MAXIS
Real Name: Dar' U Sorrin (Maximum Power
Retriever)
Identity/Class: Extradimensional (Reality-93060/Ultraverse)
extraterrestrial (Ozama) technological sentient
being
Occupation: Adventurer;
former probe
Group Membership: UltraForce (Ghoul,
Hellblade, Amber
Hunt, Iron
Clad, Prime
(Kevin Green), Prototype (Bob Campbell), Ripfire, Topaz)
Affiliations: Jake Alexander, Gorask 1223
(creator), Hardcase,
(all Reality-93060)
Enemies: Demonseed, Hardwire, Elizabeth
King, Siren,
Tulkan
Empire, Tyrannosaur;
formerly Exiles(-'Strike) (Siena Blaze,
Cayman,
Hellblade, Amber
Hunt, Reaper, Shuriken, 'Strike) (all Reality-93060)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: New York, USA;
formerly Ozama (far distant space) (all Reality-93060)
First Appearance: All-New Exiles#8 (May,
1996)
Powers/Abilities: Maxis is an extremely
powerful sentient extraterrestrial robot of unrevealed metal that is
rapidly reconfigurable, although it usually maintains a tall bipedal
form. At its base level, Maxis has superhuman strength, quick reflexes
and had a virtually indestructible shell, although it was quickly
damaged by
energy blasts and needed several months to self-repair (although this
was from an already damaged state). Extreme self-repair mode can take a
liquefied form to seep into cracks and even soil -- away from external
interference.
Maxis' core programming is to seek out
superhumans ("ultras") and code their powers into its memory matrix.
Initial observation and touch provided it with rough mimic abilities,
but Maxis needs to use its long extendable coils to wrap around a
person, usually reaching inside the mouth and subdermally, to read the
genetic code of a person and determine that person's genetic potential.
At full function, this could take about a minute, but in a damaged
form, the coding would take longer. The coding of an individual would
leave that person unconscious for several minutes. Once Maxis has coded
a superhuman's power(s) into its matrix, it can duplicate them. This
makes it near unstoppable with current power codes providing near
invulnerability (on top of self-repair circuits), advanced mastery of
multiple forms of combat, superhuman strength (50+ tons), advanced
polymorphic abilities, weapons generation (including projectiles, stun
beams and
magnetic field blasts). Its initial bank of coded powers seemed to be
limited to 10 powers, but apparently expanded once on Earth after
interaction with ultras augmented its abilities.
Maxis can generate interdimensional
portals to specific dimensions; however, such portals have not been
witnessed for providing means of access across vast distances within
its own dimension. It can configure portal generation via a beam from
its chest unit, or (via specific nanotech programming) alter its entire
form to provide a frame like a
doorway.
Significant damage necessitates the
shifting of power to different
functions. Despite its formidable power, it has been programmed to
never use fatal force. Maxis' programming is alien in nature and it is
unrevealed if it is decipherable/alterable by humans. It also has
universal translator circuits. It developed a jawed mouth with fangs
and tongue plus mandibles, presumably from coding and using ultras'
powers.
Initially driven on its singular mission
to code ultras' powers, once this purpose was over, it became
subservient to a team assignment.
Height:
Variable (usually ~12')
Weight: 500 lbs. (by estimation)
Eyes: Red
Hair: Inapplicable/none
History:
(All-New Exiles#8 (fb) - BTS) - Hunting for the
devastating creature Demonseed, the Tulkan armada became butchers
themselves, destroying civilizations where they thought the being
lurked. The Tulkans had an infamous reputation and next targeted the
Ozama civilization. Brilliant Ozaman scientist Gorask 1223 sought
funding from Ozama's ruling governors with a device that would code
powers from superhumans (Ozamans called "specials") from a
distant world ("ultras" on Earth) and embed these codes in willing
local
warriors to fight Demonseed; however, Gorask was ridiculed for the
concept. Gorask
continued his work on his Dar' U Sorrin probe (Maximum Power Retriever)
in private, but progress was slow due to lack of support.
(All-New Exiles#8) - Gorask finished
his probe, which
resembled the haunched Ozaman form, just as the Tulkan fleet attacked
Ozama, quickly destroying Ozama defenses. Gorask still launched the
Maximum Power Retriever, rolled up in its protective sphere, through a
warp tunnel
headed to Earth.
The probe arrived on Earth, targeting the most suitable area for ultras, although warp travel damaged some of its functions. It crashed into a building and attacked Elizabeth King, who was unaware of her power to re-channel energy. It found it had to bond with a host and bonded with her at the molecular level to copy her power into its matrix, but this caused her pain. The probe detected more suitable ultra signatures at a nearby "Heroes" cemetery (containing several of the deceased original Exiles (Deming's group)) where Amber Hunt (a surviving member of the original Exiles) stood accompanied by new teammate Shuriken.
(All-New Exiles#8 (fb) - BTS) - The probe arrived and
quickly knocked out Hunt and Shuriken. It copied Shuriken's and Hunt's
ultra
power codes, leaving them unconscious, while still completely encasing
King's body as host.
(All-New Exiles#8) - The pair's silent tracking bugs
brought the other new Exiles (Siena Blaze, Hellblade, Reaper, 'Strike)
to the cemetery, where they engaged it in battle. The probe's damaged
translation circuits gave a garbled response that the Exiles
interpreted as "Maxis" for its name and it duplicated the powers of
many of the ultras during the fight: Shuriken's ninja speed, Siena
Blaze's electromagnetic blast and Reaper's paralysis scythe. Maxis
retreated from the intense blasts from Blaze and the recovered Hunt,
but had
Hellblade in its coils. Maxis still needed to fully copy various ultra
powers into its matrix; shifting its own power between defense,
mobility and memory affected its capacity for recording. Maxis released
Hellblade, having copied his powers into its matrix, then went for the
two missing ultra power codes: Siena Blaze and 'Strike, but Maxis'
attempt at a dual download gave Elizabeth King sufficient freedom to
desperately call down lightning bolt energy and channel it at Maxis.
Further blasts from Blaze and Hunt severely damaged Maxis and it
liquefied, sinking into the cemetery soil to begin shutdown. Its homing
unit found a buried ultra corpse to slowly begin self-repair. Above
ground, the Exiles fled with no time to investigate as police
approached.
(All-New Exiles#11) - Months later, Maxis had finally
leeched enough remaining bio-energy from the ultra's corpse and
resurfaced, sliding its way to another ultra for scanning in a nearby
tomb (Iron Clad, whose body was in hibernation from seeming death).
Maxis encased Iron Clad, using him as a host, and advanced to the
nearby site where the Exiles were engaged in a chaotic battle against
numerous ultra mercenaries amongst New York ruins called Ground Zero.
Discarding Iron Clad, Maxis absorbed the
villainous Hardwire, then turned to new targets (including
Tyrannosaur); it deemed ultras
already coded as expendable. Maxis' hunt turned to the fleeing Exiles,
who had retreated into the sewers and encountered Siren and Ripfire
plus his cohorts. Maxis smashed through the concrete and overwhelmed
all those there, knocking out in fierce battle those it had met before
and incapacitating those whose powers it absorbed by smothering them,
then evicting them unconscious seconds later. Nearby, covert Aladdin
forces watched
and (incorrectly) pronounced the Exiles dead.
(UltraForce II#11) - Meanwhile, near
Ozama, the
Tulkan fleet detected the spatial rift (used by Maxis to travel to
Earth)
and followed, believing it was used Demonseed. Back on Earth, Aladdin
sent footage of Maxis surrounded by bodies and the devastation of
Ground Zero to UltraForce and requested their help. UltraForce (Black
Knight (Dane Whitman), Prime (Kevin Green), Prototype (Bob Campbell),
Topaz) mobilized immediately.
(UltraForce II#12) - UltraForce
arrived and
confronted Maxis, who read their "special" powers. Considering options
to incapacitate them so as to record their power codes, Maxis utilized
already recorded powers from its matrix, generating and hurling
throwing stars (recorded from Shuriken), then recalibrating its arm
into stun guns (from 'Strike). Maxis easily knocked away Prime's
strength attack, then it grabbed Topaz by the throat, and quickly
duplicated and stored her powers into its matrix, its speed of
recording powers having advanced. Maxis discarded her unconscious form,
but had to contend with Black Knight and Prototype's pincer attack,
which it easily overcame. Detecting no "special" powers in either, it
readied to move on, but Amber Hunt's sudden arrival forced it to
rethink strategy due to her high power levels and Maxis' unsustainable
capacity to respond. It chose the strategy to re-record her power
code so that she would be left unconscious, but Hunt resisted this time
and fought back, causing unexpected electromagnetic power transfer and
an explosive overload that left Hunt unconscious and ejected the host
body (Ripfire). Maxis recovered quickly, now able to maintain physical
cohesion without the need for a host body, and set off to continue its
mission, but a combined attack from UltraForce and the other assembled
heroes collapsed a tall building on top of Maxis. The heroes then
turned to face the arrival of the Tulkan fleet.
(Ultraverse Unlimited#2) - Beneath Ground Zero, while
UltraForce was distracted battling Tulkan forces and
the Alien
Elite,
Maxis' self-repair function
restored its corporal structure and it rose from the rubble. Finding no
new
"specials" nearby, it resumed its mission searching. Maxis climbed to
street level where the fighting had just ended with UltraForce
victorious. Black Knight expected a fight but Maxis, having scanned
them already, made no move. The Tulkan leader suddenly teleported down
and told of his mission to exterminate the Demonseed, informing Maxis
that it was the last of Ozama; the Tulkans then departed. Maxis
considered its options, revealing its warp travel capacity, which Black
Knight, Siena Blaze and Reaper immediately capitalized upon to return
home to Reality-616. At that point, Aladdin helicopters arrived,
demanding the remaining heroes' surrender.
(UltraForce II#13) - The heroes informed Aladdin's
Jake Alexander of the Demonseed threat and he ordered Hunt and
Hellblade join UltraForce. Aladdin wanted to disassemble the now docile
Maxis for study, but Iron Clad vouched for the robot and offered to
join the team to keep it free. While the devious Aladdin scientist
agreed, it was also so that Aladdin could secure Maxis if Aladdin
discovered the robot had coded all the powers of UltraForce and the
team
would then be redundant. Rapid team changes were made: Prime, Siren and
the critically injured 'Strike left, while Ripfire joined and Ghoul
returned. The new team traveled to UltraForce's base and discussed what
to do about Demonseed, but Hunt focused on claiming back the power
unintentionally transferred to Maxis. Hunt blasted Maxis to destroy its
body, but found it was now near invulnerable. But then Hardcase's
sudden return, after being locked away in Limbo after the
reality-altering Infinity Effect, shocked the team.
(UltraForce II#14) - Hardcase
explained his part in
the origin of Demonseed as a creation in Limbo; oddly, Maxis was absent
from the briefing. Demonseed's new destruction sent UltraForce
(including Maxis) to Ground Zero, where they confronted the now giant
villain.
(UltraForce II#15) - Prototype's impatient attack
quickly let Demonseed absorb most of UltraForce, leaving only Ghoul,
Maxis, Hunt and Hardcase standing, somehow immune to their foe. Maxis'
scan caused significant bioelectric feedback, but yielded information
for a strategy; Maxis and Hunt's combined attack of opposing magnetic
field blasts weakened Demonseed so that all could escape. Regrouping at
Headless Cross and rejoined with Prime, with Maxis augmented by
Hardcase's nanotech, the team returned and attacked in full unison.
Demonseed was
weakened further. Maxis formed an interdimensional portal to Limbo
(utilizing Hardcase's nanotech); Hardcase forced Demonseed back through
to Limbo and Maxis reconfigured into its usual form. Whilst Ripfire
had sacrificed himself in the battle, the team looked to the future...
Comments: Created by Mark Paniccia, Joyce Chin, Terry Pallot.
Profile by Grendel Prime.
CLARIFICATIONS
:
Maxis has no known connections to:
Gorask 1223 was the scientist of the alien Ozama
civilization who created the nanotech probe Dar' U Sorrin (Maximum
Power Retriever, later known as Maxis on Earth) in an effort to endow
local individuals with powers he had witnessed far away on Earth
superhumans via his dimensional telescope. Despite the ruling
governors' ridicule, he continued with his plan as a defense against
the destructive creature Demonseed. The delay meant the powerful Tulkan
fleet, zealously hunting for Demonseed,
slaughtered their quickly through the Ozama people as Gorask, alongside
his assistant Karsol, launched the Dar' U Sorrin probe down a warp
tunnel headed to Earth. He was very likely lost with the rest of the
Ozama civilization before Maxis could return.
--All-New Exiles#8
Miss Elizabeth King was a superhuman ("ultra")
unaware of her power to absorb and re-channel energy. By chance, she
became the alien robot Maxis' first target to imprint ultra powers.
Maxis' damage during interstellar travel meant it had to rely on a
living host and used her to hold its form. Maxis penetrated King's body
at the molecular level to scan her power and copy it into its matrix.
The process was suffocating and it only the timely intervention of the
Exiles (Siena Blaze, Hellblade, Amber Hunt, Reaper, Shuriken, 'Strike)
that freed her. However, Maxis returned to her to complete data
processing but she resisted, unwittingly calling on her power in a bolt
of lightning that she re-channeled against Maxis. Additional help from
Blaze and Hunt completely overwhelmed Maxis and sunk into the ground.
The Exiles fled as police arrived and she was likely taken to hospital.
--All-New Exiles#8
Ozamans were a very advanced civilization in far interstellar space, but were targeted by the unforgiving Tulkan fleet zealously hunting for the destructive creature Demonseed. Brilliant Ozaman scientist Gorask 1223 devised a probe to code alien super-powers as a defense, but the ruling governors ridiculed him. As such, Ozama's defenses were no match for the Tulkan fleet and the Ozama civilization was obliterated. Gorask's probe, later dubbed Maxis, continued to Earth; however, the Tulkan fleet found the Maxis' spatial rift for travel and followed it. Later, Maxis confronted a Tulkan leader, who stated it was the last of Ozama.
Ozamans lived in large floating cities
in their planet's atmosphere. Little is seen of the Ozama people;
bipedal with claw-like hands, they are green with spikes along their
spine. Gorask chose to make his robot probe in his own image, but it's
unrevealed if Maxis' giant form reflects the Ozama people's height.
--All-New Exiles#8 (UltraForce II#11
images:
(without ads)
UltraForce II#15, p11, pan3 (main image)
Ultraverse Unlimited#2, p36, pan6 (headshot)
All-New Exiles#8, p6, pan3 (sphere for warp travel)
UltraForce II#12, cover (standing victorious)
UltraForce II#12, p12, pan3 (scanning Black Knight)
Ultraverse Unlimited#2, p37, pan1 (generating portal from chest)
All-New Exiles#8, p5, pan3 (Gorask 1223)
All-New Exiles#8, p7, pan1 (King, standing)
All-New Exiles#8, p18, pan1 (King, in Maxis' coils)
All-New Exiles#8, p5, pan1 (Ozama floating cities)
All-New Exiles#8, p5, pan2 (Ozamans in shadow at window)
All-New Exiles#11, p16, pan5 (crawling underground)
Appearances:
All-New Exiles#8 (May, 1996) - Mark Paniccia (writer), Joyce Chin
(pencils), Terry Pallot (inks), Phil Crain (editor)
All-New Exiles#11 (August, 1996) - Phil Crain (writer), John Fang &
Shannon Denton (pencils), Rod Whigham (layouts), Bruce McCorkindale
(inks), Mark Paniccia (senior editor)
UltraForce II#11 (August, 1996) - Len Wein (writer), Carlos Mota
(pencils), Rene Michelleti (inks), Mark Paniccia (editor)
UltraForce II#12 (September, 1996) - Len Wein (writer), Deodato
Studios, Carlos Mota & Rene Michelleti (artists), Mark Paniccia
(editor)
Ultraverse Unlimited#2 (September, 1996) - Len Wein (writer), Kevin
West, John Fang, Vinton Hueck, Shannon Gallant & Don Hillsman
(pencils), Bob Almond, Philip Moy & David Mowry (inks), Phil
Crain (editor)
UltraForce II#13 (October, 1996) - Len Wein (writer), Deodato Studios
& Carlos Mota (pencils), Deodato Studios & Rene
Michelleti (inks), Mark Paniccia (senior editor)
UltraForce II#14 (November, 1996) - Len Wein (writer), Renato Arlem
& Deodato Studios (pencils), Deodato Studios & Jose
Pimentel (inks), Mark Paniccia (editor)
UltraForce II#15 (December, 1996) - Len Wein (writer), Andy Park
(pencils), Norm Rapmund (inks), Mark Paniccia (senior editor)
First posted: 06/28/2023 - celebrating 30 years of
the Ultraverse!
Last updated:
06/28/2023
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!