Chameleon/Reboot
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Contents
Biography
Drafted
Reep Daggle was one of the Durlan spiritual leaders, and as such was chosen as their representative in the Legion of Super-Heroes. Between prejudice against the shapeshifting, isolated Durlans and his initial (apparent) inability to speak Interlac, he suffered problems initially, especially with Leviathan, but later won the team over.
A close friend of Invisible Kid, he at first relied on Lyle as an interpreter. This proved difficult at times, such as when he was on a mission to pursue Tangleweb. With neither Lyle nor Saturn Girl around to translate, Chameleon was forced to use his shapeshifting skills to play charades and communicate to his fellow Legionnaires what the natives of the planet were saying about Tangleweb. Luckily, he was successful, and this caused the Legion to cease hostilities against the native spider-like sentients.
Orphaned
Unfortunately, tragedy struck soon after. It was revealed that Cham's bloodline of spiritual leaders had imprisoned a trio of Durlan "living weapons". These genetically engineered Durlans had the ability to copy not only the forms, but also the powers of the beings they morphed into. During the ceremony to keep these Durlans sealed, one of them was able to escape and proceeded to murder the rest of Cham's family, including his father.
The Durlan tracked Chameleon to Earth, and attacked Leviathan and Shvaughn Erin to lure Chameleon out. During the battle, the Durlan realized that he could use the Legionnaires' powers simultaneously, thus increasing his threat level. He took the name "Composite Man', and possessed the powers of Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, Spark, Apparition, Kinetix, Shrinking Violet, Leviathan, Brainiac 5, Invisible Kid and XS as well as the Durlan shapeshifting ability. He also managed to copy the Legion flight ring. Thankfully, Andromeda was able to get out of his range or he would have been nearly unstoppable. Chameleon acted as a decoy with XS to lure the Composite Man away, while Brainiac 5 and Invisible Kid used the formula Cham had given them to develop the mixture that would reduce the Composite Man to an inert state. However, a mistake in the translation (Durlans apparently count in Base 9, whereas most humanoids use Base 10) nearly proved fatal, until Saturn Girl conquered her fears and shut down the Composite Man's mind - at the cost of her own sanity.
Cham and Lyle then went to Durla to mourn, where Cham revealed that he would also become Durla's next spiritual leader. He would put this on hold, though, while he returned to his Legion duties, as breaking the draft would be a violation of the treaty between Durla and the United Planets.
The Sting
Chameleon would join Invisible Kid in forming the Legion Espionage Squad along with Apparition, Triad and Shrinking Violet. The Squad fought and captured a group of White Triangle terrorists and used mild psychological torture to get information from them. Cham had misgivings about working against his teammates at first, but Lyle convinced him and the others that they were needed. Even after Apparition's death at the hands of White Triangle Daxamites, the Squad's activities continued.
When President Chu tried to have the Fatal Five kill the Legion, Chameleon accompanied the Squad to Earth to stop her. They knew that Chu was behind the plan, but all evidence so far had pointed to Ambassador Winema Wazzo, so the Squad proceeded carefully. Cham masqueraded as Wazzo while Triad and Invisible Kid faked the three Legionnaires' deaths, allowing them to kidnap President Chu and Brainiac 5. Cham, as Wazzo, pretended to have orchestrated the brainwashing of Jan Arrah, the instigation of the Braal-Titan War, the faking of evidence pointing to the approach of a Sun-Eater, the formation of the Fatal Five and the attempts to kill the Legion.
During a mock struggle, Cham pretended to kill Brainiac 5, and then pretended to break down because she could no longer use Brainy's time technology to rescue Apparition from death. This caused Chu to think she had gained the upper hand, and she confronted "Wazzo" while confessing that she had been the one who had planned everything. This was caught on video and instantly relayed all throughout the United Planets. After Chu was arrested, Cham revealed that he had merely been pretending ignorance in Interlac to increase his effectiveness as a Squad member.
Crushes, Friendship and Duty
Chameleon had also developed a crush on Spark in the meantime, and Invisible Kid had been helping him by delivering gifts to Spark unnoticed. However, this caused Ayla to suspect that Lyle was her secret admirer, and it did not help that Lyle was caught in the act by Kinetix as he was delivering a gift to Ayla. Eventually, Lyle was forced to reveal the truth to a shocked Ayla, who at first refused to speak to either of them.
However, when Cham saved Ayla's life in battle, she warmed up to him and promised that they would talk. Unfortunately, Spark was among the Legionnaires stranded in the 20th century following an encounter with the Emerald Eye, thus delaying their talk.
In the meantime, Cham developed a friendship with new Legionnaire Sensor, as both had been feeling pressured by their duties to their people. Both longed to be allowed to stay with the Legion, as there were other suitable replacements: in Cham's case, other Acolytes could take over, while Sensor's brother was both willing and able to become king after her father would give up the throne. It did not help that Cham's people kept pressuring him to return home.
When Spark returned, Cham struggled with his feelings for her at first and was hesitant to approach her. However, it seemed that she did return his feelings, and they began a relationship of close friendship, flirting and going out on dates. On one such date, they went with Sensor to a nightclub, which shocked and angered Cham's fellow Durlans. They quickly recalled Cham to Durla, and Cham went along, apparently resigning from the Legion to do so.
The Dark Circle
Fortunately, it turned out that this was just a ruse so Cham could gather information. It seems that the Composite Man had escaped, and the Dark Circle, using the Affiliated Planets as a front, was using him and other Durlan criminals to fuel prejudice and fear towards the Durlans. The Composite Man even framed Chameleon for the murder of one of the Winathian presidents. The situation had gotten so bad that the United Planets had to blockade Durla from angry Winathians and AP ships.
Cham was fortunately able to learn the location of the last surviving Durlan living weapon, and rescued her. She took the name Leejah, and though she was rendered powerless by her imprisonment, she aided the Legionnaires with whatever information she could offer.
When the Dark Circle's leader ordered a full-scale attack on Durla; Cham, Sensor and Saturn Girl together rallied the Durlans to mobilize and attack the invaders as they made planetfall. However, the strain of using the Space Anomaly to teleport their ships caused the Anomaly to "break" and time to freeze, allowing the unfrozen Legionnaires the time to disarm and capture all the invaders.
Following this incident, Chameleon, Sensor and Saturn Girl were made special United Planets ambassadors for peace and diversity.
Damned
Chameleon would continue to serve with the Legion and deepen his relationship with Spark until the Blight came. Chameleon was the last remaining free legionnaire on Earth, and had just managed to stun his pursuers when he met up with Cosmic Boy, Brainiac 5, Apparition and Monstress. The five quickly planned to infiltrate the Stem, the Blight's headquarters. Imagine their surprise when they found XS and Saturn Girl escaping at the same time! The seven regrouped and, using the information that Saturn Girl had gained about the Blight's origins, developed a plan to kill the Doda Network so the Blight could not use it to travel between planets anymore.
Posing as one of the Blight, Cham allowed the team to ambush a Blight party and obtain a device which would allow them to mimic the Blight signature and travel through the Stem undetected. They were able to make it to the command center, but Saturn Girl stopped Cosmic Boy from killing the Doda. A shocked Cham was about to shoot her, when XS convinced him to trust her. It turned out XS was right, as Saturn Girl had seen a way to use the captured M'Onel's energy to trigger the Doda's blooming cycle and destroy the Blight in one stroke.
Lost
Cham's troubles were not yet over, though. He was one of the Legionnaires lost in the Rift, and ended up in the "Second Galaxy". During the journey, Chameleon was one of the more dependable Legionnaires. He led a team to disable the Progeny ship they were trapped on, and served as combat trainer for the entire team. He also encountered the Omniphagos, and was barely saved from it by Shikari and Umbra. Cham, Ultra Boy and Brainiac 5 also unravelled the illusion that was affecting Singularity.
Chameleon also developed close bonds with all his teammates, particularly Kid Quantum (Jazmin Cullen), Umbra, Shikari and Monstress. When Monstress was killed by Element Lad, an enraged Chameleon moved to attack him and was nearly killed when Jan began transmuting his blood into acid. Saturn Girl was able to save him, though, and Cham and the Legionnaires moved to escape through the quantum portal back home. However, at the last minute, Live Wire shocked Cham and Ultra Boy so they could not stop him, and he jumped ship to kill the Omniphagos and save his teammates, despite Cham's pleas.
Found
Chameleon remained with the team when they returned to Earth, and was part of the team that delayed Ra's al Ghul while the other Legionnaires allied with the Kwai. He also rekindled his relationship with Spark, and was the one who delivered the sad news of Garth's death. Cham would then help retrieve Warworld during the Robotican invasion.
Cham was handpicked by R.J. Brande, along with Gates, Kinetix and M'Onel, to serve as his escort while he was traveling in the Second Galaxy to forge a lasting alliance with them. Unfortunately, all but M'Onel were captured by the Credo, a militaristic organization led by the Singularity. The group was dedicated to wiping out all traces of the Progenitor's rule, which included slaughtering the Progeny and any who aided them. Luckily, Cham was rescued by the rest of the Legion and together they defeated the Credo.
Chameleon was also part of the team that was stranded in Metropolis when Canary used her power to shut down all technology. Despite being temporarily paralyzed on his right side and unable to shapeshift there, Cham led a group of cadets including Nightwind and Infectious Lass and was able to apprehend the terrorists Lantern and Arrow. After the crisis was over, Cham was healed and regained his full shapeshifting abilities.
Powers and abilities
Chameleon can alter his shape and size into any form. While he cannot mimic powers or skills as such (such as XS' speed, or be able to gain the ability to speak a language just by morphing), he can use physical attributes (e.g., if he shifts into a winged form, he can fly in an atmosphere). Chameleon has a high level of proficiency in the use of his powers, able to change forms at high speed. He can also alter only part of his body, as well as stretch himself.
Chameleon's antennae sense new objects and life forms, scan and "add" them to his store of mental "templates", which allow him to shapeshift with remarkable accuracy.
Personality
Chameleon has always been one of the friendliest and most caring Legionnaires. Although Leviathan was annoyed by his inability to speak Interlac at first, Cham kept pushing to become friends with him, even offering Gim a candy bar when they were trapped on Planet Hell - despite Gim having just yelled at him Legionnaires #22
Chameleon is one of the first Legionnaires to befriend new teammates, and emphatically defends his friends when insulted. He argued with Umbra when she insulted Monstress for breaking ranks and rescuing hostages Legion Lost v1 #2, he warned Alux Cuspin not to continue his attempts to murder Cosmic Boy Legionnaires #71, and he quickly reassured Shikari that she was not variant when she was dealing with the realization that Element Lad had created her species Legion Lost v1 #11.
However, Chameleon is far from naive. He cautioned Monstress against believing that Element Lad had nothing to do with the Progeny's genocidal acts Legion Lost v1 #11. He also knew that his Blighted pursuers were hoping that he could lead them to RJ Brande, so he avoided returning to their base Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #122.
Cham was at first shy around Spark, but later issues showed that he could be quite the ladies' man if he wanted Legionnaires #59, #66.
