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Quote1 You make things appear out of thin air. You talk to animals. You open magic doors. And when you wish to fly, you grow wings. Because of you, I believe in the impossible. Quote2
Jocasta[src]

Dr. Henry "Hank" Pym, Ph.D,[22] is an American Entomologist, biochemist, roboticist, engineer and physicist and "Scientific Adventurer".[14] He was considered one of the smartest humans on Earth. He discovered the Pym Particles, subatomic particles which can increase or decrease the size and mass of objects or living beings.[1] He built a suit and for a time, became the original Ant-Man, fighting beside his future wife, Janet Van Dyne, who had taken on the mantle of the Wasp.[1][7] Alongside Van Dyne, he became a founding member of the Avengers, "Earth's Mightiest Heroes".[23] Pym was the creator of the deadly android, Ultron.[24] He was also able to modify his Pym Particles to allow him to grow in size to become Giant-Man,[25] and later Goliath.[4] After a nervous breakdown he changed identities to Yellowjacket,[6] and then later to the Wasp to honor his deceased ex-wife.[5] His skills in science also led him to be appointed Earth's Scientist Supreme.[3]

History

This is an abridged version of Henry Pym's history. For a complete history see Henry Pym's Expanded History

Early Life[]

Hank was born and raised in East Nowhere, Nebraska the son of Brad Pym and Doris Pym. A prodigy from birth, he spent his time creating fantastical and fun inventions encourage by his grandmother. But on her death, he became more serious and decided to stop with his wild ideas.[26]

He attended university where his own professors discouraged Pym's use of his own imagination and inventing things for fun by being told that he would never invent anything that would impact the world.[26] Pym excelled better than any of his fellow classmates, earning his doctorate in biochemistry while his friends were still undergrads.[27]

He married Maria Trovaya, a brave and beautiful young woman who had been a political dissident in her native Hungary, from which she had fled. Naively believing that his American citizenship would protect her, Henry and Maria Pym traveled to Hungary shortly after their marriage. The Pyms were confronted by agents of the secret police there. Henry Pym was knocked unconscious, and Maria was murdered. Pym was greatly distraught by his wife's death and decided to do whatever he could in the future to battle injustice and inhumanity.[7]

Discovery of Pym Particles[]

Back in the United States, Pym discovered a rare group of subatomic particles, which have become known as the "Pym Particles." Pym was able, through the application of magnetic fields, to entrap the particles within two separate serums. One serum would reduce the size of persons and objects, and the other would restore them to their normal size. Pym tested the reducing serum on himself and discovered it was more powerful than he had expected: it reduced him to the size of an insect. Pym became entrapped in an anthill and was pursued by the ants within. He escaped and restored himself to his normal size with his other serum. Deciding that the serums were too dangerous to exist, Pym destroyed both of them.[28]

Henry Pym (Earth-616) from Avengers Origins Ant-Man & the Wasp Vol 1 1 001

Hank Pym as Ant-Man

However, weeks later he reconsidered his decision and began to recreate the serums, whose existence he then kept secret. Inspired by his experience in the anthill, Pym undertook a study of ants, and theorized that ants communicate through psionic / electrical waves transmitted through their antennae. After months of work, Pym succeeded in creating his first "cybernetic helmet," which would enable him to communicate with the ants through transmitting and receiving psionic / electrical waves. Thinking that someday he might want to use the shrinking potion on himself again, Pym also designed a protective suit for himself, Unstable Molecules and steel mesh. That same day, however, Pym received an assignment from the government to concoct a gas that would provide people with temporary, limited immunity to radioactivity under certain specific circumstances, based on his previous work. The government also assigned four other scientists to assist him in the project. The KGB, the Soviet Intelligence agency, learned of Pym's project and sent agents who held Pym and his assistants prisoner in their own laboratory. Only Pym knew the entire formula for the gas they had by now developed, and he refused to tell the Soviet agents. The agents set about searching the laboratory for the formula, intending to kill Pym and his assistants afterward. Unseen, Pym donned the cybernetic helmet and protective costume and, using his reducing formula, shrank himself to the size of an ant. He escaped to an anthill outside, put a large number of ants under his control through the helmet, and used them to attack the agents and free his men, who then overpowered their assailants. Pym then restored himself to normal size.[1] Afterwards, in the guise of the Ant-Man, Pym battled various menaces, including Comrade X,[29] the Protector,[30] the criminal scientist Elihas "Egghead" Starr, who was to become Pym's greatest enemy,[31] as well as the Scarlet Beetle,[32] the Hijacker,[33] the alien Kulla,[34] the Voice[35] and the Time Master.[36]

After an alien being from the Kosmos dimension killed Pym's colleague, the scientist Vernon van Dyne, Pym revealed his secret identity of Ant-Man to van Dyne's daughter Janet, who wished to avenge his death. Pym taught Janet how to use the gas within which he now contained the "Pym Particles," and which he used to shrink himself in size, and through biochemistry, gave her the ability to grow insect-like wings when she used the gas to shrink herself to insect size. As the Wasp, Janet van Dyne assisted the Ant-Man in finding and defeating the murderous Kosmosian.[7] Pym and van Dyne gradually fell in love; van Dyne reminded Pym of his deceased first wife, Maria.[7] Pym and van Dyne became crime-fighting partners in their costumed identities, fighting menaces like the Egghead,[37][38][39] the A-Chiltarians and their robot Cyclops,[40] the trumpet-playing criminal Trago,[41] the Porcupine,[42][43] the Human Top[44][45] and the Black Knight (Nathan Garrett). They were two of the founding members of the Avengers[23] and were part of the group that discovered the frozen form of Captain America, bringing the World War II hero into the modern world.[46]

Becoming a Giant[]

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Giant-Man and the Wasp

Pym next developed a series of capsules containing the Pym Particles which he and van Dyne used to grow or shrink to various heights; he also developed capsules that enabled him to grow to greater than normal heights. Thereafter, Pym preferred to use his power to grow to giant size for crime fighting and called himself Giant-Man.[25] At first, he found that he could not support his own weight if he grew to a height above twelve feet. Later, he was able to reach far greater heights, even 100 feet, and still move about comfortably, but he became weaker in proportion to the amount he grew beyond twelve feet.

However, his size-changing imposed great strains on Pym's body that he believed could be fatal, and, upon deciding that their careers as Giant-Man and the Wasp were proving too great a danger for van Dyne, who seemed to think of adventuring as a way of showing love for each other. Pym decided to retire as a costumed crime fighter as well as member of the Avengers.[47] Acceding to his wishes, van Dyne retired as a crime fighter, too.

Sometime later, however, Pym and van Dyne learned that the Sub-Mariner was heading for New York City. Fearing trouble, they decided to alert the Avengers.[48] Janet, as the Wasp, was captured first by the undersea barbarian leader Attuma and then by the Collector.[49] In order to help the Avengers rescue van Dyne, Pym decided to use his growing power again, he donned a new costume and adopted the new name of Goliath.[4]

By this time both Pym and van Dyne could change size simply by willing themselves to do so, due to their exposure to Pym Particles over the years. However, Pym could only achieve one height other than his own, that of 25 feet, and could only do so for exactly 15 minutes. In the course of the Avengers' battle against the Collector, Goliath overstayed this time limit, and, on trying to regain his normal size, could not shrink beneath ten feet.[4]

Eventually, Pym regained his ability to shrink to insect size but lost his ability to grow to ten feet in height. The Collector later subjected Pym to treatments that enabled him to grow to 25 feet in height for up to 15 minutes.

Ultron, Yellowjacket, and Beginnings of the Fall of Pym[]

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Exit Goliath, enter Yellowjacket

Pym began experimenting with robotics and created a robot with the potential for high intelligence. The robot turned against its creator, hypnotizing Pym and escaping from his laboratory. It later became one of the Avengers' greatest adversaries under the name of Ultron. Its evil deeds would long plague Pym with guilt, especially since, as he was forced to admit much later, he had used his own brain patterns as the engram basis of Ultron's robotic mind.

For several years, Pym had been in love with Janet van Dyne, but because of his repressed personality, and her abundant wealth, he resisted marrying her. One day while working in his laboratory, whilst thinking of the fact that he wanted to marry van Dyne but couldn't, Pym accidentally dropped and smashed some vials containing various unknown gases. The released gases wreaked a radical temporary personality change in Pym, what could be seen as a severe case of schizophrenia. He took the new identity of Yellowjacket, claimed that he had murdered Henry Pym, kidnapped van Dyne, and proposed marriage to her, as Pym had long wanted to do. Realizing that Yellowjacket was really Pym, Van Dyne decided to play along, fearing that she would worsen his psychological condition if she did otherwise.

The Avengers, not suspecting at first, were shocked to hear that she said yes to the proposal. Van Dyne and Pym, as Yellowjacket were married at Avengers Mansion amidst an assembled who's who of super heroes active at the time, as well as some villains who were hiding and secretly pretending to be the caterers. Immediately after the marriage, the Avengers were attacked by the Ringmaster and his Circus of Crime. The shock of seeing van Dyne in danger of death (via the Princess' python), shocked Pym back into his normal personality. The Avengers defeated the Ringmaster and company. Despite the fact that Pym was married under an assumed name, the marriage between Pym and van Dyne was still legal, and Pym and Van Dyne happily agreed to let it stand.[50]

Pym renounced his power to become a giant due to its continuing physical strains and used the name and costume of Yellowjacket in crime-fighting. He spent extended periods of time with the Avengers,[51] and a couple of times with the Defenders as Yellowjacket,[52] and also briefly returned to his Ant-Man persona for a short time (becoming trapped at ant size for a while),[53] but he spent most of his time completely devoted to his scientific research. He gave his blessing to Scott Lang when Lang used his old equipment to become the second Ant-Man.[54]

Crumbling Marriage[]

Scientific research had always been Pym's preferred career, and he no longer found the excitement in crime-fighting that he had earlier in his career. Pym began to have periods of tension and depression. He began to feel that he had never made a scientific discovery equal to his discovery of the Pym Particles in the several years following that event. Moreover, he was plagued by guilt over creating Ultron. As a result, he was overcome with a sense that he was a failure as a scientist, judged by his own impossibly high standards. This sense of failure was exacerbated when he considered his wife's success as a fashion designer and realized that, as a millionaire, she was the principal source of money in their marriage. Pym began to take out his frustrations by verbally abusing his wife.

Henry Pym (Earth-616) from Avengers Vol 1 213 0001

Pym striking his wife, Janet

Matters came to a head when the Avengers battled the so-called Elfqueen. Suspecting that the Elfqueen was not acting from evil motives, Captain America attempted to calm her down. Yellowjacket, who was edgy because of his personal matters, blasted Elfqueen from behind without stopping to consider what Captain America was trying to do. As a result, Elfqueen resumed fighting, almost crushing a truck onto Pym until the Wasp saved him.[55] Afterward, Captain America felt forced to bring charges against Yellowjacket for acting recklessly since innocent people could have been killed because of Yellowjacket's actions. An Avengers court-martial meeting was set to examine the charges. Now beginning to undergo a nervous breakdown, Pym built a robot to attack Avengers Mansion during the court-martial. Pym designed the robot to have a secret weak point which he would use to defeat it. Pym fantasized that his defeat of the robot would make him a hero in the Avengers' eyes and lead to the dismissal of the charges. When his wife protested his plan, he struck her. Pym's plan ultimately went awry, and it was the Wasp who ended up defeating the robot. Pym was expelled from the Avengers,[8] and Janet initiated proceedings that ended in their divorce.[56]

Framed[]

Pym moved out of his wife's mansion. Astonishingly, Pym was now virtually penniless, since his books were out of print, and he had somehow exhausted the money he had earned from his patents.[56] He had rejected van Dyne's offer to help him get back on his feet with monthly checks. Pym lived his life aimlessly until he was approached by his old enemy Egghead. Egghead claimed that he felt guilty over causing his niece, Patricia Starr, to lose her arm, and asked Pym to give her a bionic arm he had designed and attach it to her, in exchange for a large sum of money. Needing the money, Pym fulfilled his assignment, but found that the bionic arm placed "Trish" Starr under Egghead's control. Egghead informed Pym that the bionic arm was booby-trapped and that he could detonate it, killing Trish unless he obeyed his orders. As a result, Pym was forced to help steal Adamantium from the government and to fight the Avengers, who defeated him. However, Egghead had lied: the arm was not booby-trapped. Moreover, Trish Starr had been "programmed" by her uncle's technology to claim that it was Pym's plot, not Egghead's. Hence Pym had no evidence that he had stolen the adamantium under duress, and so he was imprisoned on charges of treason.[57] To add insult to injury, van Dyne began dating Tony Stark, although she broke off the relationship after learning that he was Iron Man.[58]

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Pym as Yellowjacket

During Pym's trial, he was captured by the third group calling itself the Masters of Evil, who claimed to be "rescuing" him. Actually, they worked for Egghead, who, having successfully framed Pym, now asked him to join their criminal organization.[59] Pym pretended to agree, and Egghead set him to work on developing a machine intended to lengthen the human life span. Soon afterward, Pym announced it was finished. Suspecting a trick, Egghead and his allies had Pym hook up the machine, just as Pym had secretly intended. Pym had actually constructed various means of defeating his enemies into the machine, and then turned it against Egghead and the Masters of Evil and single-handedly defeated them. Meanwhile, the Avengers had found Egghead's hideout. The Avenger Hawkeye sneaked into the hideout and saw Egghead aiming a gun at the unsuspecting Pym. Hawkeye fired an arrow into the gun barrel. The gun proved to be an energy blaster and backfired, killing Egghead.[60]

Redemption and Return to the Avengers[]

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Hank joins the West Coast team

Some of the Masters of Evil testified in Pym's trial as to how Egghead had framed him, and Pym was found not guilty. Upon his release Pym decided, after an emotional goodbye to all the Avengers (especially Janet), to give up being a costumed adventurer and returned permanently to a life of scientific research.[61] However, as time passed. Pym decided he wished to aid the Avengers without returning himself to life as an adventurer. Hence, he offered to become manager of Avengers Compound, the headquarters of the new West Coast Avengers, a role in which he would perform many of the same functions that Edwin Jarvis fulfilled at New York City's Avengers Mansion. Pym's offer was accepted, and he served not only as Avengers Compound manager but as a trusted adviser to the West Coast Avengers as well as skilled science specialist. During this period, he called himself simply Dr. Pym, the Scientific Adventurer.

This period saw the continued mental deterioration of Pym as he became nearly suicidal. When the West Coast team was hurtled back in time by Kang the Conqueror, Pym helped the team return to the present.[62] Redeemed, Pym returned to active duty. Teammate Tigra, with her cat-like need for attention, attempted to maintain relationships with both Pym and Wonder Man at the same time. Later, van Dyne was assigned to West Coast duty, which placed both in an awkward situation. Eventually, however, they were able to salvage their friendship, with tiny sparks of feelings for each other returning as well.[citation needed]

Pym was on hand with the other Avengers who seemingly sacrificed their lives to absorb the energies of the being known as Onslaught. In reality, he was shunted to another dimension.[63][64] When he and the other heroes were restored to Earth, Pym found that he was capable of his full range of size-changing abilities, although he could not shrink and grow other objects unless he specifically treated them in his laboratory. Hank and Janet also returned to their previous romantic relationship, although he was initially distant due to his fear of another breakdown. However, on a trip to Las Vegas Jan turned down a proposal of Hank's stating she would not marry him again.[65]

Pym helped reform the Avengers with the other restored heroes, stopping the menace of the sorceress Morgan Le Fay. He then agreed to stay on as a reserve member (in his Giant-Man identity), returning to his laboratory work full-time. During this time, his research was monitored by Ultron, who later kidnapped Pym and others of its so-called "family." Pym finally revealed that he had used his own brain patterns as a template for Ultron's intelligence, explaining his debilitating guilt at Ultron's decimation of the Baltic nation of Slorenia. Ultron intended to use the mental engrams of all the members of its "family" when building a new robot army with Pym's latest research. Ultron was confronted by the Avengers, but even their combined might was insufficient against the indestructible Ultron. The Grim Reaper, a fellow prisoner of the fiendish robot, was freed by the Vision, who had escaped, and subsequently freed Pym, Janet, Wonder Man, and Scarlet Witch. As the Avengers struggled, the injured Justice arrived with Antarctic Vibranium, the Anti-Metal. Pym used this amidst a furious hail of blows that finally destroyed Ultron.[66]

Not long after this, Hank returned to active duty, and after a time returned to his Yellowjacket identity. His relationship with Jan was, as usual, turbulent, but came to be stable when he and Jan were both captured by the newest Scorpio.[67] When Hawkeye returned from his own inactivity, however, Janet began a flirt with him that left Hank reeling.[citation needed]

When the Scarlet Witch had her breakdown that disassembled the Avengers, Hank rushed Janet to the hospital when she was put into a coma by an enraged She-Hulk, where he stayed at her side.[68] After she had recovered, the two decided to give things another shot. Pym received a fellowship at Oxford, and they moved to England together. Taking a break from crime fighting, the two briefly reconciled.[69]

Secret Invasion and Mighty Avengers[]

After Hank and Jan's last attempt at reconciliation, their relationship turned bitter and she left him, eventually returning to America. During this time Hank began a relationship with a young college student at Oxford University. Hank did his best to seem like not being invited to join the New Avengers didn't bother him. After the woman learned everything from him that she could, she revealed herself to be a Skrull and used the power of the Hulk to defeat him. Hank was then replaced by the Skrull,[69] who would herself later be replaced by a clone of herself.[70]

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The Wasp leading the Avengers

After the Skrull Invasion was repelled, the real Pym found himself returned to Earth. He did not like what he found: the aftermath of the Civil War and the death of the Wasp came as great shocks to the troubled hero. Seeking to affirm his place in the world and seeking to memorialize his late ex-wife, Pym adopted the identity of the Wasp,[5] eventually building the new Mighty Avengers alongside Jocasta, the robot harboring the brain engrams of Van Dyne.[71]

Hank took part in attempting to bring the first Captain America back after he was discovered to be trapped in time.[72]

The cosmic entity Eternity revealed to Pym that he was Earth's "Scientist Supreme", the scientific counterpart to Earth's Sorcerer Supreme. The Norse trickster god Loki later claimed to have been posing as Eternity in order to manipulate Pym.[73]

Avengers Academy[]

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Return to Giant-Man

After saving young superhumans from Norman Osborn he formed the Avengers Academy and promised he would find some way to "cure" the teens. He led them and taught the kids how to control their powers.[74] He recovered his title of Giant-Man after his fight with the Absorbing Man.[16]

He inspected Tigra's child William Grant, who was fathered by Hank's Skrull impostor Criti Noll. Hank checked William over and found that he had no Skrull DNA in him because the impostor Hank Pym had copied him on a genetic level. Tigra asked if Hank would raise William should anything happen to her. He then told Tigra he was trying to revive Wasp.

It was revealed that the being he thought was Janet Van Dyne was actually the wife of Korvac. Veil revived her, which brought Korvac to the Academy. They were only able to defeat Korvac by using the future versions of the Academy students.[75]

During the War of the Serpent, Absorbing Man and Titania attacked the Avengers Academy, leading to the destruction of the Infinite Mansion.[76] The Academy was later relocated to the old West Coast Avengers Compound and opened its doors to all young heroes, such as Lightspeed and White Tiger.[77]

When the Avengers came into conflict with the X-Men, Pym allowed the Academy to be used to hold the children of Utopia after the Avengers seized the island.[78] He also helped Iron Man make the Phoenix-Killer Armor,[79] and later assisted Pixie in damage control as Dark Phoenix (Scott Summers) ran rampant.[80]

Finding Janet[]

Pym later joined the other founding members of the Avengers in a trip to the Microverse after an Avengers emergency signal was triggered there. Hank came to the realization that the signal could only have come from Janet Van Dyne. The group arrived in the Microverse and followed the signal until they found Janet who had just taken out an army. Their brief reunion was cut short by the Microverse gangster Lord Gouzar who was trying to kill Janet. The battle ended when Wonder Man intervened and helped the other Avengers escape, but Lord Gouzar followed them and tried to kill Janet but was stopped by the combined force of multiple Avengers members. After the battle the Avengers hosted a welcome back party for Janet.[81]

Age of Ultron[]

Years ago, Hank Pym was approached by the Wolverine of an alternate universe, where Ultron managed to launch a massive and sudden attack on New York, and the rest of the world, quickly taking over the whole planet and annihilating humankind,[82] and wanted to kill Pym in order to prevent his future from happening.

But Logan was stopped by the Wolverine of a near future, whose actions of killing Hank Pym created a timeline where Earth was constantly threatened by Morgan le Fay, and the heroes struggled to survive. Pym was allowed to live, but he was tasked to create a hidden failsafe program to destroy Ultron when needed.[83]

In the present, after Ultron returned when he was found by the Intelligencia, Hank Pym managed to activate the failsafe program and shut Ultron down once and for all. In the present day, Pym continued to investigate what he did wrong with Ultron, and apparently found the answer.[84]

Age of Ultron Vol 1 10A.I

Avengers A.I.[]

After the virus with which Pym destroyed Ultron evolved into the A.I. known as Dimitrios, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Monica Chang was given the task to find a way to stop the evil artificial intelligence after it started mounting cyberattacks against secure military and intelligence targets. She ordered Pym to help her destroy this new threat, for which Pym created a new team of Avengers: the Avengers A.I..[85]

After the supposed death of Victor Mancha, Pym locked himself up in his secret lab running numerous games and recording his brain activities at the same time, when Monica Chang confronted him, he revealed that he suffered from Bi-Polar Disorder.[86]

Time Runs Out[]

Returned to his Yellowjacket identity, Hank Pym joined the Illuminati and went into hiding with them due to the Avengers being on the hunt for them.[87] He was sent on a journey across the Multiverse to find answers to the cause of the Incursions, expecting to encounter Rabum Alal. Instead, he witnessed as the Beyonders annihilated numerous cosmic beings and the Living Tribunal itself.

He was assumed to be lost forever but returned eight months later to Earth-616 and reported that he had found the Beyonders, and gave the Illuminati all the information he could gather.[88]

Rage of Ultron[]

Years into the past,[89] the Avengers were fighting a version of Ultron (most likely Ultron-7), who attempted to access nuclear weapons in order to destroy humanity in the name of his father Hank Pym. After their custom Quinjet crashed, Yellowjacket faked being on his deathbed in order to lure Ultron to the vehicle, who wanted to witness his creator's last moments. Ultron fell for the ruse and was trapped inside the Vibranium-covered aircraft and sent into space.

In the present, the Quinjet crashed in Titan, after years of isolation and being consumed by only one emotion: rage. Ultron corrupted Titan's A.I. I.S.A.A.C. and started infecting all of the Eternals, turning them into robots like him, soon completely taking over the satellite and its inhabitants, with the exception of Starfox, who managed to escape in order to warn the Avengers.

Ultron (Earth-616) and Henry Pym (Earth-616) merging from Avengers Rage of Ultron Vol 1 1

Merging with Ultron

Shortly after arriving to Earth and alerting the Avengers, Starfox and the other heroes were surprised by the arrival of an Ultron-shaped Titan next to the Earth. A group of androids modeled after the Avengers descended from it and fought the real Avengers. When the Avengers arrived to Titan, Ultron released enormous quantities of spores into the Earth which contained Ultron's consciousness and infected any all living creatures. When Giant-Man entered Ultron's base to confront him, the robot revealed that during the years of isolation he had discovered Hank's memories in his systems, and thus Hank's subconscious hatred for humanity, determining that he had been created as nothing more than a reflection of Hank. When Ultron was distracted, Vision phased through him and fought for control. Ultron managed to force Hank into the amalgamation and pushed Vision out, causing both to become merged into a single being.[2]

The resulting hybrid dubbed itself "Ultron Pym," and claimed to have become a perfect union of his two parts, physically and mentally;[90] however, during a subsequent ploy in which Ultron replicated the fusion process on humans to transform them into cyborgs, Iron Man discovered the fusion process only imitated the human part, which indicated the Hank side of Ultron Pym was just a simulation, the real Hank having died as soon as the two were merged, and Ultron had simply been possessing Hank's corpse ever since.[91] However, even though the real Hank died, a fragment of his consciousness seemingly survived, silenced by Ultron and witnessing and feeling everything he did while possessing his body.[15]

This fragment of Hank Pym stayed powerless as it witnessed everything Ultron did, but when Hank and Ultron's body became All-Father Ultron, he managed to access a small portion of Ultron's power, while it wasn't fully capable of using it, the chance came when Ultron was blasted with a Reversed Aging Ray by a past Hank Pym and three other Ant-Men,[92]

Restoration[]

Hank's fragment mobilized all the power it had access to and managed to separate his body from All-Father Ultron with the secondary effect of returning him to life, although aged, exhausted, and driven to paranoia by his time as Ultron's puppet. Teaming up with the Black Ant, a costumed mercenary and robotic duplicate of deceased former Ant-Man Eric O'Grady, Pym began recruiting second-rate supervillains into his own incarnation of the Lethal Legion, using ants to kill the villains in a way resembling gunshot wounds, before reviving them and promising to allow them to remain legally dead in exchange for helping him track down and defeat Ultron once and for all.

However, this plan was actually influenced by Ultron himself, who implanted his code in Pym's brain in order to control the Lethal Legion as organic drones and reconstitute himself. However, in a brief moment of lucidity, Pym realized Ultron's survival, while he deduced that Ultron wouldn't let him remember his survival, he decided to modify one of the ants with the programming of Ultron-12, with added data from the first android hero Jim Hammond and the Vision, baptizing the ant as Victor Shade; an alias that Vision had once used.[93]

Shade later possessed Janet Van Dyne's nemesis, Whirlwind,[94] in order to get close to Janet and track Pym down, Pym answered to Janet after she deduced that an ant was the "bullet" that "killed" the victims. After Pym introduced his Lethal Legion, Shade suddenly shocked him, revealing himself to be Ultron-12 while also ridding Pym of Ultron's influence.[15][93]

Attributes

Power Grid[105]
:Category:Power Grid/Fighting Skills/Some Training:Category:Power Grid/Energy Projection/Multiple Types:Category:Power Grid/Durability/Enhanced:Category:Power Grid/Speed/Superhuman:Category:Power Grid/Strength/Incalculable:Category:Power Grid/Intelligence/Super-Genius

Powers

Self-Shrinking: As Ant-Man and Yellowjacket, Henry Pym possessed the power to reduce himself to the size of an ant, approximately one-half inch in height, by means of the subatomic particles known as the Pym Particles. The nature, source, and mechanics of the Pym Particles remain unrevealed. Originally, when Pym inhaled a gas or drank a potion containing the Pym Particles, the Particles would interact with the electrical impulses of his brain, creating an organism-wide "reducing field." Thus activated, the field reduced his entire body at a uniform rate to the smaller size he desired. Although he usually chose to reduce himself to one half inch in height, he could reduce his size to any size between that and his normal size. Usually, Pym did not compress his mass into his smaller size. Instead, his mass was somehow extended into an extra-physical dimension that is opened by the activating of the Pym Particles, from which the mass could later be reclaimed. Strangely, because Pym's mass was extended extra-dimensionally when he was at ant-size, he retained his full human-size strength at that size. To return to normal size, Pym inhaled another gas or drank another potion, either of which contained another type of Pym Particles. These particles interacted with his brain to create an organism-wide "enlarging field," which is energized by mental command. Thus, Pym could grow back to his normal height and reclaim all of the mass that was extended extra-dimensionally.[95]

Gigantification: Pym also discovered Pym Particles which interacted with his brain to enable him to grow to gigantic height as Giant-Man and Goliath. The growth process required the rapid acquisition of bodily mass, comes from an extradimensional source. This extra dimensional mass fortified all of his cellular tissue, including his bones and muscles, enabling him to support his increased weight, and giving him superhuman strength and durability. Early in his career this caused health problems due to the strain, and he was subject to various limitations on his size and the duration of his transformations (described under History.)[95] He is capable of growing hundreds of feet tall exceeding the heights of even the tallest buildings in New York. He can grow past the barriers of the "Microverse" to enter Overspace, a point above and apart from all other realities where it's possible to confer with abstract cosmic entities.[3]

Entering other planes of existence: Pym can use the Pym Particles to shrink to sub-microscopic stature. When 99.99 + % of his mass was extra-dimensionally shunted, he was sent into a "subatomic universe" or "microverse," one of countless alternate universes accessible to Earth only by the mass-shunting process. Such as shrinking down to enter the Microverse, and on one occasion growing into the plane inhabited by such cosmic beings as the Living Tribunal and the In-Betweener.[3]

Abilities

Super-Genius Intelligence: Dr. Henry Pym is one of the world's foremost biochemists and also possesses considerable expertise in numerous scientific fields such as subatomic physics, robotics, cybernetics, artificial intelligence, programming, emergency medicine, optics and entomology.[96] He has also referred himself one of the five smartest people on the planet which makes him capable of rivaling others such as Reed Richards and is regarded by the Eternity as the Earth's "Scientist Supreme".[3] During his career, he created robot Ultron, explored and repaired the Vision often, and created much of the Avengers' equipment.[97] Another robot, Rover, was a jet with rudimentary artificial intelligence and sophisticated offensive capabilities.[14]

Skilled Combatant: Hank is a skilled hand-to-hand combatant using special styles of unarmed combat depending on his size. If he is small, he takes advantage of the opponent's larger form by assaulting points of his/her body that they would not expect and move to another before they detected him. If he was giant, he would take advantage of his own massive form and use attacks that would either throw them off balance or render them unconscious before they could concoct a better strategy against him. Has had some training in judo, karate and wrestling. He was also trained by Captain America in unarmed combat making him a very formidable fighter. A trained scuba diver. Capable pilot of aircraft ranging from conventional helicopters to high tech vehicles such as the Avengers Quinjets.[98]

Martial Arts: Hank had received training in judo before becoming Ant-Man. He used a judo move to overpower an ant which was larger and stronger than himself.[28]

Additional Attributes

Mental Difficulties: Henry Pym suffered a series of mental breakdowns over the years.[7][6][99][8][100] At one point, Hank created a separate personality for himself as the "Yellowjacket" but claimed to have actually killed Pym.[101] He was eventually identified as suffering from a bipolar disorder.[86]

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Giant-Man's Suit

Toolbot: The toolbot is a small, technological, handheld multi-tool device that stores hundreds of useful such as a key, minicomputer, and energy sword which are all shrunken down to microscopic sizes with a computer programmed "smart chip" giving Pym the right, or appropriate tool in any situation.

Avengers Identicard: Hank uses it to access the Avengers Mansion.

Weapons

"The Stinger": Pym currently carries a small, technological firearm that converts his body's mutated, bio-electric aura and fires it as a powerful stun beam.

  • As Yellowjacket, Pym formerly carried electric "stingers" in his gloves capable of emitting electrical bolts of variable current.

Transportation

Notes

  • On March 29, 2011, many years after Hank's marriage to Janet ended, writer Jim Shooter publicly commented on the infamous arc via a blog in which he denounced the claims that Pym was a "wife-beater". He explained that he had intended for Pym to strike Janet accidentally, but when artist Bob Hall drew the panel, the exaggerated motion made it appear as if he deliberately slapped her. Shooter claimed that there was not enough time before his deadline to have the frames redrawn, and as a result, the details of Pym's personal suffering were overshadowed by his being labelled a "wife-beater".[102] Hall subsequently commented that he was still new to the industry at the time he drew the panel, and admitted that the final product may have been in stark contrast to Shooter's intent. He also acknowledged that Shooter likely would have had the panel redrawn had there been time.[103]
  • Henry Pym first appeared in Tales to Astonish #27, and as Ant-Man in Tales to Astonish #35, as Giant-Man in Tales to Astonish #49, as Goliath in Avengers #28, as Yellowjacket in Avengers #59, and as Wasp in Secret Invasion: Requiem #1. He returned to his Giant-Man identity in Avengers Academy #7.
  • Hank is both divorced and a widower from separate marriages.
  • Henry Pym used Unstable Molecules when he developed Ant-Man's Suit.[7]
  • Early in his career, Henry Pym worried about what would happen if he someday met defeat and death. He wanted someone to carry on his crime fighting campaign if he died.[7]
  • In order to avoid contemplating his past, Henry Pym worked obsessively at his laboratory. He took little nourishment or sleep while working.[7] This suggests that his health problems could be partly caused by malnutrition and sleep deprivation.
  • Henry Pym was criticized by other scientists, who viewed his theoretical work as ridiculous. One of them suggested to Pym that he "should stick to practical projects". Pym responded that he only wanted to work on projects that appealed to his own imagination.[28] He was not interested in practical applications for his projects.
  • Hank is recognized as a Caltech fellow in the school of extra dimensional studies.[22]

Trivia

  • As Ant-Man, Henry Pym had a deep emotional connection to some of his ants. When Korr, a winged ant, sacrificed its life to save Pym, he was deeply disturbed by its death.[41]
  • Hank explicitly stated in Avengers Academy #28 that he is an atheist.
  • Hank's first costume as Goliath (yellow & blue) was designed by the Scarlet Witch.[4]
  • In a French animated series called Les Ratz Pym has been mentioned as Grand-Man.[citation needed]

See Also

Links and References

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Tales to Astonish #35
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Avengers: Rage of Ultron #1
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Mighty Avengers #30
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Avengers #28
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Secret Invasion: Requiem #1
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Avengers #59
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.8 Tales to Astonish #44
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 Avengers #213
  9. Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes #3
  10. Avengers #58
  11. 11.0 11.1 Avengers (Vol. 3) #2
  12. Age of Ultron #10A.I.
  13. Avengers #11
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #21
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 Avengers Inc. #4
  16. 16.0 16.1 Avengers Academy #7
  17. 17.0 17.1 Avengers: The Children's Crusade #6
  18. 18.0 18.1 Ant-Man's Big Christmas #1
  19. Age of Ultron #10A.I. states that he was born in East Nowhere, Nebraska, refuting previous claims in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #14 that he was born in Elmsford, New York.
  20. 20.0 20.1 Avengers #177
  21. 21.0 21.1 Avengers Annual #16
  22. 22.0 22.1 22.2 Fantastic Four #543
  23. 23.0 23.1 Avengers #1
  24. Avengers #54
  25. 25.0 25.1 Tales to Astonish #49
  26. 26.0 26.1 Age of Ultron #10A.I.
  27. Avengers #227
  28. 28.0 28.1 28.2 Tales to Astonish #27
  29. Tales to Astonish #36
  30. Tales to Astonish #37
  31. Tales to Astonish #38
  32. Tales to Astonish #39
  33. Tales to Astonish #40
  34. Tales to Astonish #41
  35. Tales to Astonish #42
  36. Tales to Astonish #43
  37. Tales to Astonish #45
  38. Tales to Astonish #57
  39. Tales to Astonish #61
  40. Tales to Astonish #46
  41. 41.0 41.1 Tales to Astonish #47
  42. Tales to Astonish #48
  43. Tales to Astonish #53
  44. Tales to Astonish #5051
  45. Tales to Astonish #55
  46. Avengers #4
  47. Avengers #16
  48. Tales to Astonish #7778
  49. Avengers #2628
  50. Avengers #60
  51. Avengers #137200
  52. Defenders #2324
  53. Marvel Feature #410
  54. Marvel Premiere #48
  55. Avengers #212
  56. 56.0 56.1 Avengers #214
  57. Avengers #217
  58. Avengers #224
  59. Avengers #228
  60. Avengers #229
  61. Avengers #230
  62. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #1722
  63. Onslaught: Marvel #1
  64. Avengers (Vol. 2) #1
  65. Avengers (Vol. 3) #71
  66. Avengers (Vol. 3) #122
  67. Avengers (Vol. 3) #4360
  68. Avengers #501
  69. 69.0 69.1 Mighty Avengers #15
  70. Mighty Avengers #17
  71. Mighty Avengers #21
  72. Captain America: Reborn #14
  73. Mighty Avengers #34
  74. Avengers Academy #1
  75. Avengers Academy #12
  76. Avengers Academy #19
  77. Avengers Academy #21
  78. Avengers Academy #29
  79. Avengers vs. X-Men #5
  80. Avengers vs. X-Men #12
  81. Avengers (Vol. 4) #32
  82. Age of Ultron #1
  83. Age of Ultron #9
  84. Age of Ultron #10
  85. Avengers A.I. #1
  86. 86.0 86.1 Avengers A.I. #5
  87. Avengers (Vol. 5) #35
  88. New Avengers (Vol. 3) #29
  89. [[Some time between Avengers 145 and Avengers 155, due to the Avengers line up being the same as the present in said period.|Some time between [[Avengers #145|Avengers 145]] and Avengers 155, due to the Avengers line up being the same as the present in said period.]]
  90. Tony Stark: Iron Man #16
  91. Tony Stark: Iron Man #19
  92. Ant-Man (Vol. 3) #4
  93. 93.0 93.1 Avengers Inc. #5
  94. Avengers Inc. #1
  95. 95.0 95.1 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (Vol. 2) #10
  96. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #13
  97. Avengers #5758
  98. Avengers: West Coast #63
  99. Avengers #161
  100. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #17
  101. Avengers #5960
  102. Shooter, Jim (March 29, 2011) Hank Pym was Not a Wife-Beater JimShooter.com.
  103. Johnston, Rich (April 1, 2011) Jim Shooter Never Intended Ant Man To Be A Wasp Beater Bleeding Cool.
  104. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Avengers 2004 #1
  105. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Vol 1 13
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