Real Name: Unrevealed
Occupation: Geneticist
Identity: Secret. His existence is unknown to the general public of Earth.
Legal Status: Possesses no citizenship
Former Aliases: None
Place of Birth: Unrevealed
Marital Status: Unrevealed
Known Relatives: Phaeder (father, deceased)
Group Affiliation: None
Base of Operations: Unknown
First Appearance: MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #71

History: Maelstrom is the son of an Inhuman geneticist and a Deviant handmaiden, the first known hybrid of these two sister races to humanity. Some time before 1900, Maelstrom's father Phaeder vied with Agon (the future sire of Black Bolt) for the leadership of the Inhumans' governing body, the Genetics Council. Having lost, Phaeder was soon barred from the Council because of his experiments in cloning, a branch of genetics the Council had outlawed. Faking death, Phaeder stole away from the island-city of Attilan in self-imposed exile. Eventually he came upon a colony of Deviants, and met Morga, a Deviant woman, attractive by Inhuman standards but ugly by those of the Deviants. The two mated and produced a son who was later called Maelstrom. Phaeder and Maelstrom eventually fled Lemuria, and traversed the world incognito, at one point sharing their genetic secrets with the Nazi scientist Arnim Zola.

Soon after the Inhumans relocated the island of Attilan to the Himalayan Mountains, Maelstrom and his father moved into the underwater ruins of the island and set up base. Discovering molecules of the mutagenic Terrigen Mist in the ruins, the two began experiments once again. Their eventual goal was to totally subjugate the two races that had spurned them, the Inhumans and the Deviants. They occasionally sought human allies and provided them with genetic secrets in hopes of reaping the benefits of other men's research. Among the human beings they provided with information and technology either openly or covertly were Professor Wladyslav Shinsky of the Enclave, Dr. Herman Frayn (alias Doctor Hydro), Professor Miles Warren (alias the Jackal), and the mutant Magneto. The two master geneticists also created for themselves a number of servants by using Terrigan Mist on abducted human beings.

The existence of Maelstrom and Phaeder was revealed when Maelstrom attempted to steal the Anti-Terrigen compound developed by Reed Richards and the Inhumans. After an unsuccessful attempt to subject all of Attilan to the Anti-Terrigen compound, Maelstrom commanded his accomplice, the mysterious Deathurge, to kill him. At the instant of his death, Maelstrom's life essence and memories were transferred to another clone-body, a process developed by Arnim Zola. Phaeder was too old and feeble for the process to work for him, and thus he died.

While investigating the whereabouts of his mother's people, the Deviants, Maelstrom learned that most of their ruling class had been atomically transmuted into a single organic cube by the Eternals, another variant strain of humanity. Maelstrom decided to use his biokinetic power to siphon the energy of the entire Eternal population while they participated in the ritual Uni-Mind. Thanks to the intervention of the Avengers, this scheme failed, and once more Maelstrom bid Deathurge to terminate his life. Maelstrom's essence transferred to yet another clone and he embarked upon his next master plan, to siphon the kinetic energy of the Earth's rotation. This plan was also thwarted by the Avengers and Maelstrom was seemingly destroyed. It is not known how many clone-bodies Maelstrom possesses. He embarked upon his next master plan, to siphon the kinetic energy of the Earth's rotation. This plan was also thwarted by the Avengers, and Maelstrom was apparently destroyed, as his absorption of the energy forced him to bodily expand, dissolving into cosmic-scale proportions.

Height: 8 ft. 2 in.
Weight: 425 lbs
Eyes: Purple
Hair: Purple

Strength Level: Maelstrom possesses slight superhuman strength, deriving from his unique Inhuman/Deviant heritage. Maelstrom can lift (press) approximately 1 ton. When his body is enhanced by biokinetic energy, Maelstrom can augment his physical strength. The amount of biokinetic energy he siphons determines how much physical strength he can manifest. Theoretically, there is no upper limit to his strength providing he can draw upon a sufficiently powerful source of kinetic energy.

Known Superhuman Powers: Maelstrom possesses the traditional attributes of the Inhuman race as well as the ability to siphon and control all forms of kinetic energy, the energy of motion. Half Inhuman, Maelstrom's physiology is about twice as strong, durable, and long-lived as that of the average human male.

Maelstrom's major ability is the Terrigen derived capacity to mentally manipulate all forms of kinetic energy and transform it into physical strength. This process, the nature of which is unknown, involves a body-wide interaction with kinetic energy from any ambient source. While Maelstrom can derive power from the motion of a single, room-temperature neutron, it is not yet known what the largest source of kinetic energy is that he can tap, or how much energy he can synthesize for use at the same time. He frequently uses the power of his opponents to energize himself. Once energized, he can direct kinetic energy in great storms of force. His body constantly absorbs kinetic energy and translates it into a bioluminescent plume of force which whirls around his body. Its rate of motion is often affected by his mood, while its depth (volume) is a function of the amount of energy he has synthesized for use. He controls the amount of energy he synthesizes over his body's minimum capacity by force of will.

Limitations: At present, the limits of Maelstrom's power to biologically synthesize kinetic energy is unknown. In order to siphon the power of the Uni-Mind (containing the combined kinetic energy of over a thousand Eternals,), he was required to augment his natural abilities with a mechanism of his own devising.