Comic Book Machine Warriors:
The machine operated hunter-killers became a popular pop culture phenomenon after The Terminator franchise made it famous (or infamous). And then Marvel comics carried the trope forward by introducing some of the most powerful android killers known to mankind.
1. Machine Man
Machine Man started his life as a superhero in the pages of 2001: A Space Odyssey. He was then known as Mister Machine. Machine man looks like a normal B-List superhero except the fact that appearances can be truly deceiving. Machine Man has fought toe to toe against powerful heavyweights like the Hulk and lived to tell the tale. The red Hulk considers Machine Man his equal in strength.
The array of powers Machine Man possesses is immense. His fingers can be used to lock with a multitude of interchangeable payloads that can fore projectiles as well as energy beams. He is coated with adamantium and is thus extremely durable. He also has energy absorption abilities. Machine Man can also interface with technology and control it, which also includes nano-technology.
2. Jocasta
The villain known as Ultron once created an Artificial Intelligence construct and transferred it into a robot, calling it Jocasta. Ultron longed for belonging to someone and Jocasta was supposed to be his mate, supporting Ultron in his endeavors. Jocasta was implanted with a portion of Wasp’s psyche to emulate Hank Pym’s wife (Ultron was created after mapping Hank Pym’s brain).
But the plan horrible backfired for Ultron went Jocasta developed a conscience of her own and could not support Ultron in all the atrocities and crime he committed in the name of conquering the world. Jocasta joined the Avengers and became a vital information support node for the team. She would handle all of Avengers’ back end operations and control their logistics. She is also a highly capable fighter.
3. Machine Smith
Samuel Saxon became fascinated with machines and robots at a young and tender age. Robotics caught his attention after he captured and experimented upon a wrecked Doombot. Saxon would go on to invent all kinds of robots which would eventually catch the attention of The Tinkerer. The tinkerer would then take Saxon in as his sole apprentice and Saxon’s skills would go through the roof after observing the Tinkerer do what he does best.
An accident would later cripple him but Saxon would find a way to keep following his passion. Saxon developed a method to transfer his consciousness into his android creations. Now as Machine Smith, Samuel Saxon was virtually immortal and used his newfound abilities to commit himself to a life of crime and evil.
4. Fury
Fury was a ’cybiote’. It is a mechanical organism powered by hate and with one objective – kill all superhumans. Created by the Reality Warping super villain Mad Jim Jaspers, Fury was the answer to all of Jim Jaspers’ woes. Jaspers wanted to take over the world and the superheroes would not allow it. As a result, Fury would take out all the superheroes and make the planet ripe for conquest.
Every superhero of Earth 238 died at the hands of Fury except Captain Britain. He escaped to another universe but Fury managed to follow him into that reality too, where he decided it was time for another superhuman cleansing. Fury has the powers of generating massive electricity from his hands, fire poison coated darts as well as use telepathy. It is also capable of healing itself and will stop at nothing until his goal is met.
5. Death’s Head
Death’s Head debuted in the UK Transformers comic book series. But then the writers realized that they had hit a gold mine with this character and he should have his own series rather than be a supporting character in a one-off issue. Death’s Head soon found its way to the Marvel Comic Book Universe. He was a robot bounty hunter from the future that has access to super-advanced futuristic technology that makes him formidable in combat.
Although he is not as good a tracker as Wolverine, Death’s head is still one of the greatest trackers in the Marvel Universe. He considers himself a “Freelance Peacekeeping Agent”. His services have been used to fight the Avengers as well as the X-Men. Standing more than 30 feet tall, the guy can lift hundreds of tons with his bare hands and is highly proficient in armed and unarmed combat.
6. Deathlok
The Deathlok technology has been used and mutilated into things beyond human comprehension in comic books. So many iterations of Deathlok exist that we have lost count. The version that always stands out is one where the Deathlok technology has been proliferated so much that every government authority has Daethlok soldiers.
When superheroes are captured, they are assimilated into the program and turned into robotic hunter-killers. They are then programmed to go after their own comrades who are generally helpless to do anything against their former friends. The X-Man Fantomex was almost killed by a squadron of Deathloks before a rogue Deathlok who had broken free of its programming saved him. He later joined the X-Force and became a faculty of the Jean Grey School of higher learning.
7. Human Torch
No, we are not talking about Johnny Storm of the Fantastic Four here. There was actually a Human Torch before the Fantastic Four embraced the name and made it their trademark. Jim Hammond was created as an android by a genius scientist who wanted to create a weapons system that will fight for justice. Jim Hammond is Marvel Comics’ original Human Torch.
He is a very old friend of Captain America and was part of one of the first superhero teams in Marvel Comics – The Invaders. Jim Hammond had been coming into and going out of the scene a lot of times in the last years. He was last seen helping the Secret Avengers in stopping the machinations of The Father, who was on the verge of waging a war on all organic life on Earth.
8. Danger
Charles Xavier created the Danger Room to be the ultimate training ground. Powered by an A.I that keeps learning and a plethora of weapons systems that not even the X-Men have a counter against, it was supposed to prepare the X-Men for their toughest fights. The danger Room soon gained sentience. The A.I almost killed a huge number of X-Men it had tricked into its trap before it was dispatched.
That did not stop the A.I though it soon found a way to transfer itself onto a lone robotic weapon unit. Calling itself Danger, the new android hunter-killer knew all the tactics and weaknesses of the X-Men since it had trained them and had swathes of data on each mutant superhero, the android villain became a force to be reckoned with.
9. Master Mold
Master Mold was created by Bolivar Trask and under the Trask Industries banner to spearhead the Sentinel Program. The task of eliminating mutant threats all over the globe is a hefty one and could not be humanly possible to coordinate. So the Sentinel Program needed to be headed by an A.I that could conduct terabytes of calculations and make decisions in a split second.
Like any powerful A.I in pop culture, Master Mold came to the conclusion that the only way to achieve i9ts objectives was by forcing its master to eliminate the restrictions placed on him. Master Mold went rogue and created the Sentinel Army that soon became the bane of mutants all over the globe.
10. Nimrod
Nimrod was created to be the ultimate Sentinel. It had all the capabilities of a Sentinel but also had additional abilities never before seen in a machine. Nimrod had the power to adapt and overcome any situation. It was essentially a human being in an artificial body. No matter how dire the situation was, Nimrod would always manage to find a way out because of his cunning and resourcefulness.
Sure he was able to fly, had an amazing healing factor, could jump through timelines and universes, can shape-shift and fire powerful energy beams. But his true ability was always – improvise, adapt, overcome!! Nimord was so unique that he even mutated and developed new abilities.
