Real Name: Nathan "Nat" Cooper

Identity/Class: Human mutate

Occupation: Unrevealed; former fun-house operater

Group Membership: Laboratory subjects of the Stranger (formerly)

Affiliations: Overmind (used as pawn by him); served unwillingly as companion to the Protector

Enemies: Nova (Richard Rider), Quasar (Wendell Vaughn) (well, he was going to fight him), Stranger; Allen, Clara Cooper

Known Relatives: Roger "Caps" Cooper (nephew); Clara Cooper (wife)

Aliases: Handsome, Smiley, Pretty-boy, Baldy, Dimples, Meggy (as called by Nova); "entity" (the name the Protector used for him)

Base of Operations: Currently unrevealed; formerly the Stranger's Laboratory World; formerly Earth of one million years in the future; formerly Coney Island, New York

First Appearance: (BTS) Nova I#3 (November, 1976); (seen) Nova I#6 (February, 1977; see comments)

Powers/Abilities: Megaman had a variety of abilities enabling him to manipulate the environment around him; he could generate winds, fires, and earthquakes (see comments). He possessed some degree of superhuman strength (enhanced human) and durability.

Distinguishing features: Having no facial features, or anything else on his head, Megaman apparently saw, heard, and spoke by other means, presumably telepathically. He apparently had no need to eat or breathe.

Height: Unrevealed (6'2"; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Inapplicable; (Nat Cooper) unrevealed
Hair: Bald; (Nat Cooper) brown

History:
(Nova I#9 (fb) - BTS) - Nat Cooper's past is largely unrevealed, but at some point he married Clara. The two lived at a Coney Island amusement park, in a three-room apartment above a fun-house they operated each summer; but theirs was a troubled marriage -- although they went through the motions of being a couple, they never really were, and Clara apparently had a boyfriend on the side; but despite her infidelity, Nat always loved Clara.

(Nova I#8 (fb)) - Six months prior, Nat accompanied his nephew Roger (aka Caps) on a camping trip. While they were hiking, they followed an unnatural glow into a cave, where they found a black lake. Caps rushed forward to get a closer look and inadvertently knocked his uncle into the strange waters of the black pool, where Nat caught fire as he sank; Caps--afraid to touch the water and suffer the same fate--rushed away to get help. When Caps returned, Nat was gone, apparently drowned and dead, and the police ruled it an accident.

   However, Nat did not die -- he apparently vanished and lost consciousness. When he revived, he learned that a million years of time had passed (see comments), and he encountered the last essence of life on Earth -- this creature, which came to be known as "The Protector," was far from human, and existed only as an atomic structure. Nathan had been severely burned in the fiery black lake, so the Protector healed his wounds; however, it had been a long time since "primitive" lifeforms had existed on that world, so the Protector had limited knowledge of what humans looked like, and when Nat was remade, he was consequently left without any facial features, or ears, or hair (Fortunately, the Protector did seem to understand that Nat needed pants!).

   The Protector also gave Nat great power, enabling him to manipulate the environment around him, in order to survive on the hostile world that Earth had become. The Protector was apparently feminine, and sought Nat to be her companion -- Nat was understandably angered by his situation, and had no interest in anything to do with the Protector; however, he was powerless to escape her. Finally, after six months, Nat saw his chance -- using the powers given to him by the Protector, Nat trapped her in a solid glass sphere during a sandstorm, then dove into the black pool, and somehow returned back to his home Earth of the current era (see comments).

(Nova I#9 (fb)) - After concealing his bizarre appearance with a trench-coat and fedora hat, Nat returned to Coney Island to see Clara again; but two boys playing in the deserted amusement park saw him first, and they ran away in horror after seeing his blank visage -- reminded that he had become a "faceless freak," Nat's anger towards Caps grew, and he irrationally blamed his nephew for all his misfortunes.

(Nova I#3 - BTS) - Nat went to Caps' house and hid inside; when Caps returned home, Nat surprised him and accused Caps of murdering him (see comments).

(Nova I#6) - Calling himself Megaman, Nat captured Caps and tied him up in a sewer tunnel which was in the process of being flooded.

(Nova I#8 (fb) - BTS) - While Caps was held captive in the rising waters of the sewer, his uncle recounted the story of how he had become Megaman.

(Nova I#8) - Nova (Richard Rider) learned of his friend Caps' fate from the Computer Prime on the previous Nova (Rhomann Dey)'s spaceship. He returned to Earth and saved Caps (...apparently just minutes before Megaman, who later claimed to have regretted his actions and returned to save Caps himself, only to find him gone).

(Nova I#8 - BTS) - Early the next morning, Megaman returned to Caps' home; Caps assumed his uncle was trying to kill him again, so he fled to his friend Richard Rider's house.

(Nova I#8) - Caps pounded on the front door of the Rider home, pleading for help; moments after Richard let Caps in, Megaman came bursting through the door. Richard slipped away and changed into Nova, then attempted to fight off Megaman; but Megaman seized Caps and set the Rider home on fire -- with his parents and brother trapped inside, Nova had to save his family, enabling Megaman to escape with Caps.

(Nova I#9) - Megaman carried Caps back to Coney Island and explained to his nephew how he had initially blamed him for his condition, but had since gotten over it. Wanting to be reunited with Clara, Megaman feared she would die of shock if she saw what he had become, so he begged Caps to go to Clara on his behalf and explain what had happened to him; feeling pity for his uncle's tragic situation, Caps agreed to help him. But when Caps went up to the apartment and told Clara that Nathan was still alive, she didn't believe him.

   Megaman soon discovered that Clara had moved on to a new man, Allen. When Megaman saw Allen with Clara, he was furious, and he struck him, so Caps called the police for help -- Nova intercepted the emergency police broadcast with his helmet's circuity, and he flew to Coney Island.

   Nova arrived to fight off Megaman, but after an inconclusive battle in the fun-house below Clara's apartment, Megaman was horrified to see the Protector appear before him. The Protector was delighted to have found Megaman again, and she took him back to her future Earth, to stay with her forever and ever.

(Quasar I#14 (fb) - BTS) - Megaman somehow returned to the current era, but was captured by the enigmatic Stranger, who took him to his laboratory world for study.

(Quasar I#14-15 - BTS, 16) - During the Overmind's attack on the Stranger, Megaman was one of those freed and sent to attack the Stranger's allies. Megaman was one of several former prisoners being transported to the site of the struggle between the Overmind and the Stranger's forces -- Dr. Spectrum (of Earth-712's Squadron Supreme) was transporting them, but in mid-flight, he came to his senses as the Overmind withdrew his influence to focus his full power against the Stranger. Spectrum then dropped Megaman and the others, leaving them to fend for themselves. Many of the Stranger's former prisoners escaped after this struggle, but Megaman's fate is unrevealed.

Comments: Created by Marv Wolfman and Sal Buscema.









Megaman's "appearance" in Nova I#3 was completely off-panel, and only Caps' shocked reaction was depicted; since Megaman had no face, Caps must have recognized his uncle by the sound of his voice.

Megaman's powers seemed to be somewhat similar to Crystal (Crystalith Amaquelin) of the Inhumans.--Ron Fredricks

I'd guess that the black pool was some sort of time-warp. Of course, as in most stories, time proceeded linearly for Megaman, so that after six months in the future, he returned to the past six months after he had left it.

So what happened to the Protector? Or Megaman for that matter. I think he should team-up with the original Fusion, Sphinxor, the Sky-Walker, and the rest of the MIA characters from the Stranger's world and get involved with the Thunderbolts or anyone else, written by Kurt Busiek or Fabian Nicieza. Let them know if you'd like this, too.

Since Megaman rejected her, maybe someone could set the Protector up with Agron.
--Ron Fredricks

In 2008 we thought Megaman had finally returned in the pages of Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four #3, but to our surprise the script revealed that was instead just the Faceless Man. What the...!? That is even more obscure than Megaman.
--Markus Raymond

New and additional images by Ron Fredricks and one by Markus Raymond.

I noticed that there's no full body image of him available. So in case we might want one for the profile, I Frankensteined one together. For image info, most of the body came from Nova I#9, p1, pan1, with the left arm taken from Nova I#9, p12, pan 1.
--Loki

Profile by Snood. Expansion by Ron Fredricks.











CLARIFICATIONS:
Megaman (Nathan "Nat" Cooper) should not be confused with:

The Protector from the far future has no known connection with:

The original, enigmatic Stranger (@ X-Men I#11) has no known connection to:

black lake

Located in a cave somewhere in the wilderness (possibly in New York state), it was a pool of black water that glowed red; it also seemed to be a portal to an alternate Earth of one million years in the future.

While Roger "Caps" Cooper was hiking with his uncle Nathan Cooper, they noticed a glow coming from the cave and went to investigate. They discovered the pool, and when Caps rushed forward to get a closer look, he accidentally knocked his Uncle Nat into the fiery water. As he was set aflame, the agonized Nathan sank, and he begged his nephew for help; but Caps was afraid of getting burned himself, so he ran to get help.

The badly burned Nathan continued to drop down until he found himself in Earth's distant future; he was found by "The Protector," who healed his injuries and granted him the power to survive in this world's hostile environment.

After spending six months on that future Earth, the faceless Nathan used his powers to trap the Protector in a glass sphere, then he dived back into the black pool and emerged back in his own time -- he was determined to get revenge on Caps, because he believed his nephew had intentionally pushed him into the pool.

--Nova I#8 (8 (fb)

The Protector

One million years in the future, the Protector was a native of an Earth where mankind had evolved into basic atomic structures -- far from human, the Protector's bizarre form was reminiscent of a model of a molecule.

While not even remotely humanoid, the Protector had a feminine personality, and maintained several human emotions, including the desire for companionship. She possessed energy manipulative powers (greater even than Megaman's), and could heal and empower others, as well as manipulate the hostile environment of her world -- her full powers, abilities, and limits are undefined.

One-hundred thousand years earlier, after the others of her kind had all died, the lonely Protector found herself to be the last essence of life on Earth. But she eventually discovered the badly burnt Nat Cooper (who had been transported to her world when he fell into the black pool). The Protector healed the injuries of Nat (whom she addressed as "entity") and gave him the power to survive in the hostile environment of her world; but as the Protector had no knowledge of human facial features, Nat was left with a blank face. Although she cared for him, Nat angrily rejected the Protector because she had transformed him into a "faceless freak".

After spending six months with her, the transformed Nat used his power to entrap the Protector in a glass sphere, then he leapt into the black pool and returned to his own time.

The Protector escaped imprisonment and searched the time-streams for "entity"; she finally found Nat--now calling himself Megaman--as he tried to reconcile with his unfaithful wife Clara. The Protector admitted that she loved Megaman, and told him that his powers were too dangerous for him to remain in the present era, so she transported him back with herself to her world of one million years in the future.

Although Megaman would later somehow return to the present era, the fate of the Protector is unrevealed.

--Nova I#8 (8 (fb), 9

Clara Cooper

She was the wife of Nathan Cooper; the two lived at a Coney Island amusement park, in a three-room apartment above the fun-house they operated each summer. But theirs was a troubled marriage -- although Nathan loved her, the unfaithful Clara really didn't love him, and she was apparently romantically involved with Allen.

Six months prior, Nathan fell into a black pool and was assumed to be dead, so Clara had Allen move in with her at the apartment  -- Nathan's relatives looked down upon Clara for her "wanton" behavior.

But the badly injured Nathan had been transported one million years into the future, where he was transformed into the faceless Megaman by the Protector.

When Nathan's nephew Roger "Caps" Cooper told Clara that her husband was still alive, her reaction was one of angered disbelief.

Shortly afterward, Megaman found Clara with Allen, and he became enraged; he terrorized the two with his powers until Nova (Richard Rider) arrived and fought him.

Later, the Protector appeared and wanted to take Megaman back to the future; desperate to remain in the present world, Megaman begged Clara to say that she still loved him, in the hopes that the Protector would let him stay. But the cold-hearted Clara merely remained silent.

After the Protector took Megaman back to the future, Clara attended to the injured Allen -- she admitted that she never loved Nathan, and she didn't care what happened to him now that he was gone; in response, Nova told her that it was probably just as well that Nathan didn't stay with her, because she didn't deserve him...

(Comment: Megaman constantly referred to Clara as his wife, and she even mentioned her last name of Cooper, so they may not have been divorced, and were still legally married.)

--Nova I#9

Allen

Allen (last name unrevealed) was Clara Cooper's boyfriend, and he lived with her after the apparent death of her husband Nathan.

He went out to pick up some groceries, and when he returned to Clara's Coney Island apartment, he learned that Caps Cooper had told her that Nathan was still alive. The angry Allen slapped Caps for telling lies to his woman.

But moments later, Allen was shocked when Nathan--who had been transformed into Megaman--entered the apartment. The enraged Megaman struck Allen aside, then terrorized him and Clara until Nova (Richard Rider) arrived.

After Megaman was taken away by the Protector, the injured Allen was attended to by Clara.

(Comment: Allen may have been involved with Clara for some time -- when Megaman saw him returning to the apartment, he thought to himself, "Allen? He's still hanging around Clara?", which implied he was aware of their relationship before his "death".)

--Nova I#9

images: (without ads)
Nova I#9, cover (main image - Megaman, reflected in fun-house mirrors)
Nova I#6, p6, pan3 (headshot - Megaman)
Nova I#8, p9, pan3 (Nathan Cooper head shot before transformation)
Nova I#8, p11, pan7 (Nathan Cooper gets transformed into Megaman by the Protector)
Nova I#8, p12, pan4 (Megaman shoots fiery blast)
Quasar I#16, p15, pan2 (Megaman among other prisoners of Stranger's laboratory world)
Comments (left image; see comments)
Nova I#3, p15, pan3 (Caps Cooper shocked to see Megaman [off-panel])
Nova I#8, p9, pan4 (Nathan and Caps Cooper find black pool in cave)
Nova I#8, p9, pan7 (Nathan Cooper falls into black pool)
Nova I#8, p10, pan1 (Nathan Cooper gets burned in fiery waters of black pool)
Nova I#8, p13, pan1 (one million years in the future, Megaman dives into black pool; the Protector, trapped in glass sphere [background])
Nova I#8, p11, pan4 (The Protector)
Nova I#9, p16, pan1 (The Protector appears by Megaman)
Nova I#9, p9, pan2 (Clara Cooper)
Nova I#9, p9, pan4 (Clara Cooper confronts Caps Cooper)
Nova I#9, p16, pan3 (Clara Cooper refuses to tell Megaman that she loves him)
Nova I#9, p9, pan6 (Allen; Caps Cooper [foreground])
Nova I#9, p10, pan2 (Allen)
Nova I#9, p10, pan5 (Allen gets swatted aside by Megaman; Clara, Megaman [background])

Appearances:
Nova I#3 (November, 1976) - Marv Wolfman (writer/editor), Sal Buscema (pencils), Tom Palmer (inks) [off-panel, voice only]
Nova I#6 (February, 1977) - Marv Wolfman (writer/editor), Sal Buscema (pencils), Frank Giacoia (inks)
Nova I#8-9 (April-May, 1977) - Marv Wolfman (writer/editor), Sal Buscema (breakdowns), Frank Giacoia (finished art/inks)
Quasar I#14-15 (September-October, 1990) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), MikeManley (pencils), Dan Panosian (inks), Len Kaminski (editor)
Quasar I#16 (November, 1990) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), MikeManley (pencils), Dan Panosian & Keith Williams (inks), Len Kaminski (editor)

First posted: 12/03/2001
Last updated: 02/07/2026

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

Back to Characters