History[]
Black King
Sebastian Shaw's life almost exactly mirrors that of his Earth-616 counterpart.
After the Phoenix Force dispersed in order to restore the integrity of mutantkind, Shaw began to rebuild the Hellfire Club by selecting new mutant members for the Inner Circle, among whom were Mikhail Rasputin (brother of Colossus) as the new White King and Adrienne Frost (sister of Emma Frost) as the new White Queen.
Personality[]
Sebastian Shaw is an arrogant and manipulative man who considers himself above everyone and everything, and whose ultimate goal is the political-financial domination of the world. To achieve this goal he will deceive, lie, manipulate and even kill anyone who would get in his way, including the X-Men. He does not think much about the fact that he is a mutant; for him, ideological disagreements and xenophobic hatred and radicalism between humans and mutants are useful tools for him to manipulate to achieve his goals. He finds the moral discussion between Professor X and Magneto ridiculous, futile, and foolish, and considers "good" and "evil" two simplistic, inferior abstractions of the mind created when one wants a side to turn to and something to believe in. For him, only one concept is guaranteed: power, which he will do everything to achieve.
Powers and Abilities[]
Shaw is a mutant with the unique ability to absorb all kinetic, electric, plasma, solar, cosmic, radioactive, photonic, atomic, sonic and thermal energy directed at him and use it to augment his strength, speed, stamina and recuperation capabilities to superhuman levels. He absorbs the energy of any impact he is struck by, including not only direct physical blows, but also the impact of bullets and throwing weapons, and less successfully, concussive energy beams; notably any kind of energetic attack directed at him. By absorbing successive blows from an opponent, Shaw can surpass the physical abilities of said opponent and then overpower them. His speed is the attribute most dramatically increased by his power; after absorbing enough energy he can attack more quickly than opponents can react. He also demonstrated that he can absorb physical attacks that cause damage by cutting, piercing, bruising, impact, crushing and sheer physical strength like Wolverine's adamantium claws, Black Knight's Ebony Blade, Thor's hammer Mjolnir, the Hulk's punches etc. The only limitation is that very powerful attacks can effectively overwhelm and crash his power, and in that case he would suffer real damage from the attacks unless he released some of his stored energy in order to make room for more.
In the past, Shaw has been limited to a certain amount of energy and would lose consciousness when he surpassed his capabilities. Subsequently, however, Shaw has been shown to be able to take in an indefinite amount of energy without any ill effects. The power he absorbs dissipates over time, and exposure to the elements causes it to drain rapidly. Without any absorbed energy, Shaw is merely a strong common human in excellent physical condition, but regularly works to keep his strength at a superhuman level. In one instance, he was shown to spend time hitting a wall after waking in order to build up his power reserves before starting the day. Shaw also can forgo sleep if he receives enough energy. Often he will have his mercenaries pummel him so that he would not need to sleep for some time.
Sebastian Shaw, as a result of a secondary mutation, now possesses the power to absorb all forms of energy that are directed towards him and to release that energy from his body in the form of extremely destructive energy bursts. This power is passive, allowing Shaw to absorb energy at all times. He can release this energy in many different forms, usually as concussive blasts of energy, even amplified compared to the absorbed amount. He can also store absorbed energy within his personal reserves, whereupon the energy increases his strength and recuperative abilities, as well as affording him a measure of invulnerability. He is also able to absorb magic, cosmic and divine energy and the psychic energies of psionics as easily as all other kinds. This does not prevent him from being read or manipulated by a telepath, but sustains him and helps to slow them down. It has been clearly stated that Shaw is also able to absorb and process all forms of energy similarly to Bishop of the X-Men, but in an extremely more efficient and destructive way.
Sebastian Shaw is a highly athletic man, an excellent hand-to-hand combatant with many years of armed and unarmed combat training in the American army, and a superb marksman with firearms. He also wore his uniform, shaped like a Victorian nobleman suit but manufactured with tissue of unstable molecules that function as a body armor.
Shaw also has a successful business acumen and access to sophisticated weaponry. He not only prides himself on his power and the connections it allows him, but on knowing his opponents and how best to defeat them, whether in battle or in business. He also possesses technology that can block telepathic intrusions by Professor X.
Weaknesses[]
Shaw has been shown to be vulnerable to "passive" attacks (which do not release any energy) such as Lady Selene's inanimate material constructs and metal tentacles formed by Magneto.
Sebastian also mistakenly considers himself a brilliant strategist who can foresee each of his opponent's moves, which leaves him vulnerable to unexpected tactics that he did not foresee when tracing his stratagems, which often leads him to fail against unexpected enemies.