Punisher (Frank Castle)

   Punisher.  Even  the  name can  strike  fear.  Frank  Castle  was  an  extraordinary  army  man.  He  served  in  many  wars   and  even  won  a   purple  heart  for  his  duties.  Born  into  a  strong  Catholic  family  he  originally was  planning  to  become  a  priest  but  quit  because  he  was  unable  to  forgive  those  that  did  evil  things.  This  view  point  would  influence  everything  he  did in  his  later  life.

  One  day  while  he  was  on  leave  from  his  military  duty, he  and  his  family  went  to  central  park  for  a  picnic.  While  they  were  eating  they  witnessed  a  mafia  execution  going  on  right  in  the  middle  of  the  park.  In  an  effort  to  clean  up  all  the  loose  ends  the  mafia  boss ordered  everyone  to  be  killed,  including  Frank's own  family.  They  were  killed  right  in front  if  his  eyes.  He  was  the  only  survivor.

  Though  he  identified  the  shooters  to  the  police  and   they  were  arrested,  he  began  his  own  efforts  to retain  justice.  He  became  the  Punisher.  He killed those  who  had  done  anything  wrong  whether  it be murder,  rape,  or  theft.  Though  arrested  on  numerous  occasions  he  never  changed  his  ways.  Because  of  his  training  and  military  experience  he can  kill  and  defend  himself   so  well,  its  scary.  Most  people  don't  view  him  as  a  super  hero,  but  more  of  a  psychopath.  Though  he  abides  to  his  own  ways  of  "correcting  injustice", his  extreme ways  will  always  put  him  at  odds  with  authorities  and  super  heroes alike.

 

Daredevil ( Matt Murdock)

  The  first  blind  superhero.  This  is  an  amazing  feet  to  begin  with  but  that's  not  the  only  thing that  makes  Daredevil  one  of  the  best  super heroes  of  all  time.  Abandoned  as  a child  by  his  mother, he  grew  up  with  only  his  father,  a  boxer,  in  a  ghetto  known  as  Hell's  kitchen.  On  his  way  home  from  school  one  day  he  saw  an  old  man  about  to  be  hit  by  a  truck.  Risking  his  own  life  to  save   him,  he  pushed  the  man  out  of  the way  but  inadvertently caused  the  truck to spill  its  contents,  radioactive material.  This  spilled  into  young  Matt's  eyes  causing  his  blindness.  Though  he  was now blind,  all his  remaining  senses  were  heightened.  Determined  to  not  be  a  victim,  he  trained  with  a  martial  arts  coach   named  Stick  who  taught  him  how  to  pay  attention  to  the  world  and become  the  best  that  he  could  be.  With  this  training it  was  like  he  never  was  blinded.

  As  his  Boxing  career  took  off,  he  became  known  as  "Battling  Jack  Murdock."  One  day  after  refusing  to  throw  a   fight  he  was  killed  by  the  Fixer,  who  called  the  shots  in  the  boxing  world.  Matt  then  became  the  crime  fighting  vigilante  known  as  Daredevil  in  order  to  avenge  his  fathers  death.  He started  with  killing  the  men  that  killed  his  father,  but  quickly  progressed  to  cleaning  up   the  rest  of  Hell's kitchen.  As  his  career  progressed as  Daredevil  he  also  went  to  college  were  he became a lawyer and also  met  his  first  love  Elektra Nachios. But their  love  went  sour  when  her  father  was  killed  by  the  crime  lord  known  as  Kingpin  and  she  directed  her  rage  into  killing  for  hire.

  Daredevil  continued  to  keep  Hell's kitchen  clean  from  scum  like  Kingpin,  Bullseye,  and  the  Owl.  Though  many  did  not  approve  of  his  vigilante  efforts, he  did  a  better  job  of  cleaning  up  the  streets then  the  police  did.  Blind  lawyer  by  day  and  blind  vigilante by  night,  Daredevil  proves  to  be  one  of   the  toughest  super  heroes  not  only  were  he  grew  up,  but  also  around  the  world  as  he  helps  other  super  hero  teams  in  thee  fight  for  good.

 

Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner)

  As  a  young  child  Kurt  was  born   to  the  shape  shifting  Mystique in Germany.  Because  of  his  blue  skin  and tail  he  was  shunned  at  birth  and  run  out  of  town  with  his  mother.  Knowing  only  she  could  escape  the  persecution  by  just  changing  forms,  she  threw  little  Kurt  over  a  cliff.  As  you  can  tell  she  wasn't  a  very  good  mother.  Kurt  was  thankfully  saved  though  by  his  father  Azazel (Who  has  similar  powers  to  Kurt)  who  gave  him  to  his  friend, a  gypsy,  in the  travelling circus.  There  Kurt  grew  up  without  being  judged  by  the  other  circus  workers. He  soon  became a  great  acrobat  in  the  circus  with people   just  assuming   he  was  wearing  a  devil  costume   in  his  act  and  came  to  be  called  "Nightcrawler".

  His  gypsy mother  had  two   children  who  came  to  be  like  siblings  to  Kurt.  His  brother  Stephan  feared  he  would  one  day  be  corrupted  by  his  mothers  mystical  background  so  he  made  Kurt  promise  he  would  stop  him  if  he  went  on  a  rampage.  Kurt  also  developed  feelings  for  his "sister"  Amanda.  One  day  Stephan  did  go  on  a  rampage,  killing  many  in  his  small  town.  When  he  went  to stop  his  brother  he  accidentally  broke  his  neck.  When   the  towns  people  saw  Kurt  and  his  demon-like  appearance,  they  accused  him  for  the  mass  murders  and  swarmed  him. Professor  X came  just  in   time  and  stopped  all  the  people  and  brought  Kurt  to  the  Xavier  institute  were  he  soon  became  an  X men.

 At  the  Xavier  institute he  discovered  new  powers.  He  could  teleport vast  distances  and  also disappear  in  shadows. But  now that  he  was  out  of  the  circus,  people  judged  him  for  his  appearance.  This  caused  Kurt  to  at  times  seclude  himself  and  he  soon  turned  to   God  and  became  a  very  devote  man,  at  one  point  even  becoming  a  priest. He  eventually  came  to  terms  with  his  appearance  and  even  embraced  it,  realizing  it  was  okay  to  be  different.

  In  his  adventures  as  a  X  men  he  discovered  he  had  a  daughter  named  Nocturne  in  a  different  dimension.  He  took  her  on  his  own  child  and  they  continued  to  fight  side  by  side.  Nightcrawler  sadly  died  in  action  trying  to  protect  Hope,  the  new  mutant  that  was  rumored  to  be  able  to  save  all  the  other  mutants  during  M-day. ( M-day  was  a  disastrous  day when  most  of  the  mutants  powers  were  taken  away, destroying  the  mutant  race.)   Nightcrawler  was,  in  my  opinion,  one  of  the  greatest X men.  He was  loyal  and  a  great  help  to  other  mutants  and  humans  alike.  I  can  only  hope  he  will be  resurrected  soon  back  into  the  comic  world.

Black Cat (Felicia Hardy)

  Felicia  has  always  been  one  to  walk  on  the  wild  side.  Born  into  an  extremely  wealthy  family,  she  has always  been  a  daddy's  girl.  But  one  day  her  father  disappeared.  Her  mother  told  her  he  had  died  in  a plane  crash,  but  she  suspected  otherwise.  She  later  found  out  that  he  was  really   arrested  for  his  crimes  of  burglary.

  Inspired  by  her  father  no  matter  what  he  did,  she  strived  to  follow in  his  footsteps.  She  was  also  driven  into  farther  rage  after  she  was  raped.  She  vowed  to  take  revenge  and  began  intensifying  her martial  arts  training  and  acrobatics.   He  died  before  she  could  exact  her  revenge.

  Over  the  years  she  learned  the  basic  skills  of  thieves  and  quickly became  one  of  the  greatest. As  a  result,  she  met  Spider man. Even  though  she  was  the  "bad  guy"  the  two  began  a  relationship.  Black  Cat  helped Spider  Man  on  a number  of  occasions.  Though  she   was  in  love  with  Spider Man  she  was  afraid  to  see  the  man  underneath.  She  later  made  a  deal  with  the  Kingpin  to  gain  super  powers,  but  didn't  know  that  it  would  hurt  Spider Mans  powers.  Tired  with  her  loving  Spider  man  more  then  who  he  really  was,  he  left  her.  Little  did  he  know  she  was  going  to  do  the  same  because  she  knew  what  a burden  she  was  to  him  and  how  he  affected  his  crime  fighting.

  When Spider  Man  married  Mary  Jane,  Felicia  was  furious  but  continued  to  help  Spider  Man on  occasion.  She  really   showed  her  loyalty  to  their   friendship  when  she  helped  destroy  a  machine  that  was  suppressing  his  powers,  at  the  cost  of  her  own.  She  now  relies on  technology  she  got  from  the  Tinkerer  to  make  up  for  her  lost  powers.  As  a  reformed  expert  burglar,  she  registered  as  a  super  hero  during  the  Superhero  Registration  Act.  We  can  only  hope  she'll  stay  a  superhero  and  not  revert  to  her  life  of  crime, as  she  has done  so  many  times  before.

 

Juggernaut (Cain Marko)

  When  you  look  like  this,  you  don't  need  brains. Cain  Marko,  more  commonly  known  as  the  Juggernaut,   is  the  brother  of  Charles  Xavier.  Recognize  him?  Charles, or  Professor  X,  is  the  leader  of the  mutant  group  the  X men  who  try  to  keep  peace  between  mutants  and  humans.  He  is  also  one  of  the  most  powerful  X men ever known. Juggernaut  tends to  hang  with  a  slightly......different  group.  He's  a part  of  the  mutant  terrorist  group   known  as  the  Brotherhood  who  fight  to destroy  all  humans.  How  did  these brothers  turn  out  so  differently?

  As  a  boy,  Cain  lived  with  his  abusive  father  after  his   mother  died.  His  father  was  an  atomic  researcher  and  after  a tragic  accident,  his  colleague,  Brian Xavier died.  Cains  father  then  married  Sharon, Brian's  wife  and  charles' mother.  this  is  how  the  two boys  became  brothers.  Cain  believed  that  his  own  father  loved  his  new  son  Charles  more  then  him,  so  he  was  always  mean  to  his  brother  and  would  bully  him. This  spurred  an  uncontrollable  jealousy  that  would  effect  both  Charles  and  Cain  for  the rest  of  their  lives.

  One day,  their  was  a  fire  in  their  fathers  lab  which  spread  to  the  rest  of  the  house.  Cains  father  saved  Charles  first  then  came  back  to  rescue  Cain  later.  This  proved  even  more  to  him  that  he  wasn't  loved.  Their  father  mysteriously  died  in  the  fire  but  both  boys  escaped.  But  before  he  died,  he  warned  Charles  to  be  wary  of   his  brother.

  When  the  boys  grew  older  they  both  joined  the  military.  During  a  battle  in  Asia  Cain  ran  away  from  the  gunfire  and  Charles  chased  after  him  hoping  to  convince  him  to  come  back.  They  ran  into  a  tunnel  were  Cain  found and  touched  the  Crimson  jem  of  Cyttorak. BIG mistake.  Cyttorak  is  an  accient   being  who  then  transferred  powers  into  Cain  by  means  of  this  jem.  He became  super  strong  and  pretty  much  indestructible,  especially  when  he  gained  momentum.  When  Cain  touched   the  jem  the  cave  collapsed  and  only  Charles  was  able  to  escape.  He  thought  his  brother  was  dead  but  little  did  he know  that  hos  brother  would  dig  himself  out  of  the  tunnel  and  seek  revenge  on  his  brother.

  Juggernaut  is mean,  powerful,  and  overall  not  very  fun  to  be  around. When  asked  why  he  wears  all  that  armor  he  only  responds; "Its  to  keep  my  face  pretty."  You  can   tell  he's  also  very  humble. Good  thing  hes  not   smart,  because  then  no  one  could  stand  in  the  path  of  the  Juggernaut.

Shadow Cat (Kitty Pryde)

Being  a  genius  at  a  young  age, Kitty  Pryde  was   used  to  not  fitting  in  with  others.  But  nothing  could  prepare  her  for  the  day  her  mutant  powers  emerged.   She  would  frequently  get  very  strong  headaches,  an  effect  of  her  new  emerging  powers.  During one  of  her  most  painful  headaches  yet,  she  went  upstairs  to  lie  down  when  she  suddenly  found  herself  on  the  first  floor of  her  house.  Kitty  soon  learned  she  had  the  ability  to  phase  through  solid  matter  by  rearranging  the  atoms in  her  body.  She  could  also  use  this  ability  to  make  others  permeable  too.

  Shortly  after  these  powers  emerged,  she  was  contacted  by  two  groups. The  Hellfire  club  and  Professor Xavier  himself.  The  Hellfire  club  was  a sketchy  group  of  people  who  used  their powers  to  gain  prominence  and  wealth.  Professor  Xavier  encouraged  her  to  come  to  his  school  for  mutants  were  she  could  learn  more  about  her  powers  and  how  to  control  them.  When  you  love  school  as  much  as  kitty,  how  could  you  nit  be  excited!?  She  then   became  the  youngest  X  men  on  the  team.

  As  a  X  men  she  started  a  tentative  romance  with  her  teammate,  Colossus,  which  would  develop  into   an  unseperable  love  as  the  years  of  fighting  along  each others  side  continued.  On  many  of  her  missions  she  also  came  into  contact  with  a  small  extraterrestrial  dragon  who  she  named  Lockheed.  He  saved  her  on  numerous  occasions  and  soon  became  just  like  another  X  men.  He  may  be  small but  he  certainly  is  deadly!

  A  virus  that  targeted  mutants  was  later  developed  in  an  effort  to  wipe  them  out  of  existence.  Colossus sacrificed  his  life  in  order  to  develop  a  cure  for  other  mutants.  Mourning  the  loss  of  her  special  friend,  Kitty  left  the  X men.  She  began  trying  to  live  a  normal  life,  but  her  personality  would  flare  up  and  she  would  come  in  conflict  with  anti-mutant  groups  often.  Later  it  was  found  out  that  Colossus  was  not  really  dead  and  Kitty  rejoined  the  X men.  They  quickly  rekindled  their  love  although  both  of  them  had  gone  through  terrible  hardships.  As  the    youngest  of  the  original  X  men, Shadow  Cat  has  plenty  of  experience  and  is  a  very  valuable  asset  on  any  team.