Worm Wiki
Register
Advertisement

Alan Gramme, known to the public as Sphere, was a capable and benevolent tinker who dedicated his life to trying to solve the world's problems. He failed.

Personality

Mannequin appears to be an exceedingly intelligent and oddly playful individual. He toys with Armsmaster when he goes to 'recruit' him and purposefully brushes up against Skitter's insects several times to show her that he could get around the sensing part of her power. He injures Armsmaster just enough to make a point.

It should be noted that "like other serial killers, Mannequin favored certain types of people as victims. His prey of choice included rogues, those individuals seeking to make a profit from their abilities, especially those looking to better the world… and tinkers."[1]

He had something of a deathwish, which led him to attack powerful opponents.[2]

Although he was unable to speak, Mannequin had a variety of methods for communicating. He could spell out words, or use simple sign language. His teammates knew that when he drew an "x" over his mouth with one finger, it meant someone was lying.[3]

Abilities, Powers and Equipment

Sphere's ability is described as a "tinker who specialized in sustaining life, sheltering it from outside forces; forces that included water, weather, space… and bugs." After the death of his children and wife, he changed from trying to protect others and now "was using his power to help and protect himself and himself only."[4]

He specialized in large projects.[5]

History

Background

Born Alan Gramme, a man with a happy childhood and home life[6]. After triggering he became a tinker specializing in enclosed systems, this led him taking the pseudonym 'Sphere'. He gained fame and attention as his power allowed to take up "a project to build self sustaining biospheres on the moon."[1] It is stated that "he had ideas on solving world hunger, and building aquatic cities near cities plagued by overcrowding."[1] Sphere was attempting to get all of that off the ground when The Simurgh attacked the site he was living in.[7]

In the Simurgh attack, his wife and children were killed, and the years of work he'd done to help fix the problems of the world were ruined. Alan went mad and shut himself off from the world. Literally. Sphere withdrew, crafting a self-contained ecosystem in which he could survive indefinitely, untouchable, unreachable and safe. Sphere emerged under the new name of 'Mannequin'.

Story Start

He would become his own antithesis.

Timeskip

While secreted away in her lab Bonesaw would grow several clones of Gramme for the express purpose of remaking Mannequin. They had none of the originals memories, their personalities were expressly sculpted to recreate the monster that he became.

Trivia

  • Like Andrew Norton was not an intentional homage to emperor Nortan, Sphere was not given the first name of Alan as an intentional homage to the musician Alan Menkenany.[8]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Interlude 11d
  2. Comment by Wildbow on Spacebattles
  3. Snare 13.4
  4. Plague 12.6
  5. Bakuda is a chaos tinker. Somewhere in line with the field test tinker.
    Blasto is an Alchemist.
    Bonesaw likely started out as a Limit but breadth and depth factor in to branch her out considerably.
    Cask is magi, I guess. I kneejerked a 'no', but I suppose it fits.
    Chariot is closer to being a mover hyperspecialist.
    Jia is a simulation architect.
    Kid Win is closer to being a mastermind.
    Lab Rat is more a field test tinker (chaos), working his way to valid results by experimenting on others (and sometimes himself).
    Better to say Alan Gramme was an Architect, but a dramatic shift and change to becoming Mannequin made him a Combat Magi instead.
    Masamune - Resource
    Richter - Virus tinker
    Squealer - probably Hyperspec-Architect Obsessive.
    Stinger - Hyperspec (Rockets)
    String Theory - Doomsday Architect
    Tecton - Tectonic Templar

    Ogun - Chaos Tinker-Shaker
    Particulate - Disintegration/Dust hyperspec-binary.
    Trainwreck - Crude bodysuit/armor combat-resource tinker & case 53. - reddit comment by Wildbow.
  6. Interlude 25
  7. Comment by Wildbow on Reddit
  8. Comment by Wildbow on Interlude 12
Advertisement