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Marcus Sun (Prime Earth)

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Quote1 Superheroes suck. Quote2
— Monkey Prince src

Marcus Shugel-Shen[2], born Marcus Sun[3], is the Monkey Prince, a clone of the legendary Monkey King.

Origins

Monkey Prince Prime Earth 002

Marcus Sun in civilian garb

Centuries ago, Darkseid and the forces of Apokolips invaded the Heavenly Realm, home of the Gods of China. The Monkey King was eventually able to drive the New Gods back by creating an army of clones from his own hairs.[3] Darkseid retreated, but as he departed he blasted the Monkey King with his Omega Beams. The Monkey King, who had been assumed to be immortal, was fatally injured and retreated with his clones to the Phantom Zone to save his own life.[4] In the Zone, the Monkey King ordered the clones to revert back to hairs, but one clone refused to. He slipped away and hid from the Monkey King inside a rock, taking the form of a human baby. As time went on, he forgot his true nature and mentally regressed to infancy, becoming the baby he appeared to be.[5]

Fifteen years ago on Earth 0, the Ultra-Humanite opened a portal into the Zone to release and then enslave the Monkey King, but Sun Wukong threw boulders through the portal to drive him away. One of the boulders was the rock containing the clone, who the Monkey King did not even realise existed. The boulder cracked open and the Ultra-Humanite's henchpeople; his daughter Laura and assistant Winston, found him inside. They fled unnoticed with him while the Ultra-Humanite and the responding Justice League were busy fighting each other.[4]

Winston and Laura adopted the baby and named him Marcus, claiming they found him in an orphanage and didn't know who his birth family were. They were loving parents to Marcus, who in turn considers them his true family.[6] Marcus was unaware of his origins or his parent's criminal background and believed they were merely boring scientists.[2]

When Marcus was a child the family lived in Gotham City, where his parents hired out their scientific expertise to the city's crimelords and supervillains. One night Batman broke into their home during a thunderstorm and attacked his parents, looking for information on their then-employer. Batman left when he realised there was a child in the house, but Marcus was traumatised and suffered panic attacks for years afterwards. He was left with an abiding hatred for superheroes and phobias of bats, thunderstorms and water. The family left Gotham and began travelling around the country as his parents sought employment with villains around the country. The frequent moves and his mental health issues made it difficult for Marcus to make friends.[7]

Enter The Monkey

Monkey Prince Vol 1 1 Textless

Marcus becomes the Monkey Prince

The family returned to Gotham for Marcus' sophomore year as his parents took a job with The Penguin. Marcus attended Gotham City High School where he quickly ran afoul of a trio of bullies led by Rizalino Mayled, who saw him as an easy target due to his phobias. The school janitor Mr. Zhu encouraged him to face his fears by leaping into the school swimming pool, and after a particularly bad incident where the bullies beat him up and stole his prized sneakers, he jumped in. He had a vision of the Monkey King's home on Flower Fruit Mountain, where Mr. Zhu told Marcus that Monkey King was his birth father and revealed his true identity as the Monkey King's old comrade Shifu Pigsy. He placed a circlet on Marcus' head and unlocked his powers, telling him a great evil was coming and his training had begun.

Marcus returned to Earth in monkey form and attacked the bullies who picked on him. Damian Wayne saw him and called his father to tell him there was a metahuman loose in the school. They tried to stop him as Batman and Robin, which resulted in Marcus getting his head cut off with a batarang.[7] Marcus survived thanks to his powers, but in his fear he began to revert to human form, and would have died if Pigsy hadn't saved him and reattached his head at the last moment.[2]

Monkey Prince Vol 1 2 Textless

Monkey Prince vs the Dynamic Duo.

Marcus told Pigsy he wanted nothing to do with him and even removed the circlet, but the next morning he woke up to find it back on his body. At school, Damian and a girl named Kaya, who Marcus had a crush on, confronted him and asked him what he knew about the Monkey Prince. Kaya had seen Marcus jump into the pool and the Monkey Prince fly out, but fortunately they did not suspect that he was the Monkey Prince as Pigsy had also climbed out of the pool disguised as Marcus to protect his identity.

Marcus went to the janitor's office and asked Pigsy to remove the circlet, but Pigsy told him that the circlet could not be removed and taught him how to transform at will by saying the magic spell "Biàn". Pigsy made the circlet constrict around Marcus's head and began his training, telling him that he would loosen the circlet if Marcus could snatch an envelope from his hand.[2]

Pigsy flew away on a magic cloud and Marcus instinctively summoned his own cloud to chase after him. He was initially distracted by the pain of the circlet but quickly forgot it in the exhilaration of flying. Marcus managed to snatch the envelope by pretending to fall, then sneaking up behind Pigsy and snatching the envelope while he was distracted. Pigsy transformed the envelope into a mask that would hide his identity if he ever reverted to human form and ended the lesson, saying there were demons nearby he needed to deal with.

Marcus returned to school, where Kaya was still waiting although classes had ended two hours ago. She revealed that Rizalino was her brother and accused Monkey Prince of harming him, believing he was some kind of spirit of vengeance that Marcus had summoned. Monkey Prince claimed that Marcus was a fan of his and that he had not hurt Riz, then left to look for him. Marcus eventually tracked Riz to the football field, where he was being interrogated by Robin, who believed they were working together. He reluctantly fought Robin to rescue Riz and during the fight, Robin's bo staff sliced off his arm despite not even being sharp. While Robin was distracted and disgusted by his severed arm, Marcus grabbed Riz and flew away, retrieving and reattaching his arm as he went. Marcus returned Riz to Kaya and she kissed him on the cheek as a thank-you. Marcus reverted to human form but thanks to the mask she did not recognise him. Realising he was human, Kaya impulsively kissed him on the lips, and Marcus happily flew away.[8]

Kaya Mayled 1

Monkey Prince and Kayla kiss

Marcus went home where Pigsy was waiting for him. Pigsy told him that the Golden Horn King, an ancient demon and enemy of his father, had arisen and showed him a video clip of the Penguin, possessed by Golden Horn King, demanding that Batman face him or he would kill his hostages: Marcus's parents.[8] Pigsy told Marcus that they would need a detective to find his parents but Marcus would not ask Batman for help, so he instead summoned Robin using a "Robin Signal" made of clouds. Robin initially refused to help, but agreed when Marcus promised to answer any questions he had once his parents were safe.

Robin deduced that Golden Horn Penguin was at the old Stahl Auction House, where he and Batman had first fought. They snuck in and Marcus found his parents, but before he could free them they were attacked by Golden Horn Penguin. Batman had also worked out where Penguin was and came in to stop him. At the sight of Batman, Marcus had a panic attack and fell off his cloud. His body broke apart when he hit the ground, but Pigsy was able to coach him to let his fear flow through him, allowing him to reassemble himself.

Marcus went to free his parents while Batman and Robin fought and restrained Golden Horn Penguin. However, to Marcus' shock Batman told him that the Shugel-Shen's were criminals and he was going to arrest all of them. While the heroes argued demons snuck in and freed Golden Horn Penguin. The demons mobbed Batman and Robin, and Golden Horn Penguin began to devour Batman's qi. Marcus attempted to escape with his parents but Pigsy told him that his mission was to protect the heroes of Earth from demons, as if they consumed enough heroes they would become unstoppable, and gave him a can of blessed soda to exorcise the demon from Penguin. Unwilling to abandon his parents, Marcus let Robin cut him in half, so his upper body stayed to fight Penguin while his legs got his parents to safety. Marcus managed to stop Golden Horn Penguin draining all of Batman's qi and banish Golden Horn King from Penguin's body. Batman again tried to take Marcus and Pigsy in but they escaped.[9]

Atlantis

Monkey Prince Vol 1 5 Textless Lee Variant

Monkey Prince meets Aquaman

The next day at school Marcus met up with Riz, who apologised for picking on him, and Kaya. Marcus told Kaya that be believed he could make Gotham his home, but his parents unexpectedly picked him up from school and told him they were moving to Amnesty Bay immediately, having apparently packed in a hurry.[9] On his first day at Amnesty Bay High School he encountered a girl named Shellestriah, who knew he was the Monkey Prince and attacked him. He fought her off with the aid of a new battle staff that Pigsy gave him, but was unable to follow her when she fled into the sea. Pigsy told him that fate had brought him to Amnesty Bay so he could face his fear of the water, but Marcus refused to go in.[10]

The next day, Pigsy met up with Marcus before school and Marcus apologised for not having the courage to face his fears. Pigsy told him how the Monkey King overcame his fear of death by serving a mission greater than himself but Marcus was not inspired by the story, pointing out the Monkey King would not have been banished to the Phantom Zone if he had been more fearful of danger. At school he attempted to make friends in the cafeteria but was rebuffed and went to eat lunch alone. Suddenly, Black Manta rode a giant silver crab past the school, which Marcus recognised as another demon. Marcus transformed and attacked the crab but found that its shell was too tough to penetrate. However, Pigsy arrived and gave him another can of blessed soda, which Marcus used to exorcise Silver Horn King from the crab.

Silver Horn King fled into the ocean and Manta and his two henchmen chased after him. Although they were wearing helmets, Marcus recognised Manta's henchmen as his parents and realised he would have to follow them into the sea to protect them. He and Pigsy dove in and Marcus discovered to his amazement that he was able to breathe underwater. Suddenly, they were surrounded by the Atlantean Guard.[11]

The Guard arrested them and took them before Aquaman and Mera. While they were being interrogated, a messenger ran in and told Aquaman that a giant pillar of iron had appeared in Atlantis' Dragontown neighbourhood. Pigsy told Marcus that the pillar must be his father's battle staff Ruyi Jingu Bang, and the two broke free of their restraints and escaped. They swam to Dragontown, which was populated by humanoid Chinese Dragons, many of whom had known the Monkey King. Marcus attempted to take control of the staff but it refused to recognise him as its master.

Aquaman chased Marcus to Dragontown, and Black Manta and Marcus' parents also arrived on the scene, pursuing Silver Horn King. Aquaman and Black Manta brawled and Marcus abandoned the staff to save his parents from being caught in the crossfire, even fighting through the pain when Pigsy activated his circlet to send them and Manta to the surface. Aquaman confronted him for helping Manta and declared him a villain, and Marcus attacked him in a rage.[12]

Monkey Prince Vol 1 8 Textless

Monkey Prince against the sea villains.

Marcus and Aquaman briefly exchanged blows, but before the fight could really begin, a horde of Trench led by Shellestriah and the Trench King swarmed into Dragontown looking to devour them both. Pigsy told Marcus to focus on Jingu Bang while he fought off the Trench, but again the staff refused to obey him and laughed when he told it he was the son of the Monkey King, saying that he didn't even really believe that. Meanwhile, the Trench began to overpower Aquaman and the dragons leapt into action to help him. Marcus was amazed at the sight of actual living dragons, but confused why such powerful beings would choose to follow Aquaman. A dragon told him that they followed Aquaman because he had risked his life over and over again for them and all Atlantis. Realising that loyalty is earned, Marcus told Jingu Bang that he would help save Atlantis with or without it, because it was the right thing to do.

Silver Horn King possessed the Trench King and started draining Aquaman's qi. Marcus jumped in unarmed to save him and the possessed monster effortlessly overpowered him, but Jingu Bang shrank down and flew into his hand, as Marcus had finally proven himself worthy. Marcus hit the Trench King hard enough to knock Silver Horn King right out of his body and the demon flew away. Aquaman and the dragons thanked and bowed to him, and even Shellestriah thanked him for saving her father's life and forced the Trench to withdraw. Marcus and Pigsy returned to the surface, where Marcus packed up the house and used his powers to free his parents from jail without letting them see him. When his parents got home he told them it was time to leave town.[13]

Family Reunion

Monkey Prince Vol 1 9 Textless Lee Variant

Monkey Prince meets Supergirl

At Marcus's suggestion, the family relocated to Metropolis where his parents took jobs with LexCorp. Due to his growing confidence, he was able to fit in much better at Metropolis High School and made friends quickly. Unfortunately, Laura was near-fatally injured at work when LexCorp was attacked by a demon lord known as King Fire Bull and the Horned Kings. To save her life, Winston took the comatose Laura and Marcus to Laura's father Gerard Shugel, the Ultra-Humanite, who Marcus did not know existed.

The next day, while Laura was being treated in Gerard's laboratory, Marcus noticed Supergirl flying overhead. He suspected she may be searching for his family, and so transformed and flew up to confront her. When he saw her up close he was immediately smitten and attempted to flirt with her, but only succeeded in offending her and she attacked him.[14]

As they were fighting, the Ultra-Humanite emerged from the house and fired at them with a Kryptonite gun. Marcus dove in front of the blast to protect Supergirl, proving that he was a good guy. He was unharmed other than being cut in half at the waist and swiftly reassembled himself, although he initially accidentally put his legs on backwards. Supergirl quickly disarmed the Ultra-Humanite, when suddenly a great storm broke out over Metropolis and mysterious green rain fell on them. The rain made Marcus itch all over, and also repaired Humanite's gun. He attempted to shoot them again, but Supergirl knocked him out and left to deal with trouble in the city, leaving Marcus to guard the Ultra-Humanite. Marcus tied up the unconscious Ultra-Humanite, transformed and went back into the house to check on his family. Inside Winston told him that Gerard was currently inhabiting another body; when Gerard returned to his body in the lab he complained about Supergirl knocking him out and Marcus realised to his shock that his grandfather was the Ultra-Humanite.

Marcus tried to call Pigsy but could not get in contact with him. He took a shower to try and wash off whatever was causing the itching, but it had no effect. During the shower he accidentally pulled out a hair which transformed into a tiny clone of him, a trick he had failed earlier when Pigsy had tried to teach it to him. When he got out of the shower Kaya called, worried about him because Metropolis was apparently in chaos, and sent him a video clip of Supergirl being attacked by a snake monster. Marcus transformed again and raced out to help her. He attempted to stop the creature, but he was once again overcome by itching and scratched furiously. He shed dozens of hairs which formed into miniature clones, distracting the monster as it ate them. The itching spell passed and Marcus took advantage of the monster being preoccupied to knock it out, but when he did it changed back into Dennis, one of his new friends from school.

Supergirl told him that they had to assemble a team and stop the storms. As her powers were on the fritz, Marcus assisted Supergirl in reaching the Hall of Justice, which had been left empty since the Justice League disbanded. Supergirl put out a call for all available heroes to respond and help stop the global storms.[15]

Lazarus Planet

A ragtag band of heroes, including Robin, gathered at the Hall. Robin told the assembled heroes that the extreme weather events and random mutations had been caused by King Fire Bull when he made a volcano on Lazarus Island erupt and spread Lazarus Resin around the world. He took command and, having little faith in Monkey Prince's abilities, held him in reserve rather than send him out on a mission with the others, referring to him as "cannon fodder". While Marcus was hanging out at the Hall, a tiny clone of Pigsy came to him and told him that he had been kidnapped by the Monkey King's old enemy Nezha. The clone told Marcus not to try and rescue him, but instead to stay where he was and help the other heroes deal with the threat. He also told Marcus the secret of King Fire Bull's origins: he was once the heroic Red Boy, but fell to evil after his parents were murdered by Darkseid.

At the Hall, Marcus met Black Alice; who had been forced by Nezha to steal magic from the wizards he had captured. The two of them and Robin were the only people left behind to defend the Hall when King Fire Bull attacked.[16] King Fire Bull attempted to force Alice to channel all the wild magic in the storms into him, which would make him unstoppable. Marcus managed to pull Alice away from him and hid with her. Before King Fire Bull could find them, a team of powerful heroes arrived on the scene and attacked him. However, he had managed to gain some of Alice's power, which allowed him to channel the magic of the storm and fight them off.[17]

Alice told Marcus that she would absorb all the magic of the storms and return it to the sorcerers it had been stolen from, which was incredibly dangerous due to the vast amounts of power she would need to channel. She asked Marcus not to let anyone stop her, saying it was her choice and she was sick of being used by other people. Marcus reluctantly agreed and held Robin back when he tried to stop her. Alice disappeared but she was able to give all the magical heroes their powers back. Together they overpowered King Fire Bull, and The Spectre imprisoned him in a small globe.[17]

The Devil Nezha

The other heroes dispersed but Marcus hung back to talk to Robin. He saw Batman, possessed by Nezha, knock Robin unconscious and carry him away. Pigsy told Marcus that Nezha was weakened, but the longer he remained in Batman's body the stronger he would become, and they needed to return him to his original body as soon as possible. Marcus followed Nezha and Robin to the Batcave, but by the time he got there Robin had already broken free. Nezha chased after them and Marcus helped Robin get away. He told Robin that they needed to get Nezha out of Batman's body, but Robin told him that Nezha's life force was the only thing sustaining Batman and that he would die. Marcus replied that he was sorry, but that killing Batman was the only way to save the world.

Robin gathered the rest of the Bat-Family to keep Nezha occupied while Pigsy brought Nezha's body and the Red Armillary Sash that had kept his darker impulses in check during in his time as a protection deity. Even with Marcus unleashing a wave of clones on Nezha they were still barely able to hold him off until Pigsy arrived with Zatanna and the Enchantress. Pigsy bound Batman with the sash and the two sorceresses transferred Nezha's spirit back into his body. Batman's body died but Robin was able to restore him to life by convincing all the people of Gotham to give up a tiny piece of their life energy to him.[18]

Meeting The Monkey King

Marcus returned to the Hall of Justice and found it in ruins. In a storeroom in the Hall he discovered Winston and Gerard setting up a Phantom Zone Projector. He attempted to restrain them without hurting them with a wave of clones, but in the struggle Gerard knocked over Winston; who hit his head on the Projector, activating it and knocking himself out. A portal to the Phantom Zone opened and Marcus saw a silhouette on the other side. The figure appeared to reach for Winston and Marcus jumped through to stop it.

The figure was revealed to be the Monkey King, who attacked him. Marcus tried to tell the Monkey King that he was his son, but Sun Wukong refused to believe him and overpowered him; countering Marcus' clones with an army of his own, which unlike Marcus' were full-sized. Sun Wukong demanded to know where Marcus came from but Marcus told him honestly that he didn't know anything about his birth or his life before he was adopted. The Monkey King used his magic to create an "unadorned" clone of Marcus which had access to his earliest memories, and the clone told them the story of how he was sent to Earth 0 in the rock, but not that he was a clone. Sun Wukong still refused to believe Marcus was his son, despite Marcus telling him the story proved it.

Marcus told him about the crisis on Earth caused by Nezha and King Fire Bull, and asked him to return to Earth and help, but Sun Wukong refused; revealing that he had gone into the Zone voluntarily and would die if he tried to leave. Monley King told Marcus that if he truly was his son he would find a way to defeat them both without help. He told Marcus to return to Earth and to find his master Tripitaka when the crisis was over. Marcus returned to Earth, but first asked the Monkey King to teach him how to create full-sized clones.

Marcus returned to Earth through the portal, but when he emerged Gerard threw a dart at him which injected nanobots into his bloodstream. He told Marcus that he knew who he was and that he would now help Gerard in his schemes, revealing that the nanobots he had been injected with had bound to his pain receptors and would torture him if he disobeyed.[4]

Learning The Truth

With Nezha defeated, Marcus and Pigsy returned to Metropolis. Marcus confessed to Pisgy that he wanted to kill King Fire Bull for hurting his mother but Pigsy warned him against it, telling him that a desire for revenge was what lead Red Boy down the dark path to becoming King Fire Bull in the first place. Marcus lied and told Pigsy he would not pursue vengeance.[17]

Marcus and Pigsy assisted Supergirl with the cleanup in Metropolis after the Lazarus Storm. While they were working Shellestriah suddenly appeared. Marcus assumed she wanted to fight but she said she had tracked them down so she could study under Pigsy, who accepted immediately despite Marcus's objections.

The group was attacked by skeleton demons, who attempted to capture Supergirl. Their magic allowed them to overpower her so Marcus created a band of clones from his hairs to fight them off. Thanks to the training he received from the Monkey King, his clones were full-sized and indistinguishable from him. Marcus and the clones broke the skeleton demons into pieces, but their severed heads were still able to talk. They told Marcus that he was not the son of the Monkey King, but was himself a clone, created from one of the Monkey King's hairs. This sent Marcus into an anxiety attack, and he suddenly could not tell which of him was the original. While Marcus was panicking, the skeleton demons reformed into a single giant creature, which snatched Supergirl. Pigsy and Shellestriah tried to stop it, but it got away.

They followed the creature over the Atlantic Ocean, where Shellestriah dove down into the water to try and pick up the scent of any blood Supergirl may have spilled. Meanwhile, Pigsy had brought Marcus and his clones along with them as they continued to spiral. He forced them to calm down and meditate and go back through their memories. Marcus remembered coming to Earth as a baby, and under Pigsy's guidance was able to push past that memory and access his earliest memories, how he was created from the Monkey King's hair to fight in the battle against Apokolips. Pigsy revealed he already knew this but also said that no normal clone would have done what he did and told him he was more than a simple copy of the Monkey King. Marcus said none of that mattered if he was just a hair and still could not tell which one of him was the original, but Pigsy told him to focus on his memories of his human life, which made him who he was, and that he needed to believe he was real for it to be so. Marcus said he chose to believe he was real and reverted to human form while the clones disappeared. Marcus thanked Pigsy and hugged him.

Shellestriah followed Supergirl's trail back to an island in the Atlantic Ocean. They raced to the island, where they found Supergirl fighting King Fire Bull. King Fire Bull tried to mock Marcus about his nature as a clone, saying he was the true child of gods, while Marcus was just a hair. However, Marcus had accepted who he was and was unshaken by his words. He created an army of clones to fight the skeleton demons and King Fire Bull. Marcus and a band of clones overpowered King Fire Bull and were about to beat him to death, but Pigsy stopped him, reminding him that his experienced defined who he was and asked him if he wanted murder to be part of that. Marcus decided to spare King Fire Bull and they imprisoned him back in the globe. Marcus got a hug of gratitude from Supergirl, much to his excitement. Later, he had dinner with his parents, who had made full recoveries, and Gerard. Marcus reflected that he still had problems, but he had fully embraced his role as the Monkey Prince.[5]

Call to Arms

In Bludhaven Marcus was attacked by Monsieur Mallah, who beat him and ripped his arm off, claiming it would be his ultimate weapon to take over the city. Marcus went looking for help and found Detective Chimp and Sam Simeon, telling them what had happened. They were attacked by a group of gorilla supervillains, including Ultra-Humanite. The simeon heroes, along with backup from Gleek and Beppo the Super-Monkey, fought the villains but found they were more powerful than usual. During the fight Gerard didn't use the nanobots to stop Marcus or even try to fight him directly. Detective Chimp discovered that Mallah was using severed monkey arms to make wishes and to increase his teammates' powers. Gerard and the others turned on him, horrified at what he had done to their fellow primates.

Marcus retrieved and reattached his arm, which Mallah and his monkey wizard Eek-Gor had been about to use in their ritual. However, his arm started acting strangely, to the point that a few days later he punched himself in the face during a math test. He transformed into Monkey Prince to find out what had happened, and his arm flew off at the elbow. He chased it to a warehouse in Metropolis where he found Gerard and Eek-Gor with dozens of clones of his arm, which they were planning to use to harness its "monkey paw magic". Eek-Gor attacked him with the clone arms, but Marcus was able to turn them into hairs and knock Eek-Gor out. Gerard threatened to use the nanobots Marcus but replied that he hadn't when he had the chance before and knew that he wouldn't. After a moment, Gerard begrudgingly admitted he was right and tossed the remote for the nanobots away. Marcus arrested Eek-Gor but not Gerard, and the two agreed to meet for family dinner on Sunday.[1]

Powers

  • Divine Empowerment: As a clone of the Monkey King, Marcus possesses the same supernatural powers as his "father".
    • Transformation: By saying the magical spell "Biàn", Marcus can change at will between his human and monkey forms. In his monkey form, he has a variety of other powers.
      • Aerokinesis[6]
        • Flight: Marcus can create magical clouds from his breath that he can ride to fly.[2] This magic cloud also responds to his thoughts; if he loses focus/concentration, the cloud will dissipate.[8] He can also control the density of the magic cloud and allow other people to ride it.[9]
        • Sleep Inducement: Monkey Prince can use his magic cloud as a sleeping gas to put others to sleep instantly after inhaling it.[13]
      • Body Control & Manipulation: After learning to focus on controlling his emotions and fears, Marcus is able to telekinetically control his severed body parts and put them back together at will. Since every part of his body is basically still connected to each other, even when they are separated.[9]
        • Accelerated Healing: Marcus is able to reattach severed body parts.[2][8]
        • Immortality: As Monkey Prince, Marcus has some sort of immortality since he is able to survive decapitation. However, if the severed body parts are not put back together before he reverts to human form, he will die.[7][2]
      • Clone Creation: Monkey Prince is able to create magical clones of himself from his own hairs, although initially his clones were tiny and misshapen.[14] After he was exposed to Lazarus Resin, his clones became near-perfect copies of himself, though much smaller than his own size. He also has difficulty preventing any loose hairs from becoming clones due to the itchiness that appears as the side effect.[15] After receiving tutoring from the Monkey King, he is able to create full-sized clones of himself.[5]
        • Duplicate Creation: Marcus can also create clones of other people possessing all the skills and memories of the original, but not their powers.[18]
      • Astral Vision: Monkey Prince can see the true form of supernatural beings when they possess the body of another living being.[18]
      • Shape-Shifting: As the Monkey Prince, he is able to assume the form of anyone else he chooses.[6]
      • Superhuman Agility: As Monkey Prince, Marcus' agility, balance, and bodily coordination are enhanced to superhuman levels, allowing him to easily evade or jump while still attacking his opponent.[7]
      • Superhuman Reflexes: Monkey Prince's reflexes are faster than an average human. He is able to easily react to and dodge close range attacks.[7]
      • Superhuman Strength: As Monkey Prince, Marcus is physically stronger than normal humans.[2] The upper limit of his strength is still unknown, but he has proven strong enough to briefly fight with Aquaman, Shazam, and even Supergirl.[12][14]
      • Superhuman Durability: As Monkey Prince, Marcus' durability is also enhanced to a superhuman level.[6] The level of his durability also depends on his confidence; so if he feels any fear or nervousness his durability will weaken, making him vulnerable to physical attacks such as getting hit by Batman's batarang.[7]
      • Underwater Breathing: Thanks to his Demigod physiology, as Monkey Prince Marcus has the ability to breathe underwater for long periods of time.[11]
        • Hydrokinesis: Marcus can create magical clouds from water rather than air while he is breathing underwater.[12]
      • Magic: Marcus can cast magic spells.[1]
        • Healing: Marcus was able to cast a spell to reattach the severed limbs of others.[1]

Abilities

Weaknesses

  • Power Instability: Monkey Prince's powers are tied to his emotional state; he may revert to human form if he is afraid, or summon a wind too powerful to control if he becomes angry (and at that moment, his hair shines golden).[6] The instability of his power, sometimes also affects his endurance, making him more susceptible to being injured by physical attacks since he hasn't been able to control his power properly.[8] Lazarus Resin further destabilised his powers, causing him to spontaneously generate clones from hairs shed when he scratches.[15]

Other Characteristics

  • Phobia: (Formerly) As a result of witnessing Batman assault his parents, Marcus suffered from several phobias strong enough to cause panic attacks for years.[7] In his time as the Monkey Prince he has learned to overcome his fears.[9][11]

Equipment

  • Monkey Prince's Circlet: The circlet can be worn by Marcus on any part of his body (such as a bra, belt, bracelet, choker or tiara) — and it is no use throwing it away, for it will find its way back to its owner — and all he has to do is say the word 變 (Biàn, "Transform" in Chinese) to transform into the Monkey Prince.[2] When Monkey Prince loses control, his Shifu sings a chant that makes this band around his head tighten, like a discipline device.
  • Monkey Prince's Mask: He needs to wear a mask even in his monkey form, as he can revert to his human form when injured or overcome by fear.

Weapons

  • Jingu Bang: Monkey Prince wields the legendary magical battle staff Jingu Bang.


  • In his human form he has black hair, in his monkey form he is covered in brown fur.
  • If he foils their boss' schemes, he will let his adopted parents escape.
  • In his human form his blood is red, but in his monkey form his blood is purple.[7]
  • As the Monkey Prince, Marcus is more confident and less socially awkward.[12]
  • Shifu Pigsy once claimed that the Monkey King had many sons but Marcus was the only one he could find.[8] Following the revelation that Marcus is a clone, it appears likely he was joking.[5]

Related

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Ape-ril Special #1‎
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Monkey Prince #2
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Monkey Prince #0
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Monkey Prince #11
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Monkey Prince #12
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration #1
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 Monkey Prince #1
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 Monkey Prince #3
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Monkey Prince #4
  10. ↑ Monkey Prince #5
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Monkey Prince #6
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Monkey Prince #7
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Monkey Prince #8
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Monkey Prince #9
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Monkey Prince #10
  16. ↑ Lazarus Planet: Alpha #1
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Lazarus Planet: Omega #1
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 Batman vs. Robin #5


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