Alpha the Ultimate Mutant

Publication history

Alpha the Ultimate Mutant first appeared in The Defenders #15–16 (September–October 1974), and was created by Len Wein and Sal Buscema.

The character subsequently appears in Quasar #14–15 (September–October 1990).

Alpha the Ultimate Mutant received an entry in the All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A–Z #1 (2006).

Fictional character biography

Alpha is a being artificially created by Magneto, a prominent mutant in the Marvel Universe.

Following an epic battle with the Avengers, Magneto is imprisoned in the center of Earth. Magneto manages to escape and propels himself towards the surface. On the way, he finds the underground ruins of a long-lost technologically advanced civilization in New Mexico. Using the machinery and books he finds among the ruins, he began bio-engineering "the ultimate mutant".

Professor X telepathically detects that Magneto and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants are active in the area of the Carlsbad Caverns, and he summons the Defenders to launch an attack against them. Magneto and the Brotherhood manage to repel the Defenders for enough time to allow the engineering of Alpha to be completed.

Alpha emerges as an oversized humanoid of subhuman intelligence (he was characterized as "neolithic"). Initially he is only capable of creating force fields as a reflex, and of blindly following Magneto's orders. However, each time he uses his powers, Alpha's cranium widens, causing an increase to his intellect.

Magneto has Alpha teleport him and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants to the United Nations headquarters. When his demands for world rulership are turned down, Magneto orders Alpha to telekinetically lift the Secretariat Building and suspend it in mid-air. After the Defenders attack the Brotherhood, Alpha was coerced by Magneto to retaliate in various means, including:

The rampant use of his powers eventually elevate Alpha's awareness to a superhuman level. Persuaded by Professor X, he telepathically probes both the Brotherhood of Mutants and the Defenders in order to discover which team was evil. Understanding that Magneto had fooled him into committing malicious acts, Alpha punishes his erstwhile allies by regressing them to infancy. He also restores the United Nations building complex and erases the event from the minds of all onlookers.

Finally, declaring himself too evolved to remain on Earth, Alpha transforms himself to a streak of light and leaves to explore the universe.

Quasar briefly glimpses Alpha, first on the Stranger's Labworld, and then during his journeys in the cosmos. From what Quasar saw, Alpha seems to be paired with another highly evolved humanoid named Futurist.

Powers and abilities

Alpha the Ultimate Mutant possesses telepathy and vast powers enabling him to transmute the elements, reconstruct matter, reverse the aging process, project force fields, teleport himself and others, fly, and survive in the vacuum of space. He possesses telekinetic powers which are enough to lift a 50-story skyscraper and the surrounding land into the air. His powers are not without limits and are presumably weaker than those of the Stranger.

Alpha the Ultimate Mutant originally had a hulking form which likely possessed great strength but lacked enough intelligence to obey commands. Within a few hours, Alpha's cranium and brain grew in size and evolved into a being of great intellect with a form to match.

Alpha the Ultimate Mutant stands at 10 feet tall, although he can alter his form at will.

Television