| Wraith | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | (DeWolff} Marvel Team-Up #48 (August 1976) (Rendoza) Uncanny X-Men #392 (2001) (Zak-Del) Annihilation Conquest: Wraith #1 (June 2007) |
| Created by | (DeWolff} Bill Mantlo Sal Buscema (Rendoza) Scott Lobdell Salvador Larroca (Zak-Del) Javier Grillo-Marxuach Kyle Hotz |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | - Brian DeWolff - Hector Rendoza - Zak-Del |
| Species | (DeWolff} Human (Rendoza) Human Mutant (Zak-Del) Kree |
| Team affiliations | (DeWolff} New York City Police Department (Rendoza) Genoshan Assault X-Men (Zak-Del) Kree Underground Nameless Kree |
| Partnerships | (DeWolff} Phillip DeWolff Iron Man |
| Notable aliases | (Zak-Del) Pale Rider, Kree with no name, "Paleface" |
| Abilities | (DeWolff} Thought reading, image projection (makes himself invisible and undetectable), telekinesis, mental attack, mind control. (Rendoza) Transparent skin and the ability to temporarily "infect" others with this transparency condition. (Zak-Del) Polymorphic weapon, enhanced speed, strength and agility, accelerated healing. |
Wraith is the name of four unrelated fictional characters from the Marvel Comics universe.
Contents |
The Wraith (Brian DeWolff) is a fictional character, owned by Marvel Comics and existing in that company's Marvel Universe. The character was first introduced as Brian DeWolff, the brother of Spider-Man supporting character, Jean DeWolff.
Brian DeWolff was a former patrolman for the New York Police Department, who was shot by criminals and rescued by his father, using experimental technologies to restore Brian's health. This process gave Brian psionic abilities, including the ability to read minds, induce illusions in the minds of others, project psionic force bolts and control the mind of another person (but he can only control one mind at a time), but left him with no mind of his own and susceptible to the mental domination of others. Under his father Phillip's psionic control, Brian (as the Wraith) operated as a vigilante and killed several criminals, and fought Spider-Man, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, and his sister Jean, until he was defeated by Spider-Man and Iron Man.[1] Brian fell under mental possession by Phillip, but Phillip was defeated by Doctor Strange and Iron Man. Strange revived the Wraith's own consciousness, and he was reunited with his sister Jean. Finally overpowered and the true circumstances revealed, Brian regained his independent will and was found innocent of the crimes and his father went to prison.[2] The Wraith became a costumed adventurer and joined with Iron Man, Jean, and others in battling Midas.[3] He also aided Spider-Man and Iron Man against Whiplash and the Maggia.[4]
When his sister Jean was killed by the Sin-Eater (who was also a policeman, much like Brian), the Wraith was driven mad with grief and he decided to take vengeance on the whole New York Police Department. When he arrived at a police station, he was shot by the Scourge of the Underworld, who was disguised as a policeman and attempting to murder Flash Thompson.[5]
His original form was destroyed, but he later transferred his mind into the body of another. He led the Vampire's Lair Club against police, but was killed again by Morbius, the Living Vampire.[6]
The Wraith was later among the seventeen criminals, all murdered by the Scourge, to be resurrected by Hood using the power of Dormammu as part of a squad assembled to eliminate the Punisher.[7] While the Wraith was scouting the city, the Punisher shot him in the chest with an arrow.[8]
The Wraith possesses a variety of psionic powers as an effect of energy from advanced technology procured by Phillip DeWolff. The Wraith had the psionic ability to control the mind of one other person at a time. He had the ability to cast illusions indiscernible from reality in the minds of one or more people simultaneously, thereby making reality appear to change or making himself seem invisible. He also had the psionic ability to induce mental pain in others equivalent to the physical pain which would be caused by what they were perceiving without causing his victim physical injury, the telepathic ability to read minds, and the psionic ability to affect Spider-Man's mind in such a way as to shield himself from detection by the latter's "spider-sense." He also carried a smoke pistol of unknown origin.
Brian De Wolff has received police training in armed and unarmed combat.
Wraith (Hector Rendoza) is a fictional character, a mutant in the Marvel Universe. He was created by Scott Lobdell and Salvador Larroca in Uncanny X-Men #392 (2001).
Hector lived in Boston until his mutant powers manifested at the age of sixteen. A large crowd formed on Boston Common, many who knew Hector when he was not translucent, intending to kill him. Jean Grey freezes the crowd with her telepathic powers and recruits Hector. He is one of many she gathers to help rescue the X-Men from Genosha, where they are being held by Magneto.
He joins with other mutants, such as Northstar, Omertà, Dazzler and Sunpyre.
While on the way to Genosha, Hector and Omertà receive a telepathic crash course in the use of their powers. Jean also brings in the entire group to mentally review what had recently occurred with Dazzler.
Jean theorized that had his powers been allowed to evolve, he would have been able to render himself and others completely invisible. He was shown to be depowered.[9]
Wraith can turn either his skin translucent or others' skin translucent.
Wraith (Zak-Del) is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics Universe. His first appearance was in Annihilation Conquest: Wraith #1 in Annihilation Conquest.[10]
The character is thrust into a science-fiction story with horror overtones. Wraith was after his family killer. His father was a scientist who saved his son by transporting him to a different part of the space in the last minute. Wraith receives spiritual counseling from his long-dead father.
Wraith is the son of Kree scientist Sim-Del, who created a power source sufficient to "light an entire galaxy." Kree society banished him, but he continued his work, using the power source to turn the barren planetoid he inhabited into a paradise. The Kree then simply destroyed him and all trace of his work. However, he had a son, who was sent off in an escape ship.
The ship drifted into "The Exoteric Latitude," the space of the Nameless, an offshoot of the Kree. Here he was infected with the Exolon, parasites that feed on the souls of living creatures. Because he had become a Nameless, he was subjected to endless self-inflicted torture, as this is the only way a Nameless can remember their life before losing their soul. He was haunted by the image of the Signet Ring worn by the man who killed his parents, and that is what brings him to Kree space — to hunt down that man.
Wraith is first seen when he incapacitated an entire Phalanx battle-cruiser, drawing the attention of both the Phalanx and the resistance forces opposing them. Because he was able to make the Phalanx feel fear, both sides wished to add him to their ranks — the Phalanx so they could understand and overcome their newfound weakness, the resistance to exploit it. He is tracked by the Phalanx to the resistance's base, and in allowing them to escape, he is captured and brought before Ronan the Accuser, head of the Kree empire since the end of the Annihilation War, now slave and Head Inquisitor of the Phalanx.
Though Ronan subjects Wraith to all manner of horrible torture, inflicting more pain than any Kree would be able to withstand, Wraith refuses to give up his origins, finally prompting an infuriated Ronan to attempt to impale him on a large spike. Wraith simply pulls himself off and immediately heals. Ronan states that due to his seeming immunity to pain, he is not Kree, he is something else, like a wraith. This amuses the son of Sim-Del, and he decides that Wraith is a suitable new name for himself. He then divulges his origins, and points out that he pities Ronan because he is a slave. The Accuser decides the greatest torture he could inflict would be to make Wraith a slave to the Phalanx for all time, and promptly infects Wraith with Phalanx technology.[11]
Wraith doesn't succumb, however, and simply puts himself into a coma-like state, which infuriates Ronan personally and annoys the Phalanx. A vision of Sim-Del in Wraith's mind convinces him to continue fighting, as only the punishment of the man with the signet ring could set his and his wife's spirits free. His father also convinces him that he cannot find the man alone, and so Wraith enlists the help of Super-Skrull and Praxagora. The trio escape and meet up with the Resistance, saving them from a Phalanx warship. Again inspired by his need for assistance, he accepts the offer to join the Resistance and fight the Phalanx.[12] With Wraith and crew's assistance, the rebellion manages to capture a Phalanx scientist who has information on the Phalanx's super weapon. After determining the deployment point and the time of the attack, the fleet launches a suicide mission to deliver Wraith, Super-Skrull and Praxagora to the scene, where they infiltrate the Phalanx fleet and find the weapon, a Phalanx infected Supreme Intelligence.
Here Wraith again sees his father's spirit, speaking through the Intelligence, who instructs him not to stop the weapon, but to let it activate, and then to release the Exolon and absorb the Supremor's soul, not only saving the Kree, but also dealing a massive blow to the Phalanx. Despite interference by Ronan, Wraith manages to accomplish this, and convinces Ronan to overcome his shame and lead the Kree against their captors. He himself remains with the resistance, not revealing what he has truly done, to later use the Supreme Intelligence's soul to become a beacon of hope for the people.[13]
Wraith possesses an unidentified polymorphic weapon which can take on a variety of forms, including a gun, a whip, and a small blade, as well as apparently possessing the ability to deactivate/disarm other weaponry. He also demonstrated a mysterious ability to travel through the air from rooftop to rooftop of buildings, though what he was doing or how was not revealed. Due to the Exolon parasites that infect and maintain his body, he possesses enhanced speed, strength and agility, as well as an ability to heal himself from even the most egregious of wounds. He also does not age and cannot die, at least not in any way yet shown. By summoning swarms of Exolon, he can manifest what appears to be darkness; because the Exolon feed on souls, swarms of it appear—at least to the Phalanx—as the exposed soul of a living being. Due to the nature of the Nameless and their rituals of inflicting pain on themselves, he also has an unnaturally high tolerance for pain, not screaming or making any other negative reactions to it.
In The Amazing Spider-Man #663, a new Wraith appears, targeting Mister Negative's criminal syndicate. During one such attack, the Wraith unmasks to reveal the face of Jean DeWolff.[14] It is later revealed that the Wraith is really Yuri Watanabe, a NYPD captain pretending to be the ghost of the DeWolff to scare the criminals she targets.[15]