Axel Manning is the main protagonist of the English-language French action animated series, A.T.O.M. He is the eighteen-year-old leader of A.T.O.M., and a master of the Jo-Lan martial art. Jo-Lan combines the body and mind, allowing each punch, kick, etc. to land with a burst of energy. When Axel was 8, his father, Sebastian Manning, was supposedly killed in an explosion by who was assumed to be Paine, but later found to be someone else. Axel still searches for the truth on what really happened.
He was voiced by James Arnold Taylor.
Appearance[]
Axel is a handsome young man of approximately 1.85 cm height with short dark brown hair and gray eyes. He is very tan. He has a small gap in his right eyebrow. He is very muscular and well-trained because of his Jo-Lan training. His jumpsuit in Season 1 is black with orange and white details. In Season 2 he wears a similar suit with more white and orange parts on the jacket.
His casual wear consists of a black t-shirt with orange details, a white long-sleeve underneath and blue jeans with black and white sneakers. He is sometimes seen wearing a red top with a white t-shirt underneath, white wristbands and blue jeans.
Personality[]
As the leader of the team, Axel is courageous and good at coming up with battle strategies. While he is sometimes closed up and thoughtful he can be quite a hot-head, too, ignoring any reason and acting in an irresponsible and hasty fashion, especially when his father is mentioned.
He is very loyal towards his friends and feels guilty if he puts them in any kind of danger. He has a good knowledge of people and knows when to be critical towards the people he does not know. He does not talk very much about his past but often mentions his father. There is no mentioning of any extended family.
When someone who he trusts betrays him (e.g. Lee in season 2), he finds it hard to forgive them. He is constantly thriving to become better at Jo-Lan, although he has already surpassed his father's skills by the end of season 2. Also, he is very modest and never shows off with his martial art skills.
His deepest fear is failing to stop Lee from taking over the world.
Abilities[]
Jo-Lan[]
Axel has been trained in the ancient martial arts called Jo-Lan by his father. After his father's supposed death Axel trained on his own. At the beginning of the series, Axel is able to use energy waves to blast away his enemies. His spiritual power would become visible in his eyes in the color of light-blue.
During season 1 his main attacks are:
- Jo-Lan Choubatsu (meaning Jo-Lan Super Strike, similar to Hadoken) - As the name suggests he releases an energy wave from the palms to blast his enemy away.
- Uzumaki Jo-Lan Kick (meaning Whirlpool Jo-Lan Kick, similar to Tatsumaki Senpuukyaky) - A spinning kick.
- At the end of season 1m Axel reaches the next level of Jo-Lan. His spiritual energy turns red and resembles lightning. He uses a technique calledSuper Jo-Lan (similar to Metsu Hadoken), which is a blast 10 times stronger than his usual energy waves, to defeat Paine.
In season 2 Axel continues using this elevated level of Jo-Lan and comes up with a new technique, called:
- Jo-Lan Ryuuseiken (meaning Jo-Lan Dragon Spirit Fist, similar to Shoryuken) - a spinning uppercut.
At the end of season 2 Axel achieves the next level, which allows him to teleport and shoot energy bombs out of his palms.
Apparently there are even more levels that a Jo-Lan warrior can reach and allow him to move objects with his mind and create a shield around himself.
Other[]
Axel also excels at driving any kind of vehicle. He's also very good at any sort of sports being physically well-trained.