Origin

The character now known as Madcap was once a normal guy. He did normal things. He had a normal job. He had normal friends. He had a normal family. One day he, his parents and his sister Katy went on a trip organised by his church group. They were on a field trip to Bear Mountain when a tanker truck collided with them unexpectedly. He was thrown clear of the bus and landed in a chemical puddle consisting of Compound X07 which apparently included enzymes to incite a rapid healing in human bodies. The accident killed all of the people in the bus, except for the man who would become Madcap. This man laid unconscious for hours on a pool of X07, which would eventually evaporate. Madcap was taken to a hospital to recover but when he discovered that all the other 42 members on the bus, including his kid sister and parents, died that day and he was the sole survivor and his faith in a rational universe collapsed.

He ran away from the hospital and threw himself to a car trying to commit suicide, to his surprise, he was unharmed and felt no pain at all. He correctly suspected that the accident had given him this immunity to damage. This drove him completely mad, he searched for a reason why he had benefited from the accident when everyone else had died.

Finally, he decided that things happen without a reason, and that nothing has a purpose. He soon discovered his other power, which allowed him to drive people crazy. He bought a bubble gun in a general store and stole a harlequin costume. He called himself the Madcap and wandered through New York City driving people crazy. He had no compunction about putting people in danger: As he could not be hurt, he could not understand that other people could be hurt.

Creation

Madcap was created by Mark Gruenwald and first appeared in Captain America #307.

Character Evolution

Madcap's first recorded adventure in the streets of New York allowed him to cause a major public disturbance with on-lookers injured. He tangled with Nomad (Jack Monroe) but escaped. Disappointed with his failure in his first solo encounter with a costumed villain, Nomad was able to track Madcap down, befriend him and eventually capture him.

He once was asked by the Impossible Woman to help make her daughter Impia act more like they do. He used his power to cause Quasar to become reckless and absurd, endangering people in the city. He was eventually brought to his senses by Impia and Madcap slipped into the sewer and escaped.

After fighting with Captain America and Daredevil a few times, Madcap soon began facing off against Ghost Rider regularly.

Major Story Arcs

Heaven's On Fire

He also got into a fight with Ghost Rider and was so what evenly matched until Ghost Rider gave him the penance stare But he survived. He is now working alongside Blackout and other villains in a mission to kill Ghost Rider.

A Council Of Masters

Max Fury, the leader of the Shadow Council has assembled a new Masters of Evil in the sovereign nation of Bagalia where Madcap is presently a member. Madcap is present when Max Fury and the Masters of Evil capture John Steele after he attempts to escape Bagalia with the Serpent Crown and the Crown of Thorns.

Deadpool Merger

Right before the secret invasion of Skrulls, Madcap came across Deadpool on the roofs of New York City. He decided to annoy the mercenary, eventually getting the attention of Thor, who fried both of them with lightning, reducing them to a pile of ash. Since both of them had highly advanced healing factors, they managed to regrow from the pile of ash but as one person. Madcap was stuck as an additional inner monologue of Wade’s through Dark Reign and his tenure on X-Force.

After all that, Deadpool would find himself on that same rooftop getting the attention of Thor. And now Luke Cage. Madcap’s voice was getting louder and more intrusive, so Wade convinced the two heavy hitters to play tug of war with his body, splitting him in two halves. Deadpool managed to grow from one half, while Madcap grew from the other.

Merc for Money

When the mercenary known as Solo used the identity of Deadpool (and made it popular), it got Deadpool thinking to start his own team of Deadpools. Hoping to increase his popularity by being in more than one place, Deadpool gathered a group of questionable anti-heroes to work with. This did not originally include Madcap, however, he showed up and wouldn’t leave. Unfortunately, they barely made any money since Deadpool was funneling any of the little money they paid to the Avengers Unity Squad, which he was pulling double duty on. Captain America, who was leading the Unity Squad, had a member of the Mercs for Money, Stingray, reporting to him about the team.

Stingray was specifically suspicious of Madcap who often missed meetings and botched missions. He had good reason too. Being trapped in Wade’s mind has driven Madcap even madder than he was. He had been stalking Deadpool and sabotaging the Mercs. Madcap intended to ruin Deadpool’s recent popularity and make people scared of him again. As soon as he knew Deadpool was on to him, Madcap passed out Deadpool masks and drove them mad with his bubbles, causing chaos.

Deadpool sent the Mercs to pacify the rioters, while the Unity Squad were assigned to protect Wade’s loved ones before they could be dragged in. This left Madcap all to Deadpool. During the fight, Deadpool ripped off Madcap’s mask, revealing a lumpy, scarred face that he blames Wade for. While fighting, Deadpool was rescued by the Mercs who showed up one by one to dice a piece off of Madcap. Madcap eventually swiped a Chitauri weapon Deadpool carries to destroy himself at a molecular level just to see if he could still heal from it.

Tumor

Reconstituting himself from microscopic particles was harder than he thought. Madcap was forced to find a host body not unlike when he was merged with Deadpool. He chose Bob, agent of Hydra and friend of Deadpool. After failing to frame Deadpool for the assassination of an ambassador, he prepared for Deadpool to track him down. He managed to get his hands on a virus that could hurt Wade. He mind-controlled the staff of the Central Park Zoo to gang up on Wade and expose him to the virus, causing Deadpool to start bleeding from his eyes and mouth. Madcap would watch him die and then leave.

This wasn’t Madcap’s master plan though. He knew Wade would eventually beat the virus but would turn him into a carrier and thus expose those he loved most, especially his daughter, Ellie, and most of her adoptive family. Madcap was tracked down at an abandoned factory where Wade taunted him with documents related to his origin story that revealed the life Madcap thought he had wasn’t what he remembered. That being trapped in Wade’s mind wasn’t what broke him, that he was always kind of broken.

Angry, Madcap jumped from Bob’s midsection and attacked Wade, knocking him off a factory catwalk. As he hit the floor below, Deadpool severed his spine and couldn’t give chase, allowing Madcap to run away. In secret, he continued to play pranks on Deadpool from afar while he regrew his body.

One World Under Doom

Madcap was invited to a version of the Masters of Evil by The Mad Thinker. Thinker didn't trust Doctor Doom's reign and believed if Doom was good, than they could be evil. Madcap agreed for seemingly no reason at all. Together, they invaded the Impossible City, the Avengers' new space station, and took over its operating systems. They planned on dropping the Ashen Combine prisoners like a nuclear weapon on the city of New York, however, Madcap was the first to notice that Avenger, Sam Wilson, was on board and secretly plotting to fight back. Madcap confronted him but was beheaded by Sam's shield. Sam decided to hang on to his head, which he used to drive Mister Hyde mad before it was shot out of his hands by Exterminatrix.

Powers

Madcap heals at top speed and recovers his vitality and stamina quickly. He cannot be killed or even stunned, only feels pain under certain conditions and heals from any injury immediately.

Madcap has a specialized form of mind control that makes targets behave as if they were happily crazy for a few minutes - which can lead them to dangerous situations. Even if the target resists, he is still affected and cannot perform at his usual level. To use this power he needs to make eye contact with people for this to have an effect, so he dress in bright clothing to draw the attention of others. He also uses a "fun gun" which is a child's bubble gun to help draw attention to himself.