Rothko-Man Deconstructer's eyes make your things color

Rothko-Man Deconstructer

Ethical Stance: Villain

Skills and Abilities: Rothko-Man is a level 9 genius and polymath, and has a recorded IQ of 387. Due to an accident involving a secret experimental beverage developed by Seagram’s and Sons, Rothko-man developed the ability to take any object and reduce it to blocks of color with his eyes. Depending on the size of the object, this can be extremely draining for Rothko-man. When he traveled back in time to render the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Warsaw into an orange square on a blue background after stealing its copper, he was left in a coma for 3 days. Rothko-man is seemingly ageless; as his appearance and vigor has not changed since the accident in 1958. He is also a moderately skilled athlete and an above average hand-to-hand combatant. 

Weaknesses: Rothko-man is vulnerable to all things that would harm a normal human. In addition, aluminum foil renders him powerless.

Origin: Rothko-man Deconstructer, born Marcus Rothkowitz in 1903, was a Latvian-born American painter and printmaker before taking up a career as a secret super-villain in 1958. Tiring of the strain of wearing aging make-up and fat suits required to maintain his public persona, while pursuing his ambitions for world domination and the elimination of the world’s supply of aluminum foil at night, he faked his own death in 1970, hiding and spinning his webs of deceit in the underground chamber under the Rothko Chapel.

In 1958 Rothko received the commission for a series of paintings for the Park Avenue Seagram’s and Sons building. During a tour of the building, Rothko became bored and tried to sneak out for a smoke. Opening a door he thought led outside, Rothko accidently walked into a secret lab where the Seagram scientists were developing an early version of the Golden Wine Cooler, using uranium to accelerate the carbonation. The experimental and unstable drink exploded in his face, and the changes were immediate. The first signs were Rothko's continuous and deepening obsession with the writings of Nietzsche.

While working on the paintings for the Seagram’s commission, Rothko was at first frustrated, because he had decided that he wanted to create something that would disgust his hosts, but he could not think of what to paint. Rothko-man looked to the streets, and there he found his inspiration. He invited a homeless man into his studio and began thinking about how to depict him.  The deep concentration turned on a switch in his mind, and soon a flash of light shot out of his eyes. When he looked again, there were a couple of brown and red shapes on the canvas in front of him, and the homeless man was gone…as was the poor, sweet man that was once known as Marcus Rothkowitz.

Rothko-Man discovered that aluminum foil nullified his powers when he tried to ruin a Daughters of the American Revolution pot luck. Embarrassed, but filled with purpose, he hatched his plan to destroy the earth’s supply of aluminum foil...mostly by general criminal scheming, but also through a series of pasta-related restaurant chains (e.g., Buca di Beppo) he started using shadow corporations fronted by former disciples. Rothko also maintains a small supply foil in his lair, because he’s smart and he knows when he succeeds it will be more valuable than gold. When Roberto Devlin discovered the horrible truth of Rothko-Man's plot, he dedicated his heroic life to stopping this villain.

Associations and Relations: Rothko-Man Deconstructer was once part of a mysterious group know only as "the Ten." According to most sources, he ended his association with them in the mid-70s, because he said they liked the Beatles too much. He has made several attempts to train a protege by trying to recreate the Seagram's Golden Wine Cooler that gave him his powers. This is how Bruce Willis lost his hair (to this date Bruce Willis has not exhibited any powers resulting from these experiments) and how Simon Schama gained his confidence.

Enemies: Rothko-Man Deconstructer and Roberto Devlin: 5 Star Pasta Chef From The Future are locked in an epic battle over the world’s supply of aluminum foil.