Amadeus Cho
Amadeus Cho. Art by Takeshi Miyazawa.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Amazing Fantasy vol. 2 #15 (January 2006)
Created by	Greg Pak Takeshi Miyazawa
In-story information
Full name	Amadeus Cho
Team affiliations	God Squad Renegades Mighty Avengers
Notable aliases	Mastermind Excello
Abilities	Super-Genius

Amadeus Cho, also known as Mastermind Excello, is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics Universe. He was created by Greg Pak and Takeshi Miyazawa, and first appeared in Amazing Fantasy (volume 2) #15, in one of an anthology of stories.^[1] Marvel later brought Cho back as a major character in the World War Hulk storyline, and then as one of the primary characters in The Incredible Hercules.

[edit] Fictional character biography

Amadeus Cho is a teenage super genius. He is described by Reed Richards to be the 7th smartest person in the world ^[2] His intellect gives him the ability to make many precise calculations simultaneously as well as near-instantaneously. This intelligence is portrayed in the comics as glowing labels, numbers and other information, shown from his point of view, which gives his abilities a visual component that would otherwise not exist. Whether or not he actually sees the numbers (like a HUD) is unknown. He has shown himself capable of doing anything from redirecting a laser-guided missile with a wing mirror or tracking the Hulk based on his trajectory and jump height. Though this gift does come in handy when escaping, the strain of his mental calculations leaves him exhausted and famished.

After his abilities were discovered, Pythagoras Dupree, the man behind the contest, has Amadues' house blown up and killing his parents, leaving Amadeus on the run for his life, distrusting almost everyone he meets. Shortly after going on the run on his characteristic Vespa scooter, he adopted an orphaned coyote pup, whom he sometimes uses to gain sympathy. After once being saved from his pursuers by the Incredible Hulk, he considers the latter as a friend and strictly views him as heroic and reactive to the aggression of others.

Amadeus Cho has stated to Hercules, just before he first encountered Athena at her house, that he is Korean-American.

The character is next seen during the events of the crossover event, World War Hulk, where he gathers a team of the Hulk's former colleagues of the super-group 'Champions',Hercules and Archangel, both of whom considered themselves in debt to the Hulk for mistakenly attacking him on a previous occasion. With the assistance of Namora they attempt and fail to stop the Hulk.

The Incredible Hulk series is then retitled Incredible Hercules from #112 and the character's adventures as the sidekick of Hercules are detailed. The character then participates in a number of adventures including helping Hercules and others defeat the pantheon of Skrull gods during the Secret Invasion Storyline.^[3]

Following this storyline the pair battle Amazons, led by Princess Artume, who need him to decipher an Atlantean tablet that will lead to the Omphalos. Amadeus is attracted to the Amazon warrior Delphyne Gorgon, but upon her becoming queen she is obliged to end any flirtation, to his sadness.^[4] Together with Athena, they next confront the new head of the Olympians, Hera ^[5], and travel to the underworld to rescue Zeus from Hades. There it is revealed that Cho's sister is still alive and missing. Upon learning this, and realizing that Athena had to have known this all along, he tearfully leaves Hercules, determined to find out what happened to his sister.^[6] Venturing to the town of Excello, Utah, he encounters former FBI Agent Sexton, who had contacted him shortly after the death of his parents, and does battle with Pythagoras Dupree, who claims to be the sixth-smartest man in the world. Cho realizes the incredible potential of brain to serve as a 'hypercomputer', and figures out that Sexton is in fact Athena in disguise.^[7] Amadeus finally confronts Dupree in person, and learns that Dupree wasn't aware of Amadeus' sister being missing, meaning she is still missing. Amadeus also learns that his destiny is to be the new hero of the modern era of reason, and to stop the "Primordial darkness" (this is revealed to the reader to be the return of Amatsu-Mikaboshi). Dupree then challenges Amadeus to a specialized version of Russian Roulette, which Amadeus refuses to do, leaving Dupree to simply shoot himself. After grieving about the situation, he then discovers the truth about Hera's mysterious Continuum" project, which makes Athena and Amadeus both say in unison "We need to get Hercules.^[8]

Parallel to those stories, in the aftermath of the Secret Invasion storyline, the character is used by writer Dan Slott in his run on the Mighty Avengers title ^[9].

Athena reveals to Cho that he is her choice to be the next Prince of Power, as the 'hero of the mind', as opposed to the hero of strength that Hercules represented. Further, as there cannot be more than one Prince of Power at any one time, this means that Hercules will soon meet his death. Cho vows to prevent this.^[10]

[edit] Kerberos ("Kirby") the Coyote

Amadeus is practically always accompanied by a little canine, who usually peers out the front of Cho's jacket. He picked him up along the side of the road, a little distance away from the roadside diner where he met the Hulk for the first time. The coyote's mother had been hit and killed by a car, but the pup had remained with her body. Cho, not failing to see the similarity, took him in.

Kirby appears pretty smart, even for a dog, neatly cooperating with his human companion.

Kerberos' name was chosen in a contest held by the writers of the comic; the winner was a reader from Montevideo, Uruguay, Martín "MaGnUs" Pérez. The name was chosen by the reader both because of the mythological connotations and the computer network authentication protocol of the same name^[11][12].

During the Secret Invasion, it was revealed that Kirby was abducted immediately following World War Hulk by Skrulls posing as SHIELD agents, after they knocked out Amadeus while supposedly processing him for arrest; Kirby was then replaced with a Skrull agent. Using a tracking system he had implanted in the pup's beforehand, Amadeus manages to track Kirby down, finding him in the Mojave desert. Once there, he discovers that the now full-grown Kirby has adapted to the wild, even gaining a mate. Amadeus decides to leave Kirby where he is, reasoning that his life had become too dangerous for him.^[13]

[edit] Other media

[edit] Film Novelization

• In the 2008 film The Incredible Hulk, Martin Starr plays a student at Culver University, who allows Bruce Banner access to the campus' computers in exchange for pizza. In the novelization by Peter David, the student is revealed to be Amadeus. "Whoever you are, you are my new personal hero. Amadeus Cho, at your service, and you couldn’t have come at a better time. Gotta feed the brain," he tells Banner.

He is listed as "Amadeus Cho" according to Marvel.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Notes

[edit] References