GLORIAN

 

GLORIAN

Real Name: Thomas Gideon

First Appearance: Fantastic Four (Vol. 1) #34, January 1965 (As Gideon); The Incredible Hulk (Vol. 1) #190, August 1975 (As Glorian)

Powers: Thomas Gideon was dying and subsequently cured of radiation poisoning by the Shaper of Worlds, who then permanently transformed him into Glorian, the Shaper of Dreams. It could be argued that the Shaper passed some of his power on to Glorian, or he activated the natural human potential, the Destiny Force, that all humans carry. In either case, Glorian developed the same power to rewrite reality in a finite space.

As the apprentice to the Shaper of Worlds, Glorian can restructure finite pockets of reality by mentally manipulating the cosmic energies that bind atoms along probability lines. Glorian is able to mentally restructure the perceived reality of a volume with a maximum radius of 5.02 miles in all directions from his person. (This is in contrast with the Shaper's ability to restructure reality of a volume with a maximum radius of 5,023.2 miles.) Glorian is able to maintain this restructured reality for a maximum period of 23.1 hours (contrasted to the Shaper's limit of 4.23 years). Although Glorian's (and the Shaper's) powers enact a physical change upon matter, their power is frequently referred to as illusion. This is because the restructuring is only temporary (reality assumes its rest or normal state as soon as Glorian or the Shaper leave or fail to maintain the transformed state) and a mere re-creation of the outward perceptions of a person or environment, not that person or environment itself. Although he had imagination of his own to guide his reconstructions, Glorian was not as powerful as the Shaper -- he could only rewrite reality within a few square miles of space at a time, while the Shaper of Worlds could reshape entire a much greater volume. Perhaps because of his teacher, Glorian also tended to rely on the dreams of others as his template instead of using his own imagination.

He also possesses the ability to tap and manipulate tachyons, a group of particles which travel no slower than the speed of light (as contrasted with our universe's particles, which seem to demonstrate the property of traveling no faster than the speed of light). Glorian uses tachyons to create hyper spatial bridges that resemble arcs of refracted light, or rainbows. Glorian can create these rainbow bridges at will, and by stepping upon them, is able to transport himself at trans-light speeds wherever he wishes to go. He can use the bridge to travel across the surface of a world or between star systems. The maximum distance he can bridge is not yet known. When Glorian steps upon the bridge, the particles of his body are converted to tachyon particle analogues, freeing him from such physical limitations as needing air or food during his travels through space. Glorian can also will the bridge to accept passengers other than himself, providing that he is there to "operate" it. Theoretically, Glorian could use the tachyons' rainbow effect for other uses than transportation, but he has not yet demonstrated any other capabilities.