Amadeus Cho - Powers and Abilities

Powers and Abilities

Amadeus is a teenager gifted with a super-genius mind, bearing the "natural ability to identify the variables and quantum possibilities in any situation". He is described by Reed Richards as being the seventh most intelligent person in the world, though Hank Pym claims that, with his return to Earth from Skrull captivity, Amadeus is actually the eighth. Meanwhile, Bruce Banner claims he is actually the tenth, but later says to the Leader that Cho is one of the eight smartest. The Eternal Ajak believes that Cho is actually more intelligent than some immortals, and he has claimed to Athena, who says that intelligence is essentially "pattern recognition", that he sees patterns better than 99.999999993% of people on Earth. Hercules has claimed twice, the first instance to Athena herself, that Amadeus is smarter than even she, and the super-genius Olympian god of fire and invention Hephaestus himself admits that Cho is more intelligent than he is.

Amadeus is able to rapidly and without mechanical aid perform mental calculations of almost unimaginable complexity enabling him to, with minimal stimuli on his part, set multiple physical reactions into motion in his vicinity, forestalling technological and human activity with equal ease. This intelligence is portrayed in the comics as various numbers and other details labeled on everything he sees as relevant, shown from his point of view. 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. However, performing mental calculations in rapid succession costs him immense amounts of energy, requiring him to consume large amounts of food thereafter. He previously rode a Vespa scooter and carried a phone/radio, Walkman, or other device altered to control nearby electrical signals.

The helmet of Scott Lang, the now deceased second Ant-Man, fell in Amadeus' possession, who, with Cassie Lang's blessing, uses it as a telepathic enhancer, choosing to downplay the size changing aspect of the Ant-Man power and focus on the mind-controlling abilities on the insect mind.

Also, he has inherited Hercules' adamantine mace. He also uses Bannertech to augment himself with devices including scanners and forcefields.

After the "death" of Hercules, Amadeus is made the new Prince of Power and head of the Olympus Group by Athena. This status somehow protected him from certain effects of the Chaos King. He also has access to all of the Olympus Group's wealth and resources.

In many ways, however, Amadeus' intellect can also be a prominent weakness. Although he is a calculating genius with not-insignificant tactical skills, he has been known to become set in his views of situations until something drastic happens to change them, such as siding with the Hulk during World War Hulk until the Hulk's actions nearly destroyed the entire eastern seaboard, or simply shifting his 'allegiance' to Hercules without recognizing the need to surrender to S.H.I.E.L.D. after the fight was over. While his rigid viewpoint makes Amadeus particularly dedicated to those he considers friends- as shown in his attempts to find Hercules- it nevertheless leaves him potentially vulnerable to manipulation if his actions are based on relatively limited information, particularly since he sometimes focuses on the personal issues to the exclusion of taking the larger picture into account. This aspect of his personality came to a head when he once nearly destroyed S.H.I.E.L.D. before Hercules made him see sense, forcing Cho to recognize that he was going to destroy S.H.I.E.L.D. simply because he perceived them as a threat without recognizing the greater need for their presence because he was simply blinded by his own issues with them. This intellect has also shown in a certain lack of imagination, able to conceive of incredible plans and advanced technology but lacking an ability to improvise, such as when he attempted to create a pocket dimension to send Earth to safety during the Chaos War which was later used by Hercules to dispose of their opponent instead. His focus on patterns has also been shown to be another weakness, as his defence of the Hulk primarily focuses on the idea that the Hulk has never destroyed the world where other characters recognise that it was only through exceptional last-minute circumstances that Earth was saved from Hulk's rampages rather than Hulk himself choosing not to do so.