Road to the Xeno Invasion 3 - John Wick vs Xenos

Hug your dogs and bury your dark past, because today we're going to talk about John Wick.
What does the most famous mercenary of the moment have to do with a game about being an alien? Well, much more than you might think.

In the game Xeno Invasion, among the main enemies of the Xenos is one known as Jan Wok: a mercenary of imposing bearing and clad in a black suit who uses weapons and cunning to fight the invaders. The reference is quite clear. However, as good as John Wick is, he's not the first person you'd think of to take on a group of aliens capable of moving objects with their minds or growing to the size of an elephant.
Or is he?
Let's take a brief look at the exploits of the legendary Baba Yaga.

Mastery in Weapons (and Anything Else)
The first aspect is his mastery of all types of weapons. Any man-made object is potentially lethal in his hands, whether it be a firearm, a pencil, or even a book. Among his skills, his excellent marksmanship stands out: he is capable of shooting in the middle of a crowd without harming a single civilian.
While it is true that the Xenos have supernatural resistance and accelerated regeneration, they are not immune to bullets.

Superhuman Endurance
Secondly, there is his resilience. Although John Wick is "only" human, throughout the saga of movies that has him as protagonist, we have seen him survive punishment capable of killing anyone: being shot multiple times without bleeding to death, falling from several stories without breaking a bone, and then continuing to drive and shoot as if nothing had happened.
With that in mind, the John Wick of the movies could very well take a direct hit from a Xeno... and then keep shooting.

Instinct and Strategy
And, lastly, we cannot overlook his almost premonitory ability to dodge danger and plan ahead. In several scenes, we have seen him dodge attacks from dozens of enemies from different directions, combining martial arts and gunfire (known in the saga as Gun-Fu).
But what's more, if you give him a few minutes to prepare, he is capable of creating a whole circuit of destruction: placing the necessary weapon in the right place so that he is never left unarmed.

Conclusion: John Wick vs. the Xenos
In summary, the John Wick of the movies could probably take on a small group of Xenos and survive long enough to seriously injure them. In fact, in a game of Xeno Invasion that I directed, that's exactly what happened! It only took two Jan Woks to cause a casualty among the group of players.
“Wait a minute! Did you say ‘two’ Jan Woks?”
Yes, you read that right: two. Because the big difference (and advantage) Jan Wok has over John Wick is that you can field as many copies of this mercenary as you want to take down the Xenos.
There's a canonical explanation for this in the game, but I can't reveal it here. You'll have to wait for the book to come out to find out.

Being Legion: The Power to Clone Yourself
Being a legion of oneself is, without doubt, one of the most interesting powers in fiction, and also one of the least represented. That's why its exponents tend to be so iconic.
To begin with, we have Marvel's Multiple Man, who has the ability to create identical copies of himself that retain his physical and mental abilities and can act independently.

 Another great example is Dupli-Kate from Invincible, who presents us with the philosophical dilemma of identity: each copy is a "real" Kate, with emotions, feelings, and memories. The Mauler Twins from the same series experience the same dilemma, as each time they clone themselves, they avoid remembering who the "original" is... although, considering how many times they have done so, it is most likely that the "original" ceased to exist long ago.  

How to Use Jan Wok in Your Game Sessions

Caligaes' XENO - Digital

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You can take the characters we just mentioned as inspiration when introducing Jan Wok. Like them, each clone of the mercenary shares the original's identity, abilities, and desire for revenge.
This allows you to use him as a recurring enemy who, each time he is defeated, remembers his previous encounter with the players and develops specific strategies to counter them. 
One of the strengths of this game is that, by humanizing the monsters, we can also "monsterize" the humans. 
Having a recurring antagonist with a direct relationship to the characters always enriches a story and makes it memorable. And we can apply this idea to other enemies in the game... but we'll talk about them in the coming weeks.

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