CONTRARYCONTRARY
Real Name: possibly Mary
Identity/Class: Extra-dimensional (Earth-Ultraverse) Human mutate (Ultra)
Occupation: Teacher and warrior; former nurse
Group Membership: Ultraforce (Ghoul, Pixx, Prime, Prototype (Jimmy Ruiz), Topaz, Black Knight, Siren); leader of the Academy of the New Elite
Affiliations:
Enemies: Aladdin, Angels, Atalon, Entity,
the Fire People, Hybrid, Loki of
Earth-616, Nemesis, Sersi of Earth-616; Known Relatives: none Aliases: Wetware Mary Base of Operations: currently unknown; First Appearance: (BTS) Freex#1 (July,
1993); Powers/Abilities: Contary can induce
intense pain or pleasure on contact. She is highly
intelligent, knowledgeable in various aspects of medicine and
technology. She is skilled at manipulating others,
especially men, and is more than happy to use her...assets to
distract and influence others. Contrary also has access to
the advanced technology of the Fire People, which she pilfered
from the subterranean bases. Though essentially heroic,
she does seek to manipulate the world to her own uncertain
agenda, possibly in-line with an ancient prophecy of the Fire
People. She sought to establish her "new order." She
intended "to make everything work out...for everybody's good"
(in her opinion, anyway). (Freex#18(fb) - BTS) - An official of the Fire
People known as the "Keeper of the Powers" watched as
the children of his race were born more and more monstrous.
Based on the prophecy of the Someday Champions and the legend of
a group of humans encountered back in ancient Egypt, the Keeper
of the Powers decided that humanity might be better able to save
the Fire People. To this end, the Keeper took the Wetware (nanotechnology
developed in the distant past by Prometheus to empower the
Someday Champions) and gave it to a secret society on Earth (presumably
Aladdin). (Freex#5 (fb) - BTS) - <approximately 16
years before the modern era> A nurse stole the Wetware/nanotech
and injected a number (dozens, by one account) of infants in a
hospital with it. Several of these beings would become the Freex,
with the potential to fulfill the prophecy of the Someday
Champions. The government went after this nurse, but found her to
have vanished without a trace. The nurse became known only as
Wetware Mary. BTS - The woman who would become Contrary
somehow located and an abandoned outpost of the Fire People
within Mt. Shasta, which she took as her base. With the equipment
and technology she obtained, she constructed an airship. Within
Mt. Shasta, she established the Academy of the New Elite, a
training facility for young mutates, presumably recipients of the
Wetware, including Caymen, Feline, Flygirl, and Waver. (Freex#1 (fb) - BTS) - Contary was contacted by
Mrs. Golic to take/train her son Ray. However, Ray feared that
she was sending him to prison or worse and fled before Contary
could arrive. Ray went on to become Boom Boy of the Freex. (Freex#9) - Contrary confronted the Night
Patrol, a group hunting the Freex and other Ultras, and offered
them more advanced technology to better enable them to combat the
ultras. In reality, she wished to create a tangible threat to the
Freex that would drive them into her arms. She created weapons
for the suits, but left subject to her control and fitted them
with various Achilles' heals. (Freex#10) - Contrary brought Ray to Mt.
Shasta, released him from his bonds, and introduced him to the
other members of her Academy. Contrary quickly demonstrated the
benefits of her teaching skills by teaching Ray proper lifting
posture. She also appealed to his interest in reading by showing
him her immense library. As she read to the monstrous Boom Boy
about Pinocchio--the story of a poor puppet who becomes a real
boy through the help of a beautiful princess--Cayman attacked
Ray, as Contrary had instructed to test Ray's loyalty to her. As
expected, Ray defended her without a second thought. (Freex#11) - Contrary told the Freex that she
would have to detain them so that they could not reveal the
existence of her New Academy to the public. Ray disagreed
with this, and when the Freex broke free, he stopped the members
of the Academy from recapturing them. As the fight raged on
Cayman sided with the Freex, helping them to escape and going
with them. Ray, however, stayed with the Academy. Contrary
was furious and vowed to recapture the Freex. (Giant-Size Freex#1/2) - Contrary received a
call to take Penny Burka into her Academy. She met with the
Burkas, but found that they had also contacted Aladdin, who tried
to take Penny by force. Contrary used her powers against the
Aladddin agents, but was nearly overcome until Penny joined the
fight, driving the agents off with the illusion of Prime coming
to join the fight. Contrary took Penny, aka Pixx, with her and
revealed that she would be serving as her assistant and
technician. (Prototype#13/Ultraverse Premiere#6/5) -
Contrary brought Pixx to Mt. Shasta, where she met with the
members of the Academy. (Freex#12, 13) - Contrary then took Pixx with
her to investigate an uprising of the Fire People. Under Pixx's
guidance, they zeroed in on several groups of Fire People,
raiding military nuclear bases across the country. (Ultraforce#1) - Pixx continued her efforts to
convince Hardcase. Annoyed with her manipulative ways, he stole a
vital piece of her airship's guidance controls, preventing her
from interfering with the struggle against Atalon and the Fire
People. As it became apparent that they needed to team up against
Atalon and to provide guidance to the younger ultras, Contrary
convinced Hardcase to lead the group by offering to lead herself (Ultraforce I#2) - As Ultraforce received
official government sanction from President Bill Clinton,
Contrary observed the other members in action, considering how
each could be manipulated towards her ends. She found the young
Prime the easiest to manipulate. (Freex#14) - Contrary tried and failed to re-recruit
the Freex, she then regathered Prime, Prototype, and Hardcase,
pulling them away from their previous negotiations, to inform
them that the Fire People were assaulting a nuclear weapons base
in Russia. (Ultraforce I#2) - As Hardcase tried to
formulate a plan, Contrary's manipulations of the younger males
in the team caused Prime to lash out at Hardcase, and a fight
erupted, that ended with Prime leaving the team. The rest of the
group headed out after the Fire People. (Ultraforce#3) - Contrary accompanied
Ultraforce in an assault on Zenalla, the island of the Fire
People. Atalon's gravity powers prevented her airship from
attempting to stop the nuclear missile he had launched (though
Prototype did stop it with Pixx's aid). Atalon then sank both
Contrary's airship and the temporary ship Pixx was using, but
Prime returned to action in time to save them both. Contrary
watched helplessly as Atalon detonated a nuclear weapon on
Zenalla, rendering it inhospitable to Ultraforce. (Ultraforce#4) - Contrary attended an
Ultraforce press conference which ended badly as Prototype lost
his cool. Contrary used her ability to manipulate others to help
Prototype regain his confidence (just by talking to him...get
your mind out of the gutter!). She helped palliate Prime's
concerns as well, then made her peace with Hardcase. She helped
finalize the details of Pixx's planned new assault on Atalon and
the Fire People. (Ultraforce#5) - As the others assaulted the
Fire People, Contrary donned scuba gear and went to retrieve her
airship. (Ultraforce#6) - Recovering her airship,
Contrary released a pulse of light that
temporarily blinded the Fire People. Atalon, infuriated
over the destruction of his plans, released enough seismic force
to utterly destroy the Earth. Contrary teleported Atalon aboard
her ship and convinced him to withdraw the energy in exchange for
being granted legal sovereignty of Zenalla. The World
Leaders backed her plan, and Atalon agreed to a temporary truce. (Ultraforce#7) - Contrary shared Ghoul's
grieving over Pixx and encouraged him to go out and get some
fresh air. (Freex#16) - Contrary attended the funeral for
the Freex member Plug, where she argued with the Old Man over the
best course for the Freex. (Freex#17) - As the Freex returned from the
past (somehow reality warped), Contrary greeted them outside the
portal in San Fancisco. She agreed to help the Freex warn the
rest of the world about the Savior of the Fire People, but only
if she could assess the situation directly herself.
(Freex#18) - The Freex brought Contrary to the
subterranean tunnel of the Fire People, where she was astounded
to find out that the prophecies of the Fire People were all true.
Contrary then took advantage of a burst of green flames to head
off by herself into the tunnels. She planned to utilize the large
amounts of high-tech equipment to further her plans, but
eventually was discovered and forced to flee by some monsters of
the Fire People. The newest member of the Freex, AJ, saved her,
but then told her that he knew she was using them for her own
benefit. Contrary tried and failed to influence him with her
powers, but he released his energy form to stop her from touching
him. Contary used her energy disruptor to stun his physical form
and steal his crown (a device of the Fire People that enabled
them to move freely among the monsters, etc.). However,
removing the crown hurt AJ more seriously than she had planned,
and she flew off to take him to her citadel to treat him.
As he left, she told him not to worry, because she used to be a
nurse. (Ultraforce#8, 9) - With Ultraforce, Contrary
helped oppose the Angels that had escaped from Metabio. (Mantra I#24) - Alongside Ultraforce, Contrary
helped Topaz resolve her differences with Mantra and defeat the
villain Hybrid. (Ultraforce#10) - With Ultraforce, she fought a
frost giant construct of Loki and then entered the Dark Shoppe,
where she was attacked by a maddened Sersi. (Ultraforce/Avengers prelude) - Sersi used the
Infinity Gems to manipulate reality around Ultraforce. Contrary
and Siren appeared to be sent to confront Loki on Vahdala, the
hub of the Godwheel, where they seemingly managed to steal the
Reality Gem from him. However, as they did so, they were sent
back to the Dark Shoppe, empty handed. (Avengers/Ultraforce) - While the Grandmaster
and Loki manipulated the Avengers and Ultraforce for possession
of the Infinity Gems, Contrary was sent to struggle against Eros/Starfox.
Each turned their pleasure powers against each other and wound up
just getting hot and heavy. This battle was one of the indecisive
struggles that allowed Loki to claim he had not lost and to claim
the seventh, Ego Gem. (Ultraforce/Avengers) - Alongside the Avengers
and Ultraforce, Contrary joined with the Avengers of the New
World and numerous other alternate dimensional counterparts of
both teams to destroy Nemesis. However, as she split, reality was
warped yet again. Comments: Created by Gerard Jones and
Martin England. With Freex#18, that whole plotline and that
aspect of Contrary were dropped like a hot potato, and buried
deep, deep, deep in the pit of forgotten stories when Contrary
vanished, never to be seen again, during the events of Black
September, as detailed under the Ultraforce profile. Contrary strikes me as a
little bit White Queen (Emma Frost) and a little bit Moonstone (Karla
Sofen). While never conclusively stated that Contrary
was Wetware Mary, the hints are there, and I don't see any other
conclusion you could reach after reading Freex#18. CLARIFICATIONS: Constructed by Contrary based on the technology
of the Fire People. It can fly through the air at great speeds,
travel underwater, teleport others, easily carry 6 or more
passengers, project blinding light, etc. --Freex#9 (10, GS Freex#1/2, Prototype#13/Ultraverse
Premiere#6/5, Freex#13, Ultraforce#0A+B, UF1, UF2/Freex#14, UF3-6,
Freex#18, UF8,9, 10, A base within a mountain, carved out of stone
eons past by the Fire People and later abandoned. Contrary
discovered it and made it her own base, quickly learning to use
the advanced technology. It is powered by a tap into the magma
core towards the center of the Earth. --Freex#10 (11, GS Freex#1/2, Prototype#13/Ultraverse
Premiere#6/5, Freex#12, [18] The real Mt. Shasta: http://www.mtshastanews.com/ Appearances:
First Posted: 07/29/2003 Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know. Non-Marvel Copyright info Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!
antagonist of the Old Man
formerly Ultraforce HQ, Headless Cross, Arkansas;
formerly Ultraforce HQ, Miami, Florida;
formerly Mt. Shasta, Northern
California;
mobile across the planet in her airship;
Earth-Ultraverse
(Wetware Mary named, but not seen)
Freex#5 (November, 1993);
(Contrary) Freex#9 (March, 1994)
She did appear to fly at one point, though
that may have been an unseen tractor beam from her ship.
History:
Contary's full origins remain unrevealed.
Contrary abducted Ray against his will,
teleporting him into a set of restraints in her airship, where
she explained that she was fulfilling a promise to his parents.
The rest of the Freex located and invaded
Mount Shasta in an effort to free Ray. Boom Boy, however, was
torn between loyalty to his friends and his desire to learn, and
stood back from the fight as the Freex were defeated by the
members of the Academy.
(Ultraforce#0A+B) -
On that mission, Pixx and Contrary encountered Hardcase and Ghoul
and discovered that they had similar interests. Realizing that
Hardcase had good public approval, Contrary convinced him of the
need for an Ultraforce.
The group split up to try to recruit aid from
other ultras.
Hardcase awarded Contrary the position of
Nerve Center of Ultraforce, but warned her that he still
suspected she was up to something and would be watching her.
In the course of the struggle, Contrary was
part of the group that fell victim to Hybrid's trap involving a
missile testing on an aircraft carrier. Under Contrary's
guidance, Prime was able to push the carrier out of the missile's
range.
However, Nemesis than reformed and warped
reality around them.
Contrary was absent from this new reality, and
no one remembered her.
no known connection to:
*D/spirit*--Fantastic Four III#33
Mount Shasta
Freex#1 (July, 1993) - Gerard Jones (writer), Ben Herrera (pencils), Mike Christian (inks), Chris Ulm (editor)
Freex#5 (November, 1993) - Gerard Jones (writer), Ben Herrera (pencils), Larry Welch (inks), Hank Kanalz (editor)
Freex#9 (March, 1994) - Gerard Jones (writer), Martin Egeland (pencils), Tim Roddick (inks), Hank Kanalz (editor)
Freex#10-11 (April-May, 1994) - Gerard Jones (writer), Ben Herrera (pencils), Mike Christian (inks), Hank Kanalz (editor)
Giant-Size Freex#1 (July, 1994) - Gerard Jones (writer), Jeff Parker (pencils), John Lowe, Larry Welch & Scott Reed (inks), Hank Kanalz (editor)
Prototype#13/Ultraverse Premiere#6/5 (August, 1994) - Mark Paniccia (writer), Brian O'Connell (pencils), Scott Reed (inks)
Freex#12 (June, 1994) - Gerard Jones (writer), Scott Kolins (pencils), Jon Holdredge (inks), Hank Kanalz (editor)
Freex#13-14 (September-October, 1994) - Gerard Jones (writer), Scott Kolins (pencils), Jon Holdredge (inks), Hank Kanalz (editor)
Ultraforce I#1 (August, 1994) - Gerard Jones (writer), George Perez (pencils), Al Vey (inks), Chris Ulm & Hank Kanalz (editors)
Ultraforce I#0A-B (September, 1994) - Gerard Jones (writer), George Perez (pencils), Al Vey (inks)
Ultraforce I#2 (October, 1994) - Gerard Jones (writer), John Statema & George Perez (pencils), Jeff Whiting & Barb Kaalberg (inks), Chris Ulm & Hank Kanalz (editors)
Ultraforce I#4-6 (January-March, 1995) - Gerard Jones (writer), George Perez & Steven Butler (#6) (pencils), Al Vey, Keith Aiken, Terry Austin (#5) & Dennis Jane (#6) (inks), Hank Kanalz (editors)
Ultraforce I#3 (November, 1994) - Gerard Jones (writer), George Perez (pencils), Al Vey (inks), Chris Ulm & Hank Kanalz (editors)
Freex#16 (January, 1995) - Gerard Jones (writer), Klebs de Moura e. Silva (pencils), Rick Magyar, Reuben Rodriguez & Mike Christian (inks), Hank Kanalz (editor)
Freex#17 (February, 1995) - Gerard Jones (writer), Scott Kolins (pencils), Jon Holdredge (inks), Phil Crain (editor)
Freex#18 (March, 1995) - Gerard Jones (writer), Steve Ellis (pencils), Robert Hunter (inks), Roland Mann (editor)
Ultraforce I#8 (May, 1995) - Marv Wolfman & Hank Kanalz (writers), George Perez (pencils), Keith Aiken & Mark Morales (inks), Phil Crain & Hank Kanalz (editors)
Ultraforce I#9 (June, 1995) - Marv Wolfman & Hank Kanalz (writers), John Royle & Chris Alexander (pencils), Jeff Whiting & Stephen Baskerville (inks), Chris Ulm & Scott Bernstein (editors)
Mantra I#24 (August, 1995) - Mike W. Barr (writer), Dave Roberts (pencils), Jim Amash (inks)
Ultraforce I#10 (July, 1995) - Hank Kanalz & Phil Crain (writers), John Royle & Joyce Chin (pencils), Jeff Whiting, Bruce Patterson & Jim Sanders (inks), Hank Kanalz (editor)
Ultraforce/Avengers Prelude (July, 1995) - Terry Kavanagh (writer), John Statema (pencils), Robin Riggs, Barbara Kaalberg, Larry Welch & Al Vey (inks), Hank Kanalz (editor)
Avengers/Ultraforce (October, 1995) - Glenn Herdling (writer), Angel Medina & M.C. Wyman (pencils), Keith Aiken, Steve Alexandrov, Hector Collazo & Don Hudson (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Ultraforce/Avengers (Fall 1995) - Warren Ellis (writer), George Perez & Larry Welch (pencils), Paul Neary, Art Thibert, Ken Branch, Dennis Jensen, Karl Kesel, George Perez, Robin Riggs, Jon Statema & Al Vey (inks), Hank Kanalz & Scott Bernstein (editors)
Last updated: 07/29/2003
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