CONTROLLER

 

CONTROLLER

Real Name: Basil Sandhurst

First Appearance: Iron Man (Vol. 1) #12, April 1969

Powers: Basil Sandhurst was a research scientist working at Cord Industries when he was exposed to vessels filled with volatile explosive chemicals, scaring and crippling him. This led him to create a "mental wave absorbatron," a device that drained the cerebral energies of whoever was connected to it and transferred it to a uniquely-equipped exoskeleton that the quadriplegic Sandhurst wore, in the form of motive power. Calling himself the Controller, Sandhurst devised palm-sized "slave discs" which, when affixed to a person's forehead, converts that person's cerebral energies into an unusual form of broadcast power that is transmitted to the absorbatron, then re-transmitted to the exoskeleton where it is converted to a simulated-life-motive force. Later, as an ally of Thanos, the Controller was given modified slave discs, augmented by Titanian technology, which directly beamed the converted cerebral energies to the Controller without the bulky absorbatron machines as a medium.

Aided by his permanently affixed exoskeleton, the Controller can lift (press) about 1,000 pounds. When the exoskeleton is empowered by siphoned cerebral energies, his strength increases to a maximum observed level where he can lift (press) about 50 tons.

The Controller possesses the capacity for superhuman strength, derived from the stainless steel exoskeleton/body armor that was micro surgically attached to his body from head to toe. The exoskeleton is covered with micro circuited power converters designed to receive cerebral energies in the form of extra-dimensional radiation and reconvert it into energy for physical strength. The cerebral energies he taps are the latent psionic powers that lie dormant in virtually all human beings. The Controller's own cerebral energies are sufficient to power his exoskeleton at the strength level noted above.

Enhanced by the cerebral energies of others, the Controller's strength grows proportionately. Each slave disc is capable of diverting about 85% of a person's cerebral energies to the Controller's use. With 20 people under his control, the Controller can lift about 2 tons: With 200, he could lift 20 tons. There is, however, a practical limit to both the number of people he can control at one time (determined by how many slave discs he has manufactured), and how much power the exoskeleton's receptors and actuators can transform and use at one time. Since being augmented by Titanian technology, the exoskeleton enables the Controller to lift (press) an observed upper limit of approximately 50 tons.

The cerebral energies drained by the slave discs occasionally confer upon the Controller powers other than physical strength. If the person he places a slave disc upon has an above-average psionic potential, the Controller is granted their psionic abilities as well as their physical strength. In this way, the Controller has temporarily possessed the power of levitation and telekinesis, which faded as he was defeated and his subject's slave discs were removed.

The Titanian slave discs now used by the Controller can create a telepathic link between the Controller's mind and that of the person wearing the disc. Through concentration, the Controller can direct a subject's actions mentally for as long as he concentrates upon him or her. He is only able to concentrate on one person at a time.

Basil Sandhurst holds advanced degrees in chemistry as well as mechanical and electrical engineering. A gifted intellect, he is a highly skilled chemist and mechanical engineer.