Centipede

CENTIPEDE

Real Name: Unrevealed

Class: Human mutate / technology-user

Occupation: Government agent

Group Affiliation: None

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Toronto, Canada, Prime Earth

First Appearance: Dial H #7 (February, 2013)

Powers: The Centipede was unstuck from time, giving him superhuman speed and the ability to create multiple copies of himself from different temporal points. Centipede wore a helmet whose compound eyes could see into UV and infrared, and had mandibles that shot electricity.

History: (Dial H #7-9) - A Canadian soldier volunteered for experiments in time travel, part of a project for developing superheroes, and ended up unstuck in time. Dubbed the Centipede he went on a number of covert missions. The Canadians discovered an H-Dial and gave it to Mason Jones, creating a new government superhero, but they also wanted a H-Dial spotted in Littleville, USA, being used by Manteau and Nelson Jent. Centipede tracked down Vernon Boyle, an associate of the supervillain Ex Nihilo who clashed with the heroes. Boyle had gone straight, and eagerly gave up what he knew about his old boss' headquarters. Boyle started to worry that Centipede would turn him in, and tried to ambush him at Nihilo's warehouse. Centipede easily beat Boyle to a pulp, and told him he was a predator through and through. After killing Boyle and his men he learned that Jent and Manteau were in Canada seeking out Mason Jones. He caught Jent just as his powers faded, and easily took away his H-Dial. Centipede said he knew all about the H-Dial, and how to use it, but couldn't dial a hero. Manteau showed up to retrieve the dial, becoming Minotaura and fleeing with Jent. Centipede's higher-ups ran a focus study, and gave him a centipede helmet to make him look more like a proper superhero. He wasn't above suffering indignities for his country, even though he was well aware he was an assassin and not a hero. Jent and Manteau discovered the location where Centipede and Jones operated from, and Jent broke in as the Glimpse. Centipede staid back, wanting to watch two H-Dialers in action and test some of his theories as Jones became the Bristol Bloodhound.

(Dial H #10-13) - Jent found that Jones obeyed his commands to help him escape, and back at a rendezvous with Manteau. Jones turned back to normal, but was near comatose, the dial having done a number on his head. Jent and Manteau figured out that he was dialing 7433 (SIDE) to become a superhero sidekick needing orders from another superhero. They planned to test out the S-Dial together, and Jent said he'd be the sidekick because he completely trusted Manteau and her experience. Centipede went over the research he had access to on the H-Dial, and knew that Manteau and Jent had already met the Unstuck Fixer, who would be pursuing them. He called the head of a church that worshipped the H-Dial, and asked the man to pray on his behalf to the emissaries of the Dial, hooking him up with a machine that let him communicate with the dimension of the Exchange, home of the H-Dials. Centipede's higher-ups told him he had no authorization, so he killed them, going rogue. He summoned the Fixer, an entity that deactivated H-Dials, and sicced him on Manteau and Jent, chasing them across the world. Centipede and Fixer fought, because Fixer wanted his help, but didn't want him touching Jent and Manteau's dials. The Dial Bunch, a group of H-Dial users, and Open-Window Man, were seeking out Jent and Manteau, and rescued them. . They lured the villains to Black Maple labs, where Centipede had opened a gateway to the Exchange, and pushed Centipede and Fixer through the doorway before closing it. Centipede's lab assistant told them they gave his superior exactly what he wanted, Fixer promised Centipede he'd take him to the Exchange in return for disabling Jent and Manteau's dial. Fulfilling Fixers quest involved traveling to different dimensions and causing genocide. The dial Bunch recovered the J-Dial that would let them jump between dimensions. Long ago Captain Random ripped it from the Fixer as he killed her.

(Dial H #14, 15) - The Fixer and Centipede captured Jent, and brought him to the Operator, who let him transform in Monodon Seer so he could read his mind. The Exchange arose from the fraying of parallel worlds, and the need to patch them. They designed the dials to copy objects and creatures from different dimensions, but some of the dials stole the original's powers, and the other dimensions declared war. During the war a fracture in the Exchange spilled dials to neighboring dimensions, including Earth. Operator was exiled for being a proponent of all-out war, but in his exile the Exchange fell, and he would avenge it by destroying the dimensions that rose against the Exchange with his D-Dial that summoned doomsday. Jent's allies came for him, but the Operator short-circuited Dwan, and Centipede killed Bansa. The Fixer thought the Operator had gone too far, and tried to stop him, but O simply shut him off. The Centipede was still loyal, because O finally made a dial that he could use, one that would respond to a psychopath. O could also shut down Jent's dial until Manteau rewired it so it summoned mash-up heroes. He held off Operator, who had to summon more and more dial power to battle him, until Open-Window Man and Manteau took out the Exchange's remaining safety precautions. The Operator overloaded, exploding and destroying himself along with the Centipede. The heroes were stranded in the Exchange, but were determined to find a way back home.

Comments: Created by China Miéville & David Lapham.