Martian Man

Like all Martians, Martian Man is an alien with pale olive skin and a head that stretches into a tall, rectangular shape. Uniquely, his eyes are a solid yellow rather than the usual coloring of his kind. In his hero role he wears a suit of light yellow across the chest and mid-arms with light purple over the upper and lower body, each section edged in white. His shapeshifting lets him elongate and flatten his form, often coiling into a living bind to trap enemies, and he can thin himself to nearly paper width. He also carries the same wristband as his teammates, which alerts him whenever the Guardians are needed.

Of all the Guardians, Martian Man is the most tender-hearted. He looks after a homeless girl named Nikki and devotes himself to defending Earth's people despite not being one of them. Being from another world leaves him isolated, and Nikki is his only real friend outside the team. He grows especially close to Aquarus, since both are non-humans making their way on Earth, and Aquarus's brutal death drives him into a furious, animalistic rage.

Long before reaching Earth, Martian Man was cast out from Mars by his own people under circumstances that remain a mystery. He took shelter on Earth, using shapeshifting to pass as an ordinary human and living quietly until he chose to reveal himself, prompting the Global Defense Agency to recruit him into the Guardians of the Globe. Wanting to explore his human side, he also befriended and looked after young Nikki. When the Mauler Twins attacked the White House, he and the Guardians defended the president, and he teamed with Aquarus to hurl an armored vehicle at one Twin before restraining them both so Red Rush could deliver a flurry of blows, ending with the Twins beaten and jailed.

The team's downfall comes when they are lured to their headquarters by a false alarm that Omni-Man himself triggered as bait. Omni-Man crushes Red Rush's skull, and a horrified Martian Man wraps around him so the Immortal and War Woman can strike, only to be broken free of and briefly disabled. By the time he recovers, Darkwing and Green Ghost are dead. After Aquarus is killed with War Woman's mace, an enraged Martian Man binds Omni-Man once more, but Omni-Man locates his exposed core within his stretched form, rips it out, and kills him. In the aftermath the Global Defense Agency recovers the bodies, and his name is spoken in Omni-Man's eulogy. About a year later a news broadcast honors him and the fallen Guardians, an image that inspires Shapesmith to take up heroism.