Piecemeal is the name of two Marvel Comics

Marvel Comics

Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...

 characters.

Piecemeal I

Piecemeal (Gilbert Benson) is a fictional mutant

Mutant (Marvel Comics)

In comic books published by Marvel Comics, a mutant is an organism who possesses a genetic trait called an X-gene that allows the mutant to naturally develop superhuman powers and abilities...

 character in the Marvel Universe

Marvel Universe

The Marvel Universe is the shared fictional universe where most comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Entertainment take place, including those featuring Marvel's most familiar characters, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and the Avengers.The Marvel Universe is further...

. His first appearance was in New Mutants Annual

New Mutants

The New Mutants are a group of teenaged mutant superheroes-in-training published by Marvel Comics. They have been the main characters of three successive comic book series, which were spin-offs of the popular X-Men franchise....

#7.

Fictional character biography

Young Gilbert Benson was a mutant with the ability to absorb different energy frequencies and store them within his body. His mother, the armored mutant mercenary known as Harness

Harness (comics)

Harness is a fictional mutant character in the Marvel Comics universe. Her first appearance was in New Mutants Annual #7.-Fictional character biography:...

 who had been employed by Advanced Idea Mechanics

Advanced Idea Mechanics

A.I.M. is a fictional terrorist organization in the . The organization first appeared in Strange Tales #146 and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.-Publication history:...

, cruelly exploited this ability and forced Gilbert, whom she dubbed Piecemeal, to travel across the world with her to absorb the dispersed energy of Proteus

Proteus (comics)

Kevin MacTaggert, best known as Proteus and also called Mutant X, is a Marvel Comics character, associated with the X-Men.Kevin was the mutant son of Scottish genetic researcher Moira MacTaggert and politician Joseph MacTaggert...

, the deceased reality-warping son of geneticist Moira MacTaggert

Moira MacTaggert

Dr. Moira Kinross MacTaggert is a fictional character appearing in X-Men stories in the Marvel Comics universe. She works as a geneticist and is an expert in mutant affairs. Olivia Williams played a minor role of Dr. Moira MacTaggert in X-Men: The Last Stand...

.

Absorbing the energy, Piecemeal grew larger and larger until he looked like a 700-pound monstrosity. The mutant team X-Force

X-Force

X-Force is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero team, one of several spin-offs of the popular X-Men franchise. Conceived by writer/illustrator Rob Liefeld, the team was formed in New Mutants, vol. 1 #100 and soon afterwards was featured in its own series.The group was a new incarnation of the 1980s...

, alongside the New Warriors

New Warriors

The New Warriors is a Marvel Comics superhero team, traditionally consisting of young adult heroes. They first appeared in The Mighty Thor #411 .-General publication history:...

 and a makeshift group of Muir Island

Muir Island

Muir Island is a small, fictional island off the northern coast of Scotland in the Marvel Comics universe. It plays a prominent role in the X-Men comics and its related series.-History:...

-based X-Men

X-Men

The X-Men are a superhero team in the . They were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1...

 allies, did their best to help siphon off the energy, but they failed. Finally, Gilbert's body exploded, and in that instant his mind combined with that of the reformed Proteus to form a new amalgamated being. The new entity set about warping reality all over Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

.

The amalgamated Proteus/Piecemeal also captured their mothers and held them hostage as the pre-government-sponsored X-Factor

X-Factor (comics)

X-Factor is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics. It is a spin-off of the popular X-Men franchise, featuring characters from X-Men stories. The series has been relaunched several times with different team rosters, most recently as X-Factor Investigations.X-Factor launched in...

 team arrived. Finally, X-Factor convinced the boys to disperse their energies, consigning them both to oblivion.

Powers and abilities

Benson could track and absorb energy fields, and alter his mutant cells to store and metabolize specific energy signatures.

Fictional character biography

Piecemeal was created by scientists in the Amazon jungle

Amazon Rainforest

The Amazon Rainforest , also known in English as Amazonia or the Amazon Jungle, is a moist broadleaf forest that covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America...

, under the auspices of the Red Skull

Red Skull

The Red Skull is a name shared by several fictional characters, all supervillains from the Marvel Comics universe. All incarnations of the character are enemies of Captain America, other superheroes, and the United States in general....

. Pieces of animal corpses were combined with a captured spy from the Commission on Superhuman Activities

Commission on Superhuman Activities

The Commission on Superhuman Activities is a fictional government group from the Marvel Universe.-Publication history:...

 and advanced technology to form a formidable killing machine. Before the cyborg's blanked mind could be reprogrammed, the Hulk discovered the lab and destroyed it. However, Piecemeal managed to escape in the confusion. Wandering through the jungle, it chanced upon a small airport, and stowed away on a cargo plane headed for Loch Ness

Loch Ness

Loch Ness is a large, deep, freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands extending for approximately southwest of Inverness. Its surface is above sea level. Loch Ness is best known for the alleged sightings of the cryptozoological Loch Ness Monster, also known affectionately as "Nessie"...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

.

A short time later, a retired member of the Pantheon

Pantheon (comics)

Pantheon is an American comic book series written by Bill Willingham. The series was published by independent publisher Lone Star Press and is set in its own self-contained universe....

(an organisation to which the Hulk was allied at the time) who owned an inn near the loch sent for the Hulk when it seemed like a new monster had appeared, when in reality, Piecemeal had been attacking people and draining their minds.

The Hulk faced Piecemeal in battle, and was victorious, although Piecemeal's body was never found, suggesting it may still be living in the Loch.

Powers and abilities

As a cyborg, Piecemeal possessed mechanically-augmented strength. It had claws that could shred steel, and a tail that could crush a concrete bunker. It could generate bursts of bioelectricity strong enough to shatter a tank. It also had the ability to absorb the memories and emotions of its victims, and copy the powers and appearance of superpowered opponents.