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This page covers the Marvel comicbook hero Taskmaster also known as Tony Masters , Captain America , Contingency T . If this is not the page you were looking for check here.
A villain with the ability to copy the physical characteristics of anyone he observes. He has used these skills as a teacher to many supervillains and henchmen, and some heroes. He is now a hero.
Origin
When the man known as Taskmaster was a child, he discovered he had "photographic reflexes" after watching a cowboy program on television. He found her could duplicate the rope tricks exactly. He used this powers for his own gain including becoming the high school star quarterback by watching a single pro football game. After graduation he considered becoming a superhero but decided being a supervillain was more lucrative.
So watching broadcasts of superhuman activity he executed several successful grand larcenies, but underestimated the dangers involved in such work. So he used his profits to start up academies where he trained aspiring supervillains to become professionals. He designed a costume and took the name, Taskmaster. He remained undetected until the activities of one head of an academy caused the Avengers to become aware of these facilities. Taskmaster was forced to flee, as when he had a confrontation with Jocasta he was unable to predict her future movements because of her body language.
Becoming a Trainer
He was soon noticed by the terrorist organization, Hydra, and was hired to train their new recruit, Spider-Woman.
Taskmaster had several run-ins with superheroes, especially Spider-Man. Each time he was defeated, he managed to escape. Taskmaster also teamed up with Wizard, Deadpool, and Constrictor to form a new incarnation of the Frightful Four. This association didn't last long.
Taskmaster continued his training. He even had a hand in training John Walker to become the next Captain America in a scheme run by the Red Skull to disgrace his image. He also began to train henchmen and servants for Red Skull himself.
Mercenary
He has become a mercenary again and has done work for both Agency X, the Committee and Triune Understanding failing most of his missions. Such missions include being hired to kill Moon Knight but this mission failed as he was misled with bad information and Moon Knight humiliated him but decided to let him live. Also in an attempt to discredit the Avengers he failed to deceive them but the overall mission succeeded.
Civil War
Deadpool once freed him from his imprisonment to show his own potential as a mercenary and bested Taskmaster and then thanking him for letting him win. But Taskmaster replied, "the truth is...you're that good. You've always been that good. Which won't get you a cup of coffee until you figure out how to be a professional..."
After the Super-Human Registration Act and the Fifty State Initiative, Taskmaster reluctantly joined the Thunderbolts in hunting heroes and villains that refuse to register. He attempts to shoot Invisible Woman but Mr. Fantastic takes the bullet for her and in outrage Susan crushes him, knocking Taskmaster unconscious.
For his efforts to help the government, he was given a full presidential pardon for when he tested the defenses of the SHIELD helicarrier, which he was able to break in and place Deputy Director Maria Hill in his sights. Though he was allowed to leave, a threatening message left in Hill's private bathroom revealed that if he ever desired, SHIELD is no difficult feat.
Taskmaster will also be the replacement of The Gauntlet as the Drill Instructor at Camp Hammond.
Trainees
Taskmaster is very good at training others. Among those he has trained is: Agent-X, Crossbones, Cutthroat, Deadpool, Diamondback, Hauptmann Deutschland, Spider-Woman, Spymaster and U.S.Agent. Taskmaster specially trained the Scarlet Spiders by having his mind connected to theirs and relaying recordings of Spider-Man's moves collected by SHIELD.
Powers
Taskmaster has no super human powers, but he does have what he calls "photographic reflexes". After seeing some perform an action once, he can perfectly copy the action. He has used this ability to copy the fighting styles and skills of many heroes and villains, mixing them up and turning them into his own style. Some of the people he has copied styles/skills from include: Beast, Black Widow, Bullseye, Captain America, Cat, Daredevil, Deadpool, Elektra, Hawkeye, Hulk, Iron Fist, Mister X, Ms. Marvel, Porcupine, Photon (Genis-Vell), Puma, Punisher, Quicksilver, Razorfist, Scarlet Witch, Silver Samurai, Spider-Man, Swordsman, Thing, Thor, Tigra, Toad, Vision, Wolverine and Zaran (In crossovers he has learned the skills of Batman and Huntress but it is unknown if he retains them in the normal Marvel Universe.) This is just a short list, but it is impressive. He can only mimic actions to the extent that his body will allow. For example, he can copy the way Spider-Man fights, but can't copy the super strength that he has. He can copy the way the way Daredevil moves to avoid danger, but he can't copy his radar. Copying skills doesn't give him an understanding of what is needed to do them either. He could copy a famous pianist's performance, but wouldn't be able to read sheet music. In a flashback he demonstrated something like this. When he was a child, he almost drowned after perfectly duplicating a swimmer's dive, forgetting that he couldn't swim.
To add to his abilities when he can't find someone to watch, Taskmaster uses the television. He watches movies and tv to study superhumans, athletes, stuntmen, archers, soldiers, wrestlers, etc. In this way, he has gained a wide range of combat as well as acrobatic skills including: aerial acrobatics, gymnastics, boxing, martial arts (all the ones presently used and some historical ones), wrestling, swordsmanship, marksmanship, archery, car-jacking, and sleight of hand. By watching a video in fast forward, Taskmaster picked up the ability to move in "double time", giving him super speed for short periods of time. He also learned how to catch bullets during his mini-series. Another skill Taskmaster has that is unconnected to his photographic reflexes is his ability to mimic voices. With just a couple hours of practice, Taskmaster can fully mimic another persons voice and speech patterns, a tool he uses for impersonation and breaking voice-activated locks.
Taskmaster has a lot of gear that he usually carries on him. He stole a wrist-mounted device from SHIELD that would let him create simple shapes out of energy. He used it to mimic weapons that go with styles he's stolen, Captain America's shield, Spider-Man's Web Shooters, Daredevil's billy clubs, Wolverine's claws, etc. Before he had the device he just carried all the extra weapons on him. Currently he is back to doing that instead of using the device, but there is no explanation as to why. He also uses an advanced image-inducer that allows him to take on the physical appearance of whomever he wishes.
Alternate Realities
Earth-58163
On Earth-58163 (House of M) Taskmaster was part of the Brotherhood because he was thought to be a mutant. On one of their missions they were sent to take out Luke Cage and the Avengers he was to snipe Cage but ended up killing Tigra. When Taskmaster met up with the Avengers in the precinct he interrupted the meeting between Cage and Punisher. He then taunted Cage about Tigra's death and in a fit rage Cage broke every bone in Taskmaster's body after running through an array of attacks. Now in the hospital wrapped up like a mummy, he was abandoned by Thunderbird and Blob for not being a mutant but an enhanced human.
Earth-8909
In this reality Taskmaster was a mutant.
Taskmaster Appears in These Volumes
All Topics from the Taskmaster Forum
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Scans >> |
Midnight Lantern Started Mar 30, 2008 |
fesak >> Post Mar 31, 2008 |
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the man behind the mask >> |
taskmaster Started Apr 20, 2007 |
DragynWulf >> Post Mar 3, 2008 |
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Photographic Reflexes >> |
Buckshot Started Feb 4, 2008 |
Akira Overdrive >> Post Mar 1, 2008 |
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