MARAUDERS

Membership: None, disbanded;
    formerly Arclight (Philippa Sontag), Blockbuster (Michael Baer), Chimera, Exodus (Bennet du Paris), Frenzy (Joanna Cargill), Gambit (Remy LeBeau), Harpoon (Kodiak Noatak), Lady Mastermind (Regan Wyngarde), Malice, Mystique (Raven Darkholme), Prism (Robbie), Random (Marshall Stone), Riptide (Janos Quested), Sabretooth (Victor Creed), Scalphunter (John Greycrow), Scrambler (Kim Il Sung), Sunfire (Shiro Yoshida), Tempo (Heather Tucker), Unuscione (Carmella Unuscione), Vanisher ("Telford Porter"), Vertigo

Purpose: Unrevealed, former servants of Magneto for the benefit of mutant-kind, former servants of Mr. Sinister, assassins

Aliases: Emissaries of En Sabah Nur, Marauders of the Underground

Affiliations: Bushwacker (Carl Burbank), Magneto (Max Eisenhardt), Mr. Sinister (Nathaniel Essex), Madelyne Pryor
      formerly Susan Hatchi (Da'o Coy Manh), Threnody (Melody Jacobs)

Enemies: Abomination (Emil Blonsky), Apocalypse (En Sabah Nur), Bishop (Lucas Bishop), Blaquesmith, Cable (Nathan Summers), Courier (Jacob Gavin Jr.), Nelson Cragg, Daredevil (Matt Murdock), Dark Mother (Fiona Knoblach), Domina, Fatboys (Butch, Darla), Gateway, Hellions (Empath/Manuel de la Rocha, Havok/Alex Summers, Nanny, Orphan-Maker/Peter, Psylocke/Kwannon, Scalphunter /John Greycrow, Wild Child/Kyle Gibney), Herr Hitzig, Artie Maddicks, Irene Merryweather, Morlocks (Annalee, Ape, Beautiful Dreamer, Berzerker, Bliss, Blowhard, Caliban, Callisto, Chickenwings, Cybelle, Erg, Jared Flyn, Healer, Leech, Lightning Bug, Marrow, Masque, Mole, Piper, Plague, Tar Baby, Tommy, Scaleface, Sunder, Zeek and unrevealed others), New Mutants (Cannonball/Sam Guthrie, Mirage/Danielle Moonstar, Sunspot/Roberto Da Costa, Warlock, Wolfsbane/Rahne Sinclair), New X-Men (Anole/Victor Borkowski, Armor/Hisako Ichiki, Blindfold/Ruth Aldine, Dust/Sooraya Qadir, Elixir/Josh Foley, Hellion/Julian Keller, Mercury/Cessily Kincaid, Pixie/Megan Gwynn, Prodigy/David Alleyne, Rockslide/Santo Vaccarro, Surge/Noriko Ashida, X-23/Laura Kinney), New York teenagers (Bob, Jake, Raphael and others), Nimrod Sentinels of Reality-1610, Power Pack (Destroyer/Alex Power, Molecula/Julie Power, Jack Power, Starstreak/Katie Power, Tattletale/Franklin Richards), Predator X, Purifiers, Quiet Bill (William Kimpton), Briar Raleigh, Illyana Rasputin, the Right, Richard Salmons, San Francisco Police Department (Detective Harry, Sabrina Morrel), Sentinel Squad O∗N∗E, S.H.I.E.L.D., Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Strucker family, Hope Summers, Thor, X-Man (Nate Grey), Threnody (Melody Jacobs), X-Men (Angel/Warren Worthington III, Banshee/Sean Cassidy, Beast/Hank McCoy, Chamber/Jono Starsmore, Cannonball/Sam Guthrie, Colossus/Piotr Rasputin, Cyclops/Scott Summers, Dazzler/Alison Blaire, Emma Frost, Gambit/Remy LeBeau, Havok/Alex Summers, Hope/Hope Summers, Iceman/Robert Drake, Juggernaut/Cain Marko, Karma/Xuân Cao Mạnh, Longshot, Magik/Illyana Rasputin, Magneto/Max Eisenhardt, Mirage/Danielle Moonstar, Multiple Man/Jamie Madrox, Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner, Northstar/Jean-Paul Beaubier, Omega Sentinel/Karima Shapander, Professor X/Charles Xavier, Psylocke/Betsy Braddock, Cecilia Reyes, Rogue/Anna Marie, Shadowcat/Kitty Pryde, Storm/Ororo Munroe, Warbird/Ava'Dara Naganandini, Wolverine/James "Logan" Howlett), X-Factor (Angel/Warren Worthington III, Beast/Hank McCoy, Cyclops/Scott Summers, Iceman/Robert Drake, Marvel Girl/Jean Grey), X-Factor Investigations (M/Monet St. Croix, Siryn/Terry Cassidy, Strong Guy/Guido Carosella), X-Force (Archangel/Warren Worthington III, Domino/Neena Thurman, Elixir/Josh Foley, Hepzibah, Warpath/James Proudstar, Wolfsbane/Rahne Sinclair, Wolverine/James "Logan" Howlett, X-23/Laura Kinney), Vargas, Weapon X (Marrow/Sarah, Garrison Kane, Sauron/Karl Lykos, Washout/John Lopez), Witness;
      formerly Goblin Queen (Madelyne Pryor), Vanisher (Telford Porter)

Base of Operations: Genosha;
     formerly Kitakyushu smelting plant, Japan;
     formerly Muir Island;
     formerly Dominion Range, Antarctica;
     formerly The Alley, Morlock Tunnels beneath New York City;
     formerly old orphanage, Sage, Nebraska

First Appearance: (BTS) Uncanny X-Men I#193 (May, 1985); (in shadows) Uncanny X-Men I#210 (October, 1986); (fully seen) Uncanny X-Men I#211 (November, 1986)

History:

(Uncanny X-Men I#212 (fb) - BTS) - Mr. Sinister prepared for a plan that didn't allow for wild cards like the Morlocks and wanted to assemble a team to resolve the issue.

(Uncanny X-Men I#350 (fb) / X-Men Origins: Gambit) - Mr. Sinister hired Gambit to assemble a group of mercenaries to break into an impenetrable community, in exchange for this Sinister had performed an operation on the mutant so he could control his abilities again.

(X-Men Origins: Gambit) - Gambit travelled to all corners of the world to find all kind of mercenaries; in a jungle he persuaded Arclight to join who was willing to do violence but no sex. Sabretooth gave Gambit one minute to talk threatening to rip out his throat. Gambit located Riptide in his home who, while reading a book was fascinated hearing the name Essex. Scalphunter was willing to hear him out but would walk if he heard something he wouldn't like. Gambit had more trouble locating Scrambler, finally wrestling the Korean to the floor in a club until he gave in. When Gambit approached a destitute Vertigo she asked if she'd get money in return.

(X-Men Origins: Gambit) - Sometime later Mr. Sinister presented the assembled team of Marauders (minus Prism and Blockbuster) to Gambit. Mr. Sinister revealed his plans to the Marauders who all agreed, Gambit was kept in the dark concerning their mission.

(Uncanny X-Men I#350 (fb) / X-Men Origins: Gambit) - Once the Marauders had been assembled Mr. Sinister wanted Gambit for one last job that would require his specific talent to get into secluded areas, he agreed to do this one job.

(X-Men Origins: Gambit - BTS) - Prism and Blockbuster joined the Marauders.

(Uncanny X-Men I#193 - BTS) - Acting on Mr. Sinister's standing orders, the Marauder Scalphunter anonymously killed Annalee's children. Their bodies were discovered by Sunder and the other Morlocks, who returned them to the Alley where Annalee was.

(X-Factor I#38 (fb) - BTS) - Mr. Sinister hired Pryor to fly a cargo to San Francisco, at the last minute she decided to bring her baby.

(Uncanny X-Men I#215 (fb)) - Mr. Sinister tasked Arclight and Scalphunter to kill Madelyne Pryor and kidnap her baby, Sinister had created Pryor as a clone from Jean Grey. Dressed as ambulance personnel Arclight and Scalphunter were on hand at San Francisco's International Airport where Madelyne Pryor crash landed the cargo. After they took Pryor aboard the van she suddenly realized she was missing her baby, causing her to panic and hit Arclight in the face. Pryor busted the doors of the ambulance and tried to flee with the Marauders hot on her tail.

(X-Factor I#38 (fb)) - Prism and Harpoon joined the hunt for Pryor.

(Uncanny X-Men I#215 (fb)) - Once the Marauders found Pryor it was Scalphunter who shot her, believing she was dead they returned to Sinister with the baby. Pryor, however survived the shot and wound up in San Francisco's General Hospital.

(Uncanny X-Men I#210 (fb) - BTS) - A group of Marauders followed one of the Morlocks across the country to Los Angeles, the young Morlock known as Tommy thought it to be a great adventure to wander across the whole country. During her travel the Morlock had met and befriended Hellfire Club agent Richard Salmons. It was during this time the Marauders made their presence known, Salmons did his best to protect Tommy and the two managed to flee.

(Uncanny X-Men I#210) - While at Los Angeles' train depot the Marauders caught up with Tommy and Richard. Harpoon successfully hit Salmons in the back with one of his spears, paralyzing the Hellfire agent. Clinging on to dear life, Salmons asked Tommy to reach for his gun figuring they would only stand a chance together. But the petrified Tommy was too scared and ran away. Helpless against the Marauders Salmons threatened his assaulters saying the Hellfire Club would avenge him. While holding a gun to his head Scalphunter replied they were welcome to try as they would receive the same treatment after which he killed the agent. The Marauders allowed Tommy to escape and witnessed how she boarded one of the trains to New York hoping to return to the safety of the sewers and her fellow Morlocks. Some of the Marauders wanted to kill her now, but they agreed to follow Mr. Sinister's plan and allow the girl to lead them to the other Morlocks.

(Uncanny X-Men I#210) - In San Francisco one of the Marauders, the psionic entity known as Malice had tracked down Dazzler (Alison Blaire) who, in the band of Lila Cheney was touring the States. Just when Alison was washing her face in the tour bus Malice appeared in the mirror, pronouncing she was the real Alison, the star. Malice then jumped from the mirror to attack Alison. To defend herself Alison generated an intense light blast after which Malice had seemingly disappeared, thinking it a mere hallucination she continued without noticing she was now wearing a black necklace/choker with a silver medallion.

(Uncanny X-Men I#210) - Just when the Morlock Tommy had returned to the Morlock tunnels in New York City and thought herself safe, she was hit in the back by one of Harpoon's spears. Tommy lay paralyzed on the ground and the Marauders revealed she'd just led them to the Morlocks after which Scalphunter finished her off.

(Uncanny X-Men I#350 (fb) / X-Men Origins: Gambit) - Gambit, still not fully realizing what the Marauders were about to do, led them into the Morlock Tunnels.

(X-Men Origins: Gambit) - When Sabretooth killed the first Morlock they came across Gambit was shocked and asked Scalphunter why they'd come to the tunnels. Scalphunter told the cajun he'd done what he was hired to do.

(Uncanny X-Men I#350 (fb) / X-Men Origins: Gambit) - Realizing what they intended to do Gambit tried to stop the Marauders but once Vertigo weakened him Sabretooth grabbed Gambit by the throat. Sabretooth gutted the cajun and left him for dead while the Marauders moved on.

(X-Factor I#9 - BTS) - Young Artie Maddicks, living in the X-Factor complex at the time, used his psionic projection powers to witness how the Marauders killed Tommy. Since Artie also saw Rusty Collins and Skids fleeing into the Morlock Tunnels to avoid Freedom Force, he decided to go after them but not before leaving a message for X-Factor.

(Uncanny X-Men I#211) - The Marauders had found their way into the Morlock tunnels where they ran into a first group of mutants living close to the tunnels entrance. Scalphunter shot several Morlocks after which the fast spinning Riptide killed several others using his throwing stars. Scrambler's ability to disrupt a mutant's power disabled the powers of a Morlock who'd withstood both Scalphunter and Riptide's attacks, leaving the Morlock vulnerable to a lethal bullet courtesy of Scalphunter. The Morlock Cybelle tried to escape through a wall, but the super strong Arclight simply ripped the wall apart so Harpoon could hit Cybelle with one of his energy harpoons. Cybelle's death scream scream attracted the attention of Callisto, former leader of the Morlocks, who rallied her underlings and ordered them to kill the assassins. Some Morlocks like Piper, also summoned sewer creatures like bats and alligators to fight on their behalf. However, this was just what the Marauders had hoped for. As soon as the bulk of the Morlock forces were in position, Vertigo psionically disoriented them, after which Arclight created a huge shockwave that took most of them out.

(Uncanny X-Men I#211 - BTS) - Despite his injuries, a giant, mole-like Morlock escaped the tunnels and managed to make it to the home of the X-Men to warn Storm, who was leader of the Morlocks, of the ongoing massacre. He died moments after sharing the news, which convinced the X-Men of the severity of the Morlock's claims. They immediately sprang into action.

(X-Factor I#10) - The full team of Marauders reached the huge central shaft of the tunnels called the Alley, where most of the Morlocks lived. There, the assassins struck the mutant community at it's hardest. Seeing their friends killed by the Marauders caused chaos and upheaval, causing Morlocks to flee into several smaller tunnels. Arclight and Harpoon followed the Morlocks Erg, Zeek and Beautiful Dreamer down one tunnel. Harpoon killed Zeek, but the other two were saved by Cyclops, Iceman and Beast of X-Factor, who had come down into the tunnels to look for their wards Rusty Collins and Skids. Encountering the assassins, the highly experienced heroes wasted no time and attacked Arclight and Harpoon. Realizing they were too strong Arclight brought down the ceiling, blocking the tunnel. In another part of the tunnels little Artie Maddicks tried to get his newfound friends Leech and Caliban to safety but they were attacked by Sabretooth. Artie hid away in a sewer pipe while Sabretooth slashed Caliban to pieces, only to be stopped by Cyclops, Iceman and Beast. The Marauder was seemingly taken down with a single optical blast. Mistakenly figuring Caliban was dead, the heroes decided to move on and help others. Not too long after that, Sabretooth's healing factor kicked in and he regained consciousness. Ready to finish off Caliban, Sabretooth was furious to find Artie and Leech had already rescued Caliban by dragging him into a pipe that was too small for Sabretooth to follow them into. Back in the Alley, Blockbuster and Vertigo were about to kill Ape and Tar Baby but Cyclops, Iceman and Beast intervened. They managed to knock Vertigo unconscious, causing Blockbuster to grab her and flee the scene. The X-Factor members then decided to save the four refugees and bring them back to their headquarters even though they had yet to find Artie. Meanwhile in another part of the tunnels Sabretooth had picked up the scent of the elderly Morlock Plague. He found she wasn't intimidated by him, even using her disease bringing powers to give him a hard time. However, she was about to be killed from a distance by Harpoon, until the immortal Apocalypse arrived and intervened on her behalf. Impressed by Plague, he took down Harpoon and offered to make her one of his four Horsemen. She accepted the offer and both of them disappeared from the tunnels.

(X-Men Unlimited I#18/2 (fb)) - The young Morlock Sarah (later known as Marrow) was horrified when Sabretooth, Riptide and Scalphunter murdered many of the Morlocks in the tunnels.

(New Mutants: Lethal Legion I#2 - BTS) - Scalphunter and Riptide followed the scent of roses and found Jared Flyn, a Morlock with the ability to create fragrant scents hiding in a crawlspace. Riptide killed Flyn by tearing him to shreds.

(X-Men Unlimited II#14) - Scalphunter shot an innocent Morlock who begged for his life. The scene was watched by a future version of Illyana Rasputin who was so upset by the Morlocks' deaths she planned to bring them back and set things straight, but in that moment she knew she couldn't act and returned to her own time.

(Uncanny X-Men I#211) - Vertigo and Riptide witnessed the arrival of the X-Men and attacked the heroes while their guard was down. Nightcrawler successfully took her down, but he failed to notice Riptide's oncoming attack which left him severely injured. While Riptide escaped with Vertigo in his arms, the X-Men had Illyana teleport Nightcrawler back to the X-Men's medical bay. Elsewhere in the tunnels, Scalphunter had located the Morlock Annalee whose children he'd killed months earlier. He reminded her of this before shooting both her and a group of young Morlocks she'd gathered around her. After he was reunited with Arclight, the two were attacked by Colossus and Shadowcat. Arclight easily defeated Colossus by slamming him into a wall, while Scalphunter futily tried to shoot the intangible Shadowcat. She fled to save Colossus. With Colossus back in the game, the two reunited with the rest of the X-Men and were attacked again by Riptide who got help from Harpoon and Scrambler. In the fight that followed, Shadowcat tried to rescue Rogue only to be hit by Harpoon's energy spears which caused her tremendous pain and left her in a permanent ghost-like state. Hearing Kitty's screams awakened a bloodlust in Colossus who lunged for Harpoon but was blocked by Riptide, who was no match for the X-Man. Peter snapped Riptide's neck, warning Harpoon and the other Marauders they'd be next. This deed shocked the Marauders into temporarily retreating. Storm decided to return to the mansion to help the wounded Morlocks they'd been able to save. She also ordered Wolverine to remain in the tunnels to kill the other Marauders, as long as he returned with one of them for questioning.

(X-Factor I#10 (fb) - BTS) - Vertigo told Arclight about her encounter with X-Factor prompting Arclight to organize a search and destroy mission.

(X-Factor I#10) - Arclight accompanied by Scrambler and Prism located X-Factor, who still tried to return to their headquarters with several of the surviving Morlocks. During their assault, Scrambler was too eager to attack and was stunned while taking out Beast. Prism was able to defeat Cyclops, but then Angel and Jean Grey arrived. To save her friends, the telekinetic Jean smashed Prism into a wall, shattering his crystalline body and killing him. Confident they could have killed the heroes if their reinforcements hadn't arrived, Scalphunter grabbed Scrambler and leveled the ceiling to create an escape route. Once X-Factor left the tunnels to attend the wounded, Angel stayed behind to continue his search for Artie. Once he found the boy they stumbled upon another group of Marauders, consisting of Vertigo, Blockbuster and Harpoon. Angel was able to hit Vertigo in the face but couldn't stop Blockbuster from nailing him against the wall. Harpoon used two of his spears to pin the winged hero like a butterfly. The Marauders decided to leave Angel hanging on the wall like a scarecrow, as a warning to the other heroes.

(X-Men Unlimited I#18/2 (fb)) - The Morlock Sarah witnessed from a distance how Harpoon crucified Angel, who she thought was beautiful.

(X-Men Origins: Gambit#1) - Sarah's mother was a victim of the Marauders' attack. As she lay dying, she pushed Sarah into Gambit's arms, begging him to save her. Gambit handed Sarah over to the police as soon as he fled the tunnels.

(Marvel Comics Presents I#15/1 - BTS / X-Factor I#10 - BTS) - While the Marauders were killing every Morlock they could find in the Alley, they also murdered Lightning Bug who'd left his body in his astral form some time before the massacre.

(Thor I#373) - Harpoon, Blockbuster and Vertigo enjoyed themselves torturing the pinned Angel when they heard someone approaching. Figuring it could be another mutant they hid in the shadows. It turned out to be Thor, the Asgardian god of thunder who'd been warned about the massacre by his frog friend Puddlegulp. The Marauders tried to jump Thor, but ran off as soon as he summoned a powerful bolt of lightning.

(Power Pack I#27) - Somewhere in the tunnels, Scalphunter singlehandedly slaughtered Morlocks, no matter how hard they begged for their lives. Elsewhere, Sabretooth witnessed the arrival of Power Pack who had come to look for their friend Leech. Sabretooth immediately jumped the super powered children who only escaped their dangerous foe when Destroyer (Alex Power) made the ceiling collapse on top of Sabretooth. Once the children had found Leech, who happened to be carrying the injured Caliban, the group was met by Arclight, Harpoon and Scrambler. Mistaking Power Pack for more Morlocks, Harpoon tried to hit the kids with one of his energy spears while Arclight generated a shockwave. In the middle of the chaos Scrambler successfully took out both the codename less Jack Power and his sister Starstreak (Katie Power). Tattletale (Franklin Richards) distracted Arclight long enough for Molecula (Julie Powers) to attack Arclight who in turn swatted her like a fly against the wall. Now prepared for Harpoon's attacks, Destroyer absorbed the Inuit's energy spears and redirected it to once again cause the ceiling to crash down on the Marauders. This only proved a temporary nuisance for the Marauders who made their way through the rubbish preparing to attack the kids again. Jack Power increased all of his Gee-force to his left arm and with an incredible show of force knocked Arclight unconscious. Right after his attack Cyclops and Jean Grey of X-Factor arrived to rescue the kids. Realizing they were outnumbered, Harpoon and Scrambler grabbed Arclight and fled.

(X-Factor I#11 (fb) - BTS) - A group of Morlocks known as the Tunnelers decided to take a stand and fight a group of Marauders. Even though six of their numbers lost their lives the group's leader Berzerker still considered it a victory when they defeated the Marauders and set out to rescue other Morlocks.

(X-Factor I#51 - BTS / X-Factor I#11 - BTS) - While murdering every Morlock in sight Sabretooth also attacked the mutant called Chickenwings. He managed to escape, though he lost his left arm in the process.

(Uncanny X-Men I#212 - BTS) - After the main attack on the Morlocks, Sabretooth was left wandering through the tunnels looking for strays and survivors. He picked up on the scent of the Morlocks' Healer and moved in for the kill.

(Uncanny X-Men I#212) - Before Sabretooth could finish off the Healer, he sniffed out Wolverine's presence and decided to jump him. When Wolverine looked who his assailant was, he saw Sabretooth holding Healer up against the wall. Sabretooth revealed the Marauders had been sent by Mister Sinister who saw the Morlocks as wild cards he couldn't allow in his plans to come. Aware of the Healer's potential importance, Wolverine cleverly kept Sabretooth distracted until he could cause a partial tunnel collapse that buried Creed and allowed the X-Man to rescue the Morlock.

(Thor I#374) - After regaining their confidence and thinking Thor's power was nothing more than "some mumbo-jumbo", Vertigo, Blockbuster and Harpoon sought out the Thundergod who was still in the Tunnels. They all fell before him, causing the Marauders to once again scurry away. This allowed Thor time to free Angel, gently removing the harpoons that held Warren against the wall. Sometime later, Harpoon and Sabretooth contently conversed while looking at the dozens of corpses in the Alley. While they deemed their mission a success, Blockbuster was still upset by his defeat at the hands of Thor. He finally decided to have another go at Thor to prove himself in the eyes of his fellow Marauders. He caught up with Thor just as the hero was carrying Angel and Artie Maddicks towards the tunnel's exit Blockbuster came crashing through the ceiling, breaking Thor's arm in the process. But before he could hit Thor again, the Marauder was jumped by the injured and barely conscious Angel. Unimpressed, Blockbuster grabbed him by the throat. Angel's attack had given Thor enough time to grab Mjolnir. Not allowing another mutant to die on his watch, Thor swung Mjolnir with full force at Blockbuster's face, killing the Marauder instantly.

(Thor I#374 - BTS) - After Thor had made sure both Angel and Artie were safe, he returned to the Morlock Tunnels for another thorough inspection. Finding nothing but death in the catacombs, the Asgardian decided to honor the fallen by giving them a heroes' funeral. He summoned an intense bolt of lightning that caused an inferno throughout the tunnel, incinerating all organic matter on impact.

(Daredevil I#238) - Sabretooth, overcome by his animal urges, stayed behind in the Morlock tunnels where he came across three teenagers thinking the tunnels were open turf again. After threatening to kill Bob and Jake he ordered their friend, a young blonde girl, to stay behind. Now little more than a wild animal, Sabretooth saw the girl as his mate, ordering her to stay put while he went out hunting. The next day Sabretooth woke from noise coming from another part of the tunnels where a group of New York teenagers led by Raphael were having fun just when Butch and Darla of the Fatboys visited them. When Sabretooth told them he hungered, young Butch told him Daredevil would protect him, which prompted Sabretooth to seek out and attack the hero. During their fight, Sabretooth and Daredevil ended up back in the tunnels where the girl was bound to a pole. Daredevil threw Sabretooth into a wall, causing a corpse of a Morlock to fall out. Daredevil managed to stop the Marauder by making him believe it belonged to the girl. Confused and consumed by hunger Sabretooth left. Daredevil rescued the girl, and carried her out of the Morlock tunnels.

(Uncanny X-Men I#213) - In Los Angeles, the Malice-possessed Alison Blaire wandered the streets when Malice suddenly showed her face in a store window. Malice influenced Alison, making her believe she was far more than just a backup player in Lila's band. Convinced she was meant to be a true star, Blaire immediately got a new haircut and wardrobe. Restyled, she entered a nightclub declaring she was indeed the star, the Dazzler!

(Uncanny X-Men I#213) - Sabretooth tracked the X-Men to their Westchester home where he attacked their latest recruit, the telepathic Psylocke. Though she lacked any formal combat training, Psylocke nevertheless managed to evade the killer long enough for Wolverine and Storm to arrive. While Wolverine fought the Marauder, Psylocke used her telepathic abilities to probe Sabretooth's mind which finally gave the X-Men some information on who the Marauders were and what they were after. After they learned all he knew, Wolverine tried to end Sabretooth but the killer escaped by jumping off a cliff.

(Uncanny X-Men I#214) - On tour with Lila Cheney in Denver, the Malice-possessed Alison Blaire disrupted Lila's concert at the Raven by taking centre stage and unleashing her powers to create a giant, impromptu light show. Afterwards, Cheney warned Blaire that she was fired if she pulled another stunt like that. Now fully influenced by Malice, Dazzler told Cheney off and left the band. Concerned about Blaire, Cheney called the X-Men to check up on her. The next evening, Dazzler performed at Jayroam's a private club visited by several X-Men who had come to check on Alison and warn her about the Marauders. Psylocke noticed how Dazzler's light show was intensifying the crowd's negative emotions. When Malice noticed the X-Men, she forced Dazzler to attack them. As soon as Malice had a chance to take over an X-Man, she left Blaire for Wolverine, only to swap him for Rogue and flying off. Realizing Malice was one of the Marauders, the X-Men prepared a plan to capture her. Storm allowed herself to be used as bait, figuring the psionic Marauder couldn't resist taking over the X-Men's leader. Much to Malice's surprise, Storm was able to overcome the possession, ripping off the choker containing Malice's essence. Malice still escaped by taking over the captain of the local Dallas police force that had arrived in response to the X-Men's fight. Although Malice had been defeated she succeeded in branding the X-Men criminals in the eyes of the law.

(Fantastic Four vs. the X-Men I#2 - BTS) - Having heard of the X-Men's recent troubles at the hands of the Marauders, Doctor Doom was curious to separate fact from rumor. Learning of their presence on Muir Island he sent a scanbot, wishing to determine whether or not this attack on the mutants posed any threat to his interests.

(New Mutants I#52 - BTS) - As part of their training, Magneto had the New Mutants face off against holograms of the Marauders during a Danger Room session. The simulated assassins barely needed five minutes to slaughter their teenage opponents. Magneto intended this as a lesson to show what could have happened after they defied a direct order to not get involved in the Morlock Massacre.

(Uncanny X-Men I#219 (fb) - BTS) - Possibly inspired by Malice's fight against the X-Men, Mr. Sinister decided to have her seek out and possess former X-Man Polaris. He sent Malice to track down Lorna Dane, but also arranged for a test by separately ordering Arclight, Scalphunter and Sabretooth to kill Polaris, leaving the three of them in the dark about Malice's mission.

(Uncanny X-Men I#219) - The Marauders tracked Polaris down to New Mexico, where she was sharing a condo with Havok (Alex Summers). They watched as Lorna and Alex drove off together to the airport (Alex was heading to New York to check in with the X-Men). The bloodthirsty Sabretooth was eager to kill them both, but Arclight calmed him down and ordered him to wait until Polaris was alone before moving in for the kill.

(Uncanny X-Men I#219 (fb) - BTS) - When Polaris kissed Havok goodbye at Albuquerque Airport, Malice managed to quietly possess Polaris. She returned to the couple's condo.

(Uncanny X-Men I#219) - Unaware of the real situation, the three Marauders stuck when Lorna returned home. Arclight's powers generated a huge shockwave that caused an earthquake, which rattled Polaris and allowed Scalphunter to fire an explosive at the condo. Looking at the burning abode, Scalphunter was confident Polaris had perished, but Sabretooth's senses weren't fooled. Scouring through the flames and rubble, he easily located Polaris hiding behind a rock. Still underestimating his opponent, Sabretooth attacked only to be slammed by an avalanche of rocks that Polaris swung at him by manipulating the iron rich rubble. She also formed iron chains from the debris to briefly hold the villain before he freed himself with his claws. Polaris took to the sky, unaware she'd become a target for Scalphunter who hit her. However, Polaris threw off so much energy it created a thick mist that fogged up the battlefield. Scalphunter and Arclight entered the mist to seek their target only to get hit by an unconscious Sabretooth. Polaris then used her abilities to create a fissure in which she trapped Arclight while turning Scalphunter's arsenal against himself. With the Marauders defeated, Malice finally revealed her presence and Mr. Sinister's plan. She declared that under Mr. Sinister's tutelage, Lorna Dane would achieve her true destiny as the Mistress of Magnetism and become the Monarch of the Marauders.

(X-Men and Spider-Man#2) - Staying in Mr. Sinister's secret lab in an abandoned section of the Morlock tunnels, the Marauders were on hand when Spider-Man and the X-Men showed up. The heroes had teamed up after Spider-Man had learned that one of his adversaries, Kraven the Hunter, had provided Mr. Sinister with genetic material of the original X-Men. The Marauders (Scalphunter, Sabretooth, Arclight, Harpoon, Scrambler, Vertigo) were ready to stop the X-Men from finding what they were after. While Sabretooth took on Wolverine, Arclight created a shockwave to take the X-Men down after which Vertigo used her powers. Having fought Vertigo before, Spider-Man quickly shot webbing in her face to stop her from focusing her powers. Scrambler was easily taken out by Storm when he tried to disrupt her mutant powers only to find out she'd already lost them. Scalphunter was ready to shoot Storm, Dazzler and Rogue, but Wolverine chopped his arm off. Arclight came to his rescue, though Scalphunter assured her he would regenerate. Realizing they couldn't win against both the X-Men and Spider-Man, Scalphunter gave Arclight the order to level the ground. Once the heroes had fallen through the floor, they discovered Sinister's old lab where grotesque-looking clones of the original X-Men lay dead in test tubes. Hoping to finish off the heroes, Harpoon threw one of his spears causing a giant explosion, burning away all evidence of the X-Men clones. Nevertheless, Spider-Man and the X-Men managed to escape unscathed.

(Uncanny X-Men I#221) - In his secret base, a disappointed Mr. Sinister expressed his annoyance at the Marauders when his allegedly elite killing squad had failed to simply murder a single, human female: Madelyne Pryor. While Sinister openly wondered whether he should tear one of the Marauders' hearts out to show just how displeased he was, an insulted Sabretooth lunged for his throat. Not in the mood for surprises, the lightning quick Sinister simply grabbed the Marauder by the throat and continued his rant about Pryor. Once he'd ordered the Marauders to fulfill their mission to murder Madelyne, he released Sabretooth. Malice/Polaris then told the Marauders to get to work.

(Uncanny X-Men I#221 - BTS) - The Marauders successfully tracked Pryor down to a hospital in San Francisco, unaware the X-Men were also on her trail. Scalphunter located Pryor's room, entered it and first shot her nurse before dealing with Pryor.

(Uncanny X-Men I#221) - Sabretooth was guarding Pryor's room so Scalphunter could work undisturbed. Suddenly, Rogue surprised him, slamming the murderous mutant right out the window. Next, Rogue kicked in the door but was hit by Scalphunter's attack. Pryor took advantage of the distraction to hit the Marauder with a tray until he stood right in front of the window. Then, Dazzler, telepathically guided by Psylocke, was able to shoot him in the back from atop a nearby building across from the hospital. The battle soon moved there when Dazzler, Psylocke and Longshot were faced by Vertigo. They escaped her attack thanks to Longshot who grabbed both women and jumped off the building. Relying on his ever present luck, the threesome landed on the back of a truck loaded with soft sand. Moments later, Harpoon managed to hit Psylocke with one of his spears, causing all of the X-Men to feel the telepath's pain. Still in the hospital, Scrambler snuck up on the still disoriented Havok, scrambling his powers to such an extent the building was nearly destroyed. Next, setting his sights on the unconscious Wolverine Scrambler tried to grab him but was hit in the back of the head by Madelyne Pryor. Arclight picked this up on the open channel micro-transceiver that was stitched into their uniforms. She helped out by creating a shockwave that almost brought the building down. Realizing the Marauders would stop attacking the hospital if Pryor was gone, Wolverine ordered Rogue to fly off with Madelyne. As soon as they were over San Francisco Bay, Rogue and Pryor were stopped in mid air by a giant metal construction created by Malice, who gleefully revealed to the X-Men that she was Polaris, leader of the Marauders. Dazzler was able to rescue Pryor after which she and Rogue got stuck in the water hounded by Malice/Polaris.

(Uncanny X-Men I#222) - Malice/Polaris was about to attack Rogue and Dazzler but was shot in the back by Havok who had yet to learn who she was. Rogue grabbed both Dazzler and Polaris and flew them to shore where she left Dazzler to keep an eye on the unconscious Marauder. By the time Malice woke up, she was surrounded by the X-Men and San Francisco police, led by Lt. Sabrina Morrel. Undaunted, Malice continued her attack. Morrel ordered Detective Harry to the car and call for backup, but Malice ripped the vehicle apart with her magnetic powers before he could do so. Her fellow Marauders Arclight, Harpoon and Vertigo arrived to help out, keeping everyone disoriented. Harry tried to shoot Malice, who magnetically deflected the bullet, causing it to hit Morrel instead. Arclight then created a diversion, allowing the Marauders to leave. Miles away on the Golden Gate Bridge, Wolverine and Longshot confronted Scalphunter which led to Longshot falling off the bridge (though as luck would have it, this allowed him to get close to Madelyne Pryor so he could save her). Wolverine then stood alone against Scalphunter, Sabretooth and Scrambler, who successfully scrambled Wolverine's healing factor. Though he was now extremely vulnerable, Wolverine still held out against his opponents, even stabbing Sabretooth in the chest. But when Scalphunter switched to explosive shells, Wolverine didn't stay around to risk mortal injuries. He jumped off the bridge and was caught by Rogue. With the X-Men out of sight and Madelyne Pryor believed to have drowned, the Marauders chose to leave as well. Scalphunter lit a flare, signaling the others that their mission was done. Malice/Polaris was still in mid-air with Havok holding on to her legs when Scalphunter's flare went up. Havok now understood Malice had taken over his girlfriend and pleaded to let her go. Deciding to mentally torment Havok rather than kill him, Malice gently sent Alex back to the ground where he was powerless to watch his lover disappear.

(Fallen Angels I#6 - BTS) - In the wake of Don the blue lobster's death the extraterrestrial Ariel of the Fallen Angels thought it was only luck that none of the professional mutant killers like X-Factor or the Marauders had found them yet.

(Uncanny X-Men I#239 (fb) - BTS) - Malice tried separating herself from Polaris' body and found she was unable to, somehow their psychic bond had become unbreakable. Blaming Mr. Sinister, she made way to his secret lair.

(Uncanny X-Men I#239) - Malice burst into Mr. Sinister's lair just as he was reminiscing about the X-Men and Madelyne Pryor who were believed to have died at the hands of the Adversary during a recent fight in Dallas. Enraged she couldn't separate herself from Polaris, Malice used her powers to destroy several of Sinister's videoscreens after which she tried to rip her boss' throat out. With a mere hand gesture, Sinister suspended Malice in mid-air, causing her to scream out in frustration. Tearing up, Malice asked if this was the reward after serving Sinister so loyally. Sinister explained to her that she'd still be able to possess whomever she pleased, but that she now had a permanent home within Polaris. He assured her she was the special linchpin of the Marauders and that unlike the others, Malice was unique. Releasing her from his grasp, he took her hand and told her she was the one he would depend on. Once again calm and content, Malice left, after which Sinister remarked he'd told nothing but lies to keep dominance over Malice and the Marauders.

(Uncanny X-Men I#239 - BTS) - Unbeknownst to Mr. Sinister and the Marauders both the X-Men and Madelyne Pryor were still very much alive. Now operating in secret from the Australian outback, Pryor had slowly been tainted by the demonic influence of the ambitious limbo demon S'ym. He had been subtly working to transform her into the evil, vindictive Goblyn Queen. Pryor secretly tasked her demonic aide N'astirh to discover the Marauders' whereabouts, planning to have the X-Men finish them off while she continued to search for her son.

(Uncanny X-Men I#240 - BTS) - Mr. Sinister successfully cloned Riptide, Prism and Blockbuster, who themselves were aware of their true nature.

(Uncanny X-Men I#240 (fb) - BTS) - Mr. Sinister ordered his Marauders to relocate to the former Morlock Alley.

(Uncanny X-Men I#240 - BTS) - The advanced computer system in the X-Men's outback headquarters suddenly picked up the location of the Marauders (thanks to N'astirh's involvement). Eager for some payback and outraged their foes were hiding in the Alley of all places, the X-Men decided to ambush them.

(Uncanny X-Men I#240) - The Marauders were still moving into the Alley, wondering why they were even ordered to move there, when the X-Men attacked. Blockbuster was carrying one of the crates on his back when he bumped into Colossus who politely checked if he was indeed dealing with a Marauder before he smashed him right across the tunnel to announce the X-Men's presence. Sabretooth smelled Dazzler and was about to gut her when she blinded him with a powerful burst of light. She then shot Scalphunter. Havok in turn used his plasma beam on Prism, whose body amplified the energy causing him to overload and shoot out energy bolts in all directions. Riptide tried fighting back by unleashing a barrage of razor sharp throwing stars, but they were all caught by Longshot who courteously threw 'em back. Scrambler realized the X-Men were out for blood even as the team's methodical attack continued. On the other side of the tunnel Blockbuster had just regained when he fell prey to a hungry wall, transformed by the growing demonic influence of the limbo dimension that was getting ready to merge with Earth. Psylocke cleverly used her telepathy to make Scrambler believe he was attacking her, when in fact he'd just scrambled Arclight's powers. Malice then magnetically took control of Colossus' organic steel form, using him to slam a hole in the ceiling all the way up to street level. The Marauders tried to get away, only to find themselves in a Manhattan transformed into a demonic parody of itself.

(Uncanny X-Men I#241) - The X-Men, slowly corrupted by the Inferno's evil effects, fought the Marauders in downtown Manhattan. Storm whipped up a powerful hurricane to distract the Marauders, while Colossus was shocked to see Riptide was somehow alive and well. Before there could be a round two, they were attacked by several transmogrified policemen riding metallic demon beasts. Malice magnetically shredded the beasts and pelted the X-Men with the razor sharp shrapnel. This cleared the way for Vertigo to get in place and turn the X-Men's world upside down. Vertigo's dizzying attack was stopped by Longshot who threw one of his knives at the villain. The projectile missed the villain, but luckily hit the pet store sign she was sitting under. Vertigo was knocked out by the large, wooden rat. Worried that innocent bystanders could get hurt, Storm ordered Psylocke to telepathically take all of the Marauders out. But as soon as Betsy Braddock focused her mental powers, she was overcome by plight of the innocent babies that were used to power the pentagram over New York that facilitated the demonic invasion. Figuring this was the time to strike back, Malice ordered the Marauders to combine their attacks on Psylocke, though the X-Men did their best to keep the telepath safe. Their fight was once again interrupted when a Limbo-tainted group of mutant haters called the Right showed up. Using their flying combat armors for a strafing run, they unleashed a rain of fire on the Marauders that killed Prism. The X-Men reacted by destroying several of the pilots, keeping one alive for questioning. He revealed to Colossus that Magik had been overthrown in Limbo and was now succeeded by S'ym and N'astirh. Meanwhile, the X-Men's corruption had become so all encompassing, they visually resembled demons. Now delighting in killing, they slaughtered all the Marauders they could find.

(Uncanny X-Men I#243 (fb) - BTS) - Malice and Sabretooth survived the killings and joined Mr. Sinister at the Charles Xavier School for Higher Learning. Unbeknownst to everyone, Blockbuster had survived the initial demonic attack in the Tunnels. However, the encounter had turned him into a giant demonic version of himself. He also joined the surviving Marauders at the school.

(Uncanny X-Men I#243) - Malice witnessed how Mr. Sinister lost his telepathic battle with Jean Grey and was tasked to alert the others because his loss meant the joint forces of the X-Men and X-Factor were on their way. A team of X-Men consisting of Colossus, Dazzler, Havok and Iceman combed the tunnel network between Xavier's and the Morlock Alley and came across the giant demonic Blockbuster. With a single blow Blockbuster took out Colossus, ironically returning the favor from their previous encounter. Iceman was unable to contain the Marauder after which he grabbed Dazzler. Fed up, Havok used a full powered plasma beam to blow Blockbuster's head off. In the Hangar bay Sabretooth attacked Rogue and Psylocke but was taken off guard by the latter's telepathic assault. At the same time, upstairs in the mansion, Malice attacked the last group of X-Men (Wolverine, Storm, Archangel, Cyclops and Jean Grey). After a fierce battle Storm successfully wrestled Malice to the ground. Although she was defeated Malice stayed confident of her position since she still inhabited the body of Polaris. But when the X-Men pressured her into revealing information about Sinister the entire mansion exploded, courtesy of Mr. Sinister. When both Malice and Mr. Sinister arose from the rubble they where slightly surprised the only other person left standing was a defiant Longshot.

(X-Factor I#39) - Sinister ordered Malice to kill the other mutants, deeming Longshot unworthy of her attention. He protested, but Sinister attacked him to prove a point: Longshot's luck powers had left him since he'd allowed himself to be corrupted by Inferno. Still, Longshot's luck worked for others as he managed to sling his knife sleeve to trip up Malice. She soon recovered and, ignoring the arrival of Beast, proceeded to kill Cyclops. Before she could crush him to death underneath a girder, she was hit in the face with his optic blast. Down but not out, Malice violently turned down Havok's offer to help her, even containing him in a metal cocoon when he turned his attentions to Mr. Sinister. She even complied when Sinister ordered her to kill Alex Summers, though she first decided to torture him a little. This alerted the recently revived Colossus, who charged her only to become another helpless plaything in the hands of the mistress of magnetism. Reveling in their apparent victory, Sinister and Malice didn't notice the members of X-Men and X-Factor were telepathically deciding on a plan of attack that began with Archangel using his paralyzing feather daggers to take out Malice. With her down, the X-Men were free to charge Sinister and liberate Jean Grey. However, Sabretooth involved himself in the fight, but he was no match for Wolverine who was still influenced by the Inferno event and more brutal than ever. He slashed the Marauder to pieces, slyly calling it his "fast draw special".

(X-Factor I#39 - BTS) - Obviously realizing the day was lost, Mr. Sinister allowed the heroes to think they had defeated him when a single one of Cyclops' optic blasts reduced him to a pile of bones. Malice also managed to quietly slip away.

(New Mutants I#75) - When the New Mutants returned home, they were stunned to find their school in ruins. When Mirage's Asgardian Valkyrie senses picked up a death glow, Sunspot started pulling away the rubble to reveal Sabretooth. Barely alive and in a blind rage, he immediately attacked the young mutants. To protect his friends, Cannonball hit Sabretooth at full power after which the Marauder seemingly died, not even Warlock was able to read any vital signs. Before the mutants could worry about any other Marauders they were confronted by the Hellfire Club.

(Punisher War Journal I#12 - BTS) - While waiting for his target to come out of her studio apartment, professional assassin Bushwacker (Carl Burbank) thought of how killing mutants for a living got more rewards than the Marauders' money.

(Uncanny X-Men I#249-250 - BTS) - Going into hiding in South America, Malice noticed that her control over Lorna Dane began to slip. Dane was even able to take charge on occasion. When she found herself in Tierra del Fuego, the most southern tip of South America, Lorna managed to defy Malice and contact the X-Men. However, she was soon captured by Savage Land forces loyal to Zaladane who was after her mutant powers. Zaladane used a device to steal her magnetic abilities. During the transfer process, Malice was cast out and presumed lost.

(X-Factor I#51) - Even without Mr. Sinister, Sabretooth continued to hunt down and kill any Morlocks he could find. He located two of them, Mole and Chickenwings, who were now living on the streets of Manhattan. Chickenwings, who'd already lost an arm to the feral mutant, attempted to fight Sabretooth so Mole could escape. After an unfair fight and an inevitable kill, Sabretooth resumed his hunt for Mole.

(X-Factor I#52) - Having lost track of Mole Sabretooth came across X-Factor's Archangel and decided to kill him instead. After a ferocious fight both fell unconscious in the snow.

(X-Factor I#53) - Once his healing factor kicked in, Sabretooth resumed his hunt for Mole and found him in the presence of Iceman and Opal Tanaka. Realizing Mole was about to return to the Morlock tunnels he simply decided to wait there for him in the dark so he could strike.

(Marvel Fanfare I#50 - BTS) - In X-Factor's headquarters Artie Maddicks thought of how Angel had rescued him from the Marauders, his thought bubble was interrupted when Dominic Desford appeared in front of the window.

(Uncanny X-Men I#293 - BTS) - Archangel revisited the Morlock Tunnels shortly before Mikhail Rasputin would flood them. He came across the spot where the Marauders had crucified him, an event that led him to become one of Apocalypse's horsemen.

(X-Factor Annual#8/2 - BTS) - While creating the personal history files of X-Factor, Valerie Cooper had investigated Polaris' connection to the Marauders.

(X-Men II#34) - On a fact finding mission to find a cure to the deadly Legacy Virus, the X-Men visited the town of Sage, Nebraska. Here, underneath an orphanage that once housed Scott Summers, Mr. Sinister had built a secret headquarters hidden underneath the building. As soon as Gambit and Psylocke entered the lab, the internal cloning chambers were activated, releasing half formed clones of Riptide and Sabretooth. Upon entering the main complex the X-Men were attacked by Riptide. During their fight Psylocke tried to read the Marauder's mind but saw nothing but a blank slate. Once Gambit had defeated Riptide, Psylocke noticed how his throwing stars were actually organic, believing he might be secreting them through his skin. With the arrival of Rogue and Beast the X-Men entered another part of the complex, finding the empathic mutant calling herself Threnody. Threnody showed the X-Men around, including a peek at Sinister's vast storage facility of genetic material. While there, the Sabretooth clone attacked. Sabretooth already decaying, was easily beaten by Rogue and then melted away. After the fight Threnody activated the self destruction sequence thus denying the X-Men any information on the Legacy Virus.

(Gambit III#9 (fb) - BTS) - Mr. Sinister lost all of Sabretooth's genetic information and was therefore unable to create any additional clones of him.

(X-Man I#13 (fb) - BTS) - When Mr. Sinister learned his accomplice Threnody tried to escape, he sent the full force of the Marauders after her. The Marauders followed Threnody to Paris, where she'd gone to find X-Man (Nate Grey).

(X-Man I#13) - The Marauders (without Harpoon) pursued Threnody through the tunnels of Paris until Nate Grey intervened when he picked up the girl's frantic thoughts. When Prism mentioned Sinister, Grey was reminded of Earth-295's Sinister who had killed most everyone he cared for. Furious and ready to fight, he telekinetically hurled Blockbuster through the tunnels. The Marauders got in attack formation to counter Grey and Scrambler successfully disrupted the hero's power, causing a giant explosion in the tunnels which ended up killing Scrambler. Threnody used the opportunity to get Grey to safety while the Marauders were still scrambling. Prism used his abilities to light up the dark tunnels, leading the Marauders towards their prey unaware Grey and Threnody prepared a trap for the villains. Once the Marauders arrived near Grey, he used his telekinesis to force Scalphunter's hand, shooting Riptide in the shoulder and landing a piercing shot against Prism, causing the Marauder to explode. Scalphunter was caught in the explosion and perished as well. Shocked by their sudden decimation Arclight was eager to kill Grey when she spotted him. However, Grey telepathically fooled her senses and she actually struck a mortal blow against Blockbuster. Vertigo figured their assailant had to be close by to be able to play mind games. Throwing her vertigo inducing powers around, she succeeded in hitting both Threnody and Grey. However, Grey immediately used his powers to take control of Riptide, forcing him to kill both Arclight and Vertigo with his razor sharp throwing stars. Grey spared Riptide's life and then placed a telepathic command in his mind. The Marauder was to forget Threnody was still alive when reporting back to Sinister. Grey assured Riptide that if he ever fought the psychic implant, his brain would explode.

(X-Man I#18 (fb) - BTS) - Nate Grey's plan failed when Sinister activated new clones of Scalphunter, Arclight and Vertigo who retained the memories of their predecessors. Fully aware of Threnody's involvement with X-Man, Mr. Sinister sent the three newly cloned Marauders and Harpoon to capture Threnody in the hopes that it would attract X-Man.

(X-Man I#18) - The Marauders arrived at St. John's Cathedral where Threnody was hiding. The assassins entered through the stained glass windows, guns blazing. Vertigo quickly hit her with a dizzying wave after which Scalphunter fired stun pellets, however, Threnody dodged the bullets leaving Vertigo to be hit and knocked out. Threnody then siphoned off some of Vertigo's pain and released it as energy back at the Marauders, stunning them. However, Mr. Sinister then appeared on the scene and easily captured her himself.

(X-Man I#19) - Scalphunter and Arclight were tasked with guarding Threnody who was now chained to a pipe. The two assassins explained that no one ever escaped Sinister, reminding the girl of how their leader had killed Malice (as seen in X-Factor I#105). Snappy as ever, Threnody reminded the Marauders that a certain cajun did get away and expected Nate Grey to come and save her soon enough. Later that day, Threnody managed to break her chains and flee but was stopped by Scalphunter and Arclight, who failed to see a huge creature appearing behind them. The new arrival turned out to be Abomination (Emil Blonsky) who'd taken up residence in the sewers attracting followers of misfits and outcasts, humans and mutants alike.

(X-Man I#20 - BTS) - Abomination defeated Scalphunter and Arclight, taking Threnody back to his tunnel.

(Psylocke & Archangel: Crimson Dawn#1- BTS) - Angel remembered how he was pinned to the wall by the Marauders.

(X-Force and Cable Annual '97 - BTS) - While fighting the soldiers of King Geirrodur in Asgard the rock trolls reminded Caliban of the Marauders.

(Cable Annual 1999 (fb) - BTS) - Hoping to trick Cable into an alliance, Mr. Sinister disguised several of his Marauders (Scalphunter, Arclight, Harpoon, Scrambler and Riptide) as the Emissaries of En Sabah Nur.

(Cable Annual 1999) - In their En Sabah Nur disguises, the Marauders destroyed New York hotspot Disco Inferno, successfully attracting Cable's attention. In a nearby alley Scalphunter struck at Cable and revealed their presence declaring he was now facing his destruction. The spinning Riptide unleashed a blurred volley of razor-sharp stars and knives which injured Cable, leaving him vulnerable to Scrambler. The Korean Marauder used his abilities to disrupt Cable's telekinesis, which allowed his techno-organic virus to flare out of control. Not able to defend himself any longer Cable was about to be killed by Harpoon when Mr. Sinister showed up to "rescue" Cable, fighting off the Emissaries.

(Cable Annual 1999 (fb) - BTS) - For the next part of their plan the Emissaries invaded Cable's Hell's Kitchen safe house where they took Cable's friends Blaquesmith and Irene Merryweather captive.

(Cable Annual 1999) - Imprisoned by the Emissaries, Blaquesmith wondered why he'd never heard of them in any of the prophecies about En Sabah Nur. Before he could continue his train of thought, Cable showed up to save them. Deflecting Scalphunter's rain of bullets with a telekinetic shield, he grabbed Harpoon's spear and redirected it to hit Riptide. Cable then took possession of Scrambler, forcing him to scramble Arclight's powers. The depowered Philippa was knocked out by Irene. Then, with a mere gesture, Cable suspended the Emissaries in mid-air. When Mr. Sinister entered the room, Cable telekinetically removed the Emissaries' armor, revealing them to actually be the Marauders. Once Cable attacked Sinister, the Marauders escaped.

(Gambit III#8) - Eager to find out just why Xavier had disbanded the X-Men, Scalphunter sought out his old friend Gambit. He revealed Mr. Sinister had all of the Marauders encoded with a gene imprint that shut them down if they ever made a move against him. Scalphunter then pointed out that Sabretooth might be able to help him, since Creed was the only Marauder still alive in his original body.

(Gambit III#9) - Gambit, Sabretooth and Courier (Jacob Gavin Jr.) invaded one of Sinister's facilities where they encountered several cloning baths in which the Marauders were grown. Sabretooth revealed the facility was the same as the X-Men had previously visited underneath the orphanage in Sage, Nebraska (seen in X-Men II#34), since it was one giant infinite space connected to all corners of the world. Their presence had triggered a warning system causing Riptide, Harpoon and Scalphunter (it's unrevealed if he is the same Scalphunter from Gambit III#8 or a new clone) to attack. Without any real trouble Gambit managed to kill Riptide, Harpoon and Scalphunter. Just before dying, Scalphunter urged Gambit to flee the facility since a new clone would hunt him within the hour.

(Gambit III#9 - BTS / X-Force III#9 (fb) - BTS) - Mr. Sinister regained new genetic material to clone Sabretooth.

(X-Men II#102 (fb)) - Mr. Sinister found himself targeted by Domina, leader of the Neo who blamed Sinister for causing the death of several of her people when he'd recently teamed with the High Evolutionary to switch off the mutant gene. Domina hunted down Sinister, killing him on seventeen different occasions. During one of these battles, she killed at least one Sabretooth clone.

(Weapon X II#4 - BTS) - Looking to find several missing discs Sabretooth had stolen, Weapon X operatives (Marrow, Kane, Sauron and Washout) sought out Sabretooth’s associates. As such they tracked down the Marauders, demanding the location of the discs. The Marauders claimed they were hardly associates.

(Weapon X II#26 - BTS) - In a meeting with Sabretooth, Mr. Michael Grand (secretly Sublime) head of Megacorp revealed he knew about his past with Sinister and the Marauders as he showed him pictures of the team and Sinister.

(Generation M#3 - BTS) - Prism ended up a prisoner in the Ravencroft Asylum for the Criminally Insane alongside lots of mutants.

(Generation M#3) - After the massive de-powering event that became known as M-Day there was a drastic power shift inside the asylum as the few remaining mutants placed themselves in positions of power. During one day, Front Line reporter Sally Floyd visited the asylum and witnessed how Prism murdered fellow inmate Nelson Cragg for an offense against him.

(New Avengers I#18 - BTS) - SHIELD analyzed the Collective's multiple energy signatures and managed to identify Harpoon's pattern, along with 50+ victims of M-Day.

(X-Men II#200 - BTS) - Through unrevealed ways, Sinister learned that for the first time since the Scarlet Witch's reality altering spell wiped out the mutant gene, a new mutant was going to be born. Dubbing the newborn the "Messiah Child", he intended to seize it and reassembled his Marauders.

(X-Men II#204 (fb) - BTS) - Sinister contacted the supremely powerful mutant Exodus, convincing him to join forces so he could help rebirth the human race. The zealous Exodus agreed and gathered several mutants to join Sinister's Marauders, including Frenzy, Random, Tempo and Unuscione.

(X-Men II#187 - BTS) - Sinister sought out Gambit and Sunfire, who were Apocalypse's most recent, rebellious Horsemen. He managed to convince them to join the Marauders as well.

(X-Men II#192 - BTS) - When Rogue was given free reign to form her own X-Men team, she picked Mystique and Lady Mastermind, unaware they were both Marauders, working undercover for Mr. Sinister.

(New X-Men II#46 (fb) - BTS) - Mystique had accepted Sinister's offer to join his Marauders in an attempt to save Rogue from the coming of the alien Hetacomb, an event she learned through Destiny's Diaries. Aware that her foster daughter would suffer horribly and that the "Messiah Child" was her only hope, Mystique agreed to betray Rogue's trust.

(X-Men II#200 - BTS) - Due to unrevealed, though likely Sinister means, Malice returned to "life". Now a strictly digital entity, she joined the new Marauders team.

(X-Men II#200 - BTS) - To make sure he alone would know when and where the Messiah Child was born, Sinister targeted three specific groups: psychics and precogs, time travellers with direct knowledge of the future like Cable and objects like the Destiny Diaries. Sinister figured that eliminating all of them would ensure his success. He sent his Marauders out on numerous hit jobs.

(X-Men II#202 (fb)) - Harpoon killed the mysterious Vargas, who possessed several copies of Destiny's Diaries.

(X-Men II#202 (fb)) - After wading through a couple of hundred warrior nuns Blockbuster, Riptide and other Marauders killed the Dark Mother.

(X-Men II#202 (fb)) - Arclight took down the Strucker residence in Dresden, killing eighty-three and injuring hundred and fifty.

(X-Men II#202 (fb)) - Now feeling ready to take on the "big" guns Vertigo and Scalphunter set out to kill Gateway.

(X-Men II#200) - Riptide managed to locate and eliminate the time traveling teleporter Quiet Bill (William Kimpton) in New Orleans's French Quarter.

(X-Men II#200) - In Mississippi's Caldecott County, Malice invaded the Omega Sentinel's computer systems when Karima Shapandar was connected to the internet to run a system's diagnostic following the X-Men's recent fight against the Hecatomb.

(X-Men II#200) - Back in New Orleans, Vertigo and Scalphunter successfully located the Witness (of Earth-1191). Having foreseen the attack, he didn't put up a fight and was consequently killed.

(X-Men II#200 (fb) - BTS) - When the X-Men were staying at Mystique's house in Caldecott County, Mississippi, the Marauders gathered nearby. Lady Mastermind used her abilities to create a null zone so the X-Men could not sense their presence.

(X-Men II#200 / Cable & Deadpool I#42) - Gambit and Sunfire were sent to Cable's Pacific Ocean nation Providence Island. They had been tasked to use the X-Man's computer to gain more information about the coming of the Messiah Child. They were discovered by Cable who tried to fight them, but he was forced to retreat. The two Marauders decided to let him go so he could lead them to his secret base. However, Cable activated a self-destruct sequence before escaping, which almost killed them.

(X-Men II#200) - Back in Mississippi, Emma Frost was trying to mend Rogue's fractured mind (as a result of her fight against the Hecatomb) when she suddenly sensed the Marauders' presence. Before she could warn the others, she was stunned by the Omega Sentinel who was now fully controlled by Malice. Seconds later, both Beast and Wolverine picked up the Marauders' scents and quickly ordered Iceman to "ice up". Just then, Lady Mastermind dropped her illusion to reveal the full force of the Marauders were already inside. Still not realizing Omega Sentinel had been possessed, Cyclops tried to shield her from the Marauders' attack only to be taken out by Malice herself. Scalphunter successfully injured Iceman by driving a spear through his midriff. Hearing the shooting from her room Rogue activated her powers and flew down to stand beside her fellow X-Men. Scalphunter tried to shoot Rogue but was taken out by Mystique, declaring that no one was allowed to shoot her daughter...except her. She then fired a round at Rogue's chest, revealing her alliance to the Marauders.

(X-Men II#201) - The Marauders had dealt a devastating blow to the X-Men, leaving only Cyclops, Wolverine, Beast and Cannonball to deal with them. Unable to sustain his ice-form, Iceman tried to get Rogue to safety but was stopped by Mystique. While the other X-Men fought the Marauders, an immobilized Emma Frost used her telepathic abilities to reach out to Cannonball. She explained what she'd learned about the Marauders' goals, targets and plans before taking over Sam's mind and causing him to rocket off with Iceman. Moments later, the Marauders successfully defeated the remaining X-Men. Seemingly asserting herself as their leader, Mystique ordered the Marauders to pull back after which Arclight used her abilities to bring the house down on the X-Men. The Marauders planned to return to Sinister taking Rogue along, since she carried the content of Destiny's Diaries in her mind. Meanwhile, Cannonball and the wounded Iceman contacted the Marauders' future targets. On the way, they successfully fought off Sunfire, even as Iceman regained the full use of his ice powers.

(X-Men II#201) - According to Sinister's plan, Exodus and his group of Marauders (Frenzy, Random, Tempo and Unuscione) arrived at the Xavier Institute to find the Destiny Diaries and kill the precognitive student Blindfold.

(X-Men II#202) - Before Colossus and Kitty Pryde could attack Exodus' Marauders, he ordered Tempo to freeze time, allowing his allies to enter the Institute unopposed. They soon found Blindfold dead on the floor (she'd actually foreseen the attack and faked her own death). Figuring all that was left was getting the diaries, Random and Frenzy were surprised to find the pages were blank. Figuring there was no alternative, Exodus had Tempo restore the normal flow of time. This led to a confrontation between the Marauders and the New X-Men, the X-Men's training team plus Sentinel Squad O∗N∗E. They proved no match for Exodus and his allies, though. He finally confronted Pryde and discovered the reason the diaries were blank: she had her mind tampered with to believe these copies were the actual diaries. The Marauders left to return to Sinister.

(X-Men II#202) - Both Mystique and Exodus' Marauders returned to Sinister's base where Sinister scolded Exodus for failing to find the Destiny Diaries. This caused in-fighting between Exodus and Mystique, only for Mr. Sinister to reveal he'd recreated Xavier's Cerebro which he planned to use to find the real diaries.

(X-Men II#203 - BTS) - Through the use of Cerebro, Sinister learned the Destiny Diaries were located somewhere in an old industrial park in Flint, Michigan. Sinister sent his Marauders to retrieve the books.

(X-Men II#203) - The Marauders spotted the Blackbird as soon as they arrived at the Michigan site, which told them Cannonball and Iceman were already there. They proceeded to free their teammate Sunfire and then split the group in two. The original Marauders plus Sunfire and Mystique, Gambit, Lady Mastermind and Malice would sweep the park and attack the X-Men from two sides. They were unaware Cannonball and Iceman were well aware of their presence and had planned to face them head on. Cannonball came crashing through the floorboards, grabbing Riptide and dumping him on the second group of Marauders. The X-Men continued their assault by destroying several huge water towers, dousing the first group of Marauders so Iceman could flash freeze them in place. The X-Men managed to find the capsule containing the Destiny Diaries but when they tried to depart with it, Mr. Sinister showed up, knocking them over. Sinister was joined by his Marauders who he ordered to grab the diaries. But the diaries were accidentally destroyed by Gambit and Scalphunter who tried to shoot Cannonball. Enraged by the loss of the diaries, Sinister planned to vent his frustration by erasing Cannonball's mind. This plan was accidentally foiled by Scrambler who wanted to disrupt Iceman's powers so Bobby would still die from the chest wound he suffered earlier. However, Iceman used his last energy to shove Scrambler against Sinister, preventing him from erasing Sam's mind. This left Cannonball free to use his powers to escape, while Iceman dove into the water. Mystique went after Iceman but as soon as she caught up with him, she decided to spare his life. She returned to the Marauders.

(X-Men II#204) - Several Marauders watched as Mr. Sinister tried to probe Rogue's fractured mind in an attempt to find her consciousness among the eight billion minds she absorbed during the X-Men's fight against the Hecatomb. When his efforts proved futile, Sinister doubted if keeping Rogue alive was a waste of time, prompting Mystique to mention she still held the full text of the Destiny Diaries in her mind. That night Exodus felt impatient about Sinister's plan to rebirth the mutant race and confronted him, reminding the villain why he and his kind has allied themselves with him. Sinister reacted by saying they had to wait for the moment predicted in Destiny's Diaries, the final moments of the decimation before they could act and take the prize.

(X-Men: Messiah Complex#1) - On the eve of the birth of the Messiah Child, the Marauders arrived in Cooperstown, Alaska to claim the child. However, despite Sinister's best efforts to root out the competition, the mutant hating Purifiers were also present. While Blockbuster and Sunfire killed several of the radical humans Gambit and Prism searched the town for the baby.

(Deadpool & Cable I#25 (fb)) - Subtly aided by Deadpool, the merc with a mouth, Cable managed to rescue the Messiah Child from Cooperstown before Mr. Sinister's Marauders could get their hands on her.

(X-Men: Messiah Complex#1 - BTS) - The Marauders were unable to locate the child because Cable had already taken her to safety. The X-Men, also unaware of this when they arrived in Cooperstown, only found destruction and evidence of the Marauders' involvement.

(New X-Men II#44) - Realizing the X-Men would certainly come to their base in search of the baby, Mr. Sinister decided he and the Marauders would move to a different location so they could confront their enemies on their own terms. Unaware a small squad of senior X-Men had already arrived near their secret complex in Antartica. During the Marauders' meeting, Scalphunter realized Harpoon had gone missing after which Harpoon came crashing through the wall, followed by the X-Men. Led by Wolverine, the X-Men made their intention to retrieve Rogue and the baby clear.

(X-Men II#205) - Now a veritable army, the Marauders circled Wolverine, Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Angel. The X-Men were then joined by Emma Frost, which caused them to launch into a planned out, surgical strike against their foes' superior strength. The first to fall were Vertigo and Scrambler, who were taken out by Nightcrawler who teleported them to the icy Sor Rondane mountains. Using the relatively small space to their advantage, the X-Men caused the Marauders to trip all over themselves, accidentally hitting teammates left and right. Scalphunter was kicked back which led him to shoot Tempo and Random. During the fight, Angel confronted Sinister, ordering him to hand over the child. Meanwhile, Wolverine confronted Gambit and learned Cable had the baby. While Angel was still talking to Sinister he realized Frost's presence had disappeared (Emma got distracted when she sensed the Purifiers were attacking her students). Without Frost damping his powers, Sinister hurled Angel aside and successfully took down Colossus. Realizing the fight was over Storm sacrificed herself so Nightcrawler could escape, ordering Kurt to find Wolverine. Outside the base, Malice and Lady Mastermind teamed up against Wolverine. They made him believe the unconscious Scrambler was actually Angel, causing Wolverine to tend to him leaving himself open to attack. Malice then ordered Omega Sentinel to fire a massive heat ray that somehow eliminated the X-Man's healing factor. Wolverine was about to die, if not for Nightcrawler who teleported them both away even as Scalphunter fired a shot. So panicked by the situation, Nightcrawler bamfed himself and Logan to a nearby mountain.

(Uncanny X-Men I#493) - Standing in the ruins of Sinister's wrecked base, Mystique wondered if there was anything in it they needed. Sinister explained all of the data was transferred the moment the X-Men attacked. Sinister wasn't even upset by the attack, since it proved they were unaware Cable had the child, which meant the vigilante was on his own.

(Uncanny X-Men I#493 - BTS) - Mr. Sinister and the Marauders relocated to Muir Island.

(Uncanny X-Men I#494) - A group of Marauders consisting of Gambit, Sunfire, Malice and Vertigo assaulted Bishop at Dallas' Eagle Plaza. Bishop had come to Forge's headquarters to kill the baby because he was convinced that would prevent the dystopic future in which he was born. Gambit ordered Malice to grab the child while they attacked him. Vertigo successfully used her powers on Bishop but was subsequently shot by the man. However, Gambit and Sunfire managed to defeat Bishop by dropping a ceiling on him. Fearing the imminent arrival of the X-Men, Malice suggested they take their leave.

(New X-Men II#46 (fb)) - On Muir Island, Mystique and Sinister talked about Rogue's fate. Sinister had given up hope of ever rescuing her, which hurt Mystique who refused to lose another loved one on Muir Island (Destiny was killed on the island). Acting on instinct, she grabbed Sinister and pressed his face against Rogue's, killing him instantly.

(X-Factor III#27) - Gambit and the Marauders returned to Muir Island with the child and were met by all of the Marauders. Gambit handed the child to Mystique who was posing as Sinister and ordered the Marauders to prepare for the X-Men's coming assault. Seconds later, Mystique revealed her true identity to Gambit and showed Sinister's lifeless corpse. Later that evening X-Force and Bishop arrived on Muir Island "welcomed" by the full force of the Marauders.

(New X-Men II#46) - As soon as the fight between the Marauders and X-Force started, Scalphunter quickly took out Wolverine by shooting him through the head. Arclight was pleasantly surprised to see former New Mutant Wolfsbane all grown up. The wolf-like girl easily evaded her shockwaves and bit her neck. Eager for the opportunity to kill Wolverine, Scrambler grabbed the heavily injured X-Man, scrambling his healing powers. Logan was saved by X-23, who cut off Scrambler's hands and then used her claws to disembowel the Marauder. From the sidelines, Scalphunter spotted another opportunity when he targeted X-Men ally Hepzibah. However, Warpath threw his knife in Scalphunter's shoulder, throwing off his aim. Just as Mystique helped Greycrow remove the blade, they witnessed the arrival of both X-Factor and the X-Men. Mystique ordered Scalphunter to do whatever it took to stop the heroes while she returned to Gambit and the baby. Mystique revealed that everything she'd done so far was to help save her daughter. She then took the infant and pushed the child against Rogue's face, hoping it would save her. Outside of Muir Island's complex Cable and Professor X arrived in the nick of time to save Wolfsbane from being killed by Riptide. Xavier used his telepathic powers to make Riptide fall asleep. While the other Marauders fought the heroes, Professor X moved into the Muir Island facilities to find a depressed Mystique after her attempts to heal Rogue had seemingly failed. Gambit allowed the Professor to take the baby with him. Back at the huge battle, matters became even more chaotic when Pixie teleported Anole, Armor, Beast, Dust, Mercury, Nezhno, Nightcrawler, Prodigy, Rockslide and Surge to Muir Island with the deadly Predator X in hot pursuit. The gigantic creature immediately grabbed Vertigo with it's sharp teeth, crushing her after which it turned to face the others.

(X-Men II#207) - Cyclops decided to use this to their advantage and ordered Frost to tell the new arrivals to target the Marauders. He figured that the Marauders were intimately familiar with the X-Men, but had no experience fighting the students. His gambit paid off as one by one the Marauders were knocked down by the combined powers of the student body and the guidance of Emma Frost. This left the X-Men to deal with Predator X. With the Marauders defeated and Predator X dead, the X-Men decided to hand the baby to Cable so he could keep her safe in the distant future. In the meantime, Mystique and Gambit were stunned to learn that the baby's touch had actually healed Rogue, who woke up none the worse for wear.

(X-Men: Legacy I#208 (fb) - BTS) - Karima Shapander was released from Malice's influence.

(X-Men II#207 / Cable II#2 / X-Men: Legacy I#208 (fb)) - After the Marauders had lost the fight against the X-Men, Exodus and his men were about to flee when they witnessed how Bishop shot Professor X in an attempt to get to the baby. Exodus quickly ordered Tempo to freeze time. They grabbed Xavier's body and left before the X-Men could act, leaving the Marauders in the process.

(Deadpool v Gambit#4 (fb)) - Once the X-Men had left the area, medics arrived to the scene and found Scrambler was still alive. (read his personal profile on this)

(X-Force III#9 - BTS) - Sinister started operating out of a new base hidden in the Kitakyushu smelting plant in Japan. There, he once again built cloning baths to breed copies of his Marauders.

(X-Force III#9 (fb)) - The Vanisher (Telford Porter) tried to steal a mutated strain of the Legacy virus from Sinister's Japanese labs, but was immediately attacked by a group of Marauders (Sabretooth, Vertigo, Harpoon and Arclight). Vanisher was able to teleport away, but dropped the viral vial in the process.

(X-Force III#9) - Sometime later, Vanisher returned with all of X-Force to destroy the mutated Legacy virus altogether. As soon as they entered the complex, an army of Marauders clones was waiting for them. The murderous members of X-Force didn't shy away from lethal force as they massacred their way through the Marauders until Domino had located the vial. Just then, the mutant hunter the Right showed up looking for the virus as well.

(X-Force III#10) - The few remaining Marauders were killed by the Right while X-Force tried to escape.

(Dark Reign Files - BTS) - Following Norman Osborn's takeover of SHIELD, he had the living computer Quasimodo compile comprehensive data profiles on all available allies, enemies and possible operatives. The Marauders were listed as a "talented team of assassins who can be reunited if the price was right". Quasimodo reasoned if one could gain access to Sinister's DNA archives, the Marauders were a very useful source of easily replaced and therefore utterly expendable assassins.

(X-Men: Legacy I#221-222 - BTS) - Rogue was immersed in Danger's holographic projections. This also led to the creation of Marauders simulations that hunted Rogue in a scenario reminiscent of the Morlock Massacre.

(Heroic Age: X-Men - BTS) - As the new head of SHIELD, Steve Rogers assessed the entire, known, mutant community. In his report, he analyzed the Marauders and stated that each and every single one of them were "butchers" that had to be found and apprehended before they could kill again.

(Wolverine and the X-Men I#1 - BTS) - While showing Mrs. Marigold and Mr. Clud of the New York State Department of Education around the newly opened Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. Headmaster Wolverine noted he would rather fight the Marauders in the sewers than deal with them.

(Astonishing X-Men III#52 (fb) - BTS / Astonishing X-Men III#48 - BTS) - Susan Hatchi (Da'o Coy Manh) secretly infected her sister Karma with experimental nanotech allowing her to command her sister's powers. Unaware she was doing so, Karma took control of Chimera, the Vanisher and had them join a group of Marauders (Arclight, Prism, Harpoon, Blockbuster) who she planned to send against the X-Men.

(Astonishing X-Men III#48) - The Marauders, joined by the Vanisher and Chimera, ambushed the X-Men in New York City.

(Astonishing X-Men III#49) - While Chimera used her psionic dragons to attack Northstar and Iceman, Prism blinded the other X-Men. Harpoon succeeded in severely injuring Wolverine by plunging a spear through his stomach. The tide turned when Karma tried to invade Chimera's mind, thereby breaking Susan Hatchi's influence on her. Realizing she had been used, Chimera tried to convince the Marauders they were also being controlled. Believing Karma was actually controlling Chimera, the Marauders turned against her until she once again unleashed her psionic dragons to push the Marauders back after which Vanisher teleported them away. Chimera stayed behind to explain to the X-Men what had happened.

(Astonishing X-Men III#50 - BTS) - The group of Marauders hid in an abandoned building in Brooklyn's Red Hook.

(Astonishing X-Men III#50 (fb) - BTS) - Wanting to rid herself of the evidence Hatchi once again took possession of the Marauders and had them kill each other. However, Blockbuster managed to break free of the mind control and escaped, crying.

(Astonishing X-Men III#50) - Just as the X-Men arrived at Red Hook searching for the Marauders they saw Blockbuster bruised and bleeding fleeing the abandoned building. Refusing to let a Marauder escape a second time the Shi'ar Warbird hurled her sword at him, striking a lethal blow. When the X-Men entered the building to investigate, they found the corpses of the other Marauders.

(Magneto III#5 - BTS) - Briar Raleigh sought out Magneto in hopes of arranging a partnership. She possessed intelligence that would be of use to him, including the current whereabouts of the Marauders, as well as information on how to hurt them. Eager to strike back against mutants who murdered their own kind for money, Magneto accepted.

(Magneto III#6 (fb) - BTS) - Magneto sought out one cell of Marauders and killed them, thus activating another cell of Marauder clones. He then went after a second and third cell. During the third raid, Magneto discovered he could use ferro fluid (ferromagnetic particles suspended in a carrier liquid) to slip past their defenses.

(Magneto III#6 (fb) - BTS) - Magneto located the fourth cell of Marauders (Scalphunter, Prism, Scrambler, Blockbuster, Riptide, Arclight, Harpoon) and attacked them, eagerly wanting to punish them for their crimes against mutantkind. Magneto cut off Scalphunter's arms and legs. Aware that dying Marauders could regenerate themselves, Magneto quickly cauterized the wounds so the missing limbs wouldn't grow back. He then assured a scared Scalphunter that he wasn't done with him, in fact... he had further plans in store for him, adding "though not in this life".

(Magneto III#6 (fb)) - Prism and Scrambler tried to flee Magneto, but just as they felt safe Prism was stabbed through the chest with a magnetically controlled metal shard. Next, Magneto used his powers to spread the metal, shattering Prism's body, killing him. Shocked by Prism's death, Scrambler threatened to short-circuit Magneto's brain. Amused by the idle threat, Magneto noted he wouldn't even need to touch him and, to prove his point, killed the Marauder. The others heard Scrambler's death howl and knew another one of them had fallen prey to Magneto. Riptide opted for the group to escape while they could but Harpoon suggested they ambushed and killed the mutant master of magnetism. Harpoon had realized they'd only been activated because Magneto had killed another cell of Marauders. And although another Harpoon clone would always live, he was irked by the fact it wouldn't be him. The four Marauders prepared for the coming fight but were shocked when a giant construction crane came swooping down on Harpoon. It hit him in the face, breaking his neck and killing him. Magneto then fired Harpoon's spears to slaughter Riptide after which he used two balls filled with ferro fluid to kill Arclight and Blockbuster.

(Magneto III#6 (fb) - BTS) - The mutilated Scalphunter was found by S.H.I.E.L.D. who brought him to a hospital.

(Magneto III#6) - While in the hospital, Scalphunter was interrogated by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Haines and Rodriguez who learned what had transpired. At the same time Magneto had caught up with another batch of Marauders before they could be activated. He then activated a special program, designed by himself and Raleigh, that consisted of a behavior modification sequence for the various cloning baths. This ensured that any future Marauders would be loyal to Magneto and his cause.

(Nightcrawler IV#7 - BTS) - Nightcrawler replayed the events of his life in the Danger Room, amongst them how Riptide heavily injured him.

(Magneto III#15) - For their first mission loyal to their new master, the Marauders (Arclight, Blockbuster, Harpoon, Prism, Riptide, Sabretooth, Scalphunter and Scrambler) dressed in all-new black costumes and were sent out to rescue Magneto from S.H.I.E.L.D. custody. The Marauders were meant to frighten the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents creating enough chaos to cover Magneto's escape but when he reached the top of the Helicarrier he saw how the Marauders had killed a great number of loyal S.H.I.E.L.D agents. He prevented Sabretooth from killing agent Hines. In the end, Magneto hurled the clone into the Helicarrier propellor, figuring the mutant's innate healing factor made him a problem to control from the word go. Magneto, Raleigh and the Marauders then left for Genosha.

(Magneto III#16) - Magneto tried to recreate a safe haven on the island of Genosha where Scalphunter and Blockbuster were seen guarding him. The next day, Scalphunter and Riptide joined Magneto in a murder investigation, ordering Scalphunter to start a sweep. Upon finding more dead bodies they discovered a large swastika on a wall drawn in blood. Both the Marauders and Magneto were unaware the killings were caused by Herr Hitzig, or rather a construct accidentally created by Genoshan mutant Amy, whose powers allowed her to create imaginary constructs in reality.

(Magneto III#17) - The Marauders were tasked with searching Genosha for the killer. That night Magneto faced the Herr Hitzig construct, but was unable to stop the monster from escaping. The next morning Arclight was at Magneto's place when Raleigh arrived but she failed to hear Raleigh was attacked by Hitzig inside.

(Magneto III#18) - On the eve of total destruction when Earth-616 was about to crash into Earth-1610, Magneto ordered his Marauders to help as many people they could. For the first time in their existence, the Marauders found themselves doing good, rather than wreaking havoc and destruction.

(Magneto III#19) - The Marauders were seen helping people in the streets of New York City while Magneto and Polaris fought an army of Nimrod Sentinels who'd swooped down from Reality-1610.

(Magneto III#20) - Blockbuster and Arclight launched several power amplifiers so Polaris and Magneto had the strength they needed to destroy the Nimrod Sentinels of Reality-1610.

(Magneto III#21 - BTS) - The Marauders and all of Reality-616 were seemingly destroyed when Earth-616 and Earth-1610 collided as part of the final Incursion.

SECRET WARS III HAPPENED

(Extraordinary X-Men I#1 - BTS) - Unable to clone and command his original group of Marauders, Mister Sinister assembled a new team of Marauders consisting of Chimera, Azimuth, Aries and Coda.

(Deadpool v Gambit#4 (fb)) - Scalphunter and the Vanisher located the clone of Scrambler who had survived his interaction with X-23 (New X-Men II#46), Scrambler had become an honest man. Hoping to better his life, the Scrambler clone was less then pleased to see the two Marauders on his doorstep. Scalphunter and the Vanisher ordered Scrambler to help them on an easy job but when he refused the Marauders beat him up. Fed up with the Marauders, Scrambler used his abilities to turn off their most basic functions so the Marauders shit themselves and ran away.

(Deadpool v Gambit#4 (fb)) - Sometime later Scalphunter returned with Blockbuster and Harpoon, all three wearing special collars so Scrambler's powers wouldn't work on them. Scrambler, however, could still scramble the collar, and by doing that he stopped them and called the cops. The three Marauders were subsequently arrested.

(Hellion I#1 - BTS) - Scalphunter was one of the many who accepted the invitation to live on Krakoa, the sovereign mutant island nation, ruled by the Quiet Council.

(Hellions I#2 - BTS) - Scalphunter repeatedly visited Professor X to ask after his former teammates. However, bringing the original Marauders to Krakoa was rather problematic as the current iteration where clones of clones, most likely suffering from generation loss and genetic corruption. Professor X reasoned that even the Marauders deserved to be the most natural version of themselves. As such the Quiet Council decided Sinister's clone farm was to be dismantled so they would know if they were dealing with the last of the line to assess the Marauders' genetic integrity and discern if the group could be properly resurrected by the Five.

(Hellions I#1 - BTS) - Madelyne Pryor, former adversary of the Marauders had secretly taken control of Mister Sinister's clone farm planning to take control of the many Marauder clones to build an army and ravage Krakoa.

(Hellions I#1) - To punish Scalphunter for once again killing a group of Morlocks he was grafted onto Mr Sinister's Hellions team amongst other undesirables. This group of Hellions was tasked with dismantling Sinister's clone farm unaware Pryor was at play.

(Hellions I#1) - Madelyne Pryor activated the clones of Arclight, Blockbuster, Harpoon, Prism, Riptide, Scrambler and Vertigo but corrupted them, taking away their free will turning them into flesh-eating versions of themselves.

(Hellions I#2) - Witnessing the arrival of Scalphunter and the Hellions in the clone farm, Pryor activated the corrupted Marauders. Seeing her friend, Arclight tried to fight Pryor's influence but was unable after which Pryor revealed her presence to the Krakoans. Ordering her Marauders to attack them they easily gained the upper hand. But when Prism was about to kill Havok, Pryor stepped in and destroyed Prism. While Pryor took Alex away the Marauders continued their assault, easily defeating Nanny, Orphan-Maker and Scalphunter.

(Hellions I#3) - While several of the corrupted Marauders tried to crack open the armors of Nanny and Orphan-Maker, Pryor showed Havok the cloning baths were an uncountable group of Marauders were stored and revealed she planned to birth all of the Marauders at once and flood the Krakoan gates. Meanwhile the remaining corrupted Marauders continued their assault on the Hellions.

(Hellions I#4) - Riptide, Harpoon and Blockbuster successfully cracked Nanny's armor but just as they were about to feast on the mutant they were attacked by Wild Child and Psylocke who then slashed Riptide's throat with his own shuriken. Meanwhile as Pryor was bringing the entire Marauder clone farm online her influence was spread too thin as the corrupted Marauders started to regain their minds. In the end it was Scalphunter who shot and seemingly killed Pryor after which Havok destroyed the clone farm, destroying the many Marauder clones.

(Hellions I#4 - BTS) - Although a weight had been lifted off of Scalphunter he worried over the resurrection of his former teammates. He agreed they should be returned with as few of Mr. Sinister's genetic modifications as feasible, but aside from that refused to help them assimilate if and when they would be resurrected, feeling it would've been better for everyone if they each go their separate ways. Not long after the Marauders were approved for resurrection by the Quiet Council.

Comments: Created by Chris Claremont (writer), John Romita Jr. (pencils), Dan Green (inks).

This profile primarily on the Marauders as a team, although members like Scalphunter, Arclight, Malice and definitely Sabretooth made plenty of solo appearances. Those are covered in their (eventual) individual profiles.

Although it seems as if Gambit recruited Scalphunter for Sinister's cause he had already been working with Sinister since 1944 as revealed in Weapon X II#14, this and more in his future solo profile.

We are led to believe the Marauders were also present behind the scenes in New Mutants I#46 where they supposedly bombed Karma's apartment. However it makes no sense for them to target the New Mutants when they're right in the middle of wiping out the Morlock population. Still, for completion's sake:
(New Mutants I#46 - BTS) - Karma called home from the Xavier school hours later and was distressed when they did not answer. Magik (Illyana Rasputin) teleported them to Shan's apartment in Manhattan's Lower East Side. When Shan turned on the lights, an explosion occurred. Magik teleported herself and Shan to safety, though they were still stunned. Illyana concluded that the Marauders had set a bomb, rigged to explode when the light switch was turned on. The New Mutants prepared to search for them, but were distracted by the arrival of the Technarch Magus.

Prism's real name Robbie has been revealed in Generation M#3.

I can't help but commend Culen Bunn for giving the Marauders a new purpose when he incorporated them as part of his Magneto run. After 28 years, the Marauders were finally more than Mr. Sinisters cloned cronies. And, in a welcome nod to continuity, Extraordinary X-Men writer Jeff Lemire followed up on this by having Mister Sinister pick out a new group of Marauders. Here's hoping future writers will remember not to reactivate the old clone tanks.

The Marauders received profiles in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe II#18 (1987), Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe III#5 (1989), Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition#27 (1993), Wolverine Encyclopedia#2 (1996), Marvel Encyclopedia X-Men (2003), Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z#7 (2009), X-Men: Messiah Complex - Mutant Files (2007) and appeared in the X-Men's villains gallery in the X-Men Annual II#1 (1992)

CLONES, CLONES, CLONES!

When did the original and or clones of the individual Marauders die
• Arclight: Uncanny X-Men I#241, X-Man I#13, X-Force III#9-10, Astonishing X-Men III#50, Magneto III#6
• Blockbuster: Thor #374, X-Man I#13, X-Force III#9-10, Astonishing X-Men III#50, Magneto III#6
• Harpoon: Uncanny X-Men I#241, X-Force III#9-10, Astonishing X-Men III#50, Magneto III#6
• Prism: X-Factor I#10, Uncanny X-Men I#241, X-Man I#13, X-Force III#9-10, Astonishing X-Men III#50, Magneto III#6
• Riptide: Uncanny X-Men I#211, Uncanny X-Men I#241, most likely died in X-Men II#34, Gambit III#9, X-Force III#9-10, Magneto III#6
• Sabretooth: X-Men II#34, X-Force III#9-10, Magneto III#15
• Scalphunter: Uncanny X-Men I#241, X-Man I#13, X-Force III#9-10, Magneto III#6
• Scrambler: Uncanny X-Men I#241, X-Man I#13, X-Force III#9-10, Magneto III#6
• Vertigo: Uncanny X-Men I#241, X-Man I#13, X-Force III#9-10, New X-Men II#46