Synopsis
M-Day[]
After losing control of her reality warping powers upon unlocking repressed memories of her deceased children, the Scarlet Witch was taken into the care of her father Magneto.[6] Magneto brought his old friend Professor Xavier to council Wanda, but her grip on reality continued to slip.[7]
With reality itself threatened, the Avengers and X-Men met to discuss the situation. Fearing that their friends would opt to euthanize Wanda rather than risk her unmaking reality, Wanda's twin Quicksilver convinced her to create an alternate reality where they and their friends had the lives they had always wanted.[8]
In this reality, mutants were the dominant race and Magneto was the world's ruler. However, this reality soon came undone as the heroes regained their memories of the real world. Upon learning what Quicksilver had done, Magneto killed him in a fit of rage. Wanda resurrected her brother, and distraught and angry over the fact that their father had always cared more about mutantkind than his own children, the Scarlet Witch then changed reality again, this time attempting to rid the world of the mutant gene by casting another spell; "No More Mutants".[8]
This event occurred at 11:15, a Tuesday morning in New York City,[1] or off-coast of Callao, Peru at 3:00 PM in the afternoon of November 2nd.[9]
Initial count, oversimplifications & errors[]
The Decimation reduced the mutant population down to a few hundred, as most mutants were depowered and some others were killed as a result of losing their powers.
In total, 986,618 mutants were either depowered or killed by the Decimation.[10] If not for the intervention of Emma Frost and Dr. Strange, every single mutant would have lost their powers..[11]
At the time of the Decimation, it was first estimated that 91.4% of the world's mutant population lost their powers overnight.[12] The US Government estimated a number of 198 mutants,[13] cataloged, but acknowledged that there were a few thousands,[13] around 300 individuals who were recognized as mutants,[14] and Tony Stark admitted that a low estimate had been produced.[13] Dani Moonstar stated that there were 198 known mutants, but others had remained off the grid until then, including Jonas Graymalkin or Leon Nunez,[15] but also known mutants, like the "199th mutant", off the record of the 198 as part of a deal with the government,[14] or Wiz Kid who hacked into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database.[16][citation needed]
The 198/"less than 200" estimation was although often used as the correct number,[17] as well as "9/10"[13] or "two hundred remaining mutants".[18] A Cerebro estimated a decrease of 91.4% of the world's mutant population in the moments after the M-Day,[12] when Tony Stark stated (after the Civil War) that over 99.99% of the mutants were.[19] It was often stated that "90%"[20] or "over"[21] of the mutants lost their powers.
It was stated that a million mutants[9][22] or more[23] were depowered on M-Day. This tallies with a rounding up of the 986,618 figure.[10]
In the sole Xavier Institute, the mutant students count went from 182 to 27.[24]
Many mutants thought to be depowered were later revealed to have maintained their powers, having hidden their mutant powers and/or their presence to the world, while many of the still-powered were killed during the violence that followed the Decimation.
These different counts, along with the low number of individuals using their powers in public made some calculations very risky and absurd:
- At Matt Landru's funeral (one of the 198), Bishop stated that 10 percent of the world's mutants were present.[25]
- The twenty-five students of the Xavier Institute represented about one-eighth the mutant population in the world.[26] The sum of the mutants of the Institute represented one-quarter of Earth's mutant population when Hulk attacked.[27]
By countries[]
In Japan, except for a few exceptions who entered service for the Japanese government, all mutants were officially depowered.[28]
By powers[]
Immediate attacks[]
The Sapien League took advantage of the situation by attacking the mansion and any mutants attempting to reach it.[24]
The X-Corp office of Paris was bombed, and Cyclops consequently dissolved the organization.[24]
The 198 at the Institute[]
The Xavier Institute became a haven for those who still had their mutant powers, many of them attempting to escape persecution. Against the wishes of Institute professors Emma Frost and Scott Summers, the government assigned Sentinel Squad O*N*E to protect the mansion and its inhabitants.[32]
Mutants at the Institute rallied around the number "198", an early government estimate of how many powered mutants were left in the entire world.[33]
The Ghoul[]
Reporter Sally Floyd interviewed a number of depowered mutants for her Mutant Diaries report. However, a serial killer calling himself the Ghoul murdered several of those whom she interviewed, leaving "Not enough died" as a marker. The Ghoul was eventually killed in an explosion during an attempt to capture him by the X-Men. Given the nature of his teleportation powers, it's possible that the Ghoul survived.[34]
M-Day Energy Effects[]
When the Scarlet Witch depowered mutants, she did not destroy the energy those mutants possessed. Instead, the energies got expelled from their bodies.[35] While passing some orbiting rocks, the energy awakened a dormant Vulcan (who was fused with Darwin). This massively boosted Vulcan's powers (and also Darwin's).[36] Eventually leaving orbit and entering the atmosphere, the energy was absorbed by the Collective, turning him into an immensely powerful and dangerous being; the energies later got dispersed into the Sun.[37]
Mutant Town[]
X-Cell, a group of former mutants who blamed the United States government for losing their powers, began a terrorist campaign.[38] With the overwhelming majority of Mutant Town's residents now depowered, the label quickly began to lose all meaning.[39]
Onslaught[]
Somehow, Onslaught was brought back to life, and chased Franklin Richards to Counter-Earth.[40]
Salem's Seven's return[]
All dead, banished, or inanimate, the Salem's Seven were all returned, including Brutacus who is part mutant.[41]
Endangered Species[]
Frightened by the end of mutantkind, Beast went on the search for a cure.[42] He made a broad appeal to the scientific community, both heroes such as Mr. Fantastic and Iron Man, but also villains like Dr. Doom and Mr. Sinister. All either rejected him or failed to provide aid. Desperate for help, Beast was joined by his unscrupulous alternate reality counterpart Dark Beast.[42]
The two made no progress, and after the Dark Beast endagered an innocent attempting to test a cure, Beast parted ways with him. He decided to track down the Scarlet Witch herself, and found her in Transia, seemingly with no memory of her past. Wanda provided no answers and encouraged Beast to move on, as did Dr. Strange..[43]
Effects[]
Effects on mutants and X-Gene[]
The X-Gene was erased from the Depowered Mutants, without any trace.[44] Depowered mutants were detected as Humans by devices such as Cerebra.[45][46]
The Decimation effected the DNA of every mutant, even when separated from its source: Mutant Growth Hormone (MGH) provided by depowered mutants was rendered useless.[47]
However, Astra managed to create a seemingly powered clone of the Blob despite the fact that the original had been de-powered.[48]
Reversing the Effect[]
While the M-Day effect was initially thought to be irreversible, some methods proved more or less effective in restoring mutant powers. Please consult the Repowered Mutants and the ways they got their powers back.
Celestials[]
In concordance with the High Evolutionary, Magneto was able to construct a machine to restore his powers, using the Dreaming Celestial and the product of what they called "a Celestial lobotomy". The machine however, was not only nearly impossible to construct but extremely dangerous. The process worked, and Magneto regained his mutant powers at the cost of the machine itself.[49][50]
Apocalypse managed to restore the powers of Polaris (depowered by M-Day) after turning her into one of his Horsemen. It was believed that Apocalypse simply gave her powers similar to her old ones through other means, but he seemingly managed to re-activate Polaris' X-Gene.[51]
Reality Manipulations[]
After one of Legion's rogue personas, dubbing itself Moira, altered reality to create a world of constant war and struggle where he was a hero, some aspects of this reality bled through into the real world after Legion restored it. One of these aspects were the powers of Chamber. In this reality created by Legion, Chamber once again had his mutant powers in their old state, and upon returning reality to it's original form, Chamber kept his restored powers.[52]
After falling into the M'kraan Crystal and drifting into the White Hot Room, Professor Xavier regained his telepathic powers upon emerging.[53]
Wanda Maximoff was able to reverse the M-Day effect on one mutant, Rictor. After losing the source of her enhanced powers, the Life Force, however, Wanda was unable to reverse it for anyone else.[54]
Hope Summers and Phoenix[]
The return of mutant messiah Hope Summers to the present triggered the first activated mutations since her own and M-Day. It is believed that this, along with Hope's unique ability to stabilize these mutants, were an extension of her relationship with the Phoenix Force.[55]
The Phoenix Force travelled to Earth to claim Hope Summers as its host in order to reverse the Scarlet Witch's curse. It did so successfully, after Hope used its powers to re-ignite mutations across the world. This only caused new mutant births however, and did not restore the powers of previously depowered mutants.[56]
The Five[]
After the founding of the mutant nation of Krakoa, a group of mutants known as the Five were created, composed of Hope Summers, Proteus,Tempus, Egg, and Elixir. The Five were tasked with resurrecting mutants who had died prematurely. The Five able to revive depowered mutants with their powers intact, presumably in part due to Proteus' reality warping powers. [57]
List of confirmed powered or depowered mutants post-M-Day[]
Known Powered Mutants[]
Known as the 198 (which also was the name of a group of mutants gathered into the Xavier Institute).
Among the unnamed powered mutants to be counted are Gargouille's boyfriend[58] and a fire-breather,[59] both killed by Predator X. Utopia[60] and Ravencroft Asylum for the Criminally Insane[61] also appeared to had various unidentified mutants.
Known Pre-M-Day Deceased Powered Mutants[]
The Decimation extended even to mutants who were already dead on M-Day. When Selene reawakened the dead of Genosha and elsewhere, she discovered that many of her undead subjects no longer possessed their mutant abilities as a result of M-Day.[62] Please consult the Known Pre-M-Day Deceased Powered Mutants.
Known Depowered Mutants[]
Please consult the M-Day Depowered mutants.
New/Relaunched/Revamped Series[]
November 2005[]
December 2005[]
January 2006[]
See Also
- 1 minor appearance(s) of Decimation
- 28 mention(s) of Decimation
- 3 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Decimation
- 3 image(s) of Decimation
- 41 article(s) related to Decimation
Links and References
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Generation M #1
- ↑ Avengers: The Children's Crusade #1
- ↑ X-Factor (Vol. 3) #1
- ↑ X-Men: Legacy #211
- ↑ Way of X #3
- ↑ Avengers: Finale #1
- ↑ House of M #1
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 House of M #7
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 X-Men (Vol. 2) #191
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 House of X #4
- ↑ House of M #8
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 New X-Men (Vol. 2) #20
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 Civil War Files #1; X-Men's entry
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Avengers: The Initiative #5
- ↑ Young X-Men #8
- ↑ Statement that author Christos N. Gage stated it.
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force #14
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force #20
- ↑ Civil War: Battle Damage Report #1; X-Men's entry
- ↑ New X-Men (Vol. 2) #23
- ↑ Civil War: Battle Damage Report #1; X-Factor Investigations's entry
- ↑ Avengers: The Children's Crusade #3
- ↑ New Avengers #19
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 Decimation: House of M - The Day After #1
- ↑ X-Men: Endangered Species #1
- ↑ New X-Men (Vol. 2) #42
- ↑ World War Hulk: X-Men #1
- ↑ Psylocke #1
- ↑ New X-Men (Vol. 2) #21; That statement was seemingly restricted to the Xavier Institute, mentioned during a discussion on the healers' efforts to restore X-Genes
- ↑ Heroic Age: X-Men #1
- ↑ Secret Invasion: X-Men #2
- ↑ X-Men (Vol. 2) #177–179
- ↑ X-Men: The 198 #1
- ↑ Generation M #5
- ↑ X-Men: Deadly Genesis #1
- ↑ X-Men: Deadly Genesis #1–6
- ↑ New Avengers #16–20
- ↑ X-Factor (Vol. 3) #17–20
- ↑ X-Factor (Vol. 3) #28
- ↑ Onslaught Reborn #1–5
- ↑ 4 #25
- ↑ 42.0 42.1 X-Men (Vol. 2) #200
- ↑ X-Men (Vol. 2) #204
- ↑ New X-Men (Vol. 2) #21
- ↑ New X-Men (Vol. 2) #26
- ↑ New X-Men (Vol. 2) #31
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #490
- ↑ Magneto: Not a Hero #1–4
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #500
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #507
- ↑ X-Men: Legacy #259
- ↑ X-Men: Legacy #248
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #486
- ↑ Avengers: The Children's Crusade #6–7
- ↑ X-Men: Second Coming #2
- ↑ Avengers vs. X-Men #1–12
- ↑ X-Men (Vol. 5) #7
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #519
- ↑ New X-Men (Vol. 2) #44
- ↑ X-Men: Legacy Annual #1
- ↑ Generation M #3
- ↑ X-Force (Vol. 3) #22
- ↑ Although it marks a new volume in a series, it is not a continuation of the previous volume