Wernher von Blitzschlag (Earth-616)

Baron Blitzschlag
Name	Wernher von Blitzschlag
Current Alias	Baron Blitzschlag
Aliases	Doc
Affiliation and Relationships
Affiliation	Formely Initiative, Operation Paperclip, Nazi Party
Relatives	Van, Patrick, Michael ("Sons", possess fragments of his DNA)
Marital Status	Single
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Male
Height	5′7″ (1.7 m)
Weight	152 lbs (68.95 kg)
Eyes	Irises: Blue
Hair	White
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Nazi scientist who empowered himself to fight American agents.
Living Status	Alive
Reality	Earth-616
Personal Information
Identity	No Dual
Citizenship	German
Occupation	Geneticist
Base of Operations	Camp Hammond
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Dan Slott, Stefano Caselli
First	Civil War Battle Damage Report Vol 1 1 (Cameo) Avengers: The Initiative #1 (April, 2007) (First full appearance)
First	Civil War Battle Damage Report Vol 1 1 (Cameo) Avengers: The Initiative #1 (April, 2007) (First full appearance)

History

Origin: World War II

During World War II, Baron Werner Von Blitzschlag worked for the Nazis as both a supervillain and scientist, he fought superheroes such as the Black Captain America Isaiah Bradley, Whizzer, Miss America, and Thin Man. He was also involved in the creation of the Nazi Super-Soldiers Master Man, Warrior Woman and Vunder Knight.

Initiative

Following the conclusion to Civil War, Baron Von Blitzschlag was recruited into The Initiative by Hank Pym and worked at Camp Hammond to develop heroes for the Initiative. He sat in on training sessions and was particularly interested in the development of Trauma's abilities.

Following the death of MVP, Von Blitzschlag was asked to perform the autopsy. After discovering MVP's naturally formed peak human abilities, he argued with Hank Pym over whether exploiting MVP's genetic material in order to create more superheroes is ethical. After Pym lamented the fact that he has to work with a former supervillain and Nazi, Von Blitzschlag points out Pym's role in a number of "villainous" acts including the creation of Ultron and the Thor Clone/Cyborg during the Civil War, finishing by saying "Don't hate me Herr Pym, for I am your greatest fan!".

When the Vulturions stole a briefcase containing classified research on gamma radiation from Von Blitzschlag, he attempted to stop them, and displayed his power to generate electricity. However, he was unable produce more than an electric glow around his hand, indicating that his powers are extremely weakened.

It was later revealed that Von Blitzschlag used MVP's body to clone several duplicates, three of which are currently serving as the Scarlet Spiders who treat Blitzschlag as a father figure.

When a new clone of MVP interfaced with Armory's Tactigon weapon, he remembered the death of the original like it was his own. Subsequently, the clone went on a mad rampage, during which he threw a gurney at the Baron. Von Blitzschlag got up severely injured reactivating his powers to keep himself alive and able to send Cloud-9, Hardball, and Komodo on a mission to stop the mad clone, known as KIA.

Wounded during the mission, he was left wheelchair-bound and relying on a life-supporting apparatus powered by his own bio-electricity. He asked for a Purple Heart medal for being wounded in service, but he was refused by Nighthawk, due to his past as a Nazi.

During the Skrull Invasion, when Jim Rhodes' life support was rendered unable to sustain his life functions due to a Skrull attack, Von Blitzschlag is willing to share his energy to keep Rhodes alive until the crisis is resolved.

When the Thor-Clone unexpectedly reawakens, he threatened the Baron into retrieving his hammer, and seemingly killed him right after. Instead, the electric discharges make Von Blitzschlag even more powerful and able to stand as electricity "is his blood". The Baron surprises Ragnarok during his fight with both Initiative members and Counter Force and managed to drive him off by telling his real origins.

Attributes

Power Grid

Powers

Electrokinesis: Baron Blitzschlag experimented on himself to obtain the ability to generate and manipulate electricity to an unknown degree.

He has been seen to utilize his electrical powers in the following ways;

• Electrical Absorption: Baron Blitzschlag is able to absorb electricity from electrical appliances and outlets. He presumably is able to store this energy for later use.
• Lightning Blasts: Baron Blitzschlag is able to generate lighting blasts from his hands, the intensity of these blasts is unknown.
• Sentient Electrical Form: Baron Blitzschlag appears to be able to convert his body into a Sentient Electrical Form and thus bypassing the limitations of his human body and any injuries he has sustained. It would also appear that he requires to absorb large quantities of energy to do this.
• Enhance Physical Traits: Baron Blitzschlag can use absorbed electrical energy to enhance his physical condition to bypass the limitations of his frail body, thus being able to walk and stand without his cane, as well as heal from injuries faster.

The Baron's current power level is unknown, as he has become more powerful following his absorption of Ragnarok's lighting blast. He has stated that electricity "is his blood".

Abilities

• Genius-Level Intellect: The Baron is a genius genetic scientist, and it has been noted that his cloning process is fast and produces stable specimens (unlike the dilettante processes of some other scientists).

Weaknesses

• Frailty: The Baron's old age has made him frail and thus he requires a cane for support. Furthermore his old age seems to limit the use of his powers.

Notes

• If Baron Blitzschlag was involved in the creation of Master Man then he must be one of the 6 unnamed Nazi Scientists seen in Giant-Size Invaders #1, page 18, panel 2.

Trivia

• The German name means "Baron Lightning Strike".
• Baron Blitzschlag finds the novel The Boys from Brazil, "priceless" (humorous).
• Baron Blitzschlag has admitted that some of his dearest friends have been clones.
• He appears to draw a least a degree of inspiration from Wernher von Braun, the director of the Marshall Space Flight Center in the 1960s.

See Also

• 31 appearance(s) of Wernher von Blitzschlag (Earth-616)
• 9 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Wernher von Blitzschlag (Earth-616)
• 1 mention(s) of Wernher von Blitzschlag (Earth-616)
• 3 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Wernher von Blitzschlag (Earth-616)
• 4 image(s) of Wernher von Blitzschlag (Earth-616)