TOAD

 

TOAD

Real Name: Mortimer Toynbee

First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 1) #4, March 1964

Powers: Mortimer Toynbee was born a mutant with potential for various amphibious-like powers, but they did not come to fruition at first due to a genetic hormonal instability. Initially a hunchback with an unusually flexible spine allowing him to crouch continually without damage, this gave him excellent agility and superhuman strength in his lower body. His superhuman leg strength and enhanced agility grant him the ability to leap as high as 24 feet and 36 feet wide, and his strength is sufficient to kick through concrete. Years later, he developed the power to secrete a paralytic resin through the pores on his hands. It was absorbed through the skin of his victims on contact, releasing a powerful narcotic into their system which dulled their cognitive abilities and reaction time. The adhesive nature of his resin made it difficult to remove, and he could even spread it over their noses and mouths to asphyxiate his victims. This adhesiveness of his secretions also helped him climb walls and solid surfaces.

After being enhanced by a mutant named the Surgeon, the Toad gained the power to psionically communicate with and control amphibious life forms such as frogs and toads. Due to his mutant genes carrying a hormonal imbalance (along with the unstable nature of the modifications the Surgeon gave him), his personality and powers fluctuated for many years. He was originally a pathologically sycophantic leaper and later manifested self-confidence and his paralyzing excretions. Advanced technology from the alien cosmic being known as the Stranger eliminated the instability and unlocked the full potential of his mutant genes.

He now possesses greater self-confidence, a more streamlined and healthy musculature, with superhuman agility and strength spread across his entire body and not just his legs. He can breathe underwater and see partially into the ultraviolet spectrum. The Toad can puff himself up, inhaling vast amounts of air into bulging sacs in his body, then expelling the air as a gust of high-pressure wind strong enough to knock a person down. He retains the adhesive resin in the pores of his fingertips, allowing him to release small quantities of it to climb walls. His tongue is now both prehensile and elastic, allowing him to stretch it to over 20 feet, and lash out with it like a whip to strike his targets. Toad can also release paralytic or will-sapping enzymes and pheromones from his tongue-lashing, immobilizing his opponents or making them subject to his commands.

The Toad has considerable knowledge of advanced technology due to his studies of machinery in possession of Magneto, the Stranger, Arcade, and Arkon. He is also a formidable kickboxer despite his lack of formal training.