Exodus (Marvel)
Exodus is a male comic character who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Bennet du Paris
After the siege of Palestine, he learnt of a from a wizened Fellahin about an ancient legend that spoke of a Tower of Power that resided in the domain of the Eternal Pharaoh in a place called Akkaba. For a year, he and his comrade Garrington had travelled through the desert in search of this power in order to claim its mysteries. In this time, they met an Egyptian guide named Sahreed where he took the pair in search of the mythic land on behalf of his master. (Black Knight: Exodus v1 #1)
He decided to make the journey himself and went forth through the desert where he pushed himself to exhaustion as he sought the Tower of Power. At the brink, he heard a voice question his strength and tested him by sending a giant boulder tumbling to him. Unable to outrun it, Bennet would have died but then felt a power surge from his that caused the boulder to shatter. He was then confronted by a monstrous humanoid scarab whose strength and tough hide was greater than any blade. His foe noted that Paris had the power within him which was the only thing that could defeat his scarab opponent. Tapping into this power, he was able to successfully vanquish his enemy after which he journeyed into the citadel of En Sabah Nur. Once inside, he was transformed into Exodus by the science of Apocalypse and his newest servant. He was then tasked by his master to eliminate the Black Knight and his companion Sersi after they were captured by Apocalypse. Exodus then fought his former friend Garrington who actually managed to leave a scar on Bennet's forehead whilst Sersi attacked his mind. Paris came to use a psionic feedback to repel Sersi's attack whereupon Eobar asked his former friend if he was content to be a slave to Apocalypse. It as then that Exodus was resolved to serve no other master or false god where he attacked Apocalypse with his newfound power. Despite his strength, he was defeated but ended up being sealed in a crypt where he was left in an unconscious state over the course of centuries. (Black Knight: Exodus v1 #1)
Acolytes
Magneto next decided to take his fight directly to the X-Men themselves. He sent Exodus to track down the band of Acolytes that had left with Fabian Cortez. The other Acolytes turned on their leader when Exodus told them that it had been Cortez who betrayed Magneto. Exodus then revealed that their master was alive and teleported them away, but not before punishing Cortez for his crimes. They joined up with Magneto as he confronted the X-Men at the funeral for Illyana Rasputin. A fight broke out but Magneto showed them he only wanted to offer them salvation on Avalon. After Colossus decided to join the Acolytes, Magneto left with the rest of his team. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #304) Exodus continued his mission of gathering only those he deemed worthy. He contacted some of Magneto’s old Brotherhood members and asked to meet them on a boat, far away from prying eyes. He descended from the sky with his usual grandiose manner and declared that only Phantazia was able to go back to Avalon with him. When the others questioned his motives, he told Toad and Blob that they lacked the vision that was needed. When Pyro spoke up, Exodus replied that he was considered but he was ultimately dismissed because he was tainted, hinting at the fact Pyro had contracted the Legacy Virus. Phantazia turned Exodus’ offer down and he calmly accepted her decision, politely telling them that he hoped their deaths would be painless. With that, he teleported away to gather more grateful mutants to the cause. (X-Men Unlimited v1 #2) The world soon reacted to Magneto’s new cause by erecting an electromagnetic net around the Earth that stopped Magneto from using his powers. Magneto responded by unleashing a huge electromagnetic pulse from space, which fried electronic devices across the world and caused the deaths of thousands of people. When the X-Men decided to confront Magneto directly on Avalon, they knew that they had to remove Exodus and the Acolytes from the fight. In a daring move, they teleported them to the escape pods and jettisoned them into space. As such, Exodus was not present when the X-Men engaged Magneto and Xavier ended the fight by telepathically wiping Magneto’s mind, as he couldn’t bring himself to kill him. (X-Men v2 #25)
As the conflict with Xavier had left Magneto in a vegetative state, Exodus stepped up and took control of the Acolytes. Soon after, Colossus came to him to request he be allowed to leave the space station to meet with Kitty Pryde, who claimed that she wanted to join the Acolytes. Though he was unsure, Exodus decided to let Colossus go, to finally see where his loyalties truly lay. As it turned out, it was a trap set up by the X-Men in a bid to heal a head wound Piotr had suffered and also to try and wrestle him away from the Acolytes. Exodus sent a cadre of Acolytes to save him but he needn’t have bothered, as Colossus willingly came back to them after bidding goodbye to the X-Men. (Excalibur v1 #71)
Exodus returned to Avalon to be by his master’s side once more despite Magneto still being in a vegetative state. Exodus truly believed that he was the voice and ears of Magneto but he began to despair when the other Acolytes who did not see things the same way. Exodus started spending more and more time with Magneto and became very protective of his perceived-Lord, even going as far as punishing Scanner for merely looking at Magneto’s face. Since Magneto was unable to perform certain duties Exodus was forced to step in his place, such as the trial of the Acolyte Neophyte, who was accused of aiding the X-Men in the attack that cost Magneto his mind. The trial became very heated as the prosecution and defence both made impassioned speeches and Exodus was forced to retire to “speak” with Magneto to determine a verdict. After a short while Exodus returned to the room and as his speech progressed it was very clear that Neophyte was about to be sentenced to death, and so Colossus interrupted Exodus and made a plea for the boy’s life. Colossus did his job well as Exodus could see that the other Acolytes around him were beginning to doubt the severity of Neophytes crimes. Seeing that a death sentence would prove unpopular, Exodus did his best to save-face by claiming that, had Colossus not interrupted him, it would have been Magneto’s judgement that Neophyte be exiled from Avalon. With a wave of his hand he teleported the boy back to Earth and brought an end to the trial. Afterwards an alarming feeling started to seep into Exodus as he began to see dissention within his followers. He started to wonder how long he could keep them in check before they began to question whether he truly spoke for Magneto or not. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #315)
Exodus survived where his powers reverted to normal, and he returned to lead the Acolytes. Seeing the High Evolutionary's experiments as crimes against nature, Exodus sent an army of Mutates and a team of Acolytes, in an attack against the Evolutionary's base, Wundagore Mountain.Despite opposition from Quicksilver and the Knights of Wundagore, Exodus successfully gained control of the citadel, while the High Evolutionary escaped. (Quicksilver v1 #1)
The High Evolutionary decided it was time to regain control of Mount Wundagore, and set off with a team towards the citadel. There he was betrayed by Man-Beast who stole the scepter housing Isotope E, greatly empowering him. Exodus and his Acolytes appeared, and Exodus demanded the isotope be handed over. Man-Beast refused to comply. (Quicksilver v1 #11)
The Acolytes refused to help in the battle against the High Evolutionary, prompting Exodus to call them cowards; the mutant announced that the High Evolutionary was an abomination and that Exodus would defeat him by any means necessary. Thena and Exodus' subsequent attacks proved ineffective, until Man-Beast appeared and suggested that the three of them unite their psionic powers. (Quicksilver v1 #12)
Exodus then proceeded to attack Nate Grey after emerging from the rubble where he intended to absorb his powers to replenish his own strength. At first, X-Man failed to combat the powerful Mutant but decided to let his foe drain his energy. It was shown that this proved to be too much for Exodus who was defeated as a result of being overloaded by the power within Nate Grey's body. He then threw Exodus into a cracked ravine and used his powers to close it around the villain thus burying him beneath the earth. (X-Man v1 #14)
Later on, Exodus escaped from his prison yet again, this time emerging as a changed man. Disguising himself as Magneto, Exodus used his psionic power that were boosted by technological means in order to bring peace to the island nation of Genosha, forcing humans and mutants to coexist. When he was eventually unmasked by the X-Men, Exodus proclaimed himself a penitent trying desperately to atone for his bigoted past. Without his control however, Genosha descended into civil war once more, leaving Exodus emotionally devastated. (Uncanny X-Men Annual v1 #1999)
Decimation
After M-Day, much of the Mutant race lost their powers as a result of the actions of the Scarlet Witch. Exodus though proved to be among the few of his kind that retained their abilities after the Decimation where he was listed as a severe threat by the Office of National Emergency. (X-Men: The 198 Files v1 #1) Afterwards, he looked to find any potential Mutants in the world and take them to safety to a new Genosha. For that task, he required sophisticated equipment and the knowledge in Cable's mind to create a Cerebro able to search the world for potential Mutants. With a team of Acolytes, they attacked the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier defeating its security and even a team of X-Men whereupon he used blueprints stolen from Cable's mind to refashion the equipment there into a Cerebro scanner. However, he found no Mutants around the world and was informed by Rogue that the X-Gene had been altered preventing even the birth of more Homo Superior. Furious, Exodus and the Acolytes departed where they sent to Antarctica to an abandoned facility in order to meet Mister Sinister. This saw Exodus bowing to the geneticist who offered to help save the Mutant race. (X-Men Annual v3 #1)
House of X
After the establishment of Krakoa, the living island was declared a sovereign nation and a homeland for all Mutants that were invited to reside on its surface. He was among the many that received the telepathic invitation and accepted the offer. (House of X v1 #5) Exodus came to be given a seat on the country's ruling body which was the Quiet Council of Krakoa where he sat at the Winter table. (House of X v1 #6)
When Magneto launched a plan to terraform Mars, Exodus was one of the Omega-Level mutants who aided in the processes. (Planet-Size X-Men v1 #1) When Mystique launched a plot to resurrect her deceased wife Destiny behind the backs of the rest of the council, she managed to gain Exodus' support in granting Destiny a seat on the council. (Inferno v2 #3) When Magneto announced that he was living the council sometime thereafter, Exodus approached Hope Summers, encouraging her to seek the vacant seat. Exodus voted in her favor and helped make Hope the newest member of the Quiet Council. (Immortal X-Men v1 #1)
Overview
Personality and attributes
He gained the name Exodus as he was to be the journeyman bridging the ancient past and a distant inevitable future. (Black Knight: Exodus v1 #1) At one point, he came to be known as the Hero sans peur ("Hero without fear"). (X-Men Annual v3 #1)
Since he was a boy, he felt that he was different from others both on the outside and deep in his heart. (Black Knight: Exodus v1 #1)
He considered himself no longer a man but rather an idea that was baptised by Magneto. (X-Men Annual v3 #1)
One of his close friends was Eobar Garrington who was the Black Knight during the Crusades. (Black Knight: Exodus v1 #1)
Powers and abilities
As a Mutant, he had the genetic potential for superpowers since birth. (Black Knight: Exodus v1 #1)
Exodus was said to had been a psionic of the highest order. (X-Man v1 #14) In fact, he was noted for being among Earth's Omega-level Mutants. (House of X v1 #1) Such was his power that he could easily knock out an attack from three human telepaths. (X-Men Annual v3 #1)
He could initiate a psionic feedback that was able to expel another telepath from his mind. (Black Knight: Exodus v1 #1) Bennett had said that he was adept at shielding his presence from other psionics. Such was his power that he could easily hear psi-whispers from a telepathic conversation held between two psionics. (X-Man v1 #14)
As an Omega-level Mutant, his talent lay in telekinesis where he was the strongest on Earth. (House of X v1 #1)
When he was a knight, he was trained in the use of a sword but commented that he was nowhere near accomplished as his former friend Garrington. (Black Knight: Exodus v1 #1)
Notes
- Exodus was created by Scott Lobdell and Joe Quesada where he made his first appearance in X-Factor v1 #92 (July, 1993).
Alternate Versions
- In Amazing X-Men v1 #1 (1995), an alternate version of Exodus appeared in the Age of Apocalypse reality designated as Earth-295 in the Multiverse. Exodus was captured and experimented on by the forces of Apocalypse until he was rescued by Magneto. Exodus became highly devoted to Magneto and joined his X-Men. During his time with the team, he developed a relationship with his fellow X-Man, Dazzler. Some time later, Exodus was part of a squad of X-Men sent to aid in a Sentinel evacuation of the remaining humans in North America. Magneto informed Exodus that he possessed teleportation abilities, a power of which he was unaware. Exodus surprised his teammates and himself when he was able to teleport them from the Xavier estate to the coast of Maine. While the X-Men managed to reprogram the Sentinels to recognize them as friends, the Brotherhood of Chaos reprogrammed the virus in turn to make the X-Men seen as hostiles. Despite this setback, Exodus and his comrades managed to stop the Brotherhood's attack and the evacuation was successful. Returning to the Xavier estate, Exodus and the other X-Men found that Magneto and Bishop had been captured by Apocalypse. Quicksilver sent Exodus and Dazzler into the Morlock tunnels below the mansion to find Quicksilver's younger brother, Charles, who had fled during the attack on the mansion. Exodus and Dazzler instead found the X-Ternals, learning that Charles and a shard of the M'kraan Crystal had been stolen by the traitorous Guido Carosella. Exodus and Dazzler soon reunited with the other X-Men who were planning a final assault on Apocalypse's citadel. Exodus was not involved in the final battle, however. Following the fall of Apocalypse, Exodus was sent on a secret mission for Magneto. He was last listed as missing in action.
- In X-Nation 2099 v1 #3 (1996), an alternate version of Exodus appeared in the Marvel 2099 reality designated as Earth-929 in the Multiverse. Exodus had awoken from another century-long slumber and tried to make X-Nation his Acolytes. They refused and were subsequently beaten, and even still December was one of the few who believed that Exodus was not that bad. Their minds were made up when Exodus refused to save the human population of Halo City and they refused to be in service to him. Those who survived were teleported away by Mademoiselle Strange and began to face their future.
In other media
Television
- In X-Men '97, Exodus made a cameo appearance in the setting of the revival animated television series.
Video games
- In X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse, Exodus appeared as a boss level antagonist in the setting of the video game.
- In X-Men: Children of the Atom, Exodus made a cameo appearance in every characters ending in the setting of the fighting video game. He came to Magneto's aid after his defeat and apparently perishing with his master in Avalon's destruction.
Novels
Appearances
- X-Factor v1: (1993)
- Black Knight: Exodus v1:
- X-Man v1:
- X-Men Annual v3:
- Uncanny X-Men v4:
- House of X v1:
- X-Men v5:
- Planet-Size X-Men v1:
- Inferno v2:
- Immortal X-Men v1: (2022)
External Links
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