Percival Edmund Chang (Earth-50)

Philip Chang sent his son into hiding while he was still an infant. Born in Hong Kong but raised in Seattle, Percival Edmund soon became known as "Grunge", an all-American slacker who knew little about his brave father. He was eventually invited to take part in I.O.'s Project Genesis, where Grunge soon found out he was in a prison-like breeding ground for Gen-Actives. Manifesting his powers, he escaped with his new teammates, a group soon to be called Gen¹³. They take a temporary break and Grunge travels with Freefall to Los Angeles, where he gets into trouble due to a high win rate. His abilities make it seem as if he and Freefall were statues.

Grunge is a skater/surfer and enjoys spending his afternoons sleeping in. Although he with three beautiful superwomen, only Freefall appreciates him for who he really is. However this never stops Grunge from trying to hit on Caitlin Fairchild constantly, in many maneuvers that sometimes violate her right to privacy. Freefall goes un-noticed, despite her feelings for him and Rainmaker attempts to serve as the voice of reason for Grunge's attitude, going roundly ignored.

Despite his personal history, Grunge is dependable on the battlefield, listening to orders when given and improvising new ways to help. His sound system defeated the villian known as Helmut. When the girls were kidnapped by a toy manufacturer, Grunge used the properties of the toys themselves to help rescue them. After a notable round of cluelessness, Grunge travels to the desert alone and confronts a trickster diety, who puts him through his paces. He is picked up by his friends, who believe he was just hallucinating everything because he did not bring enough water.

The interruption to regular life brought on by super-powers is normalized a bit when Grunge returns to school. He ends up with Caitlin in high level classes due to his photographic memory. His poor choice in new friends almost leads to the loss of old ones, as they do not like Rainmaker's more peaceful worldviews. It does lead to the release of an angry, super-strong simian that had been experimented upon in the school's laboratories.

Grunge's life is interrupted when I.O. forces blow up his house and slay the robotic housemaid. Grunge and friends travel to a small island where Lynch's friend is operating. Unfortunately the island contains a spaceship, which takes Grunge and Caitlin deep into space. There, he is affected by an alien system and goes on a rampage.

Grunge's second trip into space was not so far, only going so far as the moon in order to help out in the Fire and Heaven incident.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Molecular Absorption: ability to molecularly bond with anything he comes in contact with. Once he bonds with an object he takes on its physical characteristics. For example, if he bonds with steel he gains increased strength and durability. The limits of his absorption ability were never revealed. He at times was able to meld with the ground beneath him sinking his hands at one place and having them come up at another place. He has also absorbed the properties of sand, from sand in his boot. Instead of gaining the properties of a rock, as sand is just small stones, he gained a form not unlike Marvel's Sandman-- a being comprised of small grains which he can manipulate in a variety of ways.

This means all or any part of his body can transform into stone, metal, or even gelatin. He has also demonstrated a limited ability to transform other people as well.

The full extent of his powers was never fully addressed, with certain abilities seeming to appear out of nowhere and cease to be used soon after. It is revealed that he can actually assume the shape of objects he absorbs.

Molecular Absorption Extension
Molecular Form
Molecular Phasing
Healing Factor: extreme ability to heal himself. In the first mini series his arm can be seen being shattered, but shortly thereafter, it comes back together. He has been shot repeatedly and the bullets were rejected from his body. He seems to have a remarkable healing capacity, but a reason for this is never addressed. One theory is that he bonds with the embedded bullets, an ability shown when he was able to pass through a wall.
Abilities

Photographic Memory

Martial Artist: He is naturally fit and has brown belts in Aikido, Kempo Karate, Jujitsu, Tae Kwon Do, and Kung Fu.

Weaknesses

Anti-Power Absorption: He was unable to absorb/copy the properties of other superhumans, he has on at least one occasion copied the physical abilities of Caitlin Fairchild.

Trivia

Grunge is a fan of the bands White Zombie and the Foo Fighters.
Grunge is also an avid fan of comic books and Hong Kong Kung Fu movies and action films. He especially likes the films of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and John Woo.
A vocal video game lover with an excess of confidence in his gaming skills, Grunge has none the less been bested at fighting games by Freefall at least twice.

Links and References

None.

Footnotes

Percival Edmund Chang (Earth-50)

From DC Database

Contents

History