T-Ray (comics)

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T-Ray
T-Ray by Ed McGuiness (artist)
Publisher Marvel Comics First appearance Deadpool volume 3 #1 (January, 1997) Created by Joe Kelly (writer), Ed McGuiness (artist)
Characteristics Alter ego Unknown, claims to be "Wade Wilson" Affiliations none, Thanos, Typhoid Mary Notable aliases none Abilities Zombie, superhuman strength, knowledge of magical voodoo rituals

'T-Ray' is a fictional comic book supervillain, published by Marvel Comics. He is a lethal mercenary for hire. He was created by Joe Kelly and Ed McGuiness and played an important part during their run on the series Deadpool; T-Ray served to remind Wade Wilson, also known as Deadpool, what a failure he was. He was Deadpool's nemesis for many issues and almost everything that happened to Deadpool, was a part of an elaborate plan orchestrated by T-Ray.

[edit] Fictional character history

In his first appearance, T-Ray hangs out at the Hellhouse, where Deadpool and other mercenaries get their assignments. T-Ray and Wade basically have a back and forth machismo thing going on, both thinking that they are the best mercenary in the house. During these verbal conflicts, T-Ray makes vague threats and Deadpool makes even more vague 80's pop culture jokes. Several scenes show that T-Ray is a sadistic, remorseless killer; he was the sole mercenary at the Hellhouse willing to take an assignment that involved the killing of children in a gruesome manner. During a scene where T-Ray is meditating naked between the bodies of his victims, several names tattooed on his back are seen, all but one with an "X" through them. The last name not crossed off is "Wilson", Deadpool's real name.

T-Ray and Deadpool come into conflict at the Hellhouse and T-Ray ups the ante by burning off Wade's mask. The insane killer Typhoid Mary is freed by Wade during this time and Wade, inspired by his friend Siryn's attempts to redeem him, tries to redeem Typhoid Mary. He fails and falls, while Mary proves that he hasn't become the hero he thinks. Deadpool falls into a deep depression, becoming more aggressive and anti-social. He tries to ask Siryn for help in his own way: by starting a fight with her friend Warpath. Siryn is disgusted with Deadpool's behaviour and leaves, while Deadpool tries to drown his sorrow with alcohol. He wakes up to see Siryn and they spend the night, but when he wakes up it turns out to be Typhoid Mary in disguise.

Returning home, Deadpool tries to find support with his friends Blind Al and Weasel, but he's unable to find Weasel at the Hellhouse. T-Ray appears and challenges Deadpool for a fight. Returning home Deadpool finds Weasel and Blind Al (It is important to know that Deadpool at this time had various mental disorders. One of them was that he didn't allow anybody else in his home except for Blind Al, whom he kept completely isolated from the outside world. Any hint of intruders and he would fly into a murderous rage.) Deadpool turns on the two and leaves them locked up in the Box: a dark room filled with sharp objects. He then returns for the fight with T-Ray, but recent events have destroyed Deadpool's tenuous grip on his sanity and T-Ray defeats him with ease. Even a counter attack of Deadpool which pierces T-Ray's heart is unable to kill him. T-Ray merely responds: "I haven't had a heart for a long time... Not since you tore mine out." T-Ray leaves Deadpool, broken both in body and spirit. He meets up with Typhoid Mary, who had been working with T-Ray all the time. He returns to the Hellhouse and proclaims himself the new top dog.

Over the next few days, Deadpool rebuilds his confidence and sanity, but shortly afterwards he starts to have hallucinations of a woman. He finally finds out her identity after some unorthodox treatment by Doctor Bong: She is Mercedes Wilson, his ex-wife. Deadpool meets up with Mercedes in New Orleans. T-Ray returns, crucifies one of Deadpool's friends on the Hellhouse front steps and kidnaps Mercedes. He issues a challenge to Deadpool and Deadpool accepts. During their confrontation T-Ray claims that Deadpool is not Wade Wilson at all, T-Ray is the real Wade Wilson.

T-Ray tells the story of Wade and Mercedes Wilson, a teacher and his wife living a happy life until a wounded mercenary called Jack shows up. Jack is nursed back to health by the Wilsons, but turns on them, killing Mercedes and taking Wade's identity to hide from his previous employers. Jack has become a broken man though; he could deal with killing Wade, but killing Mercedes is too much for his mind to handle and he starts to believe that he really is Wade Wilson. He also starts to train to avenge Mercedes and becomes Deadpool. Meanwhile Jack's former employers find the real Wade Wilson and offer to heal him and train him in exchange for his service as a mercenary. Wilson gets into voodoo and magic and becomes T-Ray. Furthermore, T-Ray brings back all the people Wade has ever killed from the dead (like he had with Mercedes), which measures in the 1000s, to show Wade just how awful of a life he has led. Here ends T-Ray's story.

Deadpool believes the story and nearly loses his mind, but then he starts laughing: it doesn't matter who he is or what he's done in the past, because he's now trying to be a better person. In return T-Ray has become consumed with hatred and has become even worse than Deadpool ever was: he resurrected his dead wife, using her as just a tool to punish the man who killed her. Mercedes hears the story and powers up Deadpool with her magic, allowing Deadpool to defeat T-Ray. Deadpool apologizes to Mercedes, and asks if there are any hard feelings. Mercades says there are, and kicks him in the junk. T-Ray gets up, and with Mercedes by his side, goes off to parts unknown saying that Deadpool can keep the name Wade now; he's done with it and doesn't want anything to do with Deadpool anymore.

Months later, T-Ray, now an agent of Thanos resurrects Deadpool, who has been killed in a fight with Weapon X, using an artifact Thanos gave him to create many copies of Deadpool. Thanos is jealous of Deadpool's relationship with Death and T-Ray is to "curse him with immortality" so that he may never see Death again. In the end, Deadpool destroys the artifact and all the copies, but not the real Deadpool, are drawn into T-Ray, destroying his mind. Deadpool claims that this means he was the real Wade Wilson all along. The mindless T-Ray is taken by one of Deadpool's new, homeless friends as a 'lover' (he lacks the mental capacity to agree or disagree with this).

T-Ray appears in last pages of Cable & Deadpool #38. He doesn't shows any signs of brainwashing and claims that he is going to get his identity back from both Deadpool and Agent X.

[edit] Wade Wilson or not?

The main point of T-Ray's story depends on T-Ray really being the true Wade Wilson, but since then many comics have changed Deadpool's history and Deadpool's many mental disorders obscure the truth even more.

• Evidence that Deadpool is the true Wade Wilson:
  • In Cable Deadpool issue #36, General Hartecourt states to Weasel when being forced to observe Deadpool, " But you know I've hated Wilson since I was his Drill Sergeant..." Lending further Credence to Deadpool being the real Wade Wilson, as this is someone who apparently knew him historically before he went to Weapon-X and became Deadpool.
  • Deadpool has dreams about being the Wilsons and in his memory "Jack" is a large albino; T-Ray.
  • Deadpool's claim after destroying T-Ray's artifact.
  • The letters page of Cable and Deadpool #30 suggested that Wade Wilson was Deadpool’s real name - however, the Cable and Deadpool letters page answers are written "in-character" as Deadpool, and so this should not be trusted. T-Ray returns in #38 of said series, now angry that both Deadpool and Agent X have "his" identity.
• Evidence that T-Ray is the true Wade Wilson:
  • Both Deadpool and Mercedes completely believe T-Ray after he tells the story.
  • Deadpool's claim after destroying T-Ray's artifact that this proves he's the true Wade Wilson could mean that he just wasn't one of the copies T-Ray created during that story. This has puzzled fans who have found no logical reason that the disappearance of the copies would in any way prove or disprove T-Ray's story. It's possible that the fact that they were absorbed back into T-Ray showed they were fragments of his shattered personality, not those of Deadpools.
  • The recent Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe has stated that Deadpool's true name is "Jack".
• Evidence that could be taken either way:
  • Several stories have been told about Deadpool's early youth since T-Ray's story and they all show Deadpool as a juvenile delinquent. This makes Deadpool being the kind and peaceful teacher Wade Wilson unlikely, though certainly not impossible.
  • "Jack", as seen in T-Ray's flashback, is a dark-haired man, while T-Ray is blond. Deadpool is bald, but stories where Deadpool has hair have shown him as both a dark-haired man and as a blond man.

[edit] Powers and abilities

T-Ray has all the characteristics of a (fictional) zombie: he has pale skin, incredible strength and even serious injuries don't slow him down, though he does retain his own free will and full intelligence. After having a hole knocked through him it is revealed that he has dirt inside of him instead of organs. This backs up his claim that he doesn't have a heart. He has extensive knowledge of magic, especially voodoo rituals, that allow him to raise the dead. As a servant of Thanos, he possessed an artifact which could take aspects of Deadpool's personality and give them independent existence.