BROTHERHOOD OF MUTANTS I / DARK DESCENDANTS

Last Updated: 
16th July 2006

Included in this feature are not only the Brotherhood of Mutants itself, but also the events and the scheming of the Dark Beast that led to this incarnation of the Brotherhood.

Leader: Dark Beast > Havok
Membership: Fatale, Dark Beast, Havok, Ever, X-Man
Associates: Random, Aurora

First appearance:
X-Factor (1st series) #112 [The Dark Beast starts to work with operatives like Fatale]
Uncanny X-Men #335 [Onslaught first mentions McCoy’s “Dark Attendents“]
Uncanny X-Men #339 [Havok uses the name "Brotherhood" for the first time)]

Last appearance:
X-Factor (1st series) #144 [disbanded after Havok uncovered McCoy's secret agenda]

Before

  • Dark Beast originates from the Age of Apocalypse. He crossed over to the main reality twenty years in the past and is responsible for the Morlocks' existence.
  • Random was first shown as a mutant mercenary for hire in X-Factor (1st series) #88. Since then he occasionally worked with X-Factor for cash, and formed a sort of bond with Polaris.
  • Ordered to spy on Bishop, Fatale, as a shapechanger, modelled herself into his perfect woman; she met him as a waitress in Uncany X-Men #299. [revealed in X-Men (2nd series) #49]

Chronology

X-Factor (1st series) #112-113: Working for an unnamed "doctor" , Fatale tries to kidnap Havok, who has lost control over his increasing power levels. Not only is she a mutant herself, but a well known and dangerous European mercenary.
X-Factor (1st series) #114-115: The "doctor" is revealed as Dark Beast. He decides to send someone else to capture Havok: former X-Factor associate Random. The mercenary apparently owes McCoy a great debt, and the doctor has a power over him which forces the unwilling Random to comply.
X-Factor (1st series) #116-118: Despite his reluctance, Random performs as ordered. With a false note he lures Havok away from X-Factor headquarters in Falls Edge, and in a battle Random wins merely by chance. The fight took a lot out of him, and he reverts to a younger and softer version of himself. Meanwhile Fatale places another false note in Havok’s room, explaining he quit the team to sort things out.
X-Men (2nd series) #48-49: In his lair, the Dark Beast plans to alter the captive Havok. From afar he observes Fatale trying to enthrall Bishop, the only man who might have knowledge of the AoA. He is surprised to see the Beast of the main reality coming to the rescue. Immediately he tells Fatale to back off, as he has a better plan.
X-Men Unlimited (1st series) #10: Dark Beast slightly alters himself and looks now exactly like the real McCoy. He kidnaps the Beast and takes his place among the X-Men.

In between

  • The Dark Beast was with the X-Men in Uncanny X-Men #331, X-Men (2nd series) #51-52, Uncanny X-Men #333-334, X-Men (2nd series) #54, Uncanny X-Men #335 until he accepted Onslaught's offer to work for him. McCoy’s agents are referred to as Dark Attendants in Uncanny X-Men #335, but as Dark Descendants in X-Factor (1st series) #125 and thereafter.

Chronology continued

X-Factor (1st series) #124: Random observes Havok being altered in Dark Beast's machines. Fatale orders him to morph back into the big bounty hunter and go to observe X-Factor again. Pretending to still be their friend and ally, Random gives comfort to Lorna who misses Alex.
X-Factor (1st series) #125: Onslaught orders Dark Beast and his operatives to distract X-Factor while his other agent Post helps initiate the launch of the reprogrammed Sentinels. First seen in action is the modified Havok; he is in control of his power once more. During the fight Random reveals himself as a traitor to X-Factor, and reverts back to the teenager he really is. He and Havok are defeated in battle. Dark Beast offers the reluctant X-Factor members Mystique and Sabretooth to join him but (surprisingly) they refuse.
X-Factor (1st series) #126: While the rest of X-Factor rescue the kidnapped real Beast, Lorna is assigned to guard the prisoners. Random apologizes to Lorna, he explains that without Dark Beast he never would have been able to control his abilities and would only be a pile of junk. Later both prisoner get free of their shackles and Havok blasts both Polaris (nearly killing her) and Random, who throws himself in the way. Meanwhile X-Factor has captured Fatale and Dark Beast..

In between

  • The Dark Beast and Fatale were sent off to prison.
  • Even though Ever was in Callisto's video file about Gene Nation, in Uncanny X-Men #325, he never appeared with them.
  • Aurora is a former member of Alpha Flight, during the whole run she had various mental problems, incapacitating her several times.

Chronology continued

X-Men (2nd series) #58, Uncanny X-Men #339: Havok and Ever Calling themselves the "Brotherhood of Mutants" , Havok and Ever try to assasinate J. Jonah Jameson and are interrupted by Cyclops and other X-Men. During the fight Alex claims to act of his own free mind.
X-Factor (1st series) #129: Jamie Madrox (Multiple Man) tells X-Factor that Alex tried to recruite him into his "Brotherhood".
X-Factor (1st series) #131: /i> Havok discovers the secret labratory of Dark Beast. Since he has no knowledge how to operate the devices, he breaks Fatale and Dark Beast out of prison and makes them work under his rules. Havok defines the goal of his new Brotherhood as “peace for mutants“.
X-Factor (1st series) #133: Havok once more tries to recruit Multiple Man, but without success.
X-Man #26-29: Dark Beast tells Havok about a powerful young mutant, that could participate in the Brotherhood: Nate Grey. Fatale and Havok approach him about joining, but due to the personal history between X-Man and Dark Beast, they do not reveal to him that Dark Beast belongs to the Brotherhood too. Pretending their primary goal is to free the psychially unstable Aurora, they steal a high-security train from Canada, but the Brotherhood is actually after the cargo - tons of a toxic gas CS-9. Later Nate discovers that Dark Beast is with the Brotherhood and he also discovers the toxic gas which Fatale secretly teleported into a storage room. He decides to leave the Brotherhood, but not before releasing all of the gas in a secure area.
Uncanny X-Men Annual '97: Havok's Brotherhood arrives in Africa and tries to recruit the Morlocks whom Storm resettled there. But before they can discuss the future of the Morlocks the Razors of Humanity's Last Stand attack again. Only together with the X-Men they are able to defend the Morlocks. Dark Beast kills some human prisoners without Havok's permission. (Actually he has Fatale teleport the prisoners away and plans to use them as test subjects) In front of the X-Men, Havok pretends to be fully in control of the Brotherhood, even though he obviously is not. The Morlocks prefer to remain on their own.
X-Factor (1st series) #137: Sabretooth betrays X-Factor and injures them so badly that they all need serious medical attention. Val Cooper makes a difficult choice, as Zero Tolerance troops try to get the unconscious X-Factor members from the hospital, she contacts Havok's Brotherhood, who come and teleport the injured mutants (Forge, Polaris, Wildchild) away.
X-Factor (1st series) #138-139: Havok watches as the Dark Beast treats the injuries of the X-Factor members in his care. Later ,Havok and Ever discover the true amount of the Dark Beast’s experiments. He has a large gene-pool and hundreds of pods filled with people to test upon.
X-Factor (1st series) #143-144: Finally Havok and Ever discover that the people in the pods are test subjects for the Legacy virus. Havok reveals that he undermined the Brotherhood to uncover McCoy’s agenda, and he was faking for the whole time. As they start to fight, Fatale remains loyal to the Dark Beast, while Ever and a returning Random stand with Havok. Following McCoy, Alex blasts his way through Fatale and a few of his creations. The Dark Beast releases a biological weapon to keep Havok busy while he escapes. In the aftermath, Havok tells Aurora to go back to Canada. Ever and Random decide to take care of the ill people in the pods, while Havok wants to re-organize X-Factor.

Afterwards

  • In X-Man #29 Nate nearly died of the CS-9 exposure, but afterwards he continued his life as a loner. After adopting the role of Earth’s shaman, Nate sacrificed his own life to fight off an alien being intending to harvest the planet. [X-Man #75]
  • Havok's new X-Factor did not last for long, as he was apparently killed in an explosion. Actually, his consciousnes got tranfered to the Mutant X-Universe. When he returned several months later, he rejoined the X-Men. [X-Factor (1st series) #149, Uncanny X-Men #419]
  • Aurora was at the original Alpha Flight reunion at the end of the second Alpha Flight series. She continued to have mental problems and was eventually sent off to a mental asylum, from where she was kidnapped by the revamped Weapon X program. Although they gave her a power upgrade, they couldn’t deal with her multiple personality disorder either, and broke free after developing a new cruel personality. [Weapon X (2nd series) #22]
  • Random was among a group of mutants assembled by Exodus to do some dirty work for him (see Acolytes), and later was sighted among the many troops that Magneto assembled on Genosha. He also crossed paths with the Weapon X program, as they captured him and locked him up in their concentration camp for mutants – Neverland. The camp has been closed since then, Random’s fate has yet to be cleared up. [Weapon X (2nd series) #5]
  • Some time after the Brotherhood’s demise, the Dark Beast tried to manipulate Callisto and Marrow for unknown purposes. (see Morlocks) Since then, he appeared in Excalibur (3rd series) prior to the House of M incident.
  • Fatale survived her battle with Havok and, according to New Avengers #16, was one of the thousands of mutants who was depowered by the Scarlet Witch and the M-Day.
  • Ever supposingly watched over the people in the Dark Beast's test tubes, until long months later the airborne Legacy cure was released into Earth’s atmosphere. What became of Ever afterwards is unknown.

Members

Fatale (“Pamela Greenwood“)

First appearance: Uncanny X-Men #299 [as a waitress], X-Factor (1st series) #112 [as Fatale]
First Brotherhood I appearance: X-Factor (1st series) #112

All Brotherhood I appearances: X-Factor (1st series) #112-114, 117-118, X-Men (2nd series) #48-49, X-Men Unlimited (1st series) #10, X-Factor (1st series) #124-126, 131, 133, X-Man #26-29, Uncanny X-Men Annual '97, X-Factor (1st series) #137, 143-144

Powers: She can bend light, space and form around herself. This allows her to turn invisible, open portals to teleport across great distances, and morph her features into any human appearance.

Equipment: She occasionally wears retractable wrist blades and carries hand-held plasma cannons.

Fact: Fatale's powers were designed/altered by the Dark Beast, and so what abilities are truly hers and which were engineered is not clear. She is also a trained mercenary and assassin.

Dark Beast (AoA version of the Beast, Henry McCoy)

First appearance: X-Men Alpha
First Brotherhood I appearance: X-Factor (1st series) #114

All Brotherhood I appearances: X-Factor (1st series) #114-118, X-Men (2nd series) #48-49, X-Men Unlimited (1st series) #10, X-Factor (1st series) #125-126, 131, 133, X-Man #26-29, Uncanny X-Men Annual '97, X-Factor (1st series) #138, 143-144

Powers: Bestial mutation grants him superhuman strength, speed, agility, stamina, reflexes, dexterity and intelligence, spiky gray fur, razor sharp fangs and claws on his fingers and toes.

Fact: The Dark Beast is an expert in genetics.

Havok (Alexander Summers)

First appearance: Uncanny X-Men #54
First Brotherhood I appearance: X-Men (2nd series) #49 [unconscious prisoner in Dark Beast's
lab]

All Brotherhood I appearances: X-Men (2nd series) #49, X-Factor (1st series) #124-126, X-Men (2nd series) #58, Uncanny X-Men #339, X-Factor (1st series) #131, 133, X-Man #26-29, Uncanny X-Men Annual '97, X-Factor (1st series) #137-139, 143-144

Powers: Absorb various forms of cosmic radiation, including starlight and gamma rays, then store the energies and metabolize them into plasma wave discharges.

Ever

First appearance: Uncanny X-Men #325 [in Callisto's video file], 339 [in person]

All Brotherhood I appearances: Uncanny X-Men #339, X-Factor (1st series) #139, 143-144

Powers: Physical body is composed primarily of compacted gray matter, making him physically weak but giving him vast psionic abilities including thought scanning, astral projection, and mind control.

X-Man (Nate Grey)

First appearance: X-Man #1
First Brotherhood I appearance: X-Man #26
Last appearance: X-Man #75 [dispersed his own energies to fight off an alien being intending to harvest Earth]

All Brotherhood I appearances: X-Man #26-28

Powers: Tap into the enormous psychic resources of the astral plane in order to manipulate matter and energy, manifesting hard-psi to:
- levitate and direct physical objects
- fire mental force bolts
- cause violent explosive reactions in matter
- fly through the air
- shield himself and others from attack
- increase the physical power of his blows
- flow his molecules through another solid object to become intangible

and soft-psi to:
- scan for brain wave patterns
- project and manipulate thoughts
- intuitively translate new languages
- forge psi-links to travel in astral form
- generate realistic illusions out of psi-plasm
- establish mental defenses against new psionic attacks
- and give substance to astral energy to solidify psychic forms or forge protective psi-armor.

Associates

Random (Marshall Evan Stone III)

First appearance: X-Factor (1st series) #88
First Brotherhood I appearance: X-Factor (1st series) #114

All Brotherhood I appearances: X-Factor (1st series) #114-118, 124-126, 144

Powers: Entire body is composed of a morphing protoplasm which can remold itself to alter his physical dimensions in order to increase his physical size and strength to some degree, shape his forearms into projectile cannons that fire ammunition made of hardened protoplasm from his own cells, and assume a gelatinous state in which he can flow between tight crevices or collapse into a formless puddle. He can utilize the adaptability of his body to negate and reflect any mutant ability or other force directed at him.

Fact: Random's powers were designed/altered by the Dark Beast.

Aurora (Jeanne Marie Beaubier)

First appearance: Uncanny X-Men #120
First Brotherhood I appearance: X-Man #27

All Brotherhood I appearances: X-Man #27-28, X-Factor (1st series) #143

Powers: Utilizes the random atomic motion found within her molecules to propel her body at superhuman flight speeds while simultaneously increasing the durability of her physical make-up to resist damage and temperature extremes, alter the phase-shift between her molecules and her brothers upon physical contact, generating a brilliant flash of blinding light in all directions.