Profile: Taskmaster

Additional Information

Mercedes Merced (wife); Jeanne Foucault (alleged daughter).

• Photographic Reflexes: Taskmaster can duplicate any physical talent or physical power stunt he sees performed, within the limits of his ability ranks. He cannot duplicate true superhuman powers (such as Flight), but can duplicate powers based on athletic abilities. He must study the talent or stunt for one hour (usually on videotape) before he can duplicate it.
  • Limited Superhuman Speed: Taskmaster has discovered that after watching martial arts movies in double speed, he is also able to briefly duplicate the moves at double speed, effectively giving him a limited form of super-speed. However, as he does not have any sort of enhanced endurance, this puts a great strain on his body and he is only able to fight in this manner for short periods of time. He must make a successful Endurance FEAT roll each round when doing so or suffer -1CS in all actions taken during the round from the strain placed on his body and passout for 1-10 rounds.
• Prediction Ability: In combat, Taskmaster can predict the actions of any studied foe. Each round he tries to do so, he receives an Intuition Feat roll for each enemy he is aware of in the vicinity. If the roll is successful, Taskmaster's action that round is not decided until the heroes have declared their actions.
  • Studied Foes: Taskmaster has studied action films of a wide array of heroes, including Captain America, Hawkeye, Daredevil, EI Aguila, Punisher, Spider-Man, Iron Fist, and Tigra. As a result, he has the weapon specializations for the first five heroes listed, and can perform any established weapon stunt or athletic power stunt for any of the listed heroes. Any of these heroes fights against the Taskmaster with a -2CS, but if the hero surprises him, the column shift does not apply in the first round of combat.

• Voice Mimicry: Taskmaster has the ability to manipulate his vocal cords to mimic the voices of others. With practice as with his photographic reflexes, Taskmaster can fully mimic another person's voice and speech patterns. A skill he uses for impersonation and unlocking voice recognition security systems.

• Resistance to Gas and Smoke: Taskmaster's skull-like mask is fitted with filters and lenses to protect him from the various gases he uses at Excellent (20) power rank.
• Protected Senses: Taskmaster's mask and hood protect his sight and hearing form the effects of the grenades he uses with Excellent (20) power rank.

• Taskmaster is not capable of duplicate a physical feat if the effort to do so requires superhuman effort. For instance, while he can view an opponent lifting a car, he can't because his body can't duplicate the superhuman strength required to do so.

• He also can't duplicate any energy manipulating or projecting capabilities for the same reasons.

• His abilities are also limited in that they do not grant him an innate understanding of underlying disciplines. For example, as a child, he nearly drowned after imitating a dive because while he was able to mimic the dive, he did not know how to swim.

• Taskmaster is unable to copy the moves of Alex Hayden (Agent X) for unknown reasons.

Martial Arts A,B,C,D, & E; Wrestling; Acrobatics; Tumbling; Pilot; Detective/Espionage; Strategist/Tactician; Meditation; Criminology (used to train his lackeys).

• +1CS bonus to melee initiative.
• +1CS bonus to fighting.
• +1CS bonus for evading.
• +2CS bonus for dodging.
• +2CS bonus for escaping.
• +3CS bonus for grappling.
• +1CS bonus to damage from grappling.                                   

Weapons Specialist: Shield, Bow, Billy Club, Sword, Guns, Thrown Weapons, Thrown Objects, Weapons Master, and Marksman. 

• +3CS bonus for shooting Guns or the Bow.              • +2CS bonus for using the Shield, Billy Club, or Sword.      • +1CS bonus when using grenades.

• Near-Amnesiac State: Taskmaster has a memory condition. It seems that the more skills the Taskmaster learns, or recalls for use in combat, the more of his memories he loses. In order to keep his most treasured memories from being overwritten he has created a "memory palace" within his mind that he fills with familiar objects or places that are connected to specific memories. In order to recall these memories he has to go to these certain places or do certain things in the real world to recall his own past experiences.

    • Sword: Incredible material strength. Inflicts Excellent edged damage.
    • Throwing Shield: Incredible material strength. Inflicts Remarkable blunt damage.
    • Billy Club: Incredible material strength. Contains a 40m (44yd/1 area) swing-line. Inflicts Remarkable blunt damage.
    • Grenardes: Up to six Remarkable intensity grenades including concussive, fragmentation, sonic and tear gas.
    • Magnesium Flares: Amazing intensity flash that can blind for 1-10 rounds.
    • Lasso: Typical material strength with a range of 1 area.
    • Bow and Arrows:
       Material Strength: Typical
       Range: 200m (210 yds/5 areas)
       Damage: 6 points from a standard arrow (See Below).
       Rate Of Fire: 1 per round
       Shots: 20 per quiver
    • Automatic pistols: .45 Colt M1911A1 Automatic Pistol
       Damage: 10 points from a standard bullet (See Below).
       Rate Of Fire: 1 per round
       Rounds: 7+1 per clip (assume at least 2 spare clips).
       Range: 3 areas

Note: *Taskmaster has been known to carry a variety of extra mundane and specially-made weapons such as "Trick Arrows" and "Special Ammunition".

Crime; Taskmaster has a large number of floating contacts. When training thorgs for a specific super-villain client, Taskmaster can use the client's Resource rank for acquiring equipment if the client's rank is higher than his own.

• Photon Weapon Generator: A prototype wrist-mounted device, stolen from S.H.I.E.L.D., which can spontaneously create simple shapes out of solid energy of Amazing (50) material strength, saving Taskmaster the trouble of weighing himself down with many weapons. He has used the device to create duplicates of Captain America's shield, Wolverine's claws and Spider-Man's webbing.

• Image Inducer: Remarkable (30) power rank; Allows Taskmaster to take on the physical appearance of whomever he wishes.

Taskmaster gained an ability known as "photographic reflexes" during a mission as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. This ability enabled him to watch another person's physical movements and duplicate them without practice, no matter how complex. It was only limited by the fact that the memories he gained by watching others overwrote his personal memories. He was previously a naturally gifted athlete who trained himself to superb physical condition. He committed the fighting styles of Captain America, Black Panther, Daredevil, Elektra, Hawkeye, Punisher, Tigra, U.S. Agent, Spider-Man and Wolverine to memory, as well as many others.

He trained his body to be in peak physical condition and engaged in intensive regular exercise. His strength, endurance, stamina, reflexes, and agility were on the level of an Olympic athlete. He was nearly the physical equal of Captain America. In addition to his ability to copy the fighting techniques of others, he had mastered hundreds of forms of unarmed combat and had created some of his own original techniques as well. Taskmaster was skilled in the use of all conventional weaponry. He was an unerring marksman as a result of the skills of various champions he committed to memory. These skills included most present-day and many historical martial arts, boxing, wrestling, swordsmanship, archery, marksmanship, gymnastics, aerial acrobatics and sleight of hand.

Taskmaster had scientists duplicate versions of a variety of weapons used by super-humans which he could use with nearly as great facility as their respective owners. He had a copy of Daredevil's multipurpose billy club, Hawkeye's trick arrows and bow, the Black Knight's sword, and a shield designed like Captain America's (but it was not indestructible; it was only an osmium alloy). He also sometimes carried a .45 caliber Colt automatic, which he could use in the style of the Punisher.

Eventually, Taskmaster considerably changed his appearance. He wore a costume apparently modeled after tactical body armor, replacing his previous pirate-themed garb. Taskmaster also ceased carrying an arsenal of duplicate weapons. Instead, his armament consisted primarily of a pair of semi-automatic handguns and a katana (which he wielded using the fighting style of the Silver Samurai). The Taskmaster also carried a prototype wrist-mounted device, stolen from S.H.I.E.L.D., which could spontaneously create simple shapes out of solid energy, saving him the trouble of weighing himself down with many weapons. He used the device to create duplicates of Captain America's shield and Spider-Man's webbing.

In addition, Taskmaster gained new abilities. First, given observation and practice (with the aid of a voice-match recognizing device) he could duplicate the voices of others. He also displayed forms of photographic memory. More importantly, after watching video footage of fights filmed in double-time, he learned how to perform actions in double-time as well. Since the Taskmaster did not have a superhuman physique, he could only use this ability to provide short bursts of superhuman speed lasting a few seconds, or he risked seriously injuring himself.

Taskmaster came to blows with Deadpool a number of times, but the two became friends when Taskmaster started dating Sandi Brandenburg, who had been Deadpool's Personal Assistant when he ran DP Inc. Both were employed by Agency X at the same time. He was eventually hired by the Committee to take out Moon Knight. He raided Spector's apartment, but was unable to kill him. Spector piloted his Moon-chopper to the Committee's Manhattan headquarters and flew it directly into their office. Miraculously, all of the Committee members survived the attack.

He was briefly one of the Thunderbolts detainees, later being released and assigned to Camp Hammond to serve as a trainer for the Initiative recruits while their former drill instructor, Gauntlet, recuperated from injuries sustained from one of his trainees. During this time, a formerly deceased Initiative member, Michael Van Patrick acquired a weapon called the Tactigon and began assaulting everyone at the camp. The Taskmaster had little interest in participating in the fight, preferring instead to sit by the sidelines with one of his charges, Ant-Man.

Taskmaster then agrees to take over training for the entire initiative and join in the siege of Asgard. During the battle, he fights with both Captain Americas (Steve Rogers and "Bucky" Barnes). After Asgard falls, Taskmaster finds Constrictor and the two beat a hasty retreat, but not before Taskmaster taunts Osborn about how Taskmaster helped Deadpool. After the fall of Osborn's regime, Taskmaster and Constrictor went back to mercenary work.

A false rumor is spread that Taskmaster is leaking information about the criminal underworld to Steve Rogers and his new 'heroic' regime. A bounty of $1,000,000,000 is placed on Taskmaster's head by the mysterious Org. The hordes of AIM, HYDRA, the Secret Empire, ULTIMATUM, the Cyber Ninjas, the Black Choppers, the Trenchcoat Mafia, the Legions of the Living Lightning, the Militiamen, the Sons of the Serpent, and the Inquisition take up the chase to claim the money. Taskmaster, ambushed in a small diner, manages to best his opponents. But the diner's waitress, Mercedes Merced, becomes entangled in the saga and is included in the bounty. Taskmaster reveals to Mercedes that his powers cause him to lose his explicit memory, meaning that he can't remember anything about his personal life, and the only way for the whole ordeal to be over is to re-discover Taskmaster's origins. Taskmaster and Mercedes' quest takes them to Mexico to battle the Don of the Dead, and then to Bolivia to the village where everyone is Hitler. Inside an exact replica of Himmler's Wewelsburg Castle, Taskmaster regains his memories. He remembers being an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. named Tony Masters who had been sent to Bolivia to terminate Horst Gorscht, the Nazi scientist responsible for a corrupted version of the super-soldier serum. Gorscht had developed a new serum that could unlock the mind's potential to absorb knowledge instantaneously. With Gorscht's serum and test notes destroyed, Tony Masters injected the last of the serum into himself. Having regained these memories, Taskmaster recognizes Mercedes voice as being the same as 'The Hub', a mysterious voice who works for the Org. Taskmaster shoots Mercedes in the shoulder and threatens to kill her if she doesn't start talking. Mercedes reveals that the Org is a S.H.I.E.L.D. front, and that she is not only a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, but also Taskmaster's wife. Miles above the Wewelsburg castle in an airship, the Minions' International Liberation Front (a secret group composed of henchmen from all of the major terrorist organizations), led by Redshirt the Uber-Henchman, reveal their deception and plot to rule the criminal underground by using Taskmaster to lead them straight to the Org. Redshirt leads the Minions' International Liberation Front (or the acronym MILF for short) into battle against the Taskmaster and Mercedes. Mercedes convinces the Taskmaster to trust her and work together to fend off the forces of MILF. During the battle, Taskmaster regains his memories of Mercedes and how he fell in love with her. Before they can reconcile, Taskmaster is attacked from behind by Redshirt, who has genetically altered his body and mastered superior fighting skills to that of the Taskmaster. Redshirt gains the upperhand as the pair push each other to the limits. Mercedes tries to intervene to protect her husband, but is quickly and effortlessly cast to one side. Enraged, Taskmaster attacks Redshirt and delivers a killing blow using Redshirt's own fighting style (which causes Taskmaster to lose his memories once more). Taskmaster, not recognizing Mercedes or his reasons for being there, flees and leaves Mercedes alone once more.

A short time later Avengers Academy student Finesse seeks out Taskmaster, thinking that he may be her long-lost father. When she finds Taskmaster, Finesse ends up sparring with him. After much sparring, Taskmaster finally relents to tell Finesse that he very well might be her father, but that the powers to learn so much about others’ movements and techniques have caused him to forget the important things in life.