Every character has a personal history that affects who they are today: their backstory. There are two major elements to this: Origins and Occupations. Each of them gives the character a package of Traits and tags that affect how the character works in the game.

Origin

Superhumans abound in the Marvel Multiverse, and they all have intriguing Origins that help explain their Powers. Some of them were born with their Powers. Others gained them accidentally, through some strange and often unrepeatable scientific experiment or mishap. Still others acquired their Powers through years of hard work or diligent study. And some don’t really have Powers at all but instead rely on technological wizardry that puts them on par with aliens and mutants.

There are several kinds of Origins. They include:

• Alien: The character is an alien, is related to aliens or has been affected by aliens. Example: Captain Marvel.
• High tech: The character’s Powers arise from high-tech devices beyond the limits of modern-day engineering. Example: Iron Man.
• Magic: The character’s Powers arise from supernatural means. Example: Doctor Strange.
• Mutant: The character’s Powers spring from them being a member of the subspecies Homo sapiens superior. Example: All of the X-Men.
• Special training: The character’s Powers come from long hours of intense practice. Example: Hawkeye.
• Weird science: The character’s Powers arose from a scientific experiment or accident that’s hard—if not impossible—to reproduce. Example: Spider-Man.

Each of these Origins comes with a specific package of Traits and tags. Note that it’s possible to have more than one origin in special cases. This often happens with characters who have been around for a long time.

Example: Spider-Man developed his Powers after being bitten by a radioactive spider. His origin is weird science.

Occupation

Most characters had lives of their own before they gained Powers, and many of them try to maintain those lives even after their world changes. The things they do are called Occupations, and they each come with a package of Traits and tags that the character picks up from them.

Here are a dozen common Occupations, but there can be many more:

• Criminal: Like Ant-Man (Scott Lang) or Gambit
• Health care worker: Like Doctor Strange or Thor (Jane Foster)
• Investigator: Like Jessica Jones or Misty Knight
• Journalist: Like Spider-Man (Peter Parker) and Venom (Eddie Brock)
• Lawyer: Like She-Hulk or Daredevil
• Leader: Like Black Panther (T’Challa) or the Sub-Mariner
• Military: Like Captain America (Steve Rogers) or Wolverine
• Outsider: Like Thor (Thor Odinson) or Longshot
• Scientist: Like the Hulk or Mister Fantastic
• Spy: Like Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff) or Nick Fury
• Student: Like Spider-Man (Miles Morales) or Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan)
• Tycoon: Like Iron Man or Sunspot

Example: Spider-Man often works as a photographer for the Daily Bugle. Because of that, his occupation is journalist.