TOPHER
Real Name: Unknown,
possibly Topher
Identity/Class: Human
Vampire
Occupation: Petty
criminal;
(formerly) Investor
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: His
minions; (formerly) the Runaways
Enemies: The Runaways
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None known
Base of Operations: Los
Angeles, California
First Appearance:
Runaways I#7 (December, 2003)
Powers/Abilities: As a vampire,
Topher exhibited superhuman strength and the ability to survive wounds
that would have killed a normal human instantly. He could also
regenerate from these wounds in a matter of seconds. Like all
vampires, he was effectively immortal and could change humans into
vampires by draining them of blood. He could “sense” the
condition of other vampires in his bloodline, so if they were destroyed
he would know it.
Topher exhibited no shape-shifting, enhanced senses, or mesmeric
abilities, though he may have had those powers as well. He was
peculiarly invulnerable to wounds that would have normally destroyed
vampires (such as penetration of the heart and flames) and claimed that
only sunlight could truly kill him. He may have been a member of
a “sub-species” of mainline Marvel vampires, or there may have been
other reasons for his invulnerabilities (such as magical protection, or
perhaps even mutant abilities that were carried over into his undead
state).
History: (Runaways
I#10
(fb)-BTS) - The boy who became known as Topher was born around the turn
of the last century. When he was about sixteen years old (circa
1916) he was turned into a vampire. Despite his now-inhuman needs
and habits, he nevertheless found the time to make a fortune in stocks
after the Great Depression. He lost it all, however, during the
dot-com bust during the late 1990s, and was forced to get money
wherever he could—even from hold-ups of all-night convenience stores.
(Runaways I#7) - Having run away from their supervillainous
parents, four of the kids known as the Runaways went to a convenience
store in search of food. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately
for the store clerk), they picked a time during which Topher and his
minions were robbing the store. After a quick debate on whether
to do anything, the Runaways decided to make a “citizen’s arrest” on
the robbers. During the course of this attempted good deed Lucy
in the Sky managed to shatter the store’s windows, and Sister Grimm
magically filled the building with pelicans. During the resulting
melee Topher’s minions displayed superhuman strength.
Talkback managed to incapacitate Topher by holding a knife to this
throat while his two hench-vamps fled. Topher pled innocence,
telling the Runaways that the minions were his parents and that they
had become evil after gaining superpowers in an industrial
accident. Since Topher’s manufactured story was similar to their
real experiences, the Runaways decided to accept Topher as a new
recruit.
(Runaways I#8) - Upon being taken back to the Hostel, the Runaways’
hideout, Topher was taken aback (or at least pretended to be) by
Gertrude “Arsenic” Yorkes’ pet dinosaur and Molly Hayes’ vast
superhuman strength. Sister Grimm gave Topher a tour of the
place, during which they stopped in an old bedroom and
commiserated. In a vulnerable condition, Sister Grimm allowed
Topher to kiss her. Secretly Alex Wilder was watching the event,
and was quite upset.
(Runaways I#9) - Topher wandered off after Alex interrupted he and
Sister Grimm under the guise of “everything okay?” Topher later
found Karolina “Lucy in the Sky” Dean alone in a room, also feeling
vulnerable. She revealed to Topher her fears about being
“abnormal” and about her attraction to one of the other Runaways.
Implicit in all this was Karolina’s worries about her attraction being
the abnormal thing, and she kissed Topher to “feel normal.”
Sister Grimm wandered in during the kiss, and rapidly came to
super-powered blows with Karolina. After covering Karolina with
mud, an upset Sister Grimm left the Hostel. In the meantime, the
Runaways’ supervillain parents had obtained footage of the attempted
convenience store robbery. Noting the robbers super-powers, the
Pride concluded that they couldn’t be aliens, mutants, or
time-travelers. This left only the possibility of the
supernatural…which Topher revealed to Sister Grimm in the forest
outside the Hostel.
(Runaways I#10) -
With his vampiric status out of the bag, Topher
revealed that the two adults he was with during the robbery weren’t his
parents at all, just a couple of low-lifes he had turned decades
ago. After a short exchange between him and Sister Grimm about
the nature of vampirism and how crappy it is to grow up, Sister Grimm
allowed Topher to bite her neck. Fortunately, this shedding of
blood allowed her to call forth her mystical Staff of One, which exited
her body so violently it ripped right through Topher. Winking,
Topher informed her of his invulnerability to stakes as the wound
closed up within seconds. Distracted, Topher was clubbed over the
head by Alex Wilder with a torch, which somehow stunned him long enough
for the two teens to make it back to the Hostel.
No sooner had the alarm been raised among the Runaways that
Topher appeared back inside, carrying the Staff of One. Unable to
utilize the mystic powers of the Staff himself, Topher merely used it
as a blunt object, hurling Sister Grimm across the room. Talkback
sprayed Topher with flame from his special “Fistigons,” but Topher
proved immune to flame as well. Quickly overpowering Gert’s
dinosaur and Alex Wilder, Topher’s attention turned back to Karolina
Dean, who was attempting to protect the unconscious, narcoleptic Molly
Hayes from the thirsty vampire. Though Topher was interested in
feeding from Molly (“I haven’t had mutant blood since ‘79”), he
nevertheless accepted Karolina’s plea to take her instead.
Unfortunately, Karolina’s solar-charged alien blood was as deadly to
Topher as direct sunlight, and the vampire exploded spectacularly.
Topher’s minions were later captured and interrogated by the
Pride, but all the vampires could tell them what about their sensation
of the death of their sire Topher. Finding them of no further
use, the Pride exposed them to sunlight. The supervillains felt
lingering pride in the fact that their children had battled a vampire
and won.
There is no mention of how Topher and his minions weathered the
reversal of the Montessi Formula in Dr. Strange #62, which destroyed
all active vampires on Earth. Either Topher and his pals weren’t
active at the time (meaning they were in some sort of suspended
animation) or they represent a sort of vampire not vulnerable to the
Montessi Formula, perhaps a “bloodline” not drawn from the original
first generation of vampires.
In Blade III#12 a prophecy was fulfilled that
brought back all vampires that ever died. This most likely included
Topher and his minions as well. We'll have to wait if they resurfaces.
--Markus Raymond
Profile by Reddie
Clarifications:
Topher has no
known connections to
- anyone else with
a similar name.
Topher's
Minions
Not much is known about Topher’s minions other than he had one
of each sex, and that one of them had his or her fingerprints on file
due an arrest for theft…which took place in 1939. They presumably
had the same suite of powers as Topher. They were incinerated
when Mr. Minoru exposed them to sunlight.
- Runaways I#7, 10
images:
Runaways I#10 , page 2, panel 1 (true
form)
Runaways I#7, page 21 , panel 3 (human form)
Runaways I#10, page 20, panel 2 (death)
Runaways I#10, page 23, panel 3 (Topher's minions)
Runaways I#7-10 (December, 2003-March, 2004) - Brian
K. Vaughan (writer), Adrian Alphona (pencils), Craig Yeung (inks), C.B.
Cebulski (editor)
05/11/05
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
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