Xorn

This entry is for the X-Men character. For the Dungeons and Dragons creature, see Xorn (Dungeons & Dragons).

Xorn is the surname of two fictional mutants in the Marvel Comics universe.

Kuan-Yin Xorn

The first Xorn was a Chinese mutant who, at puberty, developed a tiny "star for a brain"; as a result, he became a powerful healer and possessed the ability to manipulate energy and gravity. He was captured and imprisoned by the Chinese government, who forced him to wear a skull-like mask designed to restrain his energy output. He remained in isolated captivity for decades until a corrupt, mutant official offered to sell him to John Sublime. The X-Men and Sublime's U-men found Kuan-Yin Xorn just as he was attempting to commit suicide; Cyclops (with the help of Emma Frost) was able to establish contact with Kuan-Yin, convince him not to kill himself (as Beast put it: "Don't worry. Scott's very good with the depressed.") and offer him a position among the X-Men. This Xorn accepted the offer and became a valued member of the team, even going so far as to restore Professor X's severed spinal cord. Despite the ordeals through which he had passed, Kuan-Yin Xorn proved to be an optimistic, open and somewhat naive person. He came to consider Cyclops his closest friend (always referring to him as "Scott, my friend") and becoming, in turn, one of Cyclops' only real friends. He seemed eager to spend time with both humans and mutants, occasionally interacting with Chinese immigrants in New York City.

Kuan-Yin was soon put in charge of the "Special Class", a group of physical and social misfits attending the Xavier Institute. Though he had hoped to befriend these students, he became disillusioned when they began to mock and insult him. He remained determined to help his "Special Class," even saving their lives from a group of U-men, and in time commanded them as his own highly loyal, unofficial team of X-Men.

Planet X

This proved to work against the actual X-Men when, in the storyline "Planet X", Xorn took off his mask, apparently revealing his identity as none other than the X-Men's nemesis Magneto. He claimed that there had never been a Kuan-Yin Xorn, and that he had used his energy-manipulation powers to fake the so-called Xorn's mutation and powers; Xorn had previously only demonstrated the ability to manipulate magnetism, gravity and electricity and to control nanotechnology, all of which Magneto was easily capable of. After this revelation, he once again crippled Xavier; levelled Xavier's mansion; and took over New York City, where he enslaved the human population and destroyed much of the city itself. He tried to recreate the Brotherhood with Toad, the rebellious Stepford Cuckoo Esme, and the members of Xorn's "Special Class."

This Magneto seemed to be a shell of his former self however - insecure, lacking in intelligence, indecisive, and relying heavily on the drug Kick to augment his power, he was forced to struggle to maintain the loyalty and respect of his followers. He announced a plan to invert the planet by reversing its magnetic poles, and began to employ increasingly fascistic methods (including the construction of a Nazi-esque crematorium in which he planned to eradicate the remaining human population). He also appeared to be experiencing a form of Multiple Personality Disorder, as the "Xorn" persona began to manifest itself within Magneto's head, claiming to be the embodiment of Magneto's wisdom, idealism and nobility. In a final confrontation with the X-Men, this Magneto fatally wounded Jean Grey, before finally being beheaded by Wolverine.

Post-Mortem

Xavier then took the body of the supposed Magneto to Genosha, where they held a funeral for the deceased mutant leader. The funeral was attended by Magneto's followers and his children, including Magneto's increasingly unstable daughter, Scarlet Witch (whose reality-warping powers would later lead to the Avengers Disassembled, House of M and Decimation events). In Excalibur #1 it was revealed that Xavier had met the real Magneto, who was alive and well on Genosha. Xavier and Magneto debated the true identity and motives of the impostor...all while standing by the bandage-wrapped body of Kuan-Yin Xorn. Most of the answers to the question of the Magneto-impostor's identity came in subsequent issues of X-Men comic books, when the second Xorn was introduced.

His first name is taken from the Chinese deity Kuan Yin.

Who Was Kuan-Yin Xorn?

The character Kuan-Yin Xorn has been the focus of extensive retconning since the end of Grant Morrison's run on New X-Men. His actual identity and fate are still riddled with apparent ambiguities, inconsistencies and contradictions. Subsequent attempts by other writers to retcon Morrison's "revelation" (such as the further "revelation" that Magneto had survived) have been interpreted by many as a tacit admission of this point.

Similarly, an entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: X-Men 2005 has added to the confusion: under the entry "XORN," it is stated that "Kuan-Yin eventually revealed himself to be a duplicate of the X-Men's nemesis Magneto, a transformation believed to have been caused by Magneto's daughter, the Scarlet Witch." While vague, this information has continued to fuel debate. However the revelations in New Avengers #20 appear to have clarified matters.

The Collective

'The Collective' first appears in House of M # 8 as a cloud of energy hovering in orbit around the earth; and again in House of M: DeciMation: The Day After special. "The Collective} as a whole (incarnate) then appears in New Avengers #16, and was created by Brian Michael Bendis. It has the energy signatures of all the mutants who lost their powers on M-Day, and controlled by 'Xorn.' When the energy left the mutants, it eventually became centered on one man, Michael Pointer, a mutant that can absorb energy.

Character History

In House of M #8, Scarlet Witch speaks the phrase, "No More Mutants". Suddenly, millions of mutants find themselves human, including Magneto, and Quicksilver. But, as energy cannot be destroyed, the collective power signatures of the mutants arrives in North Pole, Alaska.

The Collective bonds with a mutant postal worker, Michael Pointer, and he enters Canada, encountering its superhero team, Alpha Flight and severely wounding, perhaps even killing, its members.

S.H.I.E.L.D Director Maria Hill sends the Avengers to meet with the being, who is learning to control its many powers. In the battle, Iron Man asks if it speaks any language, and confusingly, it says its name is Michael, only to be punched by Ms. Marvel, who was asked to assist the team. Collective ignites her latent powers of Binary. She remarks that this is like being hit by "fifty powers at once". Collective then rips Tony Stark from his Iron Man armor, and The Sentry arrives, knocking Michael into space. Iron Man retrieves his armor and counters Collective's next attack, sending the data to Spider-Man who with the help of the Vision, analyzes the power signatures Iron Man obtained.

Spider-Man finds that the signatures match up with the depowered mutants, an incident which only the X-Men and the Avengers know occurred. S.H.I.E.L.D. telepaths examine Spider-Man's memories, and discover that the House of M occurred. Meanwhile, Iron Man and Sentry leave the Collective alone, and it flies to Genosha. The Avengers rescue Spider-Man, but they are too late to stop the interrogation.

On Genosha, the Collective repowers Magneto and reveals itself as Xorn. Xorn explains that he took the image of Magneto, because he knew mutants would follow him, and that they needed the real Magneto again. Magneto, not in control of himself, begins attacking the New Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. He is taken down with a psychokinetic attack on his brain from S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Daisy Johnson. Iron Man, Ms. Marvel and the Sentry combine their powers and sent the Collective/Xorn into the sun; Michael is separated from the Collective.

It is still unknown if the collective energies from the depowered mutants will return after the "death" of Xorn.

When questioned on this matter, Joe Quesada stated:

''"Kuan-Yen Xorn and Shen Xorn were twin brothers from China, both mutants, one with the power of a star in his head, one the power of a black hole. Kuan-Yen Xorn came under the influence of as-yet-to-be-revealed entity that forced him to assume the identity of Magneto, battle the X-Men and destroy Manhattan. He was subsequently killed by Wolverine near the end of that battle, in the Planet X storyline.

''Soon thereafter, his twin brother Shen surfaced and briefly joined the X-Men. This Xorn brother was de-powered during M-Day.

Because Xorn's powers were psychokinetic, and his personality was so strong, it basically remained an almost disembodied sentient thing among the big ball of mutant energy. When that energy got sucked down to Earth by Michael and all absorbed by him, Xorn was the dominant personality in the mix, and that's what drove him towards Genosha and Magneto."

This would make the dominant personality of the Collective Shen Xorn, not Kuan-Yen, the brother who impersonated Magneto. The story itself seems to suggest that the personality in control of the Collective — whoever and whatever it may be — is the "as-yet-to-be-revealed entity" that took control of Kuan-Yen in the first place.

Powers and Abilities

The Collective is an amalgam of every existing energy signature of the depowered mutants on Earth. Among the abilities Michael has demonstrated upon bonding with the Collective are ice creation, multiplying in size, flight, breathing in outer space, and energy blasts. It may be assumed at this point that Michael may be a mutant who can absorb stray energy, although that hasn't been revealed yet. Also, Michael has just recently acquired these abilities. He is still learning to control all of them, and as such, is not skilled in the uses of his abilities, but he is capable of using them. After quickly neutralizing (possibly killing) Alpha Flight, The Collective sped for Genosha. Telling Magneto it tried to use his name previously, it decided to repower him. The Collective then identified itself as Xorn, and admitted it had used the body of Kuan-Yin Xorn and infiltrated the X-Men ("...without a body the Collective is useless....") and had used Magneto's "name and face," while attacking New York City in the story "Planet X." Using the plural "we" Xorn stated "...we tried to do it without you.... tried using your name, your face .. but it didn't work. Even before this latest catstrophe against our species, we learned that it has to be you that brings the mutants their world. It only works with your mind. Your perfect mind. And now we've been given a second chance...." " And then, "... you know who we are! We killed five thousand in your name...." Xorn believed that his "revolution" had failed because he'd been a false Magneto, and he needed the real Magneto in order to succeed. While Xorn was attempting to possess Magneto, they were attacked by the New Avengers, and separated. Xorn, as the Collective, was carried into the sun by Sentry, one of the Avengers, where a glimpse of a skull-like face was seen on the sun's surface. It remains to be seen if the sun has killed the Collective/Xorn, since while masquerading as Xorn it had a star for a brain.

Shen Xorn

Later issues of X-Men stated that Kuan-Yin Xorn was an actual person who, under the influence of the entity known as Sublime, had pretended to be Magneto. A man named Shen Xorn possessing similar powers appeared soon after, claiming to be the twin brother of the original Kuan-Yin Xorn. This claim was supported when Emma Frost, a powerful telepath, conducted a thorough mind scan of Shen. Not too long after, Shen Xorn disappeared when he unleashed the gravitational forces of a black hole in the course of helping the X-Men defeat an attack by an opposing mutant force.

Decimation

Most recently, Shen was seen on a terminal screen in New Avengers #18 as one of the depowered mutants.

Behind the scenes

For information on how the Xorn storyline was retconned, see the Planet X (comics) article

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