—Pip the Troll[source]Major Problem Time, Pip me Lad. All the Watch's Top Brass have evaporated. Nature abhors a Power Vacuum! Fortunately this Situation's got a natural Cork prepared to fill the Gap. Past Year I've hung out with enough of these Super-Hero Types to figure out what it takes to be a Top Dog in their Kennel. Figured it'd only be a matter of time 'fore the Avengers or somebody enlisted me to lead 'em. Luckily, I've been preparin' for this Moment. World, get ready for a new and improved Pip the Troll! And now, on this Stage, for the first Time in the known Universe, Monster Island Revues is proud to present the amazing, utterly stupendous, fearless, cunning and totally dependable... Pip Man!
A fallen prince turned hard-drinking drifter, Pip the Troll was a Laxidazian cosmic adventurer, teleporter and professional hanger-on who became an unlikely fixture in Adam Warlock's inner circle.[6][7] After losing his royal title on the plant Laxidazia,[8] Pip drifted from palace decadence into barroom squalor across the Galaxy until he fell in with Warlock during the war against the Universal Church of Truth and the Magus, surviving prison ships, slave pens and clashes with Thanos through low cunning and stubborn loyalty.[6][9][4][10]
When Warlock claimed the Infinity Stones and made Pip custodian of the Space Stone, Pip gained lasting interstellar teleportation and a "global locationing" sense that turned him into the Infinity Watch's primary transport.[11][12][13] He ferried allies through the Infinity Gauntlet crisis,[14][15] the doppelganger invasion of Infinity War[16][17] and the Infinity Crusade,[18] repeatedly crossing paths with heroes such as Starfox,[19] Spider-Man,[20] Silver Surfer[21] and the Fantastic Four[22] as he helped Warlock repair souls and realities in crises.[23]
On the planet Earth he worked for X-Factor Investigations under a mystic pendant that hid him from Hela and let him pass as an Earthling,[24] even surviving a gunshot to the head thanks to his chest housed brain and continue as the agency's irreverent receptionist and teleporter.[25] Back in space he was strong-armed by Annihilus into delivering the Hulk before turning to Thanos for help,[26] bankrolled and rode with Drax's crew returning abducted children,[27] and joined Yondu's Ravagers[28] and other assembled heroes in crises from refugee flights to the Cancerverse incursion, arriving each time in a puff of cigar smoke at the exact moment someone needed an exit.[29]
History
Early Life[]
Born Prince Pip Gofern of the planet Laxidazia in the Dolenz System, two-hundred-sixtieth in the inbred line of succession to the Laxidazian throne, and grew up as a minor royal more interested in wine, art and mischief than in statecraft or responsibility.[8][30][31] He developed a talent for painting, but devoted most of his time to carousing with commoners in off limits districts, frequenting seedy taverns that his family considered beneath his station.[8][30]
On one such outing, Gofern shared a keg of mutagenic ale with a group of local "trolls", a satyr like underclass of Laxidazians adapted for heavy drinking and rough labor.[8][32][31] The ale triggered a radical physical mutation that reshaped his body into the same squat, hoofed, sharp eared form, while leaving his memories and debauched temperament intact.[8][33][30] Outraged by both his scandalous behavior and his new "troll" appearance, Laxidazia's nobility stripped Gofern of his titles and rank, effectively disowning him from the royal line.[8][31]
Becoming just "Pip" and embracing his fall from grace, he abandoned court life entirely, keeping only a pair of torn maroon pants as his signature outfit and living as a vagabond and drunk.[8][32] He stowed away aboard passing starships, continued his hedonistic pursuits across multiple worlds and accumulated a long list of low level crimes and bar room incidents in various spaceport records.[8][30]
Universal Church of Truth and Adam Warlock[]
Missionaries and conquest fleets of the Universal Church of Truth eventually reached Laxidazia.[32] When Church scientists discovered that Laxidazian trolls were unusually resistant to the Church's "purification" and conversion processes, they classified the trolls as heretics and ordered their extermination.[32][31] Pip survived the cull only because he was already off world, but his drunken escapades on dozens of planets under Church control marked him as a political undesirable.[8][32]
Captured by the Church, Pip was chained aboard a "purification" starship transporting prisoners to their execution, where he met Adam Warlock, whose future alternate self the Magus would become the Church's supreme leader.[34][35] Pip's irreverence and survival instinct complemented Warlock's grim sense of destiny, and the two formed an unlikely alliance to stage a mutiny and escape the death ship.[34]
Pip remained at Warlock's side as they opposed the Universal Church, clashed with the transformed Matriarch, battled Church enforcers and encountered allies and enemies such as Gamora, Starfox, Heater Delight and Pro-Boscis the Procurer.[36][37]
Throughout these adventures, Pip generally sought taverns, gambling dens and brothels first, only reluctantly engaging in heroics when Warlock was imperiled or when there was a chance of profit.[37][30] After Warlock's struggle with his future self resulted in the erasure of the Magus timeline and the collapse of the Church as a galaxy spanning empire, Pip parted company with Adam on the world of Sirus X, preferring to resume a life of unfocused pleasure seeking.[38]
Death and Soulworld[]
Pip's solo travels led him into much more trouble across space, until he eventually went looking for Warlock again and instead wandered into one of Thanos' abandoned bases.[8][4] Expecting to find his old friend, Pip instead stumbled upon Thanos himself and discovered that the Titan had already turned against the universe.[4] Seeking to eliminate a nuisance and prevent any warning from reaching Warlock, Thanos obliterated Pip's mind with a psionic assault, leaving his body in a vegetative state.[4][39] When Warlock later confronted Thanos over the Titan's plan to extinguish the stars, he found Pip's body among Thanos' victims.[4] Using the Soul Gem to spare his friend from a meaningless existence, Warlock drew Pip's soul into the Gem, destroying Pip's lifeless body but restoring his mind within the idyllic pocket reality of Soulworld.[4][10][31]
After Gamora was likewise slain by Thanos and rescued into the Gem, Pip, Gamora and Warlock shared a peaceful existence inside Soulworld while the outside universe believed them dead.[10] Pip spent an extended period in Soulworld, carving out a niche as a local rascal while Warlock tended the souls dwelling there.[40] When Silver Surfer and Captain Autolycus briefly interacted with the Soul Gem, Pip accompanied them within the pocket realm, observed Warlock's renewed conflict with Drax the Destroyer and began to consider the possibility of returning to corporeal life.[41]
Infinity Gauntlet and Resurrection[]
When Thanos later assembled all six Infinity Stones into the Infinity Gauntlet, his actions drew Warlock, Gamora and Pip back into play.[42][5] Warlock orchestrated their return to the material universe by guiding their souls into the recently deceased bodies of three Earth motorists killed in a car crash near Doctor Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum.[5][43] Pip took over the body of Ralph Bunker, gaining a sturdier human frame that nonetheless retained much of his original stature and features once his soul's influence reshaped it.[5][43]
Alongside Warlock and Gamora, Pip conferred with Doctor Strange, Rintrah, Doctor Doom and the Silver Surfer regarding Thanos' omnipotence, serving as a crude but perceptive commentator on the cosmic stakes.[44][43] He accompanied Strange in defending the Sanctum from Silver Dagger and in time travel missions to rescue Firelord and Drax from temporal displacement, finding inventive ways to use his small size and opportunistic nature against foes far stronger than himself.[45] Pip then joined Warlock and a coalition of Earth's heroes and cosmic entities in confronting Thanos at his space shrine.[46]
While he lacked the raw power of his allies, Pip provided quick thinking support and acerbic observations during the desperate assault that ultimately ended when Warlock seized the Gauntlet and reversed Thanos' devastation.[47][48] After the crisis, Pip and Gamora visited Thanos on his Farm World with Warlock to gauge whether their former enemy truly renounced his cosmic ambitions.[42] Concerned by Warlock's increasing detachment as wielder of the Gauntlet, Pip and Gamora later summoned Doctor Strange to intervene when Adam seemed to be slipping toward godhood without compassion, though Warlock ultimately surrendered the Gauntlet of his own accord.[48][47]
Infinity Watch[]
When the Living Tribunal ruled that no single being could be trusted with the combined Infinity Stones, Warlock was ordered to disperse them among several custodians.[49] Reasoning that the universe would never suspect a drunken Laxidazian prince of guarding one of reality's fundamental building blocks, Adam entrusted Pip with the Space Gem, which Pip kept between his toes for safekeeping and used primarily to teleport himself into and out of bars, vaults and enemy strongholds.[50] As a founding member of the Infinity Watch, Pip relocated with Warlock, Gamora, Drax, Moondragon and later Maxam to Monster Island.[50]
The island was nominally under the protection of Mole Man, whose hospitality Pip abused by importing contraband, organizing gambling and turning parts of the island into a permanent social hub for revelry and games of chance, to the irritation of both his teammates and their subterranean host.[51] With the Watch, Pip was captured and experimented on by the Man-Beast and his New Men, only to be rescued when Warlock reclaimed control of the team's Gems.[52] He was present when an international task force attempted to seize Monster Island in dispute over its sovereignty, watching with amusement and placing bets as Gamora single handedly defeated the invaders without killing them.[53][54][55]
During the Infinity War crisis, Warlock's attempt to purge his own good and evil aspects birthed the Magus as a separate being who seized a corrupted version of the Infinity Gauntlet.[56] When Thanos recruited the Infinity Watch as allies against the Magus, Pip reluctantly found himself on the same side as his former killer, brawling with Earth's heroes who mistrusted any alliance with Thanos before the two factions cooperated against their common foe.[57][58][22] Pip remained with the Watch through further conflicts, including Infinity Crusade, where the "good" aspect of Warlock became the Goddess and used a Cosmic Cube derived "Cosmic Egg" to brainwash large numbers of heroes.[59][3]
Left on Monster Island with Drax and Maxam, Pip chafed under their arguments about leadership until circumstances brought the Cosmic Egg within his reach.[60][61] By touching the Egg, Pip briefly gained near limitless power.[62] He turned the Goddess to salt, conjured a throne and indulged in fantasies of remaking reality to suit his whims, from petty humiliations for heroes who had wronged him to universal harems and endless celebrations, before realizing that none of these scenarios would make him truly happy.[63][64]
Deciding instead that the one thing he genuinely wanted was a simple birthday party thrown by his friends, he prepared to reshape the cosmos accordingly, only to be ambushed and knocked out by the brainwashed Silhouette, guardian of the Egg.[65] The Egg was reclaimed and reality reset, erasing his short lived reign as an omnipotent "Pip Supreme".[66][67]
Pip's time with the Watch also brought him into contact with a wide range of heroes and threats. On Earth, he briefly crossed paths with Spider-Man when the Infinity Crusade's influence spilled into New York City, with Pip teleporting into the web-slinger's orbit while the Goddess' psionic call pushed ordinary citizens and costumed heroes alike toward dangerous religious fervor, leaving Spider-Man to juggle a cosmic crisis and an uninvited, hard-drinking "ally".[20]
Off world, he became embroiled in the “Blood and Thunder” saga after Thor succumbed to warrior madness and rampaged across the cosmos. Serving as Warlock's emergency evac and running commentary, Pip ferried the Infinity Watch between Asgardian and deep space battlefields, watched Thor clash with Silver Surfer and Beta Ray Bill, and very nervously dealt with High Evolutionary aboard his godlike craft while Warlock attempted to use the Soul Gem to reach Thor's fractured mind.[21][68][69][23]
When a new crisis centered on Warlock's legacy emerged, Pip naturally gravitated back to his oldest meal ticket. Pip accompanied Adam and Gamora as they confronted the artificial being Eve Warlock, a "perfected" counterpart molded from Adam's own essence.[70] Pip provided comic relief and pragmatic commentary as Adam wrestled with questions of identity and worthiness, needling his friend about being upstaged by his own replacement while also acting as an emergency teleporter when confrontations with Eve and hostile forces turned violent.[71] Despite treating the whole situation as an extended cosmic farce, Pip helped shepherd both Adam and Eve toward a truce that preserved the original Warlock's place in the universe while allowing Eve to pursue her own path.[72]
Pip once again ran with Adam Warlock and Gamora when temporal distortions and hostile doubles drew the Silver Surfer back into their orbit.[73] Serving as the group's primary transport and habitual commentator, Pip hopped between time tossed battlefields and cosmic waystations, loudly complaining about being wedged between an increasingly wary Surfer and Warlock’s attempts to contain the lingering fallout from their earlier dealings with Mephisto.[74] When the disruption threatened to overwrite parts of their shared past altogether, Pip fought to keep himself and his relationships from being edited out of existence, standing with Warlock and the Surfer as they stabilized the fractured timeline and preserved their hard won legacies.[75]
Over time, tensions within the Watch, repeated crises and Warlock's growing detachment led to the team’s disbanding.[76][77][78][79] Once the group dissolved and the Gems changed hands, Pip lost physical possession of the Space Gem, but his long exposure to it left him with a residual, innate teleportation ability that he would continue to use for the rest of his career.[80][81][1][31]
Infinity Abyss[]
Years after the disbanding of the Infinity Watch, Pip was among the first to notice that something was badly wrong with Adam Warlock.[82][1] Following a trail of omens and disappearances, Pip tracked his old friend to the so called Bedlam House, an oppressive offworld asylum where Warlock had been secretly imprisoned and sedated by unknown forces.[83] Using his teleportation to slip through security and his usual irreverent chatter to keep the staff off balance, Pip freed Warlock from his cell and helped him escape the facility, even as warped "Thanosi" doppelgangers of Thanos began moving against them.[84][85]
Reuniting with Gamora and other allies, Pip acted as Warlock's courier and emergency extraction throughout the crisis, blinking the group between battlefields as they confronted different Thanosi and tried to determine which, if any, Thanos could be trusted.[86] He was periodically battered, blasted and knocked unconscious in the crossfire, but continued to pop back into the action, either to evacuate comrades from collapsing singularities or to deliver Warlock to key confrontations.[87] When the true Thanos finally moved to eliminate his rogue clones and repair the damage to reality, Pip again served as Warlock's anchor and getaway driver, teleporting the core cast clear of several cosmic chain reactions that could have erased them outright.[88]
Marvel Universe: The End[]
In the reality reshaping events surrounding Thanos' acquisition of the Heart of the Universe, Pip remained by Warlock's side as one of a dwindling number of sentient observers.[89] As Thanos systematically cured the universe of all perceived flaws, annihilating and then absorbing virtually every cosmic hierarchy, Pip found himself effectively sidelined at the edge of non existence with Warlock and Gamora, unable to intervene but fully aware of the scale of what was happening.[90] True to form, Pip responded to the unmaking of reality with gallows humor, complaining about being wiped out without so much as a last drink while Warlock tried to reason through Thanos' motives.[90] When Thanos ultimately chose to restore the universe and relinquish omnipotence, Pip was among those quietly reset to their prior status, retaining at best a hazy recollection of having watched the cosmos die and be reborn from a vantage point outside normal space and time.[91][92]
Thanos and She-Hulk[]
Pip reconnected with his old frenemy during a mission that placed Thanos in uneasy alliance with Galactus.[85] Acting as Thanos’ fixer and courier, Pip infiltrated Taa II while the Titan parleyed with Galactus, planting surveillance devices on the Worldship and eavesdropping on their negotiations with a mix of professional skill and barely concealed terror.[85][92] When Galactus detonated a star as part of a larger plan to confront the cosmic entity Hunger, Pip teleported the unconscious Warlock clear of the blast and delivered him to safety at Thanos' request, grumbling about hazard pay the entire time.[93]
Pip's association with interstellar courts and cosmic powers later intersected with She-Hulk during her tenure as a Magistrati champion. On the gladiator world of Skardon, Pip appeared alongside Warlock and Beta Ray Bill as part of the entourage observing Bill’s binding combat contract and the planet's complex rules of trial by combat.[94] When it became clear that legal maneuvering required She-Hulk's direct involvement, Pip was dispatched as a teleporter to retrieve Jennifer and her ward Southpaw from Earth, unceremoniously abducting them in mid case and delivering them to Skardon's arena.[95]
After She-Hulk successfully exploited Skardon's legal code to overturn its "fight until you drop" system, Pip transported Jennifer and Southpaw back to Earth, explaining that they could summon him again through their Magistrati badge if more cosmic court business arose.[96] Later, when questions about Starfox's alleged manipulation of consent reached a cosmic tribunal, Pip appeared among the various spacefaring observers and adjuncts summoned to Titan, leveraging his familiarity with Magistrati procedure and his teleportation to ferry parties and evidence as the case escalated into a clash involving the Living Tribunal and Thanos himself.[97]
X-Factor Investigations[]
Pip working for X-Factor Investigations
Pip somehow came into debt with the goddess Hela, but her brother Agamemnon secretly gave Pip a magical pendant that clouded Hela's senses and allowed him to morph into a human form. Equipped with it, Pip was able to escape the Inferno Club, but in exchange he would have to infiltrate X-Factor Investigations and keep Agamemnon caught up on Wolfsbane's pregnancy.[98]
With the pendant, Pip went to New York City, where he spent his time partying in bars and clubs. Meanwhile, Hela, under the guise of "Halja", hired X-Factor Investigations to find Pip. James Madrox and Theresa Cassidy found Pip at a local pub and inadvertently alerted Hela to his location by removing the amulet. Realizing that they had just handed someone over to the goddess of death, Madrox and the others felt extremely guilty and headed to Las Vegas to save him.[99] With help from Thor, X-Factor battled Hela's undead army from Niffleheim and rescued Pip.[100]
After his rescue, Pip insisted on repaying X-Factor by working as their secretary.[101] When Wolfsbane's child Tier was approaching birth, Pip warned his Asgardian master as agreed.[102] As the rest of the team went after Wolfsbane, who had run away, Pip stayed behind, hoping no one would notice. Layla Miller, who was not easy to deceive, tried to find out what he was keeping secret, but Pip told her it would have to remain a mystery.[103] Pip's tenure with the team nearly ended when a woman he had previously helped, driven by cryptic prophecies that "X-Factor will fall", shot him in the head.[104]
The wound would have been fatal to a human, but Pip survived because Laxidazian physiology placed his brain in his chest, near his heart.[101][31] While his body recuperated, Pip projected his consciousness into the body of Monet St. Croix, effectively possessing her and using her teleportation enhanced senses in an attempt to trace the assassin via the bullet that struck him.[105] Monet eventually forced him to vacate her body, and Pip resigned from X-Factor in a huff, leaving a note blaming Monet for his departure even as he remained fond of the team.[106]
Thanos vs. Hulk[]
Pip was blackmailed by Annihilus and Blastaar with his girlfriend Heater Delight to bring them the Hulk. He complied and knocked Banner out while the scientist was traveling. Upon surrendering the unconscious Hulk, Pip was reunited with Heater and immediately teleported her to Starlin's Bar on Knowhere. She asked why he had brought her to such a slummy place, and he explained that he had spent most of his money trying to save her and, as he planned to rescue the Hulk, he came to the conclusion that he should bring in Thanos, though she was not sure it was a good idea. Assuring her he would be fine, Pip teleported to Sanctuary VI, where he was immediately ambushed by the Outriders. He was brought to Thanos, who demanded to know why the troll was there, and Pip responded by revealing that the Hulk had fallen into the hands of the Negative Zone's overlords and asking that the Mad Titan do something about it. Thanos refused, causing Pip to seemingly leave, though he actually hid nearby to see Thanos change his mind and decide to confront the Negative Zoners.[39]
Pip witnessed Thanos send his consciousness to the Hulk's mindscape, and by touching his body he learned that they were in the Negative Zone. He teleported there and found himself on Annihilus' Throneworld.[107] He searched for the green behemoth, only to find him after Annihilus siphoned Hulk's gamma radiation to grow his body. As Annihilus' men were distracted, Pip removed the cerebral inhibitor from the Hulk, which caused him to wake up and lash out, destroying his surroundings and leaving the troll unconscious under the rubble.[108]
Soon after, he woke back up and saw the Hulk fighting a gamma powered Annihilus and his army. Fearing what the Avengers would do to him if something happened to the Hulk, Pip was forced to intervene. He teleported onto Annihilus' back to plant an explosive which he then detonated, staggering Annihilus temporarily. This gave Pip enough time to reach the Hulk and teleport him back to Earth. Hulk at first tried to get back at Pip for getting him into this mess, but let him go as he was too tired from the fight. Pip then returned to Starlin's, but to his dismay he saw that Heater had ditched him for Quasar.[109]
Drax[]
Pip relocated to a planet of criminals where he garnered quite a wealth. Learning that Drax was returning enslaved children to their homes, one of whom was a member of a royal family who offered a large sum of money for her return, Pip set a bounty on him in order for bounty hunters to bring him to the planet. Cammi and Planet Terry took up the bounty and successfully captured Drax and his companions Ora, Torgo and R304, only for Drax to break out upon arriving. Pip approached him and explained why he had the bounty hunters bring him there, telling him that he and his companions would aid Drax in returning the child, as others wished to claim her.[110]
On their way to the royal child's planet, Pip and Drax's crew were attacked by space pirates, forcing the crew to get out of their ship while Pip and Ora stayed behind to look over the child. As the team struggled with the pirates, Pip teleported together with the child inside one of the pirates' ships to use their weapons against them. This helped in defeating the pirates, and they arrived at the girl's homeworld uninterrupted. To Pip's dismay, her family did not offer any money for her return, as not only would that go against their ethos but they were also broke. This meant that another child under Drax's care had the bounty, but before the crew could figure out which one it was, the Makluan rock like egg suddenly hatched.[111]
In that moment, Ora was attacked by her old partner Killer Thrill, a mercenary hired by the Makluans to get the egg, who caused her to eject both of them to the surface of a nearby planetoid. Pip and the rest came to Ora's rescue, only for Killer Thrill to evade each of their attacks and use her telepathy to mind control the troll into teleporting them away.[112] Killer Thrill imprisoned him inside her temple on a graveyard planet where she attempted to teach the Makluan hatchling violence. Thankfully, Drax and his crew managed to track them down and began fighting Killer Thrill and her monstrous pets. Drax was able to defeat her with the help of the hatchling, and with Killer Thrill taken care of Pip was freed and allowed to reunite with the team.[113]
Ravagers[]
During his pursuit to quit smoking by moving away from any galaxy with cigarettes, Pip crossed paths with and joined the Ravagers, a band of mercenaries led by Yondu Udonta. The Ravagers became tangled with a group of refugees from a species that possessed the natural ability to materialize their prayers into diamonds, helping them move from planet to planet to evade Chargazel's Raiders. They eventually settled on Ego the Living Planet. The Asgardians of the Galaxy stumbled into the Ravagers shortly before the Raiders caught up with them.[114] Both teams worked together to repel the Raiders, then parted ways; the Ravagers remained on Ego while the Asgardians continued on their way.[115]
Annihilation - Scourge[]
When the Void began leading the forces of the Cancerverse in invading the Negative Zone, and then the Posiverse, Mister Fantastic used his Dimensional Anchor to gather various heroes, including Pip the Troll, to battle the invading forces. In the aftermath, Bob Reynolds remerged with the Void, while Nova sacrificed himself in order to defeat the evil forces.[29]
Beta Ray Bill[]
After initially reuniting with Beta Ray Bill in a victory celebration at Asgard,[116] Pip followed him to Don's Bar & Grille where he helped the Korbinite and Skurge the Executioner in a bar fight. The fight was broken up by a retired Odin who had been working at the bar and invited the three of them to drink. Beta Ray Bill asked the former All-Father for a new weapon to replace the broken Stormbreaker, and Odin told him of Surtur's Twilight Sword, which was now left unguarded in Muspelheim. Both Pip and Skurge decided to accompany Bill on his journey, and as they were about to pass through the Stygian Gate to reach Muspelheim Pip explained to the Korbinite that the reason he was assisting him was because he wished to do something that would make him feel better about himself.[117]
Upon passing through the gate, Bill's sentient ship, Skuttlebutt, manifested a humanoid body, but before they could properly process that they were attacked by the Fire Demons of Muspelheim. Pip and Skurge attempted to shoot down the demons to no avail, and with no other choice Bill and Skuttlebutt were forced to land on a lake of lava named the Burning Sea to burn off the attackers. Since the thing they were searching for was beneath the lake, Skuttlebutt began remodeling herself to submerge into the lava. During that process, more demons began approaching and, to buy Skuttlebutt more time, Pip and Skurge shot back at the attackers. Once Skuttlebutt finished, the crew reentered the ship as it submerged, and though she struggled to maintain herself they were able to reach the bottom of the lake. They entered through a hole located at the bottom which led them to a dark void where a squid like monster awaited them.[118]
The monster engulfed the entirety of their ship and used its tentacles to invade the inside. Pip and Skurge became trapped by the tentacles, but were later freed after Bill destroyed the monster's core. Now freed, the crew finally arrived at the location of the Twilight Sword, but before Bill could claim it a resurrected Surtur appeared before them.[119] As Bill and Surtur fought for the sword, Pip came to his friend's aid, only for the demon lord to punch through his torso. Although wounded, Pip managed to leave several bombs around Surtur's arm and teleport away before detonating them. This staggered the fire demon, which allowed Bill to fight back and bought Skuttlebutt enough time to remodel herself into a giant gun. Skurge used the gun to incapacitate Surtur, leaving Bill to claim the Twilight Sword at last and kill the fire demon for good. Skuttlebutt managed to save Pip's life by performing surgery on him and replacing one of his lungs, and after some time he made a full recovery.[120]
Nova[]
Pip resurfaced working with Nova when the former Xandarian Centurion found himself short on funds and stuck housing the Worldmind in a bulky, immobile mainframe. Sensing opportunity, Pip installed himself as Nova's unofficial agent and fixer, promising to line up paying gigs across the galaxy in exchange for a ten percent cut of the proceeds. Following several jobs, Pip sent Nova to work for an interstellar gang nicknamed the "Kree-Skrull War", who had their quantities of mysterium once exported from Krakoa stolen, a job that combined political sensitivity, high personal risk and very little guarantee that Nova would actually see his money.[121]Attributes
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Powers
- Laxidazian Physiology: Originally a relatively ordinary Laxidazian, Pip was physically transformed into a troll-form variant of his own species after overindulging in a mutagenic ale, gaining a stocky, dense frame, enlarged ears, thick body hair and hoof-like feet.[6][7] As a Laxidazian, Pip possesses a non-standard internal anatomy, with his brain and vital neural centers located in his chest rather than his skull. This quirk allowed him to survive a point-blank gunshot to the head that would ordinarily have been fatal, after which his consciousness was able to operate through another body while his physical shell recovered.[122] His physiology grants him a very high tolerance for toxins and intoxicants, which he has tested extensively in taverns across the galaxy, and he can remain mobile and functional despite levels of inebriation that incapacitate most species.[6][11]
- Superhumanoid Strength: His altered musculature grants him superhuman strength for his size, sufficient to brawl with much larger opponents and to function in front-line mêlées alongside Drax, Gamora and other heavy hitters when forced into close combat.[11][123][13] His troll-body is similarly tough, allowing him to shrug off beatings, explosions and the stresses of repeated interstellar teleportation, and he has endured impalement and massive trauma that would have killed an ordinary humanoid before being stabilized by advanced surgery.[124][125]
- Teleportation: Pip's signature power is long-range teleportation. After acting as custodian of the Space Stone during his tenure with Infinity Watch, the stone's energies permanently imprinted on his body, leaving him with an innate ability to teleport even after he relinquished the jewel.[11][3][13] Pip can relocate himself and others across interstellar distances in an instant, including between planets, dimensions such as the Negative Zone, and mobile locations like Knowhere.[126][26][127] Pip's teleportation is precise enough to insert himself directly into the middle of combat, appear above an enemy's head to deliver a surprise blow, or extract allies from the heart of a battlefield.[16][128][129] He has repeatedly teleported large masses and unwilling passengers, from stolen vehicles and starships to the rampaging Hulk himself, with no visible strain.[130][26]
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Pip using his global locationing power
- Global Locationing: Pip had demonstrated a refined “global locationing” sense, locking onto the psychic trail of allies and foes through existing links and homing in on hidden strongholds and artificial worlds, rather than simply jumping blind to places he already knew.[131][3] Even when heavily intoxicated his arrivals are usually accurate, suggesting strong instinctive control. On the rare occasions he misjudges a jump and emerges in a hazardous location, he typically recovers by chaining short “blink” jumps until he can escape or reposition.[132][127]
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Pip reverting to his troll form after removing the "Thor's Hammer" pendant
While he held the Space Stone, Pip could in principle access nearly limitless movement powers, including instantaneous travel to any location someone in contact with him could visualize, transitions between dimensions and effectively unrestricted range. In practice he used the Gem almost exclusively for teleportation, keeping it wedged between his toes for “safekeeping” and treating its universe-spanning potential as a personal transport ticket.[11][12][131] Although the Gem was eventually removed from his custody, residual Space Gem radiation is credited with sustaining his present-day teleportation.[13]
With the Thor's Hammer Pendant:
- Undetectability: For a time he also wore a mystic pendant gifted by Agamemnon, which allowed him to assume a human guise and simultaneously shielded him from magical detection by Hela and similar entities.[24]
- Appearance Alteration: While wearing this “Thor’s Hammer” pendant he passed unrecognized in crowded human locales until investigators from X-Factor Investigations stripped it from him and exposed his true form, proving that the charm’s cloaking effect was tied directly to physical contact.[99] Both the Space Gem and the pendant are no longer in his possession, and their associated enhancements are considered former powers.
Abilities
- Computer Hacking Skills: Pip admitted to being capable of hacking into the Avengers' files to look into She-Hulk's record.[92]
- Tactics and Improvisation: Despite presenting himself as a drunken layabout, Pip is a seasoned interstellar operator with a sharp tactical sense. He routinely combines teleportation with gadgets to plant explosives, steal objectives or extract allies from combat zones, and has improvised effectively under fire against opponents such as Annihilus, Surtur and various space pirates.[133][129][27]
- Information Gathering: Pip’s long experience in dives, casinos and criminal hubs across the galaxy makes him adept at reading people, shaking loose information and acting as an informal broker or interrogator when he chooses to apply himself seriously.[11][97][101]
- Social Resilience: Pip shows near-superhuman resistance to intimidation and embarrassment, which lets him banter casually with entities such as Thanos, Mephisto and Hela while keeping his wits and timing intact.[14][13][26]
Paraphernalia
Equipment
Transportation
Trivia
- Pip's smoking habit was inspired by Jack Kirby.[134]
See Also
- 177 appearance(s) of Pip Gofern (Earth-616)
- 8 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Pip Gofern (Earth-616)
- 15 minor appearance(s) of Pip Gofern (Earth-616)
- 6 mention(s) of Pip Gofern (Earth-616)
- 2 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Pip Gofern (Earth-616)
- 83 image(s) of Pip Gofern (Earth-616)
- 16 quotation(s) by or about Pip Gofern (Earth-616)
- 3 item(s) used/owned by Pip Gofern (Earth-616)
Links and References
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Infinity Abyss #1
- ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy: Mother Entropy #2–3
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Warlock and the Infinity Watch #18
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Avengers Annual #7
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Infinity Gauntlet #1
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Strange Tales #179–181
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Warlock #9–12
- ↑ 8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 Warlock #12
- ↑ Warlock #9–15
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Marvel Two-In-One Annual #2
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 Warlock and the Infinity Watch #2–3
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Warlock and the Infinity Watch #6–8
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 Infinity Abyss #1–6
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Infinity Gauntlet #1–6
- ↑ Silver Surfer (Vol. 3) #46–52
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Infinity War #1–6
- ↑ Warlock and the Infinity Watch #18–21
- ↑ Infinity Crusade #1–6
- ↑ She-Hulk #7–9
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Web of Spider-Man #104–105
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 Silver Surfer (Vol. 3) #86–88
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 Fantastic Four #369–370
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 Warlock Chronicles #6–8
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 X-Factor (Vol. 3) #207–213
- ↑ X-Factor (Vol. 3) #221–249
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 26.3 Thanos vs. Hulk #1–4
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 Drax #7–11
- ↑ Asgardians of the Galaxy #6–7
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 Annihilation - Scourge Omega #1
- ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 30.3 30.4 Gamer's Handbook of the Marvel Universe #8 ; Pip the Troll's profile
- ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 31.3 31.4 31.5 31.6 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #9 ; Pip the Troll's profile
- ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 32.3 32.4 Strange Tales #179
- ↑ Strange Tales #180
- ↑ 34.0 34.1 Strange Tales #179–180
- ↑ Warlock #9
- ↑ Strange Tales #180–181
- ↑ 37.0 37.1 Warlock #9–10
- ↑ Warlock #11–12
- ↑ 39.0 39.1 Thanos vs. Hulk #1
- ↑ Silver Surfer (Vol. 3) #46–47
- ↑ Silver Surfer (Vol. 3) #46–48
- ↑ 42.0 42.1 Silver Surfer (Vol. 3) #52
- ↑ 43.0 43.1 43.2 Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #32
- ↑ Infinity Gauntlet #2
- ↑ Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #33–35
- ↑ Infinity Gauntlet #3–6
- ↑ 47.0 47.1 Infinity Gauntlet #6
- ↑ 48.0 48.1 Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #36
- ↑ Warlock and the Infinity Watch #2
- ↑ 50.0 50.1 Warlock and the Infinity Watch #2–4
- ↑ Warlock and the Infinity Watch #4–5
- ↑ Warlock and the Infinity Watch #5–6
- ↑ Infinity War #1
- ↑ Silver Surfer Annual #5
- ↑ Warlock and the Infinity Watch #6
- ↑ Infinity War #1–2
- ↑ Infinity War #3–6
- ↑ Quasar #38
- ↑ Infinity Crusade #1
- ↑ Infinity Crusade #2
- ↑ Warlock and the Infinity Watch #19
- ↑ Infinity Crusade #3–4
- ↑ Infinity Crusade #3
- ↑ Warlock and the Infinity Watch #20
- ↑ Infinity Crusade #4–6
- ↑ Infinity Crusade #6
- ↑ Warlock and the Infinity Watch #21
- ↑ Thor #469–471
- ↑ Warlock and the Infinity Watch #23–25
- ↑ Warlock: Rebirth #1–5
- ↑ Warlock: Rebirth #2–4
- ↑ Warlock: Rebirth #5
- ↑ Silver Surfer Rebirth: Legacy #1–2
- ↑ Silver Surfer Rebirth: Legacy #2
- ↑ Silver Surfer Rebirth: Legacy #5
- ↑ Warlock and the Infinity Watch #30–31
- ↑ Warlock and the Infinity Watch #34–35
- ↑ Warlock and the Infinity Watch #40–42
- ↑ Rune/Silver Surfer #1
- ↑ Warlock and the Infinity Watch #35
- ↑ Cosmic Powers Unlimited #4
- ↑ Warlock and the Infinity Watch #42
- ↑ Infinity Abyss #1–2
- ↑ Infinity Abyss #1–3
- ↑ 85.0 85.1 85.2 Thanos #3
- ↑ Infinity Abyss #2–5
- ↑ Infinity Abyss #3–6
- ↑ Infinity Abyss #5–6
- ↑ Marvel Universe: The End #5–6
- ↑ 90.0 90.1 Marvel Universe: The End #5
- ↑ Marvel Universe: The End #6
- ↑ 92.0 92.1 92.2 Thanos #4
- ↑ Thanos #4–6
- ↑ She-Hulk #7
- ↑ She-Hulk #8
- ↑ She-Hulk #9
- ↑ 97.0 97.1 She-Hulk (Vol. 2) #12–13
- ↑ X-Factor (Vol. 3) #207–224
- ↑ 99.0 99.1 X-Factor (Vol. 3) #207–208
- ↑ X-Factor (Vol. 3) #211–213
- ↑ 101.0 101.1 101.2 X-Factor (Vol. 3) #213
- ↑ X-Factor (Vol. 3) #221
- ↑ X-Factor (Vol. 3) #224
- ↑ X-Factor (Vol. 3) #245–246
- ↑ X-Factor (Vol. 3) #248–249
- ↑ X-Factor (Vol. 3) #230–249
- ↑ Thanos vs. Hulk #2
- ↑ Thanos vs. Hulk #3
- ↑ Thanos vs. Hulk #4
- ↑ Drax #7
- ↑ Drax #8
- ↑ Drax #9
- ↑ Drax #11
- ↑ Asgardians of the Galaxy #6
- ↑ Asgardians of the Galaxy #7
- ↑ Beta Ray Bill #1
- ↑ Beta Ray Bill #2
- ↑ Beta Ray Bill #3
- ↑ Beta Ray Bill #4
- ↑ Beta Ray Bill #5
- ↑ Nova: Centurion #1
- ↑ X-Factor (Vol. 3) #246–249
- ↑ Warlock and the Infinity Watch #24–25
- ↑ Infinity Abyss #4–6
- ↑ Beta Ray Bill #4–5
- ↑ Infinity Gauntlet #1–3
- ↑ 127.0 127.1 Drax #7–9
- ↑ Infinity Abyss #2–4
- ↑ 129.0 129.1 Thanos vs. Hulk #2–4
- ↑ Infinity Gauntlet #1–2
- ↑ 131.0 131.1 Infinity Crusade #3–5
- ↑ Infinity Abyss #2–3
- ↑ Infinity Abyss #3–5
- ↑ Marston, George (7 October 2016) NYCC '16: Marvel's INFINITY GAUNTLET Panel Newsarama. Retrieved on 7 October 2016.
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #9
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Vol 1 9