GIDEON

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Real Name: Gideon
Aliases: None
Identity: Secret Identity
Occupation: CEO of Ophrah Industries
Citizenship: Unrevealed, presumably dual citizenship Spain/U.S.A.
Place of Birth: Unknown, presumably in Spain
Known Relatives: None
Group Affiliation: Externals
First Appearance: New Mutants #98 (Vol 1)
History: Gideon’s origin dates as far back to the days of Christopher Columbus’ expedition that would lead to the discovery of the United States. Gideon, born in Spain, traveled with Christopher Columbus, but died during the expedition. Although he was buried, he suddenly awoke once more, surprised to be alive. Without understanding what had happened to him, Gideon found that he was “immune” to death’s touch.

Most of Gideon’s origin between his time of death in 1492 to present time, remains unknown; however, he had managed to become financially secure and discovered other “Externals” much like himself, discovering over the years, that not only was he immune to Death’s touch; but that he was also a mutant, born with several abilities. Using a mixture of his extended life, and his own mutant abilities, Gideon became extremely advanced at business and negotiation skills, as well as a skilled strategist. He used this knowledge to create Ophrah Industries, with the intention of using his financial success to dominate the world.

Gideon’s business dealings brought him in contact with such companies as GeneTech and the Taylor Foundation. His alliance with Toad, who was leading the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants at the time, in an attempt to recreate Proteus brought Ophrah Industries to Dwayne Taylor’s (Night Thrasher) attention. Wanting to investigate what ties the Taylor Foundation had to Ophrah Industries, the New Warriors had gone to investigate. The New Warriors were unprepared to face Gideon, believing him only to be a ruthless businessman, and unaware of his mutant powers. Gideon used his mutant ability to mimic other powers and skills, often in ways that the New Warriors had never done before, and easily managed to defeat them. Gideon, however, revealed what the New Warriors sought to know, knowing that they would be pushed to their limits to discover the whole truth.

In the process of gathering other Externals, Gideon believed that Roberto DaCosta (Sunspot of the New Mutants) was one of the Externals. Gideon manipulated certain events that resulted in the death of Roberto DaCosta’s father, Emmanuel, and positioned Roberto as the new CEO of the company. Gideon then positioned himself as Roberto’s mentor. Gideon discovered that it was actually Samuel Zachery Guthrie (Cannonball of the New Mutants) who was the External, when during a clash with the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Sam’s blast field was disrupted by Phantazia and he was seemingly killed by Sauron; however, this manifested his apparent immortality and he returned to life.

Gideon’s own life would come to an end, eventually, however, when he was betrayed by the External known as Selene. Selene, who was an Energy Vampire, requiring life force energy to maintain her own, began feeding on the Externals. Despite the efforts of X-Force, Gideon was one of the first Externals killed by Selene when she drained his life energy.

Height: 6’2″ (Also variable, depending on powers being mimicked)
Weight: 220 lbs. (Also variable, depending on powers being mimicked)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Green

Powers: Gideon had the mutant power to mimic other superhuman powers in his vicinity based on their genetic templates. He is known to have mastered the ability to absorb at least six powers at once and use all copied abilities simultaneously, often in ways the original owners had not yet considered. Gideon had access to genetic templates at his home and businesses, thus enabling him to mimic powers even when super-powered beings were not present. As an External, Gideon was virtually immortal, able to recover from nearly any injury.