Fictional character biography
Luther Manning
| Deathlok | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Astonishing Tales #25 (August 1974) |
| Created by | Rich Buckler |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Luther Manning |
| Species | Human cyborg |
| Team affiliations | CIA |
| Abilities | Cybernetic enhancements granting superhuman speed, strength, durability and reflexes Ability to repair bodily damage Ability to track multiple objects |
Colonel Luther Manning is an American soldier from Detroit, Michigan, who, after being fatally injured, is reanimated in a post-apocalyptic future (originally given the date of 1990) only to discover that what remains of his dead body has been turned into the experimental Deathlok cyborg by Simon Ryker. He verbally communicates with his symbiotic computer, to which he refers as the abbreviated "'Puter". [8] He escapes from Ryker's control, [9] although he dreams he has regained his humanity. [10] He battles the evil corporate and military regimes that have taken over the US, while simultaneously struggling not to lose his humanity. He battles Simon Ryker and the first War-Wolf, and he encounters his wife and son for the first time after becoming a cyborg. [11] He battles Simon Ryker's Super-Tank, [12] and then begins a hunt for a "cyborg doctor". [13] He battles Simon Ryker as the Savior Machine, and his mind is ultimately transferred into a Luther Manning clone. [14] He battles mutants alongside a time-traveling Spider-Man. [15] He begins working for the CIA, encounters Godwulf for the first time, and is then finally sent back in time to the modern era. [16]
Deathlok battles the Devil-Slayer, but then battles demons alongside Devil-Slayer. [17] He later becomes controlled by Mentallo and the Fixer and is sent to assassinate the President, but is stopped by the Thing and Nick Fury. [18] After his capture he becomes catatonic, and is taken to England for treatment by the Thing. [19] He is cured by Louis Kort, and Nick Fury takes him into custody. [20] Deathlok is rebuilt by Roxxon as a robot and sent to sabotage Project Pegasus. The robot battles the Thing and Quasar, and self-destructs. [20] The real Deathlok, now working for the Brand Corporation, battles Captain America and a time-traveling Luther Manning clone. Alongside Captain America, Godwulf, and the Redeemers, he battles Hellinger. [21] Some time later, the "mainstream timeline" Luther Manning begins dreaming that he is Deathlok. [22] He is charged with temporal energy by Timestream. [23] Timestream recruits this "mainstream" human Manning. [24] Deathlok, Timestream, and Manning battled the Collins Deathlok, Siege, and Godwulf. [25] The Manning Deathlok eventually returns to his own time and overthrows the megalomaniac who had taken over the country. Manning remains in his near-future alternate reality, searching for a purpose in life and unable to disconnect himself from the machine bonded to him.
Eventually, Manning travels to the mainstream Marvel Universe and encounters Daredevil and the Kingpin. He lives a life of solitude until being apprehended by S.H.I.E.L.D., from which he is later kidnapped by the supervillain the Owl and, immobilized, put up for auction as a weapon. Before a sale can be completed, he is stolen by the crime lord the Hood and sent on a kamikaze decoy run.
John Kelly
Kelly first appeared as Deathlok in Marvel Comics Presents #62. This version of Deathlok was originally controlled by Kelly until its systems determined that Kelly's brain function was detrimental to its completion of the "First Run" program. The Deathlok unit then completed its mission. Kelly's brain was removed from the cyborg and disposed of. One of Ryker's assistants took the brain presumably for use in the SIEGE unit. This version was made for the United States Army by the CIA's Deathlok-program co-head, Harlan Ryker, after studying Luther Manning's cyborg body. The Kelly Deathlok later became known as Siege. [26]
Michael Collins
| Deathlok | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Deathlok #1 (July 1990) |
| Created by | |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Michael Collins |
| Species | Human cyborg |
| Team affiliations | Wild Pack Secret Defenders S.H.I.E.L.D. |
| Abilities | Cybernetic enhancements granting superhuman speed, strength, durability and reflexes Ability to repair bodily damage Ability to track multiple objects |
Professor Michael Collins was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a pacifist working for the Roxxon cybernetics corporation Cybertek. Upon discovery of the Deathlok program, he was shot with a sedative by Harlan Ryker and his brain was transplanted into the body of the John Kelly Deathlok cyborg. The machine was used against rebels fighting against Roxxon's influence in the fictional South American country of Estrella. Collins regained his consciousness during that mission and stopped the cyborg programming that would have killed a small child.
Although his brain was intended to serve only as a medium for the robot's programming, he was able to assert his will over it (installing a "no-killing parameter" into its programming). [27] The computer is fully willing to listen to Collins, though he must take care to present his orders in a way that helps fulfill the mission and keep people from dying. The computer is fully capable of understanding distinct concepts, such as bluffing, as when Collins is forced to pretend to take a hostage. Later he met Jesus Badalamente and also battles Mainframe. [28] Collins learns that his human body was still alive, and encounters Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. [29] Collins aids Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. in preventing a nuclear strike on the United States. [27] With the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, and Misty Knight, Deathlok later battles Mechadoom. [30] He meets the Punisher, and battles Silvermane. [31] After that, he teams up with Spider-Man and several other heroes to stop the Sinister Six. [32] He next meets Moses Magnum. [33] Collins finally reveals his existence as a cyborg to his family. [34] Collins then begins to search for his human body. During this time he fought the Sleepwalker, [35] and helps Silver Sable retrieve a purloined Statue of Liberty. [36] He assists a makeshift team of other heroes in the "Maximum Carnage" incident, protecting the people of New York from a mass-murdering group of supervillains. [37]
During the events of the miniseries Beyond! , the cosmic being the Stranger (pretending to be the Beyonder) transported Collins to an alien planet, where he was forced to live for years until being rescued with the aid of several other heroes. However, his rescue required the sacrifice of Greg Willis, the superhero known as Gravity. As an act of gratitude, Collins arranged Gravity's funeral. [38] When Willis' body was later stolen by the cosmic entity known as Epoch, Collins enlisted the aid of the Fantastic Four in retrieving it. [39]
Jack Truman/Larry Young
| Deathlok | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | As Jack Truman: Cable #59 (August 1998) As Deathlok: Deathlok #1 (September 1999) |
| Created by | |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego |
|
| Species | Human cyborg |
| Team affiliations | S.H.I.E.L.D. |
| Notable aliases | Agent 18 (Jack Truman) |
| Abilities | Cybernetic enhancements granting superhuman speed, strength, durability and reflexes Ability to repair bodily damage Ability to track multiple objects |
Jack Truman, also known as Agent 18, was an agent of the international espionage outfit S.H.I.E.L.D. who was transformed into a cyborg to battle the Red Skull. Through telepathic means, he eventually swapped his mind into the body of another former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and a rival, Larry Young. Young was considered as a "potential recruit" for the Initiative program. [40]
In the Vengeance mini-series, Truman was still trapped in Larry Young's body, while Young was unable to get to grips with the cyborg body and was unable to function without appropriate maintenance, with his body seen rusting in a junk yard.
Project: Deathlok
During the "Dark Reign" storyline, a H.A.M.M.E.R. strike force consisting of corpses animated with crude bionics was sent to capture a super-soldier research center known as "The World". These models acted like traditional zombies, craving brains. Their mission was unsuccessful and as a result, the research group which produced them, called "Project: Deathlok", was scrapped. [41]
Death Locket
In the Avengers Arena series as part of the Marvel NOW! event, a female teenage version of Deathlok dubbed Death Locket is introduced. She is revealed to be Rebecca Ryker, the daughter of Harlan Ryker. After being maimed in an explosion that killed her mother and brother, Rebecca was rebuilt using the Deathlok technology that her father developed. [42] Arcade later kidnaps her alongside the students of the Avengers Academy and Braddock Academy and forces them to fight other teenage superhumans in his latest version of Murderworld. [43]
Henry Hayes
| Deathlok | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Original Sins #1 (June 2014) |
| Created by | |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Henry Hayes |
| Species | Human cyborg |
| Team affiliations | United States Army S.H.I.E.L.D. |
| Abilities | Cybernetic enhancements granting superhuman speed, strength, durability and reflexes Ability to repair bodily damage Ability to track multiple objects |
A new Deathlok debuted during the "Original Sin" storyline. Henry Hayes worked at Doctors Without Borders. During his duty, he lost a leg in a suicide bomber attack in Kandahar (or was brainwashed into thinking he did). Henry was taken care of by the company Biotek, who provided him with a composite fiber prosthesis. Upon being placed under mind-control, Henry Hayes became Deathlok, where he was used as an assassin, a soldier, a killer, a fighter, and an operative. He had participated in at least one armed conflict alongside organized troops, and assassinated countless people even in populated areas. He was even once close to being captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. when a mission went bad in Russia. Henry Hayes was often memory-wiped and did not remember his assignments. While at MTA Metro-North station, he tried to engage discussion with another leg amputee and advised him to contact Biotek, as his own prosthesis (plastic ones, as it was the only kind his pension afforded him) forced the man to use crutches. This man left, seemingly displeased with the discussion. Immediately afterward, he met Seth Horne, an off-duty S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who was present when the Eye of the Watcher exploded, releasing a blast of energy which revealed deep secrets to anyone in its radius. To Horne, it revealed Hayes' true story. This level 4 agent wanted to congratulate him, stating that S.H.I.E.L.D. would wish to have him in their ranks. As Henry Hayes really did not know what Horne was talking about, he threatened to call the authorities, forcing the agent to leave after a last congratulations. Immediately, Henry Hayes was ordered to kill him as the announcement board of the station indicated the words "Whiskey David", triggering Henry Hayes' Deathlok persona. After following Seth Horne into the restroom, Deathlok quickly executed him, left, took some medications, and returned to his civilian life heading to the train to join his daughter Aria. [44]
Jemma Simmons
In the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. comic book, Jemma Simmons (based on the character from the TV show of the same name) became the newest Deathlok, though she has yet to actually take the name. She becomes one after getting infected with an unknown substance contained within a "targeted DNA bomb" that begins to deteriorate her condition, which also placed her in a coma. With the help of Henry Hayes and Bobbi Morse, she is transformed into a Deathlok, which successfully saves her life. [45]
Deathloks of Lingares
During the "Iron Man 2020" event, Force Works encounters a group of Deathloks on the island of Lingares who overwhelm and capture them. Quake states to the soldiers that the dead that captured them are Deathloks. With Quake translating, War Machine, U.S. Agent, and Mockingbird learned that someone called the "Scientist" showed up claiming to help them where he made Deathloks from the fallen countrymen to help deal with a giant. Unfortunately, something went wrong. It is soon discovered that the giant attacking Lingares is Ultimo who attacks both sides. As Quake, U.S. Agent, and Mockingbird get the prisoners to safety, War Machine fights off his paralysis and starts fighting the Deathloks trying to experiment on him. War Machine is then saved by someone he recognizes who is in need of his services. Moments later, War Machine arrives with his armor, U.S. Agent's shield, and the equipment of Quake and Mockingbird as he fights off the Deathloks. The rest of Force Works discover that War Machine's rescuer is MODOK Superior. It is then revealed that MODOK Superior created these Deathloks to help gain control of Ultimo which transforms him into Ulti-MODOK. Once the bearded Deathlok with the central processing unit is beheaded, James Rhodes briefly turns himself into a Deathlok to control the other Deathloks who follow Ulti-MODOK into the lava-filled chasm that Quake briefly opened. [46]
