Merge:Ultimate Cable

"I don't pop the claws for just anybody. I've gone thirty years without the healing factor to make me better than you'll ever hope to be. It's over, bub."

- Cable, talking to his past self

Cable is an enigma. He appears as a white-haired warrior with a robotic left arm, a fake right eye, and three claw marks scarring his face, making it appear that he was on the receiving end of one of Wolverine's attacks at some point in the past. He appears to have studied the weaknesses of each of the X-Men individually, and is able to defeat them all, with the exception of Wolverine.

Character History
Cable's past is a mystery, but it is considered highly probable that he is in fact Wolverine himself. If this is true, then his adventures would be identical to those of the present's Wolverine up to a certain point, most likely when Cable returned to the past. It is also known that he is being trailed back into the present by Bishop.

Fighting the X-Men
In Ultimate X-Men #75, Cable returns from the future, appearing before Charles Xavier. Cable prepares to kill Xavier, claiming it to be necessary. However, he hesitates, allowing Charles to defend himself telekinetically.

Xavier asks Cable how he is blocking Charles's telepathy, but Cable refuses to reveal how, calling it a "secret". Cable then throws a small device at Xavier, which attaches itsself to his head and (painfully) renders him powerless. However, Kitty then arrives, and phases Cable through the floor. Cable stabs her in the gut, and warns her not to become solid again, not even enough to remove the knife, or she will bleed to death. He then appologizes for putting her in this situation.

Cable proceeds to face each of the X-Men, defeating them all: he knocks Colossus unconscious, deflects Cyclops's blasts with his metal arm (burying Cyclops in rubble), defeats Jean with the same device he used against Xavier, and attacks Storm with a device that turns her own powers against her.

When he is attacked by Wolverine, he holds his own for a while, until Wolverine is assisted by Storm, resulting in her defeat. Wolverine then flies into a rage, attcking Cable mercilessly, until he is pushed back, speechless from the claw marks crossing his chest.

Cable is then revealed to have unsheathed claws identical to Wolverine's from his organic arm.

Behind the Scenes
Cable first appeared in Ultimate X-Men #75. It was revealed that he was a time-traveler, and that his organic arm housed three claws identical to Wolverine's. It is expected that #76 will officially reveal that he is a future version of Wolverine, do to the next issue's preview line in the back of the book: "Wolverine versus Himself!?".

In other media
Another version of Ultimate Cable appeared as an unlockable character in the PSP version of the video-game X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse. This version is much closer to the normal continuity Cable, as the game was released before Cable was introduced into the Ultimate continuity.