Alex Mercer

**Dr. Alexander J. Mercer**, also known as **The Prototype**, **Zeus** and **Alex Mercer**, is the main protagonist from the *Prototype* series.

## **Charactah Account**

Alex is a man who wakes up in the GENTEK morgue with bizarre and horrifying powers and no knowledge of events prior to that point, aside from his name and that he was once a scientist. Confused, enraged, and determined to reclaim his past, he sets out to do so by hunting down his old colleagues.

Perhaps as a result of his difficult childhood, Alex is a callous, spiteful, and cold-blooded individual, both paranoid and borderline sociopathic. Most notably, prior to his human death at Penn Station, he released the deadly Blacklight virus simply to spite those who denied him information. His motivations and plans are utterly personal and he rarely takes human cost into account, being able to murder scores of humans without remorse or hesitation.

However, Alex is not completely cruel and heartless; he deeply trusts and cares for his younger sister Dana, having been the only real paternal figure for her, and had what can be assumed to be a loving relationship with Karen Parker.

## **Appearance**

### **Comics**

* Prototype
* Prototype 2

### **Video Games**

* Prototype
* Prototype 2

## **Trivia**

* In the beta version of *Prototype*, Mercer was depicted with a black bubble jacket and white hoodie. He was later changed so as to differ from Altaïr from *Assassin's Creed*.
* It is mentioned in a bio for Mercer, located on the official *Prototype* website, that he has blue eyes and brown hair, although in-game his eyes appear bluish-silver, and his hair is in fact black. His bio also states that he is 5' 10" (1.79 m) tall, weighs 190 lbs (86 kg) in his human form, and is twenty-nine years old.
	+ During the final battle of *Prototype 2,* Mercer is shown to be much taller compared to Heller (about 8'-9'), possibly because of Mercer consuming his Evolved.
* His official bio also states his "personality traits" which are: distant, predatory, super-intelligent, terrifying, vengeful, blank, and searching.
* In one Web of Intrigue node, it is speculated by Blackwatch operatives that Mercer is the first and only male Runner in the history of the evolution of Blacklight virus.
* When you activate a power and stand idle for a few seconds, Mercer will perform an action that resembles his current power. (Ex. When Musclemass is active, he will beat his fists together.)
* "Well. We intended Alex to be...well one of the most powerful characters in video game if you believe it. We made him powerful enough to lift cars, tanks, destroy buildings and even kicking helicopters off the air. Fast enough to outrun even the fastest vehicles. I think it's safe to say that we did a pretty good job in doing so (chuckles)"-Tim Bennison, the executive producer of *Prototype*, describing Mercer as one of the most powerful video game characters ever created.
* Dennis Detwiller, the senior designer and writer of *Prototype*, said there is "no cute fuzzy bunny in Alex Mercer's future". This quote could be read as a hint at Mercer's eventual death at the hands of James Heller, although Detwiller himself left Radical Entertainment in 2009 and was not involved in the making of *Prototype 2*.
* Many fans of the series have speculated that Mercer could possibly be still alive or that the Mercer that Heller consumed was actually a perfect clone of himself. Whether or not any of these rumors are true, it is still unclear if Mercer survived his fight with James Heller.
	+ When the player views one of his memories in *Prototype 2* after Heller's battle with him, in the memory, Mercer states that he is, "no longer bound by life and death," which further implies that it *might* be possible for him to have survived the fight with James Heller (though this has been neither confirmed nor denied).
	+ Considering that Mercer regenerated from a literal puddle of radioactive biomass, his severed limbs possibly could regenerate if touched by organics.
* NECA released an action figurine of Mercer with his Blade power active.
* Mercer utilizes all of his offensive powers at some point in *Prototype 2* except for the Musclemass power, defensive powers, and his Devastators.
* As a reward for completing all 5 weeks of Radnet content, players will receive an Alex Mercer skin so you can appear to look like Mercer while playing *Prototype 2*.
* An upcoming movie, *The Prototype*, which is not related to the game, has the main character wear an attire similar to Mercer's.
* It is possible that Mercer's ultimate goal was to consume all biomass. Pre-final battle with Heller, he states that he wants humanity to be joined in "one body." If this is the case, he wouldn't have seen consuming the Evolved as a bad thing. To him, it was just redistributing biomass in a more efficient way.
* Mercer's Blade drastically changed in both appearance and size at his final battle with Heller, being about the same size as Heller's.
	+ It could be due to the Evolved agents being absorbed by Alex, giving him some upgrades.
* Mercer and Heller are called "It" for they have the ability to shapeshift into male or female.