THE SPIKE

Real Name: Darian Elliott

Identity/Class: Human mutant

Occupation: X-Force member

Group Membership: X-Force (Anarchist/Tike Alicar, Dead Girl/Moonbeam, Doop, Orphan/Guy Smith, Phat/Billy Bob Reilly, U-Go Girl/Edie Sawyer, Vivisector/Myles Alfred)

Affiliations: Spike Freeman, Lacuna (Woodstock Schumaker), X-Force 

Enemies:  Agent Wright and the CIA Crack Squad, the Brotherhood (Mike Asher, Cap'n Happy, Chela, Fagin, Marvin Hoffman, Ms. Fingers, Orwell, Malon Reeves, Scaly Man, Spud, Trois, others), Bush Rangers (Stanley, Tray, Zippo, others), the C.I.A. Crack Squad; an unidentified Japanese terrorist sect;
    He had a somewhat antagonistic relationship with teammates Anarchist, Phat and Vivisector

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "The Man," "Spikey"

Base of Operations: The X-Force Building, Santa Monica, California, USA

First Appearance: X-Force I#121 (December, 2001)

Powers/Abilities: The Spike could rapidly generate razor-sharp bone spikes from his body, which he could fire outward with deadly accuracy. The spikes were durable enough to pierce armored suits and some metal plating.

Height: 6'1"
Weight: 210 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black

History:
(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Update#4 - Spike entry - BTS) - American citizen Darian Elliott was publicly known as the adventurer called the Spike.

(X-Force I#121 (fb) - BTS) - The Spike filmed a show reel showcasing himself in action using his powers in an attempt to get a spot on the celebrity mutant X-Force team.

(X-Force I#121) - After watching the video footage of the Spike in action, the senior members of X-Force discussed the possibility of recruiting the Spike but the Anarchist voted against the Spike joining X-Force. X-Force later held a press conference during which they informed the public that they had still not decided on their two newest members and the conference was interrupted by the Spike, who accused the Anarchist of being "black on the outside and white on the inside." After the Spike questioned whether the Anarchist's skin color or mutant status was more defining to the X-Force member, the Spike and the Anarchist began butting heads. X-Force's U-Go Girl chimed in that skin color had nothing to do with how one was defined and the Orphan suggested that if the Spike had an issue with why he had not been chosen as of yet to join X-Force, they could settle it later. The Spike instead demanded to settle it then and there, accusing the Anarchist of deliberately not selecting him to join X-Force because he wished to be the only African-American on the team. The argument quickly became more heated as the Anarchist claimed he had vetoed the Spike's recruitment due to his thoughts that the Spike could cut it in X-Force and the Spike instead suggested the Anarchist was scared of the younger and badder Spike. As the fight was broadcast live on television and discussed by reporter Heidi, the Anarchist walked away rather than fight the Spike on national television, X-Force's Vivisector and Phat, eager to gain more media attention for themselves, jumped in to fight the Spike themselves in "defense" of their teammate.

     A short time later, U-Go Girl met with the Anarchist to discuss whether he actually had personal reasons for not wanting the Spike on the team as the Orphan and X-Force owner Spike Freeman viewed the Spike's tryout footage again. Freeman admitted he had been getting grief from influential people to recruit the Spike onto X-Force and that he wanted to have the Spike join X-Force to prove to those influential people that X-Force was not a racist institution. The Orphan argued that X-Force truly wasn't a racist institution and Freeman agreed but reminded the Orphan that they needed to publicly seen as such. Despite the Orphan responding that X-Force had to depend on each and every member of their team during their dangerous missions, thereby needing the best of the best regardless of skin color, creed, gender or mutation, he later met with the rest of X-Force and suggested they recruit the Spike for a trial membership into the team. The Anarchist again argued against it, prompting Vivisector and Phat to note that the Anarchist did seem to have some sort of irrational problem with the Spike, but the argument was soon interrupted by the arrival of another potential X-Force recruit: the time-skipping Lacuna.

(X-Force I#122) - When U-Go Girl guest hosted The Larry King Show, she had the Spike appear as her first guest. As the rest of X-Force watched from backstage, the Spike appeared on stage and suggested the Anarchist's urban image was nothing more than an act due to his being raised by adoptive Caucasian parents. The Spike's insulting remarks swiftly erupted into another battle between the Anarchist, the Spike, and the Anarchist's teammates Vivisector and Phat. During the fight, a studio wall collapsed and both the Anarchist and the Spike reluctantly worked together to save the studio audience despite continuing to toss insults at one another. Lacuna soon made her own presence known by traveling between seconds and stopping the in-fighting by removing everyone's clothing. After announcing her candidacy for X-Force membership, Lacuna returned the clothing and left, prompting the Anarchist to question if the Spike was sure he wanted to join X-Force. Later that evening, after X-Force had decided to recruit both the Spike and Lacuna, the Spike met with X-Force before their press conference and when the Anarchist asked the Spike how it felt to officially be a part of X-Force, the Spike threateningly warned the Anarchist not to start any long novels. The team then began the press conference and officially announced the Spike and Lacuna as their newest members. The Spike posed for publicity photos but Lacuna was nowhere to be found, having decided to host her own television talk show rather than join X-Force. Following the press conference, the Spike met with the rest of X-Force to discuss adding Dead Girl to the team.

(X-Force I#123) - During some downtime with the team, the Spike relaxed by looking at men's magazines until all of X-Force were transported to a strange dimension existing inside X-Force team cameraman Doop, where they each faced their worst fears. Doop immediately began searching for his missing teammates and while rescuing them, Doop was only able to find a book entitled "Spikey Cross-Dressing" that bore the image of the Spike wearing a red dress and fishnets. Shrugging, Doop tossed the book into his mouth and continued his search for the rest of X-Force, ultimately saving and returning them all to their Santa Monica headquarters only one second after they had left. Doop then noticed that no one appeared to have any memory of ever leaving.

(X-Force I#124) - As X-Force wrapped up a mission, the Spike accompanied the team in teleporting away but soon found himself in the middle of an ocean alongside X-Force due to U-Go Girl's malfunctioning mutant powers. A terrified Vivisector announced that he couldn't swim and the Spike sarcastically suggested Vivisector learn before U-Go Girl attempted to teleport them from the ocean, only to find wind in a forest. The Spike sarcastically remarked on how awesome of a team X-Force was before the Orphan ordered the Anarchist to signal a passing Federal Express plane to pick them up. The Spike argued that he could handle the task but the Orphan sternly reminded the Spike that he had asked the Anarchist. A short time later, X-Force publicly returned to California aboard the Federal Express plane and the Spike was later present at the X-Force Building as the team discussed U-Go Girl's malfunctioning powers. Claiming he saw what was really going on, the Spike suggested U-Go Girl was only remaining in X-Force due to her reputation when they could be replacing her with any number of teleporting mutants. The Anarchist argued that the Spike had only been on the team for all of "five seconds" and was already judging someone who had long since proved herself in X-Force. The Spike responded by claiming the Anarchist was again rooting for his Caucasian friends, prompting Vivisector to suggest the Spike dispense with his racial comments now that he was officially on the team. The Spike threatened to dispense with Vivisector as a comeback but Vivisector calmly suggested the Spike be a little less predictable with his threats. The Orphan then stepped between Vivisector and the Spike, admitting that the Spike had a point about X-Force members not being allowed to rest on their reputations alone.

(The Brotherhood I#9)- The Spike was among the X-Force members seen at a parade in their honor after they successfully took out a Japanese terrorist sect. During the parade, the mutant terrorist group Brotherhood attacked X-Force, calling them "mutant sellouts" due to their popularity and media attention. As the Brotherhood attacked, the Spike joined his teammates into jumping into action. The Spike aided the Orphan in killing one of the Brotherhood members, Malon Reeves, by impaling her as she was thrown backwards from the Orphan's punch. After defeating the Brotherhood, the Spike and the rest of X-Force stood around the fallen terrorists and the Orphan asked what just happened, prompting U-Go Girl to reply "the end of a revolution?"

(X-Force I#125 (fb)) - The Spike accompanied his teammates in X-Force on a surgical strike mission in Central America, where his rivalry with the Anarchist came to a head as they competed to kill as many of the gunmen as possible, each trying to one-up the other. Eventually, X-Force had to stall until the television networks arrived on the scene and during the waiting period, the Spike and the rest of X-Force realized they were not wanted there by the populace, as they'd be led to believe.

(X-Force I#125) - The Spike returned to Santa Monica with the rest of the team, where they were bombarded with questions from the media including questions about whether the Spike's personal conflict with the Anarchist nearly cost X-Force their lives. After U-Go Girl, the Orphan and the Anarchist returned from a failed attempt to recruit Dead Girl, team manager Spike Freeman briefed the Spike and the rest of X-Force on their upcoming mission, soon turning over the briefing to Agent Wright of the CIA. The Spike immediately argued that he had not joined X-Force to "play house-servant" to the CIA and the Anarchist sided in agreement with the Spike. As Agent Wright blamed the Orphan for the situation, leading to an altercation between Agent Wright, the Orphan and U-Go Girl, the Spike became disturbed at seeing Vivisector and Phat happily high-five one another following their discussion about changing X-Force's name to the X-Foliates. Retiring to their headquarters to discuss working with the CIA, the Spike and the rest of X-Force were informed that the Agent Wright intended to blackmail X-Force into the mission or destroy the team due to the Orphan's refusal to turn over mutant cure-all Paco Perez months earlier. The Spike and X-Force later returned to their briefing, where X-Force was informed about the CIA-mutated former inmate Bush Rangers. Interrupting Agent Wright to angrily denounce the CIA for experimenting on African-American inmates but Wright insisted they experimented on whatever inmates they could at Texas State Penitentiary regardless of race. As Wright continued, X-Force learned that their mission would be to help improve the CIA's image by heading to the space station controlled by the Bush Rangers, feigning capture and allowing themselves to be "rescued" by the CIA. Since X-Force was split on whether or not to go on the mission as a team or let the Orphan take the fall alone, they put the decision up to a vote and the Spike sided with the Orphan to go into space as a team, creating a stalemate. Potential new recruit Dead Girl then arrived and put her vote with the Orphan. The Spike then suited up with the rest of X-Force (including the official new recruit Dead Girl) and headed towards their shuttle.

(X-Force I#126) - Once in space and heading for the space station controlled by the Bush Rangers, the Spike witnessed Vivisector and Phat holding and fired a spike to slash Vivisector's arm, demanding to know what was going on between Vivisector and Phat. The two admitted they had special feelings for each other, much to the disgust of the Spike, but as the Spike was about to shout a derogatory comment, the Orphan hit the Spike at one of his pressure points and announced that he'd had enough. The Orphan then sternly reminded the Spike that the only thing that mattered was that Vivisector and Phat were X-Force members and on the same team, prompting the Spike to question whether the two would look after the team in a pinch or their own special feelings for one another. When Phat chimed in that no one questioned where the Orphan and U-Go Girl's loyalties laid, the Spike suggested someone should question it, prompting U-Go Girl to threaten to teleport the Spike into space and the Anarchist to question whether the Spike might be scared of his own "special feelings."

    Once X-Force arrived on the Mars 2010 Space Station that the Bush Rangers had taken control of, they were greeted by the supposed space station crew members, who asked for autographs. Unaware that the "crew" were actually the shape-changing Bush Rangers themselves, X-Force split into groups to locate the Bush Rangers and the teams were all soon ambushed by the Bush Rangers. Teamed with the Anarchist and Dead Girl, the Spike ducked for cover as the Anarchist was blasted in the back and the Spike pinned one of the Bush Rangers to the wall with his spikes as the Anarchist recovered. The two then jumped into action against the Rangers but paused for a moment when the Bush Rangers claimed they were all on the same side, having also been mistreated due to their race. The Spike seemed swayed by their argument and the Bush Rangers fired upon the Anarchist but Dead Girl jumped in the way and was blasted apart. Horrified, the Spike reluctantly fist bumped the Bush Rangers, who asked for respect for what they claimed was the right thing to do. He then departed with the Bush Rangers as the Anarchist, thinking Dead Girl to be truly dead, rushed off to aid the Orphan and U-Go Girl.

(X-Force I#127) - As the rest of X-Force feigned defeat, relaxing and waiting for the CIA Crack Squad led by Agent Wright to arrive and "rescue" them, the Spike argued with the Bush Rangers, who questioned why the Spike had seemingly turned on his own teammates. The Spike claimed he had more in common with the supposedly mistreated Bush Rangers than with X-Force but the unconvinced Bush Ranger Tray ordered the others to take the Spike's kidneys and giblets, prompting the Spike to reveal how the entire mission was a setup to make the CIA look better. The Spike then suggested another option of letting the Bush Rangers escaped, thereby making only the Orphan, whom the CIA blamed for letting Paco Perez go, look bad. The Spike further convinced the Bush Rangers he had betrayed X-Force by expressing interest in taking over leadership of X-Force with the Orphan out of the picture. Somewhat convinced, Tray opted to reveal to the Spike the crimes he had committed that had warranted his place on Texas' Death Row and when Tray whispered his crimes into the Spike's ear, the Spike became visibly nervous but nonetheless agreed to go along with the plan to discredit the Orphan.

    When X-Force arrived on the scene looking for the Spike, they found the remaining Bush Rangers, all disguised to look like the Spike. As a fierce battle broke out, Tray of the Bush Rangers claimed to be the "real" Spike and saved the Anarchist from other Bush Rangers in order to infiltrate the team. Unaware that the actual real Spike had been disguised as a Bush Ranger and was horribly beaten during the fight, X-Force regrouped in time for the CIA Crack Squad to arrive for their scheduled "rescue." The Crack Squad immediately tried to kill X-Force, leading to U-Go Girl, the Orphan, Doop and the Anarchist teleported into a nearby satellite while the false Spike led the rest of X-Force in taking down the Crack Squad, killing Agent Wright in the process. Thinking their other teammates were dead, Vivisector, Phat, Dead Girl and the fake Spike boarded a shuttle to depart the Mars 2010 Space Station, unaware that the extremely battered and bruised real Spike had pulled himself to his feet and watched the shuttle depart, claiming he was no traitor.

(X-Force I#128) - The real Spike soon noticed a small shuttle heading back towards the Space Station and he assumed the shuttle was X-Force coming back for him, only to be knocked down when the slightly out of control shuttle bumped into the Station. When U-Go Girl, the Orphan and Doop emerged from the smaller shuttle and the returning Vivisector, Dead Girl and Phat helped rescue the remaining Anarchist from the satellite, the real Spike revealed himself to be still alive, exposing Tray the Bush Ranger as the fake Spike. Tray immediately jumped at the real Spike, fatally impaling him on several of his spikes. As X-Force battled the fleeing Tray, Dead Girl confirmed the Spike's death and U-Go Girl was soon hit by one of Tray's stray spikes as well.

(X-Force I#129 - BTS) - After the surviving X-Force members returned to Earth, news reports began to surface about U-Go Girl's death and an obituary for the Spike was posted on X-Force's website. As news groups subsequently surrounded the X-Force Building hoping for news about U-Go Girl's death, one reporter noted that the Spike's death had been confirmed, admitting that he had not been with the team long enough to capture the American public's imagination.

(X-Statix I#1 - BTS) - While showering after a mission, the newly-dubbed X-Statix (formerly X-Force) discussed potential new recruits and the Orphan (now using his original codename of Mister Sensitive) admitted that, after what had happened with the Spike, the team needed to choose their next two recruits very carefully.

(X-Statix I#19 - BTS) - A photo of the Spike was framed and hung on the wall of X-Statix Headquarters alongside photos of other former members who had been killed in action.

Comments: Created by Peter Milligan and Michael Allred.

    Making things potentially confusing is that X-Force had two people called "Spike" involved with the team. "The Spike" was the mutant profiled above but "Spike Freeman" was the team's manager/PR man. To make things clearer in the profile above, I've tried to stick to always referring to the later as "Mr.Freeman," even though that's not how he was usually referred to in the comics themselves.

    His real name was revealed in X-Statix's entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z HC Vol. 13.

    The Spike's weight was listed as 170 lbs. in his Marvel Encyclopedia HC Vol. 2: X-Men profile but that seemed very underweight for his build. The weight was correctly adjusted to 210 lbs. in his OHotMU A-Z Update#4 profile.

    The Spike appears as a zombie on a variant cover of 2019's Giant-Size X-Statix#1 but he was never seen in-story or a zombie so this appearance would not be considered a true appearance of the Spike.

Profile by Proto-Man.

CLARIFICATIONS:

This character, the Spike, has no known connections to

The X-Force, a.k.a. X-Statix, that the Spike was a member of, should not be mistaken for

Heidi

Heidi, a TV reporter that had defected from the former Communist East Germany to America, did a report on the rivalry between the Anarchist and the Spike. Her co-anchor asked her opinion on it and she replied, saying she thought it was staged and that they would avoid dealing with the real issues of race, gender and capital. Her co-anchor thanked her for her opinion as Lacuna watched on her television.

--X-Force I#121
images: (without ads)
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Update#4, the Spike entry (The Spike, main image)
X-Force I#126, p13, pan1 (Spike in space suit, hunched over)
X-Force I#121, p2, pan1 (Spike prior to joining X-Force)
X-Force I#121, p12, pan5 (Spike in a suit)
X-Force I#122, p11, pan3 (Spike in a robe & sunglasses)
X-Force I#124, p1, pan1 (Spike running)
The Brotherhood I#9, p11-12, pan1 (Spike leaping into action alongside X-Force)
X-Force I#128, p16, pan3 (Spike's death)
X-Force I#121, p15, pan2 (Heidi)

Appearances:
X-Force I#121 (December, 2001) - Peter Milligan (writer), Michael Allred (art), Axel Alonso (editor)
X-Force I#122 (January, 2002) - Peter Milligan (writer), Michael Allred (art), Axel Alonso (editor)
X-Force I#123 (February, 2002) - Peter Milligan (writer), Mike Allred (art), Axel Alonso (editor)
X-Force I#124 (March, 2002) - Peter Milligan (writer), Darwyn Cooke (art), Axel Alonso (editor)
The Brotherhood I#9 (March, 2002) - X (writer), Sean Phillips, Kent Williams (artists), Axel Alonso (editor)
X-Force I#125 (April, 2002) - Peter Milligan (writer), M.D. Allred (art), Axel Alonso (editor)
X-Force I#126 (May, 2002) - Peter Milligan (writer), Mike Allred (art), Axel Alonso (editor)
X-Force I#127 (June, 2002) - Peter Milligan (writer), Michael Allred (art), Axel Alonso (editor)
X-Force I#128 (July, 2002) - Peter Milligan (writer), Michael Allred (art), Axel Alonso (editor)
X-Force I#129 (August, 2002) - Peter Milligan (writer), Duncan Fegredo (art), Axel Alonso (editor)
X-Statix I#1 (September, 2002) - Peter Milligan (writer), Michael Allred (art), Axel Alonso (editor)
X-Statix I#19 (April, 2004) - Peter Milligan (writer), Mike Allred (art), Axel Alonso (editor)
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Update#4 (December, 2010) - Jeff Christiansen, Mike O'Sullivan (head writers, coordinators), Stuart Vandal, Markus Raymond (assistant coordinators, writers), Mike Fichera (assistant coordinator, art refurbishment), Sean McQuaid, Michael Hoskin, Rob London, Kevin Garcia, Gabe Schecter, Madison Carter, Ronald Byrd, David Wiltfong, Jeph York, Jacob Rougemont (writers), Gus Vazquez, Tom Chu (select character art), Gally Articola (art refurbishment), Jeff Youngquist (editor)

First posted: 11/12/2004
Last updated: 11/28/2023

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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