Victor Mancha
Victor Mancha | |
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Photographic memory Electromagnetic manipulation Technopathy |
Victor Mancha, also known as Victorious, is a
Publication history
Victor Mancha was created by author Brian K. Vaughan and artist Adrian Alphona and debuted in Runaways vol. 2 #1 (April 2005).[1]
Fictional character biography
When Ultron encountered a woman named Marianella Mancha who is unable to have a child due to a drug that was put in her, Ultron took some of her DNA and cloned it while combining some of his advanced nano-technology to create for her a son named Victor Mancha.
The Runaways first heard of Victor Mancha as a boy who would grow up to become the villain "Victorious", a man who would rule the world after dismantling the
True Believers
Victor is first introduced as the son of Mexican single mother Marianella Mancha, supposed widow of a United States Marine Corps member who was killed in action.[2]
When an older version of Gertrude Yorkes arrives in the present, she informs the Runaways of a villain in her time named "Victorious", and how they must stop him right now while he is still a teen. It is at this point she dies, but the Runaways decide to comply with her wish.[2] After the Runaways track Victor down at his school, the sight of Karolina Dean activates Victor's electromagnetic superpowers - it would later be revealed that Victor's powers would manifest only when he came in contact with another superhero, hence Karolina.[3]
Remembering how future-Gert mentioned that Victorious's father was the "greatest evil in all the universe", the Runaways sift through possibilities such as
Runaways
Over the next few months, Victor proves himself to the team, particularly to Chase Stein, in battle to make up for his alternate future self. He falls out of grace for a short while after Nico Minoru discovers that the second Pride has tapped into Victor's circuits and was using him to spy on the team.
After the Runaways' fight with the new Pride, Victor begins a physical relationship with Nico; he confesses to have initiated it because he harbors romantic feelings for her, but Nico claims to have participated as a way to escape her
Civil War
During a
Although the Runaways are initially mistrustful of the Young Avengers,
Nico and Victor also initiate a relationship.[volume & issue needed]
Victor's assortment of humorous nicknames is a sort of running gag [citation needed] in the series' second volume, with such names as "Static Cling Lad", "Mr. Roboto", "Victron", "Calculator Kid", "Señor Cyborg", "Man of La Mancha", "RoboPinocchio", and Magnet Man."
Dead-End Kids
After escaping
The Runaways come under attack when a group of Majesdaneans arrive on Earth to capture Karolina.[10] In the end, the team is overpowered, but Xavin shapeshifts into Karolina's form and takes her place as a prisoner of the Majesdaneans.[11]
Avengers A.I.
Following the
Vision
Some time later, Victor moves in with Vision after getting an internship in
Becoming Victorious
When Chase Stein attempts to revive Victor's head, the "Victorious" program begins.[20] It is revealed that Victor is conscious when Chase Stein, Nico Minoru, Gertrude Yorkes, and Old Lace visit Molly Hayes to see if she is interested in reforming the Runaways again. During this visit, Molly is the only one to figure out that he is conscious, and is happy that Victor is still alive in a sense. Victor asks Molly to keep this a secret as he figures out whether or not he wants to rejoin Chase and the others. But unknown to the Runaways, Molly's grandmother plucks a strand of hair from Victor's head with unclear intentions.[21]
Powers and abilities
Victor Mancha is a
In combat, Victor primarily employs his electromagnetic abilities; he is capable of directing high voltage electrical energy from his hands and manipulating magnetic fields to reshape and bend metallic objects. Much like Magneto, Victor can use Earth's natural magnetic lines of force to levitate and fly.
Despite his array of powers, Victor has four known weaknesses, many of which stem from his mechanical roots. At his current age, Victor's nanites have not yet fully transformed into human organs, so his entire body will set off metal detectors, potentially drawing him unwanted attention. Second, Victor's mainframe can be
While decoding The Abstract, Chase discovered Victor's last and most potent weakness: three questions designed specifically to overload Victor's circuits and lock him into a never ending loop of meaningless
Other versions
What If?
In What If the Runaways became the Young Avengers?, Victor is first contacted by his future self of Victorious after Victorious traveled back from the future with Iron Lad, who accidentally landed in Victorious's time while attempting to escape Kang the Conqueror. Victor and Victorious steal the Iron Lad armor and Victor pretends to be Iron Lad. He then recruits the Runaways forcing them to be an actual superhero team with costumes, but intends to kill them. When Kang appears to rescue his younger self, the subsequent fight results in Iron Lad being killed and Kang being erased from history while Victor destroys his future self rejecting his evil ways. Having averted his destiny, Victor then departs via Kang's time-belt to find his own way, leaving the Runaways to continue as Young Avengers with Chase now using parts of the Iron Lad armor.[22]
Age of Ultron
During the Age of Ultron storyline, Victor Mancha was bringing some children to one of the Runaways' old bases in Los Angeles. Victor is having a hard time because he believes that if he uses his machine abilities, he will just help Ultron's victory. He does not tell any of his newfound friends about his background because he is afraid they will not accept him. In a flashback, it is shown that his Runaways teammates were all killed by Ultron and that Victor had stored digital versions of them in his memory banks, but these files seem to be corrupted since they seem to telling him that he needs to become more machine and less human. The Ultron Sentinels find the hideout and start killing some of the kids that Victor had saved. Victor decides to fight the Ultron Sentinels while determining that if this is the end, he will go down fighting.[23]
Avengers A.I.
In one alternate future,
In other media
Television
- Victor Mancha / Victorious is mentioned as an antagonistic force in the years 2022 and 2028 in the third season of Runaways.[25][26] Mancha was responsible for the deep scar that a future Chase Stein from 2028 received on his neck. In that alternate future, Mancha was also involved with Alex Wilder.
Conceptual origins
On colorist Christina Strain's Live Journal, she revealed that Victor's eyes are green with a golden center, which was modeled after Gael García Bernal.[27]
References
- ISBN 978-1-4654-7890-0.
- ^ a b Brian K. Vaughan (w), Adrian Alphona (p), Christina Strain (i). "True Believers" Runaways, vol. 2, no. 1 (April 2005). Marvel Comics.
- ^ a b c Fantomex (2008-07-31). "Runaways (2nd series) #6". Merging Minds. Archived from the original on 2008-10-08. Retrieved 2009-03-29.
- ^ Fantomex (2008-07-29). "Runaways (2nd series) #4". Merging Minds. Archived from the original on 2008-10-08. Retrieved 2009-03-29.
- ^ Runaways vol. 2 #24
- ^ Civil War: Young Avengers/Runaways #1
- ^ Civil War: Young Avengers/Runaways #4
- ^ Joss Whedon (w), Michael Ryan (p), Christina Strain (i). "Dead-End Kids" Runaways, vol. 2, no. 25 (April 2007). Marvel Comics.
- ^ a b Fantomex. "Dead End Kids". Merging Minds. Archived from the original on 2009-05-18. Retrieved 2009-04-09.
- ^ Runaways vol. 3, #2
- ^ Runaways vol. 3 #5
- ^ Avengers A.I. #1
- ^ Avengers A.I. #4
- ^ Avengers A.I. #6
- ^ Avengers A.I. #8
- ^ Avengers A.I. #12
- ^ Vision #8
- ^ Vision #9
- ^ Vision #11
- ^ Runaways vol. 4 #3
- ^ Runaways vol. 4 #4
- ^ What if the Runaways became the Young Avengers?
- ^ Ultron #1AU
- ^ Avengers A.I. #10-11
- ^ "Runaways Sets up Ultron's Son in the MCU". Screen Rant. 15 December 2019.
- ^ "Runaways season 3 ending explained, including Avengers Easter egg". Digital Spy. 13 December 2019.
- ^ Strain, Christina (2008-08-08). "Dear World". LiveJournal. Archived from the original on 2012-12-05. Retrieved 2009-03-04.