Neophyte (comics)
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| Neophyte | |
 Neophyte. Art by John Romita Jr. |
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| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Uncanny X-Men #300 (May 1993) |
| Created by | Scott Lobdell & John Romita |
| In story information | |
| Alter ego | Simon Hall |
| Species | Human Mutant |
| Team affiliations | Acolytes |
| Abilities | Ability to phase his body with an object and appear on the other side. |
Neophyte (Simon Hall) is a fictional mutant super villain in the Marvel Comics universe and a member of the Acolytes.
[edit] Fictional character biography
Neophyte is a shy, quiet mutant with the ability to phase his body and others, allowing complete intangibility. Somewhat of a tragic character, Neophyte joined the legion of Magneto worshippers known as the Acolytes. He was first discovered by Cargill, Unuscione, and Milan in an abandoned church in Switzerland, begging for something to believe in. They took him in and he became one of the youngest members of the group, ordered to accomplish small tasks of little importance. He was put in charge of feeding the captive Moira MacTaggert, but eventually found out the truth about their leader, Fabian Cortez. Cortez instead, used his powers of amplification to shoot Neophyte out of their headquarters, where he fell into a grotto. A woman came to his rescue, although he was confused about why a human would help a mutant. Suddenly, a trio of Acolytes showed up and killed the woman, creating major confusion for Neophyte. This act caused him to rethink his loyalties towards Fabian Cortez, leading the X-Men to their base, and leaving the Acolytes.
Eventually, Neophyte was given a trial by the Acolytes for his crime of treason after aiding the X-Men and allowing them to discover their headquarters. The former X-Man Colossus decided to defend Neophyte in his case, opting for a second chance for the boy, instead of the penalty of death that the other Acolytes went for. Neophyte felt hopeless, fully expecting to be executed. Being prosecuted by Amelia Voght and judged by Exodus, Neophyte claimed the Acolytes as hypocrites, as they preached Magneto's way, but were guilty of doing the same thing humans have done to mutants. When he mentioned Professor Charles Xavier's name, the Acolytes were sent into an uproar, only to be stopped by Exodus, who stated that Neophyte's death will only occur after the trial. Colossus stepped forward and managed to convince Exodus to merely banish Neophyte from Avalon.
Much later, Neophyte was finally accepted into the Acolytes' ranks after Magneto resurfaced, as he obviously felt Neophyte was a worthy follower. Still the most compassionate of the group, Neophyte was often teased for his beliefs and thought of as weak by the other Acolytes. On the battlefield, however, he held his own, and proved to be a useful teammate.
[edit] After M-Day
Neophyte was one of the few mutants to survive Cassandra Nova's Sentinel attack on Genosha. Neophyte retained his mutant powers during the M-Day, and recently made a brief return during, X-Men: Messiah Complex.
[edit] Powers and abilities
Neophyte is a phase-morpher, able to travel distances through mass by breaking down his physical structure and entering a solid material. When in contact with matter, Neophyte relaxes the molecular bonding forces in his body so that his molecules merge with the object he's touching in a non-substantial state. He can then cause the mass of his body to reform itself at a different angle or position to emerge from the object. When the Acolytes were based in a large French castle, he could merge his mass with one stone wall of the castle and reform himself a moment later out of any of the connecting stone surfaces. Later, on the rocky hillside of Wundagore, Neophyte could almost instantly relocate himself across the landscape by merging with the uniform earth and rock of the area. He could also separate his mass into multiple small masses, such as when he jumped off a balcony and disappeared into a rainstorm by dividing his mass up into the rain, only to reform later as the rain hit the ground below.
