FLINCH

Real Name: Toby Wood

Identity/Class: Human (Canadian) mutate (see comments)

Occupation: Unrevealed; formerly Alpha trainee

Group Membership: Alpha Flight trainees (Ghost Girl/Lilli Stephens, Ouija/Bill Astin)

Affiliations: Mr. Gentry, Mr. Hames, Dr. Huxley (possibly Hull House caretakers, see comments)

Enemies: None

Known Relatives:  None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
                                   formerly Department H, Canada

First Appearance: Alpha Flight II#14 (September, 1998)

Powers/Abilities: Flinch's meta human abilities have not been revealed. His body appeared to be permanently covered in a dark red glow, he also gave off a noxious odor (see comments).

Height: 5'8" (by approximation)
Weight: 140 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Unrevealed

History:

(Alpha Flight II#14 (fb) - BTS) - Through unrevealed ways, young teenager Toby Wood ended up at Department H. Because of his powers, he was considered a potential Alpha Flight recruit and entered a training program with other young superpowered Canadians like Ouija and Ghost Girl. Their training was monitored by the unscrupulous Dr. Huxley who was free to experiment with them. When Ghost Girl tried to escape, security around the residential wing was increased, making it impossible for all trainees to leave their cell like rooms.

(Alpha Flight II#12 - BTS) - Flinch and the other Alpha Flight trainees were locked in their residential wing while the Zodiac attacked Department H.

(Alpha Flight II#14) - Flinch was still locked away in his cell when Mr. Gentry,  newly appointed Department H director, toured the facilities. Gentry briefly looked in on the unresponsive boy who was standing around in his room, looking sad. It didn't take long for the director to be overwhelmed by Wood's smell. Gentry told his assistant Hames to make a note to look into Wood's medical history and a way to fix his foul aroma, adding that he prayed the department wasn't responsible for the way "Mr. Flinch" turned out.

Comments: Created by Steve Seagle (writer), Duncan Rouleau (pencils), Troy Hubbs (inks).

Very little is known about Flinch's origin or history before he ended up at Department H. Given the fact that most of Beta Flight's recruits came from the Hull House orphanage in Orloo, Ontario it's not unthinkable he spent some time there as well. That would also mean he was "processed" in the same way his teammate Ghost Girl was, complete with identification barcode tattooed on his lower back.

As for his powers, your guess is as good as mine. With a codename like Flinch, one would assume he has ways of startling his opponents or freezing them in their tracks, perhaps using his harsh body odor (hey, it worked for Tatterdemalion!). Whether or not his abilities are the result of genetic mutation or, as was hinted in the issue, the result of Huxley's experiments, remains a mystery..

Flinch's full name was revealed in the Canada entry in the Marvel Atlas#2.