MACHETE
Real Name: Mariano Lopez
Identity/Class: Human weapon user
Occupation: Mercenary
Group Membership: Batroc's
Brigade;
formerly Zemo's Thunderbolts army
Affiliations: Batroc
the Leaper, Fasaud, R.A.I.D., Zaran;
formerly Maelstrom
Enemies: Arabian Knight (Hashim), Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, Great Lakes Avengers (Big Bertha, Doorman, Flatman, Mr. Immortal, Squirrel Girl, Grasshopper (Taggert)), Sabra, Thunderbolts (Atlas, Blizzard (Gill), Joystick, M.A.C.H. IV, Photon (Genis-Vell), Radioactive Man (Chen), Speed Demon), Union Jack (Chapman)
Known Relatives: Alfonso Lopez (brother, deceased), Ferdinand Lopez (brother, deceased)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Mobile;
formerly San Diablo, South America
First Appearance: GLA#2 (July, 2005)
Powers/Abilities: Machete wielded armaments similar to those used by his brothers: twin blades, firearms and a wrist-mounted gauntlet capable of firing small blades. He also possessed an undefined level of combat training.
History:
(All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z: Update#3 (Batroc)) - Mariano was recruited into Batroc's Brigade, following the death of his brother Alfonso, becoming the third Lopez brother to take the name Machete.
(GLA#2) - Batroc's Brigade was hired by Maelstrom to obtain a device from the Roxxon Corporation. Confronted by the novice superhero Grasshopper, the Brigade found themselves momentarily outmatched until the arrival of the Great Lakes Avengers. GLA member Doorman offered Grasshopper a spot on the team, a distraction that gave Zaran an opportunity to throw a sai that passed through Doorman and into Grasshopper's forehead. Batroc's Brigade got away with the device in the ensuing confusion.
(GLA#3) - After taking the device to Maelstrom's undersea lair, Machete and Batroc killed time playing 'Go Fish' together.
(GLA#4) - Maelstrom kept the Brigade hired at triple their rate to protect the Chronal Accelerator, now minutes from activation. The GLA soon arrived,Machete taking on Squirrel Girl. Grabbing Squirrel Girl and ready to strike with his blade, Machete found himself surrounded by squirrels, forcing him to drop his weapons and cry for help.
(GLA#3) - The squirrels got into Machete's pants, doing untold amounts of damage (see comments)
(GLA#4) - After Maelstrom was defeated by the GLA and the device was shut down, Machete and Zaran dragged Batroc away, despite his protests of refusing to leave without being paid.
(New Thunderbolts#8 (fb) - BTS) - Batroc's Brigade was hired to attack a Newark, New Jersey hospital.
(New Thunderbolts#8) - Hearing the 9-1-1 call about the attack, the Thunderbolts responded and quickly engaged the Brigade. Machete first tried to hit Speed Demon with a series of small blades before being instructed by Batroc to throw blades at nearby onlookers to create a distraction. Trying to stop the blades at the same time, Speed Demon and Radioactive Man caused a domino effect that gave the Brigade an opening to take hostages. Photon arrived and instructed Speed Demon to disarm Machete and Zaran, and used his powers to invert their molecular structures through intraspace, leaving them unconscious for several hours with the promise of making them severely nauseous for several days.
(Union Jack II#1 (fb) - BTS) - Machete and the other members of Batroc's Brigade escaped custody some time soon after.
(Union Jack II#1 (fb)) - Machete and Zaran were hired by R.A.I.D. and helped into London by Fasaud.
(Union Jack II#1) - Machete and Zaran were dispatched to the British Houses of Parliament. Stopped a few hundred feet from their target by Union Jack and his team, Machete took on the Arabian Knight who shattered his blades with his magic scimitar. Machete pushed past the Knight but was downed by a blast from Sabra's wrist gauntlets. Machete was taken into custody by MI6.
(Thunderbolts II#103 - BTS) - Machete was captured and held in suspended animation by Baron Zemo, to be used as part of his Thunderbolts army.
Comments: Created by Dan Slott (writer), Paul Pelletier (pencils) and Rick Magyar (inks).
Machete received a brief profile as part of Batroc's Brigade in the Thunderbolts army profile in the Civil War Files Handbook (mostly explaining that he wasn't one of the other Machetes and reaffirming the others' deaths).
There were scenes throughout the GLA series, one of which featured Squirrel Girl's attack on the Brigade including the scene where the squirrels crawled into Machete's pants; that implied the series was mostly told in flashback and was confirmed as much by Monkey Joe in GLA#3. Considering how confusing that would be for the purpose of this profile, the series is considered to be in the present.
Machete's first appearance is listed as GLA#2 elsewhere in the Appendix. GLA #2 shipped two weeks before New Thunderbolts #8, wherein this new Machete is given an introduction of sorts -- Batroc refers to him as his "new Machete", and Machete mentions his "late brother" and that Batroc said he would help him. This indicates Machete was supposed to have debuted in New Thunderbolts; however, Machete's timeline tracks better if GLA precedes New Thunderbolts, so it works out anyway (and was confirmed in Batroc's Handbook entry).
The other mercenaries hired by R.A.I.D. included Shockwave, Firebrand, Ecstacy, Boomerang, Zaran, Crossfire and his Death-Throws, Jack O'Lantern, Jackhammer and the Corrupter. Since Machete was partnered with Zaran only and did not actually work with the others, they're not counted as allies.
The device Batroc's Brigade stole in GLA#2 was identified as the Atomic Inverter X99 in GLA#3.
Profile by G Morrow.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Machete should not be confused with:
Machete has no known connections to:
images:
(without ads)
New Thunderbolts#8, pgs 1-2, pan1 (main
image)
GLA #4, p12, pan2 ("And then the squirrels attacked...")
Union Jack II#1, p16, pan1 (close-up)
Appearances:
GLA#2 (July, 2005) - Dan Slott (writer), Paul Pelletier (penciler),
Rick Magyar (inker), Tom Brevoort (editor)
New Thunderbolts#8 (July, 2005) - Fabian
Nicieza (writer), Tom Grummett (pencils), Gary Erskine (inks), Tom
Brevoort (editor)
GLA#3 (August, 2005) - Dan Slott (writer),
Paul Pelletier (penciler), Rick Magyar (inker), Tom Brevoort (editor)
GLA#4 (September, 2005) - Dan Slott
(writer), Paul Pelletier (penciler), Rick Magyar (inker), Tom Brevoort
(editor)
Thunderbolts II#103 (August, 2006) - Fabian
Nicieza (writer), Tom Grummett (pencils), Gary Erskine (inks), Molly
Lazer (editor)
Union Jack II#1 (November, 2006) - Christos
N. Gage
(writer), Mike Perkins (pencils), Andrew Hennessy (inks), Andy Schmidt
(editor)
First Posted: 11/27/2007
Last updated: 10/14/2013
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™
and
© 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If
you
like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!