Fictional character biography
Roger Bochs was born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. He was a brilliant engineer and mechanic who lost both of his legs. He created a remote-controlled robot which he called Box as a play on his own name. James Hudson, seeing Bochs' potential, helped him construct Box and recruited him into Gamma Flight, a training program for the Canadian superhero group Alpha Flight, which was led by Hudson as Guardian. Bochs graduated to Beta Flight, a group for more advanced superhero trainees, but the Canadian government dissolved Alpha Flight, and Beta Flight and Gamma Flight were cancelled.
Most Gamma Flight members are recruited by Jerry Jaxon, a disgraced former employer of Hudson, to join Omega Flight. Bochs joins Omega Flight with the intention to destroy it from within. [2] However, Jaxon attacks Guardian by wearing Box's controlling helmet. Guardian overloads Box, and the feedback kills Jaxon. The damage sustained during the battle causes Guardian's suit to explode. [3]
Bochs returns to work on Box, but feels partly responsible for Guardian's death. Another friend of Guardian, Madison Jeffries, meets Bochs. [4] Collaborating, and because of Jeffries' mutant ability to shape metal, plastic and glass with his mind, they significantly improve upon the original Box design. It is no longer controlled by a helmet. Instead, the user physically merges with the Box armor. [5]
Bochs wants to use Box to hunt down Delphine Courtney, an android working for Jaxon and the leader of Omega Flight, for its part in Hudson's death, but Box is needed elsewhere: the body of Walter Langkowski (alias Sasquatch) has been taken over by the Great Beast Tanaraq, and Snowbird is forced to destroy his body. Alpha Flight projects Langkowski's soul into the Box machine. [6] Jeffries uses his powers to turn Courtney inside-out, destroying her. In the aftermath, Bochs tries to find a new body for Langkowski, but fails, and Langkowski's soul leaves Box. [7] Bochs controls Box once again and joins Alpha Flight as an official member. [8]
Bochs and Jeffries use Courtney's remains to reconstruct Guardian's battlesuit, allowing Hudson's widow Heather to become Vindicator. [9] Aurora expresses a romantic interest in Bochs, [10] who returns her affection, but Aurora's fickle nature is extremely stressful for Bochs. During an underwater mission, Bochs surfaces too fast while merged with Box and suffers from decompression sickness, preventing him from leaving Box. [11] [12] [13] Madison Jeffries' brother Lionel (also known as Scramble), who can shape flesh and bone with his mind, separates Bochs from the Box armor and restores his legs. [14] [15] Lionel does not tell Bochs, though, that he used dead human bodies as material for Bochs' legs and new body. During this time, Langkowski's soul briefly inhabits Box again before ultimately settling in the body of the recently deceased Snowbird. [15] Langkowski was Aurora's lover before Bochs, and she leaves Bochs for him again. Feeling betrayed by Aurora and with his legs starting to decompose, Bochs goes insane. Madison Jeffries inhabits Box to prevent the amount of damage Bochs can do, but this only increases the sense of betrayal that Bochs felt. [16]
Bochs leaves Alpha Flight and goes to Lionel Jeffries, hoping that he can restore his legs again. Lionel, also insane, merges with Bochs and they form Omega, who combines Lionel's powers with Bochs' genius intellect. [17] Within Box, Madison Jeffries fights Omega. During the fight, Bochs comes to his senses again and starts to rebel against Lionel. Madison is forced to kill Omega, which kills Bochs alongside it. [18]
