Rex Salazar

Vital statistics: Name: Rex Salazar Species: Human EVO Base of operations: The Plant (formerly) Providence Headquarters Affiliation(s) Hong Kong Band (formerly) Providence Defect Group (formerly) Providence Physical description: Male Gender Black hair color eye color Brown Characteristics Talent: • Improved EVO Healing • Machine demonstration • Communication with nanites • Improved technopathy • Expert acrobat • Improved condition • Hand-to-hand combat • Unlimited creation of nanites • Hyperadaptability • Improved awareness

"If people want to hate me, I can't stop them. But that won't stop me from doing my job. You want to know why? Because I'm awesome." - Rex

Rex Salazar is an amnesiac teenage EVO with the ability to create and construct fully functional mechanical weapons and equipment from his body at will. Prior to the Nanite Event, he was one of the first recipients of a controlled batch of nanites. Unlike most EVOs, Rex controls his nanites and is the only known being capable of healing other EVOs. Since childhood, Rex has worked as a secret weapon for Providence, a global organization dedicated to protecting the world from rogue EVOs.

Unwittingly, Rex vanished six months into the future and returned to Providence under a new regime he disapproved of. He voluntarily left Providence for a time to join a group of defectors and rebel against the corrupt organization. After gaining the godlike abilities of the Meta Nanites and defeating the Consortium, Rex cured the entire world of EVO mutations (though some Nanites remained), with him and Bobo Haha being the only known EVOs left. With his abilities now dormant, he continues to fight for Providence.

Rex was the second son of Rafael and Violeta Salazar in Geneva, Switzerland, where he lived with them and his older brother, César. [2] Rafael, Violeta, and César were brilliant scientists who had traveled the world before Rex's birth. At age 12, Rex spent every summer in a small South American town, where he played with his best friend, Federico. [3]

Before the Nanite Event, and during the Nanite Project on which his parents and brother worked, Rex was critically injured in an industrial accident caused by a dispute among several scientists over the use of nanites. The scientists—including Violet, Raphael, Caesar, and Gabriel Rylander—injected Rex with the original batch of fully programmed nanites, hoping to save his life and make the other scientists understand that their methods were for the greater good. It was a great success, as Rex was saved. However, Rex's newfound abilities, courtesy of the nanites, only reinforced their beliefs. While Rex, Gabriel, and Caesar survived the Nanite Event by sheer luck, Raphael and Violet died as a result of the massive nanite explosion. [2]

Later, after losing his memory, presumably due to the explosion, Rex traveled to Hong Kong and befriended three incurable EVOs named Tuck, Skwydd, and Cricket. Unbeknownst to them, Rex was also the top lieutenant of an EVO crime boss named Quarry. [4] During their time together, Rex and his gang had an encounter with the shapeshifter John Scarecrow, and they all got voice-activated nanoink tattoos to prevent the events from repeating themselves. [5] He later secretly traded his friends to Quarry in exchange for his freedom. [4]

A few years later, Rex transformed into a gigantic biomechanical form and wreaked havoc in Mexico. Providence dispatched a squad of soldiers, including Agent Six and the White Knight, to contain the threat. After sustaining severe damage, Rex crashed into a building and reverted to his human form, forgetting everything that had happened before he became a full EVO. Six found the young man under the rubble and helped him to safety, unaware that he was the EVO who had just attacked him. Although Six was initially reluctant to care for Rex, he felt compassion for him upon discovering that he suffered from amnesia.

After Rex saved Six from a dangerous EVO by healing him, Six took him to Providence to demonstrate his incredible healing powers to Dr. Holiday, who had been searching for a way to reverse EVO mutations instead of killing them. Although hopeful about the discovery, Six distrusted the current head of Research and Development, Dr. Fell, and his then-partner, White Knight, and requested that the discovery be kept secret. Six's suspicions were confirmed when White kidnapped, interrogated, and then imprisoned Dr. Holiday to discover why Six had brought Rex to Providence.

White Knight, along with Dr. Fell, kidnapped Rex while he slept and attempted to dissect him molecule by molecule to reverse-engineer his unique healing powers. However, they failed when Rex's nanites unconsciously reacted to the danger. In the ensuing struggle, White was trapped in the chamber during an overload, and Fell was subsequently fired and replaced by Dr. Holiday. With White Knight's body bleached and his nanites destroyed, he was declared head of Providence. Rex was admitted to Providence because of his healing powers. [6]

Since Rex lived in Providence, he came to consider it his home and developed close bonds with its inhabitants, particularly Agent Six, Dr. Holiday, and Bobo, whom he openly acknowledged as his family. After finding his older brother, Caesar, Rex was overjoyed to be reunited with a relative. However, he admitted that it was the residents of Providence with whom he truly felt a familial connection. [2]

Rex was finally revealed to the public as Providence's secret weapon during a battle in the city. Tired of the treatment they received in Providence, Rex and Bobo ran away and met the teenager Noah Nixon. Located by Agent Six, Rex was subsequently taken to the Abysus by the Pack. There, he met the Pack's leader, Van Kleiss. Van Kleiss turned on him and attempted to drain his nanites, but with the help of his friends, Rex escaped. [7] Assigned to a difficult mission, he successfully cured EVO Peter Meechum, doing so while reverting to "zombies," preventing nuclear annihilation, and saving Meechum's daughter, Sarah. [8]

Taking a break, Rex fled to Cape Luna with Noah and Bobo. There, he became interested in a girl named Circe. He tracked her down and discovered she was an EVO and had been assigned a task as part of her Pack initiation. Rex lent a hand and helped defeat the EVO, but tried to convince Circe not to join the Pack. She insisted, leaving Rex heartbroken. [9] Noah visited Rex sometime later. When an EVO escaped, this led Noah to admit that he had been hired to keep Rex in check. Rex expressed that he didn't want to see Noah again, but when Noah's life was in danger, Rex saved him and realized his importance. [10] Frustrated, Rex ran away and stumbled upon an engineer village. They appeared to be constructing a transmission tower, following the orders of an architect who was later revealed to be Zag RS. Zag RS's plan was to use the tower to destroy nanites worldwide. Rex thwarted his plan and destroyed it before it could harm anyone. [11]

Back with Providence, Rex suffered a nanite overload and was quickly taken to Paradise, a suitable base for offloading Rex's excess nanites. While there, Weaver, an agent of Paradise, betrayed Rex's group and was selling active nanites to the Pack. Weaver ended up mutating into an EVO and was eventually defeated. [12] Van Kleiss returned, but to attend the United Nations conference. Rex, who was finally proven right when he suspected Van Kleiss, fought Van Kleiss and sent him fleeing back to the Abysus. [13] Soon after, Rex disappeared and ended up in the Breach pocket dimension, Greenville, Ohio. With the help of Doctor Holiday, Rex returned home safely. [14] Safe and sound, Rex and his team are assigned to locate Gabriel Rylander, a leading scientist. Rex found Rylander and revealed much of his past to him, including the recognition of his parents and the origin of his abilities. However, their meeting was interrupted when Van Kleiss located them. Rylander sacrificed himself for Rex, giving him the opportunity to escape. [15] Assigned to Hong Kong, Rex encountered old friends and enemies he knew before his amnesiac episode. [4] Rex faced constant dangers: experiencing EVO prejudice, [1] dealing with the return of Zag RS, [16] being contacted by Circe and resurrecting Van Kleiss, and dealing with mysterious plagues. [17][18] Finally, he overcame Van Kleiss's ambush at the Providence headquarters and easily defeated him. [19]

With Providence under construction since the ambush, Rex sought refuge at Noah's house. He was still assigned a mission to help transport an energy core. Unfortunately, Van Kleiss got involved and turned Noah into an EVO. Given a certain time limit, Rex managed to cure Noah before the activation became permanent. [20] There was another mission assigned to Rex and his partner, Bobo, involving repairing the Bug Jar's shield. While there, Rex discovered the Pack's plan to form an alliance with NoFace and positioned himself between them and the settlement. Subdued and captured, he was used as leverage for NoFace's alliance. However, NoFace wanted Rex dead, which Van Kleiss disagreed with. Rex had a chance to escape, but he ran into Circe, who decided to help Rex thwart the Pack's plan. Unwilling to let NoFace join their group, Biowulf discreetly offered to help keep NoFace trapped. After Rex quickly repaired the camp, he escaped along with Bobo and Circe and helped Circe hide. [21]

One day, Rex's body began spontaneously conjuring unrecognizable devices. Rex, though initially reluctant, changed his mind when he couldn't find answers about what was happening to him. Once Rex completed the machine, it turned hostile and attacked him, trapping him in an impenetrable bubble. Suddenly, a mysterious stranger entered the facility and stopped the machine. The stranger revealed himself to be Rex's older brother, Caesar, and the one responsible for the machine. Rex fled with him and learned about Project Nanite and Van Kliess. Eventually, they returned to help Providence, where Caesar joined forces with Providence. [2] Among the many difficult tasks, Rex also experienced what it meant to be a normal teenager. [22][23]

Physical appearance: Rex Salazar is a teenager with brown skin, slightly curly dark hair slicked back, and brown eyes. He wears a red-orange patterned jacket, a blue T-shirt on top and a white one on the bottom, orange goggles, black pants with blue geometric patterns, blue gloves with orange cuffs, and dark blue shoes. Personality: Like most teenagers who grow up isolated and in a closed environment, Rex is arrogant, impulsive, and rebellious. He is quite stubborn, a trait that, according to Van Kleiss, he inherited from his mother, Violet. He is witty and always cracking jokes, even in the worst situations, often with sarcasm. However, when he needs to stand up for himself, he doesn't hold back. Aggressive and reckless, Rex prefers to destroy anything that gets in his way, much to Providence's dismay. Nevertheless, over time he begins to show more discretion and consideration. [24] Rex has also demonstrated an altruistic side, as he takes pride in healing many EVOs at the risk of his own life. [12][25] He has also shown empathy; for example, he understands that many of the EVOs he encounters were once sentient beings who still have loved ones worried about them, and he never resorts to execution, regardless of the species. [8][1] Another example would be when Rex was the only one who saw things from the opposing points of view of Agent Six and Serge when arguing about Aquania. [26]

personality: Like any teenager, Rex also experiences mixed and difficult feelings about his situation, such as his position in Providence. While loyal to the organization, the pressure of being the only one capable of healing EVOs sometimes becomes unbearable. Because of this, he sometimes sneaks away from the base to go on "road trips," as he calls them, to let off steam. However, he always returns, perhaps out of a sense of duty, purpose, and affection for his team. He is also usually sympathetic to those in similar situations, such as Circe and Breach. For example, even though Circe voluntarily joined the Pack, he understood her confusion and the connection between being an EVO and her reluctance to join Providence. [9] When Breach felt overwhelmed by the treatment she received from Van Kleiss and the Pack, Rex supported her, using the same tactics he himself had employed. [27] Ultimately, he never abandoned them.

Rex has also proven to be intelligent. For example, Tuck stated that Rex improvised the voice-activated nanoink tattoos that Rex, Tuck, Skwydd, and Cricket have after a problem they had with a shape-shifting EVO. [4] Coming from a family of scientists, Rex is quite intelligent, as demonstrated when he was able to take high school courses with ease. After taking a pop trigonometry quiz, Rex casually told Noah that it was "just trigonometry" and explained that it was like aiming his cannon. [23] Another trait that goes hand in hand with Rex's intelligence and resourcefulness is his ability to manipulate his enemies. At one point, Rex willingly tricked Van Kleiss into fighting NoFace, knowing that Van Kleiss needed him alive, while NoFace wanted him dead. However, due to the circumstances, Rex pretended to be unconscious while Van Kleiss and NoFace fought each other for Rex's life.

EVO Abilities: Like all living beings on Earth, Rex has nanobots bonded to him at a molecular level. Having activated nanobots makes him an EVO; however, unlike most EVOs, Rex has the ability to control his nanobots at will, allowing him to generate various machines from his body. He can also use his nanobots to communicate with other machines, as well as cure mutations in some EVOs. Technopathy: Rex is able to use his nanobots to interact with technology, allowing him to communicate with and control it. For example, he first demonstrated this ability when escaping the confines of The Fortress. [7] In his own words, he can "hear" them. This can also backfire; hearing too many voices at once will overwhelm Rex and eventually cause him to lose consciousness. [12] After regaining his powers, his technopathic abilities were strengthened, as demonstrated when he took control of the entire Providence base to deactivate hidden bombs. [19] His enhanced technopathy has also been shown to allow him to repair technology, such as severed wires. Rex's enhanced technopathic abilities have also been shown to allow him to reprogram machines. [28] Rex has also been shown to be able to understand a machine's capabilities once he communicates with it. In particular, when Rex used his technopathic abilities on Branden Moses's machine, which supposedly cured EVOs, Rex claimed to have realized that the machine was inadequate and had only simple functions. His technopathic abilities also allow him to disable Providence's control collars; however, these explode after the process. [29]

Cured EVO: Perhaps Rex's most important ability, he can extract the active nanites from other EVOs to heal them. Initially, Rex could not heal EVOs unless they willingly allowed him to extract their nanites. [8] Later, his healing ability seemed to improve somewhat, as he was able to heal some of Quarry's EVO henchmen against their will. [4] However, it's possible he simply took them by surprise, as the former was unaware that he was able to heal EVOs, and the latter was unconscious. By his own admission, Rex also had trouble healing non-human EVOs as quickly as human EVOs. [1] However, his abilities gradually developed over time, as demonstrated when he successfully healed a Cat EVO that was hunting him and his friends. [22] Rex eventually began healing animal EVOs without hesitation. [30][31] However, some EVOs, known as incurables, possess nanites completely resistant to healing. When Rex attempted to heal a dying incurable EVO named Uno, the strain was too much for him. [25] Other risks are also associated with healing EVOs. Rex has a limit to the amount of healed EVO nanites he can carry. If he exceeds this limit, he will begin to develop metallic tumor sacs. [12] Furthermore, if he extracts corrupted nanites, such as the highly unstable ones from Abysus, he risks destabilizing his own body. [17] After the global healing event, Rex's healing abilities have become virtually obsolete. [32]

Machine manifestation: Rex can mold his nanites into a variety of machinery. He uses them for attack, defense, and transportation. The weapons he forms from his body can be destroyed, but he can usually reform them quickly afterward. Also, if Rex is exhausted, more concentration is needed to maintain his weapons; otherwise, they instantly disassemble. [18] At one point, Van Kleiss drained all but one of Rex's nanites, temporarily removing his powers as well. After an MRI, Dr. Holiday discovered the Omega-1 nanite that Dr. Gabriel Rylander had injected into Rex and identified it as a control nanite. Using the supply of dormant nanites he had previously downloaded at the Purgatory base, Rex was able to reactivate the control nanite, regaining his original powers and obtaining the blueprints for more powerful machines. [19] Previously, Rex lacked the ability to program his body to construct more than one machine at a time. From now on, Rex can allow his nanites to build and use two machines simultaneously. [ 33 ] Greater durability: Rex appears to possess strength and durability far beyond that of average humans. On numerous occasions, he has survived situations far beyond the capabilities of normal humans, such as being thrown through a concrete wall, being crushed through houses and buildings, enduring explosions, and much more. [4] For example, Rex was the only person to survive using the Space Elevator, a transportation device capable of traveling from Earth to space in minutes at immense speeds, causing incomprehensible G-forces to pressurize Rex's body. White Knight commented that the G-forces of the journey would kill a normal person. [16] Rex was also crushed through three stone pillars without any serious injury.

greater durability: He was also one of the few who could survive the extreme pressure of the deep-water trench beneath Aquania. [26] Rex can also withstand blows from EVOs that destroy buildings and even more on a daily basis and survives multiple energy beams. [34] He could also take multiple punches from the quarry without feeling much pain. [29] His durability is such that he was struck by natural lightning (through a portion of the Meta Nanite power of a member of the consortium) without suffering any serious injury.

However, as a result of being so dependent on his machines, Rex possesses superhuman strength and seems to struggle with strenuous activities without his complexions. For example, when Rex attended a basic training camp in Providence, he used his punching hands to do push-ups, but had difficulty doing sit-ups since there was no complexion to assist him. [35] Furthermore, using only his human strength, Rex was unable to pull Circe to safety when Abysus was becoming unstable. (Although he was incredibly exhausted before this.) [17] Later, however, Rex's human strength is comfortably at superhuman levels, and he has very advanced conditioning to support this. Similar to Agent Six, Rex's nanites, even without his weapons, grant him strength, durability, speed, and agility far beyond that of the average human, though Rex's are to a higher degree. However, Rex's machines are very heavy, as shown when Rex's punching hand caused it to sink into the ocean. [9] This implies that it is the machines' internal mechanisms that allow him to lift them.

greater durability: On the other hand, Rex has demonstrated extreme physical prowess with his punching hands and his punks, such as when he took down with a kick a three-headed monster, EVO, much taller and larger than most buildings in New York, or when he lifted a building with his punching hands and knocked down several EVOs with them. Healing factor and hyperadaptability: Rex's nanites have demonstrated a variety of defense mechanisms, both direct and passive, in and out of combat. When Rex was mortally wounded in an industrial accident, the nanites injected into him completely healed him. [15] Later, the Omega-1 nanite injected into him reactivated his heart. [36] Rex's nanites cured him of sea urchin venom. [26] Rex also revealed that his nanites can counteract knockout gas; however, the same gas was previously used by Dr. Holiday for nanite removal treatment, suggesting that the nanites might have some way of distinguishing between the use of such gas as a medical anesthetic or as a weapon, and responding accordingly. [12] In extreme situations, the nanites within his body can take control and act to save Rex's life.

When Rex attempted to heal Weaver, his nanobots took control of his body to stop him and ordered Agent Six to "fire." And when facing [12], his Omega-1 nanobot can also unconsciously react to major threats, such as the Quarry's Molecular Destabilizer, forging and creating a new Machine in reaction and countering the weapon's abilities (whose existence Rex was unaware of at the Block Party until that point, unlike his other Omega-1 Constructs) or minor threats. For example, whenever Providence attempts to attach a tracker to him, his nanobots automatically dismantle it. [9]

Infinite supply of nanites: The Omega-1 nanite inside Rex has a self-replication program, meaning that Rex can create more and more active nanites if needed. [30] This function was seen to be operational when the Molecular Destabilizer was destroying its active nanites. [37]

Intuition in rape/sixth sense: Rex can also sense Breach's proximity, which he describes as a "feeling of terror." [37] It is clear that this ability is due to his nanites, as he states that they are "apprehensive about 'tearing the very fabric of space,'" implying that his nanites have a reactive evolution even with beings from another dimension, granting Rex a form of Spatial Awareness. [37] However, it is unknown whether he gained this ability from being inside Breach's pocket dimension, as he also knows that Breach brought Circe there (though this could have been just an assumption), or due to the abilities granted by the Omega-1 nanite. Nevertheless, in "The Riddle of the Sphinx," Rex's nanites alerted him to the presence of a disguised Doctor Holiday nearby, confirming that this ability is a general extra sense.

Although he is not often depicted, Rex is quite intelligent. He scored 98% on what was considered a very difficult trigonometry exam, while one student said, "My head hurts." Rex said it was easy, as it was "like aiming his Shock Cannon." When the trigonometry professor presented him with a long series of mathematical trajectories (which easily took ten seconds to repeat at full speed), Rex solved it in a few seconds (shown as a physical diagram from his perspective) and used the aforementioned trajectory to launch his opponent into the air. [23]

Rex has also proven to be a skilled acrobat. During one of Rex's flashbacks, Rex, Tuck, Skwydd, and Cricket are shown performing acrobatics during one of their midnight rooftop runs. [4] Rex has also performed mid-air flips, dodging lasers while on a moving train and healing an EVO mid-flip. On both occasions, he landed safely. [30] He was also able to outmaneuver and evade Providence's elite agents by using his quick reflexes and flips to avoid their rapid strikes. Rex can also dodge. There have also been several instances where Rex's Omega-1 nanite drastically increased his reaction time, such as dodging Hunter Cain's missile while stunned or even dodging point-blank bullets. Rex is the second character after Agent Six to achieve this. [38] Rex has even dodged beams from the consortium on two separate occasions, which is a great testament to his enhanced speed. [39]

In addition to his acrobatics, Rex is proficient in basic hand-to-hand combat, likely due to his years of training with Providence. He has faced several elite agents, highly skilled in combat. He also managed to defeat several fully equipped Providence agents without using their machines and with their arms bound. [40] Rex has also been able to shatter concrete with his normal human strength, fueled by rage. He can synchronize his combat abilities with the use of his machines, making his strikes far more effective, as demonstrated by his easy defeat of Breach, Biolobo, and Skalamander in quick succession.