QUASAR

 

QUASAR

Real Name: Wendell Elvis Vaughn

First Appearance: Captain America (Vol. 1) #217, January 1978

Powers: S.H.I.E.L.D. espionage agent Wendell Vaughn is Quasar, the Protector of the Universe, and wears the Quantum-Bands on his wrists as the symbol of his station.

The Quantum-Bands are jeweled metallic wristbands, unique cosmic artifacts designed by the being known as Eon to empower the person he appointed as Protector of the Universe. When he first donned the bands, Wendell had no concept of their full capabilities. They molecularly bonded to his wrists, making it impossible to remove them. Using the bands, Quasar could initially just manipulate quantum energy as visible, yellow light. He could produce intangible radiant light as a soft glow or blinding flashes from the bands. By projecting quantum energy and using it to bind particles in the atmosphere together, he could create solid constructs, seemingly out of pure energy. Through willpower, Wendell could shape these constructs into different forms, making them hollow or solid through-and-through. He could project battering rams of force, create a personal energy sheath for protection, generate spheres, domes, cages, scissors, ramps, giant drills, nunchuka, etc. Each construct was also laced with anti-gravity properties, so that he could levitate and propel himself through the air and lift virtually any amount of weight with his constructs by placing one underneath something and willing the construct to rise and move about.

After meeting his benefactor, Eon, Quasar unlocked a far greater potential in the bands, including the ability to access the full range of electromagnetism, not just visible light. Wendell can now sustain his life functions indefinitely with his bands while out in space, and can Quantum Jump through the Quantum Zone (the source of his powers and all electromagnetic energy in the universe), enabling him to cross intergalactic distances in a matter of moments. Because of the adverse effect this has on the environment in atmospheres, Quasar only Quantum Jumps while in space. He can, however, overcome this difficulty by shaping a Q-construct around himself before Quantum Jumping, containing the vacuum backwash. Using his bands, Quasar can sense the full range of electromagnetic and cosmic energies. This allows him to pick up radio transmissions, detect signals sent by microwaves or other means, register the presence of people or objects that produce energy, and identify and recognize energy signatures he has felt before. Quasar has pre-programmed his bands to alert him to sudden flare ups of energy happening in his general area, and wove an invisible lattice of quantum energy around Earth, alerting him to incoming extra-terrestrial threats.

Because his control over electromagnetic energy now extends into non-visible ranges of radiation, Quasar can make his force fields or constructs invisible to the naked eye. He can also use this power to make his bands invisible, to disguise himself in his civilian identity. Quasar's bands can absorb any form of electromagnetic or cosmic energy in his immediate area -- he does not need to make direct contact with it, he can draw the energy to his bands. When it comes to living beings who generate energy, he can only drain them of their power when they are actively using it. Quasar cannot directly affect mystical or psychic energy, but he has set up a defensive field around his brain which naturally protects him from mental attack. Because each band has seven gems on it, Wendell is technically capable of performing 14 different tasks at once. This includes flying, his force field, each new energy construct, tapping into different radio transmissions, etc. Practically, however, Quasar has difficulty maintaining three different types of constructs at once. Firing 14 identical energy balls in a single direction is no problem, but holding some allies aloft on a platform, caging one opponent in a sphere, and redirecting the assaults of another opponent proved taxing.

Quasar lost the Quantum-Bands during a time when he was temporarily dead, but was resurrected thanks to the residual energy of the Star Brand, which he had picked up on a trip to the New Universe. The Star Brand is a zero point energy collector and a self-perpetuating temporal paradox, but suffice it to say that while Wendell possessed the Star Brand he had superhuman strength, considerable resistance to physical injury, infinite self-healing abilities, the ability to survive in the vacuum of space, flight, and the power to radiate explosive and destructive bursts of force from his body. The Star Brand itself was a small tattoo which the wielder could move from one place on their body to another by touching the Brand to a different area of their skin and willing it to move over. By placing the Brand over his eye, Quasar could visually see and track energy signatures. Because the Star Brand was intrinsically linked to its own universe, its power ultimately faded away in our universe, luckily just as Wendell was able to reacquire his bands.

Quasar was temporarily dead again, and was resurrected as a quantum-phasic entity. He essentially exists as a living Quantum Construct now, able to direct and manipulate quantum energy even without the bands, also he has since reacquired them as well.

Wendell Vaughn has had basic espionage training through S.H.I.E.L.D. and has had extensive hand-to-hand combat training through both S.H.I.E.L.D. and Captain America, though little experience in using it. His military and espionage training have given him some ability in the areas of modern weaponry, piloting small aircraft, tactical skills, combat tech, surveillance, and cryptography.