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HIGH EVOLUTIONARY
Real Name: Herbert Edgar Wyndham
Aliases:Dr. Wyndham, Lord High Evolutionary, HE
Identity: Secret
Occupation: Geneticist, Scientist and Inventor
Citizenship: British Citizen, with a criminal record.
Place of Birth: Manchester, England
Known Relatives: Unidentified mother and aunt (presumed deceased)
Group Affiliation: Creator of the New Men, Knights of Wundagore, Animutants, Animen, Godpack, New Immortals
First Appearance: Thor #134 (1966)
History: Herbert Wyndham had gained inspiration, at a young age, from a geneticist by the name of Nathaniel Essex (better known as Mister Sinister) as he conducted experiments in the basement of his parent’s home, trying to evolve rats. He would eventually get the attention of a disguised Inhuman who provided him the secrets to unlocking genetic coding. His controversial work however, got him expelled from Oxford University.
This did not stop or slow down Herbert Wyndham’s work, as he soon partnered up with Jonathan Drew, and together set up a base in Transia on Wundagore Mountain, in a futuristic citadel provided by the Inhuman who had given him the secret to genetic coding.
Jonathan’s daughter, Jessica soon became ill, due to the exposure of the uranium within the mountain; and Herbert Wyndham was able to use a spider-serum and some of his own knowledge to preserve her and place her in suspended animation. (Jessica Drew would go on to become Spider-Woman). Jonathan Drew would leave, after a werewolf by the name of Russoff, attacked and killed his wife. Herbert Wyndham remained and constructed a suit of armor to protect himself.
Herbert Wyndham soon created what he called New Men, which were animals evolved into humanoid forms. This drew the attention of Magnus who warned that the mountain had been used to banish the evil demon, Chthon. Russoff used the mystical book The Darkhold to try and cure his lycanthropy and in the process released Chthon. Herbert Wyndham, now known as High Evolutionary, and his New Men, now called The Knights of Wundagore fought and banished Chthon.
A pregnant woman named Magda gave birth to twins, Wanda and Pietro (who would go on to become Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, respectively). High Evolutionary’s New Man, Bova (a humanoid cow) tried to pass the twins to Robert Frank, whose wife died during childbirth, before giving the twins to a gypsy couple who had recently lost their own children.
During the Evolutionary War, Herbert Wyndham was seemingly defeated and killed by Hercules, only to be resurrected during the Black Galaxy Saga. Herbert Wyndham found himself eventually fleeing from Exodus and the Acolytes who attacked Mount Wundagore in hopes of destroying it, seeing Herbert Wyndham’s work as an affront to the natural process of evolution.
Zuras later contacted Herbert Wyndham and convinced him that the Celestials were coming to Earth to judge it and that they would see failure throughout the evolutionary chain. Herbert Wyndham was forced to kill his New Men and sent several Evolutionaries, which he had found and modified to assault metahumans. He even went as far as trying to use what he called a “gene-bomb” that would eliminate anything that wasn’t human on the surface of the Earth, but was defeated by the New Warriors. He would try later to use the “gene-bomb” again, but the New Warriors were there once more. With the arrival of the Eternals, Herbert Wyndham learned that Zuras had been lying about the arrival of the Celestials and blasted Herbert Wyndham and left him for dead.
Much like the previous encounters he had, where he had been left for dead; High Evolutionary appeared later, to be alive and well, once again.
Height: 6’2″ (but variable at will)
Weight: 200 lbs. (but variable at will)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown
Powers: The High Evolutionary has extra ordinary senses that allow him to have Clairvoyance and Cosmic Awareness, which acts as a form of Danger Sense. He’s also been show to be able to do astral projection (he can survive apart from his physical body for an indefinite period of time) and Mental Invisibility (the High Evolutionary is normally undetectable even by other powerful telepaths).
Aside from telepathically communicating with other humans with Cosmic Awareness, the High Evolutionary can also telepathically communicate with animals and cybernetic systems, he has telekinesis that is used for levitation, flight, force fields and blasts. He is an expert in linguistics and can even use a form of ventriloquism. He has shown the ability of matter creation (all types including lifeforms simply by his intense force of will). His suit is designed to protect it’s wearer at all costs, it can regenerate his body or create a new body for him if needed, it also provides complete life support.