The Reavers are a sadistic group of cyborgs who operate out of the Australian Outback. Most of them hold grudges against Wolverine, the X-Men or mutants in general. Both Donald Pierce and Lady Deathstrike later led generic teams of Reavers in their campaigns against mutantkind, comprised of both human and cyborg recruits.
Leader: Bonebreaker < Donald Pierce < Lady Deathstrike
Membership: Bonebreaker, Skullbuster I, Pretty Boy, Donald Pierce, Lady
Deathstrike, Murray Reese, Angelo Macon, Wade Cole, Cylla Markham, Skullbuster III, Duncan, Elixir
First appearance: Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #229
Most recent appearance: Cable and X-Force #17
Before
- After the first meeting between the X-Men and the Hellfire Club, the Club's White Bishop Donald Pierce developed a grudge against all things mutant—especially those named Hellfire or X-Men. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #132-135] He tried to assimilate the mental abilities of Professor X and Tessa, but was defeated. [Marvel Graphic Novel #4] The Hellfire Club I imprisoned him after that, but he eventually escaped. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #245]
- Yuriko Oyama's father, Lord Darkwind, developed the adamantium bonding process, but because it was used on Wolverine without her father's permission, she deemed the mutant X-Man a thief. [Daredevil (1st series) #197-199, Alpha Flight (1st series) #33-34]
- Speaking of Lord Darkwind, one of his close personal friends was the Reverend William Stryker, a prominent figure in the United States who believed mutants were an abomination. Stryker's wife tutored Yuriko as a child. Yuriko stayed in contact with the Strykers as she grew up. [X-Treme X-Men (1st series) #25-26]
- Reese, Cole and Macon, all former Hellfire operatives, were badly wounded by Wolverine during the X-Men's raid on the Hellfire Club. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #133] They received cybernetic upgrades and continued tormenting the X-Men after that. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #152, Marvel Graphic Novel #4]
- Yuriko Oyama, Cole, Macon and Reese all cut a deal with the sadistic witch Spiral to receive magical cybernetic enhancements to their bodies. Yuriko's upgrades transformed her into Lady Deathstrike, a lethal warrior as deadly as Wolverine. Along with Macon, Reese and Cole, Deathstrike ambushed Wolverine and tried to take his life, but failed. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #205]
Chronology
| Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #229: |
The Reavers, a gang of cyborgs living in a ghost town in Australia, rob a bank in Hong Kong. The X-Men follow and defeat them. Only three of them (Pretty Boy, Skullbuster and Bonebreaker), escape by way of their enslaved mutant teleporter, Gateway. The X-Men force the rest of the Reavers to walk through the Siege Perilous, which judges their lives, wipes their memories and redeposits them somewhere else on the Earth accordingly. The X-Men take the now empty base as their own headquarters. Note: Jessan Hoan, a hostage of the Reavers, has her mind rewired by Pretty Boy and eventually becomes Tyger Tiger, the crimelord of Madripoor. |
| Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #247: | Pierce, Lady Deathstrike and Bonebreaker monitor the Hellfire Club's Sebastian Shaw while he talks with Senator Robert Kelly. |
| Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #248-249: | In addition to monitoring the X-Men, the Reavers train to fight them as well. Pretty Boy warns them that the real Wolverine will not go down as easily as his robot duplicate. |
| Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #251-253: | While the already depleted X-Men are returning from an exhausting mission, Psylocke has a premonition about the Reavers ambushing and slaughtering them when they arrive home. Seeing no other way to survive, she persuades her fellow team members to escape through the Siege Perilous. Later, when Wolverine returns from a leave of absence, the Reavers take him by surprise, beat him nearly to death and crucify him. The young mutant Jubilee, who followed the X-Men to their base, nurses Wolverine back to health after he breaks free. Even though the Reavers search the whole town, the pair is able to escape. Deathstrike observes them through the scope of her sniper rifle as they flee, but lets them live, as she wants to defeat Wolverine with honor. |
| Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #253-255: | Assuming Wolverine is probably headed to Muir Island to recover, Pierce orders the Reavers to take over the island and kill all of its inhabitants. The Reavers find the island not without defenses. They have to fight Amanda Sefton, Polaris, Forge, Banshee and Legion, as well as some of the Morlock survivors of the Mutant Massacre. When Freedom Force arrives, the odds turn against the Reavers. The Reavers flee, but not without inflicting and sustaining casualties: Sunder, Stonewall, Destiny and Skullbuster all die during the fight. |
In between
- Banshee and Forge plan to fly to Egypt with pilot Cylla Markham. Just before take off, however, they decide not to board the flight—fortunate for them, since the plane is shot down by the Fenris twins. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #260]
Chronology continued
| Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #261: | Pierce and Deathstrike visit the badly hurt Cylla Markham in a hospital and offer her a new, cyborg body. Cylla accepts. |
| Punisher (2nd series) #33-34: | One of the Punisher's assistants accidentally hacks into the Reavers' files. Pierce discovers the unauthorized presence in his systems and sends Bonenbreaker, Reese and Pretty Boy to investigate. Equipped with a special armor, Frank Castle is able to fight them off, but his weapon supplier dies. |
| Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #262: | The Reavers wreck one of Emma Frost's factories while searching for her. |
| Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #269: | When Rogue emerges from the Siege Perilous, she finds the Reavers have retaken the Australian Outback base. Moments before the Reavers can kill her, Rogue's absorbed Carol Danvers personality emerges from the Siege Perilous as well and saves her. Rogue absorbs Gateway's powers to escape. |
| Wolverine (2nd series) #35-37: | Lady Deathstrike orders Gateway to take her to the place Logan is gazing upon at that moment, not knowing that he is currently gazing at a photo of him and Puck from 1937. The three of them are transported to the time and place the photo was taken—Spain's Civil War. After a lot of fighting, a time vortex returns them to the present. Meanwhile, Pierce and Bonebreaker create Elsie Dee, a robot decoy whose sole purpose is to detonate in the presence of Wolverine. |
| Wolverine (2nd series) #38-39: | A robot version of Logan dubbed Albert and its companion, Elsie Dee, commit crimes in Wolverine's name to lure him in so they can blow him up. The Reavers observe from afar. Due to an error of Bonebreaker's, however, Elsie Dee develops hyperintelligence and manages to override her programming. |
| Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #281: | A group of young, powerful and wealthy people (most of them mutants) called the Upstarts participate in a game that awards them points for killing difficult targets, such as the members of the Hellfire Club. An Upstart named Trevor Fitzroy intends to take the lead by killing Pierce and Emma Frost. To accomplish this, he sends his Sentinels to the Reavers' base in Australia while he himself attends one of Emma Frost's parties at the Hellfire Club. The Sentinels arrive in Australia and quickly overwhelm the Reavers. Cylla and Deathstrike, the only Reavers smart enough to realize the Sentinels are after Pierce, simply step out of the way. Pierce, after seeing his men slaughtered, tells Gateway to take him to the person responsible. He flees through Gateway's portal with the Sentinels hot on his tail, arriving at the Hellfire Club party in New York. The Sentinel piggybackers kill not only Pierce and Frost, but Frost's Hellions as well. |
In between
- Deathstrike and Cylla part ways after the Sentinel ambush. However, they reunite later to slay Wolverine. After Deathstrike decides to leave Wolverine alone on account of his no longer having adamantium bonded to his bones, Cylla continues her bloodquest and teams up with Bloodscream, who later betrays her and drains her lifeforce. [Wolverine (2nd series) #76-78]
- The rest of the Reavers somehow recover from the damage they incurred and return much later, fully functional.
Chronology continued
| Domino (1st series) #1-3: | Lady Deathstrike kidnaps Milo Thurman, the genius ex-husband of Domino, from a government faculty. Domino tracks him down and finds him in the hands of Deathstrike, Pierce and Skullbuster, who plan to turn him into a Reaver to gain access to his mental capabilities. Pierce not only reveals to have "resurrected" Skullbuster by copying his cybernetic mainframe, he also explains how he himself is still alive. However, a few key details surrounding his revival, such as the identity of one of his benefactors and the changes this person made to his programming, remain a mystery. |
In between
- Pierce attempts to rejoin the Hellfire Club III, but fails his 'audition.' [Cable (1st series) #47-53]
- Lady Deathstrike tries to purge the Western influence from Japan, but meets resistance from Captain America. She later makes a brief alliance with the X-Men when she needed help battling the Prime Sentinels and Stryfe. However, her apparent change of heart doesn't last long. [Captain America (3rd series) #1, X-Men Annual 2000]
- A female Skullbuster replaces Skullbuster I.
Chronology continued
| X-Treme X-Men Annual 2001: | Having retaken the Australian Outback town as their headquarters, the Reavers, acting on orders from a Shadow King-possessed Donald Pierce, attack the X-Men in Sydney. They capture Rogue, whom the Shadow King intends to use as a host body to absorb Gateway's powers. However, Rogue flies to the Outback town herself, defeats Pierce and locks the Shadow King away again, while her teammates defeat and arrest the other Reavers. |
| New Mutants (2nd series) #5: | Donald Pierce forms a new team of Reavers comprised of regular anti-mutant fanatics. One of Pierce's subordinates, a guy named Duncan, invites his friend Josh Foley to join them. Unbeknownst to all of them, Josh turns out to be a budding mutant with the power to heal wounds. These new Reavers plan to lure mutants out of hiding by taking their families hostage, starting with the father of Xavier Academy student Wind Dancer. When Wind Dancer and her peers take the bait, they hold their own against the armed Reavers. Josh uses his new powers to heal Duncan's wounds, causing Duncan to freak out. Meanwhile, Pierce arrives and impales Wind Dancer's friend Wallflower. |
| New Mutants (2nd series) #6: | Josh uses his healing powers to save Wallflower's life. However, the mutant student Wither retaliates against Pierce for impaling his friend by using his powers to decay all of the organic matter left in Pierce's body. Pierce survives thanks to his cybernetics and is taken to a hospital to recover. The rest of the Reavers escape. Josh soon changes his ways and enrolls at the Xavier Institute. |
| New Mutants (2nd series) #13: | While en route to a new containment facility, Donald Pierce breaks out of the transport vehicle. His subordinate Duncan meets up with him and supplies him with more Reavers and replacement skin. The Reavers try to get revenge on Josh Foley for betraying them by ambushing him at the Xavier Institute. However, someone tips off the school's staff to their plans. The Reavers suffer a swift defeat upon arrival. |
In between
- Lady Deathstrike breaks Reverend William Stryker out of prison. [X-Treme X-Men (1st series) #25-30]
- An event called M-Day removes the X-gene from 99% of the world's mutants. [House of M crossover]
- Stryker informs Lady Deathstrike he will have need of her after his death. His death arrives sooner than he anticipates when he and his Purifiers lead an attack on the Xavier Institute in the aftermath of M-Day. [New X-Men (2nd series) #20-28]
- Lady Deathstrike and the Reavers team up with the Purifiers, now led by Matthew Risman, and outfit them with their advanced tech.
Chronology continued
| New X-Men (2nd series) #44, X-Men (2nd series) #205 |
Having upgraded the Purifiers' equipment, the Reavers work with the Purifiers to bring about the death of the first mutant born since M-Day. While in one of their bases of operation in New York, they catch a younger generation of X-Men infiltrating their base. Lady Deathstrike impales the young mutant named Hellion. Although the Reavers are poised to slaughter these New X-Men, the kids beat a hasty retreat by way of teleportation. |
|
New X-Men (2nd series) #45 |
The Reavers and the Purifiers ambush the mutant baby and her guardian, Cable, on a snowy Canadian tundra. Just as they are about to kill them both, X-Force arrives and intervenes. The Reavers kill the mutant Caliban in the battle, but Cable and the baby escape and Lady Deathstrike suffers devastating injuries at the hands of X-23. |
In between
- Spiral repairs Lady Deathstrike and the two of them join Madelyne Pryor's short-lived Sisterhood. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #504, 508-511]
- At some point, Lady Deathstrike and the Reavers make contact with the Descendants, a cult of robots descended from the original Human Torch intent on merging mankind with robots by way of nanotech infection.
Chronology
| Uncanny X-Force (1st series) #5.1: |
The Reavers, back in the Australian Outback base, plot to get back at Wolverine by blowing up the X-Men's current base of operations, Utopia. When X-Force arrives to stop them, Skullbuster detonates a suicide bomb that takes Wolverine, Fantomex and Deadpool out of commission. While Lady Deathstrike stays behind to deal with Wolverine, the rest of the Reavers make a run for gateway with their bombs. Psylocke and Archangel defeat most of them, but Macon and Reese make it through the portal to Utopia. Psylocke follows them and dismembers them on the island. Meanwhile, Lady Deathstrike is defeated in combat by the injured Wolverine. Before uploading her consciousness to the mainframe, she warns Logan that something big is coming next that he won't be able to stop. |
In between
- Deathstrike and several of her Reaver teammates, most notably Skullbuster, Bonebreaker and Reese, continued their alliance with the Descendants and their robot revolution. Although they come close to infecting all of mankind with nanotech and 'helping' it ascend to a new evolutionary level, the Secret Avengers thwart their grand scheme in the eleventh hour. [Secret Avengers (1st series) #22-25, 33-37]
- A wealthy heiress named Ana Cortes acquires Lady Deathstrike's digital consciousness on the black market and downloads it into her brain, transforming her into the new Lady Deathstrike. Now in a new body, Deathstrike teams up with a new Sisterhood that includes Typhoid Mary, Selene, the Enchantress, Madelyne Pryor and Arkea. When Ana Cortes deliberately takes her own life, the Sisterhood transfers Lady Deathstrike's consciousness into the body of their associate Reiko. [X-Men (4th series) #7-12]
- Bonebreaker, Pretty Boy and the two Skullbusters, still living in the Australian Outback base, continue recruiting new members to join the Reavers.
Chronology continued
| Cable and X-Force #15-17 | The Reavers steal a warhead. Before they get the chance to use it, they have a big drunken bonfire party in the Australian Outback. While Pretty Boy, Skullbuster I and Skullbuster III are out on a beer run, Cable and Hope ambush the Reavers' party and attempt to disarm the bomb. Because of an unfortunate turn of events involving her support personnel, Hope fails to disarm the bomb before it detonates. Using telekinesis she absorbed from Cable, she protects both herself and her mentor from the blast, and uses her remaining telekinesis to neutralize the rest of the trainee Reavers. At the point, the senior members of the Reavers return and unleash their new invention on Cable and Hope: the Reavertron 9, a device that merges all their subordinate Reavers into one giant, ferocious cybernetic monster. The Reavertron 9 subdues Cable, but Hope defeats the machine and takes out the rest of the Reavers. |
Notable Members
Bonebreaker
First appearance: Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #229
All appearances: Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #229, 247-249, 251-255, Punisher (2nd series) #33-34, Uncanny X-Men (1st series) # 262, 269, Wolverine (2nd series) #35-39, Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #281, X-Treme X-Men Annual 2001, Uncanny X-Force (1st series) #5.1, Cable and X-Force #15, 17
Powers: augmented strength, stamina, and reflexes, bionic tank treads, collapsable shield, anti-aircraft weapons, machine guns, missile launchers
Pretty Boy
First appearance: Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #229
All appearances: Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #229, 248, 251-255, Punisher (2nd series) #33-34, Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #262, 269, Wolverine (2nd series) #35, Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #281, X-Treme X-Men Annual 2001, Uncanny X-Force (1st series) #5.1, Cable and X-Force #16-17
Powers: enhanced strength, speed, endurance, and reflexes, extendible cybernetic limbs, retractable capture coils in his chest, electroshocks, release cyber-filiments from his eyes that enter the minds of others and reprogram their personality engrams
Skullbuster I
First appearance: Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #229
Killed: Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #255 (shot by Forge)
Revealed rebuilt : Domino (1st series) #2
All appearances: Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #229, 248, 251-255, Domino (1st series) #2-3, Uncanny X-Force (1st series) #5.1, Cable and X-Force #16-17
Powers : bionically augmented strength, stamina, leaping, and reflexes, bionic piston piledriver legs, infrared optic scanners, plasma grenade launcher, machine guns
Donald Pierce
First appearance: X-Men (1st series) #129 (silhouette), 132 (fully)
First Reavers appearance : Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #247
Killed: Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #281 (ripped apart by Sentinels)
Revealed rebuilt: Domino (1st series) #2
All Reavers appearances: Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #247-249, 251-253, 255, 261, Punisher (2nd series) #33-34, Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #269, Wolverine (2nd series) #35-39, Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #281-282, Domino (1st series) #2-3, X-Treme X-Men Annual 2001, New X-Men (2nd series) #5-6, 13
Powers : cybernetic adamantium enhancements augment his strength, speed, agility, endurance, and reflexes, cybermorphic limbs, release plasma and electromagnetic force, self-propelled flight capabilities
Lady Deathstrike (Yuriko Oyama)
First appearance: Daredevil (1st series) #197
First Reavers appearance: Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #247
All Reavers appearances: Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #247-249, 251-253, 255, 261, Punisher (2nd series) #33-34, Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #262, 269, Wolverine (2nd series) #35-39, Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #281, Domino (1st series) #1-3, New X-Men (2nd series) #45, X-Men (2nd series) #205, New X-Men (2nd series) #46, Uncanny X-Force (1st series) #5.1
Powers: altered by Spiral's Body Shoppe to gain augmented strength, speed, agility, stamina, and reflexes, extendible razor edged talons, conducts electromagnetic charges through her bio-mechanical parts
Murray Reese
First appearance: X-Men (1st series) #133
First Reavers appearance: Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #248
All Reavers appearances: Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #248-249, 251-255, Punisher (2nd series) #33-34, Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #262, 269, Wolverine (2nd series) #36, 38-39, Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #281, X-Treme X-Men Annual 2001, Uncanny X-Force (1st series) #5.1
Powers: bionically augmented strength, speed, and reflexes, infrared scanners, machine guns, explosive shells, plasma cannons, electrified nets, rocket pack
Angelo Macon
First appearance: X-Men (1st series) #133
First Reavers appearance: Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #248
All Reavers appearances: Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #248-249, 251-255, 262, 269, 281, X-Treme X-Men Annual 2001, Uncanny X-Force (1st series) #5.1
Powers: bionically augmented strength, speed, and reflexes, infrared scanners, machine guns, explosive shells, plasma cannons, electrified nets, rocket pack
Wade Cole
First appearance: X-Men (1st series) #133
First Reavers appearance: Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #248
All Reavers appearances: Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #248-249, 251-255, 262, 269, 281, X-Treme X-Men Annual 2001, Uncanny X-Force (1st series) #5.1
Powers: bionically augmented strength, speed, and reflexes, infrared scanners, machine guns, explosive shells, plasma cannons, electrified nets, rocket pack
Cylla Markham
First appearance: Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #260
First Reavers appearance: Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #261
Last appearance: Wolverine (2nd series) #78 (drained by Bloodscream)
All Reavers appearances : Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #261, 269, 281
Powers: augmented strength, speed, agility, endurance, and reflexes, molybidium steel wrist claws, on-board targeting computer, plasma burst discharges, thermite launchers
Note: Pierce intended for Cylla to be called Skullbuster II, however she was mostly refered to as Cylla.
Skullbuster III
First appearance: X-Treme X-Men Annual 2001
All Reavers appearances: X-Treme X-Men Annual 2001, Cable and X-Force #16-17
Powers: bionically augmented strength, stamina, leaping, and reflexes, bionic piston piledriver legs, external energy siphons can absorb attacks, retractable neuro-wires can tap into benign energy sources and drain them as well
Duncan
First appearance: New Mutants (2nd series) #5
All Reavers appearances: New Mutants (2nd series) #5-6, 13
Powers: none (baseline human)
Elixir (Joshua Foley)
First appearance: New Mutants (2nd series) #5
All Reavers appearances: New Mutants (2nd series) #5-6
Powers: Omega-class manipulation of organic molecules allows him to heal himself and others or induce maladies like comas, tumors, cancer or necrosis, golden skin with shifting blotches of black flesh
Note: Elixir joined the Reavers before realizing he was a mutant. When his powers manifested, his fellow Reavers rejected him, and he left the group.