Marauders (comics)

The Marauders is a team of fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The original Marauders team included mutant warriors and assassins employed by the X-Men's enemy Mister Sinister, a mad scientist villain often intent on creating a perfect race of superhumans. The Marauders have been tasked by Mister Sinister to perform kidnappings, assassinations, mass murder, or simply fight Mister Sinister's enemies. Marauders have been killed in combat, but often Mister Sinister uses his cloning technology to re-create them. This team of Marauders has appeared in many different stories of the X-Men franchise, as well as stories featuring other Marvel Comics heroes.

In 2019, the Dawn of X event involved the X-Men and many allies and enemies creating a new all-mutant country on the living island Krakoa. Teleport gates that only work for mutants were then created at various points on Earth, allowing any mutant who wished to join the new community to instantly do so. Kitty Pryde then formed a new team of "Marauders" to transport mutants to Krakoa who lived in countries that did not recognize the sovereignty of the mutant nation and/or obstructed the local teleport gates leading to the island. This team also works to protect mutant travelers and refugees from threats. The team's series Marauders debuted in 2019.

The first Marauders team debuted in The Uncanny X-Men #210 (Oct. 1986), during a crossover called the "Mutant Massacre" where the team was sent to slaughter the Morlocks. This issue introduced the characters Arclight, Harpoon, Malice, Scalphunter, Scrambler, and Riptide. With the exception of Malice, these characters only appeared in issue #210 as figures in silhouette, but then made their full debut in the following issue, The Uncanny X-Men #211. Two other Marauders, Blockbuster and Prism, made their first appearance in a later chapter of the "Mutant Massacre" featured in X-Factor #10. The original Marauders team included the villains Sabretooth and Vertigo, who were introduced into comics years earlier, while the rest of the Marauders were created for the "Mutant Massacre" story by writer Chris Claremont and artist John Romita Jr. Vertigo was introduced in Marvel Fanfare #1 (1982), while Sabretooth debuted in Iron Fist #14 (1977) and then made appearances in Spider-Man stories.^{[citation needed]} Uncanny X-Men #212, during the "Mutant Massacre", was the first story to hint at a connection between Sabretooth and the X-Man called Wolverine.

In The Uncanny X-Men #212, Mister Sinister is mentioned as the leader of the Marauders. He is seen in silhouette in The Uncanny X-Men #213 (1986) when Sabretooth's mind is scanned.^{[citation needed]} He does not appear with the team (or debut in comics) until The Uncanny X-Men #221 (1987). Although it is Mister Sinister's team, it is revealed in The Uncanny X-Men #350 (1997) that it was the mutant thief (and later X-Men member) Gambit who recruited and organized the team with the exception of Sabretooth and Scalphunter (whom had already worked for Sinister many times). Gambit was unaware of the team's true purpose, using his skills to locate the members in exchange for Sinister helping him. Gambit is also said to be the one who led the Marauders to the Morlocks location, but this seems to contradict scenes in "Mutant Massacre" where the team tracks a young Morlock returning home.^{[citation needed]}

During "Mutant Massacre," three Marauders are killed: Blockbuster in The Mighty Thor #374, Riptide in The Uncanny X-Men #211, and Prism in X-Factor #10. However, all three appeared alive and well two years later during the 1989 "Inferno" crossover issue The Uncanny X-Men #240.^{[citation needed]}

Five years later, X-Men #34 (1994) revealed that Mister Sinister regularly clones dead Marauders so they can serve him again. Gambit vol. 3 #8 (1999) adds that each Marauder clone is made so their minds will shut down if they attempt to betray Sinister.^{[citation needed]} The 1996 miniseries The Further Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix revealed that Sinister hired a group of criminals known as the Marauders during the 19th century, retroactively making it the first incarnation of the group.^{[citation needed]}

X-Men #200 (2007) featured the original Marauders team with several new members, including Omega Sentinel (possessed by Malice), Lady Mastermind, Sunfire, Gambit, and Mystique. The team worked alongside members of the Acolytes team. Following Sinister's apparent death during the crossover "Messiah Complex", many dormant Marauder clones awakened and fought the new X-Force team in X-Force (vol. 3) #9.^{[citation needed]} The one-shot X-Men Origins: Gambit (2009) includes flashbacks to Gambit's recruitment of the Marauders – the comic's writer Mike Carey highlighted that artist David Yardin "depicts the first meeting of the Marauders, the first time they're all together in one room, and you get a sense of how powerful and overbearing these personalities are and the tensions between them".

In Astonishing X-Men (vol. 3) #48, a new version of the Marauders appeared whose members included: Arclight, Blockbuster, Harpoon, Prism, Vanisher, and Chimera (serving as the new leader).^{[citation needed]} Mister Sinister later formed another incarnation of the Marauders team consisting of Aries, Azimuth, Chimera, and Coda. Several of the original Marauders (or at least their clones) were later confronted and killed by Chamber in The Uncanny X-Men (vol. 2) #18 (2019).^{[citation needed]}