Metalhead (comics)
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Metalhead is a fictional character created by Marvel Comics for their futuristic comic book line dubbed Marvel 2099 in X-Men 2099. His creators were John Francis Moore and Ron Lim.
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[edit] Fictional character biography
Edward "Eddie" van Beethoven aka Metalhead was one of the mutants recruited by Xi'an Chi Xan to be a part of his new incarnation of the X-Men. He was the effective muscle of the group, but he also had an invaluable sense of humor which kept the team comfortable. When the X-Men needed to find out information on the Driver about the existence of other mutants they encountered an outcast group, consisting of rejects from programs based on genetic modification and engineering, called De-gens—named the Freakshow. During the obligatory battle over misunderstandings, Metalhead fought with one such 'genescrape' named Contagion whose touch could infect an individual with a psychoactive virus which disrupts their cellular structure. Most victims wouldn't live long after being infected, but Eddie was a unique case. Since he was in metallic form at the point of infection, the virus interacted differently with his cellular structure and, instead of killing him, made him incapable of reverting to his human form, warped his appearance, and left him in an alloyed state. Thinking himself a freak, and finding other Freakshow member Rosa attractive, Metalhead left the X-Men to stay with the rag-tag band of misfits.
Later, the Freakshow makes another guest appearance but this time it is to protect Rosa and her unborn child from the biological father (who is also an assassin), Glitterspike. There is also the threat of the alien Shadow Dancer but the alien actually comes in good use against Glitterspike. In the final showdown, Metalhead and Glitterspike are trapped in a series of caves which also houses the Shadow Dancer's ship. Metalhead absorbs the alien metal of the ship and with it is able to defeat Glitterspike and trap him in the cave with the angry Shadow Dancer.
But Glitterspike was not dead as believed and returned a few months later with a vengeance. He intended to kill Metalhead and sell his and Rosa's baby to the highest bidder for revenge. He had even devised a strategy for defeating Metalhead and would have succeeded if not for the intervention of Rosa's baby. During the battle, Rosa went into labor and the baby inside of her protected his mother by producing a force field around the confused Glitterspike. With the battle ended, Rosa was taken into town and had a successful delivery. Her baby Joachim, definitely a mutant, was born glowing.
Later, a mutant named Vulcann of the order of the Bloodsmiths kidnaps baby Joachim and speeds up his aging process to make him a man. Dubbing him Darkson the dark Messiah, the two go about defeating the X-Men, including killing Skullfire. However, Skullfire found a way to reform his body and defeat the young powerhouse. With Vulcann defeated and Darkson recaptured, Eddie and Rosa went about trying to help the boy regain his lost sense of family and childhood.
[edit] Powers
Originally, Metalhead had the ability to transform from a human form to a metal form with increased strength, durability, resistance to injury, and whatever specific properties that metal had (e.g. adamantium would give him invulnerability, copper would give him increased electrical conductivity, gold would be softer, etc) dependent upon a type of metal which he made contact with. However, after his battle with Contagion he was stuck in his hulking metallic form and incapable of reverting to human form. He was still capable of shifting the molecular composition of his skin though.
[edit] Trivia
- Eddie is the name of the demonic mascot for heavy metal band Iron Maiden.
- Metalhead was made into an action figure as part of Toy Biz's X-Men 2099 line.
