Swordsman (Marvel)
The Swordsman is a male comic character who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Jacques Duquesne was a male human who was born the son of Armand Duquesne who had been a government official. In his early years, he came to live in Sin-Cong that was a small nation in southeast Asia which was a French protectorate and had been his home. He lived in a time when one war had ended in his homeland whilst the beginnings of another were starting with Jacque growing up in comfortable luxury. (Avengers Spotlight v1 #22)
On his 18th birthday, his father Armand came to tell Jacque that he was a descendant of the famed World War I hero the Crimson Cavalier. (Avengers Spotlight v1 #22)
Confronted by the Avengers, he resigned himself to be arrested and placed into custody but then was teleported away. He found himself in the secret headquarters of the mysterious Mandarin who the Swordsman was surprised to find had really existed as he had always considered the existence of this person to be an old wives tale. The Mandarin had sought the elimination of the Avengers due to them being allies of his foe Iron Man. Thus, he intended to recruit the Swordsman for this task where he was to infiltrate the group and destroy them from within. However, the Swordsman refused to serve anyone but was forced to comply through the use of the Mandarin's rings where the warlord enhanced his sword to be more powerful for this task. (Avengers v1 #20)
Whilst at the F.B.I., he gave a debriefing where he detailed much of his early life with these recordings being sealed and kept confidential. (Avengers Spotlight v1 #22)
Swordman's body was buried in a garden maintained by the Priests of Pama near where Mantis had grown up. (Avengers v1 #130) This garden contained sentient plants known as the Cotati. It was actually the eldest 'tree' that was destined to mate with Mantis. It inhabited Swordsman's body and approached Mantis, explaining itself to her. Immortus married the two, then they seemingly transformed into energy and left Earth. (Giant-Size Avengers v1 #4) It was later revealed that the spirits of Mantis and the Prime Cotati had actually left their human forms behind when their spirits left Earth to procreate and that the Priests of Pama had reburied the Swordsman's corpse in his original grave and had buried the body of Mantis, now in a state of suspended animation, beside him. (West Coast Avengers v2 #39) Afterwards, the Celestial Messiah came to be born. (Silver Surfer v3 #4)
Years later, Mantis approached the West Coast Avengers seeking their help because she had no memory of what had happened to her since she first left Earth. (West Coast Avengers v2 #37) The search for answers soon led them to the temple of the Priests of Pama where the Swordsman's body burst up out of its grave, once again inhabited by the spirit of the Prime Cotati. After a fierce battle, the reanimated Swordsman killed Mantis and the shock of this death caused her consciousness to transfer from the plant-simulacrum body it had unknowingly been inhabiting and back into her original human body that was buried nearby. With her consciousness returned to her true form and her memories restored, Mantis dug her way out of her grave and revealed what had happened to her since she had left Earth. Having restored his former wife, the Prime Cotati vacated his host-form and, without its alien life-force to hold it together, the Swordsman's corpse disintegrated. (West Coast Avengers v2 #39)
Legacy
Unknown to him, he had a daughter named Adelynn who later took up the mantle of Swordswoman with her having potential as she joined Euroforce. (Avengers World v1 #8) An unidentified man took the mantle of Swordsman where he wielded a Vibranium alloy katana and operated as a supervillain with him attempting to extort money from the town of Sauga River by threatening to flood it but was defeated by Captain America. (Captain America v1 #696)
The Cotati Swordsman later travelled to the Blue Area of the Moon where his kind caused a large jungle to encompass the entire region. They intended to embark on their ultimate goal of bringing peace to the cosmos. However, the Alliance of the Kree and Skrulls opposed them leading to a state of war between the two sides. Thus, the Cotati sent a telepathic cry for aid to the Avengers who responded by investigating the Blue Area of the Moon. They were attacked by a hybrid Kree Sentry with the Swordsman emerging to aid them in destroying the machine. He then revealed that he and his son were requesting the aid of the heroes to fight off the Alliance with Tony Stark agreeing to help them. (Empyre: Avengers v1 #0)
Overview
Personality and attributes
Jacque Duquesne was the son of Armand Duquesne who was a government official in the nation of Sin-Cong. (Avengers Spotlight v1 #22)
Unknown to him, he had a daughter named Adelynn who became a hero named Swordswoman. (Avengers World v1 #8) She was also referred to as Marjorie with her mother having met her father when she was drunk and visiting the circus. She became pregnant with Jacques child but never informed him and came to hate the man. However, the young Marjorie admired her father and wanted to know stories about him as well as be like him as she intended to learn swordsmanship from a young age. (Avengers World v1 #12) He also had a cousin named Gabrielle Duquesne who used his skill in knives as a chef and operated a famous restaurant named Chateau Duquesne. (Unstoppable Wasp v2 #2)
It was said that he was a descendant of the Crimson Cavalier who had been France's proudest heroes during the First World War who had many tales of bravery against the Huns. According to his father Armand, it was believed that the masked hero was a Duquesne and a family heirloom was a sword that was said to had belonged to the Crimson Cavalier. (Avengers Spotlight v1 #22)
Powers and abilities
He owned a family heirloom that was a sword said to had belonged to the Crimson Cavalier. The blade was said to be capable of cutting all but the hardest of metals with ease. (Avengers Spotlight v1 #22)
The sword was later upgraded by the technology of the Mandarin who gave him increased capabilities. These were based on the technology of his rings whereby they were capable of generating different effects from the battle devices. This included releasing bolts of man-made lightning able to destroy a target. A feature added by the Mandarin was that if the blade was ever used against him then it would reverse its effects on the user thus preventing the Swordsman from turning on him. (Avengers v1 #20)
The Cotati incarnation of the Swordsman was an ancient plant intelligence that had merged with the body of Jacques and thus shared his memories. (Empyre: Avengers v1 #0)
Notes
- The Swordsman was created by Stan Lee and Don Heck where he made his first appearance in Avengers v1 1 #19 (August, 1965).
Alternate Versions
In other media
Television
- In The Avengers: United They Stand, the Swordsman appeared in the animated television series in the episode "Comes a Swordsman" where he was voiced by actor Paul Essiembre.
- In Hawkeye, Jack Duquesne appeared as a variation of the character in the setting of the live-action television series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe where he was portrayed by actor Tony Dalton.
Appearances
- Avengers v1: (1965)
- Avengers Spotlight v1:
- Empyre: Avengers v1: (2020)
External Links
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