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History

Origins[]

Morph was a mutant with the ability to alter his appearance, able to flawlessly transform into other humans and animals. At some point, he became a member of the X-Men and formed a close friendship with the surly Wolverine.[3]

During the team's raid on the Mutant Control Agency headquarters, the team was blindsided by a squadron of Sentinels. Morph threw himself between a Sentinel and Wolverine, and was seemingly killed.[6] After being overwhelmed by the Sentinels, team-leader Cyclops made the call to retreat, leaving Morph behind.[5]

Slave of Sinister[]

Mister Sinister found Morph and nursed him back to health. Brainwashed by Sinister, Morph sought vengeance against his friends for leaving him behind. He fought against the X-Men before overcoming his dark side and eventually helping his former teammates escape. Not ready to rejoin them, he fled.[3] Morph retreated deep into the jungle, attempting fight off Sinister's conditioning. He was tracked down by Wolverine, who wished to bring him back to the X-Men. The two fought, and Morph gained the upper hand before fleeing again, telling Wolverine he needed to work out his issues on his own.[7]

He found work in a circus sideshow, but was found by Sinister again, who re-established his control over him. He forced Morph to contact the X-Men in a bid to kidnap Cyclops and Jean Grey. Morph tried to warn his old friends, but to no avail, as Sinister succeeded in kidnapping Jean. After returning to Sinister's base in the Savage Land, Morph finally freed himself from Sinister's control, only to be chained alongside Professor Xavier, Magneto, and Jean. During the final confrontation against Sinister, Xavier helped further undo Sinister's conditioning, and Morph returned with the X-Men, to have the device implanted in his mind by Sinister removed.[1][8]

Return to the X-Men[]

Morph was sent to Muir Island for treatment, where his former teammates visited him.[9] Morph was eventually given a clean bill of health, and despite Moira's doubts, he decided to immediately re-join the X-Men. Morph's first mission involved the Sentinels once more. Encountering them triggered a bout of PTSD, leaving him crippled with fear. Desperate to prove himself, Morph overcame his fear and even managed to destroy Master Mold, rescuing Professor X and foiling the Sentinels plans. Afraid that his PTSD might endanger his teammates, he chose to leave the X-Men yet again, realizing that he was not ready to return being a hero yet.[10]

Morph returned to help the X-Men once again, after Professor X was publicly attacked and almost killed by Henry Gyrich. To ensure Charles's safety, Morph assumed the Professor's form and appeared on TV to try and calm the riots that had broken out over the attack.[4]

Attributes

Powers

Morph is a mutant with the following powers:

  • Shapeshifting: Morph has the ability to shift his form into exact duplicate of any human, humanoid, or semi-humanoid being of either sex, changing not only his appearance but his clothing as well.[11] He has also demonstrated the ability to transform into animals, even animals much larger than a person, presumably gaining the extra mass extradimensionally.[7] He can transform body parts[citation needed] and is a natural mimic of voices and sounds.[11] He can also mimic artificial elements of a person like Omega Red's cybernetic tentacles[10] and Wolverine's claws. However, he can't necessarily mimic the physical properties of these elements as he couldn't mimic the hardness of Wolverine's claws.[7]
    • Superhuman Strength: Depending on who or what he transforms into, Morph can gain superhuman strength. By transforming into a large animal like a rhino or an elephant, he gains that particular animal's level of strength.[7] He can also mimic the strength of superhumans like Sasquatch and Omega Red by taking on their respective forms.[10]
    • Flight: Morph once mimicked the form of Angel, allowing him to fly.[10]

Weaknesses

  • Mental Trauma: The incident with the Sentinels as as Mister Sinister's manipulations left Morph with severe mental trauma, including a great fear of Sentinels, though he has somewhat overcame this fear.[10]
  • Scent: Scent is the only thing Morph can't change, though it takes an acute sense of smell like Wolverine's to detect this.[3]

Notes

  • Ron Rubin voiced Morph on X-Men: The Animated Series, and J. P. Karliak will voice him in X-Men '97.
  • Morph was introduced in X-Men: The Animated Series to fill in the role originally meant for Thunderbird. Series developer Eric Lewald felt uneasy about killing off the show's only Native American character right away, so he decided to replace him. While researching X-Men history, Lewald came across the character Changeling, who died sacrificing himself. Due to DC Comics having recently introduced a character named Changeling (later Beast Boy), Lewald adapted Changeling as Morph.[12]

See Also

Links and References

References

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