Merge:Leech

Leech is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics Universe. He made his first appearance in the Uncanny X-Men as a Morlock, a group of mutants whose deformities force them to live in the sewers under Manhattan. He is usually depicted as being around 12 years old (his exact age is unrevealed). He speaks in broken English and refers to himself in the third person.

History
The green-skinned Leech was orphaned as a toddler. His parents left him to die when his mutations became apparent. He was found by the Morlock Caliban and taken to a woman named Annalee who raised him and several other young mutant orphans as her children. He made friends with X-Factor's ward named Artie Maddicks and had a few brief encounters with theX-Men.

During the Mutant Massacre story arc, Mr. Sinister rallied his henchmen, the Marauders, to infiltrate the sewers and massacre all the Morlocks living there in an effort to rid the world of "genetically impure" mutants. While many Morlocks were killed, Leech and Caliban survived, rescued by Power Pack and the X-Terminators (X-Factor in their role of mutant hunters). Leech joined Artie in the care of X-Factor until they could be enrolled in private school.

Soon after they began attending this school, Leech and Artie were captured by mutant-hunting demons. They were again rescued by X-Factor, this time with the help of the New Mutants. The two went back to attending school for several months before they were kidnapped a third time, this time by Gene Nation.

This group was composed of second-generation Morlocks, the descendants of those who survived the massacre in the tunnels. They were born and raised in an alternate dimension with a faster flow of time than this one, called The Hill. They sought revenge for those who wronged their forbears. The Gene Nation led a campaign to hunt down and kill as many humans as possible, since it was the humans' unwillingness to accept them that forced their parents into the tunnels in which they were massacred. Leech and Artie wanted no part of this, but were trapped until they were rescued by Generation X. They were thereafter made junior members and remained with the team until it disbanded.

Leech and Artie continued to live in the Massachusetts Academy under the care of Emma Frost. When they met Franklin Richards, they were inducted into his own short-lived team, The Daydreamers. When Richard's family, who had previously been exiled to an alternate universe (see Heroes Reborn), returned, the group was disbanded. Leech and Artie returned to the academy to take on more active roles.

For a time, the academy was shut down and, although it is never made clear, Leech may have transferred to another school. What is known is that he was eventually captured by the revived Weapon X program and forced into a machine that was designed to be attached to a mutant, take their powers, and then project them to any other mutant in the world. Sabretooth, then a part of Weapon X, used the machine, at one point, to strip Wolverine of his healing abilities in order to finish him once and for all.

Leech survived, but continued to be used by the Weapon X program to keep imprisoned mutants under control.

After the events of M-Day, Leech reappeared unharmed from Neverland on the grounds of the Xavier Institute. He is one of the estimated 198 mutants who have retained their powers. How he was liberated from Neverland and came to be at the Xavier Institute has yet to be explained. In the 198 compound outside the mansion, the woman called Outlaw decided to look after him. Leech was last seen being mind controlled, via a puppet, by the mutant Johnny Dee in his attempt to kill Mr. M. Johnny Dee forced Leech to touch Mr. M thereby negating his powers so that he could then have Magma incinerate him. Instead of dying, Mr. M evolved into hundreds of butterflies. Leech was last seen in the company of Lorelei.

Powers
Leech can dampen or completely negate the powers of any mutant near him for an undetermined amount of time. It seems that he is also able to negate powers non-mutant in origin (during "Mutant Massacre", he negated the powers of the Power Pack). This ability was at first instinctive, but now appears to be under his voluntary control. In addition to leaving his victims temporarily vulnerable, his leeching may also affect them physically. When his powers are used on mutants with super strength, they are known to leave the victim exceedingly thin and frail. At times, he has also shown the ability to siphon (or, more appropriately, "leech") a weakened version of the powers of the mutants his power affects.

Television

 * Leech has appeared in a few episodes of the X-Men: Animated Series. His most notable appearance was in the Christmas episode "Have Yourself a Morlock Little X-Mas" where he needed a blood transfusion from Wolverine, using his healing ability just long enough for Leech to fight off his disease. His voice was supplied by John Stocker.


 * He had also appeared in the X-Men: Evolution episode titled "Uprising" where his mutant power disabled mutants and nullified all forms of energy, including Mutant powers, for a short period. He also appeared briefly in the last episode where Rogue uses his (Leech's) power to beat Apocalypse. In this series, his name was Dorian Leech, and he appeared fairly human, with pale, slightly greenish skin.

Film
X-Men: The Last Stand.
 * Leech appeared in X-Men: The Last Stand movie where he was played by Cameron Bright. Leech (real name: Jimmy, only in movie) plays a big part in the movie, as his genes are used for a "cure" for the mutant gene. He is still roughly 12 years of age, but in the movie, he is portrayed as a normal boy with the exception of his powers, which are involuntary, only activated in proximity and extended to remove all mutant effects, including physical deformities as demonstrated when Beast reached out to shake Leech's hand: as he got closer, his hand became akin to that of a normal human and return to usual once he left Leech's presence.
 * He is also the reason for the Battle of Alcatraz, because Magneto, who planned to destroy the cure and preserve the mutant species, arrived with his Brotherhood of Mutants at the facility to kill Leech with Juggernaut. This was avoided when Kitty Pryde saved Leech using both her and his powers, to stun Juggernaut. Juggernaut was apparently unaware of Leech's powers, and charged at him, but when Pryde pulled Leech out of the way, Juggernaut slammed into the wall, and instead of breaking through, bounced off unconscious.
 * At the end, Leech is seen as a member of the Xavier's School and received by the new leader Ororo. Leech appears to enjoy video games, as he is first seen playing an X-Box 360, and an un-filmed scene included him playing a game boy.