Long before even concept of the metahuman was in the human consciousness, scientists of the Western world has been focused on creating enhanced individuals. The best example of this was the various incarnations of a drug that is known in the modern day as the Super Soldier Serum.
Its believed that the source of the serum the Wakandan plant known as the Heart-Shaped Herb, Altered by the unique properties of Vibranium, the Herb was a central part of a mystical ritual that imbues each Black Panther with augmented human abilities.
At some point, the Herbs were smuggled out of the African nation and made their way to England, where they were used in the experiments of Doctor Henry Jekyll and Professor Abednego Danner. These experiments with the serum did enhance the body but often caused physical and mental side-effects, such as the atavistic creation of Edward Hyde or the megalomaniacal behavior of "The Gladiator" Hugo Danner.
The greatest success with the Serum was seen by the scientists Abraham Erskine during World War Two. Originally working for the German Ubersoldaten program, Erskine defected to the Allies where he refined his formula in Project: Rebirth and created the first Captain America, Steve Rogers. The secret to the stabilization of the formula was with the exotic radiation he called Vita-Rays. Erskine kept the source of this radiation secret and the only known emitter was destroyed with his assassination.
With the loss of the source of Vita-Rays, successive experiments with the Super Soldier Serum proved unsuccessful. Subjects exposed to the serum continued to suffer physical and mental ailments which limited their usefulness on the battlefield. In fact, many of the issues would ultimately prove fatal.
Rebirth Scientist Rex Tyler would dilute the formula to create Miraclo pills. This drug granted the user the powers of the Super Soldier Serum without any side-effects but only for an hour at a time. Instead of turning over Miraclo to the government, Tyler would use the pills to become the super-hero known as Hourman.
After the war, experimentation with the Super Soldier Serum would continue, with Project: Rebirth's facilities being folded into Weapons Plus, a larger organization focused on metahuman research and exploitation. Work on a new Serum continued with Erskine's assistant Josef Reinstein with little success - all test subjects including "Captain America" William Burnside were driven insane.
Years later Mendel Stromm, a scientist working at Oscorp attempted to reformulate the Serum to negate the need of a stabilizing agent. He would test this on military volunteers, creating the future-mercenary Deathstroke the Terminator in the process. Stromm's boss Norman Osborne would also take the formula, becoming the villain Green Goblin. Like Reinstein's formula, Stromm's Serum had severe mental side-effects.
Doctor Bruce Banner theorized that other forms of radiation might be able to replace Vita-Radiation in stabilizing the formula in the user's body. Refusing to use unwitting or coerced test subjects, Banner insisted on testing his process on himself. Using Gamma Radiation on the Serum, Banner gained super-human abilities but was also grossly mutated in a manner similar to Mr. Hyde. Designated The Hulk, Weapons Plus would attempt to recreate the process to create weapons of mass destruction, creating the Abomination and Damage in the process.
Although no known projects using variants of the Super Soldier Serum are currently operating, it will continue to be an important tool for human enhancement for the foreseeable future.
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