Jono Starsmore', also known as Chamber, is a mutant who possesses mutant abilities including the generation and manipulation of concussive blasts of psionic energy from a furnace in his chest, telepathy for communication and mental manipulation.[1] Born in London, Jono's mutation manifested in a devastating explosion injuring his girlfriend Gayle Edgerton, leaving him with a furnace of psionic energy in his chest.[22] This blast destroyed much of his lower face and made verbal communication impossible, leading him to rely on telepathy.[23]
He was recruited to join the Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters and his involvement with Generation X.[6] Despite his disfigurement, he finds camaraderie and even love among his fellow mutants. Chamber later became romantically involved with Husk, although their relationship was awkward and strained.[24] He lost his abilities during events like M-Day.[25] It was later revealed that he was a member of the Clan Akkaba, descendants of Apocalypse, and they used a sample of his blood to heal him, granting him an Apocalypse-like appearance with grey skin and blue lips.[7] His path leads him to reject offers from the X-Men and even briefly join the Weapon X program undercover.[26] Despite his struggles, Jono remained dedicated to helping mutants and fighting against anti-mutant forces. He becomes a member of various teams, including the New Warriors, where he adopted the identity of Decibel, wielding sonic powers.[27] He joined the underground mutant communities like the Morlocks.[18] He found himself entangled in conflicts such as the war between the Avengers[28] and X-Men and battles against powerful adversaries like Legion.[29]
Chamber later became a citizen of the mutant nation of Krakoa after its establishment, resurrected by the Five, and joined the New Mutants before departing after a mission to the Shi'ar Empire.[30] He then became part of Nightcrawler's Legionaries, battling against Switch and her allies, and later investigated X-Corp alongside Husk before intervening in conflicts involving mutated mutants alongside other X-Men[31]
History
Early Years[]
Jonothon Evan Starsmore was a native of London and a mutant who possessed a furnace of psionic energy in his chest.[6] This power first manifested in an explosion that destroyed much of his chest and lower face and crippled his then-girlfriend Gayle Edgerton.[22][32] As a result of his disfigurement, Chamber could only speak via telepathy.[33][34]
Generation X[]
Shortly after his mutant powers manifested, Jonothon accepted an invitation to join Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. At the airport, he was attacked by Emplate, a vicious evil mutant who fed on mutant genetic material to survive, and the fledgling team of Generation X (M, Husk, Synch, Skin, and Jubilee) arrived to fight Emplate off.[6] Shortly after, Chamber convinced the crazed Penance to stop attacking the team, as he could sympathize with her freakish appearance; she came to live with the team.[35]
Chamber
Some time later, Emplate captured Chamber with Gayle's help and then imprisoned both of them. Gayle blamed Jono for ruining her life, but the two managed to get over the pain after the rest of Generation X freed them.[36] Chamber later became romantically involved with Husk, although their relationship was awkward and strained, and was terminated on more than one occasion.[24][37][38]
Chamber grew even more depressed when he saw that Synch, who could duplicate a nearby mutant's powers, was more proficient with Chamber's own powers than Chamber himself was.[39][40] When the school was outed as harboring mutant students, an anti-mutant group attacked the school. After Synch was killed preventing a bomb from killing nearby human students, the Generation X kids felt that their training was over, and they had to use their powers to help humanity.[41]
X-Men[]
When the students moved on from the Massachusetts Academy, Jono was offered a position with the X-Men. He declined however and returned to London, where he hooked up with pop star Sugar Kane, creating a publicity blitz for the singer, but Chamber ditched her after she told him she was using him for her image and joined the X-Men.[26]
As an X-Man, Chamber investigated the apparent murders of mutant students of the pro-species-coexistence Students for Tolerance at Empire State University. He got to know a reptilian mutant, Amber, and also Walter, a paraplegic formerly hostile to the mutants but who later joined the new ESU-Xavier Institute exchange student program. The relationship with Amber quickly ended before it began when she came to believe he was only interested in her when she used her shapeshifting abilities to take on a more conventionally attractive form. After that he asked to be relieved from active duty with the X-Men, claiming that he still had much to learn.[20]
Returning to the X-Men, Chamber saw Husk in the arms of Archangel.[42] After this, he destroyed a bar with his mutant powers, and the X-Men turned him over to the police after he punched Warren in the face. While in prison, locked in a power-dampening helmet, Chamber received a visit from Brent Jackson, who offered him an invitation to join the Weapon X program. He accepted, though in reality he infiltrated the group on behalf of the X-Men. Weapon X restored his damaged body, but in the end, there was a rebellion in Neverland.[43] Chamber made sure to help as many of his fellow mutants as he could, but this happened during M-Day. Chamber, like many of the mutants in Neverland and those being held by Weapon X, lost his powers. His new device that held his mutation at bay got destroyed, leaving a gaping hole in his chest and no jaw.[25]
Probably due to his psi-powers replacing most of his lungs and heart, Cyclops was unsure if Chamber had lost his powers. When they found out, Beast made a machine to keep him alive and Cyclops left him to be cared for at a hospital on life support while things cooled down at the mansion, and he was visited by the reporter Sally Floyd,[25] Frederick Slade posing as a therapist, and by the English mutant Pete Wisdom of Excalibur.[7]
Because of Wisdom's visit, he was moved to England by members of Clan Akkaba, descendants of Apocalypse, who used the blood of Apocalypse to heal the hole in his chest that had existed since his powers first manifested. He was also revealed as a fellow descendant of Apocalypse and was told that his powers would eventually return along with the cure, which granted him an Apocalypse look, with grey skin and blue lips.[7]
He was offered membership in the Clan, but he rejected the offer, and left without opposition. He immediately ran into the new Excalibur team, who were looking for him since his abduction by the Clan. They offered to let him join them, but Jono said that he had had it with the X-Men and just wanted to live his own life.[7]
New Warriors[]
When the New Warriors leader Night Thrasher found Jono, he was about to commit suicide, unable to live with his Apocalypse-like appearance. Night Thrasher tried to help him by giving him purpose as part of a new incarnation of the New Warriors.[4] To this purpose, he moved to New York, where he joined former teammate and fellow depowered mutant Jubilee on a fight against the constraints of the Registration Act.[27]
He assumed the identity of Decibel and was equipped with a sonic harness capable of generating powerful sound waves and solid sound constructs.[44] Together with the New Warriors, he apprehended numerous villains like the Grey Gargoyle, Anaconda and the Rhino, never missing the chance to publicly slam Tony Stark and the Initiative.[27]
Their perfect strike would be wrecked after their confrontation with the new Zodiac. During the battle, Longstrike was killed, and Sofia Mantega was gravely injured, after a surprise appearance that gave the team a winning chance. In the aftermath of the tragedy, Night Thrasher decided to disband the team, not wanting anyone else to die on his watch. However, after a speech by Sofia, the team realized they had found a new family with one another. They decided to remain a team, with or without Night Thrasher. Surprisingly, he too was moved by their dedication and chose to remain with the Warriors and train them even harder.[45]
The following days, Night Thrasher became increasingly absent during key moments in their missions and still refused to reveal his true identity to the team, making Jubilee suspicious of him. Jono, who was the closest to Jubilee, tried to make her see all the good Thrasher had done for them, despite his mysteries, but to no avail. Jubilee would continue to advocate Thrasher couldn't be trusted, but never got the support of her teammates. This would soon change after their mission to take out the Machinesmith, when Jubilee discovered that they'd been lied about the true reason for their attack. With the support of her team at last, they asked for Thrasher to come clean with them, but Jono's grave injuries sustained during the battle provided an excuse to delay this further.[46]
After Jono's recovery, the team followed Thrasher during one of his disappearances and found themselves in a confrontation with Counter Force. In the climax of the battle, realizing there was no simpler way to end the conflict, Donyell finally revealed his true identity to both the former and current Warriors.[47]
They remained together for some time and travelled in time to try and stop the Civil War from happening, but after the death of two more members, the team disbanded and they parted ways,[48] with Jono making his way to Utopia.[49][18]
Repowered and back with the X-Men[]
While on Utopia, Jonothon was caught up in a re-written reality created by Legion. In this reality, Jono had his powers back, and when Legion restored reality to its original form, Jono maintained his powers, and was returned to his original appearance.[18] He was said to be taking the return of his power (and subsequent loss of his chest and lower face) very hard,[50] but he stayed on Utopia and rejoined the X-Men.[51]
_from_X-Men_Vol_3_40_0002.png){kind=link}
Old powers back
After the X-Men Schism, Jono chose to go with Wolverine to start the Jean Grey School. He gave classes about the physical change of mutations. One day, while doing so, the class was attacked by Weapon Omega, which forced Jono to defend his students.[52]
During the war between the Avengers and the X-Men, Jono tried to remain neutral.[53] And, even when his colleagues were charging into battle, his only concern was ensuring his students' safety.[28]
When Legion lost control over his powers and sub-personas due to the mental shock caused by his father's death, he started to wreak havoc around Asia. Chamber was part of the team that was assembled to track him down and stop him. When the X-Men finally found Haller and engaged in battle with him, David used the power of his sub-persona named "The Skinsmith" to warp the skin around the hole in Chamber's chest and face causing the pressure from his power to build up. However, the pressure was stabilized by Beast by creating a hole with a pen. Chamber and the rest of the team chased David into an ammo store. Chamber fired a blast at the hut causing the ammo to explode and seemingly incinerate David. David escaped however, by folding reality and teleporting away.[29]
Later, Blindfold recruited Chamber, along with Frenzy and Pixie, to aid Legion in a fight against the Red Skull.[54]
When one of Legion's sub-personas went rogue and attacked the planet, infecting the human populace with overwhelming hatred and attempting to cause a nuclear war to wipe out the world, Chamber was one of a team of X-Men that responded to Legion's calls for aid. Chamber was killed by a blast of energy fired by the monster,[8] but was revived not long afterwards.[9]
,_Jubilation_Lee_(Earth-616)_and_Shogo_Lee_(Earth-616)_from_Generation_X_Vol_1_87_001.jpg){kind=link}
With Shogo and Jubilee
Eventually, he became the mentor of a new generation of students, alongside his former teammate Jubilee. Bonding through misadventures involving Shogo and their students, Jono and Jubilee grew closer and got romantically involved.[16][55][56]
Morlock Affairs[]
After the mutant decimation caused by Nate Grey and Jubilee's apparent death, Chamber looked after Shogo and decided to go underground, joining and leading the mutant community of Morlocks. Dedicated to protecting his community, Jono refused Cyclops' offer to rejoin the X-Men. However, the Morlocks once again came under attack from the Marauders, and with much of their number slaughtered, Jono rejoined the team to secure a safe haven for the surviving members, and also to pursue the Marauders. When the X-Men finally tracked down the Marauders, there was a short fight after the Marauders proclaimed their innocence. Chamber, not believing them, burned them to death. Their death was avenged by Harpoon, who struck Chamber with an energized harpoon. Though Hope Summers avenged this injury, Chamber succumbed to his wounds.[57]
Krakoa[]
Following the foundation of a mutant state in Krakoa by the hand of Charles Xavier and his allies, Chamber resurfaced as a citizen of the nation, having been presumably reborn by the hand of The Five,[11] a group of mutants capable of combining their powers into a process of resurrection, brought together by Xavier as part of his plans for mutant ascension.[58] Chamber joined the reformed New Mutants and went on a mission to the Shi'ar Empire with the intent of bringing Cannonball to Krakoa,[11] but left the team upon returning.[59]
He then joined Nightcrawler's Legionaries[60] and tried to stop Switch from causing havoc alongside them. During the fight, Jono killed Glob, who was possessed by Switch at the time, and then got possessed too; while possessed, he killed his teammate Fabian Cortez and incinerated one of Doctor Nemesis' arms. In the end, he was freed by Nightcrawler, who kicked him in the face.[5]
Later, Jono was then sent, along with Paige, to investigate X-Corp after a call made by Angel.[61] While on the case, Jono shared with Paige his feelings about not being able to restrain his explosive emotions. In that moment, they discovered Nightcrawler, Pixie, Nemesis, and Black Knight fighting a mutated Angel. When Warren escaped, the two were sent after him and helped keep other transmogrified mutants under control.[62][63]Attributes
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Powers
Chamber is a mutant.
He was for a time depowered,[25] but Legion's reality warping later recreated his old appearance along with his powers.[18]
He was stated by Pete Wisdom to be a potential Omega-Class mutant, after his repowerment by Apocalypse's blood.[7]
Psionic Biokinesis: Chamber was a mutant composed of pure psionic energy, with his physical body essentially being a "chamber" for this energy.[64][65][1] The initial emergence of his powers blew a hole in his chest and lower face, completely incinerating most of his internal organs.[32][1] Because of this, Chamber no longer needed to eat, drink, or breathe.[64] Oddly enough, his blood did continue to flow through his extremities.[7][66]
- Biokinetic Flame: Chamber constantly created and unleashed psionic charges of energy that could strike with volatile force. This energy could be projected as a blast from his chest, a series of guided streams that struck specific targets, or as a massive eruption striking in all directions.[6][67]
- Telepathy: After the manifestation of his powers and the loss of half his face, Chamber could only speak via telepathy.[33] He was initially incapable of probing thoughts, but eventually learned to use his abilities to hear thoughts of a willing, non-resistant target.[34] Martinique Wyngarde believed him capable of more complex telepathic skills if he applied himself.[68] His ability to communicate with the Eternals' Uni-Mind alongside other powerful Mutant telepaths such as Marvel Girl, Mentallo, Professor X, Mister Sinister, and Exodus seems to confirm that his potential is far greater than previously assumed.[69]
Paraphernalia
Equipment
Notes
- In the first Generation X novel he was able to fly by using a special device that harnessed his psionic energy. This device was omitted when the novel was adapted into the Generation X 1997 Annual, although Scott Lobdell's concept for it was briefly mentioned in an October 1994 Generation X Collectors' Preview.
Trivia
- Upon his first appearance, he was eighteen years old.[6]
- Eye-Boy accidentally discovered that Chamber has a tattoo of The Smiths lyrics very low on his hip.[72]
- He was also a fan of Pearl Jam during his teen years.[73]
See Also
- 237 appearance(s) of Jonothon Starsmore (Earth-616)
- 6 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Jonothon Starsmore (Earth-616)
- 32 minor appearance(s) of Jonothon Starsmore (Earth-616)
- 15 mention(s) of Jonothon Starsmore (Earth-616)
- 5 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Jonothon Starsmore (Earth-616)
- 226 image(s) of Jonothon Starsmore (Earth-616)
- 19 quotation(s) by or about Jonothon Starsmore (Earth-616)
- 5 victim(s) killed by Jonothon Starsmore (Earth-616)
Links and References
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #3
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 New Warriors (Vol. 4) #3
- ↑ New Warriors (Vol. 4) #8
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 New Warriors (Vol. 4) #9
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Legion of X #4
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Generation X #1
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 New Excalibur #9
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 X-Men: Legacy (Vol. 2) #22
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 X-Men: Legacy (Vol. 2) #24
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 5) #18
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 New Mutants (Vol. 4) #1
- ↑ X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic #77
- ↑ X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic #79
- ↑ Wolverine: Black, White & Blood #3
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 5) #11
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Generation X (Vol. 2) #1
- ↑ Nightcrawler (Vol. 4) #4
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 New Mutants (Vol. 3) #24
- ↑ New Warriors (Vol. 4) #6
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Chamber #1–4
- ↑ Generation X #2
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 Generation X #12
- ↑ Generation X #42–71
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 Generation X #5–7
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 Generation M #1
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 Uncanny X-Men #395–398
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 New Warriors (Vol. 4) #1–3
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 X-Men: Legacy #266–267
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 X-Men: Legacy (Vol. 2) #2–4
- ↑ New Mutants (Vol. 4) #1–11
- ↑ Legion of X #1–8
- ↑ 32.0 32.1 Weapon X (Vol. 2) #16
- ↑ 33.0 33.1 Generation X #42
- ↑ 34.0 34.1 Generation X #71
- ↑ Generation X #3
- ↑ Generation X #12–14
- ↑ Generation X #44
- ↑ Generation X #48
- ↑ Generation X #49
- ↑ Generation X #52
- ↑ Generation X #70
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #422
- ↑ Weapon X (Vol. 2) #15–21
- ↑ New Warriors (Vol. 4) #6–7
- ↑ New Warriors (Vol. 4) #4–6
- ↑ New Warriors (Vol. 4) #9–13
- ↑ New Warriors (Vol. 4) #14–15
- ↑ New Warriors (Vol. 4) #20
- ↑ Age of X: Alpha #1
- ↑ X-Men: Legacy #248
- ↑ X-Men: Schism #2
- ↑ X-Men: Legacy #264
- ↑ Wolverine & the X-Men #10
- ↑ X-Men: Legacy (Vol. 2) #12
- ↑ Generation X (Vol. 2) #6–7
- ↑ Generation X #85–87
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 5) #14–18
- ↑ House of X #5
- ↑ New Mutants (Vol. 4) #11
- ↑ Legion of X #1
- ↑ Legion of X #7
- ↑ Legion of X #8
- ↑ X-Men: Before The Fall - Sons of X #1
- ↑ 64.0 64.1 Generation X #11
- ↑ Generation X #50
- ↑ Generation X (Vol. 2) #9
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #395
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #404
- ↑ A.X.E.: Judgment Day #4
- ↑ 70.0 70.1 New Warriors (Vol. 4) #7
- ↑ New Warriors (Vol. 4) #4
- ↑ Generation X (Vol. 2) #5
- ↑ Generation X #10
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #3
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Vol 1 3