SIEGE

SIEGE

Real Name: John Kelly
First Appearance: Marvel Comics Presents (Vol. 1) #62, November 1990 (As Kelly); Deathlok (Vol. 1) #18, December 1992 (As Siege)

Powers: The Cyberwarriors were an extension of the previous Deathlok project, with a lobotomized brain serving as wetware for a cybernetic body. They typically possess Class 90 strength, superhuman endurance, reflexes, and tremendous resistance to physical injury. A Cyberwarrior’s body most likely maintains the basic design specifications of a Deathlok, with molecularly-molded Adamantium bones and Adamantium-derived synthetic tissue and muscles. The body is no longer constructed exactly like a normal human, as it can spin around 180 degrees at the waist. It is also equipped with a pair of pulse cannons built into its forearms. The left cannon's twin barrels can project sustained energy beams or bursts, while the right arm assembly is a collapsible Gatling cylinder capable of firing off a rapid stream of energy projectiles that can penetrate tungsten steel. It is also capable of flight, and can neutralize some forms of sustained energy assaults by absorbing and re-routing that power through its systems. Although it lacks the same fully interactive computer as Deathlok, a Cyberwarrior’s computer system is capable of scanning his environment for targeting and identification, and has different features such as radar, radio transmission interception, and life-sign monitoring. Each Cyberwarrior was covered in black and red armor and had wires running throughout their bodies.

The above Cyberwarrior is operated by the mental patterns of Col. John Kelly and is called "Siege". Before Kelly's brain was electrocuted to death, a digital copy of his personality and memories (up to the point of his brain being destroyed) was stored on-file inside the Deathlok cyborg's CPU. Biohazard attacked Deathlok III (Michael Collins) for this very reason: Absorbing Deathlok III into itself would complete its fractured memories as John Kelly. While mentally researching information on his predecessor, Collins accidentally activated Kelly's personality as an independent artificial intelligence. From that point on, Kelly operated within cyberspace along with the CPU, much to Collins' annoyance. When confronting a group of Cyberwarriors, Deathlok III attempted to jack into the cyborg to override its programming. Kelly's personality program used this as an escape route and uploaded himself into the Cyberwarrior, becoming Siege. As Kelly's personality has been encoded into the Cyberwarrior in programming language, Siege is impervious to mental scans. Also, the Cyberwarrior's body has a simplified digestive system that can only absorb a liquid nutrient formula. Also, possibly because the organic portions of his body are not his own, or possibly because the brain he inhabits was lobotomized, Siege has no tactile sensation and has a very limited emotional range. Siege has described the way he experiences his pseudo-life as being akin to playing a video game.

BIOHAZARD

 

BIOHAZARD

Real Name: Inapplicable

First Appearance: Marvel Comics Presents (Vol. 1) #62, November 1990 (BTS); Deathlok (Vol. 1) #1, July 1990 (Brain); Deathlok (Vol. 2) #12, June 1992 (As Biohazard)

Powers: Biohazard is John Kelly’s electrocuted and discarded brain, mutated and gaining sentience after exposure to both nanotech machines and stasis fluids. After the brain was disposed of, it began manifesting self-mobilizing and organic assimilation traits. The brain absorbed organic materials from the surrounding garbage dump it was tossed in, eventually developing prehensile tentacles and a mouth. It then absorbed a cat, and finally a human in order to gain bipedal mobility. Kelly's brain, soon renamed "Biohazard", could read the DNA and genetically-encoded memories of anything it absorbed, causing it to grow not only in size and mass as it assimilated greater amounts of matter, but also increasing its overall intelligence and thinking ability.

Biohazard eventually developed self-awareness and began self-identifying as John Kelly, from the original memories left in its brain. Kelly, as Biohazard, was still essentially a self-motivating brain, surrounded by layers of non-vital organic tissue which it shaped and manipulated as necessary. The brain was the only vulnerable piece of Biohazard's anatomy, as other portions of Biohazard's mass could be torn or blasted off, yet would move on their own accord to reintegrate back into the main body. By absorbing enough organic matter, Biohazard could grow to gigantic size, with superhuman levels of strength. It could manifest claws, spikes, or prehensile tentacles from its body, or collapse into a liquid state to absorb impact, flow underneath a doorframe, or "pour" itself from the top of a building to the street below.

Biohazard's preferred method of absorbing organic matter was to create a telescoping mouth to piece an opponent's head and suck out their brain. Any time it absorbed a brain in this manner, Biohazard would gain full access to that person's memories. However it was sometimes difficult, especially during Biohazard's earlier stages of development, to separate out and understand a lifetime's experiences in order to get the information he was searching for Therefore, Biohazard used its power for quasi-reanimation: It could take the DNA engrams of anyone it assimilated and imprint them on a portion of its mass, then separate that mass from its main body. This secondary mass would "run" the victim's biological profile like a computer program, rewriting the organic matter into a duplicate of the person's body and reactivating their personality and memories inside that body. This way, Biohazard could get perspective on the memories it was trying to integrate. Although these bio-duplicates thought they were the original person, and generally acted like it, they were really extensions of Biohazard's body and will. As a result, they would compulsively reveal information to it or carry out pre-programmed actions without consciously understanding why. These duplicates can also be transformed into secondary bodies for Biohazard itself, with all of its regular capabilities. In the example, when Biohazard re-animated Billy Hansen, the scientist who experimented on the brain in the first place, "Billy" sought out Deathlok III to tell him about Biohazard without realizing that he had been programmed to do so by Biohazard. Once he found Collins, "Billy's" programming was completed and he transformed into another Biohazard in order to fight and assimilate Collins' memories.

DEATHLOK III

 

DEATHLOK III

Real Name: Michael Collins

First Appearance: Deathlok (Vol. 1) #1, July 1990

Powers: John Kelly was Deathlok II and the first Deathlok of the modern era. His brain was electrocuted to death on his first test-run due to a programming flaw in the Deathlok cyborg's onboard CPU. After extensive programmatic revisions to the CPU, Kelly's unwilling replacement was the brain of one of the Deathlok computer programmers and department head of the Computer Software Systems Unit at Cybertek Systems, Michael Collins. However, Collins' mind eventually asserted itself and operated the cyborg as Deathlok III from that point on, essentially with his brain occupying John Kelly's modified body.

Deathlok, while resembling its alternate-timeline counterpart, and benefiting somewhat from that “future’s” technology, is an entirely new weapons system several orders of magnitude more efficient and effective than its predecessor. The most crucial component in its success as the most versatile weapon in history is the new encephalonic reading and writing technology. Encephalonics allow the use of an organic brain to store information that can be accessed by Deathlok's main computer and operating system. The human brain has a storage capability which is, at this point, literally incalculable. Deathlok’s computer system contains downloaded contents in excess of 17 Cray mainframe computers and can provide detailed information of a wide variety of subjects (historical, technical, trivial, biographical, etc.) The onboard CPU is also a tactical computer capable of providing sensory analyses of targets and situations. It can compute and modify the amount of force Deathlok or any weapon he carries applies in order to achieve different results (stun, kill, ventilate), compute “battle plans”, assessing variables and parameters to conceive of the best possible course of action to survive a situation or achieve a goal. The computer can then automatically guide the body’s reflexes, sharpshooting, and any other actions through a situation without the human brain consciously exerting any effort.

The system's brain is supported by organic human lungs to supply it with oxygen and a simplified organic stomach to process nourishment. Dissolved nutrients are pumped by an artificial heart through an artificial circulatory system in a synthetic blood-like substance that also carries oxygen from the lungs. For the sake of convenience, most of the original, biological head remains intact to allow use of the natural naso-laryngeal construction for speech. Nanotech assemblers routinely repair minor damage to the organic systems. The unit’s artificial left eye is sensitive to a spectrum stretching both above and below visible light. When in active scanning mode, it can also emit and detect variable frequency, EM radiation and neutrinos.

The artificial ear is also more efficient than a human ear, and has directional capabilities. Both visual and audio input can be further augmented by digital data gathered by both systems. It is routinely digitized and stored in organic memory where it can be accessed for playback either by the unit or on monitors. Other than the previously mentioned organic systems, the unit is of entirely artificial construction.

Deathlok's skeleton is of pure indestructible Adamantium, tooled to mimic the full human range of motion. The muscles and cartilage are composed of an extremely impact-resistant, surprisingly elastic, Adamantium/steel alloy which also mimics the full human range of motion. The torsal cavity contains the organic lungs and stomach, the computer's central processor, and the controlled fusion generator that powers the cyborg and its primary firearms. The unit can lift (press) 85 tons under optimal conditions. The strength limitation is due to the stress and elasticity limitations of the muscle alloy. The Deathlok system can exert more force than its muscles can bear without being deformed or ruptured.

For this reason, an inhibitor function in its operating system prevents it (under almost all circumstances) from exerting anywhere near its theoretical 150-ton strength levels. Deathlok's primary offensive weapon is the Plasma Assault Rifle. The weapon fires plasma created by superheating inert gases, and is powered by the cyborg's internal fusion reactor. The weapon is limited by power considerations, and the gun's inability to operate unless in direct contact with the fingertip power outlets in the cyborg's right hand. Deathlok also carries a pistol with similar limitations, but less firepower. Adjacent to the rifle is a plasma grenade launcher with immense destructive power. Deathlok can interface with virtually any computer system and, by expanding its sensory perceptions into “cyberspace”, it can communicate with phone and computer systems via machine code.

MIchael Collins is a gifted intellect with a masters degree in computer science and a Ph.D. in both prosthetics and neuroscience. An expert computer programmer, he has used his skills to interface with Deathlok III's CPU to implement programming safeguards (the "no killing" parameter which prevents the cyborg from causing death). After experiments performed on him by the cosmic Stranger, Collins can now assume his totally human and organic state, yet reactivate his internal computer and full bionic enhancements at will. He also now possesses regenerative powers which can repair both his organic and artificial components.

JOHN KELLY

 

JOHN KELLY

Real Name: John Kelly

First Appearance: Marvel Comics Presents (Vol. 1) #62, November 1990

Powers: John Kelly is a master of both armed and unarmed combat due to his time as both a former United States Army Colonel and a New York City police officer.

Technology from Deathlok I (Luther Manning) found its way into the hands of the present-day RoXXon Oil Corporation. By hacking classified files from S.H.I.E.L.D., they created the first robotic duplicate and later advanced the technology through their subsidiary company Cybertek Systems to reverse-engineer a new Deathlok cyborg years earlier than they did in Manning's timeline. Approached by Cybertek CEO, Harlan Ryker, John Kelly readily volunteered to become the prototype for the modern-era Deathlok. His body was cybernetically re-engineered and retooled into the framework of the Deathlok cyborg. The Deathlok cybernetic implants and CPU worked in conjunction with Kelly's brain to store and retrieve data at incalculable levels.

Kelly's initial test-run as Deathlok II consisted of a set of manually-loaded mission parameters into the cyborg's CPU. The objective was to "terminate" 12 targets. To that end, Deathlok II (armed with a paintball gun) was pitted against 12 trained mercenaries (all armed with real weapons). The test-run was going well until Kelly attempted to deviate from the mission parameters. The onboard CPU interpreted Kelly's actions as an error and, after determining the source of the error being from the organic software (the brain), corrected it by electrocuting Kelly's brain, killing him.

DEATHLOK I

 

DEATHLOK I

Real Name: Luther Manning

First Appearance: Astonishing Tales (Vol. 1) #25, August 1974

Powers: On Earth-7484, Luther Manning was a United States Army Colonel whose body was torn apart by a concussion bomb during a training exercise. Wishing to preserve Manning’s knowledge and experience, Simon Ryker selected him for Project: Alpha-Mech when he didn’t survive surgery. The CIA project, spearheaded by Simon and his brother Harlan, was designed to build an army of cyborg super-soldiers. After 5 years in stasis, Manning’s body was reanimated as the cyborg Deathlok with his remaining flesh was in a dead, necrotizing state while most of his body was reconstructed using metal and plastic components.

The reinforcement to his skeleton and muscles gave him mild superhuman strength, speed, agility, endurance, and reaction time. His artificial left eye provided variable visual modes, including telescopic, microscopic, infrared, and night vision capabilities, as well as advanced computer-guided targeting programs. He was still technically alive, and so required oxygen, food, water, and rest, although not to the same degree as before his cybernetic conversion. He is powered by a thermonuclear generator and, in all but his later incarnations, his mind was computer augmented. Deathlok's onboard computer system contained an advanced scanning suite that included thermal scans, motion and proximity sensors, and a storehouse of data on various subjects. The interactive intelligence ran on an internal modem, provided Deathlok with a “voice” in his head with intelligence updates, scanning alerts, and probability breakdowns for various possible tactical responses to a given scenario.

He has worn a woven metal-mesh costume and carried a helium-neon laser pistol, a 9” metallic knife that magnetized to his cybernetic leg, and a variety of bladed, ballistic, or energy-discharging weapons he could attach to his modular limbs. He also carried one of Godwilf’s Time Gauntlets, enabling time-travel. In later incarnations, Deathlok removed the computer intelligence from his head and adopted a bulkier and more heavily-armored cybernetic frame. Called the Demolisher, Manning now had increased levels of superhuman strength and durability, and he employed modular cybernetic arms with different weapons such as laser cannons, combat blades, or a vulcan cannon.

Deathlok is a gifted intellect, a brilliant military strategist, and formidable hand-to-hand combatant, all of which was augmented by his on-board computer.