Stagtar (disambiguation)

Scott Morrisson / Stagtar is a supervillain in the Pilltar Adventures volume of The Gerosha Chronicles in Dozerfleet Comics. He is an enemy of Seth Lambrelli, the initial primary pilot of Pilltar, as well as all of Seth's friends and family. He is also the founder of the Morrisson Lodge, a cannibal cult. He appears merely as Scott in Pilltar, adopting the identity of Stagtar in Pilltar 3.

Powers, accessories, and equipment
See also: Abilities of Pilltar

Stagtar's abilities are virtually identical to those of Pilltar, only he is much more aggressive and packs a more-powerful punch. He is designed to be taller than Pilltar as well, giving him a bit more of an intimidating stature. His optics are red, rather than the green of Pilltar and blue of Strawberry. While his pilot would ordinarily be as vulnerable as that of Pilltar or Strawberry, Scott grows to be filled with demons toward the end of Pilltar 3. This enables him a supernatural endurance that allows him to keep going, albeit slowly and in agony, even after being shot several times by a terrified and pistol-armed Stephanie Barrin. However, Scott has shown himself to be an incredible fighter even without the Stagtar unit. He managed to destroy two Pilltar units even before he had a Stagtar to operate with, and goes through several more before meeting his demise.

Early life
Scott was born to Daniel Morrisson and Stacey Firnill, the latter of whom was a runaway teenager that wound up in Daniel's trailer home. Daniel was a firm believer in Kinseyism, and also delighted in guro. When Stacey became too irritating to take, Daniel betrayed and murdered her in her sleep, then ate her. He molested young Scott at the age of four, filling Scott's head with evil thoughts at every turn. By the age of eight, Scott began to embrace the darkness of his father. It was then that Scott committed his own first murder, growing a lust for eating the flesh of his kills. He began to revel in the demonic, at one point killing in cold blood a young evangelist who approached him. Scott proved effective at covering his tracks, with police never suspecting the young boy was a cold-blooded killer and cannibal.

Scott believed that he and his father were invincible, until they decided to pick a fight with the Lambrellis. They tried one afternoon to sneak up behind Seth Lambrelli while he was working in the neighborhood as an active neighborhood watch patrolman, and they knocked him out. They then proceeded to go after his mother, who was babysitting the Mint children. The Morrissons descended on the house and broke in, killing everyone they could find without mercy. However, Seth's mother managed to kill Daniel Morrisson. Scott retaliated by slitting her throat, nearly decapitating her. The distraction allowed young Hadley Mint to get away, having witnessed the brutality visited on her cousin.

Seth vowed to invent a device that would allow him to conduct neighborhood watch without putting his physical self in the neighborhood and at risk, in the hopes to putting an end to Scott and the reign of terror Scott had created. However, Scott managed to trash Seth's early invention with little effort, in spite the thing having previously taken out an entire gang. He also vowed to hunt down and kill Seth merely for having bothered to invent it.

Pilltar
Main article: Pilltar (story)

Scott figures out where Seth lives, and decides to draw him out by sending in his cult to abduct teenage girls around the Des Moines area. But to Scott's frustration, Seth doesn't come in person. Instead, he learns of the invention of Pilltar. He knows that only Seth could have invented such a thing, and becomes incensed that Seth had defied him yet again by continuing the pill bug fighter drone program.

During one raid, Pilltar manages to fight off several of Morrisson's men. However, he isn't able to find Morrisson himself. This is because Morrisson decided to hold back and watch from a distance what would happen. The apprehended terrorist leaves police a threatening message, right before popping a cyanide pill. Morrisson and his minions then launch a raid on the police station, effectively disabling it and sending criminals everywhere in the streets. First Stephanie and then Seth man a Pilltar to fight back, but Scott utilizes the time it takes for them to switch controls of the unit as an opportunity to damage the unit. Morrisson eventually retreats, but not before taking parts of the defeated Pilltar unit with him to study.

He later orders his followers to take out Seth, but they are beaten back. They manage to injure Seth enough, however, that Seth needs hospitalization. An enraged Stephanie mans a Pilltar unit and goes out to avenge Seth. However, Morrisson proves to be too powerful. Morrisson and others are able to retreat and regroup yet again, but cult member Casey Manchi stays behind to finish off Stephanie's Pilltar. This is just enough time for Seth to be attached to another Pilltar, and take over the fight for Stephanie. Morrisson vows revenge, but his numbers are decimated by Stephanie's attack. Her actions result in the Barrin family being added to the list of Morrisson's targets.

Pilltar 3
Main article: Pilltar 3

Morrisson's followers whittle down to almost nothing after a number of them are killed during a raid on Lambrelli Labs' last-remaining factory in Iowa, while the Barrins are retreating to Oklahoma. He uses the stolen Pilltar construction plans to design his own murderous knock-off, which he dubs "Stagtar." Stagtar begins stalking Ron and Stephanie as they journey to Oklahoma, forcing them to confront their innermost fears in order to conquer him. This was after he murders Theresa Barrin, in an effort to provoke Stephanie to a fight.

He at one point manages to destroy most of their semi truck trailer's stock of Pilltar and Strawberry units, but loses his Stagtar in the process. An infuriated Morrisson then tries to take on Ron and Stephanie without Stagtar, only to be shot several times by Stephanie's pistol. However, the shots merely slow him down without killing him; as he is too full of demons to die that easily. He lunges at Stephanie, in an effort to tear her to pieces. The distraction that results from this provides Ron with a ripe opportunity to merge his mind with a damaged Pilltar, giving him just enough piloting time to finish off the menace.

However, Ron orders the Pilltar unit to self-destruct in order to ensure that Scott doesn't survive the final attack. Even after the final attack, a melting Scott Morrisson pops up from the burning wreckage and screams curses at the Barrins. He finally collapses and dies, leaving both of them traumatized to the point of semi-retiring from superhero work. Ron and Stephanie would not take up field work with Pilltar and Strawberry again until forced to by the actions of Judge Terry Beliah.

Personality
Scott Morrison is determined not to give up. He hates and wants to murder everyone in any church (or anywhere else) that would dare criticize his lifestyle choices. And that includes criticism of his kidnapping and eating of teenage girls. Outraged that many of his followers were defeated by Pilltar, he longs to take his "rights" campaign to the next level. But when the power structures in Iowa begin falling apart as the nation disintegrates, he soon finds it easier to take other measures to get what he wants. Scott is typical of the type of individual describe in the book of Romans, the kind whose thoughts are "together worthless" and whose mind is "entirely bent on evil." He is without pity and mercy, targeting for wrath those who have done nothing other than look like attractive targets for him. However, he will quickly seek revenge on anyone who slights him in even the tiniest way.

Scott has also revealed himself to be highly intelligent, reverse-engineering several stolen Pilltar parts and assembling a Stagtar unit from them. The sense of nigh-invulnerability gained while operating a Stagtar unit ups Scott's arrogance to astronomical levels, making him truly dangerous and capable of anything. Meanwhile, his becoming a home for a legion of demons gives him some partial immunity from Extirpon attacks, as Extirpon's Marlquaan powers cannot sufficiently subvert the truly demonic. His persistence ends up being his downfall, as he'd rather die from trying too hard to kill Ron and Stephanie than live with the shame of letting them live. Another weakness of his would be the fact that he is vain and talkative, often lecturing his opponents on why they don't deserve to be able to beat him. Even Astrabolo, who is of a similar personality, knows when to talk and when to keep quiet.

Concept
Scott as a concept was merely a "leader of a cannibal cult" as far back as 2010, when Pilltar was first drafted as part of the Comprehensive Gerosha universe. It was not until the Stagtar art submitted to DeviantArt that Scott developed his name. His aggression was inspired by that of Crooked Rainbow activists and their remarks in 2012. It seemed a natural choice in early 2013 that he should return for Pilltar 3 looking for revenge on the Barrins for helping give Seth Lambrelli an edge over him. Little else was known or defined about him until 2013.

Appearance
The appearance of Stagtar is of a really tall version of Pilltar, created by using the Sims 2 stretchSkeleton cheat in the opposite direction. Other than red eyes and stag beetle "antlers," Stagtar is just a darker-shaded metal of Pilltar. He is named partially after lucanus cervus, and partially after the knight character in StagKnight. The glowing of his red eyes is from the game Staggy the Boy Scout Slayer and its sequel.