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Takaski "Taki" Matsuya or sometimes called the Wiz Kid is a fictional mutant character from Marvel Comics. Created by Louise Simonson and Jon Bogdanove, his first appearance was in X-Terminators #1 (October 1988).
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Fictional character biography
A very intelligent but dyslexic boy genius, Taki lost his parents and his ability to walk in a car accident. Shortly after, he was enrolled at St. Simons, a private elementary school for children with reading disabilities. Still angered and saddened by the loss of his parents, Taki secluded himself from the other students. Feeling like an outsider, Taki met Artie and Leech, two mutants who were looked after by X-Factor. During Marvel’s Inferno crossover, Leech and Artie were kidnapped by the demon, N'astirh. Taki finds out he’s a mutant with technoforming powers (see Powers and abilities) and tries to save them with the help of other X-Factor wards, Rusty, Skids, Boom Boom and Rictor. Together, the five form the X-Terminators, but Taki himself was also captured. N’astirh intended to use them and other mutant children to magically fuse Earth with Limbo and increase his own powers. The three were deemed too old for the demon’s schemes and he planned to kill them, but Taki made a bargain. Using his recently awakened powers, Taki created a super-computer that allowed N’astirh to cast multiple spells and allowed him to open the portal from Limbo to Earth even faster than before. Taki, feeling responsible, helps the X-Terminators defeat N’astirh and with the help of the New Mutants, they all manage to shut down the portal. Afterwards the X-Terminators soon disbanded and Taki, Artie and Leech went back to St. Simons. Taki’s current whereabouts are unknown, but he is shown depowered[1].
Powers and abilities
Taki has the ability to rearrange parts of machinery made of metal, glass or plastic into various items or weapons that he can create. This ability is known as "technoforming". Taki is also an inventive genius.
Other versions
Ultimate Whiz-Kid
In Ultimates Annual #1, the Defenders, a group of would-be superheroes, take in a wheelchair-bound polio victim called Whiz-Kid, who claims to be able to alter the temperature of certain inorganic materials. The Defenders, however, keep referring to him as the "little wheel-fellow", and generally talk down to him; eventually it is revealed that they only allowed him to join so that they could get corporate sponsorship by having a disabled team member. The Ultimate Whiz-Kid resembles Grant Imahara of Mythbusters in appearance.
In other media
Television
In the X-Men animated series, Taki was featured along with Rusty, Skids and Boom-Boom in episode, "No Mutant is an Island". In this version he is again in an orphanage, though the others are here as well. The episode mostly focused on X-Man Cyclops and Rusty as the latter, Taki, Skids and Boom-Boom were brainwashed by Zebediah Killgrave. Killgrave who adopts the four and uses them to storm the governor's mansion so he can make the governor his mind-controlled slave. Eventually, Cyclops saves Taki and the others.
Bibliography
- New Mutants vol. 1 #42, 74
- New Mutants Annual #7
- X-Factor vol. 1 #40
- X-Force Annual #1
- X-Terminators #1-4
References
- ^ New Avengers #18
