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There have been several groups of fictional characters in the Marvel Comics universe who have been known as the Hellions. These groups were foes of various teams of younger mutant heroes in the X-Men franchise.
The Original Hellions
The original, and most notable, group of Hellions were students of the White Queen and trainees of the Hellfire Club, attending classes at the White Queen's Massachussets Academy while training in the use of their powers in an underground complex beneath the school. They were longtime rivals of the New Mutants, and once held their own against the X-Men. Most were killed by the time traveler Trevor Fitzroy and a number of Sentinels. The White Queen's guilt over their deaths led to her eventual reform. Their line-up included:
- Beef- gifted with incredible strength and resistance to injury
- Bevatron- capable of discharging bursts of electricity from his fists
- Catseye (Sharon Smith)- transforms her body into a purple feline or semi-feline state and shift her size between a house cat or a panther form, also razor sharp claws, enhanced senses, increased agility, reaction time and balance, and a prehensile tail. Originally believed she was a cat with the ability to turn in to a human form.
- Empath (Manuel de la Rocha)- capable of sensing and controlling the emotional states of others
- Jetstream (Haroun al-Rashid)- discharges explosive bursts beneath his feet to give lift, guidance helped by a jetpack and a guidance system
- Roulette (Jennifer Stavros)- creates colored disks of energy that alter the probability of luck: red for good, black for bad
- Tarot (Marie-Ange Colbert)- materialize the images on her tarot cards into three-dimensional constructs or as apparel for her (such as the shroud and scythe of Death), as well as some sort of claivoyance
- Thunderbird (James Proudstar)- gifted with increased strength, agility, durability, and senses
As well as one-time members:
- Firestar (Angelica Jones)- cabable of altering microwaves to create intense bursts of heat and fire, also uses it for flight
- Magma (Amara Aquilla)- controls the tectonic plates beneath her, causing minor earthquakes and also lava which she can cause to erupt like mini volcanoes, and turn her body into a firey form which is resistant to heat and fire and can be extended into flashes of fire.
- Note: For a brief period, many members of the New Mutants were transferred to the Massachusetts Academy at Magneto's (then-Headmaster of Xavier's School) request, due to his students' need for psychic assistance from the White Queen to recover from severe psychological trauma after being wiped from existance and then later resurrected by the Beyonder in Secret Wars II. While at the Academy, all of the transferred New Mutants were inducted into the Hellions; they later returned to Xavier's School after their recovery and the revelation that the White Queen had employed Empath to coerce Magneto into allowing the transfer. The entry for the Hellions in 2006's All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe lists these New Mutants as one-time members of the Hellions: Wolfsbane, Karma, Cannonball, Cypher, and Magik. Magma was also among the afflicted New Mutants who transferred at this time; she returned to Xavier's School with the others, transferring back to the Massachusetts Academy later, after Magneto joined the Hellfire Club as its White King and relations improved between the two factions.
Temporary group of new Hellions
The next group of Hellions were organized by the parasite Emplate to attack Generation X. This group appeared only once. One member, Vincente, had been a member of the Age of Apocalypse timeline's version of Generation X; another, Bulwark, appeared alongside Emplate in later stories only to be captured and killed by Weapon X. Also among this group was Gayle Edgerton, the former girlfriend of Generation X member Chamber, D.O.A., a mummified mutant named Murmur, and Dirtnap. Of note is the fact that Emplate never called his group the Hellions, but it was only in the advertising.
The New Hellions
The official second group of Hellions, also going by the name "New Hellions" were organized to battle X-Force. Members included:
- King Bedlam - Their leader, brother of X-Force member Jesse Bedlam.
- Tarot - Inexplicably resurrected, Tarot's life was somehow joined to King Bedlam
- Magma
- Feral
- Paradigm - A mutant infused with techno-organic matter extracted from the alien Phalanx of which Warlock was a member.
- Switch - A newcomer who could switch minds with an individual to possess their body.
- Jesse Bedlam also briefly joined them.
The Xavier Institute's Hellions squad
A new group of Hellions debuted in New Mutants (vol. 2) #10 (and were formally named as such in Academy X #2). This group is a squad of students in Xavier's school under the White Queen's leadership. Membership consists of:
- Hellion (Julian Keller) - Squad Leader & a Telekinetic
- Mercury (Cessily Kincaid) - Solid humanoid mercury form and can turn into and move around as liquid mercury
- Rockslide (Santo Vaccarro) - Durable granite outer layer; uses body parts as reattachable projectiles
- Tag (Brian Cruz) - Places a psionic broadcast on a person that repels or compels those around him toward or away from the signal
- Dust (Sooraya Qadir) - Changes her entire body into sand which reacts to allow her to move around in blasts and then return the sand back into her original form.
- Wither (Kevin Ford) - Rapidly deteriorates organic matter with his body upon direct contact. Formerly a New Mutant, Wither switched to the Hellions team due to a dislike of Dani Moonstar, a hatred for Elixir, and a betrayal by his fellow New Mutants.
Former members:
- Icarus, currently with the New Mutants, was previously a member of this group of Hellions.
- Specter (Dallas Gibson) was part of the initial lineup (which didn't include Dust or Icarus), but wasn't in the final, formal, team. He can blend with his own shadow, which gives him darkness powers. He can't stay in shadow form for too long or he succumbs to his own darkness. The shadow form is stronger during the day.
As a result of the Decimation event, in which the Scarlet Witch's magicks depowered most of the mutant population, of the 182 students enrolled at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning, only 27 still retain their powers. Most of the 'ex-mutants' have left the school, and all the remaining mutants have merged into one squad. While most of the New Mutants were affected, only Tag of the Hellions was; the other Hellions retained their powers. After injuring a student Wither ran away from the institute. His whereabouts are currently unknown.
Notes
The only surviving members of the original Hellions were Thunderbird II (now called Warpath), Firestar, Empath, Magma, and Tarot (who died but was later resurrected through unknown means).
- Tarot later joined the third incarnation of the Hellions formed by King Bedlam. Her resurrection was never fully explained.
- Firestar later went on to join the New Warriors and the Avengers. Due to the impending Civil War, she has decided to quit her superhero career.
- Magma continued her career with the New Mutants and later resurfaced as a member of King Bedlam's Hellions. Her reasons for joining were purely selfish as Bedlam had promised her a large sum of money for her services. However, Magma helped out her old teammates from X-force to save the day. She had a short tenure, along with Empath at the Los Angeles branch of X-Corporation, but was captured by the Church of Humanity and crucified on the front lawn of the X-mansion. Her life was saved due to Archangel's healing blood and became a resident staff member for the growing student body at Xavier's mansion.
- Thunderbird joined with Cable when he formed X-Force and was a steady member for many years until the team disagreed with his leadership and went off on their own. They found a new leader in Pete Wisdom and he taught Warpath—then going simply by his last name Proudstar—how to further his abilities to include self-propelled flight. When X-force staged their own deaths, Proudstar later resurfaced as a member of the Mumbai (Bombay) branch of X-Corporation. He is currently slated to be joining the roster of Uncanny X-Men in the near future.
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"Hellions"