#47. Arcturius Vector

Lore

The Superbot

“Commander Vector, it’s much worse than we thought. KABAL sent The Mechassassin back a thousand years to 1987. We believe its mission is to eliminate an ancient leader named ‘Sen-tin-el’ and rewrite human history.” 

– Equinox Secundus

“Copy that. Prepare your strike team to seize the Time Portal long enough to get me through. Once I’m in the past, you will destroy the Portal forever. Don’t argue. Get me my starlance, my keytar, and some source material on what humans looked like back in 1987.” 

– Vector

As the story goes...

In the year 3006, cybermarine Arcturius Vector pursued his nemesis, the Mechassassin Blackstorm far into the distant past of New Earth. His mission did not go as planned.

First, when Vector arrived in 1987 he discovered his time had a very distorted image of what humans looked in the ancient past. Humans were not steel-winged, they did not subsist on a primitive naptha-kerosene blend, and they did not have epic guitar chords playing in the background at all times. If he ever returned to his own time, he would correct Engram-Killivac’s Encyclopedia of World History. But in the meantime, it was too late to change, and while his jet-hybrid form was not the disguise he’d hoped, it was comfortable, useful and incredibly cool.

Second, when Vector found Sentinel, he discovered not a defenseless civilian, but a Superhero locked in deadly combat with the evil KABAL, and an Earth assaulted by villains and threats of all sorts. Vector pitched in with enthusiasm. He led the counterattack against an alien invasion force, he defeated a squadron of super-intelligent super-jets, and he fought Blackstorm in a battle over Los Angeles so epic that the soundtrack could be heard as far away as New Mexico.

In Valhalla Vector fights, builds jet engines with Scarlet, teaches yoga, and communicates mostly in Top Gun quotes. But he has recently discovered that Scarlet may know more about time travel than she admits, and his circuits are beginning to whir.

Connections

• (No mentions of Vector in other legends' lore pages have yet been found)

Context

Vector, the superbot! What a wacky concept, right? So much of his lore seems quite out there, at first. But, like anything in Brawlhalla lore (well, most things, anyway), there's some method to the madness. You may have noticed a handful of references to the 1980s. We'll get to that. First, let's look more specifically at Commander Arcturius Vector. The best origin I could find for his first name was Arcturus, the fourth-brightest star in the night sky, named after a Greek legend, Arcas, who became the guardian of his mother who had been turned into a bear (Ursa Major). Hence, Arktos (bear) + ouros (watcher/guardian). I had a hard time finding any other definitive origin for the name "Arcturius." It's a cool name, regardless!

Like I said, vector is a man (or rather, a "bot") of the 80s, and this is for two reasons: First, he actually lived in the late 80s; second, his home in the year 3006 clearly has a very fantastical view of the late 20th century, and that view seems to be informed by the "hard rock" and "heavy glam metal" of the 1980s. References to steel wings, a naptha-kerosene blend, and epic guitar chords only serve to strengthen this concept. If you are at all familiar with the music of AC/DC, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Guns N' Roses, Journey, Kiss, Mötley Crüe, Queen, U2, or other similar bands, you know exactly what I'm talking about. On that note, here is a list of the references I could find to the extreme glamor of the 80s:

• Vector was announced on Sept. 17, the same date as the first episode of Transformers in 1984 (likely just a coincidence...but you never know with BMG...)
• Though the concept of the keytar was invented and developed in about the 60s or 70, it seems the instrument surged in popularity in--you guessed it--the 80s
• Top Gun is a classic film from 1986 (so it would still be fairly new for the public in 1987) that has made a noticeable cultural impact since. A sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, is set to be in theaters in June 2020.
• Is there anything special about the year 1987 in particular? Here are some of the things I found:
• The Transformers: The Movie was released in theaters in 1986, and then to home media (VHS, etc.) in 1987.
• Jan. 3--Aretha Franklin becomes 1st woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
• For what it's worth, the 2012 film Rock of Ages takes place in 1987
• Release of Zelda II and the first Final Fantasy
• (I'm happy to add more as I become aware of events that might be relevant to Vector or to Brawlhalla fans)

Lance and bow seems like another unusual weapon combination, but as was mentioned with Ada, any "archaic" weapon can be made for the future. The lance is a given, of course, since part of Vector's concept was his transformation into a jet. The jet he becomes even uses whatever lance skin he's using! You want a jet with a banana lance? You got it! How about a jet with flaming bagpipes? If you have the skin, you can do it! Bow is an interesting choice, one that seems admittedly arbitrary. But, having the weapon split in half to become mini-sabers or becoming part of a large arm laser looks cool, so who am I to question it?