TIER SINCLAIR

BIOGRAPHY

The story of Tier Sinclair started many years before he was even born when his mother, Rahne Sinclair aka Wolfsbane, traveled to Asgard along with the rest of her team, the New Mutants. Separated from the rest of the group, she would have certainly been killed by a band of giants had it not been for the timely arrival of the Hrimhari. Descended from the legendary Fenris, Hrimhari was the Wolf Prince of Asgard and possessed the ability to shift forms between a grey wolf and a more humanoid wolf-form. With similar powers to her own, Wolfsbane was immediately attracted to the prince and her feelings were reciprocated. Whilst their time together was brief, the two struck up a special bond, which made things all the more difficult when they were forced to part ways when the New Mutants headed back to Earth. [New Mutants Special Edition #1]

Years later, Asgard experienced the long prophesized Ragarok, which destroyed it and all who lived on it. Fortunately for them, the Asgardians soon found themselves reborn on Earth. Hrimhari discovered he could now shift into a fully-human form and so he set off in search of his true love, Wolfsbane. In the meantime, Rahne had joined another team called X-Force but, after a series of deeply personal traumas, she took time off and headed to the Rocky Mountains to be alone. It was here that Hrimhari found her and the two quickly became inseparable. After a fight with a group of frost giants, Wolfsbane suddenly passed out and Hrimhari was forced to seek help from X-Force.

After locating Elixir, Hrimhari was devastated to discover he was unconscious, having recently over-exerted his healing powers. Wolfsbane was drifting in and out of consciousness but, during a scan, it was discovered she was pregnant. It wasn’t a normal pregnancy, though, as the baby was half-mutant and half-god, and the strain of it was killing Rahne. Knowing that the human doctors couldn’t do anything, Hrimhari called upon Hela, the Asgardian Goddess of Death, for aid. As he was a descendant of her servant Fenris, Hrimhari hoped Hela would save his child’s life as a favor. Unfortunately, but she was not in the mood for such generosity. Instead, she demanded Hrimhari sacrifice his own life so his unborn child could live. Not wanting to let Wolfsbane die either, Hrimhari took Hela up on her offer but, instead of saving his child, he asked the Goddess to save the healer, Elixir. Hela accepted the deal and took Hrimhari’s life, waking Elixir from his coma in return. With his dying words, Hrimhari begged Elixir to save Wolfsbane and his child’s life. Elixir managed to heal Wolfsbane and share some of her child’s mystical properties with her, so she could carry it to full term without suffering ill effect. [X-Force (3rd series) #10, 13, 21-23]

Rahne soon left X-Force and re-joined another former team of hers, X-Factor Investigations. Her former teammates were all surprised to see she was pregnant, especially the fact that the baby inside her was growing at an extraordinarily fast rate. Within a matter of weeks, Rahne had reached full-term and the baby was imminent. However, another situation was developing that centered about the unborn child’s fate. The child started to let out a subconscious call to all nearby supernatural creatures, each of which responded by attacking Rahne and X-Factor in a bid to claim the baby. Aided by the hero Jack Russell aka Werewolf-by-Night, Rahne fled the hordes of demonic creatures, such as Cerberus, Bastet and even the child’s own ancestor Fenris.

Rahne was soon captured by a servant of the goddess Hela, who explained that her child would be a key player in an upcoming supernatural war. It was at this point that Rahne’s baby came forth. However, rather than a natural, mortal birth, Rahne’s child reflected its demigod’s status. Much like Athena bursting forth fully-formed from the head of Zeus, while in her lupine form, Rahne coughed up her son like a giant hairball. What’s more, the boy was far from a helpless babe; instead it looked like a half-grown wolf-cub and it immediately attacked and killed Rahne’s captor. Traumatized by the birth, the appearance of the baby and its first bloody kill, Rahne rejected the child and it fled into the nearby woods. Hela quickly located him and would have captured him had it not been for the arrival of a horde of other supernatural creatures, each wanting to steal the boy for themselves. The child slipped off during the chaos and was found by Jack, who quickly whisked him away for his own protection. [X-Factor (1st series) #220-224]

The boy, named Tier, was raised by Jack in the absence of his mother and he grew at an extraordinary rate, reaching the size of a 10-year-old within a matter of months. Life wasn’t easy for him though, as he was still being hunted by demonic forces, as well as former X-Factor member Darwin. Since his own previous encounter with Hela, Darwin had been receiving deathly visions of the future and knew that the only way to stop the upcoming war was to kill the boy. Tier and Jack were forced to move constantly for fear of being attacked by Darwin.

In that time, Rahne had recovered from the trauma of the birth and vowed to find her son and raise him herself. She, along with some X-Factor teammates, managed to track Tier down to a forest in Pennsylvania, where Darwin had him cornered. Arriving just in the nick of time, they dispatched Darwin and Tier was finally reunited with his mother. Afterwards, Tier and his mother decided to stay behind to bond and attempt to live in peace. [X-Factor (1st series) #242]

Unfortunately for the two of them, Darwin was not about to give up on his murderous quest, and so Tier and his mother were constantly in fear for their lives as they evaded him, time and again. A few more months passed and, after a narrow escape in Times Square, Rahne was forced to turn to her former X-Factor teammates for help. Exhausted after a lifetime of running, Tier was overjoyed when Jamie Madrox welcomed them both to the team with open arms. His elation was cut short though when Darwin burst into the team’s base in a last-ditch attempt to kill Tier. He was convinced that the great war that Tier would be a part of was imminent and he had no more time to waste. Protecting Tier, X-Factor rallied around the young boy and fought off Darwin, only to be surprised when Strong Guy, another former teammate and close friend of Rahne’s, burst in too. Under the orders of the demon Jezebel, Strong Guy was also looking to kill Tier for the same reason as Darwin. X-Factor managed to teleport themselves away but they realized it was all for nothing, as they were suddenly surrounded by the seven Hell Lords, signaling the start of the great war.

All seven of the near-omnipotent beings wanted to kill Tier and the boy quickly found himself being attacked on all sides. In a strange turn of events, it was Jezebel, the Hell Lord Mephisto’s daughter, who saved his life and teleported the entire team away. Whisking the team away to a temporarily safe space, she explained the nature of the war that was upon them and Tier’s role in it. For millennia, the various Hell Lords battled one another for total dominance over the rest but, with no clear winner, the battles went on and on. Eventually, a Godlier being offered a solution, a battle to end all battles. The winner would be the one who killed the seven billionth soul that walked the Earth and, by a tragic twist of fate, that soul was Tier’s.

The boy barely had time to comprehend his situation before they were found by another Hell Lord, Pluto. The demon proved to be a strong adversary as he laid waste to the rest of X-Factor and Tier was devastated to see them drop one-by-one. Watching others sacrifice themselves for him caused something inside him to snap and Tier went into a feral state. Catching Pluto off-guard, he lunged at the demon and slashed his throat, dealing a fatal blow to the Hell Lord. Pluto’s body on Earth was killed but he quickly materialized back in his own domain, only now his role in the competition was over. The other Hell Lords were shocked to learn that Tier was able to kill them and, realizing that the rules of the game weren’t so simple, they turned on each other. Weakened from his burst of aggression, Tier was on the verge of collapse, so X-Factor teleported him away so they could plan their next move.

As Tier slept in the next room, Polaris suggested to the rest of the team that they use the boy to kill the rest of the Hell Lords. Unbeknownst to her, Satana had manifested herself in Tier’s room, looking to strike a bargain with the boy. When she offered him a place by her side so they could rule together, Tier was momentarily tempted but he quickly grew suspicious of her motives and pushed her away. Revealing her true nature, Satana unleashed her demonic army on the team and, once again, Tier had to watch as his mother and friends were attacked. Entering a feral state once more, he attacked Satana, causing her to flee along with her army. Seeing that he was the only one able to stop the demons, he reluctantly agreed to help X-Factor kill them.

However, after thinking it through, Tier started to have misgivings and asked his mother if they could find another way to end it all. The group teleported to New York, where they discovered the war between the Hell Lords had destroyed much of the city. Jezebel wasn’t happy to hear that Tier didn’t want to be used to kill Mephisto and she attacked him, only to find the rest of X-Factor backing him up. She only stopped attacking when Mephisto declared himself the winner of the competition, as he had eliminated the rest of the Hell Lords himself. Tier looked around and realized that, with Mephisto the winner, he was able to take over Earth and turn it into a demon run world. Knowing that he was the only one capable of defeating Mephisto, he asked Jezebel to teleport them all to Mephisto’s castle. As they teleported away, Tier got word that Monet, one of his X-Factor teammates, had been killed in a battle against Strong Guy.

Spurred on by Monet’s death, the rest of the team stormed Mephisto’s castle from the front, as Tier sneaked in the back way. As he snuck through the stronghold, he discovered the rest of the Hell Lords chained up in the basement. Knowing what would happen if they were freed, he killed them once again to make sure they would not interfere in his battle with Mephisto. Tier and the team eventually made it to Mephisto’s chambers, only to discover that he was ready and waiting for them. Tier was imprisoned in a magical, fiery cage and was made to watch as the Hell Lord killed two of his teammates in front of his eyes. When Mephisto turned his attention to Rahne, Tier finally snapped again and he burst through the flames, catching the demon off-guard. In his feral state, Tier slashed again and again at Mephisto, cutting the demon down and eliminating him from the competition.

Tier had put an end to the war but, sadly, he was unable to celebrate, as a trident was suddenly thrust through his back. Unable to comprehend, or even see, who had done it Tier died instantly as his horrified mother looked in in despair. It was Strong Guy who dealt the killing blow, all in a bid to win the competition so he could have the power to resurrect Monet. As Strong Guy lifted Tier’s body aloft, it glowed brightly and then vaporized, signaling the end of the war. [X-Factor (1st series) #250-256]

Despite Tier’s death saving the entire world, Rahne could only focus on the fact her son was dead, having been killed by one of her closest friends. After a hallucination where Hrimhari told her that both her and Tier were in Valhalla, the Asgardian afterlife, Rahne was surprised to be confronted by Strong Guy. He told her that he did it all to resurrect Monet, but he could not do the same for Tier as there were otherworldly rules that prohibited him from doing so. [X-Factor (3rd series) #258]

Tier resided in Valhalla with his father for some time, until Hrimhari saw the opportunity for them both to leave and be with Rahne. When Malekith the Dark Elf brought his war of the realms to Earth he brought all the other realms with him, including Valhalla. Hrimhari bargained with Hela and the Enchantress to allow Tier and himself to leave the afterlife and reuinite with Rahne, on the condition all three stay out of Malekith's attack on Earth. Tier was overjoyed when he was finally reunited with his mother, but it was to be shortlived as she was unable to stand back and watch as her friends were slaughtered. After his mother attacked some of Malekith's forces, Tier was forced to part ways with her again for fear of the Enchantress' wrath over breaking their deal. [War of the Realms: Uncanny X-Men #2-3]

Presumably Tier and his father went back to Valhalla, where they wait for the day they can be reunited with Wolfsbane and be a family once again.