Barnard "Barney" McWilliams was a former agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. who had the ability to duplicate the movements of others through brief observation.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Learning His Abilities[]
Born with the ability to duplicate the movements of others through brief observation, Barnard McWilliams, who preferred to call himself "Barney", was eight year old at the time when he continued to discover his photographic reflexes to immediately copy other skills like learning to dive in a swimming pool when he saw someone else having performed a dive, learning special techniques from the best NBA basketball players, and learning to twirl a lasso by watching cowboys on TV.
Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.[]
As an adult, Barney joined S.H.I.E.L.D. and became an agent. During a mission, Barney found an elderly scientist, shot in the chest and slowly dying. Before the scientist died, he gave Barney a syringe containing an experimental Nazi version of the Super-Soldier Serum to enhance the abilities gained through his photographic reflexes. After Barney injected himself with the Nazi Super-Soldier Serum, he began to develop additional powers, set back by the fact that the memories he gained by watching others overwrote his personal memories. As a result, Barney forgot everything about his wife and field agent partner Mercedes Merced, as well as his own history with S.H.I.E.L.D.. Crafting an elaborate set-up to help control and guide, Barney, in his new guise, called himself the "Taskmaster". Using a series of muscle memory and reflexive tasks, he linked his suit between jobs and a constant to keep him on task despite his frequently overwritten memory.
Attributes[]
Powers[]
- Photographic Reflexes: As the Taskmaster, Barney's primarily superhuman power is his photographic reflexes. He can watch another person's physical movements and duplicate them without any practice or training, no matter how complex. Barney is able to duplicate almost any physical activity after seeing it done by someone else only once. Taskmaster can use this ability to master complex gymnastics routines and play difficult pieces of music. However, he typically prefers to use this ability to copy the combat skills, both armed and unarmed, of costumed crime-fighters and expert martial artists from around the world. By reviewing recordings of movements periodically, Barney can retain duplicated moves indefinitely. When facing an opponent, he has already studied countless of martial arts, and can virtually predict his enemy's attacks. He can also copy the subtle muscle movements of others so precisely that he can at times do things such as copying another person's voice so precisely as to fool voice recognition software although he must practice a voice to ensure he has perfected it enough to fool such devices.
- Physical Movement Prediction: Barney can also do things such as figuring out the sleight of hand techniques of a master poker cheater simply by watching them. He has often shown the ability to actually predict an opponent's next move before they make it if he has studied their fighting style enough. Opponents who are skilled at improvisational fighting styles, or who have a more random unpredictable style are less likely to have their moves predicted by Taskmaster.
- Artificially Enhanced Physiology: The Super-Soldier Serum enhanced all of Barney's bodily functions, such as his strength, durability, speed, agility, stamina, reflexes, senses, healing, and lifespan to enhanced levels. The Super-Soldier Serum also healed all of his ailments, physical and genetic imperfections instantly, giving him a perfect body better than that of a man in his physical prime. It also prevents him from getting intoxicated by alcohol, meaning he cannot get drunk. The Super Soldier Serum permanently transformed him from a frail young man into the "perfect" specimen of human development and conditioning.
- Enhanced Strength: Barney's physical strength is enhanced beyond the peak of human potential. His strength allows him to physically overpower a number of foes he fought against.
- Enhanced Durability: The serum made Barney incredibly durable. Though he is not bulletproof, he can survive extreme blunt force trauma, such as being hit with solid objects like his own shield, or contact with superhuman opponents. He is capable of surviving falls from immense heights that would definitely kill a normal human. Barney has been tasered, shot, stabbed, caught in several explosions, and taken several beatings including being blasted off of a causeway into a city bus by a launched grenade.
- Enhanced Speed: Barney can run and move at great speeds and even outrun speeding vehicles or cover a small area such as city blocks in seconds as well.
- Enhanced Agility: Barney can coordinate his body with perfect balance, equilibrium, flexibility, and dexterity. He can leap over cars with simple running moves. Rogers can use his enhanced agility to perform amazing parkour and gymnastic moves that would be impossible for a normal human to accomplish.
- Enhanced Stamina: Barney's body eliminates the excessive build-up of fatigue-inducing lactic acid in his muscles and his musculature produces fewer fatigue toxins during physical activity than the musculature of an ordinary human, granting him exceptional endurance and lung capacity, greater than that of normal humans. He can exert himself at peak capacity for several hours without showing any sign of fatigue, allowing him to fight for long periods of time. Additionally, Barney can hold his breath underwater for several minutes and will not lose breath or get exhausted due to his stamina extending to his lung capacity.
- Enhanced Intelligence: Barney's mental performance has been greatly enhanced to operate in the most efficient and rapid manner possible. Some manifestations of this are his exceptionally perfect charisma, eloquence, leadership skills, deductive skills, analytical skills, and tactical genius. He has demonstrated the ability to quickly process multiple information streams and rapidly respond to any changing tactical situations by creating perfect winning strategies.
- Regenerative Healing Factor: The Super-Soldier Serum granted Barney's physiology an accelerated rate of healing and regeneration. He is immune to earthly infections, diseases, and disorders as well as the inability to become intoxicated by alcohol, drugs, or impurities.
- Longevity: As a result of the Super-Soldier Serum, Barney ages much slower than the normal human.
Abilities[]
- Master Martial Artist: The Taskmaster is an extremely skilled and formidable hand-to-hand combatant and martial artist, having extensive levels of knowledge of melee combat as well as being considerably experienced in combat operations, making him one of the most powerful and best fighters on the planet. He has mastered numerous martial arts such as muay Thai, boxing, Krav Maga, Taekwondo, savate, wushu, judo, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, kickboxing, wrestling, aikido, karate, and wing chun.
- Advanced Pedagogy: Given the number of students that he's taught, Taskmaster is adroit in training students in any of the many styles that he knows.
- Master Tactician: Barney is a master strategist and tactician
- Weapon Mastery: Due to his powers and his use of different peoples' fighting styles, Barney has become a master in all melee weaponry, including swordsmanship. He has displayed skill with billy clubs while observing Daredevil.
- Master Marksman: Barney is a master in the fields of marksman. He has the marksmanship of Hawkeye, Punisher, and Bullseye. He also has self-marksman skills, making him extremely proficient with throwing projectile weapons, archery, and firearms.
- Master Assassin: Barney is a master deadly assassin.
- Meditation: Barney learned meditation techniques in Tibet that allow him to slow his breathing and heart rate and survive for extended periods of time without air, this also means that to the untrained eye he will appear to be dead.
Paraphernalia[]
Equipment[]
- Taskmaster's Suit: Barney wears a specialized armored suit designed with some level of protection.
- Taskmaster's Mask: Barney wears a protective skull mask that also serves for identity concealment. The mask also has technology built into it that allows Barney to resist telepathic and psychic attacks.
- Image Inducer: Used to project a holographic appearance to aid him in sabotage, spying and escape.
- Taskmaster often kept DVDs and tapes of individuals he wished to mimic and would also acquire new ones to study to help him learn new skills to complete difficult tasks.
Weapons[]
- Energy Shield: Barney has at times been known to use a wrist device stolen from S.H.I.E.L.D. which created weapons out of pure energy. These weapons apparently had substance even after he let go of them, at least for a short time.
Trivia[]
- The Taskmaster is played by Scott Adkins, who also play the character Powell Moerter in Doctor Strange.
External Links[]
Tony Masters on the Marvel Wiki- Taskmaster on the Marvel Wiki
