Blind Faith (comics)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Blind Faith

Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	X-Factor Annual #1
Created by

Characteristics
Alter ego	Alexi Garnoff
Species	Human Mutant
Affiliations	Exiles, Soviet Super-Soldiers
Notable aliases	Father Garnoff, Holy Ghost
Abilities	Telepathy, Hypnosis, Memory alteration, Mind control

Blind Faith (Alexi Garnoff) is a fictional mutant character in the Marvel Comics Universe. His first appearance was in X-Factor Annual #1.

Not much is known about Blind Faith's history prior to his first known rebellion against the Soviet's mutant genocide program, which brought him in contact with the original X-Factor team.

1 Fictional character biography
2 Powers and abilities
3 Notes
4 Bibliography

[edit] Fictional character biography

Under the Soviet government, all of the communist states viewed mutants as a threat to humanity's survival. As such, mutants were forced to ban together in subversive hideaways in an elaborate safehouse system. A Catholic priest, Father Alexi Garnoff, was the leader of one of these cells, whose membership included Mentac, Concussion, Iron Curtain, and Siberian Tiger (later known as Sibercat). A German member of the KGB named Wolfgang Heinrich, also known as the Doppelganger, was capturing and vivisecting mutants. When the original X-Factor team came to the USSR to investigate, Doppelganger captured Iceman and posed as him. Garnoff and Iron Curtain rescued Iceman, who helped these exiles raid the Doppelganger's facility and with X-Factor brought the mutants to safety.

The cyborg assassin, Firefox, under orders from Project: Remont, soon infiltrated the safehouses looking for mutant runaways. He brutally killed many mutants until Blind Faith called for the abandonment of the safehouse system and escaped with five other mutants, Vanguard, Darkstar, Ursa Major, Sibercat and Stencil. Mentac, Concussion, and Iron Curtain were not so fortunate, as they were killed by Firefox.

Garnoff saw the need for a mutant freedom fighting force to undertake dangerous missions, and organised the surviving mutants into a team called the Exiles, dedicated to fighting for the rights of other Russian mutants. In one such mission, Blind Faith and Darkstar encountered an immensely powerful psychic being, the Soul Skinner, who had taken over a small Russian town. With the help of the X-Men, the Soul Skinner was defeated.

Garnoff was also once leader of an incarnation of the Russian superteam formerly known as the Soviet Super-Soldiers, now known as the Winter Guard. Blind Faith lost his mutant powers after the M-Day (this was confirmed in New Avengers #18).

[edit] Powers and abilities

Alexi could sense the thoughts of others, emit hypnotic lights from his eyes that are able to entrance others, alter their memories, and place them under his direct mental control.