Hounds (comics)
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| Hounds | |
| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Uncanny X-Men #141 (January 1981) |
| Created by | Chris Claremont John Byrne John Romita Jr. |
| In story information | |
| Type of organization | Enforcers |
| Leader(s) | Ahab |
| Agent(s) | Rachel Summers Cyclops Invisible Woman Sabretooth Hound Stone |
Hounds are the name given to several groups of mutant characters from Marvel Comics. This term usually refers to those who track or hunt down mutants while serving a higher authority.
The Hounds were first introduced in in Uncanny X-Men, from the Days of Future Past dystopian timeline, as part of the backstory of Rachel Summers. These brainwashed mutant hunters were created and commanded by the cyborg Ahab, who used them to hunt down and imprison mutants in concentration camps. Rachel was forced to become one of these Hounds while still an adolescent, which scarred and haunted her for years afterward. Eventually she broke her conditioning and rebelled, and was sent to the camps herself as punishment.
In Uncanny X-Men #266, The Shadow King is seen to use mind-controlled humans called Hounds to track Storm, who had been transformed into a child by the villainous Nanny. These Hounds were reduced to a nearly mindless, animalistic state by the Shadow King, apparently for his own amusement.
[edit] In other media
In the X-Men Animated Series, the episode "The Fifth Horseman" showed a foursome of mutants serving Apocalypse who were called Hounds, rather than Horsemen, despite the title of the episode. Their costumes were based on those of the Days of Future Past Hounds. Three of them were unnamed; the fourth was Caliban of the Morlocks (who in the comics was one of the Horsemen of Apocalypse).
