Real Name: Unknown Aliases: Unknown Identity: Secret Occupation: Unknown Citizenship: US Citizen With A Criminal Record Place of Birth: Unknown Known Relatives: Unknown Group Affiliation: Leader of Eugenix First Appearance: New Warriors (Volume 1) #63 History: There is very little known about the origin of Genecide, other than her obsession with the destruction of the New Warriors member, Namorita. She became the leader of an extremist team known as Eugenix, where the members were known as I (One), IV, VII, IX, XI and XII. (There’s potentially members for II, III, V, VI, VIII and X, but we will likely never know). Each of these members were superhuman, each with their own, unique ability. They all followed Genecide and her terroist ideals of genetic purity. Like Genecide, I and IV were also able to visually analyze a target’s genetic structure; and could determine any genetic imperfections, or even mutations that were in that person’s genetic makeup.
Genecide and her team of Eugenix, frequently attacked hospitals, eradicating those who were hospitalized due to illness; believing that by removing those who were still alive thanks to modern medicine, they would remove the weaker genetics in the world, and allow the human race to begin it’s next step of evolution, by providing only the strong be allowed to survive.
One such attack brings Genecide and Eugenix against Firestar, who happened to be at the hospital to check if her Microwave powers were damaging her body. The fight gets the attention of Night Thrasher (Dwayne Taylor), who owns the clinic being attacked; and he brings in his team, called Psionex, which he was leading at the time. Alerted by Firestar, the New Warriors arrive and engage in a fight against Psionex, believing that they are the problem. Genecide flees, taking Firestar’s doctor as a hostage; but Firestar and Night Thrasher catch up. Night Thrasher fires a shot and hits Genecide, who is able to use her ability to easily heal her wound. XI, of Eugenix swoops down and rescues Genecide, who throws her hostage to the heroes and escapes.
Later, Genecide tells her team that their next target is Namorita, of the New Warriors. Namorita is a clone, and thus an abomination that needs to be destroyed. A short while later, Namorita is captured by Genecide, who had impersonated Doctor Lowell, who Namorita had gone to see about why her mutations seemed to be happening so frequently. Namorita easily breaks free and uses her acid touch (one of her recent mutations) on several members of Eugenix; Genecide observes and becomes fascinated by what she sees in Namorita’s DNA. The New Warriors arrive and Genecide explains that she can tell Namorita what her body is going through; but Namorita doesn’t want to hear it. Genecide signals her members of Eugenix who begin causing destruction in the medical center, explaining that the facility specializes in clones. Namorita tells the New Warriors to save the clones; and Genecide and her team escape, while Aegis argued with Namorita that clones aren’t real people; and that’s when she reveals to Aegis that she, herself, is a clone; for which he later apologizes for; but by then, Genecide and her team are long gone.
Height: 5’11” (Varies, as needed) Weight: 210 lbs. (Varies as needed) Eyes: Blue (Varies as needed) Hair: Purple (Varies as needed)
Powers: Genecide has the ability (unknown if it was a mutant power, or gained through a scientific “accident”) to ‘see’ the generic make-up of every person’s DNA. She’s literally able to see every dominant trait, recessive gene, even mutations within the person’s genetic makeup. Through this ‘sight’ of a person’s DNA, she’s able to essentially tell the type of person they are, or will become. She also has complete control over her own genetic make up, which allows her several interesting powers; such as adopting the form of any human (male, female), healing any wound (bullet wounds, radiation), with the full potential of such control of her own genetic makeup, yet unrevealed.
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Note: She never appeared in any New Warriors title, but in the Iron Heart title, when Midnight’s Fire appeared, it was revealed Julia Chord was his daughter, and so I created a profile for her and included it as a sub section of Midnight’s Fire.
Real Name: Julia Chord Aliases: None Identity: Secret Occupation: Student Citizenship: American Citizen, with no criminal record. Place of Birth: New York, New York Known Relatives: Andrew Chord (Grandfather), Miyami Chord (Grandmother, Deceased), Silhouette Chord (Aunt), Tai (Great Grandmother, Deceased), Aaron Chord (Father), Mother (Unknown), unnamed Adoptive Father & Mother Group Affiliation: None First Appearance: A Year of Marvels: June Infinite Comic #1 History: Very little is known about the origin of Julia Chord, even Aaron Chord admitted to Sam Alexander that he was unaware of her existence until recently.
Aaron Chord, appeared at the County Fair seeking his daughter, but could find no trace of her. He assisted Nova (Sam Alexander) in saving some people on a ferris wheel that had come unhinged. It was then he spoke to Sam about looking for his daughter.
Aaron explains that his daughter is in danger, and in the hands of evil people who mean to abuse her powers that she’s been naturally born with, just as he was. After deceiving Nova (Sam Alexander) into helping him track down his daughter, Sam discovers that Midnight’s Fire was lying about how his daughter had fallen into the hands of evil people who intended to use her inherited powers. With the arrival of Iron Man, the truth is revealed that he had intended to sell his own daughter to people who would use her powers. However, Iron Man and Nova (Sam Alexander) would end up running interference and stopping Midnight’s Fire.
Height: 4’3? Weight: 63 lbs. Eyes: Brown Hair: Black
Powers: Aaron Chord noted that Julia’s powers were just like his, indicating, like all members of The Folding Circle; she is a mystically powered mutates who derived his power from the ancient Well of All Things. Her mutated power potentially grants her the peak of human possibility with enhanced speed, strength, agility, and sensory perception on par with Captain America. Note, that despite Aaron Chord saying that her powers were exactly like his, she displayed no such powers as of yet.
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Real Name: Aaron Chord Aliases: “Mirror Brother” Identity: Secret Occupation: Mercenary, Street Gang, Folding Circle Citizenship: American Citizen, with a criminal record. Place of Birth: New York, New York Known Relatives: Andrew Chord (Father), Miyami Chord (Mother, Deceased), Silhouette Chord (Twin Sister), Tai (Grandmother, Deceased), Julia Chord (Daughter) Group Affiliation: Concrete Dragons, Folding Circle First Appearance: New Warriors #2 (V1) History: The origin of Midnight’s Fire truly begins with the Vietnam War. His father, Andrew Chord, who served with a military unit known as the “Half-Fulls”, had stumbled upon an ancient Asian Cult of the Dragon’s Breadth, who were guardians of the Well of All Things; an inter-dimensional Well that was bursting with an array of untapped mystical energy. The Cult of the Dragon’s Breadth had been breeding children who would eventually be capable of accessing the Well’s energies better than any other ever had.
Tai, who would be directly responsible for the creation of the New Warriors, was one of the adults who knew that she would be giving birth to the ones that would bear the children of ‘The Pact.’ She had given birth to her daughter, Miyami; and the other mothers followed suit. Tai, however, killed all that would oppose her, except for the children who would bear the offspring of ‘The Pact’ thus leaving Tai as the sole beneficiary of the Well’s powers when the time was right.
Tai arranged for Andrew Chord to marry and mate with her own daughter, Miyami. Andrew Chord married her and brought her to the United States, where soon after, she would bare twins; Aaron and Silhouette. However, fearful of Tai’s plans, Miyami faked their death and went into hiding. She had left her children in New York’s Chinatown, where they learned to survive. It was during this time that their mutate powers developed. Aaron adopted the name Midnight’s Fire, and with his power he was at the peak of human possibility with enhanced speed, strength, agility, and sensory perception on par with Captain America. He is also an unparalleled martial artist.
Midnight’s Fire and Silhouette joined a gang by the name of the Concrete Dragons, who were later wiped out by a rival gang named Poisoned Memories. Having endured this loss, Midnight’s Fire and Silhouette turned their attention to battling gangs, and during this time met Night Thrasher. Together, the three of them had formed an alliance. Night Thrasher and Silhouette developed a love interest with one another during this time.
In a later bust, Night Thrasher prevented Midnight’s Fire from attacking an interfering police officer, whose stray bullets left Silhouette paralyzed. Midnight’s Fire swore vengeance against Night Thrasher and left a scar on his left cheek. Midnight’s Fire then rebuilt the Concrete Dragon gang, this time arming them with AIM (Advanced Idea Mechanics) technology and sparked a violent altercation with police, that left three officers dead, in an attempt to draw out Night Thrasher. Night Thrasher, as well as the rest of the New Warriors, arrived to put an end to it. During the battle, Night Thrasher successfully defeated Midnight’s Fire, and returned the favor by leaving a scar on his left cheek as well. Silhouette disowned her brother, claiming he had no honor.
Midnight’s Fire was later freed and recruited by The Left Hand, who promised him to reveal the truth about himself, with a promise of more power as well. Midnight’s Fire remained with The Left Hand as he formed “The Folding Circle” – a team composed of all the children of ‘The Pact.’ Together, they had gone to harvest the power of the Well of All Things. However, the New Warriors arrived as well; and during the battle, they were betrayed by Tai, who planned to sacrifice the New Warriors and use the members of the Folding Circle as her Avatars on the World, during her quest for domination. The Folding Circle and the New Warriors teamed up to stop Tai, and successfully managed to do so; only when Night Thrasher shot her, at point blank range, with a machine gun (after she had been weakened). The result, however, was Tai, Night Thrasher and The Left Hand falling into the Well of All Things; but Nova managed to rescue Night Thrasher before it was too late. Barely escaping, the Well of All Things collapsed unto itself, sealing it, seemingly forever.
During their escape, the Folding Circle, under the new leadership of Midnight’s Fire, stole the Avengers Quinjet that the New Warriors had originally taken from the Avengers. However, they did not get far as they crashed the jet in Madripoor. It was there, that Midnight’s Fire encouraged the other members of the Folding Circle that they could take a piece of the drug money that was flowing through Madripoor. Aligning themselves with Tyger Tiger, the Folding Circle went after Aardwolf, only to be thwarted by Night Thrasher and Silhouette.
After the events of Civil War, in which several members of the New Warriors perished (Night Thrasher, Namorita, and Debrii), Donyell Taylor (formerly Bandit) adopted the Night Thrasher guise. Midnight’s Fire would appear again, this time working for a shadowed figure (unrevealed to be Lady Sphinx) and agrees to help Donyell get a number of items needed to create a time machine that would allow him to travel back in time and prevent Dwayne Taylor’s death. The ultimate purpose for Midnight’s Fire assisting Donyell remains unknown, as the attempt to travel back in time and prevent Dwayne Taylor’s death is unsuccessful.
Midnight’s Fire would appear next trying to reclaim his daughter, Julia Chord, from her adoptive parents. After deceiving Nova (Sam Alexander) into helping him track down his daughter, Sam discovers that Midnight’s Fire was lying about how his daughter had fallen into the hands of evil people who intended to use her inherited powers. With the arrival of Iron Man, the truth is revealed that he had intended to sell his own daughter to people who would use her powers. However, Iron Man and Nova (Sam Alexander) would end up running interference and stopping Midnight’s Fire.
Midnight’s Fire would next turn up facing off against Riri Williams, better known as Iron Heart. She discovers the Ten Rings but can’t find much in the way of information about it. Midnight’s Fire talks to her about how he is a part of this secret organization, and goes on to explain his origin to Riri Williams, revealing not only is Silhouette his sister, but she’s actually his twin. He is also goes on to explain that the Wellspring of Power, thought to have been sealed; he believes that the Wellsrping of Power still has other portal openings, yet to be discovered. He goes on to explain that the Ten Rings are gathering weapons; but in the end, Midnight Fire’s goal is the Wellspring itself. He extends an offer to Riri to join the Ten Rings. She declines, and later Riri collides with an enemy named Eclipse who is also a part of the Ten Rings.
She turns to Doctor Strange and Iron Man for assistance. Doctor Strange provides information about the Wellspring while Iron Man locates it in Wakanda, and provides Riri a contact there (Shuri), and is later joined by Midnight’s Fire’s sister, Silhouette.
They learn that Midnight’s Fire and the Ten Rings are trying to figure out how to make a sacrifice to the Wellspring without using their own lives (Eclipse was seeing raising zombies and creating “shadow beings” that drain life force), and that if they succeed they will have untapped and endless power. The trio arrive and engage in a fight with the Ten Rings, including Midnight’s Fire, and Riri’s biological father, going by the name Dune (who can manipulate the Earth). Okoye, from Wakanda arrives to give some assistance, but it’s not enough and Ironheart grabs the Stone of Hala and plunges into the Wellspring where she unleashes her potential and rises from the Wellspring, forcing the members of the Ten Rings, including Midnight’s Fire, to flee.
Height: 6’3? Weight: 220 lbs. Eyes: Brown Hair: Black
Powers: Like all members of The Folding Circle; Midnight’s Fire is a mystically powered mutates who derived his power from the ancient Well of All Things. His mutated power grants him the peak of human possibility with enhanced speed, strength, agility, and sensory perception on par with Captain America. He is also an unparalleled martial artist.
Accessories: Midnight’s Fire carries an assortment of spikes, which he uses with lethal effectiveness.
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Real Name: Diego Casseas Aliases: None Identity: Secret Occupation: Military Soldier, Mercenary Citizenship: American Citizen, with a criminal record. Place of Birth: Unknown Known Relatives: Wife (Deceased), Daughter (Comatose) Group Affiliation: Folding Circle First Appearance: New Warriors #16 (V1) History:
The origin of Left Hand begins with the Vietnam War. Diego Casseas served with a military unit known as the “Half-Fulls”, and along with the rest of his unit, had stumbled upon an ancient Asian Cult of the Dragon’s Breadth, who were guardians of the Well of All Things; an inter-dimensional Well that was bursting with an array of untapped mystical energy. The Cult of the Dragon’s Breadth had been breeding children who would eventually be capable of accessing the Well’s energies better than any other ever had.
Tai, who would be directly responsible for the creation of the New Warriors, was one of the adults who knew that she would be giving birth to the ones that would bear the children of ‘The Pact.’ She had given birth to her daughter, Miyami; and the other mothers followed suit. Tai, however, killed all that would oppose her, except for the children who would bear the offspring of ‘The Pact’ thus leaving Tai as the sole beneficiary of the Well’s powers when the time was right.
Tai arranged for Diego Casseas Mack to marry and mate with one of the women. Six months later, she had come to live with him in the United States. They lived happily together, his wife giving birth to a daughter. However, tragedy would strike several years later, when an elevator with his wife in daughter in it slipped from its cables and fell several floors down to the bottom, instantly killing his wife and leaving his daughter in a coma.
Diego Casseas became obsessed with arcane magic, believing he could find a way to manipulate magic and bring his wife back to life and awaken his daughter from her coma. For ten long years, Diego Casseas studied and practiced magic, traveling all over the world, to gain whatever knowledge he could about the arcane arts. In that time, he discovered a way to wrestling the Darkforce abilities that had been born within his daughter and captured it for himself, extracting her powers and bringing them into himself, so that his left hand glowed with the Darkforce. Using those powers, he recruited the Folding Circle, which was made up of the children from his army unit – the children of the Pact – Midnight’s Fire, Smiling Tiger, Bloodstrike, and Silk Fever.
Together, they had gone to harvest the power of the Well of All Things. However, the New Warriors arrived as well; and during the battle, they were betrayed by Tai, who planned to sacrifice the New Warriors and use the members of the Folding Circle as her Avatars on the World, during her quest for domination. The Folding Circle and the New Warriors teamed up to stop Tai, and successfully managed to do so; only when Night Thrasher shot her, at point blank range, with a machine gun (after she had been weakened). The result, however, was Tai, Night Thrasher and The Left Hand falling into the Well of All Things; but Nova managed to rescue Night Thrasher before it was too late. Barely escaping, the Well of All Things collapsed unto itself, sealing it, seemingly forever.
Height: 6’1? Weight: 205 lbs. Eyes: Black (before becoming Left Hand), (As Left Hand) Pink Iris/Pupil (Black Sclera) Hair: Black
Powers: Unlike the rest of the members of The Folding Circle; Left Hand’s power is a a combination of mystical arts he mastered and the Darkforce power that he had absorbed from his daughter. His daughter, in a coma, was like the rest of the Folding Circle, where her powers had been derived from the power of the Well of All Things.
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Real Name: Donyell (Last Name Unrevealed) Aliases: Donyell Taylor, Bandit Identity: Secret Occupation: Criminal Citizenship: American Citizen, with a known criminal record. Place of Birth: Chicago, Illinois Known Relatives: Dwayne Taylor (Night Thrasher, half-brother), Daryl Taylor (father, deceased), mother (name unknown, deceased) Group Affiliation: Formerly a member of the New Warriors, Thieves Guild First Appearance: Night Thrasher #3 History: Donyell was the product of Daryl Taylor and a one-night stand with an unnamed woman. Growing up, Donyell developed an increasing amount of resentment towards Daryl’s legitimate son, Dwayne.
Learning that Dwayne had developed a relationship with Silhouette Chord, Donyell, adopting the name Bandit, seduced Dwayne’s estranged girlfriend before confronting Dwayne. Despite beating Dwayne severely, though evenly matched, Bandit became unstable and abducted Silhouette to lure Dwayne into the final piece of his vengeance.
Those plans were thwarted when Dwayne won the rematch, and although Dwayne was willing to reconcile their differences when he discovered Donyell’s true origin, Bandit departed, leaving the relationship between the two of them unresolved.
Bandit later reappeared when the New Warriors were scattered through time by Lady Sphinx (Meryet Karim), perhaps only because his lover, Silhouette had been one of the Warriors that had disappeared. Agreeing to lead this band of “New New Warriors”, they teleported to Egypt to begin tracking down where the Warriors had vanished to.
With the arrival of the original Warriors, they managed to defeat both Sphinxs’ when both Meryet Karim and the male Sphinx merged into a composite being and vanished somewhere into the past.
Troubled by their relationship, Night Thrasher parted ways with Silhouette and Bandit, on worse terms than before.
Years later, Bandit turned up in New Orleans. There he romanced Belladonna Boudreaux, leader of the Thieves and Assassins Guild. Although he furthered the guild’s criminal endeavors, he still felt that Belladonna’s ex-husband, Remy LeBeau (Gambit) posed a threat to them. However, when attacked, Gambit explained to Belladonna that Bandit had been manipulating her and that he still had not broken off his relationship with Silhouette Chord. However, before anything else could be done, the members of the guild turned on all three of them, but the guild was defeated and in the confusion Bandit left New Orleans. During a televised raid by the New Warriors of a building in which Cobalt Man, Speedfreak, Coldheart, and Nitro, who had recently escaped from the Raft, resided. Namorita followed after Nitro. Slamming him into a bus, Namorita taunted him, but Nitro screamed he wasn’t the kind of loser that she was used to facing, she was in fact “playing with the big boys now”, before letting off a massive explosion that killed Namorita, Night Thrasher, Microbe, all of the children at the nearby elementary school, and all residents in the surrounding neighborhood where the fight took place.
Bandit took up the guise as the new Night Thrasher and formed a new version of the New Warriors.
Early in this newly formed team of “New Warriors” the team suffers a casualty when Longstrike, Phaser’s sister is killed. Night Thrasher is hard on the New Warriors and tells them that this is a war, and there will be casualties.
Sometime later, at the Appalachian Safehouse, Night Thrasher finds that the entire area is undisturbed. He had hoped that if Dwayne were still alive he would be hiding here. He does however, managed to snag some of Dwayne’s DNA for testing. As he exits the house however, he discovers he’s not alone and is confronted by Counter Force which consists of: Justice, Rage, Debrii, Slapstick and two of the Scarlet Spiders.
Both Rage and Justice try to talk to Night Thrasher but he refuses to discuss it with them and a fight breaks out – and just when it seems like Night Thrasher’s been captured – the arrival of the New Warriors tips the balance once more.
Throughout the fight Night Thrasher is thinking about how Justice and the rest of Counter Force think he’s a Skrull – while he’s wondering if it was Skrull who perished at Stamford, not his own half-brother. As the fight processes, Night Thrasher realizes that this has to end quickly.
He decides to stop the fight and unveil who he is. He explains his actions about looking for the truth about Dwayne – and whether he would ever take part of some reality television show as a part of the “New Warriors.” Justice steps up and informs Donyell that he can help – because he knows the location of Dwayne’s body.
The New Warriors, along with Counter Force, arrive at the Helicarrier only to find it under attack by Skrulls. The New Warriors and Counter Force get out of the plane as Night Thrasher crashes it into one of the Skrull ships. After that, they follow Justice onto the Helicarrier and begin helping the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents against the Skrulls.
As the New Warriors and Counter Force battle the Skrulls, Night Thrasher grabs Justice and enables “ghost mode” – allowing them to phrase through the floor. The others continue to battle the Skrulls – and just when it seems like they might be doing all right – the arrival of a Super Skrull, looking a lot like Nova, appears and tilts the odds back in favor of the Skrulls.
Meanhile Justice leads Night Thrasher to the bodies of what appears to be Dwayne and Microbe, with Nita’s ashes in a jar. Night Thrasher takes a sample from Dwayne’s body and begins the DNA comparison. All three turn out to be positive identifications – proving that the Dwayne, Namorita and Microbe did indeed die at Stamford. Night Thrasher turns to Justice and explains, he’s taking the remains with him. Justice, after a brief pause, agrees to help. They bury the New Warriors and create a memorial plaque for Dwayne, Namorita and Zachary.
Later, the New Warriors burst in through the roof and the Dread Dealers are subjected to Pym Particles and reduced in size.
Their victory is short lived however, with the sudden appearance of Sykes, Givens and the New Warriors Task Force. The New Warriors make a break for it – but Blackwing, who is carrying Night Thrasher gets tagged and the two crash to the ground. Panicking, Tempest screams out and doesn’t see the net shot at her – Wondra tries to push her out of the way but gets snagged.
One of the New Warriors Task Force members fires a shot – but Ripcord kicks him at the last moment. The shot hits the flame tank of another New Warriors Task Force member – and Ripcord stops to try and help him. Skybolt seeing that the tank is about to explode tries to get to Ripcord – he manages to grab her and start flying away – but the tank explodes, causing a blinding flash. Night Thrasher gets the other New Warriors together, and they quickly make their escape – unsure of the fate of both Skybolt and Ripcord. They later learn that both perished in the fire.
The New Warriors are later teleported to an alternate reality, in which Dwayne Taylor has become Iron Man, and Tony Stark has become Night Thrasher. Dwayne has become an evil corporate leader, and while Donyell struggles to not betray his brother, in the end he knows he has to stop him. After a long fight, the New Warriors defeat Dwayne, and return to their own time.
Donyell tells them to keep their tech equipment regardless, because they had definitely deserved it. As everyone exits the room, Wondra approaches Night Thrasher and the two seem to be ready to say something – instead, Wondra kisses Night Thrasher on the cheek then follows the others out of the room, leaving Donyell there to sit and think about all that he had done – and what he was going to do next.
Night Thrasher appears again, this time with Counter Force, at Camp Hammond, to put an end to Ragnarok, the clone of Thor. After putting Ragnarok down for a time, it is later revealed that Donyell is Counter Force’s benefactor, and second in command.
The group changes its name to Avengers Resistance, when they make their stand against Norman Osborn, and help the Heavy Hitters secede from the Initiative, helping former New Warriors member, Debrii, escape as well.
During the battle, Night Thrasher is shot in the head by Taskmaster, but survives the attack. Norman Osborn and the Hood offer to bring back Donyell’s brother, Dwayne. However, the Avengers Resistance come and save Donyell before he can make a choice.
When visiting his brother’s grave, Donyell is conflicted if he should go with the deal Norman Osborn and the Hood gave him. Counter Force tries to take down The Hood, but are unable to gain victory. When Donyell arrives, Hood gives him a chance to prove himself by killing Tigra. However, he turns on the Hood and aids Tigra in the fight. The Hood, using the Norn Stones, powers up several villains involved in the fight and teleports away.
Height: 6’4 Weight: 300 lbs. Eyes: Brown Hair: Black Powers: Bandit generates electricity and channels it through other objects, such as the grappling hooks he launches from a specialized crossbow; the hooks penetrate his opponent’s skin, and then open beneath it.. He uses throwing stars and other weapons as needed.
Accessories: None
Note: Bandit is an accomplished marksman, acrobat, and hand-to-hand combatant.
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Real Name: Tyrone “Ty” Johnson Aliases: None Identity: Secret Occupation: Vigilante Citizenship: United States Citizen Place of Birth: South Boston, MA Known Relatives: The Johnsons (parents), Otis Johnson (brother), Anna Johnson (twin sister) * Group Affiliation: the Secret Avengers; Partner of Dagger (Tandy Bowen) First Appearance: Spectacular Spider-Man #64 (1982) History: Raised in a poor South Boston neighborhood, Tyrone Johnson was a good student despite his chronic stutter, a disability he struggled to master with the support of his best friend, Billy. When Tyrone was 17, he and Billy witnessed the robbery of a local store and the fatal shooting of its clerk. The thieves fled, and Billy ran as well, fearing that he and Tyrone might be wrongly suspected of the crime. When a policeman ordered Billy to stop, Tyrone tried to proclaim Billy’s innocence; but his stuttering made it impossible to speak clearly, and the officer shot Billy dead. Feeling responsible for Billy’s death and afraid of the police, Johnson ran away to New York City.
Arriving at Manhattan’s Port Authority Bus Terminal, a penniless Tyrone considered robbing Tandy Bowen, a rich girl who had also run away from home; yet when someone else robbed her first, Tyrone impulsively tackled the thief and returned Tandy’s purse. The two teens became fast friends. When the naïve Tandy accepted an offer of shelter from some strange men, a wary Tyrone went along to protect her; however, the two teens were soon forcibly delivered to criminal chemist Simon Marshall.
Marshall was developing a new synthetic heroin for the Maggia, testing it on runaway teens with fatal results. Johnson and Bowen somehow survived injections of the drug, and they fled. During their escape, Tyrone found himself engulfed in darkness and seized by a strange hunger which eased in the presence of Tandy, who was glowing with a brilliant light. Trying to hide his newly shadowy appearance in a makeshift cloak, Tyrone began absorbing Marshall’s thugs into his darkness while Tandy struck them down with daggers of light. The two teens dubbed themselves Cloak and Dagger and declared war on drug crime.
Cloak and Dagger started out as merciless vigilantes, killing Marshall despite the interference of Spider-Man, who saw the duo as misguided innocents and gradually became their friend. After ill-fated assassination attempts on the crimelords Silvermane and Kingpin, Dagger became less ruthless and tried to steer Cloak in a similar direction; however, since his power compelled him to consume living beings, Cloak found it more difficult to follow this gentler path, even though Dagger’s light could satisfy his hunger temporarily.
Cloak and Dagger befriended the super-powered preteens Power Pack and twice aided the New Mutants, junior trainees of the X-Men. The duo eventually learned they were mutants themselves, and that Marshall’s drug had awakened their latent powers. Though they tend to target ordinary street criminals, they have faced such diverse foes as Doctor Doom, the Beyonder, Vermin, the Zapper, the Disciplinarian, the Warlord of Kampuchea, Set, Mephisto, Thanos, the Assembly of Evil, Firebrand, and Lightmaster.
Cloak and Dagger found sanctuary at the Holy Ghost Church with the sympathetic Father Francis Delgado; but over time, Delgado became romantically obsessed with Tandy. Regarding Cloak as a demonic influence, Delgado tried and failed to split up the duo, going mad in the process. After Delgado was institutionalized, Cloak and Dagger found a new mentor in Tandy’s uncle, Father Michael Bowen. Tandy’s father, meanwhile, had become a cult leader as the Lord of Light in India. A “light vampire” who fed on others’ life force, he clashed with Cloak and Dagger until he realized what he had become and tried to atone by hurling himself into Cloak’s ebony abyss.
Police detective Brigid O’Reilly regarded the duo as a menace until they helped her capture serial poisoner Duane Hellman and told her of their origins. Later, when O’Reilly was betrayed and left for dead by corrupt cops, Cloak and Dagger used their powers to save her life, but the experience mutated Brigid’s body and warped her mind. She became the vicious superhuman vigilante Mayhem, often fighting crime alongside Cloak and Dagger. O’Reilly’s former partner, police detective Rebecca “Rusty” Nales, would become an ally to Cloak and Dagger as well.
Cloak continued to struggle with his power, and with the hungry Predator within his darkness. During a period when Cloak swore off consuming living beings, the Predator released the spirit of legendary killer Jack the Ripper to torment Cloak; however, when Jack betrayed the Predator in search of personal power, Cloak absorbed the madman and the Predator consumed Jack again. The drug-dealing crime boss Ecstasy (Renee Deladier) twice stole Cloak’s powers for herself, largely because the Predator preferred the more ruthless Deladier as a host body. Cloak regained his powers both times, thanks in part to Doctor Strange. When the dream-demon Nightmare targeted Cloak, Tyrone prevailed with the aid of Dr. Strange and Dagger, who even managed to nullify Cloak’s darkness altogether for a time; however, Tyrone feared that Dagger could only relate to him as Cloak, and he was soon manipulated into reclaiming his dark powers by the malevolent mystic Mister Jip. Tyrone’s willing resumption of his Cloak form estranged Dagger, who briefly worked with the Black Cat before going back to Cloak, who had tried and failed to find a new partner in Dazzler. By this time, Jip was trying to usurp Cloak’s body with the aid of his agents, Night and Day. Dagger defeated them all with the aid of the Predator, and the partners were reunited. Jip would continue to hound them, striking Dagger blind for a time, using the mad Delgado as a pawn, temporarily corrupting Dagger through the power of Night, and killing both Delgado and Father Bowen by mystically usurping their bodies. Cloak and Dagger would thwart Jip’s plots again and again.
Though Cloak and Dagger once rescued homeless youth Anna Johnson from cultists, only Anna herself was aware of the fact that she is Tyrone’s long-lost sister. Tandy did stay in touch with her stepfather Philip, who persisted in offering Tandy moral and financial support. He even moved to New York City to be near her, caring for her during her temporary blindness, and the two gradually developed a real father-daughter relationship. Sadly, he was killed by an overdose of the designer drug D’Lite, a creation of the demonic D’Spayre, who feeds on human misery. D’Spayre revealed that he had helped create Cloak and Dagger, whose powers would have been quite different had they developed normally. Apparently, their powers would have activated naturally through contact between Tandy and Tyrone; but D’Spayre inhibited this reaction, allowing Marshall’s drug to trigger their powers instead. D’Spayre also secretly placed two aspects of his own power–one light, one dark–within the teens, reshaping their mutant powers. These dark and light forms were meant to act as storage batteries for D’Spayre, accumulating pain and suffering he could tap for future use. He had selected Tyrone and Tandy as host bodies since he thought mutants were especially prone to suffering. When D’Spayre tried to reclaim the light and dark forms for himself, Cloak and Dagger resisted, and D’Spayre was seemingly destroyed. In the process, Cloak’s and Dagger’s powers were altered, though their original abilities reasserted themselves over time.
Cloak and Dagger are devoted to each other, but the lonely Dagger often wants more from life. While on an international case, Tandy performed with Eurocirque as Lady Light and shared a romance with supposed FBI agent Bill Clayton, who was exposed as a criminal but ultimately sacrificed himself to save Cloak and Dagger. Tandy found new friends in the New Warriors, who teamed with Cloak, Dagger and other heroes to defeat the shadow-lunatic Darkling.
Cloak and Dagger teamed with Spider-Man and others to halt a murderous super-villain rampage led by metahuman serial killer Carnage. Dagger was supposedly killed by Carnage’s “wife” Shriek while saving an injured Spider-Man, but was later revealed to be severely wounded and recooperating within Cloak’s shroud, and was the key instrument in breaking up the Carnage “family” and ending the “Maximum Carnage.” Later, Dagger helped rescue the New Warriors from the supremely powerful Sphinx. She accepted an offer of New Warriors membership, though Cloak declined to join. Serving as a Warriors reservist, Dagger also undertook a single mission with the informal Secret Defenders group.
Bloodthirsty fellow vigilante the Punisher has been both an ally and an enemy to Cloak and Dagger over the years. When Cloak went missing recently, Dagger helped form the unofficial “Marvel Knights” alliance with the Punisher and other vigilantes, and joined most of the other Knights in hunting the rogue Punisher after he left. Meanwhile, a Nightmare-manipulated Cloak embarked on a mad quest to consume all lawbreakers, absorbing the Punisher and many others until Dagger teamed with Dr. Strange to purge Cloak’s corrupting darkness and rescue his victims. In the process, Cloak reverted to his human form as Tyrone Johnson, though this condition would prove temporary. Shortly thereafter, the Marvel Knights disbanded.
More recently, the secret criminal group known as The Pride tricked Cloak and Dagger into trying to retrieve their super-powered children. An encounter with these young Runaways soon convinced Cloak and Dagger of The Pride’s true nature, but before they could act on this knowledge, the villains erased the duo’s memories of The Pride. Cloak and Dagger continue to roam the mean streets, bringing the light of hope to the innocent and dark justice to the guilty.
Later, Norman Osborn tracks down Tandy and Tyrone in Colombia, continuing their war against drugs, by burning down drug fields and approaches them to join his new team of “X-Men.” Initially against the idea knowing Osborn’s past; Dagger is persuaded when Osborn tells them that they can take their war on drugs to a global scale as well as having no trouble with police anymore.
Cloak and Dagger are then recruited into the “Dark X-Men” by Norman Osborn. On their first mission, they take down Hellion, Sunspot, Match, Meld, Lorelei Travis, Adam-X, and Avalanche, who are protesting against Osborn’s reign.
Emma Frost eventually offers them a place with the real X-Men, to which their agree. During her time with the X-Men, it is revealed by tests conducted by Dr. Nemesis, that neither Tandy nor Tyrone are actually mutants, as they had previously believed. When Cloak later vanishes, Dagger tracks him down and with the help of the X-Men, Anole and Dr. Nemesis, is able to free Cloak from his captors. Cloak and Dagger decide to depart the X-Men’s home base of Utopia, and return to New York City to continue their fight against the war on drugs.
During this time, Dagger tries to stabilize her life, despite becoming homeless with Tyrone, by doing what she can to attend College. It’s during this time, that Dagger is captured by Mister Negative, who corrupts her with Negative Energy; her powers become altered, now using the Dark Force, similar to Cloak where she has a hunger for light and begins to die without it. Cloak pleads with Mister Negative to give him the same touch in hopes that it would reverse his powers as well; and it does, so that Cloak now has the same powers as Dagger once had. Cloak quickly feeds Dagger his light to “feed” her and keep her alive.
The two have been seen together, continuing their fight against crime and drugs, with their swapped powers. However, in Shanghai, China, at Parker Industries, Doctor Yao Wu, has discovered an antidote to the drug called “Shade” that Mister Negative had used, which unleashes a person’s darker side. This very drug was used on both Cloak and Dagger that swapped their powers and made them loyal servants to Mister Negative.
When Mister Negative uses Peter Parker as a pawn to slip Shade to a Chinese speaker named Shen Quinghao, he expects it will unleash Shen’s darker side and the world will watch in horror. When Shen delivers his speech without a problem, Mister Negative demands that Cloak to teleport them there. When they arrive, they’re greeted by armed policemen, and Mister Negative realizes it’s a trap. Spider-Man shows up and first hits Cloak with the cure to Shade, which reverses Cloak’s power and appearance, back to his standard Darkforce.
Things seem to be going well, until Peter Parker’s girlfriend, Lian Tang, shows up in the Spider-Mobile, trying to kill Spider-Man. Unbeknownst to Spider-Man, she is being black mailed by a terrorist organization called Zodiac, and they’re the only ones keeping her mother alive, and they have forced Lian to turn against Spider-Man.
In the meantime, Mister Negative tells Dagger to kill Shen Quinghao, and Cloak, now of sound mind once more tries to stop Dagger. Cloak, despite the history of drugs shared between Cloak and Dagger, injects Tandy with the cure to Shade, restoring her powers and appearance.
At that moment, Mister Negative reaches Shen Quinghao, who confesses (though with no audience), that he was indeed, a former gang member known as Silver Fang, and his Snakehead gang was once involved in human trafficking. Frustrated, Mister Negative commands Shen to jump out a window, which he does. Spider-Man, who had been speaking to Lian, explained he knew her situation, just as Shen goes flying by. Lian uses the Spider-Mobile to catch him, but the sudden shift causes it to begin falling.
Cloak and Dagger appear, and teleport them all to safety. Shen is taken to a hospital, where the cure to Mister Negative’s touch was given to him. Mister Negative manages to escape in all the confusion, but now both Cloak and Dagger are immune to his touch, and the drug, Shade.
Height: 5’9? Weight: 155 lbs. Eyes: Brown Hair: Black Powers:
Cloak’s body is a portal to the “Darkforce Dimension,” a world of strange ebony energy. Cloak is linked to a pocket realm of that dimension dominated by the Predator, which compels Cloak to absorb the life forces of other beings; but Dagger’s light can temporarily satisfy this craving. Cloak can channel Darkforce to create a field of darkness in his general vicinity, usually using his cloak as a focal point to manipulate this darkness, though it can spread well beyond the confines of his cloak. People enveloped by Cloak’s darkness feel numbing cold and crippling fear, sometimes seeing disturbing visions. Overlong exposure to the darkness can drive people insane. Dagger’s light renders her largely immune to Cloak’s darkness, and she can extend her light to protect others within Cloak’s darkness if need be. Unprotected victims trapped in Cloak’s dark realm are gradually drained of their life force, and presumably die unless Cloak releases them.
Cloak can “teleport” by entering the Darkforce dimension, moving a short distance within it and emerging back on Earth a great distance from his point of origin. A span of miles on Earth can be traversed in only a few steps via shortcuts through the Darkforce. Cloak can “teleport” other persons or objects along with himself in this fashion, too, a feat usually reserved for Dagger since most beings cannot safely traverse the Darkforce.
As Cloak, Tyrone is usually intangible, though he can solidify through an act of will, or by absorbing enough “light” to saturate his form temporarily. On the rare occasions when he resumes human form, he usually reverts to his old stutter, which vanishes when he becomes Cloak. Tyrone also seems to be physically stronger as Cloak. Tyrone’s link to the Darkforce has been severed on several occasions, but he seems drawn to the darkness and vice versa, and he always regains his Cloak form eventually.
Accessories: None
* Note: In Mutant Misadventures of Cloak & Dagger #4, one of the demons notes that Ty’s brother, Otis, became a drug pusher and got his sister hooked on drugs; and that Ty did not show up to her funeral. Because they don’t name the sister who died of the drug overdose, it’s unclear if it’s Anna, Ty’s twin, or if there is indeed another (unnamed) sister in Ty’s family.
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Note – While she was never a member of the New Warriors, or even seen in any of the New Warriors titles, she is the daughter of Sprocket and Cardinal, both of whom had a good run appearing in the New Warriors. Meteorite was technically a member of the Redeemers, which appeared in Thunderbolts (and a favorite of mine over there… so I put her on the New Warriors website because of her direct connection to Sprocket and Cardinal).
Real Name: Valerie Barnhardt Aliases: None Identity: Known to the Authorities Occupation: Air Force, Government Agent Citizenship: US Citizen With A Criminal Record (Expunged) Place of Birth: Unknown Known Relatives: Amelia Barnhardt (Sprocket, Mother), Donald Joshua Clendenon (Cardinal, Father) Group Affiliation: Redeemers First Appearance: Thunderbolts (Volume One) #48 History: Valerie was the daughter of Amelia Barnhardt (Sprocket) and Donald Joshua Clendenon (Cardinal) during a one night stand in Rhodesia, during their days as mercenaries. Amelia never told Donald that she was pregnant and Valerie never knew who her father was. By the age of six, she was enrolled in a military academy and when Valerie was old enough, she left home and joined the Air Force, where she became an accomplished pilot. Amelia, her mother, was also an accomplished (helicopter) pilot. However, during her time with the Air Force, Valerie was raped by her commanding officer. Valerie would later retaliate, in an attack that left her commanding officer paralyzed. Because the rape was never properly reported, Valerie was held accountable for her actions that left her commanding officer paralyzed, and was charged as a criminal.
Valerie was eventually offered a chance to expunge her criminal record if she agreed to join the Redeemers program, using an experimental suit based off the Alpha Flight member known as Windshear. She adopted the name Meteorite and agreed to become a part of the Redeemers. During her time with the Redeemers, Valerie struck up a friendship with her fellow teammate, Leila Davis (who had become Beetle II).
Valerie would meet a (seemingly) tragic end, when during a fight with Graviton, he reversed her gravity from Earth and launched her into space, where she apparently suffocated and died.
S.H.I.E.L.D. was eventually able to locate and recover Meteroite’s body and did a DNA test that confirmed that Valerie was indeed Amelia’s daughter. After learning this, Amelia paid Donald (Cardinal) a visit in prison and explained why she never told him that they had a daughter together. Donald is furious and Crimson Cowl eventually shows up and convinces Donald that Hawkeye is to blame for Valerie’s death; and that the Crimson Cowl was forming a team to take down Hawkeye and the rest of the Thunderbolts.
He joins and becomes Harrier and seeks revenge against Hawkeye (and the rest of the Thunderbolts), but eventually accept that it wasn’t ever Hawkeye’s fault. He returns to jail with Abner Jenkins (better known as Beetle/Mach V).
Height: 5’5? Weight: 110 lbs. Eyes: Brown Hair: Brown
Powers: None
Armor: Valerie wore an armor based off of Windshear, from Alpha Flight. The Meteorite suit utilities hard air technology in a variety of ways, allowing her to fly, protecting her with a limited force field (which also maintains a limited air supply), and allowing her to use their force field to turn herself into a battering ram.
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Real Name: Donald Joshua Clendenon Aliases: Harrier Identity: Known to the Authorities Occupation: Inmate; former adventurer, criminal, mercenary Citizenship: US Citizen With A Criminal Record Place of Birth: Birmingham, Alabama Known Relatives: Unidentified father, Valerie Barnhardt (Meteorite, daughter, deceased) Group Affiliation: None; (formerly) Thunderbolts, Masters of Evil, Air Force First Appearance: (as Cardinal) New Warriors #28 (1992); (as Harrier, in shadow) Thunderbolts #65 (2002); (as Harrier, fully) Thunderbolts #67 (2002) History: Donald Joshua Clendenon is a Vietnam Veteran, who met Amelia Barnhardt (who later became Sprocket), and got her pregnant. It had been a one time thing, and he did not know until much later that he had a daughter by the name of Valerie Barnhardt (who went on to become Meteorite of the Redeemers). Clendenon came into possession of a power suit and adopted the name Cardinal, where he became a bodyguard for Jeremy Swimmingbear (also known as Sea Urchin). This job would bring him in direct conflict with the New Warriors, who had been tracking Jeremy Swimmingbear’s movements; which dealt with a Russian organized crime ring, trading stolen icons for sophisticated weaponry. Cardinal manages to defeat the New Warriors and make good of his escape. However, Cardinal would encounter the New Warriors, yet again, when the Warriors tracked down Jeremy Swimmingbear again. This time, both Jeremy Swimmingbear and Cardinal are captured; and Cardinal is placed in police custody.
Cardinal is later broken out of prison by his team Air Force (which consists of himself; Killer Shrike, Tanager, and Sparrow). They track down the signature reading from the Turbo costume, which brings them in direct conflict with the New Warriors, yet again. Thanks to Mike (who is currently wearing the Turbo outfit at the time, though it had been Mickey who had been wearing it when the New Warriors first encountered Cardinal) and Mickey, the entire team of Air Force is defeated, and once again, returned to prison.
Sometime later, Night Thrasher blackmailed Cardinal and the rest of the members of Air Force into assisting with the African relief efforts. Cardinal, who is African-American himself, was genuinely moved by the suffering and began diligently working to aid those who were in desperate need of food. However, Undertow (led by Protocol) and the Soldiers of Misfortune appeared and began slaughtering the refugees. Air Force attempted to stop the Soldiers of Misfortune, but Cardinal was badly wounded and Oriole (a new member of Air Force) and Tanager were both killed in the battle, while Sparrow was captured and later mutated to become the member known as ‘Fast’ in the Soldiers of Misfortune. There was something, despite the constant bickering, between Cardinal and Sparrow previously, in terms of a relationship, that was never fully explained; but it was clear that he cared for her.
Dismayed by the failure at becoming a hero, Cardinal once again returned to a life of self-profit and joined the Crimson Cowl’s Masters of Evil. They are however, defeated by the Thunderbolts and Cardinal is once again returned to Seagate Prison.
Sprocket (Amelia Barnhardt) would later visit Cardinal in prison and inform him of the death of their daughter, who had become Meteorite of the Redeemers and had been brutally killed by Graviton. Cardinal explained he never knew; and Sprocket asked how he would he; it had been a drunken one night stand in Rhodesia. Clendenon had left Amelia with the bar tab and disappeared never knowing that Amelia was pregnant from their one night stand. Later, when Hawkeye was incarcerated at Seagate Prison, the Crimson Cowl appeared and told Cardinal how Hawkeye was responsible for the death of Valerie Barnhardt, his daughter. However, Hawkeye was able to convince Cardinal, and the rest of the Masters of Evil, to turn on the Crimson Cowl and defeat them. Cardinal adopted the name Harrier and although he still harbored a grudge against Hawkeye, he still chose to return to prison in order to serve the remainder of his sentence.
Height: 6’2? Weight: 257 lbs. Eyes: Brown Hair: Black
Powers: None
Armor: As both Cardinal and Harrier, he used winged body armor which granted him the cabability of jet-powered flight, capablity to travel underwater, and enhanced strength. Among his armor’s offensive capabilities were blasts of electricity, a titanium net, and “tar pellets” ensnaring projectiles.
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Real Name: Amelia Barnhardt Aliases: None Identity: Publicly Known Occupation: Former mercenary; former pilot of the New Warriors. Citizenship: American Citizen With No Known Criminal Record Place of Birth: Unknown Known Relatives: Valerie Barnhardt {Meteorite} (Daughter, Deceased) Group Affiliation: New Warriors (Formerly) First Appearance: Night Thrasher: Four Control #2 History: Sprocket’s one night stand in Rhodesia with fellow mercenary Donald Joshua Clendenon – who would go on to become The Cardinal – nearly twenty one years ago would come back to haunt her.
Preganant with Clendenon’s child, Sprocket decided to keep it a secret and not tell the would be father of their child, and decided to raise the child on her own. Born Valerie Barnhardt, she was enrolled into the military academy when she was just six years old. By the time she turned eighteen, Valerie joined the Air Force and eventually became a Lieutenant, until she paralyzed her commanding officer, who had tried to rape her.
Amelia Barnhardt, better known as Sprocket, was an old friend of the New Warriors’ mentor, Andrew Chord, from their days as mercenaries together. During Andrew Chord’s recovery from an attempted suicide, Sprocket was called in to fill in for him as the pilot for the New Warriors. Known for her large cigars, larger guns, and perhaps larger (and far more profane!) mouth, Sprocket’s first mission was flying the New Warriors through the war torn land of Trans-Sable.
Even after Chord’s recovery, Sprocket remained around to fly the New Warriors around as Andrew Chord remained on the ground at the New Warriors’ base.
Sprocket and Cardinal would meet again, when Cardinal was leading his team called Air Force. Cardinal had managed to shoot Sprocket in the knee, before Night Thrasher defeated him, and the rest of Air Force. Cardinal and Sprocket would meet yet again when Air Force was attacked by a team calling themselves the Soldiers of Misfortune.
Night Thrasher was eventually kicked from the New Warriors, despite founding the team, and a short time later, Sprocket ceased flying for the New Warriors.
Sprocket eventually learned that her daughter, who had went on to become a superhero by the name of Meteorite, on a team calling themselves The Redeemers, had been brutally murdered by the villain Graviton. Valerie’s body was recovered by S.H.I.E.L.D. where Sprocket asked for a DNA sample and verified as she had suspected, that Cardinal had been her father. She paid him a visit in jail, where Sprocket told him everything and that she and her daughter, Valerie, hadn’t spoken in three years before her death, for reasons unknown.
Height: 5’8” Weight: 205 lbs. Eyes: Brown Hair: Brown
Powers: None.
Accessories: Varies; Sprocket is an excellent shot with a gun, and even better at profanity.
Note: As a mercenary, Sprocket has learned a number of skills from unarmed combat, to sniping; but it can not even be debated that she is the best, hands down, at launching profanity at someone.
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