Mant
From PRIMUS Database
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Trapped the ruins of the Univeristy Chemistry lab during the Battle of Detroit, student Martin Mulligan believed himself doomed...until a cannister of volatile, gene-altering chemicals ruptured! These chemicals caused Martin's DNA to mix with that of ants in the surrounding earth, granting him the strength, the stamina, the toughness of a man-sized ant!
Digging his way to freedom, Martin Mulligan was reborn from his stony grave as the subterranean scourge of criminals everywhere...the Mighty MANT!
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Powers
Super Strength
The Mant possesses the proportionate strength of an ant, meaning that he can lift approximately 50 times his own body weight. Thus, weighing in at 200 lbs, his approximate lifting capacity is 5 tons.
The precise physiological changes required to achieve this are poorly understood -- the properties of ants that grant them this ability do not scale well to human-sized organisms. Nonetheless, the Mant has repeatedly demonstrated his prodigous strength by lifting (and subsequently hurling with deadly accuracy) cars, trucks, and armored transports.
When not flattening them with hurled vehicles, the Mant will often punch his enemies. Powered by his genetically-altered super-muscles, his blows are capable of shattering armor and bone, and send his enemies flying.
Invulnerability
In a remarkable display of biology in action, the changes that granted the Mant his immense strength also modified the structure of his body to withstand the tremendous damage that his super-powered muscles can inflict. Thus, his skin, bones, and tissues have increased tremendously in density, making him extremely hardy.
However, the Mant can be damaged. While he is tougher than the average human, he is not invulnerable to harm. While bullets and edged weapons do little damage to his super-tough skin, energy weapons or blows of sufficient force will cause him injury.
Burrowing
When he was transformed, the Mant gained a powerful, instinctive knowledge of digging. Powered by his muscles, and made possible by the toughness of his skin and the frictionless outer surface of his costume, the Mant can effortlessly burrow through the earth at high speed. This has led to no small amount of friction with the City Department of Utilities, as he has on more than one occasion burrowed through a water main.
Insect Communication
By excreting pheromones, the Mant can communicate with insects. To date, this ability has not done him much good; ants have surprisingly little to say, and are of little practical value for crime-fighting when you can lift a Mack truck.
Equipment
Breathing Apparatus
While his great strength allows him to burrow easily through the earth, Mant can not breathe underground. To circumvent this problem, he wears a breathing mask, connected to a micro-compressor on his belt. The compressor keeps the belt cannisters full of air, which Martin can draw on through his mask. The belt carries sufficient oxygen reserves for several hours of strenuous underground activity.
Background
This Man...This MANT!
Martin Mulligan entered Millenium City University as an eager young student with an unparalleled enthusiasm for biochemistry. He secured an internship at the University's biochemistry laboratory assisting professor Tokuhichi Tanaka with his research in insect communicaton via pheromones. When he was not in class or doing his homework, Martin could always be found in the laboratory, setting up the next day's experiments.
And thus it was inevitable that Martin would be in the laboratory during the Qullar invasion. Unfortunately, downtown Millenium City was one of the hardest-hit regions, and a crippled Qullar battle cruiser came down on top of the biochemistry lab. The structure collapsed, leaving a critically-injured Martin Mulligan buried beneath hundreds of tons of rubble.
But fate was not yet finished with Martin Mulligan! A canister of highly mutagenic compound ruptured on the floor above him, the chemicals seeping through the wreckage and onto the crippled young man. The chemicals combined Martin's DNA with that of ants in the surrounding wreckage. In an instant, Martin was granted the speed, strength, and toughness of a man-sized ant! His mangled body repaired itself, and Martin discovered that, using his prodigous strength, he could burrow through the wreckage as easily as swimming through water!
Martin escaped from the wreckage, and in the weeks that followed began to explore the limits of his new abilities. With Professor Tanaka's help, Martin donned a costume and became the burrowing bane of bad men everywhere as the Mighty MANT!
Enter the MOLE!
Mant quickly made a name for himself in super-heroic circles, travelling across Millenium City and around the globe battling evil organizations such as the Hunter-Patriots, VIPER, ARGENT, PSI, and the gangs of Millenium City. It was inevitable, then, that he would attract attention.
Cat Burglar Saul Molowitz encountered a video of Mant in action, and was inspired by the fledgling hero's ability to tunnel through solid earth. He spent a fortune on mad scientists of every stripe to create a biological or mechanical replica of Mant's ability -- and in time, he found it. The MOLE (Man-Operated Light Excavator) suit combined jet propulsion with a pair of mechanical digging claws to create a device capable of tunneling throught he earth as rapidly as Mant.
Equipped with this new suit, Molowitz quickly recouped his expended by breaking into supposedly impregnable banks and museums, and absconding with a fortune. He supplemented his income by breaking prisoners out of high security prisons using the suit. These men, well paid by Molowitz, became his gang, and the Mole soon had a profitable side-line in drug-running and intimidation.
It was inevitable, then, that Mant and the Mole would meet. The Mole attempted a bold daylight robbery of the Museum of Natural History -- eschewing the advantages of his MOLE suit to use his army of goons -- and Mant happened to be in town! What followed was a somewhat one-sided fight wherein Mant beat the armored criminal soundly. Only a desperate gambit by the Mole, who sent a horde of his men at the Lemurian ambassador, distracted Mant long enough for the villain to tunnel his way to safety. By the time the Museum was secured, the thief was long gone.
While Mole swore vengeance on Mant for disrupting his plans and rendering his expensive suit irrelevant, Mant was wracked with self-doubt over the villain's rapid escape. Both swore to find the other again!
Costume & Character Notes
Costume
I hadn't played Mant in some time, and when I came back to him, I completely retconned the character. The old costume was okay, but now strikes me as kind of boring. The new costume is a completely new look. The elements that remain the same are:
- The color: The costume is a slightly brighter red, but still red; I also did away with the metal look for a more traditional, rubber/spandex look.
- The antennae: The antennae are great; wouldn't change 'em for the world.
- The gloves: I love the blaster gloves. They are distinctive without being overly complicated, and they jazz up what could be a boring costume.
What's new:
- The mask: THe biggest change, obviously is in the face region. I got rid of the most literal insect parts and replaced them with technological parts that emulate and insect look. The end result, I think, is more striking. First, the bug eyes were replaced with glowing goggles; they are just glowing circles, and they pop more than the black bug eyes. The mandibles got tossed, and instead I put on the gas mask, which makes sense from a background/powers standpoint, but also just looks cool. Since he's completely covered anyway, I went with the full head mask. This unfortunately makes him look a lot like "Ant" from Freedom Force, but I can live with that.
- The belt: The costume needed something -- it was just too uniformly red. The belt is chunky and weird, and breaks up the look. I was back and forth on it (recoloring and so forth), but I've really come around to it. It is the one really overstated part of the costume.
- The tights: I dropped the metal, and tossed the inlay pattern, and instead went with the Jumpsuit pattern, which is AWESOME. With proper coloring, it strikes the right balance between "busy" and "boring", and the solid line portion gives it some texture, even though the colors of the two sections of the costume are very close. I also re-added the bug logo to the back of the costume (which still looks like ass; I'm beginning to think that it's just that icon that looks bad).
Character Notes
I've wanted to do the Mant for years, and the name was never available in CoH. The primary inspiration for the Mant is obviously Spider-Man, mashed with Ant-Man. Initially a blue collar character with a wife and kids, I threw in the towel and played him as a more cliche, younger hero. I've recently gotten back into playing him, and have come around to emphasizing his st Somewhere down the line, it might be nice to add some sort of venom spray o something -- he needs on more shove to get very ant-like. rength less, and his burrowing more; burrowing is just cool.
