TECHNOVORETECHNOVORE
Real Name: Technovore
Identity/Class: Just barely extraterrestrial (Earth orbit) nanotechnological sentient "robot"
Occupation: Predator/self-expander
Group Membership: None (developed from an apparent sextet of "mutant assemblers")
Affiliations: Cauwfield Multichemical (Berman, Piller), Source Control
Enemies: Cauwfield Multichemical staff aboard the Stark Enterprises Orbital Facility (SEOF)/Stark Satellite One (notably Berman, Dr. Jeffries, Lloyd Peterson, Rehnnquist, Piller, Scalia), Iron Man (Tony Stark), Stark Enterprises staff aboard the SEOF; maintenance engineer Fontana may have been Stark Enterprise vs. Cauwfield Multichemical staff
Known Relatives: Berman and Piller (creators);
"mutant assemblers" (precursors)
Aliases: "That thing," "Silicon abortion" (by Iron Man)
Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
formerly the Stark Enterprises Orbital Facility (SEOF)/Stark Satellite One in Earth's orbit
First Appearance: Iron Man I#294 (July, 1993)
Powers/Abilities:
A self-evolving nanotechnological organism, the Technovore was driven
by a sense of incompleteness/unbearable emptiness and a desire/hunger
to expand/enhance/better itself by incorporating everything around it.
Iron Man speculated that it could have devoured the universe and still
not have sated itself, because the void it was trying to fill was its
own sense of self.
Composed of metallic components derived from the Stark Enterprises Orbital Facility (SEOF)/Stark Satellite One, it could use surround materials to rebuild and enhance itself when damaged, growing ever larger and more powerful. It could extend tendrils to penetrate Iron Man's armor and take over its systems, given time.
At its most powerful, it could apparently be destroyed by a fusion reactor overload.
Not actually evil, it was tormented and a victim of its own existence/self-programming.
Height:
Variable (the mutant assemblers were perhaps 8-10' tall; the Technovore
was initially perhaps 15-20' tall, but it rapidly grew as it
incorporated materials from the space station; after it had
incorporated the entire space station, it was perhaps 100' tall or even
much larger)
Weight: Variable (the mutant assemblers were likely several
hundreds of pounds; the Technovore was initially likely several tons,
and it may have been hundreds of tons after incorporating the entire
space station)
Eyes: Variable (but usually seemed to be six optical units)
Hair: None
History:
(Iron
Man I#294 (fb) - BTS) - Leasing space on the Stark Enterprises Orbital
Facility (SEOF)/Stark Satellite One, Cauwfield Multichemical worked on
projects in micro-gravity.
(Iron Man I#294 (fb) - BTS) - Feeling that their nanotechnology project was going to be shut down if they did not produce results, Cauwfield researchers Berman and Piller tampered with the assembler tanks associated with the experiment in Lab 3, creating forced mutation conditions that resulted in some kind of "technological parasites."
(Iron Man I#294 (fb) - BTS) - The resultant beings progressively slew and consumed the crew, adapting their intellect and macrocellular organization and using their bodies as templates with which to accelerate their own evolution.
(Iron Man I#294 (fb) - BTS) <April 21, 03:22 hours> - Cauwfield agents lost control of the experiment in Lab 3. Emergencies procedures proved to be inadequate, and Rehnnquist and Scalia were slain.
(Iron Man I#294 (fb) - BTS) < 04:30 hours> - Stark Enterprises lost all contact with the SEOF.
(Iron Man I#294 (fb) - BTS) - Berman and Pillar admitted to tampering with the assembler tanks.
(Iron Man I#294 (fb) - BTS) < 08:12 hours> - Project Supervisor Lloyd Peterson made a video log, noting the crisis and confession, during which Berman interrupted and noted his reasons.
(Iron Man I#294 (fb) - BTS) < 15:30 hours> - Stark and associates questioned Winston Cauwfield, who reported no knowledge of anything in this regard.
(Iron Man I#294 (fb) - BTS) - Dr. Jeffries disabled the docking ports and the communication system to prevent the mutated assemblers from getting to Earth, after which he fell before the mutates.
(Iron Man I#294 (fb) - BTS) < 19:20 hours> - Stark launched his Model 12 unmanned telepresence Iron Man armor into space to investigate the SEOF.
(Iron Man I#294 (fb) - BTS) < 20:49 hours> - Maintenance engineer Fontana made a video log, noting that everyone else (of the total 17-member crew (three Stark Enterprises; 14 Cauwfield) was either dead or infected. Fontana was then apparently infected by nanotechnology, and the log abruptly ended.
(Iron Man I#294) <20:49 hours> - With the Iron Man telepresence unit in the satellite, the mutated assemblers confronted it, noting that it had many systems and abilities that they lacked, and they prepared to initiate deconstruction of the armor and integration of its properties/abilities into their systems.
Iron Man swiftly tore apart four such assemblers and sealed them within specific sections, only to see them rapidly regenerate, consuming the deck plating and using it for raw material. A larger and more powerful assembler subsequently wrapped tentacles around the Iron Man unit, deconstructing its molecular structure. As the other units began dissolving the blast doors containing them, Iron Man blew it apart via a "thrust from gauntlet APUs," after which he fled up through a few levels and then weaponized a Cauwfield-created molecular acid.
Iron Man melted all of the assemblers with the acid, after which they abandoned their macrocellular colonies, reverting to discrete microscopic entities and then re-combining, re-configuring, unifying, and accelerating their own evolution, consuming the deck and walls for raw material, and ultimately becoming one aggregated composite creature. Identifying itself as Technovore, the creature threatened Iron Man again.
(Iron
Man I#295) - The Technovore instructed Iron Man to prepare to be
assimilated, noting that Iron Man's needs were superseded by its own.
Iron Man fought back, damaging it with a blast, but it swiftly used the
stations' materials to rebuild itself, even bigger than before. After
it wrapped tendrils around him and began burrowing into the armor, Iron
Man re-routed his system's power, sending an electrical charge through
the endoskeleton, blasting it off of him. 
Appreciating that the Technovore could not be allowed to reach Earth, Iron Man flew out of the station, which subsequently blew apart, after which the Technovore added its components into itself. He then led the Technovore to pursue him as he departed Earth's orbit and flew out into space. Subsequently flying back and assaulting the Technovore, Iron Man distracted it from altering its trajectory, and when it was far enough out into space, he initiated his armor's fusion reactor overload / self destruct mechanism.
Realizing that if he was still linked to his armor when it exploded, the neural feedback would fry his brain, but if he left too soon, the Technovore might be able to take control of his armor and terminate the destruct sequence, Stark planned to depart at the last possible second. The Technovore interfaced with the armor's systems, and Stark resisted its control, but it was able to override the command processor, preventing him from disconnecting.
The Iron Man armor detonated and apparently destroyed both itself and the Technovore.
(Iron Man I#295 (fb) - BTS) - Seeking to turn Tony Stark to her side, the Goddess (the purely "good" aspect of Adam Warlock) used her Cosmic Containment Units to snatch his consciousness from the continuum in time.
(Iron Man I#295 - BTS) -
Although the Goddess used the Technovore as evidence of the evil of
technology, Stark argued that it was not evil but a victim of its own
existence/programming. The Goddess sent Stark's consciousness back to
his then-crippled form, considered that fit punishment for his refusing
to ally to her cause.
SECRET WARS III HAPPENED
(Iron Man VI#22) - Source Control, an international black market for high-powered weaponry and technology, got their hands on a small version of Technovore and put it up for sale.
(Iron Man VI#22 - BTS) - It was presumably one of the items bought by Tony Stark and taken to a warehouse on Long Island to be dismantled at a later point.
Comments: Created by Len Kaminiski, Kevin Hopgood, and Steve Mitchell.
Quick update by Markus Raymond (Iron Man VI#22 cameo).
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Technovore should be distinguished from:
(Iron Man I#294 (fb) - BTS) - Leasing space on the Stark Enterprises Orbital Facility (SEOF)/Stark Satellite One, Cauwfield Multichemical worked on projects in micro-gravity. (Iron Man I#294 (fb) - BTS) - Feeling that their nanotechnology project was going to be shut down if they did not produce results, Cauwfield researchers Berman and Piller tampered with the assembler tanks associated with the experiment in Lab 3, creating forced mutation conditions that resulted in some kind of "technological parasites." (Iron Man I#294 (fb) - BTS) - The resultant beings progressively slew and consumed the crew, adapting their intellect and macrocellular organization and using their bodies as templates with which to accelerate their own evolution. (Iron Man I#294 (fb) - BTS) <April 21, 03:22 hours> - Cauwfield agents lost control of the experiment in Lab 3. Emergencies procedures proved to be inadequate, and Rehnnquist and Scalia were slain. (Iron Man I#294 (fb) - BTS) < 04:30 hours> - Stark Enterprises lost all contact with the SEOF. (Iron Man I#294 (fb) - BTS) - Berman and Pillar admitted to tampering with the assembler tanks. (Iron
Man I#294 (fb) - BTS) < 08:12 hours> - Project Supervisor Lloyd
Peterson made a video log, noting the crisis and confession, during
which Berman interrupted and noted his reasons. (Iron Man I#294 (fb) - BTS) - Dr. Jeffries disabled the docking ports and the communication system to prevent the mutated assemblers from getting to Earth, after which he fell before the mutates. (Iron Man I#294 (fb) - BTS) < 19:20 hours> - Stark launched his Model 12 unmanned telepresence Iron Man armor into space to investigate the SEOF. (Iron Man I#294 (fb) - BTS) < 20:49 hours> - Maintenance engineer Fontana made a video log, noting that everyone else (of the total 17-member crew (three Stark Enterprises; 14 Cauwfield) was either dead or infected. Fontana was then apparently infected by nanotechnology, and the log abruptly ended. (Iron Man I#294) <20:49 hours> - With the Iron Man telepresence unit in the satellite, the mutated assemblers confronted it, noting that Iron Man had many systems and abilities that they lacked, and they prepared to initiate deconstruction of the armor and integration of its properties/abilities into their systems. Iron Man swiftly tore apart four such assemblers and sealed them within specific sections, only to see them rapidly regenerate, consuming the deck plating and using it for raw material. A larger and more powerful assembler subsequently wrapped tentacles around the Iron Man unit, deconstructing its molecular structure. As the other units began dissolving the blast doors containing them, Iron Man blew it apart via a "thrust from gauntlet APUs," after which he fled up through a few levels and then weaponized a Cauwfield-created molecular acid. Iron Man melted all of the assemblers with the acid, after which they abandoned their macrocellular colonies, reverting to discrete microscopic entities and then re-combining, re-configuring, unifying, and accelerating their own evolution, consuming the deck and walls for raw material, and ultimately becoming one aggregated composite creature.--Iron Man I#294 Note: Stark called them "mutant assemblers" |
images: (without ads)
Iron Man I#294, pg. 14, panel 1 (mutant assemblers; earlier form);
pg. 16, panel 5 (mutant assemblers; subsequent form);
pg. 22 (Technovore, initial form);
#295, pg. 1 (Technovore, initial form);
pg. 10, panel 1 (Technovore, whole space station form);
pg. 16, panel 2 (destroyed)
Iron Man VI#22, p5, pan1 (up for sale)
Appearances:
Iron Man I#294-295 (July-August, 1993) - Len Kaminiski (writer), Kevin Hopgood (penciler), Steve Mitchell (inker), Nel Yomtov (editor)
Iron Man VI#22 (August, 2022) - Christopher Cantwell (writer), Angel Unzueta (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)
First posted: 08/27/2022
Last updated: 10/17/2023
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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Precursors to the Technovore, the mutant assemblers were
six nanotech beings who had developed themselves after infecting the
staff of the Stark Enterprises Orbital Facility
(SEOF)/Stark
Satellite One. Incorporating nearby materials, they could advance
and/or rebuild themselves as needed. After being completely destroyed,
they could combine into a single entity.