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Iceman ( Robert Louis " Bobby " Drake) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics and is a founding member of the X-Men. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The X-Men #1 (Sept. 1963). Iceman is a mutant born with superhuman abilities.
- Overview
- History\r This is an abridged version of Robert Drake's history. For a complete history see Robert Drake's Expanded History Early Life
- Attributes
- Paraphernalia
My name is Robert Drake. Iceman. I've been an X-Man, an X...Factor-ian, a Defender, a Champion (don't ask). I've been a super hero since before I was old enough to shave. I've stood side by side with the toughest, most powerful heroes in the known universe and always held my own. But today...today I need to be something more. So go ahead, call me a joke if you want. Label me the X-Man with the lamest power ever. But a man of untapped potential? Don't you dare ever call me that again!
—Iceman
Bobby Drake, also known as Iceman, is a mutant with the ability to manipulate ice and cold temperatures, often using his powers to create ice constructs and freeze enemies in battle. Bobby discovered his mutant abilities at a young age and joined the X-Men under the mentorship of Professor Charles Xavier. Over the years, he learned to control his powers and became a key member of the team. Bobby's journey took a significant turn when he suffered a chest injury that triggered a Secondary Mutation, permanently encasing his body in ice.
As Iceman, Bobby has faced numerous challenges alongside the X-Men, including battles against powerful foes like Magneto, the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and the the Sentinels. He joined various team such as X-Factor, the Defenders, and the Champions of Los Angeles. He has also played pivotal roles in events such as the "Mutant Massacre" and "Age of X-Man." Bobby's relationships within the team, particularly with teammates like Rogue and Mystique, have added layers of complexity to his clife.
Early Life
Robert "Bobby" Louis Drake was born in Floral Park, Hempstead, New York to William Robert Drake and Madeline Beatrice Bass-Drake. Bobby was Jewish on his mother's side and Irish Catholic on his father's. Bobby first discovered his mutant abilities at a young age when he found himself unable to stop feeling cold and shivering. A school bully named Rocky Beasely had convinced his gang to attack Bobby and Judy Harmon, his girlfriend at the time. Bobby panicked and encased Rocky in ice, saving Judy, but revealing his abilities to his peers. Believing Bobby to be a dangerous mutant, the people of his town, Fort Washington, organized a lynch mob. The mob broke into the Drake household and overpowered them. The local sheriff noticed that things were getting out of hand and took Bobby into custody for his own protection. The story made its way to Professor Charles Xavier, founder of the X-Men.
X-Men
Xavier sent Scott Summers (Cyclops) to recruit Bobby. After Bobby turned him down, the two mutants got into a brief scuffle before the mob caught up with them. The mob was stringing Scott and Bobby up to be hanged when Professor X used his telepathic abilities to erase their memories. Grateful for saving his life and yearning to be like Scott, Bobby enrolled in Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters and become the second member of the X-Men. There, the X-Men were tutored by Professor X and trained in the use of their powers in the Danger Room. As 'Iceman', Bobby learned to control his abilities in order to protect a world that feared and hated him for being different alongside Cyclops, Angel, Beast, and Marvel Girl. Iceman quickly befriended Beast, however, he remained self-conscious about being the youngest member of the group. Still, his lighthearted approach to disaster often eased tension among his teammates. Bobby's rudimentary control of his abilities caused his appearance to be snowman-like, rather than the almost transparent ice version of his later years. Alongside the X-Men, he battled many foes including Magneto and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. In time, Bobby learned to cover himself in ice instead of his original snowman appearance. During this time, Bobby teamed up with the Human Torch to defeat the modern-day pirate Captain Barracuda.
Time-Displacement
Beast from the future traveled to their time in order to inform them that the future was in a bad state, and that only the original X-Men could help fix it. Bobby and the rest of the X-Men accompanied this Beast to the future where Cyclops had killed Charles Xavier and Jean Grey was dead (with the school named after her). Bobby was particularly disturbed to find that his future self had become so "lame." After the team confronted the future Cyclops, the team (under Jean's leadership) decided they would stay until the problems in this time were resolved, before returning to their own. After a conflict between Wolverine's X-Men and the future versions of the X-Men and Brotherhood at Cape Citadel, Kitty decided to quit Logan's school and take herself and the younger X-Men to Cyclops' school instead. Not long before the young X-Men left Cyclops' side, the young Jean Grey privately confronted Bobby, having read his mind and discovered he was gay. Bobby initially refuted her claims angrily, mainly due to the invasion of privacy, but opened up to her and admitted that he was, even though he wondered why his adult-self didn't seem to be. With Jean's assistance, Bobby later talked to adult Iceman, who came out to his younger self and explained that he hadn't before because he thought it would only complicate his life. With the rise of anti-mutant hysteria following the death of adult Cyclops and the beginning of the M-Pox crisis, the time-displaced X-Men decided to part ways and lay low for a while. Bobby moved to Austin, Texas, a city so friendly of mutants that Bobby became an attraction, building ice statues in public. Months later, the time-displaced X-Men reunited (with the exception of Jean) and they were joined by Genesis, Oya, and the new Wolverine on a road-trip across the country helping people whenever necessary. By this time Bobby had come out to the rest of his teammates. Genesis and Oya later offered to act as wingmen to help Bobby get a date, and took him to a nightclub in Miami, Florida. After a disastrous attempt at flirting, Bobby ran into a young man named Romeo while leaving the club. Romeo turned out to be an Inhuman in the middle of a assignment for the Royal Inhuman Diplomatic Mission. Bobby and Romeo hit it off, and started dating some time later. When different factions of mutants decided to assault New Attilan to take down major Inhuman players in order to destroy a Terrigen Cloud which was roaming the atmosphere and was close to dispersing and making Earth uninhabitable for mutants, because the Terrigen Mists were the cause of the lethal M-Pox, Iceman decided to join the attack solely to find a means to locate Romeo. Once the X-Men penetrated New Attilan's defenses, Iceman slip away and went looking for Romeo. When Bobby found him, they shared their first kiss and escaped together from the conflict. After discovering a way to travel through time, Beast assembled his time-displaced friends to show them an unfortunate side discovery. He believed he had only managed to travel to the past within the timeline they were currently inhabiting and not their own, which led to them finding what they thought was this timeline's young X-Men in the past they initially believed would be available for them to return. Now certain of their inability to return to their time, the young X-Men looked forward to the new future they could build, which was no longer tied to that of their present selves. The time-displaced X-Men assumed they could stay in the present with no consequences until the collapse of the timestream forced them into a time-hopping adventure that resulted in the young heroes discovering that the divergent versions of themselves in the past were in reality the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants from an alternate future impersonating them to take advantage of the void they left. The young X-Men returned to the future, but with the knowledge that they would ultimately have to return to the exact moment they had left to prevent the Brotherhood from carrying out their plan. When the time-traveller mutant-hunter Ahab targeted the younger displaced X-Men, threatening to bring forth a dystopian future if he killed one of the five original X-Men, a younger version of the time-travelling warrior Cable set out to send the young mutants to the past on his own. After defeating Ahab, the young X-Men agreed to return to their original time. Before doing so, Jean Grey sealed off the memories of her and her friends' time-displacement, causing them only to resurface on their older selves as soon as their younger selves returned to the past.
Powers
Iceman is an Omega Level mutant[128][129][130][111][131][132] He was also considered an Omega Level Mutate by Supergiant,[133] an Alpha-Level Mutant by Apocalypse,[134] and a High Threat by the O*N*E.[128] According to Prosh, his Comparative Mutagenic Power Register was of 3.2.[135] On a day-to-day basis, Drake's powers aren't capable of their highest level of performance, but this potential has been unlocked on some occasions by various encounters- specifically with Loki, Mikhail Rasputin, and Emma Frost.[136] On other occasions, his abilities were unlocked by telepaths, such as Psylocke. •Cold Generation: Iceman is a mutant with the ability to lower both his external and internal body temperature, which projects intense coldness from his body. Like any normal human being, the nerve centers for regulating Iceman's body temperature are found in the part of the brain called the hypothalamus. However, Iceman can mentally override his hypothalamus to allow his body temperature to be lowered by an unknown internal mechanism. This ability converts the latent thermal energies in and around his body into an unknown form of energy that is efficiently dissipated. A related mutation has rendered his body tissues unaffected by sub-zero temperatures. Iceman can consciously, immediately lower his body temperature from its normal 98.6 Fahrenheit to absolute zero (the point where all molecular motion stops) within the span of a few tenths of a second. Iceman's power to generate cold is so great, he was able to stop a massive fusion device explosion. As his body temperature falls, the surrounding moisture in the air that is in contact with him is similarly lowered. Just as condensed moisture forms frost, this moisture forms an icy covering which encompasses his entire body. It also obscures his facial features. When Iceman first began to completely lower his body temperature, this covering took on a more snow-like appearance. But as he learned to increase the severity of his coldness, the covering assumed the consistency of crystalline ice that it has today. This ice constantly cracks with any movement of his body, and immediately reforms (hence, there is a cracking sound when Iceman covered with ice, moves). Through practice, Iceman has learned to control the intensity of his coldness, and he can selectively lower the temperature of isolated parts of his body.[citation needed] •Infrared Vision: When lowering his body temperature, Iceman can see other beings via the heat signatures they give off because of the absence of heat around himself.[citation needed] •Ice Generation and Manipulation: Iceman can generate, manipulate, and fully control ice, snow, and cold temperatures. He can use his mutant ability to control moisture such as to freeze any air moisture into super-hard ice. This ice can be formed into any object of his choosing: the only limitations are his own imagination and the ambient air temperature which determines how long his ice sculpture will stay icy. He does not have to hold the ice physically with his hands in order to shape it. Apparently, he can simply direct the waves of coldness he projects in certain ways so as to create ice in the shape he desires. In the past, Iceman has formed ice-ladders, ice-slides, ice-shields, ice-domes, ice-bolts, ice-blasts, ice-beams, and other constructs of ice. Iceman has created constructs of ice so powerful that he was able to easily encase and contain the likes of the Hulk with him being unable to break out of it for quite some time. On at least one occasion, he has even been shown to make it snow or cause a blizzard. He can also unfreeze matter. Iceman is able to form a rising column of ice beneath his feet, capable of lifting him off the ground. The tensile strength of the column is determined by its thickness and its steadiness by how well it has been braced. A well-braced and regular column, 6 feet in diameter at its base, is able to support his weight without toppling for about 85 feet in a 40-mile per hour wind. By forming long ice-ramps connected either to his ice-column or to an existing structure like a building or a bridge, Iceman is able to travel above the ground by sliding down the ramp he is creating. Unless he creates supports periodically, the ramp will crack beneath him, unable to support their combined weight. Iceman although has shown that he is not limited to creating constructs and can fly on his own with his control over moisture, or by levitating the ice on his own body. Iceman's control of his powers are so vast that it extends to the molecular level, to the point that he can freeze all of the molecules of an object/being with a thought, as well as unfreeze it. An example would be freezing the blood in the veins, thereby stopping flow to the brain. He has demonstrated the ability to control chemical reactions on the molecular level, at one point preventing Sunfire from accessing his powers. •Organic-Ice Form: Ability to not only cover his body with ice, but to actually become organic ice.[137] Though the appearance is similar, Iceman is now actually translucent in his ice form. Iceman is virtually indestructible in this form, allowing him to reform his body should it become shattered or evaporated. He has been incinerated while in human form and was able to rebuild himself. In his ice form, he is able to use the moisture in the air to form spikes, shields and attach other extra appendages to his body. It is currently unknown if Bobby would be considered immortal. Due to the amount of water on Earth, Iceman has a virtually unlimited supply of moisture since it is always present in the surrounding air or environment. Even desert air has sufficient moisture content for him to make temporary practical use of; however, the mental effort needed to employ his mutant power under these circumstances could eventually fatigue him and render his freezing ability temporarily dysfunctional. Due to his cryokinetic-based powers, Iceman is able to sense, generate and manipulate various cold aspects of the weather such as snow, hail, blizzards, cold air, freezing rain etc.[citation needed] •Water Manipulation: Iceman can manipulate water at molecular level, he can use surrounding moisture to augment himself, allowing him to travel within large bodies of water very quickly. He accomplishes this by breaking himself down to his base levels and reforming at the destination. He is able to convert his body to gigantic proportions as well, through absorption of a body of water or water vapor in the air. One side effect of this is he gains superhuman strength to match his superhuman size. Wherever there is any moisture, Iceman is a threat. Iceman has demonstrated the ability to be transformed into nothing more than water or water vapor, yet remain conscious and retain the use of his powers. His conscious control of his abilities has allowed him to exist simultaneously in two places at once.[citation needed] •Molecular Moisture Inversion: The ability to freeze water molecules turning them into solid ice.[citation needed] •Molecular Moisture Conversion: The ability to transform organic matter, such as a human body, to organic ice and back again. With this, it is possible for him to project his consciousness through moisture molecules and reform his body at the destination. Though he has only done this to himself, he does possess the potential, as demonstrated by his AoA counterpart, to perform the feat with passengers.[citation needed] •Ice Clone Generation: The ability to generate ice clones of himself. It is unknown how many ice clones he can create at once. •Cryokinetic Perception: After he managed to freeze the Earth in ice and snow, Iceman gained the ability to spread his consciousness through the icy matter and perceive all events occurring within it, likening it to the perception of a God.[104] •Cellular Replacement: Bobby discovered that he was able to use his control over moisture to draw ambient moisture into himself and thus use that moisture to replace his bodies cells. He framed this ability as 'A body swap, done one piece- one cell- at a time', and by doing this was able to avoid receiving a fatal dose of neurotoxin, by letting the poisoned molecules of his body dissipate into vapor and be replaced by untainted water molecules from his surroundings. By using this ability he can heal/purge himself by remaking his own body.[138]
Abilities
Bobby is a Certified Public Accountant, a skilled ice skater, and can speak Spanish fluently.[citation needed]
Weaknesses
Like that of any trained athlete, Iceman's ability to perform is directly related to his daily physical health and current mental state. Under normal conditions, he can usually form ice continually for a period of about 5 hours before becoming mentally exhausted. He seems to lack the creativity and imagination to use his powers to their full potential, though fear of losing control over them may be a factor in his reluctance.
Equipment
Formerly utilized a power belt to keep his powers under control.
Transportation
X-Men Blackbird, Ice slides, formerly X-Men Stratojet, X-Copter, Professor Xavier's Rolls Royce, Sentinel Air Transport, Champjet, X-Factor Plane, and various aircraft constructed by Ship.
Recently, Iceman has been using his powers in innovative ways, including the ability to exist as a sentient gas. He discovered this ability while fighting the Children of the Vault when they attacked the Mansion. After the fight with the Children, he joined Rogue's team of X-Men. The official Marvel page for Iceman.
Iceman | Marvel Database | Fandom. in: Disambiguation Pages. English. Iceman. Play Sound. Robert Drake. Prime Marvel Universe. (Earth-616) Comic Versions. Live-Action Versions. Animated Versions. Video Game Versions. Others. Iceman Related. Teams. See Also. Comic Versions. Superheroes are Glamour Celebrities. (Earth-12) Black X-Men. (Earth-63) Ice.
Creation. Iceman was created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee and first appeared in The X-Men #1 (1963). Stan Lee admited that Iceman was never gay and Bobby was created because Marvel wanted a...
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Iceman | X-Men Wiki | Fandom. X-Men Wiki. in: Characters, X-Men, Mutants, and 16 more. Iceman. Character information. Real name. Robert Louis "Bobby" Drake. Species. Mutant. Affiliation. X-Men, X-Factor, Champions, Defenders. First appearance. The X-Men #1 (September 1963) Versions. Movie. X-Men Movies Wiki. Contents. 1History. 1.1Biography.
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