Axel Manning

**Comics** | Issue 1 (A.T.O.M.)

**Axel Manning** is a main character from the *A.T.O.M. – Alpha Teens on Machines* series. He is the leader of the Alpha Team.

When Alexander Paine breaks out of prison Axel goes after him to take revenge for his deceased father Sebastian Manning. Later Axel learns that Paine did not kill his father and finds out that Sebastian is still alive. His main goal is to find out what really happened ten years ago and where his father is now.

## Personality

Axel is the eighteen-year-old leader of the Alpha Team, and a master of the Jo-Lan martial art. Axel enjoys adventure and will push his body to its limits. Just like the rest of the team he likes extreme sports. While he is sometimes closed up and thoughtful he can be quite a hot-head, too, ignoring any reason and acting in an irresponsible and hasty fashion, especially when his father is mentioned. As the leader of the team, Axel is courageous and good at coming up with battle strategies. He is very loyal towards his friends and feels guilty if he puts them in any kind of danger. He has a good knowledge of people and knows when to be critical towards the people he does not know. He does not talk very much about his past but often mentions his father. There is no mentioning of any extended family.

When someone who he trusts betrays him (e.g. Lee in the second season), he finds it hard to forgive them. He is constantly thriving to become better at Jo-Lan skills, although he has already surpassed his father's abilities by the end of the second season. Also, he is very modest and never shows off with his martial art skills.

Axel and his father, Sebastian Manning, had a very strong father and son relationship. Sebastian taught him everything he knows about Jo-Lan. Axel admired him deeply. After his death Axel was devastated and unable to move on, haunted by the incident. Axel hates Alexander Paine because he allegedly is the one who killed his father. Axel's father and Paine once worked together, but Paine betrayed him for the sake of his own interests. Eventually, a bomb exploded in the building where Sebastian and Paine were fighting, and the bomb was probably detonated by Paine. Now, Axel wants revenge. He is still searching for his father after all these years, and later he got a hint that Sebastian may not be dead after all.

In the team, King is possibly the closest friend Axel has. Their brotherly relationship often surfaces in difficult situations. Whenever something troubles Axel, King is the person most likely he will go and talk to. On the other hand, Lioness is very dear to Axel as he is often seen rescuing her from dangerous situations. She is a great support for him and would comfort him when he feels down. He is most likely in love with her, although it is never clearly stated in the show. There are many hints, though, such as occasionally holding hands, hugging and always staying close to one another. Shark never openly shows his concern for Axel, but will always try to cheer him up with his laid-back attitude. Axel gets along with him very well and trusts him a lot, even going so far as to transfer the leadership onto him when he is unable to do it himself. Also, Axel has great faith in Hawk whenever he is certain that a task within his capability because Hawk tends to act irresponsibly and often gets distracted by himself or a pretty woman. Their relationship is based on the companionship in the team and Hawk is not the person Axel would consult with if anything is troubling him.

## Appearance

Axel is a good-looking young man of approximately 1.85 cm height. He has short dark brown hair and blue eyes. Axel is quite tan. He has a small gap in his right eyebrow. He is very muscular and well-trained because of his Jo-Lan martial arts training seassions. His jumpsuit in the first season is black with orange and white details. In the second season, he wears a similar suit, however with more white and orange parts on the jacket.

His casual wear consists of a black t-shirt with orange details, a white long-sleeve underneath and blue jeans with black and white sneakers. Axel is sometimes seen wearing a red top with a white t-shirt underneath, white wristbands and blue jeans.

## Biography

### A.T.O.M. – Season I

For the first time Axel is seen during the mysterious tournament of Janus Lee. Then he meets Hawk, Lioness, King and Shark. When all five pass the tournament, they meet Mr. Lee, who accepts them into his company Lee Industries, where their work is testing different devices, vehicles and weapons. Shortly thereafter, a dangerous criminal named Alexander Paine escapes from prison. When he escapes, Axel decides to follow him without thinking. Eventually, they meets and starts to fight. After a short battle, Axel supposedly wins, but Paine pulls the gun. Suddenly Lioness, King, Hawk and Shark comes to save Axel, but Paine's escapes. From that moment, all five are a team.

Shortly thereafter, Paine gains his special power of giving an almighty pain and tries to kill Axel's team along with his henchmen Spydah and later also with Flesh. One day Axel meets Dragon, a mysterious ninja who has mastered the style of Jo-Lan. In the beginning, Dragon brings Axel to Paine, who offered him a payment, but eventually, Dragon helps him defeat Paine. Axel knows that Dragon have some knowledge about his father, but he tells him nothing and is a mystery to Axel.

Later, Axel meets Paine's evil daughter named Magness. She has the power to control metal objects and her abilities affects the strength of Jo-Lan skills, weakening them. However, Axel defeats her eventually. In the episode "Double Image", Optical, thanks to his abilities, changes into Axel's father, but he realizes that Optical is not his real father. Later, Paine still tries to defeat Axel's team. With Spydah's help, they invent some lethal fluid, and Axel becomes a victim of this fluid. However, he doesn't die. It turns out that Axel has an extraordinary willpower that helps him.

Axel meets Dragon again, but this time in Hong Kong. They work together to take old Jo-Lan sword from Terrance Yao, who wants to take possession of the weapon's mighty power. But later, Dragon leaves and says nothing to Axel again. At the end of the season, it's finally time for Axel's final battle with Paine. It takes place on the anniversary of Sebastian Manning's death. Axel is furious and wants to defeat Paine. They have a fight where Paine tells him he didn't detonate the bomb, but also he doesn't know who did it. Axel is very angry and attacks Paine with his full strength Jo-Lan. Eventually, Paine is defeated with the Super Jo-Lan technique.

## Abilities

Axel has been trained in the ancient martial arts called "Jo-Lan" by his father. Jo-Lan combines the body and mind, allowing each punch, kick, etc. to land with a burst of energy. After his father's supposed death, Axel trained on his own. At the beginning of the series, Axel is able to use energy waves to blast away his enemies. His spiritual power would become visible in his eyes in the color of light-blue. During the first season his main attacks are **Jo-Lan Choubatsu** (as the name suggests he releases an energy wave from the palms to blast his enemy away) and **Uzumaki Jo-Lan Kick** (a spinning kick). At the end of the first season, Axel reaches the next level of Jo-Lan. His spiritual energy turns red and resembles lightning. He uses a technique called **Super Jo-Lan**, which is a blast 10 times stronger than his usual energy waves, to defeat Paine.

In the second season, Axel continues using this elevated level of Jo-Lan and comes up with a new technique called **Jo-Lan Ryuuseiken** (a spinning uppercut). Also, at the end of the second season, Axel achieves the next level of his martial arts abilities. Axel also excels at driving any kind of vehicle. He's also very good at any sort of sports being physically well-trained.

His basic "wheel" in the first season are **XT-9000** aka **Lambo-Jet** (car), **Turboboard** (reactive board) and **Thunderbike 3000** (motorcycle). In the second season: **Air-Jet**, **Dragbike 5000** (bike with a very low-slung) and **Jet-Mech** (folding three-wheeled bike).

## Gallery

Axel Manning in the A.T.O.M. – Alpha Teens on Machines.Axel Manning in the A.T.O.M. – Alpha Teens on Machines.Axel Manning in the A.T.O.M. – Alpha Teens on Machines.Axel Manning in the A.T.O.M. – Alpha Teens on Machines.Axel Manning in the A.T.O.M. – Alpha Teens on Machines's second season.Axel Manning in the A.T.O.M. – Alpha Teens on Machines's second season.Axel Manning in the A.T.O.M. – Alpha Teens on Machines's second season.Axel as a child.
## Trivia

* Axel hates cyborgs.
* His favorite color is red.
* Axel's name and appearance seem to be similar to Alex Mann, the protagonist of the 2000 Action Man TV series (the A.T.O.M. line is a smaller-scale spin-off of the Action Man toyline and series).