PERMAFROST

permafrost-mystech-dg2-combatformpermafrost-mystech-dg3-freeze-ultramarineReal Name: Unrevealed;
    possibly Permafrost

Identity/Class: Apparently artificial constructs / "smart weapons"; see comments

Occupation: Warrior;
    agent of Mys-Tech;

Group Membership: Mys-Tech (notably Collapsar, Sunder, Gudrun Tyburn and her artificial replicant)

Affiliations: Posed as allies but secretly manipulated the Egaliterns of Eopia, notably their leader, Trusivor

Enemies: Dark Guard (Albion/Peter Hunter, Dark Angel/Shevaun Haldane, Ultra-Marine/Kith Nasca), the Technarchy of Eopia;
    indirectly, the rest of Dark Guard (Stacy Arnheim, Death's Head/Minion, Killpower/Julius Mullarkey, Colonel Tigon Liger, Motormouth/Harley Davis), Clementine (Liger's sentient weapon), Superconductor, the Time Guardian


Known Relatives: None (unless Sunder and/or Collapsar are brethren)

Aliases: "Cold Warrior" (from Dark Angel), "Frosty" (from Sunder), "Ice-For-Brains" (from Ultra Marine)

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
    formerly Eopia, capital of the Egalitern bloc on the planet Eopia; Eopia's star system and galaxy are unrevealed;
    perhaps formerly Earth (if Mys-Tech created him there)

First Appearance: Dark Guard#2 (November, 1993)

permafrost-mystech-dg3-darkangel1permafrost-mystech-dg3-full-coloroffPowers/Abilities: Permafrost is large and powerful, perhaps able to lift 5-10 tons or more and apparently composed of ice or a similarly appearing synthetic material.

    His searing, sub-zero grip can instantly encase others in ice, incapacitating even an exo-skeleton-wearing warrior such as Ultra Marine Kith Nasca. 

    He can reduce the temperature of a target to "minus sixty" (it wasn't specified as Fahrenheit or Celsius, but it's not much different at either temperature, because the two systems meet at -40 degrees). 

    While a powerful plasma weapon blast may knock him off his feet or even back across a short distance and/or splinter off some of his spikey projections, he was not significantly harmed by having a rocky/marble building collapse on top of him.

    Superheated blasts give him momentary pause, but if close enough, he can strike down a target, ending an assault and allowing him full recovery.

    However, he cannot tolerate the cold of absolute zero (-273 celsius; - 460 Fahrenheit), which shatters his form explosively.

     It is unrevealed whether he can reform or be rebuilt from the shattering of his physical form.

     He is able to adopt a humanoid form as needed.

     Although reportedly a construct, Permafrost was a trash-talker (as was Sunder), delivering taunts and speaking colloquially.

     He apparently had a strange voice, as his speech balloons had an irregular shape.

Height: Unrevealed (perhaps 8-9'; human form perhaps 7')
Weight: Unrevealed (impossible to estimate, since we don't know if he was made from solid ice, synthetic materials, robot parts, etc.)
Eyes: Solid white (human form, unrevealed; seen only in shadow and eyes fairly closed/squinted)
Hair:  None
Distinguishing features: Permafrost appears to be made of ice, with various stalagmite/stalactite-like spikey projections from his head, body, and limbs.

     He has three fingers and a thumb on each hand. His feet appeared to have two toes each.

History:
(Dark Guard I#1 (fb) - BTS / Dark Guard I#2 (fb) - BTS) - Mys-Tech established a presence on the planet Eopia in the Albedo Crux Cluster, escalating the war between Egaliterns and Technarchy in an effort to cause the planet's destruction via thermo-nuclear war... 

(Dark Guard I#3 (fb) - BTS) - so they could harness its death scream to pay off Mys-Tech's debt to Mephisto.permafrost-mystech-dg2-human

(Dark Guard I#1 (fb) - BTS / Dark Guard I#2 (fb) - BTS) - Mys-Tech agents Permafrost and Sunder were sent to manipulate the Egaliterns, and they seemingly allied with Egalitern ruler, Trusivor, who sought a peaceful resolution to the conflict with the Technarchy. Permafrost and Sunder promised to protect Trusivor.

    Another Mys-Tech agent, Collapsar, was sent to work with the Technarchy.

(Dark Guard I#3 (fb) - BTS) - As part of some "secret defense program," Sunder implanted three hundred empathic receptors deep in the planet's continental crust. These would absorb the death scream of Eopia as it perished in nuclear conflagration. Mys-Tech could then synthesize a raw, emotive force of pure death-agony to pay off Mys-Tech's debt entirely.

(Dark Guard I#1 - BTS) - The Time Guardian gathered the Dark Guard to oppose Mys-Tech's becoming a universal threat. They were subsequently sent to to Eopia where they were engaged by hostile forces in Technarchy territory.

(Dark Guard I#2 - BTS) - As Technarchy reinforcements arrived, Death's Head, Killpower, and Tigon Liger rushed for the portal back to the Time Guardian's realm. However, Collapsar abruptly appeared and captured Killpower and Liger and departed, while Death's Head was knocked back to the rest of the Dark Guard.

(Dark Guard I#2 - BTS) - The Time Guardian's Superconductor assistant detailed the situation on Eopia and Mys-Tech's involvement, including the presence of their superhuman agents.

(Dark Guard I#2 - BTS) - While Death's Head and Motormouth were sent to the Helios Plateau to rescue Killpower and Liger, the other free members -- Albion, Dark Angel, and Ultra-Marine -- were sent to try to reason with the Egaliterns.permafrost-mystech-dg3-darkangel2

(Dark Guard I#3 (fb) - BTS) - In conventional humanoid forms, Permafrost and Sunder stood by Trusivor as he prepared to meet with the Technarchy ambassador.

(Dark Guard I#2) - As the aliens approached Trusivor and Dark Angel noted they would speak with him, Trusivor called on Sunder and Permafrost to fulfill their apparently sworn duty to protect him and slay what he believed to be Technarchy assassins. In response, Permafrost and Sunder assumed their massive true forms, intimidating the Dark Guard members.

(Dark Guard I#3) - Although Albion tried to explain to Trusivor that he had mistaken their intentions, Ultra-Marine flew in to confront the warriors, and Permafrost caught him in a grip that instantly encased him in ice and rendered him helpless. Permafrost instructed Sunder to "squash this squalling runt," which Sunder readily prepared to do, but before he could land his first blow, Albion blasted Sunder away.
permafrost-mystech-dg3-darkangel-destroyed
    Dark Angel agitated the air molecules around Permafrost to a super-heated frenzy, which he briefly felt before swatting her away as he called her a witch. 

    Overriding his armor's environmental rheostat, Ultra Marine melted out of his containment and blasted Permafrost, knocking him back into a building. When Ultra Marine went to check on Albion after Sunder knocked him underground and pummeled him, Dark Angel went to check to confirm Permafrost was out for the count, but he wasn't; grabbing Dark Angel's arm, he swiftly reduced her temperature to minus 60 (presumably Celsius, given it was a British comic), but Dark Angel explained that her powers were born out of interstellar voids and that his conception of cold was a cosmic breeze to her. When she asked him if he wanted to try to the real thing, Permafrost cried out in the negative and in agony as she summoned the cold of absolute zero and blasted it into Permafrost, ultimately causing him to shatter.

(Dark Guard I#3 - BTS) - Albion and Ultra-Marine shattered Sunder.
   
(Dark Guard I#3 - BTS) - Dark Angel subsequently noted that Permafrost and Sunder were Mys-Tech constructs/smart weapons.

(Dark Guard I#4 - BTS) - Dark Guard subsequently thwarted the Mys-Tech plot, preventing nuclear war and taking down the war-mongering Tansteele, and allowing the Egaliterns and Technarchy to begin brokering peace.

Comments: Dan Abnett, Carlos Pacheco, and Oscar Jimenez under the Marvel UK imprint.

    Permafrost and Sunder were no comparison to Collapsar in terms of power, but they were still very dangerous, and they were also pretty cool, visually...although clear, properly colored, full-body images were hard to come by for Permafrost.

    It seemed to me that Permafrost and Sunder were solid ice and rock, respectively, or synthetic equivalents, but somehow imbued with intelligence, mobility, and power, rather than being robotic. Perhaps there was a program/energy packet Mys-Tech or others could imbue into the materials to recreate them both.

    This profile was completed 01/15/2022, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25th anniversary 's celebratory event.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Permafrost should be distinguished from:

images: (without ads)

Dark Guard#2 - last page - panel 2 (with Trusivor; human form);
            panel 4 (with Trusivor; morphing into combat form);
    #3 - pg. 4 - panel 2 (freezing Ultra-Marine);
        pg. 5 - panel 2 (mostly full form - whole panel orange - perhaps to present heat?)
        pg. 10 - panel 1-3 (powers overloaded and exploded by Dark Angel)

Appearances:
Dark Guard#1-4 (October - 1993 - January - 1994) - Dan Abnett (writer) - Carlos Pacheco (pencils) - Oscar Jimenez (inks) - Stuart Bartlett (editor)

First posted: 09/29/2026
Last updated: 09/05/2022

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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