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TOAD
Earth-652975

Real Name: Mortimer Toynbee

Identity/Class: Alternate reality (Earth-652975) human mutant

Occupation: Terrorist

Group Membership: Brotherhood of Mutant Terrorists (Blob, Magneto, Juggernaut, Pyro, White Queen)

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Lockheed, X-Men (Colossus, Cyclops, Dazzler, Nightcrawler, Professor X, Storm, Wolverine)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "Buster," "Dingo," "Froggie," "Toadie" (insults from Wolverine)

Base of Operations: formerly Asteroid M

First Appearance: Pryde of the X-Men cartoon special (September 16, 1989)

Powers/Abilities: Toad had the mutant ability to leap great heights, at least thirty feet from a crouched position, and was extremely acrobatic, capable of flipping and changing direction of his leaps in mid-air.

Height: 4'11"
Weight: 160 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown

History: (Pryde of the X-Men cartoon special) - The sniveling Toad was present on Asteroid M when Magneto explained his plan to use the mutant power circuit from the X-Men's Cerebro computer to change the course of the Scorpio comet to a collision course with Earth. Magneto then gave the mutant power circuit to Toad to install in his Magnetron device and Toad immediately did as instructed, leaping up the ceiling to install the circuit. After completing the installation, Toad returned to Magneto, exclaiming that he had "done good" and Magneto responded by telling Toad to make himself useful by playing in an air lock. Not picking up on Magneto's veiled insult, Toad looked around briefly before seeing the alien dragon Lockheed and running after it. When the X-Men later breached Asteroid M to stop Magneto's plans, he ordered the Brotherhood of Mutant Terrorists against the X-Men and Toad led the charge. After Pyro tried to stop the X-Men and was met in battle by Dazzler, Toad leapt from a hole in the ceiling, catching Wolverine by the neck with his feet and hurling him across the room. When Toad leapt again, Wolverine slashed the stone wall, causing it to cave in and hit Toad in the head. Recovering quickly, Toad fell but then kicked off the breaking wall and into a nearby cave in the Asteroid headquarters, where Wolverine slashed the opening, causing rocks to fall and trap Toad within the cave. Wolverine remained behind to watch over as the terrorist yelled to be let out of the cave. When Magneto was defeated by Kitty Pryde and Nightcrawler, who charged the mutant power circuit enough to steer the Scorpio comet away from Earth, Magneto fled Asteroid M with Toad and the other Brotherhood members as the Asteroid broke apart due to the comet's vicinity.

Comments: Created by Larry Parr and Marvel Productions (see Appearances list for full list of artists involved).

Toad was voiced by Frank Welker.

Pryde of the X-Men was Marvel's first and failed attempt at creating an actual X-Men animation series. The project started in 1987 with Marvel Productions President Margaret Loesch deciding to invest $300,000 in a pilot episode she could pitch to TV executives in hopes of convincing them there was merit in an X-Men cartoon series. The result was Pryde of the X-Men, which failed to get picked up by any of the networks at the time. In their book X-Men the art and making of the animated series writers Eric and Julia Lewald blame this commercial flop on too many corporate "cooks" spoiling the proverbial broth with notes and suggestions the creative team had to incorporate. They list examples like: "Crocodile Dundee is popular - let's make Wolverine Australian!" "Let's put twenty extra Marvel characters in it so we can sell toys!." As a result, Pryde of the X-Men didn't work, both as a story and a showcase for a series despite having faithful character design and sharp animation. In 1992, Margaret Loesch, now head of children's programming at FOX, pitched the idea for X-Men again along with members of the original creative team. The result was X-Men: The Animated Series which went on for five seasons and delivered definite proof that the X-Men would work as an animated series.

The Pryde of the X-Men was adapted into a comic book in December 1990, using stills from the cartoon, called the X-Men Animation Special GN (adapted by Danny Fingeroth and edited by Bob Budiansky). Quite a bit of dialogue was altered in this special, including the name of the Brotherhood calling them the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants instead of Brotherhood of Mutant Terrorist in the cartoon. While some dialogue is different, the overall story and plot are exactly the same.

Pryde of the X-Men takes place on Earth-652975 and their storyline continued in the X-Men Arcade Game. Although its the only example we know of from any Marvel animated series we've seen this same principle applied between movies and games. For example Ang Lee's 2003 Hulk movie and game.

Profile by Proto-Man.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Earth-652975's Toad has no KNOWN connections to:

images: (without ads)
X-Men Animation Special GN, p37, pan2 (Toad, main image)
X-Men Animation Special GN, p37, pan1 (Toad, headshot)
X-Men Animation Special GN, p42, pan1 (Toad running)

Appearances:
Pryde of the X-Men cartoon special (September 16, 1989) - Larry Parr (writer, story editor), Russ Heath, Carol Lundberg (models), E.R. Cruz (background layouts), Will Meugniot, Larry Houston, Rick Hoberg (story editors, storyboard editors), Neal Warner, Rudy Cataldi, Tom Ray, Eileen Dunn, Charlie Downs, Margaret Nichols, Stan Phillips (animation directors)

First Posted: 09/18/2017
Last updated: 03/19/2023

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.!

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