Legion
Most Dangerous Mutant Alive?
by Phil Perich for the True Believers Blog
While most of the general public may be unfamiliar with the character of David Haller aka Legion, he is one of the most powerful and dangerous mutants in the Marvel Universe. Are you watching the Legion TV show on FX and feeling a little lost? This should fill in some blanks (SPOILERS AHEAD).
Origin
Legion is the child of Gabrielle Haller and Charles Xavier. The two had a love affair while Xavier was treating Gabrielle at a psychiatric facility. Xavier was unaware he had a son for many years since Gabrielle kept her pregnancy a secret. Years later when Gabrielle was working as a diplomat, David was caught in the middle of a terrorist attack. This event caused David’s powerful mutant abilities to first manifest, and he destroys the minds of the terrorists except for their leader’s, who he absorbs into his own mind. David is rendered catatonic and sent to Muir Island to recover under the care of Moira MacTaggert. Karami, the terrorist leader attempts to take control of David’s mind but finds himself in conflict with some of David’s other personalities, Jack Wayne, who controls David’s telekinetic powers, and Cyndi who controls David’s pyrokinesis. The three become David’s dominant personalities for awhile.
Muir Island Showdown
After awakening and recovering on Muir Island, David is possessed by an old enemy of his father’s, the Shadow King. The Shadow King uses David’s powers to psychically increase hatred in the world on which it could feed. The Shadow King is the leading fan theory of the true identity of the “devil with yellow eyes” from the Legion TV show. The X-Men and original X-Factor team eventually defeat the Shadow King, which results in David lapsing into a coma.
Age Of Apocalypse
Years later, Mystique would attempt to kill David as revenge for his murder of her friend Destiny while under the control of the Shadow King. David awoke with his fractured psyche healed. David then attempts to to help his father achieve his dream of negotiating human/mutant relations. David uses another of his powers to travel back in time twenty years to kill Magneto, who he saw as his father’s biggest obstacle. Xavier is accidentally killed instead of Magneto which cause reality to rewrite itself into the dark Age of Apocalypse reality where the immortal villain Apocalypse rules the entire Earth and Magneto leads the X-Men. The time displaced X-Men member Bishop defeats Legion with his own psi-blade, which seemingly wipes David from reality, restoring the timeline.
Even seeming nonexistence wouldn’t stop David. Eventually he would return and even have to track down many of his escaped personalities. So what are your thoughts on this dangerously powerful mutant? Enjoying his jump to live action? Let me know!
nightwingpdp@gmail.com & marvelroundup@gmail.com
@Nightwingpdp & @marvel_roundup on Twitter
You can hear me discussing all things Marvel (comics, movies, TV) every week with my friends on the All New Marvel Roundup, Wade’s World and Superconnectivity, all part of the Nuff Said Podcast. I also write another blog, the Legends of DC and do a podcast of the same name. You can find all my podcasts, blogs and those of others at www.southgatemediagroup.com. You can also find all my creative endeavors at www.philperich.wordpress.com.
NUFF SAID!