The Morlocks were believed dead after Mikhail Rasputin's flooding of their subway tunnels in Uncanny X-Men #293, but Cable (1st series) #15 revealed that, in the last instant, he transported them to another dimension, dubbed “The Hill.” There, time moved a lot faster. Spending roughly a decade in this dimension, a new generation of Morlocks grew up in harsh surroundings. These new Morlocks were used to nothing else but constant fighting. Some of these Morlock descendants came back to their home dimension as a group called Gene Nation.
Leader: Marrow > Dark Beast > Marrow
Membership: Marrow, Hemingway, Sack, Vessel, Reverb, Ever, Loss, Charm, Membrain, Fever Pitch, Integer, Opsidian, Wynter, Iron Maiden, numerous unnamed characters
First appearance: Uncanny X-Men #322 [behind the scenes], Generation X #5 [two members], Uncanny X-Men #323 [two additional members], 325 [full team]
Last appearance: Weapon X (2nd series) #21
Before
| Cable (1st series) #15: | For months, Thornn has been searching the Morlock tunnels for survivors. Now she asks Cable for help, claiming that she has seen a vision of the Morlock child, Sarah. According to Sarah, the Morlocks did not die but, at the last moment, they were transported to another place by Mikhail. From this other dimension, they can cross over to this reality. Because the Morlocks are too afraid to come, though, Thornn, Domino and Cable perform the "ceremony of light." This special event uses the sunlight, redirected through many specifically positioned mirrors, to illuminate the alley's beauty. Into the light emerges Sarah, who thanks them for the ceremony but reveals that the other Morlocks are still too afraid to come back. Sarah departs once more to be with her friends and family. While Cable and Domino leave, Thornn decides to stay in the tunnels, waiting for the Morlocks’ return, whenever that might be. |
| Uncanny X-Men #373-374: | In flashbacks, Sarah remembers and relives her childhood on "The Hill." Growing up there was a constant battle. |
| X-Men Prime: | Sarah reappears in the tunnels and performs the ceremony of light. She has grown up and calls herself Marrow. In the tunnels, she meets the Dark Beast, who recognizes her as "his creation, one or two generations removed". (He was retconned into having created at least some of the Morlocks in his labs.) |
Chronology
| Uncanny X-Men #322: | Thirty-three visitors of a night club in New York City have been slaughtered by unknown mutants. |
| Generation X #5-6: | Marrow and Hemingway capture Leech and Emma Frost, who was trying to invite the young mutant to her school. They plan to kill Leech, since he is one of the last surviving Morlocks, their ancestors, who instead of fighting for their rights, cowardly hid below the surface. Emma probes their minds and learns that they belong to a group called Gene Nation, which is responsible for slaughtering the nightclub visitors. An explosion caused by the observing Dark Beast saves Marrow and Hemingway from being captured from Generation X. |
| Uncanny X-Men #323-324: | Examining the night club incident, Storm, Cannonball and Wolverine run into Sack and Vessel, two other members of Gene Nation. During the battle, they escape, but give hints of being of Morlock origin. |
| Uncanny X-Men #325: | Callisto and Colossus arrive just in time to warn the X-Men of Gene Nation's next plan. Callisto explains how the Morlocks were saved by Mikhail and transported to another dimension with very harsh surroundings. As time passed a lot faster, a new generation of adapted Morlocks grew up with hatred for their ancestors, who hid beneath the streets and let themselves be transported from Earth. Now back in New York, they intend to kill one human for each killed Morlock on the anniversary day of the Mutant Massacre. Callisto displays holograms of the six Gene Nationals, including two the X-Men haven’t encountered yet named Ever and Reverb. The X-Men and Callisto enter the Morlock Tunnels to rescue a crowd of subway riders and other innocents Gene Nation has kidnapped. Marrow has rigged a detonator to her heart to ensure she fulfills her plan. In a duel, Storm is forced to cut Marrow's heart out, to prevent the explosives from going off. With Marrow and Reverb killed in the battle, Callisto takes the rest of Gene Nation back to Mikhail's dimension. Ever remained unaccounted for. |
| Storm (1st series) #1-4: | In remembrance of the Morlocks, Storm performs the ceremony of light. Suddenly, a portal opens, taking her inside. She emerges on "The Hill," Mikhail's dimension. As it turns out, the Morlocks live on the Hill and try to get up. On the way, they fight each other; the higher one gets, the more he has to fight. Only those that make their way up to and into Mikhail's fortress are strong enough to be counted among his Gene Nation. Since time moved a lot faster, Storm encounters the children of the people she once knew. Of the original Morlocks, only Callisto and Mikhail are still there, both about 10 years older. Callisto was Mikhail’s consort but was thrown out of the fortress because she did not agree with him on the matter of Gene Nation. Mikhail uses them to terrorize New York through his portals. Storm proves to be more capable than Mikhail. She forces him to take all the Morlocks (strong or weak) back to the tunnels. With the help of Cable, she decides to resettle them near her old village in Africa, while Callisto escapes into the tunnels and meets Marrow. She survived her encounter with Storm, discovering to have a second heart. Mikhail too escapes; he teleports back to the Hill. Having spied on all this, the Dark Beast is angry that Storm interfered in his plans for the Morlocks. |
In between
- The story of Callisto and Marrow continues in Cable (1st series) #42 and Uncanny X-Men #346. During Operation Zero Tolerance, Callisto was injured and, as a result, she sent Marrow to join the X-Men. After many problems, she began to fit in and finally learned to control her bone growths, thanks to an alien healing device. Due to unrevealed circumstances, however, she left the X-Men several months later.
- Ever surfaces for the first time not with the Morlocks or Gene Nationals, but as a member of Havok’s Brotherhood in Uncanny X-Men #339.
- The other members of Gene Nation either slipped away in the confusion, or they were among the Morlocks that were resettled to Africa [Uncanny X-Men Annual ’97]. Little does it matter, though, for later on, most of them were reassembled by the Dark Beast.
Chronology continued
| Generation X #50, X-Man #50: | Dark Beast needs new test subjects and orders Gene Nation (changed line-up: Vessel, Hemingway, Membrain, Fever Pitch, Iron Maiden, Integer, Opsidian and Wynter) to kidnap Generation X. Nate Grey, Emma Frost and Gaia later follow into the Morlock tunnels and free their comrades. Wynter is revealed to have only been a remote controlled cyborg; Dark Beast wanted to have full control over his team. |
| Spider-Man / Marrow One-Shot: | Shortly after she left the X-Men, Marrow was found by SHIELD, who drugged and brainwashed her to become an assassin of rogue LMDs (Life Model Decoys). Thanks to her mind being tampered with, Marrow has nearly developed a split personality: human Sarah and mutant terrorist Marrow. Spider-Man tried to help her but Marrow jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge, letting both SHIELD and Spider-Man think her dead. However, she has made her way back to the Morlock tunnels, where she was welcomed by her former teammate, Hemingway. |
In between
- At one point, Fever Pitch was spotted in Berlin, Germany, fighting Abyss. Eventually both were captured by the paramilitary outfit X-Corps and Fever Pitch was forced into joining the troops. However, he took Mystique’s offer to ally up with her team that had secretly infiltrated the organization. Only the X-Men’s timely intervention prevented a complete disaster. Fever Pitch was caught and arrested. [Uncanny X-Men #403-406]
- In order to regain her beauty, Marrow took up an offer from the revamped Weapon X program. In exchange for them giving her a power upgrade, once more allowing her to control her bone growths, Marrow became a loyal agent to them. However, she betrayed them before long, when the program least expected it, and escaped with a number of files on several rebel cells of Cable’s secret Underground movement. [Weapon X: The Draft - Marrow, Weapon X (2nd series) #13]
Chronology continued
| Weapon X (2nd series) #19-21: | Having betrayed the Weapon X program, Marrow finds that the restoration of her good looks was only temporary and is slowly reverting back in appearance. Still she thinks it’s worth it, for she has reorganized the Cable’s splinter rebel cells into a new Gene Nation network. Dozens of mutants are included in this new Gene Nation and Marrow leads them all with Vessel and Hemingway serving as her personal bodyguards and seconds in command. Both Maverick II, a member of Cable’s Underground, and Weapon X’s Agent Zero, the original Maverick, try to take down the terrorist group, but Marrow manages to manipulate the two against each other, which ends with Maverick II being killed. Discovering that Maverick II was none other than his former sidekick Bolt, Agent Zero vows to make Marrow pay. He hunts down every single member of Gene Nation and kills them all, including Hemingway and Vessel. He only leaves Marrow alive, for he knows her death would make her a martyr to her cause and wants her to suffer alone and isolated from anyone else. |
Afterwards
- It’s unknown if there were any other of the formerly established Gene Nation members among Marrow’s revamped terrorist organization. If so, they are probably all dead by now, killed by Agent Zero.
- The Dark Beast later appeared during Excalibur (3rd series), working with the mutants associated with Xavier and Magneto on Genosha. He has not been seen since Decimation, however, and was not among the mutants still on Genosha seen in the Son of M series.
- Sack and Fever Pitch are among the surviving mutants after M-Day, and have been taken in to the 198 refugee camp on Xavier Institute property.
Members
Marrow (Sarah)
First appearance: Cable (1st series) #15 [as child], X-Men Prime [as Marrow]
Seemingly died: Uncanny X-Men #325 [heart cut out by Storm]
Revealed alive: Storm (1st series) #4 [revealed to have a second heart]
All Gene Nation appearances: Generation X #5-6, Uncanny X-Men #325, Storm (1st series) #4, Spider-Man / Marrow One-Shot, Weapon X (2nd series) #19-21
Powers: Heightened strength, agility, reflexes, and recuperative powers, plus a bone growth factor that causes her bones to grow beyond the confines of her body, and splinter off into removable spikes that she can use as jagged blades and weapons; previously she had two hearts, but one was cut out
Fact: Originally, Sarah's powers were planned to be sensing goodness in others. She looked normal in her first appearances. Only flashback scenes shown since her debut as Marrow have depicted her with bone growths at an early age.
Dark Beast (AoA version of the Beast, Henry McCoy) - not a member, but mentor / employer of Gene Nation
First appearance: X-Men Alpha (AOA), X-Men Prime (616 Marvel Universe)
All Gene Nation appearances: Generation X #6, Storm (1st series) #4, Generation X #50, X-Man #50
Powers: Bestial mutation grants him superhuman strength, speed, agility, stamina, reflexes, dexterity and intelligence, spiky gray fur, razor sharp fangs and claws on his fingers and toes.
Fact: The Dark Beast is an expert in genetics.
Hemingway / Pain
First appearance: Generation X #5
Last appearance: Weapon X (2nd series) #21 [killed by Agent Zero]
All appearances: Generation X #5-6, Uncanny X-Men #325, Storm (1st series) #3-4, Generation X #50, X-Man #50, Spider-Man / Marrow One-Shot, Weapon X (2nd series) #19-21
Powers: Exoskeletal enhancements gives him enormous strength and resistance to physical injury, lethal spikes extending from his backside and forearms, and the ability to expand his size and mass.
Sack / Glass
First appearance: Uncanny X-Men #323
All appearances: Uncanny X-Men #323-325, Storm (1st series) #3-4
Powers: Gelatinous form absorbs physical harm to no effect and can flow onto another person to completely encase them within a transparent and undetectable film, allowing him to manipulate that person’s body while they asphyxiate underneath his resin
Vessel / Snow
First appearance: Uncanny X-Men #323
Last appearance: Weapon X (2nd series) #21 [killed by Agent Zero]
All appearances: Uncanny X-Men #323-325, Storm (1st series) #3-4, Generation X #50, X-Man #50, Weapon X (2nd series) #19-21
Powers: Can absorb the physical and psychic residue left by the recently deceased, allowing him to use their remains as raw material to expand his body and increase his size, strength, endurance and reflexes.
Ever
First appearance: Uncanny X-Men #325 [seen in Callisto's video file]
All Gene Nation appearances: none
Powers: Physical body is composed primarily of compacted gray matter, making him physically weak but gives him vast psionic abilities including thought scanning, astral projection, and mind control.
Fact: Even though he was in Callisto's holographic file about Gene Nation, he never appeared with them. Instead, he later showed up as a member of Havok's Brotherhood. Possibly Ever abandoned his group as soon as they materialized in the Morlock tunnels and hid himself, until the Dark Beast or Havok found him.
Reverb
First appearance: Uncanny X-Men #325
Last appearance: Uncanny X-Men #325 [killed by Storm]
All appearances: Uncanny X-Men #325
Powers: Psychometrically channel his mental energy through solid matter, focusing through the walls and floors a clairvoyant awareness of his surrounding area and disruptive “mind-locks” that can cause pain and paralysis in others.
Loss
First appearance: Storm (1st series) #3
All appearances: Storm (1st series) #3-4
Powers: Mutant metabolism outfits her with razor pointed bone shards on her wrists and various other places on her body.
Charm
First appearance: Storm (1st series) #3
All appearances: Storm (1st series) #3-4
Powers: Unknown; possibly heightened strength, agility, reflexes, and reaction time.
Membrain
First appearance: Generation X #50
All appearances: Generation X #50, X-Man #50
Powers: Composed of a psycho-active mucous which can absorb impact and conducts his psychic energy so that he can throw small packets of his mass to stun others or leave pieces of himself behind that enable him to view events in the area even after he moves on.
Fever Pitch
First appearance: Generation X #50
All appearances: Generation X #50, X-Man #50
Powers: Generates a furnace of nuclear energy within his body, allowing him to fly, project intense heat and pyrotechnic bursts, and has reduced him to a flaming skeleton.
Integer
First appearance: X-Man #50
All appearances: X-Man #50
Powers: Exists in a state of mathematical probability, rendering him transparent, partially intangible, and capable of projecting his binary thought patterns to scramble the minds of others.
Opsidian
First appearance: X-Man #50
All appearances: X-Man #50
Powers: Composed of pure Darkforce energy, a living shadow that can stretch and extend itself and create the feeling of metaphysical cold and fear in his victims.
Wynter
First appearance: X-Man #50
Last appearance: X-Man #50 [destroyed, because McCoy no longer animates it]
All appearances: X-Man #50
Powers: cyborg / robot, remote controlled by the Dark Beast
Iron Maiden
First appearance: X-Man #50
All appearances: X-Man #50
Powers: Heightened strength, speed, agility and reflexes, hyper-keen animal senses, sharpened finger talons, and her skin is covered with razor pointed thorns that form into an armor-mesh protective layer.