Archangel (comics)

Archangel (Warren Kenneth Worthington III) is a comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. He is a mutant and is a member of the X-Men and (formerly) X-Factor. He was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and first appeared in [Uncanny] X-Men #1 (September, 1963).

Archangel was originally known as Angel, but while, since the return of his original wings some years ago, he has occasionally flirted with returning to that codename, his official codename remains Archangel.

Character biography

Worthington was born in Centerport, New York to Kathryn Worthington and Warren Worthington Jr. He was attending a private school in his adolescence when white, feathered wings began to grow from his shoulder blades. At first he felt he was a freak, but once he learned that he could use his wings to fly and to help people (he saved several people from a fire in his dormitory), he came to enjoy his power. He soon learned that he in fact was a mutant.

He began attending the Xavier School For Gifted Youngsters, where Professor Charles Xavier trained young mutants to control their powers and use them for good. Taking the code name Angel, Worthington became one of the original members of the superhero team the X-Men.

Much later, having joined his teammates as a member of X-Factor, Warren's wings were severely damaged during the Mutant Massacre, and his friend Cameron Hodge – who was secretly anti-mutant – had his wings amputated. Depressed, Warren tried comitting suicide by blowing up his ultralight airplane, but was spirited away by the ancient mutant Apocalypse.

Apocalypse gave Warren large metallic wings and altered his appearance, giving him the title of Death, the leader of his Horsemen. When it appeared as though Death had killed his former teammate Iceman, he overcame Apocalypse's brainwashing, but did not rejoin X-Factor, spending some time as a loner called "Dark Angel." After the events of Inferno, he finally rejoined X-Factor, taking the name Archangel at Beast's urging.

Archangel was romantically involved with Psylocke for a time, during which his feathered wings grew back within his metal wings and broke them apart. In a fight with Black Tom Cassidy, Archangel experienced a "secondary mutation." His blood gained advanced healing properties, and his blue pallor changed back to a healthy pink. He has since become controversially romantically involved with Husk (Paige Guthrie). The two took an extended leave of absence, and Archangel recently launched a charity called "Mutantes Sans Frontières" in Zanzibar, where he then proceeded to help stop a coup with the aid of Professor X's newest charges from nearby Genosha.

Powers

Archangel's primary power is that of flight. His wings have superhuman strength and can create enough lift to enable him to carry at least twice his own weight. They have a very flexible skeletal structure, enabling him to press them to the back of his torso and legs with only the slightest bulge visible under his clothing. His bones are hollow, he processes food more efficiently than normal humans and does not store any fat, he possesses a greater proportionate muscle mass than normal, and his superhumanly sharp eyes can withstand high-speed winds which would damage the average human eye. His lungs can extract oxygen from the air at high velocities or altitudes.

While he generally flies below the height of clouds, Archangel can reach almost twice this height with little effort. At his absolute maximum he can reach the highest recorded altitude of a bird in flight – about the height above sea level of Mount Everest – but he can only remain that high for several minutes. He can fly nonstop under his own power for around half a day.

As the result of a secondary mutation, Archangel also developed a "healing factor" and can heal others by mixing his blood with theirs, although this mutation is limited in potency and cannot aid the terminally wounded.

External links

• UncannyXmen.net, Spotlight on Archangel