Character Analysis
Here's a tip: Anybody who rebrands him- or herself after a figure from Greek mythology is probably bad news. If you're at the county fair on a Friday night, and you hit it off with a Minos, Hera, or Tantalus, just put down your funnel cake and run away, 'mkay?
Ajax, formerly known as Francis, is the maddest of mad scientists. We mean that in the sense that he's crazy and sadistic, but also in the sense that he's mad at the world, which he feels hasn't given him his due. That's why he renames himself Ajax, after the towering Greek warrior. "Francis" doesn't sound powerful, but "Ajax" does. Kind of.
Despite his smooth British accent, Ajax doesn't exactly ooze charisma—although, to be fair, when you're teeing off against the Merc with a Mouth, there's only so much magnetism (and dialogue) to go around. Ajax isn't trying to charm anybody, either; he wants respect, and Wade, like so many others (we presume), simply won't give it to him, even when they're at the Weapon X workshop and Ajax has Wade strapped to a gurney. Wade's utterly defenseless, and yet he repeatedly mocks Ajax, even going so far as to hijack not one, but two meaty bad guy monologues by telling Ajax he has food in his teeth:
AJAX: You're never going home after this. Now there's a brave face.
WADE: Wait, wait. Seriously; you actually have something in your teeth now.
Whether it's imaginary spinach in the teeth or revealing that Ajax is really named Francis in front of the other patients and Ajax's practically mute right-hand woman, Angel Dust (Gina Carano), all of Wade's teasing irritates Ajax something fierce. His torture tank triggers Wade's mutant DNA, and Wade's endless mockery triggers Ajax's sadism. Check it out:
AJAX: I've cured you, Wade. Now your mutated cells can heal anything. It's attacking your cancer as fast as it can form. Yeah, I've seen similar side effects before. I could cure them, but where's the fun in that? Now, I'm gonna shut you in again, Wade; not because I need to—because I want to.
Because he wants to? Yikes. Hurting others makes Ajax feel like he's powerful and in control—although Ajax claims that he can't feel anything. He, too, was once a subject in the Weapon X lab. We'll let him explain:
AJAX: I was a patient here once myself, you know. The treatment affects everyone differently…In my case, it enhanced my reflexes; also scorched my nerve ends, so I no longer feel pain. And, in fact, I no longer feel anything.
The fact that Ajax gets run through with a sword and survives proves that he doesn't feel pain. We're not so sure that he doesn't feel anything, though. If Ajax truly doesn't feel anything, he wouldn't enjoy his job as the CEO of torturing, he wouldn't be so infuriated by Wade, and he wouldn't relish being so downright evil.
Ajax / Francis' Timeline