Punch Up
Possesses the strength of ten men and half the height of one.
Battery, parole violation, public intoxication, second degree murder
Flyweight
BrawlerUnnamed mother
#deecd3Punch Up, real name Colm, is a supporting character in Dispatch and one of the two protagonists of the "Pas de Deux" comic. He is a reformed villain employed as a superhero by the Superhero Dispatch Network (SDN) under the Phoenix Program.
Biography
Background
Punch Up is a carnival strongman who made a deal with a sorceress. His muscles grew, but his body shrank, halving his height. At some point, he and Coupé dated. Though they eventually broke up, Punch Up and Coupé are still on good terms. According to Punch Up, he "didn't have a pot to piss in," with Coupé adding that "he had to borrow [hers]."
At some point, he entered the Phoenix Program.
Pas de Deux
As Coupé sneaks into Punch Up's apartment to assassinate him, she is surprised to find him in tears while watching Swan Lake on the television. Noticing her presence, Punch Up turns to face her and explains that he couldn't find the remote, but that it must have been fate, considering her ballerina-inspired outfit, which strikes a chord with the assassin. Deducing that she came to kill him, Punch Up warns that he is tougher than he looks. During the ensuing battle, Coupé finds herself aroused by the strongman and distracted by TV. The battle ends with Coupé shooting a flurry of knives at Punch Up, leaving him naked as he proclaims she is beautiful, and they engage in coitus.
Joining the Phoenix Program
Punch Up and Coupé dated for a while, but eventually broke up. Despite this, they remained close, with Coupé providing for the destitute Punch Up.
At some point, the pair signed up for the SDN's Phoenix Program and became part of the infamous Z-Team.
Pivot
Punch Up and Coupé are accompanying Flambae to Crypto Night as he confronts Robert Robertson, then going by his Mecha Man identity, who humiliates Flambae by either throwing water on him, thus causing him to slip and lose a tooth, or alcohol, causing him to panic as his hair is set on fire (although fire is not supposed to hurt him). Either way, Punch Up tries to help his friend to little effect, and the trio leaves the bar.
Onboard
During Robert's first session as the Z-Team's dispatcher, Punch Up recalls seeing him at the bar, but was unable to recognise that their new dispatcher and the hero were the same, erronously believing that he was drinking his sorrows away and describing him as a "robot guy without a robot," with Coupé adding that he humiliated Flambae, which the Z-Teamer denies having happened.
Turnover
Before the shift started, Punch Up and the rest of the Z-Team were informed by Blonde Blazer that the lowest performing member would be cut. During the shift, the Z-Teamers start sabotaging each other, with Punch Up's coffee being spiked with laxatives. Fed up with the team sabotaging each other, Robert recalls them back to base for an emergency meeting in the conference room.
During the meeting, Prism speaks up, accusing Robert and their past dispatchers of being at fault for their poor performance. As Robert asserts his authority over the team, Punch Up backs him up, calling Prism "Lady HaHa" and telling her to let him speak. Offended, Prism grabs one of Coupé knives and threatens Punch Up with it, though he brushes it off. Before the situation can escalate further, Robert gives a speech that convinces the team to work together, leading to a much smoother second half of their shift.
Nearing the end of the shift, Punch Up and the Z-Team overhear Robert and Invisigal talk about her insecurities and catch Lightningstruck as he accidentally broadcasts their conversation to the entire branch, and celebrate her success as she returns to the office, taking a picture of her with Malevola, Prism, and Flambae.
Restructure
If Sonar was cut, Punch Up, and Flambae are present to see Malevola pull a prank on Robert by playing loud screeching noises on his computer and laughing at his expense as revenge for cutting her friend. If Coupé was cut instead, it is Punch Up who pulls the prank by playing porn pop-ups as revenge for having his ex cut from the Phoenix Program.
If Coupé was cut, Punch Up refuses to be dispatched to a call with Sonar. After the team complains about cutting Coupé making the shift harder, Punch Up leaves mid shift to check on her when it is revealed that her former assassin organization is planning to kill her. If Sonar was cut, Malevola leaves out of spite instead. Either way, the rest of the Z-Team struggles to complete their duties.
The next day, the cut hero is replaced with either Phenomaman or Waterboy, who, respectively, prove difficult to work with due to their depression and hazardous power.
Team Building
At the end of the workday, the Z-Team decides to go to The Sardine for drinks and invites Robert to come with. At the counter, Malevola, Punch Up, and Prism have Robert pay for their drinks before Punch Up settles at a table to chat with another patron. Eventually, a bar fight breaks out between the Z-Team and the other patrons, who reveal themselves to be part of the Red Ring. During the fight, Punch Up uses his small size to his advantage, punching multiple goons in the genitals. He is then restrained by the Stretchy Goon, but swiftly breaks free and knocks him to the ground before elbow dropping him. Jumping through one of Malevola's portals, he restrains one of Armstrong's mechanical arms, allowing Robert and Invisigal to break his biological ones.
The battle won, the team goes to FuGo for Mexican food, where Robert's old superhero identity comes up. Regardless of whether he reveals his old identity, the team exchanges their real names: Punch Up reveals his is Colm, and they spend the rest of the night talking with each other.
Moving Parts
If Robert revealed his identity as Mecha Man to the Z-Team, Punch Up and the rest of the team attend the latest Proto Pulse test to confirm his identity as part of the bet they have. As the Proto Pulse starts to malfunction, Punch up helplessly watches as the Mecha Man suit explodes with Robert inside. Though Robert thankfully survives and lands in the infirmary. If Robert kept his identity a secret, Punch Up and the team are ignorant of the incident.
Regardless, the team buys Robert an expensive bottle of vodka as a 'get-better' gift and is invited by Invisigal to have a housewarming party at the dispatcher's apartment to find a way to track the Astral Pulse down, as it has been recently discovered to be intact. With Robert indisposed, Blonde Blazer took over his post for the day and proves herself to be a rather rusty dispatcher. Fortunately, Robert recovers swiftly and reassumes his dispatching duties. At the end of the shift, the team makes plans to travel to Robert's apartment.
Punch Up arrives at the party with Coupé/Sonar and is later seen dancing with Malevola. He and the rest of the team would bear witness to Invisigal and Chase's argument over whether to storm the warehouse where the Astral Pulse is being kept or not, which swiftly turns personal as Chase lets it slip that Robert used to be Mecha Man. The argument ends with Invisigal punching Chase and storming off, after which the Z-Team is told by Blazer to leave and keep quiet over what happened.
Retrospective
Following the housewarming party, Invisigal disobeyed Blond Blazer's orders and assaulted the warehouse on her own. Although she was successful in retrieving the Astral Pulse with Robert’s reluctant aid, she was ambushed by Shroud soon after, who seemingly left with the pulse. This forced Chase to use his superhuman speed to rescue her, and he fell into a coma afterward because of his accelerated aging. As punishment, Invisigal was suspended from the Z-Team until further investigation.
This hit the Z-Team hard, who decide to hold a meeting regarding Invisigal's membership. At the start of the shift, Punch Up tries to distract himself by working out.
During the meeting, Punch Up gets heated toward Golem, who opposes cutting Invisigal and kicks him out of the boardroom. Seeing happening on his way out of the office, Robert enters to investigate, and the team explains that they nearly unanimously voted to cut Invisigal and demand that Robert back their decision. If Robert defends Invisigal and refuses to cut her, Punch Up suffers a morale drop. Regardless, the heroes soon spot the door swinging open and shut, revealing that Invisigal was using her powers to spy on the group as they are holding their meeting. Worried, Robert follows her.
Personality
Punch Up is a charming, if dimwitted man. He’s implied to be aware of his unintelligence, proudly remarking that he ‘knew how to use his head’ if he fails a mission. He’s not above laughing at himself, saying he’ll get to the site as fast as his ‘legs can get [him].’ He also asks the other heroes if 'cauliflower ear is an STD.'
He has a bloodthirsty side, lamenting that he hasn’t fought anyone the entire day, and is dismayed when he notes that he can’t punch a kid if dispatched on a call for one. When recalling a familiar street he used to fight in, he reminisces that he 'used to punch bums' there and sadly wonders if the best days are behind him.
He’s implied to be an alcoholic, asking anyone for a ‘pint on the road’ if dispatched, and celebrating a successful mission by offering to cover the first round of drinks.
Appearance
He has black hair and a large mustache, fitting the look of a traditional strongman or carnival performer. During work he uses a button-up green shirt, with brown suspenders and pants.
Powers
Default
Hard Head: Punch Up doesn’t receive any debuffs from injuries. He cannot be downed.
Hero Training
Squeeze In: On a call with <4 slots, Punch Up creates a slot exclusively for him to join.
Harder Head: While Punch Up is injured, he receives +2 Combat, +2 Vigor, and reduces rest time.
Abilities
- Pictokinesis: Punch Up possesses the ability to change his own density at will (since his volume remains a constant, this means he is changing his mass at will). During the final battle with Shroud's octomech, Punch Up used this ability to let himself be thrown as a projectile and bounce between its legs before launching himself above the mech and increasing his weight to perform a 'ground pound' attack.
- Barring further evidence, this makes Punch Up far and away either the most powerful or second most powerful (depending on how exactly Phenomaman works) hero we see on Z Team. For example, just as Waterboy would be significantly better than Flambae at powering the Hoover Dam, Punch Up would have an even easier time: all he'd have to do is sit on a giant spring and dial his mass up and down.
- Superhuman strength: Punch Up is strong enough to restrain one of Armstrong's mechanical arms and hurt Toxic.
- Superhuman durability: Besides superhuman strength, Punch Up is superhumanly durable as well, able to grab Toxic's acid-covered body without suffering any injuries. This durability comes with a healing factor, with Punch Up healing from a minor stab wound within seconds. His resistance to piercing attacks has been portrayed somewhat inconsistently, as Coupé's umbrakinetic knives failed to pierce his skin in "Pas de Deux," while a regular glass shard wounded him in Episode 7. No explanation has been given, but since we know he's pictokinetic, it would make plausible sense if his durability scaled with his mass, in the same way the Dispatch universe's other heroes have durability that scales with their powers, like speedsters becoming more durable the faster they go in order to survive moving that quickly.
- Insensitivity to Pain: A disability rather than an ability per se, Punch Up does not feel pain. He once failed to notice that a glass shard was stuck in his arm until Malevola pointed it out to him. The exact nature of his disorder has not been explored, so it's not clear exactly how bad this is for him, but an inability to feel pain is bound to be extremely bad for anyone who engages in physical violence as much as Punch Up does.
Relationships
Robert Robertson (Mecha Man)
Dispatcher and hero. Punch Up has relative faith in Rob’s dispatching skills, betting he would quit Wednesday to the others’ earlier days- including Golem, who bets on the same day he started (Friday).
As Mecha Man, he thinks he’s a ‘washed up robot boy without his robot, drinking alone.’
Coupé
Friends, co-heroes, and former lovers. Punch Up is respectful towards her, though isn’t above making lighthearted jabs at her expense: asking if she got scarier when dispatched together and having teased her before for her mishaps.
In return, Coupé is gentle and open with him, calling him ‘gentlemanly’ and responding to his quips with her own. She playfully warns him not to fall behind when dispatched together, with him responding to an affirmative.
The two are comfortable with teasing the other for their failures. Punch Up warns Robert not to tell Coupé about a mission he failed, saying ‘[he’d] never live it down.’ Similarly, Coupé is dismayed at the thought of him knowing about her own failures, saying ‘he’ll tease [her] for weeks.’
According to the comics, when they first met, Coupé was sent to assassinate Punch Up but failed due to his invulnerability to knives and that he was watching Swan Lake. During their brief introduction and fight with each other, they quickly became enamored with each other and had intercourse, possibly having thought that it was fate for them both to met at such a night when Coupé was sent to kill Punch Up and he coincidentally was watching Swan Lake due to loosing the remote.
Flambae
Co-heroes. Punch Up is amused by Flambae’s loss against Robert, and brings it up to taunt him, much to his chagrin.
Trivia
- He's not fond of museums, citing that there's 'too much shushing.'
- His old doctor is a veterinarian. Punch Up claims he has the 'physiognomy of a pygmy hippo,' which allowed him to be seen by them, saying '[we] made a fine pair.'
- He isn't fond of their old commute, calling it 'shite.'
- Seán McLoughlin remarks that he has given Punch Up a Dublin accent to avoid a stereotypical Irish accent.
- Both McLoughlin and Punch Up share the same place of birth in Galway, Ireland.
Gallery
Key art
Max Synergy with Coupé
Max Synergy with Waterboy (If Coupé was cut from the team)
Max Synergy with Phenomaman (If Coupé was cut from the team)
Injured
Punch Up in Pas de Deux
