Victor Fries, Jr. (Absolute Universe)

I felt everything. Every moment. And the pain... my god. Ice grinds and twists... the ice isn't grace. It is fury. It's reckoning.

— Mister Freeze ^src

Victor Fries, Jr. is the director of Gotham City's cryogenics company, V-Core. At the same time, he physically harbors a prehistoric mutagenic bacterium found in the ice that mutates him into the monstrous Mister Freeze.

History

Early Life

Victor Fries, Jr. was the son of Victor Fries and his wife Nora, glaciologists who traveled the world in search of what the ice might hold from the past. To fund their research, they founded the company V-Core in Gotham City, which had the means to cryogenically preserve individuals with unusual diseases until a cure could be found for them. The ice V-Core used contained a prehistoric mutagenic bacterium.

As a child, Victor himself developed an unusual illness, which led his parents to decide to cryogenically freeze him in V-Core so that the bacterium could cure him, believing that no cure would be found in time to save him from his condition. Upon being extracted from cryogenic suspension, Victor would be restored to a healthy state; however, the bacterium would exert a psychological impact on him as well as granting him the ability to mutate into a monster, Mister Freeze.

Eventually, Victor's parents also developed an illness and were placed into cryosleep. During their absence, Fries, who had now reached adulthood, assumed the role of CEO and responsibility for V-Core. Concurrently, Fries became involved with Ark M, a correctional facility under covert construction in the city, idealized by the enigmatic billionaire Joker, which conducted experiments on its prisoners, working alongside scientists Pamela Isley, Hugo Strange, and Kirk Langstrom.^[1]

Absolute Zero

In the aftermath of Black Mask's defeat at the hands of Batman, the Gotham vigilante set out to gain information regarding the facility and to infiltrate the construction crew. To that end, as his civilian identity Bruce Wayne, he enlisted the assistance of his childhood friend, Matches Malone, to fabricate a false identity. However, Victor encountered Matches, who transmitted the bacterium to him. When Matches hastily met with Bruce to discuss his findings, the bacterium triggered and killed him.

While infiltrating V-Core as engineer Mr. Pennyworth to investigate the cause of Matches' death and the company's connection to Ark M, Bruce came face-to-face with Fries. After telling him about his life, Fries transformed into Mister Freeze and attacked Bruce.^[1]

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Unique Physiology
- Adhesion
- Infection
- Superhuman Agility
- Superhuman Durability
- Superhuman Strength

Weaknesses

Illness

Notes

Victor Fries was created by Dave Wood and Sheldon Moldoff, first appearing in Batman #121. However, the Absolute Universe version of Victor Fries first appeared in Absolute Batman #7 by Scott Snyder and Marcos Martin.
Due to Darkseid interference in the Absolute Universe, Victor Fries is not Mister Freeze, but his son is. As for Mister Freeze's condition, it was not caused by an accident, but by contact with a prehistoric bacterium, unlike the Mister Freeze of the DC Universe.

Trivia

After being exposed to the bacteria, Victor began to occasionally bleed from his eyes.