Captain Scarlet

Real Name: Paul Metcalfe

Identity/Class: Human mutate (or artificial construct in human form, depending on your viewpoint)

Occupation: Spectrum agent

Affiliations: Spectrum, Colonel White, Captain Blue, Captain Ochre, Captain Magenta, Lieutenant Green, Doctor Fawn; formerly Mysterons, World Army Air Force

Enemies: Mysterons, Captain Black

Known Relatives: Unidentified father, paternal grand-father & paternal great-grandfather; Ronald (brother), Ian (uncle, deceased), Paul Blake (maternal grandfather)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Cloudbase

First Appearance: "The Mysterons", Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons (ITC, 29th September 1967)

Powers/Abilities: Scarlet's body heals at a superhuman rate, even from seemingly fatal wounds; however he is vulnerable to electricity. His body blocks x-rays (as do all Mysterons and their agents, a ready way of identifying them). He can sense other Mysteron agents, becoming nauseous, dizzy and suffering violent headaches in their presence. He has degrees in Maths, History and Technology, and is a trained pilot and soldier with experience of a wide variety of weaponry.

History: Born in Winchester on December 17th 2036 to a military family, Paul Metcalfe enlisted in the World Army/Air Force after graduating with distinction from West Point in 2063, swiftly rising to become the youngest Colonel in its history before being headhunted in 2066 to join the new world security organisation Spectrum, codenamed Captain Scarlet. In 2068 the Martian Mysterons began their "war of nerves" against mankind; one of their early actions was to force a car carrying Scarlet and fellow agent Captain Brown to crash, killing both men. The Mysterons then used their power to "revert matter" to recreate both men under Mysteron control, and sent them to kill World President Younger. Brown was slain again in a suicide bombing, but the target survived, so Scarlet kidnapped the President, taking him to the top of the London Car-Vu parking facility, where Captain Blue caught up with them. Blue shot Scarlet, who fell hundreds of feet to his death. However, the changes made to his body meant he soon revived, only to discover that his demise had freed him from Mysteron control. Returning to Spectrum, he became their best agent in the fight against the alien foe.

Comments: Created by Gerry Anderson and voiced by Francis Matthews.

There's a nice site covering all the Anderson series as they have appeared in comics. Captain Scarlet's world first appeared in Angels, a comic strip prelude to the coming Captain Scarlet series which featured the show's female pilots and debuted in Lady Penelope #53 (21st January 1967); at first readers were unaware that this was a tie-in to an upcoming tv series, until part way through the run when Spectrum's symbol and then name were introduced, and Colonel White turned up. The strip ended only days before the Captain Scarlet began airing. On 30th September 1967, the day after the first episode aired, TV 21 #141 launched the new Captain Scarlet and the Mysteron strip. Many of the above personal details for Scarlet, including his real name and identifying Paul Blake from Gerry Anderson's The Secret Service as Scarlet's grandfather, come from that strip. A second pre-publicity strip, The Mark of the Mysterons, starring Scarlet's enemies, debuted in another Gerry Anderson comics: Solo (named for the Man from Uncle character) #19 (24th June 1967).

Captain Scarlet (CGI version)

Real Name: Paul Metcalfe

Identity/Class: Human mutate (or artificial construct in human form, depending on your viewpoint)

Occupation: Spectrum agent; formerly US Special Forces, USAF

Affiliations: Spectrum, Colonel White, Captain Blue, Doctor Gold; formerly  Mysterons, USAF

Enemies: Mysterons, Captain Black

Known Relatives: Tom Metcalfe (father, deceased), Ann Brightman (mother, deceased), unidentified sister, unidentified nephew

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Skybase

First Appearance: "Instrument of Destruction" Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet (12th February 2005)

Powers/Abilities: Captain Scarlet's "retrometabolism" makes him virtually indestructible; any attacks he can't simply ignore, he heals from at an accelerated rate. Even weapons powerful enough to "kill" him only do so for a short period of time. He can sense the presence of Mysterons and their resurrected agents, and possesses a weak telepathic connection to Captain Black.

History: Born in Winchester, England, Paul Metcalfe was the son of an American astronaut and British astrophysicist, and as a child got to watch his father, a member of the International Space Agency, take part in mankind's first manned Mars mission. After studying astrophysics at MIT he joined the air force, hoping to follow in his father's footsteps, but his plans changed and he transferred to Special Forces after both his parents were killed during an upsurge in worldwide terrorism. During his service he became close friends with his second-in-command, Lieutenant Conrad Lefkon, and after the terrorist wars ended they joined the new world security organisation Spectrum together. However, during a mission to Mars, both men were slain by the Mysterons, then resurrected as their indestructible agents. Sent back to Earth to destroy Spectrum's main HQ, Skybase, Scarlet was stopped by Captain Blue, and killed again when he fell through a plasma stream. Reviving again, he proved to have shaken off Mysteron control, and rejoined Spectrum.

Comments: Created by Gerry Anderson, voiced by Wayne Forester.

CLARIFICATIONS: Not to be confused with

Any Additions/Corrections? Please let me know.

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