Latest / Vigilante Vibes Podcast / Ep. 155. Who is Legion in Marvel Comics?!

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Ep. 155. Who is Legion in Marvel Comics?! · Vigilante Vibes Podcast

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Hi guys, it's Megan with vigilante vibes.
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And today I'm here with another character breakdown for you.
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And I am continuing my mutant coverage of the Marvel Universe.
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And today I want to talk about a pretty big one.
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But it's still somehow underrated.
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Like, he has an entire TV show, but people still pretend he's
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not there. Of course, I'm talking about
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Legion. David Charles Holler is the son
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of Charles Xavier, you know, the X-Men guy and Gabriel Holler,
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who later became Israel's ambassador to the UK.
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Back when Xavier was in Israel about 20 years ago.
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He and Gabriel, Gabriella Gabriel, I don't know, had a
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brief relationship. So it's a hookup.
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He left not knowing she was pregnant and she kept it very
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quiet that he was David's father.
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Which is fair because he's a villain.
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I don't care what anyone says. Xavier only found out recently
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that David was his son. Since Xavier is a mutant, David
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was born a mutant too, with the potential of for some serious
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power. The character Legion is actually
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David's alter ego. He first showed up in a cameo,
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just a photo in a few mentions and New mutants #25 in 1985, and
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then made his full debut in the next issue of New mutants #26
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after David moved to Paris with his mom, Gabriel Gabriel.
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It's just, they're Gabriel Gabriel.
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They're all spelled the same but you have to say it differently
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and it's just whatever. And his stepdad Daniel.
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Things took a very dark turn. A group of anti-Semitic
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assassins broke into their home and killed Daniel right in front
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of a 10 year old David. The trauma triggered David's
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mutant powers and he used them to destroy the attackers minds,
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but in doing so he accidentally linked with their dying thoughts
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and emotions which overwhelmed him and shattered his mind into
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multiple personalities. The experience left him
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catatonic, and one of the assassins, a man named Jermail
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Karami, had his consciousness absorbed into David's mind.
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Over time, Karami's consciousness separated from
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David's but stayed trapped inside his head.
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With control of David's telepathy, Karami learned about
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David's true nature. Kind, sensitive, craving care,
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wanting to help, Karami started trying to piece David's
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fractured mind back together. But not all of David's alternate
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personalities were on board 2 in particular, Jack Wayne, who used
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telekinesis, and Cindy, who controlled fire, resisted him.
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This led to an all out war inside of David's mind and the
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personalities eventually united under the name Legion.
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So when you read his, anytime they're David is in the comics,
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Legion goes by they them because there's so many of them.
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By his late teens, David had come out of his catatonic state
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and was showing sides of autism. His mom turned to Myra
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Mctaggart. It always goes back to Myra
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Mctaggart, I'm telling you. And sent him to Muir Island for
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care. But when David's powers started
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acting up in the real world, he unintentionally absorbed the
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minds of Myra's colleagues, Tom Corsi and Shannon Friedlander.
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Friedlander. What a name.
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Myra brought in Charles Xavier, who showed up with a few New
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Mutants. Warlock, Cypher, Mirage,
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Wolfsbane. Unfortunately, David absorbed
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Myra, Wolfsbane, and Cypher too. While preparing to go into
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David's mind, Xavier learned the truth that David was his son.
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Inside David's mind, the absorbed people still had their
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own consciousness and ended up siding with Jack Wayne in the
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ongoing battle between personalities.
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Mirage, however, stepped in and stopped Wayne from destroying
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Karami after learning Karami had been trying to help David all
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along. So someone in there is using
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their brain. With Mirage and Karami's help,
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and even some assistance from Jack Wayne, they managed to
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bring David's mind back to a mostly stable state.
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Jack Wayne, Cindy, and Karami still existed as separate voices
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in his head and could sometimes speak through him, but David's
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main personality took control of both his body and mind again.
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Everyone who had been trapped in his head was also safely
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restored to their own bodies. While defending Muir Island from
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the rivers, Legion's more unstable personalities started
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causing chaos for everyone involved.
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During the fight, David attacked Destiny, you know, the mutant
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who can see the future and is the wife of Mystique with his
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telepathy and caught a glimpse of a horrifying future.
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The Age of Apocalypse timeline. The vision overwhelmed him and
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in a panic, he killed Destiny with a telepathic blast.
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To make it worse, he cruelly broadcast her death to Mystique,
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Destiny's wife. But even after his death,
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Destiny's consciousness stuck around inside David's mind.
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I'm telling you, Destiny's died like so many times.
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Or at least faked death so many times.
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Later, Myra Mctaggart tried to use Legion to help track down
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missing mutants, including the X-Men, by hooking him up to
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Cerebro, the device that boosts telepathy.
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If you guys do not know. Unfortunately, this drew
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attention of the Shadow King, a powerful psychic villain.
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The Shadow King took over David's mind and used his powers
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to possess everyone on Muir Island.
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Legion ended up joining the possessed group, essentially
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becoming part of the Shadow King's twisted version of the
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X-Men. The Shadow King forced everyone
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on the island into brutal gladiator style fights and made
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them battle the real X-Men and Cyclops's X Factor team when
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they came to stop him. Professor X eventually showed up
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to face the Shadow King directly and with the help from his
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students, cut off the villain's connection to Polaris, who was
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unknowingly being used as his energy source.
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Also, Polaris is my favorite so I just want to point that out.
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This broke the Shadow King's control and seemingly destroyed
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him, but the victory became at a cost, as it always does.
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The psychic battle left Legion in a coma, his mind completely
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shattered. Despite Xavier's efforts, he
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couldn't bring David back. Then, when Mystique came looking
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for revenge over Destiny's death, Legion suddenly woke up.
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His mind was back, but now only two personalities remained his
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own and Destiny's. At this point, Legion believed
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in their father's dream of a peaceful coexistence between
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humans and mutants, but in their own twisted logic, they thought
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the only way to make that dream come true was by killing
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Magneto. Magneto just catches trees, so
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Legion built a giant black Dome in the Negev Negev desert to
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start his plan. The X-Men came to investigate,
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but before they could stop him, Legion opened a time portal.
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He and several X-Men, Psyloc, Iceman, Bishop and Storm, got
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pulled into it and thrown 20 years into the past.
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None of them remembered who they were at first.
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David ended up in the Israeli hospital where Xavier and
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Magneto were working together at the time.
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At the hospital, Magneto helped David out of bed, accidentally
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triggering A psychic backlash that caused visions of Magneto's
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traumatic past to appear. When Magneto went to get Xavier,
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they returned to find Legion projecting images of the X-Men.
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Then things got even weirder. Legion disguised himself as
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Xavier approached his mother, Gabriel Holler, who was a
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patient in the hospital, and tried to seduce her.
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Xavier sensed something was wrong and rushed to help.
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He and Magneto found Gabrielle on the floor with her clothes
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torn, clearly traumatized. Before they could react, Legion
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appeared and told Magneto he was about to die.
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A vicious fight broke out between Legion and Magneto.
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The X-Men, who had regained their memories thanks to Cable,
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tried to stop David. Iceman managed to freeze all of
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the water in Legion's body and they thought it was over, but
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Legion broke free and knocked out the entire team of the blast
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of psychic energy. With the X-Men down and Magneto
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barely standing, Legion formed a psychic blade and prepared to
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kill him. At the very last second,
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Professor X jumped between them and took the hit himself.
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The attack killed him, and that single act drastically altered
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the timeline, creating a dark alternate feature known as the
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Age of Apocalypse. In the Age of Apocalypse
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timeline, things go seriously off the rails.
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Apocalypse becomes a ruler of North America and launches a
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global campaign of genocide to stop this future from ever
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happening. Bishop teams up with the heroes
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of that timeline and travels back in time to prevent Charles
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Xavier's death. When he arrives, he confronts
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Legion, stabs himself with Legion's side blade.
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It's a risky move, but it allows Bishop to absorb Legion's energy
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and reflect it back repeatedly. This psychic feedback loop not
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only badly injuries Legion, but it also lets him see flashes of
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the horrible future he caused. Realizing the nightmare he's
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unleashed, Legion apologizes before dying from his injuries.
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Even after his death, some of Legion's split personality stuck
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around as ghost like spirits and started haunting Israel.
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Excalibur was called in to handle the situation and Megan
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used her empathy powers to calm the spirits.
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That allowed them to finally move on and go find peace at
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some point. Though it was never really
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explained how David Holler comes back from the dead as they do.
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It's comics, it's Marvel. It happens when the New Mutants
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reform, he becomes a first major threat.
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Danny Moon Star and Karma are investigating a young mutant
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girl named Marcy Jane Foggerty when Karma uses her powers to
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try and connect with the girl's minds.
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But since Marcy's consciousness is actually inside Legion, Karma
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ends up getting trapped in his body too.
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Meanwhile, her real body is found across town, totally
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unresponsive. Inside Legion's minds, there are
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still a ton of personas, including Jack Wayne, who seems
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to be leading the pack. Jack also starts going after
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Danny Moon Star, who's still powerless after M Day.
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Around the same time, Magic starts rounding up the old New
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Mutants team to help deal with the situation.
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She and Magma tracked down Legion in Colorado.
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While Cannonball and Sunspot find Karma's catatonic body
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inside Legion's fractured mine. There are strong symbolic
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elements like a doll named Maury or Myra that Marcy was holding.
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The Doll represents controlled Legion's body, and whichever
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personality possesses it can speak through them and use their
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powers in the real world. Naturally, all the more
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dangerous personas want in when one of them gets hold of the
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Doll. Legion's body starts going nuts,
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using different powers depending on which persona is in control.
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In the chaos, Marcy's parents are killed and Legion almost
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kills Danny Moon * Cannonball and Sunspot stop Jack Wayne,
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who's now controlling Legion's body, just before he can do
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something truly horrific to the Moon Star.
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Magic, going against orders as she tends to do, jumps into
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Legion's mind herself. She finds Karma and Marcy then
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starts fighting and eliminating Legion's worst personalities.
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She even gets control the doll by threatening to kill more of
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them. Karma eventually finds the
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Persona responsible for killing Marcy's parents and with Magic's
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sword and encouragement, takes her revenge and destroys him.
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Later in New mutants #5 the X Club confirms that Legion is an
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Omega level mutant, one of the most powerful.
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That's something we don't hear it very often after Rogue uses
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her abilities to separate and siphon off some of his split
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personality. When Bastian's Nimrod Sentinels
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launched a major attack in the X-Men and Utopia to wipe out the
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mutant Messiah, Cyclops asked Professor X for help
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specifically to bring in Legion. With his Omega level powers,
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Legion could seriously turn the tide of the battle.
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Inside David's mind, Xavier guided him to a place called the
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Persona Brig, basically a mental prism for all of his worst
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personalities. David asked if it was dangerous,
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and Xavier replied that the real danger was outside where the
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X-Men were fighting for their lives.
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When David asked if the team really needed him, Xavier told
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him the truth. They didn't just need David,
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they needed Legion. Using a special helmet that let
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Xavier choose which personality was in control, they unleashed
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Legion onto the battlefield. With his powers constantly
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shifting depending on who was in charge.
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The Nimrod Sentinels couldn't keep up, and Legion took down
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several of them. Once the fight was over, they
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returned him to the Brig. Later, Magic convinced.
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Well, more like forced Legion to help her fight the Elder Gods
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who had trapped her in Limbo. Tapping into one of his most
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powerful reality warping personas, Legion completely
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wiped out the gods. It turned out magic had actually
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orchestrated Legion's return just so she could use him for
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this exact reason. Meanwhile, Dr. Nemesis was
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trying to cure Legion by deleting his various
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personalities, but he began questioning if erasing them was
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basically murder. To help him understand, Xavier
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took Nemesis inside Legion's mind, only to find that they
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were being blocked by a psychic defense mechanism that had taken
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the form of Myra Mctaggart. It always goes back to Myra.
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This Myra had created an alternate reality inside David's
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mind to protect him, a place where Legion could be a hero and
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finally find peace in his new world.
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Mutants were being hunted after Jean Grey as the Phoenix
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destroyed Albany, and Magneto LED a resistance force from a
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stronghold called the Forestress X Legion was part of a group
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called the Force Warriors, who helped defend the base every day
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by rebuilding its protective walls.
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Eventually, Magneto, Shadowcat, and Blindfold started noticing
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that something was very off about Fortress X and the world
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around them. Rogue broke Professor X out of
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prison, also called the Brig, and he revealed the truth.
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The entire reality was fake, created inside Legion's mind.
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That's when the fake Myra appeared.
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Still trying to convince everyone she was the real deal.
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Myra then made a final move. She dropped the Forest Warriors
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protective walls, allowing the military to invade and attack
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the mutants. As Xavier, Magneto and Shadowcat
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tried to stop her, Legion stepped in.
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Myra broke down and told him she just wanted to make him happy
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and now that her powers had grown, she had build an even
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better world for him. But David had learned from
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everything. While she was distracted, he
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gently placed a hand on her back and reabsorbed her into his
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mind. Then using her powers, he undid
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everything and restored the world back to normal.
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The original Earth 616 reality, the mutants all returned to
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Utopia with no memory of the Age of X events.
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Xavier and Emma Frost later helped them recover those
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memories. Myra, still a part of David,
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offered once more to build him a perfect world, but this time he
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turned her down. So that is David Holler, child
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of Professor X in Legion. So I hope you guys were able to
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understand all that I was putting down.
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He Legion slash David Holler. They it's a great character.
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It's one that I feel like it's not too.
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It's not used too often, but lately I've seen a lot more of
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them, especially with the new giant size run that's by Jackson
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Lansing and Colin Kelly. If you haven't checked it out,
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you should. I know not a lot of people are
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big fans of Miss Marvel, which is a tragic shame, but it is
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they're, they're a lot of fun. So like always, I have some
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comics for you to check out just to get to know him even more and
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for you do your own research. If I missed any, let me know in
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the comments because it's very possible because this is what
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I've read and I have not read all of Marvel Comics.
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So New Mutants Volume 1 #25, X-Men Legacy, Age of X, Legion
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Quest, Uncanny X-Men #278 to 279, X Factor #69, Uncanny X-Men
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#280 and X Factor #70 so that is my breakdown of Legion.
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I hope you guys enjoyed it. Be sure to like and subscribe so
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you don't miss any more of these character breakdowns because I
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want to put a spotlight on as many underrated characters that
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I can. So until next time, have a
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marvelous day.