Captain Atom
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Real Name
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Nathaniel Adam
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First Appearance
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History of the DC Universe #2 (February, 1987)
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Creators
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Joe Gill, Steve Ditko
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Team Affliations
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Alias
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Monarch, Allen Adam
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Base of Operations
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Mobile
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Powers
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Superhuman strength, Superhuman speed, Invulnerability, Flight, Quantum field manipulation, Atomic energy blasts, Energy absorption
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Skills and Abilities
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Fighting Experience
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Tools and Weapons
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Captain Atom is a superhero in the DC Universe, formerly of the Charlton Universe.
The Charlton Comics version of Captain Atom was Allen Adam. The character's origin had Adam working as a technician in a special experimental rocket when it accidentally launched with him trapped inside. Adam was atomized when the rocket exploded while entering the upper atmosphere. However, he somehow gained superpowers that included the ability to reform his body safely on the ground. He was outfitted in a red and yellow costume that was designed to shield people from the radiation of his nuclear powers. When he powered up, his hair changed to a silverish-white.
A new, post-Crisis version of the character was introduced in March 1987 with the launch of a monthly comic written by Cary Bates (long-time writer of The Flash and Superman), co-written by Greg Weisman and drawn by Pat Broderick. This modern captain's name is established as Nathaniel Christopher Adam, a United States Air Force officer and Vietnam War veteran. Adam had been framed for a crime and was, under military justice, condemned to death; this taking place under the purview of Col. Wade Eiling in the year 1968. As an alternative to execution, Adam was "asked" to participate in 'Project: Captain Atom', a military experiment with a slim chance of survival. He agreed to this in exchange for an unconditional presidential pardon. The experiment involved testing the hull of a crashed alien ship's durability by placing a human being (Adam) within the metal craft and then exploding an atomic weapon under it. The weapon went off and Adam was seemingly disintegrated.
Eighteen years later, Adam suddenly reappeared. The alien metal, now bonded around his body, afforded him incredible abilities far beyond that of a mere mortal. Bonded with the metal, Nathaniel Adam now had powers that resulted from the metal's ability to tap into the "Quantum Field." It was revealed that the alien metal could absorb energy but past a certain threshold, any excess absorption would force it to jump forward in time, based on the amount of energy obtained. Flung into the year 1986, Adam becomes literally a "man out of time". Wade Eiling is now a military general and the second husband of Adam's now-deceased wife Angela. Everyone had assumed that Nathaniel Adam died the day of the experiment, so his presidential pardon was never issued and the current government refused to acknowledge the previous pardon. Seizing the opportunity at hand, Eiling uses the outstanding murder/treason charges against Adam to blackmail him into acting as a military-controlled, government-sanctioned superhero codenamed Captain Atom. The events of the Charlton stories are used cleverly by Bates as a readymade, fabricated past to convince the world that Adam had secretly been a superhero for years enabling him to quickly gain the trust and reputation as an unsung patriot and hero.
For his non-superhero activities, Nathaniel uses the alias Cameron Scott, an Air Force intelligence operative. During this time he meets the superpowered terrorist, Plastique, a recurring part of Nathaniel's life. Early conflicts involve him coming to terms with the lost time he missed with his now grown children, the death of his wife, her marriage to Eiling, and the overall ramifications of his newly acquired powers. Later, he learns that the 'Project: Captain Atom' was repeated, creating the super-villain Major Force, a bloodthirsty madman lacking Captain Atom's morality and classic military/A.F. discipline.
In the Post-Crisis DC Comics Universe, Captain Atom's Dilustel skin is tied into the Quantum Field, which enables him to absorb and manipulate theoretically infinite amounts of energy, limited by only his willpower and imagination. This energy can be used for flight (which is generally faster than the speed of sound in Earth's atmosphere and up to half-light speed in the vacuum of space), super strength (shown at times to be on par with Martian Manhunter), durability (he has survived exploding nuclear weapons) self-sustenance and life support (allowing him to live and even speak in space), and controlling energy of any form. In addition to high speed flight he has been shown to possess enhanced reflexes. Atom's abilities stem from his link to the Quantum Field, which provides a virtually infinite source of Quantum Energy, which can be used for a vast number of effects. He commonly manipulates his energy into force field bubbles, or explosive "bombs", but the most common form is a simple energy blast. Atom has been shown to be capable of manipulating even exotic energies such as magic, and has a high degree of resistance to such attacks.
Powers & Abilities[]
Powers[]
- Alpha Transcendent Metahuman Physiology
- Dilustel Armor: Captain Atom's metallic shell, or "skin," is composed of a portion of the alien being known as Silver Shield, and is called Dilustel. Pieces of the alien's metal body were used in the Captain Atom Project, Project Major Force and similar projects thereafter. Atom is able to coat himself with the metal, either partially or totally. Atom's symbiosis with the metal is such that even when partially armored, he is able to access the Quantum Field.
- Chronokinesis: Captain Atom has shown time-traveling capabilities without quantum jumping and can travel ahead in time using concentration. The process is exhausting and the period he can interact in the future appears to be limited to a few minutes before he returns to the present.
- Atomic Transmutation: Captain Atom has demonstrated atomic transmutation powers similar to Firestorm, as he was able to turn both Maul and Engineer back to their human forms and once turned Green Arrow's quivers into butterflies. This power can be used instinctively or through concentration.
- Energy Absorption
- Flight
- Immortality
- Invulnerability: Atom's Dilustel coating renders him invulnerable to physical and energy attacks.
- Matter Generation: Captain Atom can also create matter in the same manner he creates energy. In the same way, he can absorb and manipulate matter at a basic level.
- Regeneration: Over time if Atom's armored skin were to be ruptured or damaged he would recover at an accelerated rate.
- Self-Sustenance
- Superhuman Strength: As Captain Atom his strength was such that he was able to go toe to toe with beings such as Superman, Majestic, etc. and hold his own.
- Nigh-Invulnerability: His body is extremely durable, as he has been able to take bullets, punches from superhumans with little to no damage, and powerful energy blasts
- Superhuman Stamina
- Superhuman Speed
- Superhuman Reflexes
- Techno Interface: He has also shown the ability to telepathically interface with computer networks.
- Anti-Magic Physiology: An effect of Captain Atom's Dilustel coating coupled with his exposure to the Quantum Field affords Nathaniel not only Immunity to magical powers and spell craft. But also allows him to outright negate the effects of it in general through their use.
- Self-Power Augmentation: At times, he can use the quantum field to enhance his physical prowess to even greater levels such as enhancing and increasing his listening range, augmenting his already impressive levels of strength or even increasing his flight speed.
- Quantum Field Manipulation: Captain Atom's metal skin is tied into the Quantum Field, which enables him to absorb and manipulate infinite amounts of energy; energy which can be used for an infinite amount of purposes which are solely limited by his willpower and imagination. Reinforcing the fact when he realized that the Quantum field is under his complete and total control. i.e., creating and destroying a replica of Earth complete with life and its most powerful heroes out of nothing; such as Superman, The Flash, Firestorm and even his own Spectre. Though he has only done this once, subconsciously limiting himself to a set amount of power ever since. Nathaniel's ability harness energy is insurmountable, manipulating it for a variety of effects ranging from absorbing, changing, metabolizing, even shutting down other energy users powers or shaping it into whatever he needs. Like force fields, explosive bombs or a simple blast from the hands or eyes. Either firing it from anywhere on his body or releasing it as an AOE wave either by will or upon detonation.
- Energy Projection
- Energy Absorption / Draining
- Energy Conversion
- Absolute Energy Absorption
- Plasma Absorption
- Remote Energy Absorption
- Energetic Equivalence
- Energetic Reactor
- Thermal Radiation Absorption
- Infrared Absorption
- Electromagnetic Energizing
- Reality Alteration
- Quantum Telekinesis
- Chronokinesis (possibly formerly)
- Disintegration
- Molecular Manipulation
- Molecular Reconstruction
- Bio-Molecular Manipulation
- Healing
- Size Alteration
- Density Control
- Intangibility
- Nuclear Manipulation
- Energy Projection: Captain Atom can draw upon the quantum field and use it as an inexhaustible power source to fuel devastating energy blasts.
- Flight
- Self-Sustenance (possibly formerly)
- Power Distribution
- Teleportation
- Quantum Armor: Ever since regaining his human body, Captain Atom acquired the ability to materialize organic metal armor that covers his skin. This armor stabilizes Atom's powers in addition to granting additional abilities such as;
- Superhuman Strength: Atom can easily lift a stone slab several times larger than himself, one-handed.
- Superhuman Speed: Atom can move so fast time appears to stand still around him, he can even keep up with individuals like The Flash with relative ease.
- Invulnerability: Atom's armor is durable enough to withstand four hellfire missiles armed with thermobaric warheads without suffering any damage.
- Energy Manipulation: Atom's skill with energy projection has been enhanced to such an extent, that he can now fire multiple energy blasts simultaneously with pinpoint accuracy.
- Quantum Energy Manipulation
- Energized Combat
- Personal Energy Manipulation
- Heat Manipulation
- Energy Matter Warping
- Adaptive Energy
- Energy Assimilation
- Physical Energy Manipulation
- Binding Energy Manipulation
- Energy Signature Alteration
- Energy Transmutation
- Bio-Mass-Energy Manipulation
- Mass-Energy Manipulation
- Energy Accumulation
- Remote Energy Manipulation
- Energy Construct Creation
- Force Field: Captain Atom can generate a shield capable of protecting both himself and Wade Eiling from Ultramax's sustained attacks.
- Willpower-based Constructs
- Energy Absorption: Captain Atom can absorb the explosion of a 100 kiloton nuke without effort.
- Particle Manipulation
- Quantum Mutation
- Personal Potential Energy
- Quantum Symbiosis
- Quantum Aura
- Bio-Warp Manipulation
- Quantum Healing
- Quantum Existence
- True Power
- Infinite Energy
- Quantum Foam Manipulation
- Powers via Energy
- Quantum Tunneling
- Quantum Radiation Generation
- Quantum Attacks
- Quantum Pressure
- Personal Quantum Energy
- Living Quantum Plant
- Quantum Empowerment
- Exotic Force Manipulation
- Bio-Elemental Manipulation
- Fundamental Force Manipulation
- Physics Manipulation
- Creation Attacks
- Technology Manipulation
- Gravity Manipulation
- Quintessence Force
- Attack Movement Manipulation
- Living Transducer
- Bio-Gamma Manipulation
- Electromagnetic Concentration
- Transcendent Superpowered Physiology
- Self-Transcendence
- Science Manipulation
- Quantum Mind
- Living Activation Power Plant
- Dilustel Armor: Captain Atom's metallic shell, or "skin," is composed of a portion of the alien being known as Silver Shield, and is called Dilustel. Pieces of the alien's metal body were used in the Captain Atom Project, Project Major Force and similar projects thereafter. Atom is able to coat himself with the metal, either partially or totally. Atom's symbiosis with the metal is such that even when partially armored, he is able to access the Quantum Field.
Abilities[]
- Military Protocol
- Aviation
- Patriotic Hero
- Particle Physics Mastery
- Sheer Willpower
Weaknesses[]
- Involuntary Quantum Jumping: If Atom absorbs too much energy at once, he is sent hurtling through time. Depending on the type of energy absorbed, he either goes forward or backwards.
- Quantum Field Disruption: If there are disturbances within the Q-Field itself, it can greatly hinder Captain Atoms Control over his powers.
- Radiation Leak: If Captain Atom uses the upper levels of his power, he starts to leak radiation. If he went toe to toe with a being of sufficient physical ability (for example, Darkseid) and his Dilustel was ruptured in a city he could detonate like an atomic bomb badly irradiating it.
- Vulnerability to X-Ionized Weaponry: The Dilustel comprising of Nathaniel Adam's body is nigh-indestructible, munitions by the Ionizer apparatus can be lethal to him.
Paraphernalia[]
Equipment[]
- Monarch Armor: The updated Monarch armor worn by Captain Atom throughout Countdown, contains a "nanoweave" designed to contain radiation leaking from a breach in his chest. It also contained instruments for monitoring his vital signs, through a direct neural interface.
Weapons[]
None
In other media[]
Appears in Justice League Unlimited, Batman The Brave and the Bold and Superman/Batman: Public Enemies.