Merge:Exiles

The Exiles are a group of superheroes created by writer Judd Winick and artist Mike McKone. The team consists of characters from different dimensions, or realities, which have been removed from time and space in order to correct problems (often called "hiccups") in various alternate worlds and divergent timelines in the multiverse. The team usually consists of six members and each time a member is killed or returned to his or her home reality, a new member is introduced and joins the team. The Exiles were originally controlled by the Timebroker, through the Tallus.

Plot
The original Exiles team was composed of Blink (Clarice Ferguson, from the Age of Apocalypse continuity), Mimic (Calvin Rankin), Magnus (son of Magneto and Rogue), Thunderbird (John Proudstar), Nocturne (Talia Josephine "T.J." Wagner, daughter of Nightcrawler and Scarlet Witch) and Morph. When Magnus died (Exiles #2), he was replaced by Sunfire (Mariko Yashida). Sasquatch (Heather Hudson) came along when Thunderbird went into a coma (Exiles #10). Timebroker sent Blink home after a visit to a world where the Legacy Virus grew out of control, since the team had repaired her personal broken chain in time (Exiles #22) and Magik (Illyana Rasputin) took her place. Mimic then replaced Blink as leader, gaining the Tallus.

During Exiles #28-30, they encountered the main Marvel Universe timeline, Earth-616, where they met the Uncanny X-Men after Havok's cancelled wedding in Uncanny X-Men #425-426. The Exiles teamed up with Juggernaut, Husk, Archangel, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, and Iceman, and their associates Annie Ghazikhanian (a school nurse), Carter Ghazikhanian (Annie's son), and Nicholas Gleason (Wolf Cub) against the evil Mutant X Havok, who did not die when the Earth-616 Havok took over his body. Their mission was to drive him out and keep Nicholas and Carter safe. The evil Havok went with the other one back to Earth-616 during the final battle with the Goblin Queen. He lay dormant when Charles Xavier freed Alex's consciousness, biding his time, and re-emerged after Xavier Institute student Nicholas Gleason wounded Havok. The Timebroker then personally eliminated the Mutant X Alex's consciousness.

Later, Hyperion would become leader of Weapon X, another team with similar goals to The Exiles but with a darker and more violent disposition. Hyperion tried to take over several worlds, not wanting to return home.

Some time later, when Sunfire was killed by a Brood-infected Mimic (Exiles #37), their new teammate was once again Blink. During the next mission, the Exiles and Weapon X were forced to battle each other until only six remained alive. Magik tried to betray the team, telling Hyperion that this particular mission was to kill at least six of the members of the Exiles or Weapon X teams. Hyperion killed her to see if it was true and the remaining Weapon X members fought with each other leaving only Hyperion and Gambit alive. Blink confronted Hyperion, managing to turn his own powers against him; Gambit then finished him off, exploding both Hyperion and himself. Morph was then confronted by the Timebroker, and given the ability to return home to his own reality. However, he begged the Timebroker to let him stay as he considered the Exiles his family now. This brought the Exiles to the Marvel Universe once more, where they met their new member, a mutant Atlantean, Namora, the female counterpart to Namor the Sub-Mariner, from another universe. The mission ended with Nocturne being stranded on the Marvel Earth, and the recruitment of a student at the Xavier Institute named Beak.

After saving an alternate Earth from Ego the Living Planet, the Celestials warned Blink: "Beware the Timebreaker. He is not what he seems!" The Exiles took note and from then on, their missions were more intense (like taking down the powerful Tanaraq), controversial (like killing Mimic or the Age of Apocalypse X-Men), or just plain odd (like saving the world by buying a cheese Danish). During all this, the Timebroker grew to be insane. The AoA Sabretooth who had been left in the David Richards reality replaced the now-powerless Sasquatch. All of the Exiles were all sent to Blink's home reality, the Age of Apocalypse. It was intended to be "punishment" for refusing an order to kill Mimic. The Timebroker removed Beak and replaced him with former AoA Horseman Holocaust. Eventually, he and the Exiles teamed up to break free of the Timebroker and staged a raid on Panoptichron. The Timebroker was revealed to only be a simulacrum controlled by alien bugs, and most recently the Exiles' old enemy, Hyperion. The Exiles defeated Hyperion, but at the cost of Namora and Holocaust's lives. Beak returned from stasis and saved the day by calling on two good versions of Hyperion for help, fulfilling his destiny as an Exile. Only Blink, Mimic, Morph, Sabretooth, Beak, and Heather Hudson remained to pick up the pieces.

After an adventure on a monster world to get some healing serum for Mimic, everyone went to Earth-616, currently dominated by the House of M, to take Beak back, no longer having a purpose on the team. They realized this was not the reality that they had been to twice before, and they also ran afoul of the evil 'Mutant X '(a.k.a. Proteus), who took Mimic's body after abandoning Angel Salvadore's and escapes to the New Universe. Blink, Morph, and Sabretooth evacuated from Earth-616 because of the Scarlet Witch's reality waves sweeping across the world. Beak was left behind, and when the wave departed, both he and Angel were healthy and powerless. Their children, except Tito, also lost their powers.

Meanwhile, the Exiles found Proteus on Earth 15731, which is a close approximation of the New Universe. The Exiles recruited Star Brand while Proteus possessed Justice, leaving Mimic's body behind as a burnt-out husk. When the Exiles appeared to save Mimic, Blink found his withered corpse, with Proteus long gone. At that point, they planned to fight Proteus in their own terms and not rush into his reality-warp. Blink, Morph, Sabretooth, and Star Brand went to go find Keith Remsen (a.k.a. Nightmask), who can enter people's dreams. Heather also recruited Longshot from Mojo in exchange for TV shows from 1000 realities. Longshot saved the day by weakening Proteus with his metal blades, but Proteus escaped to 2099.

In a 2099 approximation, Proteus took the body of the Hulk and attacked the Exiles, including 2099's Spider-Man. He then globally revealed Spider-Man's identity. Proteus escaped to the Squadron Supreme reality after Spider-Man convinced him that coming to the 2099 approximation was a mistake. Realizing that he would be hunted down to no end and feeling guilty for Proteus' escape, Spider-Man decided to leave with the Exiles. The Timebreakers warned Heather that hunting Proteus deviates from their mission and that they have altered the New Universe and 2099 when they went there, creating approximations of the two. Proteus then showed up on Earth-712, the world of the Squadron Supreme. The Exiles were joined by Power Princess who volunteered to go supervise the Exiles' missions at the request of Hyperion. The Exiles then set a trap for Proteus at the Future Imperfect world, gaining the help of the Maestro. However, they accidentally attacked him instead of Proteus when they had Proteus on the run, and set Maestro off. The Exiles tried to stop Maestro, but failed. Morph quickly attacked Proteus to stop him stealing Maestro's body, but during the fight Morph's metal skull plate (which the Exiles wear to stop Proteus from stealing their bodies) was knocked out. Proteus used this opportunity to take over Morph's body and quickly found out that unlike his previous hosts, Morph's body does not decay while under his control. The Exiles then chased Proteus to the "Heroes Reborn" world, where both sides believed it to be their final battle. Proteus seemed to be winning, but two cosmic entities known as "O" and "Kay" ripped Proteus away from the Exiles, saying that they've been waiting for him. Unfortunately, their arrival cut connections with Panoptichron. The Timebreakers told Heather Hudson that they recommend destroying the "Heroes Reborn" world, but later told Heather that she needed to extract the Exiles as the destruction of counter-earth was assured by "other means" These "other means" were, of course, Proteus with an army of nukes. Empress Dorma and Proteus soon clashed, resulting in Proteus taking Dorma's crown, drying up Atlantis, and killing her and her soldiers. Connections with Panoptichron were back online, and the Exiles arrived with the Young Allies at Atlantis. Proteus then took Mimic's form to taunt the Exiles (especially Blink) and launched the nukes. Luckily, Colt and Jolt of the Young Allies stopped the nukes without detonating them. Proteus had the Exiles and the Young Allies on the ropes when he put his crown back on. Unbeknownst to him, however, Blink rigged it with a behavior modifier- causing Proteus to believe he really is Morph and being trapped in Morph's body. The Exiles then teleported back to Panoptichron and sent the last remaining nukes into space. However, the Exiles faced a question they'd been putting off since they found Panoptichron- do they go their separate ways and go home, or do they stay on and fix broken Earths? They all agreed that they should stick around and save the multiverse- even Proteus, still in Morph's body. See also Timebroker.

Future

 * In Exiles #83-84, the Exiles bury their dead and take some downtime.
 * In Exiles #85-86, the Exiles have to get their jobs back from six alternate-reality Wolverines.
 * On the letters page of New Excalibur #8, Psylocke is said to join the Exiles sometime soon. No word yet on who she will be replacing.
 * Current writer Tony Bedard was supposed to be replaced by Chris Claremont, but Claremont was diagnosed with cardiac stress, meaning Tony Bedard's run will be extended. Originally, according to CSN and Marvel.com's catalog, #83 was supposed to be his final issue.

Tallus
The Tallus is a communications device, which is worn by the leader of the group, that was formerly used by the Timebroker to assign each mission. Blink originally wore it, but it was transferred to Sabretooth when Blink rebelled against the Timebroker (later revealed to be Hyperion). Mimic also wore the Tallus for a time in Blink's absence. It is now used as a means of communication between Heather Hudson and Sabretooth on various missions.

Trivia

 * Morph is the only member to stay consistent throughout the series, and as of #78, is the only character on the team NOT from a previously introduced reality. He is also the only exile to choose not to return to his own reality and remain on the team.
 * The longest running roster is Mimic, Morph, Nocturne, Sasquatch, Sunfire, and Magik, from Exiles #22 (after Blink's departure) to Exiles #37 (Blink's return) - 15 issues.
 * Beak, Daredevil, Angel, Iron Man, and Hulk (Jennifer Walters of Weapon X) are the only people drafted by the Timebreakers who actually returned home alive.
 * Spider-Man 2099 was the first person to voluntarily join the Exiles.
 * The Exiles have only had eight one-issue stories(#7, 11, 16, 17, 49, 58, 59, and 83). Everything else was a multi-part story arc.
 * The Exiles' visit to the Age of Apocalypse marked the first time the Exiles visited an artificially created divergent timeline, rather than a simple alternate universe.
 * Blink, Sabretooth, and Power Princess are the only three Exiles to visit their home realities during a mission.
 * Six of the Exiles have died so far: Magnus, Sunfire, Magik, Holocaust, Namora, and Mimic.
 * Nocturne is the only Exile ever to be dumped during a mission.
 * Firestar was not sent home for burial in Exiles #83 and was not even mentioned.
 * Daredevil wasn't among the ones showing lifesigns in Exiles #64, yet he was alive when sent home in Exiles #83.
 * The Exiles' World Tour created divergent timelines in both the New Universe and 2099.
 * Characters who appear to be the X-Men from the Ultimate X-Men series can be seen in a screen in the Panoptichron's control room when Hyperion is explaining(in issue #63) how he survived Weapon X's demise(in issue #45).
 * The Earths the members come from were either revealed in Handbooks (characters from previously introduced Earths; Power Princess, Blink, Sabretooth, Holocaust, Beak, and Spider-Man 2099) or in Exiles #83.

World Tour
When the Exiles went on a "World Tour" to catch Proteus, they went to several realities already seen in Marvel history:
 * House of M #69-71
 * New Universe approximation #72-74
 * 2099 approximation #75-76
 * Squadron Supreme #77-78
 * Future Imperfect #79-80
 * Heroes Reborn #81-82

Current Exiles roster
Whenever one of the Exiles dies, is sent home, or something happens to them, they are replaced by someone else, and thus the roster changes. The first occurrence was when Magnus died in Exiles #2, and Sunfire came on board to replace him. The current Exiles roster is:


 * Blink
 * Morph
 * Sabretooth
 * Longshot
 * Spider-Man 2099
 * Power Princess

Weapon X
First seen in Exiles #5 as a version of the Exiles that did more ruthless missions. Listed from the first to join to the last. The team was destroyed during the "A Blink in time" arc, when the Timebroker wanted to downsize both teams in hopes of killing off Hyperion.

Special characters
In Exiles there has been a number of special heroes, villians and others. Some of them are even significant in more than one reality and story