Gabriel Vargas (Earth-616)

Gabriel Vargas
Name	Gabriel Vargas
Aliases	Captain, Captain Universe, Gabe, Gabriel of the Uni-Force, Uni-Force Bearer
Affiliation and Relationships
Affiliation	Unnamed commando unit, formerly U.S. Marine Corps
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Male
Eyes	Irises: Blue
Hair	Black
Unusual Features	Formerly paraplegic
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Human formerly empowered by the Enigma Force
Living Status	Deceased
Reality	Earth-616
Personal Information
Identity	Secret
Citizenship	American
Occupation	Soldier, adventurer
Base of Operations	Mobile inside the Kree Galaxy including Hala, formerly; Microverse; Earth
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Jay Faerber, Carlos Magno
First	Amazing Fantasy (Vol. 2) #14 (October, 2005)
First	Amazing Fantasy (Vol. 2) #14 (October, 2005)
Death	Annihilation: Conquest #3 (January, 2008)
Death	Annihilation: Conquest #3 (January, 2008)

History

Origin

A paraplegic soldier honorably discharged after Operation: Desert Storm, Gabriel found himself empowered by the Uni-Power. As Captain Universe he took off for the stars and tried to right the wrongs in the universe.

Annihilation: Conquest

Two years later after the undocumented events of Gabriel's excursion into the Microverse, he resurfaced somewhere within the confines of the Kree Empire or rather what was left of it following the First Annihilation War and attacked a group of Kree Soldiers, whom he thought were slaughtering innocent people. After learning that these so-called innocent people were actually Annihilation Wave sympathizers, Gabriel allowed himself to be taken into custody, and was imprisoned alongside Bug, Deathcry , Mantis, Rocket Raccoon and Groot while awaiting trial.

Following the initial conquest of both Kree and Annihilation Wave territories by Ultron and the Phalanx, former Lunatic Legion leader Galen-Kor was ordered by Ronan the Accuser to create a low-tech task force capable of successfully infiltrating and destroying a new version of the Phalanx Technophage Virus capable of spreading it further and faster than they would be able to via their standard methods.Peter Quill, who had accidentally handed the keys to the kingdom, so to speak, to Ultron and the Phalanx when a group of infected Spaceknights were allowed to upgrade the Kree Defense Network with a program called "A-Ware" was forced to take on the mantle of Star-Lord once more and was paired up with Gabriel and the others to create the task force Ronan desired.

Together, Gabriel and the rest of the "Dirty Half-Dozen" descended upon Hala without mercy and began viciously fighting their way through the heart of their newly conquered territories against Ultron's minions. In the process, several problems began to rise along the way, the first being the small feud between Gabriel and Deathcry, which continued to escalate until Deathcry went berserk and tried to kill Gabriel who, in self-defence, obliterated Deathcry using the Uni-Power.

Gabriel was mentally traumatized by the event after realizing exactly what it was he had done and went into a shell-shocked state of being, which he remained in until he decided to stay behind and hold off an army of flesh-eating insect-like Phalanx drones while the others made their escape. Mantis, who had cloaked herself to keep from being captured by the Phalanx along with the others, sent a telepathic message to Gabriel, who managed to survive the Phalanx onslaught and told him that he was now their only hope for victory. After meeting back up and conversing with Mantis, Gabriel detached himself from the Uni-Power and sent it on a mission to infiltrate and hack the Phalanx Datacore possessing the cure to the new Phalanx Virus, which Star-Lord had discovered was airborne and inside the bodies of Hala's inhabitants.

The Uni-Power complied and headed towards the Datacore, where it merged with one of the Phalanx Planner Drones and corrupted its programming. The Uni-Power allowed the drone to think that it was in control of the Uni-Power and that upon accessing the Datacore it would be able to replicate the Uni-Power and create an army of Uni-Powered Phalanx drones, therefore making it the most favored Phalanx of all.

When its fellow Phalanx refused to allow the Uni-Powered Planner Drone to access the Datacore, it became angry and destroyed them all, thus allowing it to enter the Datacore unhindered. However, when this happened, the Uni-Power revealed its ruse and not only retrieved the data it sought but also obliterated the Datacore, thus destroying every bit of data they had collected in the short time since the conquest of Hala. The Uni-Power then merged with Gabriel once more, allowing him to fend off the Phalanx while his teammates stole a getaway vessel. After returning to base, the Uni-Power shared the data it had collected with the Kree Science Division and amicably parted ways with Gabriel, after which the Kree made him able to walk unaided by the Uni-Power.

Gabriel continued working with the group in there efforts to take down the Phalanx, despite the fact that he no longer possessed any powers. While attempting to take down the Babel Spire on Hala he was killed by Blastaar who had become a Phalanx Select and who blasted him apart when he was discovered planting explosives alongside Peter Quill.

Attributes

Powers

Captain Universe's powers and power levels vary from partner to partner, presumably to meet the demands of the job at hand. The Uni-Power also enhances the powers and abilities of a host who already has such powers and abilities. Powers that remain relatively constant include:

• Uni-Vision: a sort of cosmic consciousness. Captain Universe can sense things on a subatomic level or at great distances. This power can also force someone to tell the truth.
• Matter/Energy Manipulation: Captain Universe can divert an energy flow in a different direction or convert it into a different type of energy. Diverting the flow of gravitons, for example, allows flight at superhuman speeds. Captain Universe can also change matter at the atomic level, for instance, to transmute one substance into another or to change an object's shape.
• The costume (or the Uni-Power itself) protects against extremes in temperature, makes Gabriel more durable and allows him to survive the vacuum of space.

Weaknesses

Formerly paraplegic

See Also

• 9 appearance(s) of Gabriel Vargas (Earth-616)
• 1 mention(s) of Gabriel Vargas (Earth-616)
• 2 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Gabriel Vargas (Earth-616)
• 3 image(s) of Gabriel Vargas (Earth-616)
• 2 quotation(s) by or about Gabriel Vargas (Earth-616)