Kevin O'Brien was born in Chicago. He became an engineer and inventor working for the newly opened Lakani Island plant of Stark Industries who came to the attention of Tony Stark when he invented a stun-ray that managed to harmlessly disperse a crowd of violent protestors. Tony invited Kevin to transfer to the main plant on Long Island, and he accepted. Despite a careless streak that once caused the laboratory he was working in to explode, he became a close friend of Tony and was soon appointed head of Stark Industries' research department. On several occasions, Kevin assisted Tony and the supposed bodyguard Iron Man, notably against the Spymaster and the assistants the Espionage Elite, saving Tony's life on more than one occasion. Tony then decided to reveal to Kevin his secret identity of Iron Man, and to build for him a second suit of armor for use in the event of an emergency. That emergency would come a short time later, when Iron Man and girlfriend Marianne Rodgers were taken captive by the superhuman madman Mikas the Soulfather. Putting on the armor before being fully tested, Kevin fell prey to a malfunction in the cybernetic circuitry controlling the armor which apparently stimulated the regions of the brain where rage and jealousy originate. Kevin found himself seized with sudden attraction for Marianne and became extremely jealous of Tony's power, looks, and fortune. At the same time, Simon Gilbert, then Chairman of the Board of Stark Industries' stockholders, grew alarmed that Tony was moving out of munitions production and mapped strategies with the board to seize controlling interest in the firm from Tony as principal stockholder. Clad in armor and calling himself the "Guardsman", Kevin offered to aid the board in their plot against Tony. As a show of support, he agreed to quell a protest rally outside the plant. The Guardsman aimed his repulsor rays at the crowd, injuring four protestors. Sickened by what he did, Kevin turned on the renegade board members, physically assaulting them. However, seeing Tony with Marianne caused him to once again become unbalanced, and he went outside to vent his rage on the growing crowd of protestors. Tony donned the Iron Man armor and engaged the Guardsman in battle to prevent him from doing more damage. Losing, the Guardsman sought refuge in an experimental tank. In an attempt to stop him without hurting him, Iron Man's repulsor rays were trained on the vehicle and accidentally hit its fuel supply. The tank exploded, killing Kevin. (via Wikipedia)
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