Nate Grey
Nathaniel "Nate" Grey is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the X-Men. Created by writer Jeph Loeb and artist Steve Skroce, the character first appeared in X-Man #1.
X-Man is an alternate version of the regular Marvel Universe hero Cable, hailing from the alternate timeline Earth-295, first established in the "Age of Apocalypse" storyline. He is the biological son of his dimension's Scott Summers and Jean Grey, born of genetic tampering by Mr. Sinister. His first name is derived from his creator's real name, Nathaniel Essex, and his last name from his genetic mother, Jean Grey. Due to not being infected by a techno-organic virus, as Cable was, Nate achieved vast telepathic and telekinetic powers, and was one of the most powerful mutants in existence during his lifetime.
X-Man was originally a mini-series replacing Cable during 1995's "Age of Apocalypse" alternate reality storyline. After that storyline ended, Marvel transported Nate Grey to Earth-616, the primary shared universe in which most Marvel Comics are set. The series ran until 2001, during which Nate struggled with adjusting to a strange and foreign world, while being the most powerful person in this selfsame world. The series ended with his seemingly sacrificial death.
Despite his name, X-Man was only briefly a member of the X-Men, both in the Age of Apocalypse reality and on Earth-616. Initially, the character was referred to only by his real name, both in "Age of Apocalypse" and on Earth-616. Shortly before the "Onslaught" storyline, Nate began to be sporadically referred to as X-Man, without explanation for the in-universe origin of the code name.
Publication history
Nate Grey first appeared in an eponymous four-issue miniseries in 1995 written by Jeph Loeb and drawn by Steve Skroce. Afterward, the character starred in a self-titled ongoing series. When sales began to wane in 2000, the series was revamped by Warren Ellis as part of the Revolution event beginning with issue 64 with Nate under the name of Shaman. The new direction was unsuccessful, and X-Man was canceled at issue 75 in 2001.The character returned during the 2008 - 09 "Dark Reign" storyline, appearing in the miniseries Dark X-Men. He was also featured in New Mutants #25-50.
Fictional character biography
Age of Apocalypse
In the parallel reality known as the Age of Apocalypse, Mister Sinister, one of the elite Horsemen of the High Lord Apocalypse, artificially created Nate, from genetic material from Cyclops and Phoenix. Sinister created Nate as the ultimate mutant and hoped to use him in his own bid for power against Apocalypse.Cyclops, in his many subversive raids on Sinister's pens, helped Nate escape Sinister's hideout; neither Cyclops nor Nate knew their connection to each other. Nate came under the tutelage of Forge and several other mutant outcasts. Forge began the long process of teaching Nate how to control his powers as well as the benefits of being a "good guy". Nate also began to see the horrors of Apocalypse's world firsthand, and was determined to bring him down.
Sinister infiltrated Forge's group disguised as the wanderer Essex in order to follow Nate's progress, eventually killing Forge. Nate battled Sinister to avenge Forge's death. During the conflict, Sinister allowed Nate to read his mind, revealing both Nate's origin and his ultimate destiny of defeating Apocalypse. Sinister emerged from the fight mortally wounded, and Nate left to battle Apocalypse. That battle occurred while the alternate X-Men were beginning their final gambit—defeating this reality with the M'Kraan Crystal.
Holocaust interrupted Nate's battle with Apocalypse as the X-Men's plan succeeded and the Age of Apocalypse was washed away. In response, an angry Nate impaled Holocaust with a shard of the M'Kraan Crystal, with unexpected results — both vanished.
A New World
The consequences of that act were unexpected and far-reaching, as Nate and Holocaust were both transported to the actual reality when it reasserted itself. Nate arrives in Switzerland and is approached by Madelyne Pryor, who has survived but sustained amnesia. Madelyne helps Nate adjust to this reality, but they are separated soon after by Selene. Nate wanders the Earth alone, encountering many who either desire to use his power or genuinely want to help him, only for Nate's own suspicious nature to prompt him to drive them away. During this time, he unintentionally contributes to the eventual manifestation of Onslaught: Nate senses Xavier's astral form spying on him, and drags him into the real world. This feat inspires the aspects of Onslaught in Xavier's mind to create a psychic body for himself, resulting in Onslaught manifesting an independent body.Eventually, Nate meets Threnody, one of Sinister's underlings seeking freedom. After rescuing her from the Marauders, the pair form a mutually beneficial partnership: Nate provides protection, while Threnody acts as his guide to the world. They are briefly separated during the events set into motion by Onslaught, but soon reunite and take refuge in New York following his defeat. Their relationship deepens despite Nate's lingering doubts on her connection to Sinister, but Threnody eventually leaves, unwilling to answer questions about her past.
Believing Threnody to be dead, Nate takes up a firm if tentative friendship with Spider-Man. Nate is then attacked by Morbius, who is drawn to Threnody via the strong attachment to her in Nate's blood. Due to her own death-fueled mutant ability, Threnody is drawn to Morbius as well, but Nate and Spider-Man intervene. Nate challenges Threnody to return to him once she has given up on stealing life from others and leaves her. He soon finds Madelyne collapsed in Switzerland. The reunion is interrupted by Jean Grey, who is alerted to Madelyne's return by Madame Sanctity. Nate is doubly shocked, first when Madelyne immediately begins trying to kill their visitor, and again when he sees that the two women are virtually twins. Madelyne assumes Nate will side with Jean and attacks them both.
Nate instinctively aids Jean, and together they are able to pierce Madelyne's mind, in the process revealing that Nate is responsible for her revival. In his confusion, after crash-landed in Switzerland, Nate unconsciously resurrects Madelyne Pryor in his subconscious attempt to reach out to his "mother". Nate sorrowfully attempts to undo his mistake, but Madelyne refuses to die again. She returns the power Nate used to animate her and escapes. Nate turns down Jean's offer to contact the X-Men, but then discovers that his telekinesis is gone. Nate visits Moira MacTaggert for answers, which she provides: Nate's telekinetics are still there, but his own body is suppressing them. Havok appears as Nate is leaving, and invites him to join the Brotherhood of Mutants.
Nate helps the Brotherhood liberate Aurora, a former member of Alpha Flight, from Department H. Havok helps Nate regain his telekinesis to the point where he can fly again via a meditation chamber. Nate later discovers the operation to free Aurora had a second purpose: to obtain canisters of Coldsnap-9, a deadly gas. Worse, Nate learns that Dark Beast is a member of the Brotherhood. Nate tries to separate Aurora from the Brotherhood, but quickly learns that due to her personality shifts, she needs treatment that Dark Beast can best provide. However, Nate refuses to leave the gas in the Brotherhood's hands, and opens all of the canisters, exposing himself to the gas.
Nate survives due to the timely return of his telekinetics at their peak, but collapses from exhaustion in New York, where he is found and cared for by three mysterious girls named Jam, Marita, and Bux. Soon after, Nate is telepathically alerted by Cable that he is the only one close enough to protect the children of Jean's sister, Sara Grey, from the Prime Sentinels. Nate rescues the kids despite his weakened state, leaving Joey and Gailyn in the care of their grandparents.
Nate's time in New York is marked by near-endless conflict and his powers spiraling out of control. He is attacked by the psychotic killer Jackknife, a remnant of the Abomination's followers. Nate himself unknowingly unlocked Jackknife's latent potential in the past, and though Jackknife proves immune to Nate's abilities, Nate manages to defeat him, earning the favor of many citizens who witness the battle. The next day, Jam loses an arm in a motorcycle crash, but is mysteriously healed by a doctor who has had contact with Nate. The miracle boosts Nate's popularity even more, and he is admired by hundreds of followers. Nate thwarts a terrorist attack, but when lives are still lost, his admirers turn on him. Nate learns that the one responsible for Jam's accident, as well as his curiously fast rise to and fall from fame, is the Purple Man, who has been controlling Nate and the citizens with his pheromones.
The Purple Man hopes to turn Nate into a modern messiah and use his power to alter reality. The plan backfires: Nate resists being controlled, and upon learning that Jam's healed arm was only a solid psionic projection, he loses faith in himself. In desperation, Nate tries to erase all memories of himself from the minds of New Yorkers. Spider-Man intervenes, pleading with Nate not to do it. The two come to blows, but are attacked by the Psi-Ops, a mysterious team of armored psi-talents seeking to capture Nate. Nate and Spider-Man defeat them, saving a bridge full of people in the process, but are still blamed for the entire mess. Nate is still plagued by self-doubt when Madelyne Pryor returns to him.
Once they relocate to Canada, the new Madelyne seems intent on forcing Nate to admit he needs her. Nate resists, and is troubled by a nightmarish vision of his end: battling a masked madman in a pyramid, a stranger watches from the shadows as Nate and half of the world are consumed by an explosion of his power. This causes him to unleash a huge burst of power in the real world, which awakens three of the Great Beasts: Tundra, Kolomaq, and Somon. Nate destroys Tundra, and launches Kolomaq and Somon into space to keep them from destroying a nearby town. Madelyne refuses to play the part of the hero and help Nate fight, but returns to teleport him back to Switzerland.
While recovering in Madelyne's care, Nate realizes that Threnody's mutant power might not only allow her to escape death, but also to drain his power, keeping it at controllable levels. He seeks her on the psi-plane, but Madelyne jealously interferes. Nate's effort is interrupted when the psi-plane shatters around him, robbing he and Madelyne both of their telepathy.
Nate and Madelyne protect the town of Clifden from several disasters, which are eventually linked to tech-gnomes. During this they meet and are constantly shadowed by Ness, a member of the secret human/demon hybrid race, the Hellbent, who also had a vision that Nate would soon be responsible for the destruction of the planet. They travel to Dublin, where a series of murders have left victims burned down to their bones. Nate detects an AOA energy signature on the corpses, and discovers that Nemesis is responsible. With Madelyne's help, Nemesis's armor implodes, leaving him to escape in his human form.
Nate then learns that Blaquesmith has been sending him the visions as a warning, and the tech-gnomes as a test, in order to prepare Nate for a future that he must avoid at all costs. He transports Nate and Madelyne to Latveria for a confrontation with the resurrected Stryfe, Cable's evil clone, during the "Blood Brothers" crossover. Stryfe uses Doom's power siphon to drain Nate's power into himself, but with assistance from Cable and Madelyne, he is defeated. It is revealed that it was Stryfe and not Nate, who would be responsible for the end of the world.
Nate was also continually hunted by Operation: Gauntlet, a special task force of the United Nations, who had been especially ordered to target and destroy him specifically, as the potential single greatest threat to all life on Earth. During their final confrontation in Ireland, Ness was killed and Madelyne was presumed to have died as well. However, she had merely been drained of her life energy during the intense battle to the point that she was now physically extremely aged, and secretly chose to abandon Nate rather than let him see her in such a condition.
Nate went on to have additional rematches with fellow AoA refugees Dark Beast, Sugar Man, and Holocaust.
Nate visited his "parents," Scott and Jean, who were at the time recuperating in Alaska. The strength of the newly forged bonds between Nate and his "parents" was shown when, soon after, as the X-Men had been disbanded, Nate was one of the few people Jean and Scott called for help, as they needed to defend the new race "the Mannites" from the mysterious "Death". After meeting with the Fantastic Four, Nate is captured by Caliban under orders from Apocalypse, who planned to use Nate as the new host-body for his soul, during the "Twelve Saga". However, Cyclops ultimately sacrifices himself instead, becoming Apocalypse's host.
Nate was also reunited with Threnody, who revealed the circumstances of their separation, which had been unknown to Nate until then. However, during their time apart, Threnody had fully evolved into a mutant death-goddess, constantly pursued by "zomboids", and with no desire to reform despite Nate's devotion to saving her. They separated for good, and though Threnody is revealed to have given birth to a monstrous baby, the father's identity remains unknown.