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MORPH

Real Name: Unrevealed

Identity/Class: Human mutant or mutate or genetically-engineered being or human variant or android or something else (pre-modern era)

Occupation: Adventurer

Group Membership: First Line (Black Fox/Robert William Paine, Blackjack, Doctor Mime, Effigy/Velmax, Firefall, Flatiron/Russell, Frank, Katyusha/Anya, Liberty Girl/Beverly, Major Mercury/Makkari, Mr. Justice/Timothy "Tim" Carney, Nightingale, Oxbow, Pixie, Positron/Veronica, Rapunzel, Rebound, Reflex, Squire, Templar/Ian Fitzwilliam Dare, Vulcan, Walkabout/William Carmody, Yankee Clipper/Patrick "Pat" Carney, Yeti)

Affiliations: Mary Carmody, Jim Fitzpatrick, Gadfly (T. Ruth McCrae), Cassandra Locke, Mako, Nick Fury, Riot-Act, Uatu the Watcher

Enemies: Kang the Conqueror (Nathaniel Richards), Warlord Kro and his Deviant troops, Skrull invasion forces

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "Freak" (as called by Yeti, see comments)

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
    formerly: Carmody Institute, New England, Maine

First Appearance: Marvel: The Lost Generation I#12 (March 2000)

Powers/Abilities: Morph possessed the superhuman ability to change his shape in a variety of ways. It seemed his base form was a broad, light-purple-skinned semi-humanoid shape, though he could alter his appearance within seconds. He could condense his shape, increasing his durability; he could increase his speed by changing his feet into a four-wheel undercarriage, forming himself into a makeshift battering ram. Morph could also catch and contain assailants in the extended folds of his hands and arms. Intelligent and level headed, Morph tended to act like the voice of reason when his teammates' tempers flared. 

Height: 5'8" (base form, by approximation)
Weight: 180 lbs. (base form, by approximation)
Eyes: White
Hair: Unrevealed (presumably bald)

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History:
(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#10 (fb) - BTS) - The shapeshifter Morph joined the First Line--at the time, the team was little more than a loose-knit band of undercover operatives gathering at the Carmody Institute, located off the coast of Maine. Morph signed up at around the same time as Rapunzel, Yeti and Walkabout; together, they joined First Line mainstays Effigy, Oxbow and Pixie in opposing a variety of enemies.

(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#10 - BTS) - Unbeknownst to Morph and the others, CIA operative Nicholas Fury was trying to infiltrate the Carmody Institute in an attempt to get a handle on the new First Line. At the same time, Deviant Warlord Kro decided it was high time to act on rumors he'd received about an Eternal (most likely Pixie, possibly Makkari) trying to encourage humanity's interest in "super-heroics"--he took a small army through the subterranean tunnels in order to stamp out the problem, even as 22nd century historian Cassandra Locke from Earth-700 time-warped into the First Line's Maine base.

(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#10) - At roughly the same time Walkabout detected and apprehended Nick Fury when he tried to enter the Carmody Institute, Warlord Kro ordered his Deviant forces to attack the Eternal (Pixie) he had detected on his gouger. When the Deviant troops entered the Institute, klaxons went off, alerting new recruits Morph and Rapunzel to the crisis; they came a-running, with Morph immediately shifting into a battering ram-type form, determined to knock back the intruders. In the midst of this confrontation, time-traveling historian Cassandra Locke popped up, but after confirming where and when she was, she decided to stay out of the way. She watched how Morph changed to become a vacuum cleaner of sorts, capturing Deviant forces in his elongated hands and arms (to the chagrin of frenzied First Liner Yeti, who called him a freak (see comments); Morph continued this until Rapunzel had grown out enough hair to actively engage the enemy and calm the battle-crazed Yeti.
    As the First Line managed to overwhelm the Deviants and send them packing, they ran into Cassandra Locke, who decided to reveal her origins and inform the team of her mission in the past. Morph listened quietly while Locke told her story, eventually mentioning the Skrull invasion force she had just (from her temporal point of view) seen destroy the team in the near future. Shocked to hear his people's plans, Effigy (who was actually the Skrull Velmax) grabbed Locke and tried to shake more details out of her. Morph managed to convince Effigy to go easy on her and release his grip. As the First Line discussed what they had learned amongst themselves, Locke decided to continue her journey into the past--not even Morph's elongated hands were able to stop her before she vanished. Moments after her departure, Morph and everyone else who met Cassandra instantly forgot about her due to a counter-effect set in motion in the 22nd century (designed to limit the risk of temporal divergences caused by visiting the past).

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(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#12) - Morph and the other First Line members and allies (past and present) reunited when their leader Effigy learned that a Skrull invasion force was on the way. Morph went into space with the small army of Earth's defenders and boarded the lead Skrull vessel. He opposed a fair number of Skrull troops, despite the First Line being hopelessly outgunned and outnumbered. Morph fought on while Effigy, Oxbow and Pixie made their way to the bridge and triggered the ship's self-destruct sequence, taking out the heroes and the rest of the Skrull armada in the process.

(X-Men: The Hidden Years I#16 (fb) ) - Several years after his apparent death, Morph and his fellow First Liners were remembered by Pixie following an encounter with the X-Men--the Eternal revealed the fate of the First Line to the X-Men after they had a run in with wayward First Liner Yeti.

Comments: Created by Roger Stern (writer), John Byrne (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks).

It's a bit of a misnomer to call Morph a "shapeshifter". While he was able to alter his form, he couldn't actually shift his shape to completely mimic people or objects. In that respect, he was more like Mr. Fantastic or, more fittingly, DC's Plastic Man.

Morph does remind me of Plastic Man--not so much the original, but the DC Tangent Comics character, scientist Gunther Ganz, whose consciousness was transferred to a "living polymer".--Ron Fredricks

    Strictly speaking, Morph truly was shifting his shape, or meta-ing his morph, so to speak. Of course, I appreciate that both words carry a certain connotation of being able to take another person's appearance, but it definitely needs clarification.
--Snood.


It was a little odd to have Yeti call him a freak, though. After all, as an Inhuman, hailing from a culture where widespread mutation is the celebrated norm rather than the exception, Yeti shouldn't have a problem with diversity. Unless, of course, Morph was actually an Inhuman like Devlor--the former Fantastic Force member was considered a freak by his people and shunned due to his unstable Terrigen form (which really doesn't make that much sense, but hey... it was the go-go '90s, roll with the punches).
    I think it was more a bad attitude thing...seems like something a hot-headed Namor or Magneto might have said on a particularly jerky day.
--Snood

    Given his non-standard physiology, I have to wonder if Morph needed oxygen and heat, or if he could have somehow survived...maybe he made a sphere around another ally or two, allowing them to survive until they reached Earth's atmosphere/surface...it could happen...
--Snood.

Profile by Norvo.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Morph should not be confused with


images: (without ads)
Marvel The Lost Generation I#10, p22, pan1 (main image)
Marvel The Lost Generation I#10, p10, pan2 (powers)
X-Men: The Hidden Years I#16, p18, pan3 (flashback)


Appearances:
Marvel: The Lost Generation I#12 (March 2000) - Roger Stern (writer), John Byrne (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Marvel: The Lost Generation I#10 (May 2000) - Roger Stern (writer), John Byrne (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
X-Men: The Hidden Years I#16 (March 2001) - John Byrne (writer, pencils), Tom Palmer (inks), Jason Leibig (editor)


First Posted: 02/24/2014
Last updated: 09/27/2019

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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