Alex Mercer

"The revelation. It freed me. It killed me." This article contains spoilers and plot details from Prototype 2. Read the article at your own risk.

"One Virus. Three weeks. Millions dead. And I was there. My name was Alex Mercer, and my work is almost done."

―Alex Mercer

Alex Mercer
In-Game Information
Also known as	Zeus The Prototype
Affiliations	Gentek (Former) Infected
Profession	Head of Gentek Research Project: Blacklight (Former)
Misc. Information
Gender	Male
DOB	July 16, 1979
Current status	Deceased (Killed at Penn Station as human) Deceased (Consumed by James Heller as infected)
Weapons	Can shapeshift his body into deadly weapons. Military firearms and artillery. Can utilize military combat vehicles. Nearby throw-able objects and debris.
Real World Information
Appears in	Prototype comics Prototype Prototype 2 comics Prototype 2
Voice actor	Barry Pepper (Prototype) Darryl Kurylo (Prototype 2)

Dr. Alexander "Alex" J. Mercer, also known as The Prototype or by his codename Zeus, was the former head researcher of the Blacklight project at Gentek. After learning that those affiliated with the project were being systematically murdered, Mercer attempted to flee the city with a sample of his research contained in a vial. Cornered at Penn Station, Mercer smashed the vial and unleashed the deadly virus into the surroundings. This triggered a viral outbreak that eventually covered all of Manhattan Island.

After awaking at a Gentek facility with no recollection of his past, Alex Mercer escaped the building, and soon discovered his new powers and abilities, granted by the virus he unleashed. He began to utilize his powers to learn more of his fragmented past, as he scoured all of New York for those responsible.

Early life

Born as Alexander J. Mercer, Mercer experienced a brutal childhood spent in abject poverty; his first nine years were spent in foster care. When he turned 10, he was finally returned to his mother, who had spent the last nine years in prison, but for Mercer, it was better to be in foster care. He was the only parental figure for his sister, Dana. As kids, he and Dana would play together and watch scary movies. It is presumed that Alex's father died shortly after he was born.

It can also be assumed that Alex took a great interest in fighting and martial arts, due to the combat technique he is able to perform as the Prototype. Due to the harshness of his early life, Alex is full of rage and a proven fighter even before becoming infected.

However, his intellect and aptitude in science provided him an opportunity to leave behind his troubled past. He trusted no one, had no friends, couldn't care less about what others thought of him, and found solace only in his work. By the time he was hired by Gentek, Mercer was a borderline sociopath. He knew this, and didn't care.

Mercer breaking the vial containing the virus.

After earning a doctorate degree in genetics at Columbia University, Mercer was hired by Gentek and became the head of the Blacklight project at Gentek. Alex's team was tasked with engineering weaponized viruses from samples given to them by the government. The samples that were provided exhibited curious behavior, including mimicry and retention of genetic information from infected hosts. With Mercer’s help, the team soon engineered a particularly virulent and potent virus codenamed "Blacklight". Mercer’s skill in altering genes made him a valuable asset to Gentek; his work was years ahead of his nearest competitor.

Despite his successes, Alex Mercer was considered a potential liability by Blackwatch, an elite army created to combat exotic threats. Over time, Gentek became scrutinized by Congress and investigations were proposed. Fearing an information leak, Blackwatch decided to cover it all up. Mercer, due to his paranoid nature, began to launch his own secret investigation on Gentek. With the assistance of his sister Dana, an investigative reporter, Mercer realized that Gentek employees associated with the Blacklight project were being silenced by Blackwatch; usually with a bullet between the eyes in a dark alley.

Mercer killed at Penn Station.

When he learned that a general purge was about to be unleashed upon the Gentek scientists, Mercer fled, fearing for his life. In the event he was caught, Mercer had brought insurance—he had smuggled a vial of the Blacklight virus out of quarantine and taken it with him. He also mailed a laptop with classified documents to Dana. But Blackwatch was too quick for him. While attempting to escape the city by train, Mercer was cornered in Penn Station by Blackwatch agents. In a fit of frustration and rage, he threw the vial to the floor, smashing it and unleashing a biological apocalypse. He was promptly shot by Blackwatch operatives. The virus began to spread to everyone in the station.

As he fell, he collapsed onto the viral sample, becoming infected as he died. His body was taken back to Gentek in a body bag. Little did they know, as he was transported, the virus was reconstructing Mercer's body, cell by cell; his biomass feeding the virus as it replicated the still-living matter it had infected.

Prototype

The Awakening

"What is happening to me!!!"

―Mercer while regenerating from bullet wounds caused by Blackwatch Soldiers.

The scientists examine Mercer's body

Mercer woke up in a morgue on a slab just as two scientists were about to cut open his torso with a scalpel for an autopsy. The two men panicked and fled, terrified of Mercer. Mercer didn't understand why they were so frightened and had no recollection of his previous life. He ran after the scientists in an attempt to escape also.

Though Mercer was now an amnesiac, he was sufficiently aware to realize that the Blackwatch soldiers were certainly not friends when he saw them kill the two scientists as they tried to escape the facility. The soldiers noticed him, but his body regenerated the damage caused by their fire instantly. Surprising both the soldiers and himself, Mercer cleared the several feet high fence around the facility in a single leap.

After escaping, he found himself trapped in Manhattan, being pursued by the military. He soon discovered that he had the ability to consume others and take on their appearance and memories, along with their special skills.

With no recollection of his own past, Mercer decided to track down those responsible for his situation and consume them in order to uncover the truth behind what has been done to him, caught between the Blackwatch Special Forces and an ever-growing population of civilians infected by the virus he released.

On consuming Lt. Charles Perri he learned the whereabouts of his sister. Mercer hoped that his sister, Dana, would have some information regarding what happened to him, so he attempted to make contact with her. However, when he arrived at her apartment, he saw soldiers stationed around the building. He consumed a Blackwatch commander and, taking on his appearance, easily infiltrated their perimeter. When Alex entered he saw Dana being held by a Blackwatch soldier. Dana headbutted the Blackwatch soldier just as Mercer impaled him with his fist. Dana was terrified having witnessed this, but Mercer convinced her to help him.

Mercer kills the soldier threatening Dana.

Dana told Mercer that she knew there was something wrong going on at Gentek. She did not know what had happened to Alex either, but was able to tell him what he had told her prior to his memory loss. She told Mercer that he had her researching the Gentek organization for weeks. When she went looking for him to relay her findings, he had already disappeared. The conversation incited a flashback, in which Mercer remembered seeing the ID card of Dr. McMullen. Dana then lead Mercer to a new safe house, the home of Dana's friends, who were out of town for the year. Dana already had all of the files she could get on Gentek stored in the apartment.

Dana points out Mercer's apartment on a map

Dana wasn't able to tell Mercer what it all meant, but insisted that the two of them work together to uncover whatever conspiracies were at work. Dana told Mercer that since Blackwatch was waiting for her at her apartment, they must also be waiting at his. Mercer arrived at his apartment and uncovered further hints of his past life. He saw a photo of himself and Dana with a graduate certificate from the University of New York. He also saw a photo of himself with a blonde woman. When he touched the photo he experienced a flashback in which he saw himself with the woman, his ex-girlfriend Karen Parker. When the flashback was over, it was apparent that the onset of these flashbacks was painful to him. As he was recovering, Blackwatch detonated a bomb that had been planted in the apartment, meant to kill him. He astonishingly survived without a scratch, despite having been thrown out of a window and down to the streets several stories below. Mercer hunted down and consumed the man who gave the order to detonate the bomb.

The Truth

"Mercer isn't a 'HE', it's an 'IT.'"

―General Randall regarding Mercer.

Mercer returns to the safe house where Dana shows him his laptop, stored on which are photographs of a girl.

Greene escapes from Gentek

Mercer recognizes the girl. Dana tells him that the file has only two names in it: Alex Mercer and Elizabeth Greene, the girl in the photo. The file also says that she is being isolated in the Gentek building. When Mercer went to free Greene, she cryptically told him that "The time for waiting is over" and threw him across the room. Greene then disintegrated a wall by touch and sent Hunters after him as he escaped. She then took charge of the infected. He also located his ex-girlfriend, Karen Parker.

Dana continued to assist Mercer in locating his targets, while Karen promised him a cure for his disease. She first claimed that he needed to find her different samples of the virus destroying Manhattan, but once he arrived inside a nearby Hive, Mercer was ambushed by Blackwatch specialist Captain Robert Cross who used both the infected and his own soldiers as cannon fodder while he tried to take Alex down. Mercer ended up defeating him, but Cross turned the tables by distracting Mercer by mentioning 'Penn Station' and triggering a painful flashback. He injected Mercer with a biological weapon while he was distracted.

Due to the parasite Cross had injected him with, Mercer couldn't use his special powers aside from his superhuman strength and speed. He still managed to escape from Blackwatch.

Mercer returned to Dana who showed him that Blackwatch was keeping an eye on a doctor for McMullen, Dr. Bradley Ragland. Dana then told Mercer that if he finds him, Ragland can help them get to McMullen. Before Mercer left, she showed him what she found about Hope, Idaho and Greene but Mercer said Hope was an experiment. She asked how he could know that, forcing Mercer to admit that he had killed a great number of people and their minds and memories were now within him. Dana was shocked by what her brother has become.

However, with the help of Dr. Ragland, Mercer was cured, restoring his abilities and gaining him the armor and blade powers as a result. During all of this, Mercer was placed as the number one terrorist threat in the entire United States due to treasonous activities against the United States and her allies.

Ragland examines Dana

During one of Mercer and Dana's meetings, Dana was kidnapped by a Leader Hunter, a larger and stronger version of the normal hunters. Alex pursued this Leader Hunter across the city, but was ultimately unable to rescue Dana. With the help of Dr. Ragland, Mercer located and consumed the same Leader Hunter that kidnapped Dana, learning of her location in the core hive in the center of the city. Mercer was eventually able to penetrate the hive, where he confronted Elizabeth Greene.

Elizabeth Greene told Mercer that Dana was "with us now". During a struggle, Greene seemingly bests Mercer, but he was able to inject Greene with a syringe containing the parasite as it had been extracted from him. Greene's body rejected the parasite immediately and she vomited up a large amount of biomass, from which the Supreme Hunter was born. Mercer defeated the Supreme Hunter and saved Dana. As he left, a sinister clawed hand began to regenerate and rise from the remains of the hunter, showing the Supreme Hunter was far from done.

A New Beginning

"I AM the Virus. And I, in turn, released Elizabeth Greene - to infect the city a second time."

―Alex Mercer

The unknown contact later revealed as Captain Cross

As the conspiracy unfolds, with the assistance of an unidentified contact, the origins of Mercer, the virus, and Elizabeth Greene were uncovered.

In 1969, the government had tested a virus codenamed Redlight in Hope, Idaho. This virus was designed as a biological warfare agent, targeting those of a predetermined race. The virus unexpectedly mutated into something far deadlier, infecting the whole population of Hope. Elizabeth Greene was the sole survivor of the incident; her body welcomed the virus rather than dying from it and it had rewritten her genetic code, along with that of her son, who was taken from her by Blackwatch and codenamed Pariah. This inspired the government to continue research into the virus, cooperating with the Gentek corporation. Scientists at Gentek locked Greene in a cell which had been used to research Blacklight, the new virus present in Greene. They continued to study the different strains of the virus that formed throughout her system as a means of accelerating the biological weapons program.

Before long, the military began to deploy a new biological agent, Bloodtox, engineered to kill the virus and its hosts.

Mercer disguised as a commander deploying Bloodtox

When the chemical was deployed across the city, the infection went underground to escape it, and subsequently amassed beneath the surface. The anonymous contact told Mercer to aid the military in pumping the Bloodtox directly into the ground. They hoped that it would drive the virus to the surface, allowing Blackwatch to fight it directly. Elizabeth Greene, now embedded in a new viral organism called Mother, came to the surface and engaged Mercer in combat. Mercer killed Mother and consumed Greene.

He then attempted to confront McMullen, the Head of Research and founder of Gentek. After a grueling battle with Marines and Blackwatch between him and his target, Mercer confronted McMullen and moved in to consume him to find out what he knew. McMullen committed suicide before Mercer had the chance. It became apparent that General Randall planned to nuke Manhattan to destroy the virus. The mysterious contact, revealed to be Captain Cross, then guided Mercer to consume Colonel Taggart, who was attempting to flee the city. Cross had been ordered to capture Taggart and had Mercer impersonate him in order to get onto the USS Ronald Reagan where the bomb was being held.

Cross betrayed Mercer once on the ship, and was revealed to be the Supreme Hunter having consumed Cross at some point and taken his form. It battled Mercer on the deck of the Reagan and was subsequently decapitated by Mercer. Mercer boarded a helicopter and dropped the nuclear bomb into the Atlantic Ocean, allowing it to detonate at sea but leaving himself well within the blast radius. His remains washed up on the city shore as lumps of red tissue, but he was able to take human form after consuming a crow that attempted to devour him.

Mercer walked off thinking to himself, "What have I become? Something less than human, but also something more..." Later, Manhattan is seen in a recovering state, with the virus almost completely destroyed.

"I looked for the truth. Found it. Didn't like it. Wish to hell I could forget it. Alex Mercer... This city suffered for his mistakes, for what he did at Penn Station. And whoever he was - that's a part of me. Cause when I close my eyes, I see the memories of a thousand dead men, screaming as I take their lives. Moments I'll relive forever. What have I become? Something less than human. But also something more."

―Alex Mercer

Prototype 2

Global Travels

Main article: Prototype 2: The Anchor

"If I'm still human...where do I fit in now? How do I rejoin the human race?"

―Alex ponders over his place in the world.

After stopping the nuclear threat, Mercer, having lost faith in humanity as a result of his own actions, went on a soul-searching trip around the world, hoping to find something to believe in. Unfortunately, throughout his travels, Mercer only found more and more reasons to hate humanity rather than protect it.

During his travels, Mercer killed a villainous African warlord and traveled to Moscow, where he came to realize that, even though humans treated one another with decency, it was all a façade and they only cared about themselves and their individual freedoms. On his way back to the U.S., Mercer freed a small town from a drug cartel, though the citizens' celebrations only further convinced Alex that humans were selfish and not worth saving. He also found whole families weren't just abandoning their own kin, but abusing them as well.

Mercer in disguise as "Jack", eating dinner with Flint and Autumn.

Making his way to a lumber mill in the north, Mercer took on the alias of a writer named Jack and rented out a cabin from the mill owner Flint and his daughter Autumn, the latter of whom became attracted to him. However, Flint's former business partner, Zurich, wanted the lands around Flint's lumber mill, and when it became clear that Flint would not sell, Zurich sent two thugs to kill him and Autumn. However, Mercer killed the thugs and decided to deal with Zurich himself.

Realizing that he had developed feelings for Autumn, Mercer infiltrated Zurich's base and consumed him, discovering through his memories that Flint was once a criminal involved in many murders and extortions. Enraged and disappointed, Mercer returned to Flint's cabin and, despite Flint's insistence that he had left his past behind, killed him.

Still in disguise as Jack, Mercer returned to his cabin to find Autumn there and attempted to convince her to come with him, only to discover that Autumn had stolen his money. Autumn promptly shot Mercer in the face and revealed that her father had taught her better and that she cared about herself above anything else. To her surprise, however, Mercer regenerated and consumed her, finally deciding once and for all that humanity was worthless and that it was his duty to destroy them and usher in a new and better world.

Return to NYZ

"Humanity is stagnant. Dying. I would give it one body. One mind. Think about it--no more conflict. No more disease. No more suffering. Don't you see? I'm giving it a second chance."

―Mercer explaining his goals to Heller at their final confrontation

A year after the original outbreak, Mercer returned to New York City, now renamed New York Zero, and started a second Blacklight outbreak within Penn Station. Taking up residence within the city's Red Zone, Mercer proceeded to create several Evolved to infiltrate both Blackwatch and Gentek in order to destroy both, having one of them contaminate a newfound cure for the virus with his blood so as to transform even more people into infected.

Mercer examining one of the soldiers.

There he met the man who would be his undoing, James Heller. Heller and his squad were inside an APC on patrol in the Red Zone when a car was hurled at the APC. The car struck it, flipped it violently out of control leaving Heller as the only survivor. Mercer then lured Heller further into the Red Zone until a helicopter arrived to pick up Heller. Mercer, hiding in a ruin, jumped out and destroyed the helicopter. Seeing Heller's potential, Alex infected Heller with his own virus. After this, Mercer vanished and Heller was taken by Blackwatch.

After he broke out of the lab, Mercer confronted Heller and tried to convince him to fight Blackwatch and Gentek while claiming that he wasn't responsible for Heller's family's death. Eventually, Heller discovered Mercer's plans and found the evidence that it was indeed Mercer who released the virus once more.

Over time due to Heller ruining all of his plans, Mercer confronted Heller and attempted to kill him, though ultimately failing, and fled the scene, distracting Heller by sending a Goliath to release the Whitelight while he went to kill Heller's friend Luis Guerra. Dana Mercer joined James Heller on his quest and the two of them managed to discover that Maya, Heller's daughter, was alive but locked up. But when Heller arrived at her captive site, Sabrina Galloway took his daughter to Alex Mercer. Mercer then took Dana and Maya and locked them both in a bank vault.

Before leaving, Dana told Mercer, that her real brother was dead. Mercer claimed he was now beyond Life and Death, as was Heller. Finally, Alex Mercer and James Heller faced off on top of a destroyed building with Mercer's Evolved present. Heller demanded that Mercer give him his daughter back, but Alex scoffed and spoke of his plans to make more Evolved and replace mankind as he sought to do.

Death of a Prototype

"Huh. Welcome to the top of the food chain."

―Mercer's last words to Heller before being consumed.

Heller defeats Mercer

Heller finally faced Mercer after the latter consumed his Evolved, including Sabrina Galloway, to become stronger and faster. Mercer used his upgraded Blade, Claws, Whipfist, and Hammerfists against Heller. Alex was able to regenerate from the wounds caused by Heller, even mocking him. But after several repeated major injuries, Mercer was beginning to weaken.

Defeated, but unconcerned by his impending death, Mercer welcomed Heller "to the top of the food chain" with a bemused tone immediately before Heller consumed him and gained a memory from him. Heller, having become extremely powerful as a result, used an expansive mass of tendrils to destroy all the infected citizens in the surrounding area, saving Manhattan from the "Mercer" virus in the process.

However, Heller appears to consume Mercer after a series of dismembering Mercer's limbs. As seen in the first installment, Mercer has the ability to regenerate his entire person from a small sample of genetic material, depending on if the tissue sample comes in contact with a living organism. Therefore, Mercer has the potential to still be active but was seen defeated (as a final event) in Prototype 2.

Powers & Abilities

Once reanimated by the Blacklight virus, every particle of Mercer's form, including his clothing and equipment, becomes comprised entirely of viral biomass. This substance can be manipulated at will. He can absorb the organic matter of other living creatures, converting it into more biomass. This process sustains and regenerates Mercer's health and is referred to as 'consuming'. In addition, Mercer can consume individuals, absorbing their knowledge, skills, and even their physical form, which he can call upon at will. He can manipulate his physical form to create weapons to attack his enemies, generate armor to defend himself, and take on the appearance of another person to disguise himself. During his battle against James Heller, he displayed the ability to consume multiple of his Evolved soldiers at the same time in order to power up his abilities.

Matter Manipulation: While not really shown all that much. Mercer has the ability to alter the environment using the Blacklight virus as a catalyst. Through this ability. Mercer is capable of deteriorating concrete. Converting and absorbing the biomass of living objects such as living creatures and trees. Strengthening and converting even inorganic structures such as buildings into hives to fit his needs. Even converting inorganic material into layers of biomass over large areas which can be used to slow down his enemies, while not hindering his own forces or himself. He gains this ability after consuming Elizabeth Greene. It should be noted that even though Mercer is capable of altering the surroundings around him. His version of this power is very limited when compared to others such as Edward Elric from FullMetal Alchemist or Silver Surfer from Marvel Comics. As while he can make and convert things into organic matter. He can’t make inorganic matter like breathable air, or metal.

Biokinesis: Due to Mercer’s ability to produce the Blacklight Virus within himself. Mercer is capable of controlling and altering the biomass both within his body and that of others infected to various effects. Being able to increase his physical stats to create various weapons abilities with his biomass. Similarly, due to his ability to constantly make new strains of the virus itself. Mercer is capable of infecting others with this virus. Allowing him to alter and control infected individuals by granting them a similar power set to his own or even morphing and transforming these individuals into monsters of various sizes and powers.

Disease Manipulation (Blacklight Virus & Redlight): Alex Mercer was shot and killed at Penn Station, the Vial of Blacklight that he had stole as 'insurance' was released and climbed into his body and slowly changed it into what we call a Prototype. Confused as to who it was and what it had become the virus recieved the late Mercer's memories and so adopted his identity all while thinking it was the original Alex Mercer. Mercer’s body is capable of constantly producing the blacklight virus. Even creating various strains of side viruses which can grant or evolve various abilities that he may not have had before. Similarly due to this virus production and the various strains he can make in his body. Mercer is capable of infecting others with a variation of the virus. Either turning others into infected drones which he can control or granting the infected individual a similar subset of powers as his own. Similarly, because he had consumed Elizabeth Greene and various other Redlight Entities he can now control and produce Redlight and its many variants if he so desires.

Viral Gas Generation: Caught on a CCTV camera. Mercer is shown having the ability to generate and expel a cloud of gas from his body containing the Blacklight Virus into the surrounding area. Rapidly infecting and mutating or killing those located on ground zero, caught within the cloud.

Biomass Conversion: Mercer has the ability to nearly instantaneously consume and convert any organic organism into biomass which is then added to his body. Through this process. Mercer is capable of enhancing his overall physical stats and quickly recovering from any damage that he may have suffered during battle as well as gaining the memories, innate talents and skills that the consumed individual may have had.

Critical Mass: Upon consuming enough biomass. Mercer is capable of entering a critical mass state. Due to this extra mass, Mercer’s durability increases, allowing him to tank more damage. Similarly, due to having more biomass at his command. Mercer is capable of using his strongest attacks, called Devastators. Moves capable of clearing and killing anyone and everyone within a certain range of Mercer.

Upon gaining critical mass. Mercer’s body gains a defense mechanism in which upon taking enough damage. This extra mass would harden to an extreme degree. Making Mercer almost completely invulnerable to most forms of physical damage for a short time in order to allow him to either escape a battle or try and consume another organic organism in order to recover from the near fatal damage.

Memory Assimilation: Upon consuming an individual. Mercer gains access to all the memories, skills and talents that that individual may have had. Allowing Mercer to suddenly master various new skills such as weaponry, vehicle usage, and even military tactics and plans.

Shapeshifting: Due to Mercer being fully compromised of Blacklight Viral Biomass. Mercer is capable of shaping the biomass within him into virtually anything he can imagine. He can shape his arms into various weapons such as blades and whips. He can change his form to match the apperance of anyone he consumed no matter their gender. Even morphing the biomass within his body to form mundane items such as clothes. Mercer's shapeshifting abilities are only limited by his imagination and the amount of biomass he contains.

Voice Mimicry: Due to both of Mercer’s abilities to shapeshift and assimilating the memories of those he consumes. Mercer is capable of altering his vocal cords to match the voices of the people that he has consumed. Allowing Mercer to move around in areas with more heavier security. Mercer has even been shown being capable of using this power in battles. Taking the forms of high rank officials to trick various Military forces into fighting themselves.

Similarly, depending on who Mercer is fighting at the time. If Mercer is aware of himself having consumed someone close to his opponent. Mercer can alter his voice in order to mess with his opponent’s mind. Getting them to drop their guard enough for him to score a kill, or at the very least, land more easier hits on them.

-Bio-Shield: Mercer due to his shapeshifting ability, much like most of his other powers, is capable of manipulating his biomass to form various weapons and armaments. One of these powers is the ability to form a shield on either one of his arms. Taking some of his accumulated biomass and forming it into the shape of a kite shield. Mercer then hardens this shield shaped biomass to the utmost degree. Allowing him to block all incoming damage from the direction he faces his shield at. However, it should be noted that the shield’s durability is limited as enough damage can shatter the shield. Unlike his successor, James Heller. Mercer, when using his shield power, prefers having a mobile approach to his defense as opposed to being a solid unbreakable wall like Heller’s own ability. As such, Mercer is capable of moving around instead of being rooted in place, Similarly due to this approach. Mercer is capable of using this power with his other abilities. Adopting a similar fighting style to that of a knight of old, with a shield in one hand, and a weapon in the other.

-Bio-Armor: When faced with a situation where Mercer is either taking damage from all directions or facing a foe that rivals him in strength and power. Mercer is capable of hardening the outer layer biomass that makes up his appearance into an armor like texture. Giving his entire body a shiny black texture that blocks most damage and reduces all incoming damage to a large degree. This increase in durability allowed mercer to take on foes such as Captain Cross, the Supreme Hunter, and even tank multiple hits from high yielding artillery without suffering much damage from these encounters. Much like with his bio-shield ability. Mercer is capable of using his more offensive powers with this form. However, this form is not without its weaknesses, as upon entering this form. Mercer’s speed is greatly reduced. While still capable of moving at superhuman speeds. It's only about half of his normal speed. Similarly, while in this form. Mercer appears unable to use his bio-shield ability, however this may be due to this form providing potentially better defense and allowing him more mobility in combat. Another boon is that Mercer's charging ability makes him akin to a Rhino, charging through cars and plowing anything that gets in his way.

-Bio-Claws: One of the first offensive powers that Mercer gains during the events of the first Prototype game. Mercer gained the ability to form massive sharp claws on his hand by consuming a hunter-type infected. These claws are sharp enough when combined with his superhuman strength to cut a person to shreds. Even being able to cut and destroy heavily armored vehicles such as tanks. When combining his claws with his speed. Mercer can tear through hordes of basic enemies with ease. Even developing this ability further into the ground spikes ability and the AOE devastator, Ground spike graveyard attack.

-Groundspikes: When using his claws as his main weapon. Mercer is capable of compressing his biomass into his clawed hands before slamming them into the ground. Upon doing this, Mercer expands the compressed biomass in his hands outwards towards the direction he wants. After either reaching their target or hitting a certain distance. The expanded biomass will erupt as sharp spires from the ground. Impaling and cutting apart anyone and anything caught within eruption radius.

-GroundSpike Graveyard Devastator: An enhanced version of the groundspike technique. Upon entering critical mass. Mercer is capable of moving the extra biomass to his hands after a bit of a charge up time. Afterwards, Mercer will then slam both his hands into the ground. Sending the biomass out in all directions which would then track down any target within a certain radius before erupting out of the ground. This move is strong enough to bring down infected hives which were capable of withstanding the force of tank and missile fire.

-Hammerfists: When in need of some more brute physical force and attack power. Mercer is shown being able to move the biomass within his body to his arm. Covering them in the same fibers that make up his shield and armor form while at the same time enlarging them to the size of large warhammers, like those seen in games. With these new hammerfists, Mercer is capable of dealing massive amounts of blunt force trauma to the point of even destroying a tank with a few hits. He is capable of doing this by pressing more and more biomass into his fist before compressing them. Increasing their density and weight in the process. However, doing so does cost him some attack speed, as he is shown having some trouble at times lifting and swinging his massive hands around. The attack power of these fist are shown to be on a level capable of inflicting massive damage to entities such as the Supreme Hunter, and even James Heller. He has even shown the ability to produce shockwaves and quaking the ground with a few hits. Allowing him to stun foes with the aftershocks even when Mercer’s fist doesn't make contact with his intended target.

-Whipfist: Mercer’s main range attack. By moving his biomass to either of his arms. Mercer can morph his arm of choice into what could be called a grappling gun. By changing the normally rigid properties of his arm to be more elastic when compared to some of his other powers. Mercer can throw his arm forward, shooting out his clawed appendage at a target. Allowing him to reel it back to him or him towards it. He tends to use this when dealing with airborne enemies or when he needs to reach a farther distance than normal distance that his jumping ability may not be able to cover. Similarly due to the whipfist’s elastic properties. It is a good power to use when dealing with mobs as it can swing his arm. Extending it a certain distance and with his superhuman strength. Cut nearly anything in his path in half.

-Tendrils: Mercer is capable of forming and using tendrils. While not really shown in the first Prototype game. Mercer does use them in dealing with foes. Even creating two different devastator attacks with them. In the tied-in comics. Mercer is shown using the tendrils ability to impale and kill various individuals. In one case, killing Autumn with this ability after being shot in the head.

-Tendrils Barrage Devastator: Upon entering critical mass. Mercer is capable of condensing the biomass in his body. Creating large amounts of pressure within himself before releasing it. Causing an unknown amount of tendrils to burst from his body in all directions. Impaling and dragging any organic being towards him. Anything impaled and killed by this attack is then absorbed by Mercer, healing and strengthening him.

-Bio-Bombs: While Mercer isn’t shown using this ability as it was one of the main attacks of James heller. As the ability came from one of Mercer’s Evolved soldiers, carrying a strain of the blacklight virus produced by Mercer. Mercer likely has access to this ability. The ability itself allows mercer to implant a bit of his biomass into a target, before either allowing them to run off or simply throwing the individual at a group or target. The person in question will then explode in a mass of tendrils in all directions. Impaling, grabbing, and dragging all targets caught into a center mass. Crushing and killing anything caught in the center mass.

-Bio-Blade: Mercer is capable of shaping and forming the biomass in his arms to form a massive blade, capable of splitting humans in half, and piercing the armor of military vehicles such as tanks, and the thick skin of hunters and other infected entities. The bio-blade is Mercer’s strongest attack ability outside of his Devastator attacks. Not as fast as the claws nor as strong as his hammerfist. Mercer’s bio-blade ability doesn’t suffer from the weaknesses of either power. Acting as a middle ground, allowing him a far greater dps, or damage per second when confronting enemies. Mercer’s version of the bio-blade is shown being stronger than that of Heller’s. Being capable of dealing with crowds and more heavily defended enemies far easier than Heller’s version of the power.

-Density Alteration: Mercer, due to his shapeshifting abilities, is capable of altering the density of his body. Allowing him to increase the damage potential of his strikes as well as altering the way gravity affects his body. In terms of offensive capabilities. Mercer has been shown being able to do sudden changes while in mid air and increase his density to the point of creating shockwaves and cratering the ground he lands on with enough height.

Muscle Mass Increase: Mercer is capable of increasing his muscle mass in his arms and body. Increasing his strength beyond his normal levels without suffering any loss in movement like many of his other defensive and offensive powers.

-Gliding: Mercer, by lowering his density while in the air, is capable of achieving a limited degree of flight by gliding through the air. He is capable of switching his body’s density on the fly to either slow his descent or rapidly falling. Similarly, it is due to this ability that Mercer is capable of clearing large distances as he can simply leap and glide over most obstacles in his way in order to escape his pursuers, or reach various locations far more quickly then simply running and parkouring his way there through the streets..

-Air Dash: Mercer is shown being able to move the biomass around his body at such a rate that it is capable of slingshotting him in any particular direction that he wants. Mercer generally uses this ability to cover more distance, extend his gliding abilities and even dodge projectiles and other attacks in mid-air.

-Wall Running: While strong enough to climb walls using his hands. Mercer is capable of wall running at high speeds as his body will alter his feet in a way that allows him to cling to walls while running without the risk of slipping off due to lack of momentum or adhesion. As such Mercer can run at high speeds in any direction when on vertical surfaces

-Knuckle Shockwave: Using his strength, Mercer is capable of producing a massive shockwave by a double palm thrust. This attack is capable of cars and people down an entire street. Even potentially tearing apart the latter.

-Critical Pain Devastator: An enhanced version of the knuckle shockwave. Upon entering critical mass. Mercer can move the biomass in his body into his hands. Upon doing a palm thrust. Mercer creates a massive shockwave that uplifts and tears apart humans and vehicles alike. Adding insult to injury. Mercer, during the process of performing this attack. Will also fire the biomass stored in his hands as tendrils into the shockwave. Shredding and crushing anything unlucky enough to survive the initial shockwave itself.

-[Hivemind]: During the events of the first Prototype game. Upon realizing the threat that Elizabeth Greene posed, and the fact that said woman kidnapped his sister. Mercer would go and consume various infected individuals in order to form a stronger connection with the hivemind created by the Blacklight virus. Upon doing so, Mercer became able to communicate with Greene and other infected individuals. It wasn’t until he consumed Greene and later killed the Supreme Hunter that Mercer became the leader and focal point of the hive mind. In the events of Prototype 2, We are shown Mercer’s capabilities with this ability. Being able to control various infected creatures after infecting them with variation strain of the virus, and even being able to lead his Evolved minions over large distances via mental power alone.

-{Pack Leader}: Mercer, like with Heller, is capable of calling and controlling any infected individuals within the area. The most recognizable use of this ability came in his fight with Heller at the end of Prototype 2, where he called in a group of flyers to attack Heller. However, it should be noted that he was using this ability far more throughout the game than simply this instance. Sending various infected creatures to attack various bases and even aiding Heller through the sidelines. It appears that the only infected individuals that Mercer can’t control are those with extreme levels of willpower such as Heller, or the military super soldiers that were enhanced using the DX-1120 strain of the blacklight virus for unknown reasons. Likely due to the strain itself being altered by the military or coming from a source other than Mercer himself.

-Power Bestowal (Viral): Due to Mercer’s body being capable of continuously producing more of the Blacklight Virus. Mercer has the ability to infect those around him with variations of the virus. Often converting those he infects into his own minions. However, he has been shown making special strains, capable of granting it to those that he deems either worthy, or useful to his cause. Granting these individuals with powers similar to his own.

-[Minion Conversion]: As mentioned above. Due to Mercer’s ability to produce the blacklight virus. Mercer can infect others with this virus. Allowing him to control and alter their physical makeup to varying degrees. Mercer has been shown being able to create several different kinds of minions through this ability.

-{Infected}: The infected are individuals infected with a more common strain of the Blacklight Virus, who started experiencing mutations. These individuals appeared like normal humans, however, they are much more violent, to the point of being almost mindless in assaulting their targets. They are the most basic type of minion under Mercer’s control as they are easy to form just by simply infected a random passersby and allowing them to run around, spreading the virus to create more infected minions.

-{Flyers}: Flyers are essentially birds that came into contact and were infected by the Blacklight Virus. Mutating them into a far more deadly, larger size bird which will attack anything and everything it deems either food or a threat unless stated otherwise by Mercer himself. Aside from leaving them to act on their own to cause as much havoc as possible. Mercer will use these flyers against a foe in order to distract them as their speed and pack mentality makes them difficult to avoid even if they are among the weakest of the different minion types under Mercer’s control.

-{Infected Animals}: During the Prototype tied-in comics. It is shown that animals are capable of being infected by the virus. Their mutations vary between different animals. However, it is shown that they gain increased strength and durability.

-{Brawler Hunter}: Mercer’s own personal variant of the Hunters that were created by Greene. They are the infantry of Mercer’s minion army. Being far stronger than normal infected civilians. Brawlers are strong enough to topple tanks and inflict heavy damage to foes as strong as Heller himself. With claws capable of shredding anything they grab hold of. Similarly, they are incredibly fast. Being able to keep up with most vehicles with ease.

-{Spiked Brawler}: Larger, stronger variants of Mercer’s Brawler Hunters. Much like with Greene’s Leader Hunter. Spiked Brawlers are physically stronger than the normal Brawlers. Being capable of creating shockwaves and quaking the ground by pounding their fist into it. Similarly, they are more durable than the normal brawlers. Their spiked outer hide even provides them with some form of protection as foes must be careful not to not hurt themselves on them. Unlike their normal brawler counterparts. Spiked Brawlers are shown to have some level of intelligence that their cousins don’t have, as after taking enough damage. The Spiked Brawler will disengage from combat before looking for nearby infected individuals and consuming them in order to regain its lost health and returning right afterwards to fight again.

-{Goliath}: A special heavy unit created by Mercer. These Goliaths as they are called, are infected individuals that were mutated into giant disfigured monsters. Standing several stories tall, with an enlarged left arm and a bladed right arm. These monsters, due to their size and bulk are incredibly durable. Being able to withstand nearly everything thrown at them. They are strong enough to crater and crack the ground beneath their feet. Charging through anything that stands in their way and smashing anything else with its clubbed left arm. However, this minion does process some weaknesses. Due to its size. The monster isn’t very agile. Fast yes, agile no. As such an opponent who is fast enough can overwhelm them with attacks as long as they are able to circle around the beast. Similarly, do to how off balance their figures are. They can be toppled over with enough force, however, this will only keep them down for a short while. Similarly, the creature lacks any real options in dealing with range fighters. Allowing someone with good range attacks, such as strong firearms, or even long range powers to be able to hurt it from a distance without having to really worry about it getting close enough to be attacked by them.

-{Hydra}: A large snake-like monster created from the blacklight virus. These creatures are quite strong in that they are capable of sending tanks flying with ease off of a single swipe. They can also pick up and throw objects a good distance away with near pin-point accuracy. However, what makes them so deadly is their ability to dig and travel underground. Making them almost the perfect choice for landing a damage heavy sneak attack on a group of foes as they can simply erupt from the ground at random locations. And their large health and durability will allow them the ability to wreak as much havoc as possible before being taken out. The hydra is even capable of using its tongue to strike and grab its foe when there is nothing to either throw at its foe or if they are too far for it to hit them by swiping at them.

-{Juggernaut}: While not as large as their Goliath cousins. Juggernauts are still quite large. Standing several feet taller than the normal human. They are shown to be incredibly powerful. Being able to contend with Heller in direct combat far better than other infected units. Their strength allowing them to severely hurt Heller, and while they are slower than their Goliath cousins. Juggernauts are more agile. Being able to leap large distances in a single bound. Similarly, their arms are formed in a way to mimic Mercer’s hammerfist. Allowing them to inflict large amounts of brute force damage to their targets. They can throw objects with vast speed and power compared to other infected units. Making their projectiles more difficult to dodge. They are also capable of using the ground spikes ability to attack unaware foes from a distance, and even having some basic knowledge in hand to hand combat skills. What makes them even more dangerous is the fact that, like flyers and brawlers. Juggernauts are capable of using pack mentality. Leading a group of brawlers to battle or even other Juggernauts if needed.

-{Evolved}: Perhaps Mercer’s most powerful minion type. The Evolved are individuals that were infected with a far more stable variation of the blacklight virus by Mercer. Granting them similar abilities as Mercer himself. These individuals are shown to be able to maintain their intelligence, and gain the ability to shapeshift. Allowing them to retain their human form while at the same time having access to the abilities that Mercer has such as the pack leader ability, and the ability to form claws and blades. However, what makes these units so dangerous is their intelligence. They aren’t mindless or animalistic like the infected or the brawlers. And while they may not be on the same level of power as the Juggernauts. They are able to think and evolve on a far higher level than other units as they can call for help, alternate between different power sets and consume individuals. Making time their greatest ally and enemy at the same time. As they are at their weakest during their creation and as time goes on and they consume more biomass. Their powers and abilities will only strengthen. Effectively making them stronger than either the Juggernaut or the Goliath with enough time, or basically turning them into a weaker version of Mercer himself.

-Other Unknown Abilities: Unsure of whether or not I should put this here. It is hard to say if Mercer, due to his unique power set, had really shown everything that he could do within the Prototype games. As there are certain enemies and characters which display abilities or traits which Mercer himself hasn’t used. Things such as size alteration such as with the Supreme Hunter, and even the massive size increase shown by the Goliaths that he creates, or the ability to create wings and fly as he has been shown infecting various animals. One group of which being birds. It is likely that Mercer could in fact alter his body to use these abilities given his own power set. However, it is unknown if he could even use these abilities, as flight would require some time to adjust to the extra limbs and the mechanics behind using them. Likely creating similar abilities in order to mimic these abilities such as with gliding. However, it is possible as Mercer’s body was shown to always be evolving prior to his death at the hands of James Heller.

-{Pustles}: Mercer can create infected Pustles, which after gestating long enough, can become Brawler Hunter's. Usually Brawlers are formed when a Infected Blacklight Entity evolves and turns into a cocoon.

-{Lairs} : The Prototype 2 counterparts of Hives. Mercer created underground Lairs to act as breeding pens for his infected troops. These Hives are filled with Blacklight Entities, which are most prominently Walkers and Infected. Juggernauts can also be found in Lairs as well, serving to protect them from enemies.

-Mind Resistance: While confronting Elizabeth Greene, Mercer was shown to resist her mind manipulation when she used her Hive MInd, at this time he was much more weaker than he was at the end of prototype 1 and 2, this suggests that due to his own personal Hive Mind of millions of screaming individuals constantly shouting and berading him in his mind had given him a great amount of resistance to the mind manipulation of a foe who could control millions of former Manhattan Infected creatures and can possibly become stronger in the future.

Skills:

-Indomitable Will: Mercer is shown to have some incredible will power. During the events of the first Prototype game. Mercer was shown being capable of resisting Elizabeth Greene’s control over the hive mind and all those infected by the Blacklight virus. Later consuming her and taking her place as the head of the hive mind.

-Biological and Genetic Expert: Mercer is an expert in the scientific fields of Biology and Genetics. Having attained a Ph.D for the latter, prior to his infection. This degree was what had allowed Mercer to become employed by Gentek as part of the science team in charge of studying and altering the Blacklight Virus. Being the one to unlock most of the unexplored coding within the virus, creating the strain which he would later infect himself with. His understanding in these fields is shown to be on a level that later during the events of Prototype 2. He was able to create a strain of the blacklight virus which wasn’t just immune to the effects of the Whitelight chemical, but also capable of converting it into more of the virus. Turning the original plan the Military had to get rid of the virus into one which they would unintentionally spread the virus to multiple people in the areas which it was used.

-Martial Arts Master: It is believed that prior to his mutation during the start of the first Prototype game. Alex Mercer had trained in martial arts to some degree. Being able to fight and combat various superhuman foes skilled in hand to hand combat such as Captain Cross and even James Heller and hold his own. Similarly due to his ability to consume his enemies and assimilate their memories and skills into himself. Having killed and consumed a vast number of specially trained combat personnel. Mercer’s hand to hand combat skills have improved by leaps and bounds with each person he consumes. Similarly due to his connection with the Blacklight Virus’ hive mind. Mercer and assimilate the combat skills of all those infected into himself without the need to consume them.

-Parkour Master: Due to his mutation and his natural athletic abilities. Mercer is a master of Parkour, the art of freerunning. Using his enhanced abilities. Mercer is capable of moving around highly condensed areas with the greatest of ease. Being able to vault over moving objects, squeeze his way through some of the smallest spaces and transverse up and down various elevations without slowing down. He has been able to use these abilities to escape military pursuit on a number of occasions. His skills in freerunning also increases with the more people he consumes that are skilled with parkour as well.

-Master Marksmen: Much like with his martial arts abilities. Mercer is something of a master marksman. He has shown the ability to throw various objects such as people, rocks, cars, tanks and so forth vast distances with extreme accuracy. Similarly, due to his ability to consume his foes and assimilating their memories and skills. Mercer is capable of using nearly any firearm or throwing weapon with near superhuman precision.

-Weapon Master: Due to Mercer’s ability to consume and assimilate his foes. Having consumed a number of highly trained weapon users. Mercer is a master of various weapons. Such as firearms, grenade launchers, and even bladed weaponry. Mercer’s ability to use weapons increases with each person he consumes who has some sort of skill in weapon usage.

-Explosives Expert: Mercer is an expert on explosives. Having knowledge on the use of such weaponry as grenade launchers, rocket launchers, missiles and more.

-Master Vehicle Driver: Mercer is capable of driving nearly any vehicle he can get his hands on. From simple transportation such as cars to military grade attack helicopters. Mercer is capable of doing this due to his consumption of various personnel trained in piloting these vehicles. Therefore should he come across a vehicle that he doesn’t know how to drive. He can simply consume someone who does and have all of their skills doing so.

-Stealth Master: Due to Mercer’s altered physiology. Mercer is a master of stealth. His ability to shapeshift allows him the ability to move around undetected. Allowing him to move around in public and sneak pass potential chasers without being noticed. Combined with his parkour skills and the memories of the people he has consumed.

-Espionage Master: Mercer is a master in the art of espionage. Being able to shapeshift into anyone he needs to be as well as his ability to assimilate the memories and skill set of whoever he consumes. Mercer can virtually walk into highly guarded areas, sabotage whatever he needs, and leave without anyone being the wiser. In some cases, depending on how high rank a person is when Mercer consumes them. Mercer can even have entire groups of soldiers fight one another just by giving pointing and placing blame on whoever he wants eliminated.

-Master Military Operator: Mercer is a master of military tactics. Having consumed a number of military and Blackwatch personnel. Mercer is incredibly knowledgeable of various military tactics and operation procedures. It was due to the information he got from consuming his various victims that allowed him to lead the military into stopping Elizabeth Greene, and saving New York from a nuke and later taking over New York for a time.

-Expert Hacker: Due to having converted and consumed numerous individuals of both civilian and military backgrounds. Mercer is shown being incredibly skilled in hacking. Being capable of hacking into both Gentek’s and the Military’s computer databases in order to find information on their plans or locating a target that he is after. Often using this information to further his plans.

-Multilingual: Due to Mercer’s ability to gain all of the memories and skills of a person he consumes. Mercer is likely fluent in multiple languages.

-Numerous Other Unknown Skills: Due to having consumed a vast number of individuals over the course of both games. Mercer likely has access to a number of skills which were either unexplored or simply never used due to either being completely useless or simply not fit for the situation at hand. It is unknown just what other skills he knows, as well as, how vast his knowledge on various subjects really is.

Physical Prowess

Concept art of Mercer's Claws

Alex's shapeshifting powers grant him superhuman physical abilities well beyond that of a normal Human.

• Shapeshifting: Mercer's Blacklight infection has granted him the ability to both shapeshift and fashion his body into weapons. An example this would be his Blade resembling a giant sharp blade and his viral flesh possessing a yellow/reddish hue. His Whipfist has small razor-like blades across its spine-like form. Alex's evolved Hammerfists allow him to perform area attacks. He possesses consumption/assimilation abilities inherent in all infected creatures that allow him to take on the form and memories of any creature he consumes.
• Sentient Biomass Physiology: Upon being infected by the Blacklight Virus. Alex Mercer’s body was converted into living biomass. His body is now stronger than it has ever been before. Lacking many of the weaknesses that comes with a normal body such as internal organs, the issue of stamina and much more, while at the same time gaining a vast array of abilities that comes with his new physiology, such as shapeshifting and enhanced stats.
• Potentially Limitless Superhuman Strength: His incredible strength allows him to lift and destroy cars, trucks, tank turrets, APCs, and helicopters and throw them great distances, as well as leave craters in the ground with punches. He is far stronger than any normal human or most basic Infected, able to pulverize both with a single, glancing blow. Mercer is capable of punching holes through almost anything if necessary, including reinforced steel doors. Some of his most powerful attacks can destroy hive infested buildings, which cannot be damaged by conventional tank missiles. Mercer’s is shown having vast levels of superhuman strength. Being strong enough to lift and toss heavy objects such as cars, helicopters, and buses, to objects as heavy as tanks several tens to hundreds of feet away. Even being able to run with these objects without his speed being impaired.Mercer’s strength is on such a level that he could overpower other superhumanly strong characters such as the infected hunters, Elizabeth Greene, the Supreme Hunter, and even James Heller at times, despite their superhuman durability being at a level where even missiles and tank fire can’t hurt them. In the first Prototype game. Mercer demonstrates an insane level of strength, being able to create a concussive shockwave just by thrusting his fists forward, uplifting cars, tanks and throwing people several tens of feet with enough force to kill them if not outright vaporize them.
• Superhuman Speed: Mercer's speed is likewise enhanced. He can achieve running speeds surpassing any vehicles including Helicopters, he can also run up walls. Mercers speed is far above that of a normal human. Being able to run far faster than the average car, making them appear as if they are standing still. He has been shown to out run helicopters chasing him at times, putting his speed around 200 to 500mph. He has even kept up and outpace other infected entities such as the Leader Hunters, the Supreme Hunter and even James Heller to a degree.
• Superhuman Agility: Due to Mercer’s enhanced physiology. He is capable of moving around far better than the average person. He can leap tall distances. Perform various kinds of flips with the greatest of ease. This combined with his constantly evolving parkour skills, allows him the ability to escape and move around the tightest of spaces without so much as losing his balance. He is capable of twisting his body in midair in order to quickly recover from being knocked back and landing on his feet in a battle ready stance. He can perform amazing parkour feats such as flips and rolls and maneuvers over and around vehicles and debris with little trouble. His leg strength allows him to leap nearly ten stories into the air. Mercer is also capable of gliding, by ejecting small amounts of mass for further propulsion.
• Superhuman Reflexes: Mercer, upon his mutation into the Prototype, had his reflexes enhanced to superhuman levels. He can dodge gunfire, and other projectile base weaponry at point blank range. Keep up and overpowered various evolved infected creatures such as the hunter, and supreme hunter, and even combat and overwhelm the military’s super soldiers with ease.
• Superhuman Endurance: Mercer's endurance far exceeds that of a human's by leaps and bounds. His body no longer possesses weak bones or vital organs, rendering him immune to otherwise debilitating injury. This biological change allows him to survive falls from any height completely unharmed. Bullets of any caliber will pass through his body, causing very little damage that heals instantly. He can withstand direct hits from rockets, hellfire missiles and tank shells, which cause only moderate damage. The superhumanly strong blows of the various type of Hunters and super soldiers cause the most damage of any type of attack. His superhuman stamina allows him to be physically active at all times without tire.
• Superhuman Leaping Ability: Mercer’s strength is shown to extend to his legs. Allowing him to jump several hundred feet into the air. Allowing him to clear barricades, get on top of buildings, and even leap high enough into the air to catch helicopters. Due to his increased mass. Mercer is capable of producing shockwaves when landing after leaping from large heights.
• Superhuman Healing Factor: Mercer's body has vast powers of self-regeneration. So long as he is properly nourished, Mercer can restore his health and heal any wounds within moments. He can heal a small amount of his health even without consuming any creature. Examples include regenerating bullet wounds instantly after being shot, regenerating a massive hole in his face after being shot point-blank by General Randall, and reconstructing his entire physical form from non-descript piles of biomass and the biomass of a crow within minutes of being blown apart by a nuclear explosion. Mercer also seems to have a robust immune system. Though unable to counter a parasite which had been introduced into his body without outside help, he gained a growing immunity to Bloodtox with repeated exposure. It was shown that his unwanted offspring the Supreme Hunter who was made from his own DNA, was shown to have survived being reduced to a literal puddle of what seems to be blood. Only to be seen seconds later instantly regenerating a hand after Mercer had stepped in it on his way. Due to the Supreme Hunter being a direct relative with the same abilities as Mercer it can be concluded that Alex Mercer can, if somehow reduced to such a state, regenerate from a pool of blood as well.
• Superhuman Senses: Mercer's vision and hearing are enhanced, allowing him to see beyond the visible spectrum and hear across great distances even with physical insulation. He has thermal vision which allows him to locate heat signatures, and infected vision which can detect large concentrations of the virus and tap into the hive mind itself.
• Potentially Limitless Superhuman Durability: Mercer’s durability, much like his strength, is potentially limitless. As he absorbs more and more biomass. His body is capable of compacting the excess within himself. Making his flesh far denser than that of a normal human. Similarly he can alter the density of his biomass to even stronger levels. He has tanked gunfire from all angles. Survived being shot with missiles and other explosives. Tanked and survived hits from other infected individuals such as Heller and the Supreme Hunter. He has survived dismemberment, being inside clouds of the bloodtox chemical, and more, and still continues fighting. He also can survive through collapsing buildings fall on him and walk out of the rubble as it was nothing. Mercer can take a shot from a rocket launcher and can only be pushed back a bit by the force without blowing to pieces like a normal human.
• Evolutionary Adaptability: Due to the Blacklight Virus’s ability to constantly evolve based on the situation and the information presented in consumed biomass. Mercer is capable of adapting to nearly any situation. Forming claws, and other such weapons from his body in order to better combat his foes. Developing resistances to things such as elemental damage like fire and electricity, and even developing a degree of immunity. In one case after being in a situation where Mercer was under 10gs of gravitation force. Mercer’s body quickly adapted by increasing his strength levels. Allowing him to walk out of that situation as if he was never under that level of extreme pressure.
• Immortality: Due to Mercer’s body being made up of biomass. Mercer’s aging process has come to a halt. Due to his body constantly healing and replacing any damaged biomass. Mercer is in a sense, immortal. It was shown with Elizabeth Greene that after she got infected with the Redlight virus. Her physical body was shown to still look around the age of twenty. Having not changed even after nearly forty years passing since she was infected.
• Superhuman Intelligence: Upon consuming the biomass of an intelligence entity. Mercer’s own intelligence is shown to increase dramatically as he will know what the person he consumes knows. Given the numerous individuals that he had consumed over the course of the Prototype series. Mercer’s intelligence is at superhuman levels. Making him one of the smartest if not the smartest person within the Prototype universe.
• Near Limitless Potential: Mercer is pretty interesting, even among other fictional characters, and even those within the video game media. Being one of the few characters showcased to have near limitless potential due to how his powers work. When the blacklight virus first infected Mercer, and later reforming it. Mercer was shown to be many times stronger than normal. This isn’t where his limits are however. Upon consuming other biological entities. Mercer is capable of converting them into biomass which is then added to his own. Increasing his stats, such as strength and durability, with each body that he consumes. So long as there is enough biological materials for him to consume. Mercer’s physical potential is almost limitless. Similarly, due to his ability to assimilate the memories of those he consumes. There is no real limit to Mercer’s own intelligence, so long as there are living beings for him to consume. Lastly due to the blacklight virus within Mercer’s body constantly evolving. There is a chance for Mercer to develop various new abilities simply due to a random mutation at some point down the line.

Offensive Powers

Alex's different offensive powers

Main article: Offensive Powers

Mercer can form his biomass into a variety of weapons, mostly slicing or crushing tools. In combat, he either uses biomass to create various blades and clubs.

Defensive Powers

Main article: Defensive Powers

Mercer can use two defensive powers, guarding him against enemy attacks and weapons. Mercer has two forms of defense, the Armor, and the Shield.

Disguise Power

Main article: Disguise

Mercer has the ability to assume the physical form of any human he's consumed, though, for gameplay purposes, the player is limited to the last human they consumed. In this manner, Mercer can infiltrate the military as one of them, duck out of sight and emerge as someone else to evade pursuit, and in general, avoid drawing attention by disguising himself as someone else.

Personality and characteristics

Perhaps as a result of his difficult childhood, Alex is a callous, spiteful, and cold-blooded individual, both paranoid and borderline sociopathic. Most notably, prior to his human death at Penn Station, he released the deadly Blacklight virus simply to spite those who denied him information. His motivations and plans are utterly personal and he rarely takes human cost into account, being able to murder scores of humans without remorse or hesitation.

However, Alex is not completely cruel and heartless; he deeply trusts and cares for his younger sister Dana, having been the only real paternal figure for her, and had what can be assumed to be a loving relationship with Karen Parker.

Before his death, Alex was a contrast of what Prototype showed. He was positive, and full of life and often played games with his sister Dana, showing a close bond between the two. However, when Dana betrays Alex at the end of the game, she says "the Alex I knew died a long time ago". Alex was hurt, but then said "I'm beyond life and death".

Unfortunately, after repeated betrayals and mishaps during his time away from NYZ after the initial outbreak, Mercer's worldview became increasingly cynical and nihilistic. He decided that stopping the outbreak was a mistake and started a new one himself to usher in a new race; he claimed he was making a better world by doing so. In his new role as the leader of the Infected, Alex pursued his goal of spreading the virus in a far more active and aggressive manner than Elizabeth Greene ever did, even inserting spies within both Blackwatch and Gentek and using their resources and scientists to do so.

Appearance

Concept art of Mercer

While the virus itself can take anybody's form through consumption, in its typical form it looks identical to the deceased Gentek scientist Alex Mercer due to the Blacklight Virus recreating Mercer's body down to the genetic level.

Mercer has very pale skin, probably a result of being the Blacklight Virus since his skin appeared tanner in his picture with Karen Parker. His eyes are light blue and constantly have a sickly gray tinting around them.

While rarely seen without his hood, he has curly brown hair that he supposedly kept slicked back, although it's not known exactly what his hair looked like post-reanimation since he never dropped his hood.

The "clothes" worn by Mercer aren't actually clothes, but Biomass, mimicking the outfit Alex Mercer wore to Penn Station on the night of his death. On his upper body, he wears three layers of clothes: a button-up white shirt with a protruding collar kept partially buttoned, a plain gray hoodie, and a black leather jacket with a red interior, two horizontal white lines on each sleeve, and a red tribal design on the back. On his lower body, he wears plain blue jeans and black shoes. It should be noted that Mercer's clothing is physically a part of his anatomy and therefore he is unable to take them off without shapeshifting. Interesting though, that only the biomass mimics the clothing, which is organic matter, but Mercer will also consume the non-organic matter (for example metal and plastics) and he can use electronic equipment such as a walkie-talkie while disguised.

In Prototype 2, when Mercer uses any of his Offensive Powers, his veins glow bright orange unlike the full black coloring in the first game. During his final battle with Heller, after he absorbed Sabrina Galloway and the other Evolved, Mercer's slender appearance changed into a muscular-sized build and he grew somewhat taller, his claws are always out throughout his fight with Heller, and both of his irises glow crimson red, as a result of his enhanced power.

Trivia

• In the beta version of Prototype, Mercer was depicted with a black bubble jacket and white hoodie. He was later changed so as to differ from Altaïr from Assassin's Creed.
• It is mentioned in a bio for Mercer, located on the official Prototype website, that he has blue eyes and brown hair, although in-game his eyes appear bluish-silver, and his hair is in fact black. His bio also states that he is 5' 10" (1.79 m) tall, weighs 190 lbs (86 kg) in his human form, and is twenty-nine years old.
  • During the final battle of Prototype 2, Mercer is shown to be much taller compared to Heller (about 8'-9'), possibly because of Mercer consuming his Evolved.

    

    Heller and Mercer size comparison in Prototype 2.

• His official bio also states his "personality traits" which are: distant, predatory, super-intelligent, terrifying, vengeful, blank, and searching.
• In one Web of Intrigue node, it is speculated by Blackwatch operatives that Mercer is the first and only male Runner in the history of the evolution of Blacklight virus.
• When you activate a power and stand idle for a few seconds, Mercer will perform an action that resembles his current power. (Ex. When Musclemass is active, he will beat his fists together.)
• Mercer's jacket colors are the colors of the two major factions in the game, Blackwatch and the Infected.
• "Well. We intended Alex to be...well one of the most powerful characters in video game if you believe it. We made him powerful enough to lift cars, tanks, destroy buildings and even kicking helicopters off the air. Fast enough to outrun even the fastest vehicles. I think it's safe to say that we did a pretty good job in doing so (chuckles)"-Tim Bennison, the executive producer of Prototype, describing Mercer as one of the most powerful video game characters ever created.
• Dennis Detwiller, the senior designer and writer of Prototype, said there is "no cute fuzzy bunny in Alex Mercer's future". This quote could be read as a hint at Mercer's eventual death at the hands of James Heller, although Detwiller himself left Radical Entertainment in 2009 and was not involved in the making of Prototype 2.
• Many fans of the series have speculated that Mercer could possibly be still alive or that the Mercer that Heller consumed was actually a perfect clone of himself. Whether or not any of these rumors are true, it is still unclear if Mercer survived his fight with James Heller.
  • When the player views one of his memories in Prototype 2 after Heller's battle with him, in the memory, Mercer states that he is, "no longer bound by life and death," which further implies that it might be possible for him to have survived the fight with James Heller (though this has been neither confirmed nor denied).
  • Considering that Mercer regenerated from a literal puddle of radioactive biomass, his severed limbs possibly could regenerate if touched by organics.
• NECA released an action figurine of Mercer with his Blade power active.
• Mercer utilizes all of his offensive powers at some point in Prototype 2 except for the Musclemass power, defensive powers, and his Devastators.
• As a reward for completing all 5 weeks of Radnet content, players will receive an Alex Mercer skin so you can appear to look like Mercer while playing Prototype 2.
• An upcoming movie, The Prototype, which is not related to the game, has the main character wear an attire similar to Mercer's.
• It is possible that Mercer's ultimate goal was to consume all biomass. Pre-final battle with Heller, he states that he wants humanity to be joined in "one body." If this is the case, he wouldn't have seen consuming the Evolved as a bad thing. To him, it was just redistributing biomass in a more efficient way.
• Mercer's Blade drastically changed in both appearance and size at his final battle with Heller, being about the same size as Heller's.
  • It could be due to the Evolved agents being absorbed by Alex, giving him some upgrades.
• Mercer and Heller are called "It" for they have the ability to shapeshift into male or female.
• Mercer's jacket is available at game Crime Revolt.

Prototype Wiki has a collection of images related to Alex Mercer on its Gallery page.

Gallery

Concept art of Mercer's Blade.

Mercer as seen launch trailer.

Mercer trying to kill James Heller.

Mercer along with Bradley Ragland.

Mercer's Prototype 2 promotional poster.

Mercer in the Red Zone.

The Protagonist (left) and the Antagonist (right).

Alex, the last man.

Alex with red eyes.

Alex Mercer vs James Heller.