Fantomex aka Weapon XIII

Category : Comic Books

Subcategory : Marvel universe
Type : Anti-hero
Game System : DC Heroes (Blood of Heroes S.E.)

Fantomex v1

By Sbastien Andrivet

Source of Character: X-Men comics

Helper(s): Marvel.com for Powers/Abilities and History sections

Helper(s): Kal El el Vigilante, Frank Murdock

Reasons (1): His chosen name is most likely a reference to the French
crime/horror/surrealist classics Fantmas, while his mask is quite reminiscent of the
Danger Diabolik Italian Z-series thrillers, which IIRC were also inspired by Fantmas.

Reasons (2): Given Fantomex's talent for misdirection, some things in there are rather
tentative.

Game Stuff

Fantomex

"I can read your body language, so I know that you're wondering how I got in and why
you only see white roses when you try to look into my mind. Thought-proofed ceramic
panels. I heard your speech on TV and decided to put you in a morally compromising
position. Fantomex -- pleased to make your acquaintance. Professor, miss Grey. I want
what it says on the tin. I'm a mutant. I demand sanctuary."

"Nice trick. What do you think of mine ? Meet E.V.A. -- my partner. A flying saucer. Pretty
good, huh ?"

"Nobody does it like me."

Professor X: "I'll try to ignore the deliberate strangeness of all this."

Fantomex: "Why ignore it ? Embrace it ! I do !"

"I'm a mutant with no scruples, Professor. Your personal fortune was valued at three
point five billion dollars. Your teaching staff includes at least three millionaires. I'd
prefer to sell. These are the details to the entire Weapon Plus program, dating back to
World War Two. All the failed experiments and the successes -- the results of a thousand
illegal tests on human, animal and finally human subjects... like your mister Logan. All
yours for... one billion. I'd be interested to see how much you're willing to sacrifice for
ideals."

"I'd like to answer all of your questions, Professor, but I have to remove several bullets
from my body. I prefer to self-operate, so I'm putting myself into a state of light auto-
hypnosis while my body works on itself. There's wine and a selection of fine French
cheeses in the fridge... make yourself at home. This won't take long."

"Illusion, Jean. Misdirection. I'm a new form of life - and this place is so much bigger
and more fun than the World in the Weapon Plus program."

"Jean... England is that way down the track. The tilt in your pelvis tells me you find me
too attractive to permit them to capture me again."

"As Weapon X, you spent the best years of your life being tortured in the project's
laboratories, did you not, monsieur ? James."

"...a square mile of experimental micro-reality with its own culture, its own religion, its
own history... a giant Petri dish where the lives of unsuspecting human beings are used
up in days, even moments. A torture chamber. They call it the World. Here, my mother
was mated with machines and I was bred, gentlemen."

"I come in peace." (BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM). "I did say 'peace', didn't
I ? I may have used the wrong word."

"I am a living hall of mirrors. I am a stealth fighter. I am super- soldier generation

thirteen. They say mutant monsters will come to steal the World and kill all my friends.
But they shouldn't have made me so smart, or I might have believed them."

"We're doomed. He has no sense of humor."

Magneto (deflecting Fantomex's bullets): "Missed."

Fantomex: "Is everything you say a clich ?"
(Behind Magneto Xavier's prison pod has been shattered open by the bullets.)

"Why, it appears you have me at a disadvantage, monsieur. However, as with most things
regarding me... appearances can be deceiving." (E.V.A. smashes in the room)

Mystique: "Start making sense, you fashion terrorist !"

Fantomex: "Oh, that is clever. And your threat is so effective."

(Appearing from nowhere after eavesdropping) "Well, now... that was an enlightening
conversation."
(Mystique approaches Fantomex, completely morphed into an entirely different woman)
Fantomex: "Ah. Hello, my dear. Aren't you ravishing. Even more so, I dare say, than that
night in Madagascar. Now that was a night of insatiable passion... The way your yellow
eyes shimmered under the moonlight..."
Mystique (getting over the shock of having been recognized): "Uchhh. I really, truly, hate
you. I heard you were dead, Fantomex."
Fantomex: "I got better. I always do."

Jean-Philippe

Dex: 08 Str: 04 Bod: 06 Motivation: Mercenary

Int: 10 Wil: 11 Min: 08 Occupation: Adventurer
Inf: 08 Aur: 07 Spi: 07 Resources {or Wealth}: 012
Init: 030 HP: 080
Powers: Empathy: 06, Eye of the cat: 12, Flame immunity: 01, Invulnerability: 10,
Lightning immunity: 03, Pain immunity: 06, Regeneration: 03, Superspeed: 02,
Truesight: 15
Bonuses and Limitations:
Empathy is a Skilled Power, and the target must have a human body language
Fantomex can observe (-2)
Eye of the cat only works with E.V.A. (-2)
Flame and Lightning Immunity are Contingent on Pain Immunity
Invulnerability takes an hour to work
Pain Immunity is Form Function (and it just adds to his RV against pain-based
attacks - GM's call as to what qualifies)
Superspeed only to accelerate mental tasks (-4)
Truesight can only be used to identify persons he's familiar with, through their
body language

Skills: Acrobatics*: 08, Martial artist*: 08, Medicine (hypnosis, first aid, surgery): 07,
Military science: 08, Thief: 11, Weaponry (firearms): 10
Advantages: Connaisseur, Headquarters (expansive, the glass house around "his"
mother's house), Language (French), Lightning Reflexes, Iron Nerves, Pet (E.V.A.),
Schtick (paired firearms, speed-shooting, contingency plans), Scholar (the intelligence
databases at Weapon Plus)
Connections: X-Men (Low), Mystique (Low)
Drawbacks: Mistrust (Mutant), MPR (will feel the pain inflicted on E.V.A. (Pain
Immunity does *not* apply), unless he takes a Phase to switch to his backup nervous
system. With the back up, his vision is in black and white and all actions have +2CS to
their OV ; if E.V.A. is grievously wounded, even the backup system will be overloaded.)
Equipment:
FN 5.7mm Five-SeveN pistols (x2) [BODY 05, Projectile weapon: 04, Sharpness
(Projectile weapon): 01, Ammo: 20, R#02] with six extra clips
Ceramic bullets magazines (x2) [BODY 03, Projectile weapon: 04, Sharpness
(Projectile weapon): 01, Ammo: 20. Those 5.7x28mm bullets are made of
ceramics, and thus cannot be affected by magnetic powers and the like]
 SPECIAL MASK [BODY 06, Mind blank: 04, Mind field (self only): 08. This
mask is lined with special ceramic panels that prevent telepathic intrusion ; this
may be the same technology as with the Juggernaut's helmet]
Fog pellets (x5) [BODY 01, Fog: 05, Grenade Drawback. Fantomex usually use
those to disappear, ninja-style -- but makes it look like its a mutant power.].

Master of misdirection:
Fantomex has a Schtick in common with Dr. Doom -- the Contingency Plans Schtick. By
spending 25 HPs, he can mysteriously come back from certain defeat or even apparent
death - and he doesn't even have to have a good explanation. In fact, he will never
provide one, except perhaps a vague allusion to the fact that, like his partial role model
Fantomas, he can never be truly defeated and always come back. The effects of this
Schtick extend to E.V.A..

The official Marvel explanation is that he and E.V.A. can create highly convincing
illusion together -- at least, I think this intended to be the official explanation for the
house in the mountains and their surviving their seeming death at the hand of Wolverine.
Since this explanation is strictly secondary source and feels weird, I've gone for variant
hypotheses here.

Day of the saucers:

E.V.A. is Fantomex's mutated nervous system. According to him, she emerged from his
mouth when he went through puberty, the size of a big pearl -- then he kept her in a bird
cage and fed her Swiss chocolate as she grew and learned to talk to him. This story is
likely complete fabrication, though certainly far more pleasant than what actually
happened.

According to Xavier and Grey, E.V.A. has "pure machine consciousness" but has a
friendly mindset. E.V.A. is capable of orbital flight, resents being called an UFO, and
seems to be bigger on the inside than on the outside. She has the following stats:

E.V.A.

"Hello, X-Man. My name is E.V.A. You can fall over now."

Dex: 04 Str: 08 Bod: 10 Motivation: Mercenary

Int: 04 Wil: 03 Min: 04 Occupation: Adventurer
Inf: 02 Aur: 02 Spi: 03 Resources {or Wealth}: NA
Init: 010 HP: 010
Powers: Energy blast: 10, Extra limbs (x4): 05, Flame immunity: 04, Flash: 03, Flight:
13, Invulnerability: 10, Life sense (Discerning): 10, Regeneration: 04, Sealed systems:
18, Thermal vision (Discerning): 10
Bonuses and Limitations:
Flash only for Steady Illumination (centered on herself)
Invulnerability takes an hour to work
Life Sense is Discerning enough to determine if people are armed (from posture),
track specific people, notice DNA fragments smeared around, etc.
Thermal vision can likewise identify traces of razed building (as per standard
aerial archeology techniques) and analyze fluctuations of heat

Drawbacks: MPR (Fantomex and E.V.A. share the same nervous system, and only one is
capable of real consciousness and complicated action at any given moment. When
Fantomex is active, E.V.A. is normally silent and is basically just a vehicle ; when
Fantomex is unconscious or transfers control to her, E.V.A. is capable of the full range of
motion, activity and speech of a human. They are capable of switching back and forth in
a very quick and very coordinated fashion, though)
Notes: When she does speak, E.V.A. has the personality of a pleasant but slightly
sarcastic female, who seems to amuse herself by "flirting" with Fantomex.

Background

Experimental designation: Charlie-Cluster 7

Other aliases: Weapon XIII, Jean-Philippe
Marital Status: Unknown
Known Relatives: Unidentified mother (presumably deceased)
Group affiliation: Former associate of the X-Men, former subject of the Weapon Plus
program and the Super-Sentinels
Base Of Operations: Somewhere in France (possibly the Pyrenees)
Height: 5'9" Weight: 174 lbs
Eyes: Grey-blue Hair: Black

Powers and Abilities

Fantomex is an artificially-evolved human who possesses multiple brains for independent

parallel processing, nano-active blood (which allow him to recover from seemingly fatal
wounds), and an external nervous system given form as E.V.A., an autonomous entity
with a pure machine consciousness capable of changing its form as well as being able to
emit bio-electric blasts. Fantomex is both telepathically and symbiotically linked to
E.V.A. As a result, whenever E.V.A. is traumatized or injured, Fantomex experiences the
same pain. Fantomex does possess a secondary, internal nervous system that he can
activate to prevent this, but its functions are limited, allowing him to see only in black &
white. Through his link with E.V.A., Fantomex can see from E.V.A.'s perspective and
take control of E.V.A.s functions, though he must concentrate fully to do so.

Fantomex appears to have the ability to teleport, but like much involving him it may only
be all smoke and mirrors akin to stage magician trickery.
Fantomex is a world-class gunman, a formidable hand-to-hand combatant and an
extraordinarily intelligent, perceptive and mentally agile person. He can also read the
body language of others with unparalleled precision. This, coupled with his superhuman
abilities, makes him a master of misdirection. Fantomex is also able to place himself in a
state of light auto-hypnosis to perform critical tasks, such as self-surgery.

Generally speaking, he's an utter and revoltingly competent BADASS.

History:

The product of a mating between his mother and a machine, Charlie- Cluster 7 was born
in the World, a secret square mile of experimental micro-reality built by the military
industrial complex. In the World, artificially evolved super-soldiers destined to serve
mankind during the inevitable war between humans and mutants were bred and trained
by the Weapon Plus Program. The Worlds scientists heated up time itself until it flowed
in all directions at once. Into this pliant, fast-moving substance, they introduced human
test groups, whose genetic material was crudely spliced with adaptive Nano-Sentinel
technology, and ran the result through half a million years of cyborg mutation in eighteen
months, with occasional gamma bombardment to induce new mutations and cull the rest.

Charlie''s nervous system was extracted and mutated into the autonomous entity named
E.V.A. The thirteenth of the Program's living Weapons, which counted among their
earlier numbers the star-spangled Avenger Captain America as the first and the mutant
hero Wolverine as the tenth, Fantomex was to serve together with Huntsman (Weapon
XII), Ultimaton (Weapon XV), and others in the Super-Sentinels. The Super-Sentinels
had been crafted with cutting edge marketing research to ensure that they would be
hugely, tremendously popular and their war of extermination against mutants would be
seen by the general population as an exciting, video game-like adventure ; Fantomex was
apparently to be the lovable rogue and star of the "show".

Fantomex, however, had other plans. When Weapon Plus simulated a train crash in the
Channel Tunnel linking Great Britain and France to field their two latest super-soldiers,
Huntsman and Fantomex, against a group of trained mutants, Fantomex seized the
opportunity to escape. Pursued by the authorities, Fantomex fled to the Paris branch of
the X-Corporation, the global mutant search and rescue organization, where he met its
founder, Professor Charles Xavier, and Jean Grey-Summers, then acting headmistress of
the Xavier Institute. Claiming to be Europe''s most notorious mutant criminal and
speaking with a noticeable French accent, Fantomex demanded sanctuary. Concerned for
the safety of the X-Corporation squad that had gone to investigate the crash, and learning
that Fantomex knew of its cargo, the trio escaped in E.V.A., who had taken on a flying
saucer-like shape.

Fantomex subsequently revealed the existence of Weapon Plus and offered to sell Xavier
more information, but only if he agreed to help stop Huntsman. Arriving back at the
Tunnel, Fantomex fought his way through the army that Huntsman had assembled. He
shot many that had been possessed by Huntsman's viral mind, including X-Corporation
member Darkstar. On reaching the train, Fantomex located the pod which had housed
Huntsman and activated a remote detonator, killing Huntsman instantly. Discovering a
second pod, Jean realized that Fantomex was actually Weapon XIII, but still allowed him
to escape.

Fantomex made various cleverly crafted and confusing claims as to his background
during that appearance:

He claimed to be Europe's most wanted mutant criminal, letting others assume

that this meant a long and spectacular criminal career in the tradition of Arsne
Lupin or Fantmas. This was both true and not true - he was likely the most
heavily hunted mutant in Europe at that point, but this was due to his recent
escape from Weapon Plus, and he did actually become the mutant criminal he
claimed to have been.
He implied that he was French (with Jean-Philippe as his first name) and had long
lived outside of Marseille. He *might* have French parents, but since he's
actually from the World the point is moot. He simply seems to have adopted the
French culture and accent as his preferred one, and later commented to Mystique
he enjoyed the effect this had on some Americans.
He made a big show of caring for his aged, blind mother and hiding his criminal
activities from her. This was probable 100% a sham -- who was playing the role
of the mother is unclear, though. It may have been a sophisticated robot fitted
with thought-proofed ceramics, making Jean and Charles unable to telepathically
determine she wasn't a person. Or it might be someone else's mother, with
Fantomex perfectly counterfeiting the voice of her rich son, named Jean-Philippe.
Given that Fantomex seems to be in the tradition of Arsne Lupin, this identity
theft may be the most likely explanation.
He appeared to live in a huge complex made of glass, situated somewhere in a
mountainous region (the Pyrnees ?), which encased a small house -- supposedly
 a replica of "his" mother's house outside of Marseille. Since such an impressive
place could not possibly have been built in the short time since Fantomex fled
Weapon Plus. it is likely he hijacked it -- maybe from some reclusive French
millionaire (and criminal ?) he had extensive intelligence about.
At several points, he's seen pouring the content of a drink on top of his mask
instead of drinking it. This might be pure surrealism, or maybe there's something
special about his physiology.

Fantomex later encountered the feral mutant Wolverine in a mutant slave trader camp in
Afghanistan. Fantomex had gone there to steal a list of the richest people in the world
who were engaged in the trade, intending to use it as blackmail. He also found the young
Afghani mutant Dust lying unconscious after she had unwittingly slaughtered her captors.
Turning her over to Wolverine, Fantomex left him to deal with the encroaching
mercenaries. A short time later, Fantomex contacted Wolverine and offered him
information about his past in return for aid in stopping Ultimaton. Along with Wolverine's
X-Men teammate Cyclops, the trio infiltrated the World to find time frozen and the
facility decimated following an attack by the terrorist group A.I.M.

After time began moving again, the heroes fought through the World's defenses and
confronted Ultimaton. They failed to defeat him, and he broke out of the World, escaping
to Weapon Plus' orbital station. Following in E.V.A., Fantomex intended to destroy the
station, but before doing so he kept his promise to Wolverine by opening the complete
Weapon Plus database, giving him access to the secrets of his past that had been long
withheld from him by Weapon X. Sickened by what he learned, Wolverine triggered the
detonation sequence and blew up the station. Fantomex and Cyclops barely managed to
escape in a shuttle, and after killing Ultimaton, Wolverine was rescued by Jean.

(At this point, my understanding is that the writer, G. Morrisson, was notified he had but
a few issues to finish his current story threads, and things became weirdly crammed
together.)

Returning to Earth to find the X-Men scattered and Manhattan under siege by a mutant
impersonating their arch-foe Magneto, Cyclops recruited Fantomex, E.V.A., and a group
of Xavier Institute students into an ad-hoc X-Men team to oppose the villain. Fantomex
led the assault, cutting a path through the faux-Magneto's Brotherhood and liberating
Xavier, precipitating the villain's downfall.

At some unclear point, Fantomex met and allied with Mystique in Madagascar, where
they shared a romantic encounter.

Resuming his crusade against Weapon Plus, Fantomex found the grave of the Program's
director, John Sublime, but found it empty, except for a slip of paper bearing the word
Roanoke. He located the secret facility of the splinter program Weapon X and found it
abandoned except for Weapon X's Agent Zero. After a brief scuffle with no clear victor,
the pair reluctantly joined forces and traveled to the site of Roanoke, a town whose
inhabitants were slaughtered after Weapon X unleashed a brainwashed Wolverine on
them years earlier. There, they encountered Sublime but were opposed by his U-Men and
forced to flee against overwhelming odds. Believed to still be under the Program's
control, Fantomex and E.V.A. were left for dead after Wolverine savagely attacked them
by surprise.

Later, the mysteriously surviving Fantomex was contacted by the diminutive mutant
Shortpack who sought his help in assassinating mutant arms dealer Steinbeck in revenge
for his killing of an agent under Shortpack's care. Fantomex refused, not wanting to
become responsible for allowing the good-natured Shortpack to become a killer.

Shortpack was captured by Steinbeck soon after, and whilst investigating his
disappearance the shapechanging mutant Mystique, who was working for both Xavier
and Steinbeck's ally Shepard, learned of his meeting with Fantomex. Though despising
him after a past encounter in Madagascar, Mystique found Fantomex in Monte Carlo,
once again operating under the pretense he was a mutant thief, and learned of Shortpack's
plan. As she left to rescue him, Fantomex followed and uncovered her intent to
assassinate Xavier. In exchange for his silence, Fantomex bade Mystique perform a heist
for him. After she returned with the goods (a genuine Spider-Man costume, found in a
New York alley and sold for millions on e-bay), Mystique infected both Fantomex and
E.V.A. with a techno-organic virus, seemingly killing them both to keep her plan secret.
However, it was all a ruse as Mystique and Fantomex knew they were being monitored
by Shepard. Fantomex later resurfaced and helped Mystique capture Shepard, giving her
access to Steinbeck whom she defeated.
Description:

See illustration. Fantomex always, always wear his mask -- even when he's gambling and
wearing a white tux. He has a noticeable, but generally faint, French accent.

Personality

Fantomex is an unpredictable, and extremely intelligent, free spirit. He likes shocking

and surprising people around him with his insight and eccentric demeanour, yet somehow
manages to project a constant vibe of complete control and amused superiority, giving the
impression he's playing with people and takes nothing seriously since he's certain he'll
come on top. One gets the impression he's constantly playing with people, testing their
reactions, pushing their buttons and stressing their limits... perhaps to learn. See the large
number of quotes, chosen to illustrate his style.

He enjoys a luxurious, James Bondian lifestyle (including spending hideous amounts of

money at the casino -- he's not a very good gambler, and apparently doesn't play games
where his body-reading skills would give him a tremendous advantage). Perhaps
gambling gives him the occasion not to be in control, and he seems to actually enjoy his
bad luck at the roulette.

Fantomex is a killer, and seems to have little hesitation taking the life of anybody
opposing him. He only care about the lives of people he knows personally, and seems to
consider anybody else not a full person.

Given the barely imaginable things he went through in the World, and his understanding
of his own true nature, he uses the "Fantomex" identity and style as his handhold on
dignity.

Fantomex seems to have a soft spot for Charles Xavier and his X-Men (though his
relationship with Wolverine, who jumped to the probably wrong conclusion he was a
Weapon X agent and seemed to kill him, might be strained), and something of a romantic
interest in Mystique.

DC Universe History:

The whole World project is the sort of demented thing Luthor might do to create anti-
superman weapons. The Galactic Golem would have been Weapon I, then they started
experimenting in other directions. A stealth/misdirection type like Phantomex could be
quite efficient against the Man of Steel - by subtly wrecking everything in his life to drive
him off.

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