History
Wundarr was born on the planet Dakkam to the renegade house of Zeneg. His parents, erroneously believing their planet's sun was about to blow up, placed Wundarr as an infant inside a rocket and sent him through space to safety. Wundarr's parents were then shot dead on the orders of their world's ruling Triumvirate in order to stop them from causing an unnecessary panic. Spending the interstellar voyage in suspended animation, Wundarr eventually arrived within the gravitational influence of Earth and was bombarded by cosmic rays in Earth's outer atmosphere, endowing him with certain superhuman physical powers. Crashing to Earth, Wundarr grew to maturity within the ship, having been released from suspended animation. Eventually he was set free by the Man-Thing. Due to his lack of experience and education, and remaining unaware of his true origins, Wundarr acted emotionally and mentally delayed. Shortly after his awakening, he was attacked by assassins from Dakkam who had been sent to eliminate him in case he turned his great powers against the Triumvirate in revenge for his parents' deaths, but he was saved by The Thing and Sub-Mariner.[1]
For a brief time, he was placed in the custody of the Thing, but Namorita "adopted" him shortly thereafter.[2] Government agents learned of his superhuman abilities and illegal alien status, and brought him to the government energy research facility Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. for study.[citation needed]
Wundarr's powers were used to probe the powerful object called the Cosmic Cube. In an accidental power overload, Wundarr's mind and body were overwhelmed by the Cube's energies. Consequently, Wundarr's abilities were greatly heightened but his mind was shut down, as it was not yet able to cope with the influx of new power. In communion with the sentience of the Cosmic Cube, Wundarr gained great knowledge and a sense of purpose. Emerging from his coma, he renamed himself the Aquarian and set forth to use his new powers to bring peace and enlightenment to the world. He has since helped the sentient life-form in the Cube to metamorphose into its next state of being.[citation needed]
Aquarian eventually settled in Southern California, where he was regarded by several like-minded activists as a New Age guru. It was in this capacity that he encountered the protector of the universe, Quasar, who was investigating extraterrestrial life on Earth. Almost immediately, Aquarian was attacked by the alien Quantum, who revealed to Aquarian the true history of his past. Quantum fled from the encounter, and Aquarian returned to lead his followers.[citation needed]
During the Infinity Crusade event, a Quantum-controlled Aquarian returned under his Wundarr identity and battled the West Coast Avengers alongside the Power Platoon. After being instructed to kill the three present Avengers, he was returned to normal due to an effect set up by the Goddess that prevented people from acting against their normal will.[citation needed]
After Civil War[]
After the Civil War, he was listed as a potential recruit for the Initiative.[3]
Wundarr was called, with the rest of the Command team, to investigate an anomaly in Man-Thing's Swamp. On arrival, he and the rest of the team were attacked by a zombified Deadpool and undead citizens. The Command was able to maim Deadpool, but not before he bit Wundarr. Having been infected, Wundarr was left with no choice but to place himself into stasis. He and Kale, the only surviving members of the Command, were later picked up by A.R.M.O.R. and placed in quarantine.[4]Attributes
Powers
The powers Wundarr originally acquired from the Earth's cosmic rays enabled him to absorb various forms of energy from his environment and transform them into physical and kinetic energy that could augment his own body[5];
- Superhuman Strength: Wundarr used to be able to lift 15 tons but due to the field partially negating his energy absorbing powers he can now only lift 1 ton.[5]
- Null-Force energy field: The Cosmic Cube amplified Wundarr's energy-absorbing powers to the nth degree. Now a field of entropic "null-force" surrounds his body at all times in a field which, at equilibrium, radiates to a distance of five feet from any point on the surface of his body. With concentration, the Aquarian can contract the null-field to about five inches in thickness, or expand it to a maximum distance of approximately 500 feet. He can never shut the field down completely. The null-field neutralizes most of the electromagnetic spectrum--light, sound, electricity, gravity, magnetism and so on. The Aquarian can also neutralize kinetic energy over 15 foot-pounds per second per second (20.34 joules, or 1.3 x 10^20 electron volts). His body's null-field is of opposite polarity to that of the fields of normal atomic matter. Hence his field nullifies kinetic energy in direct ratio to the inertia (resistance of objects in motion to changes in motion) of the moving object. Only objects with kinetic energy below 15 foot pounds/sec are permitted through his field without any cancellation of inertia (such as an average arm moving a distance of one foot in two seconds). The net effect of any object entering his null-field is that it loses its kinetic energy. Hence, a speeding bullet, a thrown knife, or a hurled punch would be unable to strike him.[5] The kinetic and electromagnetic energies invoked by super-powered beings is also canceled out within his field. Hence, those who possess physical strength would be unable to exercise it within his field, and those with energy-manipulating powers would also be unable to use them. The field does not take these innate capacities away, it simply prevents their use in his presence.[citation needed]
- Flight: Because the kinetic energy canceling property of the field affects him as well as other objects in his field, the Aquarian cannot move any faster than his null-field will allow. Therefore, his original ability to leap is useless. However, since he can negate gravity's influence on him, he can walk on air and fly.[5]
- Extra-Sensory Perceptions: In order to compensate for the loss of hearing and sight that Wundarr suffers inside of his field the Cosmic Cube gave him extra-sensory perceptions that he can share with those in the field with him.[5]
- Knowledge: After being in contact with the Cosmic Cube, he is left with an unimaginable knowledge which he calls "Everything and Nothing". He appears to have strong grasp on the properties of life and death, as well as peace and discourse. He is sometimes shown transmitting (through touch) this knowledge to other beings, often in order to create harmony.[citation needed]
- Animal Empathy: Aquarian possesses the ability to communicate with and control animals, but it goes against his nature to control another creature against their will.[citation needed]
- Energy Blast: If Aquarian does not expend his absorbed energy before it builds to its limit of six and half million watts, it explosively discharges in a sphere of force. He was later show to be able to use this power at will.[4]
- Healing Hibernation: When Wundarr was infected by the Hunger Virus he was able to fight against it, transforming back and forth from an undead to a living form, before placing himself into hibernation to heal and purge the virus from his system. Whilst hibernating, Wundarr was unconscious and suspended in the air within a force field.[4]
Notes
- Aquarian's early life history is a clear pastiche to that of Superman. The nature of Wundarr's creation was to create a take on Superman that had the mind of a child operating the body of an adult and the powers of a Kryptonian.[citation needed]
Trivia
- Wundarr is the only known being shown to be capable of resisting the Hunger Virus after being bitten.[4]
See Also
- 37 appearance(s) of Wundarr (Earth-616)
- 11 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Wundarr (Earth-616)
- 4 minor appearance(s) of Wundarr (Earth-616)
- 2 mention(s) of Wundarr (Earth-616)
- 1 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Wundarr (Earth-616)
- 10 image(s) of Wundarr (Earth-616)