COLLECTIVE MAN

Real Name: Han, Chang, Lin, Sun, and Ho Tao-Yu

Identity/Class: Humans, mutants (Chinese)

Occupation: Refugees;
    former government agents

Legal Status: Citizens of the People's Republic of China

Identity: Publicly known

Group Membership: People’s Defense Force (Lady of Ten Suns, Most Perfect Hero, Ninth Immortal, Princess of Clouds, Radioactive Man/Chen Lu, Scientific Beast, Spirit Animal/Jian);
    formerly the 198 (Arclight, Beautiful Dreamer, Caliban, Diamond Lil, Erg, Fever Pitch, Karma, Leech, Lorelei, Magma, Mammomax, Outlaw, Peeper, Sack, Scalphunter, Skids, Toad);
    formerly 3-Peace (Jade Dragon/Dei Guan, Nuwa), Chinese military

Affiliations: Arabian Knight (Navid Hashim), Avengers Resistance (Gauntlet/Joseph Green, Justice/Vance Astrovik, Rage/Elvin Halliday, Stature/Cassie Lang, Tigra/Greer Nelson, Vision/Jonas, Wasp/Hank Pym), Ban-Luck, Captain Britian (Brian Braddock), Phillip Chang, Domino (Neena Thurman), Hulk (Bruce Banner), Inhumans (Crystal/Crystal Amalequin, Flint/Jason, Grid/Dinesh Deol), Mighty Avengers (Amadeus Cho, Hercules, Quicksilver/Pietro Maximoff, Stature/Cassie Lang, USAgent/John Walker, Wasp/Hank Pym)), New Avengers (Hawkeye/Kate Bishop, Hulkling//Dorrek VIII, Patriot/Eli Bradley, Speed/Tommy Shepherd, Wiccan/Billy Kaplan), Pukou, Radioactive Man (Chen Lu), Sabra (Ruth Bat-Seraph), Shaman (Michael Twoyoungmen), Shamrock, Shatterstar, Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Sunfire (Shiro Yashida), Ursa Major (Mikhail Ursus), Yao Wu, X-Men;
    former pawn of Marduk
    the participants of the Contest of Champions: Alpha Flight (Aurora, Northstar, Sasquatch, Shaman, Snowbird, Vindicator/James Hudson), American Eagle (Jason Strongbow), the Angel (Warren Worthington III), Ant-Man (Scott Lang), Arabian Knight, the Avengers (Beast, Captain America/Steve Rogers, Iron Man/Tony Stark, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Wasp, Wonder Man), Black Knight (Dane Whitman), Black Panther (T'Challa), Black Widow, Blitzkrieg, Blue Shield, Brother Voodoo, Captain Britain (Brian Braddock), Captain Ultra, Captain Universe, Daredevil, Dazzler, Defensor, Devil-Slayer, Doc Samson, Doctor Druid, Doctor Strange, the Eternals of Earth (Ajak, Ikaris, Sersi, Titanis), the Falcon, the Fantastic Four (Human Torch (Johnny Storm), Invisible Girl, Mister Fantastic, Thing), Firebird, Gargoyle (Isaac Christians), Guardsman (Michael O'Brien), Hawkeye, Hellcat, Hercules, Iceman, the Inhumans (Black Bolt, Crystal, Gorgon, Karnak, Lockjaw, Medusa, Quicksilver, Triton), Iron Fist, Jack of Hearts, Jocasta, Ka-Zar, Living Mummy, Machine Man, Makkari, Mockingbird, Moondragon, Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers), Namor the Sub-Mariner, Nighthawk, Night Rider (Hamilton Slade), le Peregrine, Power Man (Luke Cage), Professor X, Quasar, Red Wolf (Will Talltrees), Rom: Spaceknight, Sabra, Shanna the She-Devil, She-Hulk, Shooting Star, Shroud, the Son of Satan, the Soviet Super-Soldiers (Crimson Dynamo, Darkstar, Ursa Major, Vanguard), Spider-Man, Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew), Stingray (Walt Newell), Sunfire, Talisman, Texas Twister, Thor, the 3-D Man, Tigra, Torpedo (Brock Jones), Union Jack (Joey Chapman), Valkyrie, Werewolf, the Whizzer

Enemies: Alpha Primitives, Apocalypse (En Sabah Nur), China Force, Death, Grandmaster (En Dwi Gast), Han, Ho-Ti, Lin, Kao, Mutant Liberation Front (Feral, Forearm, Moonstar, Reignfire, Wildside), O*N*E, P’eng, People's Protection Agency, the Silver Surfer (Norrin Radd), Sublime’s X-Men (“Angel”, “Beast”, “Cyclops” “Iceman”, “Marvel Girl”), the Unspoken, V-Battalion, X-Men (Angel/Warren Worthington III, Dazzler/Allison Blaire, Northstar/Jean-Paul Beaubier, Pixie/Megan Gwynn, Storm/Ororo Munroe), Yang

Place of Birth: Wuhan, China

Marital Status: Single

Known Relatives: Mary Tao-Yu (mother, deceased)

Aliases:

Base of Operations: The Embassy of the People's Republic of China, Washington DC
    formerly the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning, Westchester County, New York
    formerly Peking, China

First Appearance: Incredible Hulk II#250 (August, 1980)

Powers/Abilities: The Tao-Yu brothers have the ability to mentally alter the synchtronization of their bodies' atoms, enabling them to merge into a single superhuman being. The physical merging occurs when each of the five brothers concentrates upon their own communal identity and align themselves into the same physical volume. There is no time limit yet known to how long the brothers can hold their merging. While it is possible for only two, three or four of them to merge without the others, they prefer to merge all at once.

In their collected state, the Tao-Yu brothers possess their combined strength, endurance, speed and intellect. They are about five times as strong as an average human being, able to lift approximately 750 pounds. They can run at speeds of up to 65 miles per hour for several minutes at a time. They tire from strenuous exertion five times as slowly as a normal human being. Their collective brain is also superior, able to retain five times as much information and calculate five times as fast as their individual capacities.

While merged, the Collective Man is able to enhance his power many thousand-fold for brief periods of time. By concentrating on the image of the collective might of millions of his countrymen, he taps their psychic energy and transforms it into an act of supreme physical exertion. For a few seconds, the Collective Man can lift 100 tons. Following such employment of energy, the Collective Man passes out for several minutes, the length of time determined by the degree of exertion. The Collective Man can also tap the abilities or knowledge of any one of his countrymen individually, by a similar trance-induced psychic bond. Theoretically, the Collective Man could draw upon the strength and ability of any body of people. If the Collective Man remains tapped into his countrymen's power for too long, it can place them into a comatose state, and after prolonged use, cause death.

Recently, the Collective Man has developed the additional abilities of expanding in size up to eighty feet by adding the physical traits of his countrymen, and creating additional bodies beyond those of the five brothers.

Height: 5'6" Weight: 150 lbs. Eyes: Brown Hair: Brown

History: (Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe#2 - Collective Man entry) - The five Tao-Yu brothers were born identical quintuplets to a family of Chinese farmers. One night while meditating, the five brothers discovered they could merge their bodies together into a single powerful being. When the government learned of their abilities, they were taken into custody for study, unlocked the full potential of their powers, and were placed into government service, dubbed "the Collective Man."

(Incredible Hulk II#250) - When the Silver Surfer flew through China, searching for the Hulk, the Collective Man oversaw an attempt to strike him out of the sky with missiles, but the attack failed.

(Marvel Super-Hero Contest of Champions#1) - The Collective Man was in the midst of battling a gang of thieves in China when he was spirited away by the Grandmaster to participate in his game against the Unknown (Death). Death selected the Collective Man to serve on its team.

(Marvel Super-Hero Contest of Champions#3) - The Collective Man was placed on a team with Storm and Shamrock and sent to South America, where their opponents were Captain America, Blitzkrieg and Sasquatch. The Collective Man fought Sasquatch, who pinned him to the ground using his superior brawn and mass, but with intense concentration Collective Man called on the might of ten thousand of his countrymen, temporarily boosting his strength to allow him to hurl Sasquatch high into the trees, winning their bout. However, drawing on this amount of power caused him to pass out moments later. The Collective Man's team won when Shamrock luckily snagged the piece. When the game was over, Death returned the Collective Man and all of the other heroes home.

(Incredible Hulk II#279) - The Collective Man was one of the many heroes of the Earth who attended the Hulk's presidential pardon at a ceremony in New York City.

(Marvel Comics Presents#55/4) - When their mother lay dying, the Collective Man demanded to be allowed to leave the base where he was stationed, but Colonel Pong refused the request. However, while four of the brothers were merged and confronting the military, the fifth brother Han stole a helicopter, and all five escaped when the remaining four concentrated on merging with Han. Just as the brothers arrived at their mother's home, the god Ho-Ti appeared, having been sent by the military to bring them back. The brothers merged and fought Ho-Ti, but one by one each brother unmerged so that he could be at their mother's side, until all five brothers left the fight. When Ho-Ti sensed the love the brothers had for their dying mother, he decided to leave them be.

(X-Force Annual#3 (fb) - BTS) - At some point the Collective Man quit the Chinese military. He also developed the new power of generating additional selves beyond the five brothers.

(X-Force Annual#3) - The Collective Man allied themselves with the Jade Dragon and Nuwa to form the heroic 3-Peace. They met in the village of T'ung-Ling with Reignfire of the MLF to propose a partnership, and Reignfire helped save them from an attack by Snake of China Force. The entire MLF teamed with 3-Peace to raid a facility run by the People's Protection Agency where a device was being developed that would enable the Chinese government to hunt for mutants using means similar to those of Charles Xavier's Cerebro. They fought all of China Force, but the combined powers of 3-Peace and the MLF defeated them.

In their next joint mission, the two teams invaded the "Citizen's Rehabilitation Center" near Shanghai where it was said mutants were being held captive. However, Reignfire had made a deal with the military behind 3-Peace's backs, and led them into the arms of China Force and the military. 3-Peace fled, and although Danielle Moonstar was given an opportunity to stop them, they persuaded her to let them go because they shared the same goals.

(Citizen V and the V-Battalion: The Everlasting#1 - BTS) - The god Marduk took control of the Collective Man's power and caused him to place the entire population of China into stasis, with the intent of killing them all in order to feed his Genesis Well.

(Citizen V and the V-Battalion: The Everlasting#2) - Now standing over eighty feet tall, the Collective Man was unleashed upon the V-Battalion, and killed their teammate Goldfire. Citizen V slew the Collective Man by puncturing his body with his Adamantium-sheathed sword.

(Citizen V and the V-Battalion: The Everlasting#3) - The remains of the Collective Man were taken by the V-Battalion, and subsequently used to place the population of Rumekistan asleep so that the Flag-Smasher could conquer the country without bloodshed.

(X-Men II#159 (fb) - BTS) - The Collective Man was restored to life through unknown means. He retained his ability to increase in size. He returned to military service.

(X-Men II#159) - When the X-Men attempted to halt the crisis posed by the power of Xorn in China, the Collective Man was dispatched alongside Chinese military soldiers to confront the X-Men, blaming them for releasing Xorn.

(X-Men II#160) - The Collective Man sent a swarm of his other selves after Wolverine, Polaris, Rogue and Gambit, while a giant self battled Iceman and Juggernaut, but all of his bodies were defeatedl, and the X-Men departed China with Xorn.

(X-Men II#183 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, the Collective Man journeyed to the Xavier Institute to join the ranks of the 198, a gathering of mutant refugees.

(X-Men II#183) - The Collective Man was among the members of the 198 who witnessed Apocalypse's offer of power to them.

(Civil War: X-Men#1) - The Collective Man joined other members of the 198 in escaping from the Xavier Institute alongside Domino and Shatterstar. They fled to a fortified bunker to hide out.

(Civil War: X-Men#2-3 - BTS) - When the X-Men and O*N*E came to resolve the conflict, General Demetrius Lazer activated the WMDs inside the bunker to destroy all of the 198.

(Civil War: X-Men#4) - Cyclops and Bishop were able to break the bunker open and rescue the Collective Man and other 198 members, escaping before the WMDs detonated.

(Thunderbolts: International Incident#1) - Now assigned to the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC, the Collective Man received a visit from the Radioactive Man. The Radioactive Man asked him if their superiors in the Chinese government were afraid of his radioactive powers; the Collective Man admitted that they were, particularly because the Radioactive Man's mental state had occasionally become unstable. Despite this, the Radioactive Man affirmed that he would continue to serve his country.

(Mighty Avengers I#27 (fb) – BTS) – Collective Man joined the new government-sanctioned team, the People’s Defense Force, alongside members Scientific Beast, Most Perfect Hero, Princess of Clouds, Ninth Immortal, Radioactive Man, and Lady of Ten Suns.

(Mighty Avengers I#27) – The People’s Defense Force sought out the Unspoken, a powerful former Inhuman ruler who was surrounded by the Alpha Primitives. They ordered him to leave, but Unspoken defeated the heroes with one punch.

(Mighty Avengers I#28) – The Unspoken fled as USAgent, Quicksilver, and Ban-Luck approached. When the People’s Defense Force woke up, they attacked the heroes, considering them invaders, and Collective Man channeled the strength of his people to strike USAgent’s shield, breaking it, but USAgent soon hit Collective Man back.

(Mighty Avengers I#29) – The People’s Defense Force, Quicksilver, USAgent, and Ban-Luck found the Unspoken fighting the Tibetan military while unearthing the doomsday device the Slave Engine, which, via Xerogen Crystals, turned many of those present into Alpha Primitives, including Collective Man.

(Mighty Avengers I#30) – In his altered mental state, Collective Man attacked his allies to protect the Unspoken.

(Mighty Avengers I#31) – With the help of Ban-Luck, the Mighty Avengers, the New Avengers, and the Avengers Resistance, the Unspoken was defeated, and Collective Man and the others were restored to their previous state with no memory of their minds having been altered.

(All-New Inhumans I#5 (fb) – BTS) – The People’s Defense Force lost several members as a result of the battle, and replaced them with new members, including Spirit Animal. They went on to have many adventures, saving the world multiple times.

(Uncanny X-Men I#529) – The five men who make up the Collective Man got off the bus in San Francisco’s Chinatown, then combined themselves, determined to ‘do business’ there.

(Uncanny X-Men I#530) – The Collective Man began collecting money from local businesses for protection, demanding half of what they had. An old man who argued with him was threatened by the Collective Man, and the old man warned him that the Black Dragon, an alias of Wolverine, would not be pleased. Later, Collective Man showed the heads of Yang, Lin, Kao, Han, and P’eng to influential Chinese criminal heads, then he declared himself the new leader of the Chinatown gangs.

(Uncanny X-Men I#531) – Collective Man fought men at the Drunken Teacher School, demanding they pay tribute to him, but a team of X-Men (Angel, Dazzler, Northstar, Pixie, Storm) intervened.

(Uncanny X-Men I#532) – After evading lightning from Storm, Collective Man scattered his five forms then recombined to punch Northstar. Just then, a group of X-Men imposters (Angel, Beast, Cyclops, Iceman, Marvel Girl) working for Sublime appeared, and Collective Man easily defeated them. The main X-Men team defeated Collective Man by splitting him apart with a light blast from Dazzler, teleporting him in the air through a portal by Pixie, and then a punch from Angel knocked him out. Collective Man was taken into police custody.

(All-New Inhumans I#5) – When a Skyspear landed in China, the People’s Defense Force (Collective Man, Lady of Ten Suns, Scientific Beast, Spirit Animal, and another) investigated, and found Spider-Man and a group of Inhumans (Crystal, Grid, Flint) there. Assuming they were enemies, the Defense Force ordered the Inhumans to leave. Before they did, Collective Man, drawing upon the strength of the civilians of China, tried lifting the Skyspear out of the ground, but it repelled him, lifting him into the air in an energy field.

(All-New Inhumans I#6) – Suspecting the Inhumans of being behind the Skyspear, Collective Man vowed to defeat them, but the Skyspear itself then took over Crystal and Spirit Animal, enhancing their powers and warning the others to stay away. The Defense League attacked the others, with Collective Man fighting through Crystal’s earth constructs before the Skyspear took over the mind of the Collective Man himself, and he punched Flint and Spider-Man before Parker Industries technicians Phillip Chang and Yao Wu disrupted the connection, splitting Collective Man apart into his five brothers. Han remained in the control of the Skyspear, so Flint hit him with a rock, badly wounded the unprotected brother, and making the other brothers furious. The fight de-escalated, and Han got medical help.

(Avengers VIII#11) – Black Panther called many heroes from around the world in for an ‘international super-summit’ at Avengers Mountain. Collective Man attended, alongside Arabian Knight, Sabra, Sunfire, Captain Britain, Ursa Major, and Shaman, and they were served by Iron Man drones while Black Panther proposed they work together. Ursa Major raised a ruckus, and the others discussed the threat of the Red Widow leading the Winter Guard.

Comments: Created by Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema.

Contest of Champions writer Steven Grant revealed that the series was supposed to have the characters broadly international, but Marvel didn't have many international heroes at the time who weren't X-Men. Bill Mantlo brought in Mark Gruenwald and Steven Grant to help out creating new characters. Collective Man was one of the characters created by Mark Gruenwald.

Steven Grant: "In 1980, Marvel had a deal to do Olympic-themed treasury editions. Bill & I did the Hulk & Spider-Man at the Winter Olympics, which was published. We then worked with Mark on the Marvel SLuper-Heroes Summer Olympics Special. Then the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, & in protest Carter pulled the US from the Moscow Olympics. Nothing to tie into, book went into the drawer for awhile. At some point, after tons of resistance, Marvel was convinced to try the mini-series format. Jim Shooter pulled "Summer Olympics" from a drawer, & Bill (Mantlo) & JR2 (John Romita Jr.) reowked it into a 3 issue mini. But that was months after it had already been done. The main reason MSH&SO was chosen as the mini-test was that it was already done, for the most part, so the company would have to spend minimal more money to publish it. The # of characters were bet hedger. But it made Marvel gung-ho on minis...BTW pretty sure Mark did the rough designs for all the new characters, to prescribed specifications. JR2 did more polished takes. I'm constantly having people at conventions bring copies to sign & asking "Did you expect when you were working on CoC it would have the impact it did?" I tell them, truthfully, "We didn't even know we were working on Contest of Champions..." (I believe Jim (Shooter) named it).

    In Cable and Deadpool#8, Cable mentions to Irene Merryweather that the Chinese government sent after him an agent who could split into four separate people. This is possibly meant to refer to the Collective Man.

Collective Man’s work as a gang leader in the Uncanny X-Men run was a far departure for the character’s regular motivations.

Profile by Prime Eternal. Updated by Chadman

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Collective Man should not be confused with:

• The Collective, collection of mutant energies, @ New Avengers#16
• Collective Intelligence, alien invaders, @ Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD I#6

Images taken from:
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe#2 - Collective Man entry
Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions#3, page 12, panel 6 (numbered)
Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions#3, page 16, panels 3-5 (numbered)
Citizen V and the V-Battalion: The Everlasting#2, page 16, panel 4 (not counting ads)
Uncanny X-Men I#532, p9, pan1 (five, kicking)