Professor Mortum

_“ Isn't it remarkable? Not only have I cheated death, I have exceeded life! I AM ENDLESS!
—Mortum, Team Turbo Fusion-Tek

Professor Mortum
Character Information
Gender	Male
Alias	Mortum Master Mortum (by his nephew and his other assistant) Souless Monster (by his own nephew) Brainiac (by Alex) Morty (by Max)
Species	Human (formerly) Robot zombie
Age	Adult
Occupation	Scientist (formerly) Evil mastermind
Homeworld	Earth
Interests	Rule Earth by himself Reinvent the humanity Convert everyone into techno-zombies
Powers and abilities	Powered armor (formerly) Brainwaves absorption
Social Information
Family	Unnamed nephew
Allies	Robot zombie army
Enemies	Max Steel Jim McGrath La Fiera Tempestra C.Y.T.R.O. Jefferson Smith Katherine Ryan Molly McGrath N-Tek agents N-Tek soldiers Commander Kilgore Commander Kilgore's army
Production Information
First appearance	Team Turbo
Latest appearance	Team Turbo Fusion-Tek Turbo-Warriors (cameo)
Voiced by	Scott McNeil

Professor Mortum is the main antagonist of both Team Turbo and Team Turbo Fusion-Tek. A megalomaniacal and cruel villain, he sought the revolutionary Connect-Tek, created by Jim McGrath, to evolve himself and become a god-like being. After a clash with Max Steel and his Team Turbo, the device gets embedded on Mortum's skull, turning him into a robotic zombie. With the intent of turning into humanity's ultimate ruler, Mortum spreads his techno-virus across the Earth, turning regular humans into mindless robot zombies at his disposal, an event that he dubbed as the "Technopocalypse". Thanks to Max Steel and Team Turbo's efforts, Mortum's reign of terror is put to an end.

Mortum is voiced by Scott McNeil and debuted in Team Turbo.

History

Early life

Mortum was originally a ingenious scientist who used to have a close bond with his nephew. They worked on some of the top labs of the world. At some point, Mortum found out that there was a limitation to his genius: his own mortality, or in other words, the simple fact that he was a human.

Obsessed with the idea of surpassing this flaw, Mortum somehow heard tales about one of N-Tek's inventions, the Connect-Tek. Knowing about the device's ability of responding to the human imagination, he knew that it would be the key for his plan of evolving himself. He planned to directly connect the Connect-Tek into his brain to become virtually immortal, indestructible and with the ability everything that he could ever think of.

Animated Films

Team Turbo

Mortum hacks the N-Tek's Daedelus Platform, forcing the agents to escape. The villain teleports inside the ship, introduces himself and proudly states that was their villain on that morning. Jim commands the agents to attack, but Mortum's armor projects a shield around his body that repels their attacks. He releases a shockwave and proceeds to fight against Jim, who uses his Connect-Tek Sword to strike back. However, Mortum's powers allows him to easily surpass the hero. He temporarily knocks down Jim, and comments that once the Daedelus crashes and burns, N-Tek would have nothing else left to offer to Earth. He is then attacked by Jefferson, but he is quickly defeated. Jim gets up and attacks Mortum with the sword, but he breaks the weapon's blade and demands the Connect-Tek. Jim refuses to, and Mortum uses his powers to levitate the remaining agents from the ship and teleport them to his hideout.

Mortum making the deal with the villains

Mortum goes to his hideout where his assistants were waiting for him. With N-Tek's agents being kept as captives, Mortum contacts Toxzon, Extroyer and the Elementors in hopes of forming an alliance with them. Despite the villains' reluctance, Mortum reveals that he had the exact location of all of N-Tek's secret facilities at Copper Canyon, which were left unprotected. He demands from them the Connect-Tek in exchange for more N-Tek secrets, and they all agree to work for him.

The search for the Connect-Tek eventually culminates into a battle involving Max Steel, Team Turbo and Mortum's allies, with the heroes emerging victorious. While they are commemorating their victory, Mortum appears via a hologram and uses his powers to steal the device from their hands. Luckily, Max had inserted a fragment of the Connect-Tek sword, allowing them to track down his hideout. Mortum is commenting about his evil schemes to an unconscious Jim when Team Turbo invades his base. In order to distract them, Mortum implants bombs on Jim, Kat and Molly and escapes with the device. Shortly before escaping however, the Connect-Tek is damaged by Max.

Mortum perishes thanks to the Connect-Tek.

Mortum heads to deserted location where his assistants were waiting for him. He shows them the Connect-Tek, proudly stating that he had got it. One of his assistants point out that it was leaking, much to his anger. The device starts to overload and causes a massive explosion that kills Mortum.

Team Turbo Fusion-Tek

Mortum awakens from his slumber.

Mortum emerges from the ground as a nearly mindless beast muttering for brains. He spots a lost couple and goes after them. He shoots his hands at them and absorbs the brainwaves of a man, resulting him in turning into a mindless zombie. The woman tries to run away, but Mortum turns her into a zombie. He runs forward and sees Copper Canyon, yelling that he needed more brainwaves.

Mortum improving the Connect-Tek, his brain.

Mortum heads to his former hideout and wreaks havoc. He eventually finds his assistants and asks for their help, although they are unable to understand him. Annoyed, Mortum decides to turn one of them into a zombie to reinvigorate himself. He proceeds to look at himself at a mirror to analyze his new techno-zombotic form, and reveals his intent of creating an army to bring him more brainwaves.

Mortum after reuniting himself and transforming into Turbo Trap Mode.

Mortum's techno-virus quickly spread among Copper Canyon's citizens. At his base, the villain feasts at brainwaves that his army had gathered, commenting that the human mind tasted good. He then attacks his own nephew, referring to him as a "dessert". However, Max and his team intervene. Tempestra electrocutes him with his lash, La Fiera slashes him with his claws and C.Y.T.R.O. vaporizes him with a potent energy ray. Shocked, Max asks himself what they just had faced, and Mortum's nephew explains to them that it was his uncle. After the man mentions the Connect-Tek, Steel realizes that due to the device's reconfiguration nature, Mortum was supposed to be indestructible. Mortum recreates himself, turning into a humanoid centipede-like aberration. La Fiera tackles at him and dismembers him, but he quickly recreate his lost limbs. He pounces at them and is attacked by a lightning spear by Tempestra. He attacks her and hides himself at the shadows. He quickly reemerges and drags Tempestra with him. C.Y.T.R.O. attempts to help, but is stopped. Max and La Fiera attempt to take down the villain, but they ultimately fail. With the heroes defeat, Mortum proceeds to feast on their brainwaves, but is ultimately stopped thanks to the Brain Shields -- a device developed by Steel. He spots the alien creature, and decides to capture him to analyze him. He then destroys the pillars of his base, causing the place to colapse.

Mortum heads to the mountains along with his army of robot zombies. He spots the nation's militarily forces flying over the city and claims that their efforts were useless, stating that Copper Canyon was just the beginning. He proceeds to create a massive base to operate on, claiming that he was going to build the future there. A pair of his zombies bring Steel to him, who jokes about putting a plaque at the place. Mortum rebuffs, claiming that he was joking because he was afraid just like all other people "shivering in the darkness". His monologue is interrupted due to his faulty techno-zombotic form. He reveals that his new body couldn't contain all the brainwaves that he had consumed, but that he would fix that by finding the solution at Steel via dissecation.

Mortum dissects Steel.

Mortum is amazed by Steel's alien technology. After Steel makes another joke, he removes the Ultralink's Humor Syntax Chip. He then finds his memory files and comments that they should be deleted, as Max nor his team were alive anymore. Mortum laughs at him, and sends out his army to kill them. He then goes back to dissecting Steel and finally finds the solution to his problems: the T.U.R.B.O. Energy Bank. Based on it, he proceeds to create a "Brain Bank" to store limitless amounts of brain energy. As his plans advances, he claims that no one could stop him.

Mortum versus Max and his Team Turbo

Hours later, Max, La Fiera, Tempestra and C.Y.T.R.O. invade Mortum's temple to search for Steel, which leads to a confrontation against the villain. Max commands his team to attack him, but they are easily outpowered by Mortum as while he dissected Steel, he had learned all about their abilities, battle techniques and even C.Y.T.R.O.'s deactivation code. After the robot is taken down, Mortum traps La Fiera and Tempestra and attempts to consume their brainwaves, but fails thanks to their Brain Shields. However, he easily destroys them as he discovered how fragile they were during Steel's dissection. Max attempts to save his friends, but is ultimately trapped in the ground by Mortum.

Mortum creates a giant dome-like shield to protect him and Max.

With Team Turbo immobilized, Mortum reveals his motives, stating that the world was living in constant conflict and havoc and that he would save them by turning them into mindless servants and becoming their one ultimate overlord. He releases a massive energy wave that covers the entire Earth, resulting in everyone turning into robot zombies. With Team Turbo dragged to the ground, Mortum tells Max that he had triumphed. A military plane drops a bomb at the temple, but Mortum creates a giant dome-like shield to protect him. With Mortum distracted, Max managed to escape and takes Steel with him.

Mortum and Max's team, now under his control

After containing the explosion, Mortum spots the plane and shoots an energy blast from his body at the vehicle, causing it the explode. Mortum turns around and realizes that Max had escaped alongside Steel. He commands Alex, Rayne and C.Y.T.R.O., who now were under his control, to rise and hunt down Max so he could join him, whatever he wanted it or not. As Team Turbo repeated Mortum's speech, he laughed maniacally.

With the use of his T.U.R.B.O. energy, Max manages to cure his friends and they head to Mortum's temple to stop him. Meanwhile, Mortum was going through "The Great Feeding", in which he was absorbing brainwaves from everyone on the world. However, Team Turbo intervene, ultimately causing a massive explosion that destroy his body. He regenerates himself however, and turns into a massive four-legged creature made out of zombies. Mortum then claims that the Technopocalypse had arrived and commands Team Turbo to submit to him, but Max humorously refuses to. He easily overpowers the heroes with his new form, but is temporarily incapacitated after the energy sphere on his abdomen is hit by T.U.R.B.O. energy. Realizing that it was his weak spot, Max and his team focus on attacking it, but they are easily stopped. After Rayne realizes that their mental link allowed them to share powers with Max, he creates a new Turbo Mode to fight equally with Mortum. He is ultimately stopped after his weak spot is impaled with the Connect-Tek sword, causing his Brain Bank to be exposed. Max shoots a T.U.R.B.O. energy burst at the device, destroying it and reverting the robot zombies to regular humans. Depowered, Mortum ultimately perishes.

After the Technopocalypse

According to the series' official website, Mortum "keeps finding ways to come back", and in one occasion has returned as a bat-winged humanoid monster. However, it is unknown if this is canon.

In Turbo-Warriors, the breastplate of Mortum's Turbo Ultimate Mode and the Connect-Tek are spotted at Team Turbo's base.

Abilities

• Superhuman Strength: Mortum is stronger than an average individual. His forms used throughout Team Turbo Fusion-Tek give him varying levels of strength. His first humanoid form was the weakest, while his centipede and four-legged crab-like forms were the strongest.
• Superhuman Durability: Mortum's body is highly durable and capable of resisting powerful blows from Max's team.
• Brainwaves Absorption: Mortum is capable of absorbing humans' (and non-living beings such as robots) brain energy to empower himself. The more brainwaves he consume, the stronger he gets.
• Connect-Tek Power: Since the Connect-Tek is embedded within him, Mortum can create anything that comes on his mind, making him an extremely dangerous villain. He used this power to recreate himself into a centipede-like abomination, create a massive temple within minutes and turn into a giant crab-like monster.
  • Regeneration/Immortality: The Connect-Tek gifted Mortum with immortality. If his body is destroyed in combat, he can quickly recreate himself into another form. This power also gave him the ability of regeneration. If a limb of his body is ripped apart, he can recreate it within seconds.
• Dome Creation: Mortum can create giant white-colored domes to protect himself like he did when Kilgore's soldiers dropped a bomb at his temple. He can also create small domes to trap his target, like when he created one to dissect and immobilize Steel. The giant-sized dome also requires large amounts of energy in order to be activated, as after Mortum used it, he was left exhausted.
• Energy Rays: Mortum can shoot energy rays from the polygon on his forehead. They were powerful enough to blow up a military plane.

Arsenal

• Advanced Technology: Mortum counts with advanced technology on his base and gear.
• Techno-Zombie Virus: After he became a robot zombie, Mortum gained the ability of absorbing the brainwaves of humans, causing them to transform into mindless, obedient robot zombies. The infected individuals can transform other healthy humans into zombies as well. It can transform living beings, such as humans and even non-human beings, such as C.Y.T.R.O., a robot.
• Connect-Tek: After the incident, the Connect-Tek became Mortum's brain. It is responsible for storing the brain energy that he consumes. Initially, his techno-zombotic form wasn't able to retain the power that he had consumed, but he later developed a Brain Bank based on Steel's alien technology that allowed him to store limitless quantities of brainwaves.
• Robot Zombies: Mortum utilized an army of hive-minded robot zombies. They were able to absorb the brainwaves of other humans and send them directly to Mortum.

Former

• Powered Armor: Mortum wore a full-body black armor which provided him superhuman conditions and other abilities. It was destroyed in Team Turbo during the Connect-Tek incident.
  • Transdimensional Energy Manipulation: Mortum's armor was powered by Transdimensional Energy. He could harness it on combat, such as releasing large shockwaves of energy or using it to teleport other living beings or objects to a specific location. The energy also allowed him to levitate his victims.
  • Teleportation: Mortum could teleport himself, others or specific objects into any location that he pleases to go. He could teleport from a very long distance, and he sometimes used it as a mean to escape.
  • Shield Generation: His armor features a white-colored shield that wraps around his body. It is activated whenever he is hit by someone or something. It is also stylized after human bones.
• Bombs: Mortum was equipped with floating black bombs that attached to a person's chest via suction cups.

Skills

• Genius Intellect: Mortum was described as a brilliant and intelligent scientist. This is proven by the creation of a powered armor capable of manipulating Transdimensional Energy, and when he dissected Steel, as he was capable of dismembering his alien body and did not damage him at all.
  • Hacking Skills: Mortum possesses a vast knowledge about technology. In Team Turbo, he was able to hack the systems of N-Tek's Daedelus platform, with Berto describing it as a "total system failure".
• Expert Tactician: With preparation, Mortum managed to attack and strike down the Daedelus platform only with his skills and technology -- a feat that none of the villains succeeded in doing. Also, he is one of the few (or perhaps the only) character(s) that knows about the secret bases of N-Tek spread around Copper Canyon, which offers quite an advantage to him, thus making Mortum a very unpredictable villain.
  • Top Secret Information: Mortum knows the location of all of N-Tek's bases spread across Copper Canyon, and learned everything about Max and his Team Turbo during Steel's dissection in Team Turbo Fusion-Tek.
• Skilled Fighter: As a human, Mortum surpassed Jim's moves with relative ease and knocked him down multiple times. In his first techno-zombotic form, he lacks this skill, but regains it in his second form, Turbo Trap Mode. During his fight against Max and his daggers, he easily blocked and dodged his attacks.

Weaknessess

• Brain Bank: Mortum's techno-zombotic form was initially heavily flawed due to the fact that it was unable to contain all the power that he consumed. This resulted in him malfunctioning and saying things too fast or stuttering to the point of no one being able to understand him. To solve this issue, he created the Brain Bank, which was based on Steel's alien technology. This device stored all the brainwaves that he had absorbed, and upon its destruction, it ultimately led to Mortum's downfall.
• Brainwaves Dependency: Mortum requires brain energy in order to properly function, and the more brainwaves he consume, the more he needs.
• T.U.R.B.O. Energy Vulnerability: Mortum's technology is vulnerable to a certain extent to Maxwell's T.U.R.B.O. Energy.

Etymology

In Latin, "Mortum" means "dead", making an allusion to his appearance. In his human form, he has pale skin and black circles around his eyes and his armor shield resembles a human skeleton.

Appearance

In his human form, Mortum was a tall and skinny adult man and wore a full-body armor. He had pale skin, short black hair and dark circles around his eyes. His armor is black, featuring shades of black and dark grey and white details. He wore a black coat on the top of his armor. When Mortum was hit by someone or something, a white glowing shield was generated around his body, partially covering his armor and head.

In his mutated form, Mortum is now made of black, deformed, irregular and dirty Connect-Tek polygons, with some having white or silver borders. Mortum is much skinnier and has the Connect-Tek exposed on the top of his head. He has a giant blue polygon on the center of his forehead, his face has older features and gains a bright shade of green. His teeth are now made out of metal and his lower jaw is made out of metal as well. It has eight stylized teeth sculpted on it and constantly bounces around or opens to a inhuman degree when he is absorbing brain enrgy or simply talking.

Personality

Mortum: "Ugh, why do you all resist? Look around this world. What do you see? People living in conflict, in chaos! I offer the better way" strength through unity. Strength through order. Mindless, obedient, to one ultimate overlord! I offer my way to the entire world!"

Prior to his state of insanity, Mortum was described as a "brilliant inventor, a genius" by his nephew. Unable to accept his own mortality, considering it nothing more than a limitation for his intellect, Mortum became obsessed with surpassing this weak point. This proves that Mortum was a perfectionist.

Mortum was initially shown as a intimidating, threatening, ambitious and calm individual, having a cold and smug demeanor when interacting with heroes or villains. While dealing with Max's rogues, he was extremely manipulative and persuasive while still showing a respectful side towards them. With his persuasion and the use of the right words to emphasize his plan, he managed to convince them to work for him, which at first, they were reluctant to do so. He told to Jim that he considered himself to be a man that got what he wanted, and once said that he hated heroes. In fights, he is cruel, merciless and often makes remarks about his enemies, such as when he was fighting against Jim and told him that his efforts were brilliant, but useless.

After his mutation, Mortum was initially shown to be a nearly mindless, savage beast. After he emerged from the ground, he appeared growling and snarling, and upon seeing a lost couple, he instinctually went after them to consume their brainwaves. He retains traces of his personality, but puts his mission of evolving himself and humanity above everything else, not caring if he has to hurt or even kill people in the process and does not show any remorse about his actions. Naturally, he lacks empathy and compassion, as he almost turned his own nephew (who claimed that he was his favorite) into a zombie and referred to his brainwaves as a "dessert". Mortum is also shown to have an extensive vocabulary, and quite frequently talks in third person.

Due to the fact that the Connect-Tek is now embedded on his skull, Mortum has a insatiable hunger for brain energy and requires them in order to properly function. His new gamma of powers allow him to control people and turn them into his puppets, which is exactly what he wanted. According to himself, humanity has fallen apart due to human empathy and individuality, and he wants to unite humankind by absorbing all minds into himself and put everyone under his control. This idea denotes his authoritarian and controlling traces. He considers his new form to be the perfect evolution as well.

Relationships

Nephew

Mortum used to work with his nephew before he went insane and according to him, he was his favorite.

Jim McGrath

Mortum first interacted with Jim during his invasion at the Daedelus. He later captured him and tortured him along with the rest of the N-Tek agents. After Mortum obtained the Connect-Tek, he stated that, even though Jim had created the device, he didn't had a vision of what he could do with it.

Maxwell McGrath

Max and Mortum are enemies.

Steel

Mortum realized that Steel existed in Team Turbo Fusion-Tek, after he created the Brain Shields for Team Turbo. Upon seeing him, he was fascinated by him and captured him so he could dissect him. During his dissection, Steel frequently made jokes, but Mortum ignored his banter, stating that he was only doing that because he was afraid just like all other people lost during the Technopocalypse.

Team Turbo

Mortum and Team Turbo are enemies. He learned about their secret identities, skills and abilities while dissecting Steel. He considers C.Y.T.R.O. as the team's pathetic little robot. Mortum later on brainwashes them into his "Heralds of the Apocalypse", and sends them out to kill Max Steel.

Quotes

• "Brilliant, but useless!" - Team Turbo
• "You invented the Connect-Tek, Jim McGrath, but you don't deserve it. You don't have vision. With Connect-Tek, I will remake the human animal, I will turn myself into a living weapon, I will make myself a GOD!" - Team Turbo
• "This device has both destroyed me and remade me. You see, the more brain energy I consume, the stronger I get! However, the stronger I get, the more brain energy I need to consume. More than I alone could ever hope to gather for myself! But! with a few minor adjustments, my new techno-zombotic form will allow me to extend my reach! Not only will I consume brains, I will transform humanity! From person to person, brain to brain! My horde will spread among the populous and their one, single-minded purpose. BRING ME MORE BRAINS!" - Team Turbo Fusion-Tek
• "What a feast ... Who knew the human mind would taste so good? And now my brain is once again brimming with brilliance, it's time for dessert." - Team Turbo Fusion-Tek
• "A new dawn rises. The dawn of Mortum. Human empathy. Human individuality. These are the flaws that have led to humanity's doom! Now there will be only Mortum. Max Steel, let the last thing you see with your mortal, obsolete eyes, be my final triumph!" - Team Turbo Fusion-Tek

Gallery

Professor Mortum's gallery can be seen here.

Trivia

• Mortum is voiced by Scott McNeil, who voiced Elementor, Bio-Constrictor and other minor characters in the classic Max Steel series. In the reboot, he voiced Klean Kal as well.
• Mortum's character is likely inspired by L'Étranger, a French mercenary from the classic Max Steel. L'Étranger was the first enemy that Max ever fought against, while Mortum was the first new enemy that an older Max fights against. In his human form, when Mortum was hit by someone or something, a white armor would be generated around his body, which had a mask with a striking resemblance of L'Étranger. Parallely, L'Étranger was half cyborg and human, while Mortum is half robot and zombie.
• He is the first villain whose mutation was caused by Maxwell McGrath.
• He is the first villain capable of transforming into Turbo Modes. However, he does not yell "Go Turbo ..." before transforming into his modes, even though that they work in a similar way as Max and his team's modes. He is also the third character in the show (the first being Extroyer and the second La Fiera) who has all of his transformations that are seen on the show based on animals.
• Mortum's flying hands might be a parody/reference of the Thing from The Addams Family.
• Mortum was the first human to die on screen and the first character to kill humans on screen.
• Mortum is the second villain in the series to know Max's secret identity, with the first being Makino. He is also the first to know about Team Turbo's secret identities.