Nathaniel Essex

**Nathaniel Essex** (*Mister Sinister*) traveled to Greenwich Park, South of the Thames, in London, as a child and was amazed by the endless clean number of people walking, what he believed to be, preordained paths for them. Essex believed that the sanctity and purity of it was heaven on Earth. He gained a full scholarship to Oxford University and later became a biologist in 1859 Victorian England. He developed advanced theories on human evolution and was obsessed with Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, though he felt Darwin and his contemporaries were shackled by too many moral constrains and that science was beyond morality.

## Relatives

* Erasmus Essex - ancestor
* Mary Essex - mother
* Rebecca Essex - wife
* Adam Essex - son
* Experiment N2 - creation
* Madelyne Pryor - creation
* Xraven - creation
* Hans - creation
* Claudine Renko - clone "daughter"

## Powers

**Genetic Enhancement:** Following genetic alteration by Apocalypse, Essex was transformed from human to superhuman. He has continually improved upon his original transformation over the years, incorporating the genetic material of certain mutants into his DNA to gain their abilities. He has also performed other self-experiments to alter his genetic capabilities.

* ***Cellular Shapeshifting:*** Essex possesses the ability to control every molecule of his body, enabled via an implanted X-gene taken from Courier. This allows him to assume the form of anyone he wishes, reduce himself to a semi-liquid state, or harden his body like living armor.
* ***Regenerative Healing Factor:*** Essex is able to rapidly regenerate damaged or destroyed tissue with much greater speed and efficiency than an ordinary human. He can fully heal from injuries that result in massive tissue damage or loss such as multiple gunshot wounds, slashes, puncture wounds, broken bones, and severe burns within a matter of moments. Apparently, an extension of the cellular control he derived from Courier, Essex's healing factor is such that he no longer requires the functionality of his brain or other internal organs to survive. In the past, he has been blasted in half or had holes blown through the center of his head without consequence.
* ***Superhuman Strength:*** Essex possesses superhuman strength which may be a product of his shapeshifting ability. He has been categorized as able to press within the 2-10 ton range. Later, his classification identified him as having an upper limit of possibly 25 tons.
* ***Superhuman Speed:*** He is capable of running at speeds far greater than those of the finest human athlete.
* ***Superhuman Durability:*** Essex's muscles and tissues are far more durable than those of an ordinary man, allowing him to resist gunshots, physical damage, shocks, and energy blasts. His durability can be enhanced by his regeneration ability, telekinesis, and force fields.
* ***Superhuman Stamina:*** Essex's muscles produce considerably fewer fatigue toxins than the muscles of ordinary human. He can exert himself at peak capacity for several days before fatigue begins to affect him.
* ***Superhuman Reflexes:*** Essex's reflexes and agility are enhanced to levels that are beyond the human body's natural limits.
* ***Telepathy:*** He can read minds and project his own thoughts into the minds of others within a radius of 250 miles while on Earth. With extreme effort, he can greatly extend that radius. Essex is resistant to others' telepathic powers.
	+ ***Mental Paralysis:*** Essex has the ability to induce temporary mental or physical paralysis and project pain into the minds of others.
	+ ***Mind Control:*** He is capable of controlling the minds of others but only one at a time and only if the target is in his physical presence.
	+ ***Memory Alteration:*** He can also manipulate memories, creating new ones or erasing others, such as he has done with his clones.
	+ ***Telepathic Illusions:*** He can alter the perceptions of others and use this to disguise his appearance.
	+ ***Mind Link:*** He can also create mental links with others, objects, or locations.
* ***Power Dilation:*** He has the ability to mentally paralyze a foe he's touching and "turn off" the superhuman powers of any mutant by creating mental blocks.
* ***Telekinesis:*** Essex possesses telekinetic abilities enabling him to levitate and mentally manipulate living beings, inanimate objects, and energy to some extent. He can psychokinetically lift as much as ten tons of weight and possibly even more.
* ***Concussive Blasts:*** He can fire blasts of concussive force from his hands. These blasts are powerful enough to match Cyclops' energy blasts at their full power for a considerable period of time and have a great destructive power.
* ***Force Fields:*** Essex can erect multiple force barriers to repel, reflect, and defend against incoming onslaughts. They are potent enough to stand against Cyclops' optic blasts with ease. He normally uses these on a personal level, but it is assumed he can increase or decrease the protection level or enhance the size of the shield to englobe others or entire areas.
* ***Teleportation:*** He has exhibited the ability to transport himself over long distances. However, Beast believes this is a function of his headquarters rather than a personal ability.
* ***Technology Interface:*** Essex is able to directly interface with various technologies he has at his disposal, mentally activating or summoning them.
* ***Immortality:*** Essex is functionally immortal in the sense that he is immune to aging and disease, and he can rapidly regenerate from almost any damaged bodily tissue. However, it is possible for him to be killed.

## Abilities

**Genius Intelligence:** Essex is a genius with expertise in various fields of science, including genetics, mutation, human biology, alien biology, cloning, all types of physics, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and genetic engineering. His intellect has been said to match that of Reed Richards and Victor von Doom, and he is one of the smartest people on the planet. Essex, having lived for over 150 years, has acquired vast knowledge over many known fields, being a formidable scientist and talented inventor. Considered the most brilliant mind of his time, Essex was already a genius with a Ph.D. and M.D. with other honors in biology and genetics and was a member of the British Royal Society before acquiring his superhuman talents. His intellect later grew to new levels after his time with Apocalypse and the advanced Celestial technology he had access to, allowing him to master not only this technology but all technology from Earth. This has allowed him to gain expertise in cybernetics, robotics, and computers, as well.

**Genius-Level Geneticist:** Essex is a genius and a geneticist of the highest order. He is able to predict genetic mutations and splice DNA. It is quite probable that his powers are the result of a self-experiment, although his shapeshifting power is due to a procedure performed on himself. He can also produce clones and has done so with all of his Marauders, himself, and Jean Grey. He is considered an expert in the art of cloning with vast knowledge of powers, genes, and more due to the hundreds of samples of mutant DNA he has access to.

**Master Surgeon:** Essex is a master surgeon, having excised a portion of Gambit's brain, only to later restore it. Besides this area, he is a skilled physician, one of the best from his time in English with honors in medicine and biology.

**Skilled Mechanical Engineer:** Having created devices that seem to have been taken from the tales of Jules Verne, his inventions include advanced ships, devices that negate all mutant powers or except for his own, power transferring devices, healing machines, resurrection machines, teleportatin devices, energy blasters, aircraft and many more. Although his inventions are not as spectacular as those of Iron Man, he is a very talented inventor and engineer with a skill rivaling that of Iron Man among many others.

**Master Manipulator:** He possesses a good deal of knowledge in psychology and is a skilled manipulator, being able to deceive others with simple words and facial expressions. Essex is also a capable leader and strategist, capable of creating plans with ease and even outmatching brains like those of Charles Xavier, Scott Summers, Ororo Munroe, Max Eisenhardt, and Apocalypse. He is usually several steps ahead of his opponents.

**Trained Combatant:** Essex has trained himself in martial arts and unarmed combat. He is capable of defending himself from stronger opponents and even other trained combatants.