Leon Nunez (Earth-616)

Leon Nunez
Name	Leon Nunez
Aliases	The Tattoo Artist
Affiliation and Relationships
Affiliation	Formerly Ink, Y-Men
Marital Status	Single
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Male
Eyes	Irises: Blue
Hair	Black
Unusual Features	Multiple facial piercings
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Mutant
Living Status	Alive
Reality	Earth-616
Personal Information
Identity	No Dual
Citizenship	American
Occupation	Tattoo artist
Base of Operations	Unknown Formerly Sick Bay, Utopia; Infirmary, Graymalkin Industries, San Francisco, California; Ink, Inc., La Jolla, California
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Marc Guggenheim, Yanick Paquette
First	Young X-Men #1 (April, 2008)
First	Young X-Men #1 (April, 2008)

History

Leon discovering his powers

Origin

Although his X-Gene probably activated during puberty, Leon didn't discover he was a mutant for some time. While giving a woman a rose tattoo, he found that he made the tattoo smell like a real rose.

On M-Day, he kept his powers but wasn't cataloged among the 198.

Leon experimenting with tattoos on Ink

Ink, Young X-Men & Y-Men

Leon began experimenting and found he could grant other superhuman powers by tattooing specific iconic images onto others. tattoos representing specific superpowers. Leon was able to convince a young customer, Eric Gitter that he was in fact a mutant. With Gitter, Nunez was free to experiment and test some of the extent of his powers.

Around this same time, Leon came into debt with the Rodriguez brothers and their gang. Owing them $18,000 and not being able to pay, Nunez instead agreed to exchange superpowered tattoos in place of money.

When the Y-Men came up against the Young X-Men, Ink and Cipher found Nunez and forced him to give Ink two new tattoos to face the Y-Men.

Leon collapsing into a coma after completing Ink's Phoenix Force tattoo

Leon fell into a catatonic state after giving a Phoenix Force tattoo to Ink. Leon was on Utopia in the custody of the X-Men. Danger set all the X-Brig prisoners free and that event was followed by the destruction of Utopia.

X-Men Gold

During an excursion to the Negative Zone, Ink revealed he had been getting more inks from his tattoo artist, confirming he recovered from his catatonic state.

Attributes

Powers

Leon tattooing Ink with wings to allow him to fly

Leon is a mutant:

• Power Bestowal through Iconic Imagery: Leon can grant superhuman powers to others through drawing iconic symbols. This is usually done through tattooing images onto others. These tattoos then give whatever power Leon believes them to bestow. However, each tattoo drains a little bit of Leon's will as each tattoo and corresponding power is an extension of his will. The upper limits of Leon's powers are not defined. He was able to give multiple powers to nearly one hundred individuals, and empower a reasonable facsimile or approximation of the Phoenix Force before falling into a coma. These superpowered tattoos include:
  • Rose Floral Scent from a rose tattoo on the lower back of an unnamed young woman.
  • Extreme Nausea and Vomiting from a biohazard symbol on Ink's right hand.
  • Super Strength from lines similar to the banding on Colossus' organic steel flesh on Ink's left forearm and hand.
  • Combustion from "explosive" symbol tattooed on Ink's right bicep, and on Carlos Rodriguez' left fist.
  • Telepathy from two lightning bolt tattoos on Ink's temples. Taken from a comic book depiction of psychic abilities (actually an early Marvel Comics publication image of Professor Xavier).
  • Self-Propelled Flight from feathered wings on Ink's back.
  • Protective Force Field from a shield tattoo on Carlos Rodriguez' right antecubital forearm.
  • Enhanced Speed and Razor Sharp Claws from Cheetah-style spots over the torso of Cheetah of the Y-Men.
  • Optic Blast from discharge marks around the left eye of Julio Rodriguez of the Y-Men.
  • Enhanced Agility from webbing patterns, reminiscent of Spider-Man, on the elbows "Spider-Man" of the Y-Men.
  • Bullet Discharge from a tattoo of a 9mm on the right hand of Hand-Gun of the Y-Men.
  • Breathing Fire from a dragon tattoo on the chest and arms of Dragon-Breath of the Y-Men.
  • Concussive Discharge from trianglar tattoos on the forearms, wrists and hands of Laser-Fist of the Y-Men.
  • Healing from a Caduceus symbol on Ink's left hand.
  • Phoenix Force Approximation from a Phoenix symbol over Ink's right eye.

Abilities

Skilled tattoo artist.

See Also

• 6 appearance(s) of Leon Nunez (Earth-616)
• 1 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Leon Nunez (Earth-616)
• 2 mention(s) of Leon Nunez (Earth-616)
• 1 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Leon Nunez (Earth-616)
• 7 image(s) of Leon Nunez (Earth-616)