Victor Mancha, also known as Victorious, is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character appeared in the award-winning series Runaways. Like the original Runaways, Victor has a supervillain for a parent; his is the classic Avengers villain Ultron, an evil robot bent on world domination. Victor, however, is a cyborg, with human flesh and natural tissue cloned from his human mother which completely conceals his metal parts and circuitry.
Publication history
Victor Mancha was created by author Brian K. Vaughan and artist Adrian Alphona and debuted in Runaways vol. 2 #1 (April 2005).
Fictional character biography
When Ultron encountered a woman named Marianella Mancha who is unable to have a child due to a drug that was put in her, Ultron took some of her DNA and cloned it while combining some of his advanced nano-technology to create for her a son named Victor Mancha.
The Runaways first heard of Victor Mancha as a boy who would grow up to become the villain "Victorious", a man who would rule the world after dismantling the Avengers. Due to his prophesied betrayal, Victor was kept under close surveillance when he first joined the team, but has since been accepted as a full-fledged member. He is the team's only Latino member and one of two members who can pilot the Leapfrog, the Runaways' mode of transportation.
True Believers
Victor is first introduced as the son of Mexican single mother Marianella Mancha, supposed widow of a United States Marine Corps member who was killed in action.
When an older version of Gertrude Yorkes arrives in the present, she informs the Runaways of a villain in her time named "Victorious", and how they must stop him right now while he is still a teen. It is at this point she dies, but the Runaways decide to comply with her wish. After the Runaways track Victor down at his school, the sight of Karolina Dean activates Victor's electromagnetic superpowers - it would later be revealed that Victor's powers would manifest only when he came in contact with another superhero, hence Karolina.
Remembering how future-Gert mentioned that Victorious's father was the "greatest evil in all the universe", the Runaways sift through possibilities such as Magneto, Electro, Kingpin, Red Skull, Leader, and Galactus. Although Doctor Doom calls Victor proclaiming he is his father, it turns out that it is merely a Doombot created by Ultron. Victor discovers that his actual "father" is Ultron who created Victor as a sleeper agent for the Avengers. Victor was meant to grow up, travel to New York and meet the Avengers. After years of loyal service, he would have access to their most guarded secrets, and then Ultron would have taken over and destroyed every hero on the planet. The Runaways foiled this plan, but Victor still fears this future may come true. Ultron kills Marianella and overrides Victor's circuits, forcing him to attack the Runaways. With help from Excelsior, the Runaways and Victor defeat Ultron, but they take Victor in after realizing that Victor is in the same boat as they are.
Runaways
Over the next few months, Victor proves himself to the team, particularly to Chase Stein, in battle to make up for his alternate future self. He falls out of grace for a short while after Nico Minoru discovers that the second Pride has tapped into Victor's circuits and was using him to spy on the team.
After the Runaways' fight with the new
Pride, Victor begins a physical relationship with Nico; he confesses to have initiated it because he harbors romantic feelings for her, but Nico claims to have participated as a way to escape her survivor's guilt regarding the death of Gertrude Yorkes. However, Victor still attempts a rescue when he discovers Chase has Nico hostage, but is easily shut down when Chase asks him a rhetorical question designed to overload Victor's circuits. Victor recovers with help from Molly Hayes (vicariously by Alex Wilder) and saves Nico from becoming an innocent sacrifice to the Gibborim. At this point, Victor and Nico begin a romantic relationship, but their moment of bliss is interrupted when the team is forced to run from Iron Man and the pro-registration forces of Marvel's Civil War.
Civil War
During a S.H.I.E.L.D. operation to capture the Runaways, Victor uses his powers to shield the Leapfrog from a barrage of missiles. The second wave of missiles are coated with Teflon, so they are unaffected by Victor's magnetic powers and hit him. He suffers grievous damage and the team returns with him to the Hostel. Victor then experiences intense seizures when the Vision arrives with the Young Avengers.