MERCEDES

Real Name: Mercedes (full name unrevealed, as is whether Mercedes is her first name or surname; it is probably, but not definitely, the former) 

Identity/Class: Unrevealed; probably mutant (see comments) 

Occupation: Unrevealed; presumably businesswoman (see comments)

Group Membership: Hellfire Club Inner Circle

Affiliations: Sebastian Shaw

Enemies: None

Known Relatives: None 

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Unrevealed

First Appearance: X-Men Legacy I#215 (October 2008)  

Powers/Abilities: Unrevealed.

History:  (X-Men Legacy I#215 fb - BTS) - Mercedes became involved with the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club (see Comments).

(X-Men Legacy I#215) - Mercedes attended an Inner Circle gathering in the Club's Manhattan mansion, where Sebastian Shaw wanted to turn the discussion away from the former Lord Imperial Roberto Da Costa's recent defection back to the X-Men and on to what he considered to be the real issue facing them (presumably accumulating power for the Inner Circle members). Shaw was interrupted by the belligerent cyborg member Castlemere, and Shaw, Mercedes and the other Inner Circle members present witnessed ambitious fellow member Turner attempt unsuccessfully to poison Castlemere, and be slain by Castlemere in turn. An unflustered Shaw called for calm, pragmatically noting that they now had two vacant places at the Circle to fill, but suggested an adjournment, to consider nominations with cooler heads at the next meeting. Mercedes noted that Shaw could exercise a moderating influence within the tempestuous group, yet he chose not to, seeming happy to let them drift towards open war. Smiling, Shaw informed her that a little war might be just what the group needed, to whet their appetites for the big one.  

Comments: Created by Mike Carey and Marko Checchetto.

We got to know very little about Mercedes beyond her membership of the Inner Circle, as she only appeared in two panels. Her rank , if any, within the Inner Circle is unrevealed; some sites online identify her as either a Black Queen or White Queen, but those are pure supposition based it seems purely on her being a woman, and hence leaping to the conclusion that she must be a Queen. Neither option is even suggested in the comic itself, and given her choice of black clothing, White Queen seems pretty unlikely. She might be the Black Queen, but truthfully it isn't even clear whether she is an Inner Circle member; she's dressed in garb very similar to past Inner Circle Queens, but past female staff members have also adopted that look, most notably Tessa (Sage) when she was working as Shaw's aide. Shaw's willingness to admit that he is letting the Inner Circle fight one another might well be evidence that Mercedes has taken up Tessa's old job; alternatively, she might well just be an Inner Circle member he views as an ally. If she's a member then she was probably an influential businesswoman of some type, since that seems to be one of the main requirements for being offered membership.

She may also have been a mutant, since many Inner Circle members were during this era, but that's by no means certain. Assuming nothing happened to remove her from the club earlier, she was presumably ousted or killed prior to X-Men: Schism #2, when a group of elderly men where running the group and informed Kade Kilgore that they had purged the Inner Circle of mutants; even if Mercedes wasn't a mutant, the new Inner Circle despised their predecessors, and so she would have been for the chop. Fittingly, the old men got purged that same issue, by Kade Kilgore and his new Inner Circle.

A few online sites have conflated Mercedes, who appeared for the first and last time in X-Men Legacy I#215, with another Inner Circle member who debuted in X-Men Legacy I#217. Unfortunately for those that have, they are clearly not the same person:

  1. Mercedes is an apparent ally of Sebastian Shaw; the female member in XML #217 was working with Castlemere to oust Shaw. It is certainly possible that Mercedes was being duplicitous when dealing with Shaw, but it is still evidence against them being the same person.
  2. Much more tellingly, here's a picture of Mercedes (right, dark-haired) next to the #217 female (left, white-haired). Again, it is feasible that between issues Mercedes decided to give herself a major makeover and bleached her hair, but it seems more likely they were intended to be different women.
  3. And the clincher: The script of X-Men Legacy I#217 provides the white-haired woman's name. She's Sandra Morgan, a.k.a. Tithe, not Mercedes.

Profile by Loki.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Mercedes has no known connections to

images:
X-Men Legacy I#215, p11, pan6 (main image)
X-Men Legacy I#215, p11, pan6 / X-Men Legacy I#217, p18, panel 4 (Mercedes and Tithe comparison)

X-Men Legacy I#215 (October 2008) - Mike Carey (writer), Marko Checchetto (pencils and inks, Hellfire Club scene)

Last updated: 04/14/13

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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