BIOGRAPHY - Page 2
In fact, Mesmero had entranced Gauntlet as well, leaving him convinced he had killed Mesmero when he had actually missed. Mesmero eventually made his way to Canada and began expanding the influence of his powers. He assumed control of a diner, called Food For Thought, with both customers and employees held under his hypnotic sway. How long Mesmero operated the diner is unknown, but eventually several junior members of the new Alpha Flight came to eat, and Mesmero couldn't pass up the opportunity to exert control over them. Mesmero dominated the young heroes and forced them to work in the diner until the elder members of Alpha Flight came looking for them. What followed was a farce as Alphans fell in and out of Mesmero's control, fighting with each other for his amusement. Soon, Mesmero grew tired of his antics and used his hypnosis to disappear, moving on to his next game. [Alpha Flight (2nd series) #3-5] Mesmero had a brief encounter with the X-Men after that, where he implanted false memories of a swords n' sorcery fantasy world in them for a time. [X-Men (2nd series) #1/2]
Later, Mesmero was one of several mutants and super-beings recruited for the new Weapon X Program. Director Malcolm Colcord lured in many recruits with the promise of boosted powers, and Mesmero was no exception. Mesmero's hypnosis was now sufficient to assume control over large crowds of people at once, no longer reliant on eye contact in close quarters. [Deadpool: Agent of Weapon X #1] Already arrogant and amoral, Mesmero became almost insufferably egotistical thanks to his enhanced powers. He remained on the Director's good side only because he was just so agreeable towards doing anything Weapon X wanted of him, in order to keep his enhancements. His relationships with the other field operatives were spotty at best, though. In fact, after he seduced Marrow on a mission using a hypnotically-reinforced alter ego, she promised to kill him if he ever touched her again. [Weapon X (2nd series) #1/2, 1, Weapon X: The Draft -- Marrow #1]
When Sabretooth went rogue from the program, the Director had him forcibly brought back into the fold. Creed had stolen information from Weapon X before he left and had psychic shields installed in his mind to keep the information safe. Even Mesmero couldn't compel Creed to reveal the location of the info through the shields. To keep him in line, the Director had Mesmero implant Sabretooth with hypnotic triggers and safeguards to control his behavior. Thanks to these control words, the Director could keep Sabretooth from harming anyone without his express permission. As the Neverland concentration camp was built, Mesmero was also used to help lure mutants into submitting to Weapon X custody, carted off in the middle of the night. [Weapon X (2nd series) #4-5]
As Weapon X's influence expanded, the Director decided Mesmero was better suited for duties other than combat insertion. Under the guise of William H. Thorton, Mesmero became the public face of Weapon X's media presence. He openly assured the press that all mutant citizens being arrested were charged with acts of terrorism, that their civil rights were nevertheless being protected and there was simply no such thing as Neverland, despite the rumors. Mesmero's hypnotic powers assured that anyone he interviewed with saw him as a normal man and was convinced of his words. Thanks to Weapon X technology, anyone who saw his broadcasts was also affected by his powers.
Things were not going well at home, 
though. Vincent's mother had been sick for some time. He used his hypnosis to ensure she had the best of care, doctors and nurses seeing to her needs around the clock. Vincent even hypnotized his mother into seeing herself as vital and healthy, despite the visible progression of her illness otherwise. Still, his mother knew the truth, regardless of what she was coerced into seeing. When Mesmero came to visit, she told him it was time for her to die. Mesmero rejected the idea, having become so enamored with his power that he believed he could control anything, even death. As his mother passed away, however, even the mighty Mesmero could not hypnotize her into living again. [Weapon X (2nd series) #7-8]
Something broke inside of Mesmero that day. His hypnosis was always based, at least in part, on his confidence. His faith in himself and his abilities was shaken by his mother's death, and Vincent found he could no longer command others. At first, he tried to keep his failing powers to himself, rightly fearing what would happen when he was no longer useful to the Weapon X Program. However, Sabretooth was able to slip his psychic bonds because Mesmero's powers had faltered, allowing the Director to reason out what had happened. 
Mesmero was to be sent off to Neverland, or perhaps somewhere even worse, so that Weapon X could find some new use for him. [Weapon X (2nd series) #9-11]
Fortunately for Mesmero, the Director's second-in-command Brent Jackson was preparing to make his own play for the program. Seeing Mesmero as a potential asset whose loyalty he could cultivate, Jackson intercepted Mesmero on his way to Neverland. Mesmero was given time to work on rebuilding his powers and self-confidence, and eventually he was successful. In the meantime, Jackson took over the Weapon X Program from the Director, and decided to take the program underground. Mesmero installed a series of deeply rooted hypnotic triggers in the mind of Agent Zero, a reluctant asset to the program. Subliminally manipulating Agent Zero as a sleeper agent, Mesmero kept Zero working for Jackson long after he thought he had broken from the program. [Weapon X: Days of Future Now #3]
[Note: Days of Future Now occupies a complicated place in continuity as a series that takes place in the future, but flashes back to the present or near-present. While the near-present events quickly diverted into an alternate timeline for various reasons unrelated to Mesmero, the above events apparently still occurred in the main timeline.]
The Weapon X Program became heavily divided after Jackson's takeover. They were at odds with their parent organization (John Sublime and the Weapon Plus Program) as well as the now rogue Malcolm Colcord and his Sentinels, and even Mister Sinister and his artificial mutants. The War of the Programs reached a climax on M-Day when the majority of the participants simply lost their powers in the Decimation, including Mesmero. [New Excalibur #9] In the aftermath, Vincent struggled heavily to make his way in the world. He began living on the streets in poverty, though he found at least some peace and companionship with a woman named Glory. [X-Men Unlimited (2nd series) #13]
Under unknown circumstances, Vincent eventually regained his powers and reassumed the identity of Mesmero. His hypnosis had grown considerably, allowing him to alter behavior patterns, manipulate others remotely after initial contact, and plant slow-percolating ideas in the subconscious mind of his victims. He was hired by the anti-mutant activist Lydia Nance to stir up sentiment against mutants for the benefit of her organization, the Heritage Initiative. Mesmero used his powers to assemble a new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants under his control. He found new mutants to assume the identities of Pyro and Avalanche, brainwashed Magma and Masque, and forcibly recruited a mysterious figure named Kologoth whom Nance had found for their plans.
The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants launched an attack on the United Nations, drawing out the X-Men and making a perfect soundbite for Nance's rhetoric. They stepped up their efforts by kidnapping Old Man Logan and taking the mayor of New York City straight out of Gracie Mansion, announcing their plans to kill him over the air. Logan got free long enough to call in the X-Men, but was snared by Mesmero's hypnosis after that. The X-Men arrived to rescue the mayor and fought through both Logan and the remaining Brotherhood members. The heroes' resident telepath was Rachel Grey, the former Phoenix now known as Prestige, and she and Mesmero battled each other psychically as he tried to put her under his control. Prestige beat Mesmero with apparent ease, and extracted information from his mind about Lydia Nance being the Brotherhood's secret backer. After the mayor was safe, the X-Men turned Mesmero and his Brotherhood over to the authorities, although they were unable to prove Nance's involvement. [X-Men: Gold #1-3]
Still on Nance's payroll, Mesmero was able to bribe a guard at "The Box" prison to turn off his power restraining collar. He approached Pyro and Avalanche and convinced them to escape with him, allegedly to seek revenge on Lydia Nance for using and discarding them. Pyro was reluctant to trust Mesmero, having shaken off some of Mesmero's earlier manipulations on his mind. However, either due to new influence by Mesmero or merely a lack of options, he chose to rejoin the Brotherhood. The trio attacked the Heritage Initiative yacht, drawing out the X-Men for another battle. Mesmero psychically fought Prestige again, getting the upper hand for a moment this time. The X-Men rallied together to fight a seemingly expanded Brotherhood roster, only for Mesmero to reveal it was all an illusion. The X-Men were arrested on scene for fighting with an arriving SWAT team, believing them to be evil mutants. Back at their hideout, Mesmero revealed the plan all along was to discredit the X-Men on behalf of Nance, and she had paid him, Pyro, and Avalanche to do so. [X-Men: Gold #21-22]
On the run after that, Mesmero holed up in the South American nation of Santo Marco. The X-Men tracked him down, but the overconfident Prestige was surprised by the power Mesmero had over her. Unbeknownst to Rachel, Mesmero's previous psychic encounters with her hadn't been intended to win, but rather, allowed him to implant a "thought virus" that had been growing within her for weeks. This corrupting idea had taken the form of an internal struggle, as Rachel questioned whether she was holding back her true power levels in order to avoid misusing her abilities as she had done early in life as a Hound. By accepting her need to embrace her true nature, Prestige had not only augmented her powers in recent days, she had slowly fallen deeper under Mesmero's control. By this point, Rachel was on the edge of total conversion, and was unable to defeat Mesmero psychically any longer. It took the intervention of Rogue and Storm to defeat the hypnotist and send him off to prison. [X-Men: Gold #26]
Incarcerating Mesmero did nothing to undo his hypnotic influence, however. The day after Rogue and Gambit's wedding, Rachel awoke to find Mesmero "attacking" Nightcrawler. This was actually no more than a representation of Mesmero, as his hypnotic programming exerted more and more control over her mind. Rachel descended fully back into her role as a Hound, with Mesmero's hypnotic avatar acting as her human Wrangler in the field. Rachel re-experienced the act of hunting her family and fellow mutants, unaware that she was actually hurting them in the waking world outside her hypnotic trance. Despite all this, her friends recognized she was in trouble and supported her. This was enough for Rachel to overcome Mesmero and force his lingering influence out of her mind before she did permanent harm to others. [X-Men: Gold #31-32]
In time, the X-Men would radically reshape mutant politics by building their own country, the living nation-state known as Krakoa. Thanks to their developments in medicine and bio-technology, they negotiated recognized status on the world stage and a deal for citizenship and amnesty for all mutants on the globe. Mesmero was one of many former foes and super-villains who accepted sanctuary on Krakoa in exchange for their loyalty to the Quiet Council and this new regime. Whether he actually means it, only time will tell. [House of X #5]