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Chamber From Marvel Database


Real NameJonothon Evan StarsmoreCurrent AliasChamber

IdentitySecret

AffiliationFormerly Weapon X, X-Men and Generation X

RelativesJack Starsmore (ancestor), Apocalypse (ancestor), Blink (distant cousin)

UniverseEarth-616

Base Of OperationsMassachusetts Academy, Massachusetts

Characteristics GenderMale

Height5'9"

Weight140 lbs (64 kg)

EyesBrown

HairReddish-Brown

Unusual FeaturesOddly-shaped red tattoo on his chest. Gray skin and blue lips. Status CitizenshipEnglish

Marital StatusSingle

OccupationAdventurer Origin OriginJono is a mutant, born with his powers.

Place of BirthUnited Kingdom

First appearance Generation X #1


History ChamberJonothon Evan Starsmore ("Jono" to his friends) is a native of London and a mutant who possesses a furnace of psionic energy in his chest. This power first manifested in an explosion that destroyed much of his chest and lower face and crippled his then-girlfriend Gayle Edgerton. As a result of his disfigurement, Chamber can only speak via telepathy. He does not eat, drink, or breathe; it is believed that either the psionic energy sustains him without needing his vital organs, or that his body is merely a shell, and he is actually made up of psionic energy. This is further supported by the fact that Chamber is immune to the "Death Factor" of Omega Red, meaning that he is not sustained by "life force". The primary manifestation of his abilities is his ability to fire powerful blasts of psychokinetic force. It has been implied at numerous times that Chamber is potentially one of the most powerful mutants to walk the earth (most notably the scale of his mutagenic aura as seen by Emplate in Generation X #1, also at times when he is seen to 'cut loose' with his abilities) but his emotional issues have apparently prevented him from significantly exploring this potential. His disfigurement also left Chamber sullen and angry and his teammates have often found him difficult to get along with.

Shortly after his mutant powers manifested, Jonothon accepted an invitation to join Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. At the airport, he was attacked by Emplate, a vicious evil mutant who feeds on mutant genetic material to survive, and the fledgling team of Generation X (M, Husk, Synch, Skin, and Jubilee) arrived to fight Emplate off. Shortly after, Chamber convinced the crazed Penance to stop attacking the team, as he could sympathize with her freakish appearance; she came to live with the team.

Emplate captured Chamber with Gayle's help, and then imprisoned both of them. Gayle blamed Jono for ruining her life, but the two managed to get over the pain after the rest of Generation X freed them. Chamber later became romantically involved with Husk, although their relationship was awkward and strained, and was terminated on more than one occasion.

Chamber grew even more depressed when he saw that Synch, who could duplicate a nearby mutant's powers, was more proficient with Chamber's own powers than Chamber himself was. When the school was outed as harboring mutant students, an anti-mutant group attacked the school. After Synch was killed preventing a bomb from killing nearby human students, the Generation X kids felt that their training was over, and they had to use their powers to help humanity.

When the students moved on from the Massachusetts Academy of Higher Learning, Jono was offered a position with the X-Men. He declined however and returned to London, where he hooked up with pop star Sugar Kane, creating a publicity blitz for the singer, but Chamber ditched her after she told him she was using him for her image and joined the X-Men.

As an X-Man, Chamber investigated the apparent murders of mutant students at Empire State University. He got to know a reptilian mutant, Amber, who was the only mutant student to remain at ESU when they shut down their mutant program.

Returning to the X-Men, Chamber saw Husk in the arms of Archangel. He attacked Archangel and left; he destroyed a bar with his mutant powers, and the X-Men turned him over to the police. While in prison, locked in a power-dampening helmet, Chamber received a visit from Brent Jackson, who offered him an invitation to join the Weapon X program. He accepted, though in reality he infiltrated the group on behalf of the X-Men. Weapon X restored his damaged body, but the Weapon X series was canceled before his story could continue.

It was believed Jono had damaged his face again and joined a new team of retired teenage superheroes called Excelsior, but it was revealed (to the reader, not to the rest of Excelsior) that this was merely someone posing as Chamber.

In the new Apocalypse vs. Dracula limited series, it is hinted that Chamber is somehow related to Apocalypse. His ancestor Jon "Jack" Starsmore, has been part of the rebellion against Dracula, and is referred to as a "lesser" descendant of the mighty Apocalypse. Jack Starsmore has the mutant power to expel fire from his mouth.


Chamber after being healed with Apocalypse's blood.Recently, following the warping of reality by the Scarlet Witch, Jono was once of the many mutants who were depowered when reality was restored. His lower face, chest and heart missing once again, the X-Men leave him to be cared for at a hospital on life support while things cool down at the mansion. Recently, he was moved to England by members of Clan Akkaba, descendants of Apocalypse, who used the blood of Apocalypse to heal the hole in his chest that had existed since his powers first manifested. He was also revealed as a fellow descendant of Apocalypse and told that his powers would eventually return. He also now bears a resemblance to Apocalypse.



Powers and Abilities

Powers:

Psionic Biokinesis: Chamber is a mutant who is naturally composed of pure psionic energy. In truth is physical body is just a shell for what he truly is. The initial emergence of his powers blew a hole in his chest and lower face, completely incinerating most of his internal organs. Because of this, Chamber no longer needs to eat, drink, or breathe. Oddly enough, Chamber's blood does continue to flow through his extremities, as if propelled by a churning engine of psionic flame itself. However, he is sustained solely by the psionic flame that rages within his body. If it were somehow snuffed out, he would most likely die. But then, he might argue that he's already died once, and came back, so his reaction to a disruption of his mutant abilities may still be unclear. As his flames are actually psionic in nature, and do not rely on some form of fuel to continue to burn, they do not seem to be affected by conditions that would be adverse to actual flame (ie. lack of oxygen, water, etc.)

Biokinetic Flame: Chamber constantly creates and unleash psionic charges of energy that can strike with concussive force, act as generic flame, or cause inanimate objects to explode violently, by forcefully disrupting molecular bonds. It seems Jono cannot actively affect molecules containing Carbon in that same explosive manner, but those molecules are still very vulnerable to a direct hit with his biokinetic flame. It has been shown that if chamber realized his full potential he could in fact rebuild his broken body or use his blasts in a number of ways, such as flying. Though lack of any real control over his power prevents that. Projection Telepathy: basically, he's a radio that can send out signals, but not receive them. Chamber cannot read minds, probe thoughts, or see things that lie outside his line of sight. He can, however, use his abilities to 'speak' inside the minds of those near him. He can also create psionic illusions. For the most part, these projections are unfocused, and anyone within physical hearing (or viewing) range will be affected. Chamber is beginning to learn limited control over this, however, and is sometimes able to limit who hears and sees what he's projecting. Of course, physical obstructions do not affect these projections as they would real sounds and images. For instance, a person on the opposite side of a soundproof wall would still be able to hear him, as long as she was close enough. Psionic Blasts: can project psionic force bolts which have no physical effects but which can affect a victim's mind so as to cause the victim pain or unconsciousness and can even kill an adversary. It was once suggested that Starsmore's physical form disintegrates a little more with each use of his power. The full range, extent, and nature of Starsmore's psychic abilities remain unrevealed. After his repoweration using Apocalypse's blood, it was stated that Chamber was a potential Omega-class mutant.[1]

Strength level

Chamber possesses the normal human strength of a man his age, height, and build who engages in moderate regular exercise.

Notes

In the first Generation X novel he was able to fly by using a special device that harnessed his psionic energy. This device was omitted when the novel was adapted into the Generation X 1997 Annual.

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