Sabretooth (Marvel)

Sabretooth in Sabretooth v4 #1.

Sabretooth is a male comic supervillain who features in Marvel Comics.

Biography

Origin

Fighting Danny Rand in Iron Fist v1 #14.

Victor Creed

He had a brother by the name of Luther with the two being young boys. (X-Men Origins: Sabretooth v1 #1) In addition, he had two other siblings with a brother called Saul and a sister named Clara. (Origin II v1 #5) When he was 9 years old, he met his paediatrician named Dr. Eiger Harnerst who was trying to help Victor only to be killed by the youth with this being marked as his first person he had killed. Later on, he succumbed to a killer rampage across three provinces where he murdered 3 officers of the Saskatchewan provincial police. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #326)

Whether Victor deliberately killed his doctor or not, his parents were unwilling to risk a repeat incident. They locked the boy in their house’s root cellar, chaining him by the neck to the wall. Deeply religious, Creed’s parents believed he was cursed by the Devil and Creed’s father attempted to exorcise the evil from his child by pulling his inhuman, canine teeth from his mouth with pliers. To his shock, however, the teeth reemerged after every extraction, an early manifestation of young Victor’s healing factor. (Sabretooth v1 #1) Creed’s memory of his father’s torments changed between recollections. Although the root cellar remained a constant, sometimes Victor remembered his father encouraging his animalistic tendencies instead of discouraging them. Under telepathic probing by Charles Xavier, Creed recalled his father tossing a live rabbit into the cellar for him to catch and kill for his dinner. Supposedly, it was a lesson that only by killing would he ever be able to survive. (X-Men Unlimited v1 #3) Victor continued to struggle against his father’s efforts to control him, and eventually the elder Creed had enough. He planned to put his son down like a wild dog, dragging him in chains out to the woodpile. Mrs. Creed pleaded with her husband to reconsider, and suffered for her kindness when she threw herself in the path of Creed’s axe as it descended on Victor. (Sabretooth v1 #2) During one Spring, Creed and his brother had a fight over a piece of pie that Luther was having with Victor killing his sibling. His mother later came onto the scene to witness the dead body of her son killed by her other child. Afterwards, Victors father chained the boy in the basement and believed him possessed by the Devil where he kept pulling his sharp canine teeth only for them to grow back due to his regenerative abilities. His mother would visit her son to feed him but she came to fear his ruthless nature. By next Spring, he managed to free one of his hands from the chains and bit off his other hand to unchain himself. Victor then proceeded with leaving the basement and attacked his parents where he killed them. He then departed the family home and started his new life as his limbs regenerated from their wounds. (X-Men Origins: Sabretooth v1 #1) Decades later, Victor would tell a version of this story, openly bragging about murdering both of his parents. Some time ago, however, the leader of the Red Right Hand learned different. Victoria Creed survived the struggle at the woodpile, and Victor kept his mother alive and cared for in secret for years. Eventually reaching extreme old age, Creed kept his mother in an expensive retirement community and visited her every two weeks. (Wolverine v4 #11)

Meanwhile, his siblings Saul Creed was a tracker and a hunter whilst his sister Clara was an animal handler. (Origin II v1 #5)

Saul and Clara later discovered a feral James 'Logan' Howlett after they tracked him for a circus. They later helped Logan escape from Nathaniel Essex who was experimenting on him with the three forced to go on the run from the geneticist. However, Saul began to perceive Logan as stealing Clara from him and he secretly tipped Essex of Howlett's location. In the following battle. Clara was seemingly killed though she possessed a healing factor that allowed her to be revive and recover. Unaware of this, Saul blamed Essex for his sisters death and he along with Logan sought to get their revenge on him. Upon finding out that Saul betrayed him, Logan drowned Saul on a potion that Essex had been creating. Seeing Saul murdered horrified Clara and she told Logan never to look for her again. She was later tracked down by Victor Creed where she informed him of their brother's death. (Origin II v1 #5) Whilst traveling, he found a tavern where he first encountered James Howlett who was in a bar fight with Creed joining in the skirmish with him helping Logan. The two forged a comradery from the encounter and had drinks together when Silver Fox arrived for Howlett. (X-Men Origins: Sabretooth v1 #1)

Afterwards, Victor came to capture an unconscious Logan and in 1909 had him admitted to the Ravencroft Institute in Westchester County. Whilst there, he worked as an orderly under Dr. Nathaniel Essex where he helped brutalise Logan who was left in a catatonic state. In addition, Logan found himself subject to the cruel experiments of Essex who had the man lobotomised where Victor would regularly cut off the man's legs only for them to regenerate. This was until one night one of the other doctors named Claudia Russell freed Logan but this led to a confrontation with Victor who looked to stop them. Dr. Russell gave Logan a chance to escape where she revealed that she was secretly a werewolf accidentally responsible for a string of murders in the region. She attacked Victor but was rendered unconscious by Dr. Essex who proceeded to experiment on her body. (Ruins of Ravencroft: Sabretooth v1 #1)

At some point later, he moved to Tokyo, Japan where he became affiliated with the mysterious organisation run by the shadowy mastermind known as Romulus. In that time, he was responsible for murdering several women when he encountered Logan leading to a fight between the pair. (Wolverine v3 #52) In 1938, he was in Nanjing when Ogun was present in the city where both watched General Matsui enter the the area. (Death of Wolverine: The Weapon X Program v1 #3) During the Korean War, he was noted to had served in the American military and after the completion of his service he moved to the island of Madripoor for a time. (New Avengers v2 #10)

In 1959, he was in Madripoor when he was recruited by Nick Fury for his black-ops Avengers initiative. Among his fellow team members included Dominic Fortune, Kraven the Hunter, Namora, Ulysses Bloodstone and Ersnt Sablinova who operated as the Silver Sable. (New Avengers v2 #10) Their first assignment as a team involved tracking down the Red Skull who had formed a new Fourth Reich with him being in Sweden. (New Avengers v2 #11)

Team X

Creed later came to the attention the CIA in the early 1960’s where they became impressed with his résumé of deniable operations. This saw him being recruited into an off the books new black ops unit called Team X. They were part of a collaboration between the American and Canadian intelligence services with Sabretooth being added to keep Logan in line. They were teamed with other recruits, including David North, John Wraith, Mastodon and Silver Fox. The government employed newly developed memory implant technology to establish false recollections and cover stories for their agents for different missions. They also occasionally reused prepared sets and soundstages to provide realistic backdrops for the false memories before implantation. (Wolverine v2 #50) Active during the 1960's and the Cold War, Team X was frequently called in to deal with anti-Communist operations, including alleged expeditions into Cuba, Vietnam, East Germany and the greater Soviet Union. It was on one such mission at the Soviet space center in Tyuratam that Creed and Logan encountered Epsilon Red, the super-cosmonaut. Logan was ordered to sanction Epsilon Red, who eagerly accepted his fate out of self-hatred due to what the cybernetic experiments had done to him. Creed intervened at the last minute, however, giving Logan new orders to call off the mission. As Logan was extracted, Epsilon Red begged Creed to kill him anyway. The sadistic Creed refused to do Red any favors and instead shot Epsilon Red’s pregnant wife, who was also on the scene, leaving her to die in childbirth. (Wolverine v2 #68)

He was later deployed to Germany where he was in East Berlin where he met a German secret agent named Leni Zauber. The two worked on an assignment that involved assassinating a scientist in the city where they then went to the safe house. Whilst taking shelter there, they two briefly became lovers for a time but one day he came to find her dead in the streets of the city. (Sabretooth v1 #3) Unknown to him, Zauber was a Mutant shapeshifter who became pregnant from their time together where she gave birth to Sabretooth's son who was born a human named Graydon Creed. (Sabretooth v1 #4)

While on vacation in 1968, Sabretooth went to Vietnam as a mercenary and was hired by a woman to investigate goings on in the jungle. Before beginning the job proper, Sabretooth enjoyed himself with one of his favorite pastimes, killing prostitutes. Whilst in Saigon, he came to hear word of a figure some called the White Devil was responsible for the disappearance of soldiers and locals. In this time, Sabretooth was approached by Scalphunter who was working for the White Devil with his employer wanting to hire Creed to head a team of mercenary enforcers. Scalphunter informed Creed that his client had been killed for asking too many questions, but offered to compensate Sabretooth for his time and trouble to avoid any unpleasantness. (Weapon X v2 #27)

Some years later, Sabretooth and Logan once again crossed paths, this time on opposite sides of the mutant agenda. Sabretooth was working for a secret cabal comprised of interests within both the U.S. and Canadian governments, which was receiving funds through the Hellfire Club. The group used Sabretooth to keep others from discovering their conspiracy. When Sabretooth assassinated Canadian secret agent Neil Langram, it drew the attention of Langram’s partner, Agent Logan. Acting against orders, Logan investigated Langram’s death only to find that everyone who might have known anything had been terminated by Sabretooth. Ultimately, the two once again came face to face, but Sabretooth escaped by detonating a bomb, from which he recovered far more quickly than Logan. (Logan: Shadow Society v1 #1)

Despite his other activities, Creed remained in service to Romulus who had now arranged for Logan to become Experiment X for the Weapon X Program’s Adamantium bonding procedure, Sabretooth accompanied Romulus as they made contact with the Professor. (Wolverine v3 #54)

Creed remained associated with the intelligence services after going through the Weapon X Program. After Logan escaped from the program and was accepted into Department H where his memory was severely damaged. He traveled to Washington DC to speak with the inventor of Adamantium, Dr. MacLain, to find answers. An unidentified party dispatched Creed to the scene when Logan was spotted, and he ordered MacLain to stop talking about his theories. Creed was amused that Logan had no memory of him, and initially played things nice while subtly mentioning their shared history, including a veiled reference to killing Silver Fox. Ultimately, Creed attempted to kill Logan, so that his superiors could study Logan’s skeleton, but Logan’s new Adamantium claws tipped the edge in Logan’s favor. Rather than finishing him off, though, Logan simply walked away, satisfied with a slash to Creed’s gut with his claws. (Wolverine v2 #-1)

Sabretooth

Continuing his life as a mercenary, Sabretooth began to cultivate a reputation as the ultimate freebooter, able to do any job for the right price. This reputation led to his employment by a master art thief called Montenegro, who had been ripping off priceless artwork from the Rand-Meachum Corporation. When the mystery of the thefts drew scrutiny, the art thief hired Sabretooth and his gang of mercenaries to thwart those investigating. He came to be hired to eliminate Jeryn Hogarth who was investigating suspicious activity at Rand-Meachum. This led to Sabretooth encountering the Iron Fist and Colleen Wing where the mercenary nearly killed his opponent but was defeated by Danny Rand's martial art skills. (Iron Fist v1 #14) In police custody following his encounter with Iron Fist, Sabretooth was soon transferred from custody of the Canadian Ministry of Defense to S.H.I.E.L.D. It was the hope of the Canadian government that S.H.I.E.L.D. would train Sabretooth to recover Wolverine, who had recently quit Department H to join the X-Men. Department H viewed this as a government operative gone AWOL, and wanted their investment back. Sabretooth accepted the job for pay but took his first opportunity for escape when it came while being transported through Manhattan. However, Sabretooth soon encountered Ms. Marvel and, after a battle in the New York subway system, he was recaptured. (Marvel Super-Heroes v2 #10) Though back in custody, Sabretooth soon escaped, possibly with the help of the Constrictor, who became his partner for some time thereafter. Together they were hired by a ring of art thieves to guard a hidden cache of Objets D’Art, which in turn had been the object of investigation by private investigators Colleen Wing and Misty Knight. Clearly outmatched, Colleen only barely managed to escape and enlist the aid of their friend, Iron Fist, who at this point had formed a partnership with Power Man, doing business together as the for-profit Heroes for Hire. Once again, using his martial skill over brute force, Iron Fist managed to get the better of Sabretooth. (Power Man and Iron Fist v1 #66)

Though defeated, Sabretooth and Constrictor managed to escape before the authorities arrived and fled town. Weeks later, however, they returned in secret for a special job for Montenegro, which necessitated their absolute secrecy about being in town. Nevertheless, Sabretooth’s bloodlust got the better of him and he found himself drawn to the streets to commit murders, resulting in the local papers nicknaming him 'the Slasher'. Despite the uncontrollable urge, Sabretooth had the presence of mind to disguise himself, so when he accidentally came into conflict again with Power Man, Iron Fist and Misty Knight, he was unrecognized. It was only by the timely intervention of the Constrictor in his civilian identity that Sabretooth managed to escape without being captured. Unfortunately for them, the incident ruined their plans for the job and the two left town again before taking it. (Power Man and Iron Fist v1 #78) The entire incident enraged Sabretooth, especially since he felt cheated in the fight, having been unaware that Misty Knight’s arm had been robotic. Itching for revenge, Sabretooth positioned himself outside Misty’s apartment, waiting for her to return. However, despite his advanced senses, Sabretooth initially mistook Power Man’s girlfriend Harmony for Misty, but realized his mistake before killing her. Instead, he merely disfigured her face and departed. The personal attack enraged Power Man and Iron Fist, who spent the next few days chasing leads until they heard of a particular jazz club which Sabretooth seemed to like to frequent when a particular entertainer was playing. So cornered, Sabretooth and the Constrictor were confronted in short order. Despite his fury over Harmony’s injuries, Luke Cage refrained from killing Sabretooth, and turned him over to the police. (Power Man and Iron Fist v1 #84)

Though incarcerated, prison again was not enough to hold Sabretooth and he eventually escaped. However, it seemed his partnership with the Constrictor did not survive their mutual incarceration and the two never operated as partners again. Possibly seeking new allies, Sabretooth began looking for the mysterious master assassin known as the Foreigner, who at some point had been a teacher of sorts for Sabretooth. When the Foreigner did not seem inclined to provide him with employment, Sabretooth became desperate to prove his ability and vowed to track down whoever had stolen property from the Foreigner. The thief in question was actually the Black Cat, the recently ex-girlfriend of Spider-Man. Tracking the Cat’s scent, Sabretooth assaulted Spider-Man and the Black Cat. During the fight, Spider-Man webbed Sabretooth in the face, and Sabretooth tried to rip the adhesive webbing off of him. Though his intention had been to demonstrate his abilities, Sabretooth did the opposite and was reduced to quivering agony after tearing the flesh off of his face. (Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #116) After some time in the hospital, Sabretooth was well enough to escape and immediately began making up for lost time, killing those who stood in his way, including doctors and hospital security. Still wishing to prove his ability to the Foreigner, Sabretooth sought revenge against Spider-Man for defeating him. Tracking Spider-Man’s scent across town, Sabretooth was closing in on Spider-Man’s civilian apartment when he was intercepted by the Black Cat, who had noticed Sabretooth’s hunt and tracked him. Still not having recovered from his injuries, Sabretooth suffered another humiliating defeat and once again returned to the hospital, this time under heavy guard. (Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #119)

Though the police seemed not to underestimate him again, Sabretooth did not stay captive for very long. He was out of custody when he was approached some weeks later by his old adversary, Remy LeBeau, who was now going by the name of Gambit. Gambit was working for Mister Sinister, who remembered Sabretooth from the brief time when their paths almost crossed in Vietnam, and wanted to employ his services. Killers all, Sabretooth and LeBeau’s other recruits were dubbed Marauders. They followed Gambit into the massive tunnels far beneath Manhattan called the Alley, where a colony of hundreds of mutants had been living for years in their own insular society. Having decided for his own reasons that the Morlocks must be destroyed, Sinister ordered Sabretooth and the Marauders to kill everyone they found. Completely unaware of the team’s purpose, Gambit was horrified and attempted to stop them. However, Gambit’s rebellion was quickly put down by Sabretooth, who didn’t even bother to finish the job of killing him. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #350)

The loss of Birdie continued to have an impact on Creed's mental where he grew more and more out of control. In Spain, he travelled to St. Alamander Church in Barcelona where he went on a killing spree with his activities drawing on the attention of Maverick. Maverick barely escaped with his life and determined he needed help to take down Sabretooth. Thus, he reached out to the X-Men in order to enlist their aid. (X-Men Unlimited v1 #3)

However, at his core he was still vicious and merciless, and one night when Wolverine was guarding him alone, Sabretooth nagged his nemesis to no end. Finally, when the moment was right, Creed slammed into the restraining force field and pushed his way through it, daring Logan to kill him. Wolverine nearly complied, putting a bone claw through Sabretooth's brain. (Wolverine v2 #90)

X-Factor

Though it was Valerie Cooper’s opinion that he should be put down, Sabretooth was taken to a government scientific/medical research facility beneath Washington D.C. There he was affixed with a breakthrough restraining collar designed to hit him with an electric blast focused at his brain stem should he experience rage directed at anyone except a designated target. Much to Cooper’s surprise, Sabretooth was to be a new part of her government-sponsored X-Factor team. (X-Factor v1 #121) Unknown to Val Cooper, however, around this time Sabretooth was also secretly recruited into the government’s Hound Program in which he would act as a mole within X-Factor, until they outlived their usefulness. Sabretooth was introduced to his new teammates in an inadvertent manner. Before being turned over to X-Factor, Sabretooth had one last mission: the elimination of an experimental weapon gone rogue. In a government facility near the Canadian border, researchers had mutated a mutant into an unstoppable killing machine. It failed in its first mission to kill Mystique and then killed all facility personnel upon returning to base. For the better part of a day, Sabretooth attempted to kill the Hound, but found it more than a match for him alone. It was at this point that X-Factor and Mystique arrived at the scene after having tracked Raven's assailant. Together, Sabretooth and X-Factor hobbled the Hound long enough for government forces to arrive. (X-Factor v1 #123) Now a member of X-Factor, Sabretooth’s teammates were incredulous as to their newest member, especially as several of them had personal history with him. Mystique had only recently revealed their shared history and child, Graydon Creed. Though she had been possessed by Malice at the time, Polaris had been a teammate with Sabretooth with the Marauders, while Wild Child had had some interaction with him years before, possibly in his early days with the early Alpha Flight program. In no way trusting him, the team attempted to gauge Sabretooth’s possible actions via a VR program, watching his reactions from a safe distance. After the session and between future missions, however, Sabretooth was returned to a cell. Irate at once again being a prisoner like he was with the X-Men, Sabretooth protested, claiming to be a member of the team and 'working on the side of law and order'. (X-Factor v1 #124)

When a Sentinel used for training purposes malfunctioned and reactivated at the X-Factor’s HQ, Forge sent Mystique to release Sabretooth to back them up. Instead, Sabretooth and Mystique were whisked away by the mutant teleporter Fatale on behalf of her master, the Dark Beast. In turn the servant of the powerful Onslaught, McCoy intended to recruit the two and disabled their respective restraining devices, offering them a position if they would simply kill Forge, whom the Dark Beast had likewise captured. Despite the temptation, Sabretooth and Mystique instead attacked the Dark Beast, who teleported away to escape. Though grateful and needing their assistance in searching for the real Hank McCoy, Forge immediately reactivated Sabretooth’s restraining collar & Mystique’s inhibitor chip instead of trusting them to behave. Together with the rest of X-Factor, they searched the facility. Paired with Forge, Sabretooth found what seemed to be the real Beast, however Sabretooth’s enhanced senses not only realized it was the Dark Beast again, but lead the team to the genuine Beast’s location. (X-Factor v1 #126) Having already uncharacteristically shown loyalty to X-Factor, Sabretooth did so again in his post-mission debriefing/interrogation by X-Factor’s new, more sinister supervisors. When asked about Shard, a secret teammate whose presence had been kept hidden by X-Factor from their handlers, Sabretooth likewise played dumb, declining to betray their trust. (X-Factor v1 #127)

Creed later re-joined his true 'employers' in the Hound Program but was censured for killing his targets where he was tasked with capturing quarry. (X-Factor v1 #138)

Weapon X Revival

Secretly though, Sabretooth was gathering information such as the Director's command codes and other resources, which he used after escaping from the program. He hired Omega Red and Lady Deathstrike to hunt down and attempt to kill Wolverine's nearest and dearest: Nightcrawler, the Hudsons, his foster-daughter Amiko, and her guardian Yukio. (Wolverine v2 #173)

Sabretooth, now in possession of Weapon X's files, set himself against the organization, beating them to their recruits and killing them horribly. Worse, Creed planned to sell the secrets of Weapon X to other countries looking to set up their own mutant forces. (Weapon X v2 #1)

X-Man

Working with the X-Men in X-Men v2 #188.

Whilst working a job in South America, Sabretooth came across a race of super-evolved humans called the Children of the Vault. They were the result of a scientific experiment to evolve mankind where they were placed into hiding in order to await the time when they might become the dominant species of Earth. (X-Men v2 #188) They attempted to kill Sabretooth for discovering them, but he fled, and they gave chase. Desperate, Sabretooth fled to the Xavier Institute, which after M-Day had opened its gates to all mutants who needed amnesty. Sabretooth was coerced by the X-Men into helping them find the Children's home, and taking the fight to them. Realizing that the Children meant destruction to humanity now that their secret was out, Cyclops ordered Rogue to form a strike force, and she recruited Creed as a member. To ensure control over him, however, Sabretooth was injected by the Beast with a dose of nano-sentinels. With Cable’s advanced tech, the team soon located the Children’s flying ship, the Conquistador, enroute to attack the mansion. Together with the rest of the team, Sabretooth boarded the vessel and found tough resistance, though ultimately the team prevailed. (X-Men v2 #193) With the Children defeated, Sabretooth was once again remained as a 'guest' of the X-Men. This time, however, Wolverine was in residence at the mansion, and would have no part in it. Sabretooth was sitting in the mansion’s living room and making himself at home when Wolverine confronted him. He attacked Creed immediately, incensed at his very presence on the property. The fight was bloody, but Sabretooth gained the upper hand and knocked Logan out. Despite a long period of silence, Romulus returned to Creed’s life at this point and ordered him to bring Logan back into the fold. Logan’s full memories had been restored on M-Day, and so the grand manipulator seemed to want Wolverine to return to his shadow organization and needed Sabretooth to assist. With Romulus’ help, Sabretooth lashed Wolverine to the top of a Blackbird and took flight to Wakanda, where local archaeologists had recently uncovered what seemed to be an unknown species of men evolved from canines, rather than apes. The whole situation was a fabrication by Romulus to entice Wolverine into his service, believing that they were part of some shared separate species. (Wolverine v3 #51) Crashing into Wakanda, Sabretooth was taken into custody by the local authorities. It was at this point that Wolverine first inquired about the name 'Romulus' to Sabretooth, who seemed genuinely frightened into silence, refusing to speak a word about the subject. Sabretooth had good reason, as Romulus had another agent of his on site. In the middle of the night, Sabretooth was violently extracted by a Romulus-enhanced Wild Child, who had arrived after assembling several other 'beasts' including Wolfsbane, Thornn, Feral and Sasquatch. As Wild Child had found Thornn and Feral in the remnants of the original Weapon X facility, the group decided to look for Sabretooth & Wild Child there. (Wolverine v3 #53)

Meanwhile, Sabretooth had doubled back and returned to the X-Men, who decided the safest place to keep him was within the hold of the captured Conquistador and away from the Institute’s students. The X-Men later encountered a powerful foe called Pandemic who had the ability to absorb and copy the powers of Mutants he touched. In this time, the villain had tried to launch the Conquistador into space. This led to Cable unleashing the only weapon he had on the Conquistador namely Sabretooth. As it happened, Sabretooth was the perfect weapon, as when Pandemic absorbed his powers, Sabretooth’s healing factor inadvertently cured Pandemic of the very virus which gave him his powers, thus eliminating the threat posed by him. (X-Men v2 #196) Following the battle, Creed found himself imprisoned by the X-Men once again. This was until the next crisis that involved the extraterrestrial Hecatomb during their stay on Cable's island nation of Providence. During this time, Sabretooth came to be accidentally freed and decided to seek revenge on the X-Men. This saw him locking them out of the Conquistador during a critical moment in the battle whereupon in the chaos he managed to escape onto the island. (X-Men v1 #199) Following the crisis, the capture of Sabretooth became a top priority for Cable and his people. Creed was ultimately found but not before he had apparently killed Black Box who was the island's information officer and had also take Irene Merryweather hostage. Sabretooth though came to be surprised by the sudden arrival of Deadpool who battled Creed long enough for Cable to arrive. Cable then used his gravimetric powers to fling Sabretooth where he fell miles into the ocean. (Cable & Deadpool v1 #41)

With the world thinking he was dead, Sabretooth decided to remain in the shadows where he trained and planned for the next stage of his plans. (Wolverine v2 #311)

Return

He remained at Goda's side when the Japanese man revealed that his goal was the devastation of both the Hand and the Yakuza forces in the region so that he could take over the remains to forge his own criminal empire. This was because Azuma sought to establish himself as the invisible king of crime in East Asia. To accomplish this, he decided to fake his death so that he could rule from the shadows. During the planned assassination, Creed betrayed him by leaking information to his whereabouts to Wolverine and departing allowing his former employer to be killed. This was because Sabretooth after his return had greater ambitions and decided to take over Goda's position after his death. He was accompanied by Mystique, Silver Samurai and Lord Deathstrike as they went to a meeting with the heads of the criminal organizations in East Asia who they killed allowing Creed to become the invisible king of crime in the region. (Wolverine v2 #303)

Sabretooth would later get hired by the Hellfire Club to kill Beast and Abigail Brand aboard S.W.O.R.D.'s space station. (Wolverine and the X-Men v1 #8)

Afterwards, Mystique brought together Sabretooth and Lady Mastermind with the purpose of reforming the Brotherhood. (All-New X-Men v1 #9)

With the money stolen in their heists, Mystique eventually succeeded in acquiring Madripoor from Hydra and attempted to turn it into a Mutant sanctuary. Raven in the guise of Dazzler attracted Magneto to the island, and showed him her plans. However, Magneto reacted violently to the plan, believing that Mystique and the others were traitors to their species, in part due to allowing the use of Mutant Growth Hormone to run rampant in the streets to fund their operations. He heavily injured Sabretooth and the Brotherhood, and left after making their base collapse. (Uncanny X-Men v3 #16)

Inversion

Sabretooth was one of a number of supervillains recruited by Magneto to help him stop the Red Onslaught and his Stark Sentinels. (Avengers & X-Men: AXIS v1 #2) To defeat their foe, Doctor Doom worked with the Scarlet Witch in casting a spell to invert the moral compass of the Red Skull to defeat him. The inversion spell had a stronger impact than intended where it covered everyone on the island including Sabretooth thus leading to him developing a more heroic persona. (Avengers & X-Men: AXIS v1 #3)

Sabretooth re-joined the group of now-inverted villains in order to fight the inverted X-Men, who were planning on detonating a gene bomb to kill every non-mutant on the planet. (Avengers & X-Men: AXIS v1 #6)

Sabretooth later helped Steve Rogers prepare the White Skull to re-invert the heroes, even though he knew if they were successful, he would go back to his evil ways. However, Sabretooth was close to Iron Man when the reinversion happened and Stark had devised a shielding which protected him from the reinversion, which also prevented Sabretooth from becoming evil again. Still heroic, Sabretooth decided to follow Wolverine's example and try to do good, but before that, he turned himself over to the authorities to pay for the crimes he had committed. (Avengers & X-Men: AXIS v1 #9)

In the aftermath, he joined the Avengers Unity Division where he sought to rectify the misdeeds he had done in the past. The team deployed in order to find the missing Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. Travelling to Wundagore Mountain, he came to learn that the pair had journeyed to Counter-Earth in order to find them. The Unity Division came to be scattered on the planet with Sabretooth being left in a plaza filled with the New Men. (Uncanny Avengers v2 #1)

After escaping the Evolutionary's experimentation, the twins found Rogue, and alongside her they joined the fight to defend Lowtown from the High Evolutionary. During the battle, Sabretooth broke free from the Evolutionary's control. Captain America also appeared on the scene after the tree-like creatures had been summoned to battle, but overcame his transformation and fought for Lowtown. Vision saved the Scarlet Witch from Luminous after having abandoned Eve, and the High Evolutionary was heavily damaged once Doctor Voodoo attacked him with the souls of those he had exterminated. Pietro delivered the final beating to the High Evolutionary, and forced him to flee through a portal along with Luminous. Once the dust settled, the Avengers Unity Division returned to Earth. (Uncanny Avengers v2 #5)

Creed and the team journeyed to the remains of Paradise to recover the body of Wolverine. They were then ambushed by Mister Sinister who claimed the Adamantium-coated corpse of Logan. (Wolverines v1 #1)

During the M-Pox crisis, Sabretooth was once again recruited by Magneto to join his team of X-Men as they looked to protect Mutant interests. This saw them intercepting acts performed by Someday Enterprises who had been abducting Mutants that were being placed in stasis. (Uncanny X-Men v4 #1)

Victor became close with his teammate M. As a result of their odd relationship, Sabretooth left the X-Men with her after learning that she had become possessed by her vampiric brother Emplate in order to help keep her condition a secret and find a way to cure her. Victor also began to feel the effects of the inversion spell diminishing, slowly but surely turning him back to his old self and causing him to struggle with his urge to kill. (Uncanny X-Men v4 #17)

After hearing reports that Logan might be alive, Sabretooth teamed up with Lady Deathstrike and Daken to investigate. The trio went to Maybelle and discovered that a company named Soteira was conducting experiments there and as the result the town was infested with Zombies. (Hunt for Wolverine: Claws of a Killer v1 #1) Victor discovered that his healing factor was not working and that the bites of those zombies could be lethal to him. (Hunt for Wolverine: Claws of a Killer v1 #2) On top of zombies, a Soteira kill team composed of two soldiers attacked the trio. Much to Victor's surprise one of the soldiers was revealed to be his dead son: Graydon Creed. (Hunt for Wolverine: Claws of a Killer v1 #3) While fighting Graydon, Victor discovered that his son was not fighting like he used to, he was only a puppet controlled by someone else and he was only repeating the same words over and over: "You will be useful". After Lady Deathstrike stabbed Graydon in the neck, Sabretooth found a strange green glowing device responsible for suppressing his healing factor. (Hunt for Wolverine: Claws of a Killer v1 #4) Running out of time after learning that the town was about to be burned to the ground by Soteira, Victor destroyed the device, and as a result his healing powers returned. The next day Victor and Yuriko hijacked a car and left town. Because he wanted to atone for his past sins, Victor contacted Kitty Pryde and he gave her the details of what happened in Maybelle. (Hunt for Wolverine: Dead Ends v1 #1)

Due to his ailing health, Logan ceded field leadership of Weapon X to Sabretooth, feeling that despite his brutal ways, his heart was in the right place. For the team's first mission without him on the field, Logan deployed Weapon X in Siberia to kill Omega Red, who had taken over the Stranniy Corrective Labor Camp for mutants. (Weapon X v3 #17) Instead of killing Omega Red, Sabretooth decided to form an alliance with him to take down the person pulling his strings, Omega Red's estranged brother and director of S.I.C.K.L.E., Vassily Rossovich. (Weapon X v3 #18)

Their first assignment included stealing money from a Breakworlder who wanted to acquire the Nuke Pills for his people. Afterwards, Sabretooth had them help him on a mission given by the St. Croix family whose daughter Monet had been brainwashed by a cult. They infiltrated the cult but were exposed by M who was under the psychic control of Mentallo leading to a fight with Weapon X Force where they battled Deadpool who had been hired by the supervillain. (Weapon X v3 #22)

After a brief fight, Azazel agreed to help. Victor was the first to be sent to Hell after being decapitated by Azazel. He woke up in a hospital where he eventually found Graydon, whom he decided to bring with him. He reunited with his team and they encountered Marduk Kurios, who seemed content to let them continue their mission. He pointed them in the direction of Stryker's castle and gave warning to kill him before his resurrection by the cult. They were shown a vision of Mentallo, sacrificing cult members for Stryker's revival. (Weapon X v3 #26) He came to rally Weapon X in their attempt at stopping Stryker's resurrection where they returned back to Earth to stop a sacrifice that would bring about his return from Hell. This saw them target the cult of Stryker headed by Mentallo who was augmented by demonic energies. He managed to overwhelm Weapon X and during the fighting Sabretooth was sent falling into a pit filled with blades that was used to kill sacrifices after being overwhelmed by Mentallo's psychic assault. Whilst in Hell, he killed Stryker to prevent his resurrection and traded his life for his son Graydon who was restored to the mortal world. Whilst in Hell, the psychic attack from Mentallo undid the Inversion that retained his morality turning him back to his true self as a feral wild beast. The demon Marduk Kurious felt no satisfaction in Creed being in Hell if he had no mental comprehension of his sacrifice and thus opened a portal to Earth so that he could return to bring havoc to the world till he earned his way back into Hell. (Weapon X v3 #27)

Creed returned during the War of the Realms when the forces of the Dark Council invaded Earth. During this time, Victor sought to ally with the invading forces in order to curry favour with Malekith the Accursed. After the Black Bifrost was destroyed, the ability to transport their forces was severely crippled with Sabretooth offering to capture Magick in order to use her powers for transportation purposes. Thus, Sabretooth joined the hunting dogs of the Wild Hunt as they targeted the X-Men where he captured Magick along with Wolfsbane with the latter being part of a deal he made with Hrimhari. (War of the Realms: Uncanny X-Men v1 #2) He ultimately failed and was beheaded by Magik who subsequently sent his head to another dimension. (War of the Realms: Uncanny X-Men v1 #3)

House of X

Afterwards, Professor Charles Xavier came to establish a Mutant nation on the living island of Krakoa and formed a new society using the Resurrection Protocols to bring back the dead. Creed was brought back to life and re-joined the Brotherhood of Mutants where he worked alongside Mystique and Toad where they were sent to steal data from Damage Control on Xavier's behalf. Their activities drew the attention of the Fantastic Four with Mystique and Toad managing to get away but Creed was captured with Cyclops failing to recover him. (House of X v1 #1) For his actions, Sabretooth stood trial for his crimes at Project Achilles with the charges included theft, assault and two counts of manslaughter. A remorseless Sabretooth confessed to his crimes and stated that he would not end his killings. It was then that Emma Frost entered the court room where she said that Mutants had diplomatic immunity due to being citizens of Krakoa and thus demanded that Creed be released into her custody. With little choice, Sabretooth was feed and taken by the White Queen along with the Cuckoos back to Krakoa. (House of X v1 #3) Upon returning to the living island, Creed was taken before the Quiet Council to stand trial for his actions. The death of humans led to the Council establishing three laws to be obeyed by all Krakoans where one of them prohibited the murder of humans. Thus, Sabretooth was offered a chance to redemption but he was defiant in the face of the Quiet Council who then decided to use him as an example of what happened if one broke the law. This saw Krakoa itself latch onto Creed and bury himself deep inside itself where he would be kept alive in a permanent stasis for the rest of his life whilst being mentally conscious the entire time. (House of X v1 #6)

Sabretooth was contacted mentally in his prison by Cypher on behalf of Krakoa itself, eventually being allowed control of his own mental mindscape within the Pit. In his illusory life in prison, Sabretooth initially hunted down and murdered all his enemies. To entertain himself, he then made himself a king who traveled the world slaying monsters and men alike, captain of the Starjammers and, finally, king of Hell. At one point he even imagined himself walking freely through Krakoa and although he remained in the pit, he began manifesting through Krakoa's foliage. His tormenting fantasies in the Pit were unexpectedly interloped by other exiled mutants, namely Nekra, Madison Jefferies, Oya, and Melter. He welcomed them to his Hell and informed them there is no escape. (Sabretooth v4 #1) At first, Victor had tried to attack the newcomers but after Third-Eye broke the illusion down, he was convinced to hunt his captors down instead. (Sabretooth v4 #2) By teaching the other prisoners how to project their consciousness through the island of Krakoa, Sabretooth had them manifest themselves to gather allies for their escape, although Melter was kept back and brutalized in the mental environment due to his loyalty to Professor X. As Sabretooth revealed his plans of exposing the secret and inhumane imprisonments on Krakoa to bring public opinion against the Quiet Council, Melter was able to gain enough control of his body to destroy Sabretooth's body in the material plane. (Sabretooth v4 #3)

Overview

Personality and attributes

Victor Creed in Wolverines v1 #1.

In Central America, he was known as El Tigre whilst in Germany he was called Der Schlachter. (X-Men Unlimited v1 #3) Another epithet he was known by was the God of the Hunt. (Gambit v3 #8) After taking over the East Asia criminal empire, he was given the title of Murder Lord of the Eastern Hemisphere. (Wolverine and the X-Men v1 #32)

It was believed that his homicidal urges were driven part in parcel by his genetic mutation. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #326)

Men like Creed were said to have only a few things precious to them. (Wolverine v4 #11)

Sabretooth came to develop a reputation for being a freebooter and a modern-day pirate who would rip off anything for the right price. (Iron Fist v1 #14)

When in the mood, he enjoyed a fight and played a game of cat-and-mouse with his opponent. During such exchanges, he was known to taunt his foe. (Iron Fist v1 #14)

He was clever enough to lure a person into a trap in order to get an advantage over them in a fight. (Iron Fist v1 #14)

Though he actually killed his father, Sabretooth had kept his mother Victoria Creed hidden away. She was kept in the lab of luxury for years and visited her every week with him bringing her expensive gifts. (Wolverine v4 #11)

It was known that he had an older brother named Luther Creed who Victor murdered when he was a young boy much to the horror of his parents. (X-Men Origins: Sabretooth v1 #1) Among his siblings was a younger brother named Saul Creed and a sister named Clara Creed both of whom were Mutants as well with similar abilities as Victor himself. Victor was known to torture his younger siblings particularly on their birthdays where he sadistically hurt them. (Origin II v1 #5)

He once had an affair with Mystique when she took on the identity of Leni Zauber where unbeknownst to him she became pregnant with his child who was born a human named Graydon Creed. (Sabretooth v1 #4)

Powers and abilities

The Slasher in Hunt for Wolverine: Claws of a Killer v1 #2.

O*N*E had classified him as being a Severe Threat. (X-Men: The 198 Files v1 #1)

His instinct and senses allowed him to determine if a person was an ally or enemy. (Iron Fist v1 #14)

It was said that his speed was as fast as noted martial artists like Iron Fist. (Iron Fist v1 #14)

It was shown that he was capable of crushing an iron barbell with ease. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #213) He later had his strength augmented by his son Graydon. (Sabretooth: Death Hunt v1 #1) It was then further enhanced after joining the latest incarnation of the Weapon X Program. (Weapon X v2 #4)

He was noted for his razor-sharp claws that made him the ultimate killing machine. (Iron Fist v1 #14)

Such was his healing factor that he could reattach a cut limb in moments. (Wolverine v3 #52)

Sabretooth was said to be all about power and speed with their not being any technique in his combat style. (Iron Fist v1 #14)

Notes

• Sabretooth was created by Chris Claremont and John Byrne where he made his first appearance in Iron Fist v1 #14 (August, 1977).
• The characters real name of Victor Creed was revealed in X-Men v2 #5 (February, 1992).
• In the X-Man Comics Forum, Claremont wrote about the his version of the characters origins, "Father and son. That's why Sabretooth always considered Logan "sloppy seconds" to his "original" / "real deal." The other critical element in my presentation of their relationship was that, in their whole life, Logan has never defeated Sabretooth in a knock-down, drag-out, kill-or-be-killed berserker fight. By the same token, on every one of his birthdays, Sabretooth has always managed to find him, no matter where Logan was or what he was doing, and come within an inch of killing him. For no other reason than to remind him that he could."

Alternate Versions

• In X-Men: Alpha v1 #1 (1994), an alternate version of Sabretooth appeared in the Age of Apocalypse reality set on Earth-295 in the Multiverse.
• In Ultimate Spider-Man and Wolverine v1 #1 (2001), an alternate version of Sabretooth appeared in the Ultimate Marvel reality set on Earth-1610 in the Multiverse. Sabretooth was a mutant who believed that men were crueler than less evolved animals, mutants should naturally be crueler and more monstrous than men. Little is known about his early life other than that he tortured animals as a child before moving on to people.
• In Black Panther v4 #7 (2005), an alternate version of Sabretooth appeared in the House of M reality set on Earth-58163 in the Multiverse. During the Mutant-Human War, Victor Creed was one of Magneto's most vicious agents and was primarily used as an assassin. Sabretooth was unknown to the majority of humans and mutants. He was responsible for the murder of Robert Kelly, the United States Senator who was also the head of the Council of Mutant Affairs. Following the end of the war, Sabretooth traveled to a small town in Alberta, Canada. While there, he lost all control and began slaughtering humans recklessly. Magneto, who was in the process of cementing his hold on the world, contacted S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Sebastian Shaw and asked them to deal with the situation. S.H.I.E.L.D. sent in their Red Army led by Wolverine and they took Sabretooth down. After years in prison, Sabretooth was released into the custody of Magneto to become his personal assassin. Sabretooth's first mission as Magneto's personal assassin was to kill Graydon Creed, an anti-mutant activist who was also Sabretooth's son. Sabretooth showed no remorse at all over killing his son. Later, Sabretooth was sent to Wakanda to assassinate Magneto's rival, the Black Panther. However, T'Challa outsmarted Sabretooth and decapitated him in battle. He sent Sabretooth's head back to Magneto as a sign of triumph.
• In Wolverine v3 #70 (2009), an alternate version of Sabretooth was shown to had inhabited the Wastelands reality of Earth-807128 that was home to Old Man Logan. It was later revealed that in the villain dominated future world that he inhabited the Wastelands where he had degenerated into being more of a feral killer who murdered people to eat them as food. Logan eventually tracked him and easily killed him by severing his head from his body where he determined that Creed's intelligence was what made him dangerous with this version losing what made him a difficult foe to fight.
• In X-Men: Legacy v1 #245 (2011), an alternate version of Sabretooth appeared in the Age of X reality that was designated as Earth-11326 in the Multiverse. At some point, Victor was captured by human haters from the Sapiens League who paraded down the street as a dangerous mutant. He was later used by the Avengers to track other mutants- his jaw removed and replaced with metal joints, his words suggesting that whatever caused this injury left him with brain damage - under the codename Weapon S, but the Hulk killed him afterwards leading them to the fortress as his head was crushed.
• In Sabretooth & the Exiles v1 #5 (2023), an alternate version of Sabretooth appeared from a reality designated as Earth-203 in the Multiverse. This Victor Creed was a patriotic super hero working for the state where he was known as Captain Sabretooth.
• In Sabretooth & the Exiles v1 #5 (2023), an alternate version of Sabretooth appeared from a reality designated as Earth-12 in the Multiverse. This version of Victor Creed came from a world where superpowered beings were treated as celebrities with Sabretooth having a 'bad boy' reputation among the celebrity culture.
• In Sabretooth & the Exiles v1 #5 (2023), an alternate female version of Sabretooth appeared from a reality designated as Earth-1912 in the Multiverse. The Savage Sabretooth was a fierce woman living in the Savage Land.

In other media

Television

• In X-Men, Sabretooth appeared as a regular antagonist in the 1990s animated television series where he was voiced by actor Don Francks.
• In X-Men: Evolution, Sabretooth appeared as an antagonist in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Michael Donovan.

Films

• In X-Men, Sabretooth appeared as a villain in the live-action film where he was portrayed by stuntman/actor Tyler Mane.
• In X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Victor Creed appeared as a villain in the live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Liev Schreiber.
• In Hulk Vs Wolverine, Sabretooth appeared as a villain the animated film where he was voiced by actor Mark Acheson.

Video games

• In Wolverine, Sabretooth appeared as one of the final boss antagonists in the setting of the 1991 action video game.
• In Marvel Heroes, Sabretooth appeared as a villain in the setting of the MMORPG video game where he was voiced by actor Neil Kaplan.
• In Marvel: Avengers Alliance, the Sabretooth appeared as a character in the Facebook video game with his own Dossier.
• In Marvel: Contest of Champions, Sabretooth appeared as a playable character in the mobile video game. This version was described as being the half-brother of Wolverine.

Appearances

• Iron Fist v1: (1977)
• Sabretooth v1:
• X-Men Origins: Sabretooth v1:
• New Avengers v2:
• X-Men Origins: Sabretooth v1:
• Origin II v1:
• Uncanny X-Force v1:
• Avengers & X-Men: AXIS v1:
• Uncanny Avengers v2:
• Wolverines v1:
• Uncanny X-Men v4:
• Weapon X v2:
• Hunt for Wolverine: Claws of a Killer v1:
• Iron Fist:
• War of the Realms: Uncanny X-Men v1:
• House of X v1:
• Sabretooth v4: (2022)

External Links

• Marvel Database Entry
• Comicvine Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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