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STRYKE

Real Name: Unrevealed 

Identity/Class: Human cyborg

Occupation: AIM operative

Group Membership: AIM, Once-Humans

Affiliations: MODOK (George Tartleton)

Enemies: Iron Man (Tony Stark)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "Padre", "Ugly", nicknames used by Iron Man

Base of Operations: AIM base, somewhere in the Mojave desert, USA

First Appearance: Iron Man Annual I#4 (August, 1977)

Powers/Abilities: Enhanced by MODOK, the AIM operative known only as Stryke was biologically restructured to become a Once-Human. The process not only made his flesh as hard as steel, it also allowed him immunity to pain, as well as enhanced stamina, durability and superhuman strength (at least lifting up to 5 tons). He could also fire power bursts from his hands of unknown composition, on a strength level comparable to Iron Man's repulsor blasts. Stryke had some training in hand-to-hand combat. Unlike conventional Once-Humans, Stryke retained his free will and speech. He could change his voice, and had good hand-to-hand combat skills.

Height: 6'9" (by approximation)
Weight: 350 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black (balding)

History: (Iron Man Annual I#4 (fb) - BTS) - MODOK, aware that Iron Man was determined to stop the Mental Organism from completing and activating his Doomsday Chair, decided he needed to delay the hero. To do so, he subjected one of his AIM-operatives to a modified version of the Once-Human conversion process. The man was restructured to have steel hard skin, enhanced strength, reflexes, an immunity to pain and the ability to fire force blasts from his hands. While other Once-Humans completely lost their free will, he remained his own man. MODOK then sent the operative to AIM's base in the Mojave Desert because he predicted Iron Man would soon come looking for him there. MODOK ordered the operative to destroy the Avenger at any cost, a task he truly relished. 

(Iron Man Annual I#4 - BTS) - Deciding to call himself Stryke, the operative went to the AIM outpost, which used an abandoned, old Franciscan monastery as a front. To fool Iron Man, he dressed in traditional monk's clothing.

(Iron Man Annual I#4) - MODOK's predictions proved accurate, Iron Man showed up at the monastery though he was initially unaware the AIM base he was looking for was there. Stryke, pretending to be a Catholic monk, went out to greet him. Eager to get the padre's help, Iron Man followed Stryke inside the monastery which almost instantly was slammed shut automatically. Stryke then revealed his true identity and attacked, overwhelming Iron Man with his strength, landing blow after blow that made Stark think he was fighting a human piledriver. Stryke happily announced he planned to hammer the armor until the man inside was little more than a quivering pulp. The villain then unleashed his power bursts, throwing Iron Man across the room. Though the Avenger tried to gain the upper hand, a well placed chop to his helmet threw him for a loop. Figuring he needed to buy time, Iron Man activated his image reproducer and called up several copies of himself. This move didn't impress Stryke, who announced he'd simply crush every image until he'd found the real Iron Man. The battle dragged on and became somewhat of a stalemate. This made Iron Man realize that was MODOK's plan all along. No longer interested in continuing this fight, Iron Man slammed through the monastery wall and took off to continue his search for AIM's leader. In his wake, an overjoyed Stryke ranted and raved that he'd beaten Iron Man, claiming that with this victory under his belt, all of AIM would be at his feet. He also promised the rapidly disappearing hero they'd meet again, "to his everlasting regret!"

Comments: Created by Bill Mantlo (writer), George Tuska (pencils), Don Perlin (inks).

    A rematch between Iron Man and Stryke never took place, final score: Iron-Man - Stryke 0-1.
    Iron Man believed Stryke to be a cyborg, but when the Avenger saw the other Once-Human, they understood that they belonged to the same "family". Later Hercules, while fighting some Once-Humans, declared that no living or unliving being could have beaten himself, so I deduced that Stryke was also a Once-Human.
--Spidermay

... Well, 40+ years on and Stryke is still due for that rematch he promised Iron Man. Or taking over AIM, dethroning MODOK... or even showing up again. Technically speaking, he was never defeated by Iron Man and would most likely have had a pretty decent shot at actually beating the golden Avenger in combat. Which begs the question, if MODOK was able to enhance a seemingly ordinary operative into a powerhouse capable of giving Iron Man a run for his money, why hasn't he used it more often?
--Norvo

Profile by Norvo (main profile, comment, main image, Iron Man defeated image). Original profile by Spidermay (sub-profiles + images, comment, head shot)

CLARIFICATIONS:
Stryke has no known connections to

The AIM Guardians have no known connections to any "guard", "guardian", "guardsman" or character with a similar name.


Once-Humans

The Once-Humans were human cyborgs created by MODOK to protect himself and the AIM base which contained his super-weapon.
    Each had a humanoid body, a steel-like skin of blue color, and probably enhanced strength and invulnerability. They did not have independent personalities, and their bodies were not covered by pink human-like skin.
    They used conventional weapons, such as guns.

    The Once-Humans were used by MODOK when Iron Man discovered his true base, where MODOK hid his super weapon. The Once-Humans attacked the Golden Avenger and were overpowering him, but the Champions broke into the base, saving Iron Man and destroying the cyborgs. However, the Once-Humans gave their creator the time needed to absorb all the energy to activate his Doomsday Chair.

--Iron Man Annual I#4


Guardians

The Guardians were robots created by MODOK to protect the AIM base which contained his super-weapon.
    They were green giant robots, 3-4 meters tall. They could speak some pre-programmed sentences and used energy guns or beamers, to fight.

    The Humanoids were employed as first-line defense of the AIM Base which contained Modok's super-weapon. They were meant to be a distraction for Iron Man.
    In fact, when Iron Man entered in the Base, the Guardian knocked him down with an energy blast, but the Avenger easily smashed it with a punch and destroyed the second with his magnetic chest-ray. The easiness with which Iron Man defeated the Guardians and another security device, led him to wrongly believe that MODOK had abandoned that Base.

--Iron Man Annual I#4





Images
Iron Man Annual I#4, p19, pan4 (main image)
Iron Man Annual I#4, p18, pan5 (Stryke, head shot)
Iron Man Annual I#4, p21, pan5 (thinks he beat Iron Man)
Iron Man Annual I#4, p24, pan1 (Once-Humans)
Iron Man Annual I#4, p3, pan1 (Guardian with gun)
Iron Man Annual I#4, p3, pan3 (Guardian)


Appearances:
Iron Man Annual I#4 (August, 1977) - Bill Mantlo (writer), George Tuska (pencils), Don Perlin (inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)


Last updated: 03/29/15

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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