Last Updated:
2nd February 2017
The Acolytes started out as a group of mutants blindly following Magneto. For the time he was believed dead, they still pursued world domination by mutantkind in his name.
Leader: Magneto > Cortez > Magneto > none > Joseph > Exodus > Magneto > Exodus
Membership: Anne Marie Cortez, Fabian Cortez, Chrome, Delgado, Nance, Scanner, Cargill, Unuscione, Eric Kleinstock, Sven Kleinstock, Harlan Kleinstock, Neophyte, Milan, Voght, Senyaka, Spoor, Katu, Mellancamp, Javitz, Exodus, Rusty Collins, Skids, Colossus, Rakkus, Orator, Kamal, Decay, Projector, Gargouille, Rem-Ram, Static II, Barnacle, Vindaloo, Polaris, Tempo, Omega Sentinel, Random
Associates: Pyro, Feral, Avalanche, Omega Red, Fenris
First appearance: X-Men (2nd series) #1
Disbanded: Magneto (1st series) #4 [disbanded by Joseph posing as Magneto]
Reformed around Exodus: Quicksilver #1
Last appearance: X-Men Legacy (1st series) #225 (Disbanded after many of the team members were killed and many more were depowered during the Decimation. The current leader Exodus was convinced by Professor X that the Acolytes' current path only led to further death and so the team went their seperate ways)
Before
- Magneto tried Xavier's way as leader of the New Mutants but failed. He also was a member of the Hellfire Club I but severed these ties completely.
Chronology
| X-Men (2nd series) #1: | A group of mutants hunted by SHIELD agents searches for Asteroid M to join Magneto. Believing them to be attackers he destroys both planes, but he then is surprised to hear that the mutants‘ intention is to join his cause. He brings the survivors to his space station, where they immediately start to fight each other. After the SHIELD agents hurt one of the mutants, Magneto stops the fight and founds the Acolytes. Fabian Cortez heals a wound Magneto received in battle with Wolverine. Without his permission the Acolytes attack Genosha, Magneto stops a fight between them and the X-Men and announces that he declares Asteroid M as a haven for mutants, anyone may join him. |
| X-Men (2nd series) #2: | The X-Men refuse to simply let Magneto and the Acolytes go. A battle engages resulting in the X-Men's Blue team defeat. All are caught and taken to Asteroid M. Scanning Magneto Fabian Cortez discovers that his genetic code has been altered. Magneto kidnaps Xavier and Moira to interrogate them, since the only time the alteration could have taken place, was when he, as a baby, was in Moira's care. (Between Champions #17 and Uncanny X-Men #104, see Brotherhood of Evil Mutants I for full info) Moira confesses this to be true. Her intention was to delete a side-effect of his power - the possibility of an electrochemical imbalance in his brain. |
| X-Men (2nd series) #3: | The Gold team travels to space to rescue their teammates. As they arrive they have to fight their brainwashed teammates who joined Magneto. Soon they are able to break the mental control and all turn on Magneto, who breaks down. It turns out that Fabian Cortez betrayed Magneto. He did not heal the wound, he only amplified Magneto's power to make him feel better. Cortez already is on a shuttle outside Asteroid M and shoots at the Asteroid, believing that Magneto's death will inspire mutantkind to follow him as Magnus’s „last disciple“. The X-Men rapidly leave the Asteroid and offer Magneto and the other Acolytes to join them, but they refuse and stay on Asteroid M. From afar the X-Men see the station explode. |
In between
- Fabian Cortez’s elimination of Magneto established him as ranking competitor among the Upstarts, who had been formed initially by Selene in order to indirectly assassinate her rivals in the Hellfire Club. The game took on a life of it’s own, however, as her Gamesmaster and the participants turned against Selene, and began competing independently from her for the „ultimate prize“. Cortez began gathering a new team of Acolytes as vassals to aid him unwittingly in the competition and to serve his own ends.
- Joanna Cargill was a member of the Alliance of Evil, back when she used the codename Frenzy.
- Way back Voght ended a relationship with Xavier due to Xavier's decision to form the X-Men and fight for what he believed in. For an instant he lost control and used his power on her to make her stay. That probably helped her decide to leave him permanently. (Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #309)
Chronology continued
| Avengers (1st series) #357: | Cortez’s new Acolytes begin to openly carry on their version of Magneto’s word. Fabian sends one of them who is called Screener (seems to be Scanner) to Avengers mansion to check the genetic matrix of Luna, daughter of Quicksilver, granddaughter of Magneto. After scanning she reports that Luna is only human and definately has no mutant genes. |
| Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #298: | A new team of Acolytes (Cargill, Unuscione and the three Kleinstock brothers) surfaces, they attack a school wanting to secure an unidentified mutant boy. As they discover that the boy suffers from Down syndrome they judge him as worthless. After doing a lot of damage and killing the nurse Sharon Friedlander, they leave when the X-Men appear and one of their own, Eric Kleinstock, is killed by Tom Corsi. Unuscione mentions Cortez as their leader. |
| Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #299: | Forge and Peter Gyrich investigate the impact site of Asteroid M and discover the dead bodies of Delgado, Anne Marie Cortez and Chrome. In Magneto's seat there is only a metal hull. It seems Chrome had used his power to encase Magneto in a metal foil to protect him from the impact. (Note: Nance or her body is not seen) |
| Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #300: | Due to the "death" of the world's most known mutant his Acolytes have gained many new members (Milan, Voght, Senyaka, Spoor, Katu, Mellancamp, Javitz). They kidnap Moira MacTaggert gathering every information on Magneto. Neophyte, one of the newest Acolytes, learns from her that actually Cortez was responsible for the (supposed) death of Magneto. He confronts Cortez about it, who immediately tries to kill the boy, thus eliminating this threat to his plans. The Neophyte survives and then leads the X-Men to the Acolytes place to rescue Moira; they defeat the Acolytes but Voght gets away. Neophyte leaves. A week later, a suspicious Voght liberates Cortez from a prison hospital. Gamesmaster appears to strip Fabian of his points to date in the Upstart competition, indicating to Cortez that Magneto is still alive. |
In between
- Nance was not among the dead bodies seen in Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #299. It is not known if she too died in the crash of Asteroid M or not. Since it has been suspected that she was mindcontrolled by Anne Marie Cortez into joining the Acolytes, Anne Marie's death in the crash could have resulted in freeing Nance's mind.
- Exodus was once a 12th century knight in the crusades, and a friend of that era's Black Knight. Lured by the promise of power, his latent mutant powers revealed themselves and Apocalypse turned him into Exodus. Refusing to kill his friend, the Black Knight, he turned on Apocalypse, who put him into suspended animation. The Black Knight then buried his friend in a tomb in the swiss alps. (Black Knight: Exodus One-Shot) Apparently Magneto would later discover and awaken him.
- Skids and Rusty were trained by X-Factor and later after joining the New Mutants ran into Freedom Force. Captured while in prison, they got mental implants by the MLF, forcing them to work with them. Alongside their teammates they were caught during the X-Cutioner's Song. When the Friends of Humanity kidnapped them during a prison transfer, X-Force rescued them. [X-Force (1st series) #23-24]
- Before making their first public appearance, the new Acolytes kidnapped Val Cooper, government liasion to the X-Factor team, and brain-washed her using some kind of biological agent for her connections to Project: Wideawake and ability to monitor Quicksilver for them. [X-Factor (1st series) #87]
Chronology continued
| X-Factor (1st series) #92: | The Acolytes slaughter the ill people in a hospice. Spoor lets himself get captured to tell the investigating X-Factor where the Acolytes will strike next. While the rest of X-Factor battles the Acolytes, Cortez approaches Quicksilver and invites him to join, since he is "the Son" (of Magneto). As he refuses, the Acolytes leave, one member short, since Seamus Mellancamp is killed in the battle by Madrox. |
| X-Force (1st series) #25: | Magneto is seen to be alive. He built a new space station called Avalon. In his name his new follower Exodus invites certain members of X-Force to join him. He offers Avalon as a safe haven for mutants. Out of gratitude for freeing them of the MLF mental implants Rusty and Skids accept. |
| Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #304: | Exodus visits Cortez's Acolytes and informs them that Magneto is alive and that Cortez himself had tried to kill him. Immediately the Acolytes turn against the "Blasphemer" Cortez. Exodus gives Cortez a heavy beating and takes the Acolytes to Magneto, who just interrupted Illyana Rasputin's funeral to invite the mutants of all X-teams to join his mutant haven on Avalon. As he is introduced to the Acolytes, Magneto wraps Senyaka, responsible for the massacre in the hospice, in his own coils. By killing him he wants to demonstrate that even though he would have approved the action, he can not allow the Acolytes to do so without his orders. Colossus, who was suffering from head trauma and had seen his family dying off one-by-one in the last year violently stops Bishop’s major counter-assault on Magneto, and asks to come along to Avalon, since he has nothing left keeping him on Earth. |
| X-Men Unlimited (1st series) #2: | Exodus in Magneto's name asks Phantazia (of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants IV) to join the mutants among Avalon, but being unsure she refuses. |
| X-Men (2nd series) #25: | The UN and Magneto are preparing for a war. Magneto creates an electromagnetic pulse wave, causing major damage worldwide. A small task force of X-Men enters Avalon unnoticed. They override the teleportation systems and transport all Acolytes into escape pods outside the station. Then they take the battle to Magneto. In the end Xavier has to mindwipe Magneto. Actually Colossus was responsible for the security systems not reacting to the X-Men's presence. Now overwhelmed with guilt he tends to the vegetative Magneto and orders the X-Men to leave the station. |
| Bloodties: Avengers (1st series) #368, X-Men (2nd series) #26, Avengers West Coast #101, Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #307, Avengers (1st series) #369: |
In Genosha Cortez fuels the mutate's rebellion against the government. Not knowing that Magneto has been mindwiped he tries to get his attention by kidnapping his granddaughter Luna (child of Quicksilver and Crystal). On Avalon Colossus and Exodus discuss the events in Genosha. The Avengers and the X-Men arrive in Genosha to deal with Cortez and the rebellion; Exodus, himself appointed heir of Magneto, too goes to Genosha to liberate its mutate population. While the remaining heroes battle Exodus, Jean, Quicksilver, Crystal and Scarlet Witch go after Luna and Cortez. Exodus wins against the heroes and follows Cortez, who blackmails the quartet of heroes into fighting Exodus on his behalf to protect Luna. Yet Exodus defeats them all, kills Cortez and graps Luna for himself. He plans to kill her since her being only human is an insult to Magneto, one of the most powerful mutants. Together the X-Men and the Avengers rescue Luna and defeat Exodus, who then leaves for Avalon. |
| Excalibur (1st series) #71: | Spoor has been transferred to detention facilities on Muir Island, and briefly escapes to get in a fight with Nightcrawler. Meanwhile, the X-Men believe that Colossus's decision might be a result of a brain injury he recently received. Tricked by Shadowcat Colossus comes to Muir and is forced by the X-Men to have the injury treated. Voght, Katu and Unuscione arrive to fight Excalibur, but the cured Colossus decides to go with the Acolytes again and of his own free will. |
| Cable (1st series) #9-11: | A team of Acolytes (Milan, Katu, Voght, Unuscione) locates Omega Red in the sewers of London. They offer to tell him of a way to cure his need for others’ life-forces if he joins their cause. After learning how the cure works, Omega Red betrays them and breaks into the Muir Island complex to retrieve some items needed for the cure. The Acolytes want to get revenge and offer Cable to help to hunt him down. The Acolytes know that Omega will travel to an antarctic base to use the devices and take Cable there, as they arrive they find a beaten Omega Red. The hunt was only a ploy by the Acolytes, they really wanted to get Cable. Avalon is composed of parts of his former spaceship Graymalkin and there are some programs damaged which need repairs. The whole team of Acolytes chase Cable through the antarctic base. During the fight Omega Red awakens and starts his cure that would release all his death spores at once. Katu sacrifices himself and implodes him and Omega Red. (Art error: In #10 Rusty is missing, but instead an unknown Acolyte is drawn, #11 does not mention this Acolyte again, but Rusty is there). |
| Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #315: | The Acolytes have caught the Neophyte and put him on trial for betraying them to the X-Men in Uncanny X-Men #300. While most Acolytes demand death as punishment, Colossus acts as his defender. Realizing Rasputin has succeeded in wavering the bloodlust of his fellow Acolytes, Exodus decides not to kill the boy as he originally planned but to expell him forever from Avalon and the Acolytes. |
| Avengers (1st series) #380-382: | Quicksilver and Crystal are summoned to Wundagore mountain because Bova is ill. They learn from the Neophyte that the High Evolutionary has resettled in the mountain and that the Acolytes are not happy that he disturbs their sacred place, where Lord Magneto’s children were born and his wife is laid to rest. As it turns out Bova's illness was no coincidence. Exodus ordered Rakkus, a new Acolyte, to possess a friend of hers and had her poisoned. Rakkus tries to kill the Evolutionary and Quicksilver, but is summoned back to Avalon. |
| X-Men Prime: | The Acolytes discover a large chunk of ice outside their station, inside seems to be a person. (It is Holocaust who just emerged from AOA). |
| X-Men (2nd series) #42: | The Acolytes examine the unconscious person and discover him to be a very powerful mutant. Some of the Acolytes doubt that it was safe to bring him into the station. Milan is assigned to guard the stranger; when alone he is killed and his life-force absorbed by Holocaust. Scanner recognizes that she is unable to contact him mentally, and asks Rusty to check the lab. He too gets absorbed. As Holocaust fully awakens he becomes aware of Exodus. Believing to be caught by the X-Men (in AOA Exodus was one of them) he starts to destroy Avalon. Voght teleports for help and transports Cyclops and Phoenix to the space station. |
| X-Men (2nd series) #43: | During the battle Holocaust absorbs Javitz too. As the space station is in danger of breaking apart, the mutants split up. Voght teleports to Xavier who mentally guides the rescue operation. Colossus takes the mindless Magneto into an escape pod, Jean saves Skids who is already floating in outer space and Cyclops leads the rest of the Acolytes on a different section of Avalon. Exodus and Holocaust both fight on even as they crash down to Earth. |
| X-Men (2nd series) #44: | Jean and Skids arrive safely on Earth, and as Colossus is rescued from freezing in Antarctica by Callisto, Magneto is nowhere to be found. While Xavier and Voght search for them, Cyclops leads the remaining Acolytes (Cargill, Unuscione, Scanner, and the Kleinstock brothers) through the Australian Outback. As they arrive in the X-Men's former base, Cyclops orders the Acolytes to turn themselves in for their crimes. Voght turns to mist and leaves Xavier. |
In between
- Spoor was transfered to Muir Island, where Moira discovered that he has a death wish. He was seen in the Muir Island complex as a patient / prisoner in Excalibur (1st series) # 71, 74, 88-90, X-Man #12, Excalibur (1st series) #95. During his psychological treatment he manipulated Rory Campbell, the man who may become Ahab, into losing a leg. In Excalibur (1st series) #102 he was transfered to a governmental department.
- Senyaka's body was taken to a SHIELD medical unit, where the examining scientist painfully discovered that he was not dead. Upon touching him Senyaka was able to reinfuse himself with the scientist's lifeforce. Since then he went on a crusade to kill all people Magneto ever cared about, starting with Lee Forrester. [Cable (1st series) #11-12]
- The writers seem to have completely forgotten about Rakkus, as he never reappeared.
- After one mission with the X-Men, Colossus left and ended up joining Excalibur. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #325, Excalibur (1st series) #91-92]
- Skids tries to live a "normal life" , going back to college for a time. [X-Force (1st series) #78-80, 85]
- Entering Earth’s atmosphere Exodus and Holocust were separated, Exodus crash-landed in the swiss alps. There he fought both Cable and X-Man but was buried deep beneath the ground [Cable (1st series) #30, X-Man #14]
- In X-Men (2nd series) #46 and Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #327 a much younger and amnesiac Magneto appeared. He was found by a nun and named Joseph. He later travelled to the US, met Rogue and was introduced to the X-Men. The X-Men were not sure to tell the mysteriously de-aged Magneto about his past. (Later during the Magneto War it would be revealed that the crashlanded Magneto was found by Astra, a till then unknown member of his first Brotherhood of Evil Mutants I. With alien technology she cured the mindwipe only to have her revenge by seeing him killed by himself, or actually an Astra-made-clone of him. During the fight the clone receives a hit in the head which caused the amnesia. The real Magneto fled to one of his bases in Antarctica and the clone was found by the nun.)
Chronology continued
| "Who is Joseph?" Magneto (1st series) #1-4 , Excalibur (1st series) #106 |
- Joseph searches for his past and discusses with Rogue about it. Both are unaware of Amelia Voght watching them. - Joseph then travels to South America, where he not only discovers the ruins of Avalon but a group of Acolytes (Scanner, Cargill, Kleinstock brothers, Kamal and about a dozen of new unnamed Acolytes) worshipping these remains. - In Antarctica Exodus assembled another group of Acolytes (about twenty new unnamed characters) to rebuild Avalon. As Amelia Voght returns to the antarctican base, she refuses to tell Exodus about her journey. Exodus orders the "traitor" to be killed, but Cortez interrupts. He tells that he did not die in Genosha but his near death experience has changed him. He begs mercy for Amelia. Exodus orders her to be brought into a holding cell. - A military group called "Humanity's Last Stand" discovers the Acolytes in South America and attempts to slaughter them. Seeing Joseph uses his magnetism to drive them off, the Acolytes believe their Lord Magneto returned. Joseph refuses this responsibility and heads into the jungle, where he finds the remains of Magneto’s private quarters. - Believing that Cortez truly has changed Amelia in her prison tells him of the only man who could stop Exodus: Joseph. Cortez immediately travels to South America and fills him in about Exodus's plans of a new ascension of Avalon. This would cause major ecological problems, resulting in the death of hundreds of people. Cortez convinces Joseph to play the role of Magneto. - The South American Acolytes are surprised to see Cortez with Magneto again, this was the man who tried to kill him once. Yet claiming to have changed due to his near dying he is allowed to stay. Joseph proves to be Magneto when he disables a few nuclear warhead fired from "Humanity's Last Stand". - In Antarctica Exodus discovers that Cortez is missing. Believing Amelia responsible he tortures her till she gives away her knowledge of Joseph. - Together Joseph, Cortez and the Acolytes travel to Antarctica to stop Exodus's plan of the ascension. On the way Cortez feeds Joseph with false facts, that Magneto and Voght were lovers. Of course Fabian Cortez did not change, he hopes that a battle between Joseph and Exodus will make it easier for him to become leader again. - Upon arrival Exodus, even though he knows that it is Joseph, starts to believe that this may actually be Magneto; yet as Joseph kisses Amelia thinking to play along, the ploy is revealed. A battle between the two factions of Acolytes arises. Joseph runs away as he sees many Acolytes hurt or dying in his name. - Exodus now has full control of the Acolytes. Some Acolytes close to Colossus (Cargill, Scanner, Unuscione) contact him, after filling him in on the ascension of a new Avalon, they ask him to join them, but he refuses. - Joseph returns, now himself fully convinced to be Magneto, he demands a duel with Exodus. - Exodus and Joseph battle outside and stop as they become aware of another attack of the "Humanity's Last Stand". Again Joseph easily outmatches the missiles, but the fury and passion he wields his mutant powers with, proves him in the eyes of the Acolytes to be the real Magneto (even to Exodus), at least close enough to the real Magneto not to question him anymore. - After regaining sense of his identity, Joseph orders all assembled Acolytes to disband and scatter around the globe, each one has to look for salvation within. - (Note: The horde of no-name Acolytes might be identical with the mutate army the Acolytes use to conquer Wundagore in Quicksilver #1 - see below) |
| Quicksilver #1: | Exodus reformed the Acolytes (Scanner, Unuscione, Cargill, Cortez, Kleinstocks) and attacks Wundagore mountain once again using an army of mutates. This time they succeed and drive the High Evolutionary, Quicksilver and the Knights of Wundagore out of the mountain's citadel. |
| Heroes for Hire (1st series) #8-9: | White Tiger, Thena and her children travel to the High Evolutionary's citadel but find it taken over by the Acolytes. Caught by surprise they are easily captured by Scanner, Exodus, Unuscione, Cortez and the Kleinstocks. After Exodus probed the Tiger's mind to gain information about the High Evolutionary's Isotope E, he lets them go. |
| Quicksilver #4-7: | Exodus wants two aquire two things at once: to get information about Isotope E and to rid the world of all impure and artificial mutants. He sends Cortez to Attilan, where he amplifies the powers of the mad Maximus. Maximus, a telepath, first takes over Quicksilver and later even Black Bolt (intending to destroy Attilan with his voice power). Together with his wife Crystal and his sister Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver overcomes the brainwashing and takes Bolt out of the Great Refuge before he destroys it at Exodus's command. In the meantime a recently assembled task force (Feral, Random, Pyro, Avalanche, Fenris, Omega Red) kidnaps and interrogates most of the Knights of Wundagore about Isotope E. Some members of the task force are infected with the Legacy virus, Exodus told them that the Isotope might hold the key for a cure; yet he plans to kill all infected ones, when they have outlived their usefulness. |
| Quicksilver #8-9: | The Knights of Wundagore are able to escape their imprisoners, but not before they overhear that Exodus traced the Isotope's unique energy signature to the Savage Land. All groups now travel to the Savage Land. While the Acolytes (Scanner with three new members Decay, Projector and Gargouille) meet with their associates, the Knights and Quicksilver already meet the Evolutionary, who needs the Isotope for himself to stop his devolving into an apelike state (experiment gone wrong). Of course a big fight starts but the Knights prove themselves in battle and win. The Acolytes teleport out, leaving their impure "associates" behind in the Savage Land. |
| The Siege of Wundagore: Heroes for Hire (1st series) #15-16, Quicksilver #11-12, Heroes for Hire / Quicksilver Annual '98 | - The Heroes' White Tiger, a creation of the Evolutionary, promises him to ask the Heroes for Hire for help to reoccupy the Wundagore citadel. Later when she comes back with her fellow team members, she recognizes that one of the Knight of Wundagore is a traitor, and the teams fight each other; the Knights then leave along with the High Evolutionary for Wundagore. - In Wundagore mountain the Acolytes are once more able to trace the Isotope energy pattern; they locate it to the Knights castle along the Hudson river. Exodus orders the Acolytes to teleport there and retrieve the Isotope. Surprisingly Amelia Voght is with the Acolytes once more. Also Spoor and Senyaka have rejoined the group. - Quicksilver arrives seconds after the fight and finds the beaten Heroes for Hire. Suddenly the Acolytes teleport in, but after they hear that the Knights along with the Evolutionary are already on their way to Wundagore they teleport back. - During the flight to Wundagore the traitor among the Knights reveals himself, it is the Man-Beast; he kidnaps the Evolutionary and gets hold of the Isotope. As he arrives at the citadel the Acolytes start to fight him, but Exodus and the Man-Beast form an alliance. - The Heroes for Hire follow to Transia, but once there, they face the united forces of the Acolytes and the Knights, who are blackmailed with the Evolutionary's life into fighting their former allies. Against this overwhelming odds the Heroes loose and are locked up in a vault. - (Note: Without explanation three thought-to-be-dead Acolytes are seen in the big fight scenes in Heroes for Hire #16: Mellancamp, Milan, Javitz. The latter two appear only in this issue and can be explained away as psionic constructs of Exodus, to create the illusion of overwhelming odds, but Mellancamp is a true mystery.) - While Bova secures the Evolutionary to an underground cave, Quicksilver is able to free himself. After freeing the Heroes for Hire, he also convinces the Knights of their Lord’s safety. He then steals the Isotope. - The break-out is not unnoticed; another fight starts, and this time the sides are evenly matched. During the fight Amelia Voght secretly saves Quicksilvers's life, because "she gave her word that no harm would come to him". (The reason she rejoined is that she promised the real Magneto to watch over the Acolytes and Quicksilver.) - In the end, Quicksilver turns the Isotope on himself and boosts his powers to the point that he single handedly defeats Exodus and the Acolytes. - In the caves below the Man-Beast battles the Knights for the Evolutionary until suddenly his godlike powers return leaving him in a mad state. - Quicksilver, the Heroes for Hire, the Man-Beast and some of the Acolytes have to work together to stop the Evolutionary. Decay tries to drain him, but burns himself out, leeching off to much energy at once. Together the heroes and villains fight him till his powers are drained; then again both Exodus and the Man-Beast try to use the situation to their advantage; but both villains to get defeated. Exodus in particular is (re)confronted by Heroes’ member the Black Knight, descendent of his old friend Eobar Garrington and the man present at his original ascension and imprisonment at the hands of Apocalypse. The Acolytes want Quicksilver as their leader but he turns this offer down. |
| Heroes for Hire (1st series) #17: | The Black Knight oversees that Exodus is locked once more into his mountain tomb, just as he was way back in the 12th century. |
In between
- Pyro’s strike force would all eventually escape the Savage Land and appear again. Pyro Omega Red, Avalanche, Feral, and Andrea von Strucker would die in Cable (1st series) #87, Wolverine: Origins #39, Uncanny Avengers (1st series) #1, Wolverine (3rd series) #54, and Citizen V and the V-Battalion #3, respectively. Random turned up in Weapon X (2nd series) as a prisoner in the Neverland facility. Andreas von Strucker became Swordsman III, and served with the Thunderbolts before dying as well in Secret Invasion: Dark Reign. he and his sister have since been resurrected by unknown means.
Chronology continued
| X-Men Magneto War: | Under Magneto's command Amelia Voght has separated those loyalist Acolytes (Cargill, Scanner, Unuscione, Kamal, Neophyte, Katu, Mellancamp, and newly identified member Vindaloo) who are true followers of Magneto from Cortez. As he welcomes his new / old team he assigns Amelia with a special task to watch over Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, his children. The other renegade half of the Acolytes (the Kleinstock brothers, Senyaka, Spoor, Projector and newly identified members Rem-Ram, Static, and Barnacle) led by Cortez attack the X-Men in their home in Westchester. As they are defeated Cortez abandons his team and runs away, the other Acolytes ask to join Xavier's school, but Xavier denies their request, because of the recent Onslaught trauma and his failure with Sabretooth. (Vindaloo, Rem-Ram, Static, and Barnacle are presumably from among the hordes of unidentified Acolytes in the Magneto series. Neither the return of lost or exiled members like Spoor, Senyaka, and Neophyte nor the resurrection of Katu and Mellancamp is openly discussed on panel). |
| Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #366, X-Men (2nd series) #86: | While Magneto prepares himself to threaten the world with a global magnetic pulse wave, his Acolytes keep the X-Men busy with hit-and-run missions of terrorism. (Art error: in Kamal’s place the dead Javitz is drawn - it was corrected in #367.) As the X-Men follow the Acolytes in their Blackbird to the northpole, Magneto creates a powerful magnetic pulse wave, shorting out all electrical devices on Earth, including the Blackbird. The X-Men crawl from their ruined plane into the arctic wastelands, while the Acolytes (in a shielded plane) watch from a safe distance. |
| Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #367, X-Men (2nd series) #87: | Xavier manipulates the Acolytes into landing their craft and lures them out to fight the X-Men. Recognizing too late that they are influenced by him, the Acolytes have to watch as the X-Men get away with their own plane. In the meantime Magneto is confronted by an old acquaintance of the past - Astra. She is retconned to have been a member of his first Brotherhood and responsible for Joseph's creation. Astra orders Joseph to fight Magneto. Joseph and Magneto battle each other over the vast magnetic energies of the north pole. As the X-Men arrive, Joseph gains the upper hand, but sacrifices his life to consume the magnetic energy outlet. An operative of the UN arrives and offers to pacify Magneto by giving him Genosha as a new mutant homeland. Unknown to anybody the fight took a lot out of Magneto, he now has only limited access to his powers. |
The following issues are also featured in the Genosha Chronology list; still the entries here focus on the Acolytes, while there descriptions and overall connections are more detailed.
| Magneto Rex #1: | Magneto has taken over the island of Genosha. Quicksilver finally discovers that Amelia Voght is watching him on his father’s order. He demands to be taken to him, resulting in Amelia teleporting both of them to Genosha. Shortly after they arrive Pietro is captured by a group of fanatic mutates. Wondering how to help him Amelia runs into Rogue. Magneto offers Cortez a place among his genoshan cabinet and forgiveness for all former doublecrossing in exchange for a regular power upgrading (to hide his current weakness). |
| Magneto Rex #2: | Amelia and Rogue rescue Quicksilver from execution on stage. Cortez already starts to scheme behing Magneto's back again. |
| Magneto Rex #3: | During a fight Magneto would have been crushed to death by the rebellion's leader, but Quicksilver has Cortez to augment his powers and thus helps his father. After the Genoshan new cabinet is announced (which Quicksilver is part of), Magneto thanks Amelia for her well performance. The whole time her single task was to lure Quicksilver into staying which she finally achieved. |
| X-Men Unlimited (1st series) #27: | The new genoshan cabinet (of which Cortez and Voght are also part) start to rebuild their country. |
| X-Force (1st series) #94-95: | X-Force joins Pete Wisdom and secretly enters Genosha to retrieve a friend who was turned into an artificial intelligence. They manage to evade street fights between the Acolytes (Cargill, Vindaloo, Neophyte, Mellancamp, and three more) and the Magistrates. On the way out they run into Quicksilver and Magneto. When Jesse Aaronson shuts down the island's main power grid, Amelia calls Magneto for help against the invading forces, and Magneto has to let X-Force go. |
| X-Men (2nd series) #96: | Xavier contacts Magneto about Apocalypse and the Twelve. Right before he leaves for the meeting, Magneto requires another of Cortez's hypercharges. Of course he knows that Cortez can't be trusted, but for the time he has no other choice. |
| Uncanny X-Men Annual '99: | During Magneto's absense Exodus, mentally disguised as him, takes his place. None of the council members recognize the imposter. Exodus tries to make up for the crimes of his past. He stops the war on Genosha by putting every single mind under his mental control. Forge and Mutliple Man, who have been spying on Genosha, alert those X-Men that aren't included in the Twelve storyline and stop Exodus. Of course once the mental hold is off, the war starts anew. |
| X-Men (2nd series) #98: | During the Twelve Storyline Magneto discovered that he could use Polaris to tap into Earth's magnetic field, so he won't need Cortez's hypercharging anymore. He asks her to join him on Genosha. |
| Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #379: | Cortez is already talking about treason to the other Acolytes (besides Amelia) as Magneto returns with Polaris. Magneto proves to him in a painful way that he no longer requires his hypercharges. Polaris worries about the risk she takes joining Magneto, yet hoping to help to stop the war in Genosha she thinks she is doing the right thing. Meanwhile Beast and Iceman illegally enter the island to study the legacy patients. Later that day the High Evolutionary causes all mutants worldwide to revert to the humans they would be without the X-factor gene. |
| X-Men (2nd series) #99: | In Genosha Bobby and Iceman meet the powerless Magneto and Polaris and an unrecognizeable pair of (male) Acolytes fighting the rebels. Having an escape vessel made only for two they hand it over to Iceman and Beast, that they may inform the X-Men of the fast degenerating condition of the Genoshan mutates, whose reaction to the Evolutionary's manipulations is life-threatening. |
| Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #380: | As the X-Men turn off the Evolutionary's device all mutant powers return. Magneto and his Acolytes are repowered and beat the Magistrates to retake the capital. The mutant population celebrates Magneto, but later in his secret quarters "he" meets with the real Magneto. Shutting off an image-inducer, "Magneto" is revealed to have been Polaris. She posed for the still depowered Magneto. |
| Magneto Dark Seduction #1-4 | - About six months later Magneto's forces brought the whole island under their control, except for a small village called Carrion Cove. - Polaris no longer wears an Acolyte costume, but a new one. She seems to be addicted to Magneto's power training, and Quicksilver is very concerned about her. She provides Magneto with a connection to Earth's magnetic field so that he no longer has to rely on Cortez. - The people at Carrion Cove hide a secret and to ensure it remains secret they have hired outside help - the Acolytes abandoned by Cortez: Senyaka, Barnacle, Rem-Ram. Kleinstock Brothers, Spoor, Projector and Static (Rem-Ram and Projector are only mentioned, but not seen on panel). A battle starts between them and a group of Magneto's followers (Voght, Cargill, Scanner, Pipeline, Jenny Ransome and Phillip Moreau). - Secretly Cortez, through a long range transmitter, provides the abandoned Acolytes with his power-ups that they can hold their ground against Magneto's forces, but suddenly the connection breaks down and they are easily defeated. - The secret is revealed as the Sugarman's machines. Even though the Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver and Polaris try to stop him, Magneto uses the devices to restore his full powers. - As his backplotting is discovered, Cortez is killed by Magneto. - Polaris leaves Genosha, and the remaining loyal followers of Magneto wonder about the future. (- The art of a panel in #4 hints a yet unexplained connection between Mr. Sinister and Fabian Cortez) |
| X-Men (2nd series) #111: | Joanna Cargill has been made Genoshan Ambassador. She speaks in front of the UN about Magneto preparing troops for his launch for world dominion. In his name she offers safety for any country that accepts Magneto as ruler. Magneto captures Xavier as a symbol for his imminent war on the human race. |
| Eve of Destruction: Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #392-393, X-Men (2nd series) #112-113: | Cargill has been captured by FBI agents and is interrogated. Jean Grey frees her and takes telepathic control of her to make her join an interim team of X-Men that travels to Genosha to stop the imminent war. The X-Men entangle Magneto in an illusionary fight on the astral plane and free their mentor with the help of Amelia Voght. Magneto is startled and before he can react he gets stabbed in the gut by Wolverine. Cargill and the other interim team members return with the X-Men to Westchester, but then decide to leave for personal reasons. |
| New X-Men (1st series) #115-116: | A new breed of Sentinels arrive on Genosha and commit genocide. Magneto, still recovering from his wounds, is unable to prevent the robots‘ actions. He is apparently among the millions of victims. |
In between
- Even though Kamal, Mellancamp and Katu were not seen after the six months gap they presumably still resided on Genosha.
- Although Xavier telepathically sensed Magneto’s death, and the X-Men found a magnetic black box recording of his final words [New X-Men #116, 133], Magneto was revealed to be among the living. The exact details have yet to be revealed, though it seems that his daughter, the Scarlet Witch, had a hand in his rebirth. Later on, when Wanda wished there to be “no more mutants“, Magneto was depowered like millions of other mutants.
- Exodus apparently left Genosha before Magneto returned from the Twelve. He was later seen leading his own Brotherhood of Mutants in an attack on the X-Men, where he was subsequently sucked into another dimension. By unknown means, he made it out of the dimension and returned to Earth. [X-Men (2nd series) #161-165, Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #460]
- The Scarlet Witch depowered most of the world’s mutant population. Of the Acolytes known to be alive, only Scanner was confirmed depowered. [New Avengers (1st series) #18]
|
X-Men Annual (3rd series) #1 |
After the mass depowering and destruction of Genosha, Exodus reforms the Acolytes with Tempo, Cargill and Random. Breaking into a SHIELD helicarrier, Exodus uses their technology to build a rudimentary version of Cerebro. He discovers the extent to the depowerment, as well as the fact that no new mutants are being born. The Acolytes are attacked by the X-Men, who coincidentally happened to be on the helicarrier. Defeated, Exodus escorts the Acolytes to Antarctica, where he meets with Mister Sinister and joins forces with his Marauders. |
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X-Men (2nd series) #201-202, 204 |
Unuscione comes out of hiding and joins the Acolytes as they test their new relationship with Sinister. With seeming knowledge that a significant event is about to occur, Sinister wants to prevent the X-Men from also getting wind of it. He sends Exodus and the Acolytes to the X-Mansion to destroy the prophetic diaries of Destiny, as well as kill the precognitive student Blindfold. Using Tempo’s powers, the group easily breaks into the mansion, where they discover Blindfold has seemingly taken her own life. They find out that the diaries are not in the mansion and report the information to Sinister. |
|
Messiah Complex crossover |
The moment Sinister had waited for arrived when the first mutant baby after M-Day was born. Despite their foreknowledge, the Marauders fail in their bid to acquire the child, but so do the X-Men. Desperate to beat their foes, the X-Men track down former Acolytes Neophyte, Vindaloo, Projector, Amelia Voght and Gargouille in the hopes that they knew where Exodus is. They succeed and are pointed towards Sinister’s base, which the X-Men attack. Exodus is quickly removed from the fight by Nightcrawler, allowing the X-Men to discover Sinister does not possess the baby. Ironically, the Marauders soon do so, after which Sinister moves his base to Muir Island to await the inevitable attack from the X-Men. An all-out brawl occurs when they arrive which results in Tempo, Unuscione and Exodus all being bested. In the end, the X-Men win and send the baby off with Cable so that it can be raised in the future without being hunted. The conflict is not without casualties, including Mister Sinister, many of the Marauders and even Professor Xavier. |
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X-Men Legacy (1st series) #208-210 |
Exodus decides to save Xavier’s life and has Tempo slow time down, allowing the cyborg Omega Sentinel to use her technology to save the telepath’s body. Taking him back to their base, he sets about restoring the Xavier’s brain, both physically and psychically. He is joined by Amelia Voght, who offers insight into Xavier’s mind, which allows Exodus to navigate the fractured mindscape. Despite his best efforts, Xavier remains catatonic, so Exodus summons his former master Magneto, hoping the voice of an old friend would wake the man. The plan works but Cargill, still seeing him as an enemy, decides to kill Xavier. She is stopped by Magneto, who saves his old friend by firing a laser pen into Cargill’s eye, giving her brain damage which puts her in a coma. Outraged by Magneto’s actions, Exodus attempts to kill him but is stopped by the revived Xavier, who attacks him telepathically. Exodus tries to defeat Xavier by showing him traumatic visions of his past, but it only makes the telepath stronger, enabling him to knock the Acolyte down. Exodus reveals that he wanted Xavier to lead the Acolytes so they could usher forth a new era for mutantkind. Xavier declines the offer and leaves the base to mend his shattered mind. |
In Between
- Xavier travelled the world, finding figures from his past in a bid to regain his memories.
- The Acolytes, led by Exodus and now consisting of Amelia Voght, Frenzy, Unuscione, Omega Sentinel, Random and Tempo, remained off the X-Men’s radar.
|
X-Men Legacy (1st series) #225 |
After healing his mind enough, Xavier feels it is time to revisit the Acolytes to deliver a few words of wisdom to them. Using his telepathy from afar, he manages to manipulate them so that he can walk right into their base unharmed. His first stop is to wake Frenzy from her coma using his telepathy. He then meets with Exodus, who is prepared to fight until Xavier manages to convince him to talk. In their discussion, Xavier shows Exodus visions from both their pasts, detailing the many deaths that each side had suffered in their constant war. Humbled by the destruction that had been caused, Exodus then takes a cue from Xavier and decides to go his own way. Disbanding the Acolytes and destroying their base, Exodus goes out into the world, leaving the rest of the team to think about their own futures. |
Afterwards
- Exodus showed up in X-Men Legacy (1st series) #261 having apparently learned nothing. At the time, the X-Men had undergone a philosophical schism and were split between Utopia and Westchester. In a bid to force the two groups to reunite, Exodus tried to kill Cyclops. Instead, he was beaten and imprisoned on Utopia, until the island was destroyed and all the prisoners were let go. He next showed up facing off against Magneto's own X-Men team, where he was beaten and captured my his former master in Uncanny X-Men (4th series).
- Omega Sentinel rejoined the X-Men on Utopia but was accidentally put into a coma by Hellion. After being infected with the sentient bacteria Arkea, she regained consciousness but left the X-Men soon after.
- Frenzy also moved to Utopia and was caught in Legion’s reality warp that created the Age of X. Her experiences in the alternate reality caused her to rethink her future and she decided to join the X-Men.
- Tempo travelled to Utopia and was killed during the Age of X reality warp. Her memories were absorbed by Rogue just before she died and appeared to remain dead after reality was restored.
- Unuscione and Neophyte also made appearances on Utopia. Unuscione was known as Stand-Off, one of the Force Warriors, during Age of X.
- Senyaka showed up working in Selene’s Inner Circle when she made her bid to become a goddess. He was decapitated by Wolverine in the ensuing fight.
- Magneto showed up alive after the destruction of Genosha. In the months that followed, he was depowered, repowered and even joined the X-Men again.
- Amelia Voght, Vindaloo, Gargouille, and Projector have not been seen since.
- Random was seen as part of the Utopians in All-New X-Men (1st series) #40-41.
- The Kleinstock brothers have not been seen since their defeat alongside the other rogue Acolytes.
- Cortez, Delgado, Rusty Collins, Barnacle, Rem Rem, Spoor, Mellancamp, Katu and Static II were briefly resurrected when Selene used a techno-organic virus to bring the dead to life. They were seemingly killed again when she absorbed the souls of those she had resurrected. [Necrosha crossover]