Mandate
Mandate
Classification: Hidden society of Earth
Location/Base of Operations: Hidden village in the Himalayas, Tibet
Known Members: Nirissa, Serra, Slith, Tribune (Tane)
Affiliations: None
First Appearance: Wolverine: Killing (September, 1993)
Powers/Abilities: Slith and Tane had unique superhuman abilities. It is not clear whether any of the others had any such abilities.
Traits: Those of the Enclave were ruled by the Mandate, voiced through their ruler, that they must be apart from the world to become pure, perfect.
History:
(Wolverine: Killing (fb) - BTS) - Nirissa became the Matriarch, voice of the
Mandate, as part of a long line of succession of her ancestors.
(Wolverine: Killing (fb) - BTS) - Nirissa allied with Tane, aka the Tribune, to arrange the cross-breeding of her daughter, Serra, with Wolverine, intending that their children would inherit his healing factor. Nirissa correctly suspected, however, that Tane desired Serra for himself.
(Wolverine: Killing) - Tane implanted dreams with Wolverine that led him him towards the city of the Mandate. Serra heard Tane and Nirissa discussing these plans and fled from the village, unaware that Tane was apparently influencing her to do this so that she would meet up with Wolverine.
While an unidentified old
man sought to guide Wolverine to become more than just a killer, Tane found
himself unable to influence Wolverine, but he nonetheless refused to summon back
Serra as per Nirissa's request.
Running to the point of exhaustion, Serra collapsed in the
frozen wastes, but Wolverine found her and brought her to shelter.
Meanwhile, Tane met with the warrior Slith,
instructing him to ignore his orders from the Matriarch and to slay any
outsiders that reached their enclave. Tane further instructed Slith to avoid any
attempt to dissuade him, reminding Slith how he rewarded devotion and how he
punished failure.
Just as Wolverine approached the Enclave's door, Slith
attacked him. Frustrated by a long day filled with many battles, Wolverine
fought back and seemingly slew Slith: Wolverine noted that Slith was not
breathing and had no pulse, but then Slith's hand shot up, stabbing Wolverine in
his wrist with the poison spikes in his palm.
Wolverine was brought into the Enclave and presumed dead, and they were all surprised by his recovery. Nirissa tried to thank Wolverine for saving her daughter, but he condemned her for leaving Serra out there alone when she had left such an obvious trail. Wolverine introduced himself to Serra who, after learning he was an outsider asked him to tell her of the outside world. Serra became attracted to Wolverine as they talked, sharing information on the Mandate, and noting that it may be the Tribune making them attracted to each other. Wolverine noted his experience with telepaths and assured her that his feelings were real; they kissed. Watching via secret monitors, Tane was infuriated that Wolverine had not merely corrupted her flesh (as intended), but had tainted her mind as well. He stole into Serra's chambers, intending to kill Wolverine, purge memories of him from Serra, and make Serra his own, but Wolverine had anticipated his arrival and was waiting for him. Wolverine challenged Tane to single combat.
After preparing himself, Tane met Wolverine on the city streets. Wolverine threatened to introduce Tane to a friend of his, pain, but Tane instead caused Wolverine's body and mind to be wrought with pain. With Wolverine incapacitated by this pain, Tane battered him brutally, calling him a beast and an animal. Wolverine finally unleashed his berserker side; immune to the psychic pain Tane dealt, he then stripped Tane of his weapons and prepared to slay him. Remembering the lesson of the old man he had encountered earlier, however, Wolverine let Tane live; instead, he just sliced a scar across the flesh of Tane's neck, noting that if he truly were what Tane though he was, Tane would be dead.
Wolverine then departed the village, leaving Serra a note, telling her to find him if she ever wanted to leave the village. Wolverine wondered, however, whether he was leaving to keep Serra away from the trouble he dealt with on a regular basis, or if it was because he didn't want to find out if what Serra felt for him wasn't real.
Comments: Created by John Ney Rieber (writer), Kent Williams (artist), Suzanne Gaffney (editor).
This village didn't really ever receive a name. Tane twice referred to it as their enclave, and they were ruled by the Mandate, but I'm not sure that either of these were really their names. It's also referred to as a paradise and a dark Eden on the back cover.
It might be inferred that the village was dying out and that this is why Nirissa sought to cross-breed her daughter with Wolverine, but I don't think anything is actually confirmed.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connection to:
Tribune/Tane has no known connection to:
Matriarch of the village, voice of the mandate via a long succession of ancestors, she colluded with Tane to arrange for her daughter, Serra, to mate with Wolverine, intending that their children would inherit his healing factor. Nirissa correctly suspected, however, that Tane desired Serra for himself. She even worked with Tane to cause Serra to flee into the frozen wastelands outside their village in hopes that Wolverine would find her and fall in love with her.
She had second thoughts when Wolverine proved resistant to Tane's control, but Tane refused her instruction to call Serra back into the village. After Wolverine found Serra and brought her back to the village, Nirissa thanked him, but Wolverine condemned her for knowingly leaving Serra out there.
--Wolverine: Killing
Daughter of Nirissa, she was the unwitting pawn in Nirissa and Tane's plan to breed her to Wolverine so that their children would inherit his healing factor. Overhearing this (as they (or at least Tane) had intended), she fled into the frozen wastelands outside their village until collapsing in exhaustion. Wolverine found her and brought her back to the village. It is unclear whether Tane manipulated her feelings to desire Wolverine, but she also began to fall in love with him. Tane, who intended for Serra to love him, attempted to kill Wolverine, but was defeated by him. Wolverine departed while she slept, leaving her a note telling her she knew where to find him.
--Wolverine: Killing
A monstrous serpentine warrior serving the voice of the Mandate, he was manipulated by Tane into attacking Wolverine. Though seemingly killed by Wolverine, he rendered the mutant unconscious with poison from the spikes on his wrist. He may have arisen after Wolverine's collapse.
Slith had a snake-like lower body, two fingers and a thumb on each hand, and...I don't know what was up with his head/face, whether it was armor or not. He had a pair of envenomed spikes he could extend from his palm, the poison of which was sufficient to render Wolverine unconscious.
--Wolverine: Killing
Aka the Tribune, he had a position of power in the village, perhaps aspiring to rule himself...or perhaps he did secretly rule and Nirissa was just allowed to maintain her official position.
Per an alliance with Nirissa, he summoned Wolverine towards their village to impregnate Serra so that their children would inherit his healing factor. To this end, he allowed Serra to overhear his discussion with Nirissa, leading her to flee the village and intending for Wolverine to rescue her so they would be drawn together. However, he only wished for Wolverine to impregnate Serra, while he ultimately intended her to become his lover. When he found out that he could not mentally control Wolverine, he ordered Slith to slay Wolverine. When Wolverine survived Slith's poisoning and Serra began to fall in love with Wolverine, Tane tried to kill him. Wolverine overcame Tane's psychic powers, severing him from the "juice" that empowered him, scarring his neck, and leaving him helpless and defeated.
Tane could apparently influence others, even halfway around the world. While he could directly manipulate most with little effort, strong-willed people such as Wolverine proved resistant to his control. He could also induce excruciating pain, and possibly other sensations at will. There's some evidence that his abilities were dependent on an undefined chemical, as he was hooked up to lines of it while battling Wolverine, and seemed to lose power when Wolverine severed the infusion lines.
--Wolverine: Killing
old
guy
Whether he was real or part of Wolverine's subconscious is not clear, but he appeared in several forms as Wolverine made his way to the Tibetan village of the Mandate. He guided Wolverine to realize their was more to life than killing, perhaps via dream or illusion.
--Wolverine: Killing
images: (without ads)
Wolverine: Killing, p9, panel 1 (Tane),
panel 2 (village)
panel 3-4 (Nirissa)
p10, panel 3 (Serra, close-up)
p16, panel 6 (Serra, body)
p19, panel 2 (old man)
p27 (Slith vs. Wolverine)
p38, panel 2 (Tane, battle form)
Appearances:
Wolverine: Killing (September, 1993)
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
First Posted: 08/15/2008
Last Updated: 08/14/2008
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