Agent Zero

Real Name
Christoph Nord

Occupation
Mercenary, former government operative, freedom fighter

Citizenship
German

Place of Birth
Unrevealed location in former East Germany

Known Relatives
Unidentified parents (deceased), Andreas Nord (brother, deceased), Ginetta Lucia Barsalini (wife, deceased), unnamed child (deceased)

Group Affiliation
Formerly Weapon X, Weapon Plus, Team X, Cell Six, former bodyguard of Psi-Borg, former agent of Major Barrington

Education
Unrevealed

Height
6'3"

Weight
230 lbs.

Eyes
Blue

Hair
(Originally) Brown; (currently) Black

Powers
Agent Zero is a mutant who can absorb the kinetic energy of an impact within certain limits without injury to himself. Zero must then release the energy he absorbs and can channel it as blasts of concussive-corrosive energy via an acidic enzyme secreted from his fingertips. This enzyme was specifically designed by the Weapon X Program to counteract an opponent’s self-healing abilities by reversing the process so that the more an opponent attempts to heal an enzyme-inflicted wound, the worse it becomes. Zero is also able to channel absorbed energy into raw strength, allowing him to deliver blows ten times stronger than normal.

Like other members of the Weapon X Program, Zero’s D.N.A. contains an age suppression factor that greatly retards his aging process. Subsequent modification by the Program has removed all discernible scent from his body.

Abilities
Agent Zero is a deadly hand-to-hand combatant, a precision marksman, and an expert in covert operations and demolitions. He also has vast experience with computers and communications equipment.

Other Info
Christoph Nord was Born in the former East Germany. He was an idealist who fought against the communist regime as a freedom fighter for the West German Cell Six. Nord’s brother, Andreas, fought for the East Germans, and when the two met in battle Nord was forced to kill his brother.

Later, after an encounter with an assassin, Christoph was recovering in a German hospital where he fell in love with nurse named Ginetta Barsalini. The two got married, and soon after Ginetta became pregnant. However, Christoph later learned that his wife was a double agent and he was forced to kill her after she attacked him. The following guilt and pain that came from performing such an act, drove Nord further into his mercenary work, and he eventually accepted an offer to join the Central Intelligence Agency’s Weapon X Program. He joined the Program’s covert operations unit Team X, changed his name to David North, and took on the codename "Maverick."

As Maverick, he wore a suit of body armor that contained airtight seals and a mask containing a limited oxygen supply. (Shown in the third, forth, and sixth picture posted.)

In recent years, Japanese crimelord Matsu’o Tsurayaba and his allies, including former Weapon X scientist Doctor Cornelius, resurrected the Russian super-soldier Omega Red. In order to stabilize his mutant power, Omega Red required the Carbonadium Synthesizer, a device stolen from him by Team X decades earlier. Omega Red captured Maverick’s former Team X teammate Wolverine (who had the location of the C-Synthesizer buried in his memory) and several of Wolverine’s teammates in the X-Men. Maverick was hired by former Team X liaison Major Arthur Barrington to prevent Omega Red from obtaining the device, and he tracked another former Team X member, Sabretooth, to Omega Red’s location. With Maverick’s help, the X-Men were able to defeat the villains, and he subsequently killed Cornelius in an act of revenge. (To learn about any of the highlighted characters/team above, click on their names.)

Maverick subsequently learned that he had contracted the deadly mutant-killing Legacy Virus. He asked Wolverine to kill him in order to avoid a prolonged suffering, but Wolverine refused. Soon after, Maverick came to form a sibling-like bond with another Virus sufferer, Chris Bradley (future Bolt/Maverick). During the final stages of his infection, Maverick encountered the Russian mutant telepath Elena Ivanova who was hunting Sabretooth to avenge his murder of her mother. The Virus claimed Maverick’s life, but Ivanova managed to use her powers to coax him back to life. As a result, Maverick’s Legacy Virus went into full remission and his powers further mutated. (To learn about the characters and virus above, just click on their highlighted names.)

Maverick was later captured by Russian crimelord Ivan Pushkin. Pushkin's scientists implanted false memories into Maverick’s mind to make him believe that Barrington had been responsible for his wife’s betrayal. Pushkin wanted Maverick to kill Barrington to prevent him from providing testimony that threatened Pushkin’s financial interests. Maverick located Barrington’s safehouse, but he was opposed by members of the Canadian super-team Alpha Flight. Maverick was able to overcome Pushkin’s mental manipulation; however, it was too late to save Barrington from Pushkin’s agents, Hammer and Sickle. (To learn about the characters/team above, click on their highlighted names. Note: Beware of the Alpha Flight's bio picture...women in tight-fitting/revealing outfits.)

In a later encounter with Hammer and Sickle, Maverick’s left eye was gouged out by Sickle, and he was left to die in the Swiss Alps. Forced to cauterize the wound to stop from bleeding to death, Maverick survived and later resurfaced to aid Wolverine against a revived Weapon X Program. This new Program sent Sabretooth to recruit both Maverick and fellow Team X alumnus John Wraith. Neither accepted the offer, and so Sabretooth killed Wraith and critically injured Maverick. Brought to the Program with only minutes to live, Maverick reluctantly joined in order to survive and was genetically modified to become Agent Zero. (To learn about Wraith, click on his name above.)

As Agent Zero, he wears body armor woven from Vibranium that renders him completely silent as he moves. (Shown in the first and fifth picture posted.) The armor also refracts light, which in total darkness renders him nearly invisible to detection. Agent Zero also carries a wide array of weapons including wrist-mounted plasma blasters, pistols that fire bullets made from Adamantium, and an Adamantium-coated knife, amongst others. Zero also once used a sniper rifle loaded with bullets forged of Adamantium-piercing "anti-metal." (To read up on the definitions for Vibranium and Adamantium, click on the highlighted words above.)

Although an efficient operative, Zero hated what he had become and frequently considered suicide. On his first assignment as Zero, he was sent to assassinate Wolverine in an attempt by the Director to further break his spirit. Deliberately missing his target, Zero was punished with an electric shock. Later, Zero recaptured Sabretooth after his betrayal of the Program and would have killed him had the Director not shocked him again. (To learn more about the Director of the Weapon X Program, click on his name above.)

After a change in leadership of the Program, Zero was assigned to track the anti-human terrorist group Gene Nation that had been revived by former Weapon X operative Marrow. Confronting her, Zero learned that her latest recruit was a man using Zero's former identity of Maverick. Marrow also told Zero that this "new" Maverick had been sent to bomb New York’s Grand Central Station. At the Station, Zero confronted the impostor Maverick and inflicted a fatal wound upon him. As the impostor Maverick was dying, Zero unmasked him and was shocked to discover that the imposter was actually his former friend, Chris Bradley. (Bradley was secretly intending to dismantle Gene Nation from within. He was actually trying to stop the bomber, who Zero had mistakenly believed Bradley to be.) Enraged, Zero set about the task of wiping out Gene Nation with all new zeal, although he declined to make Marrow a martyr. (To learn about the Gene Nation and Marrow, click on their highlighted names above.)

As a result of the M-Day (a time where most the mutants in the world lost their powers), Agent Zero lost his powers. He has been currently living with other mutants who have lost their powers too. (To learn about M-Day, click on the name above. Note: Beware of a couple women in revealing or tight-fitting outfits on the M-Day page. Also, to learn more about the life of Agent Zero/Maverick, click on the following link, http://marvel.com/universe/Agent_Zero.)

Agent Zero is in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Except for the character's extreme accuracy with guns, he does not have his normal powers. I don't know why, but in this movie, a few characters' powers/abilities were changed or altered. Also, it seems like Agent Zero is kind of a good guy in the comics, where in the movie he's more of a villain. However, that might be because he is a mercenary, so he just does what he's told...who knows?