MONDO I & II

BIOGRAPHY

Mondo was an affable lad who lived in Samoa and developed his mutant powers in his teens. Although his power to absorb into matter and assume its properties made him potentially very powerful, Mondo had no interest in using his abilities and just wanted to relax on the beach. This frustrated his friend Cordelia Frost, an ambitious American girl traveling aboard on a trust fund set up by her sister Emma. After Mondo used his powers publicly to save some children, Cordelia tried and failed to push him into utilizing his powers to create a more exciting life for them. [Generation X (1st series) #3]

Mondo was unaware of how unscrupulous Cordelia actually was. When it became clear Mondo would not help her willingly, Cordelia came up with a plan to exploit him for her own benefit anyway. She pretended to be in danger on the island when she failed to surface after diving into the water. When the concerned Mondo jumped in after her, Cordelia had him captured and rendered unconscious. [Generation X (1st series) #8]

Cordelia brought Mondo to the Hellfire Club, naively assuming she could buy her way into the Inner Circle to replace her sister Emma just by turning up with a powerful mutant in her possession. Shinobi Shaw had minimal interest in Cordelia's proposal to start with and listened only to humor her. When armed men in the employ of Barrington arrived to kidnap Mondo for themselves, Shinobi did nothing to honor Cordelia's "claim" and allowed them to take the comatose Mondo without any fuss. [Generation X Annual '95]

While Major Barrington was an American general associated with Maverick and the Weapon X Program, this "Barrington" was actually Black Tom Cassidy in disguise. After rescuing Mondo from Cordelia and the Hellfire Club, Tom concocted a scheme to get revenge on his cousin, Banshee. Black Tom had raised Banshee's daughter Theresa as his own, and he blamed Sean for severing his relationship with Theresa as an adult. Tom wanted to attack Banshee through his new "children," the students of Generation X at the Massachusetts Academy. Reasoning Cordelia would run to her sister Emma, Banshee's co-headmistress, Black Tom created a clone of Mondo to be rescued by Cordelia and Generation X. A sleeper agent, the clone would initially believe itself to be the real Mondo while infiltrating the Massachusetts Academy until Tom was ready to strike. [Generation X (1st series) #61, 25]

"Mondo" awakened in the containment vessel while in "Barrington's" possession. Using his powers, he merged with the liquid he was floating in and leaked out of the chamber, escaping from his captors. Mondo wandered out into the Boston harbor district, drawing the attention of Barrington's men, who were ordered to try and recapture him. Cordelia Frost arrived with Generation X (having told them half-truths about her friend Mondo being kidnapped), and they fought off the mercenaries. Mondo agreed to return to the Massachusetts Academy with Generation X in order to learn more about his powers. Although Emma didn't trust Cordelia enough to let her stay as well, she and Mondo parted as good friends since Mondo was unaware of her role in his initial kidnapping. [Generation X Annual '95]

Mondo quickly became acclimated to the fast-paced life of Generation X. His orientation party at Proudstar Hall was attacked by Omega Red. He and Jubilee stayed behind to watch over the critically injured Banshee, while the other Gen Xers pursued their assailant. [Generation X (1st series) #10-11] Mondo didn't let his easy-going nature be influenced by his more intense classmates, however. Whether during a friendly game of volleyball or being poisoned by living gas and strung upside down over a fire by a super-villain, Mondo retained an almost off-putting, casual view on life. [Generation X (1st series) #12-14, Generation X Preview #1]

Perhaps his teachers and classmates can then be forgiven for taking Mondo for granted and forgetting about him in the middle of other crises and issues dealing with their more dramatic students. "Mondo's" programming was eventually activated by Black Tom, remembering his true mission. This sinister presence lurked in the background for several months as the increasingly plant-like Black Tom consolidated his presence on the Academy grounds and in their Bio-Sphere training complex, cultivated from Krakoa's unique biology. "Mondo" too began to merge with the Bio-Sphere regularly, becoming less and less human right under the noses of Generation X. [Generation X (1st series) #18, 24]

When the time came to strike, the Mondo doppelganger and Black Tom struck hard. Mondo had been studying Generation X and their powers, coming up with ways to counter his teammates' abilities. This study and the element of surprise allowed Mondo to quickly disable most of the team including Chamber, Skin, M, Husk and Synch. He then defeated Banshee one-on-one and turned the headmaster over to his real master, Black Tom. Jubilee was the last of the main Generation X team still at large, and Mondo pursued her through the woods while the Cassidy cousins traded barbs. He found Jubilee in the presence of Bastion, leader of Operation: Zero Tolerance, who had been investigating the Massachusetts Academy's connection to the X-Men. Despite Mondo's powers and imposing stature, Bastion came prepared for mutant opponents. His sidearm proved fatal to Mondo, even in his transformed state. Bastion left Mondo's rotting corpse in the woods as he absconded with Jubilee for his own plans. [Generation X (1st series) #25]

Banshee, Emma and Penance defeated Black Tom, but he had already transported their students far away. It would be many weeks before the scattered remnants of Generation X were reunited, and by then they had largely moved past "Mondo" and his betrayal. Meanwhile, the real Mondo was taught by Black Tom to use his powers and poisoned against Banshee and Generation X. Mondo was told the truth about Cordelia Frost and was now motivated by vengeance to hone his powers for the first time. When he was finally prepared, Black Tom agreed to send Mondo after Cordelia, knowing she would run to her sister Emma for help and he could get revenge on Generation X at the same time.

Mondo pursued Cordelia to the Massachusetts Academy, and sure enough chased her right into the arms of Generation X. Mondo used his powers to ambush and strike at Generation X several times from their surroundings until Banshee's sonic scream disabled him. Black Tom and Juggernaut arrived to back up Tom's pupil, and the full details of Mondo's history were revealed to Generation X for the first time. The students managed to get the upper hand once Juggernaut's helmet was removed, leaving him vulnerable to Emma Frost's telepathy. Cutting his losses, Black Tom had Mondo envelop him and Juggernaut in Mondo's altered earth form, rapidly transporting them through the earth and away from the scene. [Generation X (1st series) #60-61]

Years passed, and Mondo kept out of the affairs of mutantkind. He only resurfaced for Cyclops' march on Washington, D.C. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #600] Since that time, Mondo became involved with the independent mutant nation of New Tian, ceded to the mutants by Steve Rogers when he conquered America on behalf of Hydra. Whether this signals a greater role for Mondo in the future (and on what side), is not yet known. The real Mondo still remains a cipher to most of the X-Men and their allies, so his motivations when next he appears are anyone's guess. [X-Men: Blue #7-9]

ALTERNATE VERSIONS

In the Age of Apocalypse, Mondo was a member of the X-Men's junior team, nicknamed "Generation Next." He trained under the brutal supervision of Colossus and Shadowcat. They were given a mission to infiltrate The Core, the main source of energy production for Apocalypse's America, and rescue Colossus's sister Illyana. Mondo was the first to find Illyana and did his best to protect her by hiding Illyana inside his enlarged, morphable form. However, Mondo was killed by the Sugar Man, whose uniquely destructive tongue pierced Mondo's chest and left the rest of Generation Next scrambling to protect themselves and Illyana.