BROTHERHOOD OF EVIL MUTANTS I

Written By:

Last Updated:

9th June 2006

Leader: Magneto

Membership: Magneto, Toad, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Mastermind, Astra IV
Candidates for recruitment: Sub-Mariner, Blob, Unus

First appearance: Uncanny X-Men #4
Disbanded: Uncanny X-Men #11

Reorganized: Avengers (1st series) #47
Disbanded: Avengers (1st series) #53

Completly new line-up Leader: Blob > Magneto

Membership: Blob, Mastermind, Unus, Magneto, Lorelei
Allies: Vanisher

First appearance: Amazing Adventures (1st series) #12
Last appearance: Champions #17

Flashbacks

X-Men (2nd series) #86:	Astra IV reveals her past with the Brotherhood, actually she was the first to join Magneto's Brotherhood.
X-Men Forever #3-4:	Magneto witnesses as Mortimer Toynbee is beaten up for being different. He makes him join his Brotherhood and gives him the codename Toad. Astra, the only other member so far, is annoyed by this decision. In recent weeks she had teleported lots of alien technology to Magneto’s lair so that they could spy on other potential members like Kurt Wagner in Germany or Wanda and Pietro in Transia.
Professor Xavier & The X-Men #4:	Xavier tries and fails to recruit Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, then the events leading up to Magneto recruiting them are seen, as he rescues Wanda from a frenzied mob cursing her as a witch. By then Mastermind is already on the team.
X-Men (2nd series) #86:	Astra leaves the team because she and Magneto cannot work well together. He vows to get revenge on her for betraying his cause.
X-Men #minus 1:	Magneto, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch travel from Asteroid M to confront Xavier and his lover Amelia Voght shortly before Xavier forms the X-Men.

Before

Only Magneto had an appearance before in Uncanny X-Men #1, the first battle between him and the X-Men, the first time the public learned about the existence of mutants.
Astra is never seen again until Uncanny X-Men #366, where she kidnaps Joseph as part of her plans for vengeance on Magneto. She apparently spent much of her time in space aquiring alien technologies.

Chronology

Uncanny X-Men #4:	The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (Toad, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Mastermind and Magneto) try to take over a small country in South America, and the X-Men intervene. Despite their inherently good nature, Wanda and Pietro work for Magneto, feeling bound by a promise of loyalty they made after he saved Wanda’s life.
Uncanny X-Men #5:	The Toad disguised as a sportsman is able to get the X-Men's attention, yet before they take him to the school for recruitment his ploy is seen through. Another battle between the two teams occurs, this time on Asteroid M itself after Angel is temporarily taken hostage, and the Brotherhood escape once more.
Uncanny X-Men #6:	Both Xavier and Magneto try to recruite the Sub-Mariner, but he decides to work with Magneto’s group (because of the Scarlet Witch's beauty), yet after the first battle against the X-Men it is obvious that he won't accept Magneto as his superior, and abandons both parties.
Journey into Mystery #109:	Magneto sends the Brotherhood away to search for the X-Men, while he experiments with his powers and increases them. Thor senses the strong presence and investigates; at first Magneto thinks that only a mutant could have detected him in his hideout. He asks Thor to join his Brotherhood but the Norse god refuses and fights him. During the battle Magneto erects metallic walls and after being separated from his hammer too long, Thor reverts to his human form Donald Blake. Fortunately Magneto is contacted by his teammates, who have found the X-Men, but are being overwhelmed by them. Before Magneto can learn the secret of Thor he departs to help the Brotherhood escape.
Uncanny X-Men #7:	The Brotherhood then tries to gain an advantage by accepting the Blob into their ranks. Yet in the following battle with the X-Men he realizes that Magneto sees his fellow members only as cannon fodder. In fact Magneto fired missiles on the X-Men while they gathered in one place, even though the Blob was in the way. He then turns back to his former life in the freakshow circus.
Uncanny X-Men #8:	Unus, the next candidate for membership is contacted by Mastermind. He has to prove himself by bringing in at least one X-Man. He is tricked by the Beast, who uses an amplifier beam on Unus to magnify his force field’s power. At first he welcomes his increased powers, but then he discovers that he is unable to turn the field off, repelling food and air as well as assaults. The X-Men blackmail him to turn down the Brotherhood's offer in exchange for reversing the effect.
Uncanny X-Men #11:	Discovering a new and very powerful mutant both Xavier and Magneto try to recruit him, but the Brotherhood gets there first. Magneto tries to force the man into an alliance by demonstrating his vast powers. The mystery man then in turn proves himself to be very powerful indeed by defeating the Brotherhood in seconds. As Mastermind is turned to stone, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch make up their minds and decisively quit. The man truly is the Stranger, an ancient and powerful cosmic scientist who wants to study mutation and since Magneto himself offered an alliance, he takes him and the loyal Toad with him to outer space, effectively dissolving the Brotherhood.

In between

Magneto escaped the Stranger's laboratory world once and fought the X-Men, only to get captured by the Stranger again after Xavier summoned him telepathically (Uncanny X-Men #16-18).
Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch eventually joined the Avengers after a short time.
The stone spell over Mastermind was not permanent, it wore off some time later. Mastermind next appeared as a member of Factor Three.

Chronology continued

Avengers (1st series) #47:	A scientist probes outer space with magnetic waves, and Magneto is able to sense them on the Stranger's asteroid and responds. Deeper probing by the scientist enables Magneto to transport him and the Toad back to earth. Immediately they contact the Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch in Avengers mansion and lure them into a trap.
Avengers (1st series) #48-49:	Magneto tries to get the siblings under his control again. While speaking in front of the UN, he causes a confrontation with the police and arranges for one of the stray bullets to hit the Scarlet Witch's head. The upset Quicksilver blames homo sapiens and joins Magneto's cause.
Uncanny X-Men #43:	As a result of the head wound the Scarlet Witch is powerless. Quicksilver wants to ask Xavier for help, but finds the X-Men at his funeral. They drive him off, but recognize the threat of Magneto has risen again, and seek him out. Magneto takes the opportunity to capture the whole team.
Uncanny X-Men #44:	The Angel is able to escape from Magneto's island, and he flies to New York to seek help from the Avengers.
Uncanny X-Men #45:	Cyclops too is able to break out of his cell, but he runs into Quicksilver. A fight starts and only by sheer luck does one of Cyclops' blasts hit Pietro, knocking him out. The Avengers arrive just in time to see Cyclops standing over their fallen teammate.
Avengers (1st series) #53:	A fight breaks out between the Avengers and the newly freed X-Men. After the misunderstanding is cleared up, both teams confront Magneto. He attempts to flee as the island sinks into the ocean, but Toad has finally had enough abuse and knocks Magneto out of their escape craft, sending him into the rocks and water below. Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch are too ashamed to face their former teammates in the Avengers and leave with the Toad on-board the flying craft.

In between

The trio was seen again in Uncanny X-Men #59-60 as captives of the Sentinels. From there they went to Europe to search for a way to cure the Scarlet Witch's powerloss. In a monastry they found a spell book, which opened a portal to Arkon's world. He abducted the Toad and the Witch. Quicksilver and the Avengers were able to rescue the Scarlet Witch, and her power is restored. The Toad asked to stay on Arkon's planet. (Avengers (1st series) #75-76, 138)
Magneto appeared next in Uncanny X-Men #62. There he explained that he discovered caves beneath the ocean ground that led to the Savage Land. (see Savage Land Mutates.) Later Magneto battled the Avengers, but was defeated and imprisoned in a specially designed trap. (Avengers (1st series) #110-111)
Blob, Unus and Mastermind, who already worked together in Factor Three, were also among the Sentinels' prisoners in Uncanny X-Men #59-60.

Chronology continued

X-Men: The Hidden Years #11-12:	Blob, Unus and Mastermind decided to stay together under the Brotherhood name. They receive a call from a man called Krueger, who captured some of the X-Men and now offers to sell them for $100,000 each. The Brotherhood wants to settle some old scores and buys Angel, Marvel Girl and Cyclops with illusionary money.
X-Men: The Hidden Years #13-14:	Blob orders Mastermind to make Marvel Girl think he was Cyclops, because he wants to get intimate with her, but telepathically she senses the illusion. Nearby Angel and Cyclops find themselves under attack in a circus show. After they guess Mastermind's involvement they easily see through the fake attacks. The Brotherhood tries to escape but they are stopped by Krueger who angrily demands real payment. The X-Men defeat all of them and they are put into custody (even though Cyclops points out, that the policemen could be illusions too).
Amazing Adventures (1st series) #12:	The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (Blob, Unus and Mastermind) observe a fight between Iron Man and the recently mutated Beast. Mastermind places the illusion of killing Iron Man in Hank's mind.
Amazing Adventures (1st series) #13:	Feeling guilty the Beast is easy manipulated into thinking of himself as a criminal and joining the Brotherhood. In the end, after the theft of a jewel, suddenly he remembers his true nature and defeats the trio single-handedly.
Thunderbolts #33:	A flashback reveals that Blob, Unus, Mastermind met up with the Vanisher in an abandoned Factor Three base still operated by the Ogre. They worked together for about two weeks, until something bad happened to them. Left behind to watch the base, the Ogre would learn of his teammates' fate from the news on TV only much later."
Uncanny X-Men #100:	In a flashback the Vanisher is seen as a prisoner in Stephen Lang's orbital Sentinel base. No clues about when or how he was captured.
Captain America (1st series) #174-175:	Blob, Unus and Mastermind are among many mutant prisoners of the Secret Empire. They have to thank Captain America, Falcon and the X-Men for their rescue.
Defenders (1st series) #15:	After escaping from the Avenger's trap, Magneto sought out the people he deemed worthy of forming a new group. He contacted the trio of Blob, Unus and Mastermind and included Lorelei of the Savage Land Mutates, because he grew quite fond of her. Their plan was to create the ultimate mutant, and Professor X arrived with the Defenders too late to prevent it.
Defenders (1st series) #16:	Alpha, the new Ultimate Mutant, evolves quickly into a superior life-form. He evaluates Magneto's group and the Defenders, and comes up with the conclusion that the evil Brotherhood needs to be punished. Before he leaves Earth forever, he turns all five of them into infants, and they are taken under Xavier’s protective ward.
Uncanny X-Men #104:	The babies are living under Moira's care on Muir. Erik the Red (a Shi'Ar agent) uses a ray gun to evolve Magneto to adulthood again. He fights the X-Men and leaves.
Champions #17:	After the semi-destruction of Lang's orbital station in Uncanny X-Men #100, the Vanshier was able to get control over the remaining Sentinels. With them he discovers Unus, Blob and Lorelei. All of them were fully restored to adulthood too, because Eric's ray gun passed the wall and penetrated their room as well. Together they plan to take out the Champions, but Darkstar turns the tide and defeats the Vanisher - their only means of escape.

Afterwards

It has to be assumed that Mastermind too was restored to adulthood, but immediately left to pursue a career of his own. Only a short time later he made his way to the Hellfire Club. (see Hellfire Club I)
Magneto would return to bother the X-Men time and time again, but for a very long time he prefered to work alone.
The Vanisher had already halfway teleported when Darkstar intervened with her darkforce. Some time later the X-Men found him still partially stuck in Bizarre Adventures #27. Nightcrawler, a fellow teleporter, was able to release him.
Lorelei's wasn't seen for a long time, but she appeared once more in a storyline of Captain America (1st series) #415-417. She was working for an evil scientist called the High Technician, who'd created a group of Dino-Men and had allied himself with AIM.
Unus later went into an extended death-like state when he couldn't turn off his out-of-control force field in Peter Parker, Spectacular Spider-Man #91.
The others all went back to their lives of crime within a few month: Blob appeared in Defenders (1st series) #63-65, Unus in Power Man / Iron Fist #90-91, and the Vanisher in Fallen Angels #1-8.

Members

Magneto (Eric Magnus Lehnsherr)

First appearance: Uncanny X-Men #1

First Brotherhood of Evil Mutants I appearance: Uncanny X-Men #4
All Brotherhood of Evil Mutants I appearances: X-Men Forever #3-4, Professor Xavier & The X-Men #4, X-Men #minus 1, Uncanny X-Men #4-6, Journey into Mystery #109, Uncanny X-Men #7, 11, Avengers (1st series) #47-49, Uncanny X-Men #43-45, Avengers (1st series) #53, Defenders (1st series) #15-16

Powers: High electrolyte count in his bloodstream increases his personal bio-magnetic field, which is aligned with Earth’s electromagnetic field to give him total mastery over magnetism, allowing him to:
- sense nearby metal objects and specific energy signatures
- levitate and manipulate anything containing metal
- release magnetic energy as concussive blasts and protective force fields.

His powers greatly increased over the years to include various kinds of generic energy manipulation and more.

Facts:
- Magneto was at the time totally unaware that the twins were his children.
- Magneto ruled the Brotherhood by force, often beating up those who disobeyed him.

Toad (Mortimer Toynbee)

First appearance: Uncanny X-Men #4

All Brotherhood of Evil Mutants I appearances: X-Men Forever #3-4, Professor Xavier & The X-Men #4, Uncanny X-Men #4-6, Journey into Mystery #109, Uncanny X-Men #7, 11, Avengers (1st series) #47-49, Uncanny X-Men #43-45, Avengers (1st series) #53

Powers: Great leg strength gives him enhanced agility and the ability to leap incredible distances.

Facts:
- Toad was Magneto's scapegoat in the Brotherhood, getting blamed for everything and often getting physically abused.
- Toad developed a crush on the Scarlet Witch while they were in the Brotherhood. It later turned into an insane-fixation, resulting in him stalking her.

Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff)

First appearance: Uncanny X-Men #4

All Brotherhood of Evil Mutants I appearances: Professor Xavier & The X-Men #4, X-Men #minus 1, Uncanny X-Men #4-6, Journey into Mystery #109, Uncanny X-Men #7, 11, Avengers (1st series) #47-49, Uncanny X-Men #43-45, Avengers (1st series) #53

Powers: Accelerated metabolism and leg strength allow him to move and react at superhuman speeds, perceive his environment at high velocities, recuperate in a fraction of the regular time, and resist the debilitating effects of air friction and high-speed impact upon the soles of his feet.

Facts:
- Quicksilver wasn't really evil, just forced into villainy by Magneto.
- Quicksilver spent as much time fighting his fellow Brotherhood members as he did fighting the X-Men, because he had to defend his sister from the unwanted advances of Toad and Mastermind.

Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff)

First appearance: Uncanny X-Men #4

Powers: Hex-casting power that creates a sub-molecular disturbance in the fabric of reality around whatever they affect. During her time with the Brotherhood, Wanda’s power caused various unexpected and improbable events to occur. It could only be properly focused through both her hands at once, and required considerable recharging time between bolts.

Facts:
- Scarlet Witch was the other Brotherhood member who wasn't evil. In fact, she was the one who convinced Quicksilver to deactivate the bomb that would otherwise have killed the X-Men at the end of the Brotherhood's first battle with them.
- Scarlet Witch was also the object of both Toad and Mastermind's affections, and relied on Quicksilver to defend her.

Mastermind (Jason Wyngarde)

First appearance: Uncanny X-Men #4
Last appearance: Uncanny X-Men Annual #17 [died of Legacy virus]

All Brotherhood of Evil Mutants I appearances: Professor Xavier & The X-Men #4, Uncanny X-Men #4-6, Journey into Mystery #109, Uncanny X-Men #7-8, 11, X-Men: The Hidden Years #11-14, Amazing Adventures (1st series) #12-13, Thunderbolts #33, Captain America (1st series) #174-175, Defenders (1st series) #15-16

Powers: Confuse and alter the perceptions of other living beings, creating illusionary projections or realities, turning himself invisible, and seemingly morphing his physical appearance.

Facts:
- Mastermind was the oldest mutant Magneto recruited, and at this point in his career he never thought to hide his age with an illusion.
- Mastermind competed with Toad for Scarlet Witch's affections, with an equal lack of success. Evidently the huge age gap didn't bother him.

Astra IV

First appearance: Uncanny X-Men #366
First Brotherhood of Evil Mutants I appearance: X-Men Forever #4

All Brotherhood of Evil Mutants I appearances: X-Men (2nd series) #86, X-Men Forever #4, X-Men (2nd series) #86

Powers: Sub-dimensional jaunting allows her to separate matter into small packets of transitional energy, which she can slingshot across interstellar distances by way of her own personal pocket dimension and reform back into its original state.

Equipment: Various alien technology, including an aircraft, a pain-inducer, and everything she needed to restore Magneto's memories and to create clones.

Facts:
- Astra left the Brotherhood before the team saw any action, due to a clash with Magneto. It seems that she had feelings for him, which he rejected. She now carries a huge grudge against him.
- Astra spent most of the time since in space, accumulating lots of alien technology, returning to Earth in time to find Magneto after the fall of Avalon, and to create his clone, Joseph.

Questions:
- What are the full details of Astra's grudge with Magneto?
- Astra seems to have been involved in Nightcrawler’s birth / origin. How ?

Blob (Fred J. Dukes)

First appearance: Uncanny X-Men #3
First Brotherhood of Evil Mutants I appearance: Uncanny X-Men #7 [candidate], Amazing Adventures (1st series) #12 [full member]

All Brotherhood of Evil Mutants I appearances: Uncanny X-Men #7, X-Men: The Hidden Years #11-14, Amazing Adventures (1st series) #12-13, Thunderbolts #33, Captain America (1st series) #174-175, Defenders (1st series) #15-16, Champions #17

Powers: Enhanced mass and multiple layers of elastic, fatty tissue grant him superhuman strength, are able to absorb all forms of impact and damage, and are flexible enough to hold objects within the folds of his flesh and pop them out when he flexes his muscles. He can also generate gravity fields that hold him firmly in place to make him an immovable object.

Unus (Angelo Unuscione / Gunther Bain)

First appearance: Uncanny X-Men #8
Last appearance: Son of M #6 [suffocated, because he couldn't turn the forcefield off]

First Brotherhood of Evil Mutants I appearance: Uncanny X-Men #8 [candidate], Amazing Adventures (1st series) #12 [member]
All Brotherhood of Evil Mutants I appearances: Uncanny X-Men #8, X-Men: The Hidden Years #11-14, Amazing Adventures (1st series) #12-13, Thunderbolts #33, Captain America (1st series) #174-175, Defenders (1st series) #15-16, Champions #17

Powers: Generates a repulsor wave around his body that repels any object that falls within its radius, or can solidify the energy into a powerful force field that shields him from impact and injury.

Fact: Unus was a wrestler, Marvel's first wrestling-related character.

Lorelei

First appearance: Uncanny X-Men #63
First Brotherhood of Evil Mutants I appearance: Defenders (1st series) #15

All Brotherhood of Evil Mutants I appearances: Defenders (1st series) #15-16, Champions #17

Powers: Emits hypersonic frequencies from her vocal chords which manipulate the inner ear to affect a man’s sex drive, allowing her to paralyze any male where he stands or place him under her hypnotic suggestion.

Allies

Vanisher (Telford Porter)

First appearance: Uncanny X-Men #2
First Brotherhood of Evil Mutants I appearance: Champions #17

All Brotherhood of Evil Mutants I appearances: Thunderbolts #33, Uncanny X-Men #100, Champions #17

Powers: Teleportation power works by shifting himself into a pinprick hole in the space/time continuum, perpetually crossing through multiple planes of reality until he chooses to realign himself with our dimension plane and return in a different location.