Colonel Steve Austin, Astronaut....a man barely alive
These words were ingrained into many many children's minds during the 1970s, as the TV show
The Six Million Dollar Man opened, and for five seasons, TSMDM was the coolest show on the air. From high stakes espinoge to Bigfoot, Steve Austin used his amazing cybernetics and skills to save the day, in slow motion no less.
Based on the novel
Cyborg by Martin Caiden, the changes from the novel were significant enough to separate the Steve Austin from the book from the Steve Austin in TSMDM. Most notably was the decision to portray Austin as a more heroic hero with occasional pathos than the assassin he served as in the Cyborg novels. Steve Austin in TSMDM was the all-American idealized hero: An astronaut who worked as a special agent in the field for a government agency against those who would seek to destroy freedom and liberty. With that being said, even when the show went more sci-fi (Bigfoot), TSMDM didn't veer from those ideas.
Played by Lee Majors, it is doubtful a child from the 1970s could not see Lee Majors and not hear the Bionic sounds, or instantly recognize those sound effects when seen elsewhere. The 'slow-motion' effects to represent Austin's superhuman speed were novel, and I think everyone as a child who grew up watching the show either pretended to have that level of super speed on the playground.
Why Steve Austin?
There are several reasons for Steve Austin. As a child, I absolutely adored the Six Million Dollar Man (including having TSMDM electric Toothbrush and action figures, both Steve and Bigfoot). I think that Steve Austin was the first non-comic hero I had, and fell in the trinity of early childhood heroes Prior to the 1980s (Cap and Batman the other two). One of the things I liked was the idea that episodes could run from the grim to the fantastic, and the enemies could be spies or aliens. The biggest thing was the no matter what, Austin prevailed and never gave up.
Colonel Steve Austin
The Six Million Dollar Man
F: Ex (20)
A: Ex (20)
S: Rm (30) (Right Arm)
E: Rm (30)
R: Gd (10)
I: Ex (20)
P: Ex (20)
Health: 100
Karma: 50
Resources: Gd (10) personal/In (40) for OSI
Popularity: 15
Talents:
Military
Astronaut
Pilot
Detective/Espionage
Knowledge: History (It was shown Austin had his degree in history)
Athletics
Martial Arts: A (Standard American Judo)
Jury-Rig*
Knowledge: OSI Operations
Celebrity: Austin was a known Astronaut
Powers:
Cyborg: Austin is a Cyborg who suffered a traumatic accident and required extensive surgery. Austin's right arm, both legs, and right eye were replaced, his skeleton was reinforced, and nuclear power packs were installed to provide necessary power. Due to his cybernetics, Austin had the following abilities:
- Rm (30) strength for his right arm, including punching and or lifting. According to TSMDM bible, Austin possessed the power of a bulldozer.
- Ex (20) telescopic and later night vision, able to magnify up to 20X current vision scope. Austin could spot the tiniest of details
- Ex (20) Hyper Running: Austin's exact top speed is not known, but it is commonly accepted Austin could cruise at 66 MPH easily.
- Hyper Leaping: Ex (20) Austin could leap three stories easily, and could drop from heights without injury. As seen with the spin-off the Bionic Woman, however, Austin had limitations and couldn't drop from extensive heights without shearing off the bionic legs.
Contacts:
Oscar Goldman: An old friend and director of OSI
Dr. Rudy Welles: The cyberneticist who designed Austin's Cybernetics
Jaimie Sommers, The Bionic Woman: Austin's fiance and later wife
Various US Airforce contacts
Michael Austin: Steve's bionic son.
Limitations:
Cold: Austin's cybernetics are not shielded against intense cold and begin to shut down. Cold effects of Gd (10) or better, Austin begins to suffer a -2CS to abilities until his cybernetics shut down. Austin can immediately regain full use within 1-10 rounds after the cold effects are removed.
Radiation: Austin's cybernetics have been known to react to radiation similar to the cold effects, but it is not something easily predicted. So far, Austin's cybernetics have been shown to be affected by cosmic radiation and solar flares.
Code Vs. Killing: Unlike the Steve Austin from
Cyborg, Austin is no killer and attempts to go out of his way to preserve life.
The classic Six Million Dollar Intro