X-Man

For members of the Marvel Comics superhero team, see X-Men.

X-Man (Nate Grey) is a Marvel Comics superhero. He first appeared in X-Man #1 (March 1995), created by Jeph Loeb and Steve Skroce. He possesses immense psychic powers, such as telepathy and telekinesis, and is the equivalent of Cable from another dimension. X-Man was published monthly from 1995 to 2001.

Nate Grey hails from the alternate universe known as the Age of Apocalypse, where he was created by Mister Sinister from the genes of that universe's Cyclops and Jean Grey. After helping that world's X-Men fight Apocalypse, he was transported to the canonical Marvel Universe (Earth-616) by the power of the M'Kraan crystal.

Soon he befriended a woman calling herself Madelyne Pryor, although she was later revealed to be a construct of his own mind. Later he developed a close relationship with Threnody, a former employee of this universe's Mister Sinister. Due to a series of misunderstandings, he came into conflict with the "real" X-Men on several occasions, and his violent encounter with Professor X unwittingly contributed to the birth of the entity Onslaught.

Later, he worked alongside the X-Men and Spider-Man, joined Havok's short-lived Brotherhood of Mutants, performed "miracles" in Central Park, and even briefly joined the X-Men in Astonishing X-Men (volume 2) #1 (September 1999). After the 2000 "Revolution" event placed X-Man in the "Counter-X" line, Nate became a "psychic shaman" and protector of all humanity. In the final issue (#75, May 2001), he sacrificed himself to save the Earth.

Relationship to Cable

Nate Grey (X-Man) and Nathan Christopher Summers (Cable) are unlikely twins: both are descended from the genetic material of Scott Summers and Jean Grey. Nate was grown in a laboratory in an alternate dimension by Sinister from the genes of Scott and Jean, while Cable was born to Scott and Madelyne Pryor (a clone of Jean), infected with a techno-organic virus, and raised in the future. As a result, their genetic and psychic profiles are identical, although Nate is much younger (having done no time travel) and much more powerful (Cable is actually near or equal to Nate's power level, but must constantly devote his mental resources to fighting the T-O virus). Moreover, Nate and Cable hail from completely different backgrounds. The juxtaposition of the two characters allowed writers to address issues of identity and nature versus nurture and explore the complex nature of family relationships in the X-Men world.

External Link

• The X-Man Homepage
• Spotlight on... X-Man at uncannyxmen.net