Legion (Marvel)
Legion is a male comic character who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
David Charles Haller was the son of Gabrielle Haller who was the Israeli ambassador to Great Britain and Charles Xavier. His father was not aware of his birth as his mother had hid this information from Xavier. (New Mutants v1 #25)
When David was living in Paris with his mother, who was a member of the Israel diplomatic service, her home was invaded by a terrorist assassination team out to kill every Israeli they could find there. They murdered David's stepfather, Daniel Shomron, before his eyes. David's terror catalyzed his latent psionic powers, which he used to incinerate the brains of the assassins. However, as he did so, he found himself making telepathic contact with each of his victims, thus experiencing their thoughts and emotions as they died. The horror of all this deeply traumatized the gentle, loving David, forcing him into a catatonic state. The consciousness of the leader of the assassins, Jemail Karami, was absorbed into David's mind. Karami's consciousness merged with David's, and it took Karami years to separate his consciousness from his psychic captor's. Nevertheless, although Karami regained his sense of self, his consciousness remained trapped within David's mind. Karami discovered that he somehow gained control of David's mutant telepathic power and used it to read David's mind. Karami thus discovered that David was essentially a gentle, innocent person. Karami then read the minds of Gabrielle Haller and others, and with a better understanding of those around him, decided to restore David's mind to normalcy. The terrible trauma that David had suffered had splintered David's personality into multiple alters. Each of these alters controlled a different psionic power, many of which are as yet unknown. Karami began re-integrating these alters into David's core personality, which was that of a little boy desperately needing parental help. (New Mutants v1 #28)
When David was in his late teens he had gone from being catatonic to being autistic and had been placed by his mother in the care of Dr. Moira MacTaggart, a renowned scientist engaged in the study of mutants, and a longtime colleague of Charles Xavier. David began to manifest his psionic abilities uncontrollably in the real world, and absorbed the psyches of two of MacTaggart's friends, Tom Corsi and Sharon Friedlander. MacTaggart summoned Xavier to her research center on Muir Island off the coast of Scotland, bringing with him several of the New Mutants, including Cypher, Mirage, and Wolfsbane. David absorbed MacTaggart and Wolfsbane's consciousnesses, or their astral selves, into his mind. Xavier's attempted to probe David's mind, bringing Mirage's astral self with him for assistance. David's mind then absorbed the astral selves of Cypher and Gabrielle Haller, and those of Xavier and Mirage followed them. It was just before Xavier actually entered David's mind that he learned that David was his son and that the multiple alters called themselves Legion. (New Mutants v1 #26)
David became known as Legion and remained on Muir Island for observation and care by Moira MacTaggert. On one occasion, David was forced to unleash his telekinetic powers to save Moira and Wolfsbane from a lab accident, but in doing so he allowed Jack Wayne to take control of his body. Free to do as he pleased, Jack traveled to Scotland to indulge himself as he chose. Wolfsbane summoned the New Mutants to go after him and they engaged Jack at a local pub. Jack was forcing Cyndi to work with him, giving him access to David’s telekinetic and pyrotic powers and making him strong enough to battle the New Mutants to a standstill. Jack Wayne was finally defeated when Sunspot had Magik teleport them to Limbo. Confronted by Illyana’s dark magic and demonic realm, Wayne retreated back into the subconscious, allowing David to assume control over himself again. (New Mutants v1 #44) Several months later, Muir Island had become a haven for many lost souls, including the Warpie children and the surviving members of the Morlock clan after the Mutant Massacre. Muir Island was attacked by Donald Pierce and his Reavers as part of their ongoing campaign against Wolverine and his friends. Legion was in the nursery playing with Sunder and the Warpies when Bonebreaker and his chums burst through on a killing sweep. Again, David Haller reached out with his telekinetic powers, hoping to defend his friends from harm, but again doing so allowed Jack Wayne to reach the surface of his mind. Once in control, Wayne, thought it would be amusing to reshape the telekinetic shield to protect only him, leaving Sunder vulnerable to the gunfire. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #254) Amidst the chaos of the assault and the Reavers’ eventual retreat, Legion’s part in the day’s tragedies remained unknown. In fact, due to the fortifying of the island’s defenses and the overall negative emotional influence of Lorna Dane’s new powers, no one even noticed the changes in Legion. Jack Wayne had assumed control over David’s body and all of his powers, and decided to have some fun with the island’s inhabitants. He imprisoned Polaris in the Mutant X detention cell, since she was the only one unaffected by her own 'negativity' force, and began making plans. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #258) In the meanwhile, Jack continued to act like David Haller in the presence of others, and so he allowed himself to be used by Forge in an experiment to locate the missing X-Men with a Cerebro unit. Unfortunately, they made telepathic contact with something else altogether namely the Shadow King. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #259) Seeing the heightened negative energy that permeated Muir Island, Farouk saw a fertile playground for his own personal brand of mental manipulation. Through Legion, he began to corrupt the Muir Islanders far beyond what the passive effect of Lorna Dane’s power was capable of. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #269)
Legion Quest
David was consigned to an intensive care ward at a hospital in Tel Aviv, his body receiving the best of care in the hopes that his mind might someday return. Many months later, David awakened with his mind completely healed after visions of Destiny urged him on towards his true destiny. (X-Men v1 #38) For a time David faked being in a coma while using his telepathic power to link his mind to his father's dreams. In them, he appeared as Magneto to try to convince his father that if Magneto was out of the way his dream of human/mutant unity would come true. However, David's attempts failed when Xavier refused to accept that Magneto's death would help realize his dream. Hearing this, David revealed himself and told his father he disagreed. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #319) When Mystique came to murder David for killing Destiny, he stopped pretending to be in a coma, telekinetically blasted her away, and claimed he was expecting her. (X-Factor v1 #108) Mystique fled, promising to return, and was pursued by X-Factor. Shortly afterwards, Gabrielle Haller was shocked and overjoyed when David called her mother, thinking that her son was finally whole again. David fainted again and in his mind made a tombstone for his splinter alter while having another vision of Destiny. When he awakened he seemed incoherent, and when his mother brought Forge to help him, he was gone. When David found Mystique battling Forge and Wolfsbane he stopped them so he could deliver Destiny's message to Mystique. He then teleported X-Factor away, saying they needed to be somewhere else. When Mystique questioned David, he said he would fix everything and "make it all better" before flying away. (X-Factor v1 #109)
David flew to Negev Desert where he had another vision of Destiny. In it she claimed it was his destiny to heal the rift between humans and mutants thus making the world as his father had always wanted. Believing the visions, he started to construct a 'psychic bunker'. (X-Men v2 #39) In an effort to learn his goals, the military sent vehicles into the dome David constructed only to have them destroyed. Gabrielle Haller contacted the X-Men for help. Failing to enter David's "bunker," the X-Men's Blackbird was caught in a telekinetic field. David claimed to be happy to see his "step-siblings," thinking they were there to support him. Legion told the heroes to say what they wanted, but to watch their tone as he was no longer insane. Jean Grey tried to convince him that he was still not fully healed, but David disagreed. The young mutant insisted that he was whole at last and that he would complete his father's work. When Storm questioned him again, David pulled her through a time portal, arriving at the moment her parents perished. David told her she could save them which she tried to do, only to be wrenched back to the future. Storm claimed that what she saw was an illusion, but David insisted it was real time travel and that she simply was not fast enough to save her family. Realizing what Legion was trying to do, Storm asked Psylocke to link her mind with Bishop who had just tried to absorb Legion's energy and a moment later the mutants were dragged to the past with David. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #320)
An alternate future dubbed the Age of Apocalypse was created when Legion went back in time to kill Magneto before he could oppose Xavier's dream, but instead inadvertently killed Xavier himself. (X-Men v2 #41) Only Bishop remembered the proper timeline, so he traveled to the moment of Xavier's murder and used Legion's own power to create a psionic loop, forcing the young mutant to see the damage he had caused. The energy released by this event was so intense that David apparently died. Since Bishop had prevented Legion from killing Xavier, the normal timeline was restored. (X-Men Omega v1 #1)
Legacy
David recovered from his catatonic state at some point and was seen on the shores of Ibiza, Spain together with his father. He suffered intense pain - just as many other psychics did - when the Phoenix arrived to claim its host. (Avengers vs. X-Men v1 #5) After waking up, Professor Xavier sent Legion away to a commune for spiritualists in the Himalayas. Studying under a guru, Merzah the Mystic, David gained a far greater level of control over his powers and alters. This would all come tumbling down however, when his father died. The psychic shockwaves caused by his father's death tore down the delicate system of control David had established inside his mind, and caused him to lose control over his powers, leading him to destroy the commune. (X-Men: Legacy v2 #1) His various alters began struggling for control over his body, while David himself hid within his own mind. He received aid from a mysterious stranger, who saved his life, buying David time to subdue one of his rogue personas and claiming its power, telepathy, for himself. Reading the stranger's mind, David detected a great hatred for mutants, and learned of two imprisoned mutant twins in Japan, before the stranger disappeared. (X-Men: Legacy v2 #2)
After his resurrection, a personality of David's by the name Lord Trauma tried to take over his mind while David was taken into hospital after being found by an Amish couple. David manages to temporarily defeat Lord Trauma and heads to see Dr. Hannah Jones, a psychotherapist known for mainly working with celebrities. As David is heading in her direction, Lord Trauma seeks her out and warns her not to treat David and trying to scare her through visual hallucinations. David pulls her out of one of the hallucinations and introduces himself, asking for her help. (Legion v1 #1) Hannah would ask for David's help, whereupon they were quickly transported into his mind. Hannah was attacked by creatures sent by Lord Trauma and meets with Tami Haar, another of David's alters. She leads Hannah away from the creatures and to the ancient cities, structures containing past memories. Hannah witnesses a memory where David caused a psychiatric doctor to commit suicide after his temper snapped. Trying to help young David, Hannah and Tami are flung out of the memory by the young David and down to nightmare beach. The pair move past the bitter-sweet spores after Hannah unwittingly touches one and falls sick. Back at the hospital, Lord Trauma keeps speaking to David and causes him to unknowingly shout at a patient, causing him to be taken away by security. This episode of paranoia caused his mindscape to become overwhelmed with voices in the form of extreme wind. (Legion v1 #2)
House of X
After the establishment of Krakoa, the living island came to serve as a home nation for all Mutants on the planet. To oppose them, a human supremacist organization Orchis sought to stop their domination of the planet. Through unknown means, they came to resurrect Legion whose brain they dissected and used as part of their efforts at simulations on Krakoa. They came to remove the core personality and thus allowing all his alters to form a civilisation in his mind that eventually tore itself apart after the creation of an invasive entity to bring about its demise. David's persona though managed to reach out to Nightcrawler and had him along with several Krakoans break into the Orchis facility in Rub' al Khali in Saudi Arabia. Nightcrawler then destroyed Legion's captive brain allowing his husk to be born on Krakoa though Xavier had intended to not resurrect his son for fear of him being unstable. However, Legion used his own powers to restore himself whereupon he went on his own path where he warned Nightcrawler about the threat of the Patchwork Man. (Way of X v1 #2)
Overview
Personality and attributes
The multiple personalities in his mind came to refer to themselves as Legion after the Biblical quotation Mark 5:9, "My name is Legion for we are many". (New Mutants v1 #26) Despite the name, David himself had stated that he disliked being called Legion and wished others would stop calling him that. (X-Men: Legacy v2 #2)
As a child, David Haller was known to be kind and gentle, however, this all changed after witnessing the death of his step-father Daniel Shomron. The trauma of witnessing his step-father's death, combined with the activation of his mutant powers that caused him to incinerate the brains of the terrorists while experiencing their agony, broke David psychically. (New Mutants v1 #28) David's ego was infested by hundreds of predatory dissociative personalities. (X-Men: Legacy v2 #1) These were referred to as Alters that was short for Alternative Personalities. (Legion v1 #2)
It was believed that his powers was driven by his subconscious (New Mutants v1 #25)
noted to sometimes change accents and adopt the behavior of others' cultures, such as behaving and speaking like a Scot. (Way of X v1 #2)
Powers and abilities
He manifested immensely strong psi-powers with these creating three primary abilities namely telepathy, telekinesis pyrotic talent to psychically put objects on fire. (New Mutants v1 #25)
David's mind was a notional reality that was populated by an infinite supply of autonomous beings that represented his different powers. (Way of X v1 #2) He stated that he had in his mind 200 Omega-level split personalities. (X-Men: Legacy v2 #5) Once, Rogue was connected to David's mind she felt thousands of types of powers and there were more 'being born' all the time. (X-Men: Legacy v1 #254)
Among the powers afforded to him by his various personalities included:
- Chain : a male personality that could spread himself like a virus turning everyone he touched into a copy of himself. A weakness was the original version of Chain referred to as 1(A) who if defeated led to the others reverting to their normal selves. (X-Men: Legacy v1 #251)
- Susan in Sunshine : a female personality that amplified emotions and then fed on it turning it into raw energy. A weakness in her was that that her powers dissipated when she was unhappy. (X-Men: Legacy v1 #251)
- Bleeding Image : a bald male personality that described himself as a living voodoo doll with wounds inflicted on his body manifesting in his foe by amplifying pain in others. (X-Men: Legacy v1 #252)
- Endgame : a large armored being with a domed shaped head who had great strength and a response to any form of attack. (X-Men: Legacy v1 #253)
- Styx : a gaunt thin monstrous figure who had a 'death touch' where he absorbed the spirit and consciousness of those he touched whereupon he controlled the empty shell of their body as his slaves. (X-Men: Legacy v1 #251) A calling card of his was leaving a white lily for the dead. (X-Men: Legacy v1 #251)
- Compass Rose :
- Mycolojester :
- Non-Newtonian Annie :
- Protozoan Porter :
- Ksenia Nadejda Panov :
- Tyrannix the Abominoid :
- Zubar :
- Luca Aldine :
- The Origamist :
- Max Kelvin :
- Metallax the Untamer :
- Chronodon :
- Pukatus Jr. :
- Skinsmith :
- Tami Haar :
- Zari Zap :
- Zero G. Priestly :
- Fiend : a personality born from the death of Charles Xavier with this one appearing as a yellow goblin-like entity before morphing into a form that resembled Professor X that was cruel to his 'son' David where it used its power of precognition and mental possession as well as absorbed the powers of slain personalities to empower himself. (X-Men: Legacy v2 #6)
- Delusionaut :
- Lord Trauma : a powerful alternative personality that resembled a young black haired man who could use his psych-forces to subsume other alters that became his puppets with these manifesting as faces on his skin and he used in an attempt to take over David's body. (Legion v1 #2) This one was born on Muir Island during a harrowing event that almost destroyed Haller where over time he grew into a powerful Alter that could subsume other personalities into becoming his minions. (Legion v1 #3)
- Joe Fury : a young male personality that was very unstable and dangerous with psionic powers. (Legion v1 #1)
All these personas existed within a world inside his mind that resided in the mindscape. During his breakdowns, he could be overwhelmed to the point that his mind generated paranoia storms that were dangerous voices that filled the minds of the people inside. (Legion v1 #2)
At one point, a Neural Switchboard Wristband was engineered in a collaboration between Doctor Nemesis, Madison Jeffries and Reed Richards. By keying in a number this device stimulates cells in the thalamus and neocortex, creating a one-way link between Legion's own mind and one of his alters. This allows Legion to utilize power sets without being overwhelmed by the alter. (X-Men: Legacy v1 #248)
With his powers, he was able to craft an area within the astral plane that served as a dimension that he could transport others into it. It was built as a rational space that operated as a kind of island in the astral plane. This area was known as the Altar that was a dimension for Mutants and could serve as a headquarters. (Legion of X v1 #1)
Notes
- Legion was created by Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz where he made his first appearance in New Mutants v1 #25 (March, 1985).
- On Comic Book Legends, it was noted that Legion was originally going to be a founding member of the government-sponsored X-Factor. However, then-incoming writer Peter David felt it was impossible to work him into the group in a way that didn't feel was contrived.
Alternate Versions
- In X-Men: Legacy v1 #245 (2011), an alternate version of Legion appeared in the Age of X reality designated as Earth-11326 in the Multiverse. David's father died during an attack in Israel, and he was raised by Moira Kinross. He joined the Mutant Resistance and was present during the first days of Fortress X. Witnessing the Avengers defend the Fortress against the Hulk, and observing Sue Storm's force field, he teamed-up with four others telekinetics to erect a barrier around the Fortress, creating the Force Warriors.
- In Nightcrawlers v1 #2 (2023), an alternate version of Legion appeared in one of the Sins of Sinister timelines that was designated as Moira VII.1 in the Multiverse. When Mr. Sinister succeeded in his schemes to corrupt the Quiet Council and conquer the Earth, Legion chose to stay out of Sinister's schemes, saving those he could inside a peaceful dream. While Legion remained outside of the conflict, the Sinisters made extensive use of his genetic material, using a clone of him to destroy Arakko, and a chimera using his genetic material to destroy the sun of Xandar. Decades later, he was visited by Mother Righteous, who asked him what he would have done differently. He answered that he would have learned sooner that a real leader does not push or pull, but rather lifts his followers. Legion rebuked Mother Righteous, telling her he had watched her during the intervening decades and knew that beneath her stated goals lay only selfish purposes. Declaring that the X-Gene had become a cancer, he announced his intentions to leave the material universe with his followers, travelling to higher planes. To their horror, however, Legion and his followers were swallowed by a Dominion as they ascended.
In other media
Television
- In X-Men: Evolution, Legion made an appearance in the animated television series in the episode "Sins of the Son" where he was voiced by actor Kyle Labine.
- In Legion, David Haller appeared in the live-action television series where he was portrayed by actor Dan Stevens. David was raised alongside his older sister Amy and their dog, King, in the countryside so their father, an astronomer, could study the stars. From a young age, David seemed unusual. Starting when he was about ten or eleven years old, he heard voices in his head and experienced delusions. When he was upset, inanimate objects seemed to fly around the room. He was later diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia during his time at school. In college, he began seeing a therapist, Dr. Poole, about his unusual condition. In secret, however, he would steal the doctor's money and use it to buy drugs. He grew addicted, hoping the drugs would silence the voices in his head. Here, he befriended Lenny Busker, another mentally ill drug addict. In the meantime, he began dating a woman named Philly. One day, Philly and David got into a heated fight when she found him very high with Lenny, even though David and Philly had made plans for later that day. Angry, David had an intense hallucination of destroying his kitchen using only his mind. Sometime later, Philly and David's ten-month relationship came to an end, and David was expelled from college. The voices continued and one day, despite the protests of the voices, he attempted to hang himself. After becoming suicidal, he was shown to had been admitted as a patient at the Clockworks Psychiatric Hospital where he claimed that he was haunted by the Devil with the Yellow Eyes.
Video games
- In Marvel: War of Heroes, Legion appeared as a playable card in the video game.
- In X-Men: Battle of the Atom, the Legion along with his various Personalities appeared in the background on cards in the iOS video card game. Among the Legion Personalities included Fiend, Time-Sink, Marci Sabot, Drexel, Sally, Susan in Sunshine, Vampire, Clown, Stitched Alien, Personality 302, Bleeding Image, Jack Wayne, The Delphic, Endgame, Chain, Moira, Styx, Legion and The Legion.
Appearances
- New Mutants v1: (1985)
- Uncanny X-Men v1:
- X-Men v2:
- X-Men: Legacy v2:
- Legion v1:
- Way of X v1: (2021)
- Legion of X v1:
External Links
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