Gorgon (Tomi Shishido)

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The Gorgon
Cover of Wolverine #30 John Romita Jr, artist
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Wolverine (vol.2) #20
Created by	Mark Millar John Romita, Jr.
In story information
Alter ego	Tomi Shishido
Species	Human Mutant
Team affiliations	HYDRA Dawn of the White Light Hand
Abilities	Ability to turn humans to stone by making eye contact with them Superhuman strength, speed, stamina, agility, and reflexes Regenerative healing factor Telepathy Teleportation Genius level intellect in multiple areas

The Gorgon is the name of a comic book character associated with the X-Men member Wolverine. He first appeared in Wolverine (vol.3) #20, and was created by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr. The character was killed in Wolverine (vol.3) #31. He is unrelated to the Marvel character Gorgon of The Inhumans.

[edit] Fictional character biography

The Gorgon's real name is Tomi Shishido. He is a member of the Hand and HYDRA and a powerful mutant, leading the extremist mutant society Dawn of the White Light. As a child, possesses near superhuman levels of intelligence. He says his first words at two weeks of age, can walk at three months, and is able to read and write by his first birthday. He becomes an accomplished painter by age four, among the top artists in all of Japan, and composes an opera at age six. This is also the age when he first attempts suicide.

At age 13, he creates a mathematical formula that proves, without question, the existence of God and manifests the mutant ability to turn people to stone just by looking at them. The media dubs him "The Gorgon", after the mythological character. Shortly after, he becomes the leader a mutant death-cult called the Dawn of the White Light, which commit terrorist attacks throughout Japan. By age 18, he seeks out the Hand. Before leaving his home he kills his entire family and his only friend to prove that he is ruthless enough to join the terrorist organization.

After finding the Hand sanctuary and slaying all of its guards blindfolded, the Gorgon goes inside and pledges his allegiance to the Hand's Jonin. When the master questions his dedication, the Gorgon impales himself with his own sword, fatally injuring himself, and tells the master to resurrect him. The Jonin are impressed and bring him into the fold.

Later the Gorgon becomes connected to HYDRA and forms a relationship with Elsbeth Von Strucker, the wife of HYDRA leader Baron Strucker. He is responsible for the capture and brain washing of Wolverine. Although Wolverine is eventually freed from their control, Wolverine manages to infiltrate the Baxter Building and steal technological blue prints from Reed Richards that are very useful to HYDRA. Wolverine, under the brain washing, commits a number of terrorist attacks resulting in the deaths of numerous costumed heroes and hundreds of S.H.I.E.L.D agents.

Eventually, the Gorgon attempts to assassinate Nick Fury after S.H.I.E.L.D. launches an attack which destroys his safe-house and kills Elsbeth Von Strucker in the process. He is intercepted by Wolverine before he can complete the objective. The two engage in a brutal battle, inflicting devastating injuries upon one another. The Gorgon manages to gain the upper hand and attempts to use his mutant ability to transform Wolverine into stone, Wolverine extracts his claws at the last moment, allowing the Gorgon to see his own reflection in the claws. As a result, the Gorgon's power is reflected back upon him. Once the Gorgon has been turned into stone, Wolverine shatters his body. ^[1]

[edit] Powers and abilities

The Gorgon possesses a variety of superhuman abilities as a result of genetic mutation and mystical enhancement from the Hand and HYDRA.

The Gorgon's primary mutant ability is the ability to transform an individual to stone by making eye contact with them. Gorgon's eyes have no visible pupils and glow with a bright green energy. The Gorgon always wears a pair of dark sunglasses in order to see without affecting those around him. Whether the sunglasses possess any sort of special properties or are composed of some special material designed to block his power has not been revealed.

After his resurrection, the Gorgon's strength, speed, stamina, agility, and reflexes are all heightened to superhuman levels of efficiency, the exact limits of which are unrevealed. The Gorgon also possesses an accelerated healing factor that enables him to repair damaged or destroyed tissue with extraordinary speed and efficiency. He is capable of healing from massive trauma inflicted by Wolverine's adamantium claws, bludgeoning, and falling from great heights while continuing to fight.

Aside from his physical advantages, the Gorgon possesses some level of telepathy allowing him to read the minds of others. Much like his physical capabilities, the exact limits of the Gorgon's psionic powers remain unknown.

The Gorgon is an extraordinary hand to hand combatant, even before his resurrection, trained in multiple forms of martial arts. He is an expert swordsman and typically prefers to use a katana during combat. Also, he typically uses his telepathic abilities to read the minds of his opponents during combat situations (even highly trained minds like Wolverine and Elektra), enabling him to predict and counter their every move.

The Gorgon is extraordinarily intelligent and possesses advanced knowledge in multiple scientific and artistic fields.

[edit] References