Who the Clix? is a series of articles featuring information on comic book characters that have been made into figures for the popular tabletop game Heroclix. These articles are meant to help Heroclix players learn more about the characters behind their favorite pieces.

Today we look at the Total Elimination of Super Soldiers robot, also known as: TESS-One

Appearances in Heroclix: Age of Ultron: SOP

First Appearance: Captain America Annual #8

Team Affiliations: Heavy Metal,

Created By: Mark Gruenwald and Mike Zeck

TESS-One is built by Daniel Schumann and programmed to be a failsafe in case the members of the Super Soldier project went renegade. After the Super Soldier program began, FDR has a secret meeting with the War Department’s top scientists. Schumann argued the possibility of a future government abusing its power and enforcing despotic rule with an army of super soldiers. To counter this, the TESS (Total Elimination of Super Soldiers) robots would be built and kept in reserve. After Professor Erskine, the inventor of the super soldier formula, is killed the TESS project is defunded and discontinued. Schumann takes TESS-One home and uses his own money to complete it.

A mutant named Overrider eventually finds TESS-One and takes control of the robot, breaking into the nation’s leading manufacturer of adamantium. He then forces the workers to coat TESS-One’s shell in adamantium before taking the robot to America’s Nuclear Command Center. Once there, Captain America and Wolverine defeat the robot by severing its head. The deactivated robot is then put in storage in a military facility in Colorado.

Some time later, the Super Adaptaoid decides to form a team to attack the Avengers. To this end, he reactivates TESS-One as well as recruiting Kree Sentry 459, Machine Man and Awesome Android. They attack the Avengers but are defeated.

Dr. Doom eventually drags up TESS-One’s remains off the shore of New Jersey. Doom repairs the machine and gives it the ability to absorb energy and materials to complete missions. Dr. Doom then sends TESS-One to defeat the cosmically powered Spider-Man. Spider-Man destroys TESS-One with a blast of cosmic energy. Doom retrieves the skull of the robot in order to obtain the portion of the power cosmic absorbed during the robot’s destruction.

Taskmaster later has TESS-One rebuilt and uses it to train AIM agents when the villain is on the AIM High Council. TESS-One easily bests the agents and Taskmaster shuts it down to avoid loss of life.

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