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"I woke up in a morgue. Now I hunt. I kill. I consume. I become."
Name: Alexander J. Mercer
Title: Blacklight, ZEUS, The Prototype, The Monster of Manhattan
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Gender: Male
Race: Sentient Virus
Appearance: Being a shapeshifter, Alex can assume the form of anyone he had consumed before. However, he normally defaults to his original human form due to the Blacklight virus recreating his body down to genetic level. In this form, Mercer appears as a caucasian with very pale skin, although this could be the result of the virus as he appeared tanner in his human pictures. His light electric blue eyes also have a sickly grey tinting around him. His usual expression is either neutral or a perpetual scowl. While rarely seen without his hood, he has short curly brown hair slicked back. The ‘clothes’ worn by Alex aren’t actually clothes, but simply biomass mimicking the outfit worn by human Alex the night of his death. He wears three layers of clothes on his upper body: a partially-buttoned white shirt, a half-zipped plain grey hoodie, and a black leather jacket with a red tribal design on its back. It should be noted that the tribal design faintly glows in the dark. On his lower body is a pair of worn blue jeans and black shoes. As his clothes are part of his biomass, he cannot take them off without shapeshifting. Alex stands at a rather respectable 6’3” (1.91m) and has a sturdy and athletic build in his default human form at most times, though this may change due to amount of biomass. He tends to radiate a murderous aura wherever he goes.
Personality: Due to a childhood of abuse and neglect, Alex is cold, paranoid, and borderline sociopathic. He is a cynical and jaded individual who does not like talking and company. Before his human death at Penn Station, he released the Blacklight virus on Manhattan out of spite for those who wronged him. He hardly takes human costs into account as he freely consumes random civilians in order to replenish his biomass. However, he is not completely heartless, as he deeply cares for his younger sister Dana, standing in as a parental figure. The human Alex was also involved in a romantic relationship with his then-girlfriend Karen Parker. Alex is also highly intelligent, obtaining a doctorate and becoming one of Gentek’s top scientists by the age of twenty-nine. As Blacklight, he has the knowledge of hundreds of scientists, soldiers, and civilians, and every single living organism he had previously consumed. Alex also tends to get angry quickly, lashing out at those who displease him.
History: Alex Mercer was born on July 16, 1979, where he spent his childhood in poverty. He spent his first nine years in foster care, and finally returned to his biological mother when he turned ten, though he was better off without her. He was the only parental figure for his sister Dana, and the two of them would play games and watch scary movies together. It is assumed that Alex practiced martial arts, as he has great combat prowess as Blacklight.
His high intellect and aptitude in science provided him an opportunity to leave behind his troubled past. He trusted no one, had no friends, couldn't care less about what others thought of him, and found solace only in his work. By the time he was hired by Gentek, Mercer was a borderline sociopath. He knew this, and didn't care.
After earning a doctorate degree in genetics at Columbia University, Mercer was hired by Gentek and became the head of the Blacklight project at Gentek. Alex's team was tasked with engineering weaponized viruses from samples given to them by the government. The samples that were provided exhibited curious behavior, including mimicry and retention of genetic information from infected hosts. With Mercer’s help, the team soon engineered a particularly virulent and potent virus codenamed 'Blacklight'. Mercer’s skill in altering genes made him a valuable asset to Gentek; his work was years ahead of his nearest competitor.
Despite his successes, Alex Mercer was considered a potential liability by Blackwatch, an elite army created to combat exotic threats. Over time, Gentek became scrutinized by Congress and investigations were proposed. Fearing an information leak, Blackwatch decided to cover it all up. Mercer, due to his paranoid nature, began to launch his own secret investigation on Gentek. With the assistance of his sister Dana, an investigative reporter, Mercer realized that Gentek employees associated with the Blacklight project were being silenced by Blackwatch; usually with a bullet between the eyes in a dark alley.
When he learned that a general purge was about to be unleashed upon the Gentek scientists, Mercer fled, fearing for his life. In the event he was caught, Mercer had brought insurance—he had smuggled a vial of the Blacklight virus out of quarantine and taken it with him. He also mailed a laptop with classified documents to Dana. But Blackwatch was too quick for him. While attempting to escape the city by train, Mercer was cornered in Penn Station by Blackwatch agents. In a fit of frustration and rage, he threw the vial to the floor, smashing it and unleashing a biological apocalypse. He was promptly shot by Blackwatch operatives. The virus began to spread to everyone in the station.
As he fell, he collapsed onto the viral sample, becoming infected as he died. His body was taken back to Gentek in a body bag. Little did they know, as he was transported, the virus was reconstructing Mercer's body, cell by cell; his biomass feeding the virus as it replicated the still-living matter it had infected.
Mercer woke up in a morgue on a slab just as two scientists were about to cut open his torso with a scalpel for an autopsy. The two men panicked and fled, terrified of Mercer. Mercer didn't understand why they were so frightened and had no recollection of his previous life. He ran after the scientists in an attempt to escape also.
Though Mercer was now an amnesiac, he was sufficiently aware to realize that the Blackwatch soldiers were certainly not friends when he saw them kill the two scientists as they tried to escape the facility. The soldiers noticed him, but his body regenerated the damage caused by their fire instantly. Surprising both the soldiers and himself, Mercer cleared the several feet high fence around the facility in a single leap. After escaping, he found himself trapped in Manhattan, being pursued by the military. He soon discovered that he had the ability to consume others and take on their appearance and memories, along with their special skills. With no recollection of his own past, Mercer decided to track down those responsible for his situation and consume them in order to uncover the truth behind what has been done to him, caught between the Blackwatch Special Forces and an ever-growing population of civilians infected by the virus he released.
On consuming Lt. Charles Perri he learned the whereabouts of his sister. Mercer hoped that his sister, Dana, would have some information regarding what happened to him, so he attempted to make contact with her. However, when he arrived at her apartment, he saw soldiers stationed around the building. He consumed a Blackwatch commander and, taking on his appearance, easily infiltrated their perimeter. When Alex entered he saw Dana being held by a Blackwatch soldier. Dana headbutted the Blackwatch soldier just as Mercer impaled him with his fist. Dana was terrified having witnessed this, but Mercer convinced her to help him.
Dana told Mercer that she knew there was something wrong going on at Gentek. She did not know what had happened to Alex either, but was able to tell him what he had told her prior to his memory loss. She told Mercer that he had her researching the Gentek organization for weeks. When she went looking for him to relay her findings, he had already disappeared. The conversation incited a flashback, in which Mercer remembered seeing the ID card of Dr. McMullen. Dana then lead Mercer to a new safe house, the home of Dana's friends, who were out of town for the year. Dana already had all of the files she could get on Gentek stored in the apartment.
Dana wasn't able to tell Mercer what it all meant, but insisted that the two of them work together to uncover whatever conspiracies were at work. Dana told Mercer that since Blackwatch was waiting for her at her apartment, they must also be waiting at his. Mercer arrived at his apartment and uncovered further hints of his past life. He saw a photo of himself and Dana with a graduate certificate from the University of New York. He also saw a photo of himself with a blonde woman. When he touched the photo he experienced a flashback in which he saw himself with the woman, his ex-girlfriend Karen Parker. When the flashback was over, it was apparent that the onset of these flashbacks was painful to him. As he was recovering, Blackwatch detonated a bomb that had been planted in the apartment, meant to kill him. He astonishingly survived without a scratch, despite having been thrown out of a window and down to the streets several stories below. Mercer hunted down and consumed the man who gave the order to detonate the bomb.
Mercer recognizes the girl. Dana tells him that the file has only two names in it: Alex Mercer and Elizabeth Greene, the girl in the photo. The file also says that she is being isolated in the Gentek building. When Mercer went to free Greene, she cryptically told him that "The time for waiting is over" and threw him across the room. Greene then disintegrated a wall by touch and sent Hunters after him as he escaped. She then took charge of the infected. He also located his ex-girlfriend, Karen Parker.
Dana continued to assist Mercer in locating his targets, while Karen promised him a cure for his disease. She first claimed that he needed to find her different samples of the virus destroying Manhattan, but once he arrived inside a nearby Hive, Mercer was ambushed by Blackwatch specialist Captain Robert Cross who used both the infected and his own soldiers as cannon fodder while he tried to take Alex down. Mercer ended up defeating him, but Cross turned the tables by distracting Mercer by mentioning 'Penn Station' and triggering a painful flashback. He injected Mercer with a biological weapon while he was distracted. Due to the parasite Cross had injected him with, Mercer couldn't use his special powers aside from his superhuman strength and speed. He still managed to escape from Blackwatch.
Mercer returned to Dana who showed him that Blackwatch was keeping an eye on a doctor for McMullen, Dr. Bradley Ragland. Dana then told Mercer that if he finds him, Ragland can help them get to McMullen. Before Mercer left, she showed him what she found about Hope, Idaho and Greene but Mercer said Hope was an experiment. She asked how he could know that, forcing Mercer to admit that he had killed a great number of people and their minds and memories were now within him. Dana was shocked by what her brother has become.
However, with the help of Dr. Ragland, Mercer was cured, restoring his abilities and gaining him the armor and blade powers as a result. During all of this, Mercer was placed as the number one terrorist threat in the entire United States due to treasonous activities against the United States and her allies. During one of Mercer and Dana's meetings, Dana was kidnapped by a Leader Hunter, a larger and stronger version of the normal hunters. Alex pursued this Leader Hunter across the city, but was ultimately unable to rescue Dana. With the help of Dr. Ragland, Mercer located and consumed the same Leader Hunter that kidnapped Dana, learning of her location in the core hive in the center of the city. Mercer was eventually able to penetrate the hive, where he confronted Elizabeth Greene.
Elizabeth Greene told Mercer that Dana was "with us now". During a struggle, Greene seemingly bests Mercer, but he was able to inject Greene with a syringe containing the parasite as it had been extracted from him. Greene's body rejected the parasite immediately and she vomited up a large amount of biomass, from which the Supreme Hunter was born. Mercer defeated the Supreme Hunter and saved Dana. As he left, a sinister clawed hand began to regenerate and rise from the remain of the hunter, showing the Supreme Hunter was far from done. The unknown contact later revealed as Captain Cross. As the conspiracy unfolds, with the assistance of an unidentified contact, the origins of Mercer, the virus and Elizabeth Greene were uncovered.
In 1969, the government had tested a virus codenamed Redlight in Hope, Idaho. This virus was designed as a biological warfare agent, targeting those of a predetermined race. The virus unexpectedly mutated into something far deadlier, infecting the whole population of Hope. Elizabeth Greene was the sole survivor of the incident; her body welcomed the virus rather than dying from it and it had rewritten her genetic code, along with that of her son, who was taken from her by Blackwatch and codenamed Pariah. This inspired the government to continue research into the virus, cooperating with the Gentek corporation. Scientists at Gentek locked Greene in a cell which had been used to research Blacklight, the new virus present in Greene. They continued to study the different strains of the virus that formed throughout her system as a means of accelerating the biological weapons program. Before long, the military began to deploy a new biological agent, Bloodtox, engineered to kill the virus and its hosts.
When the chemical was deployed across the city, the infection went underground to escape it, and subsequently amassed beneath the surface. The anonymous contact told Mercer to aid the military in pumping the Bloodtox directly into the ground. They hoped that it would drive the virus to the surface, allowing Blackwatch to fight it directly. Elizabeth Greene, now embedded in Mother a new viral organism, came to the surface and engaged Mercer in combat. Mercer killed Mother and consumed Greene.
He then attempted to confront McMullen, the Head of Research and founder of Gentek. After a grueling battle with Marines and Blackwatch between him and his target, Mercer confronted McMullen and moved in to consume him to find out what he knew. McMullen committed suicide before Mercer had the chance. It became apparent that General Randall planned to nuke Manhattan to destroy the virus. The mysterious contact, revealed to be Captain Cross, then guided Mercer to consume Colonel Taggart, who was attempting to flee the city. Cross had been ordered to capture Taggart and had Mercer impersonate him in order to get onto the USS Ronald Reagan where the bomb was being held.
Cross betrayed Mercer once on the ship, and was revealed to be the Supreme Hunter having consumed Cross at some point and taken his form. It battled Mercer on the deck of the Reagan and was subsequently decapitated by Mercer. Mercer boarded a helicopter and dropped the nuclear bomb into the Atlantic Ocean, allowing it to detonate at sea but leaving himself well within the blast radius. His remains washed up on the city shore as lumps of red tissue, but he was able to take human form after consuming a crow that attempted to devour him.
Mercer walks off thinking to himself, "What have I become? Something less than human, but also something more..." Later, Manhattan is seen in a recovering state, with the virus almost completely destroyed. After stopping the nuclear threat, Alex, having lost all faith in humanity as a result of his actions, leaves Manhattan and travels around the world in order to find true purpose and something to believe in.
Powers/Abilities: Alex's shapeshifting powers grant him superhuman physical abilities well beyond that of a normal human.
- Superhuman Strength: His incredible strength allows him to lift cars, trucks, the destroyed remains of tanks, APCs, and helicopters and throw them great distances. He is far stronger than any normal human or most basic Infected, able to kill a regular human with a single, glancing blow and manhandle the infectious residents of Manhattan. Mercer is capable of punching holes through almost anything if necessary, including a two-foot steel door.
- Superhuman Speed: Mercer's speed is likewise enhanced. He can achieve running speeds surpassing any vehicles including Helicopters. Alex is also able to break the sound barrier when jumping, and is able to dodge Greene’s Crimson Shockwave, which is done when Elizabeth projects small amounts of biomass fast enough to shatter buildings. He can run up skyscrapers and reach their tops in seconds.
- Superhuman Agility: He can perform amazing parkour feats such as flips and rolls and maneuvers over and around vehicles and debris with little trouble. His leg strength allows him to leap nearly ten stories into the air. Mercer can run up sheer vertical surfaces and cling to walls for an indefinite period of time. Mercer is also capable of gliding, by ejecting small amounts of mass for further propulsion.
- Superhuman Durability: Mercer's endurance far exceeds that of a human's by leaps and bounds. His body no longer possesses weak bones or vital organs, rendering him immune to otherwise debilitating injury. This biological change allows him to survive falls from any height completely unharmed. Bullets of any caliber will pass through his body, causing very little damage that heals instantly. He can withstand direct hits from rockets, hellfire missiles and tank shells, which cause only moderate damage. The superhumanly strong blows of the various type of Hunters and super soldiers cause the most damage of any type of attack. His superhuman stamina allows him to be physically active at all times without tiring. Mercer's body is greatly increased that he can survive extreme blunt trauma, he can survive through collapsing buildings fall on him and walk out of the rubble as it was nothing. Mercer can take shots from a rocket launcher and can only be push back a bit by the force without blowing to pieces like a normal human.
- Regeneration: Mercer's body has vast powers of self-regeneration. So long as he is properly nourished, Mercer can restore his health and heal any wounds within moments. He can heal a small amount of his health even without consuming any creature. Examples include regenerating bullet wounds instantly after being shot, regenerating a massive hole in his face after being shot point-blank by General Randall, and reconstructing his entire physical form from nondescript piles of biomass and the biomass of a crow within minutes of being blown apart by a nuclear explosion. Mercer also seems to have a robust immune system. Though unable to counter a parasite which had been introduced into his body without outside help, he gained a growing immunity to bloodtox with repeat exposure.
- Superhuman Senses: Mercer's vision and hearing are enhanced, allowing him to see beyond the visible spectrum and hear across great distances even with physical insulation. He has thermal vision which allows him to locate heat signatures, and infected vision which can detect large concentrations of the virus and tap into the hive mind itself.
- Adaptability: The Blacklight Virus is capable of adapting itself to certain elements after a continuous exposure to said element. For example, in the comic book, after being inhibited and slowed down by more than 10Gs of gravitational force, he then walked away from it as if the force never even existed.
- Consumption: Alex can consume living beings in order to replenish his biomass. He also assimilates their memories in the process, and gains the ability to take on their appearance.
- Disguise: Disguise is a defensive ability of Alex. This ability allows him to "disguise" himself as the last human target he has consumed. This ability allows Mercer to alter his exterior to resemble the consumed, also gaining their memories and abilities.
Weapons/Equipment: As a walking bioweapon, Alex has a wide variety of shapeshifting weapons at his disposal.
- Claws Claws are the primary antipersonnel and an offensive ability evolved within Alex Mercer. When activated, the biomass of his arms shifts into three-fingered, one-thumbed talon-like appendages that can be used to effortlessly shred flesh and bone, allowing dismemberment of human-sized enemies with ease. Alex can lunge with these claws to quickly get to targets. Groundspike is an upgrade and an extension to the Claws. It is highly effective for short or longer-ranged area attack. The biomass from the Claws is channeled into the ground to erupt and impale a targeted enemy or a tight group of enemies.
- Whipfist: The Whipfist is one of many abilities Alex has at his disposal. It consists of an extendable, elongated appendage with a blade at the end. Given its unique status as a ranged attack, the Whipfist is usually the weapon of choice when opposed by the recurring Helicopters or distant enemies. Mercer can grab distant targets with this ability. The Street Sweeper ability helps in dismembering multiple foes surrounding him with an eccentric 360-degree swath.
- Blade: The Blade is an offensive power employed by Alex Mercer. Mercer gained this ability along with the armour power, once the parasite was removed from his body. When Mercer activates this ability, an elongated double ended blade forms from the base of the right elbow, turning hid arm into a giant razor-sharp cutting weapon. The Blade is extremely effective in close contact, and although the area of effect is very localised, the blade's basic attacks dish out higher damage than those from any of the other powers. While this power may be utilised against basic infantry units, its true destructive capability is in attacking vehicles and large infected creatures such as hunters or brawlers.
- Musclemass: Musclemass increases Alex's melee damage twofold and increases the speed at which he strikes. At its base level, a charged attack will turn any human enemy it strikes into bloody chunks; once upgraded, even a glancing blow will cause this. Objects thrown with Musclemass will hit harder, fly further, and move faster than objects thrown at Alex's normal strength; upgrades will augment the speed and distance. All of Alex's Combat abilities, save for the Devastators, will be enhanced by Musclemass.
- Hammerfists: The Hammerfists are Alex's anti-vehicle ability. By shifting large amounts of biomass into his fists, Alex Mercer is able to create massive, hammer-like hands to crush his enemies with. Hammerfist Smackdown is a slow but highly damaging slam attack. Capable of destroying early armoured vehicles with a single direct hit, but at the cost of attack speed. While charging the power, Mercer is susceptible to being interrupted by attacks. Otherwise, a fully charged attack has the effect of delivering two shocks upon anything within range.
- Armour: The Armour consists black plates of hardened biomass; formed all around the body. While in this form, Alex Mercer is equivalent to a humanoid tank. This ability increases damage resistance overall, at the cost of movement and the ability to parkour.
- Shield: The Shield power is incredibly useful defence ability. It soaks up damage automatically until it shatters and regenerates automatically. The Shield can be left activated permanently but will disable the ability to perform parkour.
- Devastators: Super attacks that the Alex can initiate. It causes a massive area damage to his surroundings at the cost of using up a portion of his critical mass health to execute.
- Tendril Barrage: The Tendril Barrage causes barbs made of hardened tendons to erupt from Alex's body in every direction, impaling everything around them for a fair distance. The ground version has a certain quirk of causing additional "vacuum" damage, that is nearby objects and enemies sustain another round of damage when the tendrils retract. This is absent in the air version.
- Groundspike Graveyard: The Groundspike Graveyard is similar to the Groundspike power granted by the Claws. When used, it causes massive spikes of biomass to erupt from the ground, creating a deadly circle of spikes in close proximity to Alex. It is highly effective against hardened targets like Armor and buildings, but less effective than the Tendril Barrage against larger organic enemies due to its shorter range and smaller amount of spikes.
- Critical Pain: Critical Pain fires a mass of hardened tendons from Alex's hands to crush a single target. It is Alex's most damaging move, but can only be used to hit a single target. Anything that happens to be between Alex and the target will also be affected by the area air pressure caused from it.
Theme Song: Alex's Theme
Universe From: [PROTOTYPE]
