GENE NATION:
-Gene Nation came about during that phase of the X-Books where I kinda stopped paying attention. These guys are the descendents of a group of Morlocks that Mikhail Rasputin (Colossus' space-warping brother) had taken away from Earth and brought to a dimension called The Hill. Ten to twenty years pass, and they return to Earth only months after they'd left. Naturally, they've got murder on their minds- angry over their disenfranchisement, these Morlocks decide to kill one human for every Morlock life lost during the Mutant Massacre.
-The most prominent member of the team is the grouchy, murderous Marrow (who was only a child when the team had left)- she plans on executing Leech for being "weak", but Emma Frost (freshly turned into a hero at this point) saves the day, and Storm rips out Marrow's heart (luckily, she had two). Later, she's able to fight her way to the top of The Hill and defeats Mikhail, and Gene Nation moves to the real world, starting a new life near her old hom ein Africa. Naturally, because they're MORLOCKS, life has to totally suck, and so they're attacked by bigots in Humanity's Last Stand, and by Dark Beast, who recruits many of them to fight Generation X. This is the last they're seen as a large group, and most are thought-dead due to an explosion. Some members would reappear later on.
-As a whole, the group come off very much like the "Sketchpad Characters" that make up earlier Jobber Villain groups like The Dark Riders, The Mutant Liberation Front, and more. However, rather than being Dork Age stereotypes, they're more akin to the Joe Madureira-type Anime-Inspired types of characters- deformed bodies, exaggerated physiques, huge grimaces, and energetic poses. It's an interesting look at a similar concept (Jobber Villain Team), but keyed to a slightly different era (funny, given that they're only about 5-7 years behind the MLF or Riders).
-The group is interesting mainly because it shows how later writers struggled with Chris Claremont taking the "Morlock" group off the table in the late '80s. As a group, the Morlocks were a PERFECT symbol of the worst part of being a mutant- characters with obvious freakish deformities that were the ULTIMATE victims of prejudice- unlike the mostly-beautiful X-Men, they couldn't pass for human, and so their lives were absolute garbage. They had a ton of great stories, all involving their disenfranchisement- most were bitter; on several occasions they kidnap prettier people and force them to live in the Tunnels beneath New York- Callisto kidnaps Angel, Annalee kidnaps Power Pack, and Caliban kidnaps Kitty Pryde: In all three cases, all the Morlocks wanted was companionship (Callisto & Caliban had romantic intentions; Annalee just wanted more children after hers had died).
-Them being bait for prejudice, and being minor Supporting Characters, also made them easy "Victims": The Mutant Massacre exterminated all but the handful of most-famous characters, and effectively "removed them from the sandbox", so to speak- with only a few left, future writers couldn't write the kind of stories Claremont did. The solution? Later writers did it ANYWAYS, creating a constant stream of "survivors of the Massacre", doing the exact same things the Morlocks always did. In one
Uncanny story, they start a massive riot after one little Mutant boy controls them (Jean Grey is forced to execute MeMe before he permanently-absorbs several innocent people into his body). In a
Wolverine story, he & Shatterstar have a '90s-style team-up to wipe out some evil thugs (The Vidkids) who are videotaping their murders of Morlock stragglers. And of course THIS story, which creates ANOTHER band of survivors.
GENE NATION TEMPLATE
Created By: Scott Lobdell & Brian Hitch
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #322 (July 1995)
Role: Nasty Minions
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks, Gene Nation
PL 6 (52)
STRENGTH 2
STAMINA 4
AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 8
DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0
AWARENESS 0
PRESENCE -1
Skills:
Athletics 4 (+6)
Expertise (Survival) 5 (+5)
Intimidation 6 (+5)
Perception 3 (+3)
Stealth 2 (+4)
Advantages:
Ranged Attack 2, Startle
Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Various"
Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Initiative +2
Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +4, Fortitude +5, Will +2
Complications:
Prejudice (Obvious Mutant)- Most members of Gene Nation have extremely-obvious mutations.
Motivation (Destruction)- Having been taught only hatred and anger, the members of Gene Nation are aggressive and overly-hostile to everyone, and can be easily-led into acts of terror and murder.
Total: Abilities: 30 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 9 (52)
-Most members of Gene Nation are short-tempered, aggressive and hateful individuals, having been twisted by the stories told to them by Mikhail & Callisto, their adoptive "Parents". They're muscular and dangerous, but barely above Minions when in large numbers, hitting PL 5 in melee and PL 6 on defense. Some have pretty clever powers, however.
Members:
CHARM- PL 6 (62): Strength 6, Stamina 6, Agility 3, Fighting 6 [10]
-Apparently never seen using his powers, Charm appears in the
Storm Limited Series, and was never seen again afterwards. Apparently he has enhanced physical abilities.
REVERB- PL 7 (89): Senses 1 (Radius Sight), Remote Sensing 4 (Vision), "Mental Blast" Blast 7 (Extras: Perception-Ranged, Will Save) [37]
-Reverb's just a Jobber- he attempts to attack Storm's mind while she's fighting Marrow, but Storm's naturally-high Will Save wins out, and she IMPALES HIM on one of Marrow's bone-knives, killing him! Storm is BAD-ASS.
D'GARD- PL 10 (62): "Empathy" Mind-Reading 10 (Flaws: Limited to Emotions) [10]
-D'Gard took over leadership from Storm after Gene Nation's battle in Africa, but admitted he had great respect for her. He was executed by Marrow in order to prove her loyalty to the Weapon X program- she apparently felt bad about this.
BOOST- PL 6 (72): "Boost Others" Variable 4 (Extras: Affects Others Only +0) (Flaws: Limited to Mutants, Limited to Boosting Established Powers) [20]
-Just a background member. In a relationship with Tether.
TETHER- PL 6 (64) Agility 4, Electrical Damage 6 (Feats: Reach), "Claws" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Split) [12]
-Boost's Reptilian girlfriend, with an electrified tail. She blamed Storm for the deaths of many members in Africa, when "Humanity's Last Stand" attacked.
EVER- PL 6 (55) Strength -1, Stamina -1, Agility 0, Communication (Mental) 2, Move Object 8, Astral Projection 8 [3]
-Ever is weak and thus never got involved in any battles with his team, but joined Havok's "Brotherhood", where he was quickly killed. Apparently he's got great mental powers (he's living Gray Matter), but his physicality prevents him from being useful.
LOSS- PL 8 (56): "Bone Spikes on Wrists" Strength-Damage +3 (Feats: Split) [4]
-Loss was part of Mikhail's Personal Guard, but was never more than a Backgrounder, and hasn't been seen since the Nation showed up in Africa. A younger person that looked a great deal like her was later seen being devoured by a Predator X in modern times- possibly her daughter (though it's just as likely it was meant to be her, and the artist just drew her too young).
FEVER PITCH- PL 8 (111): Fire Blast 8 (Accurate 6), Flame Aura 7, Environment 2 (Extreme Heat 2), Immunity 5 (Piercing Damage) [59]
-A walking skeleton who always casts off flame. He was basically "inhaled" by X-Man, who siphoned off his power, but resurfaced during a Mutant brawl in Berlin, where some members of "X-Corps" (a branch of Professor X's larger company during a brief arc where they were trying to utilize all the un-used characters). He retained his powers after M-Day, but he was injected with a mutated strand of the Legacy Virus by The Leper Queen's Sapien League (?), and flared out in a manner that killed dozens of Friends of Humanity supporters. And so he died, taking several bigots with him.
OPSIDIAN THE DARK- PL 8 (103): "Pure Darkness" Concealment 2 (Visuals) (Flaws: Limited to Within Darkness), Elongation 5, Shapeshift 2, "Supernatural Feeling of Cold & Fear" Affliction 7 (Fort; Hindered, Vulnerable & Fatigued/Defenseless, Immobilized & Exhausted/Incapacitated) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable, Extra Condition +2) [51]
-A pretty classic "Darkforce"-type character, showed up with Dark Beast's crew, but disappeared following the battle with Generation X after being easily-defeated when Synch reflected Fever Pitch's fire into him. And yes, it's O
psidian, not O
bsidian.
IRON MAIDEN II- PL 8 (89): Strength 8, Stamina 8, Agility 4, Increased Mass 2, "Spikes" Damaging Aura 2, Senses 3 (Low-Light Vision, Acute & Extended Scent) [37]
-A highly-dense Mutant with spikes all over her, she was on Dark Beast's squad. She attacked Husk and hurt her, but M KO'd her pretty easily.