Thunderbird / John Proudstar
History[]
John Proudstar was an Indigenous Native American Apache and the chief security officer of Gamma Base in New Mexico, and a personal friend of Dr. Robert Bruce Banner, whom he often defended from his Army Higher Officer General Thaddeus E. "Thunderbolt" Ross. Ross often abused his authority and harassed Banner due to the delay in the development of the gamma bomb project by taking advantage of his shy and reserved personality. John often confronted General Ross, even putting at risk his position as security officer of the Gamma Base, to defend his friend, and constantly encouraged Bruce Banner to take a firmer attitude. John also aided the timid scientist in pursuing his love affair with Betty Ross, the love of his life, which he considered impossible to go through due to the fear of Ross's hostility.
When the gamma bomb test day finally arrived, John found it strange that Bruce Banner was not present in the control room to watch the countdown to the detonation. Asking Banner's assistant, Igor Starsky he learned that Banner, contrary to safety regulations, had left the Base because he saw an irresponsible boy crossing the outer limits of the Gamma Base with a car and going dangerously close to the detonation area, and Banner had risked his life to save the boy. Cursing the pitiful hour that Banner chose to take a firmer attitude, John ordered Igor to stop the countdown, not knowing that in reality Igor Starsky was a Hydra spy planted within the Gamma Base to be able to steal the secret of the gamma bomb. He saw the opportunity to get rid of two inconveniences for his mission: Bruce Banner and his protective friend John Proudstar, and gave no order to end the countdown, hoping to kill two rabbits with a single shot. Running against time, John managed to reach Banner and the boy named Rick Jones, whom he was trying to convince unsuccessfully to leave Gamma Base. John, without discussion, grabbed the two and ran into a protective trench, when suddenly the Gamma Bomb exploded and his world went totally green for him.
Waking hours later in a bed at the Gamma Base medical center, John woke up with Bruce and Rick Jones by his side, and he knew that they had taken his unconscious body to safety, and that they owed their lives to him, because if John had not taken them to the Trench the three would have been caught in the Gamma Bomb explosion. Banner said it was a miracle that the Apache survived because the amount of gamma radiation he absorbed should have killed him. John said, "You're not going to get rid of me so easy Bruce... which reminds me..." and John lectured Banner and Jones for their irresponsible attitudes about a little out of mode virtue the two were unaware of called "Responsibility" and said what Bruce Banner and Rick Jones asked for and didn't ask for their attitudes, that could have cost them their lives, and they both listened quietly.
In turn, Igor Starsky, displeased with his failure to kill Banner and Proudstar, decided to reveal his true facet. He was actually a monstrous mutated gamma irradiated aberration created by Hydra, whose gamma irradiation process was slowly killing him due to Hydra's complete ignorance of how to manipulate gamma radiation, and that he had been sent to steal Bruce Banner's gamma equation annotations so that Hydra could safely dominate the gamma irradiation process and cure him before he died of radiation poisoning. Spreading destruction through the Gamma Base, Starsky was confronted by Proudstar, who ignored the calls of Bruce and Rick to stay in the medical bed. To everyone's surprise, John became a massive, muscular, emerald giant, and fought the mutated gamma aberration Igor Starsky and defeated him, whereupon he finally perished due to gamma poisoning. Astonished, all present saw John Proudstar give the Apache indigenous war cry: "Hooka hey!" to which General Ross said, "Not bad 'Hulk'!", and John, still as a giant, promptly replied: "Do not insult me with such a derogatory name, General, I am no one's 'Hulk,' I am a son of Thunderbird!".
Later, Banner examined John's genetic structure and discovered, to everyone's astonished, that John had only survived the gamma explosion and developed superpowers because in truth he was a mutant with the power to absorb, metabolize, process and convert gamma energy into vast superhuman strength and a wide range of latent superpowers that were awakened by the explosion of the gamma bomb. Seeing the immense possibility of having a mutant superhuman operative at the service of the United States Government, General Ross sent John to be trained by the highest authority in mutations, genetics, and mutants of to service of the United States Government: Professor Charles Xavier, who commanded the Squadron X-Men of S.H.I.E.L.D. John joined the team under the codename "Thunderbird," and trained under the supervision of Major James Howlett (codenamed Wolverine) how to make effective use of his mutant gamma powers of. John has always been able to maintain complete control over his giant emerald form, and thanks to him, the Squadron X-Men of S.H.I.E.L.D. won the support of one of the most powerful super beings in his world.
Powers, Abilities and Paraphernalia[]
As Thunderbird, he has superhuman resistance, and cellular regeneration among the strongest in his universe and can regenerate his body from almost any type of injury [including fatal injuries for most living beings] instantly. He also possesses superhuman strength and durability, which, like the Hulk, increase in power when he is most enraged. In John's case, he has full control over his transformation between his human and Thunderbird forms, and has not shown any signs of possessing the same personality disorder as Bruce Banner. In fact, he loves being Thunderbird, so he definitely does not view his powers as a "curse". His power is such that he can break his reality's Juggernaut's armor and toss his helmet into the stratosphere with a single punch, though he is not as strong as the "Green Scar" Hulk. This strength also extends to his leg muscles, granting him tremendous speed. Thunderbird can increase his strength with "Ancient Power" - a form of Cosmic Power, which allows it to manipulate elements of the weather causing storms, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, etc., and in this case, absorbing energy from the whole earth. He can revert to human form and turn back into the Thunderbird at will.
John Proudstar dominates in over 17 different styles of combat and martial arts beyond the techniques of the Marines, and uses a giant Marines knife made of Adamantium and specially manufactured for someone of his size who keeps it hemmed at the waist but used in combat with mortal mastery. Thunderbird is a master strategist capable of noticing the slightest weakness of his opponent and exploiting it in his favor.
Appearance[]
Height: About 4 m high, when transformed, when human, about 1.90 m "
Weight: 708 kg
Strength Level: Able to lift or press 7900 tons, his strength proved able to effectively match and overpower that of an alternate version of the Maestro.
Hair: Brown, adorned with eagle feathers, hair braids, Apache Indian style and stone beads.
Eyes: Green, surrounded by a yellow strip of Indian war paint across his eyes..