Kevin MacTaggert, also known as Proteus and Mutant X, is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics and is commonly associated with the X-Men as an antagonist.
Kevin is the mutant son of Scottish genetic researcher Moira MacTaggert and politician Joseph MacTaggert. He possesses reality-warping and possession powers and lived most of his life in forced seclusion at his mother Moira's research facility on Muir Island.
Kevin's attempt to escape Muir Island and find his father, Joseph made up a 1979–80 Uncanny X-Men storyline that was adapted in X-Men: The Animated Series. In 2009, Proteus was ranked as IGN's 77th-greatest villain of all time.[2]
Publication history
Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne, Proteus first appeared in The Uncanny X-Men #125 (September 1979),[3] though hints to his character appeared in earlier issues. He was referenced off-panel in The Uncanny X-Men #104, and appeared already possessing a host in The Uncanny X-Men #119.
Fictional character biography
Kevin MacTaggart is the son of Moira and Joseph MacTaggert[4] and was conceived after Joseph severely beat and raped his wife.[1] Moira leaves Joseph without telling him she was pregnant and raises Kevin at her mutant research centre on Muir Island, off the coast of Scotland. Kevin eventually manifests his mutant abilities, becoming a danger to everyone around him. To protect herself and others, Moira is forced to confine Kevin in a specialized cell and refers to him only as Mutant X.[5][6]
Kevin remains confined for several years until his cell is damaged in a fight between Magneto and the X-Men. He escapes by possessing the body of multiple locals,[7] including Phoenix, but is unable to overcome her psychic powers. Without the esoteric energy fields of his cell to sustain him, Kevin begins to burn his body out, and so begins to possess human host bodies, one after another. He goes after Polaris next.[5]
The X-Men arrive to confront Kevin, so he flees to the Scottish mainland, but is caught by Wolverine and Nightcrawler. In the ensuing fight, Kevin rejects the Mutant X label and names himself Proteus after the Greek god of myth and the cell in which he had been confined.[6] He attempts to possess Storm.[8]
Proteus flees to Edinburgh, where he possesses his father, Joseph, and makes a last stand against the X-Men. His host body is destroyed in the battle, but before Proteus can take another host, he is punched by Colossus, disrupting his energy form and apparently killing him.[9]
Several years later, A.I.M. attempts to recreate Proteus using a woman named Harness and her mutant son, Piecemeal, to absorb Proteus' dispersed energy. As Piecemeal absorbs the energy, his body grows too large for his system to handle.[10] Eventually, what is left of Proteus's consciousness and Piecemeal merged as one being.[11]
The combined efforts of the New Warriors, the New Mutants, the Muir Islanders, and the original X-Factor team are not enough to defeat the resulting creature. When the creature decides that it will not be able to find happiness, it decides to disperse itself, effectively committing suicide.[12]
Kevin encounters the Exiles and manages to escape the House of M reality by stealing data from the Panoptichron and possessing the bodies of various Exile members, though other reality manipulators such as Longshot seem immune to his powers.[14] Proteus finally possesses the body of Morph, which does not deteriorate due to his possession.[15]
Perhaps due to lingering memories from his time possessing Mimic, Proteus becomes obsessed with Blink,[16] who tricks him into wearing a portable Behavior Modification System and brainwashes him into believing that he is Morph. Unaware of his true identity, he joins the Exiles, much to the discomfort of the other members.[17] He requires regular manipulation by the Behavior Modification System to maintain the brainwashing, but the device is destroyed by chance during a fight between Psylocke and Sabretooth.[18]
Morph's consciousness eventually reawakens and confronts Proteus, offering him chance to work together and share his body and powers in order to do good. Proteus accepts and the two began to work in harmony, better than either could alone.[19] Some time later, Proteus and Morph are forcibly separated when the Exiles are absorbed into the Panoptichron; Proteus is absorbed into the walls, but Morph is left behind.[20]
Necrosha
Proteus is eventually restored as dispersed energy on Earth-616 and attempts to recreate his physical form via the same process used by Harness and Piecemeal. When Selene begins using the Transmode Virus to resurrect dead mutants, Proteus takes advantage of her work by affixing a small portion of his energy signature, and therefore his consciousness, to Destiny as she is resurrected. Although the amount of Proteus energy involved is not enough to possess Destiny, Proteus influences Destiny's perceptions and causes her to foresee a great threat on Muir Island.[21]
When Destiny attempts to telepathically contact her foster-daughter Rogue, she instead finds Blindfold and passes on her vision and a portion of Proteus' energy. Proteus manipulates Blindfold into confirming Destiny's vision and Cyclops dispatches Blindfold to investigate. Once they arrive, Proteus uses Blindfold like a "psychic magnet", soaking up Proteus' energy until enough energy is consolidated in one place to resurrect him.[22]
Proteus turns on the X-Men, particularly his murderer, Colossus. He demonstrates the ability to possess several X-Men simultaneously, but is ultimately defeated when Magneto disrupts his energy signature, killing him once more.[23]
Agent X
Some of Proteus's energy is found drifting in the astral plane by the Shadow King, who uses it to as a source of power in the battle between him and Xavier. Xavier, now inhabiting Fantomex's body and calling himself X, defeats the Shadow King, but accidentally reconstitutes Proteus in the process.[24] Proteus allows X and Psylocke to enter his mind, where they are welcomed by a young Kevin McTaggert. Kevin expresses a wish to atonement and change, as he believed he was only ten years old at the time Colossus killed him. Following that, he had only a few brief times to see the world before he was dispersed, but he had spent ten thousand years on the astral plane reflecting on the harm he had caused others and now wished only to be left alone. X does not trust him and attacks instead.
In retaliation, Proteus temporarily merges the physical bodies of X and Psylocke and sends them back to London. He then attempts to bring the astral plane into the real world and travels to the Scottish village of Fetters Hill, granting its citizens the ability to make whatever they wish real. As the X-Men confront Proteus again, the village has already fallen into chaos, becoming a gestalt of the villagers' mindscapes, but the X-Men are eventually able to disperse Proteus and reverse the damage he has caused to reality.[25]
House of X
Proteus is shown to be an inhabitant of Krakoa, apparently inhabiting a Professor X husk. He joins forces with Elixir, Hope Summers, Egg, and Tempus as The Five, who combine their powers to resurrect dead mutants.[26]
Powers and abilities
Proteus is an Omega-level mutant who possesses a vast psionic ability to manipulate and alter reality. He exists in a state of pure psionic energy and can take possession of human bodies; however, the bodies of most beings burn out within hours or a few days. Proteus can leave a body before it is destroyed, but he usually does not. No possessed person has been shown able to resist or break free of Proteus's domination. Proteus has access to all the memories of his host while he possesses them and after he has left the body. Proteus has occasionally exhibited some telepathy, perfect recall, and the ability to mentally download computer information.[volume&issueneeded]
Proteus' energy form is disrupted by metal, making living beings with metal in their bodies immune to the possession. If his form is disrupted enough, it can be dispersed, essentially killing him until it is reconstituted.
His reality manipulation powers allow him to transmute matter and bend the laws of physics according to his imagination within a certain range. Using this power he can transform objects into other objects or living creatures, transform energy into matter, manipulate weather, affect people's bodies, or strip a person of their powers. Proteus's reality warping ability is temporary and contingent upon line of sight: once out of his sight, any of his changes will be undone.
Because Proteus is a being made of energy, he is virtually immortal, as his consciousness can reform after being disrupted. Proteus has at times exhibited the ability to transport himself inter-dimensionally, though it is unknown if this is an innate power or if he needed to use a connection to the Panoptichron to accomplish this.[volume&issueneeded] After his revival through Destiny during the events of Necrosha, Proteus is shown to be able to possess multiple individuals simultaneously.[22]
Other versions
Star Trek/X-Men crossover
Proteus' spirit appears in Star Trek/X-Men. Due to a rift created by Gary Mitchell, Proteus ends up in the Star Trek universe, where he reanimated and inhabits Mitchell's corpse, which does not deteriorate. While chasing Deathbird, the X-Men team up with the crew of the USS Enterprise to stop Proteus and Deathbird.[27]
Ultimate Marvel
An alternate universe version of Proteus from Earth-1610 named David Xavier appears in Ultimate X-Men. After escaping his mother Moira MacTaggert's keep on Muir Island, he seeks out his father Charles Xavier to kill him and kill thousands around the world to discredit the X-Men before David and Charles are eventually killed by Colossus.[28]
Proteus appears in a self-titled two-part episode of X-Men: The Animated Series, voiced by Stuart Stone.[citation needed] This version is able to assume human form at will and his possession abilities are not lethal.
↑Brevoort, Tom; DeFalco, Tom; Manning, Matthew K.; Sanderson, Peter; Wiacek, Win (2017). Marvel Year By Year: A Visual History. DK Publishing. p.190. ISBN978-1465455505.
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