BERSERKERS

main image Membership: Anodyne (Madelyne Jennifer Pryor), Beastmaster (Boyd Wilson), Brawler (Jacques Moreau), Cornucopia (Carla Ballenger), Earth-Mover (Jeanne Chretien), Lord of the Plants (Phil Descard), Lorelord (Sam Ross), Master Builder (Paul Domenic), Pathfinder (Nick Rodriguez)

Purpose: To help make a better world (at the cost of the world’s mystical energy)

Affiliations: Alpha Flight (Aurora (Jeanne-Marie Beaubier), Northstar (Jean-Paul Beaubier), Puck (Eugene Judd), Sasquatch (Walter Langkowski), Shaman (Michael Twoyoungmen), Talisman (Elizabeth Twoyoungmen), Vindicator (Heather Hudson)), Cyclops (Scott Summers), the X-Men (Colossus (Piotr Rasputin), Lockheed, Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner), Professor X (Charles Xavier), Rachel Summers, Rogue (Anna Marie), Shadowcat (Kitty Pryde), Wolverine (Logan/James Howlett))

Enemies: Loki, Snow Giants

Base of Operations: Fire Fountain, Arctic Circle

First Appearance: X-Men/Alpha Flight I#1 (December, 1985)

History: 

(X-Men/Alpha Flight I#1 (fb) – BTS) – Loki was charged with doing a good deed for Midgard (Earth) by Those Who Sit Above in Shadow in exchange for power. In doing a good deed, Loki was to prove himself worthy of the power Those Who Sit Above in Shadow granted.

(X-Men/Alpha Flight#1) – In an effort to do a good deed, Loki transported Scott Summers and Madelyne Pryor, as well as their crew and the scientists being transported in their plane, to the Arctic Circle, where the mystical energy of the Fire Fountain was located. Upon the plane’s crash, the Fire Fountain mutated those onboard the plane via mystical fire.

(X-Men/Alpha Flight#1 (fb) – BTS) – Madelyne Pryor gained healing abilities, which she used to cure Cyclops of his lack of control over his mutant powers. After each person took a codename, architect Paul Domenic became the Master Builder, able to shape and create building materials. He then used his powers to create a citadel to protect them from the Arctic’s cold.

(X-Men/Alpha Flight#1) – After receiving a psychic distress call from Cyclops, who had commented that the unnatural storm around their plane had reminded him of the one once caused by Alpha Flight’s Shaman, the X-Men visited Alpha Flight and the two groups decided to join together to investigate the crash. Tracking Cyclops to the Arctic Circle, the X-Men and Alpha Flight were surprised to see Cyclops, who had no need of ruby quartz glasses. Cyclops then took the two teams inside Master Builder’s citadel, where they met with the transformed crash survivors. Madelyne Pryor (now calling herself Anodyne) revealed her newfound healing gifts by healing Puck of his dwarfism, giving Walter Langkowski better control of his Sasquatch form and healing Aurora’s fractured mind. When Shaman commented that Snowbird had not come inside the citadel with the rest of Alpha Flight, Wolverine agreed to track her down. Pathfinder (Nick Rodriguez) and Beastmaster (Boyd Wilson) accompanied Wolverine while Cornucopia prepared a feast for the two teams, as well as proper clothing for Colossus and the transformed Sasquatch and Puck. Eventually, Professor X asked how the survivors had gained their powers and Cyclops led the two teams to the mystical Fire Fountain that had transformed the group. Heather Hudson was soon drawn to the heart of the Fire Fountain and despite protests from Northstar, she ventured into the Fire Fountain and was transformed herself, her vision completely corrected and taller in height. Shortly thereafter, Shaman’s mystical medicine pouch unleashed itself upon Shaman, mystical creatures contained within erupting from the pouch. Anodyne quickly ordered the super-fast Northstar and Aurora to get the pouch as far away as possible and the pouch demons followed. When the two twins had returned, Anodyne informed them all that Shaman was dying from the wounds suffered at the hands of the demons and that her healing powers seemed to have no effect.

(X-Men/Alpha Flight I#2) – While Talisman searched for Shadowcat and found Paul Domenic’s sketchbook with progressively worse sketches, Shadowcat had found a lost Norse settlement hidden inside the Fire Fountain’s rocks. Shadowcat and Talisman soon rendezvoused with the missing Rachel Summers, who had earlier run off in a tantrum, and the three young heroines were caught in a cave in. Telekinetically blasting a hole in the cave wall for them to escape through, Rachel and the others found themselves near the Fire Fountain itself, learning it was mystical in nature when Talisman accidentally brushed its energy. After the feast created by Cornucopia, Cyclops and Anodyne retreated to relax and found a tired Earth-Mover (Jeanne Chretien). Healing Earth-Mover with her abilities, Anodyne left Cyclops and Shadowcat soon noticed a suspicious-acting Anodyne in Wolverine’s room. When Anodyne left, Shadowcat was surprised to see that Wolverine had been cured of his berserker madness. She then revealed her suspicions about Anodyne and the others, suggesting that Beastmaster could have used his control over animals to force Wolverine to stop looking for Snowbird. Deciding to continue looking for Snowbird, Wolverine, Lockheed and Aurora tracked Snowbird to a cave near where Northstar and Aurora had thrown Shaman’s medicine pouch. Pathfinder and Beastmaster soon caught up to them and announced that in the soon-to-be-changed world, there would be no place in it for the likes of Snowbird and Shaman, and they asked Wolverine to let them put Snowbird out of her misery. Wolverine then claimed that Beastmaster and Pathfinder would have to go through him first while Talisman visited Lorelord (Sam Ross) to learn more about an Asgardian she had found in the Norse village earlier. As Lorelord explained the rune was a dedication to Loki, Wolverine arrived back at the citadel with a seriously injured Beastmaster, revealing that Anodyne and the others had been conning X-Men and Alpha Flight and that he had killed Pathfinder to protect Snowbird. Explaining that the Fire Fountain’s mystical nature was draining the life from Snowbird and Shaman, to which Lorelord replied that the Fire Fountain was powered by the world’s supply of magic, draining it to empower others. Disagreeing with the idea of killing some to empower others, many of both the X-Men and Alpha Flight sided with Wolverine while others, like Colossus and Rachel Summers, sided with the Berserkers. The two sides then battled furiously and during the battle, Shadowcat and Talisman revealed what they had learned earlier from the progressively worse sketches: that the Berserkers had been given powers at the cost of their own creativity. The battle was almost immediately interrupted by Loki, who revealed that he had created the Fire Fountain and asked each of the Berserkers to consider not what had been lost but what could be gained by their powers. When Cyclops questioned mutants’ status once the world had been changed by the Berserkers, an angry Loki warned Cyclops of his tone but Cyclops angrily told Loki that he could not force his empowerment gifts on others. Cyclops then attacked Loki, exclaiming that they could not trust Loki as the god of lies. Retaliating, Loki summoned Snow Giants from the arctic wastes to battle the X-Men, Alpha Flight and Berserkers. As the battle progressed, Master Builder’s citadel began to crumble and Loki extended the Fire Fountain out to mutate the world. The Berserkers soon denounced Loki’s “gifts” as Lorelord was smacked by a Snow Giant’s club. Rushing to save him, Anodyne found her powers leaving her. Begging Loki for her powers in order to save Lorelord, Anodyne agreed to do everything in her power to aid Loki if he returned her abilities. Once the Snow Giants had been defeated and Anodyne had saved Lorelord, Professor X explained to Loki that he had lost the battle but Loki forced Anodyne to bid the other Berserkers to keep their powers. Loki’s speech was interrupted by Those Who Sit Above in Shadow, who had witnessed the battle and judged Loki unworthy of their power. Reluctantly agreeing to Those Who Sit Above in Shadow’s terms, Loki removed the powers of the Berserkers and the others who had been empowered by the Fire Fountain. When some of those empowered expressed sadness for their removed gifts, Loki reminded them that the Fire Fountain was there if they opted to change their minds but Puck told Loki to take off. As Loki teleported away, the Fire Fountain disappeared along with him. The X-Men, Alpha Flight and the depowered Berserkers then boarded Madelyne Pryor’s plane and left to escape an incoming blizzard.

Comments: Created by Chris Claremont, Paul Smith and Bob Wiacek.

I chose to not cover Anodyne (Madelyne Pryor) as a mini-profile because she deserves her own full profile and will probably get one someday, at which point a link to her profile could be added...

Profile by Proto-Man.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Berserkers have no known connections to

Beastmaster has no known connection to:

Brawler has no known connection to:

Cornucopia has no known connection to:

Earth-Mover has no known connection to:

Lord of the Plants has no known connection to:

Lorelord has no known connection to:

Master Builder has no known connection to:

Pathfinder has no known connection to:

Beastmaster

Dr. Boyd Wilson was an anti-mutant zoologist who had chartered Madelyne Pryor’s plane with other scientists to a remote wilderness above the Arctic Circle when the plane was struck by Loki, who had engineered a plot to empower them as a gift to appease Those Who Sit Above in Shadow. Upon gaining his animal communication powers from Loki’s Fire Fountain, Wilson took the codename of Beastmaster and shortly thereafter aided his teammate Pathfinder and the X-Men’s Wolverine located the missing Snowbird of Alpha Flight, who was being drained of her mystical energy by the Fire Fountain. The X-Men’s Shadowcat later implicated that Beastmaster used his abilities on Wolverine, taking control of Wolverine’s animal side and forcing him to call off his search for Snowbird. While never proven, Wolverine became more determined than ever to find Snowbird and when he eventually did, he was confronted by Beastmaster and Pathfinder, who asked Wolverine to stand aside while they put Snowbird out of her misery. Refusing to do so, Wolverine ended up killing Pathfinder and seriously injuring Beastmaster, whom Wolverine took back to the Berserkers’ citadel to prove that the Berserkers were trying to cover up the fact that the Fire Fountain was killing Snowbird and Shaman by draining their energies. After Loki had revealed his hand in the Berserkers’ empowerment and subsequently removed their powers, Wilson returned to normal and left the Arctic Circle with the X-Men and Alpha Flight.

As Beastmaster, Boyd Wilson possessed the ability to communicate with and control animals.

--X-Men/Alpha Flight I#1 (2

Brawler

Jacques Moreau was a Canadian member of the environmental survey team that was on Madelyne Pryor’s charter flight to the Arctic Circle. During the flight, Dr. Boyd Wilson tried to convince Moreau of the mutant menace but their plane soon crashed and Moreau was mutated by the Fire Fountain into Brawler, a superhumanly strong warrior. He was introduced to the X-Men and Alpha Flight when they arrived at the Berserkers’ Arctic Circle citadel created by Master Builder and joined them when they were shown the Fire Fountain. He shortly thereafter accompanied the teams to the feast prepared by Cornucopia and when it was revealed that their powers were draining the mystical energy from Snowbird and Shaman, Brawler announced that the Berserkers would decide what to do with their gifts. The three groups were soon split into two groups, ones seeking to use their gifts no matter the cost and ones thinking that the world’s needs were not worth the deaths of Snowbird and Shaman. Brawler sided with many of the other Berserkers in keeping their gifts and a fight soon broke out that was interrupted when Loki arrived and revealed his hand in the Berserkers’ origins. Loki soon unleashed Snow Giants on the heroic teams and Brawler helped the X-Men and Alpha Flight defeat them. When the Asgardian Those Who Sit Above in Shadow found Loki unworthy of their empowerment, Loki removed the powers of those changed by the Fire Fountain, effectively returning Jacques Moreau to normal. With Loki gone, Moreau boarded Madelyne Pryor’s plane back home.

As Brawler, Jacques Moreau had superhuman strength and durability, sufficient enough to go toe-to-toe with Asgardian Snow Giants.

--X-Men/Alpha Flight I#1 (2

Cornucopia

Carla Ballenger was the cook of the environmental survey team that had chartered a plane with Madelyne Pryor to the Arctic Circle. When their plane went down at the site of the mystical Fire Fountain, Carla was mutated into the food and clothing-producing Cornucopia. She soon met the X-Men and Alpha Flight when they arrived at the Berserkers’ Arctic Circle citadel seeking to rescue Cyclops, whom they thought had been injured in the plane crash. To welcome them, Cornucopia prepared a large feast in their honor and used her powers to provide proper clothing for Colossus, Sasquatch and Puck. During the feast, a battle ravaged Wolverine arrived and threw the injured Beastmaster onto the table, revealing that they had tried to kill Snowbird. After the revelation that the Fire Fountain drained the world’s mystical energy to provide super powers, Cornucopia and the other Berserkers fought against some of the X-Men and Alpha Flight, thinking that the needs of the world outweighed the lives of Snowbird and similarly mystically powered Shaman. Their battle was interrupted by Loki, who revealed his hand in the Berserkers’ empowerment and unleashed Snow Giants on the teams when Cyclops argued against Loki’s forced gifts. The Asgardian Those Who Sit Above in Shadow eventually deemed Loki unworthy of their power and Loki angrily removed the “gifts” he had provided, returning Carla and the other survey team members to normal.

As Cornucopia, Carla Ballenger could produce an unlimited supply of food and clothing, seemingly from nowhere.

--X-Men/Alpha Flight I#1 (2

Earth-Mover

Dr. Jeanne Chretien was a geologist and part of the environmental survey group that had chartered a plane with Madelyne Pryor to the Arctic Circle. The plane was downed near the mystical Fire Fountain, which mutated Dr. Chretien into the rock-shaping Earth-Mover. She was soon introduced to the X-Men and Alpha Flight when they arrived at the Berserkers’ Arctic Circle citadel and accompanied the teams to the Fire Fountain, where Shaman’s mystical medicine pouch unleashed numerous previously-contained demons. While Shaman was being tended to and Shadowcat and Talisman had gone to find the missing Rachel Summers, Earth-Mover secretly caused a cave-in on them to prevent them from discovering the truth about its origins. After the cave in, Earth-Mover stumbled back to her room, weakened from over use of her powers but was found by Anodyne, who healed her. When it was later revealed that the Fire Fountain was killing Shaman and Snowbird by draining their mystical energy, Earth-Mover sided with the other Berserkers, who believed that the needs of the world outweighed the lives of two, and the Berserkers briefly fought some of the X-Men and Alpha Flight who disagreed. Loki soon interrupted their fight, revealing his hand in the Berserkers’ origins and was deemed unworthy by Those Who Sit Above in Shadow, prompting Loki to remove the “gifts” he had given the Berserkers, returning Dr. Chretien to normal. She then returned home with the others aboard Madelyne Pryor’s plane.

As Earth-Mover, Dr. Chretien could shape rock and earth at will.

--X-Men/Alpha Flight I#1 (2

Lord of the Plants

Phil Descard was a botanist and part of the environmental survey team onboard Madelyne Pryor’s plane when it crashed and all onboard were mutated by the mystical Fire Fountain. He was soon introduced to the X-Men and Alpha Flight, who had came to rescue Cyclops, whom they thought injured in the plane crash. Later, when a battle broke out between some of the X-Men and Alpha Flight, who had learned that the transformative Fire Fountain was killing Snowbird and Shaman by draining their mystical energy, and the Berserkers, who believed the needs of the world outweighed the lives of two, the Lord of the Plants battled Wolverine by summoning forth huge plants. Loki soon arrived and revealed his hand in the Berserkers’ origins, unleashing Asgardian Snow Giants upon the groups when Cyclops argued that Loki’s “gifts” should not be forced upon others. Lord of the Plants helped defeat the Snow Giants by entangling them in vines but Loki was soon deemed unworthy of power by Those Who Sit Above in Shadow and Loki removed the gifts he had bestowed, returning Phil Descard to normal. He then left the Arctic Circle with the others onboard Madelyne Pryor’s plane.

As the Lord of the Plants, Phil Descard could control and manipulate plant life.

--X-Men/Alpha Flight I#1 (2

Lorelord

Sam Ross was the loadmaster for Madelyne Pryor’s charter plane business and enjoyed reading when not busy. He was onboard the plane when it crashed and all present were mutated by the mystical Fire Fountain. Becoming Lorelord, a conduit for all written knowledge, Lorelord quickly learned that the Berserkers’ powers were coming at the cost of the world’s mystical energy. He soon met the X-Men and Alpha Flight when they arrived to check on Cyclops, whom they psychically saw crash, and showed the teams the Fire Fountain when Professor X asked how they had all been transformed. After Wolverine discovered that the Fountain was killing Alpha Flight’s Snowbird and Shaman, Lorelord revealed that he had known all along that the Fire Fountain would cost the world its mystical energy and would grow as it absorbed more energy. He subsequently joined the battle against some of the X-Men and Alpha Flight, who believed that the lives of Shaman and Snowbird should not be sacrificed for the good of the world. The battle was broke up by Loki, who revealed his hands in the Berserkers’ origins and summoned Asgardian Snow Giants to battle the three teams when Cyclops argued that Loki could not force his “gifts” on others. During the battle against the Giants, Lorelord was gravely injured, prompting Anodyne to swear allegiance to Loki in order to save Lorelord’s life. Restored by Anodyne’s powers, Lorelord was soon restored to normal when Loki removed the Berserkers’ powers in light of being deemed unworthy of the power of Those Who Sit Above in Shadow. Sam Ross then returned home aboard Madelyne Pryor’s plane.

As Lorelord, Sam Ross could channel all written knowledge through himself and access that knowledge at will.

--X-Men/Alpha Flight I#1 (2

Master Builder

Paul Domenic was an architect and part of the environmental survey team being taken to the Arctic Circle by Madelyne Pryor’s charter plane. He kept a sketchbook of all of his architectural designs and was soon mutated by Loki’s Fire Fountain into the Master Builder, able to shape and create building materials at will. After his mutation, Master Builder created a citadel for the Berserkers to live in but found his sketches had gotten progressively worse, eventually discarding his sketchbook in a nearby cave. He was soon introduced to the X-Men and Alpha Flight, who had arrived in the Arctic Circle to check on Cyclops, whom they psychically saw in the plane crash. He then accompanied the teams to the Fire Fountain, where Alpha Flight’s Heather Hudson was also mutated by its energies. When the revelation that the Fire Fountain was killing Snowbird and Shaman by draining their mystical energies, Master Builder sided with the other Berserkers in thinking that the world’s needs outweighed the lives of two and briefly battled some of the X-Men and Alpha Flight who disagreed. The battle was interrupted by both the revelation that the Berserkers’ powers cost them their creativity and the arrival of Loki, who revealed his hands in the Berserkers’ origins. Angry that his ability to create had been taken from him, Master Builder demanded to know what good his powers were if he could not design, to which Loki warned Master Builder to take care of his words. Loki was soon deemed unworthy of power from Those Who Sit Above in Shadow, prompting Loki to remove the “gifts” he had forced upon those present, effectively returning Paul Domenic to normal. He then left with the other survey team members onboard Madelyne Pryor’s plane.

As Master Builder, Paul Domenic could generate and shape building materials seemingly from nowhere.

--X-Men/Alpha Flight I#1 (2

Pathfinder

Nick Rodriguez was the navigator for Madelyne Pryor’s charter plane business and was present when the plane crashed and all onboard were mutated by the Fire Fountain. Gaining superhuman tracking abilities, Pathfinder soon met the X-Men and Alpha Flight and aided Wolverine in tracking down the missing Snowbird. After Wolverine was sent back to the citadel by Beastmaster, Pathfinder and Beastmaster continued their search for the dying Alpha Flight member. Wolverine soon learned of his deception and, more determined to find Snowbird than ever, found her just as Pathfinder and Beastmaster arrived at the same location. Unable to convince Wolverine to let them put Snowbird out of her misery, Pathfinder and Beastmaster battled Wolverine and Pathfinder was killed by the X-Man during the scuffle.

As Pathfinder, Nick Rodriguez had superhuman tracking abilities.

 

 

--X-Men/Alpha Flight I#1 (2

images: (without ads)
X-Men/Alpha Flight I#1, p32-33, pan3 (Berserkers group shot, main image)
X-Men/Alpha Flight I#1, p38, pan3 (Beastmaster)
X-Men/Alpha Flight I#1, p38, pan4 (Pathfinder)
X-Men/Alpha Flight I#1, p39, pan1 (Brawler)
X-Men/Alpha Flight I#1, p43, pan7 (Lorelord)
X-Men/Alpha Flight I#2, p19, pan1 (Cornucopia)
X-Men/Alpha Flight I#2, p23, pan4 (Master Builder)
X-Men/Alpha Flight I#2, p29, pan7 (Earth-Mover)
X-Men/Alpha Flight I#2, p29, pan8 (Lord of the Plants)

Appearances:
X-Men/Alpha Flight I#1 (December, 1985) – Chris Claremont (writer), Paul Smith, Bob Wiacek (art), Ann Nocenti, Denny O’Neil (editors)
X-Men/Alpha Flight I#2 (January, 1986) – Chris Claremont (writer), Paul Smith (pencils), Bob Wiacek & friends (inks), Ann Nocenti, Denny O’Neil (editors)

Last updated: 12/27/12.

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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