Cast of Characters

[Charles Warren]

IRONCLAD
Real Name: Michael Steel
Affiliation: The U-Foes
Powers: Metal Body, Density Control

Mike Steel was an engineer, scientist, and pilot before gaining his superhuman powers. With his teammates, he attempted to duplicate the original rocket flight of the Fantastic Four through a cosmic ray belt, and gained superhuman powers just as the Fantastic Four did. His team then first battled the Hulk, although during the battle Ironclad lost control of his powers and sank into the ground. His teammate X-Ray bombarded the spot where he had sank with cosmic rays, boosting Steel's power until he could control it and dig his way back out to be reunited with the U-Foes. They again battled the Hulk and this time defeated him. In triumph, they exhibited the captive Bruce Banner on national television. However, Banner was freed by Rick Jones, Betty Ross, and the alien Bereet, and Banner transformed into the Hulk and defeated the U-Foes. With the U-Foes, Ironclad later escaped a special government prison, but was accidentally "deflected" by team leader Vector into the Crossroads dimension. There, he battled the Hulk and defeated him with the help of the alien Puffball Collective, though he became trapped in a dimension of quicksand. Ironclad eventually escaped back to the "Crossroads" dimension, and with the U-Foes he made it back to Earth through a dimensional warp unintentionally opened by the mutant Portal. The U-Foes battled the Avengers and Puma, and Ironclad was defeated by Captain America and Gilgamesh.

Ironclad's body is covered in a metallic-like and remarkably tough armored hide, able to resist most forms of attack. In addition, he is monstrously strong (going toe-to-toe with the Hulk) can increase his density to unknown limits, gaining additional resistance to attacks.

During the U.S Invasion of Panama, the Muir Island New Mutants were conscripted to server in Freedom Force. They were dispatched to fight the U-Foes in Panama City. A cosmic-powered punch from Fractal, caused Ironclad's density control to go out of control, sinking him below the city.

marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Michael_Steel_(Earth-616)

[Charles Warren]

X-RAY
Real Name: James Darnell
Affiliation: The U-Foes
Powers: Radiation Body, Radiation Control

Jimmy Darnell was part of a team organized by Simon Utrecht a millionaire, public official, and industrialist who wanted to simulate the crash that led to the powers of the Fantastic Four. He promised each member of the team superpowers due to exposure (although intentional, not accidental) to cosmic radiation. During this launch, Dr. Bruce Banner (known as the Hulk) was on hand at the base, and believing the ship to be having problems, guided it back to Earth. The now-changed humans called themselves the U-Foes (possible in connection with Utrecht's last name) and blamed Banner for cutting short their radiation exposure.

His physical form has been permanently converted into quasi-solid radiation. He can levitate and project various wavelengths of radiation. He is also invulnerable to physical injury.

During the U.S Invasion of Panama, the Muir Island New Mutants were conscripted to server in Freedom Force. They were dispatched to fight the U-Foes in Panama City. X-Ray was taken out by Bullet's telepathic sedation.

marvel.com/universe/X-Ray_(James_Darnell)

[Charles Warren]

VAPOR
Real Name: Anne Darnell
Affiliation: The U-Foes
Powers: Radiation Body, Radiation Control

Vapor's history prior to being recruited as a technical specialist for his space mission by Simon Utrecht has yet to be revealed. She, along with her brother James, was among the small group led by Utrecht to simulate the crash that gave the Fantastic Four their powers, and has remained with the U-Foes ever since.

Vapor's body has been bombarded with cosmic rays far greater then that of the Invisible Woman, since then her brother X-Ray has once more bathed her in cosmic rays so as to achieve better control over her gas-like form.

Gaseous Form: Vapor's body is that of living gas(es). She is mostly invulnerable to physical harm, although she can still be harmed by unconventional attacks.
◾ Gaseous Form Manipulation: Vapor is capable of transforming her body into any type of naturally occurring gas, either a pure elements or with complex compounds including mono-molecular mists. She has once accidentally melted the skin of her teammate Ironclad. She can only achieve a human state again temporarily.
◾ Flight: She can float and move through air molecules allowing her to fly, at speeds unknown.

During the U.S Invasion of Panama, the Muir Island New Mutants were conscripted to server in Freedom Force. They were dispatched to fight the U-Foes in Panama City. Vapor was taken out by Bullet's telepathic sedation.

marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Ann_Darnell_(Earth-616)

[Charles Warren]

THE NANNY
Real Name: Unknown
Affiliation: Formerly the Right
Powers: Telepathy; Mind-Control

The woman now known as the Nanny was once a scientist employed by The Right in the field of cyborg technology. When she learned of the Right's anti-mutant agenda, she tried to stop them. The Right sealed her in one of her cyborg designs, an egg-shaped armored suit; she escaped their custody, but the ordeal unbalanced her to borderline insanity. At some later date, she rescued a young mutant named Peter, crafted a battle suit for him and christened him the Orphan-Maker. She also obtained (possibly self-manufactured) high-tech weaponry and a flying craft.

Nanny and her Orphan-Maker became a pair of would-be saviors of mutant children, with Nanny as the brains and guiding force and Orphan-Maker as the brawn. In her mentally addled perception, Nanny believes that parents of mutant children are evil, especially those who abandon their children, or at the very least incompetent and ill-equipped to properly raise and protect young mutants from danger and exploitation. She and Orphan-Maker travelled the world, searching for young mutants to take care of, murdering their parents to sever any family connections and using her minor telepathic powers to control her new charges. Nanny dubbed these children her "Lost Boys and Girls", after the Lost Boys from the story of Peter Pan; in her psychosis, Nanny had developed a near-obsession with children's tales and nursery rhymes, often quoting passages from them appropriate (in her mind) to the situation at hand.

Wolverine suggested that the de-aging of Storm fit with the Nanny's preferred method of operating. He proposed that the Muir Island X-Men investigate Nanny and the Orphan-Maker to see if they could learn more about the missing X-Men.

marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Nanny_(Orphan-Maker_Partner)_(Earth-616)

[Charles Warren]

ORPHAN-MAKER
Real Name: Peter (last name unrevealed
Affiliation: The Nanny
Powers: Unknown

The Orphan-Maker, whose real name appears to be Peter, was rescued by the cyborg he calls Nanny from captivity by the mysterious mastermind, Mister Sinister. Mister Sinister had apparently been planning to exploit Peters abilities for his own ends, but instead decided that Peter was uncontrollable and intended to kill him. If Peter possesses any active or latent superhuman powers, they have yet to be revealed, but Peter has commented that "Nanny found a way… to keep me from growing into what I would have become." It is not yet known exactly what Peter meant by this statement.

Peter became the first of the "Lost Boys and Girls" that Nanny "rescued." Nanny believes that it is, up to her to save mutant children from the dangers that face them in today's world. She has made Peter her assistant in this task, outfitting him with an armored battlesuit and weaponry, and sending him to abduct mutant children and to battle anyone who opposes Nanny. It is standard procedure for Peter to kill the parents of the children he abducts; hence, Nanny gave him the alias of "the Orphan-Maker."

In the course of aiding Nanny, the Orphan-Maker has clashed with members of the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, X-Factor, and the X-Men.

The Orphan-Maker speaks and acts like a small child, but, since he has not yet been depicted without his suit of armor, it is unclear whether he is actually a small child within that battlesuit or an adult who still has a child's emotional and intellectual level.

The Orphan-Maker wears an armored battlesuit created by Nanny that is highly resistant to physical damage, even from Cyclops's optic blasts. The Orphan-Maker also carries powerful guns.

Wolverine suggested that the de-aging of Storm fit with the Nanny's preferred method of operating. He proposed that the Muir Island X-Men investigate Nanny and the Orphan-Maker to see if they could learn more about the missing X-Men.

www.marveldirectory.com/individuals/o/orphanmaker.htm

[Charles Warren]

ARCADE
Real Name: Unknown
Affiliation: Independent Playboy Assassin
Powers: None

Arcade has given differing accounts of his past life, and as yet there is no evidence to substantiate any of these accounts. Apparently Arcade will tell falsehoods about his past to mislead and confuse his opponents for his own amusement.

One of Arcade’s accounts states that he was the spoiled son of a millionaire living in Beverly Hills, California. When Arcade turned 21, his father cut off his allowance, claiming the Arcade did not deserve it. The next day Arcade killed his father in an explosion, and as a result, he inherited his father’s vast wealth. In killing his father, Arcade discovered that he had a talent and liking for murder. He therefore became a “hit man” (an assassin for hire), and within a year became in his own view the best in the United States. However, Arcade became bored with killing by ordinary means, and so he used his great wealth to construct his first “Murderworld,” a hidden complex of high-tech death traps designed in the manner of an amusement parks.

Whatever the truth may be about his life to this point, the story of his life after he began using Murderworld is clear. Arcade now kills victims for money by trapping them within a Murderworld complex. He designs constructs special traps within Murderworlds for individual victims after studying those victims’ specific weaknesses. Arcade’s customary fee is one million dollars per a victim, which is a token fee, as his expenses incurred are often higher. To Arcade the game itself is more important than the expense or even the winning. Arcade employs two assistants, known only as Miss Locke and Mr. Chambers. Recently seeking new challenges, he has attempted to kill various superhuman beings in his Murderworld, including the X-Men, Spider-Man, and Captain Britain, but so far without success.

Arcade has a genius level I.Q. and a natural aptitude for mechanics, architecture, and applied technology. A brilliant and innovative self-taught designed, Arcade applies his talents to the construction of the amusement park-like complexes of death traps which he calls Murderworlds.

Recently, Arcade was hired by Katharsis to capture the Muir Island New Mutants. She wanted to create her new body out of theirs, so that she could possess all of their powers.

www.marveldirectory.com/individuals/a/arcade.htm

[Charles Warren]

MISS LOCKE
Real Name: Unknown
Affiliation: Arcade
Powers: None

The main lackey of the insane Arcade alongside Mr Chambers. She was a devout follower of Arcade and recruited the X-Men to save him when he was kidnapped by Doctor Doom. Once, as a birthday present, she tried to kill him using robots to the likeness of Doctor Doom, giving him a great thrill.

Miss Locke was famous because she "never smiled". However, a glimpse of a smile could be seen when she was drugging the X-Men, when accepting defeat during the birthday surprise, and when hearing one of Murderworld's intended victims Courtney Ross telling a joke to survive.

Arcade seemingly killed Miss Locke and mutilated his own face during a plot to frame Wolverine in a complex "Jack the Ripper"-like series of murders[1]. Arcade himself was eventually defeated. Miss Locke has since been seen alive, so her death was presumably faked.

Miss Locke is skilled in using guns. She is also highly seductive and was even able to persuade the dragon Lockheed to let her escape from him by using her charm.

Recently, Arcade was hired by Katharsis to capture the Muir Island New Mutants. She wanted to create her new body out of theirs, so that she could possess all of their powers.

marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Miss_Locke_(Earth-616)

[Charles Warren]

THE CIRCUS OF CRIME

The Circus of Crime is a traveling band of circus performers, usually led by Maynard Tiboldt, better known as the Ringmaster, who use their special skills to rob theiiences.

The Circus of Crime was originally Tiboldt's Circus, a small Austrian travel circus managed for generations by members of the Tiboldt family. In the 1930s Fritz Tiboldt, then managed and ringmaster of the circus, became active in Nazi party activities. After World War II began, he was asked by German intelligence to take his circus to America, supposedly just to give performances in major cities, but actually in order to use the talents of the Nazi sympathizers among his performers to murder high government officials. However, Tiboldt, who came to be known as the "Ringmaster Of Death," was captured by Captain America, and both Tiboldt and the members of his circus who had aided him in his subversive activities ported.

Fritz Tiboldt and his wife Lola continued to manage Tiboldt's Circus after the war. Eventually Fritz and Lola Tiboldt were murdered by Nazis who had escaped capture in vengeance for their cooperation with the Allies. Fritz's son, Maynard Tiboldt, thereupon succeeded him as leader and ringmaster of the circus, and decided to move it to America, far from the scene of Hitler's rise to power and his par death.

But once in America, Tiboldt's Circus proved incapable of competing successfully with larger with larger American circuses. Blaming Americans not only for ignoring his circus, but also for his father's humiliating capture in America years before, Tiboldt decided to turn to crime. If Americans would not enrich him and his performers willingly, they would be forced to do so. Tiboldt outlined his plans to the members of his troupe, a number of whom had accompanied him from Europe, and others of whom had joined the troupe after it came to America. A good percentage of the troupe quit, refusing to turn to a life of crime. However, a surprising number of the circus members eagerly agreed to join Tiboldt in his criminal endeavors, and they became the first members of what is known as the Circus of Crime.

The Circus of Crime usual modus operandi is the following. They will give a performance before a large audience. At some point the Ringmaster will use the powerful mind-control device concealed in his hat to put the audience into a trance. The Circus members then rob the audience, who remember nothing about the thefts when the Ringmaster releases them from the trance and the performance continues. The Circus of Crime performs under different names so that audience will not suspect that they are the Cf Crime.

Over the years the membership of the Circus of Crime has varied, although there is a core group that has participated in most of its criminal ventures. The Ringmaster and his accomplices have been imprisoned by the law numerous times, but rarely for long, given the difficulties of proving the charges against them, since their victims usually have no memory of being robbed by them. Occasionally the Circus of Crime has operated without the Ringmaster, either because he is in prison, or because some have become dissatisfied with his leadership. However, he has always returned a leader.

Recently, Arcade used robotic duplicates of the Circus of Crime in Murderworld to try to kill the Muir Island New Mutants.

www.marveldirectory.com/groupsandteams/circusofcrime.htm

[Charles Warren]

HAMMERHEAD
Real Name: Unknown
Affiliation: The Maggia
Powers: Unbreakable Steel Alloy Skeleton

Years ago, a minor gunman for an unidentified Maggia crime family was severely beaten and, his skull literally in fragments, left to die beneath a movie poster for "The Al Capone Mob." Disfigured and delirious, he was discovered by disgraced surgeon Jonas Harrow, who, motivated by both humanitarian and experimental interests, replaced the gunman's skull and broken bones with a strong steel alloy, leaving his head broad and flattened. Upon his recovery, the gunman remembered nothing save his criminal ambitions, his mind still fixated upon the mobster poster. Rebuilding his own personality, he became a 1920s-style gangster called Hammerhead. His treatment was the earliest known instance of the criminal empowerment for which Harrow later became infamous. Determined to ascend to the underworld's peak, Hammerhead was willing to work his way to the top, and he moved from one crime family to another as his fortunes waxed and waned. His ambition and viciousness soon earned him a deadly reputation, as informants and reporters alike died for getting too close to his employers' interests. For a time he worked alongside the superhuman freelancer called Wade Wilson, later Deadpool, but little else is known of his early career.

Portions of Hammerhead's skull and skeleton have been surgically replaced with a nearly unbreakable steel alloy, making him extremely resistant to physical injury; in particular, his head is virtually impervious to physical damage.

When the Muir Island New Mutants went to Miami, Florida to track down the missing Tarot Cards, they discovered Hammerhead dead in a warehouse in what appeared to be some kind of mob hit. He had a tarot card pinned to his lapel. It was the Justice card and a number 3 had been written on it.

marvel.com/universe/Hammerhead

[Charles Warren]

BINARY
Real Name: Carol Danvers, formerly Ms. Marvel
Affiliation: The Starjammers, formerly the Avengers
Powers: Stellar Energy Control

Carol Danvers entered the Air Force at an early age and rapidly rose to become one of the leading agents in military intelligence, usually teamed with Michael Rossi, who became her lover. Upon leaving her work as a spy, she became security chief at Cape Canaveral for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, where she met the Kree Captain Mar-Vell. During a battle between Mar-Vell and his Kree foe Yon-Rogg at a hidden Kree base on Earth, Carol Danvers was accidentally irradiated by the unknown energies of the Psyche-Magnitron, a device built by the Kree. The radiation from this machine eventually augmented her entire genetic structure, giving her superhuman strength, the ability to fly and a clairvoyant "seventh sense." With these powers, she assumed the guise of Ms. Marvel and established herself as a champion of Earth. During this time she worked as a magazine editor and freelance writer in New York City. Later, in battle with the power-absorbing mutant named Rogue, Danvers lost virtually all of her Ms. Marvel abilities, leaving her with only her augmented genetic structure. Rogue also drained her of her memories, most of which, however, were restored by Professor Charles Xavier, although he could not restore to her the emotional bonds linked to those memories. Later still, Danvers was abducted by the alien Brood and subjected to an evolutionary ray, which triggered the latent potential of her augmented genes. Thus she became the cosmic-powered mutate named Binary. No longer feeling the strong emotional ties to people and places on Earth that she felt before falling victim to Rogue, Danvers decided to leave Earth and pursue adventure as a member of the space faring band known as the Starjammers.

Known Superhuman Powers: Binary can tap the energy of a white hole, that region of space which is the exit-point of a point singularity's ultimate inward collapse out of this universe and into another. (A black hole is a slightly more massive star than Earth's sun that has aged to the point that its fusion reaction has burned most of its hydrogen fuel and can no longer balance the weight of its outer layers with stellar flame. When the imbalance reaches a critical point, the outer layers collapse inward, producing depending on the original mass of star, a neutron star, black hole, or point singularity. A point singularity is such an extreme distortion of the space/time fabric of our universe that it extends into another universe. Under some circumstances, the extension is able to loop back into our space/time at some distance. This reentrance into our universe is a white hole.) This inter-dimensional breach is the 'weak" point at which Binary is able to divert small portions of cosmic energies into mentally activated disturbances of the space/time continuum around her. She is able to shape these disturbances into various lenses that focus or diffuse these relatively vast energies for a number of star-like effects. Binary is able to radiate heat, light, and the rest of the electromagnetic spectrum as well as gravity. Presumably the total amount of energy she can manifest is related to the cross-section, or "'window" she allows to open between universes. For example, an 8-inch diameter "hole" in the surface of a point singularity would let out a torrent of various energies. Binary is apparently able to apply a mental filter to these energies, allowing only the energies she chooses to pass through.

By directing stellar energy uni-directionally, she has a means of propulsion enabling her to fly at near light speed. Whether she can travel unaided through inter-universe regions is not yet known. She also has a sensitivity to the flux of ambient cosmic energies, giving her certain heightened perceptions.

Binary has a steady flux of cold "pseudo flames" coruscating in small spheres around her head and hands that represent the greatest regions of her concentration.

When the Muir Island Mutants confronted Tarot and the Hellions in Miami, Tarot summoned Binary from the Star Card.

www.marveldirectory.com/individuals/b/binary.htm

[Charles Warren]

DEADPOOL
Real Name: Wade Wilson
Affiliation: Independent Mercenary
Powers: Regeneration

The foul-mouthed mercenary now known as Deadpool was once little more than medical waste, written off as a miscarriage of science and technology by the directors of the Canadian government's enigmatic Weapon X project. Were its name known outside certain highly specialized circles, the black-ops initiative would have boasted a distinguished -- if blood-spattered -- track record. Previously, it's technicians had spawned a number of noteworthy scions -- including the feral Wolverine, maverick mutant adventurer, and the savage Sabretooth, psychotic murder machine.

And they had looked forward to an uninterrupted string of successes. Enter Wade Wilson. Diagnosed with cancer, the gun-for-hire left the woman he loved and accepted an unorthodox offer of salvation. Playing upon his hope for a cure, the Weapon X scientists attempted to recreate Wolverine's genetically endowed healing factor through artificial means. Although successful, the Byzantine procedure left Wilson's epidermis and face a horridly callused mess. Considered a failure, he was consigned to a prison laboratory for program rejects. Unable at first to accept his mangled appearance, Wilson slipped into the darkest pit of his soul. He killed several guards and escaped -- dubbing himself "Deadpool," after the facility. Some time later, he re-emerged as one of the world's foremost mercenaries-for-hire.

After cementing his reputation as a solider of fortune and quasi-super hero, Deadpool signed on the dotted line for the terrorist known as Tolliver. His target: the time-tossed mutant freedom fighter called Cable. Deadpool learned that his former lover -- Vanessa Carlyle, the shapeshifter named Copycat -- was posing as Cable's girlfriend and teammate, the probability-altering Domino. Wilson launched repeated offensives against Cable and his mutant strike team, X-Force -- culminating with a battle in which Tolliver was killed and Vanessa seriously wounded. Deadpool showed mercy on his former flame, diverting a portion of his powers to heal her injuries.

Escaping custody in a metal asylum, Deadpool gained the attention of the interdimensional firm of Landau, Luckman & Lake. LL&L believed Deadpool to be the Mithras, one who would usher in a new golden age for the inhabitants of Earth. But the prophecy was a sham: The being destined to bring this era to life actually would transform the planet's inhabitants into mindless, grinning boobs. Deadpool averted disaster, but internal politics within LL&L brought an end to their relationship. His optimism again shattered, Wilson returned to his status as a killer-for-hire.


When the Muir Island Mutants confronted Tarot and the Hellions in Miami, Tarot summoned Deadpool from the Fool Card.

[Charles Warren]

DEATH
Real Name: Death
Affiliation: Cosmic Entity
Powers: Death, Immortality, the Power Cosmic

Death can manifest itself on the physical plane at certain times to certain individuals as a sentient, quasi-tangible humanoid entity of either gender. Like Eternity, Lord Chaos, and Master Order, Death is an abstract being embodying a concept, whose true nature and origin is unknown. Death and the being called Eternity are said to comprise the mystical essence of the universe: Eternity embodies the principle of life, and Death embodies the principle of mortality.

Death and Eternity can both manifest themselves as sentient beings, and have spoken of themselves as siblings. They have appeared in humanoid form, although presumably they could appear in any guise they chose. Eternity generally appears in the form of a male, while Death usually manifests itself in female form. This may simply be the form Death chooses to seduce males into doing its will. When Death presented itself once to the vampire lord Dracula as a rival rather than as a seducer, it took male form. While Death can take the guise of a living human, it more often appears to living beings as a hooded, robed skeleton.

The personification of Death sometimes seems to possess fathomable motives. Death seems to seek new conquests, and manipulates mortals with or without their knowledge in order to gain them. Death once attempted to destroy Dracula through human pawns because Dracula was depriving it of conquests by creating vampires who were neither truly alive nor truly dead Death failed on that occasion, but Dracula eventually fell victim to permanent destruction. Although Death ordinarily seems content to maintain a balance in the universe between its power and Eternity's, Death will seize opportunities that arise to achieve dominance over Eternity. Death once appeared to the mad Titanian Thanos in the form of a woman with whom he fell so much in love that he was willing to destroy the universe in order to please her. Death also apparently works in partnership with Galactus, the destroyer of worlds. Death has on occasion taken the role of gamesman, having once played a tournament of champions with the Elder called the Grandmaster.

Death's ultimate goals are unknown. There may be a master plan guiding its movements or nothing more than random chance. Virtually all living creatures in the known universe must eventually surrender themselves to Death. Even the Eternals and Asgardians age, although they do so very slowly, and will someday die. The Olympian gods do not age, but can be killed by a sufficiently powerful force. The Elders of the Universe, reputed to be the oldest living beings in the universe, can also be killed by a sufficiently powerful force. Galactus, the only known entity said to predate the Big Bang itself, believes his death inevitable.

When the Muir Island Mutants confronted Tarot and the Hellions in Miami, Tarot summoned Death from the Death Card.

www.marveldirectory.com/individuals/d/death.htm

[Charles Warren]

GHOST RIDER
Real Name: Johnny Blaze
Affiliation: Independent
Powers: Super-human Strength; Hellfire

Johnny Blaze was the son of stunt motorcyclist Barton Blaze, the top attraction at Crash Simpson's Daredevil Cycle Show. The Elder Blaze was killed performing a dangerous stunt, and Johnny, now an orphan (his mother Clara having died shortly after his birth), was adopted by Crash Simpson and his wife Mona. At first frightened of motorcycles, Blaze soon conquered his fear and became an accomplished amateur motorcyclist. Blaze practiced stuntriding on his own, and became romantically involved with his stepsister Roxanne Simpson.

Blaze also began to take interest in the occult. Just when then the Simpson Cycle Show was about to get a chance at fame with a booking at New York City's Madison Square Garden, Crash Simpson learned that he was dying of a rare blood disease. Desperate to save his stepfather, Blaze performed a ritual to summon up the "devil," whom Blaze believed to be the Biblical Satan but was actually the demon lord Mephisto. Mephisto agreed to save Simpson from his fatal disease in return for Blaze's soul.

At Madison Square Garden, Crash Simpson performed the greatest stunt of his career, a cycle jump over 22 cars widths, and crashed to his death. Blaze was shocked, since he believed the "devil" would protect his stepfather. When Mephisto appeared to collect Blaze's soul, the demon explained that only promised to save Simpson from the diseased, and nothing more. However, before Mephisto could take Blaze's soul, Roxanne Simpson arrived and recited a spell of banishment she read in one of Blaze's occult books. Mephisto was forced to leave without Blaze's soul, but was able to graft the essence of the demon Zarathos to Blaze's body.

Zarathos was a demon who attacked human souls. In order to capture Zarathos, many centuries ago Mephisto stole the soul of an American Indian now known as Centurious. When Zarathos' attacked on Centurious therefore proved ineffective, the demon's followers lost faith in him. Mephisto then stole the living flames that was Zarathos' soul. Over the centuries Mephisto amused himself by placing the essence of Zarathos within various human hosts. Johnny Blaze was the latest of these.

Blaze was unaware of the separate consciousness of the being that dwelled within him, and believed that the demonic personality was a sinister side of his own personality. At first the demon manifested itself every nightfall, mystically burning Blaze's flesh to become a fiery skeletal being. Using his demonic hellfire to create a fiery motorcycle to ride, the composite Zarathos. Blaze entity became publicly known as the Ghost Rider. Whenever the Ghost Rider returned to human form, Blaze's flesh would immediately restore.

At first Johnny Blaze dominated the Ghost Rider's personality. After a few months, Blaze's automatic transformations at nightfall ended. He then became the Ghost Rider whenever he mystically sensed "evil" in his vicinity. Later, Blaze was able to control his transformations as well as the actions of the demon when it manifested itself. It was during this period that the Ghost Rider became a member of the Champions of Los Angeles, a short-lived group of superhuman adventurers. But the more Blaze became the Ghost Rider, the stronger the demon became. Eventually Zarathos tried to take control of their composite form. Blaze no longer summoned the demon within him to help him accomplish his ends, such as fighting crime. Instead, Blaze valiantly struggled to prevent Zarathos from taking control and wreaking havoc.

As the Ghost Rider, Blaze possessed superhuman strength, enabling him to lift (press) about 5 tons, and immunity to must forms of conventional injury. He could create "hellfire" that could harm or traumatize a human soul, and with which he created a fiery motorcycle he rode. Blaze possessed none of these powers in human form.

Other Abilities: Johnny Blaze is one of the greatest living stunt motorcyclists. He has some knowledge of the occult, but has forsworn using it.

When the Muir Island Mutants confronted Tarot and the Hellions in Miami, Tarot summoned Ghost Rider from the Justice Card.

www.marveldirectory.com/individuals/g/ghostrider.htm

[Charles Warren]

HERCULES
Real Name: Heracles
Affiliation: Gods of Olympus
Powers: God-like Strength

Hercules is the son of Zeus, king of the gods of Olympus, and Alcmena, a mortal woman who lived about three thousand years ago. Recognizing the need for a son who would be powerful enough to defend both the Olympian gods and humanity from future dangers he foresaw, Zeus seduced Alcmena in the guise of her husband, King Amphitryon of Troezen. Thanks to Zeus's enchantment, Hercules was born with the potential for extraordinary strength, which he first displayed before he was even one year old by strangling two serpents which attacked him. As an adult, Hercules is best known for his celebrated Twelve Labors, which were performed in part to prove his worthiness for immortality to Zeus. (One of these Labors, the cleansing of the Augean Stables, was actually performed by the Eternal called the Forgotten One, who was sometimes mistaken for Hercules.)

In the course of these Labors, Hercules provoked the wrath of three immortals who remain his enemies to this day. By slaughtering the man-eating Stymphalian Birds, he enraged the war god Ares, to whom they were sacred. In temporarily capturing Cerberus, the three-headed hound that serves as guardian to the Olympian underworld (not to be confused with the shape-shifting giant of the same name), Hercules offended Pluto, the lord of that realm. By killing the Nemean Lion, the Hydra, and other creatures spawned by the inconceivably grotesque and powerful monster Typhoeus, Hercules gained the bitter enmity of Typhon, the immortal humanoid offspring of Typhoeus and a Titaness.

However, it was the centaur Nessus who caused Hercules' mortal demise. Nessus kidnapped Hercules' wife Deianeira, whereupon Hercules shot him with an arrow. Feigning a wish to make amends, the dying centaur told Deianeira how to make a love charm from his allegedly enchanted blood, aware that it was now tainted with the lethal poison of the Hydra, in which Hercules had dipped his arrows. Some time after Nessus' death, Deianeira, distraught over her husband's latest infidelity, rubbed the supposed love charm into Hercules' shirt. After putting aflame. Zeus then intervened, consuming the pyre with his thunderbolts and bringing Hercules to Olympus to be made a true immortal.

Strength Level: Hercules is of "Class 100" strength, able to lift (press) over 100 tons. (The average male Olympian god is capable of lifting about 25 tons.)

Known Superhuman Powers: Hercules' principal power is his superhuman strength. As true immortals, the Olympian gods do not age and are not susceptible to disease. Although they can be wounded in battle, they cannot die by any conventional means, and have a rapid healing rate. Hercules has a greater resistance to physical injury than any other Olympian god except for Zeus, and possibly Neptune and Pluto. He can even survive unprotected in the vacuum of space for a brief period of time. Only an injury of such magnititude that it incinerated him or dispersed a major portion of his bodily molecules could kill Hercules. In at least some such cases, Zeus or one of the other gods might still be able to resurrect him.

Hercules has highly developed leg muscles, although they do not match those of the Hulk. Hercules can make a standing high jump of at least 100 feet in Earth's gravity.

Hercules is virtually tireless. His supernaturally enhanced musculature produces no fatigue poisons.

Abilities: As Olympus's greatest warrior, Hercules is highly expert in traditional means of hand-to-hand combat, as well as in wrestling. Hercules is also very highly skilled in ancient Greek athletic feats such as the discus and hammer throws.

Weapons: Hercules was famed in ancient Greece for his mastery of the bow and arrow, but today, because of his bitter memories of Nessus's treachery and Deianeira's suicide, he prefers not to use them.

Before he came to live on Olympus, Hercules's favorite weapon was his large wooden club. The club was supplanted by his current weapon, his Golden Mace, which is not actually made of gold but was forged by the god Hephaestus from enchanted adamantine, the legendary substance after which Dr. Myron MacLain named his artificially created adamantlure. The Mace is therefore virtually indestructible, and has survived direct blows from Thor's hammer.

When the Muir Island Mutants confronted Tarot and the Hellions in Miami, Tarot summoned Hercules from the Strength Card.

marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Death_(Earth-616)

[Charles Warren]

J. JONAH JAMESON
Real Name: N/A
Affiliation: The Daily Bugle
Powers: None

J. Jonah Jameson began his journalistic career by becoming a part-time reporter for New York City's Daily Bugle while he was still in high school. Jameson had a long career as a reporter, including time spent as a war correspondent. Eventually Jameson purchased the Bugle, which was then floundering financially, with money obtained from his personal assets and large inheritance. Hence, the Bugle is now owned by Jameson's own company, Jameson Publications. Jameson served as the newspaper's publisher and editor in chief, and revitalized the photograph-dominated tabloid format which the Bugle still has today. In 1968 Jameson's company purchased the Goodman Building on 39th Street and Second Avenue in Manhattan and moved its entire editorial and publishing facilities there. The building is today known as the Daily Bugle building. Jameson's wife Joan died at some point under unrevealed circumstances. She and her husband had only one child, John, who became an astronaut for NASA.

For decades Jameson has used his newspaper to crusade in support of civil rights for minority groups and against organized crime. His efforts in the latter area led to his nearly being killed on orders of the Kingpin of Crime. However, Jameson's brush with death has not frightened him away from publishing attacks on and exposes of organized crime.

In recent years Jameson has become notorious for his editorial attacks against costumed "super heroes" in general, and against Spider-Man in particular. Spider-Man first came to public attention as an entertainer who used his powers to perform on television and stage. But when Spider-Man captured a burglar, Jameson became outraged that this masked entertainer would use his dangerous powers to take the law into his own hands. Jameson began speaking out against Spider-Man in his lectures and newspaper editorials. Jameson raised enough public doubt about the mysterious Spider-Man's motivations that Spider-Man was blacklisted virtually overnight by the entertainment industry.

The Muir Island New Mutants met Jameson in the lobby of the South Beach Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Miami Beach.

www.marveldirectory.com/individuals/j/jamesonjjonah.htm