Cerebra's Files
Mesmero
Real Name: Vincent [Last name unknown]Affiliation: Weapon X
Aliases: Thomas H. (P?) Thorton, Junichi
Status: De-powered
Relatives: Mother (deceased)
Alternate-X Versions: None
Codename Etymology: Pronounced mĕz'mə-rō [From mesmer mezmerize]; To hypnotize.
Powers & History: Mesmero has the power to hypnotize anyone with whom he comes into eye contact. In his early appearances, he worked for Magneto, and convinced Lorna Dane that she was the daughter of the Master of Magnetism. Later, a Sentinel attack revealed that the Magneto that Mesmero worked for was actually a robot. Mesmero then attacked the new X-Men and hypnotized them into being circus performers. Only the Beast's interference released the X-Men from Mesmero's control. Then, surprisingly, the real Magneto showed up and knocked Mesmero out, and sent him magentically down to South America. Later, Mesmero went into business in England as a hypno-therapist in an attempt to make money in a legal way. However, Fenris threatened his life to do jobs for them to the point where he hypnotized Excalibur into protecting him, until Shadowcat freed them from his control and the team foiled Fenris's plans. Later still, Mesmero was hunted down by the Dark Riders and seemingly killed. When Mesmero reappeared and tried to control Alpha Flight, he revealed that he had hypnotized Gauntlet into thinking he had shot his target, allowing Mesmero to escape. However, Mesmero was again defeated by his victims.
Mesmero was then recruited by the Weapon X Program, and possibly given a power boost. He was seen causing a mass of Iraqi soliders to suicide on a battlefield. Later on, he posed as Junichi, an attractive club-hopper, to keep an eye on new recruit Marrow. He ended up taking her to bed, but then revealed himself to her after she refused to return to the program with Kane. Sarah beat Mesmero severely for using her, but he was patched up by the Program. Mesmero was then assigned to use his powers to keep Sabretooth under control.
Shortly afterwards, Mesmero's sick mother died. Mesmero's own powers failed to convince her to live longer, and when she died, he lost his abilities. The Weapon X doctor surmised that his inability to save his mother affected his self-confidence and made him powerless. Mesmero asked the doctor to keep his condition secret, but Sabretooth overheard and made plans to escape. Once he did, the Director realized that Mesmero's powers were gone and had him taken away to Neverland. While there, he may have regained his abilities through repeated practice.
After M-Day, Mesmero was truly rendered powerless, and his skin turned to normal. He began to frequent a prostitute named Glory and fell in love with her. Eventually, Glory's pimp Rudolph found them together and beat up Vincent, thinking that he had money. Powerless Vincent couldn't help himself, and was confounded by depression brought on by his many failures, until Glory shot Rudolph and the two lovers walked away into the sunset. Vincent appears to be more contented with his current life than he ever was before.
326