SUGAR MAN

Hailing from the dystopian reality of the Age of Apocalypse, the twisted figure known as the Sugar Man quickly earned himself a reputation as a brilliant scientist, as well as a sadistic torturer. Little is known about his childhood but with his grotesque appearance and psychotic personality, it probably wasn’t a happy one. 

As an adult, he became fascinated with genetics and studied under another great scientist, Mr. Sinister. Under Apocalypse’s regime, most humans in North America were enslaved and the rebel mutants were either killed or imprisoned. The Sugar Man was put in charge of the Pens, a concentration camp that held humans and mutants who proved to be a problem to Apocalypse. Aside from torturing and killing many of his subjects in the name of science, the Sugar Man also took a particular interest in young girls. Blink and Illyana Rasputin caught the brunt of his deprived ways as he would take them from their cells at night and do inhumane things to them purely for his own pleasure. [Blink #3]

The Sugar Man soon took charge of the Core, a geothermal energy facility that provided power to the whole of North America. He ruled over it with a brutal iron fist, making the lives of the humans incarcerated there miserable. One such prisoner was Illyana Rasputin, who was a latent mutant with time manipulation powers. Apocalypse had been systematically killing any mutants like Illyana who possessed powers that could threaten his rule. Just as Apocalypse had feared, the X-Men had learned that in order to stop Apocalypse they needed to travel through time, and so they set their sights on Illyana. 

When the Generation Next team broke into the Core, they were soon discovered by the Sugar Man, who quickly realized that one of his own lieutenants had been killed and replaced by invaders. In his fury, the Sugar Man killed one of the young mutant rebels, but they fought back and escaped. Unfortunately, their mission had inadvertently clued in the Sugar Man on their reason for breaking into the Core in the first place. As such, the Sugar Man hunted them down, killed another one of the rebels and took Illyana hostage. Still, he was caught off guard when Illyana’s brother Colossus caught up with him and beat him to a bloody pulp. The heroes assumed the Sugar Man was dead, considering the damage done to his body, but thanks to his powers he simply removed the damaged tissue and shrunk down to a smaller size. Jumping into Colossus’s boot, the Sugar Man escaped the Core with the surviving heroes, as he had learned of their plan to change the timeline. [Generation Next #2-4]

Sugar Man remained unnoticed in Colossus’ boot when the heroes gathered at the M’Kraan Crystal for their final showdown with Apocalypse’s forces. In the chaos, the Sugar Man jumped out of Colossus’s footwear and into the M’Kraan Crystal, disappearing into the time stream. [X-Men: Omega]

Though the Sugar Man was transported to Earth-616, the reality the X-Men were attempting to restore, he did not arrive in the “present.” Instead, he was ended up twenty years in the past, at the point where the timeline had been altered in the first place and creating the Age of Apocalypse. With no apparent counterpart in this universe and no-one to remember him, the Sugar Man found it easy to hide away and continue his genetics work behind the scenes. At some point, he approached Dr. David Moreau, a scientist who lived and worked on Genosha. Using techniques developed in his home reality, the Sugar Man sold his work on the Mutate bonding process to Dr. Moreau. Dr. Moreau, who would go on to be called the Genegineer, used the process to turn the mutant inhabitants of Genosha into mindless slaves. Years later, when the X-Men helped topple Dr. Moreau and the Genoshan government, ending the enslavement of mutants, they remained completely unaware of the existence of the Sugar Man or his role in the creation of the Mutate process. As the months and years passed, other governments on Genosha would rise and fall with the Sugar Man quietly orchestrating things in his favor.

As time passed, Genosha fell on hard times. Whilst the Sugar Man remained safely in his hidden facility, he watched as a war raged on between the humans and Mutates living on the island. This eventually changed when the super-hero team Excalibur became involved and began looking into the Mutate bonding process and its origins. They located the first Mutate ever created and searched Dr. Moreau’s abandoned lab for clues. When they started to get close to discovering his secret, the Sugar Man activated an incendiary device planted in the Mutate, killing him and destroying the evidence Excalibur had found. Still, that didn’t stop Excalibur and they found a computer with records of Genosha stretching back years. The Sugar Man watched on a video monitor as the team discovered that Dr. Moreau wasn’t the creator of the process. Before they found out who really created it, though, the Sugar Man blew up the computer and the lab it was in. [X-Men: Prime, Excalibur (1st series) #87]

When Nate Grey, the mutant known as X-Man and a fellow refugee from the Age of Apocalypse, also found his way to Earth-616, the Sugar Man was intrigued by the new arrival. His computers showed that Nate was an incredibly powerful mutant and so the Sugar Man decided he would capture Grey first before anyone else could get him. He hired a man named Rex to apprehend Nate but the mercenary proved incapable of getting his bounty. After a number of failed attempts, he was eventually killed by Dark Beast, yet another exile from the Age of Apocalypse. Dark Beast was somehow informed of the Sugar Man’s schemes and he got to Nate first, all in the hopes of obtaining the young man for himself. With his quarry gone and his agent out of the game, the Sugar Man gave up on trying to capture Nate for the moment. [X-Man #6-8]

The Sugar Man next set his sights on Havok and hired Scarlet McKenzie, an ex-girlfriend of Havok’s, to bring him in. The plan would have worked had it not been for Fatale, a loyal servant of Dark Beast. She intercepted Scarlet as she was bringing Havok to Genosha, giving Havok’s team X-Factor enough time to mount a rescue. Thwarted again, Sugar Man gave up on Havok, as he soon had other things to worry about. [X-Factor (1st series) #112-113]

When Cable arrived on Genosha, becoming embroiled in the on-going racial conflict, the Sugar Man immediately became aware of his arrival. However, he confused him with Nate Grey, as the two men were so similar, being more or less alternate counterparts of each other. Like Excalibur, Cable began investigating the history of the island and ran into Dr. Moreau’s son, Phillip. Together, they realized that Dr. Moreau couldn’t have worked alone and eventually discovered the secret lair in which the Sugar Man had been hiding for so many years. Panicked, the Sugar Man immediately set off a self-destruct protocol in the lair so that any trace of him would be destroyed. Though alarmed that his work had been uncovered, he was nonetheless curious as to who had clued everyone in. Little did he know that Mr. Sinister had recognized the Mutate bonding process as being based off of his own work and had set out to find who was behind it. Discovering the Sugar Man in his lair, he decided to let the crazed scientist continue his work, as it had no real consequences to the gene pool since Mutates couldn’t reproduce. Cable and his allies eventually found the Sugar Man and were shocked that the creepy-looking creature was a mutant and had been pulling the strings of Genosha for years. During the ensuing fight, Cable tried to read the Sugar Man’s mind but, disturbed by what he found in there, Cable let his guard down and the Sugar Man escaped. Phillip chased after him and the two came to a stand-off outside the base. The Sugar Man explained everything to Phillip and then teleported the both of them away before Cable’s allies could get him. Cable managed to stop the base from exploding but the Sugar Man’s databanks were destroyed in the fight and his secrets were lost forever. [Cable (1st series) #26-28]

Ever since leaving his home reality, the Sugar Man had been looking over his shoulder in case that reality’s Sinister ever caught up with him. Whilst he was unaware that Sinister already knew of his existence, it didn’t stop him from taking precautions. Even though he had a complicated relationship with Dark Beast, they both feared Sinister and what he might do to them. The Sugar Man broke into Dark Beast’s lab, ate the guards that stood in his way and confronted his fellow exile. The two had discovered that the X-Man Bishop retained memories of the Age of Apocalypse and, if he were ever to recognize the two men, their lives would be in danger. They teamed up and sent Dark Beast’s servant Fatale after him but she failed in her task. Whilst Dark Beast would try a different method, the Sugar Man parted company with him and once again continued his research in the shadows. [X-Men (2nd series) #48-49]

After two decades of being in this reality, the Sugar Man was growing weary of the world he lived in and longed for the regime of his home world. He constructed a portal to take him home but discovered that the reality as he knew it no longer existed. Instead, he needed to travel back in time to reach the Age of Apocalypse, though once again he hit a problem. He was using the life forces of Mutates to power his machines but they were not enough. A solution literally came crashing into his life when Nate Grey broke into his lab to confront him. When Nate used his powers, the portal fired up like never before and the Sugar Man took the opportunity to dive into it and go home. He reappeared at some point in his home reality’s past and immediately got to work. Knowing that there was no future left for his reality, he created a deadly plague that would wipe out humanity on Earth-616. Unfortunately for him, he was soon found and attacked by Nate, with the help of that world’s Forge and Magneto. Setting his guards against them as a diversion, the Sugar Man tried to escape. Meanwhile, Forge figured out that the Sugar Man had released the plague into the waters of Niagara Falls as a way to test it out before jumping realities. Nate managed to cleanse the waters before anyone was infected and the Sugar Man was forcibly sent back to the present day of Earth-616. [X-Man Annual ‘96]

Soon after, the Sugar Man was approached by the Shi’ar in a bid to track down another Age of Apocalypse refugee, Holocaust. The powerful mutant had been stabbed with a shard of the M’Kraan Crystal as his reality was dying and thrown across realities to Earth-616. Unfortunately, the shard had started siphoning energy off of the existing M’Kraan Crystal and the Shi'ar were outraged that their sacred relic was being mistreated. The Sugar Man helped the Sh'iar capture Holocaust, as well as Nate Grey and Dark Beast. All three were to be executed but Nate managed to appeal to the Sugar Man’s ego and manipulated him into switching sides. Trapped on board a space ship, the four men fought their way through the ship in a bid to find a way back to Earth. Naturally, the villains started betraying one another and the Sugar Man abandoned the rest as the Shi'ar closed in on them. Eventually, the shard of crystal was pulled from Holocaust’s armor and the Shi'ar had no reason to execute the men. Against his wishes, the Sugar Man was returned to Earth to continue his life amongst the humans. [X-Man Annual ‘97]

Back on Earth, the Sugar Man once again went into hiding and it would be a few years before he resurfaced. During that time, Genosha had been obliterated by Cassandra Nova and her Sentinels, reducing the island to a ruined husk. Very few people survived but those that did chose to stay and help rebuild the once thriving mutant haven. During the reconstruction, Dark Beast took a squad of Magistrates and went into the tunnels under the island in search for a vault. He found it and the supplies within but in the process also drew the attention of the Sugar Man, who now called the tunnels his home. The Sugar Man killed the Magistrates and beat Dark Beast to within an inch of his life. When Callisto and Omega Sentinel ventured into the tunnels to investigate, they too found the deadly Sugar Man and his minion, Rastus. The two women were initially overpowered but they managed to fight back and Callisto impaled the Sugar Man through the head with a pipe, seemingly killing him. [Excalibur (3rd series) #9-10]

Once again, the Sugar Man proved hard to kill, as he somehow survived the injury and went into hiding again. When most of the world’s mutants were depowered, he managed to retain his abilities and was even contacted by Beast when the X-Man was looking for a way to repower the mutant race. The Sugar Man declined his offer, stating that Beast could not afford his services. [Endangered Species crossover]

The Sugar Man was again becoming sick and tired of the Earth he was living on and wanted to return home. At some point, he was captured by Norman Osborn’s H.A.M.M.E.R organization and, when it collapsed, he took the opportunity to steal some of the technology left behind. He found the Omega Machine and was delighted to find that Nate Grey was still strapped into it. Using the machine and Nate as a fuel source, he was able to warp reality and open portals to other realities. He then modified his Mutate bonding process and created a new set of Mutates out of some recently depowered mutants. The Sugar Man then used these new slaves to help operate his machine, as well as sacrificing them by sending them through portals to unknown worlds. He was eventually discovered by the New Mutants, who were looking for Nate as a way of clearing up unfinished business. As the Sugar Man went toe-to-toe with Dani Moonstar, Nate opened up a portal to the Age of Apocalypse. The Sugar Man leapt through it but Moonstar chased after him and dragged him back to her world. Afterwards, he was arrested by Steve Rogers and taken into custody to await trial. [New Mutants (3rd series) #26-27]

Before he ever stood trial, the Sugar Man broke free and set about helping Dark Beast escape from prison too. The two men then took a portal back home to the Age of Apocalypse. In the years that had passed, the Celestials had returned to Earth and empowered Wolverine into becoming their new champion of evolution. He became Weapon Omega and set about eradicating the last remnants of human resistance. Dark Beast and the Sugar Man aligned with him and aided in bringing back many deceased mutants by using a Celestial Life Seed. They managed to bring back a few Alphas but a resistance group known as the X-Terminated broke into their facility and destroyed the equipment. Whilst the Dark Beast escaped, the Sugar Man was injured and captured by the X-Terminated. [Age of Apocalypse (1st series) #1-4]

Monet St. Croix had been resurrected by the humans just before the lab was destroyed and she was being used as a beacon to champion all the remaining humans and mutants to oppose Weapon Omega. The Sugar Man was given to Monet, or Lady Penance as she was now called, as a gift from the X-Terminated. She assured them that his wayward scientific genius would be put to good use, helping to bring down Weapon Omega. When the brain of Victor von Doom was recovered, the Sugar Man extracted enough information from it to create a pill that would separate the Celestial’s power from Weapon Omega. [Age of Apocalypse (1st series) #6, 9-10]

The pill worked and Weapon Omega was stripped of his power. Soon after, the whole reality was shut off from the rest of the multiverse when a group of inter-dimensional monsters descended upon the world. [X-Termination crossover] The Sugar Man proved to be a slippery man once again as he somehow abandoned the dying world and jumped back to Earth-616. Unfortunately for him it was in vain as the entire multiverse was being destroyed, for all the alternate realities were crashing together in events called Incursions. Whilst the majority of the world remained unaware to the looming threat, Magneto knew all about it and he planned on saving his own reality from destruction. As well as having some powerful Mutant Growth Hormone created for him he decided to reach out and find other ways to increase his powers. One of his allies drew up a list of potential scientists to talk to but Magneto chose the Sugar Man because he was quick and dirty. He sought out the Sugar Man in his base and, after a bit of verbal sparring, the malicious scientist showed him plans on how to make a mobile power amplifier. The Sugar Man's arrogant demeanor blinded him to Magneto’s ulterior motive, though, as the Master of Magnetism decided to rid the world of his particular blight. Using various metal items he impaled the Sugar Man multiple times, leaving him a crumpled and bloody heap on the floor. [Magneto (2nd series) #19]

Despite the extensive injuries caused by Magneto, the Sugar Man survived and continued to work on his experiments in secret. When the Inhumans’ Terrigen Mists spread across the globe, it caused any mutant who came into contact with it to come down with the deadly disease known as M-Pox. This, coupled with the fact that it prevented any new mutants being born, put the Sugar Man on mission to save the mutant race. Creating six-hundred mutant embryos, he intended on taking them to the future, where he could raise them and be their master. As he was preparing to jump into the future, the X-Men arrived, having been alerted to the presence of new mutant signatures on Cerebro. They fought the Sugar Man and accidentally started the process of sending the embryos into the future. The Sugar Man was furious as he watched the embryos and a group of X-Men travel to the future without him. [Extraordinary X-Men #8]

The Sugar Man’s luck ran out when Nate Grey began hunting down and killing all the villainous refugees from the Age of Apocalypse. Hiding away in a safe house, he was discovered by Bishop, but the X-Men weren’t enough to protect him. Bishop was knocked out and, when he came around, he discovered the mangled body of the Sugar Man before him. [Uncanny X-Men (5th series) #1]