Marauders (comics)
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| Marauders | |
 The New Marauders. |
|
| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Uncanny X-Men #210 (silhouettes) Uncanny X-Men #211 (fully seen) |
| Created by | Chris Claremont John Romita, Jr. Dan Green |
| In story information | |
| Base(s) | Various |
| Member(s) | Arclight Blockbuster Gambit Harpoon Lady Mastermind Mystique Malice Prism Riptide Scalphunter Scrambler Sunfire Vertigo II |
The Marauders are a group of mutant supervillains in the Marvel Comics universe and enemies of the X-Men. They were created by Chris Claremont and made their debut in Uncanny X-Men #210 (Oct 1986).
Contents |
[edit] Origins
The Marauders are a mercenary group that serve as the personal strike force of Mister Sinister, and are best known for their involvement in the Mutant Massacre, in which they slaughtered a large percentage of the mutant community living beneath Manhattan known as the Morlocks. Most of the team was assembled by Gambit at Sinister's behest. However, Scalphunter was already serving Sinister since World War II and he personally recruited Sabretooth while he was roaming in Vietnam. The Marauders serve the purpose of assassination of other superhuman mutants, and act in unison as a commando strike-force to carry out acts of mass murder.
As of Messiah Complex, many of the current Marauders are either dead or incapacitated, including their leader Mister Sinister. What this means for the group's future is unknown, but the group has since disbanded.
[edit] Lineup
- Arclight (Philippa Sontag): A super-strong mutant, her mutation allows her to release shockwaves (like Avalanche and Rictor) most often to amplify the impact of her blows. She served with the American ground forces in the Vietnam War, and is still haunted by memories of that place. She has a romantic interest in Scalphunter.
- Blockbuster (Michael Baer): A superhumanly strong mutant who has stood up to punches from Thor, though a single hammer blow from an enraged Thor killed him. He did some work with German terrorists before hooking up with Sinister.
- Gambit (Remy LeBeau): Before joining the X-Men, Gambit was hired by Sinister to assemble the Marauders. Feeling responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Morlocks, Gambit kept this a secret from the X-Men until Rogue absorbed his memories and found out Gambit's secret. His brainwashing by Apocalypse and manipulation by Sinister has led him to abandon the X-Men.
- Hans: A creation of Sinister while he was infiltrated at the Weapon X Program, at a time in which only Scalphunter remained loyal to Sinister. Even though he possessed a wide array of powers, he was nonetheless killed by Sabretooth. Hans was the first of Sinister's creations dubbed The Children. He has no relation to the Children of the Vault.
- Harpoon (Kodiak Noatak): A young Inuit who can charge objects (usually his Slayspears - 20 pound (9 kg) barbed harpoons) with bio-energy for various effects.
- Lady Mastermind: An illusion-creating mutant and one of Jason Wyngarde's (the original Mastermind) daughters.
- Mister Sinister (Nathaniel Essex): Sinister was the leader of the Marauders and is the one who told them to slaughter the Morlocks.
- Malice: One of Sinister's top lieutenants whose sadistic orders are followed without hesitation or question. She exists as an incorporeal psychic being that possesses others, though she often 'hides' in the person's subconscious and reveals herself in a mirror or as the dark side of the target’s consciousness. For much of her public activity with the other Marauders, she used the X-Man Polaris as a host. Malice was apparently killed by Sinister for disobeying orders,[1] but has returned as a digital entity, rather than a psionic one, and possessed Omega Sentinel.[2]. Not be confused with the Fantastic Four villain named Malice.
- Mystique: A shape-shifter and mother of Rogue and Nightcrawler. She infiltrated the X-Men in order to betray them from within.
- Prism: An overconfident and cold-blooded killer who often underestimates the fragility of his crystalline body which can deflect/reflect most forms of energy attacks, but not physical impact.
- Riptide (Janos Questad): a brutally evil man who can spin his body at superhuman speeds and fling out shurikens (made from a resin his skin secretes) for amazing amounts of damage. He was the first of the Marauders to "die", when his neck was broken by Colossus.
- Sabretooth (Victor Creed): The longtime enemy of Wolverine.
- Scalphunter (John Greycrow): A ruthless ex-G.I., and the group’s tactician. His orders are overruled only by Malice or Sinister. Scalphunter is the most cold-blooded of the group. He is capable of "technomorphing" (altering the configuration of any technological device), a power he uses to create a number of weapons from his battle armor. He also has incredible regenerative powers as he survived being executed by his fellow American soldiers in 1944 after having murdered and scalped eight fellow officers.
- Scrambler (Kim Il Sung): The youngest Marauder, is a Korean mutant who can manipulate powers and systems, whether they be biogenetic, electromagnetic, or even technomechanical, such as mutant abilities, upon physical contact. He has been shown to be a psychopath more concerned with looking stylish than with the suffering he inflicts on others.
- Sunfire: A Japanese mutant and former X-Man with fire generation and manipulation abilities.
- Vertigo: A Mutant who can psionically induce a sensation of vertigo in others. She was originally one of the Savage Land Mutates.
The Marauders massacred much of the Morlock population during the Mutant Massacre. Blockbuster and Harpoon crippled Angel's wings. The team also first battled the X-Men and the original X-Factor. As they battled, Prism was apparently killed by Marvel Girl, Riptide was seemingly killed by Colossus, and Blockbuster was apparently killed by Thor.[3] After the Mutant Massacre, the Marauders attempted to assassinate Polaris in New Mexico. However, Malice took possession of Polaris and took over as the Marauders' leader.[4] The Marauders then fought the X-Men in San Francisco in an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Madelyne Pryor.[5]
Although several Marauders died during the "Morlock Massacre", they all reappeared during the Inferno crossover. The Marauders battled the X-Men during the "Inferno" demonic invasion of Manhattan, but the team was defeated by the X-Men.[6] Blockbuster, Malice, and Sabretooth attacked the X-Men at Xavier's mansion but were defeated by them.[7] Sabretooth was then defeated by Wolverine, and Mister Sinister was seemingly destroyed by Cyclops at the end of "Inferno."[8]
It was later revealed that Mister Sinister has created numerous clones of all of the Marauders save for Sabretooth, whose regenerative abilities made cloning difficult, and Malice, who was a purely psychic entity and therefore had no genetic material. It is revealed that Gambit had organized the group, although he was never actually a member.[9] The Marauders' loyalty to Sinister is ensured through gene imprints they all possess that would kill them should they turn on the geneticist.
As of M-Day, the event where the Scarlet Witch depowered over 90% of the worldwide mutant population, only Arclight, Prism, Scalphunter, and Scrambler were seen to still have their powers. Arclight and Scalphunter became two of the 198 who are camped at the X-Mansion, while Prism is in a maximum security prison.[10]
The Marauders later returned and attacked the X-Men and Providence to obtain certain mutants on a list, with Rogue being one of these listed mutants.[2] This incarnation of the team consists of the original lineup as well as Malice, who possessed Omega Sentinel after disguising itself as an e-mail, and former X-Men Lady Mastermind, Sunfire, Gambit and Mystique, who have all aligned themselves with Acolytes Exodus, Random, Frenzy, Tempo and Unuscione.[1]
The team plays a major role in the Messiah Complex storyline. They arrive in Alaska and ended up killing some Purifiers with the loss of Blockbuster and Prism, wihout finding the mutant child. In X-Men #205, Sinister's Antarctic base is raided by a team of X-Men (Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Angel and Nightcrawler) demanding the return of both the child (who they assumed was in Sinister's possession) and Rogue. With the aid of their master, the Marauders managed to fight the X-Men off, suffering numerous injuries from their assault in the process, before withdrawing back to one of Sinister's alternate bases. The Marauders are now fully aware that Cable possesses the child, and have regrouped to begin the hunt anew. In Uncanny X-Men #494, the Marauders tracked Cable and the baby to Forge's Aerie in Dallas, where they found Bishop prepared to kill her. The Marauders defeated Bishop and seized the baby.
During the final battle: Mr. Sinister is seemingly killed by Mystique; Lady Mastermind and Scrambler are killed by Wolverine and X-23, respectively; and Vertigo is devoured by Predator X. [11]
[edit] Original Marauders
The modern day Marauders who were responsible for the Mutant Massacre were not Sinister's first group of henchmen that had this name. While Sinister was still Nathaniel Essex, the Marauders were a band of criminals hired by Essex to kidnap homeless and/or deformed people (possibly even mutants) on which to experiment. Many of the Marauders, like their leader Cootie Tremble, were altered by Apocalypse into cyborgs after they accidentally awakened him. One of the Marauders, Oscar Stamp, repented for his crimes and became the adoptive father of a boy named Daniel, one of Essex's victims. Together they traveled to the United States and took on the surname Summers in honor of the time-traveling Cyclops, who was actually Daniel's descendant.
Members:
- Cootie Tremble
- Oscar Stamp, later Oscar Summers
- Pat
- Billy
- Reggie
[edit] Other versions
[edit] Age of Apocalypse
In the Age of Apocalypse, the Marauders were a band of human terrorists serving Apocalypse. As they lacked powers of their own, they employed gliding discs and energy gauntlets to wreak havoc among the human settlements of Wakanda, until they were killed by Gwen Stacy and Clint Barton. The Marauders were Dirigible (Wilson Fisk), Red (Norman Osborn), Arcade, and the Owl.
[edit] House of M
In the House of M, the Marauders are a covert ops group lead by Callisto and consisting of T-Rex, Mammomax, Blob, Banshee, Sunder, Black Tom Cassidy, and Caliban. Magneto sent them to capture Nocturne and Juggernaut.
[edit] Mutant X
In this alternate reality, a group of brutal theives calling themselves the Marauders are made up of mostly X-Force associates, such as Sunspot and an overweight Cannonball. Mutant X #26 focuses on their attempt to spirit away the suspended form of Dracula.
[edit] Ultimate Marauders
In the Ultimate Universe the Marauders appear as a white supremacist group led by Arnim Zola. [12]
[edit] What If?
In the issue of What If? titled "What if Charles Xavier and Magneto had formed the X-Men together," the Marauders were also Mr. Sinister's agents. The team was made of Cyclops, his brother Havok, and Sabertooth. Apparently they were created to kill the X-Men as shown when Sabertoooth reminded Cyclops that "the Marauders weren’t created to save Xavier’s crew, but to help bury them". They also were sent to find information about Jean Grey.
[edit] In other media
[edit] Television
Some of the Marauders appeared in the X-Men Animated Series, though the Nasty Boys were Sinister's enforcers in the show. Both Blockbuster and Arclight made numerous cameo appearances as random placeholders, while Vertigo, shown first with the Savage Land Mutates, like the comics version, later became the sole female member of the Nasty Boys.
