Origin
Amanda McKee is a psionic teletechnopath who is able to control machines with her will. She was orphaned at a young age and sent to live in an orphanage where she was discovered by Toyo Harada. Harada brought Amanda into his Harbinger Foundation and she quickly rose in the ranks, taking the name Livewire and becoming one of Harada’s most trusted students. Fearing her mentor’s lust for power, an act of betrayal against Harada led Livewire to be temporarily expelled from the foundation.
Harada ended Livewire’s expulsion and asked her to join the super powered team Unity to defeat X-O Manowar. Once the mission was complete however, Livewire discovered Harada’s desire for world domination and once again betrayed her mentor.
Creation
In the original Valiant Universe, Livewire was created by Jim Shooter and David Lapham. For the Valiant Entertainment relaunch, her character was re-imagined by Joshua Dysart and Khari Evans.
Major Story Arcs
Omega Rising
Livewire was a tutor at the Harbinger Foundation when Peter Stanchek was brought in. Livewire, faithful to Harada’s vision but believing Peter could help balance his immense power, allowed him to escape. Confessing her betrayal, Livewire sent herself into exile.
To Kill A King
When Aric of Dacia invaded Bucharest and claimed it as the home for his recently freed Visigoths, Harada ended Livewire’s exile and recruited her as part of Unity. Livewire played a crucial role in Aric’s defeat by severing his bind with the X-O Manowar armor (Shanhara) and claiming it for herself. The link with Shanhara greatly enhanced Livewire’s powers and she was able to discover Harada wanted to use the armor for world domination. The rest of the Unity team, Ninjak and Eternal Warrior, joined Livewire to defeat Harada and reclaim the Armor. Unity returned Shanhara to Aric who then joined the team. Livewire has since stayed with Unity and is under the protection of British intelligence agency MI6.
Powers and Abilities
As a psiot and former member of the Harbinger Foundation, Amanda McKee was one of Mr. Harada’s most trusted and adept lieutenants. He personally trained and supervised her, helping Livewire hone the unique abilities she grew into with age as a warrior within his army.
- Advanced knowledge of martial arts, adapt enough to take on physically superior opponents like War-Monger.
- Genius Level Intelligence
Technopathy
- Ability to mentally interface with and control electrical machines.
- X-O Armor enhanced her powers, now she is a living modem able to connect with the net with her mind.
- Psychically able to commandeer any mechanical parts or bits of junk to create weapons, shielding or armor for herself.
X-O Nano Suit
- Laser Cannon Projection
- Flight
-
Electrostatic Energy Discharge