Kenji Uedo

Kenji Uedo
Zero. Generation Hope #6 Art by Salva Espin
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Generation Hope #1 (January 2011)
Created by	Matt Fraction Kieron Gillen
In-story information
Alter ego	Kenji Uedo
Species	Human Mutant
Team affiliations	The Lights X-Men
Notable aliases	The Fifth Light, Zero
Abilities	Techno-Organic Creation and Manipulation

Zero (Kenji Uedo) is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Generation Hope #1, in the final chapter of the "Five Lights" storyline, and the first storyline of the Generation Hope book. He was created by Matt Fraction and Kieron Gillen, and is one of the "Five Lights"—a group of mutants who manifested their abilities after the events of "Second Coming".

Zero first appeared in Generation Hope as a newly manifested mutant with dark intentions and a dangerous power. Following his introduction, he, along with Hope Summers, Velocidad, Transonic, Oya, and Primal, began to feature in the series Generation Hope. He is the last of the Five Lights to join Hope's team, as the first storyline of the Generation Hope series involves the team getting his power under control. He continues to make appearances in Uncanny X-Men as well.

From his introduction, Zero has seemed more distant from Hope and all the other Lights. He is the first of the Lights to acknowledge that Hope has changed them, possibly not for the better, and his dark tendencies appear to be heading him down the path of villainy. He has talked about betraying Hope, and he has mentioned that he believes he would be a lot like Magneto and his Brotherhood or Quentin Quire if he weren't tied to Hope. Additionally, whether subconsciously or not, he has created messages in his room talking about how there is "No Hope" and "No Future."

Kenji Uedo is a successful nineteen-year-old artist from Tokyo, Japan when his powers first appear. Though originally Kenji just seems to be a messy introvert with hygiene issues, his powers quickly manifest into uncontrollable organic tendrils, which kill his assistant and start to wreak havoc in Tokyo. Soon afterward, Cyclops, Wolverine, Rogue, Hope, and the other Lights arrive in Japan to find Kenji's organic tendrils destroying the city. After Cyclops, Wolverine, and Rogue fail to contain Kenji, Hope heads into his lair to attempt to stabilize his powers, but Kenji attacks Hope by latching tendrils onto her head, which appears to cause an explosion that destroys most of Tokyo. However, this is an illusion, created on a telepathic plane by Kenji so he can live his fantasies. Hope mimics Kenji's power, and sees that Kenji has her pinned to a wall. Hope escapes, but is rendered unconscious by her powers; she is rescued by Velocidad before she falls to the ground.