Helix (Rafael Carago) is a mutate superhero appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

s published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

. He was created by

Tom DeFalco Tom DeFalco (born June 26, 1950) is an American comic book writer and editor well known for his association with Marvel Comics, with long runs on ''Amazing Spider-Man'', ''Thor (comic book), Thor'', ''Fantastic Four (comic book), Fantastic Four'' ...

and Todd DeZago in ''

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...

: Maximum Clonage Alpha'' (part of the Clone Saga). His first appearance as a New Warrior was in ''The

New Warriors The New Warriors are a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They traditionally consisted of teenage and young adult heroes, and were often seen to serve as a junior counterpart to Avengers (comics) ...

'' #62.

Fictional character biography

A villain calling himself Spidercide released an improved version of the Carrion Virus in Springdale,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, killing the entire population of the town. Spidercide and his master the

Jackal Jackals are Canidae, canids native to Africa and Eurasia. While the word has historically been used for many canines of the subtribe Canina (subtribe), canina, in modern use it most commonly refers to three species: the closely related black-b ...

later discovered that there was a single survivor. Rafael Carago was discovered by agents of the

Centers for Disease Control The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and is headquartered in Atlanta, ...

. Rafael's skin had hardened and darkened by the time CDC were able to sedate him, he tore himself free and escaped. The New Warriors and the

Scarlet Spider The Scarlet Spider is an alias used by several fictional Character (arts), characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most notably Ben Reilly and Kaine Parker, both of whom are genetic clones of Peter Parker, the sup ...

showed up, and beat Rafael unconscious. He was then taken into custody by Project: Pegasus, but Spidercide replaced a helicopter pilot, and escaped with Helix. The Jackal further experimented on a helpless Rafael, mutating him further. The Jackal was unable to discover how Helix developed Adaptoid powers, and during a clone revolt in his labs, Helix escaped. After a battle in downtown Manhattan between a hallucinating Helix and the Warriors, The Scarlet Spider was able to wrap Helix in a web cocoon and used his stinger dart launchers to inject Rafael with the same hypermorphic serum that knocked him unconscious in their earlier battle. The serum worked and Helix reverted to his normal form. The Scarlet Spider also realized that if nobody attacked Helix, his body would have nothing to adapt to, and would return to normal. After a series of adventures alongside the Warriors Helix haltingly said his goodbyes in English to

Turbo In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (also known as a turbo or a turbosupercharger) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake air, forcing more air into the ...

, and promised to call if he needed help, then took off on a quest to find himself.

Powers and abilities

Helix is a reactive Adaptoid, meaning he can subconsciously recode his

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

in response to threatening outside

stimuli A stimulus is something that causes a physiological response. It may refer to: *Stimulation **Stimulus (physiology), something external that influences an activity **Stimulus (psychology), a concept in behaviorism and perception *Stimulus (economi ...

. Helix is able to alter, or evolve, his body to physically counter kinetic energy or energy-based threats to his well-being. He can increase in size and strength, cancel psychokinetic energies in his vicinity, and adapt to any environmental

toxin A toxin is a naturally occurring poison produced by metabolic activities of living cells or organisms. They occur especially as proteins, often conjugated. The term was first used by organic chemist Ludwig Brieger (1849–1919), derived ...

. His body automatically subconsciously adapts to counter any threat. After the crisis has passed, Helix's body resets itself to its baseline form. His body's adaptive capabilities allowed him to go toe-to-toe with alternate versions of

Wonder Man Wonder Man (Simon Williams) is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, he first appeared in '' The Avengers'' #9 (October 1964). The character, wh ...

and Charlie-27 at the same time.

Other versions

Timeslip's vision

Timeslip ''Timeslip'' is a British children's television series, children's science fiction television series made by Associated TeleVision, ATV for the ITV (TV network), ITV network, and broadcast in 1970 and 1971. It was first shown on Monday evenings ...

saw a possible vision of

Justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

, Powerhouse, and Helix falling into a spiral, which may have been a dimensional or time portal.

References

{{Reflist Fictional characters who can change size Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength Marvel Comics mutates Marvel Comics superheroes