WASHOUT

 

WASHOUT

Real Name: John Lopez

First Appearance: X-Force (Vol. 1) #129, August 2002

Powers: Washout was born with the mutant power to generate spurts of a watery liquid substance on physical contact. The full nature of that aspect of his powers wasn't explored, so why exactly he was originally a tactile-activated water generator wasn’t clarified. He seemed capable of producing enough water to launch himself upwards on a pressurized fountain of liquid.

After being altered by the Weapon X Program, Washout became a full-fledged hydromorph. His mutant power now enabled him to bodily transform himself, in whole or in part, into water. While in this state, his consciousness could control every droplet that comprised his body. Thus he could will himself to turn liquid whenever struck. Presumably, if he were to will just his torso liquid, his still-solid head and arms would fall to the ground. It is not known if this would cause injury to his solid parts or not. Washout could also propel the liquid particles of his body at great pressure like water shooting through a firehose. It is not known how he generated the pressure to create this effect.

Apparently, Washout’s liquid particles each possessed some form of attraction for one another so that his disintegrated consciousness could draw all of the particles back into cohesion after total dispersal. It is not known if there was a limit to the particles' ability to attract one another. Nor is it known if there was a limit to how long Washout could remain in a completely aqueous state. He could merge his watery molecular structure with ordinary water, and use it to increase his mass.

By converting into liquid, he was unaffected by physical assaults, and could reshape himself into different forms. Manipulating the surface tension of his watery state allowed him to touch and strike out at objects as if he were solid. He could expand his hand into a giant fist of water, turn it into a razor sharp blade, or produce a high pressure blast of water strong enough to knock a man off his feet, or sustain the liquid around them in order to drown his opponent.

Apparently, he had no difficulty reforming his solid physical state, even while fully immersed in water. Washout could also mentally manipulate outside sources of water, willing people to die by upsetting the balance of liquids in their body so that they ruptured and exploded from the inside out.

Washout’s consciousness either resided in each of the billions of droplets that his body becomes, or existed in an intangible perhaps gas-like state. Since he could convert his entire head into water, and his brain was still capable of rational motivated thought, his brain could no longer have been organic. It is probably that even in its solid state when it appeared to be made of flesh, tissue, and bone; he was no longer truly organic, it is not known if he needed to eat, sleep, or eliminate waste products anymore.