Graydon Creed
Encyclopedia
Graydon Creed is a fictional character
created by writer Scott Lobdell
and artist Brandon Peterson
. The character is an enemy of the X-Men
and first appeared in Uncanny X-Men
#299 (April 1993).
seduced freelance assassin Victor Creed
while he was in Germany on a mission. Mystique later gave birth to a normal human child - Graydon - whom she gave up for adoption, although she kept an eye on him. When Graydon learned of his heritage, that he was the son of two mutants who had abandoned him as an inconvenience, he grew resentful of all mutants, and that resentment colored his outlook for the rest of his life.
In his adult years, Graydon formed a group called the Friends of Humanity
, dedicated to opposing mutant civil rights by committing acts of terrorism
against peaceful mutants and mutant sympathizers, and using the acts of violent mutants such as Magneto
to rally support for their cause.
, a group of wealthy and powerful individuals who had banded together by Selene
and the enigmatic telepathic Gamesmaster
with the sole purpose of killing mutants for points in a twisted game. After learning of his parents identities, Creed sought to kill them as part of the Upstarts' game. Disguised as the armored Tribune, Creed hired assassins to kill his mother and had his father implanted with a bomb. Sabretooth
managed to remove the device and confronted his son, who callously shot Sabretooth's assistant Birdy, a mutant telepath whom Sabretooth employed to keep his homicidal rages in check.
During the Upstarts' self-professed “Younghunt”, Creed was blackmailed into revealing the location of the Upstarts' prisoners by the New Warriors who threatened to expose Creed as a mutant collaborator and the son of mutants.
).
On the eve of the election, Creed was assassinated during his campaign speech when a plasma beam completely disintegrated him. Several years later, the miniseries
X-Men Forever
revealed that a future version of Mystique had fired the shot, having sworn to kill Graydon for his part in the Friends of Humanity's brutal attack on Trevor Chase, the grandson of her lover Destiny
.
show a group of Purifiers
digging up the corpse of Graydon Creed, his body is then taken back to the purifiers base where it is re-animated by Bastion using the techno-organic virus
taken from an "offspring" of Magus
.
During the Second Coming
storyline, Graydon Creed alongside Steven Lang
were killed by Hope Summers
.
reality, Graydon Creed had led a strike force that put the mutant race on the verge of extinction.
, Graydon Creed rose to prominence as an anti-mutant activist, becoming friends with vice-president Bolivar Trask
. His prominence was short-lived as Magneto
(who compared Graydon Creed to Adolf Hitler
) viewed it as his duty to rid the world of the man. Magneto sent his assassin Sabretooth to kill him. Graydon Creed's massacred body was found by government agents, and Trask ordered his death ruled an accident to prevent panic.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
created by writer Scott Lobdell
Scott Lobdell
Scott Lobdell is an American comic book writer.-Early Career:Scott didn't begin to read comics until he was 17 years old, while lying in bed after lung surgery....
and artist Brandon Peterson
Brandon Peterson
Brandon Peterson is an American comic book writer and artist. Born and raised in Wisconsin on October 14, 1969. Brandon Peterson is known for his hyper detailed artwork and intricate line work...
. The character is an enemy of 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...
and first appeared in Uncanny X-Men
Uncanny 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...
#299 (April 1993).
Fictional character biography
Posing as German spy Leni Zauber, MystiqueMystique (comics)
Mystique is a fictional character associated with the Marvel Comics' franchise X-Men. Originally created by artist David Cockrum and writer Chris Claremont, she first appeared in Ms...
seduced freelance assassin Victor Creed
Sabretooth (comics)
Sabretooth is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics supervillain created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne. The character first appeared in Iron Fist #14...
while he was in Germany on a mission. Mystique later gave birth to a normal human child - Graydon - whom she gave up for adoption, although she kept an eye on him. When Graydon learned of his heritage, that he was the son of two mutants who had abandoned him as an inconvenience, he grew resentful of all mutants, and that resentment colored his outlook for the rest of his life.
In his adult years, Graydon formed a group called the Friends of Humanity
Friends of Humanity
The Friends of Humanity are one of the many anti-mutant hate groups in the Marvel Universe. Notable anti-mutant activists such as one time presidential-hopeful Graydon Creed and the robotic Bastion were among its members.-History:...
, dedicated to opposing mutant civil rights by committing acts of terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
against peaceful mutants and mutant sympathizers, and using the acts of violent mutants such as Magneto
Magneto (comics)
Magneto is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the central villain of the X-Men comic, as well as the TV show and the films. The character first appears in X-Men #1 , and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby...
to rally support for their cause.
Upstarts
Creed also came to join the UpstartsUpstarts (comics)
The Upstarts were a group of fictional comic book supervillains in the Marvel Comics with strong ties to the Hellfire Club. They first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #281 and were created by Jim Lee and Whilce Portacio.-Fictional team biography:...
, a group of wealthy and powerful individuals who had banded together by Selene
Selene (comics)
Selene Gallio is a fictional character, a comic book supervillainess from the Marvel Comics universe. She is a mutant, and an enemy of the X-Men often associated with the Hellfire Club's Inner Circle.-Publication history:...
and the enigmatic telepathic Gamesmaster
Gamesmaster (comics)
Gamesmaster is a fictional mutant character in the Marvel Comics Universe. His first appearance was in Uncanny X-Men #283 .-Fictional character biography:...
with the sole purpose of killing mutants for points in a twisted game. After learning of his parents identities, Creed sought to kill them as part of the Upstarts' game. Disguised as the armored Tribune, Creed hired assassins to kill his mother and had his father implanted with a bomb. Sabretooth
Sabretooth
- Animals :* Saber-toothed cat, several prehistoric felines** Saber-toothed tigers, Smilodon, an ancient genus of cats* Sabertooth fish, a deep-sea fish found in the tropics...
managed to remove the device and confronted his son, who callously shot Sabretooth's assistant Birdy, a mutant telepath whom Sabretooth employed to keep his homicidal rages in check.
During the Upstarts' self-professed “Younghunt”, Creed was blackmailed into revealing the location of the Upstarts' prisoners by the New Warriors who threatened to expose Creed as a mutant collaborator and the son of mutants.
Death
Later, using the resources he had gained through the Friends of Humanity, and with the support of the government-sponsored anti-mutant taskforce Operation: Zero Tolerance, Creed nominated himself as a presidential candidate and ran on an anti-mutant platform. Capitalizing on a near-hysterical fear of mutants in the general public, Creed's popularity swelled, which led to the Daily Bugle newspaper launching an investigation into Creed's activities. When a reporter from the Bugle obtained information regarding Creed's parentage, Zero Tolerance's leader Bastion killed the journalist to prevent the news from leaking out. Although they stopped the reporter, Creed did not manage to catch that his assistant was really an undercover Samuel Guthrie (CannonballCannonball (comics)
Cannonball is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero, associated with the X-Men. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Bob McLeod, Cannonball first appeared in Marvel Graphic Novel #4: The New Mutants ....
).
On the eve of the election, Creed was assassinated during his campaign speech when a plasma beam completely disintegrated him. Several years later, the miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
X-Men Forever
X-Men Forever
X-Men Forever is the name of three comic book series published by Marvel Comics based on the mutant superhero group The X-Men. The first is a 2001 miniseries, unrelated to the others. The second and third are the work of writer Chris Claremont....
revealed that a future version of Mystique had fired the shot, having sworn to kill Graydon for his part in the Friends of Humanity's brutal attack on Trevor Chase, the grandson of her lover Destiny
Destiny (Irene Adler)
Destiny is a Marvel Comics fictional character, known as an adversary of the X-Men. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne, the character first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #141...
.
Purifiers
The pages of X-ForceX-Force
X-Force is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero team, one of several spin-offs of the popular X-Men franchise. Conceived by writer/illustrator Rob Liefeld, the team was formed in New Mutants, vol. 1 #100 and soon afterwards was featured in its own series.The group was a new incarnation of the 1980s...
show a group of 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...
digging up the corpse of Graydon Creed, his body is then taken back to the purifiers base where it is re-animated by Bastion using the techno-organic virus
Techno-organic virus
A techno-organic virus is a fictional virus in the Marvel Comics universe. The virus transforms organic material into techno-organic material. Techno-organic material resembles both machinery and living tissue...
taken from an "offspring" of Magus
Magus (Technarchy)
The Magus is a fictional character in the Marvel Universe.The Magus is a techno-organic patriarch of an alien civilization, and should not be confused with another character called Magus who is associated with Adam Warlock.-Publication history:...
.
During the Second Coming
Second Coming
In Christian doctrine, the Second Coming of Christ, the Second Advent, or the Parousia, is the anticipated return of Jesus Christ from Heaven, where he sits at the Right Hand of God, to Earth. This prophecy is found in the canonical gospels and in most Christian and Islamic eschatologies...
storyline, Graydon Creed alongside Steven Lang
Steven Lang (comics)
Steven Lang is a fictional character, a supervillain in the Marvel Comics universe. He is best known as a manufacturer of the mutant-hunting robots called Sentinels. He first appeared in X-Men volume 1 #96....
were killed by Hope Summers
Hope Summers (comics)
Hope Summers is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in X-Men #205 in 2007 , and was created by writers Mike Carey and artist Chris Bachalo during the "X-Men: Messiah Complex" event...
.
Age of X
In the Age of XAge of X
"Age of X" is a comic book storyline published by Marvel Comics which features an alternate reality of the X-Men. The first issue of the storyline, Age of X: Alpha, was published in January 2011. Publication continued in February, March, and April 2011...
reality, Graydon Creed had led a strike force that put the mutant race on the verge of extinction.
House of M
After Magneto's takeover of GenoshaGenosha
Genosha is a fictional country that has appeared in numerous comic book series published by Marvel Comics. It is an island nation that exists in Marvel's main shared universe, known as "Earth 616" in the Marvel Universe. The fictional nation served as an allegory for slavery and later for South...
, Graydon Creed rose to prominence as an anti-mutant activist, becoming friends with vice-president Bolivar Trask
Bolivar Trask
Bolivar Trask is a fictional character and a military scientist in the Marvel Comics universe. He first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #14 . He is the creator of the Sentinels.-Fictional character biography:...
. His prominence was short-lived as Magneto
Magneto (comics)
Magneto is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the central villain of the X-Men comic, as well as the TV show and the films. The character first appears in X-Men #1 , and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby...
(who compared Graydon Creed to Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
) viewed it as his duty to rid the world of the man. Magneto sent his assassin Sabretooth to kill him. Graydon Creed's massacred body was found by government agents, and Trask ordered his death ruled an accident to prevent panic.
Mutant X
In this reality, Graydon Greed is still the son of Mystique and Sabretooth and the founder of the Friends of Humanity. He became President of the United States after Mister Fantastic went missing. Graydon also reinstated S.H.I.E.L.D. and promoted Nick Fury to General.Television
- Graydon Creed appeared in the X-MenX-Men (TV series)X-Men, also known as X-Men: The Animated Series, is an American animated television series which debuted on October 31, 1992, in the United States on the Fox Network as part of its Fox Kids Saturday morning lineup...
animated series voiced by John Stocker. Like in the comics, Graydon Creed's deep resentment towards mutants comes from his parents Sabretooth and Mystique. Graydon wound up in the care of his father Sabretooth who bullied and beat him constantly. Many years later, Graydon founded the Friends of Humanity, an anti-mutant hate group that sought to vilify mutants. After the Beast's pardon by the President, Graydon's resentment grew even more and the Friends of Humanity began targeting the X-Men. Graydon Creed began looking for new ways to exterminate mutantkind. He hired a scientist to create a virus that would wipe out every mutant on Earth though would be relatively harmless to ordinary humans. Graydon dispatches one of his followers to infect a baseline humans in contact with a number of known mutants and begins making public announcements about the dangerous plague carrying mutants. While giving a speech about the plague's effects, Graydon attempts to infect Beast with the virus though is stopped by BishopBishop (comics)Bishop is a fictional comic book superhero, appearing in books published by Marvel Comics, in particular the X-Men family of books...
. During the struggle, Graydon accidentally infects himself and retreats back to the lab for medical aid. The X-Men follow him, attack the base and the scientist reveals himself to be ApocalypseApocalypse (comics)Apocalypse is a fictional character who is an ancient mutant that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in X-Factor #5 , created by writer Louise Simonson and designed by artist Walter Simonson...
. The X-Man Beast helps him get clear of the battle. The X-Men destroy the virus and Graydon returns to the Friends of Humanity headquarters. In "Beauty and the Beast," Beast began dating his former patient Carly, a human causing Graydon Creed to become furious. He had Carly kidnapped and began interrogating her. Meanwhile Beast begins searching for the missing Carly and Wolverine infiltrates the Friends of Humanity pretending to have been beaten by mutants. Graydon gladly accepts him into the fold. Moments later an enraged Beast breaks into the Friends of Humanity and Wolverine reveals himself and rescues Carly. Before they leave the X-Men outside set up a holographic projector displaying Xavier's profile on the mutant Sabretooth, real name: Graydon Creed, Senior. Discovering that another one of his trusted men was a mutant and seeing Sabretooth's face again, Graydon Creed becomes unstable and begins screaming wildly. Realizing that their leader was the son of a mutant, the Friends of Humanity leave him behind for the authorities. Meanwhile, the Friends of Humanity do not disband but grow larger and more organized. Fully recovered though still with a strong hatred towards mutants by the episode "Bloodlines," Graydon returns to the Friends of Humanity to resume his old role as their leader. The council rules that to lead the Friends of Humanity once more, he has to prove himself. They tell Graydon that Sabretooth is not the only mutant in his family. The Head of the Council hands him a file with information on his mother Mystique, his foster sister RogueRogue (comics)Rogue was first slated to appear in Ms. Marvel #25 , but the book's abrupt cancellation left her original introduction story unpublished for over a decade, before seeing print in Marvel Super Heroes #11 in 1992. Rogue's first published appearance was in Avengers Annual #10...
, and his demonic-looking half-brother NightcrawlerNightcrawler (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...
. Close to madness, he agrees to kill all of the mutants in return that the Friends of Humanity would let him return to the fold. Creed kidnaps his mother Mystique and forces her to send a letter to Nightcrawler saying she was in danger. Fearing for his mother's life, Nightcrawler seeks the help of Rogue and Wolverine. They locate the Friends of Humanity's dam-base and walk straight into a trap. Graydon attempts to gas all of the mutants to death. They manage to break free and defeat Creed. Mystique slips away though and is thought to have been killed when the dam burst open (though she actually survived). Creed in his helicopter is washed away as the dam breaks down. He later wakes up aboard a helicopter bound. Four of the council members inform Graydon that he has failed for the last time by letting Mystique, Rogue, and Nightcrawler live and costing them their soldiers who were arrested for blowing up their dam-base. As a result, Graydon has been expelled from the Friends of Humanity indefinitely. They push him from the chopper and he parachutes to "safety"... right in front of Sabretooth's rural home as Sabretooth grabs Graydon upon his landing to deal with Graydon personally.
External links
- Graydon Creed at Marvel.com