GENOSHA

 

 

GENOSHA

First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 1) #235, August 1988

History: Genosha was an Island nation located in the Indian Ocean, east of the African continent, north of the Seychelles Islands, and midway between those islands and Madagascar. For centuries, Genosha served as a haven for corsairs who roved the Indian Ocean, and it is rumored to have been visited by the legendary Sinbad. The island was sailed during the great ages of Western exploration of the African continent and Southeast Asia. Later, Genosha became almost entirely populated by Caucasians, primarily of Anglo-Saxon descent. English was the national language, though there has been no information as to whether Genosha had a native population before it was settled by Westerners.

At first, trade was the basis of the Genoshan economy, facilitated by the superb natural harbor of the island’s Hammer Bay. But then, iron ore and other precious metals were discovered in Genosha’s Ridgeback Mountains, and the steel industry eventually became the leading component of the Genoshan economy. At its peak, Genosha claimed to produce the finest steel on Earth at low cost and with a minimum of pollution. In later years, Genosha was making major strides in computer and space technology. The country was self-sufficient agriculturally, and it was in many respects technologically-advanced over even nations like the United States.

Genosha’s greatest scientific progress was in the area of genetic engineering, in which it made advances far beyond those of any other nation. It was on Genosha's advances in genetic engineering that much of the rest of the country's economy was based. For Genosha, although described by its government and mass media as "a green and pleasant land”, was in fact, a technocratic nation whose socio-economic infrastructure was built on the backs of its superhuman mutant population. The Genoshan government’s Genetics Directorate, which supervised its genetic engineering operations, was headed by an official known as the Genegineer. The most prominent Genegineer was a scientist named Dr. David Moreau. Moreau, a patriotic scientisit, endeavored to serve his country. When the mutant known as the Sugar Man from the reality of Earth-295 crossed over into Earth-616’s Genosha over 20 years prior to the present, he brought with him knowledge of genetic engineering taught to him by Mr. Sinister of Earth-295. In exchange for a secluded power base, he gave his knowledge to Dr. Moreau, allowing him to implement a process which turns mutants into slaves known as the Mutate Bonding Process.

As per policy, all Genoshan citizens were examined by the government at the age of 13 for signs of active or latent mutant abilities. Those adolescents who proved to have mutant abilities were forced into government service. The young mutants were subjected to genetic engineering to enhance their mutant abilities or to alter those abilities into ones the government believes will be more serviceable to its needs. For example, the young Genoshan mutant Jennifer Ransome possessed a mutant psionic ability to reshape flesh that would have enabled her to perform medical work. However, since the Genoshan government claimed to have a surplus healers, her ability was altered into psionic power to reshape rock, stone, and steel, which would be useful for the mining and steel industries. The Genoshan government asserted that its requirement that a mutant enter its official labor force was not slavery, but a form of service comparable to the draft in other nations. The Genoshan government insisted that the mutants must sacrifice their own freedom of action to benefit the vast majority of Genoshan citizens and the mutants were treated well.

In actuality, however, the Genoshan mutants were slaves who were subjected to treatment that was in many ways more inhumane than that of perhaps any other enslaved race in Earth's history. Genoshan mutants subjected to the Mutate Bonding Process were known as “Mutates” and the Process consisted of the following: First, they were not allowed to be called by name. Instead, they were identified by code numbers which were tattooed to their foreheads. In most cases, Mutates, both male and female, were forced to keep their heads shaven. Mutates had "skinsuits" permanently bonded to their bodies that cover them except for their heads or, in some cases, their faces. The skinsuits made their wearers identifiable as mutants. The skinsuits served to protect the mutants from injury and the elements, and were "sealed systems" which recycled bodily wastes.

The skinsuits also prevented the mutants from engaging in sexual intercourse. However, the Genegineer extracted genetic material from the mutants in order to create clones to his specifications, who would grow up to have superhuman abilities. The clones grew to the point of birth in an area called the *creche" in the Citadel of the Genetics Directorate.

Finally, Genoshan mutants were subjected to psionic brainwashing and removal of their memories. The Genegineer devised a new set of memories which were then imprinted on the mutant's mind psionically. By these means, the government intended to make the mutant slaves more submissive; in fact, however, the process proved ineffective in suppressing the slaves hatred towards their oppressors.

At least one session of the Mutate Bonding Process also included psychokinetic conditioning, during which a Mutate’s will was bound to a specific Magistrate in a master/slave relationship, so that they would never disobey.

After the mutant slaves completed their work for their human masters for the day, they boarded a train called the "M-Special," which transported them to the Mutant Settlement Zone, an area of Genosha that lied on the other side of the Ridgeback Mountains, which bisect the island, from the area in which non-mutant Genoshans live. The Mutant Settlement Zone was, in effect, an enormous prison camp.

Armed guards known as Magistrates, belonging to Genosha's Security Directorate, forced the mutant slaves to obey the government's dictates, and hunt down and capture any mutant who attempts escape. Genosha's Chief Magistrate was a woman named Anderson a team of Magistrates comprised of willing Genoshan mutants known as the Press Gang hunted down rebellious escaped mutants in special cases. It was Genoshan policy that Genoshan citizenship was permanent and recognized no emigration policy. Hence, the Press Gang would forcibly return a Genoshan living outside his or her native land to Genosha.

The Mutate population was comprised of several hundred individuals out of the total population of ten million. The general populace of Genosha remained unaware of many of the details concerning the treatment of Genoshan mutants. Only members of the Genoshan Genetics and Security Directorates were permitted to see the Mutant Settlement Zone. However, since mutant slaves operated throughout Genosha, it must be pointed out that the majority of Genoshan citizens simply ignored the dehumanizing treatment of the mutants. Most Genoshan parents whose children were forced to leave them forever to enter the slave labor force tolerate and perhaps even approved of their fates. The Genoshan government guarded the secrets of its advances in genetic engineering, fearing lest they be stolen by other nations, who would then use them to create a mutant slave labor force of their own to facilitate competition with the Genoshan economy.

Ultimately, the Genoshan government crossed paths with the mutant heroes the X-Men, X-Factor, and the New Mutants, resulting in the defeat of the mutant-oppressive regime. The military quickly assumed temporary control of the government pending lawful elections, which resulted in a new pro-mutant government operating under sanctions imposed by the United Nations, despite Genosha having invested billions of dollars into the United States.

Soon after, the return of Magneto panicked the human Genoshans who feared this would incite their former slaves to rebel. A decision was made to eradicate the Mutates, but they fought back and the country descended into civil war. Magneto's former Acolyte Fabian Cortez attempted to take advantage of the situation and proclaimed himself leader of the rebellion. Following the assassination of the entire Genoshan government, Cortez declared himself president; however, his rule was brief as he was soon seemingly slain by Magneto's self-proclaimed successor Exodus, and the civil war was soon after quelled through the efforts of the X-Men and the Avengers. A new bipartisan government was formed by former mutate Jennifer Ransome and her lover Phillip Moreau, son of the Genoshan Genegineer. Mutate rights were soon restored; however, they refused to work without pay and as such the Genoshan economy collapsed, plunging the nation into another civil war.

When Magneto threatened the world with magnetic EMP waves, rendering any technology useless, the U.N. decided to offer him the opportunity to take over Genosha, believing he’d be too preoccupied with the country’s inner problems to pose a danger to the rest of the world. The United Nations-imposed sanctions continued after Magneto was ceded sovereignty of the country; however, after much rebuilding and reparation, Genosha sought the sanctions be lifted and that they be granted access to international monetary assistance to which end the United Nations (UN) appointed Magneto's daughter, the Scarlet Witch to act as an independent observer. Upon hearing of Magneto's imminent arrival on the island, many humans fled rather than live under his rule.

He also demanded that the United Nations honor his sovereignty, destroying their spy satellites and reconnaissance planes as a warning, and followed that up by announcing that he intended to close Genosha's borders completely. Magneto began a rebuilding process, facing a range of problems including an imminent famine, the Legacy Virus, and a new resistance movement operating out of the small fishing port of Carrion Cove, which he soon crushed after regaining his full powers. After the release of a cure for the Legacy Virus, Magneto found himself with a veritable army of Mutates and mutant immigrants with which to wage war on mankind; however, his plans were thwarted by the X-Men.

Later, Charles Xavier's genetic twin sister Cassandra Nova unleashed giant Sentinel robots on Genosha, decimating the island and its population. The island was placed under global interdict, with a security cordon set up to prevent anyone from leaving. Seeking to atone for the sins of his twin, Xavier left the X-Men to assist the survivors in rebuilding the nation, despite electronic devices no longer working on the island. Joined by Magneto, Xavier gathered a small band of heroes to aid in the reconstruction and oppose such threats as Unus and his gang, former Magistrates, Stripmine's scavengers, and the returned Sugar Man, as well as aiding neighboring nation Zanzibar against the Weaponeers. After a reality warp created by the Scarlet Witch (House of M), Xavier was missing and Magneto and his fellow Genoshan mutants were depowered.

After being repowered by Quicksilver's use of the Inhuman' Terrigen Mists, the majority of mutants left the island, leaving Magneto alone. He was later repowered by the Collective, but was subsequently seemingly killed in an explosion after a battle with the Avengers. He was later revealed to be alive, however, Genosha's reconstruction remains unfinished.