MULTIPLE MAN

 

MULTIPLE MAN

Real Name: James Arthur Madrox

First Appearance: Giant-Size Fantastic Four (Vol. 1) #4, February 1975

Powers: Known as the Multiple Man, James “Jamie” Madrox possesses the mutant ability to generate exact physical and mental duplicates of himself on impact.

He uses the kinetic energy he receives upon impact as a catalyst for a body-wide cellular replication process. He disperses some of the impact during this process (protecting him from a degree of harm), but every impact, no matter how large or small, produces only one duplicate. A molecular field extends out from Jamie's body, automatically replicating additional matter in close contact with him when he duplicates. As a result, his duplicates are generated wearing the same clothes he is, but also if his hands are tied or bound in some way, the ropes will materialize on the dupe as well. Though they regularly materialize right next to each other, Jamie can apparently control where a duplicate emerges in relation to himself -- by sliding his finger under a doorframe and triggering his power, he can will the duplicate to appear on the other side of the door, as opposed to next to him in the hallway.

Each of his duplicates are capable of independent thought, feeling, and action (though they are guided by whatever decisions prompted the original to create them). They can create duplicates, and though their original limit was 40, that limit has changed and now the upper number of duplicates that Multiple Man can create is no longer known. Each duplicate is Multiple Man’s complete copy up until the moment they split. The longer the duplicates remain in existence, however, the more independent they become, displaying unique personality traits and individualism. A running quirk in the duplication process occasionally creates a dupe that almost immediately develops a sense of individuality. In which case, it is more difficult for the original Madrox to forcibly re-absorb the renegade duplicate. The duplicates have a low-level telepathic link with each other at all times, but cannot actually read each other's thoughts (though it may seem like it sometimes since each dupe IS Madrox, so naturally they'll think along the same lines). This link only extends to a general sense of another's presence and a psychosomatic sharing of pain.

He can re-absorb his duplicates back into his body through a deliberate thought command. Any Madrox duplicate can recombine with any other on contact, regardless of if it was the one they split off from in the first place. Apparently, even the slightest bit of physical contact is enough to allow a merger. Continuing from the above example, Jamie is capable of leaving his apartment chain-locked by having one dupe in the apartment and one outside, chain-locking the door, and then making contact with each other underneath the doorframe so that the inner Jamie is absorbed into the outer Jamie. Presently, Jamie seems capable of reabsorbing dupes who are in very close proximity, without even actually touching them. The duplicates dissolve into "proto-matter" and are recalled into his body in an almost liquid state, from at least a block or two away if necessary. Once merged, two Jamies then share memories and experiences.

According to most accounts, emotional connections do not transfer over during the merging process. When one duplicate departed for a while and ended up falling for Siryn, then was later reabsorbed, Madrox-Prime was aware of the relationship, but didn't suddenly develop the same feelings for Theresa that his dupe had. Originally, any injuries Jamie suffered would be averaged by a merging: If a healthy duplicate and a duplicate with a gut wound remerged, the single Madrox left would have a gut wound roughly half as serious as the injured dupe did. He could use this to his advantage by having a healthy dupe generate multiple copies and then absorbing the injured one into each dupe in turn, fractioning the injury each time to continually lessen its severity. At present, it seems re-absorbing an injured dupe only causes the Madrox-Prime to experience a psychosomatic version of the pain they were experiencing.

All the various changes detailed above can be attributed to either a growing development of his power or the shock trauma of his death from the Legacy Virus. The Madrox who died then was apparently the real Jamie Madrox, and for months afterwards he existed as a collection of duplicates. A new Madrox-Prime seems to have exerted himself in the time since his death, though. A new development in his power is that Jamie's duplicates now frequently seem to manifest as enhanced versions of his various character traits or emotions: Depressed, happy, serious, humorous, and so on. His duplicates are infertile in the normal sense, but apparently can generate embryonic dupes inside of sexual partners, that grow like regular babies in the host.

In part via his explorer dupes, Madrox possesses an eclectic variety of skills: He is trained in human anatomy, Shaolin monk martial arts, meditation and stealth techniques, escapology, stage magic (including throwing playing cards with lethal proficiency), acting, espionage, and first aid. He is a qualified lawyer and speaks fluent Russian and Hawaiian.

Jamie Madrox's power manifested at birth and he wore a special suit (designed by his parents and Charles Xavier) most of his life that insulated him from kinetic energy, preventing him from generating duplicates through accidental impacts. It malfunctioned at one point, absorbing ambient electrical which increased his physical strength (up to Class 70 when he drained all of the power in the borough of Manhattan). Modifications were made to the suit by Reed Richards and Charles Xavier. Through training, he overcame that difficulty and gained full mastery over his mutant power, no longer requiring the suit.