James Arthur "Jamie" Madrox, also called the Multiple Man, is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics superhero, associated with the X-Men. Created by writer Len Wein with script from Chris Claremont and art by John Buscema, he first appeared in Giant-Size Fantastic Four #4 (February 1975).
A mutant with the ability to create instant duplicates or "dupes" of himself, Madrox was largely a minor or supporting character until his appearance in the 1987 miniseries Fallen Angels. The character underwent greater development under writer Peter David through his appearance in David's run of the monthly series X-Factor (vol. 1) in the 1990s, and in David's second and currently ongoing run of the title (vol. 3) in the 2000s.
Multiple Man appeared in the 2006 film, X-Men: The Last Stand, in which he was portrayed by Eric Dane.Contents [hide] 1 Publication history 2 Fictional character biography 2.1 Youth 2.2 Muir Island 2.3 X-Factor 2.4 Mutant Town 2.5 X-Factor Investigations 2.5.1 "Messiah Complex" 2.5.2 Sean 2.5.3 Summers Rebellion 3 Powers and abilities 4 Other versions 4.1 "Age of Apocalypse" 4.2 Earth X 4.3 Marvel Zombies 4.4 Ultimate Multiple Man 5 In other media 5.1 Television 5.2 Film 5.3 Video games 6 Bibliography 7 References 8 External links
[edit] Publication history
Jamie Madrox first appeared in Giant-Size Fantastic Four #4. In the 1990s, he played a major role in the series X-Factor. A MadroX miniseries was published in 2004, written by Peter David, who had previously written for the character in X-Factor. He and the other members of his detective agency now star in a revamped X-Factor monthly series that is again written by Peter David. [edit] Fictional character biography [edit] Youth
Jamie Madrox is born to a family living near the Los Alamos research facility in New Mexico; the background radiation may have stimulated his mutation. When Jamie is born, the doctor's slap causes him to multiply into two identical babies, which shocks his parents and the doctor. Professor Charles Xavier, a friend of the Madrox family, suggests that they move to Kansas to raise the boy in privacy. Dr. Daniel Madrox, Jamie's father, creates a suit for him to wear which is designed to absorb kinetic energy, the source of the duplication.[1]
Later, Damian Tryp, of Singularity Investigations, makes his own offer to look after Jamie, claiming that Jamie is not a mutant, but a "changeling", a predecessor to mutants who develops its powers at birth.[2] Jamie's parents refuse to give Jamie to Tryp. At fifteen years old, Madrox's parents are killed by a tornado alleged to have been caused by Tryp and he begins to run the farm by himself along with his duplicates, or "dupes", until his suit is damaged.[volume & issue needed] [edit] Muir Island
Madrox goes to New York City for help, where he meets Mister Fantastic of the Fantastic Four. He contacts Professor Xavier,[3] who sends the youth to Muir Island with Moira McTaggert, working as a laboratory assistant to help her with research. He later helps Moira and fellow mutants Havok and Polaris in searching for the escaped mutant, Proteus. One of his duplicates is consumed as a host body for Proteus, though Jamie remains fine. Following the X-Men's battle with Proteus on Muir Island, Madrox was invited to join the X-Men, but he declined.[4]
One of Jamie's renegade duplicates later searches with Siryn for the runaway New Mutants Sunspot and Warlock. They find him and Jamie joins the Fallen Angels.[5] [edit] X-Factor
Jamie is then one of the residents of Muir Island who comes under the mental control of the Shadow King.[6] Following the destruction of Muir Island and the defeat of the Shadow King, he becomes a government operative as a member of the second X-Factor team, which is assembled by Val Cooper.[7] Here, he develops a reputation as a prankster, forming a friendship with teammate Strong Guy. Also on the team is former New Mutant Wolfsbane, who later joins his X-Factor Investigations.
In the first day of the team, one of his duplicates is shot and killed, and Madrox learns for the first time that he cannot absorb a deceased duplicate. This makes him realize for the first time how independent his duplicates actually are.[8] This becomes clearer to him when a duplicate, working for Mister Sinister, decides that it wants to absorb the original, which it does for a short time, until Jamie's dominant personality broke free and reabsorbs the wayward dupe.[9]
After he is exposed to the Legacy Virus while performing CPR on an infected Genoshan mutate,[10] Jamie is forced to kill the Acolyte Mellencamp in self defense by creating a dupe inside the mutant while his hand is in Mellencamp's mouth.[11] Madrox does not often fight in cosmic battles like most of the other X-Men, but he fought doppelgangers during the Infinity War[12] and, along with Wolfsbane, as the two are religious, are taken by the cosmic entity Goddess during the Infinity Crusade.[13]
Jamie's health continues to deteriorate due to the Legacy Virus. An attempted cure by Haven leaves him dead [14] until it is revealed that it was a duplicate who had been infected and died; the real Madrox was alive and suffering from amnesia.[15]
Jamie is the motivation for the Government-sponsored version of X-Factor to break ties with the government and go underground when the team is tricked into thinking Jamie and his duplicates are actually a squad of super-powered terrorists. Eventually, the team discovers this was a manipulation and the group goes rogue, splitting from the government.[16]
He seeks out Strong Guy, who is ill after Jamie's alleged death. Unfortunately, this makes Strong Guy even weaker, but Jamie's mistake is fixed by the genius of new team leader Forge.[17]
He the serves as majority staff for Banshee's X-Corps. Banshee hired ex-criminals to police other mutants but things get bad when Mystique goes on a murderous rampage and has Mastermind's daughter mind control them. The X-Men manage to defeat the renegade X-Corps members,[18] he transfers to one of Xavier's official "non X-Men" mutant teams in Paris' X-Corporation, fighting Weapon XII in the Channel which results in the death of teammate Darkstar.[19] [edit] Mutant Town
After the fall of the X-Corporation, Madrox begins working as a private detective in the "Mutant Town" area of New York, along with former X-Factor teammates Wolfsbane and Strong Guy. In the passing time, Madrox has been sending out his duplicates to lead lives of their own. Among these dupes are a Shaolin monk and an Olympic Gymnast. By this point, his powers are developed to such an extent that any dupe who gains sufficient skills can pass its knowledge on to Jamie, giving him a wide variety of training instantly.[volume & issue needed]
The side effect of excessive withdrawal from absorbing the duplicates leads him to gain their new personalities as well, which gives him a form of multiple personality disorder, in which any new dupes may spontaneously generate any individual personality aspect of Jamie Prime, making them unpredicatable, as they more often than not disobey his orders or manifest as personalities that are too volatile or meek.[volume & issue needed]
It is during this period that he encounters an assassin named "Clay", who has the same powers as Jamie. While killed after telling Jamie that the Multiple Man has no idea what he truly is, Clay would come back later.[20] [edit] X-Factor Investigations
After "House of M"'s elimination of mutants,[21] it is revealed that Jamie has upgraded his private detective agency to a new building, under the name X-Factor Investigations. He bought the building using money from a Who Wants to Be a Millionaire-type show, using a room full of dupes as lifelines.[22]
Still suffering from uncontrollable duplicate personalities, Jamie sends one to talk a de-powered Rictor out of jumping off a building and instead pushes him off. The dupe calls himself "The X-Factor" and threatens Madrox that he will come out whenever dupes are made, and Madrox won't be able to tell before being reabsorbed, and Jamie's new team adds Rictor to the group, along with M, and Siryn. Celebrating a victory after discovering he's not a mutant, but a changeling (see opening biography entry), Jamie has sex with Siryn, and an accidentally forgotten duplicate with M. When Jamie discovers and absorbs the duplicate, both females are furious with him.[23]
Later, Layla Miller, who is without a home after House of M's reality is shattered, reveals to Jamie that one day they will get married, and Wolfsbane will kill them both on their wedding night.[24]
During "Civil War", a duplicate of Jamie had created a few years ago eventually becomes agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.; since he is an enforcer of the Superhuman Registration Act, he registered M and Rictor. However, the true Jamie and X-Factor stand opposed to the legislation, going so far as to make a public statement regarding their position, leading Jamie to go in direct opposition to the neutral stance taken by X-Men leader Cyclops, who Jamie is upset at for his withholding the truth about M-Day. Jamie also declares that the empty Mutant Town will be a sanctuary for superheroes being pursued by the government.
Agent Madrox recently met "his" end when he was surprised and re-absorbed by the original Madrox during an investigation of a HYDRA cell. Jamie Madrox continues the task of hunting down his stray duplicates and reabsorbing them, but he leaves one, John Maddox, who has carved out a life for himself as an Episcopal priest, husband and father, and Jamie decided not to reabsorb him.[25] Siryn also discovers that she is pregnant by Jamie.[26] [edit] "Messiah Complex"
During "Messiah Complex", Cyclops sends Jamie and Layla to go see Forge, who has built a machine that allows him to monitor alternate timelines. Madrox sends two dupes to find information on two timelines that showed "spikes", after the birth of the Mutant baby, due to two different timelines: one in which the newborn becomes the planet's savior and another where it becomes its dominator. Before anyone can react, Layla jumps into the portal along with one of the dupes, and Madrox collapses into a coma.
Layla and one Madrox duplicate arrive eighty years in the negative future to discover that the mutant race has been severely decimated. Mutants are imprisoned in concentration camps overseen by humans. Layla and the dupe are captured and tattooed with an "M" for mutant over their eyes. There, they encounter a youthful Lucas Bishop, who said that he would gladly go back in time to kill the mutant baby responsible for the way this timeline has turned out. Layla straps a stolen grenade to the duplicate, killing him and sending his memories of the event back to Jamie so he can tell of Bishop's treachery. When Jamie awakens, he develops an M tattoo because his body takes on scarring from duplicates. Jamie leaves and returns to X-Factor Investigations, disillusioned due to Layla's loss.[27]
The other duplicate later returns as the character Cortex.[28] [edit] Sean
Siryn goes into labor and proposes to Jamie, who accepts. She gives birth to a boy, and they name him Sean, after her father. Just hours after his birth, however, Sean, much to the horror of Jamie, Theresa and X-Factor, is absorbed into Jamie's body as Jamie holds him, completely against Jamie's will. Jamie realizes that the baby must have been fathered by a dupe rather than him, and that "the offspring of a dupe isn't really anything more than a dupe". Siryn, filled with rage toward Jamie, breaks his finger and tells him to leave.[29]
Jamie goes to see his preacher dupe John Maddox. Jamie realizes that if the child of a dupe is merely an "infant dupe", then John's son should have been absorbed either by John himself, or when Jamie ruffled the boys hair; therefore John's son must not be his. John admits that he already knows his wife had an affair. Jamie then reveals that he plans to kill himself over the grief caused by Sean, but is prevented by a holographic projection of an adult Layla Miller, who takes him into the future.[30] [edit] Summers Rebellion
Jamie is transported to the future in the midst of the Summers Rebellion, where mutants rise up against Sentinel and human oppressors, which is led by Ruby Summers, the daughter of Cyclops and Emma Frost, with her fathers' optic blasts and Emma's organic mineral body, Layla, and a cyborg Cyclops, whose predicament is Jamie's fault.
After kissing Layla (now an adult) out of happiness at seeing her, Cyclops wants Jamie to find out why some mutants are winking out of existence. The group visit an aging senile Doctor Doom, who says Layla told him in the past that he'd have to instruct Jamie and her on something in the future, and it is now.
In the present, X-Factor and new members Longshot and Darwin are battling Cortex, an agent of the Summers Rebellion era government. Cortex briefly controls Shatterstar and M, using them to respectively make assassination attempts on Reverend John Maddox and an X-Factor client. Cortex grabs Longshot, trying to also control him, and realizes he and Shatterstar are connected, and when Cortex loses control over Monet, she attacks him and his hood falls back revealing that he is the second Jamie Madrox duplicate from Messiah Complex.[31] [edit] Powers and abilities
Jamie Madrox is a changeling, which is either a predecessor to or a subset of mutants. His power is the ability to create perfect duplicates, or "dupes", of himself, and all items on his person (clothing, weaponry, et cetera) through impact when he absorbs kinetic energy (although this sometimes has happened at will) through an unknown process. Most of the time, this is caused by him snapping his fingers, stomping his foot, being struck, or collisions. Each of the duplicates has the exact same power as Jamie himself, and has independent thought, though Madrox "Prime" is usually telepathically and empathically linked to the dupes. His powers have, at least once, been shown to affect the actual design of the shirt he was wearing.
Jamie "Prime" can absorb a dupe, back into himself at will, which also makes him osmose the memories, knowledge, and skills of the duplicate. The dupe usually appears right beside the body it "springs" from.
Jamie was formerly unable to control the duplication process, wearing a special shock-absorbent synthetic stretch fabric costume that contained mechanisms that absorbed kinetic energy so that an army of Madroxes would not instantly appear every time he was struck. The original suit was designed by his father, Dr. Daniel Madrox, and later modified by Reed Richards. Jamie currently wears a stylized shirt with only six large green shock-absorbent pads on the front of the torso. Whether this indicates a greater degree of control over when his dupes manifest or simply an advance in technology (or if it is simply an ordinary shirt with the same design) is unclear, but shirt designs can also change when duplicates are created sometimes.
During his time with X-Factor, the maximum number of dupes Madrox could create (including the dupe's dupes) was approximately 40, but the limit has grown far beyond that, such as when Hydra tried to manipulate Jamie into becoming one of their number, and the plan backfiring since he cannot be mindcontrolled, which instead made an "ocean" of Madroxes that drowned the organization's cohorts. Duplicates have independent minds from the original, but are usually willing to merge back because their memories and knowledge are retained. However, there have been exceptions where duplicates have wished for independence completely, even going so far as to have malicious duplicates intending great harm to the Prime during Peter David's original and modern X-Factor runs.
As a last ditch effort, Madrox's abilities can be used to deadly effect, which were used in self-defense against Seamus Mellencamp,[32] when Madrox jammed his hand into Mellencamp's mouth and activated his power, creating a duplicate inside Mellencamp and exploding him from the inside out. He has used this method to threaten people before, as well.
Madrox's duplicates can perish without long term physical harm to himself, as demonstrated when the mutant Proteus possessed a duplicate then consumed its life force — leaving only a burnt out husk, as with all victims of Proteus. The possession caused Madrox to collapse in pain, aware of what was happening, but he later recovered.
Madrox also uses merging with his duplicates as a form of healing. Originally, uninjured dupes "shared" the damage when they merged. If an injured Madrox or dupe merged with an uninjured version, the "new" version had an injury half as severe as the original injury. This method may depend upon the severity of the injury, such as when the M-tattooed dupe sent his scarring to the original.
As a consequence of splitting into multiple selves, Jamie has accumulated a vast wealth of knowledge and experience, along with some confusion over which Jamie did what. For example, although he says his duplicates have had active sex lives, he is not sure whether the main Jamie ever has. Because of the infinite nature of his powers, his duplicates can potentially represent a variety of aspects of his character and to varying extents.
Specific special skills accumulated through his vast experience include picking locks, some proficiency in Shaolin Kung Fu, handgun training, multiple languages including Russian and Hawaiian, and playing-card throwing. Along the way, he and/or his duplicates participated in an Olympic gymnastics team and apparently became a licensed attorney.
The extent of how many 'dupes' Madrox can produce and how many are still at large is unknown — at one point, an upper limit of forty, counting the original, was established, but this has since been called into question. It is conceivable that he has dupes in the far corners of the world.
Madrox has generally been considered a mutant. However, unlike most mutants whose mutant powers emerge during adolescence, Madrox exhibited his gifts from the day he was born. As a result, recent issues of X-Factor have raised some question as to whether or not he is a mutant or something altogether different. [edit] Other versions [edit] "Age of Apocalypse"
In the 1995-96 "Age of Apocalypse" crossover storyline, Jamie Madrox is one of the many mutants captured by Sinister and the Dark Beast for experimentation. His powers are overextended beyond its limits, leaving him nearly mindless, and his duplicates become the Madri — a fanatical cult worshipping Apocalypse and serving as his inquisitors and secret police. The original Madrox is reduced to a diapered, drooling lunatic who plays with children's toys such as rattles and building blocks while being kept in seclusion at the Church of the Madri in Quebec. Eventually, Banshee and Quicksilver attempt a rescue; however, in the end, Madrox shuts down all of his duplicates and dies in the resulting psychic backlash. The destruction of the Madri was one of the major blows to Apocalypse's regime that helped the X-Men overthrow the mutant overlord. [edit] Earth X
Jamie Madrox is referenced in the appendix of issue #6 of the 1997 miniseries Earth X: “Multiple Man. Jaime Madrox lives in every city of the earth. He's sort of a street informer who peddles himself on his ability to convey anything going on to anyone – should they pay high enough”. Madrox would later appear in the sequel series “Universe X” in the “Beasts” special, in which Jamie's hunger for meat during a food shortage causes him to eat one of his own duplicates. This action brings the curse of Wendigo upon Jamie. Interacting with his own mutation, the curse created a pack of Wendigo. This pack follows the combined force of the Wakandian nation and the X-Men to the Savage Land. In a last stand against the Wendigo, the combined forces of Black Panther, the X-Men, the Ani-Men and the Hulk defeat the Wendigo in a circle of fire. Jaime then reverts to normal and confesses his cannibalism before dying. It is not specified if the Jamie in this book is the original Jamie or a duplicate that had died. [edit] Marvel Zombies
Multiple Man is one of the zombies that Ashley G. Williams encounters in issue #3 of the 2007 miniseries Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness. Duplicated already, all the copies try to devour Ash, who seemingly destroys them all. It is not shown how exactly Madrox became a zombie. [edit] Ultimate Multiple Man
In the Ultimate Marvel universe, Madrox is a member of the Brotherhood of Mutants. He once staged an entire mutant rights protest march. A sample of his stem cells were stolen by the French military to create a "mutate" (a Marvel term for genetically-modified humans as opposed to those who developed mutant powers naturally) called the Schizoid Man, with similar powers, who was used to stop a riot single-handedly. Madrox recently appeared alongside Mastermind, Blob, and Toad when they gate-crashed the Academy of Tomorrow's Homecoming dance, though this was later shown to be an illusion. He is from Madison, WI[33] In the "Return of The King" arc, Madrox states that he can only produce approximately 27 or 28 dupes before he gets a bad sense of déjà vu. Madrox has appeared in Ultimates Volume 3 issue #2, alongside the Brotherhood. He later creates tens of thousands of dupes used as soldiers in Magneto's plot to destroy the world. The dupes succeed in blowing up Parliament and the Academy of Tomorrow, killing Emma Frost, Sunspot, Cannonball, Polaris, Captain Britain, Hank Pym, and others.
In Ultimate X-Men #100, Wolverine travels to the Savage Land, where he discovers that the real Multiple Man is actually a thirteen-year-old boy who believes that the year is 1994, and the actions being carried out by his dupes are stories he is drawing. Wolverine tries to call the boy to reason but is later forced to kill the original Madrox, causing all the dupes to disappear.[34] [edit] In other media [edit] Television In the X-Men animated series, Multiple Man appeared in the episode "Cold Comfort" as a member of X-Factor led by Havok and Forge.[citation needed] The animated series X-Men: Evolution features Jamie Madrox under the codename Multiple instead of Multiple Man. In the series, Jamie is a member of a "junior team" of X-Men, roughly equating to the New Mutants. The young Jamie was extremely clumsy, his frequent pratfalls often triggering his powers. This version of Jamie was also shown to have a crush on Kitty Pryde. He was voiced by David Kaye. Multiple Man first appears in the Wolverine and the X-Men episode "eXcessive Force" voiced by Crispin Freeman. He is shown as a member of Mister Sinister's Marauders. When Cyclops encounters Mister Sinister, he ends up fighting Multiple Man. When Mister Sinister states that he doesn't have Jean Grey, Multiple Man clones himself to fight Cyclops, Cyclops puts up a good fight but they overwhelm him. When the other X-Men arrive, Iceman froze Multiple Man and all of his clones. [edit] Film In the film X2, his name appears on a list of names Mystique scrolls through on Stryker's computer while looking for Magneto's file. In the novelization of X2, Jamie has an expanded role as a student living at Xavier's, and has a relationship with Siryn, who often unintentionally causes him to create duplicates of himself. X-Men: The Last Stand features James Madrox/Multiple Man, who is recruited into the Brotherhood of Mutants. Played by Eric Dane, the character is an ex-bank robber, having robbed seven banks simultaneously. In one scene, he and his dupes serve as a decoy for Magneto's Brotherhood, appearing to the authorities to be the Brotherhood on a satellite image, while the real Brotherhood escapes. He is presumably rearrested by U.S. Army troops after the ruse is discovered. [edit] Video games In X-Men: The Official Game, Multiple Man appears as a villain voiced by Eric Dane. He is battled on the Brooklyn Bridge. Multiple Man (spelled as "Multipleman") appears in X-Men Legends voiced by Dee Bradley Baker. He makes a brief cameo on Muir Island when the X-Men arrives there to stop Juggernaut. Multiple Man appears in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 voiced by Wally Wingert.[35] He appears as a boss for the players that side with the Superhero Registration Act. In the Wii, PS2, and PSP versions, some of the John Madrox duplicates are bosses for the Anti-Registration people. The first fight with Multiple Man is when the Anti-Registration Act intercept a convoy bound for Ryker's Island. The second fight takes place at Geffen-Meyer Chemical Plant where it turned out that the Multiple Man that was defeated earlier was one of his clones. Multiple Man is among the superheroes that gets taken over by The Fold. [edit] Bibliography Giant Size Fantastic Four #4 (December, 1975; first appearance) X-Factor (Vol. 1) #71-100 (presumed killed) #128-129 (discovered alive) #132-133 #135 #146 (1991–1998) MadroX #1-5 (September 2004 - January 2005) X-Factor (Vol. 3) On-going series (December, 2005–Present) [edit] References ^ Giant-Size Fantastic Four #4 (February 1975) ^ X-Factor Vol 3 #11 (November 2006) ^ Giant-Size Fantastic Four #4 ^ Uncanny X-Men #125-126 ^ Fallen Angels #2-8 ^ Uncanny X-Men #278, 280. ^ Peter David. X-Factor #71 ^ X-Factor #71 ^ X-Factor #72-75 ^ X-Factor #91 ^ X-Factor #92 ^ Infinity War tpb ^ Infinity Crusade Trade Paperback ^ X-Factor #100 ^ X-Factor #105, #111, or #128 ^ X-Factor #132 ^ X-Factor #135 ^ Uncanny X-Men #401-406 ^ New X-Men #130 ^ X-Factor Volume 0: Madrox Trade Paperback ^ House of M #8 ^ Peter David. X-Factor Vol. 1: The Longest Night Trade Paperback; 2007 ^ Peter David. X-Factor #10 ^ Peter David. X-Factor Vol. 2: Life and Death Matters vol. 2 Trade Paperback; 2007 ^ Peter David. X-Factor (vol. 3) #16 (April 2007) ^ Peter David. X-Factor 28 ^ Peter David. X-Factor #25- 27 ^ Peter David. X-Factor #45 ^ X-Factor (vol. 3) #39 (March 2009) ^ X-Factor (vol. 3) #40-41 (April-May 2009) ^ X-Factor (vol. 3) #47 (August 2009) letters column ^ X-Factor #92 (July 1993) ^ Ultimate X-Men #100 ^ Ultimatum #3 and Ultimate X-Men #100 ^ Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 Xbox 360 Video - Ultimate Bosses, IGN, September 10, 2009
