Stryfe
Stryfe is a male comic supervillain who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Stryfe was a male clone of Nathan Christopher Summers who was the son of Cyclops and Madelyne Pryor. (Cable v1 #8) He was actually created under the orders of Mother Askani by the 39th century to serve as a decoy for the real Nathan Dayspring Summers. This was because the young Nathan was time displaced into the future to a world ruled by Apocalypse where he was believed to be the prophecised Askani'Son. To prevent his capture, a clone was engineered that would be captured by En Sabah Nur's forces whilst the real Nathan Dayspring could be trained in the use of his powers. (Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix v1 #4)
Apocalypse named the clone Stryfe and encouraged the boy's arrogance and cruelty as he grew into adolescence. Stryfe was watched over by Apocalypse's aide, Ch'vayre, who regarded the boy's malevolence with mixed feelings. While training in Apocalypse's citadel in Crestcoast at eight years old, Stryfe met young Nathan, now calling himself Dayspring, who was allied with the Clan Rebellion, who were attempting to destroy a virus of Apocalypse's. Surprised at their resemblance, Stryfe was defeated, by Nathan, and taken, by Ch'vayre, to recover. (Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix v1 #3) Years later, during the ritual of transferring Apocalypse's mind into Stryfe, Ch'vayre openly opposed and was restrained, while Stryfe was painfully, telekinetically held in stasis. "Redd Dayspring" and Ch'vayre attacked Apocalypse, stopping him from placing his essence into a teenage Stryfe, until Apocalypse beat them and realized that Stryfe was a clone and not the original. Deciding to go-through with it, until he could find another body, Stryfe began to mentally fight against Apocalypse's intrusion. After "Slym", Redd, and Nathan Dayspring attacked Apocalypse, the disillusioned Ch'vayre betrayed his master, distracting him, and Slym ordered Nathan to disrupt any telepathic links between Apocalypse and Stryfe. After Apocalypse was destroyed, Ch'vayre took Stryfe into his care. (Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix v1 #4)
Apocalypse then had the boy brought to conduct the ceremony whereby he would transfer his essence into the child to be his new vessel. However, during the transference, he came to learn too late that the boy was a clone and thus ill-suited to being a long-term host. He attempted to still possess the body as a temporary vessel but the clone came to resist him. They were then interrupted by a mentally displaced Cyclops and Jean Grey where alongside the real Nathan Summers as well as the Mother Askani they were able to vanquish Apocalypse once and for all. The unconscious Nathan Summers was given over to Ch'vayre who decided to rise the boy as one of his own. (Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix v1 #4)
Eventually, Stryfe found Madame Sanctity and saved her just as New Canaanites forces struck. Already a woman of tenuous sanity, Madame Sanctity was intrigued that her savior possessed the same psi-signature as the "Chosen One" and accepted his offer of an alliance. With the world believing her dead from the New Canaanite attack, the two departed to parts unknown. It's not clear what happened to Madame Sanctity after this, as she was never heard from again. However, as Stryfe's powers indeed grew in scope and control, it is no doubt that Stryfe greatly benefited from Madame Sanctity's tutelage. What is unclear, however, is if Madame Sanctity herself benefited from her alliance with the Chaos Bringer. (Askani'Son v1 #4) The years that followed were a period of consolidation and preparation by various parties across the planet. For the High Lords of New Canaan, they continued to solidify their control over the whole planet, defeating the remaining nation states that opposed them. However, as territory after territory fell, in their place rose small packets of resistance, one being the so-called Clan Chosen, led by Nathan Dayspring, who now went by the name of Cable. Their goal was the eventual overthrow of the Canaanite rule. Around his twenty-fifth year, Stryfe too rose as a force against the global hegemony. However, his goals were much less altruistic, as he intended to supplant, rather than overthrow, the planetary dictatorship. (Cable v1 #1) Hidden behind his carefully forged armor, which doubly served as both protection and to bury his human soul within a cold, metal shell, Stryfe became a self-proclaimed anarchist and fomenter of political dissent. Along with his followers, whom he called Scions of the High Lord, he participated in acts of aggression against both the High Lords of New Canaan as well as rebellious forces such as Clan Chosen. During his reign of terror, he leveled cities and firebombed forests, leaving rivers of carnage in his wake. In short, he annihilated everything that ever got in his way. (X-Force v1 #74)
During this time, Cable was completely oblivious to the connection between himself and the Chaos Bringer. However, it is unclear if the same could be said of Stryfe, who clearly knew long before Cable was made aware. It could be that he was so informed by Madame Sanctity during their time together, thus giving reason as to his interest in someone whose efforts went against a powerful, mutual enemy. It is also likely that Stryfe merely saw photos of Cable and recognized Cable's face as his own. Though Stryfe continually operated behind an ornate helmet, Cable's visage was well known. Whatever the motive, Stryfe undertook an operation attacking Cable's Clan Chosen in which Cable's wife, Jenskot, was killed and his son, Tyler, was kidnapped. Seeking both revenge and recovery of their kinsman, Clan Chosen tracked Stryfe to the old, abandoned venting tunnels below Lake Michigan. There they found Stryfe and his forces, as well as a brainwashed Tyler. When it became clear to Cable that Tyler was beyond saving and a clear threat to their escape, Cable felt he had no choice and fired upon Tyler, killing him. (Cable v1 #25) The years that followed were a period of consolidation and preparation by various parties across the planet. For the High Lords of New Canaan, they continued to solidify their control over the whole planet, defeating the remaining nation states that opposed them. However, as territory after territory fell, in their place rose small packets of resistance, one being the so-called Clan Chosen, led by Nathan Dayspring, who now went by the name of Cable. Their goal was the eventual overthrow of the Canaanite rule. Around his twenty-fifth year, Stryfe too rose as a force against the global hegemony. However, his goals were much less altruistic, as he intended to supplant, rather than overthrow, the planetary dictatorship. (Cable v1 #1) Hidden behind his carefully forged armor, which doubly served as both protection and to bury his human soul within a cold, metal shell, Stryfe became a self-proclaimed anarchist and fomenter of political dissent. Along with his followers, whom he called Scions of the High Lord, he participated in acts of aggression against both the High Lords of New Canaan as well as rebellious forces such as Clan Chosen. During his reign of terror, he leveled cities and firebombed forests, leaving rivers of carnage in his wake. In short, he annihilated everything that ever got in his way. (X-Force v1 #74)
During this time, Cable was completely oblivious to the connection between himself and the Chaos Bringer. However, it is unclear if the same could be said of Stryfe, who clearly knew long before Cable was made aware. It could be that he was so informed by Madame Sanctity during their time together, thus giving reason as to his interest in someone whose efforts went against a powerful, mutual enemy. It is also likely that Stryfe merely saw photos of Cable and recognized Cable's face as his own. Though Stryfe continually operated behind an ornate helmet, Cable's visage was well known. Regardless of motive, Stryfe undertook an operation attacking Cable's Clan Chosen in which Cable's wife, Jenskot, was killed and his son, Tyler, was kidnapped. Seeking both revenge and recovery of their kinsman, Clan Chosen tracked Stryfe to the old, abandoned venting tunnels below Lake Michigan. There they found Stryfe and his forces, as well as a brainwashed Tyler. When it became clear to Cable that Tyler was beyond saving and a clear threat to their escape, Cable felt he had no choice and fired upon Tyler, killing him. (Cable v1 #25) For some time, Cable had gained access to time-sliding technology and had made periodic jaunts into the past to learn more about the eventual ascension of the High Lords in his and Clan Chosen's quest to overthrow them. However, when the New Canaanites defeated the remnants of global resistance in late 3806 and thus consolidated their control over the planet, Cable realized that he and Clan Chosen had failed. As such, Cable decided upon a different plan and traveled back in time to the 20th century to alter time itself. (Cable v1 #-1) Likewise seeing no way in which he could usurp control of the planet, Stryfe decided to follow. While Cable intended to control the ascension of the High Lords from its inception, Stryfe intended to prevent it and along the way sow chaos by exacerbating the human-mutant relations in its early years. (X-Force v1 #17)
Chaos Bringer
Nathan, meanwhile, became the foremost military leader of the New Canaanites' opposition, the Clan Chosen. During the war between these opposing forces, Stryfe and Nathan clashed repeatedly, becoming bitter enemies, even though Nathan was unaware of the true relationship between them. Stryfe also clashed with the Neo-Canaanites, a group that also wished to claim Apocalypse's power. When Stryfe's spy, Korless, infiltrated the Clan and Stryfe psychically attacked Nathan, Stryfe captured Tetherblood, one of Nathan's soldiers, and a glowing orb from Nathan's camp. Stryfe tortured Tetherblood to try to find out what the glowing flask was that he had obtained. After deciding to attack Nathan's camp, Stryfe was met, at gunpoint, by Domino, who had been brought to his timeline to save a sick Nathan. Ironically, Stryfe was saved, by Cable, the adult Nathan who had also been sent to save his younger self and did not want to change the timeline. (Cable v1 #25)
At Apocalypse's base, he came to ambush En Sabah Nur and overpowered him where he badly defeated his foe who had to flee the scene. Stryfe came to fail to kill his 'father' who managed to flee through the teleportation matrix. The defeat of En Sabah Nur caused the Dark Riders to swear allegiance to their new master. (X-Force v1 #17)
As a means of spreading further destruction, Stryfe had not given Sinister the Summers' genetic matrix, but the Legacy Virus, a disease genetically engineered to be lethal to mutants. This virus was similar to the one that the Clan Rebellion had attempted to destroy in the future and was far beyond even the best of scientists, biophysicists, and geneticists of the current time. The Legacy Virus infected a large number of mutants and killed many of them. (X-Men v2 #23)
Later, Warpath was injected with drugs by the criminal scientist Edwin Martynec that stopped his heart. Warpath's spirit was transported, by Stryfe's spirit, to the netherworld ruled by the demon Blackheart. Blackheart had promised to let Stryfe return to the world of the living, in Warpath's body, if Stryfe could defeat Warpath's spirit, but instead Warpath's spirit defeated Stryfe and returned to his body. Stryfe remained a prisoner in Blackheart's netherworld. (X-Force v1 #74)
Messiah War
Stryfe was able to transport himself into the future where he is discovered by Bishop, who has been traveling through time in an attempt to kill Hope Summers. (Cable v2 #13) Bishop propositioned a chance to kill Apocalypse, if Stryfe aided him in killing Cable, who Stryfe said he no longer cared about. After Bishop initiated a global catastrophe that wiped out most of the people on Earth, Stryfe was able to step in and fill the leadership void. Together, Stryfe and Bishop traveled to 2963 A.D., where their combined efforts attacked Apocalypse while he slept in his rejuvenation chamber, and defeated him, assuming they killed him. Stryfe stole his Celestial Ship and technology and used it to raise an army that gave him total control over the people, save for a small rebellion. Stryfe tyrannically ruled over his subjects, the Stryfetroopers, with Bishop as his right-hand-man for nearly a decade. Stryfe placed Ship in Westchester County, New York and renamed the city, New Celestial City. Shortly after building his empire, Stryfe employed Deadpool as security and imprisoned Kiden Nixon, who was used to create a chronal net, preventing anyone from jumping out of the timeline. However, when Stryfe was reminded by Wolverine that he already "died a hero" to just become a villain again, Stryfe claims to not know what he is talking about. Cable, Deadpool, a time-displaced X-Force and Apocalypse join forces to defeat Stryfe and Bishop. Cable and Hope travel further into the future, X-Force return to the present, and Apocalypse drags Stryfe away, intending to use him as a new host body for his essence. (X-Force v3 #16)
Afterwards, Stryfe was able to prevent Apocalypse from using his body as a new host and travels back in time to the present. pon discovering that Bishop has returned to the present, Hope tries to kill him in an act of vengeance. Stryfe appears and kidnaps them both and brings them to an old, abandoned Mutant Liberation Force base. There, he attempts to manipulate Hope into killing Bishop who has come to realize the error of his ways. Stryfe explains to Bishop how he wants him to suffer after he betrayed him during Messiah War and claims that he was imprisoned and tortured by Apocalypse for years until he planned a successful escape and killed him. Stryfe tries to corrupt Hope by making her give in to her feelings of hatred towards Bishop, convincing her to take revenge and murder Bishop although he is shackled and refuses to fight back out of remorse. Cable and both teams of X-Force soon intervene and combat Stryfe. Hope sees that Stryfe is trying to undo the lessons which Cable taught her and refuses to kill Bishop but she does severely injure him. Stryfe is defeated by Cable and both X-Force teams, but before escaping he telepathically forces Hope to mimic his vast and nearly uncontrollable psionic power in the hope that she will destroy her friends. Bishop helps her to disperse the massive energy and they come to an uneasy truce. (Uncanny X-Force v2 #17)
Stryfe was later recruited by Kang the Conqueror along with a group of other time-displaced individuals into his Chrono Corps to stop the Apocalypse Twins from wiping out Kang's native universe, along with the respective realities of the Chronos Corps after the Twins tricked the Celestials into destroying Earth. (Uncanny Avengers v1 #14) Stryfe and the Chronos Corps traveled to the Twins' Planet X in an alternate reality to aid the remnants of the Avengers Unity Division in rescuing Wolverine and Sunfire, so their minds could be sent back in time and warn their past counterparts of the Twins' machinations. (Uncanny Avengers v1 #19) The plan was successful, but Stryfe was killed in battle when Magneto mangled him with magnetism. (Uncanny Avengers v1 #20)
Overview
Personality and attributes
After being taken in by Apocalypse, he came to be referred to as the Scion Of The High Lord. (Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix v1 #1)
Apocalypse was said to had named him Stryfe after an ancient enemy whose machinations had nearly destroyed En Sabah Nur. (Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix v1 #4)
The name Stryfe was all he had ever known where it embodied the way he was raised in his life. It was said that he was raised to be the ultimate symbol of dictatorship two thousand years in the future. (Cable v1 #8)
Powers and abilities
He was said to be a gene-copy clone of the real Nathan Summers. (Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix v1 #4) As such, he was noted for being an Omega-level telekinetic just like Cable. (Cable and X-Force v1 #19)
Notes
- Stryfe was created by Louise Simonson and Rob Liefeld where he made his first appearance in New Mutants v1 #86 (February, 1990).
Alternate Versions
In other media
Television
- In X-Men, Stryfe made a cameo appearance in the 1990s animated television series in the episode "Beyond Good and Evil, (Part 4)" where he had no voiced lines. He was shown as being one of the psychics that were captured by Apocalypse and held in the Axis of Time where their power was to give him complete mastery of the timestream.
Video games
- In X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse, Stryfe appeared as a boss-level antagonist in the video game where he was voiced by actor Daniel Riordan. He was guarding the prison in Apocaplyse's tower in which Banshee and Iron Man are being held captive. To help defeat Stryfe, the players will need to use a Psychic Demon Spawn Control to create a Psychic Demon to help them fight Stryfe. He has special dialogue with Toad.
Appearances
- New Mutants 1: (1990)
- Cable:
- Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix v1:
- X-Force v3:
- Uncanny Avengers v1:
- Cable and the X-Force v1:
- X-Force:
- Cable:
External Links
This article is a stub. You can help Multiversal Omnipedia by expanding it.
