Waylon Talos

Dr. Waylon Talos is a genius inventor and mercenary contractor dedicated to aiding supervillains. While technically not a villain himself, he has put powerful weaponry and specialized high-tech tools in the hands of dozens of supervillains and criminal organizations.

## Biography

Though a widely known figure, Talos' personal origin is mostly unknown. He is of Eastern European descent, and began his career in the late 60's developing technology for Interpol. Something changed in 1967, however, as he renounced his connection to law enforcement, went underground and immediately began selling weapons directly to VIPER's European branches. What caused this radical shift is unknown, though it is clear from his demeanor and refusal to aid superheroes that he bears a powerful grudge against self-proclaimed "do-gooders" over some real or imagined transgression.

Talos maintains an opulent residence in Amsterdam, though the location of his legendary workshop is unknown. He still works with VIPER from time to time, but now prefers to outfit individual villains with custom gear rather than take larger orders from criminal organizations.

Some of Dr. Talos' dozens of notable inventions include:

* The alloy Saturnite, and its use as a weapon (including forging Perfidy's signature blades)
* Power armor for a dozen villains, including Armadillo and Anklyosaur
* Energy weapons utilized by VIPER, and even more advanced firearms built for individual villains, including Lazer and Warhead
* The invisible Flying Fortress, an enormous airborne base utilized by the Warlord to conduct his mercenary operations across the world
* UNIthought, an AI virus and "digital villain" programmed to independently attack secure computer systems at random and steal data for sale by Talos

## Personality

Dr. Talos is a gruff but charming old man with a soft spot for villains, particularly those at the early stages of their careers. He has nothing but contempt for heroes, however, and can barely stand to be in their presence. Talos' charming demeanor is a mask that covers an incredible depth of bitterness towards superheroes and he will take any excuse to lash out at them through his work.

Talos has a keen understanding of his own value and charges dearly for his services, though he has occasionally been known to cut a deal when he suspects a villain he is outfitting will be able to strike a particularly grievous blow against the forces of law and order. Seeing evil prevail is one of the only pleasures of his life, along with the never-ending joy of invention.

## Powers

Talos is one of the greatest geniuses the world has ever known, and has been called "the power-armored Da Vinci." In the realm of robotics and experimental physics, he almost totally unmatched; only Mechanon itself has a greater understanding of robotic invention. Although he is a normal human in every other respect, Talos is never defenseless, as he always has a dozen or more devices to protect himself with forcefields, holograms, and other high-tech wizardry. He also typically has one or more robotic minions on hand, both to aid his experiments (he is an old man, after all) and to fight on his behalf.

Talos' incredible mental prowess is *not* a result of genetic mutation, as he proved himself when he invented the first mutant detector in 1983 just to put the question to rest.

## Weaknesses

Dr. Talos is a human normal and in his late 80's; although relatively healthy for that age, he is still quite weak by most standards and is essentially helpless without his gadgets.