WAR
Real Name: Abraham Lincoln Kieros
Identity/Class: Human mutant
Occupation: Veteran;
formerly Horseman of War;
formerly soldier
Group Membership: None;
formerly Horsemen
of Apocalypse (Death/Warren Worthington III, Death/Caliban Famine/Autumn
Rolfson, Pestilence/Plague), United States Army
Affiliations: Apocalypse (En Sabah Nur), Mr. Sinister (Nathaniel Essex)
Enemies: Morlocks (Ape, Beautiful Dreamer, Chicken Wings, Erg, Feral/Maria Callasantos, Healer, Masque, Mole), New Mutants (Boom-Boom/Tabitha Smith, Cannonball/Sam Guthrie, Magik/Illyana Rasputin, Psyche/Dani Moonstar, Rictor/Julio Rictor, Rusty/Russell Collins, Skids/Sally Blevins, Sunspot/Roberto Da Costa, Warlock, Wolfsbane/Rahne Sinclair), X-Factor (Beast/Hank McCoy, Cyclops/Scott Summers, Iceman/Bobby Drake, Marvel Girl/Jean Grey), X-Men (Archangel/Warren Worthington III, Beast/Hank McCoy, Colossus/Piotr Rasputin, Quicksilver/Pietro Maximoff, Storm/Ororo Munroe)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: "Ole Abe" (nickname used by V.A. doctor)
Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
formerly a New York
City hospital, New York;
formerly Apocalypse's
chalet, San Diego, California;
formerly a warehouse
near Chesapeake Bay, New York
formerly Apocalypse's
remote mountain hideout;
formerly Apocalypse's
Celestial Ship;
formerly Veterans
Administration Hospital, Atlanta, Georgia;
formerly Athens, Georgia
First Appearance: X-Factor I#11 (December, 1986)
Powers/Abilities: Abraham Kieros possesses the
mutant ability to greatly amplify kinetic forces with destructive
effects. He usually focuses his powers through his hands: by clapping,
he generates a shockwave that radiates outward, hitting everything in
sight. Kieros can control the effect and potency of these kinetic shockwaves,
focussing on specific targets and even causing objects to explode on
impact. As War, his mutant abilities were greatly increased by
Apocalypse through the use of Celestial technology.
History:
(X-Factor I#11 (fb) - BTS) - Georgia native Abraham Lincoln Kieros served as a soldier with the U.S. army. He suffered extensive injuries during a conflict in Asia which left him quadriplegic, paralyzed from the neck down. He wound up in an "iron lung" machine, at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia.
(X-Factor I#11) - Apocalypse, in search of people worthy
of becoming his Horsemen, learned of Kieros and paid him a visit. He assured
the paralyzed soldier that he had great power, which Abraham scoffed at.
What good is having things explode when you clap your hands if you can't
even move them? Apocalypse promised to transform Kieros into War, his
second Horseman and teleported the two of them away, with Abraham still
inside the iron lung machine that sustained his life.
(X-Factor I#15 - BTS) - Apocalypse used the
technologies of the Celestials to create a suit of armor that restored
Kieros' ability to move. He then turned the man himself into his
servant War. Kieros also met two of En Sabah Nur's new recruits: the
elderly Morlock Plague who became Pestilence and the anorexic mutant
teen Autumn Rolfson who adopted the Famine identity.
(X-Factor I#15) - Apocalypse's Celestial ship hovered over Manhattan,
rendered invisible thanks to Space God technology. Apocalypse summoned
War and the others, telling them the time was ripe to pluck their
fourth member.
(X-Factor I#15 - BTS) - Apocalypse secretly abducted Warren
Worthington, who had become traumatized in recent times after losing
his wings following a fight with the Marauders.
(X-Factor I#17) - War and the other Horsemen watched Warren on board
Apocalypse's Celestial Ship. Famine wasn't too impressed with this
latest recruit, commenting that he looked like a drowned cat.
Apocalypse shot back that appearances can be deceiving, after all not
many would see an instrument of destruction in her when she was still
a skinny teen. But Apocalypse did and he now saw similar potential in
Worthington.
(X-Factor I#19) - War and Famine got into a heated argument when
Kieros was sitting down to eat and his anorexic teammate warned him
that he'd soon be too fat to squeeze into his armor, let alone walk.
She then added that she could hardly believe Apocalypse chose him for
a Horseman which angered Abraham tremendously. He smashed the dinner
table and threatened that "no ugly skeleton girl" was going to stop
him. Furious at being called ugly, Famine used her powers to rot away
the hamburger War was about to have. In retaliation, Kieros clapped
his hands at her. Apocalypse encouraged Pestilence to intervene and
break up the fight, which she did with a mere touch. Not eager to have
half of his underlings die, Apocalypse injected them with the
antidote. He then sent all three to face off against X-Factor, while
he continued work on the fourth Horseman, Death. The three Horsemen
mounted their flying beasts and attacked X-Factor in their New York
headquarters. War thought himself in command, barking orders as they
approached their enemies. However, Famine told him he wasn't the boss
of them and attacked on her own. Annoyed, he used his hand claps to
cause part of the builing to collapse on Beast, Iceman and the
visiting Caliban. When Iceman tried to move the fight to Central Park,
figuring they'd have more space there, War exploded his iceslide.
Eventually reaching the park, Cyclops and Jean Grey joined the fight,
but War's armor proved impervious to Cyclops's optic blasts. War then
spotted a newshelicopter (with Trish Tilby on board) which gave him a
flashback to Vietnam, where the media also turned the war into an
event. Vengeful, he caused the copter to crash, forcing Jean Grey to
use her telekinesis to save them. Figuring the odds were against them,
Cyclops ordered Iceman to push his power to the limit and flash freeze
War and the other two Horsemen. He complied but moments after that,
all the Horsemen were teleported back to Apocalypse, who figured this
encounter had taught his underlings the benefits of teamwork far
better than he'd ever could. Soon, with the fourth and final Horseman
joining them, they'd try again.
(X-Factor I#21) - Apocalypse and his Horsemen, including Death,
watched from the undetectable Celestial ship how X-Factor's former
public relations manager Cameron Hodge
openly denounced mutants on
live television. Apocalypse was delighted, calling Hodge a human of
rare conviction, narrow passions and poisonous hatred... all in all an
adversary worthy to test the strength of mutantkind.
(X-Factor I#22) - War, Pestilence and Famine attended the first full
test of Death's capabilities since the construction of his new wings
had been completed. War and the others weren't too impressed at first,
figuring that wings merely meant he could fly, which is what they all
could do on their beasts in addition to their actual powers. Just
then, Death took wing and destroyed the obstacle course Apocalypse had
set out for him within seconds. En Sabah Nur was more than satisfied,
though the other horsemen were visibly taken aback by Death's
destructive potential.
(X-Factor I#23) - Apocalypse monitored X-Factor's struggle against
Cameron Hodge and the Right, realizing that while the anti-mutant
group was indirectly serving his goals by testing the mutants' mettle,
they might inadvertently end up killing them. He then turned his
attention to another matter: in order to determine who of his four
horsemen would be allowed to lead the group, he had them fight each
other. Within moments, War, Pestilence and Famine were overcome and
defeated by Death who used his strength, speed and techno-organic
wings to achieve victory. Death whizzed by Death, using his razor
sharp wings to disable the body armor that allowed Kieros to move. He
then went on to incapacitate the other two. Pleased, Apocalypse
announced Death was the horsemen's new leader.
(Wolverine II#147 (fb) ) - War had a talk
with Death, curious to find if the latest Horseman believed the
transformation had been worth it. Kieros himself felt that regaining
his ability to walk was worth anything, even becoming a Horseman of
Apocalype.
(X-Factor I#23) - Not too long after the
leadership battle, Apocalypse decided it was time to make his move:
he ordered his horsemen to stand ready for X-Factor's true testing. He
then used Celestial technology to kidnap the mutants, including
Caliban, teleporting them to his Celestial Ship.
(X-Factor I#24) - The members of X-Factor were surprised to suddenly
find themselves in unfamiliar surroundings. Apocalypse showed himself
to offer insights on their present location, as well as a brief
account of his origin, before attacking X-Factor. Following a brief,
violent battle Apocalypse ended the confrontation by officially
introducing Pestilence, War and Famine who donned their golden masks
and attacked. X-Factor first managed to beat War, while Apocalypse
observed and commented that it was a natural cycle. Then, Famine tried
to defeat Iceman only to wind up flash frozen. Pestilence finally
faced Beast, surprised he had survived their previous encounter. Beast
managed to knock out Pestilence from a distance, using a piece of
pillar he had broken off. But the team was ill prepared for the
arrival of Death, who they almost immediately recognized as their old
teammate Warren. Death knocked X-Factor out with considerable ease.
And, while the mutants were put in restraints aboard Apocalypse's
ship, War and the other Horsemen readied themselves to begin the
Apocalypse mandated culling of Manhattan.
(X-Factor I#25) - The helpless X-Factor
team was forced to watch how War and the other Horsemen rained death and
destruction on an unsuspecting Manhattan. High up in the sky, astride on
his mount,War kept clapping his hands, sending out destructive waves of
force.
(X-Factor I#25 - BTS) - Beast managed to free X-Factor by disabling the
belt buckle that kept Iceman's powers in check. Bobby instantly and
rather inadvertently produced enough ice to free himself. After briefly
fighting off Apocalypse, X-Factor escaped and started to pursue the
Horsemen.
(Daredevil I#252) - The arrival of the Horsemen in Manhattan was noticed
by a great number of New Yorkers. In Hell's Kitchen, the effect of War's
thunderclaps were felt when several buildings collapsed, including the
local precinct.
(X-Factor I#25) - Cyclops caught up with War in Central
Park, where the Horseman made a point to destroy a military monument.
After a brief fight, Cyclops became convinced that the Horsemen were
every bit as loyal to Apocalypse as he and his teammates were to
Professor Xavier. Just then, War was called back to Apocalypse's ship to
assist En Sabah Nur in fighting Beast and Iceman who had remained on
board. However, Iceman's freeze blasts disabled Kieros' armor, greatly
restricting his mobility. He nevertheless tried to move his hands
together. The newly arrived Jean Grey noticed this right in time and
telekinetically shoved War in the path of Death, who had also returned
to Apocalypse's vessel. War kept trying to get involved in the fight,
but a simple iceblast rendered him largely incapacitated. When X-Factor
managed to break Apocalypse's hold over Death (by
pretending he had killed his best friend Iceman), Apocalypse
decided it was time to leave. He teleported War away and flew off with
Caliban who had agreed to serve him. Apocalypse left X-Factor his ship
as a parting gift, figuring the mysteries of the vessel would test the
team.
(X-Factor I#26) - War was reunited with Apocalypse and
Caliban in another one of his strongholds. Apocalypse then used his
teleportation technology to retrieve Famine, who had been
destroying farmland and crops in what was collectively called America's
breadbasket. Together, they watched how X-Factor attempted to cope with
being in command of the giant Ship they'd "inherited". The vessel only
allowed mutants to enter it, which Apocalypse was sure would lead to strife
and conflict. However, in the days that followed, Apocalypse was
surprised to learn X-Factor had won mankind's trust and that they were
being honored with a parade for their assistance in protecting New York
City. Still, he was sure that the Ship's power would ultimately corrupt
the team and make the common man envious.
(X-Factor I#27) - Apocalypse, War and the others continued to observe X-Factor from their remote mountain hideout. En Sabah Nur was especially delighted when the Ship finished its self repair sequence on Christmas Eve, remarking that the vessel had improved itself in the process. He ominously mentioned that X-Factor would soon be tempted to explore his "gift", before leading War and his other Horsemen in raising a glass and wishing the team a merry Christmas.
(X-Men Legends I#11) - Following the loss of Death and Pestilence, Apocalypse was looking for replacement Horsemen. The surviving Famine and War ridiculed Caliban's suggestion to recruit among the surviving Morlocks. Eager to show them Morlocks were indeed worthy, Apocalypse's hound forcibly made them accompany him into the tunnels. Arriving via teleportation, they were spotted by several Morlocks (Ape, Beautiful Dreamer, Chicken Wings and Mole) who mistook the trio for Marauders and fled. Caliban went off on his own to track more powerful Morlock, but War and Famine managed to capture Ape and Dreamer and began torturing them to pass the time. Meanwhile Chicken Wings and Mole ran into the New Mutants during their escape. The team agreed to help them and arrived to stop War and Famine from killing Ape and Dreamer. However, they were no real match for Apocalypse's forces. Famine instantly drained Cannonball and Wolfsbane of their energies while War took down everyone but Boom-Boom and Rictor with his kinetic shockwaves.
(X-Men Legends I#11 - BTS) - Using his enhanced hound senses, Caliban located Erg, Feral, Masque and Healer but before he could make contact with them, he felt the impact of War's sonic boom, which threatened to destabilize the Tunnels.
(X-Men Legends I#11) - Caliban returned to War and Famine and pleaded with them to stop the senseless assault. The Horsemen refused to take orders from "Apocalypse's jumped-up pet" and turned on him, planning to destroy the Tunnels and burying him and the others in the rubble. Danielle Moonstar fought back by manifesting War's biggest fear, which allowed Erg, Feral, Masque and Healer to arrive and join the fight. Erg successfully defeated Famine with his electrically-charged eye-blast while Masque took out War by gruesomely rearranging his face. Still loyal to Apocalypse, Caliban made his offer to the Morlocks and the New Mutants, but found no takers. Before Masque could turn against his former Morlock ally, Caliban teleported himself and the Horsemen back to the Ship where they found Apocalypse waiting for them. En Sabah Nur had witnessed the confrontation and ordered Caliban to take the injured Horsemen to the restoration chambers, adding that from now on Caliban was to hunt alone.
(Uncanny X-Men I#294 - BTS) - Eager to get his hands on Cyclops and Phoenix's DNA, Mr. Sinister posed as the recently deceased Apocalypse and sought out his Horsemen War, Famine and Caliban, now known as Death. He ordered them to retrieve the two mutants.
(Uncanny X-Men I#294) - Caliban used his tracking ability to locate Scott and Jean in Salem Center's pub Harry Hideaway. He immediately attacked them, which caught the attention of Colossus and Iceman who had just finished grocery shopping. Before they could aid their teammates, War and Famine arrived on the scene and attacked the mutants. Famine tried to use her starvation powers on Colossus, but because the Russian powerhouse doesn't require food in his armored form she was forced to feed on herself. War grew enraged and charged Colossus, who knocked the Horseman out with a single blow. Caliban meanwhile had overpowered Jean and Scott, their objective completed, the Horsemen were teleported away.
(X-Factor I#84) - War, Famine and Death delivered Scott
and Jean to "Apocalypse", he thanked them and sent the Horsemen away.
(X-Force I#16 - BTS) - War, Famine and Death returned to a
warehouse near the Chesapeake Bay where they were soon "visited" by the
X-Men who traced them down using Cerebro. They quickly defeated Famine,
Caliban and (presumably) War (see
comments).
(Uncanny X-Men I#295 - BTS) - The X-Men, convinced
Apocalypse was behind the kidnapping of Scott and Jean, took War, Famine
and Death along with them while they travelled to San Diego where the
villain had a chalet.
(Uncanny X-Men I#295) - As luck would have it, the X-Men did not have to wait long for Apocalypse to show up in his San Diego hideout. They presented the severely weakened Apocalypse (he had been forced out of hibernation prematurely) with his henchmen before attacking him. In the end, they were convinced En Sabah Nur had nothing to do with the abduction of their teammates.
(Wolverine II#147 (fb) - BTS) - At an unrevealed point, Abraham Kieros lost his Horseman powers and gear. Without the armor to support his broken body, he became completely paralyzed again and even lost the ability to speak. Kieros was cared for at a New York hospital.
(Wolverine II#147) - Following a fight against Wolverine, who had become the Horseman Death, Archangel's powers flared up, briefly gaining the ability to heal. He was drawn to the plight of Kieros and visited him at the hospital. Worthington healed his former fellow Horseman, who was understandably emotional and thanked Archangel for giving him hope.
Comments: Created by Louise Simonson, Walter Simonson and Bob Wiacek.
The X-Men only fought Famine and Death in X-Force
I#16, making it a special point that they couldn't find War.
Yet, Kieros was seen among the other captured Horsemen in the
following issue. Maybe he was just outside, stretching his legs?
The Louise Simonson penned story in X-Men Legends I#11 takes place before the events of New Mutants I#77. It's a little odd to see War and Famine balk at the idea of making a Morlock a member of the Horsemen when you consider that the original Pestilence was the elderly Morlock Plague.
Profile by Norvo.
CLARIFICATIONS:
War should not be confused with
images: (without ads)
X-Factor I#25, p13, pan2 (main image)
X-Factor I#11, p16, pans3,4,5,6 (recruited by Apocalypse)
X-Factor I#15, p17, pan3 (first outfit)
X-Factor I#24, p8, pans7-8 (transformed from Abraham to Horseman)
X-Force I#25, p25, pan2 (ready to strike)
X-Factor I#84, p22, pan1 (with Death and Famine)
Wolverine II#147, p21, pans5-6 (healed by Archangel)
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Update '89#1, Apocalypse's Horsemen entry (War Handbook image)
Appearances:
X-Factor I#11 (December 1986) - Louise Simonson (writer), Walter
Simonson (pencils), Bob Wiacek (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
X-Factor I#15 (April, 1987) - Louise
Simonson (writer), Walter Simonson (pencils), Bob Wiacek (inks), Bob
Harras (editor)
X-Factor I#17 (June, 1987) - Louise Simonson
(writer), Walter Simonson (pencils), Bob Wiacek (inks), Bob Harras
(editor)
X-Factor I#19 (August, 1987) - Louise
Simonson (writer), Walter Simonson (pencils), Bob Wiacek (inks), Bob
Harras (editor)
X-Factor I#21 (October, 1987) - Louise
Simonson (writer), Walter Simonson (pencils), Bob Wiacek (inks), Bob
Harras (editor)
X-Factor I#22 (November, 1987) - Louise
Simonson (writer), Sal Buscema (pencils), Bob Wiacek (inks), Bob
Harras (editor)
X-Factor I#23 (December, 1987) - Louise
Simonson (writer), Walter Simonson (pencils), Bob Wiacek (inks), Bob
Harras (editor)
X-Factor I#24 (January, 1988) - Louise Simonson (writer), Walter Simonson (pencils), Bob
Wiacek (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
X-Factor
I#25 (February, 1988) - Louise Simonson
(writer), Walter Simonson (pencils), Bob Wiacek (inks), Bob
Harras (editor)
Daredevil I#252 (March, 1988) - Ann Nocenti (writer), John
Romita Jr. (pencils), Al Williamson (inks), Ralph Macchio
(editor)
X-Factor I#26 (March, 1988) - Louise
Simonson (writer), Walter Simonson (pencils), Bob Wiacek
(inks), Bob Harras (editor)
X-Factor
I#27 (April, 1988) - Louise
Simonson (writer), Walter Simonson (pencils), Bob
Wiacek (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#294 (November, 1992) - Scott Lobdell (writer), Brandon
Peterson (pencils), Terry Austin (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
X-Factor I#84 (November, 1992) - Peter David (writer), Jae Lee
(pencils), Al Milgrom (inks), Kelly Corvese (editor)
X-Force I#16 (November, 1992) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Greg Capullo
(pencils), Harry Candelario (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#295 (December, 1992) - Scott
Lobdell (writer), Brandon Peterson (pencils), Terry Austin (inks), Bob
Harras (editor)
Wolverine II#147 (February, 2000) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Erik Larsen
(pencils), Roger Cruz (inks), Mark Powers (editor)
X-Men Legends I#11 (February, 2022) - Louise Simonson (writer), Walter Simonson (pencils, inks), Mark Basso (editor)
First Posted: 12/01/2014
Last Updated: 04/25/2023
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
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