BROTHERHOOD OF EVIL MUTANTS II / MUTANT FORCE / RESISTANTS

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Last Updated:

6th June 2006

Brotherhood of Evil Mutants II Leader: Magneto
Membership: Magneto, Burner, Lifter, Peeper, Shocker, Slither

First appeared: Captain America Annual #4

Renamed to Mutant Force in Defenders (1st series) #78

Mutant Force Working for: Mandrill > US government > Secret Empire [led by Professor Power]
Leader: none > Mad Dog
Membership: Burner, Lifter, Peeper, Shocker, Slither

First appearance: Defenders (1st series) #78

Renamed to Resistants in Captain America (1st series) #343

Resistants Purpose: Demonstration and Protection against Mutant Registration Act

Leader: Meteorite I
Membership: former members got new names: Crucible/Burner, Meteorite/Lifter, Occult/Peeper, Paralyzer/Shocker
new members: Mist Mistress, Quill II, Think Tank (Mentallo), Rust, many unnamed members

First appearance: Captain America (1st series) #343
Last appearance: Captain America (1st series) #426 [last time some Resistants members are seen and taken into custody]

Name, line-up, costumes and codenames returned to Mutant Force in New Warriors (2nd series) #6
Membership: Burner, Lifter, Peeper, Shocker, Slither

Before

Magneto was also founder and leader of a previous incarnation of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants I and the Savage Land Mutates.
Mentallo made a few appearances in the pages of Daredevil, Micronauts and the Avengers.

Chronology

*Captain America Annual #4:*	Cap and Magneto both answer a newspaper ad about a miniature mutant named Mr.One who is mentally linked with a much larger and stronger Mr.Two. Magneto wants Mr.One to investigate a miniature space ship that he has discovered. After Mr. Two runs Magneto off, Magneto sends his new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (Lifter, Burner, Shocker, Slither, Peeper) to distract Cap and Mr.Two, while he captures Mr.One. Magneto succeeds and Cap and Mr.Two go after him. Mr.Two sufficates and dies, so Mr.One detonates a self destruct bomb on the miniature space ship. Magneto abandons the new Brotherhood.
*Defenders (1st series) #78-80:*	The Mandrill found the remaining members and offered them an opportunity to join his cause as the Mutant Force. With his Femme Force army he succeeds in taking over a military post and even gets Hellcat and Valkyrie under his spell. The other Defenders are eventually able to disrupt the mental hold on their teammates. While the Mandrill makes his getaway, the Mutant Force is captured.
*Defenders (1st series) #83:*	The government offers the Mutant Force pardon for their crimes, if they work for them.
*Defenders (1st series) #87:*	The Mutant Force tries to help the army to capture the Hulk, but Hellcat and Valkyrie intervene on Banner’s behalf, and he escapes.
*Defenders (1st series) #125-126:*	The Mutant Force, minus Peeper, are recruited by the Secret Empire and help Mad Dog fight the Defenders during his ex-wife Hellcat's wedding. After being defeated they are taken into SHIELD custody, from which they easily escape.
*Defenders (1st series) #128-130:*	The Defenders go against the whole Secret Empie and it's operatives. In the final battle they are able to defeat them, including the Mutant Force. The leaders, of course, get away.
*Captain America (1st series) #343:*	Four members of a group called Resistants rescue the mutant Quill from enforcers of the Registration Act. They are Meteorite, Crucible, Paralyzer and Occult. Later will be revealed that they are the Mutant Force without Slither. They chose new codenames because they were already known mutants to the government.
*Captain America (1st series) #346:*	After rescuing the villain Mentallo and including him to their ranks, the Resistants want to rescue Quicksilver from a trial. What they do not know is it's a trap designed by governmental forces including Freedom Force. The whole strikeforce (Crucible, Meteorite, Occult, Mist Mistress, Paralyzer and Think Tank) is captured. Note: In the Resistants' base are seen eight more unknown mutants.
*Captain America (1st series) #350:*	The Red Skull is revealed to have been behind or hold influence over many of Cap's enemies including the Resistants. Cap (John Walker) has to battle many of the Skull's minions including a Resistant called Rust.
*Captain America (1st series) #368:*	The Red Skull has been kidnapped by Magneto, so Crossbones and Machinesmith hatch a plan to draw him out. Machinesmith enters the body of his Magneto-robot and flies to the Capitol, where he finds a crowd of Resistants protesting. At least 19 Resistants are visible at once, including Crucible, Mist Mistress and Paralyzer. Another is probably Meteorite. The placards the Resistants carry feature messages like "Am I a Mutant or do I just dress like one?" Crucible is very nervous when he sees "Magneto" , recalling how Magneto abandoned them before. They ask "Magneto" to join them, but he replies by attacking them. Captain America arrives on the scene and attacks, noticing unusual features about "Magneto" 's powers. During the fight, one the Resistants tries to grab "Magneto" from behind, but gets thrown off. This helps Cap land a blow though. Ultimately, Cap realizes he's dealing with a robot, and decapitates it.
*Captain America (1st series) #394:*	Crucible reports to the Red Skull.
*Captain America (1st series) #426:*	Masqueraded as Captain America and Night-Flyer, a pair of villians (Super-Patriot and Dead-Ringer) continue their smear campaign against Cap and steal several bags of money. However they are spotted by Crucible, Meteorite and Occult. Thinking the Patriot is Cap, they attack them and knock them out of the sky. They start a battle which the false Cap wins. The Resistants are taken to jail, and the Super-Patriot is miffed that he ended up making Cap look good.

In between

Slither appeared as the Viper's servant in Captain America (1st series) #342-344 and #419.
Paralyzer appeared in Midnight Sons Unlimited #3, in his old Shocker uniform.
Mentallo was out of prison in Iron Man/Captain America Annual '98, but seen in custody once more in Thunderbolts #26. Having mentally taken over fellow inmate Headlok, he escaped from prison along Cottonmouth, Plantman and Hawkeye. (Thunderbolts #57)
Quill, who was not with the team when they were captured, appeared in Fantastic Four (1st series) #335 along many other villains and was put into custody.

Chronology continued

New Warriors (2nd series) #6:

The team took back the name Mutant Force. They also use their old costumes and codenames, even Slither is back with them. They are easily stopped and put into custody by the New Warriors as they try to rob a bank transporter.

Afterwards

When Wolverine and the Beast were sent to a prison for superpowered criminals, they got into fights with many of the other inmates. Only Peepers, as he now calls himself, stood up for them. Apparently he never fully recovered from getting electrocuted in Captain America (1st series) #346. The brain part responsible for speech seems to have suffered permanent damage, he often repeats words and phrases and refers to himself in the third person. [Wolverine (2nd series) #164-165]
Paralyzer was seen working under Unus in Genosha after the Sentinel attack [New X-Men #132, Uncanny X-Men #442-443, Excalibur (3rd series) #2], but apparently lost his powers in the Decimation, as reported in New Avengers #18.
Mist Mistress was also in SHIELD’s files as depowered in New Avengers #18.
After M-Day, Peepers was among the mutants who flocked to the Xavier Institute for sanctuary, and has been seen in X-Men: The 198 and related titles.
None of the other members have been seen since 2000.

Members

Magneto (Eric Magnus Lehnsherr)

First appearance: Uncanny X-Men #1
First Brotherhood of Evil Mutants II appearance: Captain America Annual #4

All Brotherhood of Evil Mutants II appearances: Captain America Annual #4

Powers: High electrolyte count in his bloodstream increases his personal bio-magnetic field, which is aligned with Earth’s electromagnetic field to give him total mastery over magnetism, allowing him to:
- sense nearby metal objects and specific energy signatures
- levitate and manipulate anything containing metal
- release magnetic energy as concussive blasts and protective force fields
- draw forth electrical energy from magnetic fields
- increase his power by absorbing electricity or intensely cold temperatures, like a super-conductor.

His powers greatly increase over the years to include various kinds of generic energy manipulation and more.