Waltzing Matilda

Waltzing Matilda is an Australian superhero of Villainia, fighting the tyrannical rule of supervillains such as Dreamtime, Mr. Nice Guy, and the Brat. Although she has no actual superpowers, Matilda is an extremely skilled martial artist, and between that and some gadgets provided her by other heroes, she has managed so far to hold her own and to pose a significant hindrance in her foes' plans. Though too young to clearly remember the Deconstruction herself, Waltzing Matilda is still a fervent patriot who honors Australia as it was before the metarchs took control, and longs to restore it to that state.

History

Waltzing Matilda was born Matilda Mayes, in the city of Perth, Western Australia, the second child of a well known writer (Austin Mayes) and a professor of social science at the University of Western Australia (Sidony Halifax). Both Matilda's parents were devoted to their country, and brought their four children up to share their patriotism. This was no less true after Australia was divided into three large metarchies (and a handful of small ones) during the Deconstruction; the Mayeses made sure to teach their children of how Australia used to be.

It was only Matilda, however, who really took an active part in trying to restore the city to its former state. She wanted to do her part to fight the metarchs and reunite a democratic Australia. First, though, she knew, she had to make herself someone who was capable of taking on the metarchs without being hopelessly overmatched. She threw herself into martial arts training, studying with any masters who would have her; her parents, not sure exactly of her plans but seeing her enthusiasm, willingly paid the bills. Matilda had a stroke of luck when one of her teachers, Wallace Bao, whom she came to trust enough to confide in him some of her intentions, turned out to have also been the teacher of a minor superhero, Ballast, with whom he put her in touch. She went on a few missions with Ballast as a sort of a sidekick, until she felt she had learned the ropes enough to go out on her own. Fashioning a costume, and calling herself Waltzing Matilda, after the song considered something of an unofficial Australian national anthem, she took the fight to the metarchs.

Unfortunately, the name proved to be something of a poor choice for someone who intended to maintain a secret identity. The fact that her real first name was the same as part of her code name may have made it easier for her enemies to track her down. In any case, the forces of the metarch Mr. Nice Guy discovered who Waltzing Matilda really was, and one of Mr. Nice Guy's agents, a villain named Beamer, arrived to try to put an end to her escapades. Although Beamer proved unsuccessful in apprehending Matilda herself, the fact that Mr. Nice Guy knew who she was meant that he knew who her family members were as well, and Mr. Nice Guy sent Beamer back after Matilda's siblings. After this disaster, Matilda decided to change her secret identity, and now lives in Adelaide under the name January "Jan" Barton.

Description

Matilda is a somewhat small-statured young woman, in excellent physical shape but not overly muscular, of about twenty years old. She has dark red hair, worn long, surrounding a face shaped like an inverted teardrop. Her skin is slightly darker than a typical Caucasian tone, perhaps due to the trace of Aboriginal (Noongar) blood she has on her father's side.

Matilda's costume comprises a blue form-fitting leotard over which she wears a lightweight jacket of the same color otherwise resembling the top part of a karategi, complete with a black belt tied around the waist. The front of her costume depicts the Southern Cross as it appears on the Australian flag; the back of her costume bears a single large white seven-pointed star. Over her head she wears a mask patterned with the Union Jack.

Powers

Although Waltzing Matilda technically has no superpowers, she has developed martial arts and acrobatic abilities that, along with her general resourcefulness, allow her to pose a serious threat to the metarchs, and have so far kept her from falling into the clutches of their agents and enforcers. Matilda holds black belts in karate and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, is an expert in the Hou Quan and Wing Chun styles of kung fu, and has some lesser level skill in numerous other martial arts as well. She has synthesized all of these techniques into a graceful overall style of her own, although she often falls back on a pure style if it seems useful; in a fight, Matilda often seems to be dancing, further justifying her code name.

Waltzing Matilda is not above using some other devices to augment her natural abilities, however. While she disdains swords or guns or other typical weapons, she does generally carry smoke bombs she uses to effect escapes, and has found throwing stars very handy as distance weapons. (Matilda makes her own throwing stars in the seven-pointed shape of most of the stars on the Australian flag.) Furthermore, in her career, Waltzing Matilda has made connections with some other heroes, and acquired a few devices from them that help her to augment her natural abilities. From the Red Wizard she has a magical wristband that helps her heal her wounds quickly. From Saint Nicholas she has a biological symbiote that attaches to the inside of her throat and allows her to spit acid as well as making her immune to many poisons. Perhaps most notably, from Gimcrack she has a robotic emu she calls Opal that she occasionally takes with her on her missions.

Relations

Naturally, Waltzing Matilda is a sworn foe of all the metarchs who have usurped the government of Australia. This makes Dreamtime, Mr. Nice Guy, and the Brat, who rule by far the largest areas of the continent, her biggest targets, but she's also taken on more minor metarchs such as the Wonderworker, Merciful, and Flicker. On the other hand, she does have the occasional aid of other heroes on her missions; though she doesn't work with others for prolonged periods of time, two heroes she has adventured alongside several times in the past are Kookaburra and the Wizard of Oz.

Matilda is in the lamentable position of having some of her loved ones held hostage by a metarch—her brothers Terry and Rufus and sister Holly are still in the mind-controlled service of Mr. Nice Guy. Naturally, this has given her all the more reason to hate Mr. Nice Guy, but thus far she has been unable to free her family. Fortunately, Mr. Nice Guy has not harmed them beyond placing them under his mind control, seeing them as valuable pawns he can use to lure Matilda into a trap. Matilda's parents remain free, though understandably shaken by events; perhaps Mr. Nice Guy left them their freedom partially because, as known intellectuals, they might prove more useful to him without any sort of mental interference, but likely largely to tempt Matilda into visiting them and revealing herself to his forces. Cognizant of this possibility, Matilda very rarely sees or communicates with her parents, and when she does she does so very carefully.