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Fictional character biographyEdit

Machine Man, whose real name is Z2P45-9-X-51, was the last of a series of sentient robots created at the Broadhurst Center for the Advancement of Mechanized Research in Central City, California, by robotics expert Dr. Abel Stack for the US Army. However, all previous 50 experimental robots went mad as they achieved sentience and became psychotic, due to a lack of identity. X-51 was the only survivor, as he was treated as a son by Stack and given a human face mask as well as being exposed to one of the monoliths from 2001. After Stack died trying to protect him, X-51 assumed the human name Aaron Stack and escaped confinement, only to be relentlessly pursued by the army. X-51 named himself Mister Machine in issue #9 of the 10-issue run of 2001.

While on the run, the newly christened Machine Man initiated contact with humanity in order to better understand it.[5] After being captured and later freed, Machine Man was found by psychiatrist Peter Spaulding. He also battled Col. Krag's troops.[6] Soon after that, he first encountered Curtiss Jackson.[7] Alongside the Hulk, he battled Curtiss Jackson.[8] Soon after that, he was redesigned and rebuilt by Dr. Oliver Broadhurst.[9] He then first encountered the Fantastic Four.[10] He then met mechanic "Gears" Garvin, and then battled Baron Brimstone.[11] He also battled Madame Menace (Sunset Bain).[12] He then first encountered Aurora, Northstar, and Sasquatch of Alpha Flight.[13] Spaulding and Garvin set up Machine Man with a human identity as Aaron Stack, insurance investigator for the Delmar Insurance Company,[14] but he continued having adventures as a superhero on the side.[volume & issue needed]

In Iron Man #168 (March 1983), Machine Man attempts to pay Iron Man a visit. Machine Man was seeking to compare notes with Iron Man, thought to be a robot by Machine Man. At the time, Iron Man was drunk, irate, and under considerable stress from the machinations of Obadiah Stane. Iron Man attacked Machine Man and almost killed two of his own employees. At the last possible second, Machine Man's extendable arm pushed them out of the way.[15]

In a meeting with the Thing of the Fantastic Four, Machine Man also first met and fell in love with another sentient robot, Jocasta. Alongside the Thing and Jocasta, he battled Ultron. However, during the battle, Machine Man witnessed the seeming destruction of Jocasta by Ultron.[16]

In 1990, Machine Man guest-starred in Iron Man Annual #11 (part of the "Terminus Factor" storyline). That story created strong hints that the 2020 Machine Man may turn out not to be the true X-51, but instead a duplicate created by Sunset Bain. The story concludes in Thor Annual #15, also in 1990.

He later fought alongside the Avengers,[volume & issue needed] which led to the invitation to become a team reservist.[volume & issue needed] Later he was captured by S.H.I.E.L.D., who wanted to use his technology to create another Deathlok. He helps the X-Men and Douglock against the villainous Red Skull, who had taken over the Helicarrier where Machine Man was held.[17]

He helped the X-Men again against Bastion and his Sentinels.[volume & issue needed] As a consequence, he was infected by Sentinel programming, assuming a more robotic look in the subsequent series X-51, and losing self-control whenever he was faced with a mutant. During this series he was on the run from Sebastian Shaw, who wants his technology for himself. Because of his new programming, while seeking aid from the Avengers, he attacks Justice and Firestar. Because of his actions against Justice and Firestar, X-51's membership in the Avengers is revoked. At the end of X-51, X-51 encountered one of the monoliths and disappeared, brought into the presence of the monolith's creators, the cosmic beings known as the Celestials.[volume & issue needed]

Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E.Edit

Main article: Nextwave

Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen's Nextwave series sees Machine Man join a team formed by the Highest Anti-Terrorism Effort, or H.A.T.E. (a subsidiary of the Beyond Corporation©) to fight Unusual Weapons of Mass Destruction.[volume & issue needed] Now preferring simply to be called Aaron, Machine Man is partnered with Monica Rambeau, Tabitha Smith, Elsa Bloodstone, and The Captain,[18] and the team soon discovers that H.A.T.E. are funded by the Beyond Corporation©, leading them to go rogue and carry out their mission on their own prerogative.[volume & issue needed]

Aaron Stack

Calling humans "fleshy ones" and expressing a degree of pride in his "roboty parts" — which he uses to kill Fin Fang Foom[19] — Aaron has developed a fondness for alcohol, stating "My robot brain needs beer" on regular occasions. He is not especially popular with his teammates because of his self-important attitude, and, as is learned in a flashback that after being brought to space by the Celestials at the conclusion of his previous series, he was dumped back on Earth because the space-gods considered him to be a "complete and utter ☠☠☠☠."[20] ("☠☠☠☠" representing an unspecified, but extremely offensive, profanity throughout the Nextwave series) He appears to have a rather serious attraction to Elsa Bloodstone and stares at her chest constantly, much to her chagrin.

It is revealed that, when still an agent of H.A.T.E, Aaron would often sneak into Dirk Anger's room to steal beer until he found out what Anger made it out of ("I thought Lizard Squeezings was a brewery name.").[21] He later uses his knowledge of Dirk's quarters to steal Anger's mother's dress and hold it hostage in exchange for the safe escape of Nextwave.[volume & issue needed]

Later appearances in the Marvel Comics Presents mini-series (vol.2) suggest that X-51's memories of his time with the Celestials may be skewed, as he experienced visual hallucinations (?) of a miniature Celestial helping him overcome his psychological issues.[volume & issue needed]

The InitiativeEdit

Main article: Fifty State Initiative

Aaron with his Monica Rambeau LMD. Art by Adriana Melo.

Machine Man appears in a flashback to Iron Man (vol. 1) #168 (March 1983) in Iron Man/Captain America: Casualties of War. In trying to convince Captain America of the rightness of his position, Iron Man tells of the time Machine Man came to visit him. Machine Man was seeking to compare notes with Iron Man, thought to be a robot by Machine Man. Drunk, irate, and under considerable stress from the machinations of Obadiah Stane, Iron Man attacks Machine Man and almost kills two of his own employees. At the last possible second, Machine Man's extendable arm pushes them out of the way. Iron Man uses this incident as the need for accountability in the superhero population.[volume & issue needed]

Aaron and Sleepwalker are recruited to aid Ms. Marvel in finding her teammate Araña as part of a S.H.I.E.L.D. strikeforce known as Operation Lightning Storm.[volume & issue needed] In the promotional cover for this appearance, he is in the costume which he wore during Nextwave.[22] His appearance is entirely in keeping with Nextwave: he wears the same costume and displays the same nonsensical and zany personality developed, in place of his previous logical and friendly self. He reveals that Agent Maria Hill from S.H.I.E.L.D. offered him financial compensation to join the Initiative, enraging Ms. Marvel, who had supported it from the beginning, for free.[volume & issue needed] He spends much of his time in Chile and aboard the Minicarrier 13, Ms. Marvel's headquarters at the time, antagonizing and criticizing every available agent.[volume & issue needed]

In addition to financial compensation, S.H.I.E.L.D. has also provided Aaron with a Life Model Decoy of Monica Rambeau, which is programmed to cry for him.[23] Keeping him in his new role of comic relief, Aaron has been shown using the LMD body as a replacement part for his damaged body, going so far to offer womanly advice to a deeply shocked Araña.[24]

Marvel ZombiesEdit

Main articles: Marvel Zombies 3 and Marvel Zombies 5

See also: Marvel Zombies (series)

Machine Man appears twice in the Marvel Zombies universe, initially in a cameo as part of the Nextwave team who engage in battle against the infected heroes and are killed off panel in Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness, and as the main character in Marvel Zombies 3. As the main character, Machine Man accepts an assignment on behalf of A.R.M.O.R. to accompany Jocasta to retrieve a blood sample from a living human from the Marvel Zombies universe, and the two are transported there by Portal.[25] At first he wants to complete his mission only for the money, until he discovers that the zombies are cloning humans for food, much as humans use his fellow robots only for their own needs. He obtains cell samples from the Kingpin's wife Vanessa, who is still alive and being kept safe by the Kingpin.[26] Machine Man delivers the samples to Jocasta, but the zombies nearly destroy him in retribution, and Portal and Jocasta are forced to leave his ruined body in that dimension.[27] After Machine Man reveals that it was a holographic projection of himself, he fights off some zombies and captures the zombie Lockjaw who he uses to teleport back to his own dimension. Disposing of the remaining zombies within the facility, Machine Man and Jocasta are assigned back to S.H.I.E.L.D.[28]

He retains his personality as displayed in Nextwave and Ms Marvel in this series, however when Jocasta describes him as different from the person she once knew, he gives an explanation. Describing his earlier, friendly personality as being linked to "unresolved Oedipal issues", he claims to have grown tired of saving people over and over again to earn their love, as he loved them. Since that never happened (he claims), he has "modeled myself after the fleshies now. I look out for Number One, just like them".[29] However, at the end of the series, as he wipes out the last remaining zombies, he declares, "No, you know what? My name is Machine Man and I just saved the ☠☠☠☠ing world!" accepting the name he spent much of Nextwave and this series denying.[30]

In Marvel Zombies 5, he teams up with Howard the Duck. They later work with and befriend Jacali Kane, daughter of an alternate-universe Hurricane. The trio travel the multi-verse fighting zombies; their intentions are to gather samples from biologically differing zombies in other to gain a cure.[31] He is dismayed by Jocasta's decision to marry Ultron.[32]

Working with Red HulkEdit

Under orders from Captain Steve Rogers, Machine Man teams up with Red Hulk, who is tracking down a Qatari rebel named Dagan Shah (whom Red Hulk believed to be behind the death of his old friend Will Krugauer).[33] Machine Man and Red Hulk arrive in Sharzhad where they find Dagan Shah in the disguise of Arabian Knight, who lets them through the force field and leads them to his palace. Once inside the palace, Dagan Shah sheds his disguise, reveals his true identity as the Sultan Magus, and imprisons Red Hulk and Machine Man, as it is shown that the real Arabian Knight is imprisoned in a crystal.[34] Red Hulk and Machine Man escape when Sultan Magus travels to Cairo after probing Red Hulk's mind to find out who could have sent Red Hulk to Sharzhad. Machine Man reveals to Red Hulk that Sultan Magus has used Rigellian technology to manipulate hydrogen, which involved providing a supply of water and terraforming a part of the desert for Sharzhad. When Sultan Magus returns, he attacks Red Hulk and Machine Man. Sultan Magus rips Machine Man in half.[35] When Arabian Knight is freed from his imprisonment, Red Hulk and Machine Man continue their fight with Sultan Magus until General Reginald Fortean arrives and ends the fight. Fortean states to Red Hulk and Machine Man that Sharzhad has been recognized as a nation by the Arab League upon Sultan Magus agreeing to stop the weapons trading and states that they are trespassing. Sultan Magus then orders Red Hulk and Machine Man to get out of Sharzhad while he secretly plans to have his revenge on Red Hulk someday.[36]

Following an altercation with Red She-Hulk, Machine Man and Red Hulk track Zero/One to her floating island base Ogygia. As Red Hulk and Machine Man are fighting Zero/One's genetically-engineered sea monsters, Zero/One sends Black Fog to fight Machine Man and Red Hulk.[37] Using a device given to him by Jacob Feinman, Machine Man disables Zero/One's drones and frees Black Fog from Zero/One's control as Black Fog leaves the area, stating that his debt is paid.[38]

Machine Man and Red Hulk arrived in Hawaii to fight a genetically-engineered Hydra that was created by Zero/One.[39]

Marvel NOW! (2016)Edit

As part of the 2016 Marvel NOW!, Machine Man appeared as an employee of Umbral Dynamics.[40] Machine Man later appears as a member of Domino's incarnation of the Mercs for Money.[41]

During the "Iron Man 2020" event, Machine Man appears as a member of the A.I. Army.[42] Machine Man was assigned to blow up the satellite dish on Baintronics only for his feelings towards a reprogrammed Jocasata to get in the way.[43] He followed her to a Baintronics facility and fought through many of the X-series robots that came before him. When he finally catches up to Jocasta, he is taken down by a new X-series robot model named X-52.[44] Despite being at a disadvantage, Machine Man defeated X-52 and beheaded Jocasta while making off with her still-active head. Though he ran into a Baintronics security personnel as he prepares to fight them.[45

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