Non-English superhero names (and other help) requested.

[SMJB]

Right, I have some non-American characters in this superhero thing I'm writing and, well, I need some names.

The first is an Indian woman (that is, from India) who is a healer whose name is supposed to denote mercy; Google Translate gave me Tarasa (theoretically, this is Hindi for compassion/mercifulness/etc.) which, if I understand the sound file correctly, is pronounced "Taras". Upon contemplating the many, many things that could lead to error in my methodology, I decided to get this vetted here and just ask for suggestions regarding the names for the others.

Next is a Hispanic woman from I'm-thinking-Peru (though that might change) of anti-heroic bent with super-strength, super toughness, and uses a minigun as a handheld weapon a la Terminator 2 because she can.

Next is a villainous Taliban sort. I'm still in the real early stages of this project, so I don't quite have his powers down, but whatever he is, he's dangerous. Hell, I might as well ask some advice on him in general.

What I'm looking for is some way to make it so capture somehow isn't practical. My goal is to have him unconscious in custody and have the heroes debate whether or not they should kill him before he wakes up--this in the middle of a war zone with a bunch of army types around them in some sort of scenario realistic to the environment.

[Forgothrax]

Next is a villainous Taliban sort. I'm still in the real early stages of this project, so I don't quite have his powers down, but whatever he is, he's dangerous. Hell, I might as well ask some advice on him in general.

What I'm looking for is some way to make it so capture somehow isn't practical. My goal is to have him unconscious in custody and have the heroes debate whether or not they should kill him before he wakes up--this in the middle of a war zone with a bunch of army types around them in some sort of scenario realistic to the environment.

He can create clones of himself that are highly resistant to damage and very capable combatants. Also, most powers don't work on them, and they're semi-sapient. His only weakness is that he's still a squishy human being and can be hurt; it's just that if he ever wakes up, no matter how he's restrained, he can create a dozen superbeings in moments.

[SMJB]

Alas, conservation of energy holds in this universe--you can't just whip up matter out of nowhere. Thanks for trying, though.

[Forgothrax]

Alas, conservation of energy holds in this universe--you can't just whip up matter out of nowhere. Thanks for trying, though.

It's a purely mental projection, then?

Mental powers are the best ones-- make it so he's incredibly hard to restrain without doping him up to the eyeballs, and give him some cybernetics to make him resistant to being rendered unconscious. Mind control/telepathy/telekinesis works.

[SMJB]

Hm. If we're going to go in the holograms-and-force-fields direction, I'm thinking a more general sort of force-field power a la Susan Storm or the Green Lantern would be more appropriate to the setting. In fact, yeah, I'm going to go with that. He's an evil Green Lantern-type guy who doesn't need a ring and can cut through restraints like butter. Thanks, your suggestions helped a lot.

Cybernetics would be utterly inappropriate for this character, however, what with him being a religious fundamentalist and all. Besides, there's not a whole lot of that in the setting in the first place.

Given that he won the superpower lottery, I'm thinking he could be arrogant enough to think something grandiose like "Fist of God" (in Arabic, of course) would be an appropriate call sign.

[Formless]

Right, I have some non-American characters in this superhero thing I'm writing and, well, I need some names.

The first is an Indian woman (that is, from India) who is a healer whose name is supposed to denote mercy; Google Translate gave me Tarasa (theoretically, this is Hindi for compassion/mercifulness/etc.) which, if I understand the sound file correctly, is pronounced "Taras". Upon contemplating the many, many things that could lead to error in my methodology, I decided to get this vetted here and just ask for suggestions regarding the names for the others.

I would look into some Hindu mythology. Maybe there is a god of mercy or healing she could claim to be the avatar of? Also, it isn't out of place in India for there to be Gurus and the like who claim that Yoga gives them superhuman powers, so it may not be necessary for her to go by a false name, but an appropriate title of some sort.

Next is a Hispanic woman from I'm-thinking-Peru (though that might change) of anti-heroic bent with super-strength, super toughness, and uses a minigun as a handheld weapon a la Terminator 2 because she can.

Depending on how she relates to her community, she may prefer to go by her real name. For instance, if she is from a particularly poor area she may want to increase international awareness to her community and going by a pseudonym hurts her credibility. This idea that a superhero needs a secret identity, while a part of the genre, is based on assumptions that are rooted very much on American culture and first world lifestyle. Other parts of the world might just find those assumptions bizarre, unnecessary, or counterproductive.

Next is a villainous Taliban sort. I'm still in the real early stages of this project, so I don't quite have his powers down, but whatever he is, he's dangerous. Hell, I might as well ask some advice on him in general.

Definitely don't bother with a pseudonym for this character. It would actually attract more attention than his real name, and in any case his real name may already be on an official CIA list or something and he would know that. He may have one or more nicknames that others in the middle east call him by, but they won't be of his choosing. His reputation is important not just for intimidating people, but inspiring other would be terrorists to join with him in Jihad or whatever. So at best, he would use a false name, but a realistic sounding false name, not something that obviously screams "supervillain".

Given that he won the superpower lottery, I'm thinking he could be arrogant enough to think something grandiose like "Fist of God" (in Arabic, of course) would be an appropriate call sign.

I'm pretty sure Islam is big on the whole "humility before Allah" thing.

[SMJB]

The thing is, the reason supers use fake names in-universe is that if you don't, enemies may try to use your loved ones as leverage. Even if your own particular power is kind of lame, the very fact that you come from a bloodline that produces supers means that you might have relatives somewhere with better powers. So I suppose Taliban guy could get a real name as he's already part of the most bloodthirsty gang in town as it were, but I think the others still need call signs.

As to the Hindu mythology angle, the mechanics behind superpowers are (kind of, in an empirical sense) understood: someone turned on an Atlantean machine somewhere, and people with the right genes ("the Patterned") began getting powers ("Templates") at kinda-random. Healers are a pretty rare Template, but not completely unknown, so I assume claiming to be the avatar of a god might not go over well (of course, I don't know much about the culture). Anyway, she's a fairly secular person.

Still, though, good thoughts

[Formless]

The thing is, the reason supers use fake names in-universe is that if you don't, enemies may try to use your loved ones as leverage.

Terrorist. Don't care. He has a whole community protecting them, and can radicalize more people if they are attacked. Osama Bin Laden had a family too, and despite his notoriety no one came after them. In fact, he successfully managed to discourage them from reading or watching news media, so that none of them ever thought of him as anything more than the eccentric uncle who lived in the high country. This isn't New York we're talking about, and your hero isn't Spider Man. Your villain is a man dedicated to radical Islam (apparently). If he's too much of a wimp to take a risk like "my family might be endangered by my choice" then he wouldn't have become a terrorist in the first place. Its not like people don't take these risks in real life. If they didn't, there wouldn't be wars and terrorism and other conflicts. Go with the nickname angle. Its the most plausible way to give him some cool supervillain moniker. Heck, it would be funny if, for a change, the supervillain hated his badass nickname!

There is little more you can do with superpowers that you can't do with some human ingenuity and a decent handmade explosive, especially if you have a group of like minded people behind you. I think you need to step back and think this one through. Thoroughly. Besides which, really? Radical Islam? Could you have thought of an easier target than that? Its like every Call of Duty game ever. Bad Guys = A-Rabs [/texas accent].

Anyway, she's a fairly secular person.

From India?

There are few places more religious than India. It just doesn't come up often in western discussions on religion and secularism because its not our country and its not our enemy either. I'm sure you might find an occasional atheist there or someone otherwise unconcerned with religion, but they have had the same damn religion(s) for thousands of years and its so entrenched in their society that it has survived invasions from Greece, Islam, and Christian Brits during that time. You are stretching credibility by saying that she's secular despite having this power or to imply she has no supernatural beliefs (even non-religious ones). Someone with that kind of upbringing doesn't care about the mechanical explanation, their first thought when getting superpowers is almost certainly going to be a supernatural force, and in this case most likely Dharma (would take too long to explain the concept here, so look it up). Even if there are others like themselves. And even if its "Atlantean," Atlantis is part of Greek Mythology, and since Hindus are on the extreme end of polytheism (they have even invented new gods in the past 100 years that people seriously pray to), anything with a mythological explanation can be construed as a validation of their beliefs by proxy, as long as it isn't validation of a monotheistic worldview (but there are technicalities even then). The only problem is that there are multiple people with her superpowers, so no she might not be able to say she is the one avatar of the one goddess of healing. But there are a ton of gods that do the healing schtick. Do some homework on their religion and find out.

If I were writing this character, I would instead take the opportunity presented by their cultural situation to write someone I couldn't write if they were from any other part of the world. Say she came from one of the lower castes or even the Untouchables, and has now been thrust into this situation where she now has healing powers and a huge responsibility. She might question some tenets of her beliefs; she might decide that she was born to be something more than she was told as a child. She might still hold onto some of her beliefs and not others, and strive to inspire people of her caste to ask for more respect. She might take some flak for that, but persevere. Nothing blatant. Nothing that has to come up very often (so actually, an Untouchable would be a bit too low on the Caste system). But still a defining point in her life and something that molds her worldview. Maybe she has a healing touch, and remembers an incident where someone from a higher caste refused to let her touch him because of her birth. Maybe she eventually convinced him, and that's an accomplishment she is proud of. Or maybe this is something that will happen during the story, and the man is one of her biggest detractors back home... but still someone she respects and wants to see recover from his illness. So she keeps correspondence with him and when it finally happens it makes her more confident. And this influences her thinking when they finally capture the villain. You have a whole story just in this one character, if you know how to write it (though it would take lots of research and effort for a westerner to get inside her head).

If the only kind of character you know how to write for is a secular one, your writing is going to be more flat and miss opportunities for tension or comparison or interpersonal discussion. And it'll seem that much more like you are picking on Islam to boot if the Islamic Terrorist is the only one with religious convictions. I suggest you re-think the character, and tread carefully not to make anyone out to be either a stereotype or an American in disguise. That may sound hard, but you chose to write a multinational superhero gang. You need to know what it takes to follow through with that. Of course, you can always change your mind on any aspect of this you like at this stage in the writing process. Its up to you.

[SMJB]

Heck, it would be funny if, for a change, the supervillain hated his badass nickname!

Yeah, that would be fresh. But if he doesn't get a super monicker, he'd hardly be the only villain in the setting to go without one.

Besides which, really? Radical Islam? Could you have thought of an easier target than that? Its like every Call of Duty game ever. Bad Guys = A-Rabs [/texas accent].

I have to have at least one if I don't want to look like I'm trying to be all PC and stuff.

Seriously, though, he's probably the single most minor villain in the rogues' gallery, thematically speaking. As it's planned right now, he's in one episode, in flashback to one of the character's army days, and the point is to create the moral dilemma for the character about whether or not to kill him. The goal is someone who can do a lot of damage if he escapes and can escape from any conceivable restraint.

As for the rest of your post...well, there's certainly a lot of food for thought there.

[fgalkin]

So, basically, you just killing brown people for the sake of killing brown people? Were you deliberately trying to be racist, or does it come naturally?

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[SMJB]

Yeah, because that's a reasonable reading of what I wrote. Fucking retard.

[fgalkin]

Yeah, because that's a reasonable reading of what I wrote. Fucking retard.

You made a Taliban supervillain just to be "un-PC"." Since un-PC is a euphemism for racism, I got some bad news for you buddy: you're a fucking racist.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Metahive]

A villainous Taliban who you are seeking an excuse for your heroes to murder in cold blood. Between this and your attempts to sanitize racist slurs I'm beginning to think that you have certain problems in attitude.

[Murazor]

Leaving aside the racism tangent, if you are looking into Peruvian pseudonym for a badass woman you may want to look into the life of Micaela Bastidas Puyucahua, leader of one of the early independentist revolts alongside her husband Tupac Amaru II and a martyr remembered to this day, thanks in part to the exceedingly brutal way in which she was executed.

[SMJB]

Yeah, because that's a reasonable reading of what I wrote. Fucking retard.

You made a Taliban supervillain just to be "un-PC"." Since un-PC is a euphemism for racism, I got some bad news for you buddy: you're a fucking racist.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Firstly, you're thinking of anti-PC, dumbass. Secondly, haven't you ever heard of this thing called "a fucking joke"? (Though I was kidding on the square in that how could I claim that my realistic superhero story was realistic if I didn't at least once acknowledge the existence of one of the closest things reality has to a supervillain organization?) Thirdly, let's review:

ITEM: I started this thread specifically for help with non-American characters, all of whom happen to be non-White. (Well, depending on how one defines Indians, but that's not a distinction a racist would make.)

ITEM: Of these three characters, one is a villain who might die. (If you any paid any sort of attention at all, you'd realize I never actually said he did--maybe the hero refused to kill him, a lot of people died as a result, and now it's his Greatest Failure?) Regardless of whether he dies or not, note that this is a singular character who happens[i/] to be non-White (assuming Arabs count as non-White) whereas you accused me of wanting to murder brown people (non-singular).

ITEM: I specifically said that he was a thematically minor villain when the poster I was responding to pointed out that Taliban are easy. Which would imply, to those who didn't eat paint chips as a child, at least, that the vast majority of villains in this series are...not that, maybe?

Now allow me to spell this out for you. I have a character I want to have some background in war. Where is there a war right now that we're involved in? Afghanistan. Who are we fighting there? The Taliban. I want this character to have a character-making moment involving having to decide whether another human being lives or dies while over there. Have you got any idea how unlikely it would be for that person to not be a Taliban in these circumstances?

Incidentially, in the first episode the main character guns down two White men in cold blood. He'll kill a (White) serial killer later, also in cold blood, and later still a (nonhuman) villain kills his (White) accomplice, also in cold blood. So that's five people killed in cold blood, one of whom happens to be non-White. Yeah, I am such a racist.

[SMJB]

Leaving aside the racism tangent, if you are looking into Peruvian pseudonym for a badass woman you may want to look into the life of Micaela Bastidas Puyucahua, leader of one of the early independentist revolts alongside her husband Tupac Amaru II and a martyr remembered to this day, thanks in part to the exceedingly brutal way in which she was executed.

Thank you. I'll look into that, now that I've put these retards in their place.

[Mr Bean]

Folks look SMJB is trying to write a story, and by posting in this thread you are at least in theory saying you'd like to help (Yes constructive criticism is help) with it. If you feel what SMJB is purposing is racist the correct response is to point that out and suggest how to avoid it. Not go piff SMJB is a racist and leave at that.

Here's a thought SMJB, why not study what the Taliban do, why people join up and why they are popular in some parts of the world instead of simply thinking piff evil bad people.

Take your Taliban bad guy. Life in Afghanistan and Pakistan revolves around the tribe. Both as a government body, a day to day world to live in and an almost default world view that comes from being or not being Pashtun in Afghanistan. Keep in mind while Pashtuns might be the most numerous it does not help a Pashtun raised in an Uzbek area, or that Uzbek in a Tajik area.

So your villain grows up an outcast and forced to fend for himself on the edges of real power. He falls into the underground and becomes a smuggler or thief or bandit at a young age. Is taught by life that only the strong have power and the strong take what they want. Suffers hardships and setbacks only to discover he's won the superpower lottery. Now he's graduated onto becoming senior thug or the right hand of some warlord. His powers give him what he wants and makes life better for himself and anything or anyone he cares about. Maybe he's a ruthless defender of his people. Maybe he's a harden killer only looking for the next score, the next rush of battle. Maybe he's conflicted, whatever he is his power draws attention and the Taliban recruit him. Maybe with threats to what he cares about or offers for what he wants. But now he's treated as a star, maybe it goes to his head or not, the Taliban are careful to use him as a media piece and attack targets (Maybe a rival tribe, or the west or whatever) he wants to attack also only occasionally diverting him to easy targets like some chief who refuses to give shelter to Taliban so said chief gets melted with heat vision or something.

There are a dozen paths I could see for some kid from the sticks of A-stan to end up a media symbol for the Taliban and a drone target for the West. Even if he's never scratched a single hair on a Westerners scalp the fact that he's fighting for a known enemy makes him a target.

[SMJB]

Folks look SMJB is trying to write a story, and by posting in this thread you are at least in theory saying you'd like to help (Yes constructive criticism is help) with it. If you feel what SMJB is purposing is racist the correct response is to point that out and suggest how to avoid it. Not go piff SMJB is a racist and leave at that.

Here's a thought SMJB, why not study what the Taliban do, why people join up and why they are popular in some parts of the world instead of simply thinking piff evil bad people.

Take your Taliban bad guy. Life in Afghanistan and Pakistan revolves around the tribe. Both as a government body, a day to day world to live in and an almost default world view that comes from being or not being Pashtun in Afghanistan. Keep in mind while Pashtuns might be the most numerous it does not help a Pashtun raised in an Uzbek area, or that Uzbek in a Tajik area.

So your villain grows up an outcast and forced to fend for himself on the edges of real power. He falls into the underground and becomes a smuggler or thief or bandit at a young age. Is taught by life that only the strong have power and the strong take what they want. Suffers hardships and setbacks only to discover he's won the superpower lottery. Now he's graduated onto becoming senior thug or the right hand of some warlord. His powers give him what he wants and makes life better for himself and anything or anyone he cares about. Maybe he's a ruthless defender of his people. Maybe he's a harden killer only looking for the next score, the next rush of battle. Maybe he's conflicted, whatever he is his power draws attention and the Taliban recruit him. Maybe with threats to what he cares about or offers for what he wants. But now he's treated as a star, maybe it goes to his head or not, the Taliban are careful to use him as a media piece and attack targets (Maybe a rival tribe, or the west or whatever) he wants to attack also only occasionally diverting him to easy targets like some chief who refuses to give shelter to Taliban so said chief gets melted with heat vision or something.

There are a dozen paths I could see for some kid from the sticks of A-stan to end up a media symbol for the Taliban and a drone target for the West. Even if he's never scratched a single hair on a Westerners scalp the fact that he's fighting for a known enemy makes him a target.

Definitely going with the "ruthless defender of his people angle."

Structurally, I've been thinking about having chapters between arks that focus various trivia--superheros of the past, minor characters, that sort of thing. Perhaps I'll dedicate an episode to this guy's life after his death just to make it more jarring for the readers to learn that this is a real person with real hopes and dreams and whatnot.

Just for the record, I'd like to reiterate that the accusations of racisim are due to one retard objecting to my having a non-White villain and/or killing a non-White character and/or joking about trying not to be PC and/or something (still not entirely sure which).

[fgalkin]

Firstly, you're thinking of anti-PC, dumbass.

There is a difference? Making something un-PC IS anti-PC.

Secondly, haven't you ever heard of this thing called "a fucking joke"? (Though I was kidding on the square in that how could I claim that my realistic superhero story was realistic if I didn't at least once acknowledge the existence of one of the closest things reality has to a supervillain organization?)

You joke about how being PC is bad and all. I think you're under the impression you're among your troglodyte RL friends here

Thirdly, let's review:


ITEM: I started this thread specifically for help with non-American characters, all of whom happen to be non-White. (Well, depending on how one defines Indians, but that's not a distinction a racist would make.)


ITEM: Of these three characters, one is a villain who might die. (If you any paid any sort of attention at all, you'd realize I never actually said he did--maybe the hero refused to kill him, a lot of people died as a result, and now it's his Greatest Failure?) Regardless of whether he dies or not, note that this is a singular character who happens[i/] to be non-White (assuming Arabs count as non-White) whereas you accused me of wanting to murder brown people (non-singular).

ITEM: Killing him is not the problem. The character is.

ITEM: You are a fucking tool. Afghans are not Arabs. Indians are not secular. "Native" people from Peru are not "hispanic," they are Quechua/Aymara, "hispanics" are the privileged minority. You know nothing, Jon Snow. You are also a middle class white guy who is butthurt he doesn't get to call people "nigger" There is no way you could write this without offending people. None.

ITEM: I specifically said that he was a thematically minor villain when the poster I was responding to pointed out that Taliban are easy. Which would imply, to those who didn't eat paint chips as a child, at least, that the vast majority of villains in this series are...not that, maybe?

ITEM: You admit that you're just including token minorities so as to seem inclusive. Hint, Tokenism is racist:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokenism

Now allow me to spell this out for you. I have a character I want to have some background in war. Where is there a war right now that we're involved in? Afghanistan. Who are we fighting there? The Taliban. I want this character to have a character-making moment involving having to decide whether another human being lives or dies while over there. Have you got any idea how unlikely it would be for that person to not be a Taliban in these circumstances?

ITEM: As it happens, I do have an idea, and a much better one than you. See above.

Incidentially, in the first episode the main character guns down two White men in cold blood. He'll kill a (White) serial killer later, also in cold blood, and later still a (nonhuman) villain kills his (White) accomplice, also in cold blood. So that's five people killed in cold blood, one of whom happens to be non-White. Yeah, I am such a racist.

Incidentally, you're a fucking dumbass who thinks that killing is the issue here.

Have a very nice day
-fgalkin

[SMJB]

There is a difference? Making something un-PC IS anti-PC.

There's a major difference, retard. Un-PC is anything down to and including saying "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays".

You joke about how being PC is bad and all.

Do you have a point?

Thirdly, let's review:


ITEM: I started this thread specifically for help with non-American characters, all of whom happen to be non-White. (Well, depending on how one defines Indians, but that's not a distinction a racist would make.)

ITEM: Killing him is not the problem. The character is.

So what you're saying is that I can't--even once--acknowledge the fact that the Taliban exists and that they are evil bastards? See, tools like you are why people make jokes about PC being bad.

Incidentally, considering that your original objection was that I was coming up with excuses to "kill brown people", I can only conclude that you're backpedaling.

ITEM: You are a fucking tool. Afghans are not Arabs.

Firstly, it's the other poster who called them Arabs. Secondly, racial lines tend to blur around the edges.

Indians are not secular.

So someone who just stereotyped an entire race of people is calling me a racist? Irony, thy name is fgalkin.

"Native" people from Peru are not "hispanic," they are Quechua/Aymara, "hispanics" are the privileged minority.

"Hispanic" refers to a wide range of people of White, Black, and Native descent. Including the Quechua.

You know nothing, Jon Snow. You are also a middle class white guy who is butthurt he doesn't get to call people "nigger" There is no way you could write this without offending people. None.

I love internet psychics.

TEM: You admit that you're just including token minorities so as to seem inclusive. Hint, Tokenism is racist:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokenism

Tokenism is bad. That's not what's happening though. What's happening is that you are accusing me of being racist based on having one throw-away character who isn't white. That's not tokenism, tokenism is if there is only one or minor non-White characters, and since I haven't told you anything about the universe beyond these three characters, you by definition can't know there's tokenism going on.

By the way, the main character is on a team where being a straight white male makes him a distinct minority. His boss is a gay black man, and he has personal beef with one of his boss's ex-boyfriends, another gay black man. The Hispanic woman above is one of his love interests. The cast is swimming in minorities of one sort of another, not that I should have to explain myself to retards like you.

ITEM: As it happens, I do have an idea, and a much better one than you. See above.

Um...no you didn't. I checked carefully, and at no point did you have anything that even resembled a suggestion of any sort.

Incidentally, you're a fucking dumbass who thinks that killing is the issue here.

Have a very nice day
-fgalkin

Firstly, you're backpedaling, as I said above. Secondly, Metahive's objection was very much based on the killing in cold blood of a non-White character.

[Steve]

Fima, seriously.... the cure to ignorance is education, not being screamed at and accused of being a racist because he doesn't know everything about other cultures and nations.

The fact SMJB posted this and asked for input shows he knows he's not sure what he's talking about and is looking for people who do know to help him with concepts. If he starts going from "ignorance" to "bigotry" then you can feel free to break out the Trollroaster 10,000, okay?

[Metahive]

It is hard to give the guy the benefit of the doubt when he elsewhere writes how badly he wants to use racist slurs among his buddies.

The first is an Indian woman (that is, from India) who is a healer whose name is supposed to denote mercy; Google Translate gave me Tarasa (theoretically, this is Hindi for compassion/mercifulness/etc.) which, if I understand the sound file correctly, is pronounced "Taras". Upon contemplating the many, many things that could lead to error in my methodology, I decided to get this vetted here and just ask for suggestions regarding the names for the others.

First off, why do you want to include characters that are ethnical? Does this character being from India have any reason besides "including a character from India"? What do you know about life in India? The situation of women there? Their beliefs and national culture? Have you done any research on that? Because if not you either just end up with an Indian character who's really just a WASP with an indian name and a tan or you run right into the Token trap like the old Challenge of the Superfriends cartoon where the minority characters were just an assortment of ethnic stereotypes.
Lesson learned, cultural appropriation just because is a no-no.

Next is a Hispanic woman from I'm-thinking-Peru (though that might change) of anti-heroic bent with super-strength, super toughness, and uses a minigun as a handheld weapon a la Terminator 2 because she can.

Same as above plus explain if that woman is a descendant of Europeans or indigenous people. The hot-blooded, tough-as-nails, no-nonsense latino woman however is a stereotype in and itself. See every Michelle Rodriguez character ever. So you better not use that.

Next is a villainous Taliban sort. I'm still in the real early stages of this project, so I don't quite have his powers down, but whatever he is, he's dangerous. Hell, I might as well ask some advice on him in general.

No, just no. Villainous muslim extremists are an overused cliche and if you're using him being a muslim extremist as a shortcut to create cheap audience-antipathy then you've failed doubly as a writer. Leave this sort of thing to all those faceless Tom Clancy (RIP) ghostwriters. In fact, avoid these:

Religious Extremists
Nazis
Drug dealers
Russian Communists/Ultranationalists
Chinese or North Korean Militarists

Writing these without coming off as cheap, cliched and shallow isn't easy and should be left to writers who know what they're doing.

What I'm looking for is some way to make it so capture somehow isn't practical. My goal is to have him unconscious in custody and have the heroes debate whether or not they should kill him before he wakes up--this in the middle of a war zone with a bunch of army types around them in some sort of scenario realistic to the environment.

Him being a villainous Taliban alone is already reason enough why you should not write any "kill in cold blood" sort of scenarios involving this character as a target. As mentioned above, Taliban fanatics already ellicit the sort of audience revulsion that will make killing him in cold blood not look like any sort of moral dilemma although it always should be! Heroes do not murder defenseless foes. Anti-heroes might but even then you might just end up with "villain who just happens to be on our side" if you are not careful. Also, keep in mind that dehumanising your enemy is a another cheap writing tactic to makes your story weaker. Leave the Orks in Middle-Earth.

[cadbrowser]

By the way, the main character is on a team where being a straight white male makes him a distinct minority. His boss is a gay black man, and he has personal beef with one of his boss's ex-boyfriends, another gay black man.

So, they're no white gay men? [/heavy sarcasm]

Without harping on the obvious elephant in the room; I do thing several good points have been brought up in that you really do need to do a bit of research with regards to these minorities you are utilizing in your story. I am not sure (unless you were EXTREMELY TALENTED) that you could sell your audience on a secular Indian (from India). Equally it would do good to follow Mr. Beans' advice regarding the Taliban bloake and research different aspects of how a youth (or adult) from that area finds their way into that group. It would seem there are parallels that run close to Gang activity here in the US.

See every Michelle Rodriguez character ever. So you better not use that.

Damn, I was just about to tell SMJB that I liked his Peruvian badass. You called me out even before I posted...I love me some Michelle Rodriguez...is that a bad thing?

[Metahive]

As an addendum, let's talk about a hypothetical, villainous Taliban character:

First off, what are his motivations? It could be that the world is too chaotic for his tastes and he's seeking the sort of clean, easy orderliness that religion offers. That's in fact a reason for many people to join religions in the first place. It could be that he joined the Taliban in revenge for the West killing his family. Maybe he was an ordinary everyman who wasn't too deep a believer until the day a drone fired into a wedding his wife and kids happened to participate in. Using this latter origin would already make the story more complex, it'd thematize the problem of the West's policies often being responsible for creating more enemies.
Second, what's his place within the hierarchy of the Taliban? Is he a mere mook? Is he some sort of special-ops guy or maybe even a team-leader? Him being in some sort of leading position offers further opportunities to display character just in how his leadership is shown. Maybe he's a bad boss who bullies and belittles the men under his command (that's however another villainous cliche) or maybe he's a fatherly leader who dearly cares about the well-being of his subordinates. Or maybe he's a cold professional who doesn't empathize with his men much but yet spurns them to extra efforts just through sheer amounts of skill and dedication.
Third, what kind of moral code does the character follow? Is it "the end justifies the means"? If that's so then it will serve as an opportunity to contrast the heroes' actions against his whenever they come into a situation where an anti-heroic course of action is available to them. If the heroes have the opprtunity to achieve their goals by sacrificing some innocents, they'll have to be confronted with the fact that their enemy would have acted likewise and how they'd deal with this realisation.
Maybe he's got some sort of code of honor where he'll pursuit his enemies relentlessly but refuse to harm innocents while at it. An honorable foe will make it harder for the heroes to engage in anti-heroics.
Or maybe he's just in it for the power and he revels in the villainous abuse he heaps upon those unfortunate enough to be within his reach. That however would be another cheap cliche and should only used if at the same time the character does so in a awe-inspiring, memorable and stylish manner. Think Darth Vader.

Have you thought about these things when you conceived of the villainous Taliban? Villains often drive the story so they should never be just mere plot-devices. A fully fleshed-out character makes writing also much easier since you'll just have to imagine how this character would act in a given situation. What better story than the one that writes itself?

[Metahive]

Damn, I was just about to tell SMJB that I liked his Peruvian badass. You called me out even before I posted...I love me some Michelle Rodriguez...is that a bad thing?

Liking this character is not a bad thing. It's just that writing such a character without going "Vasquez with a different name" is hard. Vasquez was of course not played by Rodriguez but is arguably the archetype her characters tend to follow.

While it is not an absolute imperative to avoid cliches at all costs, there's also no achievement in just retreading old ground. Why not make a chinese/japanese woman the tough, muscular, gun-toting one (without also giving her super martial-arts prowess. That's just another worn-out cliche)? I can't think of many characters in that vein.