PSYCHO-MAN

 

PSYCHO-MAN

Real Name: Unrevealed
First Appearance: Fantastic Four Annual (Vol. 1) #5, November 1967

Powers: The Chief Scientist and ruler of a technocracy governing five planets of the Sub-Atomica system within the Microverse (a dimension accessible via the energies of shrinking), the Psycho-Man discovered the secrets of fear itself with the guidance of the Olympian goddess Nox. When his system became overcrowded, he sought a new home for his people and chose Earth, believing its population had no defense against his weaponry. He created a human-sized armor suit and an emotion-stimulating Control Box.

The Psycho-Man possesses no known superhuman powers, though he claims that he derives power from the negative emotions he causes, like a psychic vampire. A brilliant engineer, mathematics genius, cybernetics expert and weapons designer, the Psycho-Man has knowledge of technology far in advance of present day Earth's. His primary weapon is his Control Box that can stimulate three negative emotions--fear, doubt and hate--in one or more targets.

Using the nobs on the handheld device, the Psycho-Man can control the type of emotion, its intensity (from mild to life threatening) and the length of the effects. The fear ray frequently causes people to hallucinate a particularly fearsome image or scenario dredged up from their own subconscious, which often causes them to be completely paralyzed with terror. The Control Box's settings can also be reversed, which allows the Psycho-Man to bombard opponents with courage, confidence and love--this renders them extremely confident to the point of recklessness and overly sentimental.

The Psycho-Man has incorporated this emotion altering technology into larger devices with greater range and effectiveness, once even influencing an entire planet. Blind or sightless people have proven immune to his emotion rays. The only known defense against his mind-altering rays is a Microverse native mineral known as Nuvidia. The Psycho-Man has access to shrinking and enlarging technology which he uses for a variety of effects. His armor had various weapons systems, including hand mounted giant fans. He can probe minds to see if people tell the truth. He has created several giant robot forms of his body armor that he uses to carry out missions on Earth, which he can either "pilot" or cybernetically control from the Microverse. For travels within the Microverse, he relies on a gigantic Worldship. The Psycho-Man has also been seen commanding a fleet of vessels he calls his Death Ships. He is also capable of easily traveling to Earth and even other dimensions using technology. He briefly gained some of the powers of his Control Box. He could also generate solid energy forms to give form to his illusions--these powers have since vanished. Without his armor or weapons, the Psycho-Man is physically frail and has been seen using life-support equipment to cope with nerve degradation he claims occurred when the Invisible Woman exposed him to the effects of his Control Box.

BARON KARZA

 

BARON KARZA

Real Name: Baron Karza

First Appearance: Micronauts (Vol. 1) #1, January 1979

Powers: Baron Karza rose to power in the sub-dimensional Microverse using lost arts of cyber-genetics and bio-engineering. He transformed himself into pure mental energy, and cast his essence into a shell of living, nigh-invincible armor. After assuming control of Homeworld, he constructed the vast genetic manipulation laboratories known as the Body Banks, which converted the poor and downtrodden into raw materials for the rich to keep themselves alive, and to create his endless series of Dog Soldiers. The Body Banks were powered by the atomic fires from the core of the planet itself, and through them, Baron Karza's armor was constantly enriched with raw energy, giving him nearly inexhaustible stamina. Karza's body also gave him superhuman strength and armored durability, reinforced by an impenetrable force field he could summon with a thought. Karza could launch his fists at opponents as projectile weapons, animating them from a distance to either strangle or pummel his victims into submission. The disembodied hands could also discharge a portion of Karza's own energies, immediately incapacitated someone on contact. He possessed a number of offensive weapons built into his hands, eyes, four chest nodules, and the ruby symbol in the center of his stomach, including blinding light flashes, heat beams, force blasts, and a molecular disintegrator effect. His hands, at least, are capable of firing off multiple blasts simultaneously which can each seek out individual targets. Karza was also capable of self-levitation (though not propulsive flight), long-range teleportation, and forging power-shackles of pure energy to hold his foes trapped. Baron Karza could transmogrify his armored body at will from a humanoid to a centaur form, altering his speed and mobility while also unsheathing mace-like tail and a set of side-mounted engines that could blast him across the landscape.

Karza's power is not limited to his armored body alone: As a being of pure energy, he possesses telepathic powers enabling him to sense and probe the minds of others at will, induce a "mind-bind" to block out certain thoughts, or a "mind-shock" that could have a potentially deadly effect on anyone within range. What's more, he can separate from his body and enter a state of disembodied energy, similar to an astral form. This energy state is still visible to the naked eye, though, and is capable of performing a "mind-merge" and imprinting Karza's essence onto the body of another being. Through this process, Baron Karza can literally transform another person into a replica of himself, complete with all his armor's capabilities. This enabled him to survive his first death by merging permanently with Force Commander to give his spirit a new host, but he was also able to temporarily possess the Earth-created Professor Prometheus. This meant that, while the Microverse natives normally grow only to about 6 inches tall after passing through the Spacewall to Earth, Baron Karza was able to manifest on our world as a full human-sized armored warrior.

CAPTAIN UNIVERSE

 

CAPTAIN UNIVERSE

Real Name: Variable ("Captain Universe" is the generic name for recipients of the Uni-Power, which constantly transfers from one person to another.)

First Appearance: Micronauts (Vol. 1) #8, August 1979

Powers: Captain Universe is not a person. It is the generic name for the recipient of the Uni-Power, a special kind of energy that endows an individual with a host of superhuman powers. The Uni-Power is a manifestation of the Enigma Force, an extra-dimensional energy originating in the subatomic realm known as the Microverse, wielded by the ethereal Time Travelers. The Uni-Power appears to be a floating globule of luminescent energy that appears seemingly from out of nowhere to engulf an individual, conferring upon him or her the costume, powers and knowledge of Captain Universe. The Uni-Power only manifests itself at a time of crisis, be it personal or worldwide, and then withdraws when the crisis has abated. How it chooses the individual who gets full possession of the Uni-Power to solve his or her crisis is yet known. The Uni-Power does not remain with one person for very long. It transfers from one person to another across the face of the world with no perceptible time lapsing between. At all times somewhere on Earth there is a Captain Universe (once, a pair of twins were Captain Universes simultaneously). The Uni-Power first empowered a NASA astronaut named Captain Ray Coffin, which is why the super-powered individual it creates is called "Captain Universe".

The Uni-Power can be manipulated by each Captain Universe in a variety of ways, dependent upon each recipient's imagination and strength. The Uni-Power amplifies strength about fifty times. Thus, if a person can normally lift (press) 150 pounds, he or she would now be able to lift approximately 7,500 pounds. Each Captain Universe is also granted the ability to fly by harnessing the Uni-Power's energy to generate anti-gravitions. The Uni-Power also grants the ability to manipulate the molecular structure of objects, changing one shape into another, or even transmuting the elements of an object from one substance to another. This power of molecular manipulation extends to both organic and inorganic matter. Thus, the Uni-Power can be used to heal wounds by rearranging the molecules of flesh, tissues or organs, or it can be used to alter the physical characteristics of a person (enlarging the hands or changing their features). The Uni-Power can also be wielded like an energy-beam, generating a luminous burst of energy with a concussive force determined to an extent by the user's ability. The Uni-Power also grants each Captain Universe Uni-Vision which enable the user to see the molecular structure of an object, to see through walls, or to see long distances away. The Uni-Vision is emitted by Captain Universe's eyes and produces a visible beam of energy. This energy has certain hypnotic-side-effects: a skillful wielder of the Uni-Vision can use it to hypnotize people into telling the truth.