SEAMUS MELLENCAMP

Real Name: Seamus Mellencamp

Identity/Class: Human mutant

Occupation: Mutant terrorist

Group Membership: Acolytes (Kamal al Alaoui, Barnacle/Mortimer Everet, Fabian Cortez, Decay/Jacob Lashinski, Marco Delgado, Exodus/Bennett du Paris, Frenzy/Joanna Cargill, Gargouille/Lavinia LeBlanc, Katu Kath, Harlan & Sven Kleinstock, Francisco Milan, Neophyte/Simon Hall, Projector/Zachary Williams, Rem-Ram/Marcus Andrews, Scanner/Sarah Ryall, Suvik Senyaka, Static/Gianna Carina Esperanza, Spoor/Andrew Hamish Graves, Unuscione/Carmella Unuscione, Vindaloo/Venkat Katragadda, Amelia Voght)

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Valerie Cooper, Deadpool (Wade Wilson), Heroes for Hire (Ant-Man/Scott Lang, Black Knight/Dane Whitman, Iron Fist/Daniel Rand, Power Man/Luke Cage, She-Hulk/Jennifer Walters, Thena, White Tiger), High Evolutionary (Herbert Edgar Wyndham), Knights Of Wundagore (Bova Ayrshire, Lord Anon (actually Man-Beast), Lord Churchill, Lord Gator, Sir Ram, Sir Tyger, Lady Ursula, Lady Vermin), Loa (Alani Ryan), Moira MacTaggert, Omega Red (Arkady Rossovich), Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff), Random (Marshall Evan Stone III), X-Factor (Havok/Alex Summers, Multiple Man/Jamie Madrox, Quicksilver/Pietro Maximoff, Polaris/Lorna Dane, Strong Guy/Guido Carosella, Wolfsbane/Rahne Sinclair), X-Men (Archangel/Warren Worthington III, Bishop, Colossus/Piotr Rasputin, Gambit/Remy LeBeau, Iceman/Bobby Drake, Marrow/Sarah, Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner, Professor X/Charles Xavier, Rogue/Anna Marie, Shadowcat/Kitty Pryde, Storm/Ororo Munroe, Wolverine/James "Logan" Howlett)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
                                  formerly Wundagore Mountain, Transia;
                                  formerly Mont St. Francis, Normandy, France

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men I#300 (May, 1993)

Powers/Abilities: Seamus Mellencamp's mutation caused him to permanently turn into a clawed, reptillian form with razor-sharp claws, teeth and cloven feet. His claws could rend through steel and human flesh with equal ease. His scales allowed him great resistance to all conventional forms of injury, like gunshots, blades, blows or other kinetic impacts. His insides lacked that particular trait. Seamus possessed enhanced strength, stamina, reflexes and durability. An untrained fighter, he relied on his grotesque appearance, ferocious attitude and limited invulnerability to win the day. Mellencamp was fiercely anti-human, overly zealous in following the teachings of Magneto and hating the X-Men for not doing enough for their own kind. Seamus may have had a slow acting healing factor as well (see comments). When he was revived by the techno-organic virus, Mellencamp was impervious to physical harm.

Height: 6'0"
Weight: 191 lbs.
Eyes: Yellow
Hair: None (green scales)

History:
(Uncanny X-Men I#300 (fb) - BTS) - Shunned and feared for his monstrous appearance, Seamus Mellencamp found a home among the Acolytes. He stayed with them at their headquarters in France's Mont St. Francis monastery off the coast of Normandy.

(Uncanny X-Men I#300 - BTS) - The Acolytes abducted Moira MacTaggert from her lab on Muir Island to make her pay for her blasphemous sins against their lord (when he was a baby under her care, Moira had tampered with Magneto's genetic make up in an attempt to prevent him from becoming the mass murderer they'd known). Fabian Cortez ordered the electropathic Acolyte Milan to use his powers to scan and record Moira's entire memory so they had a complete overview of all her crimes. However, Moira proved extremely stubborn and strong-willed, making accessing and processing even the smallest of memories an arduous task.

(Uncanny X-Men I#300) - When Cortez realized Moira knew he had killed Magneto, he decided to kill her by using his powers on her before she could reveal what she knew to the others. Just then, the X-Men invaded Mont St. Francis to rescue Moira. While her teammates kept the Acolytes at bay, Jean went to check on the injured Moira MacTaggert only to be attacked from behind herself by Seamus Mellencamp. Surprised, Jean mocked Seamus by calling him Mephisto's kid to which Mellencamp retorted that not every mutant were drop dead gorgeous, going on to assure her that he was her worst nightmare. Unimpressed, Jean hit Mellencamp with the full force of her telekinetic powers, sending him straight through the walls of Mont St. Francis on a trajectory that would land him somewhere in the Pyrenees.

(Uncanny X-Men I#300 - BTS) - After the X-Men successfully defeated most of the Acolytes, Amelia Voght used her powers to teleport all her teammates to safety.

(X-Factor I#92) - Mellencamp joined his fellow Acolytes on a mission to the military base Camp Hayden. Their leader Fabian Cortez wanted them to both destroy the Sentinel processing plant there, as well as kill Senator Robert Kelly who happened to be visiting the site. They found themselves opposed by the government licensed mutant heroes of X-Factor and their ally Random. Mellencamp and his teammate Katu ganged up on Multiple Man who quickly summoned several dupes to even the odds. However, the ferocious Mellencamp used his razor sharp claws and strength to tear through the copies and soon had the original Jamie Madrox in a chokehold. Seamus was ready to tear Madrox apart, promising to slice him open like a ripe piece of fruit. Faced with no other option, Multiple Man shoved his fist down Mellancamp's throat and slammed his other hand on the floor to create a new dupe inside his opponent's body. As a result, Mellencamp was torn apart and seemingly perished (see comments). The battle ended when Fabian Cortez failed to convince X-Factor member Quicksilver to join them as his father's successor. Amelia Voght once again used her mist teleportation to take her teammates away.

(Heroes for Hire I#16 (fb) - BTS) - Somehow surviving getting split apart (see comments), Mellencamp rejoined Exodus and the Acolytes during their extended occupation of the High Evolutionary's Citadel of Science on Transia's Mount Wundagore. They soon found themselves in conflict with the Citadel's former inhabitants, the Knights of Wundagore led by Quicksilver. Exodus' reason for taking the Acolytes there was to secure Isotope E, an evolution controlling compound created by the High Evolutionary. However, the H.E. had taken the Isotope with him when he moved the Knights to Haven, a sanctuary near New York City.

(Heroes for Hire I#16) - After a convoluted series of events that saw the Heroes for Hire get involved in the ongoing conflict between the Acolytes and the Knights of Wundagore, it was revealed at Wundagore that the Man-Beast had been hiding among the Knights as Sir Anon. The sly Man-Beast had captured the H.E. and his Isotope E sceptre, threatening to kill him if the Knights didn't obey his orders. Exodus and Man-Beast agreed to a temporary truce when the Heroes for Hire came to Transia and attacked them. During the combat, Mellencamp and the others overwhelmed the severely outnumbered heroes. Even though Seamus got sucker punched in the stomach by Iron Fist, the others ultimately proved no match for their opponents and were defeated and imprisoned.

(Quicksilver#12 -BTS) - Using his superhuman speed, Quicksilver stole the Isotope E from the Man-Beast and freed the Heroes for Hire from the dungeons of Wundagore Mountain. Forced to expose himself to the Isotope E, Quicksilver's powers grew exponentially until he was able to fight off the Acolytes and even managed to defeat their leader Exodus. Growing mad with power, Pietro demanded and got the Acolytes' loyalty. Just then, the H.E. announced his own godlike powers had been restored (at the cost of his sanity) and was ready to lead the world to the next phase of evolution.

(Heroes for Hire/Quicksilver Annual 1998#1) - When the H.E. and the Isotope E enhanced Quicksilver squared off, Pietro ordered the Acolytes to aid him. However, Mellencamp and the bulk of the team decided they no longer had a stake in the conflict. Refusing to fight other people's battles any longer, they left.

(Uncanny X-Men I#366 - BTS) - Mellencamp rejoined the Acolytes in time to help Magneto in his latest world conquering scheme. The Acolytes were sent out to keep the X-Men busy and distracted until his preparations for shifting the Earth's magnetic poles were completed.

(Uncanny X-Men I#366) - Seamus and the Acolytes struck a series of genetic research facilities by order of Magneto, as they moved north towards their master's base. After the Acolytes hit a genetic research lab in central Minnesota, the X-Men were tailing them. Eventually, the two teams met and fought at a remote Canadian chemical processing lab. Katu then ordered the super strong Acolyte Kamal al Aloui to cover their retreat which he did by tossing a reservoir of liquid flame retardant into the basin they'd been fighting in, hoping the foam would drown their opponents. The others made a clean escape inside their ship, yet moved at such a deliberately slow pace the X-Men could keep up with them. Figuring the Acolytes were obviously luring them, the X-Men's suspicions were confirmed when over the icy wastelands of the North Pole their Blackbird got hit by Magneto's global EM-pulse and crashed, while the Acolytes looked on from the safety of their shielded aircraft (see comments).

(X-Men II#86) - Mellencamp was playing cards with some of his fellow Acolytes on board their ship, which was hovering over the X-Men's downed craft on Ellesmere Island in the Arctic. Mellencamp had no sympathy for the X-Men's suffering, feeling they wouldn't do anything to help them if the situation was reversed. Cargill set him straight, reminding Seamus of the many times the X-Men had saved them, for instance when Holocaust destroyed Avalon. Scanner added that the X-Men were at least deserving of respect, to which Mellencamp replied that they'd given the Acolytes none to begin with. After all, after rescuing them from Holocaust, the X-Men did turn them in. The team was alarmed by the sudden appearance of Charles Xavier's astral form inside the ship who had come to reason with them. Mellencamp wasn't interested, claiming it was Xavier's inactivity that had caused irreparable harm between humanity and mutantkind. Everyone was ready to blast him, but it was Scanner who rebuffed the professor's plea to aid them, using her powers to force him back in his body.

(X-Men II#86 - BTS) - In the brief moment he telepathically communicated with the Acolytes, Xavier had worked his way into most of their minds, subtly influencing them from a distance. His first act was to have Cargill unknowingly extend the shields of the Acolytes' vessel to protect the X-Men.

(X-Men II#86) - Moments later, X-Man and Acolyte alike were surprised by the detonation of several nuclear missiles near Magneto's tower, fired by the UN in retaliation.

(Uncanny X-Men I#367) - Thanks to Xavier's mental influence, the Acolytes' shielding had protected the team from the nuclear fallout. Outside, Xavier ordered the X-Men to play dead, while he stimulated the minds of Mellencamp and the other, more aggressive Acolytes to goad them into leaving the ship and make sure their enemies were really finished. Mellencamp attacked the X-Men with a vengeance, first taking on Marrow and then shifting his attention to Colossus who shifted back to his human form much to Seamus' surprise. The Acolyte grabbed the X-Man who then turned back to organic steel, essentially becoming a living lightning rod that attracted all the electrostatic energy that still permeated the area. Mellencamp was flash-fried and knocked out along with the other Acolytes. By that time, Shadowcat had sneaked aboard the Acolytes' craft, after defeating Katu she commandeered the vessel and allowed her teammates to quickly board the ship leaving Mellencamp and the Acolytes behind while they went on to try and stop Magneto.

(Uncanny X-Men I#379) - Mellencamp and the other Acolytes moved to Genosha to be with Magneto. They all fainted in agony as a result of the High Evolutionary activating his global mutation-neutralization program.

(X-Force I#94) - While on a covert mission in Magneto controlled Genosha, X-Force watched from a safe distance how Mellencamp, Vindaloo and a group of their fellow Acolytes fought against the Genoshan Magistrates who were still struggling to reclaim the island.

(New X-Men I#115 - BTS) - Mellencamp perished on Genosha during the Sentinel genocide orchestrated by Cassandra Nova (see comments).

(X-Men Legacy I#225 - BTS) - Seamus Mellencamp was seen in the image Exodus generated of the Acolytes, as part of his attempt to convince Charles Xavier his war against humanity on behalf of mutantkind was just. The fact so many of his Acolytes had died didn't bother Exodus, who considered their sacrifices a necessary result of any crusade.

(X-Force Annual III#1/2) - When Selene raised a small army of the X-Men's deceased friends and enemies to send against the team, Seamus Mellencamp was among them. He teamed up with fellow Acolytes Fabian Cortez and Marco Delgado to have their revenge on Magneto who they learned was living with the X-Men now. Once they arrived on Utopia, they didn't find Magnus (who was in Scotland fighting the revived Proteus). Instead, they ran into Deadpool and the X-Men student Loa. After a while the Merc with a Mouth's inane chatter started to annoy the villains, who attacked. Deadpool found they were impervious to his weapons, fatal injuries and hacked off bodyparts instantly grew back. While Loa looked on in terror, Deadpool pulled out the big guns and fought an unwinnable battle against Mellencamp and the others for 20 minutes, only losing to them in the end. The fighting was essentially over when Loa accidentally merged with Seamus Mellencamp, completely destroying his revived remains within seconds. Putting two and two together, Deadpool grabbed the young girl and forcefully threw her at Delgado and Cortez, supposedly killing them too.

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

In his first appearance, Seamus misspells his own name as "Melloncamp", guess he was distracted by Jean's sweater meat.

How did Mellencamp survive getting split in two when Multiple Man caused a dupe to manifest inside his mouth? Well, one theory claims that Seamus and other deceased Acolytes that inexplicably turned up over the years like Javitz, Milan and Katu were actually clones. For my money, Mellencamp's reptilian physiology granted him an unrevealed, slow working healing factor that helped him to gradually recover. After all, if lizards can grow back their tails, why not Seamus?

Considering Mellencamp and the other Acolytes moved to Genosha with Magneto in the late 90s and stayed there for at least a little while after the Cassandra Nova extermination incident, one could reason he was there for the events of Eve of Destruction, not to mention the two Magneto limited series. I guess it's safe to say he died on the island when the Sentinels attacked, after all how else could Selene have revived his corpse during the Necrosha event?

I was reading Exodus' profile in OHotMU Vol. 4 softcover, in his abilities section, he has the power to resurrect the deceased. Also in his profile, it said he has raised the dead. That could be an explanation for the resurrection of some of the fallen Acolytes.
Although the suspicion with Mellencamp being like a reptile which could regrow limbs seems a plausible explanation, however what happened to him with Multiple Man's double popping up inside him, the injury seems to be so severe, and I doubt that he could regrow from this. So I think I will go with Exodus' power as a reason for his resurrection as well.
--Brandan Nash

Seamus Mellencamp was profiled in the Acolytes entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z#1 (March, 2006).

Profile by Norvo.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Seamus Mellencamp should not be confused with

• Dr. Melloncamp - scientist, Freaks ally--Marvel Tales featuring Spider-Man#256/2
• John Cougar Mellencamp - classic American musician, actor and painter
• Any other "Seamus" or "Mellencamp" characters