Astronomer (Wild Cards)

The Astronomer is a character from the Wild Cards series of books. He first appeared in the short story "Pennies from Hell" by Lewis Shiner in Wild Cards II: Aces High, though his presence was earlier implied in "The Long, Dark Night of Fortunato" in the first volume of the series. Leader of a cult consisting mainly of superhuman aces and deformed jokers known as the Egyptian Freemasons. The Astronomer planned to conquer the world in the aftermath of an invasion by fungoid aliens called the Swarm. Unknown to him, the Shakti device of the Egyptian Freemasons lacked a power source and was designed to contact an alien organization, the Network. Once his plans were foiled, the Astronomer lived only for revenge.

Character background

The Astronomer is an old man (born in 1925), who has thinning white hair, wears glasses and is best described as "mole-like"; he is also noted as having a disproportionately large head, the upper part of which enlarges further when he is fully empowered. He has wiped his own memory of all events prior to becoming the Astronomer. The Astronomer usually uses a wheelchair, although the proper use of his Ace powers can allow him to walk. The Astronomer practices a horrific form of death magic, gaining immense energy through the ritualistic slaying of his victims (usually young women). He greatly enjoys having Demise slowly kill the victims, taking their suffering from projected death as his energy source.

Once the ritual is completed, The Astronomer is blessed with a huge energy reserve allowing him to utilize the following powers: astral projection, clairsentience, minor precognition, the ability to selectively erase memories, flight, invisibility to visual and mental senses, ego attacks, hand killing attacks, walking through walls, suppression versus any single wildcard power, force fields and minor force walls, telepathy and an assortment of energy blasts; however, he can not use all powers simultaneously. His powers resemble and possibly exceed those of Fortunato, making him one of the most powerful aces.

The Astronomer has lost his followers in attacks on the Masons by Fortunato and several other aces, while managing to escape and partially reform the cult. His activities culminate on the Wild Card Day 1986, the 40th anniversary of the virus' release. While his associates pursue the Turtle and Tachyon, the Astronomer picks several girls up for recharge. One of them is the niece of Sewer Jack Cordelia Chaisson. As she "turns her ace" (the ability to shut down somebody's cardiac and respiratory systems) and Demise shifts his loyalty by interrupting the recharge, the Astronomer can block Demise's killing stare, but is left almost powerless and virtually dead by Cordelia.

After later recharge and the aerial battle with Fortunato, which leaves both aces almost powerless, the Astronomer drops to the Hudson and escapes to the shore for his final encounter with his former associates Roulette and Demise. He uses his last bit of power to escape through a wall, where he is killed by Demise and left embedded inside the wall.

Although his crimes are publicly announced, a large part of the population discards those announcements and considers the old man in the wall just a random victim of the killing spree of that day. The events of the day, including a public killing, death of a superhero ace and the battle over Hudson, strengthen the prejudices against the Wild Card and lead to the events of July 1988.