LACTUCA THE KNOWER

 

LACTUCA THE KNOWER

Real Name: Lactuca

First Appearance: Planet Size X-Men (Vol. 1) #1, June 2021

Powers: Lactuca is an omega-level mutant who physically appears as a robed figure resembling the night sky. He possesses a form of unlimited knowledge along with the mutant power to know the exact position of all people and objects in known space, and can trace changes in their position in real time to comprehend movement and trajectories. It is unknown whether his awareness applies solely to the universe or the entire omniverse.

XILO THE FIRST DEFENDER

 

 

XILO THE FIRST DEFENDER

Real Name: Xilo

First Appearance: Planet Size X-Men (Vol. 1) #1, June 2021

Powers: Xilo the First Defender is an omega-level mutant with large-sized earthworm characteristics. His mutant power is to disassemble into mutant earthworms, burrowing down into the soil. He is able to integrate with the soil, at which point he can sample the molecular and chemical content of the land, make small adjustments to its aspects such as pH levels and micro-organisms, or massive changes like carving enormous statues from mountainsides. Using his power to terraform the planet Mars, he supplied nutrients and minerals, created bacteria, and such for the planet to be able to support life. He also produced plant growth on Mars to support a breathable atmosphere.

ISCA THE UNBEATEN

 

 

ISCA THE UNBEATEN

Real Name: Isca
First Appearance: X-Men (Vol. 5) #12, September 2020

Powers: Isca the Unbeaten is an omega-level mutant born with a power described as an inability to lose. The mechanism for Isca’s power has not been defined, and it does not seem to directly or obviously affect her environment or her own body (i.e.: She does not adapt new traits or powers in reaction to threats, and she doesn't exert influence over her surroundings to actively change them to her advantage. She simply wins).

Her power is expressed through her physical prowess, including incredible agility, reaction time, accuracy, ambidexterity and more. If challenged, she can act with phenomenal precision and strike a target even while blindfolded. It also extends into her cognitive faculties, anything from guessing what number someone is thinking of to identifying weaknesses for advanced tactical analysis. It even allows her to forecast the future, compelling her to change sides in a war once her power ascertains that her current allies will be defeated. This indicates a limit to her abilities, for any given army will not win simply because she is associated with them. It's also unknown if she could choose to lose (remaining with the losing side, for instance), or if she has a biological compulsion to follow her power's influence.

KRAKOA

 

KRAKOA

Real Name: Krakoa

First Appearance: Giant Size X-Men (Vol. 1) #1, May 1975

History: Millennia ago, an unidentified powerful being wielding the Twilight Sword tore the land of Okkara in two, creating two separate islands: Arakko and Krakoa. To end the foe's threat, the mutant External named Apocalypse pushed Arakko through a chasm to the foe's home dimension (Amenth) and sealed shut the chasm. Apocalypse then set four of his agents, the Four (possibly the first of his Horsemen) to guard Krakoa and ensure the foe did not return through the Arak Maw, the portal to Arakko.

In the spring of 1945, an atomic bomb test detonation on Krakoa damaged a nearby plane carrying Sergeant Nick Fury and his Howling Commandos and forced the soldiers to parachute to the island. The bomb awakened Krakoa, after it had apparently spent millennia dormant and in pain. Krakoa tormented the Howling Commandos until Fury struck a deal with Krakoa, who stopped attacking the Commandos in exchange for keeping the island's sentience a secret when they left. Fury believed the atomic detonation granted Krakoa sentience, but this theory remains unconfirmed.

Years later, the mutant telepath named Charles Xavier detected Krakoa and sent his team of X-Men to investigate, believing it to be another mutant. When Krakoa captured the X-Men to use them as sustenance, Xavier contacted his ally (fellow mutant geneticist Dr. Moira MacTaggert) and convinced her to let her send her own four mutant students to rescue them. After only Cyclops was freed (two of the four were killed, while the remaining two were left incapacitated), Xavier gathered an international team of X-Men who rescued the captured team and then cast Krakoa into space. As it left Earth's atmosphere, the portion of Krakoa containing two of MacTaggert's students broke free and remained in Earth's orbit. Krakoa also released spores, some of which grew to sentience as Krakoa's "children". Eventually, Krakoa was found by the enigmatic Stranger, who took it to his laboratory world. Later, Krakoa somehow returned to the Pacific Ocean after Earth's Quasar (Wendell Vaughn) freed the Stranger's captives. Additionally, Dr. MacTaggert's remaining two students were eventually recovered and revived.

Many decades after these events, Professor Xavier, mutant supremacist Magneto (Max Eisenhardt) and Dr. MacTaggert (who was by this point believed dead) joined forces to establish a mutant nation-state. Xavier traveled to Krakoa and telepathically/empathically connected with the island, moving past their former rivalry. Believing the island to be the perfect location for the mutant nation, Xavier recruited his former student, the mutant omnilinguist Cypher (Douglas Ramsey) to help him communicate with Krakoa. Upon arrival, Cypher and his secret companion Warlock of the Technarchy (disguised as a circuitry sheath covering Cypher's right arm) quietly infected a Krakoan plant with a techno- organic virus; the reason for this action and any results from it are unrevealed. After learning of Krakoa's separation from Arakko millennia before, Cypher remained on the island to strengthen their relationship, prepare for the mutant nation and build the necessary interface that would allow mutants to interact with Krakoa.

At some point. Krakoa split a portion of itself off into a 53 square mile set of five islands in the Atlantic Ocean, west of the Canary Islands and south of the Azores, while a 263 square mile main island remained in the Pacific Ocean in the general proximity of the Marshall Islands. Over the next number of months, Krakoa and Cypher bonded, allowing Cypher to finish the interface, which comprised four mutants assigned to different tasks: Sage (Tessa) would use her computer-like brain to track mutants entering and leaving Krakoa; the plant-life-communing Black Tom Cassidy would observe and protect the land; the technopathic Trinary (Shilpa Khatri) would be in charge of secondary and external systems; and the highly intelligent Beast (Henry McCoy) would be responsible for data analysis.

When the mutant nation took residence on Krakoa, Cypher created an autochthonous mutant language, Krakoan not to be confused with Krakoa's native language, which only Cypher (and apparently Warlock) can understand. Resident telepaths imprinted the mutant language into the mind of any newly-arrived mutant, allowing them to read, speak and fully understand the mutant language. The mutant inventor known as Forge built a massive subterranean laboratory where he used Krakoan organic to build biological machines and weaponry. One of the first tenets of this new nation was that Krakoa must be respected as sacred land.

With Krakoa's quidance, the mutant scientist Dr. Nemesis harvested flowers that enabled the new nation to flourish quickly. One bloom for growing gateways provided instant mutant transportation to Krakoa, another bloom produced self-sustaining habitats, which were part of Krakoa's interconnected consciousness, and a third non-naturally occurring flower produced No-Places, habitats outside of Krakoa's consciousness. Moira MacTaggert maintains a private residence and laboratory in one such No-Place under Krakoa, enabling her to help foster the mutant nation while perpetuating the belief that she was dead.

Harvest centers in the prehistoric Savage Land and in a Krakoan habitat on Mars processed three other flowers from the work of Dr. Nemesis. These were used to create the revolutionary drugs L, I and M, which respectively extend human life by five years, prevent diseases of the mind and function as the most effective, adaptive antibiotic the world had ever seen.

When he deemed Krakoa ready, Xavier telepathically addressed the world, offering the life-changing medicines in exchange for Krakoan sovereignty. As the news traveled, the world's mutants flocked to Krakoa through many of the newly opened gates across the globe, swelling the population to nearly 200,000; at some point an exception was made for the human Kyle Jinadu to live on Krakoa with his X-Man husband, Northstar (Jean-Paul Beaubier). After Xavier's address, the United Nations granted Krakoa sovereignty (possibly with some psychic suggestion by mutant telepath Emma Frost) and more than 100 nations accepted the deal, though some nations rejected Krakoa on political and/or ideological reasons. Soon after, Apocalypse arrived on Krakoa, who joyfully recognized him as its savior from millennia before. Hundreds of other mutants who had previously used their gifts for evil joined Apocalypse to accept and submit to Krakoa's laws. The fourteen-member governing body of Krakoa, the Quiet Council, established two tenets of this new nation: Kill no humans and make more mutants.

When a portion of Arakko inexplicably reappeared as a small island it merged with Krakoa, increasing Krakoa's landmass by an unrevealed number of square miles and helping to ease the sadness Krakoa felt from their separation; the portion that reappeared housed the still closed Arak Maw portal to the remainder of Arakko. Shortly after, the environmental group Hordeculture temporarily seized control of a Krakoan gate in the Savage Land by unrevealed means, causing Krakoa incredible discomfort and leading to aggressive wildlife, decreased landmass and headaches for resident telepaths until the X-Men took back the portal. After a tournament between residents of Arakko and Krakoa in the dimension of Otherworld, Arakko and all of its mutant residents were sent back to Earth. However with a massive population of war like mutants, the omega-level mutants of Krakoa decided to terraform the planet Mars and transport Arakko and all of its residents there. While Mars is now the first mutant world, Krakoa continues to serve as the physical nation for mutantkind.

Powers: Krakoa is a living ecosystem, the congregate intelligence of an entire island's flora and fauna linked together in a kind of hive-mind. Although not entirely sentient (the diabolical expositional dialogue it originally spouted was a telepathic ploy by Professor X), it did possess basic reasoning skills, and Krakoa's descendants did demonstrate fully human-like sentience. It could direct the animals on the island to move and attack in unison, cause plant life to become animated, grow at an incredible rate and ensnare its targets, and manipulate the geography of the island. This could be done subtly to rearrange paths and landmarks on the island, or more aggressively like triggering rockslides, seismic tremors, and open fissures in the ground. Krakoa could also create humanoid avatars out of the earth and substance of the island, possessing variable levels of superhuman size, strength and durability. Because the avatars were merely extensions of the island, they could expel large quantities of rock or molten materials channeled up through the ground. Krakoa was also capable of draining mutant bio-energy, siphoning power directly out from the bodies of mutants trapped on the island.

Its largest humanoid form possessed superhuman strength (lifting approximately 100 tons). Krakoa can produce flowers that prolong human life, cure cancer and serve as powerful antibiotics. Other blooms can rapidly grow into self-contained structures, weapons and wormholes that allow mutants to pass through for instant transport. The maximum distance of the portals is unrevealed, but they have been used to travel to the Shi'ar Empire galaxies away and the extradimensional realms of Otherworld and Mojoworld.

Krakoa feeds on mutant energy, requiring consumption of two mutants annually to maintain a stable environment. In the past, Krakoa's feedings would render mutants powerless, and would trap prey using tentacle-like vegetation growth. Now, the population of the mutant nation donates a minimal amount of psychic energy from each citizen to maintain Krakoa's health. Similar mutant energy "vampires" the Black Queen (Selene Gallio) and Emplate (Marius St. Croix) monitor the levels of psychic depletion among the island's population to ensure they do not exceed the minimal psychic draw. Krakoa can block the powers of telepaths trying to communicate with those on the island, and it can survive unaided in space.

The next Krakoa was a second-generation spore from the original island, likely derived from the so-called "Vega-Superior" Son of Krakoa once fought by Nightcrawler. The genetic core of Krakoa was apparently introduced into the land surrounding the Jean Grey School without the X-Men knowing, and Krakoa incorporated itself into the environment. How far Krakoa's influence extends over the landscape is unknown, but he can manifest his mass as a fully mobile humanoid form when necessary. Krakoa can manipulate the landscape to create trees, flowers, rock formations, and other natural features. It can also trigger more disastrous effects like avalanches, earthquakes, and volcanic activity, and create animated humanoid extensions much like the original did.

THE TWELVE

 

THE TWELVE

Roster: Bishop (Lucas Bishop), Cable (Nathan Summers), Cyclops (Scott Summers), Iceman (Robert Drake), Living Monolith (Ahmet Abdol), Magneto (Max Eisenhart), Marvel Girl (Jean Grey), Polaris (Lorna Dane), Professor X (Charles Xavier), Mikhail Rasputin, Storm (Ororo Munroe) and Sunfire (Shiro Yoshida)
First Appearance: X-Factor (Vol. 1) #14, March 1987 (first mention); The Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 1) #377, February 2000

History: In the future timeline of the Askani, the fabled Twelve were a group of powerful mutants who could have potentially stopped the rise of Apocalypse, but for some reason failed. Information on the Twelve also existed in the present-day modern era, spread by Destiny's diaries and the time-traveling Askani sister Madame Sanctity, who inputed their identities in the Sentinel Master Mold. Rumors and confusion ran rampant about the Twelve's true purpose, and even their identities.

In the end, the Twelve were revealed to be a sham. Apocalypse deliberately started the legends of the Twelve in order to gather a special set of mutants. These mutants acted as living components to the very machine which allowed his ascension in the first place. His forces captured all of them, and the twelve mutants are put into containment capsules and then used in a special machine. The Living Monolith is placed in the center to bundle all of the energies involved. Polaris and Magneto as opposing magnetic poles are on an inner ring, Storm , Iceman and Sunfire as extreme forces of nature are on a middle ring, and the other mutants placed on an outer ring. Cyclops, Jean and Cable representing the unity of family, Bishop and Mikhail providing as control over time and space and Xavier providing the power of pure thought. Combined the Twelve grant Apocalypse omnipotence, so he has their energies transferred into the body of Nate Grey, aka X-Man, whom he wanted to use as his next host body.

Among those mutants rumored to be part of the Twelve were Apocalypse himself, Cannonball (Samuel Guthrie), Mirage (Danielle Moonstar), Psylocke (Elisabeth Braddock), and Franklin Richards.

THE FINAL HORSEMEN

 

THE FINAL HORSEMEN

Roster: (l to r) Famine V (Jeb Lee), Death VII (Sanjar Javeed), Pestilence VI (Ichisumi) and War VI (Decimus Furius)

First Appearances: Uncanny X-Force (Vol. 1) #1, December 2010 (Famine V and War VI); Uncanny X-Force (Vol. 1) #2, January 2011 (Pestilence VI and Death VII)

History/Powers: The Final Horsemen were a set of mutants culled from throughout history by Apocalypse and Ozymandias to be the ultimate group of Horsemen when the proper time came. When a potential member was identified, Apocalypse had them indoctrined in his ways and placed in stasis until they were needed.

Jeb Lee, a Confederate spy during the American Civil War in Gettysburg in 1863 A.D., became Famine. His mutant power manifested when his family was burned alive due to a case of mistaken identity. He could generate a bio-auditory cancer, a psionic signature that consumed living matter, causing organisms to waste away and atrophy. Humans affected by the cancer could be incapacitated by hunger pains and the general weakening and decay of their bodies. While potentially lethal, the effects could be reversed relatively quickly by escaping from Famine's range and consuming enough food. The effect was transmitted via sound waves, and required a repetitive and continuous rhythm to properly direct it. Famine used his army drum to typically focus his power, but could direct it through any form of rhythm, even tapping his fingers. Lee could direct the bio-auditory cancer to only affect specific targets within hearing range if he chose.

Sanjar Javeed, the illegitimate son of King Shapur II of Persia, became the "Seraph of Death" in 4th century (325 A.D.) Persia, before Apocalypse claimed this Death as his own. Death generated an ailment aura, a psionic field which simulated the effects of various lethal diseases, bacteria, and pathogens. The effects were focused through physical contact with metal -- different forms of metal allowed him to generate different kinds of ailments, and so he wore various metal rings to have easy access to various possibilities. Sanjar only psionically simulated the effects of each ailment, he did not actually infect his victims with the pox or other diseases. The body was merely "tricked" into acting as if it had been infected. Leaving Death's immediate range would cause the effects to rapidly vanish from his victims' bodies, but staying in his range too long would cause his victims to expire, simulated ailment or not.

Ichisumi, Pestilence, was originally a geisha from 19th century (1833 A.D.) Kumamoto, Japan. Her mutation cultivated a symbiotic swarm of Yume death beetles inside her body. These beetles could be expelled from her throat cavity with significant force. They were ravenously carnivorous flesh-eaters, able to strip a man down to his bones in a matter of seconds. When the beetles returned to Ichisumi, they shared sensory impressions with her, making her conscious of everything the beetles saw or experienced while separated from her.

War was once known as Decimus Furius, of 3rd century Rome (281 A.D.). He transformed upon puberty into gigantic minotaur of living stone, possessing superhuman strength, endurance, and resistance to all kinds of physical injury. Furius drew further strength from his so-called "warsong". While in an aggressive state, War's directed fury created a kind of psychic armor that permeated his body, significantly increasing his invulnerability. It also protected his mind from mental assault, and threatened to infect telepaths if they tried to force their way into his mind. War could also deliberately infect other people with his "warsong" -- often using his axe or another weapon as a delivery system -- causing them to experience a violent and uncontrollable rage for a period of time. If he should lose his focus and his fury in battle, however, Furius would become vulnerable. Hesitation could even cause his stone body to shatter into pieces, although he could eventually reform himself.

HOLOCAUST

 

HOLOCAUST

Real Name: Unknown

First Appearance: X-Men: Alpha (Vol. 1) #1, February 1995

Powers: Originally known as Nemesis, Holocaust's mutant powers originally included flight and projecting bio-genetic microwave blasts from his hands which could cause considerable pain and devastation. He also may have had superhuman strength and durability to some degree. Magneto critically wounded Nemesis for killing his daughter Wanda, and Nemesis was reborn as Holocaust, an energy-based being housed in a crystallized armor created for him by the Dark Beast. Holocaust was massively strong and his armor was impenetrable to most forms of attack while channeling his microwave energy into tremendous blasts of power.

Holocaust has also demonstrated the power to animate or rejuvenate himself with the life essence of other living beings. He can drain this energy from a distance with a thought, either slowly so that his target grows slowly weaker and more weathered looking before finally being consumed, or all at once so that they disintegrate completely in a matter of seconds. Holocaust can apparently reform a relatively human solid body for himself even without his armor by siphoning enough life energy. His armor also has certain exceptional properties built into it, such as the ability to morph itself around him into a duplicate of his old Nemesis body, or into any other physical form he focuses on, with the life energy he drains from others serving as a fuel source for these transformations.

*This is Holocaust from Earth-295 (aka "The Age of Apocalypse"). He does not have an Earth-616 counterpart and he technically first appeared as a profile in Stryfe's Strike File (Vol. 1) #1, January 1993.

CHAMBER

 

CHAMBER

Real Name: Jonothon Evan Starsmore

First Appearance: Generation X (Vol. 1) #1, November 1994

Powers: Chamber possesses the mutant power of psionic biokinesis. He produces a unique form of psionic energy that has a highly destabilizing effect on physical objects. Chamber's bio-blasts erupt from his chest, hitting their target with a tremendous amount of energy as molecules were hyper-stimulated in his path, and the biokinetic force could cause a concussive explosion that devastates solid matter or tears it apart on a molecular level. Though his blasts resemble flame, they are decidedly non-combustible in nature. He can project his bio-energies in a straight line, as multiple bolts which seek out and strike individual targets, a laser-like pencil beam, or as a shockwave of energy expanding out from his body.

The effect that his power's first manifestation had on his own body was considerable, creating a gaping maw of raging energy in his chest, extending down from the bridge of his nose to his navel. His physiology had to adjust dramatically to this, as he basically became a being of living energy holding onto an organic body out of habit. Chamber does not require and is not capable of eating, drinking, or breathing. He subsides totally on his own energies. Unable to speak normally anymore, Chamber communicates through thought projection.

He can broadcast on "all channels" so that everyone around him can hear his telepathic voice, or isolate the effect so that only specific individuals can hear him "speak". Jono can also receive and transmit thoughts to a limited degree, acting as a "hub" for psychic communication between himself and others. He's also somewhat sensitive to nearby thought patterns, allowing him to detect the presence of other people, as well as sense and transmit certain psychic intuitions. He can detect when someone is being truthful or sincere, impress his own "good nature" onto a young girl to prevent her from being scared of him, and even lock onto and broadcast Spider-Man's danger sense temporarily so that everyone in range could feel the same danger emanations Spider-Man was. Chamber supposedly has the potential for developing flight and more ranged telepathic and even telekinetic abilities, but has yet to do so.

While working for Weapon X, they reconstructed his face, restoring his ability to speak, to breathe, and to eat. He maintained his ability to communicate telepathically, and a hole in his chest was cybernetically harnessed to focus his bio-blasts safely through. When M-Day reverted him to a human, however, the reversion disrupted the presence of his cybernetic chestpiece, causing his face and chest to explode open. Kept alive artificially for weeks in this disfigured state, Jono was kidnapped by his relatives in the Clan Akkaba, who transfused a supply of Apocalypse's blood into Chamber, which reacted with his receptive genetic code to mutate him into a new state. Chamber's physical structure was completely restored, including his chest and mouth. He developed ash gray skin, radiant red eyes, lining around his mouth similar to En Sabah Nur's, and a giant Clan Akkaba heiroglyph tattoo on his chest. What sort of new mutant abilities he gained from this transformation remains unclear.

As Decibel, Jono outfitted himself with a neckbrace that manipulated the sound waves of his voice, giving him sonic telekinetic powers very similar to Songbird of the Thunderbolts. Decibel can generate ear-splitting ultrasonic frequencies, deafening his opponents, causing them to experience a loss of balance, equilibrium or consciousness, or affecting solid matter such as shattering glass or crumbling masonry with a sustained sonic barrage. Manipulating sound waves and then directing them beneath him gives Jono the power to fly. He could also create solid sound projections, blasting objects with pure concussive force or generating various kinds of force fields. He could use these fields to shield himself and others from harm, or use them to contain explosions or cage his opponents.

Decibel cybernetically controls these force fields and can move them against the pull of gravity as well, allowing him to wrap people or objects inside a force field and move them around under his command, pulling civilians out of a combat arena or transporting his teammates from place to place. Jono can also create more advanced constructs, such as various geometric shapes or animated figures such as a giant version of himself or a group of flying pixies to distract his opponents. Like all members of the new New Warriors, Decibel had a utility belt with cartridges containing Pym Particles for reducing opponents down to size or impact webbing for quickly wrapping up and restraining felons. His suit contained a "Ghost Mode" that rendered him intangible and utterly unaffected by physical assaults.

Following the Age of X, Jono was altered by Legion's reality-manipulating powers, reverting him back into his traditional Chamber form. He is also a skilled guitarist and lock picker.

ASSASSIN

 

ASSASSIN

Real Name: Mimeyoshi

First Appearance: Namor the Sub-Mariner Annual (Vol. 1) #3, July 1993

Powers: The Assassin is a gynoid constructed by Apocalypse to serve as an agent of infiltration and sanctioning. She was given adaptive programming instructions, effectively simulating independent thought, and instilled with knowledge of a wide range of disciplines to use in her missions. The Assassin possessed superhuman strength, stamina, and reflexes, and could take a considerable amount of punishment and still operate by rerouting her power supply.

She remained functional even after losing an arm and having a hole blasted through her chest. Among her integrated weapon systems were optical laser beams, an extendible garrote wire from the inside of her wrist, and poison-tipped retractable finger claws for either sedation or murder. Apocalypse could place a variety of lifelike pseudo-skins over her metallic exostructure, enabling her to perfectly blend in with humanity.

SAUL

 

SAUL

Real Name: Garbha-hsien

First Appearance: X-Force (Vol. 1) #10, May 1992

Powers: Saul appeared to be both a sorcerer and a mutant, however the abilities he did demonstrate weren't attributable to either source. He was capable of self-levitation and could produce crackling blasts of ionized energy from his hands.

Saul has an extremely long lifespan due to his status as an External. Externals are mutants who, in addition to having powers from their active “x-factor” gene, are also gifted with near-immortality. An External’s immortality manifests at the point of their first mortal death. They would age normally until their first death, after which they would self-resurrect and remain frozen at that age indefinitely from then on. An External is supposed to be capable of recovering from just about any injury given time, except for the severing of all four limbs and the head. They proved just as susceptible to the Legacy Virus as other mutants, and could also be killed by the absorption or destruction of their astral forms.

DARK RIDERS

 

DARK RIDERS

Roster: (clockwise) Tusk (3 Tuskettes in front), Psynapse, Foxbat, Gauntlet, Harddrive, and Barrage

First Appearance: X-Factor (Vol. 1) #65, April 1991

History & Powers: Originally known as the ‘Riders of the Storm’, the Dark Riders were a strike team assembled by Apocalypse. Initially, they were identified as Inhumans in their earliest appearances, but have been treated as mutants ever since. The newer members in the second incarnation of the Dark Riders led by Genesis (Tyler Dayspring) were all mutants.

Tusk has unspecified superhuman abilities. It has been implied that a little parasitic worm may possibly be animating the larger Tusk form normally seen. Regardless of the worm's existence, Tusk's normal body is enormous, standing over seven feet tall with massive musculature. He has superhuman strength, endurance, resistance to physical injury, two curved tusks extending up from his back, and an organic crust of armor extending between his shoulders and down his back somewhat. Tusk is capable of spawning underlings, or Tuskettes, from this crust on his backside. These underlings act as extensions of his being, similar to Multiple Man's duplicates. They are roughly three or four feet tall generally, but still possessed enhanced levels of strength, stamina, and durability, though not as great as the larger Tusk.

Psynapse was a telepath. He could read the thoughts and feelings of other people, and pull them into his own astral plane where they are subject to his complete control over their psychic surroundings. He could also assume remote control over the physical actions of others, or trigger their pain responses to send them into unbearable agony.

Foxbat possessed augmented strength, speed, agility, endurance, reflexes, leaping ability, and increased night vision. He had clawed hooves and fingers, fangs, and spear-like appendages which could be triggered to grow from the inside of his arm straight out the underside of his wrists, or from the outside of his arms pointing up past his shoulders.

Gauntlet never demonstrated any noticeable superhuman powers. He had green scaly skin and rows of needle-sharp teeth. If anything, he probably possessed superhuman eyesight and uncanny accuracy. Primarily, he employed a cache of plasma rifles, grenades, and other military-style weapons.

Harddrive has the ability to cybernetically bond himself with metal and technology, assimilating it into his neural net. This effectively allows him to transform himself into a cyborg at will, and possibly reverse the process just as easily. Merging with computer systems gives him immediate access to all the files stored in the software, downloading the information directly into his brain. He has used his powers to incorporate various forms of high technology into his person. Harddrive possesses enhanced physical strength and armored protection for his organic parts. He has highly advanced sensory abilities, including being able to detect electromagnetic wavelengths, mentally receive radio transmissions, and hack into security systems to see through closed-circuit video cameras monitoring a building. He can also projection his holographic consciousness over a distance, allowing him to observe and communicate with people hundreds of miles away. Harddrive is equipped with offensive weapons such as laser arrays, electro-jectors, and cryo-thermal relays. Finally, he is able to teleport himself and others from one location to another, across the planet's entire surface. He can trigger this teleportation signature to encompass anyone within his immediate vicinity, or in the vicinity of his holographically-projected consciousness (Also, Harddrive had the alias of "Mainframe" and both appear to be separate consciousnesses inside the body, apparently the organic mind and a computer-based A.I. respectively).

Barrage's forearms have been transformed into organic weapons, bio-mechanical energy conduits that can collect ambient energy from the environment and focus it into discharges of heat and explosive power. He produced photo-voltaic and concussive force, which is projected out through his cybernetics as devastating blasts. He could also strike opponents with the energy-charged arms for greater physical impact.

EXODUS

 

EXODUS

Real Name: Bennet du Paris

First Appearance: X-Factor (Vol. 1) #92, July 1993

Powers: Exodus’ mutant power is psionic in nature. He can siphon psionic energy from various sources such as another person’s life-force, heightened emotional state, and/or even from his own personal convictions. He then metabolizes that psionic energy to saturate his body with a wide range of enhanced superhuman powers. Exodus can also absorb psionic energy directly, such as when he fed off of Nate Grey's telepathic and telekinetic assaults during a battle.

Among the powers he has demonstrated thus far include superhuman strength, speed, endurance and reflexes, invulnerability, telepathy, telekinesis (omega-level), interplanetary teleportation, flight, the ability to generate force fields for protection or to obliterate anything that touches them, and both psionic and plasmic blasts of energy. Some sources also suggest his physical strength, endurance, and invulnerability also increase at times, but there could be a psionic base behind that as well.

His greatest display of power consisted of psionically amplifying Genoshan Mutates' hatred of humans, attempting to crush the island nation of Genosha with a massive telekinetic force field, immobilizing Quicksilver, the Scarlet Witch, Crystal Maximoff, and Jean Grey in another force field, mentally resisting Professor X's telepathic control, and protecting himself from physical attacks all while single-handedly battling both the X-Men and the Avengers.

PROSH

 

PROSH

Real Name: Inapplicable

First Appearance: X-Factor (Vol. 1) #15, April 1987 (as Ship); X-Force (Vol. 1) #8, March 1992 (as Professor); X-Force (Vol. 1) #39, October 1994 (as Prosh)

Powers: The being known as Prosh was originally an exploratory craft created by the extraterrestrial Celestials that was sent to Earth to record the planet's history. It landed in Mongolia during the 12th century where it was found by a nomadic tribe led by the mutant External Garbha-Hsien (later known as Saul). Garbha-Hsien was later bested by a fellow mutant External known as En Sabah Nur, who took control of the craft. Over the following centuries, the Nur merged with the vessel's technology and became Apocalypse while the craft's programming evolved into a sentient artificial intelligence calling itself "Ship".

As the Celestial ship, it was capable of techno-forming itself, changing its internal or external technological structure to match the needs of the passengers, or Ship itself. It could incorporate additional matter into its physical frame. It also contains vast amounts of information stored in its data-banks, mass and proximity sensors alerting it to potential threats, and wide-spectrum analytical scanning allowing it to monitor the life-signs of other beings, scan them for weaknesses, provide tactical suggestions, etc. When Apocalypse infected Ship with a techno-virus that wildly animated Ship and placed it under Apocalypse's control again, Ship resisted, launched itself into space and exploded. However, in the final nanoseconds before the explosion, Ship managed to download the core elements of its A.I. into a luminescent electromagnetic energy survival module. When Cyclops' son, Nathan Summers, was infected with a similar virus, Ship merged its substance with Nathan's in order to stave off the effects of the virus. When Nathan was transported to the future of Earth-4935 for treatment, Ship went with and his consciousness was rendered dormant.

Over a decade after their arrival, the teenaged Nathan met a fellow mutant telepath named Blaquesmith who helped train him and awakened Ship's consciousness, which now adopted the name Professor. The Professor was directly interfaced with Nathan's techno-organic parts, integrating itself into his mind and body. The Professor was able to monitor Nathan's bio-signs and access his powers to regulate the techno-organic virus for him. It was linked to various sensor systems, could access any other technology which Nathan (as Cable) had incorporated into his techno-organics, including the bodyslide teleportation equipment. The Professor was later transferred into the data-banks of Greymalkin, a massive space station Cable had brought back in time with him, which were later co-opted by Magneto into Avalon. Cable rescued the Professor's programming, and brought it back to Earth to install it in X-Force's Camp Verde computer system.

When a member of the techno-organic Phalanx attempted to override the Camp Verde computer system, its programming was overwhelmed by the Professor, which assimilated and bonded with the Phalanx drone, receiving the basic capabilities of that species as well. Now possessing an individual techno-organic body, it changed its name to "Prosh", a portmanteau of "Professor" and "Ship".

FAMINE

 

FAMINE

Real Name: Autumn Rolfson

First Appearance: X-Factor (Vol. 1) #12, December 1986

Powers: Famine possesses the mutant ability to induce decay and atrophy in most forms of organic matter. Her power is a two-fold ability:

She can use it to disintegrate food, cause crops to wither and die, and break down large organic materials such as a wooden wall by reducing it to a state that is too aged and corroded to maintain its integrity.

She can also use her mutant power to create what she refers to as a “starvation blight”. Using this specialized form of her power, Famine can manipulate a person’s metabolism to deplete them of their fat cells, turning the victim into a withered, dangerously thin, starving husk. This emaciation effect is debilitating to opponents, making them physically weak and distracted by overwhelming hunger for food. This effect could be reversed by distancing oneself from Famine or consuming a large quantity of food soon after.

Autumn Rolfson suffered from anorexia nervosa, a mental condition that caused her to develop a systemic aversion to eating, deathly afraid of gaining weight, and feeling she was already morbidly obese when, in fact, she was severly malnourished.

WAR

 

WAR

Real Name: Abraham Lincoln Kieros

First Appearance: X-Factor (Vol. 1) #11, November 1986

Powers: War was born with the mutant power to create explosions in his immediate vicinity by clapping his hands. His power operates by harnessing the minor kinetic energy created when his hands strike each other, amplifying it to a significant degree, and redirecting it spatially so that it strikes and affects any object within his line-of-sight, causing an explosive release of force.

Kieros was originally a soldier in the United States Army who sustained injuries during battle which left him paralyzed from the neck down and confined to an iron lung mechanical respirator. The mutant known as Apocalypse modified him into one of his Four Horsemen created a suit of armor which restored his mobility and scattered energy beams directed at it. and could only move thanks to his Horseman armor.

At an unrevealed point, he lost his Horseman powers and gear. Without the armor to support his broken body, he became completely paralyzed again and even lost the ability to speak. However, the mutant named Archangel used his short-lived light powers to heal Kieros's broken body.

TOWER

 

TOWER

Real Name: Edward Pasternak

First Appearance: X-Factor (Vol. 1) #2, March 1986

Powers: Tower possessed the mutant ability to psionically access an extra-dimensional source both to and from which he can selectively add or subtract mass from his body's volume to proportionately alter his size and mass.

He could shrink down to only a few inches tall, or expand to 60 feet tall, significantly increasing his strength and durability in the process to superhuman levels.

STINGER

 

STINGER III

Real Name: Wendy Sherman

First Appearance: X-Factor (Vol. 1) #5, June 1986

Powers: Stinger possesses the mutant power to bodily generate static electricity within her cells. She can release this electrical energy as lightning blasts of varying intensities through her fingertips.

TIMESHADOW

 

TIMESHADOW

Real Name: Unrevealed

First Appearance: X-Factor (Vol. 1) #4, May 1986

Powers: Timeshadow’s mutant power enables him to physically manifest himself anywhere within the probable space/time range of about five seconds. As a five second time-slider, he's able to move about freely within the given area of space he could conceivably reach within five seconds. Thus, he can move from one location to another instantaneously, "sliding" from where he was now to anywhere he could have been a few seconds later. This wasn't technically teleportation as the blur of motion which accompanied his movement from one place to another suggested he was still physically moving through space. Timeshadow could remain standing physically still, and "slide" across the room in an instant, relocating to dodge attacks or block people from escaping. He could give the illusion of super-speed, rapidly skipping forward through time and space so that he covered expansive distances in less than 1/5 of the time it would normally take him. Because of the nature of his power, he doesn't actually move physically for either of these: His body will just "slide" in a blur of multiple images to his new location.

Timeshadow could also bend quantum probability with his power, taking multiple routes into the future simultaneously. This allowed him to create "phase-forms", effectively duplicating himself as he appeared in several locations he could conceivably reach within five seconds at once. It was unclear exactly how many divergent paths he could take at once (i.e., how many phase-form duplicates he could create), or how long he could maintain these phase-forms before collapsing his probabilities back into a single march towards the future (one body). On one occasion, Timeshadow also demonstrating a vanishing power. This was apparently achieved by phasing out of sync with time altogether for up to five seconds, skipping forward in time by a few moments. This happened when his phase-forms had surrounded Marvel Girl, and she unleashed a telekinetic blast in all directions to knock all of him over. Instead, all of Timeshadow vanished a moment before impact, and re-materialized behind her a moment after the attack, catching Jean by surprise.

MICHAEL NOWLAN

 

MICHAEL NOWLAN

Real Name: Michael Nowlan

First Appearance: X-Factor (Vol. 1) #5, June 1986

Powers: Also known as “The Source”, Michael Nowlan is a mutant with the ability to manipulate his own mutagenic aura.

The mutagenic aura is the radiant, but typically invisible energy signature produced as a by-product of the x-gene. This energy signature is unique to each mutant and is what Cerebro scans for when searching for mutants. This energy is also the biological power source that fuels a mutant's powers and abilities, whether they're energy-related or not. All mutants possess it and it surrounds them at all times. Nowlan radiates his aura as plumes of mutagenic energy that amplifies the power levels of other mutants when it makes contact with their auras.

This "boost" acts like a mutagenic super-fuel, providing any attributes derived from the x-gene with extraordinarily increased levels for a period of time until the boost runs out. The boost can be a controlled effect, giving allies an edge in battle, or an overcharge that leaves mutants unable to control their amplified abilities or even render them inoperative.

Possibly as a side effect of Michael's own heroin addiction, the boost was similarly addictive to other mutants. Repeated and prolonged exposure to Michael's powers caused mutants to experience withdrawal-like symptoms if cut off from his power booster effect for a period of time.