Marvel Database
Advertisement

History

Origins[]

Nathan Summers (Earth-92131) from X-Men '97 Season 1 2 001

Baby Nathan

Nathan Charles Summers was born to Scott Summers and Madelyne Pryor, a clone of Jean Grey. He was delivered by Rogue who took the knowledge from a doctor who refused to assist during delivery.[1] Mere days old, Nathan was infected with the Techno-Organic Virus by Mr. Sinister. Beast could not find a cure and Nathan had to be sent to the future with Bishop to survive.[2] But he and Bishop were split in the timestream, and they had arrived at different points in the future.[3]

Slave Island[]

Nathan Summers (Earth-92131) from X-Men '97 Season 1 10 001

Kid Cable

At some point in his future, Nathan found a way to halt his Techno-Organic Virus. Traveling back to before he was born, he became a gun-toting mercenary under the name of "Cable", who sought to bring down the corrupt government of Genosha, which was ruled by a former colonel now calling himself the Leader. Cable was once part of the Leader's army until he had discovered that the Leader was not true a champion of democracy. Cable threw his wages back in the Leader's face and took to the hills, causing trouble ever since.

Cable helped rescue Gambit from some Genoshan guards and then gave him a key to remove the control collars that dampened the powers of the mutant slaves. He infiltrated the island's Sentinel factory, destroying many Sentinels, and then confronted the Leader on a bridge. Cameron Hodge pulled a gun on him, but then floodwaters from a nearby burst dam washed the three of them away. Cable laughed as the wave hit them.[4]

The Cure[]

Nathan Summers (Earth-13393) with Cable's Computer from X-Men- The Animated Series Season 2 7 002

Shortly afterwards, Cable attempted to track down the doctor who had invented Genosha's mutant suppression collars: Gottfried Adler. He believed that Adler posed a threat to all mutants, and had to be killed. Cable managed to track the doctor down to Warren Worthington's mountain chalet, where he briefly fought Warren and learned that Adler was on Muir Island in Scotland. On Muir Island, he kidnapped Adler only to learn that the real Adler was dead and that he had in fact kidnapped the shape-shifting mutant Mystique. Following a skirmish with the X-Men (Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Rogue), Cable plummeted into the water below and disappeared.[5]

Time Fugitives[]

Returning to the far future, Cable and his men battled against Apocalypse. Suddenly, their very reality began to come undone. Cable's computer revealed that their present was being re-written in response to an alteration in the past. Another time-traveler named Lucas Bishop had prevented a past plan by Apocalypse to unleash a plague upon the world. As a result, anti-bodies vital to Cable's present were never created. Uncontrolled mutations developed, destroying the mutant race. To his horror, Cable realized that to save his own world, he had to help Apocalypse destroy the past.[6]

Cable traveled back and tried to stop Bishop, but failed due to the intervention of the X-Men. After asking his computer for information on them, he learned of X-Man Wolverine and his mutant healing factor. Realizing that Wolverine's healing powers held the key to saving his future, Cable kidnapped him. Just as the X-Men were confronting Apocalypse, Cable teleported himself and Wolverine there, allowing Wolverine to become infected by Apocalypse's plauge. His healing factor allowed him to survive and prompted his body to generate the anti-bodies needed for the future. With Apocalypse defeated, Cable returned home to find his future intact.[7]

Beyond Good and Evil[]

After returning to his present, Cable resumed his endless war against Apocalypse. He and his men, including his son Tyler, broke into Apocalypse's base in order to assassinate him. This had been a trap however, as Apocalypse desired Cable's ability to travel through time. He stole Cable's time-travel device, but just as Apocalypse was about to execute him, a defiant Cable told him he would never win, and that others would come for him.[8]

Cable's words moved Apocalypse, who realized that he had been battling Cable's kind for milennia and ought to have won long ago. He traveled back in time, finding himself stranded in the Axis of Time, where he hatched a plan to destroy and remake reality itself in his own image.[9]

In order to stop Apocalypse, Cable tried to steal one of the few remaining time machines so that he could travel back in time and destroy Apocalypse's hibernation chamber, which was the key to his immortality, thus stopping him once and for all. With help from his son, Cable succeeded and traveled backwards, unaware that Apocalypse was asserting control over time itself and thus baiting him into yet another trap. Apocalypse sent Cable back to the time of the X-Men once more. [9]

As the X-Men were investigating telepaths being kidnapped, including their own teammate Jean Grey, Xavier deduced that this was linked to Apocalypse's plans. Cable convinced the X-Men to join him in traveling back in time. Cable, Xavier, Wolverine and Beast entered Apocalypse's pyramid to destroy his life-support systems while the others foguht the Horsemen of Apocalypse. However, they were unaware that they were walking into a trap. By virtue of now existing outside of time, the past version of Apocalypse was no longer in the pyramid, and had set a trap to kidnap Xavier.[10]

After destroying the pyramid, Cable and the X-Men left in search of Apocalypse and the missing telepaths. They arrived just in time to foil Apocalypse's plans, as the freed telepaths combined their powers to destroy him. Hopeful that his world was now a better place without Apocalypse, he returned home in search of his son.[11]

Return to the Past[]

Nathan Summers (Earth-92131) from X-Men '97 Season 1 5 001

Shortly after his return to the future he had a new computer cube created and upgraded his mechanical arm. He later returned to Genosha in the past 200 times, to a point shortly after his own birth. Now a mutant nation, Cable tried desperately to warn the island's residents of its impending destruction. With his time-travel device jerking him back to the future, Cable was unable to warn the Genoshans, but managed to find his mother in the chaos. In disbelief, she recognized him as her son, but before the two could speak, Cable vanished as he apologized for failing to save her again.[12]

Cable managed to find his way back to the past again, appearing just in time to save the X-Men from Bolivar Trask, who had been converted into a Prime Sentinel. Through Jean Grey, everyone learns that Cable was Nathan. Cable had little interest in a family reunion and instead warned the X-Men of a far greater threat that Mr. Sinister was working for.[13]

In Cable's timeline, Sinister's backer Bastion used the fallout from Genosha to gain funding for his Prime Sentinel program, using the Techno-Organic Virus to create augmented humans. Bastion's evolutionary war would last 300 years and ushered in a utopia built on mutant slavery. Cable tried countless times to undo Genosha's destruction and Bastion's rule but each attempt failed. Now pursuing a lead on one of Bastion's facilities acquired by a rebel from his future, Cable wished to avenge his mother and attack Bastion head-on, but was convinced to look for leads on Bastion's identity.[3]

Together with Scott and Jean he tracked down Bastion's childhood home, learning that future Sentinel Nimrod had infected Bastion's father, thus creating Bastion; a mixture between future Sentinel technology and human. The trio soon came under attack from Bastion's Prime Sentinels, but were saved when Magneto unleashed a global EMP, disabling all technology world-wide.[3]

Nathan Summers (Earth-92131) from X-Men '97 Season 1 9 001

With the world now facing both the end of civilization due to the collapse of its magnetic field, as well as the threat of Bastion, the X-Men divided into two teams to tackle each threat. Cable joined Jean, Morph, Beast, Storm and Forge in trying to destroy Bastion and Sinister. During the battle, Sinister made use of his knowledge of Nathan's genes and seized control of him, forcing him to fight Jean.[14]

After being forced by Mister Sinister and Bastion to recount how many times he failed to stop Genosha, he made a jab at Bastion about his mother. Before a Phoenix possessed Jean Grey depowered Sinister, breaking the scientist's control over him. Bastion later ripped off his arm to upgrade himself. After Bastion had perished, Scott and Jean sat across from him telepathically to say goodbye to their son.

Six months after the disappearance of the active X-Men roster, Cable was listed as AWOL on Forge's roster of X-Men.[15]

Attributes

Powers

Mutant-Cybernetic Physiology: Cable is the son of the mutant clone Madelyne Pryor. As an infant, he was infected with the Techno-Organic Virus by Mister Sinister.

  • Telepathy: Much like his mother, Cable has inherited the ability to read minds and project the thoughts of others.
    • Psionic Blasts: Can project psionic force bolts which have no physical effects but which can affect a victim's mind, so as to cause the victim pain or unconsciousness and can even kill an adversary.
  • Telekinesis: Like his mother, Cable has the ability to manipulate matter with the energy of his thoughts.
    • Force Field: Ability to create protective force shields that could deflect even the most powerful of attacks.
    • Concussive Blasts: Can project telekinetic energies as powerful blast beams directed from his brain that could apparently affect matter with concussive force.
  • Superhuman Endurance: Cable possesses superhuman physical endurance, just as he does superhuman levels of mental endurance.
  • Superhuman Agility
  • Cybernetic Eye: This cybernetic eye permits Cable to see deep into the EM (Electro-Magnetic) spectrum.
  • Cybernetic Arm: His left arm is completely mechanical.

Abilities

  • Master Combatant: Cable was a highly accomplished warrior and battle strategist, highly adept in many forms of hand-to-hand combat and in the use of a variety of weaponry from both the modern era and the late 37th-early 39th century.

Weaknesses

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Weapons

  • Plasma rifle

Transportation

Notes

  • Cable was voiced by Lawrence Bayne in the original series and by Chris Potter in X-Men '97.

See Also

Links and References

References

Advertisement