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Quote1 My name is James Proudstar. I don't want to be a killer. But now I have no choice. Quote2
Warpath[src]

History

Early Years[]

James Proudstar was born on the Apache reservation in Camp Verde, Arizona. As a young boy, James idolized his older brother, John Proudstar, and when John returned from a stint in the Marines, James was overjoyed to see him again. Unfortunately, their mother revealed to the family that she had cancer, prompting a visit to an amusement park, where James had his fortune told to him by none other than Destiny, though James thought she was a fraud. Then, James secretly accompanied John, when he infiltrated Arroyo labs, the clinic that was running tests on their reservation's people and treating them for cancer. James was discovered by Dr. Edwin Martynec, who revealed himself to be a mutated werewolf. The brothers learned that Dr. Martynec was faking the cancer diagnoses, so he could irradiate his patients and observe the results, so they tried to stop him, but he managed to escape.[6]

John was soon recruited to the X-Men and was killed on one of the team's first missions.[13] James blamed the X-Men for his brother's death and promised to murder its founder, Professor Charles Xavier.[14]

Hellions[]

James soon manifested his own mutation, similar to his brothers'. He joined the Hellions, at the Massachusetts Academy, under the leadership of The White Queen, where he was tutored and trained by her in the use of his powers.[15]

James Proudstar (Earth-616) from New Mutants Vol 1 16 001

James first encountered the New Mutants after the White Queen invited Doug Ramsey to her school and captured Kitty Pryde and Doug. Emma Frost was unaware that Kitty and Magik shared a rapport and the New Mutants came to their rescue. Still, they were all captured and forced to remain at the Academy. With the growing rivalry between the two teams and the New Mutant's reluctance to accept their fate, the Hellions proposed a challenge and, if the New Mutants won, they would allow them to escape. During the match, however, the White Queen appeared and chaos ensued, nonetheless allowing the New Mutants to escape.[16]

James later donned his brother's costume and kidnapped the X-Man Banshee, to draw the team to Cheyenne Mountain, where his brother John had been killed. Everything was going just as planned for him, but at the last second, James couldn't bring himself to kill Professor X. Professor X, eventually, convinced Thunderbird that his brother died a hero's death and James released them, stating Professor Xavier was an honorable man. Professor X offered James membership into the New Mutants, but he declined. Instead, James rejoined the Hellions and eventually became the leader.[17][18]

Once, Magneto was invited to attend a Hellfire Club event and decided to bring the New Mutants as well. That night, James and Danielle Moonstar got along quite well and seemed to think highly of each other, despite their differences. However, the event turned sour for the young mutants after finding Cypher drunk in a bed with Roulette, leading Cannonball to suggest another contest between the two teams. The contest was for both teams to hunt down the person responsible for selling a member of the Hellfire Club a forged statue of Selene and the losers were to apologize, publicly, for any insults and take the rap for any trouble with their teachers before sunrise. After having Illyana Rasputin spy on the Hellions through a scrying glass in Limbo, the New Mutants learned that Viper and the Silver Samurai were behind the forgery and decided to intercept the villains, before the Hellions. Unknown to the New Mutants, Thunderbird assumed that they would spy on the Hellions and led them to the henchmen of the villains, while the Hellions captured Viper and Silver Samurai, winning the competition. Upon returning to the Hellfire Club, James and Dani settle their differences and were about to kiss when Tessa arrived with a letter from Xuân Cao Mạnh, for Dani.[19] After hearing of an animal creature that was being mistreated after capture, Emma allowed the Hellions to participate in a contest with the New Mutants to abduct Bird Brain, where Thunderbird was influenced, by Empath, to admit his crush on Dani, and the New Mutants emerged victorious.[20]

X-Force[]

James soon felt like he did not fit in with the Hellions and quit, returning to the Apache reservation in Camp Verde, Arizona. Cable soon met with James and offered him membership into his New Mutants, but he declined, as he enjoyed staying at the reservation. When James returned, he found the entire tribe murdered, and a Hellfire Club agent's mask left behind. Fueled by a vendetta against the Hellfire Club, and Emma Frost in particular, James then decided to join the New Mutants.[21]

James Proudstar (Earth-616) from X-Force Vol 1 15 001

Under Cable's leadership, the New Mutants no longer associated with the X-Men and James took on the codename Warpath. Alongside X-Force, he fought the M.L.F.,[12] the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants led by Toad,[22] and many other villains that crossed their path. Eventually, he got the chance to confront Emma about the death of his tribe, but learned neither she nor the Hellfire Club were responsible.[23]

When Cable moved X-Force back to the X-Mansion, he tried to get Warpath to train with a bo staff, which he did for a short time, but never used in action.[24] By this time, Warpath experienced an increase in sensory awareness and strength that allowed him to perform feats he never imagined before, such as run at 100 mph. One night, he received a message from the National Council of Indian Affairs regarding a "life or death" situation and ran to New York, where Risque introduced herself to him from the shadows, planted a kiss on his lips, and left.[25]

Then, when Selene made her move against the Externals, killing those who remained, Warpath sensed her presence in Gideon's apartment and climbed the building to find her. He was able to track Selene, but fell victim to her spells and was knocked out. Fortunately, Risque arrived and pulled James out before Selene could drain his life. Risque took James to Florida to recuperate and they fell for each other.[26] Eventually James wanted to get back to his friends, and traveled with Risque back to the X-Mansion, where they found Mister Sinister fighting X-Force and joined in battle against him. Unfortunately, they were all knocked out as Nate Grey launched a powerful psychic attack against Sinister that was reflected on X-Force.[27] When they woke up, Risque was nowhere to be seen, leaving Warpath wondering what had happened to her.[28]

Gloria Muñoz (Earth-616) and James Proudstar (Earth-616) from X-Force Vol 1 57 001

With Risque

Sometime later, Risque approached James again and took him to a nightclub, where they were attacked by Blob and Mimic. They managed to defeat the duo, but then Risque sedated Warpath with a drugged drink and delivered him to the mysterious Sledge. Sledge had no malicious intent, but rather offered James the location of his tribesman Michael Whitecloud, who had somehow survived the massacre on the reservation. Still, he felt betrayed by Risque and told her not to contact him again.[29]

To repay Sledge for the intel on Whitecloud, Warpath was asked to enter a dimensional gateway and retrieve the person who was trapped there. That person ended up being the Vanisher, and James rocketed him out of the dimension with his vacuum suit's jetpack. As a result of this experience (in which he almost ended up trapped forever telling stories to the dimension's natives), James began to question his constant searching for vengeance and his focus on the past. James got Whitecloud's location from Sledge and went to see him with Siryn. Whitecloud told Warpath more information about the massacre and how he escaped as well as how to access the files he stole from the Arroyo Institute, which was the reason for the destruction of Camp Verde. However, Whitecloud's head exploded before he could reveal the names of those who sponsored the massacre.[30] James retrieved the documents, but was ambushed and captured by Martin Edwards (Edwin Martynec), who was waiting for him. Martynec revealed that he had been working for Stryfe to create mutated soldiers and experiment on the people at Camp Verde, but the escape of one of his doctors and one of his creations necessitated the massacre as a cover up. Siryn and Warpath broke free but Martynec injected James with a drug and killed him.[31]

X-Force Vol 1 82 Textless

With X-Force

In a hell dimension, Warpath was confronted by Stryfe, who wanted to force him into despair, which would allow Stryfe to be resurrected by Blackheart. Fortunately, Jimmy was able to connect with Siryn, who was doing CPR on him. Also, Valkyrie (Brunnhilde) brought the rest of X-Force to the hell dimension to fight for Jimmy's soul, and they won, returning Jimmy to life.[32] Afterwards, Dani Moonstar helped him deal with his grief over his family's death.[33]

Under Pete Wisdom's tutelage, James learned how to use his enhanced abilities to do things he never thought of, like fly. Exactly how he manipulated his power to do this is still unknown. James remained with X-Force through Wisdom's tenure and through one faking of the team's death. However, when X-Force came upon a top-secret plot to use alien technology to recreate a planet-moving engine, they apparently could not stop the bio-engineered defenders of the facility. James and his teammates (except Domino) were presumed dead following the explosion they set off, levelling the alien tech base. However, they soon appeared at a press conference for the new team calling itself X-Force, and got into a fight with the other mutants over naming rights.[34]

X-Corporation[]

Shortly thereafter, James was recruited by the Mumbai office of the X-Corporation. When Professor X came to visit, James saved his life from assassination by the deranged Lilandra. He worked with former teammate Feral, her sister Thornn, and Sunfire. Before receiving his X-Corporation uniform, he wore his brother's old costume, which the Indian public adored.[35]

X-Men[]

As a result of the Scarlet Witch's actions during the "House of M" incident, nearly all of the mutants in the entire world were stripped of their powers, although James retained his powers. As a result of the loss of mutants, Cyclops shut down all of the X-Corporation offices and most of the X-Corporation employees were sent to the Xavier Institute. Warpath was one of the many as well as his former Hellion teammate, Empath. James did not enjoy his stay as it reminded him of a reservation he grew up in. While living on the Xavier grounds, James rekindled his friendship with former teammate Caliban who was also staying on the grounds. He also was given Vibranium Knives as a gift from Storm and the Black Panther.[36]

Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 476 Textless

Warpath as a member of the X-Men

Shortly afterward, he was asked to accompany Professor X on a special mission. Along with Professor X, Marvel Girl, Nightcrawler, Havok, Darwin, and Polaris, he journeyed into space to track down Vulcan. Professor X told him that he chose him for this mission because no one among the X-Men had ever hated him the way Warpath previously had. He showed his superb fighting prowess while fighting cyborg drones as the X-Men attempted to commandeer a Shi'ar ship. During the final fight with Vulcan, Warpath fought bravely and in the end was on the spaceship with half of the team when Lilandra sent it back to Earth.[37]

Back on Earth, Warpath was training with Hepzibah when they came across Sentinels attacking a "trespasser", who turned out to be Caliban. Nightcrawler teleported Caliban away to the infirmary and Warpath threatened the Sentinel until Storm showed up putting the Sentinel pilot in an awkward situation.[38]

Caliban soon told them of Leech's kidnapping, and Masque's return. The X-Men journeyed to the Morlock Tunnels, and Warpath fought an alligator along the way. Caliban explained that the alligators were their protectors and a girl could talk to them, but Warpath told him that she was gone and they were not listening anymore. While wrestling it, he was thrown through a wall, and on the other side found cryptic writings of Qwerty. They soon found where Leech was taken, and saved him while defeating renegade Morlocks in the process.[39]

The New X-Force[]

X-Force Vol 3 10 Textless

As a member of the new X-Force

Warpath, along with Hepzibah, Caliban, Wolfsbane, X-23, and leader Wolverine formed a new X-Force designed to personally do the extreme tasks the X-Men would not normally be associated with. During Messiah Complex, Caliban sacrificed his life to save James' by jumping in the path of a range of bullets from a Reaver.[40]

James buried Caliban at his past Apache reservation, alongside his brother, and continued to fight alongside X-Force, as well as date Hepzibah. While taking some time off from X-Force, he visited his brothers' grave and was attacked by a disturbed Demon Bear. With the help of Ghost Rider, he learned the secrets of Eli Bard; how he had resurrected his brother, Caliban, and his tribe as a sacrifice to Selene.[11]

Necrosha And Afterwards[]

After the Messiah War, X-Force was thrust into the middle of Necrosha, where reanimated mutants were controlled by Selene and the T-O virus. He met Risque, who was a part of Selene's resurrected army, and she managed to fight the T-O virus long enough to tell him to get away. When he confronted his brother, he gave him a mercy killing. Later, with the help of an ancient ritual, he defeated Selene by stabbing her in the heart with her own dagger, which also freed the souls from her reanimated army.[41]

James Proudstar (Earth-616), Suvik Senyaka (Earth-616) and Selene Gallio (Earth-616) from X-Men Legacy Vol 1 231 001

Brought before Selene

He later left the X-Force team, and was seen staying on Utopia afterward.[42] After the schism between Wolverine and Cyclops' factions, Jimmy remained on Utopia and became part of Storm and Psylocke's Security Recon Team for a time.[43] He joined the X-Men during the Phoenix Five's war on the Avengers.[44]

Weapon X[]

While taking a break from both his family and the X-Men, Jimmy was captured by the resurfaced Weapon X as part of the organization's process to refine their mutant-hunting cyborgs.[45] He was eventually rescued from containment by a team of mutants led by a time-displaced older version of Logan who all had been targeted by Weapon X.[46] Following the destruction of Weapon X, the team of mutants turned their alliance into a mutant-rescue squad, and started by taking back the name Weapon X.[47] Throughout Weapon X's subsequent adventures, Warpath developed a casual romantic relationship with Domino.[48]

Weapon X Vol 3 14 Textless

With Domino

To Warpath's disgruntlement, Logan stepped down due to his ailing health and ceded field leadership of the team to Sabretooth, with whom James had butted heads repeatedly.[49] Not long after discovering that Sabretooth intended to return to his mercenary ways, with both Lady Deathstrike and Domino supporting the idea,[50] Warpath decided to quit the team. Sabretooth had joined forces with Weapon X's latest target, Omega Red, and intended to help him take down the Russian intelligence agency S.I.C.K.L.E., risking an international incident.[51]

Warpath intercepted his former teammates at the S.I.C.K.L.E. Mothercarrier and stood up against Sabretooth in an arduous fight before being forced to leave to assist Logan when the Blackbird started plummeting from the sky.[52]

Krakoa and the New Mutants[]

Warpath was of the many mutants that joined the mutant nation of Krakoa upon its creation. He was seen alongside many other Krakoans grieving Charles Xavier dead at the hands of anti-mutant super-human criminals that had infiltrated Krakoa and killed many of its residents, including Xavier.[10] Warpath later joined the newly reformed X-Men in Otherworld defending Krakoa from the hoards of Amenth.[53]

Warpath then joined the New Mutants and, along with Wolfsbane, Magik, Mirage and Karma, started teaching and training the young mutants of Akademos Habitat and experimenting synergies between mutant powers. To keep better track of their work, Mirage proposed James to write a journal.[54] When Dani and Xi'an entered the Crucible to divide Tran from Karma, James watched the match. During the match, Scout indirectly asked James if the Lost Club's involvement with Shadow King was ultimately a bad thing and James answered her saying to trust her instinct.[55] Warpath participated at the first Hellfire Gala[56][57][58][8][59] but unfortunately he got stuck in his outfit when he sneezed.[60]

Warpath was sent along the other New Mutants and their traineés to do some missions like on the island of Tristan da Cunha, to retrieve a recently discovered mutant, but she didn't want to leave so they just left a Gate seed there,[9] or on the Moon to fight the Brood.[61] When the New Mutants tried to face Farouk about the problems he was creating on the island he blocked them in the Astral Plane, causing them to fight a number of deadly scenarios when they had to face some of their most ferocious enemies,[62] but, fortunately for them, the Lost Club was able to reach to them by combining their powers. This event got the New Mutants the idea to combine their powers to the ones of the Lost Club to save Wolfsbane who was trapped by the Shadow King. They in the end managed to defeat him.[63]

After Scarlet Witch's ritual to resurrect mutants before Cerebro's full functionality, John Proudstar finally came back to life[64] and visited his brother. James couldn't stand the grief of standing before him fearing of having failed him, but John didn't care and the two hugged and cried together.[65] The two went back to their home, at Camp Gozhoo to spend some time with their grandmother, Lozen.[66]

Attributes

Power Grid[78]
:Category:Power Grid/Fighting Skills/Master: Several Forms of Combat:Category:Power Grid/Energy Projection/None:Category:Power Grid/Durability/Enhanced:Category:Power Grid/Speed/Superhuman:Category:Power Grid/Strength/Superhuman (800 lbs-25 ton):Category:Power Grid/Intelligence/Normal

Powers

Warpath is a mutant possessing various superhuman physical attributes, some of which have fluctuated considerably over the years.

After the powers of all the world's mutants were restored by the High Evolutionary, Warpath's powers were enhanced slightly due to his training with Pete Wisdom and the realization he was limiting himself to the powers of his older brother.[67]

James Proudstar (Earth-616) from Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 475 0001

James Proudstar as Warpath

Superhuman Strength: Currently Warpath possesses some degree of superhuman strength, though the exact amount of weight he can lift isn't known. It has ranged over the years from Class 5 to Class 90 levels. As a teenager and member of the Hellions, Jimmy's strength level was roughly equivalent to his brother or Sunspot at the time, able to lift 2 tons.[68] He grew substantially in height, muscle mass, and strength as he got older. Cable once remarked that Warpath just kept getting "stronger and stronger".[12] In his early X-Force days, Warpath possessed Class 75 strength, with a Class 90 potential.[69]

It seems the activation and removal of the High Evolutionary's effect "rebooted" the genetic codes of mutant kind, allowing some of X-Force to access aspects of their mutation that were previously unknown to them. In Jimmy's case, it turned out that he had apparently been limiting himself to the abilities of his late brother but, under Wisdom’s training, his strength level apparently increased to some degree and he developed the power to fly under his own command. Warpath may have reached the previously mentioned Class 90 level at this point, or even beyond.[70]

In recent years, however, Warpath's strength level has presented as extraordinarily weaker than his X-Force days. He struggled while fighting a single sewer alligator[71] and otherwise has consistently not demonstrated his previously Hulk-range strength.

Superhuman Speed: Despite his great size, Warpath is capable of running and moving at speeds much greater than even the finest human athlete. At his peak, Warpath is capable of running at speeds up to 100 miles per hour.[25]

Superhuman Stamina: Warpath's physical stamina is such that he possesses greater physical stamina than any ordinary human and can exert himself at his peak for up to 24 hours before the build up of fatigue toxins in his blood began to impair him.[69]

Invulnerability: Warpath's body is harder and more resistant to certain types of injury than the body of an ordinary human. For instance, he can withstand the force generated by great impacts. He can withstand impact forces, such as falling from several stories, being hit by certain level energy blasts, and being struck by a superhumanly strong opponent, that would severely injure or kill a normal human.[69]

Superhuman Agility: Warpath's agility, balance, and bodily coordination are enhanced to levels that are beyond the natural physical limits of the finest human athlete.[69]

Superhuman Reflexes: Warpath's reflexes are similarly enhanced and are superior to those of the finest human athlete. He is even capable of evading gunfire.[72]

Superhuman Hearing and Night Vision: Warpath's senses of sight and hearing are enhanced to levels beyond the capabilities of an ordinary human. This was first hinted at when Mimic mimicked enhanced senses from Warpath during a battle.[73] Jimmy soon began demonstrating enhanced senses himself. He is able to see, with perfect clarity, at much greater distances than an ordinary human. He retains this same level of clarity, even in near-total darkness. His hearing is similarly heightened, enabling him to both hear sounds that ordinary humans can't and sounds that they can detect but at much greater distances.[74]

Flight: Warpath is able to propel himself through the air without any aid. The exact limit of his flight speed is unknown, but it can exceed the speed of sound.[75] Like his peak strength level, Warpath first gained the power of flight while working with Pete Wisdom.[70]

Regenerative Healing Factor: James recently showed regenerative capability, the extent of which is currently unknown but seemingly he can heal minor injuries ranging from minor cuts, bruises and abrasions to more extreme physical trauma like internal rupturing, perforation and deep lacerations caused by incredibly dense substances like Adamantium-enhanced cyborg horses.[45]

Apache Shaman Abilities: Ghost Rider activated these abilities within James in order to help him fight the Demon Bear. He could perceive the creature's wounds and the resulting spirit energy when it was destroyed.[76] Through his Shamanism, he also devised a way of killing the unkillable mutant necromorphs raised by the Transmode Virus, while enabling the protection of the X-Force team from Selene's godlike state and soul hunger as well as end her in the same vein.[41]

Abilities

Warpath is a formidable combatant, both armed and unarmed.

Paraphernalia

Weapons

Warpath's Knives: A pair of Vibranium daggers given to him by Storm.[36]

See Also

Links and References

References

  1. All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #12
  2. 2.0 2.1 New Mutants #16
  3. X-Force #2
  4. Uncanny X-Men #498
  5. Extermination #5
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 X-Force #-1
  7. Giant-Size X-Men #4
  8. 8.0 8.1 Way of X #4
  9. 9.0 9.1 New Mutants (Vol. 4) #20
  10. 10.0 10.1 X-Force (Vol. 6) #2
  11. 11.0 11.1 X-Force (Vol. 3) #11
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 X-Force #1
  13. X-Men #95
  14. Classic X-Men #3
  15. New Mutants #1617
  16. New Mutants #1517
  17. Uncanny X-Men #193
  18. New Mutants #53
  19. New Mutants #5354
  20. New Mutants #56
  21. New Mutants #99
  22. X-Force #57
  23. X-Force #42
  24. X-Force #4446
  25. 25.0 25.1 X-Force #51
  26. X-Force #5355
  27. X-Force #57
  28. X-Force #58
  29. X-Force #6566
  30. X-Force #6872
  31. X-Force #73
  32. X-Force #74
  33. X-Force #75
  34. X-Force #117
  35. New X-Men #133
  36. 36.0 36.1 Uncanny X-Men #475
  37. Uncanny X-Men #475486
  38. Uncanny X-Men #487
  39. Uncanny X-Men #487491
  40. New X-Men (Vol. 2) #45
  41. 41.0 41.1 X-Force (Vol. 3) #25
  42. New Mutants (Vol. 3) #25
  43. X-Men (Vol. 3) #20
  44. New Avengers (Vol. 2) #28
  45. 45.0 45.1 Weapon X (Vol. 3) #2
  46. Weapon X (Vol. 3) #4
  47. Totally Awesome Hulk #22
  48. Weapon X (Vol. 3) #14
  49. Weapon X (Vol. 3) #17
  50. Weapon X (Vol. 3) #18
  51. Weapon X (Vol. 3) #19
  52. Weapon X (Vol. 3) #21
  53. X of Swords: Destruction #1
  54. New Mutants (Vol. 4) #14
  55. New Mutants (Vol. 4) #18
  56. Excalibur (Vol. 4) #21
  57. Hellions #12
  58. Wolverine (Vol. 7) #13
  59. Marvel's Voices: Pride #1
  60. New Mutants (Vol. 4) #19
  61. New Mutants (Vol. 4) #21
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  64. Trial of Magneto #5
  65. New Mutants (Vol. 4) #24
  66. Giant-Size X-Men: Thunderbird #1
  67. X-Force #107
  68. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (Vol. 2) #5
  69. 69.0 69.1 69.2 69.3 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition #33
  70. 70.0 70.1 X-Force #106109
  71. Uncanny X-Men #488
  72. X-Force #94
  73. X-Force #46
  74. X-Force #5153
  75. Weapon X (Vol. 3) #20
  76. X-Force (Vol. 3) #10
  77. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #13
  78. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Vol 1 13
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