Taki Matsuya
Encyclopedia
Takashi "Taki" Matsuya or sometimes called the Wiz Kid is a fictional mutant
character from Marvel Comics
. Created by Louise Simonson
and Jon Bogdanove
, his first appearance was in X-Terminators
#1 (October 1988).
and Leech
, two mutants who were looked after by X-Factor. Artie and Leech eventually join Taki and St. Simons, which is fully prepared to help young children who do have mutant powers.
During Marvel's Inferno
crossover, Leech and Artie were kidnapped by the demon, N'astirh
. Taki finds out he's a mutant with technoforming powers (see Powers and abilities) and tries to save them with the help of other X-Factor wards, Rusty
, Skids
, Boom Boom
and Rictor
. Together, the five form the X-Terminators
, but Taki himself was also captured. N'astirh intended to use them and other mutant children to magically fuse Earth with Limbo and increase his own powers.
The three were deemed too old for the demon's schemes and he planned to kill them, but Taki made a bargain. Using his recently awakened powers, Taki created a super-computer that allowed N'astirh to cast multiple spells and allowed him to open the portal from Limbo to Earth even faster than before. Taki, feeling responsible, helps the X-Terminators defeat N'astirh and with the help of the New Mutants
, they all manage to shut down the portal.
Afterwards the X-Terminators soon disbanded and Taki, Artie and Leech went back to St. Simons.
Sometime after his battles against demons, Taki develops a childish crush on one of his teachers. Snooping through her office he discovers the teacher's boyfriend is really a mutant-hating terrorist bent on kidnapping the mutant kids of St. Simons. Teaming with Artie and Leech, knowing full well he is violating the rules, Taki rousts the criminals in their hideout, bringing them and damning evidence to the attention of the police. Later, an older woman, Ida Fassbender, who lives near the school sees evidence of Taki, Artie and Leech utilizing flying craft. Her paranoia gets the best of her and she causes a public incident which puts the trio's lives in danger. Fassbender realizes the depths of the problem she has caused and calms the situation. She invites the trio over, declaring they can call her 'Grammie' and visit whenever they want.
Taki's subsequent whereabouts are unknown, but he is shown depowered as seen in Decimation
.
Taki is part of the new class of students when the Avengers Academy
moves to the former headquarters of the West Coast Avengers
. He has somehow become repowered again, as he has called himself a mutant and is shown to still have use of his mutant powers to create advanced technology, such as a flying wheelchair.
Annual #1, the Defenders
, a group of would-be superheroes, take in a wheelchair-using polio victim called Whiz-Kid, who claims to be able to alter the temperature of certain inorganic materials. The Defenders, however, keep referring to him as the "little wheel-fellow", and generally talk down to him; eventually it is revealed that they only allowed him to join so that they could get corporate sponsorship by having a disabled team member. The Ultimate Whiz-Kid resembles Grant Imahara
of Mythbusters
in appearance.
Mutant (Marvel Comics)
In comic books published by Marvel Comics, a mutant is an organism who possesses a genetic trait called an X-gene that allows the mutant to naturally develop superhuman powers and abilities...
character from Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
. Created by Louise Simonson
Louise Simonson
Louise Simonson, born Mary Louise Alexander , is an American comic book writer and editor. She is best known for her work on comic book titles such as Power Pack, X-Factor, New Mutants, Superman: The Man of Steel, and Steel...
and Jon Bogdanove
Jon Bogdanove
Jon Bogdanove is an American comic book artist and writer. He is best known for his work on Power Pack, Superman: The Man of Steel, and for creating the character Steel with writer Louise Simonson in 1993.-Comics:...
, his first appearance was in X-Terminators
X-Terminators
The X-Terminators are fictional characters in the Marvel Universe.-History:The name "X-Terminators" was originally used by X-Factor at that group's inception. The five original X-Men had founded X-Factor Investigations, and posed as normal humans purported to be an organization of mutant-hunters...
#1 (October 1988).
Fictional character biography
A very intelligent but dyslexic boy genius, Taki lost his parents and his ability to walk in a car accident. Shortly after, he was enrolled at St. Simons, a private elementary school for children with reading disabilities. Still angered and saddened by the loss of his parents, Taki secluded himself from the other students. Feeling like an outsider, Taki met ArtieArtie Maddicks
Arthur "Artie" Maddicks is a fictional comic book character in Marvel Comics' shared universe, the Marvel Universe. He first appeared in X-Factor #2 and was created by Bob Layton and Jackson Guice.-Publication history:...
and Leech
Leech (comics)
Leech is a character in the Marvel Comics Universe.Leech made his first appearance in Uncanny X-Men as a Morlock, a group of mutants whose deformities force them to live in the sewers under Manhattan. He is usually depicted as being around 12 years old...
, two mutants who were looked after by X-Factor. Artie and Leech eventually join Taki and St. Simons, which is fully prepared to help young children who do have mutant powers.
During Marvel's Inferno
Inferno (Marvel Comics)
Inferno was a Marvel Comics company-wide crossover in 1989 that mainly involved the mutant titles, namely The Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor, X-Terminators, Excalibur, and The New Mutants...
crossover, Leech and Artie were kidnapped by the demon, N'astirh
N'astirh
N'astirh is a fictional character created by Marvel Comics as a demonic inhabitant of Limbo. He first appeared in X-Factor #32 and was created by Louise Simonson and Jon Bogdanove.-Fictional character biography:...
. Taki finds out he's a mutant with technoforming powers (see Powers and abilities) and tries to save them with the help of other X-Factor wards, Rusty
Rusty Collins
Russell "Rusty" Collins, formerly known as Firefist, is a fictional character, a superhero from Marvel Comics.-Publication history:Created by Bob Layton and Jackson Guice, Rusty Collins first appeared in X-Factor #1 ....
, Skids
Skids (comics)
Skids is a Marvel Comics mutant. Created by writer Louise Simonson and artist Jackson Guice, she first appeared in X-Factor vol. 1 #7 .-Morlocks:...
, Boom Boom
Tabitha Smith
Tabitha Smith is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by Jim Shooter and Al Milgrom, the character first appeared in Secret Wars II #5 . She later appeared as a member of the X-Force and, more recently, as a member of Nextwave...
and Rictor
Rictor
Rictor is a fictional comic book superhero in the Marvel Universe, who appears in the X-Men family of books published by Marvel Comics. He was created by writer Louise Simonson and artist Walt Simonson and first appeared in X-Factor vol.1 #17...
. Together, the five form the X-Terminators
X-Terminators
The X-Terminators are fictional characters in the Marvel Universe.-History:The name "X-Terminators" was originally used by X-Factor at that group's inception. The five original X-Men had founded X-Factor Investigations, and posed as normal humans purported to be an organization of mutant-hunters...
, but Taki himself was also captured. N'astirh intended to use them and other mutant children to magically fuse Earth with Limbo and increase his own powers.
The three were deemed too old for the demon's schemes and he planned to kill them, but Taki made a bargain. Using his recently awakened powers, Taki created a super-computer that allowed N'astirh to cast multiple spells and allowed him to open the portal from Limbo to Earth even faster than before. Taki, feeling responsible, helps the X-Terminators defeat N'astirh and with the help of the New Mutants
New Mutants
The New Mutants are a group of teenaged mutant superheroes-in-training published by Marvel Comics. They have been the main characters of three successive comic book series, which were spin-offs of the popular X-Men franchise....
, they all manage to shut down the portal.
Afterwards the X-Terminators soon disbanded and Taki, Artie and Leech went back to St. Simons.
Sometime after his battles against demons, Taki develops a childish crush on one of his teachers. Snooping through her office he discovers the teacher's boyfriend is really a mutant-hating terrorist bent on kidnapping the mutant kids of St. Simons. Teaming with Artie and Leech, knowing full well he is violating the rules, Taki rousts the criminals in their hideout, bringing them and damning evidence to the attention of the police. Later, an older woman, Ida Fassbender, who lives near the school sees evidence of Taki, Artie and Leech utilizing flying craft. Her paranoia gets the best of her and she causes a public incident which puts the trio's lives in danger. Fassbender realizes the depths of the problem she has caused and calms the situation. She invites the trio over, declaring they can call her 'Grammie' and visit whenever they want.
Taki's subsequent whereabouts are unknown, but he is shown depowered as seen in Decimation
Decimation (comics)
Decimation is the late 2005 Marvel Comics storyline spinning off from the House of M limited series. It focuses on the ramifications of the Scarlet Witch stripping nearly all of the mutant population of their powers, thereby reducing a society of millions to one of scant hundreds.This event, which...
.
Taki is part of the new class of students when the Avengers Academy
Avengers Academy
Avengers Academy is a Marvel Comics comic book series that debuted in June 2010 as part of the "Heroic Age". The series is written by Christos Gage, with artwork by Mike McKone and tells the story of a group of young super-powered persons who were selected to join a training academy for the...
moves to the former headquarters of the West Coast Avengers
West Coast Avengers
The West Coast Avengers is a fictional group of superheroes that appear in publications published by Marvel Comics. The team first appear in The West Coast Avengers #1 and was created by Roger Stern and Bob Hall.- Publication history :...
. He has somehow become repowered again, as he has called himself a mutant and is shown to still have use of his mutant powers to create advanced technology, such as a flying wheelchair.
Powers and abilities
Taki had the ability to rearrange parts of machinery made of metal, glass or plastic into various items or weapons that he can create. This ability is known as "technoforming". Taki is also an inventive genius.Ultimate Whiz-Kid
In UltimatesUltimates
The Ultimates is a fictional group of superheroes that appear in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team was created by writer Mark Millar and artist Bryan Hitch, and first appeared in The Ultimates #1 , as part of the company's Ultimate Marvel imprint...
Annual #1, the Defenders
Defenders (comics)
The Defenders is the name of a number of Marvel Comics superhero groups which are usually presented as a "non-team" of individualistic "outsiders," each known for following their own agendas...
, a group of would-be superheroes, take in a wheelchair-using polio victim called Whiz-Kid, who claims to be able to alter the temperature of certain inorganic materials. The Defenders, however, keep referring to him as the "little wheel-fellow", and generally talk down to him; eventually it is revealed that they only allowed him to join so that they could get corporate sponsorship by having a disabled team member. The Ultimate Whiz-Kid resembles Grant Imahara
Grant Imahara
Grant Masaru Imahara is a Japanese American electronics and radio control expert, best known for his work on the American television show MythBusters.-Education and early work:...
of Mythbusters
MythBusters
MythBusters is a science entertainment TV program created and produced by Beyond Television Productions for the Discovery Channel. The series is screened by numerous international broadcasters, including Discovery Channel Australia, Discovery Channel Latin America, Discovery Channel Canada, Quest...
in appearance.
Television
- In the X-Men animated series, Taki was featured along with Rusty, Skids and Boom-Boom in episode, "No Mutant is an Island". In this version he is again in an orphanage, though the others are here as well. The episode mostly focused on X-Man CyclopsCyclops (comics)Cyclops is a fictional character, the leader of the X-Men superhero team in the . A mutant, Cyclops emits a powerful energy beam from his eyes...
and Rusty as the latter, Taki, Skids and Boom-Boom were brainwashed by Zebediah KillgravePurple ManThe Purple Man is a Marvel Comics supervillain. Originally a foe of Daredevil, he was introduced in Daredevil vol. 1 #4...
. Killgrave who adopts the four and uses them to storm the governor's mansion so he can make the governor his mind-controlled slave. Eventually, Cyclops saves Taki and the others.