Life Model Decoy

A Life Model Decoy (frequently known by the abbreviation LMD) is a fictional android appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. LMDs duplicate all outward aspects of a real living person, with such authenticity that they can easily impersonate a specific person without casual detection. LMDs first appeared in "The Man For the Job!", a short story by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby that ran the anthology book Strange Tales #135 (August 1965) in which the spy agency S.H.I.E.L.D. created LMDs of agent Nick Fury to use as decoys for an attack by the terrorist organization Hydra.

LMDs have been used in numerous Marvel Comics storylines in the half century since their first appearance, and have also been adapted into other media based on Marvel, including films, television series, animation and video games.

Publication history

Life Model Decoys (LMDs) first appeared in "The Man For the Job!", a short story by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby that ran the anthology book Strange Tales #135 (August 1965) in which the spy agency S.H.I.E.L.D. created LMDs of agent Nick Fury to use as decoys for an attack by the terrorist organization Hydra.[1]

A Life Model Decoy (or LMD for short) is a S.H.I.E.L.D.-designed robot that duplicates all outward aspects of a living person. The owner can see through, speak through, and control everything the Life Model Decoy does. Nick Fury's Life Model Decoys are probably the most common in the Marvel Universe.

It is designed to function as an exact body double for VIPs. Their design is such that they mimic the subject's outer appearance (i.e., fingerprints, hair, all details of the skin), speech patterns, scent, iris and retina patterns, body language, thought patterns (to fool telepaths), and any other biological indicators. Aside from any invasive procedure and vulnerability to strong electromagnetic pulse, they are indistinguishable from the original.

Powers and abilities

As an android, a Life-Model Decoy possesses all of the various superhuman attributes:

Known examples

A number of Life Model Decoys with simple numerical designations have appeared in storylines. These include:

A number of Life Model Decoys have also been depicted impersonating specific characters. These include:

Other versions

In the alternate timeline of the "Heroes Reborn" storyline, Captain America is brainwashed into believing that he is a civilian living in the suburbs. As part of this ruse, his wife and son are LMDs assigned to protect him. Nick Fury also used a Captain America LMD during secret missions.

The android protagonists from the 2005 miniseries Livewires are were built using LMD technology and Mannite technology. The main antagonist of the series are revealed to be rogue Nick Fury LMDs as well.

In other media

Marvel Cinematic Universe

The Life Model Decoys have been depicted in the films and TV series of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

They are first mentioned by Tony Stark in the 2012 film The Avengers, when he attempts to avoid taking a phone call from S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Phil Coulson by jokingly pretending to be Stark's Life Model Decoy and asking Coulson to leave a voicemail message.[34]

They subsequently appear in the TV series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. In the 2016 third season finale "Ascension", scientist and inventor Holden Radcliffe and Leo Fitz plan to place the artificial intelligence AIDA into one of the LMD bodies. AIDA and the LMDs are central antagonists during the fourth season.[34][35][36]

Television

Video games

References

  1. 1 2 Whitbrook, James (January 10, 2017). "The Silliest Life Model Decoy Stories in Marvel Comics History". io9.
  2. 1 2 Parker, Jeff (w), Casagrande, Elena (a). "Planet of Fear, Part 1", Hulk Vol. 2 #37. Marvel Comics.
  3. 1 2 3 Parker, Jeff (w), Hardman, Gabriel (a). "Scorched Earth Part 4: Exit Strategy", Hulk (Vol. 2) #29 (March 2011). Marvel Comics.
  4. Parker, Jeff (w), Casagrande, Elena (a). "Planet of Fear, Part 2", Hulk (Vol. 2) #38 (October 2011). Marvel Comics.
  5. Chaykin, Howard (w). McManus, Shawn (a). Wolverine & Nick Fury: Scorpio Rising (October 1994). Marvel Comics.
  6. Parker, Jeff (w), Hardman, Gabriel (p), Palmer, Tom (i). "The Whale", Hulk (Vol. 2) #30.1 (May 2011). Marvel Comics.
  7. Richards, Dave (July 20, 2011). "Parker Hounds 'Hulk' with an Army of Adversaries". CBR.com.
  8. Brubaker, Ed (w), Conrad, Will; Deodato, Mike Jr. (a). "Secret Histories Part Two", Secret Avengers (Vol. 1) #32 (August 2010). Marvel Comics.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Marston, George (May 18, 2016). "S.H.I.E.L.D.’s LMD - LIFE MODEL DECOY Explained". Newsarama. Archived from the original on May 22, 2017.
  10. Bunn, Cullen (w), Nguyen, Peter (a). Fear Itself: Black Widow #1 (August 2011). Marvel Comics.
  11. Brubaker, Ed (w), Guice, Jackson (a). Fear Itself: Captain America #7.1 (January 2012). Marvel Comics.
  12. Lee, Stan (w), Kirby, Jack (p), Giacoia, Frank (i). "Cap Goes Wild!", Captain America #106 (October 1968). Marvel Comics.
  13. Weiner, Robert G. (2009). Captain America and the Struggle of the Superhero: Critical Essays. McFarland & Company, Inc. Retrieved May 22, 2017. Archived at Google Books.
  14. Hölbling, Walter (2006). US Icons and Iconicity. Münster: LIT Verlag. Retrieved May 22, 2017. Archived at Google Books.
  15. Lee, Stan (w), Kirby, Jack (p), Shores, Syd (i). "The Snares of the Trapster!", Captain America #108 (December 1969). Marvel Comics.
  16. Parker, Jeff (w), Hardman, Gabriel (a). "Fog Of War", Hulk (Vol. 2) #33 (July 2011). Marvel Comics.
  17. Loeb, Jeph (w), Churchill, Ian (p), Farmer, Mark (i). "Code Red: Chapter 1: Eyewitness", Hulk (Vol. 2) #14 (October 2009). Marvel Comics.
  18. Ewing, Al (w), Guice, Jackson (p), Hanna, Scott (i). "How the World Works" , Original Sin #5 (October 2014). Marvel Comics.
  19. Barbiere, Frank J. (w), Schoonover, Brent (a). "Mission 001: Earth Idol", Howling Commandos of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 (December 2015). Marvel Comics.
  20. Weiner, Robert G. (2008). Marvel Graphic Novels and Related Publications: An Annotated Guide to Comics, Prose Novels, Children's Books, Articles, Criticism and Reference Works, 1965–2005. McFarland & Company, Inc. Retrieved May 22, 2017. Archived at Google Books.
  21. Kraft, David Anthony; Slifer, Roger (w), Giffen, Keith (p), Janson, Klaus (i). "Prelude: Who Remembers Scorpio?", The Defenders #46 (April 1977). Marvel Comics.
  22. Brubaker, Ed (w), Deodato, Mike Jr. (a). "Secret Histories Part One", Secret Avengers (Vol. 1) #1 (July 2010). Marvel Comics.
  23. Bendis, Brian Michael (w), Caselli, Stefano (a). "Secret Invasion", The Mighty Avengers (Vol. 1) #18 (November 2008). Marvel Comics.
  24. Bendis, Brian Michael (w), Yu, Leinil Francis (p), Morales, Mark (i). "Secret Invasion: Part I", Secret Invasion #1 (June 2008). Marvel Comics.
  25. Goodwin, Archie (w), Tuska, George (p), Craig, Johnny (i). "The Beginning of the End!", Iron Man (Vol. 1) #17 (September 1969). Marvel Comics.
  26. Busiek, Kurt; Howell, Richard (w), Zircher, Patrick (p), McLeod, Bob (i). "Bodyguards", Iron Man: The Iron Age #2 (September 1998). Marvel Comics.
  27. White, Mark D. (Editor) (2010). Iron Man and Philosophy: Facing the Stark Reality. John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved May 22, 2017. Archived at Google Books.
  28. Humphries, Sam (w), Lima Araújo, André (a). "Initiate: Chapter 2", Avengers A.I. #2 (October 2013). Marvel Comics.
  29. Abnett, Dan; Lanning, Andy (w), Arlem, Renato (a). "Knight Takes King", Villains for Hire #1 (February 2012). Marvel Comics.
  30. Loeb, Jeph (w), McGuinness, Ed (p), Farmer, Mark (i). "Seeing Red", The Incredible Hulk #600 (September 2009). Marvel Comics.
  31. Edington, Ian; Ellis, Warren (w), Lucas, Jorge (a). "Rage War Part One", X-Force #110 (January 2001). Marvel Comics.
  32. Loeb, Jeph (w), Various (a). "Who Is the Red Hulk?", Hulk (Vol. 2) #23 (August 2010). Marvel Comics.
  33. Edelman, Scott; Isabella, Tony (w), Heck, Don (p), Tartaglione, John (i). "The Taking of the Avengers!", The Avengers #145 (March 1976). Marvel Comics.
  34. 1 2 Bucksbaum, Sydney (July 19, 2016). "'Agents of SHIELD' Season 4: What Is a Life Model Decoy?". The Hollywood Reporter.
  35. Abrams, Natalie (January 11, 2017). "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. reveals true villain of 'Life Model Decoy' arc". Entertainment Weekly.
  36. Leane, Rob (May 22, 2017). "How Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. fixed the 22-episode problem". Den of Geek!
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.