Saturday Showcase: Zero (Mutant Liberation Front)

Can't touch this

    Not much is known about the character named Zero from the MLF (Mutant Liberation Front).  What we do know is Zero was created 2000 years in the future by the Askani as a prototype for the Ambient-energy Damping Automated peacekeeping Mechanisms (ADAMs). Zero was damaged and found by the mutant tyrant, Stryfe, who opposed the Askani. Stryfe reactivated Zero, leaving it mute and obedient. Zero would become Stryfe's most trusted ally. When Stryfe's armies were defeated, Stryfe and Zero fled, travelling back in time to the late 20th century.

Saved by Zero

    It is in the 20th century where Stryfe gathered a group of mutants and formed the terrorist organisation known as the Mutant Liberation Front. Stryfe's new team fought against Cable and the New Mutants and X-Force. During the X-Cutioner's Song, Stryfe was defeated on the Moon and Zero disappeared and was deactivated.  Leaving the secrets of Stryfe unknown to the world...but would those secrets remain hidden?

    This wouldn't be the end of Zero.  He would be reactivated later by a group of Mercs (including Deadpool) looking for the ultimate weapon.  This weapon was Zero.  Zero was now capable of speech and following his original programming: peace-keeping. It scanned its surroundings for any object and person who were a threat to peace on Earth and eliminated Slayback. He was about to eliminate Deadpool as well, but Deadpool convinced Zero that he had potential for good. Zero gave Deadpool the benefit and left.

Allies til the End?

    Zero went on to try to become more human.   His new goal was to achieve full sentience and become "alive". It sensed the potential to be alive in the techno-organic being known as Douglock and gave it independence from the Phalanx. Zero set out to teach Douglock about his new existence, but Zero was now hunted by killer androids, programmed by Stryfe to destroy Zero in case of his death. Zero and Douglock were assisted by Excalibur and together they tried to deactivate the androids from Stryfe's secret base below the Pentagon. Here, Zero realized that he had become sentient and also the reason why Stryfe wanted him killed: locked within his data banks, Zero had all the secrets of the Legacy Virus, Stryfe's final "gift" to the world. This revelation activated Zero's self-destruct sequence and the killer androids in Stryfe's base. 

    Shadowcat managed to remove the self-destruction device, but Zero realized that his sentience was a cruel joke and that Stryfe had programmed him to think it was alive. Zero sacrificed itself to protect Excalibur, Douglock, and a family of innocents from the base's self-destruction.   In Zero's last few moments on Earth, Zero transferred all of its memories to Douglock. So while its body is destroyed, the data that made up Zero's mind is still contained within the mind of Douglock.

the MLF

Powers:

• Teleportation: Zero is capable of opening gateways linking to places spatially without having to traverse the space between.
• Tracking: Zero can find a needle in a haystack so if you are trying to get away, you got no chance
• Intellect: Zero is a highly sophisticated android with an intelligence to match.  His data banks make it almost impossible to out think or out maneuver him.  

First Appearance:

• New Mutants #86 (Feb 1990)
• Created by Rob Liefeld and Louise Jones Simonson
• Published by MARVEL

ZERO

Until next time, get your READ on!