Vulcan (Marvel)
Vulcan is a male comic supervillain who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Gabriel Summers was a male human Mutant born the son of Christopher Summers and his wife Katherine Summers with him being the younger brother of Scott Summers and Alex Summers. His mother was actually two months pregnant with him when his family were kidnapped by the Shi'ar. Gabriel's father was taken to the slave-pens under the command of Emperor D'Ken with Christopher Summers believing that his other sons had died but was determined to save his unborn child. He failed to save his wife and in retribution D'Ken killed Katherine Summers before his fathers eyes with Christopher believing his unborn offspring had died. However, the child's near lifeless body was taken from the womb and taken to an incubation-accelerator with such a practice being common among the Shi'ar at the time. Within weeks, he was old enough for his new masters and immediately put to work. The Emperor's operative Davan Shakari had the need for many slaves and had used Gabriel as a servant. (X-Men: Deadly Genesis v1 #6) He remained unaware of his origin and his family except for the name Gabriel. (X-Men: Deadly Genesis v1 #5) As a slave, he lived as a servant among the Shi'ar but he met one of their people named Dai'andral who was kind to him and gave him a human book titled 'Mythology of Ancient Rome' that he read constantly as a child. One day, his Mutant power first manifested in an isolated alleyway when Dai'andral was present and he urged her to stay away only to accidently kill her with his abilities. With his powers, he turned against the Shi'ar and managed to use them to escape this life. (X-Men: Deadly Genesis v1 #4)
He later found himself on Earth in a forest where he kept the book on Roman mythology with him. For the next year, he lived in a sewer in New York City where he was discovered and tried very hard not to hurt people. After being found, he gave no information on his past except his name as being Gabriel. A month later, he first met Moira MacTaggert and he came to trust her. She in turn later took him to meet her first Professor Charles Xavier and came to know the X-Men. Around this time, he operated under the codename of Kid Vulcan and came to meet Cyclops. Whilst all the candidates were skilled, Xavier showed particular in Kid Vulcan than all the others combined. (X-Men: Deadly Genesis v1 #4)
Gabriel accompanied Professor Xavier and Dr. MacTaggert when they attempted to recruit Emma Frost when she was working at the Hellfire Club but he ultimately had to use his telepathy to wipe the memories of the event from everyone. (X-Men: Deadly Genesis v1 #5)
To save the X-Men, Xavier decided to use Vulcan and his compatriots to journey to rescue them. As time was of the essence, he put them through an experimental training program whereby he placed them in the mindscape to instil the necessary skills into their minds directly. The students were unaware of this mental training and believed that they had undergone actual physical training at the Institute. (X-Men: Deadly Genesis v1 #4)
Prior to the mission, Charles Xavier informed him of his family namely that Cyclops was his brother in order to show the importance of saving him from Krakoa. (X-Men: Deadly Genesis v1 #5)
The team battled Krakoa where Vulcan managed to hurt it to the point that it released the X-Men but it directed its attention to Gabriel's team. Its assault killed Sway where her death released her Mutant energy and Petra was similarly killed but not before she used her powers to create a pit to save her two remaining compatriots. Both Vulcan and Darwin were badly injured and trapped deep inside Krakoa when it was sent into orbit. There they remained for years and Darwin's ability to adapt had him absorb his dead comrades powers whereupon he merged with Vulcan to save him. As a result, Gabriel's powers were enhanced greatly as he remained trapped within Krakoa as it was dead in space. (X-Men: Deadly Genesis v1 #6)
Upon awakening, he went to the nearby shuttle and discovered the year to be 2001 with him expressing shock at how he had been left abandoned for so many years. (X-Men: Deadly Genesis v1 #1)
Emperor Vulcan
Vulcan could not drive the image of D’Ken killing his mother from his mind and the only way he could think of to purge them was to kill D’Ken himself. Discovering a Shi’ar ship in space, he impulsively destroyed it, though kept one crew member alive to question. It was through this captive that he learned of D’Ken’s catatonic state, though this did nothing to dissuaded Vulcan of his path of revenge. If he could not have revenge on D’Ken, he would have it on D’Ken’s people. He quickly located another Shi’ar ship and took command of it by force, all in order to travel more quickly through the Shi’ar Galaxy by accessing their stargates. To ensure the X-Men could not follow, Vulcan destroyed the stargates behind him as they travelled, an act which drew the attention of the Imperial Guard. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #477)
Before long, the pair were summoned by Deathbird's People to the location of D’Ken’s respite. Vulcan wanted to kill D’Ken but his new lover convinced him to put his hatred aside for her, which he reluctantly agreed to. Surprising everybody, Vulcan actually healed the neural pathways in D’Ken’s mind, awakening him after years of catatonia. Despite saving his life, Vulcan still maintained his animosity towards the emperor, though both D’Ken and Deathbird believed they would move past it. D’Ken, in a surprising move, actually invited Vulcan to join the royal family using an arcane law; any child born in the high palace may rise to become royalty. It was agreed that Vulcan would marry Deathbird at the site of the M’Kraan Crystal. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #483) Vulcan later learnt that Charles Xavier, who had followed him into space, had been captured by the Shi’ar. D’Ken planned to hurl him into the M’Kraan Crystal at Vulcan’s wedding, something which the young mutant eagerly agreed to. As well as Xavier, Gabriel’s former teammate Darwin had also been captured. Seeing Darwin as the closest thing to a friend he had, Vulcan asked Darwin to be best man at his wedding. Repulsed by what Vulcan had become, Darwin confronted him about all the lives he’d taken. Vulcan, however, showed no remorse, claiming he was what Xavier and the Shi’ar made him. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #484)
The wedding to Deathbird came soon after and Gabriel exchanged his vows with his beloved Deathbird. The X-Men and Starjammers, including his brother Alex and father Corsair, crashed the wedding immediately after, and Vulcan was near distraught that they had not killed Xavier yet. During the commotion, Gabriel single-mindedly focused on executing Xavier, seeking the man out and hurling him into the M’Kraan Crystal. Truly changed from the wide-eyed boy Xavier had recruited, Gabriel did not even seem to care when his friend Darwin dived into the crystal after Xavier, apparently killing himself. His revenge on Xavier complete, Gabriel moved on the next target of his vengeance: D’Ken. While D’Ken was distracted, tormenting his sister Lilandra, Vulcan attacked, burning the flesh from the emperor’s bones. With D’Ken dead and he having just married to Deathbird, Vulcan claimed the throne for himself by both the right of combat and the right of succession. In order to secure his throne, Vulcan immediate made to execute Lilandra, but he was interrupted by his father Corsair. Gabriel claimed he had no father, that Corsair was just the man too weak to save his mother. Corsair tried to make Vulcan listen to him and, despite this being the first time he had met his father, it did not stop Vulcan from killing him with an energy blast. Effortlessly rebuffing attacks by Corsair’s distraught friends and family, including his brother Alex, Vulcan was caught by surprise when Polaris crushed his armor around him, badly hurting him. He was saved though by his new wife and the Imperial Guard, who managed to help him escape the scene. Further thwarting Vulcan’s plans, Charles Xavier and Darwin actually survived their time within the M’Kraan Crystal. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #486)
Whilst on his ship, the Guardians of the Galaxy arrived looking to stop the continued war between the Shi'ar and the Kree. Adam Warlock teleported onto the Shi'ar flagship with Emperor Vulcan attacking the intruder with their conflict going into space. As a result of the attack, the Imperial Guard were deployed who moved in to protect their leader. (Guardians of the Galaxy v2 #14)
House of X
After the establishment of Krakoa, Mutants from around the Earth gathered to the living island that was to be their new homeland. Charles Xavier also established the Resurrection Protocols that allowed the return of many Mutants that had previously been killed. Among them was Vulcan who peacefully resided on Krakoa though was plagued with nightmares about his death in the site of the Fault. (X-Men v5 #8)
Vulcan came to participate in the final battle in Otherworld against the forces of Amenth and its leader Annihilation. (X of Swords: Destruction v1 #1)
By the Hellfire Gala, Vulcan came to be one of many Omega-level Mutants that helped in the terraforming of Mars that became Planet Arakko. (Planet-Size X-Men v1 #1)
Afterwards, his mental state continued to suffer from further mental deterioration as he began to adopt his former personality. An incident involving Petra and Sway led to him no longer being welcomed at the Summers House. (X-Men: Red v2 #1) Later on, Magneto came to step down from his seat on the Quiet Council of Krakoa with a number of people voicing their candidacy to replace him among which included Vulcan. However, instead, the position would go to Hope Summers after she mad her own case for taking the seat. (Immortal X-Men v1 #1)
Vulcan would later be on Planet Arakko where he was at the Red Lagoon when he encountered a member of the Shi'ar diplomatic delegation. This caused him to snap as he decided he wanted to reclaim his title as Emperor of the Shi'ar Empire. The incident led to a brawl involving Sunspot as well until Vulcan was struck by Thunderbird and he was later rendered unconscious by Cable whereupon he was taken into S.W.O.R.D. custody. (X-Men: Red v2 #1)
Overview
Personality and attributes
Though the younger Summers child, in appearance he only appeared to be a year younger than his older brother Alex Summers but this was due to him being accelerated in development by the Shi'ar's technology. (X-Men: Deadly Genesis v1 #6) He took the codename Kid Vulcan or Vulcan who was the Roman god of fire. A reason he chose the name was because when he was first found on Earth that the only thing he had on him was a book on the Mythology of Ancient Rome that looked like it had been read a hundred times. (X-Men: Deadly Genesis v1 #4) After a battle with the Imperial Guard, his eye was damaged and replaced with a synthetic with a scar around the area. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #480) After taking over the Shi'ar Empire, he came to take over the throne and went by the name of Emperor Vulcan. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #485) In this time, he went by a number of epithets that included Vulcan the Geat and as Vulcan the Kingbreaker. (X-Men: Kingbreaker v1 #1)
Xavier suspected that Kid Vulcan lived much of his life in fear with Moira believing that he had been hurt a lot. Upon becoming an X-Man, he showed no interest in talking about his past but rather focused more on learning his Mutant abilities. (X-Men: Deadly Genesis v1 #4)
Professor X felt that with proper control and training that Gabriel had the potential to join the X-Men. (X-Men: Deadly Genesis v1 #4)
Vulcan came to hate Xavier for abandoning him and lying to him with him seeking revenge against him. This went to the extent that he engaged in acts simply to hurt Professor X such as threatening to harm the X-Men. (X-Men: Deadly Genesis v1 #5) He was filled with hate that he had directed at a target that he believed was responsible for the tragedies in his life. (X-Men: Deadly Genesis v1 #6)
Powers and abilities
Originally, he was a Mutant energy manipulator who was noted for his great potential to the point that he could be among the strongest energy manipulators on Earth. (X-Men: Deadly Genesis v1 #4) His power was greatly enhanced after the death of his comrades when he absorbed their abilities after Darwin bonded with him. The Mutant energy released after M-Day was believed by Xavier to had been responsible for pushing Gabriel Summers passed Omega-level. (X-Men: Deadly Genesis v1 #6) Emma Frost through Cerebra when she initially detected him commented that he was at least Omega-level with his power level being off the charts. (X-Men: Deadly Genesis v1 #1) Rachel Grey stated that events had transformed him from an ordinary Mutant to one that was past Omega-level but initially he had not come to terms with his new power. (X-Men: Deadly Genesis v1 #4) At this point, Gabriel claimed that he was stronger than all the X-Men combined and Xavier believe he could kill them all without much effort. He was greatly weakened after Darwin's consciousness was removed from his body. (X-Men: Deadly Genesis v1 #6)
His powers were noted for being similar to his brothers. (X-Men: Deadly Genesis v1 #6) As an energy manipulator, he had the power to control energy and direct its flow. Early into his training, he had such fine control that he could redirect optical blasts. (X-Men: Deadly Genesis v1 #4) This power became more pronounced upon him becoming an Omega-level Mutant as he was shown to redirect an energy beam from Cyclops and send it back to him. He developed such fine control over his abilities that he could render a person unconscious by shutting down the current in a persons brain for a few seconds. (X-Men: Deadly Genesis v1 #1) Gabriel was able to use his power to also sift through the mind of others which he used to look for information or memories. (X-Men: Deadly Genesis v1 #3) He could generate energy based constructs allowing him to create chains around a person's neck that he could use to snap their head. (X-Men: Deadly Genesis v1 #5) Vulcan was capable of flight and had the ability to travel through space without the need for any equipment. (X-Men: Deadly Genesis v1 #6) By focusing his senses, he could use his powers to locate distant energy sources from starships. He could also transmit his voice as energy that went straight into communication devices allowing him to converse to others in the vacuum of space. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #477)
Vulcan was shown to be able to also control Mutant abilities as he was able to suppress Cyclop's power that meant he could use his eyes without projecting energy blasts and thus not use his visor. (X-Men: Deadly Genesis v1 #2)
Notes
- Gabriel Summers Vulcan was created by Ed Brubaker and Trevor Hairsine where he made his first appearance in X-Men: Deadly Genesis v1 #1 (January, 2006).
Alternate Versions
In other media
Video games
- In Marvel: War of Heroes, Vulcan made an appearance as a playable card in the video game.
- In X-Men: Battle of the Atom, Vulcan made an appearance in the background of a card in the iOS video card game.
Appearances
- X-Men: Deadly Genesis v1: (2006)
- X-Men v5:
- Planet-Size X-Men v1:
- X-Men: Red v2: (2022)
External Links
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