Name

Current Alias

Aliases

No, Wise Guy's my genius brother. I'm Strong Guy.

Early Life[]

Guido Carosella was born to a family that watched every penny they'd spent. They lived a very strict life, saving as much as they could, and they tried to teach Guido to appreciate this way of life, but he didn't pay attention, preferring to goof around.^[2]

He was very successful academically when he was younger, but he didn't fit in with the other kids, so he tried to be the class clown to win their approval, namely of a young girl namedSheila McCann. One day, Sheila winked at him, and Guido tried to start a conversation with her, but her boyfriend and his friends beat Guido up. As he fell to the floor, his mutant genes became active and his arm grew to enormous proportions due to his new energy absorption powers. In pain and confusion, he then stumbled in front of the school bus. The impact caused his body to distort permanently. Before long, he realized that the energy he absorbed had to be released immediately to avoid deformities.^[15]

After his parents were killed by a falling satellite, Guido settled with the owners for a considerable sum^[2] and moved in with his aunt and uncle until he reached adulthood.^[7]

Bouncer[]

After losing much of his fortune, he began to take on jobs that would allow him to maintain his luxurious lifestyle. This led to Guido becoming the long-time roadie and bouncer for the mutant musicianLila Cheney.^[2] He was later among the mutants living onMuir Island who were mentally controlled by the telepathShadow King. In order to satiate his bloodlust, the Shadow King encouraged arena fighting amongst the Muir Island personnel. Guido received a serious beating at the hands ofRogue.^[16]

X-Factor[]

After the Shadow King was defeated, several of the Muir Island mutants, with the help ofValerie Cooper, were recruited into the newX-Factor team. His teammates included the formerX-MenHavok andPolaris, as well asWolfsbane andQuicksilver. At this time, Guido picked up the codename "Strong Guy" as a joke at an X-Factor press conference.^[2]

One of the first villains the team faced wasMister Sinister and his lackeys, the 'Nasty Boys'. Sinister wished to discredit mutantkind and used X-Factor to do so. One of Sinister's behind-the-scenes allies was a power-hungry Senator with the power to cause bad luck, who manipulated Strong Guy into destroying the Washington Monument while fightingSlab, one of the Nasty Boys. The Senator, who was after the entirety of the X-Factor team, was later slain by Mr. Sinister himself.^[17]

During his time on the team, he had a blossoming romantic relationship with a powerful Genoshan mutant and political dissident namedJo Beth. He even visited her Grandmother at her calm, suburban home on the island ofGenosha. She took a shine to him instantly.^[15]

Also, he participated in the cosmic incidents known as the Infinity War and Infinity Crusade. During the 'War', he and the other superheroes survived a bomb attack on theFantastic Four headquarters, thanks to theInvisible Woman. Strong Guy was specifically picked out to be one of the heroes to mystically travel the dimensions. He first participated in a fight with the Infinity Watch, holding up against such cosmic powerhouses asDrax the Destroyer. He would later be a vital part in the final battle against the villain's doppelganger's hordes, though this was a distraction so other forces could go in and defeat the villain.^[18]

During the 'Crusade' he was part of the assault team that landed in various spots around the Goddess' cathedral. Their goal was to gain back their brainwashed friends and defeat the Goddess's cosmic-powered plans. He teamed up withFirestar from theNew Warriors. She was soon taken out by the brainwashed duo ofPuck fromAlpha Flight andSpider-Man. Strong Guy defeated Spider-Man in a swift, tree-smashing battle, despite being blinded by webbing to the face.Doctor Strange, also brainwashed, soon restrained Strong Guy in a bubble of mystic force, where he stayed while events played out.^[19]

Guido suffered a deep depression after being poisoned byCyber, the leader of the mercenary groupHell's Belles. While at a government laboratory where a cure had been developed, Havok seemingly drank a sample of the poison himself, in order to show Strong Guy that he was with him. This helped boost Strong Guy's morale, though unbeknownst to him, Havok had switched the poison sample to simple tap water. Strong Guy later participated in the battle that took down the Hell's Belles, through Cyber himself escaped after colliding with a subway train.^[20]

Another subway train incident turned out much worse, as Strong Guy investigated a train crash where a small dog was the only survivor. Inevitably, the carnage deeply affected his morale.^[21]

Guido was once teleported naked from his shower by his old friend, Lila Cheney, who wished to show him the universe again. He managed to convince her that he had a life back in X-Factor, where she reluctantly returned him.^[22]

Guido developed a deep friendship with the lycanthropeRahne Sinclair (Wolfsbane). They went on a road trip with the mutantRandom, where Guido showed Rahne his hometown friends.^[23] Guido personally escorted Wolfsbane to Muir Island when she needed special medical attention.^[22]

He remained a member of X-Factor until an incident in the South Seas island nation ofMadripoor. Again involved with Lila Cheney, the team became trapped in a confrontation between her and the alien race, the K'Lanti. Lila had stolen an object of great value, called the Harmonium, during the midst of political chaos. The aliens, after destroying a city block, dispersed diamond-shaped bombs throughout the city. Despite the neutralization of the bombs and the return of their object, the aliens left behind one last explosive. Guido absorbed the energy of its explosion. Despite releasing it with powerful punches, he suffered a powerful heart attack.^[24]

Guido spent much time in suspended animation, until the return of his seemingly-dead friend theMultiple Man, Jamie Madrox. Not fully understanding the situation, Madrox freed Guido, who continued to suffer.Forge created a device to heal him.^[25] Afterward he chose to accompany Lila and her band in their travels instead of rejoining the increasingly fractious X-Factor team. Guido became involved in a property dispute between warring alien races, both of whom wished to control a small, barren moon. This dispute was settled when the moon was destroyed during an exchange of weapons on both sides.^[26]

After leaving X-Factor, Guido fell on hard times. With Lila nowhere to be found, and finding it difficult to find hero work as a mutant, Guido opted to join the Arena inTokyo, a mutant fight club. Guido did not fully understand what he was getting into, however, and found himself enslaved. WhenStorm andYukio came to investigate the club, Guido helped them bring it down together withCallisto.^[27]

X-Factor Investigations[]

Strong Guy moved toNew York City to become the enforcer for his friend Madrox's detective agency,X-Factor Investigations, thus rejoining many of his former teammates from the government-sponsored incarnation of X-Factor. The team included Wolfsbane,Rictor,Siryn,Layla Miller, andM.^[28]

Guido was assigned to protect a former employee ofSingularity Investigations,Henry Buchanan, who had proof of their illegal activities. However, Guido instead killed the man and then called Singularity CEODamian Tryp, revealing he was working as a mole inside X-Factor.^[6]

Guido tried to tell the team that the man had vanished on him but Wolfsbane smelled his blood on Guido's hands and a psychic scan by Monet revealed the truth. It seemed Guido had been subjected to hypnotic conditioning by Tryp to turn him into a mole (which explained his rougher attitude and some inconsistencies in his personality).^[29]

A visit with Henry's widow did not go as expected: instead of reacting angrily,Alix Buchanan understood the circumstances in which Guido had acted, and forgave him. They found solace together in their mutual grief from Henry's death.^[30]

Despite Monet's recurring undermining behavior towards Guido,^[31][32] and clear lack of interest in him,^[33][31][7] he developed feelings for her^[34] and, whenher father was kidnapped, he offered to help her, refusing any payment.^[35]

Using some old contacts, Guido got some intel about the kidnapping, and the pair headed to his last known location in South America. While approaching the destination, their plane was gunned down and they were separated. Strong Guy found himself in a small village, where he was told to look for a "Señora Piernas". He paid her a visit and the cartel leader sympathized with him, revealing that some terrorists had suspiciously settled on an abandoned temple not long before. Before leaving, he was offered two guides to take him there and was advised to share his feelings with Monet.^[34]

At the temple, he was attacked by the sorcererBaron Mordo, but after the arrival ofBolivar Trask's forces, they both had to retreat to the temple, where Guido was reunited with Monet and her father. He learned that Mordo had kidnapped Monet’s father to get bring Monet to him and absorb her life energy to cure his cancer. As the temple was about to be bombed by the forces outside, Monet agreed to help Mordo with his illness in exchange for teleporting them all back to New York.^[36]

After arriving, however, Monet tricked Mordo by using her telepathy, and he left thinking himself cured.^[37]

During a protest, Guido was shot byBallistique, who was trying to assassinateMayor J. Jonah Jameson, and his injuries were exacerbated when a Mandroid fell on him. As Monet flew him to the hospital, he professed his love for her. Unfortunately, his wound proved fatal, and he died in the hospital.^[38]

Heartbroken,Layla Miller used her reanimation powers to secretly bring him back to life, much to the astonishment of X-Factor andDoctor Castillo. In reality, she could bring people back, but not their souls, which led her to tearfully apologize and promise Guido she'd find a way to fix his situation, leaving Strong Guy as clueless as before.^[39][40]

King of Hell[]

Guido began acting more aggressively. Losing his soul made him increasingly callous and stripped him of much of his empathy and care for innocents. After a frustrating failed date with M, he quit X-Factor.^[41] He later returned, working forMephisto against the other Hell Lords,^[42] but, after Monet died, he betrayed everyone and murdered Wolfsbane's sonTier Sinclair in order to become the Supreme Hell Lord and have the power to revive her.^[5]

When theThunderbolts were accidentally stranded in Hell, they made a deal with Mephisto to get out in exchange for dethroning the "pretender," who was revealed to them to be Guido.^[43] Red Hulk fought against Guido and managed to convince Guido to abandon the position of Hell Lord and try to regain his lost soul, allowing Mephisto to regain the throne and let the Thunderbolts return to Earth. Red Hulk offered Guido the opportunity to return with them, but he preferred to stay until he could regain his soul.^[44]

Return to Earth[]

At some point Guido's soul was restored with help fromMagik.^[45] He returned to Earth, where he assisted the X-Men in their assault onNew Attilan,^[46] and later joined his fellow mutants - including former teammates Rictor andShatterstar - inNew Tian.^[47]

Together with Magik, Boom-Boom, Prodigy, and former teammates Rictor and Wolfsbane, he began working forKarma, who hired them to investigate paranormal activities and hunt for her brotherTran.^[48] Guido struggled with what he had done without his soul, especially murderingRahne's son. While Rahne initially wanted nothing to do with him, she eventually forgave him after he tearfully broke down upon seeing a vision of the murder.^[49]

Later, he and the New Mutants joinedCyclops and Wolverine to form the newest incarnation of the X-Men. When Cyclops and Wolverine raided a prison to free all of its mutant prisoners, dupes of Multiple Man blew up. Guido was able to protect everyone by absorbing the energy of the explosion, but the strain on his body proved fatal. He collapsed and died looking at Magik.^[10]

Krakoa[]

Kinetic Energy Absorption: Guido possesses a unique ability that allows him to absorb kinetic energy. This power manifests when he is straining/flexing his body as he takes damage, if the damage is sufficient, thus increasing his muscle mass. However, there is a limitation to this power as he can only retain the absorbed energy for a maximum of 90 seconds. If Guido exceeds this time limit, his body will remain in that strengthened size permanently, also most likely dying from a heart attack due to his weak heart. He offsets this risk by directing the acquired energy into his attacks, emanating vibrant waves of green energy from his fists. Each strike gradually reduces him back to normal size, yet amplifies his already formidable attacks as he does so. Notably, Guido faces a risky trade-off; while he can amass energy endlessly, the choice to unleash it all at once in a single devastating blow could be lethal for his opponents, overpowering even the most resilient foes with sheer force.

• Superhuman Strength: Guido possesses superhuman strength that varies depending upon the amount of kinetic energy his body absorbs. He possesses a base level of strength sufficient to lift approximately50 tons. However, he can channel the kinetic energy he absorbs to increase his strength and lift well above 100 tons.^[53] He has matched theThing blow for blow^[7] and has been able to go toe-to-toe againstRed Hulk and hold his own for a lengthy period of time before being ultimately overpowered.^[44]

• Superhuman Durability: The tissues of Strong Guy's body are considerably harder and more resistant to physical injury than those of an ordinary human.^[15][53] His durability allowed him to withstand multiple blows from the likes of theThing^[7] andRed Hulk^[44] with limited damage.

• Comedy: He is a multi-talented actor and stand-up comedian.^[53]
• Street Fighting: He is also a formidable hand-to-hand combatant, often using street fighting techniques that allow him to make full use of his strength.^[53]

• Guido describes himself as a "lapsed Catholic".^[30]
• Jamie Madrox claimed that Guido made 'really big hand gestures' when he lied.^[54]
• Guido is a lifelong Yankees fan and took offense toJamie Madrox giving him a Cubs hat.^[55]

• Fantasy
• Sci-fi
• Marvel