Two metallic gentle giants

Cyborg- Colossus

Here, we cheat on one Kounterparts guideline: “Kounterparts must come from a similar place of origin”; and observe another: “notions of ethnicity and of class are fluid.”

Colossus was, I think, the first Russian character in the MU to not be played as a dirty commie or a dirty commie who overcomes the brainwashing of his oppressors in the Kremlin. Peter is just a sweet farmboy who’s often bemused at life away from the USSR.

In this way, he would resemble a Russian sometime Titan named Red Star (formerly Starfire, initially an unthinking commie stooge) more than he does an african-american whose part-man, part-machine bearing gave Marv Wolfman and George Perez an excuse to indulge in the “angry black guy” cliché so popular in super hero comics books in the ‘70s. In the Teen Titans animated program, Cyborg is shown to be an amiable dude who rather likes all the cool shit he can do.

So I think that the guys’ personalities (sweet, noble and principled) are close enough.

Commonalities:
The “bricks” of their respective teams, vis-a-vis their massive strength. Both are essentially conscientious, gentle fellows who regretfully resort to violence only when absolutely necessary.

Differences:
Colossus is russian and can switch from metallic form to flesh at will. Whereas Cyborg is an african-american who was shown to be unhappy that he must walk around in public with most of his body implanted with metal prostheses and various devices. Colossus has also never been shown to be terribly bitter.

Alternate histories:

CY: Victor Stone, an American raised in Africa, discovers during adolescence that parts of his body can convert into metallic prostheses. He is recruited into the Titans, where he serves under the code name Cyborg for many years. He falls under the influence of Black Adam for a time, and apparently dies; Cyborg has recently been revived and has rejoined the Titans.

CO: A Russian-American named Piotr Rasputin’s mutant genes are jump-started by his scientist parents after he is injured during an experiment; his entire body becomes composed of a metallic alloy. His bitterness regarding his conspicuously bizarre appearance is alleviated somewhat when he joins the X-Men, where he assumes the codename Colossus and befriends Nightcrawler in particular. For a short time, his outlook becomes less and less human, and he retires to another planet populated by mechanoids. Eventually, Colossus returns to Earth and mentors younger mutants; he has recently joined a reunited X-Men.