Prodigy (comics)

Prodigy is the name used by four fictional characters in the Marvel Universe. The first Prodigy was Spider-Man in disguise, the second has superhuman physical abilities, and the third was a mutant with a superhuman intellect. The fourth is a member of the Gamma Corps, created using the Leader's DNA.

Prodigy (Peter Parker)

Fictional character biography

When Spider-Man is accused of murder during the "" storyline, he dons several different costumes to continue saving lives without anyone knowing it is him. One of these, the Prodigy costume, is designed by Mary Jane Watson-Parker. It is padded to make Spider-Man appear bigger, and bulletproof to make it seem as though he is invulnerable. While in this identity, he adopts a confident, archetypical heroic persona, similar to that of the Silver Age Superman or Captain America. When he clears his name, he abandons the identity.

Although the hero called Black Marvel later gives Ritchie Gilmore a duplicate Prodigy costume, Spider-Man remains in possession of the original. It has not been seen since.

Powers and abilities

In addition to Spider-Man's regular abilities, the Prodigy costume is bulletproof.

Bibliography

*"Amazing Spider-Man" vol. 1 #435
*"Spectacular Spider-Man" vol. 1 #256-258

Prodigy (Ritchie Gilmore)

Superherobox|


caption=Prodigy.
Art by ChrisCross.
comic_color=background:#ff8080
character_name=Prodigy
real_name=Ritchie Gilmore
species=Human
publisher=Marvel Comics
debut="Slingers" #0
creators= Joseph Harris
Adam Pollina
alliance_color=background:#ffc0c0
alliances=Slingers
Initiative
aliases=
powers=Costume grants:
Superhuman strength and durability,
Near-flight leaping ability,
Gliding |

Fictional character biography

Ritchie Gilmore is a typical jock, captain of his college wrestling team, and one of the most popular guys in school. But Ritchie wants more from life; he wants to be stronger and more powerful. The Black Marvel gives him the Prodigy costume, and the chance to be something better. The costume had been imbued with power: it gives Ritchie superhuman strength, he can leap so far and high that it appears that he is flying, and his cape even allows him to glide. Black Marvel makes Ritchie the leader of his new team, the Slingers. As Prodigy, Ritchie can finally be the person he always wanted to be and finds that he enjoys the life of a superhero. However, he is cold and unfeeling towards his teammates, not even showing concern when Dusk falls to her death, and isn't even shocked when she comes back to life. Prodigy feels that he should not have to help his team, and that they need to learn how to handle things on their own. Once, he leaves the Slingers in a collapsing tunnel, saying that if they are truly heroes, they would be able to survive. He is just as prone to beat his friends as his enemies. When he feels that Ricochet challenges his authority, he attacks him, and is only prevented from seriously injuring him by Hornet's intervention. Hornet also has to blast Prodigy with his laser "stingers" to keep him from killing a gang member.

Prodigy learns that Black Marvel had made a deal with a demon called Mephisto to give him his costume, and that the demon had collected his "mentor’s” soul as payment. While the other three members of his team go to save Black Marvel, he abandons them. But when Ricochet is confronted with an illusion of his dead mother, Prodigy comes back to snap him out of his trance. Prodigy admits that his heart was filled with hate, and he lets that hatred go, and helps his friends free the Black Marvel's soul. The team disbands, but Prodigy apologizes for his actions before he leaves, and says he needs to check on his grandmother, as he had been missing quite a while.

Civil War/Initiative

Prodigy returns ["Civil War Frontline" #2] standing on a rooftop and openly defies the Super Hero Registration Act. Iron Man soon arrives on the scene along with agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Prodigy declares Iron Man a traitor and then attacks him. Predictably, Prodigy is defeated by Iron Man and apprehended by SHIELD agents. Prodigy succeeds, however, in sending a message to the people of the Marvel Universe. This is considered the first act of Civil War. Prodigy is later shown ["Amazing Spider-Man" vol. 1 #535] , where he is one of the inmates imprisoned within the Negative Zone Prison Alpha; where he was seen by Peter Parker (during his tour with Iron Man) in regards to the status of those that refused to register. Prodigy is one of the heroes that is freed from his cell when Hulkling, under the guise of Dr. Hank Pym, opens the cells. He joins Captain America's side to fight Iron Man ["Civil War" #6] .

Prodigy next appears as one of 's new recruits. One of the stipulations of his release from jail is that he takes responsibility for his drunken actions against Iron Man, then appear to fully support the Initiative. Hank Pym talks to him about his drinking 'problem' which Gilmore denied, yet one of the first things he does is break out and buys beer for the group although he doesn't allow the under-age Batwing to drink. ["" #13]

Prodigy is one of the many heroes gathered to fight rampaging powered Skrulls in Times Square. ["Secret Invasion" #3]

Powers and abilities

Prodigy's costume is mystically infused with power, giving him incredible superhuman strength, and he can actually stop a speeding train with his bare hands. He can leap incredible distances and when he jumps, it appears that he is flying. His golden costume is completely bulletproof, and can withstand most physical assaults. His cape functions as a hang glider, and enables him to glide on air currents.

Bibliography

*"Civil War" #6
*"Civil War: Frontline" #2
*"Contest of Champions" vol. 2 #1-5
*"GLA" #2
*"New Warriors" vol. 2 #1
*"Slingers" #0-8, 10-12
*Avengers - The Initiative #13

Prodigy (David Alleyne)

Fictional character biography

David has the ability to temporarily absorb knowledge (but not superpowers) from anyone in close proximity who is not telepathically shielded. A mental block keeps him from retaining the knowledge once the person has passed a certain distance away from him. David has always been the smart one, but when he was a teenager, the answers just started appearing in his head- so long as he was in the same room as the teacher. He started to figure out that he was a mutant, and that he now had the ability to know anything that the people nearby knew. Feeling this made him a cheater, and knowing the knowledge would fade, David was driven to study even harder. He took college-level courses while finishing high school. But he kept his mutation a secret, until the hate group Purity outted him to his parents and attempted to attack him. David was rescued by the librarian at his school, the former New Mutant Xi'an "Shan" Coy Manh, and her former teammate Danielle Moonstar. He becomes friends with Shan's younger siblings, Leon and Nga.

Powers and abilities

Before losing his powers, Prodigy had the telepathic ability to absorb and mimic the knowledge and skills from the minds of the people near him.

Although now a normal human, the mental block that the Stepford Cuckoos sisters removed has given him access to the skills that he absorbed as a mutant and has made him more formidable since he doesn't need to be near the owner of the skills to have them, but he can no longer absorb any more skills when it comes to his mutant power. This includes the fighting abilities and scientific knowledge of many of the X-Men including Beast, Professor Xavier, Sage, Karma, and Wolverine.

Prodigy (Timothy Wilkerson)

Superherobox|

caption=
comic_color=background:#ff8080
character_name=Prodigy
real_name=Timothy Wilkerson
species=Human mutate
publisher=Marvel Comics
debut="" #1 (July, 2007)
creators=Frank Tieri and Carlos Ferreira
alliance_color=background:#c0c0ff
alliances=Gamma Corps
aliases=
powers=Telepathy and psychic blasts|

The newest Prodigy is Timothy Wilkerson, a member of the Gamma Corps. He was mutated using The Leader's DNA and artificially aged. While he was still in the womb, his mother was frightened by the Hulk's appearance, and suffered a stroke, which adversely affected her son's development. He has limited telepathic abilities and can project psychic blasts. He's also responsible for creating the team's equipment.

References

External links

* [http://marvel.com/universe/Prodigy_%28Ritchie_Gilmore%29 Prodigy (Ritchie Gilmore) on the Marvel Universe Character Bio Wiki]
* [http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix4/prodigygilmore.htm Profile of Ritchie Gilmore at the Appendix of the Marvel Handbook]