Zero

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Real Name

Kenji Uedo

Current Alias

Zero

Aliases

Fifth Light, Final Light, Rei, Judas

Relatives

unnamed parents

Affiliation

Formerly Lights, X-Men

Base Of Operations

Utopia, San Francisco Bay, California; formerly Tokyo, Japan

Status

Alignment

Neutral

Identity

Public Identity

Citizenship

Japanese

Marital Status

Single

Occupation

Artist

Characteristics

Gender

Male

Height

Variable

Weight

Variable

Eyes

Brown with Yellow eyeball (right eye);
Yellow with Black eyeball (left eye);
originally Brown (both eyes)

Hair

Bald, (originally black)

Unusual Features

Able to change his physical body at will.

Origin

Origin

Mutant (post-M-Day new activation)

Universe

Earth-616

Place of Birth

Japan

Created by

Matt Fraction, Kieron Gillen, Salvador Espin

First appearance

Appearance of Death

Generation Hope #1
(January, 2011)

Generation Hope #17
(May, 2012)

HistoryEdit

I am becoming art. Want...a preview?

-- Kenji Uedo ^src 

Origin

Kenji Uedo (上藤 健之) worked as a successful and noted artist in Tokyo, Japan until his unstable mutant powers manifested.^[1] After his power manifestation, Rogue, Cyclops, Wolverine, Hope, and the other Lights travel to Tokyo to help him.^[2]

Cyclops and Wolverine tried to contain Kenji, but with his powers out of control, they were unable to do much. When Hope and the others arrived, Kenji was already beginning to destroy buildings in downtown Tokyo.^[2] Hope was unable to get close enough to touch Kenji at first, but she was able to control her powers enough to mimic Kenji although the strain of mimicking his powers made her faint with exhaustion.^[3]

Cyclops then ordered the lights and Hope to stand back while the X-Men handled Kenji. Rogue tried to absorb Kenji's powers, but was unable to handle the strain. Cyclops then decided that there was no other alternative: Kenji needed to be stopped. However, before Wolverine could deliver the fatal blow, Hope was able to convince the light to save Kenji. Hope was able to mimic Kenji's powers again and use them to successfully subdue Kenji so she could physically touch him which resulted in the stabilization of both his powers and personality.^[4]

The Five Lights

After his powers were stabilized, Kenji returned with the X-Men and the Lights to Utopia. There he was debriefed by Cyclops and Emma Frost before being cleared.^[5] Kenji agreed to stay on Utopia and work with the Lights, but he still seem isolated and reserved.^[6]

Once the Cuckoos received the signal of a new mutant activation, Lights went to Berlin. Kenji used his powers to protect the team members from the Sixth Light's telepathy, and to connect them all with the boy, to persuade him to be born.^[7]

After the trial about Teon's guardianship, Kenji and Laurie discussed about their strange ties with Hope and planning to find out what's going on.^[8]

When the Seventh Light had committed suicide because of the ridicule of his friends, Kenji planned to kill them, but Wolverine stopped him.^[9] Conversing with Transonic, Kenji came to the conclusion that Hope must be killed, to sever her control over the Lights.

Regenesis

Following the schism between Wolverine and Cyclops, Kenji chose to stay on Utopia and invited No-Girl to join the Lights. He displayed an infatuation with No-Girl, and panicked when her tank was destroyed in an explosion caused by a memory-less Sebastian Shaw. Improvising, he made a body for her with his powers; she was very appreciative about it.

After returning with Shaw, who was attacked and imprisoned by the X-men, the Lights were approached by Dragoness and other mutants from Utopia who had a problem with them receiving "special treatment". Seeing that their "messiah" was not with them, a fight begins between the rogue mutants and the Lights. After being chastised by Cyclops for not being able to control her team, Hope lashed out at the assailants by manipulating Kenji's powers herself, causing him to expand against his will, engulfing the attackers.The act of Hope overriding his own will pushes Kenji over the edge, with him stating that now, he is "ready for her".^[10]

The following day, Kenji meets with Laurie, seeking to speak with her about going against their "Fiery Slave Master". Laurie, feeling uncomfortable about speaking in the open, attempts to leave. However, Kenji is able to project the conversation with her about how Hope could not be trusted with her incredible power, and expresses anger that she has made no effort to return them to looking "normal". Laurie tells him that, while she has similar feelings, she is reluctant to act on them.

Later that day, Kenji meets with Emma Frost in a counseling session. He leaves, with her thanking him for the "enlightening" meeting. Hope sees him leaving Emma's office, and while walking with him to discuss it, notices that something is amiss. It is then revealed that Kenji has found a way to seperate himself into parts, and that Martha is not with him. He explains to Hope that she was the one to show him how, back in Tokyo, when his powers finally manifested. Once Hope realizes that he has "tapped in" to her, as well, it is already too late: she is being held crucifixion-style in one of Kenji's techno-organic webs, with many furious, screaming at mutants trying to get at her below.

Kenji reveals that his "masterpiece" truly is a form of subtle mind control he had been honing for months with many of the mutants on Utopia; by placing pieces of himself inside of their brains, he's been "pushing" them to turn on Hope, whereas with her team, he had manipulated them into being otherwise distracted at this moment. The final key in his plan is Martha; by merging her brain with his (as she was still in the body he had created for her), he had complete access to her thoughts and powers.

Hope then reveals that Martha has been here for a quite some time, and is now aware that Kenji had been using her. Kenji cannot understand how an illusion was cast upon him, as he has strong psychic blocks. Hope explains that she's also harnessing Martha's power.

As Kenji tries desperately to stop her, Martha approaches him, telling him that if it were any consolation she "had no heart for him to break". Using an unspecified psychic attack, Martha destroys Kenji's (and by extension, her own) body. As he dies, his mind control seeps out of the residents of Utopia.

Because Kenji's death caused the breakdown of his techno-organic form, Martha now resides in a new holding tank, remaining as a severed brain.

Powers and AbilitiesEdit

Powers

Kenji is one of five post-M-Day mutant activations. His powers include:

• Telekinetic creation of biological matter and ferrous material: Kenji can create anything he can think of and/or alter his own body with materials around him. This also includes:
  • Biological Manipulation
  • Regeneration: his body don't have bones or organs, so he can restore himself after any damage.^[11]
• Limited Telepathic abilities
  • One-Way Telepathic Projection: Kenji is capable of "interfacing" with others and sending a telepathically projected message and image. This interfacing needs to be done by touch, either directly from Kenji or form matter he is manipulating.
  • Technopathy
  • Limited Psionic Shields
    

NotesEdit

• Creators Matt Fraction and Kieron Gillen loosely based the Five Lights mutant powers on the the archetypal power-sets on the original five X-Men (with the exception of Gabriel).^[12]
  • Angel = Laurie Tromette
  • Beast = Teon Macik
  • Iceman = Idie Okonkwo
  • Marvel Girl = Kenji Uedo
    

TriviaEdit

• Kenji Uedo appears to be homage to Tetsuo Shima, a character from the manga and movie Akira, mutating like Tetsuo and even having his hair before he is brought under control.
• One of his considered codenames, "Rei", is a reference to Rei Ayanami, from the anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion, where she was the pilot of Evangelion Unit 00, and a series of clones (beings who are, by default, "derivative").
• He is nineteen years old.^[9]

LinksEdit

• 26 Appearances of Kenji Uedo (Earth-616)
• 35 Images featuring Kenji Uedo (Earth-616)
• 5 Quotations by or about Kenji Uedo (Earth-616)
• Character Gallery: Kenji Uedo (Earth-616)
• Fan-Art Gallery: Kenji Uedo (Earth-616) 
• Characters killed by Zero

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Footnotes