RUNNER

 

RUNNER

Real Name: Gilpetperdon

First Appearance: Defenders (Vol. 1) #143, May 1985

Powers: The Runner is a member of the Elders of the Universe, a loose group of individuals numbering among the oldest mortal-born beings in the universe. Each Elder is the last surviving member of his or her respective race, those races being the earliest civilizations to emerge in the cosmos after the Big Bang. The Elders have outlived not only their species, but also their planets and, according to some reports, even the entire galaxies they originate from have long since died out, making way for newer galaxies such as the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy. The Elders each tap into something called the Power Primordial as the source of their immortality and superhuman abilities. The Power Primordial is a form of vast cosmic power, either one of the earliest such forces to emerge after the Big Bang, or a residual force from before the birth of the universe, like the Infinity Gems. It has never been explained how any of the Elders learned of the Power Primordial, or how to tap into it. The immortality bestowed on the Elders by the Power Primordial is inherently derived from their will to live. An Elder must maintain the desire to continue living in order to do so: One Elder's wife literally died of apathy, as she was no longer interested in maintaining her immortal lifespan. In order to retain their immortality, the Elders have each mono-maniacally devoted themselves to a single pursuit or goal, so that they always have something to live for.

The Runner in particular is one of the youngest Elders, only 5 billion years old. He possessed superhuman levels of upper body strength, agility, senses, and reaction time. His dedication to developing his running ability and speed above all else allowed him to use his legs to propel himself on land or through open space at trans-warp speeds, many times the speed of light, with virtually limitless endurance. He was capable of surviving in virtually any environment, was highly resistant to many forms of injury and hyper-regenerative whenever he was injured. The Runner also had the ability to stimulate the pleasure centers of other sentient beings, making them incapable of not liking him. This made him a naturally-gifted manipulator and would throw his opponents off-balance during a fight. At more intense levels, his power could make people virtually incapable of fighting back against him at all. He has demonstrated certain abilities such as projecting force blasts from his head and matter rearranging, but not often. When he was in possession of the Space Gem, he utilized its powers subconsciously to infinitely increase his speed, bending existing space so that he sometimes reached a destination before he finished thinking about it.