Sabretooth (comics)
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Sabretooth (Victor Creed) is a Marvel Comics character, an arch-enemy of the X-Men’s Wolverine. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne, and first appeared in Iron Fist #14 (August 1977).
Sabretooth is a mutant who possesses superhuman strength, a healing factor, razor-sharp teeth and claws, and enhanced senses. He is a bloodthirsty sociopath who has murdered numerous people both to fulfill his animalistic urges and as a mercenary.
Although the specifics of their feud are, like most things from Wolverine’s past, hazy, it is known that he and Sabretooth were victims of the Cold War supersoldier program Weapon X and that Sabretooth saw Wolverine as competition and tried to make his life miserable. The two have been bitter adversaries ever since. If Wolverine tries to suppress his inner demons, Sabretooth is the exact opposite: he has totally embraced the beast within. Recently he has joined the current team of X-Men under questionable circumstances.
Sabretooth has appeared in several X-Men animated series and video games. Played by Tyler Mane, he was a henchman of Magneto in the first X-Men film and X-Men: The Official Game.
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[edit] Publication history
Sabretooth has had a few limited series and one shots including Sabretooth and Mystique and Sabretooth: In The Red Zone.
[edit] Fictional Character Biography
[edit] Early life
Sabretooth typically uses the name Victor Creed, but it is unclear if this is his real name or not. Sabretooth's memories have been tampered with by clandestine organizations such as Weapon X and so much of what appears to be his past is not of credible account. His strongest and earliest memory is of being cruelly abused by his father while tied up in his parents' basement, although this memory may have been implanted by Weapon X. While it is unknown if this memory is real, Creed's psychopathy could be, in part, a product of such an early developmentally destructive experience.
In an early tale (Wolverine vol. 2 #10), Creed and Logan, the X-Men's future Wolverine, live in a small community of Blackfoot Indians and settlers, and one day, Sabretooth tracks him down in Canada, and rapes and seemingly murders his one-time teammate's lover, Silver Fox, on Logan's birthday. This results in the first of many battles between the two, but not before they are reunited as teammates. Many years later, Creed would start hunting down Logan on his birthdays to battle him.
[edit] Early History
Eventually, Creed is recruited into a top secret CIA covert ops unit known as Team X, with allies John Wraith (Kestrel), Logan (Wolverine), and David Nord (Maverick). On one mission, the psychopathic Sabretooth kills a crucial scientist during a battle against Russian supersoldier Omega Red. He frequently kills targets and civilians during other fights involving the loose knit team, but he is loose friends with Logan. During this period he fathers a son, Graydon Creed, with the mutant shapeshifter Mystique, who is undercover in the guise of a spy named Leni Zauber. Graydon eventually grows up to found Friends of Humanity, an anti-mutant organization, and while running for President he will be assassinated by the evolved robot Bastion.
Next, Sabretooth is recruited by the Weapon X program, but it is unknown what, if any, enhancements he gets. He does receive the standard Weapon X memory tamperings, and he is found to be more prone to telepathy than his counterpart, Wolverine.
In 1968, Creed, using the alias Sabretooth, works as a mercenary in Saigon and is responsible for the murder of several prostitutes. Because of his contacts, Creed becomes aware that an individual, the White Devil, is involved in the disappearance of soldiers and locals, which are rumored to be the victims of experimentation. Sabretooth is approached by Scalphunter, who has killed Creed's employer. Creed then receives a large sum of money as a compensation for his employer's death and because the White Devil wants to employ him as one of his own enforcers; an offer Sabretooth accepts.
[edit] Supervillain
Eventually emerging as a costumed villain, Sabretooth becomes partners with the Constrictor and the two act as enforcers for major criminal interests. The two soon dissolve their partnership, and Sabretooth nearly kills the Constrictor at one time. Sabretooth battles Iron Fist, in his first historical appearance, Iron Fist #14.
Sabretooth eventually encounters a thief by the name of Gambit, and the two fight, but find they aren't exactly enemies. Later, while recruiting for mastermind villain Mister Sinister, Gambit gathers a group of mutant criminals he has associated with who form The Marauders and participate in the Mutant Massacre. This sets Sabretooth in another battle against Wolverine. Sinister clones several of the Marauders so that he has a loyal group of lackeys after the originals die, but Sabretooth cannot be cloned. Still, he stays with the Marauders for an unspecified amount of time before leaving and returning to his mercenary roots
During his time as a mercenary, he establishes himself as a hero-fighting villain by taking on the likes of Luke Cage, Daredevil, Thor, Spider-Man, and the Black Cat, where he nearly bites through her leg until he encounters the armor underneath her boot. During one of his Spider-Man encounters, Creed's employer, The Foreigner, claims to have trained the mercenary at some point. Also during this time, the ninja organization the Hand augments his strength. Eventually returning to the sewers to slaughter some leftover Morlocks, Sabretooth becomes hunted by Caliban, a surviving Morlock who previously pledged his life to the immortal mutant Apocalypse. In a vicious battle, the once meek Caliban breaks Sabretooth's spine, and leaves him for dead. Sabretooth's healing ability repairs this damage, but he doesn't track the augmented Caliban down.
Sabretooth returns to his archenemy Wolverine, and the pair are reunited with Team X. A bigger surprise comes when Wolverine and Sabretooth discover Silver Fox is actually alive, but she only remembers a hatred for Logan. Ultimately, Ferro, a telepath, takes control of Creed and coerces him to kill Silver Fox, this time for real. Believing himself to be Wolverine's father (initially the intention of Claremont), it was revealed by genetic testing by S.H.I.E.L.D. that Sabretooth could not be Logan's father (Wolverine scribe Larry Hama and editors did not like the father idea). During this period, he also battles Cable, and is targeted by the Weapon X robot Shiva.
Soon, suffering from severe bloodlust, Sabretooth hires telepathic mutant Birdy to help him keep his urges in check by providing what he calls "the glow," a psychic blast that satiates his bloodlust and numbs the pain of his suppressed memories as a youth, allowing himself control for short periods. Sabretooth is next hired by the Hand's leader, Matsuo, in an attempt to defeat the X-Men with the newly reanimated Omega Red. During the battle, the telepathic X-Woman Psylocke possesses Sabretooth to free her teammates.
[edit] Betrayal of the X-Men and brief alliance with X-Factor
A short time later, Birdy is killed by his grown son Graydon, who now has a hatred for mutants, especially his father. Without the "glow", Sabretooth slips into a murderous killing spree. This culminates in a clash with Maverick, who Sabretooth defeats and escapes, claiming only Wolverine can do what needs to be done to the psychotic Creed as he leaps out a window. Maverick approaches the X-Men and in Japan, an ancient telepath, comatose since the nuclear bomb that destroyed Hiroshima, mindlinks and the team discovers Creed's psychosis was rooted in his time as a CIA operative: on a mission, he slaughtered a target, his wife (a "freebie" for Creed), and a little boy. The look in the boy's eyes has followed Creed ever since. Ultimately, Sabretooth attacks Charles Xavier, leader of the X-Men. As Xavier infiltrates Creed's mind, he discovers that every victim Sabretooth has killed is remembered by the villain. Xavier is confident this means Creed values human life, and there is hope for the mutant. Sabretooth is incarcerated, as a wanted murderer, in a holographic environment because Xavier does not want him to roam on the grounds. Sabretooth is angered, but grudgingly stays with the team. During his incarceration, he assists in battles against the X-Cutioner and the Phalanx. Caliban, becoming child-like in thought, kidnaps the X-Man Jubilee in exchange for Sabretooth. When Sabretooth arrives, he mauls Caliban's face, who flees the battle. Wolverine, who had left the team after his adamantium was removed by Magneto, returns, he frees the villain for a fight. This leads to Wolverine stabbing one of his claws into Sabretooth's brain.
The newer, gentler Sabretooth, with brain damage and free from the need for "the glow", was frequently nursed for by X-Force member Boomer, he eventually reveals that he was feigning helplessness, and attacks Boomer. Psylocke saves the young mutant's life, and she uses her psionic knife to disable him. However, this no longer works because of his brain injury from Wolverine, and furthermore, it renders him resistant to telepathic detection and control. Retaliating by nearly killing Psylocke, he is confronted by the X-Men, who manage to incapacitate him.
He is turned over to the custody of Dr. Valerie Cooper, who fits him with an explosive restraining collar and forces him to participate as a member of the government-sponsored X-Factor team. He eventually escapes, and returns once more to mercenary work. Under unknown circumstances he gains adamantium skeleton and claws, but after his defeat to Wolverine, they are removed by Apocalypse after the long time rivals are captured and forced to fight once more, with the victor to become his new horseman, Death. Wolverine triumphs, and Apocalypse takes the adamantium from Sabretooth and bonds it to Wolverine.
He then joins Mystique's new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, calling itself the Brotherhood, where he participates in an assassination attempt against Senator Robert Kelly.
[edit] Weapon X and the Brotherhood
Later, he is forced to become a member of a relauched Weapon X program, where his skeleton is infused with adamantium once more. Sabretooth reveals that by means of genetic enhancement the Weapon X program has increased his strength and accelerated his healing factor in Wolverine Vol. 2 #166. Eventually he escaped the program again, and resumed working solo, and sometimes in a team, such as when he worked with several other villains to locate Identity Disc, a record of heroes' secret identities, which ended up being a ruse.
Later, in Canada, he encountered Sasquatch and the newest Wendigo. Sabretooth and the Wendigo end up in the Arctic Sea, presumed dead by Sasquatch. After a fearsome battle in the Arctic Waters, Sabretooth emerged victorious with the hide of the Wendigo.
Sabretooth would later attack the Xavier Institute, in a revamped Brotherhood consisting of leader Black Tom Cassidy, Mammomax, Avalanche, Exodus, and undercover heroes Nocturne and Juggernaut. Wolverine claims to have killed Sabretooth, spreading him "all over the grass", although Black Tom's plant abilities probably contributed to Sabretooth's survival; he next comes back in "X-Men: The 198 Files".
[edit] Reluctant alliance with the X-Men
In X-Men #188, he was spotted fleeing a mysterious group of superhumans collectively known as The Children. Their reasons for pursuing him remained unknown, but two of them — Sangre and Serafina — were tracking him. Sangre activated a singularity generator that annihilated most of the town and killed all its citizens, except for a little girl whom Serafina deliberately shielded from the destruction so there would be a witness to what has happened. He later encountered two more of the Children — Aguja and Fuego. They attacked him and temporarily neutralized his healing factor, but he managed to escape regardless, only to end up at the Xavier Institute later that night seeking sanctuary.
It is revealed that the Children are after Creed because he has seen them and knew who they are, while the public believed the X-Men destroyed the town. It is only when Rogue, the leader of the team, injected nano-sentinels into Sabretooth's blood that they take him along with their fight against The Children, a factor that one of The Children exploited. At one point Cannonball saved his life during the battle. Sabretooth rewards him with some inside information after, "The first time you turn your back, you're dead."
Sabretooth has recently renewed his bloody rivalry with Wolverine following Wolverine's return to the X-Mansion. Wolverine hurls Sabretooth through a window before engaging him in a bloody brawl. During the fight, Wolverine thinks back to the time when Sabretooth has, supposedly, killed and raped Silver Fox. He remembers Sabretooth saying Quod Sum Eris" and asks what it means. Sabretooth explains that it means "You will become me". Wolverine loses control and calls Sabretooth insane before placing his fist against Sabretooth's throat. Creed tells him if he extracts his claws, he will rip his heart out. Wolverine replies "Let 'er rip" and pops his claws into Sabretooth's throat.[1] Wolverine regains consciousness and finds himself chained to the roof of the Blackbird. He quickly breaks free of the chains and is surprised to find Sabretooth piloting the jet. Wolverine breaks into the cockpit and begins choking Sabretooth with one of the chains and causes him to crash. The two emerge from the flaming wreckage and, while healing from the injuries sustained in the crash, begin fighting once again until seperated by a lightning bolt, courtesy of Wolverine's former teammate and current Queen of Wakanda, Storm.[2] A short time later Sabretooth is chained up in the royal palace of Wakanda and complains to Wolverine, Storm, and the Black Panther. Sabretooth snaps the chains and escapes into the jungle, with the Panther quickly giving chase. The Panther catches up to Sabretooth and the two begin to fight, with Sabretooth quickly gaining the upper hand. He holds the Panther off the ground by the neck, preparing to strike a killing blow, when Wolverine suddenly appears and slices off Sabretooth's right hand.[3]
[edit] Mike Carey on Sabretooth's team role
Writer Mike Carey noted he has no plans on redeeming Sabretooth, saying, "I’m not going to try and show a heroic side to Sabretooth’s nature; I’m not going to retcon him so that there are reasons for his actions that make him forgivable. The things he’s done are not forgivable and he can’t be redeemed. I’m not making him into a hero; I’m making him into a team member and there are reasons within the first storyline as to why he ends up fighting alongside the X-Men against another enemy. And there are reasons why it’s not so easy to simply shake him off again afterwards. There are things that are going on that will sort of unfold during the first year of my run which explain his being there and explain his being accepted with very, very grave misgivings into the team."[1]
[edit] Origin of Sabretooth
[edit] Is Sabretooth related to Wolverine?
Chris Claremont had meant for Sabretooth to be Wolverine's father, though this was retconned by subsequent writers. Claremont, when asked what he had intended to be the relationship between Wolverine and Sabretooth, stated:
- Father and son. That's why Sabretooth always considered Logan "sloppy seconds" to his "original" / "real deal." The other critical element in my presentation of their relationship was that, in their whole life, Logan has never defeated Sabretooth in a knock-down, drag-out, kill-or-be-killed berserker fight. By the same token, on every one of his birthdays, Sabretooth has always managed to find him, no matter where Logan was or what he was doing, and come within an inch of killing him. For no other reason than to remind him that he could."[2]
In Wolverine Vol. 2 #42, tests done by S.H.I.E.L.D confirmed that Sabretooth and Wolverine were not father and son. However, this did not prove that there was not a more distant relation. Cousins, nephews, and half-brothers would not have nearly the genetic resemblance that a father and son would.
In the limited series, Origin, Wolverine's probable half-brother Dog Logan was introduced. As an adult, the character appeared somewhat like Sabretooth, but with facial scars Sabretooth does not have. The writer, Paul Jenkins, stated in interviews that he personally had not intended Dog to be Sabretooth, but he has left it open for future writers to explore the possibility.[3]
[edit] Is Sabretooth a clone?
Sabretooth was a member of the mutant team of mercenaries known as the Marauders, under the employment of Mr. Sinister. While in that group, Sabretooth was allegedly fatally wounded a number of times, at the hands of Caliban of the Morlocks (Caliban broke Sabretooth's back and left him in the sewers, where he eventually healed and encountered Cable, Wolverine, and the robot Elsie Dee) and the mercenary Silver Sable, although he never seemed to die. Sinister himself said that he had created genetically identical clones of Marauders that had fallen in battle. It is possible that he improved upon the superhuman abilities of the Marauders or their clones, granting them powers they originally did not have, such as Sabretooth's regenerative healing powers. For some time, it was not known if the current Sabretooth was the original Sabretooth or his clone. Mister Sinister suggested in X-Men volume 2 #34 that Sabretooth's regenerative healing factor made it nearly impossible to clone him. He confirmed this claim in Gambit volume 3 #8, where he also stated that Sabretooth was the only Marauder who was not a clone.
[edit] Powers and Abilities
- See also: Healing Factor
Sabretooth is a mutant with a number of both natural and artificial improvements to his physiology. His primary mutant power is an accelerated healing ability that allows him to regenerate damaged or destroyed areas of his body far beyond the capabilities of an ordinary human. He can regenerate organs such as missing eyes and large portions of flesh. Like Wolverine, Sabretooth's healing powers have been depicted with variable degrees of contradiction by numerous comic book writers. Some writers have depicted him healing from severe burns covering most of his body, gunshots, slashes, and puncture wounds within moments to minutes. However, others have depicted him healing from similar, or even less severe, injuries over the course of hours to days. All of Sabretooth's natural mutant attributes stem from, at least partially, his accelerated healing factor. This "healing factor" also grants immunity to most toxins and diseases. The unique regenerative qualities of his healing powers retards Sabretooth's natural aging process. While he is of an unknown, advanced, age, Sabretooth has the appearance and vitality of a man in his physical prime.
Sabretooth possesses superhumanly acute senses that are comparable to those possessed by certain animals. Sabretooth is able to see objects, with greater clarity, at much greater distances than an ordinary human. His sight is enhanced to the point that he can see with this same level of clarity in almost complete darkness, just like a nocturnal cat. This may be in part a result of being able to see into the infrared and ultraviolet portions of the spectrum. His sense of hearing is enhanced in a similar manner, allowing him to hear sounds that humans cannot. Sabretooth is able to use his highly developed sense of smell to track targets by scent. He is able to track targets with an impressive degree of success, even if the scent has been eroded by certain natural factors, such as weather conditions.
Many of Sabretooth's natural physical attributes are at beyond human levels. He possesses some degree of superhuman strength, the exact limits of which are unknown. In Uncanny X-Men #213, Sabretooth displayed that he was strong enough to crush an iron barbell with ease. Over the years, Sabretooth's physical strength has been enhanced by his now deceased son, Graydon Creed and the Weapon X program beyond his original limits, whatever they were. However, Sabretooth's strength, much like his mutant healing factor, has been depicted with some contradiction by numerous comic book writers. His mutant healing factor grants him superhuman stamina. He can push himself at peak capacity for several days before fatigue begins to affect him. His agility and reflexes are enhanced to levels that are beyond the human body's natural limits.
Sabretooth's physical appearance also displays animal-like mutations, including sharper-than-normal teeth with two pronounced canines and retractable claws where ordinary humans have fingernails. His eyes are supposed to be depicted as Amber without visible pupils, as this was noted by the Foreigner as something that caused him to stand out. However, colorists have also depicted his eyes with Red, Blue, Grey, Brown, or Hazel irises. Ordinarily, his teeth and claws, even before being laced with adamantium, are durable enough to rend substances as hard as human bone.
At times, Sabretooth's skeleton and claws have been molecularly laced with the indestructible metal adamantium by Apocalypse, who later removed it and bonded it to Wolverine's bones. Later the Weapon X program bonds adamantium to his bones once more. More recently however, Sabretooth is shown to no longer have adamantium bonded to his skeleton because Wolverine slices off his right hand to prevent him from killing the Black Panther. The circumstances surrounding the loss of the adamantium is unclear at this time. Even without the adamantium enhanced edge, Sabretooth's claws are capable of cutting most conventional materials including flesh, bone, wood, stone, and some types of metals.
[edit] Skills
Sabretooth is an excellent hand to hand combatant, having been trained by various organizations such as the CIA, Weapon X, the Foreigner, and HYDRA. He is also an expert hunter and tracker, even without the use of his heightened senses. Sabretooth also has developed a high resistance to telepathic probing and manipulation. Although his extreme arrogance and bestial nature give him the appearance of stupidity, he is actually quite intelligent. He routinely hacks into government databases to steal classified information, and has escaped the highest levels of incarceration.
[edit] Did Sabretooth always have a regenerative healing factor?
In Sabretooth's first appearances as an Iron Fist and Luke Cage villain, he was originally written as a serial murderer/assassin who was human and wore clawed gloves.
In appearances as a Spider-Man villain, Sabretooth's claws appeared to be part of him, but he still did not have a healing factor. In fact, he is severely injured when Spider-Man covers his face with a shot of webbing and Sabretooth foolishly rips it off, taking off a good portion of his own skin. This injury landed him in the hospital with a bandaged face. Later the Black Cat escapes from Sabretooth by reopening his facial wounds and then incapacitating him.
It was only later that he was retconned into becoming a mutant, when Wolverine started becoming more popular and needed his own arch-nemesis. No explanation has ever been given for his lack of built-in claws or a healing factor in his early appearances.
[edit] Other versions of Sabretooth
[edit] Age of Apocalypse and the Exiles
In an alternate universe in Marvel comics depicted in the Age of Apocalypse storyline and the Exiles comics, there is a vastly different version of Sabretooth. This version of the character has the same origin as the one in the normal continuity, but has a different moral alignment. He is actually one of the X-Men and a role model for other mutants in this alternate reality. This Sabretooth was initially a villain, having been recruited by Apocalypse and even becoming one of his first Horsemen, but he was cast out as a traitor when he expressed moral reservations about using nuclear weapons to wipe out the world's human population. Apocalypse intended to kill Sabretooth along side the X-Men, but was thwarted by Magneto. Sabretooth came back into Apocalypse's fold and took part in a number of cullings, but he eventually grew disgusted by his life and rebelled against Holocaust, for which he was imprisoned alongside the feral Wildchild. Instead of becoming a feral killer, like Holocaust intended, Sabretooth defeated Wildchild and became his master and protector. Together, the two escaped and joined the X-Men afterwards. He became a hero and an ally of Wolverine, and even adopted a young girl, Blink, as his daughter. In the Exiles comic, he spent decades in an alternate dimension raising mutant children, attempting to teach them ethics and tolerance, without incident. It is reasonably certain he is not of the same immoral constitution as Victor Creed in the normal "mainstream" continuity.
When the "Age of Apocalypse" timeline was nearly destroyed, Sabretooth became the leader of the extra-dimensional band of characters who slide into alternate realities, known as Weapon X. For a time he was also the leader of their counterpart team, the Exiles, and remains with the team to this day. This version of Sabretooth has no adamantium in his skeleton, but is still superhumanly strong and possesses a regenerative healing factor. In this alternate reality, Sabretooth has gained control of his feral tendencies, which has granted him a higher level of self-discipline and therefore greater competence than the one in the normal Marvel continuity, who is conventionally "evil."
When Sabretooth decided to leave Weapon X, he stayed behind in a dimension to make sure that a young boy would not be corrupted by his near-omnipotent powers. However, the boy turned evil anyway, despite Sabretooth's best efforts. When he was recruited by the Timebroker into the Exiles, Blink's personality became incredibly docile and subservient to Creed. Sabretooth gladly took the leadership role from Blink, a fact that Mimic clashed with him over multiple times. He continues to assist the Exiles in the race to catch Proteus. He survived being teleported into outer space by Blink (albeit by accident). After Proteus' defeat, Sabretooth stayed with the team to help fix the multiverse.
Later, when the Exiles must defeat the Silver Surfer, this version temporarily becomes a Herald of Galactus. He uses the powers he'd gained to maul the Silver Surfer, then after he no longer needed it he returned the Power Cosmic to Galactus.
At Sabretooth's request, Heather unhinges Psylocke from Earth-616 to join the Exiles in Power Princess' place as she might be their only chance if Proteus ever resurfaces. However, upon arrival, she clashes with Sabretooth, thinking him to be the 616 Sabretooth that nearly killed her twice. They fight for a while, but eventually Psylocke catches on to the fact that Sabretooth is not there for a fight and Morph intervenes and makes an introduction. Surprisingly, Psylocke cannot be detected by any of Panoptichron's cameras. Heather teleports Morph, Sabretooth, and Psylocke down to Earth #1720 to save the other Exiles, who are currently beaten or brainwashed, courtesy of this world's Madame Hydra, Sue Storm.
[edit] Earth X
In another alternate reality, Earth X, Sabretooth was a member of a Hominid race of half-men, half-beast creatures known as the Bear Clan (along with the Wendigo spirit), who were staunch opponents of the Moon Clan, of which Wolverine was a member (along with Wildchild, Sasquatch and Beast).
However, as said before this story takes place in an alternate future, and thus is not canon in the mainstream Marvel Universe.
[edit] Ultimate Sabretooth
In the Ultimate Marvel Universe Sabretooth is a mutant soldier and commando for Weapon X, under the direction of a man by the name of Colonel Wraith, who referred to him as "a poor man's Wolverine". He appears to be the only mutant who enlisted in the program by choice, due to his high-ranking position and his high authority in the operations. He is practically the same as the Earth-616 version of Sabretooth, having accelerated healing and keen senses, with the exception that he has four adamantium claws surgically implanted in his arms in an attempt to one-up Wolverine after having many failures in the service of Weapon X. He has a burning hatred for Wolverine and also, as he stated in his encounter with him at Weapon X, for the primitive Homo sapiens. He feels that his cruel, psychopathic nature was merely a natural part of being a mutant. When Magneto attempted to destroy the world so that he could eradicate humans, Sabretooth asked him to kill as few animals as possible.
He cruelly boasts of murdering Wolverine's wife and child, and then commenced battle with him outside the Weapon X compound. He initially had the upper hand, but Wolverine managed to score a critical hit, a stab to Sabretooth's groin, before driving him off the edge of a cliff.
Following Sabretooth's loss to Wolverine, the Weapon X program was dismantled with Colonel Wraith being shot dead by Nick Fury. Sabretooth did not die from his encounter with Wolverine, but rather returned as a high-ranking follower to Magneto in the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. His encounter with Wolverine while with the Brotherhood was his final underestimation of his old enemy. After boasting that he can survive any wound or injury, and would always return to fight and haunt Wolverine, Wolverine gives a vicious retort: he decapitates Sabretooth on the spot, although the panel was partially covered, so that the full effect of the injury was not visible.
Sabretooth was long thought dead until he recently resurfaced one night when Wolverine and Storm were leaving Nowhere Special (a Pool hall). He is alive and well sporting a new scar around his neck, apparently from the 'decapitation' he received from Wolverine when they last met. Sabretooth explains that his head had remained partially attached to his body via strands of tissue and blood vessels, which allowed him to survive in a comatose state while his body regenerated. He also made one startling revelation: Wolverine is his biological father. Sabretooth's purpose was to obtain a sample of Wolverine's DNA for Dr. Cornelius, who intends to clone Wolverine.
Sabretooth made a one-panel cameo in the Magical arc, standing outside the Xavier Institute while hiding behind a tree, with a look of sorrow on his face.
During the beginning of the "Aftermath" arc, Sabretooth tells Wolverine he's his son. He also wants to help Woverine search for his wife, Sabretooth's mother.
[edit] Trivia
- The DC Comics supervillain Tracer of The Extremists is based on Sabretooth.
- Sabretooth's appearance in X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse is something of a continuity enigma, in that he has the demeanor and backstory of 616 Sabretooth, physical appearance of Ultimate Sabretooth, and at the same time plays a nurturing father role to Blink, aka the Age of Apocalypse/Exiles Sabretooth.
- One of the adamantium claws implanted in Ultimate Sabretooth's left forearm is broken. Exactly how and when this occurred has not been revealed.
- Sabretooth's physical strength has been artificially enhanced at least twice. Sabretooth received his first strength enhancement from his now deceased son, Graydon Creed, during the mini-series Sabretooth: Death Hunt. Sabretooth's strength is further enhanced later after joining the latest incarnation of the Weapon X Program.
- Sabretooth's true name, or what is believed to be his true name, Victor Creed, is first revealed in X-Men vol.2 #5 in February 1992.
- The ToyBiz 5" Sabretooth action figure released in 1992 claimed that Sabretooth posessed an adamantium skeleton, as well as a healing factor similar to Wolverine's.
[edit] Appearances in other media
Sabretooth was portrayed by Tyler Mane in the X-Men motion picture released in 2000, but was blown through the head of the Statue of Liberty by Cyclops following a brief battle with Wolverine, and has not been seen in either of the sequels. According to the official Novelization of the film X2: X-Men United, Sabretooth survived the incident and was the subject of an international manhunt. X-Men: The Last Stand writer Simon Kinberg revealed in an interview with If Magazine [4] that Sabretooth was not used in the third film so that he could be saved for the Wolverine spin-off film.
In X-Men: The Official Game, Sabretooth serves as first and final boss for Wolverine. He first appears as a hologram in the Danger Room, then fully appears near the final act with Magneto and is sent into the Master Mold to retrieve Jason Stryker for Magneto's Brotherhood. He has a rematch with Wolverine inside the gigantic Sentinel factory, and is once again defeated when Wolverine impales him and has him fall to his presumed death. Sabretooth's name as well appears in Stryker's base above a cell door, a nod to fans of the character, as in the comics, Sabretooth was rumored at the time to be receiving adamantium claws like Wolverine.
The character has also appeared in the X-Men and X-Men: Evolution animated series, voiced by Don Francks and Michael Donovan, respectively. In all three incarnations, Sabretooth was depicted as a button man for Magneto. In the mainstream comics, however, Sabretooth and Magneto have never come together in any real capacity.
Aside from The Official Game mentioned above, Sabretooth has also appeared in several video games, such as X2: Wolverine's Revenge, X-Men Legends and its sequel, X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse (PC version has a playable version) and the Capcom fighting games X-Men vs. Street Fighter and Marvel vs. Capcom 2.
Activision has announced that Sabretooth will be a downloadable character for the multiplatform game Marvel Ultimate Alliance.
[edit] External links
- MDP: Sabretooth - Marvel Database Project
- Marvel Universe
- The Root Cellar v2.xx
- Knightmare6.com; Sabretooth FAQ
- Mutant High; Sabretooth Profile
- Uncanny X-Men; Sabretooth Profile
- June 2002 Interview with Paul Jenkins
- January 2004 Interview with Paul Jenkins
Categories: Fictional assassins | Fictional Canadians | Fictional terrorists | Fictional serial killers | Marvel Comics superheroes | Marvel Comics mutants | Fictional mercenaries | Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength | Fictional secret agents and spies | Fictional child abuse victims | 1987 introductions | Marvel Comics supervillains
