The Corocote

 

This Earth State outlaw active strikes at night and emits a shrill, eerie cry when he does so, just as his mythological namesake. His identity and origins are unknown, as are the extent of his powers, but his purpose is not: the withdrawal of Venezuela from Earth State, and neither are his means: the systematic destruction of Venezuela’s gaeite industry. He has stated his goals by engraving them on the ruins of gaeite mines with his word–cursive letters made with enough force to part metal like water.

 

Venezuela was one of the first countries to join Earth State, joining in the same year the federation formed, 1953. During the Worlds War of the 1940’s, Venezuela discovered a massive amount of gaeite in subterranean Dyeus ruins beneath Los Llanos and its government told its people that if they joined Earth State they would all benefit from the manufacturing capabilities of other nations. That members of the government were being paid by these other nations went unsaid.

 

Venezuela joined Earth State, but instead of developing into a world power through its natural resources as many hoped, it became one of the poorest nations on Earth. Earth State made sure deals were in favor of manufacturers, because it was the manufacturers that made the most money and thus paid the most in taxes to the federation. Earth State’s centralized government was incentivized to make sure Venezuela sold its gaeite as cheaply as possible What was more, Earth State nations developed alternative to gaeite that caused its price to plummet in the 1960’s. Venezuela, which had put all its eggs into the gaeite basket, suffered a humiliating financial crisis.

 

Venezuela has carried on as a poor country, a humiliated country, for decades. It’s superhumans, when they appear, are moved by Earth State to other countries where they “can do the most work,” thus perpetuating a cycle where Venezuela remains underdeveloped because it is underdeveloped. It’s people work for other countries just as their resources are used up by other countries.

 

But now, there is the Corocote.

He strikes at night, because he doesn’t want innocent people to get in the way of his attacks. He’s after property, not blood. When he strikes, he emits a loud, bird-like noise to announce his presence.

 

He believes he is doing the right thing in destroying the gaeite industry. For him, it was the gaeite industry that sealed Venezuela’s fate. If there was no gaeite industry, there would have been no pressure to join Earth State, and thus Venezuela would have remained independent, a country of Venezuelans, for Venezuelans. If he can break his country’s addiction to gaeite, so he believes, he can cause a chain reaction whereby Venezuela exits Earth State.

 

The Corocote, whoever he is, probably takes a great deal of comfort from reducing the mistakes of thousands of his countrymen to a single object.

 

 

Information on the Corocote beyond shaky videos and eye witness accounts is hard to come by. Earth State, as usual, is hesitant on sharing information about “their” criminals with information services like the Library. The Corocote appears to be a man in colorful armor, though for all anyone knows that could simply be how his body looks, hyperstasis can do anything to biology, or he could be an artificial. He has kanji on the front of his chest that reads “Fighter Birdman,” the significance of which is unknown. Perhaps it indicates where the armor was manufactured. Japan is a known as the robot armor capitol of the world. Perhaps it’s meant as a symbol of Earth State defiance, as Japan is one of the few countries outside the federation. Perhaps the Corocote is just a big Japanophile. Perhaps it’s just a red herring, an artificial mystery with no solution created by the Corocote to get people to talk about him and thus his message.

 

The Corocote is known to use a sword, a gaeite sword, and the skill in which he uses it to disrupt Venezuela’s gaeite industry shows he knows a thing or two about gaeite, hinting perhaps, that the Corocote once worked with gaeite. Gaeite is thought-responsive. The ancient Dyeus used gaeite to commune with their very souls. It is a powerful psychic instrument, and in the hands of a skilled user can bridge the gap between physical reality and the Astral. But if gaeite is a bridge, then it’s a folding bridge, or to use another metaphor, a ladder that can be pulled up. Through the use of certain telepathic techniques and a dedicated piece of gaeite, a user can command gaeite to mix itself with the Odic layer of the Astral, and that is precisely what the Corocote does to Venezuela’s gaeite. Shattering gaeitie would accomplish little. Gaeite is a chemically unalterable substance. It cannot be destroyed anymore than matter or energy can be destroyed, and if broken down to atoms can be collected by a gaeite magnet. Any piece of gaeite can be programmed to attract another piece of gaeite, not matter how small. But fusing gaeitie with the Odic layer is like mixing fresh, clean drinking water with dirt to make mud. The water is still extractable, but only through slow, messy work.

 

As with many UFMs (unidentified flying men, the common term for an unidentified superhuman), rumors abound as to what exactly the Corocote’s powers are. He is said to be able to teleport, leave behind after-images, and project barriers of light around himself. But the precise mechanics of these abilities, if the Corocote even has them to begin with, are unknown.

 

(Behind The Scenes Inspiration)

 

 

While looking up another bootleg Birdman figure, I ran across this gem at Collection DX, a very good site not just for bootleg toys but toys in general, I highly recommend checking them out.

 

Someone in Venezuela got ahold of the vintage Clover action figure of the titular mech of the classic Tomino anime Aura Battler Dunbine. I’m a huge fan of Aura Battle Dunbine. It’s my mecha series of choice. Other mech shows may be better written and better animated, but Aura Battle Dunbine is my soul series.

 

Robots in a medieval fantasy world made out giant insect parts Frankensteined together by a weapons designer from Earth named Shott Weapon using 80’s computer technology and powered by new age aura magic–mankind will never see a show with that premise ever again. Mankind could survive the sun going out, survive past  heat death, ascend to become Star Trek energy aliens, and mankind will never replicate Aura Battler Dunbine.

 

So when I saw a crazy dunbine bootleg as colorful as a South American bird and called, of all things, Fighter Birdman, I knew I had to make a place for it in Capeworld.

 

The colors on Fighting Birdman, compared to the dunbine, are, let’s be nice here, not applied with a skillful hand, likely to facilitate rapid and cheap mass-production. The head in particular looses a lot of character when reduced to a black lump. But the colors aren’t the only things that have been changed. As you can see in the picture above, the Clover toy had a translucent cockpit (the ones in the show were solid black) that could open so you could insert a minifig of Show or Marvel, but the chest on Fighting Birdman is one solid chunk, again, likely as a cost-cutting measure. God only knows if there’s a little Show Zama entombed inside for eternity. Did Collection DX shake the figure to hear if anything rattled?

 

The sword that came with the Clover dunbine had a little knob at the hilt so that you could attach it to the hole on the back shell to represent how swords were sheathe in the show. The Fighting Birdman sword has the same knob, but there’s no hole on the back shell. I think in this, it wasn’t a cost saving measure, just laziness when it came to molding. They filled the hole, because they didn’t get what it was there for.

 

Fighting Birdman is also missing the dunbine’s wings. Apparently, the back shell was interpreted was wings for Fighting Birdman and the “other pair” were removed, probably because the bootleggers couldn’t find any translucent plastic to use.

 

Aura Battlers are insect themed, which sort of makes them like the mecha version of Kamen Rider, but I can see how a Venezuelan bootlegger could look at one, knowing nothing about the series, and think “bird.” The dunbine’s feet are somewhat like bird talons, and it’s legs are somewhat like bird legs. Its eyes are spaced apart like a bird’s. The little horn on its head is supposed to be reminiscent of a beetle, but someone could think of it as a bird’s head crest.

 

So that’s Fighting Birdman–an odd little bootleg that represents what I love about bootlegs–the imagination. Someone who had no idea what a dunbine was looked at the toy, went “this is a bird,” and ran with it. I love that. Here’s to finding more imagination among the lost and discarded!