Alex Mercer

Alex Mercer is a male character from the game Prototype.

Biography

Alex Mercer was a scientist who was attached to GENTEK that was studying the Virus that the Blackwatch had been experimenting for decades. Eventually, he was targeted for elimination and decided to take a sample of the BLACKLIGHT virus with him as insurance to prevent the military from killing him. Travelling to the Penn train station, he was cornered by a Blackwatch team. Before anything could happen, Alex shattered the vial of the virus in the station before he was gunned down by the Blackwatch team. His body was taken back to GENTEK but his actions led to the infection spreading across New York leading to a new menace that the military and Blackwatch sought to contain as more and more people succumbed to the deadly disease. Whilst this was happening, Alex's corpses was taken for autopsy and during the event, the virus that he released had in fact reanimated his body during the process and used his cells to preserve its existence thus creating a new entity that was no longer considered Alex Mercer except by name. As he awakened, a military team attempted to terminate him but Alex managed to escape from the morgue and into the general population. This led to an extensive search for Alex Mercer who was codenamed ZEUS by Blackwatch which sought to recapture him and study the mutation within his body. The effects of his rebirth had the unexpected effect on Alex as he had lost his memory of his previous life. In order to learn more, he began a process of trying to discover his past once more.

Alex woke up in a morgue on a slab just as two scientists were about to cut open his torso with a scalpel for an autopsy. The two men panicked and fled, terrified of Mercer. Alex didn't understand why they were so frightened and had no recollection of his previous life. He ran after the scientists in an attempt to escape. With no memory of his own, Alex would decide to consume those responsible for his situation to discover his past. This would lead him into remembering his sister, Dana. When Alex would go to confront Dana, he would kill a Blackwatch soldier interrogating her and the two would reconcile. After seeing photos of himself, Alex would have further hints at his past life, when he saw a photo of himself with a blonde woman, he would touch it and learn of his ex-girlfriend, Karen Parker. Dana would then inform him of Elizabeth Greene, the only survivor of when Blackwatch first tested the Blacklight Virus, who was being held at Gentek. Alex would go to Greene, who would attack him and unleash the Blacklight Virus all across New York. Alex would go to Karen who promised to cure him and then attack Captain Robert Cross who would use Alex's painful memories against him to inject him with a biological weapon, a parasite that would lessen his powers. Dana would then confront Alex who would admit that he killed many people to learn their memories, shocking Dana. With the help of a Dr. Bradley Ragland, Alex would regain his powers and search for Greene. When he would find her, he would discover that Greene had infected Dana, enraging him and trying to infect her with the parasite, which failed and created the Supreme Hunter. Alex would defeat the Supreme Hunter, learn Green'es origins and head to Gentek and would discover the government's plans to nuke New York. Alex would once again fight with the Supreme Hunter and would then stopped the nuclear bomb, seemingly at the cost of his own life.

After absorbing the general, he came to realize with horror what the army officers plans were which was using a nuclear warhead to wipe New York off the face of the map in order to combat the infection. Just as this happened, his supposed ally Captain Cross attacked him and revealed that once the bomb went off, he could get away without anyone looking out for him. After which, he transformed into the Supreme Hunter revealing that the creature had simply taken on the identity of Captain Cross after consuming the specialist. The Supreme Hunter sought to kill Alex Mercer and absorb him thus magnifying its own powers to the point that a nuclear explosion would not be able to stop him. The fight between the two moved to the upper surface of the aircraft carrier leading to the military engaging both combatants. As this was happening, the nuclear warhead was on a timer set to explode. Ultimately, Alex Mercer managed to decapitate the Supreme Hunter and finally ended the threat it posed after which he took a helicopter with the warhead and transported off into the sea. As his aircraft was attempting to escape, the bomb exploded causing a shockwave that caused Mercers helicopter to crash into the mainland where his body was destroyed. Despite this, fragments of his body survived and absorbed a crow which he used to reassemble his human form. Reflecting on the evil original Alex Mercer did by releasing the virus, this new entity debated on what he was before disappearing into the general populace.

Alex would start traveling the globe for fourteen months and every act he saw would make him begin to feel that eradicating the Blacklight Virus was the wrong decision to make. After being betrayed over and over again, Alex would decide that he would have to usher in a new age of prosperity to end all wars and conflict. In an ironic twist, Alex would return to New York City, now New York Zero, would start a Second Blacklight Outbreak. He would then create Evolved, people with powers similar to his, but evidently weaker. The Evolved would infiltrate Blackwatch and Gentek due to them being infected by Alex's new Whitelight Virus. While the Evolved would do this, the Blacklight Virus would start to demolish nearly all of New York, making it sectored into three zones, Alex would take residence in the Red Zone. Seeking out a man who would help him in destroying humanity and help him stop all conflict, Alex would choose James Heller, a man who blamed Alex Mercer for the deaths of his wife and daughter. He would infect Heller with his own virus and vanish, leaving Heller to learn his powers at the Gentek base. Alex would confront Heller and tell him that he was not responsible for the deaths of Heller's child and wife and would convince Heller to help him fight Gentek and Blackwatch. After Heller would discover Whitelight, Alex would leave his plans of making more Evolved and would confront Heller on it. He would tell Heller that the Evolved were only to take down Blackwatch and Gentek and would help him eradicate the Blacklight Virus. However, as Alex would find out, Heller would return to blaming Alex for the deaths of his wife and daughter as Alex had already completely infiltrated Blackwatch and Gentek and he was responsible for the Second Outbreak. Alex would attempt to kill Heller, though he would fail, he would send a Goliath to distract Heller and release the Whitelight. Alex would kill Heller's friend, Luis Guerra and then lock Heller's daughter, Amaya, who was actually alive all along, in a bank vault. Alex would once again confront Dana, who would rebuff him and tell him that her brother was long dead. Alex would then finally confront James so the two could have a final fight. Before the fight, Alex would consume all of his Evolved and grow to a massive state and try once again to get Heller to join him, but when Heller would refuse, Alex would refuse to give up Amaya. Although Alex would hold the advantage against Heller for most of the battle, he would eventually lose. Alex would welcome Heller to the top of the "food chain" before being consumed by Heller, who would be shocked at Alex's memories. Heller would use the newfound powers he gained from consuming Alex to eradicate the Blacklight Virus effectively.

Overview

Personality and attributes

Alex was quite ruthless in some regards as he showed little sympathy to the plights of others. In fact, the entity that was Mercer after being infected stated that he was no longer Alex but instead something else. He often questioned whether he was something less than human or something much more. Mercer said that the sins of what happened to the city were those of Alex and that he was responsible for the devastation caused by the infection.

He is not above using others as a patsy through the use of his disguise ability. By taking on a disguise, he was capable of putting blame on another person and saying that they were in fact him in disguise. Such acts often saw the accused being killed by their comrades allowing Alex to escape detection.

Powers and abilities

Once reanimated by the Blacklight virus, every particle of Alex's form, including his clothing and equipment, becomes composed entirely of viral biomass. This substance can be manipulated at will. He can absorb the organic matter of other living creatures, converting it into more biomass. This process sustains and regenerates Alex's health and is referred to as 'consuming'. In addition, Alex can consume individuals, absorbing their knowledge, skills, and even their physical form, which he can call upon at will. He can manipulate his physical form to create weapons to attack his enemies, generate armor to defend himself, and take on the appearance of another person to disguise himself. During his battle against James Heller, he displayed the ability to consume multiple of his Evolved soldiers at the same time in order to power up his abilities.

The virus that affected Alex Mercer had a number of abilities that were above that of a normal Human. This included increased strength, speed as well as endurance. His strength was far above that of a simple Human being which allowed him to easily overpower Humans and even pick up vehicles such as cars. In addition, he ahd the capacity to jump great heights and even destroy cars with his fists alone. Mercers speed was so greater than normal allowing him to outrun Humans and even vehicles. With his speed, he was able to run up buildings with ease. The increased strength went in hand with his endurance as he was now able to survive falling from great heights; falling from the top of skyskrappers to the ground with such a fall causing shockwaves that was capable of hurting others on that level. Furthermore, he was able to survive weapon fire from bullets and even take on shots from rockets.

Alex Mercer also gained further powers compared to his natural ones. The virus allowed him to control his own biomass to extraordinary levels. He gained the power to consume other beings through a simple touch; devouring their bodies and adding them into his own. This act had two effects; the first is that it replenished Mercers biomass thus regenerating any wounds he suffered from earlier and the second act is that the person consumed became a part of Alex. Their very DNA became a part of his own allowing him access to their memories and thoughts; in a way they were a part of him though such an act meant that he struggled to put all the memories together. After consumption, Alex gained the ability to take on that persons appearance allowing him to live as that person without being detected through ordinary means. This allowed him to take on the persona of doctors or act as a soldier who was attached to the quarantinee forces.

Through the use of his own biomass, he also gained a number of offensive abilities. He was capable of altering his own body allowing him to turn his hands into large claws that were capable of slicing opponents in half or even project this biomass through the ground allowing it to travel and impale enemies at a distance. There were other forms his arms could take, he was capable of changing his hands into massive fists that were far stronger though they were slower to move. Another form his hand could take was the whipfist allowing it to turn into a flexible tendril which he was capable of projecting over great distances. This allowed Alex to grab opponents that were ordinarily too far away or latch onto objects and pull himseld to them. The tendril served as an effective whip against his enemies. One of the final weapons he was capable of forming was turning his hand into a large doublesided blade. Whilst slow to move, it dealt devastating damage to opponents such as Hunters or Supersoldiers.

Appearances

• Prototype:
• Prototype II:

External Link

• Prototype Wiki Entry

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