Tungsten Superhero Fan Art

*Updated to Superherouniverse themed story-line; character changes in [ ]*

Tungsten

Tungsten is an artificial self-aware and evolving synthizoid from another world. His story begins the deep of space. A yet unknown alien race sent a ship and crew on a mission of reconnaissance. The aliens were frail even by human standards do to centuries of mental evolution at the expense of the physical body. As such, they created artificial beings, like Tungsten, to provide a powerful “negotiating” chip with those of other worlds. Earth was not their final destination, but their course took them through the Milky Way. On June 30, 1908, their ship inexplicably had a catastrophic malfunction and the hull was breached. The entire crew was killed instantly at the same moment Tungsten was auto-awoken from his mechanical slumber. As the ship split apart, he was thrown free of the ship and continued to hurl in outer space. The crippled ship veered sharply towards Earth and plummeted into the atmosphere, finally crashing into nothingness near Tunguska, Russia. Tungsten was soon overtaken by the Earth gravity and also pulled towards Earth. His period of awake, brought on by the initial blast, was short lived as once he hit the atmosphere his body’s self-defense mode initiated and systems were shunted. His deep slumber prevented him from witnessing the smoke and fire caused by his rapid descent through the sky. His trajectory sent him crashing into the American Southwest desert area. The moderate crater his white-hot body shell created was quickly covered by debris from adjacent cliff walls. The incredible physical stress of his fall from space left him comatose as his mechanics went into self-repair mode and began to heal his damage body. Repair was not easy, and several years passed before his body and psyche were back to moderate functionality. Though generally repaired, his hibernation continued. A prospector discovered his sleeping shell in 1949. He took his incredible discovery back to his outback shack. As he closely studied his find, eventually something was tripped and Tungsten awoke from his decades of slumber. The years of self- repair left him with a damaged memory. Only flashes of the crash remained and none of his original programming for conquest remained. Tungsten mastered the English langue in less than a day and soon the two were best of friends. Though a hermit by most standards, the old prospector had many book of various subjects and some relatively new magazines in his humble home. Initially the prospector wondered if Tungsten as actually Mecha-Man [Robotman] of the Victory Brigade [All-Star Squadron] as his appearance reminded the prospector of newsreel he had seen during World War II.

Though unsure of his true origin, it became clear early on that he was indeed not Mecha-Man. The odd-couples’ unusually strong bond came to a sudden end 2 months later as the prospector died of natural causes. Though now totally alone, Tungsten decided there was no need to leave the prospector’s home, as he did not require food or company to survive. He continued to survey all material on the outside world that the prospector had accumulated. Time passed as the weeks turned into years. Unfazed by his solitude, Tungsten had no concept that over a decade had passed before another human visited the prospectors’ remote home. A knock on the door brought the prospectors son Jon. The prospector had generally been estranged form his family for more than 15 years. Jon, a touring carnival operator, had come to visit his father on the hopes he could get him to join his circus as an authentic “old-West prospector”. While he certainly would have fit the role, Jon was told of his father’s death years ago by the amazing automaton. Despite his initial shock of meeting an alien creature, coupled with news of his father’s death, Jon quickly realized the opportunity before him. Jon proposed that Tungsten join his traveling circus as a “Strong Man”. This role would give him the opportunity to travel to country under the general cover of just one of many odd circus performers. The true nature of his being would be assumed to be just a carnival trick. Tungsten saw the wisdom of such a role and eagerly agreed to join the circus and see the world that he had only read about up to now. Tungsten quickly bonded with Jon and his fellow circus performers, learning from his human counterparts everyday. His programming lead him to constantly update his persona, and in time began to act and react like his human friends.

Tungsten and Jon toured for many successful years, gaining both financial and relational rewards. In time Jon and Tungsten were at the level of siblings, despite their obvious differences. Their nearly 20 year relationship ended in 1975 as Jon was murdered by a mob enforcer trying to collect protection money from Jon. The carnival disbanded and Tungsten was left without his best friend. His human influenced emotions directed him to see out Jon’s killer. This was accomplished and resulted in the mobsters’ death. Feeling regret afterwards, Tungsten decided to try and redeem himself by trying help others in need by using his great strength and abilities instead of using them for revenge.

Clearly the role of hero was the preferred path to take as he did not want to be on the wrong side of the human society that had generally accepted this outsider from space. Tungsten began his crime fighting career in Chicago and eventually moved to New York as his expertise grew. Never a true member of any team, he has always answered the call of fellow heroes who needed his help. Tungsten possesses seemingly endless strength and invulnrability.