Changes: Vargas (Earth-616)

Vargas first made his presence known to the X-Men in his native Spain, attacking them after they had been captured by a Spanish Police special ops team. He blocked the path of Psylocke and Beast, who were trying to rejoin their teammates. After beating Beast to a bloody pulp, he challenged Psylocke with his sword. As skilled as the telekinetic ninja was, she was no match for Vargas, who killed her with a stab to the gut. He left Beast holding her body for the others to find.

Soon after, Gambit stole into Vargas's house and pilfered a diamond. He was caught by Vargas's henchmen, the twins Thais and Thaiis, but fought them off. Vargas caught Gambit, but let him go after showing him a statue he had made of Psylocke, and playing a card game for Remy's life, even though Remy lost. Vargas knew about the diamond as well, but let Gambit keep it, knowing it would only bring trouble to the mutant. Vargas also owns one of Destiny's diaries, apparently the one in which Bishop (in the Dreamtime) saw Gambit acting as a conduit for a space elevator.

Even stranger is the fact that Vargas appeared in one of Destiny's diaries, dressed in full battle regalia and engaged with Storm in a sword fight. He resurfaced in Madripoor during the invasion by Khan, but targeted Rogue as his next victim, because he saw that she would kill him in the volume of Destiny's journals that he stole. As the invading aliens were in his way, he began to fight them, and killed Shaitan, the chief lieutenant, who was masquerading as Storm (thus explaining the prophecy). Vargas then found Gambit, who was being used as the energy conduit for the aliens' trans-dimensional gateway and prepared to kill him to cut off the invasion. Rogue intervened, but her powers gave out and Vargas impaled the two of them on his sword.

Rogue and Gambit survived, and though wounded, Rogue tracked Vargas down and ambushed him. Vargas was unable to stop her unfettered fury, especially after she touched and mimicked him. Under the point of his own sword, Vargas explained about the diaries and Rogue's part in his demise. Rogue realized that the diaries could trap you into doing what it stated, or into committing great atrocities to avoid the "prophecies." She was seen preparing to stab Vargas, but the video camera that was the sole witness to the event lost power at the critical moment, Rogue did not kill Vargas, but after defeating him, she had already proved that she was 'superior' and Vargas left, defeated. The people that viewed the footage of the live invasion were still under the belief that Rogue did in fact, kill him.

During the storyline "Blinded by the Light", as per Mr. Sinister's orders, all those with knowledge of the future were to be killed. Having possession of one of Destiny's diaries, he was targeted by Sinister's Marauders and apparently eliminated. As his death occurred off panel, and with Gateway still alive (another targeted for death by Sinister), Vargas' ultimate fate is yet unknown.

Attributes

Power Grid^[3]

Powers

Vargas is not a mutant, but is not fully human either, much like Captain America is a relatively perfect human physical specimen.

Peak Human Strength: Vargas possesses physical strength superior to that of any Olympic athlete that has ever competed. He is as physically strong as a human can be without being classified as superhuman, enabling him to lift up to 800 lbs.

Peak Human Speed: Vargas can run and move at speeds that are beyond that of any Olympic athlete in history, though he can't move at a superhuman rate. He can, however, reach a top speed of 35 miles per hour.

Peak Human Stamina: Vargas' highly developed musculature generates less fatigue toxins than the musculature of most other humans, granting him phenomenal endurance. He could exert himself at peak capacity for several hours without rest before showing any signs of fatigue.

Peak Human Durability: While Vargas is as susceptible to injury and disease as any normal human; skin, bone, and muscles are at peak human capability.

Peak Human Agility: Vargas' agility, balance, and bodily coordination are at the pinnacle of human capability and conditioning. He is as agile as a normal human can be without being classified as superhuman. He is superior to any Olympic level gymnast that has ever competed.

Peak Human Reflexes: Vargas' reflexes are similarly honed and are superior to those of any Olympic athlete in history.

Template:New Power Grid

Abilities

Master Combatant/Tactician: Vargas is an exceptional armed and unarmed combatant, and was able to overcome the natural athleticism and martial arts skills of Psylocke and the superhuman physical attributes that The Beast and Rogue possessed with relative ease. ^[1]

Anatomical and Physiological Training: Knowledge of pressure points and nervous system.^[1]

Multilingual: He can speak fluent American English and Spanish.

Weaknesses

Vargas, despite being a physically perfect specimen, is still susceptible to the same vulnerabilities and weaknesses as normal humans. He's simply in better physical condition than the vast majority of humans.

Paraphernalia

Weapons

Vargas typically carried and used a large broadsword during combat situations. It isn't known if the sword possessed any special abilities or properties.

Notes

In the distant future timeline of X-Men: The End, Vargas is an ally of the X-Men.

Links and References

References

[X-Treme_X-Men_#2-1] 1.0 ^1.1 X-Treme X-Men #2

[2] Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #13

[3] Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Vol 1 13

[2]

[3]

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