DR. METELLUS

Real Name: Tom Metellus

Identity/Class: Human

Occupation: Head of Operations for the U.S. Sentinel Program, Chicago branch

Group Membership: Head of the Sentinel Program, Chicago Branch; agent of the U.S. Government

Affiliations: Slater

Enemies: The Chicago Morlocks (Angel Dust, Cell (deceased), Electric Eve, Litterbug, Postman, Shatter, Trader (deceased)), various Sentinel victims (only one named - Julie, deceased), mutants in general

Known Relatives: Lisa Metellus (estranged wife)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Sentinel Command Center, Chicago, Illinois; his private home near Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois

First Appearance: Morlocks I#1 (June, 2002)

Powers/Abilities: Dr. Metellus evidently had a high level of knowledge of Sentinel operation, design and maintenance. He also had high-ranking government contacts.

History: (Morlocks I#1 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, Dr. Metellus was appointed to head the Sentinel Command center in Chicago, Illinois. His single-minded devotion to his cause, and his sadistic pleasure over the deaths of mutants caused his wife, Lisa, to leave him in disgust.

(Morlocks I#1) - Dr. Metellus was present when the Sentinels returned from slaughtering a group of approximately seven mutants who had been hiding in a Chrysler warehouse in Detroit. He asked his assistant, Slater, for the tapes of the "extermination" to be transferred to his home that night, for his viewing pleasure. Metellus remarked that Sentinels were  "Tremendous inventions" and informed Slater of Morlock activity in Chicago, ordering all Sentinels to be placed on 24-hour alert until the Morlocks were exterminated. He then stated that mutants were "the horrible reality of America".

(Morlocks I#2) - Dr. Metellus' home was covered in anti-mutant government posters, apparently the only artwork he desired. He spoke with Slater on the phone about tapes he had received; "More cleaning in Detroit. Such a dirty city." Slater was worried about the wear and tear placed on the Sentinels by the constant activity, but Metellus reassured him that their "Big Brothers in Washington" would supply the funds. He then reassured Slater that he was doing his "American duty, keeping the country safe.", and promised the entire team would be rewarded once the Morlocks were exterminated. He then picked up his wife's goodbye letter, that had apparently been sitting by the VCR for months, to be read and re-read. Lisa Metellus explained that Tom was "No longer the man" she married. He then popped in the tapes, watched Julie and the other mutants being slaughtered, grimaced and cursed all mutants.

(Morlocks I#3) - Slater re-voiced his concerns over Sentinel maintenance, but Metellus ignored him, as well as his assertion that these Morlocks were intelligent, "They're mutants. They're not that smart." He then asked the confused Slater for the tape of the Sentinel's attack on the Morlocks, and went into his private office, licking his lips at the thought  of what the tapes contained.

(Morlocks I#4) - Metellus' sliced the screen he was viewing the tapes on with a knife, as he stared at Postman's image, exclaiming "Aren't you a pretty one?" His twisted enjoyment of the tapes was interrupted by Slater, who gave him the "good news" that the Morlocks had been exterminated. Metellus went to see the Sentinel responsible, wishing to personally view "the proof" (i.e. its mission videos) before "breaking out the champagne". A sudden noise from the newly returned Sentinel shocked both men, as the Morlocks tore their way from the mechanical killer's body. Their "deaths" had been a ruse to get inside Sentinel HQ. Slater looked on horrified, while Metellus, with an insane look on his face, could only exclaim "Beautiful". As the Postman erased Slater's memories of Sentinels, the others began wreaking havoc, and the Sentinels, programmed to attack all mutants, began firing wildly inside their own base. Metellus snuck up on Postman, and explained he'd been watching him, before stabbing him in the shoulder, exclaiming that all the Morlocks would now die before his very eyes. Just then Shatter bashed him across the back of the head with a baseball bat, knocking him unconscious. As the base began to self destruct around them, the Morlocks fled.  Metellus awakened, exclaiming that they couldn't hide forever, but was surprised by Cell, who had no intention of hiding anymore, or letting an evil man such as Metellus continue to harm innocent people. Cell wrapped his mutant body around Metellus, burning his flesh with his digestive enzymes. As one of the few functional Sentinels left trained it's weapons on them both, reading Cell's mutant structure, Cell told Metellus "This is what it's like."... Metellus cursed him as freak, just before he was sent to hell screaming.

Comments: Created by Geoff Johns, Shawn Martinborough and Gregory Wright.

I assume Tom is short for Thomas, but there's no way to be certain; many  people have shortened names, my father's name is Bobby, not Robert, for instance.

Dr. Metellus was the dictionary definition of a Sadist. To observe his looks of joy, the man licking his lips as he went to view the tapes of the merciless slaughters he was responsible for, were truly unnerving.  He also seemed to have an extreme version of what is known as Xenophilia: the love of things alien, foreign or bizarre, normally a fairly harmless idea, even beneficial at times,  but combined with his murderous sadism, it was a vicious, evil  "love". Dr. Metellus is probably one of the most despicable characters ever in the MU.

Julie and the other slain mutants were never shown, only their terrified voices were heard on the tape of their murder.

    Note that the Morlocks limited series has a dubious spot in the Marvel Continuity, given that it's description of a government-run Sentinel agency exterminating mutants has more in common with Days of Future Past than any present Earth-616 Marvel continuity.-Prime Ed-ternal
    I personally don't see this as any more out of the norm than the whole Operation: Zero Tolerance campaign.-Snood
    It just doesn't quite fit in present continuity, at a point in time where humanity is supposed to be embracing mutantkind (As in New X-Men). O:ZT had the benefit of being a rogue element in the government, and was shut down by the government itself.-Prime Ed-ternal
    I think an action taking place in one part of the country is perfectly reasonable. Do we know for sure it is taking place around the same time it was published? No. It could be, or it could be earlier.--Snood

    I personally would think humanity would have soured to the whole Sentinel idea after Cassandra Nova took control of a fleet of Sentinels and used them to murder six million plus mutants in the island nation of Genosha, assuming that this storyline did not take place before that atrocity @ New X-Men #115-116

Profile by Darc_Light

Clarifications:

This character, Dr. Tom Metellus, has no known connections to

Lisa Metellus

Dr. Metellus' wife, she left him, unable to cope with the type of  man he'd become.

- Morlocks I#2 (only as a letter and photograph)

 

 

 

 

images:
Body Shot- Morlocks  I#3, p13, pan 4
Headshot- Morlocks I#4, Pg 13, Pan 1
Lisa Metellus- morlocks I#2, p8, Pan2 

Appearances:
Morlocks I#1-4 (June-September 2002) - Geoff Johns (writer), Shawn Martinbrough (artist), Mark Powers (editor)

First Posted: 02/24/2005
Last updated: 03/14/2005

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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