Mannequin

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<infobox> <title source="name"><default>Mannequin</default></title>

<image source="Image"></image> <image source="image"></image> <group><header>Basic Information</header> <label>Civilian Name</label> <label>Aliases</label> <label>Gender</label><default>Unknown</default> <label>Death</label> <label>Age</label><default>Unknown</default> <label>Post-timeskip</label> <label>Ward start</label> <label>Relations</label> <label>Family</label></group> <group><header>Professional Status</header> <label>Occupation</label> <label>Classification</label> <label>Unique Features</label> <label>Alignment</label>

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<label>Location</label> <label>Teams</label> <label>Previous Team(s)</label> <label>Base of Operations</label></group> <group><header>First Appearance</header> <label>Worm Debut</label> <label>Ward Debut</label></group> </infobox> Mannequin or Sphere as he was originally known, is the alias of Alan Gramme, a capable Tinker and a member of the Slaughterhouse Nine.

Personality

Mannequin appears to be an exceedingly intelligent and oddly playful individual. He toys with Armsmaster when he goes to 'recruit' him and purposefully brushes up against Skitter's insects several times to show her that he could get around the sensing part of her power. He injures Armsmaster just enough to make a point.

It should be noted that "like other serial killers, Mannequin favored certain types of people as victims. His prey of choice included rogues, those individuals seeking to make a profit from their abilities, especially those looking to better the world… and tinkers."<ref name="I11d">Interlude 11d</ref>

He had something of a deathwish, which led him to attack powerful opponents.<ref>Comment by Wildbow on Spacebattles</ref>

Although he was unable to speak, Mannequin had a variety of methods for communicating. He could spell out words, or use simple sign language. His teammates knew that when he drew an "x" over his mouth with one finger, it meant someone was lying.<ref name="13.4">Snare 13.4</ref>

Appearance & Equipment

It is unknown what Mannequin looked like before he cocooned himself in his new 'Mannequin' body. Now, however, he survives in an ecosystem of his own creation. His body is made up of several 'pieces' which seem to be able to operate independent of each other. They are attached with chains or ball joints, his shoulders and hips are ball joints, his lower arms and, presumably, lower legs are attached with chains. These chains are capable of extending and retracting, to devastating effect.

He is 9 feet tall, his head scrapes the ceiling of an average sized room. Furthermore, his head has "no eyeholes, no earholes, nor any vents for air intake. There was only a head as white and smooth as an eggshell, with shallow indents where the eyes and mouth should be and a small bump for the nose."<ref name="I11d"/>

It is noted that anyone who looks at Mannequin before the two halves of his chest come together can see the organs that are inside of him. The right and left side of his body, which appear to be able to work independent of each other are "cut cleanly down the middle"<ref name="I11d"/> and the organs inside of him "pulsed with activity, throbbing wet against the glass or glass substitute.<ref name="I11d"/>" It is also noted that there is a substantial amount of technology keeping him alive, "regulators and filtration systems, and other gear that was designed to fit into the gaps between the most vital systems.<ref name="I11d"/>"

It is mentioned that each part of Mannequin's new body is "a self-contained system."<ref name="I11d"/> Furthermore, "everything nonessential stripped away and replaced."<ref name="I11d"/> This appears to also include Mannequin's voice as he uses keys from a keyboard to communicate with Armsmaster.

He is also bristling with 'weapons' and 'tools' however they seem to 'seamlessly' flow into his body making it almost impossible to see the number of weapons he has. Among other weapons he has a "telescoping blade" that comes out of the center of Mannequin's hand that can be 'speared' forward as well as retracted so quickly that it causes a recoil in his forearm and hand.

This ability has served him well in the Slaughterhouse Nine, with it's high member turnover rate. It was mentioned several times by different people that Mannequin is one of the Nine's longest serving members. Bonesaw mentioned once that she could count the members of the Nine that lasted more then a few years on one hand with fingers to spare, with Mannequin being one of them.

Every one of Mannequin's joints is too flexible, "capable of moving in every angle"<ref name="I11d"/> and his fingers are described as " like worms, each knuckle bending in impossible directions."<ref name="I11d"/>

His armor was durable enough to resist his own blades<ref name="12.6c1">Comment by Wildbow on Plague 12.6</ref>.

Abilities and Powers

Mannequin's ability is described as a "tinker who specialized in sustaining life, sheltering it from outside forces; forces that included water, weather, space… and bugs." After the death of his children and wife, he changed from trying to protect others and now "was using his power to help and protect himself and himself only."<ref name="12.6">Plague 12.6</ref>

As a tinker, Mannequin retained the benefits of his technology even without his power, but grew noticeably less coordinated using it.<ref name="26.3">Sting 26.3</ref>

Due to being mostly modular, his fighting style is never quite the same twice, and his flexibility and many weapons give him a lot of options.

History

Background

Born Alan Gramme, a man with a happy childhood and home life<ref name="I25">Interlude 25</ref>. After triggering he became a tinker specializing in enclosed systems, this led him taking the pseudonym 'Sphere'. He gained fame and attention as his power allowed him and his power made him noteworthy when he " took on a project to build self sustaining biospheres on the moon."<ref name="I11d"/> It is stated that "he had ideas on solving world hunger, and building aquatic cities near cities plagued by overcrowding."<ref name="I11d"/> Sphere was attempting to get all of that off the ground when The Simurgh attacked the city he was living in.<ref name="R1">Comment by Wildbow on Reddit</ref>

In the Simurgh attack, his wife and children were killed, and the years of work he'd done to help fix the problems of the world were ruined. Alan went mad and shut himself off from the world. Literally. Sphere withdrew, crafting a self-contained ecosystem in which he could survive indefinitely, untouchable, unreachable and safe. Sphere emerged under the new name of 'Mannequin'.

Story Start

After this he would start travelling the world as a serial killer, emphasising individuals, predominantly tinkers and rogues who seek to better the world with their powers as his targets. Eventually he joined the Slaughterhouse Nine and has been with them for an unknown amount of time, though it has been several years.

When the group they came to Brockton Bay to 'recruit' a ninth member for their team. His recruit is Armsmaster, who he visits in holding by climbing through the air vents, and injures just enough to make a point.<ref name="I11d"/>

Post-Leviathan

Mannequin came with the Nine to Brockton Bay, recruiting. He nominated Armsmaster. a fellow tinker.<ref name="I11d"/>

Spited by the unusually low death count of Shatterbird's attack as a result of Skitter's involvement, Mannequin sought the young villain out<ref name="I11c1">Comment by Wildbow on Plague 12.7</ref><ref>Comment by Wildbow on Sufficient Velocity</ref>. He found her in her territory, engaged in providing medical treatment to those with glass shards in their bodies, a remnant of Shatterbird's recent song. Skitter said she would make him pay for hurting people.

She did.

Fleeing he later met up with the other 7 members. Ambushed the Undersiders and maimed panacea while she was meeting with the villains. He would attack Skitters territory again with a gas attack orphaning several children. Overwhelmed by

He was killed by Bakuda's bombs utilized by the PRT.

Post-Timeskip

Several clones of Gramme appeared as members of the Slaughterhouse 9000, along with a hybrid clone of him and Winter called Snowmann. Though grown and programmed by Bonesaw, they carried out the body modifications themselves.

Golden Morning

One clone of Mannequin survived to Golden Morning, and was captured by Khepri.<ref>I found members of Bonesaw’s Slaughterhouse Nine. Clones who’d fled, or who’d been left behind, lurking in dark corners, or simply hiding. A Mannequin, two Damsels that were keeping each other company, a Night Hag-Nyx hybrid, and a Crawler-Breed hybrid.-Speck 30.4</ref>

Trivia

• Like Andrew Norton was not an intentional homage to emperor Nortan, Mannequin was not given the first name of Alan as an intentional homage to the musician Alan Menkenany, who wrote the song Mannequin Attack.<ref name="I12c1">Comment by Wildbow on Interlude 12</ref>

Fanart Gallery

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  Image by Abyranss on Reddit

References

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