You see, Samuel, we have all faced death once before and managed to triumph over it. It is the defining moment for an External, the moment of transmutation into something… more. 
- —Saul[src]
History
Origin[]
Garbha-Hsien, better known as Saul, is a member of a rare subspecies of immortal mutants called Externals, to which he represents Patience in Thread in the Tapestry of the Infinite.[1] Saul stated that he is the oldest of them all,[7] much older than a fellow External Apocalypse who was born 5,000 years ago,[1] and that he was already old "when the continents shook"[10] and was from the world before time began.[11] Another External, Selene, who herself was born 17,000 years ago, has also said that Saul is the oldest of the Externals.[12] Captain Britain compared Saul's mind to an avalanche, because it contains hundreds of thousands of years of thoughts.[8]
High Lords[]
It is unknown when Garbha-Hsien had joined fellow External Nicodemus and possibly though to a lesser extent Crule to form the self-fashioned "High Lords". Together they manipulate events behind the scenes on a global scale, with the sole goal of political and monetary control over the destiny of Earth.[2][13]
Nomad to Ruler[]
Many centuries ago, and after many lifetimes of nomadic existence, Garbha-Hsien came to rule over the Hopeh Province of China. As a warlord he was considered both a visionary and a savage. He controlled the lives of everyone who lived in the shadows of the Wu-Tai Shan Range, keeping them under his thumb. Garbha-Hsien would also have twelve mortal children during his rule.[3]
At some point, Garbha-Hsien's people found a crashed ship of the Earth-judging Celestials in the Ho-Lan Shan Mountains in Mongolia. Both humbled and humiliated, Garbha-Hsien would spend the next fifty years studying the alien ship. He would even document some of his finding of the ship in his sons' tombs as they passed, constructing giant booby-trapped tombs for each of them upon their deaths. And when the twelfth and final son died, Garbha-Hsien hid pieces of the alien vessel with him.[1][3]
Garbha-Hsien would gain a level of infamy among his people due to his magic and immortality, which they believed was caused by the extraterrestrial vessel.[3]
Forever Walker[]
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In the 12th century, and fifty years later. Garbha-Hsien infamy grew far and wide, as a feared immortal magician ruler, whose magics were such that legions ran in fright even reached the ears of the Egyptian En Sabah Nur. En Sabah Nur though old was still very young and sought him out, in a confrontation to learn the truth of this possible fellow Forever Walker. He slaughtered all of Garbha-Hsien men in a bloody path to him, En Sabah Nur challenged Garbha-Hsien to show him this incredible power.
Having heard of En Sabah Nur as well Garbha-Hsien wanting to humble his fellow External by showing him a test of his magic, and as he explained a bit of his long life he showed En Sabah Nur the Celestial Ship. Though Garbha-Hsien was humbled En Sabah Nur despite being surprised was not unfamiliar with futuristic technologies. Believing he had humbled the young En Sabah Nur, he was caught unaware as En Sabah Nur plunged his sword through Garbha-Hsien back. Badly wounded but not life threatening for an External, Garbha-Hsien could only watch as En Sabah Nur entered the ship to claim its secrets that were denied to him.
Learning that there will always be someone on this earth more cunning, more ruthless and more powerful than himself, Garbha-Hsien left his home to take quite a different direction.[1]
Ritual of the Heart Stone[]
Later at an unknown point in the 12 Century C.E., despite fellow External Candra declining to join the High Lords prior,[14] Saul along with other Externals Selene, Crule, Nicodemus, and En Sabah Nur aided her in performing a ritual to extract the life energy of her own immortal heart into a stone.[14][15]
Tomorrow Starts Today[]
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Having grown in numbers with the soon to be External Absalom, Garbha-Hsien together with the High Lords had become a type of authority among their kind, specially if it interfered with their plans.[16][17] So in 1891 when they learned that Candra planned to stop En Sabah Nur rise to power and take the ability to fold space for herself. He and the others, unwilling to physically act against her, sent Dr. Nathan Milbury, who worked for En Sabah Nur, deal with Candra.[18][19][16]
After Candra made it to En Sabah Nur's sanctum beneath the pyramids outside of Banī-Mazā in Egypt, thanks to her Thieves Guild and their leader Jean-Luc LeBeau, they began to translate the text. Dr. Nathan Milbury with a time traveling Gambit and Courier arrived to stop her via Milbury's transport ship. Choosing to bring down En Sabah Nur sanctum instead of fighting and steal his powers another day, Milbury quickly over powers her with his new found metamorphic ability. Defeated she begs for him to stop and as he does while revealing Garbha-Hsien and the other four High Lords who appeared as the reason behind her loss. Candra tried to explain her actions but Garbha-Hsien and the others knowing En Sabah Nur's citadel is not to be touched, his slow glaciers rise to power is not to be interrupted. For their greater glory awaits the Millennial Dawn[20][21][22] and Candra's actions put that at risk punished her.[19][16]
Mystery Of The Externals[]
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In more recent years, Garbha-Hsien now calling himself Saul and the other High Lords were searching for the next External to rise, and their next member. For a time thanks to Gideon believed it was Roberto Da Costa,[23] but when Cannonball come back to life moments after his death Garbha-Hsien and the other four sensed it. Now knowing Samuel was the next External they had been looking for they gathered.[24][2]
Garbha-Hsien and the others met at Nicodemus Chalet in the Swiss Alps of Switzerland, to discuss this new revelation. Though Absalom was displeased with having their time wasted on recruiting the wrong person, they listened to Gideon's plan to unleash Krule to kill the X-Force leader Cable. Though shocked he'd involve Krule, Garbha-Hsien and Nicodemus allowed him to go through with his plan, despite Burke's concerns that his plan would only lead Cable, who was aware of Gideon being an External, right to them, or help Xavier, his X-Men, X-Factor, or X-Force learn of their existence.[25][2]
A New Threat[]
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When Crule went off plan and choose to attack Cannonball in an attempted to kill him, and X-Force came to Ophrah research facility to save Sunspot from Gideon he promised that as long as Cannonball stays out of the High Lords affairs they would leave him alone.[26][10] But when Stryfe tricked Sinister into unleashing his Legacy Virus the Externals found that they were not even safe.[27][28]
With the Legacy Virus having claimed Nicodemus, Garbha-Hsien and Gideon came up with a plan to trick Cannonball into coming to them. Garbha-Hsien went to Camp Verde in Arizona were X-Force had their base, there he found Warpath, Boom-Boom, and Siryn alone. From the shadows Garbha-Hsien blasted them with a form of electrical force that left the three unconscious. He brought them to his home on the North Oregon coastline and with each secured to a rock on the cliff near the ocean's water and near drowning, he and Gideon sent Cannonball via hologram the massage of their captives.[28][29][30]
But unbeknownst to them X-Force instead located Crule at St. Anthony's Hospital in Portland Maine, with Cannonball staying behind the others got a still in a body cast Crule. As Garbha-Hsien and Gideon discuss what the loss of Nicodemus and what the ascension of their newest External Cannonball means, Crule wanting to humble his fellow High Lords gladly gave them up to X-Force. While Garbha-Hsien and Gideon drank tea, X-Force in their IPAC came crashing through the side of Garbha-Hsien's house, sending them flying. With their teammates free as Shatterstar and Feral keeping guard, Sunspot showed Gideon the letter from Cannonball that their plan to get him to break their deal failed. As they left Garbha-Hsien pleaded that they needed to study the newest ascendant, for without Sam Guthrie the Externals may all die. But to no avail, instead he was left with a warning to cease harassing them or he would suffer that fate anyway.[10]
The Young And The Restless[]
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For a time Garbha-Hsien and the others stayed away from Cannonball and his X-Force, until Burke and Absalom became infected by the Legacy Virus which would take Burke's life first. But not before Burke, through his precognitive skills, saw and made the others aware that Samuel Guthrie was the architect of their salvation.[1]
Garbha-Hsien, Absalom, and Gideon went to Cumberland County, Kentucky to find Samuel who with Tabitha was visiting his family. In hopes to convince Samuel to help them Garbha-Hsien told them of his loss to En Sabah Nur and what he learned from that. As the others told him their defining moments of their ascension from mortals to something more, they told him of what each of them represent and for Samuel that was Hope.[1]
After Samuel shared heartfelt words with them and how they could have made a difference, but did nothing Absalom after losing his temper one to many times would have the virus overwhelm. Samuel saved Garbha-Hsien and the others with his blast field, amazed to have found Absalom survived Garbha-Hsien and Gideon believed it was a testament to the truth of Samuel's words. So with Samuel's word that as long as they try to do better with what they got and if the time comes, if he is able to he will save their lives Garbha-Hsien and with Gideon took their fallen brethren Absalom left.[1]
Even an X-Ternal Can Die![]
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With the loss of Nicodemus[28] and Burke,[1] Garbha-Hsien and the remaining High Lords found themselves vulnerable for the first time in centuries. Though not from others but from their fellow Externals, namely Selene who had been waiting for this moment and with the coming terror that is Onslaught,[31] not to mention the return of Apocalypse[32] that would come with it she would wait no longer.[33]
As Garbha-Hsien joined Gideon at his Manhattan penthouse in Rockefeller Center, they were attacked by Selene, shifting in and out of shadow form. In trouble due to the surprise attack, Gideon reached out to Sunspot for help as Garbha-Hsien fought Selene. Garbha-Hsien would be defeated by Selene who then crucified him to the wall of Gideon's office and drained Garbha-Hsien of his life-force before moving on to Gideon.[33][17]
The Newer Mutants[]
Eventually Garbha-Hsien along with all the Externals previously killed by the Legacy Virus or Selene returned;[34] however, after Candra fall he would killed too, this time by a time-traveling Gideon.[35] This future Gideon with the aid of Absalom would claim nearly everyone until being stopped by Selene, Cable, Shatterstar, Doop, Armor, X-23, Shatterstar, and Blink who delivered the Coup de Grace by decapitating him.[36]
External Gateway[]
After receiving a summons through their shared psychic-link from Apocalypse he went to the Eternal Caldera of Krakoa, and there joined seven of his fellow Externals who were waiting for Apocalypse. When Apocalypse arrived not wanting to play his games they learned of his plans for them, but they were unwilling to go along with his belief of what their purpose should be nor willing to sacrifice themselves for his goals. Apocalypse would force Saul and the others to be sacrificed by playing his trump card in a newly enhanced Rictor. Rictor erupted from the ground in a blast of lava killing Crule. Nicodemus attacked Apocalypse who called on Selene, Gideon and Rictor to his side. After a brief exchange of words were Absalom attacked, Rictor turned to face Saul, Absalom, Candra, and Nicodemus. Getting ready to fight, Saul transformed into a great dragon, tearing through his own flesh as he did, but Rictor blasted them with a wave of lava unintentionally killing Saul along with Candra and Nicodemus.[6]
Saul's ancient bones, thus his life energy, along with the others turned into the stones that powers the External Gate,[37] trapping them, and allowing the whole of Krakoa to enter Otherworld as Apocalypse planned.[6]
Fall of X[]
Following the Mutant Massacre at the Hellfire Gala at the hands of Orchis, the mutant population of Earth was scattered. And with Krakoa nearly abandoned, Selene, working with Sebastian Shaw and Orchis, taking the External Gate that still contend Nicodemus, Crule and Saul trapped within.[38][39] Once she freed Saul, and the other two (Nicodemus and Crule), Selene made them along with Absalom, Burke, Gideon gather mutants (and depowered mutants) from across the globe back to her base in Nova Roma for her ascension to become a True High Lord.[40]
Being used like the others and despite knowing it, Saul put up a shield around Nova Roma to keep anyone out, and used his magic to make it hard to detect them. He would open portals to send the other Externals to gather mutants and send them back to Nova Roma. Saul was also sent out to collect his share of mutants for the ritual, and used his magic to suppress the X-Gene as he did to Horsepower.[41][42][7][43]
Later on, and as preparations for ascension continued the remaining Externals found X-Corps had come to Nova Roma to stop them. With Captain Britain, Rictor, Shatterstar, Thunderbird and Mirage unable to get through the magic shield Saul placed over Nova Roma. In a suspicious move, Saul opened a path to allow the X-Corps team through and went with Nicodemus and Absalom to confront them. As the others went off to fight, Saul faced Captain Britain and would easily block her Telekinetic Sword and take on his dragon form. The battle would be intense, and take to the air, where Captain Britain managed to end the fight by stabbing her Psychic Knife in his head sending them crashing to the ground.[44]
It was later revealed that Saul was again alive, and being kept in a stasis pod along side Nicodemus, Crule, Absalom ,and Selene on the X-Corps Island. The pods were created by Wiz-Kid and Trinary, with Tempo's time-distortion gifts and Somnus' mastery over dreams to keep them pacified. But unlike Selene, Saul and the others were put in an endless cycle of their worst nightmares.[9]Attributes
Powers
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Dragon Form
Saul is a mutant:
- Magical Manipulation: His X-Gene connects him to primal magic.[45] Nicodemus has said that Garbha-Hsien taught magic to all other Externals.[6] According to Saul, Merlin, a former Sorcerer Supreme, is a pup in magic, compared to him.[11] He can manipulate magic in various ways:
- Electricity Generation: He could fire energy blasts that take the form of powerful explosive electrical energy.[29][5]
- Levitation[1]
- Fire Manipulation: He could handle fire without any harm.[1]
- Dragon Form: He could transform into a winged fire breathing dragon.[3][5][6]
- Portal Creation: Saul was shown opening portals to transport a number of Mutant captives, and later Absalom and Nicodemus, from His Majesty's Young Mutant Containment Facility in London to Nova Roma in Brazil.[46]
- Power Negation: He cast a spell that suppressed the X-Gene in Horsepower.[43]
As an External Saul also possesses the following powers:
- Self-Resurrection: Garbha-Hsien has shown to be able to resurrected himself from death and in result he is effectively immortal. Since Garbha-Hsien's immortality became active after his first death, he no longer ages. Though he can be put out of commission or seemingly destroyed for various periods of time, Saul can not be permanently killed. After being drained of his life essence by Selene, he was seen fully restored 10 years later, then again after having his heart eaten and his body destroyed by Nicodemus he was seen years later fully restored.[2][1][17][35][6]
- Regeneration: Ability to endure injuries (within unknown limits) without lasting harm or even feeling pain[10][1], he could apparently regenerate injured or missing cells from even near-fatal injuries.
- Mind Link: As an Extertal, he shares a telepathic-link with his fellow Externals that allows them to not only sense each other and where, but can call on each other at will from great distances.[15][6][47][7] He is also able to sense when one rises from their first death and when one is killed by another External.[2][1][48][49]
Weaknesses
Paraphernalia
Equipment
Notes
- Many Externals had distinctive text bubbles, and Garbha-Hsien's one had a black fringe and pink background instead of white in X-Force #10.
- Garbha-Hsien himself has said to be far older than Apocalypse when he stated that his feet have trod time beyond En Sabah Nur's imagining[1] and him being old when the continents shook,[10] which could be a reference to either the Great Cataclysm circa 18,000 B.C. or the post-Hyborian cataclysm that also shook and reshaped the continents around 8,000 B.C.[50]
- Garbha-Hsien had also mentioned that he was from the world before time began,[11] and compared Captain Britain (Betsy Braddock)'s mind to a thimble, while he possesses wisdom of millennia and had forgotten more than Betsy could learn in lifetimes.[11] Betsy, after having stabbed her Psychic Knife his head, felt his mind and stated it was like an avalanche, because it contains hundreds of thousands of years of thoughts,[8] which may mean that he is around 200,000—300,000 years ago or more.
- "Garbha" is a Sanskrit word used in Buddhism, for example, for Buddha-nature. It can mean "the womb", "embryo", "center" or "essence".
- "Hsien" is a Wade–Giles romanization of Chinese term Xian, used in folklore for immortals.
See Also
- 13 appearance(s) of Garbha-Hsien (Earth-616)
- 7 minor appearance(s) of Garbha-Hsien (Earth-616)
- 7 mention(s) of Garbha-Hsien (Earth-616)
- 1 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Garbha-Hsien (Earth-616)
- 21 image(s) of Garbha-Hsien (Earth-616)
- 2 quotation(s) by or about Garbha-Hsien (Earth-616)
Links and References
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 X-Force #37
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 X-Force #10
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Gambit (Vol. 3) #1
- ↑ X-Force #54
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Cable #151
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 Excalibur (Vol. 4) #12
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic #128
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic #138
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic #142
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 X-Force #23
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic #137
- ↑ X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic #139
- ↑ X-Force #14
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 X-Men (Vol. 2) #60
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Excalibur (Vol. 4) #11
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Gambit (Vol. 3) #14
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 X-Force #53
- ↑ Gambit (Vol. 3) #12
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Gambit (Vol. 3) #13
- ↑ X-Force #12
- ↑ X-Force #17
- ↑ X-Force #25
- ↑ New Mutants #99
- ↑ X-Force #9
- ↑ X-Force #8
- ↑ X-Force #15
- ↑ X-Force #18
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 X-Force #20
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 X-Force #21
- ↑ X-Force #22
- ↑ X-Man #15
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #335
- ↑ 33.0 33.1 X-Force #52
- ↑ Cable #150–151
- ↑ 35.0 35.1 35.2 Cable #151–152
- ↑ Cable #150–154
- ↑ X-Men (Vol. 5) #12
- ↑ Marvel's Voices: Pride (Vol. 3) #1
- ↑ Immortal X-Men #14–16
- ↑ X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic #121–141
- ↑ X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic #136
- ↑ X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic #126
- ↑ 43.0 43.1 X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic #131
- ↑ X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic #136–139
- ↑ X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic #124
- ↑ X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic #126–127
- ↑ X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic #127
- ↑ Cable #150
- ↑ Cable #152–154
- ↑ Mystic Arcana: The Book of Marvel Magic #1 ; Tribe of the Moon's entry