How popular is it? What kind of magic does he use? Is half the shit he does even possible? What does he look like? Have any images ever been published?

I haven't run across any descriptions, so it's there for the GM to flesh out as desired. If I did it, the answers would be:

How popular is it?
Very popular. People are fascinated by magic (even if many of them also fear it), and the action elements don't hurt it either.

What kind of magic does he use?
Flashy combat spells for the most part. Stuff that people find creepier, such as mind reading, is done by the "bad guys".

Is half the shit he does even possible?
Naw. They have things like skyscrapers blowing up. They actually have a magical consultant for the show, but they pretty much ignore him. At least they get the terminology (mostly) right.

Have any images ever been published?
In SR? None that I have run across. In the SR world? Absolutely. Karl is a full-blown multimedia experience, rivalling Neil the Ork Barbarian.

Karl Kombatmage "On Sim This Fall!" - Page 26 Sprawl Survival Guide.

I could of sworn there was a drawing in one of the SR books...

It was either a Karl Combat Mage - Behind the Scenes type scene or some sort of Karl Combat Mage promo poster, maybe even both?

Anyway that's what I remember but I could just be smoking crack.

Edit:

There is also a movie poster on pg 110 of SOTA 2063.

I like the translated M&M and CC, but yes, that's it.

Karl Combat Mage
A TRID version of shadowrunning? Yah, it's kinda like that.

Not to mention "Karl" is probably one of the highest earners outside of a AAA boardroom.

Dude, he's an actual person? Is he a real mage, too?

Dude, he's an actor.

It's never stated if the actor is a real mage, but Karl Kombatmage is a fictional figure in a Trid-series.

That's a point, they never mention the Actor who plays him.
Do they?

Are there any people who take Karl as a mentor spirit?

+2 to combat spells
+2 to intimidation

Must make a will+charisma roll(3) to avoid fighting a dragon or blowing up a building more than 35 stories tall whenever he encounters one.

The part with the buildings makes him unplayable

Nearly as cool as the Elvis shaman/ mentor spirit.

Karl has been around for at least twenty years now, neh? I'm pretty sure that they've gone through a couple iterations of actors (since there's no way Karl is a keeb or a halfer. He's too cool to be one of them.)

I'd be curious how many stunt doubles they've gone through, one way or another.

Is it a 'TV' (trid/sim produced every few weeks on a lower budget, at about an hour each max) series or a 'movie' (trid/sim produced every few years on a higher budget, at about four hours each max) series?
Or both? Which primarily?

CHUCK NORRIS MEME!!!

Welcome to the Dumpshock Forums where fully 2/3 of all punchlines are either:

A: Swordfish Mustardball
B: Sex with a Dikoted AVS Ally Spirit
C: Bubba The Love Troll
D: Chuck Norris

The other third are drop bears.

Ninja.

With mechashiva.

Ninja drop bears.

I believe it at least started out as a tv series, something on the level of Knight Rider but more eye candy and less David Hasselhoff. Then they made a movie, continued the series, and began making knock offs of both.

Part of cyberpunk is corruption of power, which means that Karl could be maintaining his status through extortion, blackmail, mind control, and so on. Maybe he owns/stole the rights to the show and must fight the studios in a sinuous shadow war.

Ah, but it's also about the crushing of an individual spirit under the monolithic nature of a corporate bottom line. Maybe Karl is some strung-out actor, wholly owned by the syndicate who publishes him, dreaming of the freedom that his character has.

But it's also about the excesses of the rich, so he may have so much money that freedom is unattractively dangerous...

[e] Maybe he had to marry the daughter of a powerful executive or a politician able to benefit the studio, and can keep his job and Leonization treatments up to date so long as she is happy.

[e2] Maybe the studio is grooming him to be a politician. As long as he stays popular, he's got a job. "The media proclaimed Kombat Kid is winning support in many parts of the AGS with his 'Kombat Krime' initiative."

Eh. This is Shadowrun. He's probably a disguised immortal elf, Great Dragon, or Horror.

Since it,s cyberpunk, high-tech and emptyness, showinga nd all - you forgot a possibility; it is maybe NOT a living actor, but an CG thing? Who know, maybe a semi-AI?

Vote on it.