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One virus, three weeks, millions dead... and I was there. My name was Alex Mercer, and my work is almost done.
~ Alex Mercer

Summary

Alex Mercer is the protagonist of the first Prototype video game, a man who wakes up in the GENTEK morgue with bizarre and horrifying powers and no knowledge of events prior to that point, aside from his name and that he was once a scientist. Confused, enraged, and determined to reclaim his past, he sets out to do so by hunting down his old colleagues.

In truth, the creature acting as the protagonist is not Mercer but the Blacklight virus, which was released by the real Alex Mercer moments before he was shot dead and infected. The virus reanimated his corpse and came to believe it was him; however, evidence suggests that their personalities differed quite sharply.

Power and Stats

Tier: 9-A, higher with Whipfist, Claws and Hammerfist, even higher with Musclemass multiplier, Blade and Devastators | 8-A, higher with Whipfist, Claws and Hammerfist, Low 7-C with Musclemass multiplier and Blade, even higher with Devastators | At least 8-A, higher with Whipfist, Claws and Hammerfist, Low 7-C with Musclemass multiplier and Blade, even higher with Devastators | At least 8-A, higher with Whipfist, Clawsa and Hammerfist, Low 7-C with Musclemass multiplier and Blade, even higher with Devastators

Key: Prototype 1 Early/Mid Game | Prototype 1 End Game | Prototype 2 | Prototype 2 End Game

Name: Alexander J. Mercer, also called "DX-1118", Codename: Zeus

Origin: Prototype

Gender: As a virus, he's technically genderless, but defaults to male as Alex Mercer but can become either gender if he wishes

Age: 29 (Human Memories), virus Mercer is only about 2 years old by the start of the second game

Classification: Blacklight Virus, Bioweapon

Powers and Abilities:

  • Flight via Airtime (Allows Alex to fly indefinitely)
  • Gravity Manipulation via Anti-Gravity Field (Anything that Alex hits/touches becomes trapped in an anti gravity field, floating helplessly. This extends to people/objects that are hit by people/objects thrown at them by Alex)
  • Energy Manipulation via Warp Vortex (Objects thrown by Alex will become engulfed in a vortex of energy, pulling in nearby objects and people, causing severe damage. Only one vortex can be created at a time, whether or not this is a game mechanic is unknown)
  • Vibration Manipulation via Shockwaves (Makes it so every time Alex jumps into the air, a massive shockwave pulls everything up with them) [see note at the bottom regarding the use of Force Multipliers in versus matches)

Attack Potency: Small Building level (Has smashed through a two-foot steel door, which should yield this result, from the moment he gained consciousness. Can fight off and harm Hunters, although weaker than them prior to absorbing several. Hunters can crush/explode tanks by jumping on them without getting harmed. Threw a car hard enough to destroy a Helicopter at a distance. Has grown vastly stronger with the various enemies he has absorbed), higher with Whipfist, Claws and Hammerfist (Offensive Powers allows him to inflict more damage than his attacks in base form. Can dual-wield two Offensive Powers together), even higher with Musclemass multiplier (Can double his strength with Musclemass, with the strength increases of fully-upgraded Musclemass “greatly increasing” its damage to the point of having all attacks inflict up to triple the damage, allowing him to triple his strength with fully-upgraded Musclemass. Can dual-wield one of the Offensive Powers with Musclemass, which should increase their output even further), Blade (Directly stated to have the strongest strikes available) and Devastators (Are super attacks that causes massive damage to either surroundings or targets, with a Devastator being the most impressive and hard-hitting move even without augmentation, thus should be stronger than the Offensive Powers, Blade and Musclemass by itself. Can be augmented even further with Musclemass, which causes Devastators to have greater output than they would've normally by having them inflict double the damage of normal Devastators, or inflict up to triple the damage of normal Devastators with fully-upgraded Musclemass) | Multi-City Block level+ (Fought and defeated Elizabeth Greene in her Mother form, who should be this strong, and should have grown vastly stronger after absorbing her. Has grown vastly stronger with the various enemies he has absorbed), higher with Whipfist, Claws and Hammerfist, Small Town level with Musclemass multiplier and Blade, even higher with Devastators | At least Multi-City Block level+ (Has killed and likely absorbed many victims after the end of Prototype 1, thus should have grown vastly stronger than before. Has casually overpowered mid-game James Heller, who shortly after the encounter was able to content and defeat a Goliaths, even before he has absorbed the Evolved. Alex Mercer is stated to be "the pinnacle of Blacklight evolution” and “undisputedly the most powerful of those infected with the virus"[1] which means he would be more powerful than Goliaths and the rest of the Infected), higher with Whipfist, Claws and Hammerfist, Small Town level with Musclemass multiplier and Blade, even higher with Devastators | At least Multi-City Block level+ (Has consumed eight Evolved, who should at least be comparable to his Prototype 1 self, and has gotten stronger from his transformation after consuming them. Matched and overpowered End-Game James Heller when using the same Offensive Powers as him), higher with Whipfist, Claws and Hammerfist, Small Town level with Musclemass multiplier and Blade, even higher with Devastators. Some of his abilities may bypass conventional durability in certain ways (Capable of turning targets into his infected drones which he can control, can even convert some larger amounts of inorganic materials into biomass and also consume tougher opponents like the Leader Hunter within seconds, and is capable of absorbing his targets without the need to weaken or batter them by touching them with his biomass)

Speed: Subsonic travel speed (Can outrun even the fastest vehicles, including AH-64 Apache Helicopters), with at least Hypersonic reactions and combat speed (Can react to M1 Abrams tank shells and turn around to block them at point blank range, which should yield this result. Blocked a grenade launcher shot, and can dodge and outrun helicopter gunfire) | At least Subsonic travel speed (Has only become more powerful with every being he consumed since then; moved from the top floor of an apartment to the ground before Dana could react and blitzed an entire team of security guards), with at least Hypersonic reactions and combat speed | At least Subsonic travel speed, with at least Hypersonic reactions and combat speed | At least Subsonic travel speed, with at least Hypersonic, likely Hypersonic+ reactions and combat speed (Is much faster than his previous self. Consumed 8 Evolved and should have gotten faster from his transformation. Could move even faster in short bursts)

Lifting Strength: Class M (Has smashed through a two-foot steel door, which should yield this result, from the moment he gained consciousness. Can easily pick up and throw cars, trucks, helicopters and tanks at long distances. Has grown vastly stronger with the various enemies he has absorbed for his mid-game self), higher with Musclemass (Can double his strength with Musclemass to allow him to throw objects farther that can deal up to double the damage of the usual throws, with a fully-upgraded Musclemass increasing his strength to the extent that he can throw objects even farther that can deal up to triple the damage, and so his strength should be tripled with fully-upgraded Musclemass) | Class M (Has grown vastly stronger with the various enemies he has absorbed. Completely overpowered Elizabeth Greene in her base form with ease, and has grown stronger after absorbing her), higher with Musclemass | At least Class M (Has killed and likely absorbed many victims after the end of Prototype 1, thus should have grown vastly stronger than before. Effortlessly threw a van hard enough to send an A.P.C. flying without any signs of exertion, and then sent said A.P.C. across the cloud district with a single hand), higher with Musclemass | At least Class M (Has once again gotten vastly stronger through absorbing the other Evolved. Matched and overpowered End-Game James Heller when using the same Offensive Powers as him), higher with Musclemass

Striking Strength: Small Building level (Can fight off and harm a Hunter, which are unaffected by landing on tanks hard enough to destroy them), higher with Whipfist, Claws and Hammerfist, even higher with Musclemass multiplier, Blade and Devastators | Multi-City Block level+ (Has grown vastly stronger with the various enemies he has absorbed), higher with Whipfist, Claws and Hammerfist, Small Town level with Musclemass multiplier and Blade, even higher with Devastators | At least Multi-City Block level+ (Has grown vastly stronger with the various enemies he has absorbed), higher with Whipfist, Claws and Hammerfist, Small Town level with Musclemass multiplier and Blade, even higher with Devastators | At least Multi-City Block level+ (Has once again gotten vastly stronger through absorbing enemies), higher with Whipfist, Claws and Hammerfist, Small Town level with Musclemass multiplier and Blade, even higher with Devastators

Durability: Small Building level (Has not appeared to be harmed by the explosion of an apartment or anti-tank weaponry. Has shrugged off helicopter missiles and tank shells. Can withstand attacks from Hunters.), higher with Armour and Shield (Armour allows him to withstand greater damages at the cost of some of his agility. Shield allows him to nullify damages instead of reducing it, and can be used to deflect projectiles. Can possibly dual-wield the two Defensive Powers for even greater defenses), even higher with Musclemass multiplier (Can withstand his own increased strength with Musclemass, which can deal up to double the damage when un-upgraded and up to triple the damage when fully-upgraded. Musclemass can be dual-wielding or combined with Defensive Powers to increase their defenses even further) | Multi-City Block level+ (Has grown vastly stronger with the various enemies he has absorbed), higher with Armour and Shield, Small Town level with Musclemass multiplier | At least Multi-City Block level+ (Has grown vastly stronger with the various enemies he has absorbed), higher with Armour and Shield, Small Town level with Musclemass multiplier | At least Multi-City Block level+ (Has once again gotten vastly stronger through absorbing enemies), higher with Armour and Shield, Small Town level with Musclemass multiplier. Regeneration makes him very difficult to kill

Stamina: Infinite (Has never shown to actually physically tire out. His physiology is that of a virus and he can operate without needing internal organs, like his brain, to be intact. Possesses the pain tolerance that allowed him to endure being struck with heavy blunt force, impaled, strangled, his limbs severed multiple times, and other gruesome piercing attacks repeatedly)

Range: Extended Melee Range, Several Meters with shockwaves, Tens of Meters with Whipfist. Devastators can cover sizable areas. Possibly Tens of Kilometers with tendrils (The biomass gained from consuming Alex Mercer allowed James Heller to be able to create tendrils that can reach across all of Manhattan and wipe out all infected beings in New York City), far higher with via control of the Blacklight Infected (Is capable of controlling all traces of his infected target in existence right down to the molecular level, implying he can manipulate his infected target as long as they exist, although the exact range limit is unknown)

Standard Equipment: None notable

Intelligence:

  • Genius (Is not a brute, and is capable of exceptional feats of intellect; one of the examples that is a testament of his skill and exceptional intelligence is shown through him being able to defeat the Supreme Hunter more than once, despite the Supreme Hunter being a duplicate of him that is consistently much more powerful than him, among other examples. Should also have some of the knowledge and memories of the original Dr. Alexander J. Mercer, but not all of them yet, so he is not yet as intelligent), higher with Absorption (His intellect grows as he consumes people, memories and skills, and so he should have all the intelligence of his victims by extension as he’s able to collect the minds of his victims like a child collects moths, and that he’s able to make use of the minds of everyone he has ever consumed to the extent they are him and vice versa. Due to possessing the knowledge and memories of the dozens of people he consumed, he should be far more intelligent than he normally is, such as being extremely well versed in military procedures, protocols, and tactics and combat combined with his own baseline intelligence. He is knowledgeable in a variety of different fields of science as well from consuming dozens of scientists. He is fully capable of utilizing nearly any military asset including tanks and helicopters after consuming hundreds of soldiers and can even shoot someone's vitals while moving at full speed and jumping over thirty feet into the air at the same time)

  • At least Genius (Should be more intelligent than he was previously as he possesses all the memories of the original Dr. Alexander J. Mercer and should have all of his intelligence to the extent that he considers himself as the same as Dr. Alexander, with Dr. Alexander being so intelligent that he is considered as a unique asset to an organization more powerful than the U.S President called Blackwatch on top of him achieving University and National level award and being the head of his team of scientists at GENTEK. Dr Alexander’s intelligence is such that his work is years ahead of his nearest competitor and was considered as fundamental in the creation of the Blacklight Virus, a virus so complex that other scientists have no clue what it is capable of and that even a preeminent expert of the Blacklight Virus after Dr. Alexander’s death isn’t able to fully understand the Blacklight Virus; Dr. Alexander’s intellect is such that he is able to single-handedly understand the Redlight Virus whereas his peers within his team failed to, with the Redlight Virus being a constantly changing virus with the most complicated structure his team has ever seen that can have its host produce hundreds of unique strains daily and is both evolving at a rapid pace and war-dialling at a genetic level to become something else each time, to the extent that he can create the Blacklight Virus from it that is more dangerous by a factor of ten and is superior to it to the extent that the Blacklight Virus makes the Redlight Virus look like common cold. Dr. Alexander’s intelligence is such that he is also a lateral thinker that thinks plans within plans and has showcased his exceptional intelligence that extends beyond just his knowledge in bio-chemistry and genetics by figuring out all of Blackwatch’s secrets despite Blackwatch’s great political influence over the U.S and their persistence in concealing information, showcasing that he is just as intelligent in his everyday life as he is at science, and has only been cornered and killed by Blackwatch due to Blackwatch’s immense political influence and their vast resources that made them too quick in tracking him down in response to Dr. Alexander’s attempt to escape with the vial of the Blacklight Virus), higher with Absorption (Possesses the knowledge and memories of at least a thousand people he has consumed, which should make him be much more intelligent than he normally is due to a variety of different skill sets he should have accumulated from them that is combined with his own baseline intelligence. He can connect himself with the Core Hivemind to allow him to access the memories of every person affected by the Blacklight Virus on top of his extensive knowledge of biology from the original Dr. Alexander J. Mercer as an exceptional biochemist)

  • At least Genius, higher with Absorption (Has consumed more people than he had before, and so he should have greater accumulated knowledge and intelligence than previously)

  • At least Genius, higher with Absorption (Has consumed several Evolved, and so he should have all the knowledge and intelligence they have on top of the other individuals these Evolved has consumed)

Weaknesses: Reminding him of his human life will cause him to relapse into a flashback, paralyzing him (Overcame this at the end of the first game). If he is too low on biomass he will be incapable of maintaining his Evolved form. Can be easily enraged, but has begun avoiding it. The less biomass in his body, the slower his regeneration will be. Comparable to Supreme Hunter in terms of physiology, who can regenerate his entire body from a puddle of blood in mere instants, but when he is drastically damaged and loses his biomass he has difficulty regenerating a hand. Alex only regenerated "instantly" from a massive damage after devouring biomass. During the events of the second game, he would likely not use the full extent of his abilities against another Blacklight shapeshifter that has sufficient potential and determination to replace him at the "top of the food chain" due to his possible Social Darwinism mindset as he "views the world through the eyes of a predator" in an extreme manner, such as by not utilizing the full range of his abilities against James Heller and even giving James Heller advice on how to defeat him if James Heller is struggling.

Notable Attacks/Techniques:

  • Claws: Alex's biomass is shifted into 4-digited, talon-like, metal-like appendages that can be used to shred flesh and bone, cutting both the infected and military in half with a single sweep in some cases. By shoving his hand in the ground, he is able to make spikes shoot up from underground at range, with enough power to destroy M1A2 Abrams tanks and toss them dozens of feet into the air.
  • Hammerfists: By shifting large amounts of biomass towards the forearms, large hammer-like weapons are formed that are excellent for shattering both armored vehicles and infantry. Sacrifices speed for power and destroys tanks effortlessly while turning human enemies to paste. Can destroy even Heller's shields in Prototype 2 with little effort.
  • Musclemass: Alex's arms grow more muscular, doubling his strength and power in all areas. Alex doesn't lose any speed or accuracy for this power, allowing him to casually throw tanks for multiple city blocks. With Musclemass Boost, his power exceeds the standard 2x multiplier.
  • Whipfist: Alex's arm becomes a thin, flexible, blade-edged arm that can be used to attack targets that are dozens of meters away or sweep through entire crowds of enemies.
  • Blade: Alex's arm grows into a large blade, extended past his forearm and elbow. With this he is able to slice through his enemies with ease, cutting through tank armor as if it were made of cardboard and using it as a tool to take down even the most powerful infected with relative ease.
  • Shield: Alex can from a shield-like object on his arm that nullifies incoming damage until it breaks. Low-high caliber ballistics are ineffective against it, instead being reflected back at the senders. And if timed precisely, it can even deflect missiles. Upon being broken since it isn't designed for repeated high-energy impacts, but rather quick, on-the-move protection, it will need to regenerate.
  • Armor: Creates a solid black carapace around Alex's body, heavily reducing incoming damage at the cost of reducing his mobility, rendering him incapable of gliding or dodge rolling. Can be utilized with any other power aside from the Shield.
  • Adaptive Parkour: Alex is able to run and maneuver through areas with superhuman speed and agility, instantly adapting to things such as jumping over incoming cars, running on the walls of skyscrapers, and is able to change direction mid-air and even glide through the air.
  • Thermal Vision: Alex is capable of seeing the infrared spectrum, allowing him to see enemies through thin obstacles and operate even in complete darkness and smoke.
  • Infected Vision: Alex is capable of detecting the presence of the Blacklight virus in individuals, allowing him to track infected targets easily and discern who is infected and who is not with just a glance. This also heightens his senses, allowing him to minimize the noise from the background of NYC.
  • Viral Sonar: Alex has developed a potent hunting sense. This sixth sense allows him to find a target and guide himself beyond the visual spectrum on a city-wide scale, allows him to see the target's nervous system.
  • Tendril Barrage Devastator: Alex sends countless tendrils in all directions, seeking out and impaling living things in all directions. The effective area of this attack is wide enough to cover Times Square, likely much farther, since Heller's tendrils consumed all of Manhattan after consuming Mercer. Can be used in mid-air.
  • Groundspike Graveyard Devastator: Alex shoves his fists in the ground, and large, 15–25 foot biomass spikes from underground shoot up around him in a span of 20–30 feet, destroying, destroying and tossing tanks to air and impaling even well-armored enemies.
  • Critical Pain Devastator: His most powerful devastator, Alex pushes his hands forward, ejecting a number of tendrils with intense air pressure, though it only works on a singular target.
  • Infected Creator: Alex unleashes an explosion of viral vapor that instantly turns living organisms caught in its radius into various infected creatures, or kills them. Having the virus spread via almost every form of transmission in Prototype 1 (It seemed incapable of crossing water bodies), within 12 days, 81% of Manhattan was infected. This allows him to turn people and animals into infected beasts and minions.
  • Evolved Form: With enough biomass, Alex is capable of utilizing it to increase his power to extraordinary levels of speed, strength, durability, and regeneration.
  • Flash Step: By shifting Biomass into his legs, Mercer is capable of moving at speeds beyond Heller's perception in short bursts.
  • Cannonball: Alex tucks and rolls, turning himself into a spiked ball. Slicing through the air at high speed to unleash a deadly splash impact on his target. The Cannonball has excellent range and tracking, making it an outstanding attack against aircraft.
  • Artillery Strike: In a military uniform, Alex can order a military ordinance strike at his targeted location, capable of destroying fortified buildings and military bases.
  • Bulletdive Drop: From the air Alex propels himself downwards at vast speeds for a maximum-impact splash. This move is extremely devastating as it can destroy multiple military vehicles and even fortified bases on impact.
  • Groundshatter Drop: Mercer pounds the ground, creating a street wiping shockwave to turn Human level enemies into paste or to give himself some breathing room. He can charge it in mid-air to increase the force behind the attack.
  • Air Groundspike Graveyard Devastator: Mercer chains a Groundshatter Drop into a Groundspike Graveyard Devastator.
  • Knuckle Shockwave: Alex pounds his fists together to blast opponents away from him. Not as damaging as the groundshatter, but it has a larger radius and less recovery time. Can be performed in mid-air.
  • Adrenaline Surge: When near death Mercer gains a moment of invulnerability and access to a free devastator attack without wasting any of his available biomass supply to turn the tables.
  • Critical Mass: Alex goes beyond the constraints of maximum health, increasing his max damage output, and is able to use 3 devastator attacks before needing to consume to replenish himself.
  • Flying Kick: By ejecting biomass to propel Mercer in a specified direction at high speeds Mercer can perform a powerful kick in which he can chain unorthodox combos and techniques like: Body Surfing, Flip Kick, Snap Kick etc.
  • Palm Slam: Mercer moves his palms forward with so much force that it can generate a small and focused continuous air blast accompanied by tendrils that absolutely destroy any singular enemy.
  • Shockwave: By exerting surplus supply of biomass into his legs, Mercer can cause a tremendous shockwave that covers entire streets even takes objects like trucks and APCs into the air, destroying them in the process.
  • Razor Spikes: When in danger, Mercer can call upon a set of steel-like spikes to come out from his body to impale anything in near physical contact, similar to a porcupine.
  • Mental uploading: Mercer can upload memories and visions of his own, and by extension anyone he's consumed or infected, by touching his target. He can likely share parts of the hive mind as well. Greene first demonstrated this by showing Alex her past, and glimpses of the future.
  • Hive Mind: A telepathic link between Mercer and the millions of infected, which, at its peak, was 81% of Manhattan's population. This allows him to control them, as well as reveal their location. Mercer before consuming Greene, could demonstrate a premature use of this ability. He could also immerse himself in all the minds of the infected. This ability expanded in Prototype 2 when the virus spread from Manhattan to Brooklyn and Staten Island.

Force Multipliers:

  • Medusa's Wrath: The user fires a beam of energy from their eyes that kills whatever it hits in one shot, effective against other Runners
  • Airtime: Allows the user to fly indefinitely
  • Anti-Gravity Field: Anything that Alex hits/touches becomes trapped in an anti gravity field, floating helplessly. This extends to people/objects that are hit by people/objects thrown at them by Alex
  • Warp Vortex: Objects thrown by Alex will become engulfed in a vortex of energy, pulling in nearby objects and people, causing sever damage. Only one vortex can be created at a time, whether or not this is a game mechanic is unknown
  • Shockwave: Alex leaps into the air, creating a shockwave that pulls nearby objects up with him

Note:

  • The powers and abilities from the Force Multiplier DLCs are non-canon, as they do not make sense in the context of the story and mostly serve as a means to allow the player wreak more havoc during gameplay. If they are to be used in a versus match, then it should be stated in the OP
  • Alex is viral biomass, so he cannot run out of "himself". On that note, his regeneration capabilities aren't reduced by the amount of biomass he has, but his regeneration speed is.
  • As a result of his ability to control all traces of his infected target in existence right down to the molecular level, Alex should be capable of manipulating all traces of his infected targets’ molecules at vast distances. As Alex is the only one of the Shapeshifters of the Blacklight Virus that has achieved this feat, other Shapeshifters infected with the Blacklight Virus shouldn’t necessarily scale to this ability with the exception of James Heller only after absorbing Alex Mercer; similar applies for the capability of absorbing targets upon the user’s biomass touching their targets, without the need to either weaken or heavily batter their targets and even absorb multiple targets simultaneously, as Alex is the only one that have demonstrated this feat.
  • For Adrenaline Surge, the “Health Meter”, “Health” and “almost death” quotes are most likely just Game Mechanics, as Alex has showcased feats capable of surviving and regenerating from circumstances far beyond what could kill him within the gameplay, such as dying to bullets within the gameplay despite the fact that he has canonically survived the fireball of a nuclear explosion and is comparable to other Blacklight creatures capable of regenerating from a puddle. And so “Health Meter”, “Health” and “almost death” are most likely mere Game Mechanics and that, in a more realistic story perspective, it is more accurate that they refer to his reserves of excessive biomass than an in-game mechanic such as “Health”.

Others

Notable Victories:

Notable Losses:

Inconclusive Matches:

Obito Uchiha (Naruto) Obito's Profile (Fourth Shinobi World War Arc Obito with the Bijū and Prototype 2 End Game Alex Mercer were used. Obito had prior knowledge of Alex's gas attack and biological manipulation, Alex had prior knowledge of Obito's Kamui and the Jinchūriki's Physiology. Speed was equalised)

References

  1. Prototype 2 Bradygames Official Strategy Guide, page 33

Discussions

Discussion threads involving Alex Mercer
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