Like the Zeta City teams, I think I can do both the Safeguard Squad and Problem Children in cards. We’ll start with the Newmen.
Role
- Leo is absolutely the Soldier of the group. Although he’s a genius inventor, he’s all offense when it comes to it.
- Aria is an Opportunist. She keeps her cards close to the vest, and will play any card in her hand to keep her family and her city safe.
- Fez is the Performer. People are amazing and they’re going to interact with as many of them as they can, in every way they can.
- Otto is the Guardian to Leo’s Soldier. He’s the field lead, making sure “safety first” is the rule.
- Ai is the Synthesist, always finding ways to help people and come up with solutions from what’s at hand.
- Yu is a Dreamer. Although she isn’t a people person, people are always on her mind - “how will they live tomorrow, and how can I help with that?”
Focus
- Leo, as befits a character who emerged from Brave Robot/Super Sentai roots, has Courage as his focus.
- Aria, ready to solve the problems of a whole city, gets by on her Wits.
- Fez, as a hyperactive child with connections to a digital fairyland, approaches things with a distinctly Magic-like attitude.
- Otto emphasizes Training, through discipline and rigor and caution.
- Ai is the successor to both Summer and Big Bill and uses Charm - she’s the most social of the robots.
- Yu inherits Mo’s Tech interests and is most likely to devise an interesting gadget for the team.
Upbringing
This is a neat one because the whole crew is family. So instead we’re reading “upbringing” as “preferred social situation”.
- Leo was shuffled between foster homes deliberately, to give him a rounded view of people and foster his empathy. He’s Cosmopolitan.
- Aria has the most rules and runs a tight ship, making her Strict.
- Fez, by their nature, is Unfettered and likely to stay that way for a long time.
- Otto inherited Leo’s memory of his foster parents: truckers, scrapyard owners, working folk, and so on. He’s Industrious, always willing to put in the time.
- Ai, like Summer before her, will use compromise and mediation, which aligns with the Mercantile upbringing.
- Yu is better with machines than people, and lives as a Solitary person.
How about the successors to MIA?
Role
- Agent R is the story of a Dreamer who wanted to become a spy.
- Firebrand is a Rebel against society and its rules.
- Comrade X is a Synthesist who creates opportunities through hacking.
- Unicorn is a Performer who loves the spotlight.
- D5 is an Opportunist who’ll do whatever it takes to win.
- Rex Draco is a Soldier, fighting anything or anyone that provokes him.
Focus
- Agent R uses her Wits to survive in a world that seems beyond her reach.
- Firebrand is a hard-edged, front-line fighter whose power is technically fire, but uses it with Courage.
- Comrade X loves Tech - mostly hacking, but gadgets of all kinds.
- Unicorn is the queen of Charm.
- D5 literally has special ops skills in his DNA. He uses Training.
- Rex Draco relies on Instinct.
Upbringing
- Agent R wants to get along with people and prove herself. Industrious is a close fit for her.
- Firebrand was a popular schoolgirl turned wounded supervillain. Although raised in a middle-class family, as a villain she’s effectively Underclass.
- Comrade X is the socially Insular hacker, who prefers obscure geek/nerd topics.
- Unicorn as the Mafia Princess got to interact with every stratum of society, making her Cosmopolitan.
- D5 was literally made to be a secret operative, hence lives a Strict life.
- Rex Draco is Unfettered due to his half-kaiju instincts.
For the most part, these are all very familiar characters. The difficulty, such as it was, is mapping identities onto our new cast members. Aspects of Summer, Bill, Mo, Jason, and Alycia are all being diced up and redistributed.
Fez is all-new, the child of Leo and Aria. Although a robotic lifeform, they had a close call with Binarya the Cyber-god early in life and as a result went on a very non-scientific life path. They inherit Summer’s more mystical yearnings.
Ai is probably the closest analogue to Summer, but she started life before Summer was technically a thing. She’s the “butterfly” of the group.
Yu is the more practical, mechanical, earthy girl. She picks up Mo’s role, but is softer and kinder in some ways than Mo comes off.
Unicorn and D5 are essentially gender-flipped Jason and Alycia, but with unique origins and no pre-existing relationship. This is actually easier on me because I’m emphasizing how different they are by giving them very differentiated roles, not just “hypercompetent teenage adventurer”.
Rex Draco is an original character. He slots into the MIA roster in a lot of places where SNOWMAN would fit.