| Velocidad | |
|---|---|
Velocidad. Generation Hope #1 Art by Olivier Coipel |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Uncanny X-Men #527 (August 2010) |
| Created by | Matt Fraction Kieron Gillen |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Gabriel Cohuelo |
| Species | Human Mutant |
| Team affiliations | The Lights X-Men |
| Notable aliases | The Second Light |
| Abilities | Localized time manipulation creating the appearance of super-speed |
Velocidad (Gabriel Cohuelo) is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #527, in the second chapter of the "Five Lights" storyline, and was created by Matt Fraction and Kieron Gillen. He is one of the "Five Lights"—a group of mutants who manifested their abilities after the events of "Second Coming".
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Velocidad first appeared in Uncanny X-Men as a teenager whose mutation is out of control. Following his introduction, he, along with Hope Summers, Transonic, Oya, Zero, and Primal, began to feature in the series Generation Hope.[1] He continues to make appearances in Uncanny X-Men as well.
He has shown a requited romantic interest in Hope, flirting with her upon meeting and kissing her upon arrival at Utopia.[2] By the events of Schism, the pair have gone on at least one date.[3]
Gabriel is a 16-year-old mutant from Mexico City. When his powers manifest, he loses control; his thoughts race and his body begins to move so quickly that he can no longer be seen with the naked eye. Fearing for his safety, Cecilia Reyes and Psylocke restrain him with Cecilia's force field until Hope Summers arrives to stabilize his powers.[4]
After this incident, Gabriel decides to follow Hope on her mission to retrieve the remaining Lights. Eventually, after recruiting Oya and Primal, the group travels to Japan, and Gabriel participates in his first mission - subduing the mutant Kenji Uedo. Kenji lost control of his bio-mechanical powers, and has started destroying Tokyo. In the course of the fight, Gabriel is excited that he is now teammates with X-Men like Wolverine and Cyclops, but worries about the danger he's put himself into.[1] Gabriel is eventually key to taking Zero down, as he rushes Hope close enough to Zero to mimic his powers, while also helping ensure the other Lights are not injured.
After successfully subduing Zero, he follows Hope to Utopia, eventually relocating with the rest of the Lights.[2] Like the rest of the student-aged population, Gabriel takes classes taught by more experienced X-Men.[5] However, like all the other Lights, he is more concerned with training Hope provides than the classes taught by the X-Men, so much so that he followed Hope after she stormed out of an ethics class being taught by Emma Frost.
When a Sixth Light was located in Germany, Gabriel, Hope, and the other Lights went to pick it up. When they arrived, Gabriel went to do a quick recon of the hospital the Light was located in, but he was quickly knocked unconscious. Deducing that the Light was a telepath, Kenji offered to share his limited protection against telepathy with the group, including Gabriel. Inside the hospital, the Lights discovered that the Sixth Light was actually an infant who was scared to be born. They were able to convince it to embrace life, and Hope suppressed it's X-Gene with a touch until it was older.
Later, Hope decided that the Lights needed their own codenames. Gabriel quickly shouts out "Velocidad" (the Spanish word for speed) and claims the name as his own.
After Quentin Quire's attack on the United Nations, forcing many of the world's leaders to reveal their darkest secrets, mutants become more hated than ever. Disregarding this, Gabriel and Hope go on a date, despite Teon's protectiveness of Hope. The date appears to be cut short, however, by the new Hellfire Club's attack on the opening of a Mutant History Museum; Gabriel and Hope arrive to find that Oya has "murdered" most of the Hellfire's grunts. Zero asks Oya if she is okay, but she horrifies Gabriel, Hope, and the other Lights by only asking if there is anyone else she needs to kill.[3]
It is revealed that Velocidad knows that information was kept from him that he is aging fast and will die. Because of this, he's been living life and seizing the moment. Hope walks in on him kissing Pixie, and is very upset, despite that she hasn't kissed him except one time. Hope later talks to Pixie about using her transport powers for the team. Hope does get Velocidad back by having Primal defecate in his bed.
In spite of his codename, Velocidad does not possess the power of super-speed. Rather, he is a "localized time manipulator."[2] Thus, while he tends to utilize his powers to approximate super-speed, he does not actually move at an accelerated rate. As a result, he cannot accomplish feats - such as running on water - which require actual velocity.[2] Nevertheless, Doctor Nemesis notes that these limitations do not reduce his effectiveness in close combat engagements.[2]
Velocidad's powers appear to accelerate his aging. Both Velocidad and Oya note that he has aged noticeably since his powers first manifested - looking 16 before his powers activated and 18 soon thereafter.[1]
Gabriel appears briefly with Angel Salvadore and Dazzler in the Age of X storyline. The trio are hunted through the sewers before being transported to Fortress X by Doctor Strange. Like his main-universe counterpart, this version of Gabriel has a marked enthusiasm for the codename "Velocidad".[6]