Origin and history
Beginnings with the Acolytes
A shy, quiet mutant, Neophyte joined the Acolytes under Fabian Cortez after being found by Milan, Unuscione, and Frenzy in a church in Switzerland. After being ordered to bring food to the captured Moira MacTaggert, Moira confronted him about what Cortez was doing, which made him leave in anger. Still unsure about what Moira told him, he checked up with Cortez, who at the moment was having a conversation with the Gamemaster. Neophyte overheard their conversation, but was spotted by Cortez. Afraid that Neophyte would tell the others about his secret agenda, he used his powers to greatly amplify and overload mutant abilities on Neophyte while Neophyte was phasing through a wall. The result of this blew Neophyte with immense force out of the wall outside the stronghold they were hiding in. He landed in a grotto, and was woken by a woman who was attacked and killed by three Acolytes coming to retreive Neophyte.
After that he teamed up with the X-Men and released Moira from her kidnappers. Shortly after the battle, Neophyte disappeared.
Some time later the Acolytes captured him and wanted to sentence him to death. But former X-Man Colossus convinced his fellow Acolytes not to kill him. Exodus agreed and instead exiled him from Avalon and the Acolytes.
He later re-emerged with the team after Magneto regained leadership over the team. When the group faced off against the X-Men, Neophyte questioned the team’s desires to kill the X-Men rather than simply detain them. Although one of the more pacifistic members of the team (alongside Scanner), he remained loyal to them through the fight.
After 98% of the mutant population lost their X-Gene and super-abilities during M-Day, Neophyte was one of the few mutants to retain his powers.
Messiah Complex
Simon again appeared alongside the team during the X-Men storyline Messiah Complex. There he, along with Vindaloo and Projector, were instructed to keep the X-Men off of Exodus’ tail. He and the rest of the group were defeated by Wolverine, Nightcrawler, and Angel.
Second Coming
Neophyte is made a member of the X-Men by Cyclops to help defend Utopia from Bastion’s army.
Creation
Neophyte was created by Scott Lobdell and John Romita Jr in 1993 and first appeared in Uncanny X-Men # 300.
Powers and abilities
Neophyte has the mutant ability to phase through solid objects, allowing him to move through matter with ease.
He can use this ability as a means of transportation by phasing through objects and quickly relocating his body to another end, such as phasing in through the top of a building and seconds later phasing out through the bottom. He can also divide up his mass to phase through small objects, such as phasing into tiny raindrops and emerging at the ground before they drop.