You know him as the man responsible for everyone’s favorite galaxy-guarding, foul-mouth Procyon, but who is the High Evolutionary, really?
Background
Real name: Herbert Edgar Wyndham
Also known as: The High Evolutionary, Dr. Wyndham, God, Lord High Evolutionary
Born in Manchester, England (ew)
Height: 6’2” / Weight: 200Ibs (w/o armor)
Created all of the following: New Men/Animutants/Animen, Godpack, New Immortals, and Nu-Kree
Did “No more mutants” before it was cool
Joined the Future Foundation for like 1 panel and then got dropped from the plotline
Favorite Breaking Bad episode: Face Off
September 1st, 1928; London, England. A young man named Herbert Wyndham conducts experiments on a rat in his mother's basement, hoping to crack the evolutionary code of life with his prototype Genetic Accelerator. Despite his dream of accelerating organisms hundreds of years through forced evolution, Herbert was unable to perfect his prototype and struggled to convince his scientific peers that his project was worthwhile. As fate would have it, however, Herbert came across a mysterious benefactor in Geneva, who provided the geneticist with blueprints that cracked genetic code wide open. In no time at all, Herbert had adjusted his Genetic Accelerator with the newfound data; to his (and his pet dog's) shock, the accelerator worked - he had developed isotopes that crossed man and canine DNA, and thrust the dog forward in its' evolutionary chain. The result was neither man nor dog, but rather, something new, something beyond man... a New Man, if you will.
Following this breakthrough in his experiments, Herbert continued to push for greater heights. He reunited with his friend, Johnathan Drew, and moved to a mystical mountain range in the Balkans with the hopes of creating their very own Citadel for Science. Upon Mount Wundagore, the friends would set out to create the lab of their dreams. Unfortunately, Johnathan had to bail, getting tangled up in someone else's origin story; his radiation-poisoned daughter, Jessica Drew, AKA Spider-Woman. As it turned out, Wundagore was a pretty spooky place, filled with werewolves and elder-god-demons. In order to survive, Herbert forged himself a suit of armor and became more than a man, more than a geneticist; he became the High Evolutionary. Over the years, the High Evolutionary conducted his genetic experiments in relative solitude, though he did happen to cure Jessica of her sickness the same night a wandering mother delivered two Uncanny twins in the Evolutionary's care.
Eventually, the Asgardian Avenger, Thor, would stumble across Wundagore and find an army of anthropomorphic animals themed after medieval knights. Understandably, he was a bit confused. In truth, this is what became of the High Evolutionary's New Men, whom he fashioned into a veritable army with which he defended his abode. The New Men were intelligent, peaceful, and loyal... at least, until the High Evolutionary accidentally let a certain wolf cook for too long in the oven. Thus was created the Man-Beast, or Karnivore, Herbert's 'son' and archnemesis, who wanted nothing more than to destroy everything his father had built. Why? Because he's evil.
Thanks to the help of the Thunderer, the Evolutionary exiled the Man Beast to space before doing the same to himself, realizing how dangerous and irresponsible his experiments had been. Luckily, Herbert had a giant spaceship prepped and ready to go for his interstellar adventure, because who wouldn't? Alas, his destination simply landed him on an alien planet among his revolting New Men... and also the Hulk was there too. Fatally wounded amidst the ensuing chaos, the High Evolutionary was forced to play a last resort: using his Genetic Accelerator on himself. In an instant, Herbert was thrust eons forward in evolution, shedding his humanity to become a being of pure energy. This new god-like state irrevocably intertwined Herbert with the very universe itself; even when he would inevitably become human again (don't worry about it), the High Evolutionary retained some residual power from the experience. In time, he would develop psionic abilities, such as telekinesis, telepathy, and more. But what good is the power to destroy if one cannot also build something new?
This is precisely what the Evolutionary set out to do by creating Counter-Earth, a replica of, well, Earth. Herbert dreamt of a world inhabited by a perfect species, one without bigotry or violence, one fit to be the home of his own genetic creations. Within 140 hours, Counter-Earth - located on the opposite side of the Sun from Earth - was completed, thanks to Herbert’s newfound abilities & advanced tech at work. There to witness this scientific feat of cosmic proportions was none other than Adam Warlock, whom the Evolutionary had recently awoken from his cocoon.
At first, it seemed the High Evolutionary succeeded in creating his perfect utopia... but unbeknownst to the geneticist, the devious Man-Beast had not only infiltrated the Evolutionary's lair, but also tampered with the morality of Counter-Earth's denizens whilst Herbert slept, basically making them normal shitty humans. Ashamed and enraged at his crowning achievement being ruined less than 5 minutes after completion, the High Evolutionary sought to nuke the planet, starting over from scratch; but Adam begged and bartered with the estranged scientist, asking for a chance to save Counter-Earth from their own sin. Thus descended Adam - the 'Son' of who could be considered 'God' - upon (Counter) Earth. Through Adam's efforts, the High Evolutionary swore never to destroy his creation. (Spoiler alert: he’s also not very good at keeping promises.)
As time passed on, the High Evolutionary defended Counter-Earth from many an interstellar intruder; from Odin's Destroyer to the World Eater, Galactus. Despite winning the day against impossible odds many times, the High Evolutionary found himself helpless to deny the will of the Beyonders, a multiversal alien race that had set their sights on Counter-Earth and literally towed it away to their own domain. At first, it seemed as though the higher beings admired Herbert's creation... but in truth, they simply found it novel. It was nothing more than a primitive plaything to be presented in a cosmic museum, the highest possible insult for one who sought the heavens such as the High Evolutionary.
Understanding the intent of the Beyonders and his own insignificance, Herbert... broke. He attempted to take his own life, and when that failed, he sought out the Incredible Hulk to do the deed for him. Herbert Wyndham had achieved so much in his lifespan, flown so near to the sun; but like all those who came before him in the sky, he was doomed to fall in flames. Thus ended the life of the High Evolutionary, reduced by his own devolution rays into a pile of protoplasmic goo.
...Except this is comics, so you know his ass did NOT stay dead for even a decade. While it took him 7 years to return to the pages of X-Factor, in truth, Herbert came back much, much faster than you'd expect. His armor managed to regenerate the geneticist in a matter of hours, from the aforementioned puddle of goo thanks to its built-in evolution rays. Seeing that he couldn't even die properly, the High Evolutionary changed his perspective and developed a grand scheme; if he couldn't create a perfect Earth, free of humanity's flaws, then he would simply fix humanity directly. To that end, he developed the Gene Bomb, designed to accelerate the entirety of mankind millions of years forward in an instant.
Naturally, when your maniacal schemes concern the fate of the world, you're likely to run into at least one of the many esteemed super-teams out there. Thus, Herbert fought valiantly against the Olympian champion, Hercules, but in the end, neither would claim victory over the other. Instead, the High Evolutionary's genetic accelerators were turned on him by the Avengers, hurling both himself and Hercules into incorporeal, godlike states of being.
Luckily - or unluckily - the two ended up in the possession of a Celestial, who had been siphoning their... energy? It's not actually very clear... regardless, the Celestial had use of Herbert and Hercules, and it was only thanks to Thor that the duo returned to their worldly selves. Never one to pass up an opportunity to burn himself, Herbert stayed, and witnessed the birth of a Celestial, a cosmic event unlike anything he had ever encountered. Unfortunately for the High Evolutionary, his mind simply was not prepared to comprehend what he had seen, and he was eventually driven mad. He got better soon enough, however, and got right back to doing what he'd do best: create a new species of super-beings, turn on the old ones, and watch as they all eventually just hated his guts and wanted him dead.
As time went on, the High Evolutionary would get up to many different shenanigans without much rhyme or reason. He stole the Silver Surfer's Power Cosmic & Galactus' Star Sphere, turned into a gorilla one time, was forced by Ultron to insert the AI's consciousness into Adam Warlock's body, created a device that turned all Mutants on Earth into ordinary homo sapiens, and then went and gave Magneto his Mutant powers back after the Scarlet Witch said the funny words. The High Evolutionary was never much one for consistency, especially when it came to his ideals regarding humanity and evolution.
Sometimes, he viewed cloning as evolutionary stagnation, and other times, he willingly made a shit ton of clones and didn't seem to care. Sometimes, he viewed humanity as something to be elevated onto the cosmic seats of the gods, and other times, he figured mankind needed to be devolved back into monkeys. Sometimes he wanted to "help" mutants, other times, he just straight up hated them. Sometimes, he genuinely loved the New Men, and sometimes he literally committed mass genocide on his own creations... just for kicks!
Needless to say, the High Evolutionary was never quite the same after his insane escapades with the Beyonders, the Celestials, & becoming one with the universe itself. The story of the High Evolutionary is one of simple hubris, an echo of Icarus. But despite all his failings, Herbert Wyndham ultimately achieved what his peers thought impossible by not only perfecting the Genetic Accelerator, but by transcending his own humanity. Whether he's plotting some delusional evil scheme or working with the Marvels & Ultimates to save the multiverse, whether he's subjugating his own creations or creating a utopia for them, and whether he wields godlike powers or is literally an ape, Marvel's Armored Alchemist of Evolution will always come back from defeat, ready to perfect the imperfect at any cost.
…Oh, yeah, and he never actually met Rocket Raccoon, much less experimented on him. At least, he hasn’t yet… you already know there’s about to be some good ‘ol movie-based retcons going on in the comics.
Intelligence
For as powerful and tenacious as the High Evolutionary is, Herbert has always been a scientist first and foremost. As such, it should be no surprise to learn that the High Evolutionary's intellect ranks among the best in the Marvel universe. During his days as a student at Oxford University, Herbert's genius was apparent; he considered the university's lessons to be "elementary", with "primitive" faculties, and was called "one of the most gifted minds of his generation." After becoming the Evolutionary, Herbert went as far as to claim superior intellect over esteemed Marvel genius Dr. Bruce Banner. He even impressed Hank McCoy (Beast) when he successfully removed the mutant gene from every Mutant on Earth, a feat that Hank says is so scientifically sophisticated, it's essentially magic. In the field of genetics, not even Spider-Man's Clone Saga nemesis, Miles Warren (AKA the Jackal) could compare to the High Evolutionary's talents.
As such, it should come as no surprise that the High Evolutionary knows practically everything there is to know concerning genetics, being Earth's most brilliant geneticist. Even without observing an Eternal up close, he pretty much already knew how they worked, given their relation to humanity. Later on, Herbert even got the opportunity to dissect the brain of a Celestial, allowing him to figure out a way to restore Magneto's natural Mutant abilities.
When it comes to the biological workings of organic beings, the High Evolutionary can figure out exactly what is ailing someone with little more than a single glance, demonstrated more than once; which makes sense, given that his mind is is "powerful enough" to have unlocked many of the deepest secrets of life itself. In fact, the High Evolutionary's brain is so highly-advanced as a result of self-induced evolution that he can perform cognitive & intuitive feats faster than 99.9% of Earth's population. At that point, it should be no surprise that he's also an expert in virtually every field of "human endeavor", with virtually unlimited knowledge and intellectual ability. In combat, Herbert uses this vast intellect to study his opponents, deciphering their genetic makeup in order to develop a counter-strategy specifically designed to bypass their unique abilities.
Arsenal
Armor
Forged by Herbert himself over the course of a month, the High Evolutionary's armor is a technological marvel (Herbert's tech was once compared to Tony Stark's own) in every regard. Made up of steel, crystalized-hafnium, and plated in silver (specifically to protect from werewolves), the armor is notoriously durable. It required beatings from the Hulk, as well as Thor-level combatants such as the Man-Beast, in order to tear it apart. Despite its bulk, the armor spares nothing for mobility, & is packed with a variety of cutting-edge internal tech. For starters, Herbert integrated his own genetic accelerator into the armor, allowing him to (d)evolve himself and others without the need of an external device. Even if he were to lose his supernatural abilities, the armor would still be capable of achieving similar effects. Further, the armor has sensors built-in that could detect invisible beings such as Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman.
That all said, the most intriguing and notable aspect of the armor is its' near-sentience with regards to preserving its' wearers' life. Because of the suits' body-wide genetic calibrator, it can automatically activate to almost completely override control of Herbert's bodily functions. It fought on his behalf, made seemingly conscious decisions to combat the Hulk in creative ways, & actively dispersed Herbert's self-targeted devolution rays. Most impressively, the armor automatically reformed itself after having been torn to pieces by the Hulk; and subsequently, it was able to re-evolve the High Evolutionary from the single celled organism he became. This is stated to be possible thanks to the armor containing Herbert's complete genetic information, allowing it to specifically undo any devolution done to its master.
It is stated through narration that the armor would find a way to survive & preserve Herbert's life even if he were "at the heart of the sun." This is interesting, as the Official Handbook states that the armor generally only protects from radiation & heat ranging from -190 degrees to 4,000 degrees fahrenheit; it may be that the armor can even reform from less than scraps, if the narration is to be believed. Despite all this impressive tech however, the High Evolutionary has claimed it is no more than a "convenient shell," which may be indicative of Herbert's fluctuating powers at times allowing him to be more capable than he was when he relied on the armor. Still, he obviously wears it in every subsequent appearance for a reason… It looks kinda cool. But only kinda.
It’s also red. Clearly red. No clue how it ended up purple in the movie.
Isotope E Scepter
When the High Evolutionary sought a cure to his fluctuating power scale, he developed Isotope E. Before being applied to himself to permanently (or seemingly, anyway) fix his inconsistent evolutionary state, the High Evo weaponized the isotope through this scepter. In essence, it's another application of his (d)evolution power, just utilized through an object rather than his own innate ability. As such, the weapon could (and has been) used against the High Evolutionary, making it risky to pull out. Additionally, the Isotope is prone to wearing off with time.
New Wundagore
The High Evolutionary has used various spaceships over the years, though he seems to always come back to New Wundagore & her various successors. Often as large as a mountain, these spacecrafts allow for interdimensional travel and have built-in tech for teleportation.
Star Sphere
The very same machine used by Galactus to harvest worlds; though rather than use it for its intended purpose of annihilating entire planets, the High Evolutionary instead used the Star Sphere to grant life to uninhabitable environments, such as the moon. As it is literally Galactus’ own, there’s no reason Herbert couldn’t use the machine the same way as the World Eater, in theory. Weirdly enough, Galactus didn’t seem to care about the High Evolutionary stealing the Star Sphere, and even let Herbert leave with it in his possession… though of course, he never shows up with it again.
Nanobots
A subtler aspect of the High Evolutionary's arsenal are his nanobots. He snuck them onto Vision's daughter Vivian, and subsequently disabled her systems without her even noticing. The tech was even able to subdue Tony Stark's Iron Man armor for a time, though Tony managed to counter it eventually.
High Evolutionary Mech
A giant mech in the form of the High Evolutionary's armor. I suppose it's convenient if he just doesn't feel like size altering himself to giant mode? Don't worry about how many times the mech has appeared or who ultimately ended up defeating it... all that matters is it looks cool.
Miscellaneous Inventions/Gadgets
As you might expect of a Marvel genius, the High Evolutionary has quite a lot of inventions, gadgets and gizmos that may or may not be applicable to a "standard" arsenal. Still, they're worth noting down just in case.
Sub-Sonic Discordion - Basically a sound gun designed to instantly kill things like super advanced wolf-beasts.
Rifle Shelling - Although he never used it himself, the High Evolutionary developed special rifle shells that contain extremely potent sleep gas.
Flycycle - It's like a bike that flies.
Medieval Weaponry - The whole knight aesthetic apparently isn't just for show, as the High Evolutionary packs stuff like swords and maces to whack his enemies with.
Vacuum Ray - A type of gun that can prevent organic bodies from undergoing any new physical changes. On contact, subjects are unable to move, as though their very will was stolen from them. The ray was even able to prevent Bruce Banner from turning into the Hulk as a result.
Omnium Steel Cages - Unclear if the High Evolutionary makes these or teleports them from somewhere, but he used some durable-ass cages in his fight against the Avengers. Even a single one was able to hold up against the combined might of Gray Hulk and Hercules.
Magneto Costume - After farming the brain of a Celestial, the High Evolutionary developed a suit of armor that perfectly replicated & even surpassed Magneto's powers. Note that the Evolutionary has never actually worn it himself, however.
Genome-altering Energy Field - It's pretty much exactly what it sounds like. The High Evolutionary once set up an energy field on a satellite vessel that, when activated, reoriented the genomes of every Mutant on Earth to make them ordinary humans.
Forms
Super-Evolved
The High Evolutionary achieved this “Super-Evolved” state of being after using his Genetic Accelerator on himself. In essence, this is “the beginning of the end of human evolution”, or in other words, about as evolved as humanity can get before simply ceasing to be something that can be called human-like. In this form, the High Evolutionary claims some degree of omniscience, and possesses “nigh-infinite power”, which has allowed him to remotely devolve beings at-will, as well as wipe the Hulk’s mind & fling the jolly green Worldbreaker across a universe in an instant.
When the High Evolutionary first became this disembodied intelligence, he quickly tried to “become one with the universe” or whatever; according to the Marvel Handbook, it was during this time that he learned of the Infinity Stones, and he somehow acquired the Soul Gem. That said, this was rather short-lived, as Herbert quickly became overwhelmed by the whole load of nothing that comes with being… nothing, for all infinity. He nearly went mad in that state - which again, is something akin to a disembodied form of pure intellect.
After recognizing he was not built for that abstract cosmic deity lifestyle, Herbert… somehow returned to his normal human state. Which is odd, because later on, Herbie once again pulled the ‘ol “I’m dying, so I’ll advance myself forward in evolution to cheat death” trick. Only this time, his disembodied state of being (referred to as a “spirit”) just sorta floated around near his body, unable to do much. The High Evolutionary explained that, after once again achieving that state of being, he simply ceased caring about human preoccupations. Which… again, contradicts what we saw earlier, as Herbert was very much concerned with the current state of affairs when he first went Godmode. Marvel consistency for ya, folks.
Powers & Abilities
Weird Physiology
Throughout the years, the High Evolutionary's physiology has varied quite a lot, to the point where it's actually not even really clear where he stands in any recent comics. He has gone from pure human, to pure thought/energy, to pure data (???) and all the way back to human... mixed with a bunch of different animals, then back to human again. This makes it weird to definitively describe Herbert's physiology, as he sometimes, well, has one, and other times there's literally nothing underneath his armor.
Generally, as a human, Herbert's physiology doesn't seem to be particularly superhuman. After using evolutionary powers on himself, the abilities & boons he gained are more so based on telepathy & psionic capability, rather than enhanced strength or speed. It may be that his armor is what grants him the ability to physically clash with Marvel heavy hitters, but it's never clearly laid out. That said, he's undersold the significance of his own armor, so it's possible he may be superhumanly enhanced, just not when in a human state. Again though, this is mostly speculation.
Devolution & Evolution
The High Evolutionary’s trademark power, as one would likely assume, given the name. Over the years, the High Evolutionary has used different Isotope types to achieve varying degrees of evolution; for instance, Isotope B was used to create the first New Men, while Isotope C created the evil Man-Beast. Isotope D allowed the Evolutionary to evolve beyond his humanity & halted his aging, granting him the greatest lasting power. In order to solve his body's fluctuating evolutionary state, Herbert developed Isotope E, which would stabilize him going forward.
How do the Isotopes work? Essentially, the High Evolutionary uses radiation - either in the form of a blast, touch, or general exposure - to achieve the near-instantaneous (d)evolution on anyone who doesn't resist the effect. In one instance, the High Evolutionary used his evolutionary beams in conjunction with tachyons to amp its' effects, to the degree that it even evolved Galactus into pure inorganic energy. (Later, Reed Richards would elaborate that Galactus in this state would ordinarily have harmlessly dissipated throughout the universe.) On the opposite end of the spectrum, the High Evolutionary can devolve beings “out of existence”, to the point where all that remains of an individual is a single-celled organism in a pile of primordial slime. In addition, the Evolutionary can use his beams to "slow genetic re-blocking", and it's even possible he could alter ones' genetic makeup to remove the genes that determine someone's personality & nature.*
The ability to devolve any organic being to the point that they lose sapience is already a practically guaranteed win move, but if the Evolutionary were to fight someone who resists the effects of his beams, he can instead turn his aim toward the environment itself. Indeed, the High Evolutionary can (d)evolve entire ecosystems. Solid ground becomes tar, then lava, then gas; echoing the stages of the Earth's own evolutionary phases. He can even rapidly evolve an entire desert, accelerating it to the point where Earth's atmosphere fades & meteorites freely pelt the terrain. Worth noting, according to the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, the High Evolutionary's range is about 100 feet all around; which makes sense, since he's needed the use of external machines to affect things like the Moon & Savage Land. Aside from affecting the environment, the High Evo can weaponize common organic lifeforms with his evolutionary rays to create combat-ready beings in an instant. He’s accelerated birds, snakes & dragonflies a billion years forward to turn them into fierce predators, and even pushed humans like Betty Ross so far forward that she became a mutant goblin monster, representing humanity in “a million million years.”
*Emphasis on "possible." He did not actually do this to Wolverine, it was a bluff that tricked Logan into thinking the effects were real. But it's never implied the High Evolutionary couldn't literally do this, so there's some room for suspicion here.
Energy Projection
In addition to his evolutionary beams, Herbert makes use of various energy blasts from time-to-time as well. As shown above, he has a plasmatic beam, force bolts, and standard concussive blasts.
Telekinesis
A very obvious ability that took way longer to clearly show up in the books than you'd think. That said, it do be telekinesis; strong enough to hold the likes of Sabretooth, Quicksilver & the Scarlet Witch in stasis, and precise enough with Herbert's control to rip out an entire nervous system through someone's mouth without damaging any veins.
Psychic Projection
The High Evolutionary can psychically project convincing images of himself from afar. He used to really like appearing as a floating head, and there was one time he sorta 'cloaked' himself in a psychic presence, though he still traveled physically. The last notable appearance of this ability had the High Evo use projection to basically be in two places at once, working at a lab in Wundagore while also being off elsewhere with unexplained business.
Telepathy
At times, the High Evolutionary has preferred to simply psychically project his presence in order to communicate at range, though he also seems to possess normal telepathy as well. He was able to intercept & eavesdrop on a telepathic conversation between Reed Richards and Galactus, used his telepathy to scan a Celestial ship from Earth, can pluck images and memories from peoples’ minds, and has forcefully entered Thor's brain to speak with the Asgardian. He’s even claimed to be able to slay people with nothing but a thought, indicating he can use this ability offensively as well.
Flight & Levitation
Although not used as often as you'd think, the High Evolutionary is fully capable of emulating flight via using his psionic abilities on himself, or by turning into what seems like energy? It's not very clear... Regardless, Hebert generally reserves this ability for retreating/traveling, as he can cross interstellar (and supposedly extradimensional) distances with ease.
Teleportation
Early in the High Evolutionary's publication, he typically only had teleportation devices located in his laboratories/spaceships. Over time, he's incorporated the tech into his armor, allowing him to freely teleport whenever, wherever he wants. Interestingly, the High Evolutionary also possesses the ability to forcefully teleport others, whether it's to get them out of his way or drag them back to him against their will. He has teleported the likes of Spider-Man and Colossus from Wundagore all the way to New York & Paris, respectively.
The High Evolutionary teleported Galactus' Star Sphere from across the universe to Earth
Portal Creation
Because teleporting wasn't enough, I suppose. With as little as a gesture - sometimes, even less - the High Evolutionary can create portals to and from... seemingly wherever he wants. Neat!
Vortex Creation
Through unexplained means, the High Evolutionary once demonstrated the ability to create a pseudo-black hole from his palms.
Regeneration
The High Evolutionary's armor is remarkably resilient, possessing regenerative abilities that would make Wolverine blush. In a matter of seconds, the Evolutionary has regenerated from having limbs torn off and having his face melted to the bone; he even regen'd from a large gaping hole in his chest, which disappeared completely between panels. Additionally, over a three hour period, his armor has completely reformed itself after being torn to shreds by the Hulk; subsequently, the armor could then revive a devolved Herbert via accelerated evolution rays. Lastly, the Evolutionary has implied his regenerative abilities help him regain power and energy as well.
Environmental Manipulation
Likely an extension of his telekinetic abilities, the High Evolutionary once demonstrated the means to manipulate "the earth itself" to bind and trap multiple people at once. They kinda look like tree roots, but it's not exactly clear what specifically he's controlling.
Size Manipulation
An ability the High Evolutionary has rarely used, but consistently maintained through his whole history. According to the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, the Evolutionary can increase and decrease his size & mass, though it’s never explained how exactly he achieves this. His size in giant-mode has been said to be "several stories tall," comparable to Galactus' height on Earth.
Power Draining/Absorption
The High Evolutionary has demonstrated the ability to siphon energy/power a few scarce times, most memorably against the Silver Surfer's iconic Power Cosmic. In that instance, he needed to use special tools to get the job done, but against less powerful individuals, such as Shanna, he could "remove" her power with a single touch.
Invisibility
It's never really explained how he achieves this, but the High Evolutionary apparently possesses the ability to turn invisible at will. Cool!
Force-field
It do be a force-field alright
Power Cosmic
After working with the brain of a dead Celestial and observing Tony Stark’s tech firsthand, the Evolutionary managed to develop devices that actually succeeded in siphoning and draining the Silver Surfer of his almighty Power Cosmic. Naturally, the Evolutionary would take the Surfer’s abilities for himself, adding it to his repertoire of assets.
Surprisingly, Galactus actually allowed the Evolutionary to keep the stolen Power Cosmic. Unfortunately for Herbert, Marvel’s writers quickly forgot about that little development and he was back to normal by his next appearance. Still, the fact that he was allowed to keep the Power Cosmic and never explicitly ran out of it is likely justification enough to grant the Evolutionary this source of power.
While the Evolutionary had all of the Surfer’s power at his disposal, he initially only tapped into a “fragment” of the Surfer’s Cosmic Awareness, as the geneticist knew from experience what too much cosmic knowledge all at once could do to his still human mind. Still, the High Evolutionary has shown the ability to create his own Heralds out of ordinary humans, so he likely has access to all of the Surfer’s raw power.
Army
New Men
Basically animals who underwent Herbert’s evolution acceleration and became anthropomorphic, intelligent beings. Contrary to what you might think, the New Men weren’t actually the first inhabitants of Counter-Earth, though they did eventually replace the human population there off-screen.
The earliest batch of New Men were trained by the High Evolutionary to essentially be knights, and so their weaponry and armor reflect that by design. The New Men generally carry over attributes of the animals they evolved from, but are otherwise kinda just super-people who tend to be fodder for street-tier heroes like Wolverine and Spider-Man. Despite their simple offensive capabilities, though, the New Men are still responsible for helping the High Evolutionary ward off the elder god demon Chthon. Too bad the High Evo eventually got tired of them and wiped them all out overnight, including Bovadeeznuts, who helped deliver Wanda and Pietro Maximoff as newborns.
Others
Nu-Kree - a race of genetically altered Kree. The High Evo made them at the behest of of the Kree’s Supreme Intelligence to be the future of the Kree race, though they don’t really do much and aren’t seen again after their introduction.
Godpack - Ordinary humans-turned-gods, intended to be Earth’s deities. Thor once willingly joined the group while he was banished from Asgard & replaced by a more historically accurate Thor… it’s a whole thing.
New Immortals - A handful of New Men who evolved even further past what the High Evolutionary intended for them. Eventually turned on their creator, so that’s fun.
Resistances & Vulnerabilities
Mind Manipulation
Positive Showings:
Detected Moondragon attempting to read his mind, then shut her out
Jean Grey was unable to mess with the High Evolutionary's mind thanks to his psi-barriers
Negative Showings:
Got overwhelmed by a joint-psionic attack from Thena, Exodus & Man-Beast
Was susceptible to Hummingbird's telepathic/psychic powers, which showed Herbert a vision of what he fears most. However, he did break out of this rather quickly, for what it's worth.
Forced Evolution/Devolution
Positive Showings:
With the High Evolutionary's armor intact, it automatically dispersed his own devolutionary effects in order to keep him alive
Negative Showings:
Intangibility
Positive Showings:
Negative Showings:
Magic/Reality Warping
Positive Showings:
N/A
Negative Showings:
Stasis
Positive Showings:
N/A
Negative Showings:
Feats
Overall
Transformed Galactus the World Eater into pure, inorganic energy with an evolving ray
Along with his New Men army, successfully warded off the elder god Chthon
For a time, held authority over Thor, who willingly aligned himself with the High Evolutionary
Successfully turned every Mutant on Earth into a normal, powerless human; a feat that Beast said was so scientifically sophisticated, it might as well have been magic. (Eat your heart out, Wanda)
Strength
Using a stream of "Null-force", managed to hold The Destroyer at bay for a time; at this time, The Destroyer was amped by Galactus-
Actually briefly tangled with (a hungry) Galactus directly in a beam struggle
Contended with Bill Foster as Giant-Man in a contest of strength
Knocked the breath out of an evolving, more powerful Hercules in a single blast; Beast and Wasp even say/imply that base Hercules was no match for the Evolutionary. The Evolutionary goes on to vaporize Hercules' armor as well
When the Evolutionary and Hercules evolved into incorporeal beings, they continued to clash whilst trapped in Celestial containers. Their battle in this state, located deep within the Black Galaxy, resulted in interstellar earthquakes that threatened the existence of planets in all surrounding solar systems.
Briefly managed to hold off Nobilus & other fodder while in a weakened state
Bodies Thena the Eternal, forcing her to admit she's no match for him physically
Isotope E amped Quicksilver to the point where he had “power like [Magneto]”
KO'd Adam Warlock; beat his ass so bad, Phyla Vell thought the Evolutionary killed him. (Note: Adam prior to this was undergoing random seizures, as his mind was “damaged” from being awoken too soon.)
In giant form, KO'd Iron Man with his bare hand
Blasts Hyperion back, and then holds Hyperion's energy beam at bay
Incapacitates Sabretooth with a single energy beam. He then stops Sabretooth mid-lunge with his telekinesis
The High Evolutionary "unmakes" a city, essentially nuking it with his own raw power
Created another massive explosion to dispel the souls of his New Men
According to one of the Evolutionary's followers, the High Evolutionary had used his "celestial might" to accelerate the orbital speed of Counter-Earth over time, to the point that it lapped Earth every 20 minutes. (I tried and succeeded in calculating this but then I realized it was done over time, not a singular yeet, so actually its way less impressive & not worth even humoring)
Speed
In order to evade death, activated his Genetic Accelerator and ascended himself past his physical form the instant Adam Warlock's blast reached his body
The Evolutionary's meteorite space ship travels at "warp speed", leaving the solar system in moments and "collapsing lightyears into mere miles"
Flew from the depths of the Earth's oceans all the way to "somewhere near the central exploding core of our ten billion year old galaxy." Important to note, the Evolutionary's feat here takes place alongside the Spider-Man and Gwen plot; the two events are intertwined, meaning the Evolutionary did this in a very short amount of time (455 million c)
Following the Evolutionary's time "deep within an unnamed celestial sea", he flew from there to Earth
Caught the Silver Surfer off-guard with power-draining instruments
Durability
The Evolutionary explicitly asked for Hulk to hurt him "as [he] had never hurt anyone before." It took multiple hits of Hulk going all out to finally rip and tear the Evolutionary's armor to pieces
Literally got clapped by Terminus, who stated they "have ripped the hearts from living stars."
Was punched by Beast, then repeatedly blasted by Hercules, who was being evolved and powered up
Got decked in the face by Nobilus, who was created using Thor's DNA to be Thor's physical superior
The Evolutionary, along with Thor and some others, stood right in front of a universe-shaking explosion that is compared to the Big Bang. (0.05 tenaexafoe, Multi-galaxy level)
Exchanged blows with Bill Foster (Giant-Man), and got tossed and beat around
Completely no-sold a hit from Ben Reilly, the Scarlet Spider
The Evolutionary was unbothered by the Psi-powers of Thena the Eternal and Exodus the mutant
Was briefly KO'd by Diablo, who was being empowered by every God from all pantheons
While in possession of the Silver Surfer's power, took a hit from Ben Grimm (Thing)
Got blasted by Zeras the Eternal, who was earlier stated to have more power than a whole team of Avengers
Was hit by a pissed off Vision and then blasted by Vision, Nova and Cyclops
Took a hit from an angry Rogue (this is a bit of a trend), who then stated the High Evolutionary can "take a Hulk-level beating." Note, this isn't the first time the Evolutionary has taken blows from Rogue
Scaling
Magneto - Despite the fact that Magneto and the High Evolutionary have never fought each other, there is evidence to suggest they aren’t far apart in power. Both have achieved similar feats of KOing people like Thor and Hulk; additionally, the High Evolutionary created a suit capable of matching and surpassing Magneto’s own natural powers. Logically, it wouldn’t make much sense for Herbert to use something thousands of times weaker for his own tech. Lastly, we know from Quicksilver using the Isotope E scepter that the High Evolutionary’s evolving powers can amp people to at least the level of Magneto outright, and Herbert can of course apply these powers (and amps) to himself.
Hulk - While the High Evolutionary was clearly inferior to savage Hulk early in the jolly green worldbreaker's career, Herbert still oneshotted the Gray Hulk, and was later stated by Rogue to be capable of taking a "Hulk-level beating." If nothing else, Gray Hulk + standard Savage Hulk scaling should probably be fine.
Hercules - The High Evolutionary fought Hercules on relatively even footing, even vaporizing his special armor & posing a legitimate threat to the Olympian's life.
Thor - Surprisingly, the Evolutionary has a decent track record against the Odinson and equivalent foes, such as his genetic copy, Nobilus. Note that the Evolutionary would only be scaling to Base Thor, though.
Silver Surfer - The High Evolutionary managed to catch the Silver Surfer off-guard & technically has all of the Surfer's Power Cosmic at his disposal, even if he didn't use it all at once. Theoretically, then, he should be able to replicate some of the Surfer's feats, such as:
Weaknesses
The High Evolutionary's power has fluctuated so much, it's literally become a plot point. When his fluctuations were at their worst & most consistent, the High Evolutionary could go from god-like power to being a literal ape at the drop of a hat, powerless to do anything about it. After obtaining Isotope E and stabilizing himself, this weakness seems to have drastically been dialed back, if not entirely removed. He's still very inconsistent, though.
Much like his power, the Evolutionary's mind is far from infallible. He was driven entirely mad after witnessing the Beyonders' scale, and was unable to stay in his ascended, godlike form for very long, as it was simply too much for his remaining humanity to handle. While Herbert's psionic abilities will eventually repair his mind with time, he's still drastically weakened and incapable of competently defending himself should his mind shatter; this is exactly what Nobilus & others intended to exploit when they betrayed the High Evolutionary.
In some instances, extremely long and arduous uses of the High Evolutionary's psionic abilities have left him exhausted & incapacitated.
Despite all his power, Herbert himself has admitted to not favoring a physical battle against equals. This is usually why he's decommissioned from fights after a single hit from heavyweights like Thing; it's not likely that he's totally overpowered, he simply isn't as skilled as they are & attuned to a brawl. He'd much rather end conflicts quickly and definitively, or allow his underlings to do the dirty work for him.
While the High Evolutionary is one of Earth's greatest scientists, he's completely blind to magic, best demonstrated by his embarrassing showing against Diablo's trickery. Herbert simply doesn't have much to defend from subtle magic tricks & reality warping.
The High Evolutionary's evolution & devolution beams have been specifically countered by radiation multiple times. Against Sam Alexander (Nova), the Evolutionary's beams were canceled out by "opposing radiation." In the case of Bruce Banner, the gamma rays in his bloodstream passively protected him from the effects of the High Evolutionary's devolution power.
The High Evolutionary's psychic abilities were unable to affect Bill Foster as Giant-Man, who apparently gained an immunity to psionic attacks
The High Evolutionary's armor was manipulated by Mister Sinister, who froze the Evolutionary's circuits, basically locking him inside a steel shell. Would likely only be a weakness if Herbert is currently human, though.
Overall
The High Evolutionary has fluctuated a lot in power and ability over the years, and not even the given reason for these inconsistencies has held up over time. That being said, it’s pretty easy to just take him at his best instances, which has seen the High Evo capable of KOing Marvel heavy hitters like Thor, Gray Hulk, Adam Warlock, and posing a serious threat to Hercules. Sure, he has no shortage of embarrassing showings - such as the time he was defeated by Spider-Man (who was also Kraven?) as a pig, or when he was forced into obeying the actual Kraven, or when Jessica Drew’s geriatric mother owned him - but so does everyone, so those shouldn’t necessarily be held against him. Overall, I think Herbert is clearly somewhere among the baseline universal* sort of rank; it’d be consistent with him KOing people like Thor, and being able to take Hulk-level beating, while still having clear upper limits against like, a hungry Galactus. It also wouldn’t make much sense for High Evo’s own armor to be much weaker than the tech he’s shown to be capable of making for Magneto, which even surpassed the mutant’s own abilities that can be scaled to universal* power.
*by Marvel standards
Possible Matchups
High Evolutionary VS Lordgenome (Marvel VS Gurren Lagann)
Brilliant human scientists who specialized in genetics, allowing them to turn ordinary animals into sapient, human-like beings. These animals (the New Men & Beastmen) would organize into an army to serve their creator.
Both men feel very strongly about humanity and whether they should evolve or not; the Evolutionary (usually) wants to create a perfect race of godlike beings, by means of ascending humanity to that level. On the other hand, Lordgenome explicitly tried to stop the development of Spiral power, forcing humanity to remain under heel and restricted. They would absolutely oppose the other’s ideals, and this works because these are their main goals that drive them in opposite ways.
Both were humbled and left defeated by their experiences with the most powerful cosmic alien lifeforms in their worlds, the Beyonders and Anti-Spiral; these encounters would drive them into becoming antagonists, despite having noble intentions to begin with.
Both are related to significant main protagonists in their stories; the Evolutionary considers Adam Warlock to be like a son to him & Lordgenome is the father of Nia.
Both have giant celestial ships in the form of a meteorite and moon
Both have died and returned through roundabout ways, and played the side of both antagonist and protagonist (and ultimately helped save both of their respective multiverses when it came down to it)
Dudes name is literally “Genome” and the Evolutionary just randomly has a giant mech, like c’mon this is perfect
TL;DR: Brilliant geneticists who, after being put in their place by higher cosmic forces, try to assert their contrasting ideals regarding humanity's evolution and are aided by an anthropomorphic animal-person army.
I surprisingly didn’t need to look far or long to find a match that immediately clicked with me for the High Evolutionary. There are multiple really specific similarities - such as them both being served by animal people they created, thanks to their histories as brilliant geneticists - that just make this feel like a match made in heaven. Down to oddly specific things, like the Evolutionary just happening to have a giant mech that conveniently offers a matching dynamic with the combat you’d expect for Gurren Lagann. They’re even both anti-villains of sorts, in that they play antagonistic roles, but started off well-intentioned, and even ultimately play the role of a good guy eventually. I even think their clashing ideals are optimal, as it allows for an obvious point of contention for the two characters to conflict over, and because these ideals stem from the same subject (humanity and evolution, ascending to higher power, etc), it doesn’t come off as a stretch in my opinion.
Just to ramble a bit about the fight possibilities…
Beastmen VS New Men - Duh, you’ve got to have their furry armies backing them up to start, even if only as part of the set piece like in Ultron VS Sigma.
Ship battle - The Cathedral taking on one of the Evolutionary’s many spacefaring battleships would be awesome to see as well, even if only briefly to start.
Evolution VS Spiral Power - Lordgenome probably even has an answer to the Evolutionary’s trademark Devolution/Evolution power, given how Spiral Energy is shown to work in Gurren Lagann. You could have the Evolutionary show off the extent of his abilities by devolving Lordgenome into protoplasm, only for the Spiral King to manifest his Spiral Power and evolve himself right back. It’d be a sick display of the potency of the Evolutionary’s casual feats and how awesome Gurren Lagann’s power system can be; they just bounce off each other perfectly in a way I’d imagine is hard to replicate.
Giant-Sized Death Battle - Admittedly, the Evolutionary’s mech shows up a grand total of one time and it has a horrible showing, but the fact that it exists at all means you can have Genome whip out his own giant mech and go to town. And the dynamic doesn’t stop there once Evolutionary’s mech gets trashed (as it should), because he can also just manipulate himself to Galactus size in order to continue the battle after.
Clash of ideals - At the core of this fight should be their opposite beliefs toward humanity and whether it should be allowed to evolve and tap into its’ full potential.
As for who wins… I dunno! I think there’s a very real chance Lordgenome probably takes it, even after having written this blog and putting all those fancy Herald fights up front and center. Generally, the Evolutionary is written as a bit of a hesitant main combatant, even when he has stuff like the Power Cosmic - in that story, he’s basically decommissioned by Ben Grimm (Thing) in a single punch. I think he likely scales in the Magneto sort of range, and they actually have a few similar feats that make me think this. I don’t see the Evolutionary getting much higher though, as he’s always hitting a hard cap against beings like Galactus (who was hungry at the time), and Hyperion, who basically bodied Herbert physically without holding back. By comparison, I think Lordgenome probably hits like multiversal levels or higher with ease, with far less caveats, and his ability to counter the Evolutionary’s trademark power is a big boon as well; not to mention Genome is a far better fighter and combatant VS the less skilled Evolutionary. This is all just an off-the-cuff thought however, so who knows. I think Gurren Lagann has a good chance of taking the W against this comic herald, at least.
Track Potential
(Art by me)
I don't think either character has like, one particular singular theme that immediately springs to mind, but that doesn't mean this couldn't be really cool. If anything, I think that freedom to reference whatever is enticing, and there's actually a really fun combo you could go for here with two existing themes associated with the characters. The iconic Libera Me from Hell for Gurren Lagann already mixes a rap track with an operatic choir that clashes and collides with the main vocals. Thanks to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, the High Evolutionary just happens to have a theme of his own in the form of a super dramatic operatic choir. I imagine the track would kick off with strong Gurren Lagann vibes to start, drawing from something like "To Hell with Gattai!" as things kick off with a bunch of energy. Then when things get more tense & scale escalates, or the High Evolutionary gains an upper hand, you can bring in his choir and shift the tone to something less heroic/epic and more desperate. Once Lordgenome regains the upper hand in gloriously triumphant fashion, you can bring in some rap vocals, Gurren Lagann style.
Issues?
I don’t think the match has any huge drawbacks, but I can think of a couple contrasts that might not satisfy people depending on what they want out of these characters. Lordgenome, being the gigachad that he is, kind of has a different weight and vibe to his fights (more visceral) than the High Evo, who honestly has like never had a drawn out brawl, and notoriously dislikes getting slugged by powerful opponents. It’s basically the dynamic of a jock bullying a nerd, just with multiversal cosmic power & Marvel tech and powers. In other words, I guess it could kinda be like a grappler VS zoner sort of combo? But I think viewing this as a negative is just a matter of perspective; you could easily use this as an advantage to allow the characters to really shine as they are in their respective fields. High Evo looking pathetic when he loses a physical fight would make Lordgenome look all the cooler, and it wouldn’t be out of place for High Evo to kinda get bodied a bit in an animation, unlike say, Thor or Magneto. On the flip side, High Evo gets to show off all his powers and tech against someone strong enough to withstand them all; remember that most of High Evo’s best showings are KOs against Marvel heavy hitters, so he rarely ever pulls out all his toys at once. And if you want a finale where Lordgenome can go fisticuffs with his adversary without any tech or powers, High Evo both has a precedent for running out of juice if strained too much AND you could have a neat twist with the reveal of his physical form beneath the armor, since there’s plenty to draw from there. Maybe have him be pure energy, which could make for a cool visual.
As for visual scale, I think High Evo is a weird case. On the one hand, yeah, he’s obviously never done anything near Gurren Lagann levels of craziness; his appearances in media outside the comics are very limited but even in those he doesn’t fight too much, and the media he’ll be most known for now (GotG3) doesn’t help too much with making him seem a large scale threat. He never has been even a “teambuster” character, really. So I can understand the concern there, but I also think if we’re willing to let characters like Apocalypse fly around like a DBZ character, surely there is some room for creative liberty with High Evo here? I’m not saying I want to see him toss a galaxy at Lordgenome, but it might be cool to see him create a planet and accelerate it towards him; two things High Evo HAS done separately, just not as an attack, but entirely could do if he wanted. That, I think, is a compromise that could work, since Lordgenome would definitely still be portrayed as higher scale visually. Even in Marvel handbooks, High Evo’s durability is rated higher than his power output, so the dude is clearly meant to be on the receiving end of damage more often than not. And I don’t think this would or should be on the scale of like, Simon VS Kyle anyway, it’s a totally different beast.
Brainiac (DC Comics) VS High Evolutionary
Marvel DC smart guys idk pretty sure brainiac bodies Herby though
