Saturday, April 28, 2012

Chaste

Team Name
Chaste

Base of Operations
Unrevealed

Current Members
None

Former Members
Claw, Flame, Shaft, Spear, Star, Stick, Stone, Trahn, Wing, Izo

Other Members (Honorary, Reserve, etc.)
Elektra

Other Info
Master Izo was one of the founding members of the Hand several hundred years ago, and was a close follower of their leader, Kagenobu Yoshioka. (Yoshioka was a blind martial artist, who used a radar sense to fight and "see" the world). Izo blinded himself in order to see the world in the same way Yoshioka did and develop his radar sense. However, when Yoshioka died, Izo left the Hand because it was growing darker, more dangerous, and devolved into a ninja cult criminal organization, prone to serving a demon known as the Beast. (To learn about the Hand, click on their name above. Also, Master Izo is shown in the third picture posted.)

In order to counter the Hand, Mater Izo founded a rival martial arts group, known as the Chaste. This elite group of warriors base lies atop a mountain in an unknown location and can only be accessed by climbing "The Wall," a sheer cliff. The climb also serves as an entrance exam - those who fail the climb are not considered worthy. However, soon after the team's creation, Master Izo was voted out by his students for his excessive drinking and gambling, which they found disgusting. Therefore, the leadership of the Chaste was then given to Stick. (Click on the highlighted names above to learn more about the team and/or character.)

Chaste members are required to rid themselves of emotions that are considered impure. The warriors have developed astounding mental and physical abilities, and their names are associated with powers or weapons they have mastered. For example, Stick - leader of the Chaste, is known for his use of the bō staff. Stone - Stick's second-in-command, who can withstand any physical attack, as long as he is aware of it in advance. Shaft - uses a bow and arrow. Claw - uses handheld metal blades in combat. Star - uses shuriken (ninja stars). Wing - power of levitation. Flame - Power of pyrokinesis. (To learn about the different Chaste members above, just click on their highlighted names.)

At one point, when Daredevil (Matthew Murdock) had temporarily lost his radar sense, he sought his old master, Stick, to help him recover his abilities. At the same time, the Hand ascertained Stick's whereabouts and launched an attack on him. The blind sensei was able to defend off the four attackers; however, he knew he needed help in the event of another attempt on his life. So, Stick summoned the other six members of the Chaste. Only Stone, Shaft, and Claw arrived (Star, Flame and Wing were presumed to have been killed en route). For this battle, the Hand’s deadliest warrior, Kirigi, had been resurrected. But, Kirigi was defeated by the surviving Chaste warriors. However, soon thereafter, a gang of the Hand's ninjas stormed Matt Murdock's apartment, attacking the Chaste, Daredevil, and Black Widow. Claw was killed in the ensuing battle, and Stick soon realized they were fighting a losing battle. Therefore, Stick joined hands with Shaft, and together they drew the life energy from the attacking ninjas. The Hand's ninjas were all destroyed. Unfortunately, all the energy that was transferred to Stick and Shaft was too much to contain and both warriors were killed. (To learn more about the above highlighted characters, just click on their names. Note: Beware of the form-fitting outfits on Black Widow's bio page.)

After this, Stone would take on the leadership position for the Chaste. He later learned the Hand had kidnapped Elektra's body and was planning to attempt to resurrect her to become the Hand's next greatest warrior. At a church, the Hand was in the final stages of Elektra's resurrection when Stone, Daredevil, and Black Widow arrived to stop the ritual. Once they were there, Daredevil heard Elektra's heart beat, and he attempted to revive her with a variation of an energy transfer once performed by Stick, but Daredevil thought he had failed. However, as the Hand fled form the allies, Stone saw that Daredevil had somehow cleansed Elektra's soul. So afterward, Stone secretly took Elektra's body back to the Chaste's mountain base and completed her resurrection there. (To learn about Elektra, just click on her highlighted name above. Note: Beware of the very form-fitting/revealing outfits worn by Elektra on her bio page.)

Later on, During a future mission, Elektra's dark essence that had been cleansed from her resurrection returned. Thus, the Chaste could not allow Elektra to return to their group because there was no guarantee she could control the impurity that the dark essence carried.

To learn more a tiny bit more about the Chaste, click on the following link, http://marvel.com/universe/Chaste.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Avengers VS X-Men Poll Results

I actually didn't know how this one was going to turn out, but it looks like we have a lot of Avengers fans out there because the Avengers received 7 votes and X-Men only received 3.

Thanks to all those that voted! It was fun to see how this poll turned out!

I hope you're all PUMPED for The Avengers coming out in less than 2 weeks on May 4, 2012!

Hand

Team Name
Hand

Base of Operations
Various

Current Members
Kingpin, White Tiger, Typhoid Mary, Lady Bullseye, Black Lotus, Makro, Yuki, Hobgoblin, Makoto (Daimyo of Eurasia), Takashi (Daimyo of Japan), Yutaka (Daimyo of Africa), Hiroshi

Former Members
Matsu'o Tsurayaba, Psylocke, Revanche, Echo, Wolverine, Izanagi, Bakuto (Daimyo of South America, deceased), Azumi Ozawa, Daredevil, Black Tarantula, Elektra, Kuroyama, Nina McCabe, Kirigi, Gorgon

Other Members (Honorary, Reserve, etc.)
N/A

Other Info

Many years ago, during feudal Japan, a few citizens of Japan fled to the mountainous regions of Iga and Kōga away from the oppressive class system of the time. These people eventually developed ninjitsu (a stealthy martial art perhaps inspired by Sun Tzu's The Art of War). Over a period of centuries, these people refined their art in secluded camps. Students were trained and practiced the art from birth--playing children's games designed to impart expertise in unarmed combat, swordplay, weaponry, camouflage, escape, and evasion. Ninjitsu was also designed to encourage spiritual growth by pushing oneself physically and mentally beyond normal human limits. The ninja were expert in espionage and assassination, and offered their specialized services to samurai warlords and others who could afford them.

By 1588, Kagenobu Yoshioka officially brought these ninjas together and created the "Hand." He stated that "the hand has five fingers, each of which can exist independently of others. Not unlike the five islands that form Japan. However, when the five fingers of the hand come together for a single, unified purpose... the hand becomes an object of unwavering power!" The Hand operated as a secret society of Japanese nationalist samurai not only in Japan, but internationally as well. However, they were soon co-opted by the Snakeroot (an ancient ninja clan which serves a demon known only as the Beast). (To learn about the Snakeroot, click on the highlighted name above.)

Through the centuries, the Hand attempted to spread its dark influence over the world. However, they have constantly clashed and battled with an order known as the Chaste. (To learn about the Chaste, click on the highlighted name above.)

At one point, Elektra had been cast out by the Chaste when it became apparent she was still consumed by grief, hatred, and pain following her father's murder. To prove her worth to Stick, (leader of the Chaste) Elektra planned to infiltrate the Hand and destroy them from within. However, the Hand was ready and they tricked Elektra into killing a previous sensei of hers. At this point, the Hand decided to take advantage of Elektra's fragile psyche and turn her to their dark ways. However, later, Elektra broke free of the Hand and escaped. (Click on the highlighted names above to learn about the characters. Note: Beware of the very form-fitting outfit worn by Elektra on her bio page.)

Years later, the Hand learned that Stick was in New York, helping his old student Daredevil (Matthew Murdock) deal with the temporary loss of his radar sense. Therefore, the members of the Hand attacked. The attack began to overwhelm Stick; however, he eventually managed to defeat his attackers when he and Shaft (another member of the Chaste) drew the life essences from the evil ninjas of the Hand--killing both themselves and the ninjas in the process. (Click on the highlighted names above to learn about the characters.)

Soon after, the Hand knew they were close to victory over their longtime foes. When Elektra had been killed by the assasin Bullseye, the Hand went in and stole her body. Now, with Elektra's body, the Hand took the steps to resurrect her (they hoped that she would replace the recently slain Kirigi as the order's greatest warrior). However, Daredevil, Black Widow, and Stone (the new leader of the Chaste) prevented Elektra from again becoming part of the Hand. (To learn about the different characters above, just click on their highlighted names. Note: Beware of the form-fitting outfits on Black Widow's bio page.)

Due to members of the Hand being practitioners of powerful occult magic and being able to kill a person and bring they back to life as a servant of the Hand, they have come in contact with many powerful superheroes. Of their victims, only Elektra, Psylocke, Northstar, and Wolverine are known to have reversed this brainwashing. In fact, when Wolverine was brainwashed in a combined operation by the Hand and HYDRA, he started to kill superheroes to have them revived and mind-controlled by the Hand. However, he eventually was able to reverse the control, and alongside Elektra fought Gorgon (who at the time had taken over both the Hand and HYDRA.) (Click on the highlighted names above to learn more about the characters and/or team.)

After sometime, the Hand was temporarily left without a leader. Thus, one faction--led by Lord Hiroshi and his lieutenant Lady Bullseye--tried to recruit Daredevil to be their new leader; however, Daredevil refused. After this, the group then went to recruit the Kingpin as their leader. This move, however, prompted Daredevil to go to the Hand and accept their offer on the condition that the Hand would not do business with the Kingpin or Lady Bullseye again. They agreed, and in observance of their new master, the ninjas adorned Daredevil-inspired regalia. (To learn about the above highlighted characters, just click on their names. Also, the Hand ninjas in Daredevil-inspired outfits are shown in the fourth and fifth picture posted. Note: Beware of the very revealing outfit on the Lady Bullseye's bio page.)

As the Hand's leader, Daredevil tried to use the team for a force of justice; however, after some time, he was eventually possessed by the demonic Beast. To stop the Beast-possessed-Daredevil, many different heroes joined forces against him, such as Spider-Man, Wolverine, Iron Fist, and Luke Cage. At one point, even a direct attack from Wolverine failed to kill the now-demonic Daredevil, but eventually Iron Fist was able to heal Daredevil of the demonic "infection" by using his chi-punch to cure Daredevil's soul. (Click on the highlighted names above to learn more about the different characters.)

After the Beast was banished from Daredevil, Kingpin took advantage of the situation and took leadership of the Hand. As leader, he recruited many including Lady Bullseye, Typhoid Mary, Montana, and Hobgoblin as his henchmen. Now, the Kingpin uses the Hand for his criminal purposes. (To learn about the different highlighted characters, just click on their names above.)

To learn more a tiny bit more about the Hand, click on the following link, http://marvel.com/universe/Hand.

In the movie Elektra, I feel that the Hand was portrayed pretty well. However, they did take some names from characters in the Chaste and add them to the Hand roster in the movie, such as Stone. But, overall, I thought they did a pretty good job with the ninjas and what not.

Monday, April 9, 2012

Warren Worthington Jr.

Real Name
Warren Kenneth Worthington Jr.

Occupation
Businessman

Citizenship
U.S.A.

Place of Birth
Unrevealed

Known Relative
Wallace (ancestor, deceased), Warren Worthington Sr. (father, deceased), Dazzler (Burt Worthington) (brother), Kathryn Worthington (wife, deceased), Angel (Warren Worthington III) (son), Unidentified nephew

Group Affiliation
Formerly Worthington Industries, Hellfire Club

Education
Unrevealed

Height
Unrevealed

Weight
Unrevealed

Eyes
Blue

Hair
Black

Powers
None

Abilities
He is undeniably well-educated and wealthy.

Other Info

Warren Kenneth Worthington Jr. is the father of Warren Worthington III (aka the X-Man Angel). He was a very wealthy businessman and had various large corporations on his name. (To learn about Warren's son, Angel, click on the highlighted name above.)

When he found out that his son Warren was a mutant, he enrolled him at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. After his son had been at the school for a few weeks, Warren Jr. and his wife Kathryn Worthington decided to make a brief visit to the Xavier's Institute.
During their visit, they happened to bump into Magneto (the X-Men villain who had taken over the school at the time). Magneto used his powers to put the Worthingtons in a trance. Luckily, the X-Men defeated Magneto while the Worthingtons were sleeping. could save him and his wife. After the battle, for the safety of the couple, Professor X erased all of their memories about the circumstance and they went on to finish their visit at the school. (Click on the highlighted names above to learn more about the place and/or characters.)

Later, Warren Jr. was killed by agents of the
Dazzler (his brother) while his son was out on a date--Warren III was only a teenager. (To learn more about the Dazzler, click on the highlighted name above.)

There is nothing there, but here is link to the bio of Warren Worthington Jr. on Marvel.com, http://marvel.com/universe/Worhington,_Warren_Jr..

In the movie, X-Men: The Last Stand, Warren Worthington Jr. was one of the creators of the "cure" that took away the powers/abilities of mutants. This was made up for the movie and has no connection to what Warren Worthington Jr. did in the comics.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Sentinels

Team Name
Sentinels
 
Base of Operations
Currently Xavier Institute For Higher Learning, Westchester, New York

Former Members
3.14159, 1701AgL9914 (Wild Sentinel), Bastion, Big Bot, Conscience, Daria (Prime Sentinel), Delilah Fremont (Prime Sentinel), Ekatarina Gryaznova (Prime Sentinel), Machine Man (X-51), Ginny Mahoney (Prime Sentinel), Samuel Mbende (Prime Sentinel), Lao Mei-Ling (Prime Sentinel), Metallak, Mustang (Prime Sentinel), Nimrod, Number Five (Prime Sentinel), Number Two (Mark II), Number Two-B (Mark II), Angie Quail (Prime Sentinel), Sanjit Shaara (Prime Sentinel), Karima Shapander (Prime Sentinel), Source, Jürgen Tiebold (Prime Sentinel), Tri-Sentinel, X-Sentinels

Other Members (Honorary, Reserve, etc.)

Steven Lang (Mark III creator), Master Mold (Mark I), Master Mold (Mark III), Master Mold (Wild Sentinels), Sebastian Shaw (Mark IV-V creator), Bolivar Trask (Mark I creator), Lawrence Trask (Mark II creator)

Other Info

The Sentinel robots were originally created by Doctor Bolivar Trask. Trask intended to use the robots to save humanity from mutants. During a televised debate between Trask and Professor Charles Xavier, Trask revealed the Sentinels' existence and activated the robots. However, Xavier and Trask were soon kidnapped by the rogue Sentinels and brought to their Master Mold. Fortunately for Professor X and Trask, the X-Men arrived to fight off the Sentinels. Trask (now seeing the error in his assumption that all mutants were a threat) sacrificed himself to destroy the Master Mold. (To learn about the above highlighted characters and/or team, just click on their names.)

After finding his father's body, Larry Trask blamed mutants for his father's death. Therefore, he built the Mark II Sentinels in an attempt to carry out his father's original purpose. Larry had previously been given a medallion by his father to block the Sentinel's from sensing his mutant genes. However, Larry too was slain by his creations when they discovered that Larry was a mutant. The second generation Sentinels were eventually tricked into flying into the sun by Cyclops. (Click on the highlighted names above to learn about the characters. Note: Beware of the revealing/form-fitting outfit worn by Emma Frost on Cyclops' bio page.)

Even though two generations of Sentinels had failed in their objective, the technology still lived on. The U.S. government took possession of Trask's plans.

Later on, Loki magically merged three Sentinels into the massive Tri-Sentinel, and sent the robot to annihilate New York City by destroying a nearby nuclear power plant. However, Spider-Man (aided by the Uni-Power) became Captain Universe, and succeeded in destroying the Tri-Sentinel before it could carry out Loki's endeavor. (Click on the highlighted characters' names above to learn more about them. Note: Beware of the revealing outfit worn by Loki in his woman-form, and a revealing outfit on Captain Universe's bio page.)

Sometime later, Project: Wideawake (a government agency headed by Henry Gyrich) purchased Sentinels built by Sebastian Shaw. The project also attempted to recreate Nimrod--an advanced Sentinel that had traveled back in time from Rachel Summers' alternate timeline. (Click on the highlighted names above to learn about the project and/or characters.)

After some time, the Dark Beast--in the service of the psychic entity called Onslaught--reprogrammed a number of government-owned Sentinels. Onslaught and his Sentinels were opposed by the combined forces of the X-Men, the Avengers, and numerous other heroes. (To learn about Dark Beast, Onslaught, and/or the Avengers, click on their highlighted names above.)

During the events of Operation: Zero Tolerance, a number of humans were transformed into cyborg hybrids known as "Prime Sentinels." These Prime Sentinels were led by the robotic humanoid Bastion. The Prime Sentinels succeeded in capturing many of the X-Men. However, the President was convinced by Senator Robert Kelly and Henry Gyrich to suspend Bastion's operations and he was eventually captured by S.H.I.E.L.D.. (Click on the highlighted names above to learn about the operation, characters, and/or team.)

Later, Cassandra Nova (Professor Xavier's twin sister) convinced the last living relative of Bolivar Trask, Donald Trask III, to activate an abandoned Master Mold in Ecuador. Cassandra duplicated Trask's DNA so she could issue orders to the Sentinels. She then used the Master Mold to send two massive, highly adaptive "Wild Sentinels" to destroy the mutant homeland of Genosha, killing most of the 16 million mutants. One of these "Wild Sentinels" was later actually given a conscience by Danger. (Click on the highlighted characters and/or place to learn more about them.)

Following the events of "M-Day", the Office of National Emergency (O.N.E.)--a branch of the Department of Homeland Security--had Sentinels instituted at the Xavier Institute to watch over the X-Men. Many X-Men were uncomfortable with this, particularly, Rachel Summers, who considered it a real-life reminder of the anti-mutant future she originates from. This group of Sentinels are unlike others in that they are armor that require a human pilot. The current Sentinel Squad O*N*E was built with the aid of Tony Stark (Iron Man) and trained by Jim Rhodes (War Machine). (To learn more about the event, group, place, and/or characters above, just click on their highlighted names. Note: Beware of the revealing outfits worn by some on the M-Day bio page.)

To learn more about the Sentinels, click on the following link, http://marvel.com/universe/Sentinels.

In X-Men: The Last Stand, a simulation of a Sentinel was used in the Danger Room for Professor Xavier's mutant students to train and fight against. The only part of the Sentinel that was clearly shown was the robot's decapitated head after Wolverine was thrown by Colossus. However, in X-Men: Days of Future Past, Sentinels are one of the main enemies (these sentinels are shown in the second picture posted above).

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Avengers VS X-Men Poll

There is a new crossover storyline coming to Marvel comics in April--AvX...Avengers vs. X-Men! Here are some examples of what I'm talking about on some teaser photos I've seen: Thor vs. Storm, Captain America vs. Cyclops, Iron Man vs. Magneto, Thing vs. Juggernaut, Hulk vs. Emma Frost, Red Hulk vs. Colossus, Archangel vs. Daredevil, She-Hulk vs. Rogue, Spider-Man vs. Iceman, Beast vs. Luke Cage, Black Widow vs. Psylocke, Spider-Woman vs. Gambit, etc. 

Here is the story to Issue #1:

It’s No Longer Coming—It’s Here! Does The Return Of The Phoenix To Earth Signal The Rebirth Of The Mutant Species? That’s What The X-Men Believe! Unfortunately, The Avengers Are Convinced That Its Coming Will Mean The End Of All Life On Earth! The Stage Is Set For The Ultimate Marvel Showdown...

So, my question is who do you think will win when the Avengers and the X-Men go head-to-head? (They don't have to necessarily be the 1-on-1's I've listed above. In fact I've seen promos of Wolverine vs. Captain America, and Thing vs. Namor, so they could be ANY Avenger vs. ANY X-Man.) Therefore, vote in the poll and let us know who you think will win! And if you have time, in the "Comment" section below, please leave the reasoning behind your decision so we all can know.