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Darwin (comics)
Encyclopedia
Darwin is a mutant
character in the Marvel Comics
Universe. He first appeared in X-Men: Deadly Genesis
#2, and was created by writer Ed Brubaker
and artist Pete Woods
. Darwin was one of the "Missing X-Men". Darwin appears in X-Men: First Class
where he is played by actor Edi Gathegi
.
made his mother hate him. The half-African, half-Latino was found by some scientists who experimented on him, bringing him to the attention of the public. He was found by Moira MacTaggert
and recruited as one of her "fosters." He was in the first team, along with Kid Vulcan, Petra
, and Sway
to attempt to rescue the X-Men
from Krakoa
.
While Petra and Sway were killed by Krakoa, Darwin and Vulcan were swallowed in the earth by a combination of Sway and Petra's dying powers. Darwin absorbed the remains of the two girls and then converted himself into energy to fuse together with Vulcan. This gave Vulcan the powers of Darwin, Petra, and Sway. Rachel Summers
managed to expel Darwin's presence from Vulcan, who then took off for space. While dealing with the shocking revelations of the truth about Krakoa and Vulcan, Beast found out that Darwin was still in fact alive. He was brought back to the Institute, where Beast determined Darwin was now a being of pure energy. While not conscious, he was shown to still have brain activity and was still alive, located at the X-Mansion. Once separated from Vulcan, Darwin's abilities caused him to develop a physical form once more.
team (including Warpath
, Havok, Polaris
, Marvel Girl
, Nightcrawler
, and Professor X
avier) left to go hunt down Vulcan and stop him from destroying the Shi'ar, it was revealed that the Professor brought Darwin with them with hope that his friendship with Vulcan would help. When Shi'ar agents abducted Professor X, Darwin followed, and secretly jumped onto their spacecraft as it fled.
After successfully rescuing Xavier from his captors, Darwin was well on his way to freedom when D'Ken was revealed to be alive and well. Recaptured by the Imperium guards, Darwin failed in his attempt of rescuing his mentor and reluctantly accepted the Vulcan's offer of becoming Best Man at his and Deathbird's wedding.
Though obviously against the union, Darwin attended the wedding - albeit in shackles - and was caught in the crossfire when the X-Men and Starjammers attacked. Fearing his great day to be completely ruined by the interference, Vulcan trapped Xavier within the M'Kraan Crystal
. Naturally fearing for his mentor's safety, Darwin followed Xavier into the depths of the crystal, and rescued him. He was taken to the X-Men's space ship with Professor X and Lilandra Neramani
sent the ship on its way back to Earth.
came to the X-Mansion. While fighting the Hulk he evolved the ability to absorb gamma radiation. Darwin attempted to absorb gamma radiation from the Hulk only to find that the Hulk's gamma radiation supply was far more than he could drain. His body then determined the best way to confront the Hulk was to not confront the Hulk at all, and Darwin gained teleportation powers and promptly teleported himself out of the Hulk's path of destruction: a distance of roughly three states away.
, Purifiers
, Predator X and Cable
.
, who tries to lead him to the Professor by using his powers. Longshot, however is unsure if his powers have been working correctly and tests them out on a group of people which turn on Darwin and attack. After a brief fight, Darwin manages to get away and the crowd turn on Longshot. Afterward, Longshot meets back up with Darwin and they are attacked by Jazinda
and She-Hulk
who are trailing after Longshot, who is really a Skrull
named Nogor. Darwin also develops a crush on Monet.
Meanwhile, Darwin's father hires X-Factor Investigations
to help him find Darwin, supposedly because he feels bad for walking out on him and his mother when he was younger.
He is eventually recruited into the team by Siryn
after she tells him that with X-Factor, he won't have to deal with the massive threats the X-Men routinely deal with. After Monet is possessed by the villainous Cortex and attacks Lenore, a young woman in the team's care, Darwin bravely fights her off. In the midst of the massive battle, Darwin is accidentally crushed by a Sentinel
that had been blasted out of the sky by Siryn. Emerging unharmed from the debris, Darwin cynically mocks her earlier speech about not having to worry about this sort of thing with X-Factor.
Several months later, the team relocates to New York City in order to take advantage of high paying metahuman cases. Darwin is present when the team is hired by Valeria Richards
and Franklin Richards
, and claims to be intimidated by Valeria's intellect. Darwin seems to still harbor feelings for Monet, becoming angry when Multiple Man tells the team that they may not be able to help her find her kidnapped father.
During a battle with Hela
, Darwin adapts to her touch by becoming a death god himself, Darwin has trouble coping with the after-effect of the god-like abilities that were granted to him. He decides to leave the team to adjust and find himself. Writer Peter David indicated on his blog that he would eventually return.
"; i.e. his body automatically adapts to any situation or environment he is placed in, allowing him to survive possibly anything; the exact nature and limits of his powers have not been revealed.
Examples of his powers include: gaining night-vision after a few seconds in the dark; functional gills after being submerged in water; fire-proof skin after being exposed to flame; increasing his own intelligence; converting his body into pure energy; no longer requiring oxygen after being sucked into space; morphing into a sponge when shot at with a weapon designed to destroy the subject's nervous system; and acquiring comprehension of the Shi'ar
language merely by looking at written samples. His power may concern itself with more efficient methods of survival than Darwin himself might choose; for example, instead of continually increasing Darwin's powers when taking punishment from the Hulk, his body simply teleported him away from the fight.
His power can also work when dealing with non-immediately-life-threatening situations, such as rendering it impossible for Darwin to get drunk by allowing his body to process alcohol faster than the human norm.
Mutant (Marvel Comics)
In comic books published by Marvel Comics, a mutant is an organism who possesses a genetic trait called an X-gene that allows the mutant to naturally develop superhuman powers and abilities...
character in the Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
Universe. He first appeared in X-Men: Deadly Genesis
X-Men: Deadly Genesis
X-Men: Deadly Genesis is a comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics in late 2005 and early 2006. The series was written by Ed Brubaker with interior art by Trevor Hairsine and covers by Marc Silvestri. Starring the X-Men, this series celebrates the 30th anniversary of Giant-Size X-Men #1...
#2, and was created by writer Ed Brubaker
Ed Brubaker
Ed Brubaker is an Eisner Award-winning comic book writer and cartoonist. Brubaker first early comics work was primarily in the crime fiction genre with works such as Lowlife, The Fall, Sandman Presents: Dead Boy Detectives and Scene of the Crime...
and artist Pete Woods
Pete Woods
Peter "Pete" Woods is a comic book artist, illustrator and penciller. He is best known for his work on titles such as Backlash, Deadpool, Robin, Catwoman, Amazons Attack and Action Comics.-Biography:...
. Darwin was one of the "Missing X-Men". Darwin appears in X-Men: First Class
X-Men: First Class
X-Men: First Class is a comic book series published by Marvel Comics starring the X-Men.-Publication history:The original series was an eight-issue limited series. It began in September 2006 and ended in April 2007. It was written by Jeff Parker and penciled by Roger Cruz...
where he is played by actor Edi Gathegi
Edi Gathegi
Edi Mue Gathegi is a Kenyan-American film, stage and television actor. He is best known for his recurring character Dr. Jeffrey Cole in the television series House, as Cheese in the 2007 film Gone Baby Gone and as Laurent in the films Twilight, its sequel The Twilight Saga: New Moon and Darwin in...
.
Early Life and Krakoa
After birth, Darwin's powers of self-protection and continuous circumstantial evolutionEvolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
made his mother hate him. The half-African, half-Latino was found by some scientists who experimented on him, bringing him to the attention of the public. He was found by Moira MacTaggert
Moira MacTaggert
Dr. Moira Kinross MacTaggert is a fictional character appearing in X-Men stories in the Marvel Comics universe. She works as a geneticist and is an expert in mutant affairs. Olivia Williams played a minor role of Dr. Moira MacTaggert in X-Men: The Last Stand...
and recruited as one of her "fosters." He was in the first team, along with Kid Vulcan, Petra
Petra (comics)
Petra is a fictional character, a mutant appearing in the comic books published by Marvel Comics. She first appears in the limited series X-Men: Deadly Genesis #1 . Petra was created by writer Ed Brubaker and artist Pete Woods and is one of the "Missing X-Men".-Fictional character biography:Petra...
, and Sway
Sway (comics)
Sway is a fictional comic book superhero, a mutant in the Marvel Comics Universe. She first appeared in X-Men: Deadly Genesis #3 as one of the "Missing X-Men"...
to attempt to rescue the X-Men
X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team in the . They were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1...
from Krakoa
Krakoa
Krakoa is a fictional character in Marvel Comics, commonly associated with the X-Men. It is a living island, an intelligent ecosystem able to command all the living things native to its island body, and even its terrain...
.
While Petra and Sway were killed by Krakoa, Darwin and Vulcan were swallowed in the earth by a combination of Sway and Petra's dying powers. Darwin absorbed the remains of the two girls and then converted himself into energy to fuse together with Vulcan. This gave Vulcan the powers of Darwin, Petra, and Sway. Rachel Summers
Rachel Summers
Rachel Anne Summers is a fictional character, a comic book superheroine created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne for Marvel Comics....
managed to expel Darwin's presence from Vulcan, who then took off for space. While dealing with the shocking revelations of the truth about Krakoa and Vulcan, Beast found out that Darwin was still in fact alive. He was brought back to the Institute, where Beast determined Darwin was now a being of pure energy. While not conscious, he was shown to still have brain activity and was still alive, located at the X-Mansion. Once separated from Vulcan, Darwin's abilities caused him to develop a physical form once more.
The Rise and Fall of The Shi'ar Empire
When the Uncanny X-MenUncanny X-Men
Uncanny X-Men, first published as The X-Men, is the flagship Marvel Comics comic book series for the X-Men franchise. It is the mainstream continuity featuring the adventures of the eponymous group of mutant superheroes...
team (including Warpath
Warpath (comics)
James Proudstar, previously known as the second Thunderbird but also known as Warpath, is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics superhero associated with the X-Men....
, Havok, Polaris
Polaris (comics)
Polaris is a fictional comic book character appearing in books published by Marvel Comics, in particular the X-Men family of books. Created by Arnold Drake, Don Heck, Werner Roth and Jim Steranko, Polaris first appeared in The X-Men #49...
, Marvel Girl
Rachel Summers
Rachel Anne Summers is a fictional character, a comic book superheroine created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne for Marvel Comics....
, Nightcrawler
Nightcrawler (comics)
Nightcrawler is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the Marvel Universe. He has been associated with both the X-Men and Excalibur, originally appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum, he debuted in Giant-Size X-Men #1...
, and Professor X
Professor X
Professor Charles Francis Xavier, also known as Professor X, is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics superhero known as the leader and founder of the X-Men....
avier) left to go hunt down Vulcan and stop him from destroying the Shi'ar, it was revealed that the Professor brought Darwin with them with hope that his friendship with Vulcan would help. When Shi'ar agents abducted Professor X, Darwin followed, and secretly jumped onto their spacecraft as it fled.
After successfully rescuing Xavier from his captors, Darwin was well on his way to freedom when D'Ken was revealed to be alive and well. Recaptured by the Imperium guards, Darwin failed in his attempt of rescuing his mentor and reluctantly accepted the Vulcan's offer of becoming Best Man at his and Deathbird's wedding.
Though obviously against the union, Darwin attended the wedding - albeit in shackles - and was caught in the crossfire when the X-Men and Starjammers attacked. Fearing his great day to be completely ruined by the interference, Vulcan trapped Xavier within the M'Kraan Crystal
M'Kraan Crystal
In the fictional Marvel Comics Universe, the M'Kraan Crystal is a gigantic crystalline artifact that lies at the nexus of all realities. The Crystal contains a negative galaxy, a source of near limitless power, which pulls and traps all matter inside. The Crystal plays a prominent role in several...
. Naturally fearing for his mentor's safety, Darwin followed Xavier into the depths of the crystal, and rescued him. He was taken to the X-Men's space ship with Professor X and Lilandra Neramani
Lilandra Neramani
Lilandra Neramani is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics Universe. She is the Empress of the Shi'ar Empire and shares a lifelong bond with the leader of the X-Men, Charles Xavier. She and Xavier were married but their marriage was annulled after the Cassandra Nova incident. She first...
sent the ship on its way back to Earth.
World War Hulk
Darwin was one of the X-Men who heeded the call for help when HulkHulk (comics)
The Hulk is a fictional character, a superhero in the . Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #1 ....
came to the X-Mansion. While fighting the Hulk he evolved the ability to absorb gamma radiation. Darwin attempted to absorb gamma radiation from the Hulk only to find that the Hulk's gamma radiation supply was far more than he could drain. His body then determined the best way to confront the Hulk was to not confront the Hulk at all, and Darwin gained teleportation powers and promptly teleported himself out of the Hulk's path of destruction: a distance of roughly three states away.
Messiah Complex
Darwin reappeared in Messiah Complex and fought alongside the X-Men against the MaraudersMarauders (comics)
The Marauders is a team of fictional supervillain characters in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist John Romita, Jr., the team first appear in Uncanny X-Men #210 The Marauders is a team of fictional supervillain characters in comic books published by...
, Purifiers
Purifiers
The Purifiers, also known as the Stryker Crusade, are a fictional paramilitary/terrorist organization in the Marvel Comics universe and enemies of the X-Men...
, Predator X and Cable
Cable (comics)
Cable is a fictional character appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared as an infant in Uncanny X-Men #201...
.
Secret Invasion
Sometime after Messiah Complex, Darwin goes in search of Professor Xavier because he wants to help him. He encounters LongshotLongshot
Longshot is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero best known as a member of the X-Men. He was created by writer Ann Nocenti and artist Art Adams.-Publication history:...
, who tries to lead him to the Professor by using his powers. Longshot, however is unsure if his powers have been working correctly and tests them out on a group of people which turn on Darwin and attack. After a brief fight, Darwin manages to get away and the crowd turn on Longshot. Afterward, Longshot meets back up with Darwin and they are attacked by Jazinda
Jazinda
Jazinda is a Marvel Comics supporting character. She is the estranged daughter of Kl'rt the Super-Skrull. Exiled from the Skrull empire under threat of death as a traitor, she currently resides and works on Earth as part of a freelance bounty hunting team with She-Hulk.-Fictional character...
and She-Hulk
She-Hulk
She-Hulk is a Marvel Comics superheroine. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist John Buscema, she first appeared in Savage She-Hulk #1 ....
who are trailing after Longshot, who is really a Skrull
Skrull
The Skrulls are a fictional race of extraterrestrial shapeshifters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics.-Publication history:The Skrulls first appeared in Fantastic Four #2 and were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby....
named Nogor. Darwin also develops a crush on Monet.
Meanwhile, Darwin's father hires X-Factor Investigations
X-Factor Investigations
X-Factor Investigations is a fictional detective agency created by writer Peter David for the Marvel Comics comic book series X-Factor . The agency first appears under the name XXX Investigations in the first issue of the Marvel Comics limited series Madrox #1...
to help him find Darwin, supposedly because he feels bad for walking out on him and his mother when he was younger.
Joining X-Factor
After Darwin is reunited with his father, he is betrayed by him and sold out to operatives of an organization known as the Karma Project, who are experimenting on living human beings, only for their attempts to duplicate Darwin's hyper-evolution to fail when the duplicate Darwins' DNA proves incapable of handling his powers.He is eventually recruited into the team by Siryn
Siryn
Theresa Maeve Rourke Cassidy is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in books published by Marvel Comics, usually those belonging to the X-Men family of titles...
after she tells him that with X-Factor, he won't have to deal with the massive threats the X-Men routinely deal with. After Monet is possessed by the villainous Cortex and attacks Lenore, a young woman in the team's care, Darwin bravely fights her off. In the midst of the massive battle, Darwin is accidentally crushed by a Sentinel
Sentinel (comics)
Sentinels are a fictional variety of mutant-hunting robots, appearing in the Marvel Comics Universe. They are usually portrayed as antagonists to the X-Men. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, they first appeared in The X-Men #14 .According to Marvel canon, Sentinels are programmed to locate...
that had been blasted out of the sky by Siryn. Emerging unharmed from the debris, Darwin cynically mocks her earlier speech about not having to worry about this sort of thing with X-Factor.
Several months later, the team relocates to New York City in order to take advantage of high paying metahuman cases. Darwin is present when the team is hired by Valeria Richards
Valeria Richards
Valeria Meghan Richards is a fictional character of Marvel Comics, the daughter of Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman , husband and wife and two original members of the superhero team the Fantastic Four. She is the younger sister of Franklin Richards...
and Franklin Richards
Franklin Richards
Franklin Richards is a fictional comic book character appearing in books published by Marvel Comics, usually as a supporting character in Fantastic Four.Franklin is an Omega-Level mutant with vast psionic and reality-manipulating powers...
, and claims to be intimidated by Valeria's intellect. Darwin seems to still harbor feelings for Monet, becoming angry when Multiple Man tells the team that they may not be able to help her find her kidnapped father.
During a battle with Hela
Hela (comics)
Hela is a fictional character, the Asgardian goddess of death in the Marvel Comics universe, based on the Norse goddess, Hel. The ruler of Hel and Niffleheim, the character has been a frequent foe of Thor...
, Darwin adapts to her touch by becoming a death god himself, Darwin has trouble coping with the after-effect of the god-like abilities that were granted to him. He decides to leave the team to adjust and find himself. Writer Peter David indicated on his blog that he would eventually return.
Powers and abilities
Darwin has the power of "reactive evolutionLamarckism
Lamarckism is the idea that an organism can pass on characteristics that it acquired during its lifetime to its offspring . It is named after the French biologist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck , who incorporated the action of soft inheritance into his evolutionary theories...
"; i.e. his body automatically adapts to any situation or environment he is placed in, allowing him to survive possibly anything; the exact nature and limits of his powers have not been revealed.
Examples of his powers include: gaining night-vision after a few seconds in the dark; functional gills after being submerged in water; fire-proof skin after being exposed to flame; increasing his own intelligence; converting his body into pure energy; no longer requiring oxygen after being sucked into space; morphing into a sponge when shot at with a weapon designed to destroy the subject's nervous system; and acquiring comprehension of the Shi'ar
Shi'ar
The Shi'ar are a fictional species of aliens in the Marvel Comics universe. The Shi'ar Empire also called the Aerie, is a vast collection of alien species, cultures and worlds situated close to the Skrull and Kree Empires, and alongside them, is one of the three main alien empires...
language merely by looking at written samples. His power may concern itself with more efficient methods of survival than Darwin himself might choose; for example, instead of continually increasing Darwin's powers when taking punishment from the Hulk, his body simply teleported him away from the fight.
His power can also work when dealing with non-immediately-life-threatening situations, such as rendering it impossible for Darwin to get drunk by allowing his body to process alcohol faster than the human norm.
Film
- Actor Edi GathegiEdi GathegiEdi Mue Gathegi is a Kenyan-American film, stage and television actor. He is best known for his recurring character Dr. Jeffrey Cole in the television series House, as Cheese in the 2007 film Gone Baby Gone and as Laurent in the films Twilight, its sequel The Twilight Saga: New Moon and Darwin in...
portrayed Darwin in X-Men: First ClassX-Men: First ClassX-Men: First Class is a comic book series published by Marvel Comics starring the X-Men.-Publication history:The original series was an eight-issue limited series. It began in September 2006 and ended in April 2007. It was written by Jeff Parker and penciled by Roger Cruz...
. He demonstrated abilities such as growing gills when underwater and developing armor plating to withstand physical beatings. In a short conflict between Xavier's mutants and Sebastian ShawSebastian Shaw (comics)Sebastian Hiram Shaw is a fictional comic book supervillain in the Marvel Comics universe, and an adversary of the X-Men.A mutant, Shaw possesses the ability to absorb energy and transform it into raw strength...
, Darwin is killed when Sebastian Shaw forces an energy blast fired by Havok down his throat incinerating him.
External links
- World of Black Heroes: Darwin Biography
- Darwin at Marvel.com