X-Force, in its many iterations, is a strike team composed of deadly mutant agents who act in secrecy to protect mutantkind by usually employing lethal force. The team was first formed when Cyclops tasked a group of mutant trackers led by Wolverine to locate the first mutant born since M-Day, who had been under Cable's protection.[2] After Cable left the timestream with the baby and the X-Men disbanded, Cyclops decided to secretly keep the group active eliminate mutantkind's most dangerous enemies.[4] When Cable returned to the present, X-Force's existence was publicly revealed to the mutant community,[5] which ultimately led the group to disband.[3] However, Wolverine kept the team functioning without Cyclops' knowledge.[6] Eventually, X-Force's own activities undermined the group, causing their final dissolution.[7] The team was informally revived as a non-deadly group run by Psylocke and Storm, being based in Los Angeles for a while.[8]
History
The Mutant Messiah[]
Activation during the Messiah CompleX
The birth of the first mutant since the decimation of mutantkind sparked a race between different groups for the possession of the messianic infant. After the X-Men learned that Cable had secured the child, Cyclops organized a group of lethal mutant trackers to hunt him and, if needed be, take him down. Led by Wolverine, the strike force was composed of X-23, Warpath, Hepzibah, Caliban, and Wolfsbane. The operation was ironically baptized X-Force, the same name of Cable's former group of mutant extremist militants.[2]
In their investigation, Wolverine feared Warpath could defect due to his former association with Cable, but Wolfsbane was able to vouch for his presence. Caliban pinpointed Cable and the child from her birthplace in Cooperstown, Alaska.[9] In Alberta, Canada, X-Force found Cable engaged in battle Lady Deathstrike and the Reavers. During the ensuing fight, X-23 incapacitated Deathstrike, while Caliban was shot dead by a Reaver in an attempt to protect Warpath. The commotion allowed Cable to escape with the child in X-Force's Blackbird.[10] Without Caliban, the X-Men repaired Cerebra to locate Cable, finding him in Forge's Eagle Plaza, from where the Marauders were able to kidnap the mutant messiah.[11]
As X-Force prepared themselves to confront their opponents, Warpath tried to remove Hepzibah from the team, fearing she might share Caliban's fate, but Wolverine disapproved his attempts. X-Force teamed up with Bishop and resumed their mission by going to Muir Island.[12][13] There, they were ambushed by the Marauders. In a chaotic confrontation, all members of the X-Men joined a final battle for the child. In the end, Cable and his ally, Professor Xavier, got hold of the baby.[10] However, the mutants were hunted by a vicious Predator X. X-Force was tasked by Cyclops to take the beast down, and Wolverine was responsible for the final blow against it. Professor Xavier then convinced Cyclops to allow Cable to escape to the future with the child for her protection. Cable teleported to the future, just after Bishop revealed himself as a traitor and fired a round at the messiah. The shot missed her and hit Professor Xavier in the head instead, and Bishop escaped. With Xavier dead, Cyclops declared the X-Men disbanded.[14]
Secret Killers[]
Although the X-Men were no more, Cyclops kept protecting his species. Upon learning the anti-mutant leader of the Purifiers, Matthew Risman, had been making a move to strike at the decadent mutant population, Cyclops reactivated X-Force as a black ops squad, keeping it a vile secret from the X-Men. Wolfsbane volunteered to gather information about her former guardian Reverend Craig, Warpath wished for revenge for Caliban's death, and X-23 was merely a soldier in need of orders. Wolverine reluctantly accepted to be in charge of the team at Cyclops' request, setting base at Angel's Aerie in Colorado without his knowledge.[4]
X-Force's first mission involved infiltrating a North Dakota S.H.I.E.L.D. facility to root out a group of Purifiers who had infiltrated the base and stolen valuable technology required to rebuild the Sentinel known as Bastion. Unexpectedly, X-Force found out Risman had Wolfsbane captive.[4] X-23 detonated the site, but failed to apprehend Risman or save Wolfsbane. When debriefing the mission with Cyclops, X-Force realized his orders were simply to execute Risman and not to save Wolfsbane. X-Force then went on a killing spree, offing several Purifiers. This led Bastion to implement an alternative plan by acquiring the Technarchy entity known as the Magus[15] and using it to create a Human Council composed of leaders of anti-mutant organizations, both live and dead.[16]
Risman defected and had an agenda of his own with his ally, the mysterious Eli Bard. They drugged and brainwashed Wolfsbane and had X-Force take her back to Angel's Aerie.[16] The healer Elixir was convoked to cure her physically, but upon waking up she brutally maimed the owner of the cabin, Angel. X-23 was unable to harm Wolfsbane, who extracted Angel's wings and returned them to Risman. Risman used the techno-organic technology in Angel's wings to create a choir of winged soldiers, while at the same time a wounded Angel succumbed to his Archangel identity.[17] In Chicago, Risman's choir went on war against Bastion and his Purifiers, but the deadly Archangel followed them seeking for revenge.[18] X-Force intervened in the Purifiers' own inner battle. Meanwhile, a mad Wolfsbane devoured Reverend Craig as he tormented her. X-23 accomplished the mission by eliminating Risman, but Bard escaped with samples of the Magus; Archangel violently eradicated the choir; and Wolverine was unable to destroy Bastion, who retreated. As X-Force recovered, Cyclops tasked them with destroying the Human Council members.[19]
However, their next target turned out to be the teleporting mutant called the Vanisher, who had located a vial of the deadly Legacy Virus from one of Mister Sinister's hideouts. While Warpath took a brief leave of absence and Wolfsbane was withdrawn from the team due to the stress of their last mission,[20] the volatile Archangel went on field as an X-Force agent. In Tokyo, X-Force met the Vanisher, but he escaped because the operation was interrupted by Domino, who had also been on the Vanisher's track. With Domino's help, X-Force had Elixir give Vanisher a brain tumor to blackmail him into working for the team in order to reacquire the virus vial.[21] X-Force went on a battle with Marauders clones and Cameron Hodge's Right for the item.[22] During the confrontation, X-Force's enemies were defeated, but X-23 was infected with the virus. Elixir cured her and X-Force believed the Legacy Virus to be destroyed.[23]
War for the Messiah[]
Little did X-Force know that the Right had located other samples of the virus, which Bastion modified to drive mutant powers out of control, indiscriminately resulting in anti-mutant sentiment. Under the unwilling direction of the Leper Queen's Sapien League, the mutants Beautiful Dreamer and Fever Pitch were set to commit terrorist suicide killings during Graydon Creed's Friends of Humanity rallies.[24] X-Force identified that the Leper Queen was behind the acts and had her as a main target for she had captured more mutants. Though X-Force was in position to rescue the victims, Cyclops had Beast located Cable and Bishop in the future timestream and, despite Wolverine's objections, Cyclops forcibly sent the team into the future, interrupting the mission against the Human Council.[25]
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Cyclops dispatched X-Force to the future to help Cable protect the mutant messiah, now older and named Hope, from Bishop. There, X-Force found a hazarded Earth and could not teleport back to the present at will, though their time in the future was limited. They were immediately joined by an insane Deadpool. After finding Cable, X-Force learned that Stryfe ruled supreme in that timeline.[26][27] With Stryfe attacking Cable and X-Force, Hope and Warpath were ultimately kidnapped. Meanwhile, Archangel disappeared, being summoned by his former master, the moribund Apocalypse,[28] who was nursed back to health.[29]
Inside the Celestial Ship, Deadpool revealed to X-Force that a mutant kept a temporal field which prevented teleportation and time-travelling,[30] the field was generated by the vegetative mutant Kiden Nixon.[29] At the same time, Cable, Wolverine and Elixir went to Hope's and Warpath's rescue in a battle against Stryfe, who had kept Hope safe from Bishop.[31] The fight only served for Stryfe to learn the importance of Hope.[29] During a final confrontation between Cable and X-Force against Stryfe and Bishop, X-Force's time in the future expired as Stryfe had the advantage. Domino mercy-killed Nixon in order to be able to return to the present safely, something the Vanisher promptly did. Archangel led Apocalypse to the battle, causing Stryfe's and Bishop's brutal defeats. Out of respect for Archangel, Apocalypse relinquished Hope. With Cable and Hope safe, X-Force returned to their proper timeline.[32]
Returning slightly earlier than they had left, X-Force was successful in stopping the attacks of the Leper Queen. X- 23 narrowly saved Boom Boom and executed the Leper Queen, but she was captured by rogue H.A.M.M.E.R. agents in the process and was taken back to the Facility to be tortured by her former handler Kimura. Meanwhile, X-Force impeded the young mutants Hellion and Surge from detonating at the United Nations Headquarters during an anti-mutant speech performed by the Sentinel manufacturers Bolivar Trask and Stephen Lang. Though successful in preventing the incidents, Elixir had to purge the virus from the victims' and the strain left him comatose. Moreover, Wolverine confronted Cyclops about his extremist decisions regrading X-Force.[33]
Necrosha[]
With Norman Osborn directing his H.A.M.M.E.R. against mutantkind in San Francisco, mutants were kept detained on Alcatraz Island and subjected to Dark Beast's experiments.[34] Cyclops had the Cuckoo Irma voluntarily arrested[35] as a beacon to have Magik teleport X-Force to the prison and cause a riot when fighting Osborn's X-Men. Their intervention allowed the majority of the remaining mutant populous to regroup, oppose Osborn and relocate on the island of Utopia.[36] After defeating the Dark X-Men, X-Force sometimes used their Alcatraz base.[37] On Utopia, X-Force attempted to track X-23 with no success, but found a debilitated Wolfsbane with her lover Hrimhari after they had been attacked by Frost Giants. X-23 was eventually able to escape the Facility with the help of Agent Alisande Morales, which ultimately led X-Force to her rescue.[38]
Around this period, Domino was spotted seeing the mysterious Red Hulk in his civilian identity. The deadly Red Hulk formed a team of mercenaries to hunt Domino down. They found her, but X-Force intervened to help their teammate.[39] During the bloody fight between the teams of killers, the assassin Elektra suggested to Domino that someone else was pulling their strings, and the two women vanished from the battle. The fight was interrupted by a Red She-Hulk,[40] causing X-Force to abandon the confrontation to look for Domino and Elektra.[41] In the end, X-Force helped Domino convince the Red Hulk she had been implicated in the situation through Silver Sable and that she did not know his identity. The Red Hulk agreed to leave them alone, but threatened X-Force by reminding them that he now knew about their secret existence.[42]
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X-Force preparing to battle Selene's Inner Circle and donning the Apache deathmask paint
Although away from Osborn's jurisdiction, Utopia was not completely safe. During Warpath's brief retreat from X-Force, he had traveled to his family home in Camp Verde, Arizona, where he clashed with a vicious Demon Bear. Teaming up with the Ghost Rider, who taught Warpath how to hurt spirits, the beast was subdued. Warpath took an enchanted Blade from it.[43] From the Ghost Rider, Warpath also learned the truth about Eli Bard and his connection to the succubus Selene.[44] Bard had corrupted the Magus' transmode technology with dark magics, reviving several deceased mutants as compliant zombies. A revived Caliban tracked mutants, dead and alive, to form an army to serve Selene and her Inner Circle and siege Utopia. The mutants living on Utopia, including X-Force, were punished by dead allies and enemies who were slaves to Selene.[45]
Selene set up base on the ravaged island of Genosha, a burial site for millions of mutants Selene renamed as Necrosha. Her plans were to resurrect its population and feast on their souls to ascend as a goddess.[45][46] In search for the dagger Warpath had taken since it was an integral part of the planned ritual, Selene's Inner Circle invaded Utopia, killing some of its inhabitants.[47] X-Force battled them in a brutal conflict. However, they lost and the Inner Circle had Warpath kidnapped and the blade collected. Simultaneously, Hrimhari traded his life with the Goddess of Death Hela for Elixir's in order to restore Wolfsbane to health.[48] Wolverine dispatched X-Force to Necrosha, and the Vanisher was able to rescue Warpath while X-Force made their way through an endless horde of zombies. However, through her macabre ritual, Selene became omnipotent.[49] Using the Ghost Rider's technique, Warpath rendered X-Force immune to her powers and was able to carve the enchanted dagger into her black heart. After the hard-fought battle, the more tender Elixir and Wolfsbane were out of the team while X-23's and Warpath's future in the group was left uncertain.[50]
Return of the Messiah[]
As Utopia recovered from Selene's attacks, Cable and Hope arrived on the present in Westchester and were registered on Cerebra. Cyclops immediately had Domino and the Vanisher to hid in San Francisco while the rest of the X-Force was added to an X-Men strike team to collect them. This X-Men team found Cable and Hope being raided by the Sapien League under Bastion's and his Human Council's orders. The X-Force members dealt with the anti-mutant agents with lethal force, causing horror in their teammates. As such, X-Force's existence was partially exposed.[5] With additional pressure put on Cyclops, he admitted the operation much to his teammates' disapproval.[51]
X-Force during the return of Hope
Bastion kept employing all of his resources to destroy Hope. However, thanks to Nightcrawler's sacrifice, she was able to reach Utopia. This triggered Bastion to implement his secondary plan. He systematically eliminated mutant teleporters,[52] leading the Vanisher to defect, although Stephen Lang still managed to off him.[53] As a second step, Bastion had a large and impenetrable dome built over the San Francisco Bay Area to cut off Utopia from escape or help, trapping Hope and most of the mutantkind inside it. Once the energy dome was activated, an extradimensional portal from a potential future where mutantkind had been defeated was summoned to allow an endless army of Nimrod-Series Sentinels in.[54]
Self-repairing and able to adapt to mutant powers, the Nimrods were formidable opponents the X-Men were barely able to subdue. As a result, several X-Men sustained severe injuries. Cyclops envisioned a plan: to send the linguist Cypher to reprogram the Nimrods at their source using Cable's time-travelling technology. As such, X-Force was dispatch to ferry them in a one-way mission into the portal.[55][56] X-Force found the Master Mold manufacturing unit that sent the Nimrods to the past,[57] and Cypher deprogrammed the machines permanently. However, X-Force was trapped for the portal was not compatible with organic matter.[58] Cable chose to have his Techno-Organic Virus consume him and, as a non-organic entity, he sacrificed himself to allow X-Force return to the present safe and sound.[52]
Cable's death triggered the activation of Hope's mutant powers which she used to obliterate Bastion, the Human Council and the trapping dome.[52] In the aftermath of Bastion's attack, Cyclops took full responsibility for X-Force as his fellow X-Men discussed his decisions with him. He was convinced that a murderous squad was not necessary anymore and unsanctioned X-Force. However, Wolverine decided to maintain X-Force running independently, without the consent or the knowledge of Cyclops or any other of his teammates.[3]
Apocalypse[]
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The new Uncanny X-Force
Wolverine formed his uncanny X-Force team with Archangel's assistance, basing it at the secret Cavern-X. The team was supposed to lethally deal with threats to mutantkind with no one else knowing about it. Archangel's old flame, the deadly telepath Psylocke, helped him deal with his split personality and became part of the operation. Wolverine invited the resourceful living weapon Fantomex for the group as well, giving him a cause, alongside his intelligent UFO partner E.V.A.. To round up the killing squad, Archangel hired the mercenary with a mouth Deadpool.[59] X-Force's main objective was to keep track the actions of Clan Akkaba. In his mission, Deadpool learned that Akkaba had resurrected Apocalypse, prompting X-Force to assemble.[6]
In Egypt, X-Force rescued Deadpool, recognizing Apocalypse's Ship and battling on of the Final Horsemen of War.[6] X-Force pinpointed the Ship on the Blue Area of the Moon. As they attempted to strike at Akkaba, War and the other Horsemen, Famine, Pestilence, and Death, defeated them.[60] Through deceitful misdirection, X-Force tricked the Horsemen and infiltrated the Ship. There, Psylocke found Apocalypse's quarters, but learned he was only but a child to be indoctrinated.[61] She found herself unable to harm a kid and decided to protect him from X-Force. Initially, Archangel and Wolverine wished to oppose her and destroy Apocalypse, but were ultimately convinced that the best solution was to take care of the boy. Amidst the debate, Fantomex simply made the executive decision to shoot the child in the head, much to the rest of the team's horror. As the Ship teleported away, X-Force departed as a fractured group due to being involved in the death of a child.[62]
X-Force then went to the X-Men's former base in Australia, where Gateway was being harassed by Lady Deathstrike's Reavers, who planned storm Utopia and slaughter its inhabitants. X-Force swiftly killed the majority of the Reavers, but two who made it to Utopia. Psylocke pursued them and proceeded to quietly kill them without the X-Men knowing. Wolverine confronted Lady Deathstrike, but just as he was about to kill her, her mind escaped her cybernetic body. After this mission, Wolverine and Psylocke discussed her dangerously succumbing to elation when on duty for X-Force.[63] When Fantomex was attacked by interloping Deathloks from a world where Apocalypse had ascended who wished to take the laboratorial environment known as the World from him, he was assisted by a defective Deathlok.[64] X-Force difficultly decided to join them in their war in order to save their teammate.[65] They marched into the World to execute the Deathloks' leader, Father. There, they fought Deathlok versions of themselves. Ultimately, Deadpool assassinated Father despite his attempt to brainwash him. The World was secured and, secretly, Fantomex was growing an Apocalypse within it.[66]
As Deadpool went missing when investigating psychic emanations from a nuclear facility, X-Force went to investigate, where they found the Shadow King. During a psychic war with Psylocke, the Shadow King accessed Archangel's mind and released his Death person. As Apocalypse's creation, the diabolical Archangel defeated the Shadow King and took the truth from Psylocke's memories.[67] Returning to Cavern-X they were confronted by Magneto, who had discovered X-Force. His one demand in return for silence was that Wolverine kill an old Nazi who had tortured him in the concentration camps.[68] The Shadow King wished for revenge and shared information about X-Force with the reporter Harper Simmons. Archangel was informed about it and decided to eliminate Simmons by himself. X-Force stopped him and realized they might have a serpent among them, ultimately choosing to restrain him.[69]
In order to take care of him, they broke Dark Beast from jail, since he was from the alternate world known as the Age of Apocalypse and could provide information. They learned Apocalypse's death triggered an ascension protocol within the Death Seed that Apocalypse had planted in Archangel to turn him into a Horseman. He would become a new Apocalypse.[70] To prevent his corruption, X-Force travelled to the Age of Apocalypse to claim a Life Seed from Dark Beast's lab and restore Archangel. Dark Beast betrayed X-Force and returned alone, but they were offered helped by the X-Men of the universe.[71] In that world, Wolverine's counterpart, Weapon Omega, had become the new Apocalypse. He was in possession of that world's Gateway, who could teleport X-Force back home. Moreover, Life Seeds were expected to be found in the corpse of a Celestial Gardener. Members X-Force and the X-Men went on two missions to retrieve Gateway and the Life Seeds, but Weapon Omega's Black Legion fought them.[71] Only one Life Seed was found, with the X-Men suffering unfortunate casualties. In a final fight against Weapon Omega, the X-Man Jean Grey decided to have Gateway send X-Force home with the only Seed, giving up the chance of recovering her ex-husband Weapon Omega.[72]
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Clan Akkaba vs. X-Force
During the short period they were away, Dark Beast released Archangel, who was coronated the lord of Clan Akkaba. X-Force returned to X-Cavern only to find it overrun by the new Archangel and his cultists, who wished for the temporal accelerating properties of the World and the Celestial-empowered Life Seed. In the ensuing battle, Wolverine was gravely injured by the destructive Genocide, the son of Apocalypse. Psylocke surrendered herself, being unable to execute Archangel. Fantomex, Deadpool and Deathlok had to retreat with Wolverine, leaving Archangel victorious.[73]
Archangel wanted to scour all life from the world, replacing it with new life grown from the Life Seed. As a test run, a small town in Montana was obliterated by Genocide, followed by the region being trapped within the World. The enclosure became Tabula Rasa, an alien-like renewed existence through accelerated time, where X-Force battled Archangel and led to the demise of the Horseman of Death.[74] Archangel replaced him with Psylocke, infecting her with a Death Seed from the Dreaming Celestial. Meanwhile, with Wolverine recovered, X-Force found Akkaba Metropolis on the North Pole after torturing Famine. However, they were subdued by interlopers from the Age of Apocalypse, namely Iceman and the Blob. In the fight, Deadpool was seemingly killed and Fantomex appeared to flee in E.V.A..[75]
With his plans underway, Archangel set to reshape the world in his image, amplifying Genocide's power with the Doom Fountain. However, he did not anticipated Fantomex returning with the Age of Apocalypse X-Men. Jean Grey rid Psylocke of the Death presence within her. All the forces fought back against Archangel.[76] Fantomex also introduced his secret weapon into the battle: the Apocalypse clone he had been growing, Evan, a.k.a. by the hero name Genesis. Fantomex had raised him with the watchdog Ultimaton in a simulation as his uncle, conditioning to detest the ideologies of Akkaba. Genesis and Archangel engaged in a fight, which served as a distraction for Psylocke to purify Archangel with the recovered Life Seed. With the X-Man Sunfire consuming the Doom Fountain energies, Akkaba succumbed and its followers vanished. From its ruins, Archangel resurfaced with his mind completely blank, as a tabula rasa, while Deathlok was able to recover Deadpool.[77]
In the aftermath, the surviving X-Men were aided back to their reality in order to fight Weapon Omega, but Nightcrawler decided to stay to hunt Iceman and the Blob. Genesis and the renewed Angel were enrolled in Wolverine's new school, the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. With this decision, Wolverine also shared X-Force's existence with his fellow headmasters, Kitty Pryde and Beast. A new chapter was to start for X-Force.[78]
Final Execution[]
Fantomex and Psylocke were kidnapped to Otherworld by the Captain Britain Corps, whose prime champion was Psylocke's twin, Captain Britain. Jean Grey's intervention had unexpectedly mind-linked Psylocke and Captain Britain, leading him to be aware X-Force's activities. Fantomex was put on trial for having killed the Apocalypse child. Otherworld was under attack from an extradimensional demon Horoam'ce, and Captain Britain invited Psylocke to the Corps to work as Lady Britain alongside their erratic older brother, Jamie. X-Force had Gateway transport them to Otherworld to help their teammates,[79] but they were caught amidst the battles against Horoam'ce, joining troops led by Meggan. Fantomex was sentenced to be erased, and Psylocke assumed the Lady Britain mantle to rescue him and run away from the Starlight Citadel. In the Forest of Sorrows she traded her ability to feel grief with Mage Krokwel for Fantomex's health.[80] Unfortunately, Horoam'ce sent an old enemy of Fantomex and Psylocke's father, the deadly Skinless Man, to end them.[81] Psylocke was able to poison him, but could not prevent him from terribly disfiguring Fantomex. They then joined X-Force and Captain Britain in a final strike against Horoam'ce, during which Psylocke telepathically sensed the goat-demon was a corrupted future version of Jamie who was feasting on the souls of uncountable victims to self-replicate. She took the hard decision of killing her own brother to end the massacre. After that, X-Force returned home once more in a uneasy way,[82] when they had the opportunity to have Nightcrawler eliminate his Earth's Iceman.[83]
Not being able to feel sorrow, Psylocke left X-Force. Her departure was followed by Fantomex's. For their next mission, X-Force had Deadpool investigate White Sky, a weapons manufacturing company specializing in creating super soldiers. Coming to his rescue, X-Force was attacked by a group of soldiers possessing powers similar to Omega Red, the Omega Clan all of whom have been implanted with false memories of X-Force murdering their families.[84] Deadpool built a White Sky assassin himself to allow X-Force to escape and soon it was revealed that X-Force was in fact being targetted by the revengeful Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, with Fantomex poisoned and thus depowered by Mystique, and Psylocke psychically tortured by the Shadow King.[85] A vulnerable Fantomex managed to find Psylocke, and sacrificed himself to allow her to escape, being ultimately killed by the Skinless Man. Meanwhile, Sabretooth and the Blob kidnapped Genesis in Genosha to punish X-Force. The leader of the Brotherhood was shown to be Wolverine's son Daken.[86]
With Fantomex dead, E.V.A. became independent and assumed a human form. She accompanied Psylocke back to their headquarters to meet the rest of X-Force. There, Ultimaton reverted to its primary function without Fantomex's influence, which was killing mutants. He murdered Gateway and detonated, destroying Cavern-X.[86] Psylocke telepathically forced Gateway to teleport them away from the explosion. They were sent into a future where Genesis had ascended as Apocalypse, prompting X-Force to defeat him and, after being celebrated as war heroes, develop into a totalitarian organization that acted based on predictive justice. In the future, they were greeted by Deathlok, who attempted to execute them for being unrepentant of the potential course of action. The future X-Force, led by Psylocke's future version, Magistrate Braddock, wished to return X-Force to their present. Psylocke, however, had another plan of action: self-termination, a final execution that would prevent that authoritarian regime from ever happening.[87] She failed, being saved by both X-Forces. After being nursed back to health, past X-Force was sent back in time by future X-Force, not before future Wolverine alerting his past version that Daken should not be given a chance.[88]
X-Force
While X-Force was missing, the Brotherhood revealed the truth about Genesis' creation in an attempt to corrupt him and force him to become Apocalypse[89] by having him wear a Celestial armor. After returning to Cavern-X, X-Force was briefed by Deathlok about Genesis' situation. In Genosha, Mystique was restrained by X-Force, who wished to rescue Genesis furtively.[90] Deadpool made it to his location by himself, clashing with the Brotherhood in the process. The rest of X-Force followed him, but were ultimately betrayed by Nightcrawler, who chose to ally himself with Mystique, who had been released by him after offering him the Blob. X-Force was captured and tortured by the Brotherhood members.[91] Genesis decided to wear the Celestial armor to put an end in the violent conflict.[92] His intervention led to the Brotherhood's defeat: Deadpool executed the Skinless Man; Psylocke was able to incapacitate the Shadow King; Nightcrawler had his revenge against the Blob, but E.V.A. punished him for it, which caused him to flee with Mystique; and Wolverine ended his own son's life, much to Sabretooth's pleasure. Mocking Wolverine, Sabretooth revealed he had accomplished his objective. As a response for his cruelty, Genesis almost finished Sabretooth, but was stopped by Wolverine, who had to cope with the loss of his son. X-Force left Genosha, with its members knowing that was their final operation.[93]
Revenant War[]
E.V.A. used the White Sky technology to revive Fantomex. The process went awry however, as Deadpool initiated the device with a setting of parameters that created one body for each of Fantomex's three brains: besides the original Fantomex, the noble Cluster and the vile Weapon XIII also emerged from the cloning machine. In an apparent happy ending, Psylocke left with Fantomex and Cluster to their Mother's place in the French Alps.[7] Psylocke soon realized that the noble aspects that made her fall for Fantomex were Cluster's. The jealous Fantomex then set her up during a heist. This led their relationship to end with a lot of rancor, causing Psylocke to join the Jean Grey School.[94] Unable to adjust herself to the school environment due to anger issues, she was dismissed from teaching by Wolverine.[8]
Instead, Wolverine assigned Psylocke and Storm a field mission in Los Angeles, concerning a tip about a drug dealer selling TAO, a drug that turned people susceptible to a hive mind mentality. Wolverine's contact was his old friend Puck, who met the two X-Women in order to find them the dealer: the diva of downtown LA and Psylocke's old enemy Spiral, who was quickly attacked. During the battle, the source of the drug was found inside a bank vault to be a teen psychic mutant girl named Ginny.[8] Tracking the fugitives Spiral and Ginny, the three heroes were attacked by a confused Bishop, who captured the girl.[95] They teamed up with Spiral to look for them, ultimately finding out Bishop had been corrupted both by the Demon Bear[96] and the Ghost Owl, the Revenant Queen, with the latter possessing Ginny and vanishing in the end.[97]
Psylocke and Storm telepathically exorcized Bishop from the Demon Bear, with Psylocke being able to channel the beast as a weapon. Cluster interrupted the ordeal to ask Psylocke for help in rescuing Fantomex from Weapon XIII.[98] They embarked on a mission to find Weapon XIII, which culminated in the three Fantomexes agreeing to merge again into only one being.[94] In the meantime, the Revenant Queen had been able to gather an army of brainwashed followers in Los Angeles, she wished to bring on a ritual called the Great Corruption, which would cause spectral demons known as Revenants to access the mundane plane. Bishop had returned from the future in an attempt to stop her from achieving it in the present. However, the Revenant Queen's army was able to catch Psylocke, Storm, and Puck unprepared and Revenant versions of themselves recaptured them.[99] Bishop broke them free and they were joined by Spiral,[100] who informed them the Revenant Queen was the powerful psychic Cassandra Nova.[101]
The crisis led to the reformation of an uncanny roster of X-Force, who made imperative to stop Cassandra Nova from triggering a Revenant invasion. Los Angeles had been psychically imprisoned, so no one but X-Force could join the fight. The only way to stop the ritual was through the sacrifice of a telepath.[102] Since Cassandra Nova was able to control the Demon Bear, Psylocke was captured while X-Force battled a horde of Revenants. Cassandra Nova offered Psylocke her original body back in the form of a Revenant in exchange for an alliance. Puck attempted to save Psylocke, but they fell into the Revenant Underworld.[103] From there, Psylocke was able to restore her connection to the Demon Bear, which gave X-Force advantage and led Ginny to be free from Cassandra Nova, who in turn had to possess the Revenant Psylocke's body. This allowed Psylocke to murder her own mirror image and, with the sacrifice of a telepath, the Great Corruption ritual was undone and the world was freed from the Revenants.[104]
Bishop's return did not go unnoticed. Hope, who was now part of the outlaw team of X-Force, pinpointed his location and target him for assassination in revenge for the hurt he had caused her. A vengeful Stryfe then took the opportunity to kidnap them.[105] Looking for their respective teammates, the two groups of X-Force clashed with each other. After Cable was teleported away by Spiral to Stryfe's hideout,[106] the two teams called a truce to locate and rescue their missing teammates.[107] They found Hope and Bishop, who had put their sorrowful past behind and joined forces to evade Stryfe and save Cable. Stryfe was mortally wounded by Cable and vanished, but not before augmenting Hope's powers to dangerous levels. Bishop saved her by rechannelling the excessive energies. In the aftermath, Psylocke and Storm disbanded their X-Force, but Psylocke saw in Cable's team an opportunity to carry on her need for a cause.[108]Paraphernalia
Equipment
Weapons
Transportation
Notes
- X-Force was originally called "War Pack" in the summit notes for Messiah CompleX.
See Also
- 133 appearance(s) of X-Force (Strike Team) (Earth-616)
- 4 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of X-Force (Strike Team) (Earth-616)
- 7 minor appearance(s) of X-Force (Strike Team) (Earth-616)
- 44 mention(s) of X-Force (Strike Team) (Earth-616)
- 7 mention(s) in handbook(s) of X-Force (Strike Team) (Earth-616)
- 216 image(s) of X-Force (Strike Team) (Earth-616)
- 23 member(s) of X-Force (Strike Team) (Earth-616)
- 3 item(s) used/owned by X-Force (Strike Team) (Earth-616)
Links and References
- Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards
- Rob Liefeld.net Official website of Rob Liefeld, creator of the title in the 90s
- Extreme Genesis Fan site dedicated to Rob Liefeld, with many x-force art
References
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #519
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Uncanny X-Men #493
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 X-Men: Second Coming #2
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 X-Force (Vol. 3) #1
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 X-Men: Second Coming #1
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Uncanny X-Force #1
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Uncanny X-Force #35
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Uncanny X-Force (Vol. 2) #1
- ↑ X-Factor (Vol. 3) #26
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 New X-Men (Vol. 2) #45
- ↑ X-Men (Vol. 2) #206
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #494
- ↑ X-Factor (Vol. 3) #27
- ↑ X-Men (Vol. 2) #207
- ↑ X-Force (Vol. 3) #2
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 X-Force (Vol. 3) #3
- ↑ X-Force (Vol. 3) #4
- ↑ X-Force (Vol. 3) #5
- ↑ X-Force (Vol. 3) #6
- ↑ X-Force (Vol. 3) #7
- ↑ X-Force (Vol. 3) #8
- ↑ X-Force (Vol. 3) #9
- ↑ X-Force (Vol. 3) #10
- ↑ X-Force (Vol. 3) #12
- ↑ X-Force (Vol. 3) #13
- ↑ X-Force / Cable: Messiah War #1
- ↑ Cable (Vol. 2) #13
- ↑ X-Force (Vol. 3) #14
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 Cable (Vol. 2) #15
- ↑ Cable (Vol. 2) #14
- ↑ X-Force (Vol. 3) #15
- ↑ X-Force (Vol. 3) #16
- ↑ X-Force (Vol. 3) #17–18
- ↑ Dark Avengers #7
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #514
- ↑ Dark Avengers #8
- ↑ Dark Avengers / Uncanny X-Men: Exodus #1
- ↑ X-Force (Vol. 3) #19–20
- ↑ Hulk (Vol. 2) #14
- ↑ Hulk (Vol. 2) #15
- ↑ Hulk (Vol. 2) #16
- ↑ Hulk (Vol. 2) #17
- ↑ X-Force (Vol. 3) #8–10
- ↑ X-Force (Vol. 3) #11
- ↑ 45.0 45.1 X-Necrosha #1
- ↑ X-Force (Vol. 3) #21
- ↑ X-Force (Vol. 3) #22
- ↑ X-Force (Vol. 3) #23
- ↑ X-Force (Vol. 3) #24
- ↑ X-Force (Vol. 3) #25
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #523
- ↑ 52.0 52.1 52.2 X-Force (Vol. 3) #26
- ↑ New Mutants (Vol. 3) #13
- ↑ X-Men: Legacy #236
- ↑ X-Force (Vol. 3) #27
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #525
- ↑ New Mutants (Vol. 3) #14
- ↑ X-Men: Legacy #237
- ↑ Wolverine: Road to Hell #1
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force #2
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force #3
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force #4
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force #5.1
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force #5
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force #6
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force #7
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force #8
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force #9
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force #10
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force #11
- ↑ 71.0 71.1 Uncanny X-Force #12
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force #13
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force #14
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force #15
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force #16
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force #17
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force #18
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force #19
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force #20
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force #21
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force #22
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force #23
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force #24
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force #25
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force #26
- ↑ 86.0 86.1 Uncanny X-Force #27
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force #28
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force #29
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force #30
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force #31
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force #32
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force #33
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force #34
- ↑ 94.0 94.1 Uncanny X-Force (Vol. 2) #7–9
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force (Vol. 2) #2
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force (Vol. 2) #3
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force (Vol. 2) #4
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force (Vol. 2) #5–6
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force (Vol. 2) #10
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force (Vol. 2) #11
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force (Vol. 2) #12
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force (Vol. 2) #13
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force (Vol. 2) #14
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force (Vol. 2) #15
- ↑ Cable and X-Force #18
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force (Vol. 2) #16
- ↑ Cable and X-Force #19
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force (Vol. 2) #17