High Evolutionary

Herbert Wyndham began his career as a student at Oxford University in the 1920s where he became obsessed with the potential of genetic manipulation. He developed a substance called Isotope A which allowed him to accelerate the evolutionary process of any living organism. He moved his laboratory to Mount Wundagore in the Balkans so that he could pursue his research away from the restrictions of modern society. He used his technology to evolve common animals into the New Men who were humanoid beings with human intelligence and speech. He constructed a suit of advanced silver armor to protect his body and to stabilize his own rapidly evolving mind.

He eventually decided to expand his experiments to a planetary scale and constructed a massive space station to serve as his new base. He created an entire replica of Earth on the opposite side of the sun which he called Counter-Earth. He intended for this world to be a perfect society that was free from the flaws and violence of the original planet. He encountered the being known as Adam Warlock and gave him the Soul Gem so that the hero could protect Counter-Earth from a villainous entity called the Man-Beast. The High Evolutionary continues to travel through the cosmos while he seeks to reach the final stage of biological perfection for all sentient life.

Appearance: High Evolutionary has no visible skin. He has a tall and heavily muscular build. He has glowing yellow eyes. He wears a red metallic helmet completely covering his head, face, and neck. A thick, textured silver metallic crest runs down the center of the helmet from the top of the forehead to the back of the head. Circular red and silver metallic earpieces rest over the ears of the helmet. He wears a sleeveless dark red armored tunic with a high, wide collar. Small, round silver metallic studs are arranged vertically down the front of the tunic and horizontally across the upper chest. Beneath the tunic, his arms are entirely covered by silver metallic armor consisting of thick horizontal ridges and structured segmented panels. His forearms and hands are covered by smooth red armored gauntlets with flared top edges. A thick, structured red belt wraps around his waist, featuring small silver studs and a large, prominent circular silver and red buckle in the center. A long, rectangular red panel hangs down from the front of the belt, reaching below his knees. The panel is decorated with a vertical row of small silver metallic studs running down each outer edge. His legs are entirely covered by silver metallic armor matching his arms. His lower legs and feet are covered by tall, smooth red armored boots.

Personality: Herbert Wyndham is defined by an absolute devotion to the advancement of sentient life through genetic manipulation. He possesses an elitist and detached demeanor because he believes he is the individual responsible for guiding the universe toward a state of biological perfection. He operates with a scientific curiosity that usually ignores standard moral constraints. He does not view himself as a villain, but instead he perceives his actions as necessary steps for the improvement of the cosmos. He can demonstrate moments of nobility when he protects his research or his chosen subjects from external interference.

The High Evolutionary maintains a protective and authoritative relationship with the New Men, who are the humanoid animal hybrids he created on Mount Wundagore. He acted as a benefactor to Adam Warlock by providing the hero with his name and the Soul Gem during the events on Counter-Earth. His history is connected to the childhood of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver because he conducted experiments on the siblings when they were infants. He frequently encounters the Avengers and the Fantastic Four when his large-scale experiments put the inhabitants of Earth at risk. He remains a solitary figure among the cosmic powers of the universe because he generally prioritizes his private research over the political conflicts of alien empires.

Herbert Wyndham possesses an artificially evolved physiology that grants him superhuman strength, durability, and a brain evolved to its full potential. This advanced intellect provides him with virtually unlimited knowledge and total recall memory which he uses to master the fields of genetics and engineering. His psionic capabilities allow him to engage in telepathy, psychokinesis, and telekinesis so powerful that he can rearrange matter or force opponents to turn their own weapons against themselves. He also generates destructive plasmatic rays and concussive energy blasts while maintaining mental invisibility to hide his presence from other telepaths.

His evolutionary exoskeleton serves as a vital life-support system and remains the primary source of his defensive capabilities. The suit contains specialized micro-circuitry with his complete genetic information which allows him to regenerate his entire body from a single surviving piece of armor. He is effectively immortal and can travel between dimensions or manipulate his own mass to reach a height of 300 feet. His mastery of bioengineering enables him to forcibly evolve or devolve other life forms at an accelerated rate to create sentient civilizations from non-sentient animals.