Warren Worthington III
Warren Worthington III is a male comic character who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents[hide] |
Biography
Origin
Warren Worthington III was the son Warren Worthington Junior and his wife Kathryn Worthington where he was born to the Worthington family who were considered one of the five greatest houses in the United States of America. (X-Men: The Hidden Years v1 #13) During the birth, the child's delivery was handled by Doctor Stuart who was one of Worthington Junior's oldest and most trusted of friends. At the time, he managed to determine that the new born son had an unusual distortion in the shoulder blades that was indicative that the child was a Mutant. He kept his discovery to himself but believed that the once proud family of the Worthington's was tainted by a freak and genetic abomination. Stuart kept these views to himself and came to serve as a councillor to Warren Worthington III across most of his life. (X-Men: The Hidden Years v1 #15) As a child, he scared his parents to death as he kept climbing on trees and the mansion’s roof, apparently unafraid of any height. (X-Men v1 #54) As a young boy, Warren was first introduced to the Hellfire Club where they attended a party event. (Logan: Shadow Society v1 #1) During one such visit, he was introduced to another boy that was his age named Shinobi Shaw with the two becoming fast friends. In those years, Shinobi confessed to Warren that he was terrified of his own father Sebastian Shaw who regularly beat him up for being a weakling. Both Warren and Shinobi came to hate the Hellfire Club though for different reasons as Worthington did not like the elitism whilst Shaw hated it due to the beatings he received from his father. (X-Men v2 #29) One of his childhood friends during this period of time was Candace Southern, who secretly had a crush on Warren. (X-Men v1 #31) Warren's first girlfriend was Cressida Desford, but he could not compete with her obsession with super-heroes and they soon drifted apart. (Marvel Fanfare v1 #50)
Warren soon changed schools, attending St. Joes Catholic School. There he continued to excel in sports, beating the high jumping record. His friends during this period included Brandon Hardy, who was on the track team, and the meek Andrew Palmer. He was also dating cheerleader Amanda Cobb, the most popular and attractive girl in school. Warren became conceded, and scoffed at the idea that he might be using steroids to enhance his performance. When he bragged to his coach about his skills being the only thing allowing the school to win track meets, this caused tension between Warren and Brandon. It was this time that Warren's mutant abilities were being able to manifest. Physical in nature, Warren noticed that bruises were starting to spread on his back. Assuming the worst, Warren believed he was dying and tried to write a letter telling his parents to pull him out of classes, but he tore the letter up and threw it out, unaware that Andrew had recovered the scraps and pieced it together. (Angel: Revelations v1 #1)
However, one day, two small growths began to emerge on Warren's back. It was not long before they grew into full-fledged, angel-like, feathered wings. Warren knew that he could not allow anybody to find out about them, so he made himself the most hated kid at school, until he was ordered to move into a separate and lonely room. Warren confided only in the family’s private medic, Dr. Stuart, who advised him to keep the wings secret, even from his parents. The wings grew bigger each day and Warren was both exited and yet also concerned, as it became more difficult to hide them. One night, there was a fire in the school’s dorm. Warren tried to run out but, when he found the staircase already on fire, he had no other option than to jump out of a window, hoping that the wings would slow his fall. Much to his own surprise, he found that he could use them for flying. As there were still some kids trapped in the building. Warren disguised himself with a wig and a nightshirt to look like a true angel while saving those left in the dorm. (X-Men v1 #54)
Whilst at military school, his wings were noted to had first sprouted during this time. This led to him hiding them underneath his uniform at first but he eventually left school as he could not face a physical exam which would have discovered his wings. (X-Men v1 #15) In college, he became roommates with Cameron Hodge. (X-Factor v1 #1) He was noted to had saved Hodge from bullies with Cameron coming to idolise Warren. (X-Factor v1 #47)
X-Men
He later caught the attention of Professor X who recruited him to join his team of Mutant superheroes called the X-Men where he joined Cyclops, Beast, Iceman and Marvel Girl Jean Grey. (X-Men v1 #1)
Time-Displaced
Beast from the future traveled to their time in order to inform them that the future was in a bad state, and that only the original X-Men could help fix it. Despite Warren's reluctance, the team accompanied Beast to a future where Cyclops had killed Charles Xavier, and Jean Grey was dead as well. After the team had confronted the future Cyclops and helped save the life of the future Beast, the team under Jean's leadership decided to stay. Warren was the most reluctant on this decision, believing it could only lead to disaster and also did not want to know anything about his future self. Despite this, he agreed to stay until the problems in the time were solved. (All-New X-Men v1 #1) Later, Warren did meet his future self and was incredibly confused as to how he had become this way. Meeting his future self, and the fact that no one was willing to explain to him why he had come to be that way, Warren panicked and attempted to return to his time alone. Jean Grey used her powers to alter Warren's emotions and calm him down, to the dismay of the other X-Men. (All-New X-Men v1 #8) Despite this, Warren continued to doubt the mission of his fellow X-Men, and the future School, doubting the truth of future Beast's statements of impending mutant genocide at the hands of future Cyclops. When future Cyclops and his X-Men came to the School to look for recruits, Warren decided to join them. (All-New X-Men v1 #10) He would tell the others that they were the only ones fighting for mutantkind in this future. (All-New X-Men v1 #11) The rest of the team later joined Cyclops' team as well, following the conflict between Wolverine's X-Men and the future versions of the X-Men and Brotherhood at Cape Citadel. (X-Men: Battle of the Atom v1 #2)
X-23 and Angel hit it off, and started an amorous relationship. (All-New X-Men v1 #30)
After retrieving the Black Vortex from his father, Mister Knife, Star-Lord and Kitty Pryde gathered both the Guardians of the Galaxy and the X-Men at Spartax to decide what to do with such a powerful item. The heroes were tracked down by Mister Knife's cosmically-empowered Slaughter Lords and overpowered. (Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: Black Vortex Alpha v1 #1) Gamora submitted to the Black Vortex in order to face the Slaughter Lords, and be able to escape to Spartax's moon with her allies. (Guardians of the Galaxy v3 #24) Beast and Angel submitted to the Black Vortex, and accompanied Gamora in a journey to attempt to empower the entire universe. (Legendary Star-Lord v1 #9) However, at the first planet they stopped they were assaulted by the Accuser Corps, who took the Vortex from them. In retaliation, they attacked Hala. (All-New X-Men v1 #38) A cosmically-empowered Ronan managed to force them to flee to a distant planet. (Guardians Team-Up v1 #3) Magik and Rocket Raccoon later tracked them down and talked sense into them, so they could help them fight J'son and his Slaughter Lords. (Guardians of the Galaxy v3 #25) After J'son recovered the Vortex and used its power on Thane to encase the entirety of Spartax in an amber construct. (Legendary Star-Lord v1 #10) The heroes got the Vortex back and used it on X-Man Kitty Pryde so she could use her now-enhanced phasing powers to phase Spartax through the amber construct and save the planet. Before getting rid of the Vortex, some of the cosmically empowered heroes decided to remove their cosmic powers, Angel was not one of them. (Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: Black Vortex Omega v1 #1)
X-Factor
After his time with X-Factor, Warren was publicly outed as a Mutant and he began to consider retirement after the collapse of the Defenders with his fellow X-Men also going their separate ways. It was then that he received a phone call that revealed to him that Jean Grey was alive whereupon he called the other members of the original X-Men to meet her. Jean was furious at the increased anti-Mutant hysteria that formed in the two years she had been missing and opposed the X-Men's decision to ally themselves with Magneto. This left Warren feeling guilty and he decided to appease Jean's desire for action. This led to him purchasing a building and starting a new business that was headed by his old friend Cameron Hodge who suggested the formation of X-Factor Inc. that would offer a public service in apprehending rogue Mutants in an effort to spin a positive image of them. Thus, the original X-Men joined the team that was organised and supported by Worthington. (X-Factor v1 #1)
Archangel
He was later invited to the Hellfire Club by his childhood friend Shinobi Shaw for its annual gala with Psylocke attending the event with him. During the celebration, he and Betsy were rendered unconscious with them being brought before Shinobi Shaw who invited Warren to join as the White King of the Club. However, Warren refused leading to Shinobi trying to force his compliance by unveiling his Mutant power and attacking Betsy Braddock. Archangel intervened and whilst fighting Shinobi was telepathically defeat by Psylocke who caused him to re-experience his childhood abuse. With the fight stopped, Warren and Betsy decided to depart leaving Shinobi behind. (X-Men v2 #29)
Elixir attempted to heal the critically wounded Worthington but the foreign cells in his body came to reject any attempt to do so. Meanwhile, the Purifiers came to use the stolen wings to create an army of winged Purifier warriors who were called the Choir. The use of his stolen wings came to fill Warren with incredible pain as he was connected to the use of the alien technology within them. This caused the return of his more brutal and cold Archangel persona. (X-Force v3 #4)
Dark Angel Saga
At some point, he resumed his relationship with Psylocke with the pair being a couple again and they formed a new incarnation of X-Force alongside Wolverine who recruited Fantomex. (Wolverine: Road to Hell v1 #1) Angel had hired Deadpool to hunt leads on Clan Akkaba over the years and to track their movements. As his operative, Wilson discovered that the secret society were seeking to resurrect their founder Apocalypse and reported his findings before being captured. This led to Angel calling upon Wolverine's newly formed X-Force with finding and terminating Apocalypse before he could become a threat. (Uncanny X-Force v1 #1) They arrived at the enemy stronghold where they freed Deadpool but their foes had managed to escape. (Uncanny X-Force v1 #2) X-Force pursued their target who had relocated to the Moon on-board Ship leading to the teams encountering the young Apocalypse's protectors in the form of the Final Horsemen. (Uncanny X-Force v1 #3) Warren was wounded when their ship crashed and he was only saved by the actions of Deadpool with the pair joining their team in breaking through Ship's defences. The broke into the inner sanctum to find that Apocalypse in the form of an innocent young boy with Psylocke looking to stop her comrades from assassinating him. This was because she intended to take the boy away so he could be raised to be peaceful. Worthington opposed that plan and intended to murder the boy as he saw the child eventually becoming Apocalypse once more. This led to him battling Wolverine and Psylocke whilst he struggled against his Archangel persona that sought to protect Apocalypse. Ultimately, Warren saw the horror in his actions and relented as he could not murder an innocent child. X-Force seemingly agreed to take the boy away but during the distraction Fantomex shot a bullet into the young En Sabah Nurs head thus killing him. The team then departed on E.V.A. where they escaped before Ship performed a matter transport ship to another site. (Uncanny X-Force v1 #4) He later joined X-Force to assist Fantomex who was being targeted by the time travelling Deathlok's making up Weapon: Infinity that sought to convert all of Earth's super-beings into controlled cyborgs. (Uncanny X-Force v1 #7) By this point, Elizabeth had kept the Archangel persona contained within Warren's mind allowing him to be free of its influence. However, X-Force next encountered the Shadow King who took control of the team except for Psylocke and Fantomex. Amahl could sense that Braddock was hiding something and peered into their minds to find the captured Archangel persona which he freed in the belief that it would aid him. However, Archangel simply destroyed the Shadow King's psionic form thus defeating and removing any memory of his freedom from Psylocke allowing him to be free within Warren Worthington III's mind. (Uncanny X-Force v1 #8) Unknown to anyone, the Death Seed within Worthington had activated leading to the dominance of his Archangel persona as it sought to become the heir to Apocalypse as the new evolutionary caretaker on the planet. With his psionic armor, he was able to resist telepathic intrusions and distanced himself from Psylocke to prevent her from uncovering the truth. At the time, a reporter had discovered footage showing Archangel kill a mind controlled army officer during the Shadow King incident. Thus, to protect his public persona, Archangel moved to eliminate the reporters involved as they were companies that was owned by Worthington's family business. He eliminated an editor and attempted to murder the journalist with the footage when he was stopped by Wolverine whilst Warren clashed with the Archangel persona until Psylocke used a psionic dagger to render his unconscious. They kept him locked up at Cavern-X whilst they freed the Dark Beast who revealed that the change in Worthington's persona was a result of the Death Seed in him with him being recruited to help cure Warren. (Uncanny X-Force v1 #10)
It was revealed that this being named Angel was a brand new soul given existence by the Life Seed and that Warren had indeed been killed. He was with the X-Force team until it was decided to send him alongside Genesis to the Jean Grey academy to be with the X-Men. (Uncanny X-Force v1 #19)
Unable to stop Archangel, Angel decided to reincorporate his darker half as he believed this was his burden to bear. Thus, the two emerged leading to the re-integration of the two facets of himself with Archangel being restored. (Uncanny X-Men v4 #10)
House of X
After the establishment of the nation of Krakoa, he was one of many Mutants that came to reside on the living island that was the home of their people.
He and Monet were later chosen to serve as the head of Krakoa's corporate front with the X-Corporation with the two serving as joint CXO's. (X-Corp v1 #1)
From the Ashes
Overview
Personality and attributes
After his wings were amputated, he came to be experimented on by Apocalypse who transformed him into Archangel. (X-Factor v1 #24) Apocalypse came to see Archangel as his son and referred to him as his Dark Angel of Death. (X-Force v1 #17)
Despite his reputation as a ladies man, Warren had always practiced serial monogamy. (X-Men: The Hidden Years v1 #15)
The Archangel persona was actually linked to a piece of Celestial technology implanted in him with this being the Death Seed. (Uncanny X-Force v1 #10)
The reborn Angel had no memories of Warren Worthington III and in fact believed himself to be an actual angel. (Wolverine and the X-Men v1 #4)
Warren Worthington III was the son of wealthy parents with his father being Warren Worthington Jr. and his mother was Kathryn Worthington. (X-Men v1 #54) It was said that the Worthington family had always tended to be pragmatists. His mother Kathryn was said to not had been especially religious but this changed later in life with her returning to the faith of her fathers leading to her going to church and reading from the Bible. (X-Men: The Hidden Years v1 #15) Warren felt his father was a good man though he did want to be a corporate mogul millionaire like he was and he also rejected being a member of the Hellfire Club as since childhood he had hated the place. (X-Men v2 #29)
Powers and abilities
One quality he shared with birds was a sense of direction that allowed him to track his quarry. (Avengers v1 #53) It was noted that his eyes were far keener than any raptor. (X-Men v2 #101) This made him an excellent tracker as his vision was able to pick up the smallest details from the sky allowing him to find someone lost in a storm. (X-Men v2 #40) Another fringe benefit of his mutation was that his avian eyes were capable of seeing in the dark. (X-Men v2 #74)
The cells around his artificial wings were neither human nor Mutant and in fact were not organic. The foreign matter was known to block attempts by someone attempting to heal them. Every cell of Archangel's wings were composed of the Apocalypse Strand that on the surface appeared organic but were far more complex. Their growth rate stemmed from the supply of blood given to them where they rewrote the hosts DNA to become alien technology. (X-Force v3 #4)
An ability demonstrated by him was the power to unleash a powerful acoustic scream capable of disorienting those that heard it. It was said to be filled with pain and anger with it causing its victims to feel unbearable pain as a result. (Uncanny X-Men v4 #10)
A key aspect of his transformation was the implantation of a Death Seed into his body. This was a piece of Celestial technology that was given by Apocalypse to those Horsemen he appointed in the role of Death. If Apocalypse was ever killed, then the Seed was to activate in order to make the Death wielder to be the new heir of Apocalypse as an evolutionary caretaker to the Mutant race. Thus, upon activation, it took over Worthington's mind as it sought to achieve its intended purpose leading to marked change in personality along with new abilities such as psionic armor allowing him to resist the powers of a telepath. (Uncanny X-Force v1 #10)
An aspect of his powers with the Life Seed was that he could bring the dead back to life. (Wolverine and the X-Men v1 #4)
Worthington Industries was known as a multi-national conglomerate with holdings in advanced aviation technology, experimental alternative fuels and fancy frozen yoghurts. (Wolverine and the X-Men v1 #5) The Worthington Building had stood at its site for 150 years that was a testament to the Worthington family's vast wealth and unassailable social position. Their family was noted to had for the past three generations not having to sully their hands with trade though had on occasion dabbled with it for amusement. (X-Factor v1 #57)
Chateau Worthington was situated in in the New Mexican Rockies. (Incredible Hulk Annual v1 #7) It was also known as Angel's Aerie that came to serve as a headquarters for X-Force. (X-Force v3 #1) The family business of Worthington Enterprises was noted to have its corporate headquarters at the Worthington Building in Philadelphia. (X-Factor v1 #10) His resources was once used to maintain Cavern-X situated in Sedona, Az that was built as a kind of time capsule of the X-Men's accomplishments that were stored there to remind people of the good they did in case they were ever wiped out. The site served as a headquarters for an incarnation of X-Force who were once based at the site with its existence kept as a secret. (Uncanny X-Force v1 #2)
Notes
- Warren Worthington III was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby where he made his first appearance in X-Men v1 #1 (September, 1963).
- In Uncanny X-Men v1 #431 (2003), it was implied that Warren Worthington III was descended from a tribe of ancient Mutants known as the Cheyarafim.
Alternate Versions
In other media
Television
- In Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Angel appeared in the setting of the animated television series where he was voiced by actor William Callaway.
- In X-Men, Warren Worthington III appeared in the 1990s animated television series where he was voiced by actor Stephen Ouimette.
- In X-Men: Evolution, Warren Worthington III appeared in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Mark Hildreth.
- In Wolverine and the X-Men, Warren Worthington III appeared in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Liam O'Brien.
Films
- In X-Men: The Last Stand, Warren Worthington III appeared in the 2006 live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Ben Foster.
- In X-Men: Apocalypse, Warren Worthington III appeared in the live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Ben Hardy.
Video games
- In X-Men, Archangel appeared in the 1993 Sega Genesis video game where he could be summoned to assist the player.
- In X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse, Angel appeared in the setting of the video game where he was voiced by actor Dave Wittenberg.
- In Marvel: Contest of Champions, Warren Worthington III as Archangel appeared as a playable character in the mobile video game.
Appearances
- X-Men v1: (1963)
- Uncanny X-Men v1:
- Champions v1:
- X-Factor v1:
- X-Men v2:
- X-Men: The Hidden Years v1:
- X-Force v3:
- Uncanny X-Force v1:
- Wolverine and the X-Men v1:
- Uncanny X-Men v4:
- Astonishing X-Men:
- X-Men v5:
- X-Corp v1: (2021)
External Links
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