In fiction , a character is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel , play , radio or television series , music , film , or video game ). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, in which case the distinction of a "fictional" versus "real" character may be made. Derived from the Ancient Greek word χαρακτήρ , the English word dates from the Restoration , although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones by Henry Fielding in 1749. From this, the sense of "a part played by an actor " developed. (Before this development, the term dramatis personae , naturalized in English from Latin and meaning "masks of the drama", encapsulated the notion of characters from the literal aspect of masks .) Character, particularly when enacted by an actor in the theater or cinema, involves "the illusion of being a human person". In literature, characters guide readers through their stories, helping them to understand plots and ponder themes. Since the end of the 18th century, the phrase " in character " has been used to describe an effective impersonation by an actor. Since the 19th century, the art of creating characters, as practiced by actors or writers , has been called characterization .
77-542: Dr. Henry Jonathan Pym is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . Created by penciller Jack Kirby , editor-plotter Stan Lee and writer Larry Lieber , Pym debuted in Tales to Astonish #27 (January 1962). He returned several issues later as the original iteration of Ant-Man , a superhero with the power to shrink to the size of an ant . He later assumed other superhero identities, including
154-419: A cybernetic helmet that lets him communicate with and control them. He designs a costume made of unstable molecules to prevent bites or scratches from the ants and reinvents himself as the superhero Ant-Man. After several adventures, Pym is contacted by Dr. Vernon van Dyne, who asks for his help contacting alien life . Pym refuses, but is attracted to Vernon's socialite daughter Janet van Dyne. When Vernon
231-438: A character using the basic character archetypes which are common to many cultural traditions: the father figure , mother figure, hero , and so on. Some writers make use of archetypes as presented by Carl Jung as the basis for character traits. Generally, when an archetype from some system (such as Jung's) is used, elements of the story also follow the system's expectations in terms of storyline . An author can also create
308-477: A cybernetic helmet he created for achieving rudimentary communication with ants and other higher order insects. As Yellowjacket, then later as Wasp, Pym wears artificial wings and has bio-blasters called "stingers" built into his gloves. He took up the Wasp mantle in memory of Janet, who was believed to be dead at the time. Pym also carries a variety of weaponry, provisions, and scientific instruments, which are shrunken to
385-455: A distinction between the individuals represented in tragedy and in comedy arose: tragedy, along with epic poetry , is "a representation of serious people" (1449b9—10), while comedy is "a representation of people who are rather inferior" (1449a32—33). In the Tractatus coislinianus (which may or may not be by Aristotle), Ancient Greek comedy is defined as involving three types of characters:
462-429: A fictional character using generic stock characters , which are generally flat. They tend to be used for supporting or minor characters. However, some authors have used stock characters as the starting point for building richly detailed characters, such as William Shakespeare 's use of the boastful soldier character as the basis for John Falstaff . Some authors create charactonyms for their characters. A charactonym
539-509: A foe from behind once the opponent had ceased fighting. Captain America suspends Yellowjacket from Avengers duty pending the verdict of a court-martial . Pym suffers a mental breakdown and concocts a plan to salvage his credibility. He plans to build a robot and program it to launch an attack on the Avengers; Pym will then counter the false flag attack at a critical moment using his knowledge of
616-490: A grieving Pym took on yet another identity as a new iteration of Wasp , in tribute to the woman he had married and divorced, in the one-shot publication Secret Invasion: Requiem (January 2009). Giant-Man appeared as a supporting character in Avengers Academy from issue #1 (August 2010) through its final issue #39 (January 2013). Pym returned as the Wasp in the mini-series Ant-Man & The Wasp (January 2011) and as
693-505: A matchbook cover next to him, so we see the difference in size.' But they kept forgetting. So when you would look at the panels, you thought you were looking at a normal guy wearing an underwear costume like all of them. It didn't have the interest. Pym began a continuous shift of superhero identities in Tales to Astonish , first becoming the 12 ft-tall (3.7 m) Giant-Man in issue #49 (November 1963). Pym and van Dyne continued to costar in
770-522: A number of characters in the Marvel universe that have also used the "Pym particles" to effect size changing. These include Janet van Dyne , Clint Barton , Bill Foster , Scott Lang , Erik Josten , Rita DeMara , Cassandra "Cassie" Lang , Eric O'Grady , Tom Foster , Shang-Chi , Raz Malhotra and Nadia Pym . Although they do not use their powers for altering their size, both Wonder Man and Vision derive their powers from Pym particles. The following are
847-550: A pocket universe for a year before returning to the mainstream Marvel Universe . Hank Pym returns and aids the team as Giant-Man, and makes a significant contribution by defeating criminal mastermind Imus Champion and his flawed creation Ultron, simultaneously overcoming his old issues of guilt over Ultron's crimes. During the Destiny War between Kang the Conqueror and Immortus , two versions of Hank Pym are drawn in: Giant-Man of
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#1733084539100924-555: A regular character in the 2010-2013 Secret Avengers series from issue #22 (April 2012) through its final issue #37 (March 2013). After Secret Avengers , Pym joined the Avengers A.I. after beating his creation Ultron . He then appeared in many comics including Daredevil (Vol. 3 and 4) and the graphic novel Rage of Ultron . Biochemist Dr. Henry "Hank" Pym discovers an unusual set of subatomic particles he labels " Pym particles ". Entrapping them within two separate serums, he creates
1001-469: A representative of a particular class or group of people is known as a type. Types include both stock characters and those that are more fully individualized . The characters in Henrik Ibsen 's Hedda Gabler (1891) and August Strindberg 's Miss Julie (1888), for example, are representative of specific positions in the social relations of class and gender , such that the conflicts between
1078-528: A short relationship with teammate Tigra . After being taunted by old foe Whirlwind , Pym contemplates suicide , but is stopped by Firebird . Pym and Janet eventually resume a romantic relationship. The character returns to the Avengers, joining the East Coast team as Giant-Man. The pair, together with many of the other Avengers, apparently sacrifice themselves to stop the villain Onslaught , but actually exist in
1155-417: A size-altering formula and a reversal formula, testing them on himself. Reduced to the size of an insect, he becomes trapped in an anthill before he eventually escapes and uses the reversal formula to return to normal size. Deciding the serums are too dangerous, he destroys them. He later reconsiders his decision and recreates his serums. Pym's experience in the anthill inspires him to study ants, and he builds
1232-521: A space adventure before rejoining the Avengers on Earth, though it becomes clear that Ultron is actually controlling Hank's body. The Avengers defeat the hybrid robot, but both Hank and Ultron survive and continue to do battle with one another internally. Later in this period, we get introduce to Hank's daughter, Nadia , from his ex-wife Maria Trovaya. Through Nadia, we discover that Hank has bipolar disorder, which he has been monitoring on his own to predict when and how often his mood swings may occur. During
1309-534: A spell cast by Gath temporarily transforms Pym into a swashbuckler-style Yellowjacket, followed by the Yellowjacket persona manifesting a physical presence from the extradimensional bio-mass Pym uses to grow. Yellowjacket's stability deteriorates in a confrontation with Diablo . The two personalities are restored when the Wasp helps the two halves realize they need each other. Pym is eventually able to resolve his problems and adopts his Yellowjacket persona again. After
1386-505: A superhero might be fun." As a result, Pym was revived eight issues later as the costumed superhero Ant-Man who starred in the 13-page, the three-chapter story "Return of the Ant-Man/An Army of Ants/The Ant-Man's Revenge" in Tales to Astonish #35 (September 1962). His adventures became an ongoing feature in the title. Issue #44 (June 1963) featured the debut of his socialite girlfriend and lab assistant Janet van Dyne , who adopted
1463-458: Is a "walk-on", a term used by Seymour Chatman for characters that are not fully delineated and individualized; rather they are part of the background or the setting of the narrative. Dynamic characters are those that change over the course of the story, while static characters remain the same throughout. An example of a popular dynamic character in literature is Ebenezer Scrooge , the protagonist of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. At
1540-587: Is a name that implies the psychological makeup of the person, makes an allegorical allusion, or makes reference to their appearance. For example, Shakespeare has an emotional young male character named Mercutio , John Steinbeck has a kind, sweet character named Candy in Of Mice and Men , and Mervyn Peake has a Machiavellian, manipulative, and murderous villain in Gormenghast named Steerpike . The charactonym can also indicate appearance. For example, François Rabelais gave
1617-438: Is eventually able to change size at will, and mentally generate Pym particles to change the sizes of other living beings or inanimate objects. Pym retains his normal strength when "ant" size, and possesses greatly increased strength and stamina when in "giant" form, courtesy of the increased mass. Pym's costume is synthetic stretch fabric composed of unstable molecules and automatically adapts to his shifting sizes. Pym also uses
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#17330845391001694-474: Is exposed and defeated by the hero Crusader . After the final battle between Earth's heroes and the Skrulls, Pym is found with other "replaced" heroes in a Skrull vessel. When Janet is seemingly killed in battle, Pym takes on a new superhero persona, the Wasp, in tribute to her. He rejoins the Avengers and eventually leads the team. The cosmic entity Eternity reveals to Pym that he is Earth's " Scientist Supreme ",
1771-497: Is killed by an alien criminal who teleports to Earth, Janet asks for Pym's help avenging his death. Pym reveals his secret identity to Janet and uses Pym particles to graft wasp wings beneath her shoulders, which appear when Janet shrinks. She assumes the alias of the Wasp , and together they find and defeat Vernon's killer. They become founding members of the superhero team the Avengers. Pym eventually adopts his first alternate identity as
1848-461: Is not attested in OED until mC18: 'Whatever characters any... have for the jestsake personated... are now thrown off' (1749, Fielding, Tom Jones ). Marvel Feature Marvel Feature was a comic book showcase series published by Marvel Comics in the 1970s. It was a tryout book, intended to test the popularity of characters and concepts being considered for their own series. The first volume led to
1925-491: Is possible, therefore, to have stories that do not contain "characters" in Aristotle's sense of the word, since character necessarily involves making the ethical dispositions of those performing the action clear. If, in speeches, the speaker "decides or avoids nothing at all", then those speeches "do not have character" (1450b9—11). Aristotle argues for the primacy of plot ( mythos ) over character ( ethos ). He writes: But
2002-582: Is reversed, Pym rejoins the Avengers as Yellowjacket. Pym is forced to briefly leave the team when the roster is restructured by government liaison Henry Peter Gyrich . Also at this time, he noticed Scott Lang 's theft of the Ant-Man suit. After Darren Cross 's defeat and aware of Lang's use of the stolen goods, Pym let Lang keep the equipment, albeit only to uphold the law. Returning 14 issues later, Hank Pym participates in several missions until, after demonstrating hostile behavior toward Janet van Dyne, he attacks
2079-552: The Circus of Crime erupts; in the ensuing conflict, the chemicals lose their effect on him and his identity is restored. After several adventures with the Avengers, including another encounter with Ultron, the pair take another leave of absence. The heroes re-encounter Hank Pym at the beginning of the Kree-Skrull War , and once again as the Ant-Man persona and has a series of solo adventures. After aiding fellow superhero team known as
2156-476: The Defenders as Yellowjacket, Pym returns to the Avengers. He is eventually captured by an upgraded Ultron that brainwashes his creator, causing the character to regress to his original Ant-Man costume and personality — arriving at Avengers Mansion, thinking it to be the very first meeting of the team. Seeing several unfamiliar members, Pym attacks the team until stopped by the Wasp. After Ultron's brainwashing
2233-502: The Egghead story, where he bombed out as Yellowjacket, he said that he would never be a superhero again, so I took him at his word." Pym returned to the Avengers as Giant-Man in The Avengers vol. 3, #1 (February 1998). When the team disbanded after a series of tragedies, Pym, as Yellowjacket, took a leave of absence beginning with vol. 3, #85 (September 2004). Following van Dyne's death,
2310-634: The Hulk , Doctor Strange , and the Sub-Mariner as the Defenders . The first two issues of Marvel Feature were in the 52-page format, with the remaining pages filled out by a new Doctor Strange solo tale and a Sub-Mariner reprint. The Defenders continued as the stars of Marvel Feature for two more issues and then received their own self-titled series in August 1972. Ant-Man was the lead of Marvel Feature for issues #4–10, paired with his un-billed female companion,
2387-659: The Marvel Cinematic Universe films Ant-Man (2015), Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023). Douglas also voiced alternate-timeline versions of Pym in the Disney+ animated series What If...? (2021–2023). Hank Pym debuted in a seven-page solo cover story, "The Man in the Ant Hill", about a character who tests shrinking technology on himself, in
Hank Pym - Misplaced Pages Continue
2464-413: The Wasp , starting with issue #6. Doing an Ant-Man feature was editor Roy Thomas's idea, but he found he did not have the time to write it himself and so turned it over to writer Mike Friedrich and artist Herb Trimpe . The series featured the only comics work of Trimpe's brother, Mike, who inked issue #6 over Herb's pencils. Herb Trimpe explained that Mike was a graphic designer at the time and took on
2541-469: The West Coast Avengers , Pym constructed a one-man vehicle with artificial intelligence named Rover. Rover is able to communicate with Pym and is capable of flight and discharging energy and acid. Back with the Avengers main team, he built a second Rover, resembling an Avengers Quinjet . After fusing with Ultron, he now contains all of his creation's abilities when he is in control. There are
2618-463: The buffoon ( bômolochus ), the ironist ( eirōn ), and the imposter or boaster ( alazṓn ). All three are central to Aristophanes ' Old Comedy . By the time the Roman comic playwright Plautus wrote his plays two centuries later, the use of characters to define dramatic genres was well established. His Amphitryon begins with a prologue in which Mercury claims that since
2695-410: The robot Ultron that unexpectedly achieves sentience and becomes one of the Avengers's greatest foes. During a botched experiment, Pym inhales chemicals that affect his mind, and he reappears at Avengers Mansion in the cocky new persona of Yellowjacket, claiming to have disposed of Pym. The Wasp secretly realizes he is Pym, however, and accepts his offer of marriage . At their wedding, a battle with
2772-429: The science fiction / fantasy anthology Tales to Astonish #27 ( cover date January 1962). The story was created by editor-plotter Stan Lee , writer Larry Lieber , penciller Jack Kirby , and inker Dick Ayers . In a 2008 interview, Lee said: "I did one comic book called 'The Man in the Ant Hill' about a guy who shrunk down and there were ants or bees chasing him. That sold so well that I thought making him into
2849-446: The social order . In fiction writing , authors create dynamic characters using various methods. Sometimes characters are conjured up from imagination; in other instances, they are created by amplifying the character trait of a real person into a new fictional creation. An author or creator basing a character on a real person can use a person they know, a historical figure, a current figure whom they have not met, or themselves, with
2926-508: The " Secret Empire " storyline, Pym sets up a base in Alaska and is forced to work through some family issues and relationship strife within the Avengers team. Pym later goes on a journey to collect all the Infinity Stones. During this storyline, a piece of Hank's soul gets stuck in an alternate realm and eventually devoured. In another storyline, Hank is portrayed as a villain in a battle against
3003-532: The "good Ultron", Ultron-12 stated to Wasp that he went through a soft reboot to protect Hank as Ultron takes over the Lethal Legion. Hank regained consciousness and reunited with Nadia when Ant-Man, Mayor Luke Cage, Stinger, Valkyrie, and Vision arrived as he claims to Nadia that Ultron's no longer in him. He gives Nadia the code for the nano-tech from the future to use while Ultron is distracted as she's got to think big which Ultron-12 agrees with him on. After Ultron
3080-499: The 12-foot-tall Giant-Man . (Three decades later, a flashback shows him adopting the identity out of feelings of inadequacy when compared to powerful teammates Iron Man and Thor .) Pym and the Wasp begin a romantic relationship, and soon take a leave of absence from the Avengers. Returning to the Avengers, Pym adopts a new superhero identity, Goliath . A mishap traps him in giant form for several issues and affects his self-esteem. After recovering his size-shifting powers, he creates
3157-489: The Ant-Man of the 25th century, Dr. Zayn Asghar . Ultron is ultimately defeated and the other Ant-Men are returned to the past. Sometime later, an old man claiming to be Hank Pym places an artificial personality in Whirlwind's corpse called "Victor Shade". It was later revealed that a fragment of Hank's conscious had separated from All-Father Ultron when he was defeated. The fragment recreated his body which appeared older and he
Hank Pym - Misplaced Pages Continue
3234-438: The Avengers and blamed for the theft, as Egghead erases all evidence of his own involvement. Pym, in turn, blames Egghead, a criminal still believed dead by the other Avengers. This is taken by Pym's former teammates as further proof of his madness, and he is incarcerated. During Pym's imprisonment, Janet has a brief relationship with Tony Stark. Egghead later attempts to kill Pym but is himself accidentally killed by Hawkeye . With
3311-519: The Silver Surfer. In "The Ultron Agenda" storyline, Hank attempts to merge all robots with humans. Iron Man and Machine Man interfere with his plans and Pym attempts to take revenge. At the end of this storyline, we discover that Hank's human side has been dead since he first merged with Ultron. The Ant-Man miniseries released in 2022 depicts an early Hank Pym being pulled into the future, along with Eric O'Grady and Scott Lang, in an attempt to assist
3388-465: The administrators at Camp Hammond , a U.S. military base in Stamford, Connecticut , for the training of registered superheroes in the government program The Initiative. Pym and Janet's relationship fails, and Pym again begins a romantic relationship with teammate Tigra . Following the publication of Civil War , Marvel's Secret Invasion storyline uses flashbacks to present the then-current version of
3465-464: The character as an impostor who replaced the real Pym at some point in the books' fictional history prior to the events of Civil War . This impostor is an extraterrestrial of the shape-shifting Skrull race participating in a covert invasion of Earth; Pym's experiences throughout the Civil War series and related series are retold in brief from the perspective of the impostor and its allies. The impostor
3542-517: The characters reveal ideological conflicts. The study of a character requires an analysis of its relations with all of the other characters in the work. The individual status of a character is defined through the network of oppositions (proairetic, pragmatic , linguistic , proxemic ) that it forms with the other characters. The relation between characters and the action of the story shifts historically, often miming shifts in society and its ideas about human individuality, self-determination , and
3619-453: The characters, but they include the characters for the sake of their actions" (1450a15-23). Aristotle suggests that works were distinguished in the first instance according to the nature of the person who created them: "the grander people represented fine actions, i.e. those of fine persons" by producing "hymns and praise-poems", while "ordinary people represented those of inferior ones" by "composing invectives" (1448b20—1449a5). On this basis,
3696-491: The concept of teaming the Thing with a different character each issue proved popular enough during its Marvel Feature tryout to justify a regular series, titled Marvel Two-in-One . The series was cancelled as of issue #12. Though it had been successful in its intended role as a popularity gauge (both of the series spun off of Marvel Feature had long runs with generally strong sales), like most tryout series, it could not sustain
3773-517: The cosmic balance—reflects that both Pyms were necessary so that Yellowjacket's betrayal could bring the team into the right position to attack the Time-Keepers, while Pym's presence as Giant-Man both provided a stable support and irritated Yellowjacket to provoke his own actions. Back in the present, an encounter with Kulan Gath results in Pym being split into his two personas of Pym and Yellowjacket, after
3850-451: The costumed identity of the Wasp. She co-starred in Pym's subsequent appearances, and was a framing-sequence host for backup stories in the series. In September 1963, Lee and Kirby created the superhero title The Avengers , and Ant-Man and Wasp were established in issue #1 as founding members of the eponymous team. Decades later, Lee theorized as to why "Ant-Man never became one of our top sellers or had his own book": I loved Ant-Man, but
3927-579: The earliest surviving work of dramatic theory , Poetics ( c. 335 BCE ), the Classical Greek philosopher Aristotle states that character ( ethos ) is one of six qualitative parts of Athenian tragedy and one of the three objects that it represents (1450a12). He understands character not to denote a fictional person, but the quality of the person acting in the story and reacting to its situations (1450a5). He defines character as "that which reveals decision , of whatever sort" (1450b8). It
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#17330845391004004-729: The events of the " Avengers Disassembled " storyline, Pym takes a leave of absence, and in the one-shot Avengers: Finale , he and Janet leave for England to rekindle their relationship. As Yellowjacket, Pym is a central character in the Civil War storyline, joining those heroes that support the Superhuman Registration Act . At the conclusion of the Civil War, Pym is named "Man of the Year" by Time magazine for his role in freeing several captive anti-registration heroes. Pym becomes one of
4081-535: The fields of quantum physics , robotics / cybernetics , artificial intelligence , and entomology . Pym discovered the subatomic " Pym particles " that enable mass to be shunted or gained from an alternate dimension, thereby changing the size of himself or other beings or objects. Pym is the creator of the robot Ultron , whom he created as an experiment after examining Dragon Man , showing his knack for AI and cybernetics. After constant experimentation with size-changing via ingested capsules and particle-filled gas, Pym
4158-592: The inking job when his regular work slowed down. Issues #7–10 each featured three separate Ant-Man stories and included art by P. Craig Russell . The final issue also reprinted non-Pym stories from the Tales to Astonish series, all written by Stan Lee. Marvel Feature #11 featured a battle between the Thing and the Hulk. Issue #12 teamed the Thing and Iron Man and featured an early Thanos appearance. Both issues were penciled by Jim Starlin . As with The Defenders before it,
4235-479: The known enemies of Hank Pym in any of his aliases: In this reality, Hank Pym is an intelligent, Hulk-like brute. In the 2021 Heroes Reborn reality, Hank Pym is a scientist and a devoted Christian who is a former friend and sidekick of Hyperion . After being possessed by Ultron, Pym is banished to the Negative Zone and eventually dismantled by Hyperion. Character (arts) A character who stands as
4312-546: The latter being either an author-surrogate or an example of self-insertion . The use of a famous person easily identifiable with certain character traits as the base for a principal character is a feature of allegorical works, such as Animal Farm by George Orwell, which portrays Soviet revolutionaries as pigs. Other authors, especially for historical fiction , make use of real people and create fictional stories revolving around their lives, as with The Paris Wife which revolves around Ernest Hemingway . An author can create
4389-406: The launch of The Defenders and Marvel Two-in-One , while volume two led to an ongoing Red Sonja series. Marvel Feature was one of three tryout books proposed by Stan Lee after he transitioned from being Marvel Comics' writer and editor to its president and publisher, the others being Marvel Spotlight and Marvel Premiere . The advantage of such tryout books was that they allowed
4466-589: The lead story of the first volume of Marvel Feature (July 1972 – July 1973). During this run, he appeared in a redesigned costume with a nail as a weapon. After appearing occasionally as Yellowjacket in the 1980s and battling mental and emotional issues, he temporarily abandoned costumed personas altogether, joining the West Coast Avengers as a scientist and inventor in West Coast Avengers vol. 2, #21 (June 1987). Writer Steve Englehart explained, "I've been using him as he asked to be used. In
4543-406: The most important of these is the structure of the incidents. For (i) tragedy is a representation not of human beings but of action and life. Happiness and unhappiness lie in action, and the end [of life] is a sort of action, not a quality; people are of a certain sort according to their characters, but happy or the opposite according to their actions. So [the actors] do not act in order to represent
4620-633: The name Gargantua to a giant and the huge whale in Pinocchio (1940) is named Monstro . In his book Aspects of the Novel , E. M. Forster defined two basic types of characters, their qualities, functions, and importance for the development of the novel: flat characters and round characters. Flat characters are two-dimensional, in that they are relatively uncomplicated. By contrast, round characters are complex figures with many different characteristics, that undergo development, sometimes sufficiently to surprise
4697-406: The narrative structure, unlike core characters, for which any significant conflict must be traced during a considerable time, which is often seen as an unjustified waste of resources. There may also be a continuing or recurring guest character. Sometimes a guest or minor character may gain unanticipated popularity and turn into a regular or main one; this is known as a breakout character . In
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#17330845391004774-430: The perpetrator of the original theft now exposed, Pym is cleared of all charges. After bidding farewell to Janet and his teammates, Pym leaves to devote himself full-time to research. Pym reappears as a member of the West Coast Avengers , first in an advisory role, then as a full member. He answers to "Doctor Pym" in the field, using none of the names or costumes associated with his previous superhero identities. He begins
4851-454: The play contains kings and gods, it cannot be a comedy and must be a tragicomedy . [...] is first used in English to denote 'a personality in a novel or a play' in 1749 ( The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary , s.v.). Its use as 'the sum of the qualities which constitute an individual' is a mC17 development. The modern literary and theatrical sense of 'an individual created in a fictitious work'
4928-472: The present and Yellowjacket immediately prior to his marriage to Janet van Dyne. Yellowjacket briefly betrays the team to Immortus and the powerful Time-Keepers try to create a timeline where he will not turn back into Pym, but he rejects this decision in time to help his allies. Observing the final battle, Libra —who brought the team together by using the Destiny Force to tap into his subconscious awareness of
5005-475: The publisher to assess a feature's popularity without the marketing investment required to launch a new series, and without the blow to the publisher's image with readers if the new series immediately failed. The first series was published for twelve issues from December 1971 until November 1973. The lead story in Marvel Feature #1, by writer Roy Thomas and artist Ross Andru , featured the first team-up of
5082-476: The reader. In psychological terms, round or complex characters may be considered to have five personality dimensions under the Big Five model of personality. The five factors are: Stock characters are usually one-dimensional and thin. Mary Sues are characters that usually appear in fan fiction which are virtually devoid of flaws, and are therefore considered flat characters. Another type of flat character
5159-410: The robot's weaknesses, thereby presenting himself as the other Avengers' savior. The Wasp discovers the plan and begs Pym to stop, whereupon he strikes her. Pym is subsequently expelled from the Avengers, and Janet divorces him. Left penniless, Pym is manipulated by an old foe, the presumed-dead Egghead , who tricks Pym into stealing the national reserve of the metal adamantium . Pym is confronted by
5236-474: The scientific counterpart to Earth's Sorcerer Supreme . The Norse trickster-god Loki later claims to have been posing as Eternity to manipulate Pym. Hank Pym creates Avengers Academy , a program to help train young people with newly acquired superpowers. He returns to his Giant-Man identity, and later joins the superhero team: Secret Avengers . In the " Age of Ultron " storyline, Pym travels through time to destroy his robot, Ultron , who had managed to conquer
5313-400: The series' run. Recurring characters often play major roles in more than one episode, sometimes being the main focus. A guest or minor character is one who acts only in a few episodes or scenes. Unlike regular characters, the guest ones do not need to be carefully incorporated into the storyline with all its ramifications: they create a piece of drama and then disappear without consequences to
5390-404: The size of microchips and stored in the pockets of his uniform. An experienced superhero, Pym is a skilled hand-to-hand fighter. In his first appearance, he claimed to be a master of judo , is skilled in wrestling and karate and has since been seen in combat with opponents of both his own size and radically larger than himself (as a result of his size-changing abilities). During his stay with
5467-680: The size-changing Giant-Man and Goliath ; the insect-themed Yellowjacket ; and briefly, the Wasp . He is a founding member of the Avengers superhero team, and the creator of the robotic villain Ultron . He is also the ex-husband of Janet van Dyne and the father of Nadia van Dyne , his daughter by his first wife, Maria Pym . Since his earliest appearances in the Silver Age of Comic Books , Pym has been featured in various Marvel-endorsed products including animated films , video games , television series , and feature films . Michael Douglas plays Pym in
5544-450: The start of the story, he is a bitter miser, but by the end of the tale, he transforms into a kindhearted, generous man. In television, a regular, main or ongoing character is a character who appears in all or a majority of episodes, or in a significant chain of episodes of the series. Regular characters may be both core and secondary ones. A recurring character or supporting character often and frequently appears from time to time during
5621-399: The stories were never really successful. In order for Ant-Man to be successful, he had to be drawn this small next to big things and you would be getting pictures that were visually interesting. The artists who drew him, no matter how much I kept reminding them, they kept forgetting that fact. They would draw him standing on a tabletop and they would draw a heroic-looking guy. I would say, 'Draw
5698-477: The title until issue #69 (July 1965), while simultaneously appearing in The Avengers until issue #15 (April 1965), after which they temporarily left the team. Next Pym rejoined the Avengers and adopted the new identity Goliath in Avengers #28 (May 1966). Gradually falling to mental strain, he adopted the fourth superhero identity Yellowjacket in issue #59 (December 1968). He reappeared as Ant-Man in Avengers #93 (November 1971); and for issues #4–10 starred in
5775-477: The world. In another adventure, Pym and Monica Chang , A.I. Division Chief of the espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D. , assemble a new team called the Avengers A.I. A few months later, Pym, using his Yellowjacket identity, is shown as a member of the Illuminati . At one point, Pym is presumed dead and a funeral service is held in his honor. Scott Lang receives one of Pym's labs according to the will. Pym resurfaces in
5852-408: Was defeated and the nanos reconstructed themselves into a new body for Ultron-12, Hank states that Ultron is not gone for good as the recovering Lethal Legion agree with him on it. Hank then leaves with the Lethal Legion to Sub-Atomica to regroup and prepare for Ultron's return as part of Protocol S. Hank Pym is a scientific genius with PhDs in biochemistry and nanotechnology and expertise in
5929-462: Was still paranoid from being Ultron's "meat puppet". What he did to Whirlwind was part of an experiment involving killing and reviving villains into becoming members of his Lethal Legion with help from Black Ant. To his surprise later by the time Wasp and Moon Knight find him, the "Victor Shade" persona ended up being hijacked by Ultron-12 by the time Wasp learned the truth on what happened to Hank as Ultron-12 knocks him out. As Wasp remembers Ultron-12 as
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