Tao (Wildstorm)
Tao is a male comic supervillain who features in the Wildstorm Universe.
Contents[hide] |
Biography
The Tactical Augmented Organism (TAO) was created by Optigen, a subsidiary of the Halo Corporation, on behalf of International Operations. As a child, he grew at an amazing rate. The scientists working on him thought that he was imprisoned in his test tube, but at nights he would sneak out and use the lab's computers to learn more about the world outside.
When Savant and Mister Majestic were reforming the WildC.A.Ts, Savant read the files on TAO. The scientist of Optigen was unwilling to let TAO go until TAO handed him a note with several numbers on it. The scientist immediately agreed to release TAO. When asked what the numbers meant, TAO explained to his new teammates that the top one was the phone number of the scientist's wife, the other four were the phone numbers of the scientist's mistresses. Despite seemingly having no superhuman powers, TAO's intelligence and manipulative nature appeared to be quite an asset to the new WildC.A.Ts. He manipulated Mister Majestic into agreeing to recruit the murderous cyborg Ladytron.
Under TAO's influence the WildC.A.T.s started a true war on crime, but the criminals organized and struck back. The situation worsened when a criminal bombed Clark's, a bar for superheroes, wounding WildC.A.T.s member Condition Red. Rival superhero team Stormwatch and the WildC.A.T.s formed an alliance against the criminals, but the heroes soon discovered that TAO had been behind the bombing. (WildC.A.T.s v1 #32) They returned to base to confront TAO and found out that he was far more dangerous than they had expected, having manipulated the heroes into a post-human gang war that nearly destroyed New York simply because he could. In an attempt to capture him, several of his pursuers were hurt. Fuji was manipulated into a mental loop, which took him some time to recover from. Ladytron's nuclear power source was damaged and Savant, who thought she loved TAO, was tricked into stepping in front of Grifter's bullets. (WildC.A.T.s v1 #33) In the end Majestic, after saving Ladytron, disintegrated TAO with his heat-vision. (WildC.A.T.s v1 #34)
Months later, Savant found a letter from TAO and the WildC.A.T.s pieced the disturbing truth together. In the WildC.A.T.s holding cells a shapeshifter called Mr. White had been imprisoned. When TAO made his escape he had hypnotized White into thinking he was TAO, making the WildC.A.T.s to mistake and kill White for TAO while the real TAO managed to escape unseen. (WildC.A.T.s v1 #50)
Overview
Personality and attributes
Powers and abilities
Tao was superhumanly intelligent, especially when it comes to predicting and manipulating human behaviour. His inhuman perception allows him to see a persons deepest secrets and flaws after a few glancing moments or a conversation. Scientists working on the TAO project found that even speaking briefly with him was dangerous. He always seems to be a step ahead of everybody else. People are like pawns on a chess board which he moves around with ease, always multiple steps ahead of others. Words are his most dangerous weapon, allowing him to subtly apply psychological pressure, he can quickly manipulate people, forcing them to do what he wants or erasing specific memories.
TAO is superhumanly intelligent, especially when it comes to predicting and manipulating human behavior. His mind has been said to have entered a conceptual territory so far above from conventional humans that one might as well attempt explaining quantum physics to an ant. (Wildstorm Universe '97 v1 #1) His I.Q. is said to be immeasurable by any human test and was said to have absorbed all of human knowledge by the time he was physically a teenager. (Wildcats: World's End v1 #17)
Usually TAO manipulates circumstances so that he has no need to fight. TAO's ability to manipulate others not only allows for a personal army to fight for him, but rarely do his enemies find themselves able to lift a finger against him. His inhuman perception allows him to see a persons deepest secrets and flaws after a few glancing moments or a conversation. Scientists working on the TAO project found that even speaking briefly with him was dangerous. Words are his most dangerous weapon, allowing him to subtly apply psychological pressure.
TAO's grasp of tactical, strategic thinking has achieved a seemingly transcendent level which utterly surpasses normal human consciousness. More often than not anyone fighting him is stopped by TAO taking advantage of a weakness, or his enemies find it too costly to attack him. He always seems to be a step ahead of everybody else. People are like pawns on a chess board which he moves around with ease, always multiple steps ahead of all others.
Notes
- Tao was created by Alan Moore and Travis Charest where he made his first appearance in WildC.A.T.s v1 #21 (July, 1995).
Appearances
- WildC.A.T.s v1: (1995)
External Link
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