Graydon Creed
| Graydon Creed | |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Uncanny X-Men #299 |
| Created by | Scott Lobdell Brandon Peterson |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Graydon Creed |
| Team affiliations | Purifiers Upstarts Friends of Humanity |
| Notable aliases | Tribune |
Graydon Creed is a fictional character created by writer Scott Lobdell and artist Brandon Peterson. The character is an enemy of the X-Men and first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #299 (April 1993).
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[edit] Fictional character biography
Posing as German spy Leni Zauber, Mystique seduced freelance assassin Victor Creed while he was in Germany on a mission. Mystique later gave birth to a normal human child - Graydon - whom she gave up for adoption, although she kept an eye on him. When Graydon learned of his heritage, that he was the son of two mutants who had abandoned him as an inconvenience, he grew resentful of all mutants, and that resentment colored his outlook for the rest of his life.[1]
In his adult years, Graydon formed a group called the Friends of Humanity, dedicated to opposing mutant civil rights by committing acts of terrorism against peaceful mutants and mutant sympathizers, and using the acts of violent mutants such as Magneto to rally support for their cause.
[edit] Upstarts
Creed also came to join the Upstarts, a group of wealthy and powerful individuals who had banded together by Selene and the enigmatic telepathic Gamesmaster with the sole purpose of killing mutants for points in a twisted game. After learning of his parents identities, Creed sought to kill them as part of the Upstarts' game. Disguised as the armored Tribune, Creed hired assassins to kill his mother and had his father implanted with a bomb. Sabretooth managed to remove the device and confronted his son, who callously shot Sabretooth's assistant Birdy, a mutant telepath whom Sabretooth employed to keep his homicidal rages in check.
During the Upstarts' self-professed “Younghunt”, Creed was blackmailed into revealing the location of the Upstarts' prisoners by the New Warriors who threatened to expose Creed as a mutant collaborator and the son of mutants.
[edit] Death
Later, using the resources he had gained through the Friends of Humanity, and with the support of the government-sponsored anti-mutant taskforce Operation: Zero Tolerance, Creed nominated himself as a presidential candidate and ran on an anti-mutant platform. Capitalizing on a near-hysterical fear of mutants in the general public, Creed's popularity swelled, which led to the Daily Bugle newspaper launching an investigation into Creed's activities. When a reporter from the Bugle obtained information regarding Creed's parentage, Zero Tolerance's leader Bastion killed the journalist to prevent the news from leaking out. Although they stopped the reporter, Creed did not manage to catch that his assistant was really an undercover Samuel Guthrie (Cannonball).
On the eve of the election, Creed was assassinated during his campaign speech when a plasma beam completely disintegrated him.[2] Several years later, the miniseries X-Men Forever revealed that a future version of Mystique had fired the shot, having sworn to kill Graydon for his part in the Friends of Humanity's brutal attack on Trevor Chase, the grandson of her lover Destiny.
[edit] Purifiers
The pages of X-Force show a group of Purifiers digging up the corpse of Graydon Creed, his body is then taken back to the purifiers base where it is re-animated by Bastion using the techno-organic virus taken from an "offspring" of Magus.[3]
During the Second Coming storyline, Graydon Creed alongside Steven Lang were killed by Hope Summers.[4]
[edit] Other versions
[edit] Age of X
In the Age of X reality, Graydon Creed had led a strike force that put the mutant race on the verge of extinction.
[edit] House of M
After Magneto's takeover of Genosha, Graydon Creed rose to prominence as an anti-mutant activist, becoming friends with vice-president Bolivar Trask. His prominence was short-lived as Magneto (who compared Graydon Creed to Adolf Hitler) viewed it as his duty to rid the world of the man. Magneto sent his assassin Sabretooth to kill him. Graydon Creed's massacred body was found by government agents, and Trask ordered his death ruled an accident to prevent panic.[5]
[edit] Mutant X
In this reality, Graydon Greed is still the son of Mystique and Sabretooth and the founder of the Friends of Humanity. He became President of the United States after Mister Fantastic went missing. Graydon also reinstated S.H.I.E.L.D. and promoted Nick Fury to General.
[edit] Age of Apocalypse
Graydon Creed goes by the name 'Horror Show' in the Age of Apocalypse. He's a part of the X-Terminated team with a handful of other humans. He's wearing an armor and appears to have a flamethrower and other firearms.
[edit] In other media
[edit] Television
- Graydon Creed appeared in the X-Men animated series voiced by John Stocker. Like in the comics, Graydon Creed's deep resentment towards mutants comes from his parents Sabretooth and Mystique. Graydon wound up in the care of his father Sabretooth who bullied and beat him constantly. Many years later, Graydon founded the Friends of Humanity, an anti-mutant hate group that sought to vilify mutants. After the Beast's pardon by the President, Graydon's resentment grew even more and the Friends of Humanity began targeting the X-Men. Graydon Creed began looking for new ways to exterminate mutantkind. He hired a scientist to create a virus that would wipe out every mutant on Earth though would be relatively harmless to ordinary humans. Graydon dispatches one of his followers to infect a baseline humans in contact with a number of known mutants and begins making public announcements about the dangerous plague carrying mutants. While giving a speech about the plague's effects, Graydon attempts to infect Beast with the virus though is stopped by Bishop. During the struggle, Graydon accidentally infects himself and retreats back to the lab for medical aid. The X-Men follow him, attack the base and the scientist reveals himself to be Apocalypse. The X-Man Beast helps him get clear of the battle. The X-Men destroy the virus and Graydon returns to the Friends of Humanity headquarters. In "Beauty and the Beast," Beast began dating his former patient Carly, a human causing Graydon Creed to become furious. He had Carly kidnapped and began interrogating her. Meanwhile Beast begins searching for the missing Carly and Wolverine infiltrates the Friends of Humanity pretending to have been beaten by mutants. Graydon gladly accepts him into the fold. Moments later an enraged Beast breaks into the Friends of Humanity and Wolverine reveals himself and rescues Carly. Before they leave the X-Men outside set up a holographic projector displaying Xavier's profile on the mutant Sabretooth, real name: Graydon Creed, Senior. Discovering that another one of his trusted men was a mutant and seeing Sabretooth's face again, Graydon Creed becomes unstable and begins screaming wildly. Realizing that their leader was the son of a mutant, the Friends of Humanity leave him behind for the authorities. Meanwhile, the Friends of Humanity do not disband but grow larger and more organized. Fully recovered though still with a strong hatred towards mutants by the episode "Bloodlines," Graydon returns to the Friends of Humanity to resume his old role as their leader. The council rules that to lead the Friends of Humanity once more, he has to prove himself. They tell Graydon that Sabretooth is not the only mutant in his family. The Head of the Council hands him a file with information on his mother Mystique, his foster sister Rogue, and his demonic-looking half-brother Nightcrawler. Close to madness, he agrees to kill all of the mutants in return that the Friends of Humanity would let him return to the fold. Creed kidnaps his mother Mystique and forces her to send a letter to Nightcrawler saying she was in danger. Fearing for his mother's life, Nightcrawler seeks the help of Rogue and Wolverine. They locate the Friends of Humanity's dam-base and walk straight into a trap. Graydon attempts to gas all of the mutants to death. They manage to break free and defeat Creed. Mystique slips away though and is thought to have been killed when the dam burst open (though she actually survived). Creed in his helicopter is washed away as the dam breaks down. He later wakes up aboard a helicopter bound. Four of the council members inform Graydon that he has failed for the last time by letting Mystique, Rogue, and Nightcrawler live and costing them their soldiers who were arrested for blowing up their dam-base. As a result, Graydon has been expelled from the Friends of Humanity indefinitely. They push him from the chopper and he parachutes to "safety"... right in front of Sabretooth's rural home as Sabretooth grabs Graydon upon his landing to deal with Graydon personally.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Graydon Creed at Marvel.com
