Graydon Creed

Last updated
Graydon Creed
Graydon Creed.jpg
Graydon Creed as depicted in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe vol. 4 # 7 (November 2004). Art by Joe Madureira.
Publication information
Publisher Marvel Comics
First appearance The Uncanny X-Men #299 (April 1993)
Created by Scott Lobdell
Brandon Peterson
In-story information
Species Human
Team affiliations Purifiers
Upstarts
Friends of Humanity
Notable aliasesTribune
AbilitiesNone

Graydon Creed is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Scott Lobdell and artist Brandon Peterson and first appeared in The Uncanny X-Men #299 (April 1993). He is the "baseline human" son of Sabretooth and Mystique. [1]

Contents

Fictional character biography

Posing as German spy Leni Zauber, Mystique seduced freelance assassin Victor Creed (Sabretooth) 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 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. [2]

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.

Upstarts

Creed also came to join the Upstarts, a group of wealthy and powerful individuals who had been brought 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. His father managed to remove the device and confronted his son, who callously stabbed 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. [3]

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. [4] [5] Capitalizing on a near-hysterical fear of mutants in the general public (specially after the Onslaught debacle), [6] Creed's popularity swelled, which led to the Daily Bugle newspaper launching an investigation into Creed's activities, on-principle. [7] 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. [8] Although they stopped the reporter, Creed did not manage to catch that the X-Men had also infiltrated his presidential campaign, by planting Bobby Drake (under the alias of "Drake Roberts") and Sam Guthrie (under the alias of "Samson Guthry") as Creed's assistants. [9] [10]

On the eve of the election, Creed was assassinated during a campaign speech when a plasma beam completely disintegrated him. [11] Several years later, the miniseries, X-Men Forever , revealed that a future version of Mystique had fired the shot, [12] 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. [13]

Purifiers

The pages of X-Force show a group of Purifiers digging up the corpse of Graydon Creed, his body is then taken back to their base. It is re-animated by Bastion using the techno-organic virus taken from an "offspring" of Magus. [14] Creed later went public with his return, claiming that his death was faked all along to allow him to go underground and avoid persecution from mutants.

During the Second Coming storyline, Graydon Creed, alongside Steven Lang, is killed by Hope Summers. [15]

Hunt for Wolverine

During the "Hunt for Wolverine" storyline, Sabretooth, Lady Deathstrike, and Daken fight their way past the zombies and soldiers from Soteira Killteam Nine in order to get to the power station where the glowing green box suspected of causing the zombie outbreak is located. Sabretooth discovers that one of the soldiers is a zombie version of his son Graydon. After Lady Deathstrike and Daken are stabbed by a zombie version of Lord Dark Wind, Sabretooth fights his zombified son who states that there is 10 minutes left before Maybelle is burned to the ground. [16] As Sabretooth continues his fight with Graydon, he tries to get answers on how Graydon came back from the dead. He doesn't get an answer. After slaying the zombie Lord Dark Wind, Lady Deathstrike stabs the zombie Graydon in the neck. [17]

Other versions

Age of Apocalypse

Graydon Creed goes by the name "Horror Show" in the Age of Apocalypse reality. He's a part of the X-Terminated team with a handful of other humans. He's wearing an armor and appears to have a flamethrower and other firearms. [18] He mentions that his father, Sabretooth, was apparently a brutal, abusive father. [19] During the X-Termination crossover, AoA Nightcrawler's trip home resulted in the release of three evil beings that destroy anyone they touch. Several casualties resulted, including the AoA's Sabretooth, Horror Show, and Fiend, as well as the X-Treme X-Men's Xavier and Hercules. [20]

Age of X

In the Age of X 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 Genosha during the House of M , 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. [21]

Mutant X

In the Mutant X reality, Graydon Creed became President of the United States after Reed Richards' disappearance. He additionally reinstated S.H.I.E.L.D. and promoted Nick Fury to General. [22]

In other media

Graydon Creed appears in X-Men: The Animated Series , voiced by John Stocker.[ citation needed ] This version is a member of the Friends of Humanity. In his most notable appearances in the episodes "Beauty and the Beast" and "Bloodlines", he is ousted from the group after the X-Men expose his mutant heritage and unsuccessfully attempts to re-join them by killing Mystique and Nightcrawler.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Professor X</span> Comic book character

Professor X is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The X-Men #1. The character is depicted as the founder and occasional leader of the X-Men.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mystique (character)</span> Marvel Comics fictional character

Mystique is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by artist David Cockrum and writer Chris Claremont, the character first appeared in Ms. Marvel #16. A member of a subspecies of humanity known as mutants who are born with superhuman abilities, Mystique is a shapeshifter who can mimic the appearance and voice of any person with exquisite precision. Her natural appearance includes blue skin, red hair and yellow eyes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wolverine (character)</span> Marvel Comics fictional character

Wolverine is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, often in association with the X-Men. He is a mutant with animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities, a powerful regenerative ability known as a healing factor, a skeleton reinforced with the unbreakable fictional metal adamantium, and three retractable claws in each hand. In addition to the X-Men, Wolverine has been depicted as a member of X-Force, Alpha Flight, the Fantastic Four, and the Avengers. The common depiction of Wolverine is multifaceted; he is portrayed at once as a gruff loner, susceptible to animalistic “berserker rages” despite his best efforts, while simultaneously being an incredibly knowledgeable and intelligent polyglot, strategist, and martial artist, partially due to his extended lifespan and expansive lived experiences. He has been featured in comic books, films, animation, and video games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brotherhood of Mutants</span> Fictional team by Marvel Comics

The Brotherhood of Mutants is a fictional team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The characters are depicted as being devoted to mutant superiority over normal humans. They are among the chief adversaries of the X-Men.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sabretooth (character)</span> Comic book character

Sabretooth is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most commonly in association with the X-Men, in particular as an enemy of the mutant Wolverine. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist John Byrne, the character made his first appearance in Iron Fist #14. The original portrayal of Sabretooth was that of a non-powered serial killer, but was later written as a mutant possessing bestial superhuman abilities, most notably a rapid healing factor, razor-sharp fangs and claws, and superhuman senses. He is a vicious assassin, who was responsible for numerous deaths throughout history, both as a paid mercenary and for his personal pleasure. Accounts on how his enmity with Wolverine originated differs depending on different writers. One of the most common accounts is that Wolverine and Sabretooth were both participants of the Cold War supersoldier program Weapon X, and that Sabretooth saw Wolverine as competition and therefore antagonized him. While Wolverine is depicted as suppressing his more savage qualities, Sabretooth does the opposite and embraces them, until the events of the 2014 storyline "AXIS".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nightcrawler (character)</span> Fictional comic book character

Nightcrawler is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the X-Men. Created by writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum, he debuted in the comic book Giant-Size X-Men #1. By the time of his creation, there was already another Marvel character with the same name, but with a hyphen (Night-Crawler), which was later changed to Dark-Crawler to avoid confusion.

"Age of Apocalypse" is a 1995 comic book crossover storyline mostly published in the X-Men franchise of books by Marvel Comics. The Age of Apocalypse briefly replaced the universe of Earth-616 and had ramifications in the main Marvel Comics universe when the original timeline was restored. It was later retconned as having occurred in the alternate universe of Earth-295.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lady Deathstrike</span> Marvel Comics fictional character

Lady Deathstrike, occasionally spelled Deathstryke, is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She is a foe of the X-Men, especially Wolverine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toad (Marvel Comics)</span> Fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics

Toad is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby, he first appeared in The X-Men #4.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blob (Marvel Comics)</span> Marvel Comics fictional character

The Blob is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually depicted as an adversary of the X-Men. A mutant originally depicted as a morbidly obese circus freak, the Blob claims to be immovable when he so desires. He possesses an extreme amount of pliable body mass, which grants him superhuman strength. Possessing the demeanor of a bully, he mostly uses his powers for petty crime on his own, and as a member of the Brotherhood of Mutants and Freedom Force.

Weapon X is a fictional government genetic research facility project appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They were conducted by Department K, which turned willing and unwilling beings into living weapons to carry out covert missions like assassination or eliminating potential threats to the government. It was similar to human enhancement experiments in the real world, but it captured mutants and did experiments on them to enhance their abilities such as superpowers, turning them into human weapons. They also mutated baseline humans. The Weapon X Project produced Wolverine, Leech, Deadpool, Sabretooth, and Weapon H.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marauders (comics)</span> Group of fictional characters

The Marauders refers to one of two teams of fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The original Marauders team included mutant warriors and assassins employed by the X-Men's enemy Mister Sinister, a mad scientist villain often intent on creating a perfect race of superhumans. At different times, the Marauders have been tasked with Sinister to perform kidnappings, assassinations, mass murder, or to simply fight Sinister's enemies. At different times, Marauders have been killed in combat, but often Mr. Sinister later uses his cloning technology to re-create them. This team of Marauders has appeared in many different stories of the X-Men franchise, as well as stories featuring other Marvel Comics heroes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bolivar Trask</span> Fictional comic book character

Bolivar Trask is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is a military scientist whose company Trask Industries is well known as the creator of the Sentinels. He is also the father of Larry Trask and Madame Sanctity.

The Horsemen of Apocalypse are a team of supervillain characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Led by Apocalypse, they are loosely based on the Biblical Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from the Book of Revelation, though its members vary throughout the canon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Azazel (Marvel Comics)</span> Marvel comics character

Azazel is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Chuck Austen and Sean Philips, the character first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #428. He belongs to the subspecies of humans named mutants, who are born with superhuman abilities. He is the father of the X-Men's Kiwi Black and was originally the father of Nightcrawler as well until that was retconned in 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wolverine (Ultimate Marvel character)</span> Superhero appearing in Marvel Comics

Wolverine is a fictional character appearing in books published by Marvel Comics. He is an alternative version of Wolverine that appears in the Ultimate Marvel imprint, in stories separate from the original character. Created by writer Mark Millar and artist Adam Kubert, Ultimate Wolverine first appeared in Ultimate X-Men #1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Stryker</span> Fictional character in Marvel Comics

The Reverend William Stryker is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. A minister and former sergeant with a strong hatred for mutants, he is usually depicted as an enemy of the X-Men. He is also the father of Jason Stryker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daken</span> Marvel Comics character

Daken is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Daken was created by writer Daniel Way and artist Steve Dillon and first appeared in Wolverine: Origins #10 (March 2007).

<i>Hunt for Wolverine</i> 2018 comic book storyline

"Hunt for Wolverine" is a 2018 comic book storyline published by Marvel Comics, starring the character Wolverine. The storyline is the follow-up to the Death of Wolverine event, and is continued with Return of Wolverine.

References

  1. DeFalco, Tom; Sanderson, Peter; Brevoort, Tom; Teitelbaum, Michael; Wallace, Daniel; Darling, Andrew; Forbeck, Matt; Cowsill, Alan; Bray, Adam (2019). The Marvel Encyclopedia. DK Publishing. p. 95. ISBN   978-1-4654-7890-0.
  2. Sabretooth #1-4. Marvel Comics.
  3. New Warriors #45 (March 1994). Marvel Comics.
  4. Uncanny X-Men #323, #334.
  5. X-Men (1991) #45, 51.
  6. Uncanny X-Men #337.
  7. Uncanny X-Men #337, X-Men (1991) #57.
  8. Uncanny X-Men #339.
  9. Uncanny X-Men #338, #340.
  10. X-Men #58, 59.
  11. X-Factor #130. Marvel Comics.
  12. X-Men Forever (2001) #2.
  13. X-Factor (1986) #127.
  14. X-Force vol. 3 #3. Marvel Comics.
  15. X-Force vol. 3 #28. Marvel Comics.
  16. Hunt for Wolverine: Claws of a Killer #3. Marvel Comics.
  17. Hunt for Wolverine: Claws of a Killer #4. Marvel Comics.
  18. Age of Apocalypse #1. Marvel Comics.
  19. Age of Apocalypse #3. Marvel Comics.
  20. Astonishing X-Men #60. Marvel Comics.
  21. Civil War: House of M #3 (2008). Marvel Comics.
  22. Mutant X #18 (April 2000). Marvel Comics.