Mesmero
Encyclopedia
Mesmero is a fictional
mutant
, a comic book
supervillain
in the Marvel Comics
universe
. The character first appeared in [Uncanny] X-Men #49.
, who wanted him to hypnotize Lorna Dane
into believing that she was Magneto's daughter.
Mesmero successfully took control of large numbers of latent mutants, and captured Lorna Dane. Mesmero was then revealed to be the aide to Magneto, and battled the X-Men
in the city of the Demi-Men. Mesmero's master was later revealed to be a robot in the form of Magneto, and a Sentinel attack resulted in Mesmero being captured by Sentinels. Much later, Mesmero had become a carnival manager and mentally compelled the X-Men to serve as carnival performers. The X-Men freed themselves from his control, and as Mesmero then attacked the X-Men, the real Magneto appeared. The Master of Magnetism overpowered Mesmero and rendered him unconscious. Magneto then stranded him in a South American jungle.
Mesmero later performed in a Broadway stage show in New York City, where he battled Spider-Man
. Mesmero later escaped to Canada. There, he contended with Alpha Flight
and was captured by Persuasion
. Mesmero later posed as a psychoanalyst to powerful clients in London. He took control of Excalibur
and used them to battle Fenris
. Mesmero was defeated by Lockheed
the dragon and students from St. Searle's School for Young Ladies.
Mesmero has encountered the X-Men on a few other occasions as well as teams such as X-Factor
, and the Dark Riders
. The Dark Riders intended to kill him, as they believe he was weak. Mesmero uses his powers to convince them they had thrown him off a high ledge. With Alpha Flight, Mesmero takes over the minds of the junior members and is eventually stopped by the senior ones.
When Mesmero joined the latest incarnation of the Weapon X
program, the Director
offered to increase Mesmero's hypnotic powers. Mesmero agreed and gained the ability to control entire crowds with a mere glance, instead of a mere handful of people.
To keep the public unaware of the "Neverland" mutant concentration camp, Mesmero posed as a government liaison. With this identity, he informed news reporters that "Neverland" doesn't exist nor is the government involved in abducting mutants.
While he was a member of Weapon X, Mesmero visited his dying mother. He had doctors help her as much as they could and used his powers to mesmerise his mother into believing she was healthy as ever. His mother knew it was an illusion, though, and she told him that she knew shortly before she died. Subsequently, Mesmero began to lose confidence in himself which caused him to lose his powers. Mesmero was transported to Neverland upon the Director's discovery of his power loss.
Brent Jackson
, planning on raising a coup on Weapon X, rescued Mesmero. Mesmero spent several months in seclusion as Jackson helped him get his confidence back, and with it his powers.
Ironically, Mesmero eventually lost his powers for good (along with most of the world's mutants) when the Scarlet Witch
altered reality at the climax of the House of M
event. Devastated and ruined, the once-great supervillain was forced into poverty. Mesmero finally achieved a personal triumph by forming a relationship with a woman who had saved his life, promising to somehow help her in turn. She put her trust in him freely and unconditionally, something he had never managed before without the aid of his powers. At this, Mesmero resolved to put his past behind him and begin living as Vincent.
who has the psionic ability to mentally control the minds of others. Through a combination of careful planning and skill, he could also manipulate the minds of telepaths; though he had to take extreme care, as a telepath was much more prone to realizing/breaking his machinations than a non-psi. He could hypnotize people into doing what he wanted them to do, and alter their minds with false personalities and memories. He could also make them see him as a different person. Mesmero has proved unable to control Magneto
, due to his helmet which negates all psychic attacks, and Alysande Stuart
with his powers, for unknown reasons.
Mesmero's green skin, once believed to be a mask, is apparently his real skin color. It is not known if he was born this way, or if it developed later in life along with his powers.
At one time, Mesmero wore a costume which allowed him to teleport, leaving only a blip of energy where he once stood. The feat was only used to escape an angry Alpha Flight, and may have been controlled entirely by the technology of the suit, or may have been tied in some way to his mental abilities.
, an alernate reality version of Mesmero, originating from the Earth-653 timeline, was involved with the Weapon X Program
before being recruited into Weapon X, the more ruthless counterpart of the Exiles. Early after the formation of the team, Mesmero was killed and his body remained in the Timebreakers' fallen heroes gallery in the crystal palace. After the Exiles took over the place, they sent Mesmero's body back to Earth-653. The corpse was teleported back to the facilities of the Weapon X Program, where it was incinerated.
In Exiles #85, another alternate version of Mesmero was revealed to have existed on Earth-127. This Mesmero was part of the Brotherhood of Mutants alongside Magneto, Quicksilver
and Scarlet Witch
(all gender-swapped, with Scarlet Witch now being called Scarlet Warlock). They planned to make Magneto (who was female in this reality) even powerful than she already was by removing Wolverine's adamantium skeleton out of his body and transfer it into Magneto's body. However the plan went wrong, and Mesmero and the other Brotherhood members fused into one powerful mutant being known as "Brother Mutant".
animated series, voiced by Ron Halder
with a Middle-Eastern accent. This version looks like a normal human, his main distinguishing feature being his facial tattoos, but is far more powerful and more adept at hand to hand combat than his comic version. The majority of his power is implied to come from Apocalypse
; he is shown to match Professor X in his early appearances, but after being discarded by Apocalypse demonstrated no power whatsoever.
In his first appearance in the episode "Mindbender," Mesmero used several members of the young X-Men (Jean Grey, Nightcrawler
, Spyke
and Shadowcat
) to steal three rings. The three rings connected together with a golden rod to form a key that would open the first of three doors sealing away Apocalypse. He was eventually discovered by Professor X and Rogue
, but managed to escape with the key. In "Under Lock and Key", Mesmero mind-controlled Gambit
to steal half of a spider stone from Warren Worthington III's mansion. In doing so, he was found and captured by Magneto
, who had Mastermind extract the location of the other half of the stone from his mind. Uniting the stone pieces created a giant metallic spider, which Magneto destroyed. Only then did he learn that Mesmero had in fact tricked him into destroying it, as doing so was the only way to unlock the second door. In the two-part episode "Dark Horizon", he tricked Mystique
into unlocking the third door, unable to control her mind. By unlocking the door, Mystique turned to stone. With his usefulness exhausted, Apocalypse discarded Mesmero. Mesmero was subsequently captured by the X-Men, allowing Professor X to extract Apocalypse's master plan from his mind.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
mutant
Mutant (Marvel Comics)
In comic books published by Marvel Comics, a mutant is an organism who possesses a genetic trait called an X-gene that allows the mutant to naturally develop superhuman powers and abilities...
, a comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
supervillain
Supervillain
A supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the villain character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction in various media.They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other fictional heroes...
in the Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
universe
Marvel Universe
The Marvel Universe is the shared fictional universe where most comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Entertainment take place, including those featuring Marvel's most familiar characters, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and the Avengers.The Marvel Universe is further...
. The character first appeared in [Uncanny] X-Men #49.
Fictional character biography
Mesmero was originally a small time crook who posed as a stage hypnotist at high society parties. He would use his mutant powers to 'mesmerize' guests into giving him their possessions and then making them forget about them. Mesmero drew the attention of MagnetoMagneto (comics)
Magneto is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the central villain of the X-Men comic, as well as the TV show and the films. The character first appears in X-Men #1 , and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby...
, who wanted him to hypnotize Lorna Dane
Polaris (comics)
Polaris is a fictional comic book character appearing in books published by Marvel Comics, in particular the X-Men family of books. Created by Arnold Drake, Don Heck, Werner Roth and Jim Steranko, Polaris first appeared in The X-Men #49...
into believing that she was Magneto's daughter.
Mesmero successfully took control of large numbers of latent mutants, and captured Lorna Dane. Mesmero was then revealed to be the aide to Magneto, and battled the X-Men
X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team in the . They were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1...
in the city of the Demi-Men. Mesmero's master was later revealed to be a robot in the form of Magneto, and a Sentinel attack resulted in Mesmero being captured by Sentinels. Much later, Mesmero had become a carnival manager and mentally compelled the X-Men to serve as carnival performers. The X-Men freed themselves from his control, and as Mesmero then attacked the X-Men, the real Magneto appeared. The Master of Magnetism overpowered Mesmero and rendered him unconscious. Magneto then stranded him in a South American jungle.
Mesmero later performed in a Broadway stage show in New York City, where he battled Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
. Mesmero later escaped to Canada. There, he contended with Alpha Flight
Alpha Flight
Alpha Flight is a fictional superhero team published by Marvel Comics, noteworthy for being one of the few Canadian superhero teams. Created by John Byrne, the team first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #120 ....
and was captured by Persuasion
Persuasion (comics)
The Purple Woman is a Marvel Comics mutant superhero.-Fictional character biography:...
. Mesmero later posed as a psychoanalyst to powerful clients in London. He took control of Excalibur
Excalibur (comics)
Excalibur is a Marvel Comics superhero group, an off-shoot of the X-Men, usually based in the United Kingdom. Conceived by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer Alan Davis, the original Excalibur first appeared in Excalibur Special Edition , also known as Excalibur: The Sword is Drawn.The...
and used them to battle Fenris
Fenris (comics)
Fenris are two fictional characters from the Marvel Comics universe, namely German twins Andrea and Andreas von Strucker. They are the children of supervillain Baron Wolfgang von Strucker of HYDRA and the half-brother of Werner von Strucker. Andrea is female, Andreas is male...
. Mesmero was defeated by Lockheed
Lockheed (comics)
Lockheed is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. He is an alien dragon that is the longtime companion of Shadowcat , a member of the X-Men and Excalibur. He was created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Paul Smith and first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #166...
the dragon and students from St. Searle's School for Young Ladies.
Mesmero has encountered the X-Men on a few other occasions as well as teams such as X-Factor
X-Factor (comics)
X-Factor is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics. It is a spin-off of the popular X-Men franchise, featuring characters from X-Men stories. The series has been relaunched several times with different team rosters, most recently as X-Factor Investigations.X-Factor launched in...
, and the Dark Riders
Dark Riders (comics)
The Dark Riders, also known as the Riders of the Storm, are a team of comic book supervillains in Marvel Comics' universe. Created by Chris Claremont, Jim Lee, and Whilce Portacio in X-Factor Volume 1 #65...
. The Dark Riders intended to kill him, as they believe he was weak. Mesmero uses his powers to convince them they had thrown him off a high ledge. With Alpha Flight, Mesmero takes over the minds of the junior members and is eventually stopped by the senior ones.
When Mesmero joined the latest incarnation of the Weapon X
Weapon X
Weapon X is a fictional clandestine government genetic research facility project in the Marvel Universe conducted by the Canadian Government's Department K, which turns willing and unwilling beings into living weapons. The project often captures mutants and experiments on them to enhance their...
program, the Director
Malcolm Colcord
Malcolm Colcord, also known as The Director, is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics Universe. He appeared as a villain in the series Wolverine and was an important character in the Weapon X-comics.-Fictional character biography:...
offered to increase Mesmero's hypnotic powers. Mesmero agreed and gained the ability to control entire crowds with a mere glance, instead of a mere handful of people.
To keep the public unaware of the "Neverland" mutant concentration camp, Mesmero posed as a government liaison. With this identity, he informed news reporters that "Neverland" doesn't exist nor is the government involved in abducting mutants.
While he was a member of Weapon X, Mesmero visited his dying mother. He had doctors help her as much as they could and used his powers to mesmerise his mother into believing she was healthy as ever. His mother knew it was an illusion, though, and she told him that she knew shortly before she died. Subsequently, Mesmero began to lose confidence in himself which caused him to lose his powers. Mesmero was transported to Neverland upon the Director's discovery of his power loss.
Brent Jackson
Brent Jackson
Brent Jackson is a fictional Marvel Comics character. He first appeared in Wolverine #163 and was created by Frank Tieri and Sean Chen.-Fictional character biography:...
, planning on raising a coup on Weapon X, rescued Mesmero. Mesmero spent several months in seclusion as Jackson helped him get his confidence back, and with it his powers.
Ironically, Mesmero eventually lost his powers for good (along with most of the world's mutants) when the Scarlet Witch
Scarlet Witch
The Scarlet Witch is a fictional comic book character that appears in books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appears in X-Men #4 and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby...
altered reality at the climax of the House of M
House of M
House of M is an eight-issue comic book limited series and crossover storyline published by Marvel Comics in 2005. Written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Olivier Coipel, its first issue debuted in June 2005 as a follow-up to the events of the Planet X and Avengers Disassembled...
event. Devastated and ruined, the once-great supervillain was forced into poverty. Mesmero finally achieved a personal triumph by forming a relationship with a woman who had saved his life, promising to somehow help her in turn. She put her trust in him freely and unconditionally, something he had never managed before without the aid of his powers. At this, Mesmero resolved to put his past behind him and begin living as Vincent.
Powers and abilities
Mesmero was a mutantMutant (Marvel Comics)
In comic books published by Marvel Comics, a mutant is an organism who possesses a genetic trait called an X-gene that allows the mutant to naturally develop superhuman powers and abilities...
who has the psionic ability to mentally control the minds of others. Through a combination of careful planning and skill, he could also manipulate the minds of telepaths; though he had to take extreme care, as a telepath was much more prone to realizing/breaking his machinations than a non-psi. He could hypnotize people into doing what he wanted them to do, and alter their minds with false personalities and memories. He could also make them see him as a different person. Mesmero has proved unable to control Magneto
Magneto (comics)
Magneto is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the central villain of the X-Men comic, as well as the TV show and the films. The character first appears in X-Men #1 , and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby...
, due to his helmet which negates all psychic attacks, and Alysande Stuart
Alysande Stuart
Alysande Stuart is a fictional character appearing in X-Men stories in the Marvel Comics universe. She first appeared in Excalibur #6 and was created by Chris Claremont and Alan Davis...
with his powers, for unknown reasons.
Mesmero's green skin, once believed to be a mask, is apparently his real skin color. It is not known if he was born this way, or if it developed later in life along with his powers.
At one time, Mesmero wore a costume which allowed him to teleport, leaving only a blip of energy where he once stood. The feat was only used to escape an angry Alpha Flight, and may have been controlled entirely by the technology of the suit, or may have been tied in some way to his mental abilities.
Exiles
In ExilesExiles (Marvel Comics)
The Exiles are a group of fictional characters that feature in three Marvel Comics series, Exiles, New Exiles, and Exiles vol. 2. The Exiles consists of characters from different dimensions, or realities, which have been removed from time and space in order to correct problems in various alternate...
, an alernate reality version of Mesmero, originating from the Earth-653 timeline, was involved with the Weapon X Program
Weapon X
Weapon X is a fictional clandestine government genetic research facility project in the Marvel Universe conducted by the Canadian Government's Department K, which turns willing and unwilling beings into living weapons. The project often captures mutants and experiments on them to enhance their...
before being recruited into Weapon X, the more ruthless counterpart of the Exiles. Early after the formation of the team, Mesmero was killed and his body remained in the Timebreakers' fallen heroes gallery in the crystal palace. After the Exiles took over the place, they sent Mesmero's body back to Earth-653. The corpse was teleported back to the facilities of the Weapon X Program, where it was incinerated.
In Exiles #85, another alternate version of Mesmero was revealed to have existed on Earth-127. This Mesmero was part of the Brotherhood of Mutants alongside Magneto, Quicksilver
Quicksilver (comics)
Quicksilver is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appears in X-Men #4 and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby...
and Scarlet Witch
Scarlet Witch
The Scarlet Witch is a fictional comic book character that appears in books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appears in X-Men #4 and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby...
(all gender-swapped, with Scarlet Witch now being called Scarlet Warlock). They planned to make Magneto (who was female in this reality) even powerful than she already was by removing Wolverine's adamantium skeleton out of his body and transfer it into Magneto's body. However the plan went wrong, and Mesmero and the other Brotherhood members fused into one powerful mutant being known as "Brother Mutant".
Television
Mesmero appears in the X-Men: EvolutionX-Men: Evolution
X-Men: Evolution is an American animated television series about the Marvel Comics superhero team the X-Men. In this incarnation many of the characters are teenagers rather than adults...
animated series, voiced by Ron Halder
Ron Halder
- Biography :He has performed extensively in theatres across Canada from Victoria, BC to St. John's, Newfoundland. He has played key roles as Malcolm Lowry in the Vancouver Playhouse production of Goodnight Disgrace, James Tyrone Jr. in the Neptune Theatre production of Moon for the Misbegotten and...
with a Middle-Eastern accent. This version looks like a normal human, his main distinguishing feature being his facial tattoos, but is far more powerful and more adept at hand to hand combat than his comic version. The majority of his power is implied to come from Apocalypse
Apocalypse (comics)
Apocalypse is a fictional character who is an ancient mutant that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in X-Factor #5 , created by writer Louise Simonson and designed by artist Walter Simonson...
; he is shown to match Professor X in his early appearances, but after being discarded by Apocalypse demonstrated no power whatsoever.
In his first appearance in the episode "Mindbender," Mesmero used several members of the young X-Men (Jean Grey, Nightcrawler
Nightcrawler (comics)
Nightcrawler is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the Marvel Universe. He has been associated with both the X-Men and Excalibur, originally appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum, he debuted in Giant-Size X-Men #1...
, Spyke
Spyke
Spyke is a character who was briefly a member of the X-Men in the animated series X-Men: Evolution. Created by writer Bob Skir and artist Steven E...
and Shadowcat
Kitty Pryde
Katherine Anne "Kitty" Pryde is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #129 and was created by writer-artist John Byrne....
) to steal three rings. The three rings connected together with a golden rod to form a key that would open the first of three doors sealing away Apocalypse. He was eventually discovered by Professor X and Rogue
Rogue (comics)
Rogue was first slated to appear in Ms. Marvel #25 , but the book's abrupt cancellation left her original introduction story unpublished for over a decade, before seeing print in Marvel Super Heroes #11 in 1992. Rogue's first published appearance was in Avengers Annual #10...
, but managed to escape with the key. In "Under Lock and Key", Mesmero mind-controlled Gambit
Gambit (comics)
Gambit is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics superhero that has been a member of the X-Men. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Jim Lee, the character first appeared briefly in Uncanny X-Men Annual #14 , weeks before a more comprehensive appearance in Uncanny X-Men #266...
to steal half of a spider stone from Warren Worthington III's mansion. In doing so, he was found and captured by Magneto
Magneto (comics)
Magneto is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the central villain of the X-Men comic, as well as the TV show and the films. The character first appears in X-Men #1 , and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby...
, who had Mastermind extract the location of the other half of the stone from his mind. Uniting the stone pieces created a giant metallic spider, which Magneto destroyed. Only then did he learn that Mesmero had in fact tricked him into destroying it, as doing so was the only way to unlock the second door. In the two-part episode "Dark Horizon", he tricked Mystique
Mystique (comics)
Mystique is a fictional character associated with the Marvel Comics' franchise X-Men. Originally created by artist David Cockrum and writer Chris Claremont, she first appeared in Ms...
into unlocking the third door, unable to control her mind. By unlocking the door, Mystique turned to stone. With his usefulness exhausted, Apocalypse discarded Mesmero. Mesmero was subsequently captured by the X-Men, allowing Professor X to extract Apocalypse's master plan from his mind.
External links
- AlphaFlight.Net Alphanex Entry on - Mesmero
- Mesmero at Marvel.com