Alex Mercer

Origin

Born as Alexander J. Mercer, Alex experienced a brutal childhood spent in abject poverty; his first nine years were spent in foster care. When he turned 10, he was finally returned to his mother, who had spent the last nine years in prison, but for Alex it was better to be in foster care. He was the only parental figure for his sister Dana.

However, his intellect and aptitude in science provided him an opportunity to leave behind his troubled past. He trusted no one, had no friends, couldn't care less about what others thought of him, and found solace only in his work. By the time he was hired by Gentek, Alex was a borderline sociopath. He knew this, and didn't care.

Alex Mercer awoke in a morgue with no memories, completely unaware of what happened to him. He breaks out of the morgue, only to be attacked by Blackwatch soldiers. Through consumption of one of the Blackwatch soldiers, Alex is able to locate his sister, Dana Mercer, who tells him that he had asked her to do a little digging into GENTEK to see what they were hiding. Alex had no recollection of this. Alex Mercer goes on a journey to find out who he is, what's happened to him and why. Later, Dana recovers information on Elizabeth Greene, who is imprisoned in the GENTEK building. Alex, in his quest to learn more, sets Elizabeth free. She escapes from him as well, telling him as she flees that she is his mother. As she escapes out of the window she sets some infected people on Alex, knocking him out of the window. He manages to defeat them in combat, but by this time Elizabeth has infected the whole city.

Alex meets up with his girlfriend Karen Parker asking her to help him find a cure, and she instructs him to go to infected hives and collect genetic material and bring it back to her. But Karen betrayed Alex, using him to collect the material that was ultimately intended to form a weapon to be used against him. He is lured to his foe, The Specialist, who injects Alex with a parasite that limits Alex's powers.

Alex seeks the help of Doctor Ragland to cure him of the parasite that the Specialist injected into him. He is instructed that he must find a lead hunter, inject him with a special serum Ragland made, and consume him, to rid himself of the the parasite. Alex kills the parasite and is able to use his full abilities once again.

A lead hunter kidnaps his sister Dana, forcing Alex to chase the creature all throughout New York City. Ultimately Dr. Ragland and Alex recover his sister. At this point the military starts releasing a chemical called 'Bloodtox' underground to force the infection to surface where they can get rid of it once and for all. This draws Elizabeth Greene out, and when she emerges from the ground she appears to have mutated herself into some sort of huge creature. After a battle, Alex defeats and consumes her. The military starts pulling out of Manhattan, and Alex realizes that they intend to drop a nuclear bomb on the island, a plan which he thwarts. However, he himself is destroyed in the blast. Later on red liquid remains are shown on the outskirts of Manhattan, and Alex starts to reform his entire body from a single cell.

The Hope Outbreak

In 1969 Blackwatch tested a special virus, black-light, in Hope, Idaho. It killed nearly all of the population. Elizabeth Greene was one of the survivors of the outbreak, instead of dying from the virus she adapted to it, bonded with it, and it became apart of her as it rewrote Elizabeth's genetic code. Her son Pariah was taken by Blackwatch and is currently being held at another facility. Hope, Idaho was completely destroyed by a nuclear bomb, and Elizabeth and her son Pariah were kept for further experimentation.

Self-discovery

Alex looked for the truth, found it, and didn't like it. When GENTEK employee's started to vanish, GENTEK employee Alex Mercer took a small sample of the virus he had been modifying, Dx-1118 variant A, as a guarantee that he wouldn't be killed. He was cornered by Blackwatch soldiers and was shot down. As he was shot, Alex threw the vial containing the virus on the ground, releasing ZEUS. As Alex Mercer's dead body lay on the ground ZEUS entered his blood stream, consuming his body. The Alex Mercer alive today is in fact the Virus extracted from Elizabeth Greene and modified. Alex was artificially created, Elizabeth Greene is his "mother".

Family Business

Alex finds out that Elizabeth Greene had a child, Pariah, Alex's virus "brother", and he is locked away in another facility. Pariah is said to show no signs of the virus, and appears quite normal, yet he demonstrates the same abilities as Alex and Elizabeth. Pariah kills everything he comes in contact with. He can accelerate the virus to limitless proportions, and can basically force things to evolve. Only alex and pariah have the same DNA but alex is more powerful then greene and pariah together making him the strongest infected ever

He was killed due to a nuclear bomb on an aircraft carrier and a crow picked up one of his infections and consumed it and became Alex again.

Powers

Alex Mercer [Codenamed Zeus] has been given many different powers. Here are the descriptions of some of the powers of Zeus

Blade - Alex can turn his entire arm into razor sharp blade which can be used to mutilate his enemies in a brutal fashion. He acquired this ability by absorbing a Hunter that he injected adding its genetic code to his own.

Armor - Encases Alex in a shell of armor which is resistant to damage and increases Alex's defence. While in this phase alex may sprint, building up his momentum to push aside obstacles such as tanks and other vehicles. He acquired this ability by absorbing a hunter he had injected.

Disguise - Allows Alex to take on the memories and appearance of civilians, the military, and even the infected. To do so alex must first kill his target and absorb their structure to make use of their DNA. This may be used to play both the Infected and Military against each other, escape notice of your enemies, and learn useful information such as how to fly a helicopter. By disguising himself as a civilian the military will protect him from infected. by disguising himself as a sergeant in the military he can call down air-strikes, and tell his soldiers that someone else is the prototype.

Ground Spikes - Alex channels his biomass through the ground that will erupt to pierce his enemies, this is effective on multiple targets. The ground spikes are also effective against armored targets such as tanks and heavy transport.

Tendril - Alex produces tendril from his body that will impale all who are within reach. Drains and consumes the victims it touches.

Glide - Alex can alter his density and make himself very light enough to glide on wind. This helps him navigate through the city much easier.

Super Physicality:

• Superhuman Strength : Alex Mercer is one of the strongest characters in the prototype verse, casually capable of fighting enemies such as Brawlers. Alex is capable of effortlessly killing soldiers, civilians and infected in one punch, destroy Helicopters, damage tanks, toss cars, and even gunships, which were noted to be 25,000 pounds. Alex can hit the ground hard enough to cause a shock wave, which can kill several enemies, and heavily damage enemies such as Walkers, which can withstand 40 mm Grenades. With full upgrades Mercer is capable of fighting the toughest of infected, and is even capable of hurting Mother, who can withstand his bullet dive, an attack capable of leveling bases.

• Superhuman Durability : Due to having no organs, Mercer can take falls from hundreds of meters with no damage. Early in game, with no upgrades, Mercer was capable of withstanding an explosion which leveled his entire apartment, and later an explosion which destroyed half a base, which usually takes dozens of anti tank missiles to accomplish. Bullets and grenades cause minor damage, unless they are in heavy barrages. Alex is capable of surviving many missiles from helicopters, which have been shown to destroy buildings in a few shots. When fully upgraded, Mercer can take hits from the toughest of infected, such as Mother, who could shake the ground by moving.
• Superhuman Endurance : Alex is capable of taking severe damages, even surviving bullet holes in his body, this is due to having an amorphous body structure. Mercer can easily survive, and regenerate from being reduced to paste, as long as he has biomass.
• Superhuman Speed : Alex is fast enough to easily run up walls, even without upgrades. Later in the game, he can easily keep up with enemies such as walkers, and brawlers, and can effortlessly outrun them with full upgrades. Alex is capable of dodging FGM-148 Javelin missiles, which move at 205 meters per second, and even anti tank missiles, which move at supersonic speeds. With full upgrades, Mercer can react, and can somewhat keep up with shock waves.
• Superhuman Agility : Alex is capable of performing maneuvers that would be impossible for a normal person. Alex can casually perform somersaults while moving in between buildings, and jump high into the air. As an extension of his agility, Alex can somehow glide and propel himself in short bursts through the air.
• Regeneration : Alex is capable of regenerating from the most grievous of injuries, so long as he has biomass to do so. At the end of game, injuries such as bullet holes no longer need any biomass. After getting reduced to paste, he was able to regenerate by absorbing a crow.
• Shape shifting : After consuming an enemy, Alex can gain their genetic code, and shape shift to that enemy. Alex can gain new powers by consuming an enemy that has that power.

Consuming- One of Alex's primary abilities is the ability to take other people's abilities; when he consumes people he actually 'downloads' their entire genetic code and adds it to his own, this gives him everything the enemy possessed. All of his powers were obtained in this fashion

Devastators- While in critical mass Alex can deploy devastator attacks that can cause massive area effect damage.These are his "super weapons" that require Alex's critical mass health to execute.

Claws- After consuming a hunter Alex gains a pair of savage claws to shred his enemies. He can deploy ground spikes with this power.

Whipfist- Alex can transform his arm into a bladed tentacle to take out multiple enemies. He can also use this tentacle to hijack helicopters.

Hammerfists- Being a shapeshifter Alex can shift his bio-mass to his arms to create hammer like weapons to smash tanks, helicopters, and infected.

Musclemass- This increases Alex's strength and can increase the overall damage of any of his attacks.

Shield- This defensive power is for boucing bullets from angles the shield is facing but could easily be destory by a tank or helicopter missiles and takes a few seconds to regain its biomass and pushes anything in its way when alex is running.

Factions

In Prototype there are 3 Factions at war with each other:

1. U.S. Military - Working to stem the tide of the virus from infecting anymore of the city, at all costs. Later in the game you will encounter the upper echelon of the U.S. Military known as Project BLACKWATCH.

2. Blackwatch - Are ruthless soldiers who use all means necessary to contain the infection, deeming all life expendable. They are a hidden branch of the government using whatever means necessary to capture and kill the infected.

3. Super Soldiers- These are the 3 strongest enemy in prototype because are injected with the DX-1118 causing them to have above strength then the hunters and speed and jumping of a hunter they cannot be consumed and could automatically sense alex even in crowds or in disguise making them hard to fight in battle

4. The Infected zombies - People and creatures infected by the blacklight virus alex created and If a humans is bitten by an infected they will become infected. In the infected part of the city, there are hives which create more infected beings. All infected can see Alex in any shape he changes into.

5. Infected Humans - Normal humans who got infected but do not know it

6. Infected Creatures - Monsters that are on the power-level of Alex himself. They destroy cars and create total pandemonium wherever they go. These creatures are called Hunters, Leader Hunters, Hydras and Supreme Hunter

Prototype the Game

Prototype is a sandbox action game developed by Radical Entertainment as a new IP for PS3, Xbox 360, and PC. It is due for release in February of 2009.

You - You are Alex Mercer, the Prototype. You are an enemy to both the U.S. Military and The Infected, it is your duty to find those responsible for your condition and the virus' outbreak in New York City. To do so you will use various methods. The theme of Prototype is "deceive or destroy." These tactics are not mutually exclusive, disguise and destruction are both viable tactics which may be used in different situations in the interest of accomplishing your objectives and more importantly, your survival.

Plot

Alex Mercer originally works for Gentek, furthering the corporation's research into weaponizing the Blacklight virus. When he learns that the virus is derived from a human intentionally infected, he attempts to leak information to the outside world. General Randallfrustrated by the leaky security of the company's top secret work, orders the scientists to be executed. Alex Mercer receives word of his dangerous position and steals a vial of the Blacklight virus as insurance. Fleeing to Penn Station but cornered by security, Mercer threatens to shatter the vial, unleashing the virus upon the city. The guards do not back down, however, and open fire, killing Mercer but breaking the vial in the process.

Alex Mercer's body is transported to the Gentek morgue, but the scientists do not realize that Alex has been infected by a weaponized form of the virus. The pathogen secretly consumes every cell in his body, replacing it with a viral replica. The process complete, Alex Mercer awakens to a baffled autopsy team. Soldiers open fire, but Alex realizes to his great surprise that bullets have little affect on him. With super strength, speed, and agility, he evades the military and seeks out his sister, Dana.

With the help of his sister and other allies, Alex Mercer fights to stop the virus from consuming the rest of Manhattan, battling the infected and the soldiers of Blackwatch.

Overview

Prototype is an action/adventure game that uses the "sandbox" gameplay present in games such as Grand Theft Auto and Spider-Man. You play as the result of a secret government experiment in which you have been infected with a virus that grants the protagonist, Alex Mercer the ability control all aspects of his genetic structure. The virus used on Alex is somehow released and is taking control of New York City.

In an attempt to prevent the infection from spreading the United States Military has declared marshall law and has made New York City a quarantined zone, effectively sealing the area from the outside world. You are in the middle of this war and have lost all of your memory. Your main goal in the game is to learn your identity and how you are involved with the infection. You have many different powers at your disposal which will aid you throughout the course of the game. There are also vehicles available such as tanks and helicopters which you can hi-jack.

April 15, 2008 - DC Comics today announced a partnership with Sierra Entertainment – a division of Vivendi Games – to bring the world of the up and coming Prototype videogame to the pages of an all-new comic series. The Prototype comic is set to debut this August on DC's WildStorm imprint.

Prototype puts gamers in control of Alex Mercer – a genetically mutated shape-shifter with no memory of his past hell-bent on solving the mystery of his existence – as he tears through a densely populated New York City moving with Parkour-style fluidity and consuming anybody that gets in his way…assuming their physical identity, memories and abilities. Fueled by a three way war between Alex, the military and its elite Blackwatch division, and a viral outbreak known as the Infected, players will venture deep into a dark conspiracy 40 years in the making.

Prototype was released on June 9th in North America.

Prototype 2 (2011)

The second installment of the series was released on April of 2012. This game follows a new protagonist called Sergeant James Heller, and his conquest against the Blacklight virus and Alex Mercer who is establishing the role of antagonist for the sequel. It takes place approximately 14 months after the events of the first game, in which time Manhattan has been quarantined and dislocated from other regions of New York city, which has taken the name New York Zero (NYZ). The division of regions has lead to a ranking or coding to address how badly an area has been infected by the Blacklight virus. Green Zone contains a heavy Blackwatch presence, but is regarded as the non-infected part of New York City; the Yellow Zone is an overpopulated, triage area full of shanty towns, and although the virus presence is at minimum here, Blackwatch are using this zone as a petri dish; the Red Zone is home to Alex Mercer and the virus is allowed to grow unihindered in this area, which gives rise to mutation.

Plot

Despite the sightings of Alex Mercer being only fleeting, it has been reported that he is the main cause of all deaths, as he is venturing out on a more and more frequent basis. Sergeant James Heller receives a call from his wife, she expresses her fears in regards to Blackwatch, but he assures her of their proffesionalism, and to be afraid as he will return home from his Afghanistan and Iraq tour the following day. Upon his return to New Yrok Zero he is greeted with the burning of infected bodies by Blackwatch, and the revelation that his family is among them. He places blame directly on Mercer's shoulders, as he is the primary cause for the unintentional release of the virus, while he was interrogating Elizabeth Greene. Wishing the denouement of his now hopeless life to be joining his family, he enlists his services in the military once more to battle the virus.

Heller constantly temps fate by participating in missions which offer the lowest chances of succession, or survival, and yet on account of his rage, he completes them. As a result of this he learns of classified information that Blackwatch were created as a safeguard from the nuclear biochemical hostilities for the United States during the Cold War. The Blacklight virus was created in 1963 by their scientists, which subsequently infected and destroyed the town of Hope, Idaho. Elite forces were sent to the town in hope of expunging this contamination; a nigh-impossible task. The one survivor whom they had discovered had become an incubator for the virus, Elzabeth Greene, code named, Mother. In order to eradicate the virus Blackwatch partnered with Gentek (the company responsible for the virus' existence) and went to work annihilating the mutants there. An event which ended in 2008. Coincidentally, a vial of the deadly virus was stolen by a Gentek scientist, Alex Mercer, who released it, became infected and became a monster. During this time Elizabeth Greene was accidentally freed by Mercer and he later killed her and averted the destruction of Manhattan from a nuclear missle. At this point he was presumed deceased.

Undertaking a considerably dangerous mission, Heller is mortally wounded and awaits his demise, unperturbed as he knows he will see his family soon. But Heller has caught the eye of Mercer, who has, for an unknown reason, taken interest in him. So instead of letting him die and getting what he wants, Mercer effectively saves his life by injecting him with a mutated strain of the virus. The ironic delay of his passing enrages Heller even further, and he decides it fitting to utilise his new abilities to take on the virus, as he once did on the military's side. To accomplish his goal, he hacks a system called Blacknet, to determine where he can inflict most damage upon the virus.

New soldier recruits are delivered a briefing similar to what Heller received, although the difference being that he is now included on the list. Blackwatch has declared his containment their highest priority, regardless of where his allegiance lies.

Alex Mercer has now begun overtly spreading the virus throughout New York Zero, while Heller struggles to combat it. The stage for a war of attrition and eventual confrontation between Heller and Mecer has been set! but later in alex dies by the hands of james heller willing let heller consume him.