All his life, people assumed Mr Untouchable was incapable because of his disability. He had to work ten times harder for anyone to notice his talents. They thought pain might deter him… yet his naysayers didn’t count on the fact that he was well used to pain.
Determined to settle some old scores, he travelled the world learning from every sensei who would take him, and funding his trip by competing (and handily winning) in illegal blood sports.
Now a man and an expert student in multiple fighting disciplines, he has so thoroughly mastered the art of war that he hasn’t met a challenger who can land a single hit on him in years.
His prowess could have made him rich if he’d wanted. But this man is not motivated by the material.
He only wants one thing: REVENGE.
Origin:
As a child, Mark Stine (aka Mr Untouchable) insisted upon attending a mainstream education. Although many of the adult authority figures in his life repeatedly asserted that he would be better off in a special school, he was always quick to point out that there would be no special place for him to hide away when he grew up, and so he refused to hide away until then.
Born with brittle bone disease, he remained convicted not to allow himself to be intimidated out of having a normal childhood even throughout vicious physical abuse from his classmates, and a school facility which seemed determined to blame his disability for the broken bones that he was left with as a result.
Enraged by a system content to do the absolute minimum to investigate what had really happened to him, he found comfort watching martial arts films from his hospital bed, and soon a lifelong dedication to the warrior disciplines was stoked within him.
When he tried to join a local dojo he was turned away because the instructor saw him as a liability. But he would not let this defeat him. From then on, he would climb an exterior wall of the dojo and watch the class from a high window, until the day he slipped and fell, landing himself in hospital again.
When his nurses were unable to convince him to stop practicing fighting techniques while he was still recovering, they arranged for the sensei who had originally turned him down to come and try to talk him out of it personally. But Mark ended up impressing the sensei with his immaculate form and dedication so much, that he was instead offered private classes.
Over the years Mark became a formidable fighter, but still he was tormented by his abusers, who were now too cowardly to face Mark alone.
Realising that he could not have his revenge with the skills he could gain in his hometown, Mark gladly took his sensei’s recommendation to travel with a martial arts school abroad.
From then on, Mark drifted the world between monasteries and training with the most prestigious martial arts schools he could find, funding his travels by competing in illegal blood sports. His flawless winning streak became legend, and soon the underworld of the Far East had all heard of the man which no one could strike – the named Mr Untouchable.
Creation:
Mr Untouchable was created by Mike Scrase and San Espina. Scrase was based the character on a friend who he studied martial arts with. Scrase’s friend mentioned that they had worked very hard at evading strikes because they were notably not great at recovering from being punched.
Scrase then took this concept to the extreme by making Mr Untouchable an expert martial artist who could not be hit with an attack as long as he could see it, but who could be neutralised quickly if an enemy ever did successfully strike him due to his brittle bone disease.
Originally named Stickman as a nod to the character’s skinny physique, this early alias was explained in-universe as a nickname he acquired due to him being him an artist in his spare time, who enjoyed drawing pictures which emulated cave paintings.
While drafting the script his first appearance Scrase stumbled upon his final name by accident. While writing a piece of dialogue where his archenemy Zip taunted him by calling him “Mr Untouchable” in what Scrase had expected to be a throwaway line, he realised that this was a much better name for the character. Scrase then edited the script retroactively to accommodate the change.
Abilities:
Mr Untouchable has gained such mastery of his body that he is able to evade or counter any attack, as long as he sees it coming. It does not matter whether the attacker is barehanded or carries a weapon: he can even evade gun shots by anticipating when a shooter will fire, all by watching muscle muscle twitches invisible to the untrained eye. He is so adept that he can fight a speedster to a standstill, despite having no powers of his own.
His condition means that his bones become dislocated more easily than the average person, but he has turned even this into an asset, able to voluntarily dislocate a joint in order to escape a grapple, and then pop it back into place when needed.
Even when severely injured, Mr Untouchable never stops training. For this reason, he has developed his own martial arts styles designed to be fought from the seat of a wheelchair. His preferred weapon is a bo staff, which gives him a long reach from his enemies, but he is highly skilled in many weapons from katanas, to nunchaku, to throwing stars. He can also wield crutches like huge sets of tonfa.
Despite being easily injured, Mr Untouchable has an incredibly resilient tolerance for pain, having been so regularly subject to it throughout the course of his life. When questioned about how he is able to engage in such risky activities with his condition, he simply replies that his condition makes everything risky for him anyway.
Personality
While ruthless and vengeful, Mr Untouchable has an unshakable code of honour. He abhors an unfair fight and refuses to harm those who have not harmed him – unless they deliberately get in his way.
Even when competing in blood sports, he refuses to kill an opponent who he clearly has an advantage over. He respects any adversary who fights him cleanly, even when that adversary is his hated enemy.
Despite all the fear he has inspired through the urban legends which have spread about his prowess, he cares nothing for acclaim. He is uninterested in grand wealth, and only competes to win the money which he needs to achieve his ultimate goal of revenge.