SWORD
Membership: Argos the Hunter, Pyre, Stranglehold, Zona Purpose: Warriors of the Damocles Foundation
Affiliations: Damocles Foundation
Enemies: Black Queen (Selene), Arcadia Deville, Ulysses Dragonblood, Gatherers, Sledge, X-Force (Jesse Bedlam, Cannonball, Meltdown, Moonstar, Siryn, Sunspot, Warpath)
Base of Operations: Damocles Foundation base in Brazil
First Appearance: X-Force I#83 (November, 1998)
History: (X-Force I#83) - Sword was sent to retrieve former Damocles Foundation member Ulysses Dragonblood, and former prisoner Arcadia Deville. Argos the Hunter tracked them to a coal mine in Kentucky, where they had encountered Cannonball. Cannonball helped them against Argos, and broke Argos' staff in two. Just then, Sword's ship arrived bringing the rest of the group.
(X-Force I#84) - Pyre, Zona and Strangehold recovered Argos and supplied him with a new staff. As they were about to pursue Cannonball, Dragonblood and Deville, suddenly X-Force appeared, having been summoned by Arcadia. Sword held their own against all of their opponents, until Cannonball and Meltdown came up with the tactics to defeat them one at a time. Arcadia transformed Pyre and Zona into crystal and intended to shatter them into pieces, but Moonstar stopped her, and they reverted to their normal states. Dragonblood and Arcadia took custody of the Sword's ship, and kept the four of them onboard as prisoners as they prepared to continue their escape from the Damocles Foundation.
(X-Force I#97) - Sword helped defend the Damocles Foundation's base in Brazil as Odysseus Indigo prepared to awaken one of the Celestials' Gatherers. When the Black Queen and Sunspot invaded the base, they were quickly beaten by Sword. Later, Sledge, Dragonblood, Arcadia and X-Force released the pair and they all attempted to halt the revival of the Gatherer. The Gatherer was ultimately claimed by Selene, who had it transform the members of Sword, de-evolving them into lizards. The Gatherer was ultimately destroyed by Moonstar and Arcadia, but it is not known if Sword were returned to normal.
Comments: Created by John Francis Moore, Jim Cheung, Mark Morales and Rob Stull.
The Sword are not specifically referred to as Deviants in any stories, but the cover of X-Force I#84 calls them "the new Deviants."
by Prime Eternal
CLARIFICATIONS:
Formerly, Ulysses Dragonblood
The Sword should not be confused with:
Argos was a Deviant who wore a suit of armor and wielded a staff which could channel cosmic energy. He had once been a friend of Ulysses Dragonblood, and was insulted that he had betrayed the Foundation.
Pyre was a Deviant with the ability to fly and ignite oxygen into flame; his control was so precise that he could ignite the atmosphere directly around a specific target. During the Sword's battle with X-Force and Ulysses Dragonblood, Pyre blasted Ulysses' arm, leaving him with a significant wound that took months to heal.
Stranglehold was a Deviant with superhuman strength and near-invulnerability.
Zona was a female Deviant who could turn invisible and shock opponents with electricity by touching them. It was not clear whether these powers were natural, or were provided by equipment. She was the leader of Sword.
--X-Force I#84 (97 Images taken from:
First Posted: 04/26/2006 Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!
X-Force I#84, page 1
Argos- X-Force I#97, page 6, panel 3 (not counting ads)
Pyre- X-Force I#84, page 1
Stranglehold- X-Force I#97, page 7, panel 3 (not counting ads)
Zona- X-Force I#84, page 1
X-Force I#83 (November, 1998) - John Francis Moore (writer), Jim Cheung (artist), Mark Morales & Rub Stull (inker), Bobbie Chase (editor)
X-Force I#84 (December, 1998) - John Francis Moore, Jay Faerber (writers), Jim Cheung (artist), Ray McCarthy (inker), Bobbie Chase (editor)
X-Force I#97 (December, 1999) - John Francis Moore (writer), Anthony Williams (artist), Scott Elmer (inker), Jason Liebig (editor)
Last updated: 04/25/2006
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
