Mega Man:

QUOTE:

"Surrender foul villain(s), for now you face the power of…pause for dramatic effect…Mega-Man."

Created By: Percy Michael Hodge
A.K.A: "Superman"
"SuperMan"
"Super Man"
"Super-Man"
REAL NAME: Philip Flemming

HISTORY:

Philip Flemming was an odd child. Young Philip never played games with the other children in his neighborhood and made virtually no friends while growing up. Philip Flemming was something of a shut-in; only going outside when he absolutely had to and this was usually only to go to school. Not that there was a lot to do in the quiet little suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, where he grew up.

The only child of a single mother, Philip didn't see much of his mother as she was constantly doing double shifts at the diner where she worked in order to make ends meet. She was usually so strapped for cash that instead of a baby sitter, she'd simply buy Philip a stack of comic books which he would sit and read quietly over and over again while his mother worked the evening shift. Philip's mother wasn't a bad parent, she was just a single parent trying to make the best out of a bad situation. She was also very lucky in having such a good neighbor as Mrs. Rodriguez in the next apartment to look in on Philip from time to time.

His lack of human contact and submersion in comic books had a very damaging effect on Philip's psyche. Lacking 'real world' experience, his fantasy world of comic books became more and more real to Philip. Philip began living his life according to the strict morals that his heroes lived by (those being approved by the official Comics Code Authority). His strange behavior only served to ostracize him further from his class-mates at school, making things even more difficult as Philip entered his teenage years.

As Philip grew older, his passion for comic books grew as well. Taking part-time jobs, Philip sunk most of his cash into the purchase of rare back issues until he had one of the largest collections of comic books in North America. Not that he possessed any really valuable comics, but he did own a horrendously vast number of comics nonetheless. Philip's one passion, his obsession, was comic books. He spent more time searching used book shops and flea markets for rare issues than he spent studying. As a result, Philip's grades were never that great and, when graduation neared, the only school that would accept him was the local community college.

While at college, Philip's mother passed away and Philip was forced to quit school and find a job in order to pay the bills from his mother's funeral. During this period, Philip took several odd jobs to keep himself afloat. In an ironic twist of fate, at one point Philip found himself working double shifts in the same greasy spoon diner his mother once worked at in order to get himself out of debt.

Once his debts were paid, Philip pursued a life-long dream and joined the police force. Unfortunately, police work was not all it was cracked up to be. Despite his exceptional grades at the police academy, Philip's awkward personality made it difficult for him to form good working relationships with the partners assigned to him. Eventually, after going through just about everyone in his precinct as a partner, Philip was assigned to a desk job pushing papers instead of 'fighting crime.' This lead to a long period of frustration and depression for Philip; having achieved what he thought was his life-long dream only to be faced with the truth of that dream in all of its mundane reality.

Eventually, fate once again stepped in to mark a turning point in Philip's life. Walking home after his shift one night, Philip came across a pimp beating up one of his 'girls'. Stepping in, Philip easily overcame the dastardly fellow and, in the process, uncovered large amounts of illegal drugs and cash secreted about the suspect's person.

To Philip, he was only doing his job and expected no special praise for his actions that night. The last thing he expected, however, was to be sued by the Pimp for aggravated assault, illegal search and seizure, and unlawful arrest. It seems that the Pimp had a very good lawyer and the Cleveland P.D. did not. It did not help that all of the 'character witnesses' brought forward from his fellow cops were not exactly sympathetic to his plight. In fact, observers claim that it was their testimony against Philip that lead to him losing the case and receiving a suspension from the force.

Fed up with the corruption and hypocrisy of the police force, Philip quit the force and got himself a Private Detective's license and set himself up in private practice. Unfortunately, Philip's inexperience with reality once again set him up for disillusionment and frustration. Whereas P.I.'s on television and in the movies led exciting lives of uncovering scandals and criminal plots, the life of a real P.I. usually involved a lot of lean times and a lot of scurrilous and sleazy divorce cases. Not wanting to lower himself to take such cases, Philip condemned himself to a slow cash drain leading to eventual bankruptcy.

The bankruptcy hurt Philip more than anything he had ever experienced before. Not only was his credit rating ruined, he was forced to declare his comic collection as assets and was forced to watch, helplessly as his beloved comics were sold off at a fraction of what they were actually worth. Not that this would have mattered to Philip. No matter what price the comics would have sold for, they were priceless to him and selling them off was tantamount to selling off a piece of his own soul.

The next few years were very hard on Philip. Forced to take job after job, Philip found that he just couldn't fit in anywhere. Finally taking a job as a night watchman for a firm specializing in industrial waste management, Philip resigned himself to the fact that this was as close as he'd ever come to truly fighting crime.

Philip was a crushed man. All of his dreams were stillborn and he was a dead man inside, simply going through the motions of pretending to be alive.

And then in October, 1985, Philip's fantasy world and the 'real world' came crashing together with the arrival, seemingly out of nowhere, of The Pantheon. The Australian Ninja. The Cosmic Wolf. Midnight. The Incredible Speck. These names rang like cannon-fire through his head. For the first time in his lifetime, Philip felt truly alive. Collecting and saving everything he could find regarding The Pantheon and their exploits. At long last, Philip was following the adventures of REAL super-heroes; not just fictional characters from comic books written for children.

It was less than a year later, in the summer of '86, shortly after the astronomical phenomenon that journalists dubbed "The White Event", that Philip was to finally come face-to-face with his own destiny. Pulling the graveyard shift (as was his preference), Philip was walking his obligatory rounds when he encountered a trespasser on the grounds of the waste treatment plant he patrolled.

In the three years that he had been doing this job, this was the first time that he'd actually encountered any kind of trespasser other than the odd teenagers shooed off the property. Because of this, Philip was caught with his guard down and the trespasser go the drop on him. The Trespasser pulled out a gun and fired a fatal shot point blank into Philip's face. Instinctively, Philip winced in anticipation and shut his eyes against the flash of gunpowder.

After several seconds, Philip slowly opened one eye and then the other. He could not belief what he was seeing. There, just scant inches away from his face, was the bullet hanging motionlessly. The trespasser managed to get away as Philip stood there gaping in disbelief. Time stood still for Philip as he stared…and stared…and stared, trying to come to terms with what he was seeing. Eventually, Philip came out of his daze and, as he did so, the bullet dropped to the ground before him. Picking up the bullet, Philip spent the rest of his shift staring off into space trying to sort everything out in his head.

Whereas the majority of the population would eventually blot out the whole event and attribute everything to a perfectly 'logical' explanation, Philip was not like most 'normal' people. To Philip's mind, there was no doubt what had happened. Philip was, himself, a meta-human and his powers had just now surfaced to instinctively save his life.

Conducting a series of tests of his own creation, Philip was finally able to determine that his powers were psionic in nature and that he possessed some sort of latent telekinetic ability. Applying at the Parapsychological Studies Institute, Philip was taken in by Dr. Sebastien Poe of the Institute. Over the course of the following years, Philip was their prize pupil as the good Doctor trained him in the understanding, control, and use of his vast psychokinetic abilities.

Finally, in the spring of 1989, Philip left the institute and, assuming the costumed identity of "Superman", he set out to fulfill his destiny. His destiny, it was obvious to him, was to fight crime and clean up the corrupt city of Cleveland. Of course, the level of corruption in Cleveland is a subjective thing and, to Philip, Cleveland was a pit of sin and injustice.

Although his career fighting crime in Cleveland was marginally successful – after all, how much crime actually IS there in Cleveland that requires fighting – his biggest claim to fame came later that year as he was sued by DC Comics, a division of Warner Communications, for copyright infringement. In what was touted as one of the most unusual legal cases in recent years, DC Comics succeeded in invoking an injunction against the use of the name "Superman" by Philip.

Although Philip tried many variations of the name in order to circumvent the injunction (including "SuperMan", "Super Man", and "Super-Man"), superior court judges ruled that each name still conjured up imagery of the comic industry's most famous cultural icon and, as such, constituted a clear infringement upon the copyright currently held by DC Comics Inc. Taking this ruling in stride, Philip decided that this was a sign that he should establish his own, clear, identity as a super-hero and make a name for himself instead of using someone else's.

Philip got his chance later that same month as the villain known as King Snake attempted to blackmail the city of Los Angeles with his nefarious Earthquake Machine. Arriving in time to assist the hastily assembled UNIT-M task force assigned to the case, it was Mega-Man himself who used himself as a human missile to destroy the Earthquake Machine and end the threat of King Snake.

Together with Heavy Metal, Fantasia, Psi-Fire and The Corvis, the heroes managed to capture the villains, undo some of the damage caused by the Earthquake, and return the Earthquake Machine's power source to the alien Elokian peoples living in the Mount Adams Wilderness preserve. As an added coup, the heroes also managed to capture the infernal Blue Demon that had been terrorizing North America in past months.

As a result of this, Mega-Man became an overnight celebrity and was offered membership in the New York division of the United Nations International Task-Force – Meta-human Affair (UNIT-M). Given the chance to live his ultimate dream and become an officially sanctioned super-hero ("just like 'The Avengers'") and fight crime all over the world to the betterment of his fellow man, Mega-Man accepted in a heartbeat.

Finally finding something that he can commit one hundred percent of himself to, Mega-Man passed through basic training with flying colors. Taking his duties as a sacred trust, Mega-Man has proven to be the most stalwart member of the New York UNIT-M team and continues to uphold all the things that he holds dear: "Truth, Justice, and The American Way."

PERSONALITY & MOTIVATIONS:

You could say that Mega-Man is a man's man, a hero's hero. You could, but you'd be wrong. Mega-Man is a mega-mass of insecurity and neuroses. Mega-Man is always seeking to prove himself, to whom even he's not sure, and is living his life based upon ideals it is impossible for anyone to live up to, even himself. His teammates often comment on the 'broom handle stuck up his butt' but what they don't realize is that, without that broom handle, he probably wouldn't have any kind of backbone whatsoever.

Mega-Man has set himself up to live by ideals out of the comic books that he grew up on. Although Mega-Man exudes and aura of confidence (some say over-confidence) this confidence comes not so much as confidence in himself but, rather, from a belief in the ideals that he has become obsessed with.

Living his fantasy of becoming a real super-hero, Mega-Man is living the only life he is capable of living. If Mega-Man did not have super-powers, he would probably still be out there trying to be a super-hero, anyway. Without super-powers, Philip Flemming would have to be locked up for his own safety (and the safety of others). But, by the grace of God, Philip does, indeed, possess super powers and, thereby able to not only live out his fantasies, but also be recognized as a hero for doing so.

His outlook on life and the 'real world' are skewed at best. Philip grew up disassociated with mainstream society and his entire outlook on the world around him was forged through a "filtered" view that he gained through the comic books he read while growing up. He sincerely believes in the stereotypical views of his heroes and, at all times, tries to emulate his boyhood idols. Because of this, Philip is a chronic 'over-achiever' and, as Mega-Man, always strives to be the hero that he believes he should be.

Unfortunately, Philip has to live in the real world where unrealistically high standards just aren't feasible. Faced with frustration at every turn, and not understanding why things don't turn out like they do in his comic books, Mega-Man constantly tries too hard.

Due to his inability to deal with the 'real world' outside of his super-heroing adventures, Mega-Man has all but forgone his identity of Philip Flemming and is rarely 'out of uniform.' When not adventuring, Mega-Man (not Philip) can be found researching UNIT-M files studying up on heroes, villains and anything relating to super-heroes (including comic books) or can be seen flying over New York "on patrol."

The phrase "get a life" has never had a better poster child than Philip Flemming/Mega-Man. He eats, sleeps, and breathes the life of a super-hero and has no life outside of his role of Mega-Man. Whereas Mega-Man sees himself in the same calibre as the comic book legends of Captain America and Superman, those with a clearer perception of reality have been known to compare him to super-heroic parodies such as "The Tick."

During recent field missions, several of his teammates have commented on Mega-Man's extreme right-wing views in the areas of "Truth", "Justice" and the "American Way." Especially in terms of the "American Way." Staff psychologists at UNIT-M have attributed this to Mega-Man's preference for some of the older 'classic' comic books of the fifties and sixties which were, of course, very 'pro-American' and often referred to the threat of communism and the 'Red Menace.' As of yet, this arrested social development has not impacted upon his duties as an operative of the United Nations but a close eye is being kept on Mega-Man.

POWERS & ABILITIES:

Mega-Man's powers are psycho-kinetic in nature. Fueled by incredible Mental Strength and Willpower, Mega-Man's psycho-kinetic abilities can be used for a wide variety of uses. Trained in the use of his powers at the Parapsychological Studies Institute under Dr. Sebastian Poe, Mega-Man is hailed as one of the most versatile telekinetics living today.

At all times, Mega-Man's body is protected by a psychokinetic shield which shields his body from all harm. Whether this is a conscious effort on the part of Mega-Man or some instinctual behavior has yet to be determined. It has been determined, however, that this is not a completely autonomous function as the field ceases to have any effect when Mega-Man is asleep or unconscious. On occasion, Mega-Man has been known to extend his personal field to protect others around him but does so rarely as this use of his power has proven to be extremely draining.

Through both instinct and the training he received at the Parapsychological Studies Institute, Mega-Man has learned to utilize this field to protect himself from more than just merely physical attacks. Utilizing this field, Mega-Man has successfully protected himself from attacks by heat, cold, particle beam weapons, gas, and a variety of esoteric weaponry yet to be classified.

It should be noted, however, that some forms of protection require conscious effort. While Mega-Man may protect himself from gas attacks, this requires a conscious effort as, if Mega-Man kept a 'bubble' of clean air around him at all times, he would rapidly use up all the oxygen in said bubble. For this reason, Mega-Man must react in time to keep the gas away from him. This is not always easy in the heat of battle…but Mega-Man's working on it…

In addition to serving as a means of protection, Mega-Man has learned how to utilize his personal field to give himself the power of flight. His fastest speed to date has been clocked at over one thousand miles per hour and, where it not for his protective field, at this speed Mega-Man would suffer from the detrimental effects of travelling unprotected at this speed.

In addition to utilizing his psychokinetic abilities on gross matter as is common amongst telekinetics, Mega-Man has become quite adept at what is called 'micro-kinesis'; the telekinetic manipulation of matter at a microscopic and molecular level. A very rare ability, Mega-Man has learned how to transubstantiate matter causing it to sublimate between it's various state of solidity, changing it's shape as well as causing matter to heat up or cool down through the acceleration or retardation of activity of its component molecules. Mega-Man has not, however, managed to exhibit the power to alter matter on a sub-molecular level. Whereas he can cause matter to change shape and/or state, he cannot transform one form of matter into another. Mega-Man's most common use of this power is to change his Mega-Man costume into Philip Flemming's street clothes and vice-versa. Mega-Man has been observed to effect up to twenty-seven tons of material with a single blast of his psychokinetic abilities.

It should be noted, however, that Mega-Man's psychokinetic abilities have proven to have no effect on living creatures. This is unusual in that his powers have proven to be completely effective on organic matter. It is surmised that this limitation is completely self-induced.

Aside from his psychokinetic abilities, Mega-Man has acquired a variety of skills during his futile quest for gainful employment. Unfortunately, Mega-Man is the proof of the old adage of a "Jack Of All Trades, Master Of None." About the only practical skill that Mega-Man possesses is a by-product of his obsession with comic books and super-heroes.

Mega-Man's mind is a vast storehouse of trivial information on every super-hero comic book known to man (well, the mainstreams anyway, those alternate titles don't really count). Oddly enough, this fount of trivia has proven more than once to be useful to Mega-Man in his role as a super-hero. By studying an opponents abilities and M.O.'s, Mega-Man mentally cross-references similar villains in past issues of comics that he has read and formulates rather effective plans for countering that villain's powers and abilities based upon how they were defeated in the comic book in question.

To supplement this natural ability, Mega-Man studies everything there is to know on the super-villains found in the UNIT-M files hoping to determine their weak spots and coming up with battle plans to most effectively capture them with a minimum risk to life, limb, and private property.

APPEARANCE:

Devilishly handsome at six feet tall with brown hair, piercing blue eyes, and the chiseled features of a classic super-hero, Philip could easily find himself a date for Saturday night if he'd just relax a little bit and allow himself to have some fun. In fact, according to founder Marcy Mayhew, the Mega-Man Fan Club membership is said to be comprised of an eighty percent female membership.

As Mega-Man, Philip dresses in a white, skin-tight body suit with royal blue trunks to show off his super-heroic build and cow his opponents into submission (as well as draw new members for the Mega-Man Fan Club). His personal psycho-kinetic field keeps all dirt and grime off of his costume and, even after swimming through the filthiest of oil-slicks, he comes out spotless, dry and with nary a hair out of place.

Whether intentional or subconscious (we're not sure which) Mega-Man's psycho-kinetic field causes his royal blue cape to always flutter in the wind for dramatic effect even on the calmest of days.

As stated above, due to his inability to deal with the 'real world' outside of his super-heroing adventures, Mega-Man has all but forgone his identity of Philip Flemming and is rarely 'out of uniform.' This, of course, has sparked rumors amongst him teammates of a strange predilection for Spandex.

Suffice it to say that Mega-Man is the butt of many jokes. And quite often, they are 'butt jokes'. These jokes do not seem to bother Mega-Man as he recognizes how difficult it must be for others to be anything but envious when around such a paragon of virtue, honor, courage and, gosh darn it, rugged good looks.

Mega Man © P. Michael Hodge 1995

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