“Evil is just so much more profitable than good—and more fun!”
Warp Darkmatter is a former Space Ranger who was secretly working as a double agent for the Evil Emperor Zurg for close to twenty years. After faking his death, he betrayed Star Command and went on to work for Zurg, acquiring the short-lived moniker "Agent Z" before he was discovered and opted to openly commit crimes under his actual name.
Warp is a blue humanoid alien who has periwinkle skin and navy hair that he keeps cropped short, flanked by sideburns.
In his Academy days, he had curly, afro-like hair and still had both arms.
He currently sports a chin-strip beard and he has sharp, squarish features. He is broad-shouldered and muscular, and is usually seen wearing body armor colored red and purple. After losing his right arm, he now possesses a cyber-biotic[1] arm with four claws that can morph into an array of weapons, including a flamethrower.
History
Early Life
Very little is known about Warp’s past, when he became a Junior Space Ranger, or when he signed up for the Space Ranger Academy.
Academy Years and Star Command
Warp was trained to be a Space Ranger at the academy alongside Buzz Lightyear, and the two developed a strong though competitive friendship. They worked well together and became a top-notch team as partners and friends. Secretly however, Warp had begun accepting bribes from Emperor Zurg to act as his double agent within Star Command, secretly acting against them for years.
One day, while searching a moon for three Little Green Men (LGMs) that had gone missing, they discovered a hidden base belonging to Zurg, who had kidnapped the LGMs. Buzz and Warp rescued the LGMs, but Zurg activated the base self-destruct sequence on his way out, and Warp ended up pinned under rubble caused by the fight. Buzz tried to free his friend, but Warp insisted that he leave him behind and get the LGMs to safety. Buzz refused, causing Warp to activate Buzz's rocket pack. It propelled him out just as the lair exploded, seemingly killing Warp.
As Agent Z
In truth, Warp was not killed in the explosion, as everyone had thought. Instead, Zurg took him back to Planet Z and had him rebuilt with cybernetic parts to become his new top henchman, dubbed "Agent Z".
He then sent Agent Z out to the home planet of the LGMs to steal the Uni-Mind, the mystical orb that links all the LGMs together. Buzz and his new robot partner XR arrived on the scene, but with Agent Z's knowledge of Buzz's fighting style and moves, he easily escaped with the Uni-Mind.
During the final battle to stop Zurg from using the Uni-Mind to control every mind in the galaxy, Warp revealed himself to Buzz, and also revealed how long he's been working for Zurg, and that once he learned of the Uni-Mind, he and Zurg set up the explosion to allow Warp to leave Star Command and come work for Zurg full time. However, Warp was surprised that Buzz formed Team Lightyear and they foiled his plot.
After Zurg was stopped, Warp escaped and has frequently clashed with Buzz and Star Command while completing missions for the evil emperor.
In Downloaded, Warp put the Galactic Alliance in complete chaos only for Team Lightyear to stop his plan. He was put in hot water with Zurg, only to find a reprieve when it turns out XR downloaded all the alliance's information. Warp kidnapped XR after getting him away from Rentwhistle Swack and taunted the angry robot on how his knowledge will greatly benefit Zurg who would find it interesting. After delivering XR, Warp stood by pleased while Zurg extracted info from the robot. When Team Lightyear arrived, he taunted them on their late arrival and had the Hornets attack.
Personality
From an early age, Warp was evidently the type of person to stoop to any means necessary to achieve his goals. He was not above cheating or stealing to get his way, but was not above giving into cowardice when the odds were against him.
He's somewhat picky about his appearance, and seems to prefer taking the easy way out of situations. He's also sarcastic and snide, ready to dish out opprobrious remarks when he's up for the task.
Abilities
Although originally possessing no powers or abilities beyond his peak physical condition, Warp Darkmatter's organic right arm has been replaced with a cybernetic attachment from the shoulder down. The appendage can transform for various needs such as a flamethrower, plasma cannon, or metallic claws. He can also shoot bombs from his shoulder.
"I figured I owed you one. Besides, it was either that, or being mashed by your flying debris, and that's just messy."
Trivia
Warp Darkmatter's Personnel File
Warp has received the following special commendations during his time at Star Command:
Order of Galactic Merit, 2nd Class.
The Bronze Cluster.
Warp is paid handsomely by Zurg for his services. He is affluent to the point he owns a whole Moon, as well as a summer asteroid in the Hampton's Ring.[2]
Warp's species is never identified throughout the series. It was revealed in “Devolutionaries" that Warp's species evolved similar to human beings, with his de-evolved state appearing brutish and caveman-ish.
Tad Stones originally wanted to create a sci-fi series called Warp Wilde, but the idea never got off the ground. Liking the name "Warp", Bob Schooley thought it sounded like a good name, and thus it was used to create the character of Warp Darkmatter.[3][4]
Warp is revealed to dislike Buzz’s signature catchphrase, "To infinity and beyond!".
