Julie and their younger son James that he's known how to do something similar to every sound system ever installed there since he started attending in 1982 -- a time period of 25 years in universe.
• Indianapolis: Born and grew up here. By 'The Destroyer Wars', he has lived long enough near Dallas that he claims his knowledge of his native city is of use only to time-travellers.
  • He will also have you know that Indianapolis is not a small town...
• Insecure Love Interest: For eight years in-universe, he believes with all his heart that Ladyhawk is out of his league. In SPITE of four very-passionate kisses and a barely-averted case of Glad-to-be-Alive Sex with her.
• In The Blood: He is the son of the most infamous supervillain in human history (Doctor Destroyer) -- and has the IQ to prove it.
• Jack of All Trades: Amateur radio license, computer programming, materials science, physics (with a Nobel Prize, to boot), accompanied his collegiate men's choir on the piano, can tune pianos, knows how to be a blacksmith, wrote a textbook on holographic computing (in High School!), skilled with both a soldering iron and a socket wrench
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: Merlyn's owner from 'You All Meet In A Lab' through 'The First Dimensional War'.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: He does it so often it must be how he conserves his strength:
  • From "The Evil of Doctor Destroyer" as Ted, Julie, and Bob are heading for the reception at Sequoyah Holographic?

    Ladyhawk: "The founder and CEO of the company wanting to negotiate a partnership with us happens to own the third volume of the Liber Maximus Magia! What are the odds?"
    Ranger: "Especially since this trip's been planned for nearly a month, now!"
    Starforce: "I guess they're right when they say that truth is stranger than fiction. At least fiction has to make sense at some level."

  • A subtle one in "Fields of Saguenay" as our heroes assault Schloss Unbesiegbar:

    Starforce (to David): ((where are my children?))
    David (following Biomaster): ((the highest tower of the castle))
    Starforce: ((naturally))

  • During the construction of the Gauss Gun in "What Happens in Vegas...":

    Chef: "Is there anything you need?"
    Starforce (still unscrewing): "A power drill and duct tape would be VERY handy about now."
    (the chef vanishes, and reappears seconds later with a Dremel and a roll of duct tape)
    Starforce (beat): "I *should* be disturbed that you produced both of those so quickly from a kitchen."

  • And then there's the meeting in "Coup d'Etat" where the heroes are planning their counterstrike against VIPER:

    Ladyhawk: "You're kidding me!"
    Malcolm: "I wish I was. I have multiple confirmations that General McAdams staged his assault on the White House and Naval Observatory from CIA Headquarters."
    Starforce: "The CIA helping the bad guys? This really *is* turning into a bad action-adventure movie..."

• Luke, I Am Your Father: Invoked in 'The Destroyer Wars' the moment he realizes that Jocelyn Sher is his daughter from Judith Shapiro
• Myopic Architecture: He could lecture you for HOURS on the number of unstoppable death-rays he's shut down by destroying or otherwise sabotaging the unprotected fuse box controlling them.
• Nerd Action Hero: Much more often than 'Science Hero'. Especially as his suit gets more powerful...
• No Sell: For a series with such high-powered heroes and villains, he has two of the most legendary ones in-universe:
  • Protecting Electron from Doctor Destroyer in "The Battle of Detroit". 30d6 Destroyer-Beam and he only takes 1 STUN
  • Fighting Valak the World-Ravager in "The Great Stronghold Breakout". The Cosmic Halberd at Valak's strength -- a weapon which Starforce said at the beginning of the story cut through everything that tried to stop it three years previously -- does 8d6 APx2 Hand-to-hand Killing Damage. When Starforce gets hit by it? 11 STUN.
• Omniglot: Is completely unaware that he has a natural aptitude for picking up languages
  • His German is so fluent that Doctor Destroyer will switch from English to German (or vice versa) in mid-conversation ('Extinction Event', 'The Battle of Detroit') and Starforce will switch with him without missing a beat
  • By 'Mechanon, Inc.', he can now do this in Japanese as well with both Ladyhawk and Tetsuronin
  • Stops an argument between Vikon and T'Nereq in the opening scene of 'The Varanyi Civil War' by obnoxiously interrupting them in Varanyi. He tops this in the very next scene by doing the same thing to an argument between T'Nereq and Vashyyl
• Parental Substitute: His aunt and uncle. Because of who his biological father was, they may have been the most important people in the TASK FORCE universe.
• Passing the Torch: He does this to Jocelyn in the epilogue of 'The Destroyer Wars' regarding the usage of the name 'Starforce'
• Powered Armor: This and his intelligence *are* his superpowers
• Romantic False Lead: Nebula in 'The Paradox of Doctor Destroyer', Aida Lerner in 'Piranharecho', Judith Shapiro in 'Extinction Event'
• Superheroes Wear Capes: Invoked up to 'The Varanyi Civil War', then defied afterward.
• Teleportation Sickness. Most forms of teleportation make him vomit.
  • We see in 'Force of Will' that even being mind-linked to someone undergoing teleportation can induce nausea
• Ten-Minute Retirement: Every story after "The Battle of Detroit". Giving his code name to a successor didn't even help.
• Terraform: Late in life (between 'A Rose for Tara' and 'Anniversary'), he successfully terraforms Venus. Using only technology Jules Verne could have understood. Because, unlike Mars, it was challenging.
• Tuck and Cover: ALWAYS does this with Ladyhawk.
  • An interesting inversion which happens in both 'Crowns of Krim' and 'Extinction Event' is where Ladyhawk will trip Starforce on top of herself for protectioin.
  • Another inversion can be seen in 'What Happens in Vegas...' when Cateran shields an unsuited Bob from collateral damage in the casino's main lobby
• Urban Legend Love Life: Nighthawk hangs this lampshade in 'Return of the Destroyer', when Defender complains about both Sapphire and Witchcraft's attention to Bob:

  Defender: "I asked him to analyze my sensor readings and material samples. NOT flirt with our team-mates!"
  Nighthawk (not looking up from his book): "How do you know he's not multitasking?" (beat, turns a page) "Or are you just jealous?"
  Defender: "Well, Dr. Hawkins did have quite the reputation as a ladies' man when he was a superhero..."
  Nighthawk (turning a page): "An entirely undeserved one based solely on urban legend. He's had only three sexual partners his entire life."

• X-Ray Vision: Starforce's ground-penetrating radar, hilariously lampshaded in this sequence from 'The Strange Secret of Matthew Fuseli'

  Starforce: ((positive. There are two moving forms resembling humans, approximate surface temperature 37 celsius. You're the obviously female form))
  Ladyhawk: ((you can make out THAT much detail from a quarter-mile up? Creepy))
  Starforce: ((perhaps now would not be a good time to mention what I can do with my penetrating radar))
  Ranger: ((guys, FOCUS))
  (beat)
  Starforce: ((I can detect embarrasment from a quarter-mile away on IR. Wow))