Profile: Animal Man

Additional Information

Ellen Baker (née Frazier) (wife); Cliff Baker (son); Maxine Baker (daughter); Unnamed second daughter; Frank Baker, Jr. (father); Phyllis Baker (mother); Unnamed sister; Frank, Sr (grandfather); Teddy (great grandfather); Sherman (great-great grandfather); Jack (great-great-great grandfather); Mary Frazier (mother-in-law); Dudley (uncle-in-law); Annie Cassidy (mother of second daughter); Lucy Cassidy (half-sister of second daughter).

• Animal Mimicry: Buddy can mimic any abilities of any animal, either by focusing on a specific animal near him, or, as he learnt later, by drawing power directly from the Red with Unearthly ability. He does not have to use wings to fly as a bird, or gills to breath as a fish underwater, but occasionally he has been known to mimic the actual appearances of animals, such as adopting the claws of a wolverine temporarily. Among the "animal powers" Buddy has been known to use are:
  • The strength of a T-Rex.
  • The flight of a bird.
  • The swimming ability of a fish.
  • The speed of an ant.
  • The wall-crawling of a spider.
  • The jumps of a flea.
  • The sonic blast of a pistol shrimp.
  • The sense of smell of a moth.
  • The stench of a skunk.
  • The color changing of a chameleon.
  • The agility of a snake.
  • The electricity of an electric eel.
  • The worm's ability to replace lost bodyparts.
  • The reproduction abilities of protozoa.
• Animal Communication/Control: Animal Man can make contact with animals, empathize with, "talk" to, and, to a lesser degree, control them. He can also transfer his mind to living animals of any kind, using their bodies as long as he wants to. This ability to transfer his life essence has allowed him to survive even when his body has been killed. 

Potentially, Animal Man disposes of the universe's primal forces. On rare occasions, he has been able to tap into the raw power of the Red, draw pure energy from it and emit it as blasts of force inflicting Unearthly damage. His abilities once even allowed him to create an entire universe, in cooperation with fellow animal masters Vixen and Tristess. If he were to use the full extent of his powers, Animal Man could very well be one of the mightiest beings on Earth. As it is now, the "man" in him puts a limit to his power. 

• A drawback of Animal Man's powers is that he is not always able to control the inputs from the Red. Sometimes, he has absorbed unwanted animal behaviour, such as instinctive rage or rut. The longer he stays in contact with the Red, the less man and more animal he seems to become. He has frequently felt alienated to the human race, something which once made him declare war against our destructive civilization. 

• Conduit of The Red:

Buddy, stands in direct contact with the Red/Lifeweb/Morphogenetic Field of Earth. Since the Red is part of every animal who has ever walked the Earth, flown the air, or swum the sea, Animal Man can even mimic the abilities of extinct species.

Wrestling; Tumbling; Acrobatics; Martial Arts B & E; Performer: Actor.

Animal Man is, as could be expected, a man of great compassion toward all creatures. He is an ardent animal rights activist, an environmentalist, and a vegetarian. His link to the M-field has been passed on to his daughter, Maxine, who is also connected to the animal kingdom. Although he wears a mask, he goes to no great lengths to conceal his true identity.

• Justice League Communicator: Justice League communicator capable of a 10,0000 mile range, the signal is scrambled so as to encrypt it. The communicator is waterproof and is made of Amazing ranked materials.

The Justice League of America and Europe as well as the members of the Forgotten Heroes and the stuntman culture of Hollywood.

For Buddy Baker, a hell raising rock 'n' roller just out of high school, life was a blast. But what really happened that afternoon in 1978, when Buddy Baker went hunting in the Adirondack Mountains? For many years after acquiring his superhuman powers, Buddy tried in vain to recall the events of that fateful day.

Eventually he discovered that he had been incinerated in a blast from an enormous, partially buried alien spacecraft. In that instant, Baker's body was destroyed. Fortunately, his spirit was captured by a pair of yellow-skinned aliens who emerged from the downed spacecraft. These benevolent aliens periodically visited Earth and bestowed members of the human race with animal powers to put them in touch with nature. The aliens connected Buddy to Earth's morphogenetic field — a realm behind reality as we know it. This "M-Field" (or "the Red") is a vast continuum linking all of Earth's living creatures, from single-celled paramecia to mankind itself. As the aliens rebuilt Baker's body, they made it a conduit for the energies of the entire field. These were the same beings who had given Vixen's ancestors the Tantu Totem.

Buddy was left with the ability to absorb the characteristic abilities of any animal he found nearby. At the suggestion of his best friend, Roger Denning, Baker then donned a colorful costume and began fighting crime locally (mostly for kicks) as Animal Man. After a brief heroing career, Baker retired his Animal Man identity for many years, married his high-school girlfriend, Ellen Frazier, and moved to San Diego. Between Ellen's work as a storyboard artist and book illustrator, and Buddy's growing career as a movie stuntman, the Bakers were able to mortgage a house in the suburbs and begin raising a family.

Buddy thought his super-hero days were over — until the growing public acceptance of other crime fighters, such as the Justice League, convinced him that there was still a need for Animal Man. He was brought out of retirement by the Immortal Man who recruited Buddy to join a new group called the Forgotten Heroes. This band went underground after the Immortal Man died during the Crisis. Animal Man caught the attention of the Justice League and he served a short, relatively undistinguished career with the Justice League Europe. He soon resigned due to personal problems.

Buddy suffered a terrible tragedy when his wife and children were brutally murdered while he was away on a case. Buddy tracked down the killers and exacted vengeance, but after a strange series of events, Animal Man met his maker and his family was restored to life.

Today, Buddy Baker splits his time between his family, his career as Animal Man, and regular stunt work for films. He still occasionally lends his talents to various super groups, including the JLA, Forgotten Heroes and the Swamp Things's task force, Totems.