Machine Head

Machine Head cuts a thin figure with pale skin, but his defining trait is the fully mechanical head and neck built from a grey metal alloy. The black faceplate is marked by yellow lines tracing his mouth and eyes and a single stripe across the forehead, while his magenta eyes and mouth carry pink accents that form a T over each eye flowing into a U shape at the mouth. True to his mob-boss status, he dresses in lavish white, a buttoned white suit over a white shirt and trousers, set off by a pink tie and black shoes.

Behind bars he swaps that finery for the standard orange prison uniform and black slippers. Unable to service his cybernetics in confinement, his condition visibly deteriorates. One ear works loose, his metallic sheen dulls, and rust creeps along his neck. Once he escapes, the damage is repaired and his polished look returns.

Fussy, greedy, hot-tempered, and cold-blooded, Machine Head cares chiefly about piling up wealth and pays no mind to whoever gets hurt or killed in the process. He bluntly tells Titan that sometimes people who deserve to die should be allowed to, and he snaps viciously at any failure, once berating his bodyguard Isotope for complaining about taking bullets for him. Menacing and cunning in equal measure, he pressures Titan to keep working for him and stays unshaken even when the giant nearly strikes him, calmly threatening to have his family murdered.

He flaunts his fortune openly, decorating his world with fine suits and imported Italian maple, and his money feeds a sense of untouchability. He barely reacts when Invincible bursts into his office, confident that no matter how strong an enemy is, he can simply buy stronger help. After Titan's betrayal he develops a grudging respect for the man, honoring their arrangement and letting him operate freely in Chicago, though he vows never to underestimate him again. Above all he is relentless and resourceful, weaving elaborate schemes to get exactly what he wants.

A cyborg of murky origins, Machine Head runs a protection racket while also dealing drugs under the cover of garbage disposal and staging building demolitions as accidents to collect insurance payouts. After recruiting Titan and being impressed by his work retrieving a special microchip, he blackmails the man into permanent service by threatening his family. When Invincible and Titan later move against him, he is already prepared, having used the chip's power to foresee the attack and hired Battle Beast, Magmaniac, Kursk, Furnace, and Tether Tyrant as protection. Isotope shields him during the brawl, but the Global Defense Agency captures him, and Cecil Stedman uses an electromagnetic pulse to strip out the microchip.

More than a year into his sentence at Payton Penitentiary, Titan visits and tells him of Mister Liu's mounting threats. The two strike a covert bargain, Titan helping him seize control of the Order in return for keeping Chicago and his own business. Amid Liu's dragon-form assault on the prison to free Multi-Paul, Isotope helps Machine Head escape, and he executes Mister Liu in human form before declaring himself the Order's leader. Feeling generous, he releases Titan but warns against any double-cross. Months later he lures Titan to a bar, claiming Liu still lives and offering him protection, which Titan refuses to preserve his independence. Secretly, Machine Head and Isotope set Liu and Titan against each other so both would come crawling for the Order's shelter. Once Titan's attempt on Liu fails, he reluctantly joins, only to learn Liu has rejoined too, and the pair realize they have been played straight into Machine Head's grand design.