Hey everybody, it’s time for another great character spotlight, right here in Marvel Snapshot! In this week’s edition, we’ll see a man that not only is the spawn of one of Marvel’s best characters, but one that has also caused that character’s death! Yes, Legion, David Haller, is the character of choice this week, and he’s a handful so get ready! Legion was created by Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz in 1985 (New Mutants #25).
Back in the day before Charles Xavier started the X-Men, he met a woman named Gabrielle Haller. The two fell in love, and unbeknownst to Xavier, Gabrielle ended up getting pregnant. Xavier left, and she gave birth to a son, named David. During his youth, David was among others who were victims of a terrorist attack. His powers manifested during this altercation, and he incinerated the minds of all the terrorists, but also absorbed the mind of the leader, Jemail Karami. David then was rendered catatonic by the backlash from this event. He remained that way for a while, but another side effect was that David’s personality splintered into multiple personalities. These different personalities struggled to gain dominance inside his mind for a while. The three dominant personalities are Jemail, Jack (a telekinetic), and Cyndi (a pyrotechnic).
As David was in a coma, but a mutant, his mother entrusted his care to Moira McTaggert, on Muir Island. He later awakened and was possessed by the Shadow King. The X-Men and X-Factor showed up, and stopped the Shadow King, but the mutant Destiny was killed in the fight, and David fell back into a coma. Eventually, Mystique found David and intended to kill him for the death of her lover, Destiny. David awakened, though, and he seemed to have full control over his mind and abilities. He put her down, and headed for the USA, where he attempted to use his powers to help his father Charles, in his quest for his dream of a peaceful coexistence. He got into a fight with Magneto, and ended up accidentally killing Charles. This event is what caused the Age of Apocalypse to begin.
Later, Legion returned in the pages of New Mutants. He’s locked in a prison, and when the team tried to free him, Karma was absorbed into his psyche. The rest of the team then not only had to fight Legion, but also travel inside his mind to free Karma and try and help Legion. Magik eventually freed Karma, and then slew some of Legion’s more ruthless personalities while she was inside his head. It’s also made clear that at one point, Legion was also thrown into the Age of Apocalypse timeline. What all went on there, no one knows.
As usual, check out my recommended reading list, and take a peek at some of Legion’s greatest exploits! See you next time!
Recommended Reading
New Mutants Classic vol. 3 – Tpb
X-Men: Age of Apocalypse Prelude – Tpb
New Mutants (2009) vol. 1 -4 – HC
Billy Dunleavy
billy@comicattack.net
