Captain Atom (Nathaniel Christopher Adam)

Captain Atom was Nathaniel Christopher Adam, a United States Air Force officer of the Vietnam War era. Adam had been framed for a crime he didn't commit and sentenced to death under the watch of Col. Wade Eiling in 1968. As an alternative to execution, he was invited to participate in a military experiment with little chance of survival, in exchange for a presidential pardon. The experiment involved testing the hull of a crashed alien ship's durability by exploding a super nuclear bomb under it. Adam survived as the metal melted into his body and the excess energy threw him forward in time nearly twenty years (not incidentally, this coating with alien metal gave the revised character a full-body silvered metal look distinctly different from his previous incarnations).

Regaining coherence in 1986, Adam found himself a man out of his time and in the hands of Eiling, now a general and the second husband of Adam's now-deceased wife. Everyone had assumed that Nathaniel Adam had died on the day of the experiment, so his presidential pardon was never issued and the current government refused to acknowledge the previous administration's promised pardon. Seizing the opportunity at hand, the government used the outstanding murder/treason charges against Adam to blackmail him into being a government-controlled superhero (codenamed Captain Atom). And in keeping Adam's true origin a secret, the government gave him a origin and he was assigned the alias of Cameron Scott, an Air Force intelligence operative. It was during this time he met the superpowered terrorist, Plastique, who would become a recurring part of Nathaniel's life.

Upon his initial return from the Quantum Field, Nathaniel Adam was the classic "man out of his time". Early conflicts involved him coming to terms with his lost time with his children (who were now close to his current age as a result of the time jump), the death of his wife (who had married his nemesis Eiling prior to dying), and the overall ramifications of his newly acquired powers.

Atom/Adam served under Eiling reluctantly, while succeeding in clearing his name. Eventually, Atom rebelled against Eiling, resigned from the Air Force and found some fulfillment as an actual superhero. Captain Atom joined the Justice League at the request of the U.S. government, eventually serving as leader of Justice League Europe. During his career, he had a brief romance with Catherine Cobert, developed a friendly "rivalry" with Firestorm, become involved with and eventually married to Plastique (ironically, a one-time Firestorm foe), battled Major Force (his would-be successor), learned basic heroics from Batman when he briefly lost access to the Quantum Field, and commanded the metahuman forces during the alien invasion of the Alliance.

Powers

Dilustel Armor: Captain Atom's metallic shell, or "skin," is composed of a portion of the alien being known as Silver Shield, and is called Dilustel. Pieces of the alien's metal body were used in the Captain Atom Project, Project Major Force and similar projects thereafter. Nathaniel is able to coat himself with the metal, either partially or totally. Atom's symbiosis with the metal is such that even partially armored, he is able to access the Quantum Field.

• Quantum Field Manipulation: Captain Atom's metal skin is tied into the Quantum Field, which enables him to absorb and manipulate infinite amounts of energy, for an infinite amount of purposes the amount of which he can do is limited solely by his will power and imagination. He truly reinforces this fact when he realized that the Quantum Field is completely under his control and he can do anything he wishes. With this realization he tests his powers and by simply thinking of it, he is able to instantly create a replica of our Earth from nothing, complete with life. His power was such that he was able to easily create his own replicas of Superman, Flash, Firestorm and even his own Spectre. His power is such, that he went even further and by simply thinking of it, was able to instantaneously create an entire universe out of nothing, and just as easily destroyed it, but he has never used this level of power again as a result of him mentally limiting himself. Captain Atom's energy absorption power is second to none in the DCU, as he is able to absorb any form of energy and store it in his person. Captain Atom can fire and control energy of any form. He commonly manipulates his energy into force field bubbles, or explosive bombs, but the most common form is a simple blast. Over the years, Captain Atom has become an expert at his energy manipulation and can fire from any point on his body, though he usually uses his hands for ease of aiming. He can fire in multiple directions at once or from every point of his body at once. Several times he has "detonated," releasing a massive amount of energy at once, destroying objects within a certain radius. On more than one occasion, he has used his ability to manipulate all forms of energy to prevent a foe using their own powers, such as the Ray and Firestorm.

• Flight: This energy can be used for flight at faster than light speeds.

• Superhuman Strength: As Captain Atom his strength was such that he was able to go toe to toe with beings such as Superman, Majestic, etc. and hold his own (he can augment his strength with his energy). After absorbing the powers of the 51 versions of himself, Monarch's strength level makes him one of the physically strongest beings in existence, as he was shown to be capable of easily fighting Superman-Prime who had Oan-cosmic powers originating from his involvement in the Sinestro Corps War.

• Self-Sustenance: Has no need for food, water, or air.

• Matter Generation: Captain Atom can also create matter in the same manner he creates energy. In the same way, he can absorb and manipulate matter at a basic level.

• Enhance Physiology: Captain Atom can increase any of his abilities to match the amount of willpower he uses to gain it.

• Atomic Transmutation: Captain Atom has demonstrated atomic transmutation powers, as he was able to turn both Maul and Engineer back to their human forms. This power can be used instinctively or through concentration. Willful use of this ability is displayed during Generation Lost when Atom transmuted Green Arrows Barbs into butterflies or a gun into a toy spaceship.

• Techno Interface: He has also shown the ability to telepathically interface with computer networks in addition to those listed above.

• Time Travel: Captain Atom has shown time-traveling capabilities without quantum jumping. Captain Atom through concentration, can travel ahead in time. The process is exhausting and the period he can interact in the future appears to be limited to a few minutes before he returns to the present.

• Invulnerability: His Monarch armor is virtually invulnerable to all forms of damage to the point that even energy capable of wiping out the entire universe cannot penetrate it (the only exception was to the blows of Superman-Prime, one of the physically strongest beings in existence and even then, the only reason he was harmed was because he had damaged his armor with his own strength). Recent events have also shown that Atom's Dilustel coating renders him invulnerable to some if not all forms of arcane magic.

Strength level

Class 100+ ; Captain Atom is strong enough to lift far in excess of 100 tons with ease. He can physically engage the likes of Superman in direct combat.

Weaknesses

Involuntary Quantum Jumping: If Atom absorbs too much energy at once, he is sent hurling through time. Depending on the type of energy absorbed, he either goes forward or backwards.

Equipment

Monarch Armor: The updated Monarch armor currently worn by Captain Atom, contains a "nanoweave" designed to contain radiation leaking from a breach in his chest. It also contained instruments for monitoring his vital signs, through a direct neural interface.