Stryfe

Superherobox|

caption=Cover of "Uncanny X-Men" #296. Art by Brandon Peterson.
comic_color=background:#ff8080
character_name=Stryfe
real_name=
species=Human Mutant, clone
publisher=Marvel Comics
debut="The New Mutants" #87 (March 1990)
creators=Louise Simonson (writer)
Rob Liefeld (artist/co-writer)
alliance_color=background:#c0c0ff
alliances=
New Canaanites
Mutant Liberation Front
Dark Riders
aliases=Chaos Bringer,
Scion of the Dark Lord
powers=Telekinesis
Telepathy|

Stryfe is a supervillain that appears in the fictional Marvel universe. The character was created by Louise Simonson and Rob Liefeld, and first appears in "The New Mutants" #87 (March 1990). Stryfe is the main antagonist in the 1990s crossover, "X-Cutioner's Song".

Fictional character biography

Stryfe is the clone of Nathan Christopher Summers, also known as Cable, the son of Cyclops and Jean Grey's clone Madelyne Pryor; when the immortal mutant Apocalypse infects the infant Nathan with a techno-organic virus, a woman from the distant future introducing herself as Askani appears to Cyclops and Jean Grey, telling them that she can save the child. Once the infant Nathan arrives in the future, Askani clones the baby, hoping to salvage something if he dies. The clone's growth was greatly accelerated until he was the same age as Nathan himself. The Askani succeeded in halting the spread of the techno-organic virus in Nathan's body, thereby saving his life. However, Apocalypse and his forces attacks the Askani's hiding place and steals the cloned infant. Apocalypse takes the child as his own, raising him himself and naming him Stryfe, intending to use him as his next host body. As Apocalypse is about to transfer his essence into Stryfe, he discovers that Stryfe is in fact a clone, thus unfit to house his essence. A teenage Cable and the time-traveling Cyclops and Jean confronts Apocalypse, leaving him unable to transfer into any host body, thus causing his essence to discorporate. Apocalypse's second in command, Ch’vayre, raises Stryfe afterwards.

Stryfe grows up to be an insane madman, wanting vengeance on both what he thought were his real parents (Cyclops and Jean) and his spiritual parent, Apocalypse. He raises an army and became a fierce opponent of both Cable's Clan Chosen and the New Canaanites, a despotic regime that replaced Apocalypse’s. During these wars he kills Cable's wife, Jenskot, as well as kidnapping and brainwashing their son, Tyler.

In AD 3806, the New Canaanites takes full control of the planet, but Stryfe manages to travel back in time two thousand years. He sows chaos in the ranks of the X-Men, posing as Cable and attacking Professor X, as well as forming a mutant terrorist group, the Mutant Liberation Front alongside many powerful mutants including Tamara Kurtz. During this time, he fights Apocalypse and nearly destroys him. As a final insurance, Stryfe gives Mister Sinister a canister that he claims holds genetic material from two thousand years worth of Summers descendants; in truth, it held the deadly Legacy Virus. Stryfe battles Cable until the latter opens a temporal rift, destroying his body. Stryfe's consciousness. however, enters Cable's mind, in which he stays until he voluntarily leaves.

While physically dead, Stryfe attempts to return to life through the body of Warpath. After a brief return to villainy, Stryfe seemingly dies once more, battling an extraterrestrial creature alongside Bishop and Gambit. ["" (2001)] In the end, Stryfe regrets the path and choices he has made in his life, and sacrifices himself to save the Earth from La Bete Noir, an entity trapped within the Earth at the beginnings of the universe by the Phoenix Force.

Other versions

Ultimate Stryfe

In "Ultimate X-Men", Stryfe is also the leader of the Mutant Liberation Front. He appears to be a mutant supremacist convinced that Xavier was killed by the United States government and that mutants should fight against it. His mutant power manifests as the ability to cause "strife" within people's minds, causing them to voice whatever is bothering them. However when Psylocke scans his mind she senses that he has no real conviction in what he says, suggesting that much of his mutant supremacist attitude is an act, meaning his real motives are unknown. At his side is the ultimate version of Zero, a young mutant teleporter. It is revealed that Stryfe is actually a con man, working with Fenris to promote mutant unrest so they can sell Sentinels to the government.

Also in Ultimate X-Men, when Cable returns from the future with Xavier they both don armor; Xavier's resembling Onslaught and Cable's resembling Stryfe.

In other media

Television

* Stryfe appears briefly in "" as one of the psychics captured by Apocalypse in the "Beyond Good and Evil" four-parter.

Video games

* Stryfe appears as a boss in "" voiced by Dan Riordan.
* Stryfe is the final boss in the Sega Game Gear game "".

References