Age of X

Plot

Background

• Log 1A: "Anti-mutant protestors beat mutant-rights advocate Henry McCoy to death during the March For Purity in Washington, D.C."
• Log 2B: "The mutant abilities of a young mutant named Jean Grey manifested in the form of an explosive, fiery phoenix that immolates everything in its path. The city of Albany, New York, is decimated, leaving 600,000 dead."
• Log 3C: After the Phoenix demolished Albany, New York, the U.S. government sponsors the mass production of Exonim Sentinels designed to subdue mutants. In the months that follow, the mutant population drastically declines; this period becomes known as "the Decimation". The log shows a dead Scarlet Witch, while Quicksilver fights an Exonim.
• Log4D: "As anti-mutants hysteria spreads, legislation is passed that requires all mutants to be imprisoned and, in most cases, executed. When a fugitive mutant that Reed Richards has allowed shelter in the Baxter Building accidentally injures her son Franklin, Sue reports Richards to the authorities. To demonstrate that no one is above the law, the Fantastic Four is publicly arrested and marched out of the Baxter Building in handcuffs." The log shows that the harbored mutant is Wolfsbane.
• Log5E: "In the aftermath of the decimation, only a fraction of the worldwide mutant population remains at large. These fugitive mutants are believed to be the most powerful... and the most dangerous. To track down and eliminate these threats, the United States assembles a group of human superheroes. They are called The Avengers." The log shows team members Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, Ghost Rider, the Invisible Woman and Redback.

  Main story

Characters

Heroes

• Cannonball – Labeled a traitor by his sister, Husk, when he convinced her there was not enough time to avenge the murder of their family. Husk forced him to create X-Force before joining Magneto.
• Cyclops – Known as "Basilisk," he was forced by prison warden Arcade to kill his brother and dozens of mutants. Additionally, his eyelids were removed, leading him to be unable to control his powers and forcing him to wear a mask to contain his optic blasts. After escaping from prison, Basilisk kills Arcade and joins Magneto. He is married to Joanna Cargill. With Wolverine, Basilisk investigated the events in Fortress X as redemption for his past as an executioner.
• Dazzler – Attacked by Exonim soldiers during a concert, she retreated to the Manhattan sewers with Angel Salvadore and Gabriel Cohuelo. Tracked down and teleported to Fortress X by Doctor Strange, Dazzler becomes one of Magneto's soldiers.
• Force Warriors – Five psionically powered mutants who protect the walls of Fortess X by channeling their powers to create force walls. The Force Warriors do not fight, but form a defensive force. The force walls they psionically create after each battle slow the human forces; the humans waste time breaking down the walls, destroying the element of surprise.
• * Hellion – Similar to the one in X-Men: Second Coming, this Hellion is disabled; however, he is missing his arms instead of hands, and uses telekinesis to levitate gauntlets which serve as hands.
• * Revenant – At first, nothing is known about her where she appears amnesic. Revenant claims that she became lost on her way home and does not look like herself. When reality was restored, she is revealed as Rachel Summers.
• * Legion – Here, he shows no sign of instability or multiple powers. He only displays telekinesis. To protect his step-mother Moira, he is determined to prevent the destruction of Fortress X by Legacy and Magneto.
• * Psylocke – Here, Betsy never switched bodies with Kwannon. She possesses telekinetic abilities and she is romantically involved with Iceman.
• * Carmella Unuscione – Code-named "Stand-Off" here.
• Frenzy – Frenzy was captured after a number of attacks and incarcerated on Ryker's Island. Before arriving at Fortress X, Joanna and Tempo were members of the Mutant Liberation Front. Here, she is married to Cyclops. Unlike nearly all of the others, Frenzy chooses to retain her memories of the Age of X and they galvanize her into become a better person by joining the X-Men.
• Gambit – Same mentality as his Earth-616 counterpart, using a long rifle instead of the usual bo staff.
• Husk – With her brother Cannonball, she tried to save her family only to find them murdered and their bodies in the back of a garbage truck. Although she tried to kill the guards, Cannonball convinced her that there was not enough time for vengeance. They helped the freed mutants escape before the Exonims arrived, but Husk swore she would not return to flesh and blood until her brother repented for his crime against their family's honor. Before joining Magneto, she forced her brother to form X-Force and killed Copycat.
• Iceman – Romantically involved with Psylocke.
• Madison Jeffries – Spends most of his time in the Fortress X observatory, unsuccessfully trying to measure starlight. His theories relate to the box containing the universe later found by Gambit and Legacy.
• Magneto – Leader of the mutant resistance. When they were on the verge of extinction, Magneto flew 22 Manhattan skyscrapers to safety. He later used those buildings to build Fortress X as a haven for mutants who help him. As Fortress X's creator and mutant leader, Magneto created a strict code to keep everyone safe. However, he later ignored his rules to investigate the oddities in Fortress X, the outside world and X.
• Moonstar's Cadre – The Fortress X hunters. When Legacy escapes from the brig and Magneto suspected of betrayal, they are the designated team for the missions.
• * Cypher – Captured and imprisoned in a prison on the Pacific coast, Cypher escaped and joined Magneto. As Warlock, he is shown to be techno-organic.
• * Dust – First appeared hiding with mutants before being rescued by Magneto, she later joins the Moonstar Cadre. This version of Dust is harsher, crueler and more lenient in her Muslim beliefs.
• * Karma – Her leg is mechanical, consistent with the "Second Coming" arc.
• * Magma – Came from Brazil via Mexico to join Magneto in Nevada.
• * Danielle Moonstar – Leader and the tracker of the team. Nothing is known about her mutant powers here.
• * Sunspot – Known as Eclipse in this reality.
• Mystique – Raven and Irene Adler raised their adopted daughter, Anna-Marie, until they tested X-gene positive and were arrested. Anna-Marie was not tested or arrested. Mystique escaped, and it is unknown what happened to her partner Irene. Mystique later met Magneto, and worked with him for some time. She was present when Magneto used skyscrapers to create Fortress X. Later, in one of Tempo's memories, it is learned that she was captured and held captive by the Sapien League. She escaped and returned to Fortress X, where she was killed by Captain America while protecting a group of mutant children.
• Namor – Left the oceans to live in Fortress X and follow Storm, his love interest here.
• Pixie – Known as "Nightmare" after the Bleecker Street Massacre, trading her butterfly wings for bat wings. She went to Fortress X, joining Magneto.
• Rogue – Known here as "Legacy," Magneto chooses her to keep the memory of the mutants by absorbing their dying memories.
• Storm – In a relationship with Namor. She was mentioned as the leader of the Storm Cadre.
• Tempo – Died defending Fortress X against a human attack. Before coming there, Heather and Frenzy were members of the Mutant Liberation Front.
• Wolverine – Seen in flashback as weakened after Kavita Rao injects him with several doses of a serum designed to cure the mutant gene, counting on his healing factor to destroy the cure. He is unable to fight, since his remaining mutant powers are focused on keeping him alive despite his adamantium disease. Wolverine tends bar at the Rat Run in Fortress X. He is aware of the odd events in the fortress. After helping Legacy escape from Moonstar's Cadre, he decides to investigate.