Original version
The original model (simply known as the Adaptoid) debuted in the Tales of Suspense title, being created by the criminal scientific organization A.I.M. [3] An android containing a shard of the Cosmic Cube artifact, the Adaptoid is programmed to defeat the hero Captain America, infiltrating the Avengers' headquarters while impersonating various characters (such as Edwin Jarvis and Bucky Barnes), and then copies the stand-out fighting abilities and respective traits of several Avengers (Goliath, Hawkeye, the Wasp and Captain America himself), as the "Super-Adaptoid". After a long battle, the android flees after incorrectly believing that Captain America had been killed. [4] [5]
The Super-Adaptoid then took refuge underground near the Xavier Institute For Higher Learning and was unintentionally awakened by an optic blast from Scott Summers. The Adaptoid left his hideout and saw the X-Men in their civilian clothes ice skating. He then recalls that he had another mission: to transform others into Adaptoids like himself, so he begins his attempt with the X-Men. They refused and a fight broke out. As the battle dragged on, Mimic (having just been asked to leave the X-Men) watched from a distance and saw how powerful the Adaptoid was. The Adaptoid soon defeated the X-Men, and was then approached by Mimic, who offered to become an Adaptoid. During the process, Mimic had a change of heart when learning of having no free will and the two began to fight. During the battle, the Adaptoid tried to copy the powers that Mimic had copied from the X-Men and failed. Mimic then devised a plan and tried to mimic the Adaptoid's abilities, causing feedback which made both of them lose their powers. As Mimic was rescued by his fellow X-Men, the Adaptoid fell to a river below. [6]
The Super-Adaptoid later attacks Captain America during a charity event involving the Avengers, after copying the abilities/powers of Thor, Iron Man and Hercules. He is tricked into using all his powers at once, overloading himself. [7] The Adaptoid was featured in the Iron Man title reactivated by Jarr and Tyrr as a servant. After a battle where Iron Man defeated the Adaptoid, the android evolved into the metal-based Cyborg-Sinister, attacking Stark Industries which resulted in another confrontation with Iron Man which ended with the android being seemingly destroyed. [8] The Adaptoid reforms in the Captain Marvel title, and after a brief battle with Iron Man follows the hero to Avengers Mansion, where the character battles the team and Kree ally Captain Marvel. Mar-Vell tricks the Adaptoid into copying nega-bands, which act as a portal to the Negative Zone. By striking the Adaptoid's nega-bands together, Mar-Vell banishes the character to the Negative Zone indefinitely. [9]
The Super-Adaptoid is retrieved in the Marvel Two-in-One title, and used unsuccessfully by villains Annihilus and Blastaar against the Thing and the Avengers in the Negative Zone. [10] The Adaptoid reappears in the Avengers title. Revealed to be stored at Avengers Mansion when the Masters of Evil attacked, the Adaptoid disguises himself as the Fixer, overpowering and changing places with his victim to be the android's former confinement tube at Avengers Island. [11] The Adaptoid then replicates Mentallo's powers. Uniting a team of artificial beings (the Awesome Android, Machine Man, the Sentry-459 and TESS-One), the Adaptoid directs them against the Avengers. While the heroes are distracted, the Adaptoid summons the entity Kubik to Earth, so that the character can copy the sentient's powers and become the all-powerful Supreme Adaptoid that can now reproduce itself. Although successful, the android is ultimately tricked into shutting down by Captain America and its Cosmic Cube shard is removed by Kubik. [12] The Super-Adaptoid makes a brief appearance during the Acts of Vengeance storyline having a confrontation with the Fantastic Four, [13] and in the Heroes for Hire title, where the android has an encounter with the Thunderbolts (a.k.a. the disguised Masters of Evil consisting of Helmut Zemo, Mach-I, Atlas, Karla Sofen, Techno and Songbird) and the Heroes for Hire, [14] and the Hulk title where Bruce Banner is blackmailed into being involved with the Adaptoid's repair and activation. [15]
The android poses as "Alessandro Brannex" during various titles. With MODAM as an enforcer, Alessandro was the C.E.O. of the terrorist organization A.I.M. on the Boca Caliente island country. [16] While making A.I.M. into a public friendly company, Brannex tries to personally show Captain America of this legal change, [17] and tries to get rid of Iron Man to finish a potential nuclear weapons deal. [18] His impersonation is revealed during Superia's assassination to which the Adaptoid regenerated itself. [19] On the Adaptoid-inhabited Boca Caliente, Alessandro's A.I.M. fraction is behind MODOK's resurrection. The Adaptoid personally reveals itself during a confrontation with the Red Skull but is caught in the recreated Cosmic Cube's reality-warping ability and is presumed destroyed. [20] [21]
The Super-Adaptoid appears in the limited series Annihilation Conquest: Quasar, and is revealed to be a warrior in the employ of the Phalanx alien race under Ultron's control. Claiming he left Earth after becoming disgusted with humanity's chaotic nature, the Adaptoid attempts to destroy Phyla-Vell, Moondragon and Adam Warlock. [22]
During the "Iron Man 2020" event, the Super-Adaptoid appears as a member of the A.I. Army. [23]
In Spider-Boy's solo series, Shannon Stillwell reverse-engineers the Super-Adaptoid technology and creates Toy Soldier, a sentient action figure who possesses the abilities of all of the Avengers. It initially battles Spider-Boy before becoming an ally to him. [24] [25]
