Pride (Marvel)

The Pride are an organization that features in Marvel Comics.

History

The Pride exposed in Runaways v2 #14.

The Pride were a secret organization that were formed by the assembling of six pair bonds of criminals that were brought together by the Gibborim. Long ago, the Gibborim were a race of evil mythical giants that ruled over a utopia until they were banished but they had long sought their return which would bring about the end of humanity. However, they had been weakened and lacked the power to do this task by themselves and thus required a 'pride' to be their agents in the mortal world. Thus, in 1984, they used their power to abduct six pair bonds of special individuals who were brought to their Vivarium where they offered a pact. In exchange for their aid, the Gibborim would augment their individual powers to allow them to rule Los Angeles and beyond for a quarter of a century. This was the estimated time needed for them to have enough energy given to them for their return whereupon they would remake the world into a new Eden. When that time came, then six of the Pride were to be offered a place in their new paradise whilst the other six were to perish alongside the rest of mankind. (Runaways v1 #13)

The Gibborim required a sacrifice every year for twenty-five years in order to get their strength. (Runaways v1 #13) During this time, the Gibborim rewarded The Pride with wealth and with enhancements to their natural abilities and powers so they could rule over Los Angeles, to a point where Norman Osborn calls them 'the dominant and most feared criminal organization of the West Coast'. (Dark Reign Files v1 #1) Every year, The Pride gathered at the Wilder residence, using the excuse of an 'annual charity fundraiser' which in reality was a pretence for them to conduct the 'Rite of Blood' that was a ritual sacrifice of an young innocent female victim. (Runaways v1 #1) The spirit of the victim would then be fed to the Gibborim in the subsequent 'Rite of Thunder'. (Runaways v1 #14) Three years after the formation of the Pride, Janet Stein became pregnant. After some discussion, the decision was made that each couple would conceive one child, and those six children would inherit the Gibborim's reward and place in paradise. This agreement also ended the open struggle between the members of the Pride. (Runaways v1 #13)

It was the accidental discovery of this plot that led Alex Wilder to begin scheming to save his parents and the Minoru family that eventually led to his death and the deaths of the Pride. (Runaways v1 #17)

However, before the arrival of the Gibborim, the Runaways were able to defeat Alex and Molly Hayes was able to destroy the device imprisoning Destiny's soul. The Gibborim arrive furious that their sacrifice was not ready and immediately killed Alex while threatening to murder all the Pride and their progeny. While everyone in the Pride was killed, the Runaways were able to narrowly escape the destruction of the Marine Vivarium in the Leapfrog. (Runaways v1 #17)

Together, they researched the Pride and used the Abstract to cast a spell to retrieve Alex from the past before he died. During the ceremony, Oscar died and a young Geoffrey Wilder was summoned to the present instead of Alex. (Runaways v2 #14) Believing that Alex and the Pride were the 'good guys', Hunter, Stretch, and Lotus formed The New Pride with the young Geoffrey Wilder. Once the New Pride had gathered enough information, they directly confronted the Runaways and kidnapped Molly Hayes. (Runaways v2 #15)

Overview

In appearance, the Pride were a secret criminal organization consisting of various families that were brought together under the patronage of the Gibborim. (Runaways v1 #13) The power of their masters allowed the group to become the dominant and most feared criminal organization of the West Coast. (Dark Reign Files v1 #1)

Six families made up the Pride and included the:

• Wilders :
• Yorkeses :
• Hayeses :
• Deans :
• Steins :
• Minorus :

For their terms with the Gibborim, the Pride were to conduct rituals to sacrifice a person to sate their masters. (Runaways v1 #14) This involved the killing of young innocent female victims that were sacrificed in the Rite of Blood. (Runaways v1 #1) Once killed, the individuals soul was freed which was then fed to the Gibborim in another ritual called the Rite of Thunder. (Runaways v1 #14)

An important item within their organization was the Abstract that was considered a sacred text that guided the organization. It dictated everything that was expected by members of the Pride with this being written seemingly in a foreign language. This required the reader to use special decoder rings in order to decipher the text. (Runaways v1 #6)

Members

• Geoffrey Wilder :
• Catherine Wilder :
• Dale Yorkes :
• Stacey Yorkes :
• Frank Dean :
• Leslie Dean :
• Victor Stein :
• Janet Stein :
• Gene Hayes :
• Alice Hayes :
• Robert Minoru :
• Tina Minoru :
• Eli : a male shapeshifter claiming to be a brother of a member of the Pride who was insane and got into a fight with the Stein's leading to his banishment from the Pride. He later on took the identity of Marcus Roston who portrayed himself as a Hollywood actor whilst secretly operating as a serial killer. (Daken: Dark Wolverine v1 #18)

Notes

• The Pride were created by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona where they made their first appearance in Runaways v1 #1 (July, 2003).

In other media

Television

• In Runaways, the Pride appeared in the setting of the live-action television series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Appearances

• Runaways v1: (2003)
• Runaways v2:
• Iron Man: Legacy v1:

External Links

• Marvel Database Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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