The Poisoneers are a group of invading aliens that have set up refuge on Earth. Their home planet has been destroyed, and as a race they are all but extinct. In desperation, they have begun terraforming parts of Earth. Of course, their native planet was incredibly toxic to Earth life, so anywhere they live, putrid gas and oozing slime follows. The Poisoneers used to communicate exclusively through visuals, but have engineered devices to communicate through sound. As they don't have a pronounceable name for their race, they have gone by the name that Earthlings have given to them.

Unlike other villain groups, the Poisoneers are not incredibly evil. Sure, they cause a lot of harm, but they actually feel repentant for their actions. A combination of different culture, different values, and utter desperation have turned these otherwise peaceful aliens into a terrible menace to Earth. They truly believe they are doing the right thing when they abduct humans and genetically engineer them to be able to live in the toxic environment they are native to. They feel truly sorry when a group of Superheroes find one of their underground dens, and they are forced to fight back to preserve themselves. And sometimes, they try and give back to the planet and culture they forced themselves into, occasionally teaming up with superheroes to defeat other threats to Earth.

That said, they won't be content with anything until the Earth's entire biosphere becomes identical to that of their home planet's. Even if they have to wipe humanity out, though they'd much prefer to live in harmony with them.


I'm not sure what system Valiance uses to differentiate enemy types so I'll use City of Heroes's system.

Minions:

Poison Child: One of the lower level Poisoneer minions, these are just humans genetically engineered to live in the Poisoneer's native environment. They come at you using Poisoneer weaponry, and while they are resistant to poison damage, they don't deal it.
Scientist: A low level Poisoneer not trained in combat. They instead focus on healing the stronger types of Poisoneer enemies, though they can inflict nasty poison damage on you. They are barely outfitted to survive Earth's atmosphere, as they mostly stay inside their dens.
Militia: A trainee Poisoneer, in the process of learning the tools of combat. They can't really take much of a beating.

Lieutenants:

Guardsman: A larger Poisoneer actively outfitted for combat. They equip plasma weaponry, and their suits protect them from various elemental afflictions.
Poison Adept: A stronger Poison Child. Fairly generic.
Poisoneer Mecha: A small mecha built for defense. It has highly accurate plasma lances, and are very durable. They also have a poison gas spray attack.

Bosses:

Terrabot: A tall and imposing mecha. It can take a huge beating. While it can't deal much damage, it does have numerous area of effect poison abilities.
Poison Baron/Baroness: A Poison Child specifically designed for combat. They are all around very powerful, and outfitted with biological weaponry, allowing them to poison enemies. They tend to leap around the battlefield, switching between melee and ranged fighting styles at the drop of a hat.
Specialist: Highly equipped Poisoneer Scientists. While they aren't trained explicitly for combat, they have numerous cybernetic enhancements, and are capable of defending themselves, or supporting large amounts of allies at once.

Elite Bosses:

Poisoneer Matriarch: The strongest breed of Poisoneer, standing well over 16 feet tall. They are outfitted with the same terraforming equipment as a Terrabot, but are far more agile and intelligent. In addition to their powerful area of effect poison abilities, and superhuman agility (don't let their size fool you), they carry an aura of command to empower other Poisoneers.
Terrabot Prime: Much huger than a Terrabot, these huge mecha are made to be the center of larger terraforming operations. They are able to summon their own personal squad of Poisoneer Mecha, and they can repair other robots in the field.

When I think of the villain name all I can think of is Cobras from XCOM 2, but that obviously isn't the case when reading this.

I certainly wouldn't call them a villain group, much like the Rikti when you understand WHY they attacked Paragon you realise that they aren't the bad guys, but someone else who has been pulling the strings behind the scenes.

I could see if this group exsisted then heroes would be having missions around helping them (recovering chemicals on earth to help them as well as offering a helping hand, possibly bringing the two races together) and the villains may either attempt to manipulate or just wipe out and steal their technology, but it's really more on a decision end (Why simpyly wipe out a desperate species, when you can convince them that your enemy is their enemy? It takes the heat off of you and whilst they keep beating each-other up, it gives you breathing room to unlock your evil plans! Mwhahaha!) So there is certainly possibilities here.