Janos Quested (Earth-616)

History

Origin

Janos Quested, also known as Riptide, was recruited into the band of assassins known as the Marauders by Gambit at the request of Mister Sinister. Gambit traveled to Riptide's lavish mansion, where Riptide warned Gambit that he was "not much of a team player." However, he knew of Mister Sinister's alter-ego Nathaniel Essex, and agreed to meet with the team's founder.^[1]

Mutant Massacre

After Sinister dispatched the Marauders into the sewers under New York City to kill the subterranean mutant collective known as the Morlocks, Riptide was responsible for severely injuring X-Men members Nightcrawler and Colossus. Having seen the results of Riptide's actions (Riptide's mutant power to launch barrages of sharp projectiles had enabled him to kill more Morlocks at any given single moment than any other Marauder), Colossus had been pushed close to his emotional breaking point. Colossus was further enraged and grieved when Riptide badly injured Nightcrawler, and finally snapped when Harpoon maimed his former girlfriend, Shadowcat. Colossus lunged at Harpoon to mete out vengeance, but Riptide got in his way, believing that his power would fell the Russian mutant. He boasted to Colossus that hurricane force winds could punch a piece of straw through a solid oak and that his spinning caused his blades to fly even faster than that. Despite being hit by a deluge of blades which penetrated his armored skin, Colossus managed to reach an incredulous Riptide, seize his throat, and snap his neck.^[2]

Inferno

However, Mr. Sinister was able to clone the Marauders thanks to samples of their DNA, and Riptide returned to die once more during the demonic invasion of New York.^[3]

Another band of cloned Marauders, including Riptide, later attacked the mutant known as Threnody but were defeated by Nate Grey, the X-Man. Grey used the various Marauders' powers against them, killing all of them with the exception of Riptide. Grey then implanted false memories of the Marauders' having killed Trenody in Riptide's mind, arranging things so that the rejection of that memory would destroy Riptide's mind.^[4]

A team of Marauders clones also defended one of Mr. Sinister's secret bases against an incursion by Gambit, the mutant Courier, and Sabretooth.^[5]

M-Day

After the events of M-Day, Riptide retained his mutant powers. Riptide was one of the Marauders, who, alongside old members and a number of new ones, attacked the X-Men.^[6]

Post-M-Day

Riptide was guarding one of the Mister Sinister's vaults when the Jackal invaded it. After being incapacitated, Riptide watched as the Jackal stole some mutant genetic material stored there to be used in his future schemes.^[7]

Allied with Magneto

Magneto, wishing to see the Marauders pay for their roles in executing mutants, hunted down and slaughtered Riptide and his teammates. Killing the Marauders activated more clones to surface, and Magneto spent several days killing each of them.^[8]

Later, Magneto reprogrammed the Marauders' code to force their loyalty to him. Riptide and the other Marauders assisted Magneto in escaping from S.H.I.E.L.D. custody, and later joined him as he investigated various mutant deaths.^[9]

After the X-Men relocated to the mutant island known as Krakoa, Riptide was not among the mutants to join them. The Hellions were sent to investigate one of Mister Sinister's former cloning farms. Inside, Madelyne Pryor had captured the clones of the Marauders and used them for a mysterious ritual.^[10]

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Bodily Rotation: Riptide is a mutant with the ability to spin his body at incredibly fast speeds. He can also create a vacuum suction that draws in nearby objects and also acts as a high-powered sling for objects. Another ability is to be able to make only parts of his body spin, such as only spinning below his head or torso, allowing him to taunt his opponents.

Calcium Projectile Generation: When he spins, he can generate calcium growth from his bones that protrude through his skin, often taking the form of shuriken and spikes. The additional velocity that comes from his spinning making them lethal missiles that can even punch through steel.

Paraphernalia

Weapons

When spinning, Riptide hurls shuriken (throwing stars) and spikes at deadly speeds. Originally thought to be manufactured weapons, his blades were revealed to be biological in X-Men Vol 2 #34.

Trivia

• The Marauders are cloned in pairs, Riptide is paired with Sabretooth.^[11]

Links and References

• 40 Appearances of Janos Quested (Earth-616)
• 4 Minor Appearances of Janos Quested (Earth-616)
• Media Janos Quested (Earth-616) was Mentioned in
• 17 Images featuring Janos Quested (Earth-616)
• 1 Quotations by or about Janos Quested (Earth-616)
• Character Gallery: Janos Quested (Earth-616)

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Footnotes