Santi Sardina is a young male mutant, who’s power is to manipulate Charisma, or Acclaim. An involuntary mental suggestion to those around him, Santi receives recognition for any positive enough deed or creation the person is thinking of at the time.
Santi was discovered by David Haller, otherwise known as Legion. Santi was -as described by David- “an awkward loser, uncomfortable in his own skin”. When his power first manifested, Santi had accidentally walked into what was a hostage situation between police and what seemed to be a gorilla costumed super-villain. Rather than step up to the occasion and save the woman taken hostage, Santi froze as an amateur hero; Captain Ultra had arrived on the scene and swiftly beat the villain. Rather than thank Captain Ultra, the woman, police officers and bystanders attributed the actions to Santi, praising him as a hero, much to his disbelief.
From this point on his power continued to mark him as a target for success despite having no involvement in the actual matter. This ranged from being praised by the teacher for correct answers (that other students had answered), having cheerleaders cheer him on in football games while he sat in the stands, to even being credited with works such as books or films he had no part of whatsoever. This all became tiring all too soon as he had become tired of all the unwanted attention and affection he felt he had not deserved.
Legion had initially considered manipulating his mind to urge him to become interested in politics and with hope, become the first Mutant President. But thanks to the protest of Blindfold, decided not to and let him choose his own destiny.