Dr. Elias Brandyworth was a government scientist, assistant director of the Pentagon's department of superhuman research and Atom Eve's creator.
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What field of science did Elias Brandyworth specialize in?
Who was the government agent Elias Brandyworth worked with?
What was the substance Elias Brandyworth was working on?
Who was Atom Eve's creator?
What was Elias Brandyworth's role at the Pentagon?
Appearance[]
Elias Brandyworth has White/gray hair, receding hairline, slightly unkempt. He has a beard, giving him an older, wise appearance. Wears a long lab coat or a worn-out jacket, fitting his role as a scientist in hiding.
Personality[]
Elias Brandyworth possesses deep scientific expertise, particularly in genetics and bioengineering. He carries guilt and remorse over his role in the experiment that created Atom Eve. Unlike the other scientists, he realizes the ethical implications of their work. He genuinely cares for Eve, going against the GDA to ensure she isn’t used as a weapon.
History[]
Background[]
Dr. Elias Brandyworth was a specialist in the fields of genetic engineering, chemistry and physics, working on a substance that could alter matter on a molecular and even sub-atomic level, essentially able to rearrange matter from one form into another. He worked for the United States government, specifically one agent Steven Erickson, tasked with creating a human with these abilities in hopes of producing a superhuman weapon for defensive purposes. To that end Brandyworth sought to produce a superpowered human by means of injecting a fetus with the matter altering substance.
Creating a Super-Hero[]
Brandyworth approached a homeless pregnant woman, Polly, offering her a better life if she allowed her unborn infant to be the test subject in his experiments. Polly accepted to undergo the procedure wherein her womb was flooded with rapidly decaying particles, which would grant her future child superpowers. As Brandyworth monitored the pregnancy it became clear that the child would be born healthy. However, his time spent with Polly brought the two of them close, forming a sort of friendship. When it became clear that Polly regretted her decision due to her maternal instincts, Brandyworth also felt regret over his actions. He swore to have Polly's child hidden from the government and began devising a plan to get Polly out after the baby was born. Unexpectedly, Polly went into labor two weeks earlier, forcing Brandyworth to kickstart their escape earlier.
On the night of Polly's labor, the Lizard League broke into the government laboratory to search for an experimental serum that would help in their world conquering plans. The League was immediately ambushed by the original roster of the Guardians of the Globe, plus Omni-Man. The entire incident had been used by Brandyworth as a diversion to get him and Polly out of the laboratory without alerting Erickson. As he drives Polly to a hospital, Brandyworth is called on the phone by Erickson, who caught wind of their escape and demanded they return to the lab. Brandyworth ignores the request of his superior and drives to the hospital. By the time they arrived at the hospital, Polly soon after succumbed to the trauma of the baby's latent superpower bursts and died. Fortunately however, Brandyworth had been able to deliver the baby himself and had the child swapped with the stillborn infant of a nearby couple, one Betsy Wilkins and her husband Adam. Erickson and a team of government agents break into the hospital demanding the baby be given over into their custody, but Dr. Brandyworth lied to them, clamming that neither Polly nor the child survived the procedure. As he is being dragged out of the building Dr. Brandyworth smiles as he hears Betsy Wilkins naming the superhuman infant Samantha Eve Wilkins.
Keeping His Promise[]
Dr. Brandyworth was presumably fired from his station and Erickson had the project of creating superhumans continued without his assistance, prompting one Rodgers to take the doctor's place. For the next twelve years following Eve's birth, Elias lived on the streets of Chicago in order to keep a close, clandestine watch on Samantha as she developed her powers, to ensure that Erickson never caught wind of her existence. Eve would occasionally notice the doctor from afar, but merely thought of him as just some creep. On the night before her twelve birthday Eve uses her powers for the first time to fight crime, stopping a couple of crooks from kidnapping dogs from a pound. Elias takes this opportunity to finally make contact with Eve. Despite her initial hesitance, Eve listens to Dr. Brandyworth briefly explaining his involvement in her conception. He convinces her to trust him after explaining her abilities: Eve's instinctual understanding and rearrangement of matter on a molecular and atomic level. He likewise knows of her inability to induce change in animal tissues, humans included. Elias ends their conversation after hearing a strange sound, believing them to be spied on by the government. As he leaves Eve behind, he tells her not to use her powers again. Sure enough, a drone hovers a few feet above the ground and continues tracking Eve while she uses her powers. The drone's footage alerts Erickson of Eve's general whereabouts, prompting him to send other superhuman children after her.
Eve spends the next day searching for Brandyworth in order to get more information about her family out of him. After a short battle with the cybernetic crook Killcannon, Eve is visited by Brandyworth, who chastises her for not listening to his warning. She declares herself a superhero, going by Atom Eve while in her superhero costume, but Brandyworth is less than impressed. After pointing out that it is her birthday, Brandyworth is invited by Eve to share a meal at a Burger Mart and to tell her more about her past. Dr. Brandyworth recalls his time spent with Polly and the promise made to her, to ensure that Eve grew up in a normal environment, away from the government's intentions.
Family Reunion[]
Eve is forced to run off again after noticing several police cars driving towards a battle, leaving Brandyworth behind. During the battle on a overpass bridge Eve fought against her genetically deteriorating siblings, managing to kill two of them with some ease. Phase Two and Three, who were more stable than Four and Five, prove to be more of a challenge against her, managing to wound Eve and tackle her. As Phase Two manages to pin Eve down, Dr. Brandyworth runs over the first with a car, killing her in the process. In response, Phase Two grabs the doctor and threatens to throw him off of the bridge. After more fighting and much difficulty Eve is able to rescue the doctor and watches in horror as Phase Two disintegrates, having exhausted his powers' limits. Brandyworth explains to Eve that her siblings, having been created without his involvement, had been taught by Rodgers to use their powers to alter their molecular structure. Eve was unable to do the same because of mental barriers which Brandyworth had implanted in her mind, thus preventing her from altering organic animal and human material. The children's deterioration and deaths were the result of lacking this same barrier. Soon enough Erickson and a squad of soldiers ambush Eve and Brandyworth, knocking them unconscious.
As Eve wakes up, strapped and handcuffed to a table, inside the laboratory were she and her siblings had been created. She sees Br. Brandyworth pleading to Erickson to leave her out of his plans. The doctor requests to work for him again, creating new weapons for his agency. Erickson replies that Brandyworth will work for him again, but also refuses to let Eve go, as she was the only fully functional human weapon at their disposal. He then proceeds to show them the means through which Eves' siblings had been created: a still-living, yet severely brain-damaged, Polly, floating inside a life support tube. Dr. Brandyworth is heartbroken to see Polly relegated to being used as a tool in the agency's experiments, prompting him to attack Erickson. Eve uses her powers to break out of the restraints, but fails to stop Erickson from accidentally shooting the tube hosing Polly. The woman dies without her life support chamber. Soon after, Brandyworth is shot in the head by Erickson, killing him. In that moment of heartbreak for her biological family and hatred towards Erickson and Rogers, Eve taps into her suppressed potential, activating her power to alter organic matter. She uses this to levitate Erickson and Rodgers, then wiping their memories of her existence.
Legacy[]
For next few years of her life, Eve would hold onto the memory of doctor Elias Brandyworth, Polly and her siblings, as the family she never knew she had and cared for. She kept hidden in her room an altered picture of her ideal family: with Brandyworth as her father, Polly as her mother, and Phases Two, Three, Four and Five as her younger siblings, with her in the middle. She eventually shared these memories with Rex Splode, her first real boyfriend. By the time she graduated from high school, Eve began to stop thinking about them. Although Rex explains that this was due to her having worked through her grief.
Sightings[]
| Season 2 | ||||||||||||
| 1. "A Lesson For Your Next Life": | Absent | 5. "This Must Come as a Shock": | Mentioned | |||||||||
| 2. "In About Six Hours, I Lose My Virginity to a Fish": | Absent | 6. "It's Not That Simple": | Absent | |||||||||
| 3. "This Missive, This Machination!": | Absent | 7. "I'm Not Going Anywhere": | Absent | |||||||||
| 4. "It's Been a While": | Absent | 8. "I Thought You Were Stronger": | Absent | |||||||||
| Specials | ||||||||||||
| Invincible: Atom Eve: | Debut | |||||||||||
Trivia[]
- Elias Brandyworth can be seen behind at the teaser of Season 2 when Mark and Allen were talking to eachother.