Merge:Xorn

Xorn is a character published by Marvel Comics. First appearing in New X-Men Annual 2001, Xorn was a new addition to the X-Men membership during writer Grant Morrison's revamp of the franchise. Originally portrayed as a Chinese mutant with a "star for a brain", he is eventually revealed to be the X-Men's arch-nemesis Magneto in disguise at the climax of Morrison's run. After Magneto is apparently killed in the "Planet X" story arc, he appears alive and well a few months later in 2004's Excalibur Vol. 3 #1, which established that Xorn never was Magneto. Marvel has presented several partial explanations, both in the comics pages and in the press as to the true nature, identity, and motives of Xorn.

New X-Men
Xorn debuts in New X-Men Annual 2001 imprisoned in an iron prison by the Chinese government where a corrupt mutant official offers to sell him to John Sublime. Xorn is forced to wear a skull-like mask designed to restrain his energy output, which would have the power to incinerate matter. The X-Men and Sublime's U-Men find Xorn just as he is attempting to commit suicide by removing his mask, which will envelop the earth in a black hole. Cyclops (with the help of Emma Frost) is able to establish contact with Xorn, convincing him not to kill himself and offers him a position among the X-Men. Xorn accepts the offer, but doesn't show up again until New X-Men #122, where Cyclops tracks him down to a monastery where he is told by the monks that Xorn has demonstrated healing powers. The pair are captured by the Shi'ar but arrive at the X-Mansion in time for Xorn to heal the X-Men of a nano-Sentinel infection, restoring Professor Xavier's ability to walk in the process.

Despite the ordeals through which he had passed, Xorn is optimistic, open and even somewhat naive. Xorn keeps a diary to share his thoughts with Professor Xavier, since Xavier is "blinded by the sun beneath [his] mask" and cannot read his mind. Here he details his interactions with Chinese immigrants and the residents of Mutant Town in New York City, in particular an incident where he failed to save a young mutant from being killed by frightened policemen. Xorn is soon put in charge of the "Special Class", a group of physical and social misfits attending the Xavier Institute. Though he hopes to befriend these students, he becomes disillusioned as they began to mock and insult him. He remains determined to help his "Special Class," even saving their lives from a group of U-men.

In the storyline "Planet X", Xorn takes off his mask, revealing himself to be none other than the X-Men's arch-nemesis Magneto, who has been believed dead since the destruction of Genosha. Magneto explains that the Xorn identity was merely a ruse crafted, along with the prison in China, with the help of supporters in China in order to infiltrate the X-Men. Having returned Xavier to a crippled state (Xavier had not been healed - Magneto merely used the nano-Sentinels to "glue" his spine together), Magneto levels the X-Mansion and takes over New York City, where he enslaves the human population and destroys much of the city. He attempts to recreate the Brotherhood with Toad, the rebellious Stepford Cuckoo Esme, and the members of Xorn's "Special Class."

Magneto finds however that many of his recruits are unresponsive to his ideas and approach, with some asking for the return of much more humane Xorn and others doubtful that Magneto has truly returned, much to his chagrin. Indecisive and relying heavily on the drug Kick to augment his power, he struggles to maintain the loyalty and respect of his followers. He announces a plan to invert the planet by reversing its magnetic poles, and employs increasingly fascistic methods (including the construction of a Nazi-esque crematorium in which he plans to eradicate the remaining human population of the city). He also appears to be experiencing a form of Multiple Personality Disorder, as the "Xorn" persona begins to manifest itself as a voice within Magneto's head, claiming to be the embodiment of Magneto's wisdom, idealism and nobility. Defeated by the X-Men, he fatally wounds Jean Grey before finally being beheaded by Wolverine.

The return of Magneto and the second Xorn
In Uncanny X-Men #442 and 443 Xavier takes the body of Magneto to Genosha where they hold a funeral for the deceased mutant leader. However, in the last page of Excalibur #1 Xavier meets Magneto alive and well on Genosha. In subsequent issues of Excalibur Xavier and Magneto debate the true identity and motives of Xorn, the individual whose bandage-wrapped body they brought to Genosha. In the same month Magneto returned in Chris Claremont's new Excalibur book, Austen's X-Men #157 introduced a new Xorn named Shen Xorn. Shen Xorn claims to be the twin brother of the original Xorn (now named Kuan-Yin Xorn) who, under the influence of the entity known as Sublime, had pretended to be Magneto. This claim is supported when Emma Frost conducts a thorough mind scan of Shen. Not too long after, Shen Xorn disappears when he unleashes the gravitational forces of a black hole in the course of helping the X-Men defeat an attack by a Brotherhood of Mutants led by Exodus. Later, Shen Xorn is revealed to have been one of the mutants depowered due to the events of the House of M miniseries.

The Collective
In House of M #8, Scarlet Witch speaks the phrase, "No More Mutants". Suddenly, hundreds of thousands of mutants find themselves human, including Magneto and Quicksilver. In New Avengers the collective power signatures of the mutants arrive in North Pole, Alaska and with a mutant postal worker, Michael Pointer. Disoriented, he enters Canada and, wielding the power of fifty mutants, apparently kills the superhero team Alpha Flight.

Spider-Man finds that its energy signatures match up with the depowered mutants. On Genosha, the Collective repowers Magneto, who recognizes the intelligence controlling it as "Xorn." Xorn explains that he took the image of Magneto, because he knew mutants would follow him, and that they needed the real Magneto again. Iron Man, Ms. Marvel and the Sentry combine their powers and send the Collective/Xorn into the Sun; Michael is separated from the Collective

Controversy
Grant Morrison has stated that he had intended Xorn to be Magneto from the start of his tenure. Morrison stated in an interview (after he left New X-Men): "In my opinion, there really shouldn't have been an actual Xorn - he had to be fake, that was the cruel point of him". Two years after he left Marvel, when asked about the subject at the 2006 San Diego Comic Con Wildstorm Comics panel, Grant Morrison reiterated "He was Magneto from the very beginning - it was always Magneto." In fact, soon after the revelation of Xorn's identity in New X-Men #146, readers pointed out that clues that Xorn was actually Magneto had been hidden throughout Morrison's run. After Morrison's departure, Marvel retconned the story by bringing back Magneto, and establishing that Xorn was a separate character from Magneto. According to fellow X-Men writer Chuck Austen, the X-Men editors liked the Xorn character and hoped Morrison would change his mind about the revelation. When he didn't, they asked Austen to bring Xorn back as a separate character. Marvel also wanted to continue using Magneto, and as Austen states: "Marvel saw value in Magneto not being a mass-murderer of New Yorkers."

The true identity of Xorn and his relationship to Magneto became a subject of confusion to fans. Marvel refrained from giving a complete explanation, eventually hinting that the summer 2005 crossover House of M would clear up the situation. Later that year, the Xorn entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: X-Men 2005 stated that "Kuan-Yin eventually revealed himself to be a duplicate of the X-Men's nemesis Magneto, a transformation believed to have been caused by Magneto's daughter, the Scarlet Witch." While this explanation is hinted at in House of M #7, it was never explicitly stated in the comics themselves, and an alternative explanation has since been given in the pages of New Avengers since, according to Marvel editor Tom Brevoort, "nobody was satisfied with that offhanded non-explanation, and it didn't make a heck of a lot of sense by itself, even as a throwaway".

Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada, in a 2006 Newsarama interview, reiterated the Shen Xorn/Kuan-Yen Xorn explanation, but added that "because Xorn's powers were psychokinetic, and his personality was so strong, it basically remained an almost disembodied sentient thing among the big ball of mutant energy. When that energy got sucked down to Earth by Michael and all absorbed by him, Xorn was the dominant personality in the mix, and that's what drove him towards Genosha and Magneto." This remains the official explanation of the Xorn character and its relationship to Magento.

Notes and references
]