Clan Destine is the super powered progeny of Adam of Destine and Elalyth, a Djinn. In recent years, they've become reluctant superheroes due to their youngest family members (the twins, Rory and Pandora) developing their powers in adolescence.
History
Origins
In 1168 A.D., a man named Adam was born in the small Saxon village of Ravenscroft in England. Adam had a near-fatal accident when he was sixteen, but he miraculously recovered after a dream about a strange, inhuman woman. He was renamed Adam of Destine by the town, who felt the young man was destined for greatness. Adam joined the Third Crusade under Richard the Lionheart. During the battles, Adam was never once injured and he believed that the "angel" he dreamed about protected him. He became overconfident and was captured by a warlord called Al Kadhdhaab. When he awoke, Kadhdhaab claimed that he needed Adam's help to defeat the wizard Sujanaa min Raghbah. Sujanaa had a large gem with mystical powers that fulfilled his wishes. In a vision Sujanaa had seen that Adam was destined to kill him and somehow Kadhdhaab had seen this as well. Adam entered Sujanaa's palace and attacked Sujanaa but was easily overcome by the wizard's power. The wizard ranted that his gem loved Adam, and would not allow Sujanaa to hurt him.[10][11]
Adam managed to distract the wizard by telling him that Sujanaa had wasted his life: all his power was only being used to protect his power. The wizard realised that he had become trapped by his own desire for power and during a moment of doubt, Adam was freed and killed the wizard. Adam then felt that there was something alive within the gem and tried to destroy its prison, but Kadhdhaab stabbed him in the back. Kadhdhaab tried to take the power of the gem for himself, but Adam managed to destroy the gem with his last strength. A female genie, Elalyth, appeared from the gem and destroyed Kadhdhaab. She then restored Adam, making him immortal and invulnerable and the two became lovers.[10][11]
Adam and Elalyth's first child, Jasmine was born in 1192, with their second child, Thaddeus, being born in 1193.[12][13]
In 1209, Cuckoo travelled to Ravenscroft to meet her paternal grandparents for the first time. After their meeting, the ancestral estate was established and has been in their family ever since.[14]
Sometime between 1210 and 1370, with his curiosity peaked by tales of Marco Polo and Genghis Khan, Adam ventured into Asia (and specifically China) several times.[13]
Between 1217 and 1272, Thaddeus joined the Knights Templar and participate in the Crusades.[13]
In the winter of 1374, Thaddeus and Adam were escorting Albert to a monastery where he could recover from the sorrow of his inability to stave off the black plague. On the Tibetan Plateau, their party encountered the rogue Inhuman, Tral, controlling an attacking horde. Tral killed Thaddeus by blasting him off a cliff. Albert was so enraged by the murder of his beloved brother that he impulsively used his powers to kill Tral. After the death of Tral, Adam and Albert met members of the Inhuman royal family.[11]
_and_Gracie_Gamble_(Earth-616)_from_X-Men_Clan_Destine_Vol_1_2_001.jpeg){kind=link}
Cuckoo and Gracie adventuring into Mexico with the Conquistadores
In 1519, Cuckoo's host body was a Spanish nobleman. Eager to explore the New World, Cuckoo joined Cortés's Conquistadores and brought along his young sister, Gracie, posing as a young man and his personal valet. In Mexico, the pair longed to study the Aztec people and culture, but Cortés was only interested in gold. The pair separate during a battle, leaving Gracie with the Aztecs. Wanting to explore their magics, Gracie accidentally unleashed the demon Synraith. Gracie managed to seal the dimensional rift with the aid of Cuckoo. However, she knew that Synraith would try to return to Earth and dedicated her life to find a to stop it.[15]
Florence was born in 1531.[13]
In 1615, Adam was travelling to meet Gracie and Albert, who were in Japan protecting the Shogun Tokugawa during a coup. During his journey, in the Sayan Mountains, Adam encountered an alien race preparing to invade Earth and single handedly repelled the alien invasion.[4]
Maurice was born in 1695.[13] Newton was born in 1774.[13] Walter was born sometime between 1775-1800.[13]
During the 1840s, Walter serves in the British Military and fought in the Opium War in Shanghai.[12]
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Adam, Maurice, Gracie, Flo and Cuckoo (in the body of an Indian man) in 1849
In 1849, Adam, Flo, Maurice, Gracie and Cuckoo (in the body of an Indian man) infiltrate The Guild and slew four Guild brothers.[11]
In 1854, Walter serves in the British Military and fought in the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War.[12]
In 1857, Walter was stationed in Delhi, India and fought in the Sepoy Mutiny.[12]
During the 1860s in Japan, Cuckoo lived in a new host body, a Japanese female and goes by the name Natsume Masako. During this time, she met, fell in love with, and married Prince Sakai Masaaki. In 1889, Cuckoo and Prince Sakai Masaaki moved to Paris. While living in Paris, Cuckoo was attacked by the vampire Marietta Borgezia. With her host body dying, Cuckoo took possession of Borgezia's body. Later, she met a group of vampires sired by Borgezia who regained their souls when Cuckoo expelled the dark spirit from Borgezia's body.[16][13]
Relative Strangers
Predicting the advent of technology, Newton developed the Relative Stranger Protocol. The protocols would create new identities for the long-lived family members whenever they required it and would protect the family should one of them be uncovered.[17]
Between 1914 and 1918, Walter serves in the British Military and fought in the bloody Passiondale Campaign during World War I.[12]
In 1944 during World War II, Walter's station was attacked by the Nazis using a large robotic war machine. The war machine was confronted by the Invaders (Captain America, the Sub-Mariner, and the Human Torch), but it rendered them unconscious. Walter then transformed and destroyed the robot before fleeing from Allied soldiers, who happened on the scene and thought he was in league with the Nazis.[4][12]
Samantha was born in 1951.[13]
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Photograph of Dominic, Cuckoo (in the body of a Native American woman), Maurice, Vincent, William, Walter, Newton, Samantha, Adam and Flo taken by Gracie in 1963
In 1963, many of the members of Clan Destine gathered for a family photo in Ravenscroft Manor.[9]
In 1969, Maurice, Newton, Sebastian, Will, Dominic, and Vincent attended Woodstock using Adam's VW van.[2]
In the recent past, Gracie and Cuckoo banished Synraith from Earth with the help of Charles Xavier. However, Gracie erased Xavier's memories of the events.[14]
In the late 20th century, Adam killed Vincent, one of his sons, who had been abusing his powers. The family fell apart after that, several of the family members disagreeing with Adam's decision and Adam left Earth in a vehicle created by Newton. The newly born twins, Rory and Pandora, were left with Walter Destine, who posed as their uncle and guardian, and Flo, who posed as their grandmother.[18][4]
Crimson Crusader and Imp
Rory and Pandora's powers activated far earlier than those of their siblings, because they were twins. The children, believing they were mutants decided to become superheroes. As the Crimson Crusader and Imp, they set out to battle crime. One evening they found two groups fighting each other over a special device: the creature Lenz and his "children" and Dr. Hywel Griffin and his Omegans. Not knowing which side to help, the children grabbed the device, and left the scene, intending to return the device once they found out who the rightful owner was.[18][17]
The Gryphon turned out to be a device that could change the genetic sequence of living creatures. Lenz, a former human scientist turned into a new species by A.I.M. hoped to use the Gryphon to stabilize his "children", who usually died within several days. Griffin was an albino who hoped to cure himself with the Gryphon. Both parties tried to track down the Destine twins. During the twins' attempt to flee, Pandora had lost her cape, which had the name of their sister, Kay Cera, in it, who had designed it. Lenz sent his children out to kill Kay and they found the history of the Clan Destine in Kay's notebook. Kay herself survived by transferring her mind to a cat. Lentz creatures attacked the various members of the Clan Destine, killing Florence and Maurice.[18]
Most of the other family members united and tracked down Griffin, whom they thought responsible for the deaths of Flo and Maurice. Lenz appeared and kidnapped Rory, but they were all saved in time by Adam who had felt the death of his children and returned to Earth. Adam defeated Lenz, but let him go when he realised that Lenz was not evil, just trying to let his species survive.[19]
The Clan Destine returned home and Walter forced the children to return to school and live normal lives, even threatening to split them up after they caused trouble. The children fled to New York to become full time superheroes, but Spider-Man convinced them to return home.[20] In return Adam and Walter, following Dominic's advice, would pose as superheroes to help and watch Rory and Pandora during their missions.[4][14]
X-Men
Synraith attempted to enter the Earthly plane by abducting the only three individuals who could stop him: Gracie Gamble, Cuckoo, and Charles Xavier. By corrupting the Danger Room, Synraith tried to manipulate the X-Men and the Clan Destine. Luckily, Adaw discovered the ruse and the combined efforts of the X-Men and Clan Destine were able to permanently banish Synraith.[8]
Following their run-in with the X-Ben, the older members of Clan Destine again tried to scare the twins from wanting to be superheroes with a "Danger Room" style exercise using Newton's robots. Unfortunately for Walter, the exercise only solidified the twins' resolve.[21][22]
Final Fight with the Omegans
Dr. Griffin and the Omegans again attacked the Destines. In the course of the attack, what happened to Thaddeus in 1374 was revealed. Newton built a device to help Dominic ameliorate the effects of his powerful senses. Dominic also travelled through time and space, and encountered the superhero group Excalibur. Walter also struggled with his fears of becoming like Vincent. Adam reduced Griffin to an infant, and told the Omegans never to threaten his family again, before being reunited with Elalyth, the mother of his children, with whom he went to live in Yden. Dominic decided to relocate to the idyllic Ethera. Unknown to anyone, a pool of energy emerged from the grounds of the Ravenscroft, and flew into Vincent's grave, causing the gravestone to crack.[23]
Vincent's Return
The Thing, Human Torch and Doctor Strange encountered an interdimensional rift whose energy hurled them on a journey through time and space, during which they came into contact with the Destine family at various points in history. Thing in particular encountered Vincent as a young boy, and then as a young man, and was present at his death. Vincent was tortured by his inability to use his powers to stop the pain and suffering in the world, and was revealed to have been possessed by demons who were trying to delay Doctor Strange in healing the dimensional rift. Fearing the destruction Vincent's powers were unleashing and for his son's soul, Adam fatally snapped Vincent's neck. The dimensional energy was driven away, and the heroes were returned home.[2]
The Destines travelled to New York tracking a robot called the Plastoid. Cuckoo believed that it was inhabited by a parasitic elemental, whom she intended to banish back to its dimension. Dominic and the rest of the Destines, however, believed the robot was in fact inhabited by Vincent's spirit, and aimed to stop Cuckoo from destroying it. During this conflict they also encountered Daredevil and Doctor Strange, who assisted the family. Daredevil destroyed the Plastoid, releasing Vincent's spirit from it.[3][5]
Members
Living
_Family_Tree_from_ClanDestine_Vol_2_1_001.jpg){kind=link}
A partial Clan Destine family tree
In approximate order of age:
- Elalyth, the ancient Djinn and mother of Clan Destine.
- Adam of Destine, born Adam of Ravenscroft, was made immortal and invulnerable by his lover, Elalyth, a female djinn.
- Kay Cera, a telepath who has lived as a fashion designer in recent years. Kay is known as Cuckoo for her ability to transfer her mind to new host bodies. She can project her astral body and even bring the astral bodies of others to her location. Kay is the first born child of Adam. She is a hedonist and will use her powers for her own benefit.
- Albert, a monk in the Seventh Moon temple in Nepal. He has the ability to heal others, though he has claimed that some diseases are beyond his ability.
- Gracie Gamble, born in 1503, an archaeologist with strong telepathic and telekinetic powers.
- Newton, a superhuman genius who built the Clan Destine's advanced technology and set up the Relative Strangers protocols. Newton usually lives on another planet, but teleports back to Earth whenever Dominic calls him, using a special signal watch. On the planet Ethera, Newton received a second body. He can switch between both bodies at will. The second body is very large and strong (but Newton lacks any fighting skills).
- Walter, a writer of romance novels under the pseudonym "Sabrina Bentley". He can turn into a large, blue monster with superhuman strength and endurance. Changing back to his human form takes a lot of time though, but after the events in X-Men and the Clan Destine #2 he has learned to speed up the process. Walter doesn't want to be a superhero and just wants to write. The children Rory and Pandora have given him the codename "Wallop". Walter is generally strict and disapproves of Kay's hedonist lifestyle. He is the twins' guardian and tries to raise them with discipline.
- Will "Take A" Chance, an actor who plays the role of Cap'n Oz in action movies. He has peak human strength and agility.
- Dominic, a former theatrical performer. He lived on a remote island for eleven years, because his enhanced senses are overwhelmed in more urban areas. When living at the Destine manor, he usually spends his time in a sensory deprivation tank. His enhanced senses combined with his high intelligence makes him an exceptional detective. He is very agile and his senses allow him to detect weak spots on his opponents. His costume and codename "Hex" are based on the character he played on stage.
- Sebastian,[2] Rik,[1] and Nathaniel, a talented magician,[1] are all older than Samantha, but little to no other information is known about them.
- Samantha Hasard, an artist who has the power to generate and shape a metal armour and weapons around her. As an artist, her armour is always different.
- Rory and Pandora, the twins, with the ability to manipulate gravity and manipulate light, respectively, when the twins are physically near each other. Rory is a superhero under the codename the "Crimson Crusader" and loves following all the superhero clichés, while Pandora under the codename "Imp" is not as obsessed with being a superhero as Rory is, but enjoys using her powers.
Deceased members
- Thaddeus, killed when he was blasted by Tral and fell off the Tibetan Plateau in 1374 when he and Adam Destine were escorting and protecting Albert Destine to the Shalu Monastery in Shigatse. He possessed the ability to adopt the aspect of any beast.[11]
- Florence, or Flo, pretended to be Rory and Pandora's grandmother. She was killed by Lenz' creatures.
- Maurice Fortuit, appeared to possess superhuman strength and generated some type of energy around his hands. He was killed by Lenz' creatures.
- Garth, only his gravestone is seen in the Destine graveyard.
- Sherlock, only his gravestone is seen in the Destine graveyard.
- Lance, only his gravestone is seen in the Destine graveyard.
- Vincent, killed by Adam for unknown crimes. Dominic argued against his being killed.
Paraphernalia
Transportation
- Flight Belts
- Q-Car (formerly)
- Adam Destine's Van (formerly)
Notes
- Because Elalyth cannot physically leave Yden, all of her children have been born in that hidden valley among the Zagros Mountains of Iran.[12][5][24]
- According to ClanDestine creator Alan Davis, as hybrids, all the children of Adam Destine and Elalyth are sterile (with the exception of Kay Cera because she is in a different body).[24]
Trivia
- According to ClanDestine creator Alan Davis, no member of Clan Destine has died of natural causes. This means that the natural length of their lifespan is indeterminate and that all dead members died by violence or accidents.[25]
Chronological Reading Order:
See Also
- 20 appearance(s) of Clan Destine (Earth-616)
- 3 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Clan Destine (Earth-616)
- 39 image(s) of Clan Destine (Earth-616)
- 26 member(s) of Clan Destine (Earth-616)
- 2 item(s) used/owned by Clan Destine (Earth-616)
Links and References
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 ClanDestine (Vol. 2) #3
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Fantastic Four Annual #33
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Daredevil Annual (Vol. 3) #1
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 ClanDestine #8
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Wolverine Annual (Vol. 3) #1
- ↑ [[ClanDestine 3-5|[[ClanDestine #3|ClanDestine 3]]-5]]
- ↑ ClanDestine #2–3
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 X-Men: Clan Destine #1–2
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 ClanDestine #2
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 ClanDestine #5
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 ClanDestine (Vol. 2) #2
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 ClanDestine (Vol. 2) #5
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6 13.7 13.8 13.9 Davis, Alan (13 March 2008) Clan Destine Timeline alandavis-forum.com. Retrieved on 5 July 2021.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 X-Men: Clan Destine #1
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 X-Men: Clan Destine #2
- ↑ ClanDestine (Vol. 2) #4
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 ClanDestine #3
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 ClanDestine #1
- ↑ ClanDestine #4
- ↑ ClanDestine #6–7
- ↑ Marvel Comics Presents #158
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 Davis, Alan (6 August 2005) Cuckoo's current body? alandavis-forum.com. Retrieved on 5 July 2021.
- ↑ [[ClanDestine (Vol. 2) 1-5|[[ClanDestine (Vol. 2) #1|ClanDestine (Vol. 2) 1]]-5]]
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 Davis, Alan (6 August 2005) Ten Clandestine Questions alandavis-forum.com. Retrieved on 5 July 2021.
- ↑ Davis, Alan (6 August 2005) Various Clan Destine questions. alandavis-forum.com. Retrieved on 5 July 2021.