Overview
Despite her young age, Adora is a recently minted Force Captain of the Horde that dominates the world of Etheria and steadily seeks to extend its grasp throughout the multiverse, having been cared for from infancy by its local commanders. Raised as the Horde's own princess, Adora has been entrusted with the Sword of Despondos, a technomagical blade designed to harness the mystical energies locked within the Gem of Protection which helps sustain Etheria-- energies which, when channeled through the sword by Adora and Adora alone transform her into the supernatural champion Despara, a being imbued with mythical strength and resilience. Noble and headstrong, Adora strives to make her guardians proud by journeying into the multiverse to bring more worlds to heel beneath the ironclad security of the Etherian Horde, a task which she approaches with a healthy share of brash, adolescent enthusiasm.
Perks
Despara: Mythic warrior with super strength, reflexes, durability, and magic resistance.
With the Sword of Despondos, Adora can transform into the superhuman warrior Despara. Despara is phenomenally strong, fast, durable, agile, and resistant to fatigue. Because she's empowered by the ancient magic of Grayskull, she's also moderately resistant to magic. Being struck with multiple high-powered attacks can strain the limits of her durability; if she absorbs too much punishment too quickly, she will revert back to Adora rather than dying. Otherwise, she can remain Despara for as long as she wishes.
Sword of Despondos: A transforming magitech weapon able to redirect and generate energy blasts.
Designed by the Etherian Horde to channel the ancient energies of the stolen Gem of Protection, the Sword of Despondos is a technomagical weapon capable of transforming Adora into the mystically empowered warrior Despara. As long as the Gem is locked in, the Sword is indestructible and capable of cutting through any known Eternian/Etherian materials save for Eternium. It can deflect, absorb, and redirect energy blasts directed at its owner, and generate blasts of it own. Without the Gem, the Sword is a relatively high quality but otherwise unremarkable weapon. The sword's modular body can also be rapidly rearranged into various useful items such as a spear or space helmet.
Panoply: Horde-issued survival/tactical gear and weapons.
Adora's status as Force Captain affords her access to gear for field use. Designed by Horde magitechnicians, this includes accessories such as nightvision goggles and binoculars, survival gear for hostile environments, and basic weapons for Adora's use such as a standard-issue energy pistol.
Force Captain: Adora is a ranking officer in the Horde and skilled tactician.
As Force Captain of the Etherian Horde, Adora was trained from an early age to command the Horde's armies. She is already a capable tactician despite her youth and is knowledgeable in multiple forms of warfare; overall, she is most comfortable commanding small to medium-sized groups of troops. Her ranking in the Horde and unique status as the high commander's adoptive scion also confer a measure of authority over the commonfolk of Horde-controlled Etheria and makes her a diplomatic representative of Etheria's interests in multiversal affairs.
Transport: Personal-use land, air, and sea speeders for Adora's use.
For scouting and personal transportation purposes, Adora has access to a suite of unarmed, one person speeders. Each is optimized for a different terrain: land, air, or water; they resemble and operate essentially like motorcycles, offering high speed and maneuverability at the expense of safety. Adora is a passable, but not notably skilled pilot of these vehicles; attempting to fight while riding one is likely to be a tricky, uncertain proposition.
Champion of the Horde: A lifetime of intensive armed and unarmed combat training.
Trained from an early age to serve at the head of the Horde's forces, Adora has been schooled in numerous forms of armed and unarmed combat. She's capable of wielding most common melee weapons, such as swords, axes, spears, maces, and knives with a high degree of proficiency; as Despara, this extends to making skillful use of improvised weapons like uprooted trees. She specializes in swords above all else, and tends to default to them as her weapon of choice. She has been trained in the use of firearms and is a modest shot, preferring melee to ranged combat whenever possible.
NPCs
Horde Troops< Basic E-Tier >: Standard Etherian Horde military forces wielding melee weapons and firearms.
The Etherian Horde employs a variety of military units to see to its counter-insurgency, internal security, and conquest needs. They're relentlessly drilled in military tactics and coordination, armed with technological and/or magical equipment optimized for their roles, and taught that death in combat is preferable to life in the Fright Zone as a failure. The Horde fields infantry as well as multiple forms of ground, air, and naval vehicles. They are armed with common melee weapons or energy-based firearms depending on their function; specialized units might use plasma-edged weapons for increased armor penetration instead of standard physical ones.
Horde Elites< MotW C-Tier >: Experienced soldiers and special weapons.
Force Captain Adora has the ability to call on elite military elements like monsters conjured by Shadow Weaver or special, high-performance combat vehicles. Because these units are relatively uncommon and valuable compared to standard forces, her access to these special units is generally limited to important engagements, with no more than one beneath her command at a given time.
Complications
Hidden Fist: Despara's identity is a carefully held secret.
Adora's dual identity as Despara, Commander of Power is kept a secret from all but the highest authorities in the Etherian Horde: Shadow Weaver and Hordak. This is because despite the Horde's dominant position on Etheria, it is /not/ uncontested-- and despite Despara's terrible power, Adora herself is only human and requires an external implement to trigger the transformation. Even on other worlds, Adora is expected to manage this secret carefully, which means that she must take some care as to when exactly she transforms.
Fires of Youth: Beneath noble airs and confident command, Adora is an impulsive teenager.
Adora is a prodigy on the battlefield, whether she's clashing with foes on the front lines or commanding from the rear. She's a capable hand when it comes to giving the Etherian Horde a poised, civilized face in dealings with other realms. She is also seventeen years old, and as such is prone to flare-ups of irrational emotion in the face of insults, frustration, or strongly-held beliefs. Whether it's overcommitting to a poor engagement because she can't bear the thought of letting an especially irksome enemy best her, or exploding in the middle of diplomatic affairs after one snide remark too many about the Horde's so-called 'brutality', the most carefully laid plans are always susceptible to going up in flames thanks to the young Force Captain/Princess' brash, high-emotion impulses.
Noble Tyrant: Adora is naturally inclined towards operating with a measure of honor.
Adora's relatively unique upbringing in the Horde and her own innate values make her unusual among its forces: she prefers to operate with a measure of honor when carrying out the Horde's missions of terror and conquest. She doesn't like to lie, even to opponents; and she is more likely than not to let herself be drawn into dueling enemy champions. Though not particularly given to mercy, she is still susceptible to pangs of guilt or hesitation in the face of excessive collateral damage.
Reckless Youth: Youthful impetuousness and overwhelming confidence lead to unnecessary risks.
As a teenager entrusted with an incredible amount of responsibility, authority, /and/ a magical sword that turns her into a superhuman warrior, Adora's susceptible to throwing herself in well above her head whether she's transformed or not. This is obviously more of a pronounced issue when it's just Adora venturing into potential danger without waiting for proper support or intel, but Despara's extreme resilience to harm accentuates the issue somewhat: not only is she liable to confidently engage opponents who match or outclass even Despara's great power, protective instincts often drive her to throw herself into harm's way to intercept attacks that might otherwise flatten her soldiers, exposing her to far more damage - and thus more opportunities to push Despara's resistance past its limits - than necessary.
Nepotism Baby: Adora's uniquely elevated status inspires discontent among some of her soldiers.
Adora has achieved the rank of Force Captain at an unheard of age. Her quasi-symbolic role as 'Princess' of the Etherian Horde further marks her as an outlier, and she has a strange habit of vanishing in the middle of pitched battles only to show up again as the fighting is dying down. Due to these factors, Adora is seen as a spoiled child unfit for leadership by some in the Horde, particularly those just below or roughly equivalent to her own standing. While outright mutiny would surely be an express ticket to the afterlife, there are times when spiteful peers or subordinates might 'forget' to report critical information until the last minute, or look the other way while would-be prisoners flee, or otherwise undermine Adora's command.