Bedlamites

Initially seen as a dangerous but ultimately controllable group of violent criminals and hooligans, the Bedlamites have since proven themselves to be a formidable group that could have real influence on the world.

Brought together by the super-criminal Bedlam, the group started as a small team of henchmen who would commit crimes and cause chaos in the name of their leader. They would paint their faces with jagged, red and black patterns and arm themselves with everyday blunt objects including baseball bats and golf clubs. Remorseless in their behaviour, the Bedlamites would not hesitate to destroy property, maim and injure people and even commit murder in their efforts to support their leader.

Over time the group expanded, with more and more people seeing their activities as a way to unleash their deepest, darkest instincts and gain freedom through chaos. The group recruited lonely, angry people on the internet and specifically targeted people who seemed repressed, including low-level office workers and even some government employees. They held loose ‘rallies’ in which the members of the group would riot and destroy as much property as they could before being rounded up by police, and their rampage continued throughout Bedlam’s reign of terror in 2009.

Upon their leader’s capture, the group slowly metamorphosed into something even more dangerous, a kind of violent cult dedicated to the memory of the man they considered their ‘saviour’, a man who saw them what it was like to be truly free. Each member of the Bedlamites is utterly dedicated to chaos, and although their ranks thinned somewhat in the months after his capture, the remaining members are a force to be reckoned with.

The true danger of the Bedlamites comes in two forms: their unpredictability and their anonymity. Each member of the group discards his or her identity when they dedicate themselves to Bedlam, shaving their hair and painting their faces with red and black makeup. This makes prosecuting any individual member of the group difficult, as they refer to themselves as a whole rather than as individuals.

They also act randomly, with authorities never sure when or where they are likely to strike next. They will appear as if from nowhere, cause destruction and death and leave again before they can be rounded up or captured.

Even the major superhero groups list the Bedlamites as one of the most persistent threats to world peace, and they frequently share their frustrations with being unable to break the group down effectively. All they can do is prepare for the group’s endgame: releasing their leader from confinement and allowing him to wreak havoc upon the world once more.