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Note: This article is about the bio-mechanical demonoid. For other uses, see Adam.

I am the end of all life, of all magic. I'm the war between man and demon, the war that no one can win.
―Adam[src]

Adam was an undead being, self-described as a bio-mechanical demonoid,[1] created by the Initiative scientist Maggie Walsh as part of the 314 Project.[2][3]

Biography[]

Creation[]

Demons cling to old ways and ancient feuds, and they're hopeless with technology. Unworthy... Disappointed by demonkind, we turn to humans. Smart, adaptive, but emotional and weak. Blind. There is imperfection everywhere. Something must be done. Who will deliver us?
―Adam[src]

Professor Walsh created Adam with Dr. Francis Angleman as part of the 314 Project in the Initiative. According to Ethan Rayne, his creation was so powerful that demons were frightened by his coming.[2]

Adam was part human, part demon, and part robot, and was to be the perfect organism, combining the advancement of technology with the adaptability and intelligence of humanity and the superior strength and emotional detachment of demonkind. Adam was created in room 314 of the Initiative facilities, and his first independent act was to kill Professor Walsh with a retractable skewer inside one of his arms. The three-foot-long skewer had been salvaged from a Polgara demon.[3]

Against the Slayer[]

As soon as he awakened, Adam began philosophizing about his existence before leaving the lab. He killed and dissected a human boy as well as demons, in order to get an understanding of biology. He soon returned to the lab to download every file relating to his creation. Adam linked himself up to computers, and with his considerable intelligence, he was able to set plans and traps for his targets with ease.[1]

Spike worked for Adam for a short time, to extract the behavioral modification chip that the Initiative implanted to make the vampire docile. He decided to help Adam stop Buffy with a plan of exploiting existing rifts within the Scooby Gang.[4] However, Buffy figured out the plan when Spike let too much information slip.[5]

Adam did not need to eat, relying solely on his uranium-based power source in his chest for sustenance. He was aware of every aspect of himself and was immune to mentally-altering spells, such as an augmentation spell cast by Jonathan Levinson. In fact, Adam dismissed the alternate reality as something not worth his intervention. Nevertheless, he was interested to see the full extent of the augmentation spell's chaotic result.[6] He later upgraded himself to incorporate a minigun and grenade launcher.[5]

Adam considered himself a brother to Riley Finn, because Professor Walsh experimented on both of them to make them perfect life-forms. Adam intended to make Riley just like him, so the two could command an army of other bio-mechanical demonoids. In order to obtain the large supplies of bodies required,[5] Adam made himself known before the demons of Sunnydale,[7] and persuaded them to join forces against the Initiative.[5] Demons and vampires, known for rejecting each other, began to fight together,[8] while others allowed themselves to be captured by Initiative agents.[5]

Adam's plan was to fill the Initiative facilities with demons and then unleash them on the soldiers by unlocking their cells from Professor Walsh's secret laboratory. Afterward, he and his minions would recover body parts from the slaughter and fashion a new race formed from man, demon, and machine. Adam wanted Buffy trapped within the installation when this would occur because she would be able to even the casualties before being killed. Adam also mentioned that Buffy would have been transformed into a bio-mechanical demonoid as well, should the Slayer remain in service of the Initiative.[5]

To assist himself in the creation of his army, Adam created a second bio-mechanical demonoid using the body of Forrest Gates, whom he had recently slain.[4] He also reanimated the corpses of his other victims, Professor Walsh and Dr. Angleman, though they possessed little brain activity and functioned just a little more than drones.[5]

Death and legacy[]

Adam was defeated when Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Giles combined their essences in Buffy's body via an enjoining spell. The collective in Buffy invoked the strength of the First Slayer and used magic to counter Adam's attacks. With their strength combined, Buffy managed to rip out Adam's power source and use a spell to destroy it, effectively deactivating the demonoid.[5]

AdamHuman

The man who became Adam appears to Buffy in a dream.

Soon after, Buffy had a dream in which Adam appeared to her in his human form. When Buffy asked for his name, he replied: "Before Adam? Not a man among us can remember."[9]

Three years later, the First Evil took on the form of Adam, along with the other major enemies of the Scooby Gang, to taunt a then-ensouled Spike.[10]

Powers and abilities[]

  • Strength: Due to his cybernetic enhancements, as well as the numerous demon body parts that he was composed of, Adam possessed physical strength superior to that of most vampires, demons, and Slayers. His strength allowed him to overpower Buffy with ease before she was enhanced by the enjoining spell,[1][5] rip off a vampire's head with one hand,[7] and overpower and dissect/vivisect a number of demons, including a Fyarl demon, whose species was known for their strength.[11]
  • Regeneration: Due to the uranium 235 core used to reanimate and power his body, Adam had no need for food, water, or sleep, and was virtually immortal, able to survive and rapidly regenerate from any wound, no matter how severe, as long as the core was active.[6]
  • Durability: His tough hide and cybernetic implants enabled him to take multiple blows from Buffy while barely flinching.[1][5]
  • Electrical absorbtion: Adam was able to absorb electrical energy to strengthen himself, thus making the Initiative's taser blasters not only useless against him, but also dangerous to the user.[4] Buffy described the initiative's tactic to hit Adam with multiple taser blasters as "giving him an all-you-can-eat buffet."[5]
  • Technopathy: Adam appeared to possess the ability to physically manipulate technology as he was able to mentally activate Riley's behavior modifier[5] and interface with computer networks and hard data storage such as floppy disks.[1]
  • Arm weapons: Adam possessed the left arm of a Polgara demon, giving him the power to release a sharp bone-skewer from under his palm which he used to kill multiple targets, though the skewer was ultimately broken by Buffy. His right arm, while initially possessing no special feature of its own, was later upgraded, implanted with a collapsible gun and rocket launcher, both of which he used to great effect against Buffy in their final showdown.[5]
  • Awareness: According to Adam, he was conscious of every every molecule of himself and everything around him. It made him immune to mind control in reality alterations, and he could detect a woman had blood disease.[6]
  • Intelligence: Adam often gave a scientific analysis on both human and demon psychology and nature.[7] He also possessed extensive knowledge of the Initiative's personnel and facilities,[1] possessed enough knowledge of biology and cybernetics to turn Forrest Gates into a bio-mechanical demonoid like himself,[5] and was a master of persuasion,[4] convincing the vampires and demons of Sunnydale to team up against the Initiative.[5]

Behind the scenes[]

  • He was portrayed by George Hertzberg.
  • Adam shares many similarities with the Shadowfist Collectible Card Game (CCG) character Homo Omega, created in 1996. Both were made by mad scientists attempting to create super soldiers out of cybernetic human-demon hybrids. Both turned against their creators in order to destroy humanity and create a new race of hybrids. Both have magically morphing machinegun arms.
  • Adam's origin is revealed in the dubious-canon miniseries Haunted, which reveals that he was once a human member of the Initiative tasked with protecting Professor Walsh. The ghost of Mayor Richard Wilkins, however, took over the body of a vampire, which was then captured by the Initiative. Desperate to escape, the Mayor moved to the body of a dead demon and killed Adam. Having been one of her favorite agents, Professor Walsh vowed to bring him back to life and placed his body in her 314 Project.
  • Adam returns as a non-physical being in the non-canon Note from the Underground story arc, due to having uploaded a backup of his consciousness into the Initiative's system. After allying with the like minded Scourge, Adam enacts a new plan to wipe out humanity using soul drop, a high addictive and self-destructive drug harvested from the remains of people captured and incinerated by the Scourge. Powering both Adam and the production of the soul drop is the negative energy created by forced demon gladiatorial fights held in the Initiative's remains, which Buffy is forced to participate in after being captured. Buffy successfully defeats Adam again when she drains the soul drop and sparks a rebellion among the demon fighters, stopping the energy feed powering the Initiative and Adam.

Gallery[]

Appearances[]

Canonical[]

Other[]

References[]

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