A force of Christian fundamentalists led by Reverend William Stryker, the Purifiers see themselves in a holy war against mutants, believing them to be the children of the Devil and thus worthy of extermination. The Purifiers made only sporadic appearances since their first appearance, but returned to prominence in the 2000s, when they became prominent antagonists in the series New X-Men and X-Force, and played a major role in the 2007 - 2008 crossover storyline X-Men: Messiah Complex.
The Purifiers appear in the television series The Gifted as antagonists to the mutants, although not a wide organization like the comics. They are led by failed Senator Benedict Ryan, portrayed by Peter Gallagher.
Fictional organization biography
In the 1982 graphic novel God Loves, Man Kills, the Purifiers are first seen aiding their leader, William Stryker, in his plans to annihilate the mutant race. The Purifiers work to fulfill many of Stryker's goals, abducting Professor X and several of the X-Men, killing mutant children, and defending Stryker's church against the X-Men and Magneto.[1][2] Eventually, one of the guards, horrified that Stryker would attempt to kill the young mutant Kitty Pryde, shoots him and ends his genocidal plans.[3] With Stryker arrested and sent to prison, the Purifiers disband.[4]
Following his release from prison,[5] Stryker discovers Nimrod, a time-traveling Sentinel from the future, in his church. Accessing Nimrod's memory core, Stryker sees the effects of "Decimation" months before M-Day actually occurred, enabling him to lay the groundwork for a renewed campaign against mutants.[6] Using the knowledge of the future contained within Nimrod, Stryker is able to save numerous people from untimely deaths, accrediting his interventions as miracles from God and allowing him to substantially increase the ranks of the Purifiers. The use of Nimrod's visions allows Stryker to gain the support of prominent political and business leaders, as well as the veteran assassin Matthew Risman.[volume&issueneeded] The Purifiers contact the branch of the Weapon X program known as the Facility, and commissioned its scientists to construct Predator X, a creature designed to hunt mutants.[volume&issueneeded] Finally, the Purifiers obtain advanced weaponry, included fully automatic rifles, anti-tank weapons and Vibranium-based weaponry to aid them in their crusade. They specially target Wallflower and Dust, two mutants who Nimrod determined would be instrumental in the defeat of the Purifiers.[7]
When M-Day strikes and over ninety-nine percent of the world's mutants were rendered powerless, the Purifiers attack the Xavier Institute. They kill over forty-five students, including Wallflower and Quill.[3][8][9][10] After Stryker is killed by Elixir, the Purifiers retreat.[11] Following Stryker's death, Matthew Risman takes control of the Purifiers, vowing not to cease "until the world has been purified."[volume&issueneeded]
During the Messiah Complex storyline, the Purifiers are one of the three factions, along with the X-Men and Marauders, searching for Hope Summers, the first mutant born since M-Day. All three groups are alerted to Hope's birth simultaneously and head for the remote Alaskan village where she had been born.[volume&issueneeded] The Purifiers beat both the X-Men and the Marauders to the scene and kill every child in the city to make sure that Hope did not survive. The Purifiers are then attacked by the Marauders, who killed several of their members. By the time the X-Men arrive, the Purifiers and the Marauders have both left, with Hope's whereabouts unknown.[volume&issueneeded]
Rictor is planted as a mole to spy on the Purifiers. When the New X-Men, led by Surge, attack the Purifiers in retaliation for their assault on the institute, they learn that the Purifiers had upgraded some of their best fighters with cybernetics, creating a new team of Reavers under the command of Lady Deathstrike. The Reavers are sent to find Hope, but are repelled by X-Force.[volume&issueneeded]
Shortly after the events of Messiah Complex and the dissolution of the X-Men, the Purifiers raid a heavily defended S.H.I.E.L.D. installation with the help of several double agents, murdering sixteen S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel before breaching the primary vault and recovering an unidentified artifact. The fact that the Purifiers launched an attack specifically on baseline humans rather than mutants worries Cyclops, who fears that whatever the Purifiers stole from S.H.I.E.L.D. was worth enough to risk bring down the agency's wrath upon them.[volume&issueneeded] The Purifiers bring the object, revealed to be the head of Bastion, to one of their churches. Bastion's head is placed onto Nimrod's body, bringing him back to life.[12] Bastion reveals that he is seeking the Technarchy leader Magus, who is lying in the bottom of the ocean, and takes one of Magus' offspring to graft it into himself.[volume&issueneeded]
The Purifiers, acting on Bastion's orders, seek out a number of prominent anti-mutant leaders. They forcibly recruit Donald Pierce, save the Leper Queen from execution, retrieve Cameron Hodge from a crater in Mount Everest, and dig up the corpses of Graydon Creed, Stephen Lang, Bolivar Trask, and William Stryker. Despite Risman's objection, the corpses are bonded with the Technarch offspring, which reanimates them and places them under Bastion's control.[volume&issueneeded]
Meanwhile, the Purifiers use a brainwashed Wolfsbane to attack Warren Worthington III and obtain his wings, which contain Apocalypse's techno-organic strain. Using the sample, the Purifiers employ scientist Adam Harkins to duplicate the strain and use it to create an elite team of Purifiers called "the Choir." Risman leads the Choir against Bastion's Purifiers in an attempt to destroy Bastion and the reanimated remains of Stryker, considering them unholy.[volume&issueneeded]
Archangel later attacks the Purifiers in an attempt to reclaim his wings, killing every member of the Choir. During that point, Matthew Risman is shot in the head by X-23 around the point where Matthew tried to kill Bastion. Wolfsbane ends up killing her father Reverend Craig, a member of the Purifiers, under her brainwashing.[13]
During the Second Coming storyline, Bastion is seen with Stephen Lang, Bolivar Trask, William Stryker, Graydon Creed, and Cameron Hodge stating that their forces are assembled and at his disposal. Bastion tells them that the Mutant Messiah has returned and gives them orders to kill her. Later, Bastion attempts to kill Hope Summers, but he is confronted by Rogue and then damaged when Nightcrawler sacrifices himself to save Hope. Bastion would later confront Hope, again defeated, and then destroyed by her.[14][15][16]
During the 2011 "Fear Itself" storyline, the global chaos caused by Skadi and the Worthy leads a splinter group of Purifiers to believe that the world is coming to an end and that an appearance by the Devil is imminent, spurring them to "save" as many people as they can. Purifiers member Jonathan Standish also kidnaps a young superhero and uses his webcam stating that the superhumans are the reasons behind the current chaos in the world. X-Force ends up having to track down Jonathan Standish as he pulls the trigger on the superhero.[17] Wolverine and X-23 learn from Deadpool and Fantomex that the young superhero was identified to be Daniel Chilton. They also state that about 3,000 people have committed suicide following that global broadcast. Wolverine and Archangel then interrogate Benedict Ryan on what he knows about Jonathan Standish.[18]
They later re-appeared during the All-New X-Men series where they were targeting an amnesiac X-23 to whom the past X-Men have to protect.[19] It was later revealed during this encounter that William Stryker's son Jason Stryker, who was believed to have been killed as an infant by his father for being a mutant, is still alive. He was secretly sent to A.I.M. by his father as a child to have his powers suppressed and has replaced his late father as the new leader of the Purifiers.[20] Jason was defeated and arrested by S.H.I.E.L.D.[21]
Adam Harkins[25] - A member of the Facility who is the creator of the Choir.
Gabriel[25] - Leader of The Choir. Killed by Archangel.
William Stryker - Founder and first leader. Killed by Elixir and reanimated by Bastion.[23] Later cut in two by Archangel.
Cameron Hodge[23] - Killed when his lifeforce and the lifeforces of the Smileys are forcibly absorbed by Warlock via their shared connection of the technorganic Transmode virus.
Donald Pierce[23] - Destroyed by an optic blast from Cyclops. Though later revived, he does not rejoin.
Stephen Lang[23] - Killed during the final battle with the so-called Mutant Messiah.[27]
Bastion[28] - Returned to life by the Purifiers. Ultimately destroyed by Hope Summers during the final battle of Second Coming.[27]
The Choir
In X-Force #4 using a brainwashed Wolfsbane, the Purifiers obtained Angel's wings. Using the blood from them, they were able to extract Apocalypse's techno-organic strain and grafted the strain into a group of Purifiers, some willing and some not. Those that received the grafts grew techno-organic wings very similar to Angel's Archangel wings. This group was dubbed "The Choir" and was created to "strike down Satan's spawn with God's own might". One of the Purifiers known only as "Gabriel" is the first to receive the graft and does so willingly and is appointed leader of the Choir by Father Risman.[25] Gabriel and two other members of the Choir escaped Archangel's massacre of the Choir.[29]
Powers and abilities
Being baseline humans, the Purifiers possess no superhuman abilities to speak of, relying on superior technology in their genocidal campaign against mutants. The Purifiers possess a variety of deadly armaments and munitions, some more conventional weapons like assault rifles, flamethrowers, and anti-tank rockets, as well as more advanced and expensive equipment like vibranium-based weaponry. The group also used the knowledge contained within Nimrod's memory banks to great effect, although that advantage was lost when the Sentinel reactivated and destroyed its keepers, before being defeated by the New X-Men.
The Purifiers are all highly trained, and have been shown to be capable of holding their own against both O.N.E. troopers and the X-Men. The group also possesses links to allied churches all over the world, and their membership includes corporate elites, political figures and intelligence personnel. This allows the Purifiers to avoid reprisals from law-enforcement agencies for their terrorist actions.
Other versions
An alternate universe iteration of the Purifiers from Earth-1610 appear in the Ultimate Marvel imprint.[30]
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