Matthew Adam Herschz is the son of Daniel Herschz, nephew of Jacob Herschz. He was born to Daniel and his mother, Alicia, as an accident, actually. The two didn't want children this soon - Daniel actually not intending on ever having kids - and when she discovered she was pregnant, the two became upset and argued without end on what they should do. Dan insisted on not wanting to be a father, but Alicia was against abortions. So Dan left her. None of them have seen or heard from him since.
Luckily, Alicia knew Jacob and the two decided to keep each other company through the whole pregnancy - Jacob being very excited about being an uncle. However, during the process, the two fell in love. After many doctor visits and the like, the two began to question their unorthodox relationship; Alicia was, after all, carrying Jacob's brother's child. Then, they, too, began to fall apart...but before it reached a catastrophic level, they decided it'd be better for themselves, and for the baby, to stay friends.
After Matthew was born, Jacob agreed to help raise his nephew. Matthew grew up at the Institute, because of Jacob, who went on to become a teacher. Matthew's own mutant abilities activated when he was fourteen. He had seen a stray cat and stopped to pet it. Matt had just had a bad birthday, as usual, because every year he wishes he could have met, or had known, his father. So, wishing he could be like that cat, and have no human worries in the world, he suddenly found the cat living inside him. After focusing on this feeling, he transformed into that same cat.
HISTORY UPDATES -
~ Matt grew up around all the people at the Xavier Institute, his Uncle Jake having been a professor there. Matt has known Kara Grey nearly his whole life, and is best friends with her. The two would always get into some kind of trouble together while Kara's uncle, Gabriel Summers, always defended them against Jean. ~ When Matt developed his powers, he'd love spending time as a dog, how happy he was in that animal, and keeping Kara all kinds of doggy company. This earned him the endearing nickname of "Dogboy" from her, and it's stuck ever since. Others at the School know about this nickname too, and they will sometimes refer to him as Dogboy also. ~ Matt met and became close with a new student, Nirawan Sora, who was a sheltered girl from Egypt. Matt had some feelings for her, even after she accidentally turned him to stone with her powers. Though their relationship would never extend past a close friendship. ~ In a short span of time, Matt lost the only family he's ever known. Professor Laura Kinney, after some searching, had found his father's grave (he had never even met his father, but this did not change how he felt about hearing the news). His mother, Alicia, was killed in a car accident that Matt and his Uncle Jacob were a part of. Then, Matt decided to go to southern Germany for Christmas vacation with his Uncle and, while climbing in the Alps there, Jacob fell to his death. ~ Matt started noticing Kara more, and realizing how much he actually likes her, and his uncontrollable dirty thoughts startled Kara, and Matt acted too rashly, almost ruining their friendship. The despair of this coupled with the loss of everyone he loves so dear drove Matt to suicide, cutting his arms open with broken glass. Kara felt this and called upon the power of the Phoenix to enter the transitional phase between life and death to retrieve Matt's soul and bring him back to life. ~ After coming back, Matt decided to venture out and try to date other people, feeling Kara was slipping out of his reach. On a date with Jesse Demire (older in mind, but not in body), the theater they attended was attacked by armed robbers. Matt and Jesse acted, and Matt ended up being arrested for criminal battery. He spent two weeks in county jail for this. ~ Back at the Institute, he received a visit from Kara, who had left in order to keep away from the people she cared about so that Phoenix-hunters wouldn't bother the school. Matt learned that Kara was engaged to her boyfriend Donovan, which was a crushing blow. Kara also told Matt about a vision she had in which, in order to stop the out-of-control Phoenix Force entity, Matt and Donovan would be the ones to kill Kara. ~ Matt's mutant powers grew suddenly while talking to Jesse, and he learned that, along with the ability to copy the DNA of animals, he could also copy that of his fellow humans and mutants. And with copying the mutant's DNA, he took their powers as well, but could only use them while transformed into their physical self, as the power is part of their DNA. However, the more DNA he accidentally copied, the more his own body began changing to accomodate the different genes in the DNA he was absorbing. ~ Because of Kara's news, Matt slipped into a bad depression, and could think of nothing but that vision of Kara's, and started plotting ways to get around it, or prevent it. There's no way he would ever allow that vision to come true. He would never, ever kill Kara. After a heated argument with Jesse, Matt decided he was going to leave the Institute and go back home, to his mother's house in Queens, to get away from all the bad memories and hopefully the possibility that the vision would come true. ~ While staying at his mother's house, Matt was visited again by Kara, and the two talked and reconciled. Matt admitted that all he thinks about is Kara's vision, and they both agree to wipe the memory that it ever happened. Kara touches Matt and he instantly absorbs a copy of her DNA, and the Phoenix takes direct offense of this involuntary action and takes over just as Kara wipes the memory from Matt's mind. The Phoenix calls Matt a "thief" and forceably removes the other DNA copies Matt had gathered from his body before the X-Men can subdue her. Matt's mother's house is completely destroyed in the resulting fight. ~ Matt's attitude and behavior have drastically improved since Kara erased his memory, and he has begun enjoying life more. He decided to get back into soccer and also start gymnastics training, another activity that his uncle was involved in for a long time. Elise Drake agreed to train and teach him, but this has resulted in a sudden powerful sexual attraction between the two. ~ Eric Wagner was videotaping Matthew while he showered as a joke, but Matt hardly took it that way. After Eric expressed his concerns that Elise is bad for Matt, because of her apparent psychosis, Matt blew up and almost hurt Eric.
TIDBITS -
Matt was born and raised in New York, as his father and uncle. Interestingly, he inherited his uncle's heavy New York City accent, which his father did not have so much.
Matthew enjoys soccer very much and plays on the school team, coached by his uncle, Jacob. He would like to play professionally someday.
Matt's favorite animal is the panda bear. His favorite band is Thrice.
POWERS -
Animal morphism. Matt can take the form of any animal he has already touched. He can retain an infinite amount of animal "blueprints" within him, and can change from one to the next or back
instantaneously and without much effort. However, the first time he transforms into an animal is somewhat difficult - he must take it slow so as to understand the process and make sure everything goes alright. Once it's done, though, he has mastered the form. When he touches an animal to absorb its form, a soft blue light glows around whatever part of him is touching the animal, and little glowing particles flow between the two of them until the process is complete. While in the
animal's form, he has all of the abilities of said animal, and retains those while in that form. He can also stay in any animal form for as long as he wants without consequence.
Most recently, Matt's powers mutated further, and he can now include "humans" as part of the animal kingdom whose DNA blueprints he can copy into his own. Through skin-to-skin touch, Matt can download another person's DNA. If that person is a mutant, he also gains their mutant abilities, but he can only use them when he's in their form, as the powers are a part of their DNA, not his.
