Origin

Ward is a synthetic person whose objective is to research humanity to determine what a soul is so that it can be determined if synthetic people have or can get a soul. Ward makes friends with a trucker, John Cray, but this makes both of them a target for the Sapien League. When the league tracks and attacks them at a diner, the Soul Stone chooses Ward as its host and gives him the ability to defend himself.

Creation

Ward debuted in Avengers Annual #1 by writer Jed McKay and artist Travel Foreman. He created for the spinoff of the Infinity Wars event, which ended with Adam Warlock imbuing the Infinity Gems with the ability to choose their own destinies. He is one of the few hosts to not be introduced ahead of the Infinite Destinies event that would chronicle the Gems' new chosen ones.

Major Story Arcs

Infinite Destinies

Iron Man and Captain America were able to track the energy signature of "incarnations," when an Infinity Gem chooses a host, after each of them had separate run-ins with said hosts.

They responded to the attack on Ward at the diner but believed him to be the aggressor. Ward defended himself but ultimately negotiated for the safe passage of his friend, John Cray, which the Avengers obliged.

The Soul of Arthur Douglas

Multitude continued to travel the American Southwest search for a sense of humanity. He was eventually sought out by Mantis and Gamora of the Guardians of the Galaxy. They were hoping to access the Soul Stone and take back Drax's soul that was still trapped inside. They believed this would help their friend feel complete.

Multitude mistook them as a threat and called a number of soul constructs to fight them off. The soul of Arthur Douglas took this opportunity to connect with Multitude. "Jazz Man," as Multitude called him, assured Multitude that he is more than the sum of his parts and will continue to be so if he loses Arthur as one of the souls.

After this talk, Multitude handed Arthur's soul over willingly, however, Mantis still gave him a large chunk of mysterium as payment.

Infinity Watch

Multitude was uniting people with the souls of their lost loved ones as a carnival act on the Atlantic City Boardwalk. When he accidentally causes a riot among his customers, he is saved by Ms. Marvel, who gives him a pep talk on being a superhero. Looking to put her advice to good use, Multitude tried to strike out on his own but ran into Apex, a fellow stone bearer. Together, they felt their strength increase and sought out the other stone keepers together.

The two are drawn to Coney Island, where they cross paths with Spider-Boy fighting the Circus of Crime. Ward senses that Spider-Boy's soul is good so they join the fight. This proves to Colleen Wing (keeper of the Mind Stone) that they are heroes, so she reveals herself to them. The trio strategize their next move when they are approached by the remaining stone bearers.

They were confronted by Thor and Captain Marvel, who had been led to the meeting by Phil Coulson, recently resurrected by the Death Stone, the newly created seventh stone. In such close proximity to each other, their power got the attention of Thanos. He took out the stone keepers one by one, retrieving their power sources. Multitude was left vulnerable after being overwhelmed by Thanos soul and had his robot body crushed to pieces. Luckily, Overtime, keeper of the Time Stone, managed to trap Thanos in a time bubble, creating a paradox that would destroy the universe. In order to preserve it, Thanos was forced to give back the stones, while Overtime turned back time, resurrecting the stone bearers.

Together, they became the new Infinity Watch and teleported away.

Sticking Together

Since the current stone-bearers decided to stick together, Overtime designed a secret headquarters that Star willed into existence. A crisis alert sounded, sending the team to New York, where they came face to face with beings from another universe, called The Apeiron. They were stone-bearers from an alternate universe which have been travelling the multiverse stealing alternate infinity stones. The Watch learned this from Avery Zavala, a former stone-bearer from a universe already victimized by the Apeiron. After fighting off the Apeiron, Avery started to fight the Infinity Watch to steal their stones for himself. Once he had each stone installed on his special sword, Star grabbed the store and willed a new reality into existence. Ward was reimagined as a young human child whose mother was dating Overtime.

Character Profile

• Height: 5'1"
• Weight: 165 lbs
• Eye Color: Yellow
• Hair Color: None
• Citizenship: American
• Place of Birth: Unrevealed
• Marital Status: Single
• Occupation: Research drone; formerly, carnival performer
• Known Relatives: Unrevealed

Powers

Synthezoid: Possesses all the traits of synthezoid physiology, including the ability to fly

• Network: Can connect to any computer and download data directly to his brain.

Soul Stone: Ward appears to be the only host who can communicate directly with his stone and have the soul stone possess his body for its own purposes.

• Soul Constructs: The stone is made up of a legion of souls, which Ward can conjure as energy constructs. The more constructs he wills into existence, the less powerful they are individually. They are much more stronger when he concentrates on a single construct.
• Infinity Circuit: The closer he is to other Infinity Hosts, the stronger he becomes. "Powered by the user's mastery of reality. Can preserve the soul to allow for life after death"