Morph (comics)
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Morph (Kevin Sydney) is a fictional comic book superhero of the Marvel Comics universe. Similar to the supervillain Mystique, he is a mutant with the ability to shapeshift. "Morph" is the name given to him in several alternate continuities, typically based off the original character Changeling. Recognized alternate continuities include the X-Men animated series, the Age of Apocalypse and the multiverse-hopping Exiles.
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[edit] Fictional character biography
[edit] Before the Exiles
In the Exiles series, Morph is a hero from a parallel world (Earth-27) who was a member of not only the X-Men, but also the New Mutants and the Avengers. Unique son of loving parents, Morph, a shapeshifter, managed early on to use his powers, and so giving everyone what they wanted from him. Morph always used his power to joke around and keep everyone at ease with him, only comfortable to be himself around his parents.
His mother died of lung cancer and Morph tried in every way to cheer up his emotionally distraught father (often acting in a childish way whenever his father wanted him to act serious), who, unable to let his suffering go, chose to enroll his son in a boarding school; luckily, that school happened to be the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning.
Promoted to the X-Men, Morph's sense of humor initially grated upon the much more serious team but eventually his humor and humility won them over. He was instrumental in many of the team's victories and was chosen to be part of a pilot program with the Avengers, along with the Beast, as a public representative of mutantkind.
Morph would return to the X-Men because, in his own words, "he missed his freaky mutant brothers and sisters." On a subsequent mission, Morph and the rest of the X-Men were facing off against a threat known only as Stonehenge when Morph became unhinged from time.
[edit] With the Exiles
Then the mysterious Timebroker appeared to him, explaining to him that he had become unhinged from time as a chain of events had caused his reality as he knew it to change. In that new reality a wounded Morph has become unable to maintain his form, and slipped in coma, being only a white muddy substance in Beast's lab. Hoping to save his own future, he became a member and the comic relief of the Exiles, a group of universe-hopping heroes trying to save realities from ripples and alteration.
He soon befriended the mutant Sunfire, although in a loving platonic relationship, accepting the lesbian nature of his friend. He always took care of her, and her death left him emotionally wrecked.
[edit] Mojo's World
The Exiles battled on, fixing reality after reality and struggling to keep it together. Following one of these missions the team was kidnapped by Mojo, the insane evil dictator of the Mojoverse. Mojo considered Morph the best entertainer he had ever seen and brought him back to entertain the masses. If he didn't, Mojo would kill his fellow Exile, Nocturne. Eventually, Nocturne was able to escape and set Morph free. Mojo went crazy and threatened to kill Morph's friends. An enraged Morph was on the verge of killing Mojo when the Timebroker stopped them. The Timebroker revealed Mojo had disrupted time but he was a necessary evil and could not be killed.
[edit] Against Weapon X
Morph continued to be the heart of the team until a mission in which Mimic was taken over by a Brood egg. During the battle, he killed Sunfire. Mimic was eventually cured but Morph was enraged. He was devastated by Sunfire's death and told Mimic he should have killed himself rather than let something like this happen. Morph stormed off and threatened to leave the team. Magik, an unlikely ally, followed and tried to calm him. The two connected and despite her past attitude during missions, Morph realized Illyana was just a scared girl trying to get home. He remained angry with Mimic but helped his team fight against the rogue reality-hopping team, Weapon X.
Before the battle began, Magik attempted to switch sides, believing her team was weaker. Hyperion, the self-appointed leader of Weapon X, snapped her neck and Morph was driven into a rage. He attacked Hyperion, who attempted to blast Morph with his eyebeams, but Mimic saved him. During the brawl with Weapon X, Morph fought against an evil Ms. Marvel. Their battle caused a building to fall in on them, killing Ms. Marvel but Morph was able to survive.
The Exiles were triumphant and the Timebroker told Morph he could finally go home. His mission was fulfilled. Morph considered the offer but asked if he could stay with his team. He realized they needed him and he couldn't leave them behind. The Timebroker agreed; Morph asked him not to tell the rest of the Exiles of his decision. Morph and Mimic reconciled since he realized that Sunfire's death was not Mimic's fault and that the Brood was controlling him. The team moved on.
[edit] Proteus
He recently helped the team take down Proteus by impersonating the Maestro and weakening Proteus with a steel strip in his head. Morph went to take down Proteus but Proteus knocked the steel plate out of his head and took over Morph's body in issue #80. When the Exiles tracked him to the "Heroes Reborn" world, cosmic entities "O" and "Kay" kidnapped him, saying his presence has tipped the balance of power. Using a tiara hooked to a brainwasher device, his teammate Blink managed if not to restore his consciousness, to brainwash Proteus, forcing him to act like Morph, and access to all previous Morph's memories, functionally "bringing him again to life". With Proteus trapped and believing he is Morph, he remained an Exile to continue fixing damaged realities. Considering Morph's body does not burn out like other hosts, Morph's consciousness may still be active beneath Proteus. Due to the adaptive nature of Morph's body, the presence of Proteus does not burn out his metabolism. Also, Proteus is immune to metal while in Morph's body, since wearing a metal tiara during the "Heroes Reborn" world did not kill him. However, concerns about some discreppancies in "Morph's" behavior forced his teammates to plan regular brainwashings with the same device, and, eventually, put him in stasis whenever his behavior would change again. Recently, Morph had to intervene in a fight between Sabretooth and Psylocke and make an introduction. Heather teleports Morph, Sabretooth, and Psylocke down to Earth #1720 to save the other Exiles, who are currently beaten or brainwashed, courtesy of this world's Madame Hydra, Sue Storm.
[edit] Powers
Morph's mutation to shapeshift has also made it so that his body is a Play-doh-like substance and he can reattach limbs after they have been severed. It has been stated that his body is composed of unstable molecules. He has also stated that his mutation gives him a high metabolism and makes him very hormonal. In one issue, Sasquatch said she was never able to detect a scent on Morph; Sabretooth stated the same while hunting Proteus in Morph's body, noting how, in a crowd of "normal" people, Morph stands out like a sore thumb to Sabretooth's enhanced senses, whatever the form the shapeshifter takes. It also appears he has the ability to fly as of issue #27.
[edit] Trivia
- Earned a master's degree in computer engineering at Xavier's Institute.
- Takes joy in pointing out that he does not actually wear any clothes; the coverings on his body are an example of his shape and color changing ability. He is the only Exile that is consistently naked.
- He is a founding member of the team, and since Blink was pulled out between issue #22 and #42, and Mimic has been killed in issue #73, Morph is the only one to be consistent throughout the series.
[edit] Age of Apocalypse
In the Age of Apocalypse, Morph was, like his normal Marvel Universe counterpart, an early recruit of the X-Men, but in this reality he did not die while impersonating Professor X, because in the Age of Apocalypse, Xavier died before the X-Men were ever founded. This Morph's personality and costume is largely the same as that of the Exiles version upon the latter's initial appearance, so much that in Exiles #1, Blink mistook that Morph for her teammate from the Age of Apocalypse reality. The AoA Morph has, at times, appeared to be more crazy than simply jovial and silly, and can abruptly become morose and depressive before snapping back to his "normal" self. It can be assumed that he is walking a line between sanity and insanity, due to the horrors of his reality. In the AoA timeline Morph often agitates his team mates through his 'off the wall' sense of humour and inappropriate timing. However he says to Sunfire "If I'm gonna die, I want to do it with a smile on my face". Despite this happy go lucky attitude, Morph displays signs of a softer, more empathetic side several times. He morphs into Sabretooth in order to comfort Blink while she doubted her abilities, and later on gives Rogue the strength to endure against the horseman Holocaust by acting as her son. Shortly after the defeat of Apocalypse, he accompanied fellow X-Men, Iceman, Wildchild and Exodus on an unspecified mission where they have disappeared. Their fate is yet to be revealed.
[edit] X-Men: The Animated Series
In the X-Men animated series, Morph (voiced by Ron Rubin) was a member of the X-Men and a close friend of Wolverine who was apparently killed in the second episode by Sentinels. Wolverine was distraught by his death (he claimed that Morph was the only one who made him laugh) and blamed Cyclops for leaving him behind, but later overcame it, as many friends have passed in front of his eyes.
He reappeared in the second season as a recurring villain who was driven steadily mad by memories of his death. Eventually, it was revealed that Mr. Sinister took his shattered body, brought him back to life, but significantly brainwashed him and put some implants in him. He was divided into two personalities: One who loved his X-teammates and one who hated them for leaving him behind. His best friend Wolverine was astonished to find out that Morph was alive, albeit he was fluctuating between "the good" and "the bad". Till the end of the season, through constant assurance from his teammates that "he was part of the team" and what Cyclops did "was in the name of the team", Morph helped in the final battle at the season finale - Reunion (Part 2) - where he temporarily destroyed Sinister and was taken into custody. Professor X finally removed his implants, but determined that the psychological damage needed much more rehabilitation than seemed obvious.
Morph appeared in two more episodes as a patient on Muir Island (Once on a hospital bed and once in a wheelchair as Cyclops and Wolverine were leaving the island.) before starring in the episode Courage,. There, Moira Mactaggert was curing his mental instability, which was provoked by the cruelty of Sinister and the overcoming of his guilt and fear of the Sentinels that nearly killed him. In the episode, he came back in the team, but when facing Sentinels again, Morph got a flashback memory and was terrified. This fear later caused the abduction of Professor X by Master Mold. Morph overcame his fear with great efforts and when he understood that the Professor was in danger, he rushed to save him, despite his teammates' warnings and concerns. However, he showed great fighting skill and battled singlehandedly many of the Sentinels and destroyed Master Mold himself at the end, changing into Angel through Sasquatch, Longshot and Omega Red. Although this was a great victory and his friends welcomed him back fully to the team, Morph was feeling unsure of himself and said that he had to work more on his mental health. He decided to go back to Dr. MacTaggert so that next time, he would return to the team in peak mental condition.
His last appearance was in the series finale Graduation Day, where he briefly appeared as Professor X, while the latter was sick and dying, due to an illness. He appeared to have more of his past snickering humor, probably suggesting that he was now mentally healthy and back on the team, this time permanently.
[edit] The story behind Morph
Morph was originally placed in the X-Men animated series simply because the writers wanted to have a character die in the opening story arc in order to show how serious the series was.[citation needed]
Changeling was chosen because of his past ties to the X-Men, as well as his deceased status in the comics. He was practically a blank slate, so the writers were free to do with him as they wanted, without really angering fans of the character.
The name was changed from Changeling to Morph, since DC comics had the rights to the name Changeling at the time. (DC's Changeling is better known now as Beast Boy from the Teen Titans). Morph's death was, in fact, intended to stick, but due to his unexpected popularity, he was brought back.[citation needed]
[edit] Powers and abilities
Morph has been successful since his mutant abilities manifested in his early teens. Immediately able to control his powers, he hid his abilities from others. It was not until Professor Charles Xavier asked him to enter his mutant academy that Morph realized his own potential. Xavier made him a part of his young team of New Mutants. Morph quickly became a best friend to all of his teammates and, although he was not the group's official leader, he was looked upon as a trusted confidant. He even completed a degree in computer engineering during his time on the team.
Morph is an omnimorph. As such, he is capable of shapeshifting into basically anything, regardless of size, shape, mass, or color. Presumably he does this by tapping into an extradimensional source for the materials and mass needed. He can create objects out of his mass, including clothing and weaponry. Presumably he has a pseudo-healing factor due to the unstable nature of his molecular structure. Also due to his unique physiological makeup, he possesses no discernible scent, unlike other shapeshifters - a fact that made the Wolverine of his reality "uneasy". This was one of the ways Wolverine recognized him, when Morph pretended to be Charles Xavier in front of his team-mates, who have their own scents. Another power is the ability of unaided flight, although how he does this is as yet unknown.
