LEONARD TIPPIT
LEONARD TIPPIT
Real Name: Leonard Tippit
Identity/Class: Human, mutate
Occupation: Currently unknown, former accountant
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Agent of the Watcher
Enemies: Avengers, Comrade Yuri Sporadnik, Mario Rizzo, Waridi (daughter of a Massai Chief), Keigo Ozaki, Eliza Willis
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Currently trapped outside of the space/time continuum, formerly mobile throughout the earth
First Appearance: Avengers I#101 (July, 1972)
Powers: Leonard Tippit originally had no superhuman powers. However, the Watcher apparently activated the "Destiny Force" within Tippit's mind. The Destiny Force is the name for the virtually unlimited psionic powers potentially possessed by all human beings. The Watcher prematurely awakened these powers in Tippit, therefore he never attained the level of power possessed by Rick Jones or Franklin Richards. However, Tippit still possessed vast superhuman power. He could fire bolts of energy powerful enough to down Thor, teleport anywhere on the face of the Earth, and charge his body with energy that disrupted the Vision while he was intangible. Tippit eventually exhausted these powers battling the Avengers and teleporting around the world, but apparently they could return since the Watcher felt the need to lock him away forever. Tippit apparently did not possess superhuman strength, as he was knocked out by a single blow from Captain America.
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 140 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Dark brown (balding)
History:
(Avengers I#101 (fb)) - Leonard Tippit was a mild and uninteresting little man,
trekking his way to old age and obscurity in a routine job in an accounting
office.
(Avengers I#101 (fb) - BTS) - Uatu the Watcher identified Tippit as a being somehow belonging equally to each of possible divergent realities, and that somehow his continued existence in any reality would somehow lead to a world-ravaging nuclear war on Earth-908 that would cross time to affect all realities, rendering each Earth a radioactive wasteland. As Tippit possessed vast energies that would flare up and cause the same level of destruction if the Watcher tried to confront him directly, Uatu instead devised a plot to involve the Avengers, force Tippit to exhaust his energies in a series of smaller efforts, and allow Uatu to then safely claim Tippit.
(Avengers I#101 (fb) - BTS) - Uatu caused Tippit to experience a series of nightmares about the Avengers, each night's worse than the last.
(Avengers I#101 (fb)) - Tippit awakened from the same
nightmare in his bed, sensing when suddenly the Watcher appeared to him. The Watcher told Tippit
of his unique nature and the war that might occur in the future, but rather than
reveal Tippit's responsibility for this, Uatu told him that five other people
across the globe -- Communist chess master Comrade Sporadnik, Mario Rizzo, Keigo
Ozaki, Eliza Willis, and Waridi, daughter of a Massai Chief -- were
responsible, and that he must kill these five people (including Sporadnik). If
he did not, each person would have a child that would touch off a chain of
events that would destroy every Earth in every alternate reality.
Able to read these five people's thoughts and dreams, Tippit
realized they were good people and refused to kill them, but Uatu told him that
he must do so or he would doom untold billions. Uatu vanished, and Tippit
eventually decided he had no choice but to comply.
(Avengers I#101 - BTS) - Two nights later, Tippit, apparently unsure of how to use his powers, decided to use a rare poison (produced by Aborigines who dwell near the Igassu falls in the unexplored interior of Brazil) to kill Sporadnik without being detected. He crawled within an empty casing near the mainframe of the Nimrod chess computer as it prepared for a match against Sporadnik
(Avengers I#101 - BTS) - In order to force Sporadnik to touch the poisoned chess pawn at the right moment, Tippit had Nimrod make a move previously demonstrated to be ineffective via another move that involved touching that pawn. When Sporadnik touched the pawn, he collapsed, near death. Aware of the ineffective nature of the first move, the Vision became suspicious. Sporadnik was rushed to the hospital where Thor (as Donald Blake) operated on him. Blake and the Avengers found that the pawn had been poisoned with a rare Brazilian toxin. Sporadnik didn't respond to treatments (perhaps due to Tippit's influence), and Blake declared that he only hope for Sporadnik was to find the poisoner.
(Avengers I#101) - After everyone else had departed, the Vision lurked intangibly inside Nimrod, hoping to catch the saboteur. Indeed, late that night, Tippit emerged from Nimrod's mainframe
(hey, it was 1972). Surprised upon being confronted, Tippit began to glow with power, and the Vision attempted to defeat him by reaching his hand inside Tippit's chest and solidifying it. Instead, Tippit's energy caused feedback which rendered the Vision unconscious. However, Captain America arrived on the scene and knocked Tippit out with a blow from his shield. Before the Avengers could apprehend him, Tippit
glowed anew, sank into the floor, and vanished.
(Avengers I#101 - BTS) - Presumably via the Watcher, the Avengers then glimpsed the Watcher's conversation with Tippit, and they set out to stop him.
(Avengers I#101) - Tippit teleported to Naples and confronted the young and starving Mario Rizzo. Thor appeared and blocked Tippit's first blast and was momentarily stunned by its power, allowing Tippit to blast Rizzo and teleport away. Tippit appeared anew in a backwater portion of Africa and blasted Waridi, rendering her comatose. Captain America and Hawkeye arrived seconds later, and Tippit blasted at Cap's shield before fading away before Hawkeye's arrow could strike him. Teleporting to Tokyo, Tippit confronted Keigo Ozaki, perhaps the world's youngest composer of atonal music. The Vision arrived and attempted to stop Tippit by grabbing his hands, but before he could solidify completely, Tippit blasted and dropped Ozaki, then vanished yet again.
Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch already had arrived to guard the last target, Eliza Willis (a woman living a solitary existence, tending prize roses for show purposes), when Tippit arrived. He blasted at Eliza but missed, noting his power was weakening, perhaps from using so much traveling around the world in such short time. Quicksilver rushed between Tippit and Eliza, his super-swift form acting as a barrier preventing Tippit from passing through it, but Tippit marshaled his energies and teleported to Eliza's proximity. With power remaining for one last blast and with the Witch startled by his sudden appearance, Tippit blasted Eliza, rendering her comatose. Simultaneously exhilarated by his success and sickened by what he had done, a dizzied Tippit attempted to teleport away again, but before he could, the Scarlet Witch encased him in a hex-sphere. The feedback knocked Tippit unconscious.
The twins brought Tippit back to Avengers Mansion, where Iron Man placed a "mentality-retrogressor" helmet on Tippit to dampen his energies. The device worked almost instantly, reviving Tippit and leaving him temporarily powerless, after which the device could be safely removed. Suddenly the Watcher appeared and stated he had guided Iron Man to build the helmet. The Watcher revealed that Tippit was the true threat (not the five victims) and Tippit's power would've caused the destruction of all realities. After explaining his reasons, the Watcher prepared trap Tippit outside of space and time forever to eliminate his threat. The Avengers were prepared to fight a hopeless battle against the Watcher to free Tippit, but Tippit pleaded with them to allow him to go. Tippit said he had never been much in his life, and he relished the chance to be important, just this once, the man who saved the world. The Avengers agreed and let the Watcher take Tippit outside of space and time forever.
Comments: Created by Harlan Ellison, Roy Thomas, and Rich Buckler.
The Watcher said Tippit was neither a winner nor a loser. I have to disagree, he was definitely a loser. This was one of the worst stories I ever read. Second person narration, contrived storyline, the Watcher violating his oath without even an attempt at rationalization while endangering innocent people for a needlessly convoluted plan. The Watcher could've at least set him against a real villain or tipped off the Avengers earlier so that the Vision could've been ready with the helmet when he first confronted him. To make matters worse, the Avengers barely commented on the five comatose civillians; Hawkeye said "he just knew" they'd be alright. That would make ME feel better if a glowing accountant blasted me into a coma. Ick.
Didn't they make a connection between the power of Tippit and the Destiny Force that Rick Jones accessed during Avengers Forever?--Snood
I believe it was the letters page on Avengers#27 (where it was
reprinted) that Brevoort made the suggestion that it "could be."--Prime Eternal
Profile by Chuck D
Clarifications: None
Appearances:
Avengers I#101 (July, 1972) - Roy Thomas & Harlan Ellison (writers), Rich Buckler (pencils), Dan Adkins (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Last updated: 04/28/13
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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