Origin
Born in Camp Verde, Arizona, James Proudstar is the second and youngest son of Neal and Maria Proudstar. Growing up on the Apache reservation, James spent his childhood at the Proudstar Ranch with his parents, grandfather and elder brother, John. Both brothers would eventually develop mutant powers due to their mother’s exposure to nuclear fallout after a nearby government test. James idolized his older brother, especially after he left for a two-year tour of duty with the US Marines.
Around the time John returned from service, Maria Proudstar was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, a terminal form of cancer, by Doctor Edwin Martynec. When John’s reporter friend, Michael Whitecloud, alerted him that something was amiss with the medical testing, John agreed to help investigate Martynec and the Arroyo Medical Laboratory running the lab work. Looking for adventure, James stowed away in his brother’s pickup truck and the three of them infiltrated Arroyo to look for evidence.
It turned out that Martynec had been doctoring lab results in order to secure test subjects for his own illegal research in genetic enhancement. The doctor turned out to be a wolfman creature himself, but, thanks to his blossoming mutant powers, John was able to hold his own with Martynec long enough to get the others to safety. Doctor Martynec blew up the Arroyo lab’s to cover his escape, and John and James were able to confirm that their mother was actually in perfect health.
James Proudstar grew up on a reservation and idolized his older brother John. John was offered a role in the X-Men for a mission to save the original team. John took on the name Thunderbird. Tragically, though, Thunderbird was killed on his second mission, while trying to prevent the escape of crimelord Count Nefaria. The X-Men brought his body back to Camp Verde for burial, but it was stolen by James, who took it out into the desert for a proper Apache warrior’s funeral pyre. In his grief, James blamed Charles Xavier for his brother’s death and vowed to get even with the X-Menâs leader one day. James’ life was shattered and he blamed Charles Xavier for his brother’s death.
Creation
Warpath was created by Chris Claremont and Sal Buscema and first appeared in New Mutants #16 (1984).
Major Story Arcs
Hellions
Emma Frost, the White Queen of the Hellfire Club and Headmistress of her own school for mutants, took advantage of James’ hatred and offered him a role in the Hellions. James took on the name and
costume of Thunderbird. In trying to defeat the X-Men for revenge, His hatred for the X-Men had not diminished, however, and sometime later he dressed up in his brother’s costume and kidnapped the retired X-Man, Banshee, to lead the team into a trap. Alerting the X-Men that Banshee was being held inside Cheyenne Mountain, Proudstar was forcing them to break federal law to enter the NORAD military base (where John was killed) and find Banshee. In his revenge against the X-Men, Thunderbird also received some unwelcome help from his fellow Hellfire trainees Empath, Roulette and Firestar. The X-Men would have infiltrated Cheyenne Mountain successfully if not for the Hellions alerting NORAD to the heroes’ presence and stirring up trouble. Confronting Wolverine in single combat, Thunderbird had the chance to leave the weakened Logan and an unconscious Shadowcat to die from nerve gas NORAD was pumping into the room, but couldn’t bring himself to do it. Instead, he even risked his own life to drag them both free of the gas and administer an antidote. He even became furious at Empath and Roulette’s intended “help,” when innocent people got in harm’s way during the fiasco.
Conflicted over his own goals, James rushed to the Blackbird outside NORAD to kill Charles Xavier and avenge his brother, but ultimately found that he could not. He made peace with Xavier, who then offered him to stay at his mansion, but James decided otherwise. He realized that he needed to step out of his brotherâs shadow and find his own path. For better or worse, returning to the Massachusetts Academy and continuing his training under the White Queen, was a necessary step towards that goal.
Despite his choice of allies, James continued to demonstrate that he was a good and honorable man. When certain events led to the New Mutants being temporarily enrolled in the Massachusetts Academy, Thunderbird welcomed them with open arms and no trace of hostility over past encounters. Later, after Empath used his powers to psychologically torture two of their friends, the New Mutants kidnapped him to punish him for his actions.
James insisted on taking care of his own people and rounded up the other, somewhat reluctant Hellions to rescue their least pleasant member. The New Mutants agreed to turn Empath back over to Thunderbird when confronted, and Proudstar personally decked Empath for his actions, promising to keep him in line. As time passed, the New Mutants and Hellions became closer after Magneto joined the Inner Circle and forged a truce between Xavier’s people and the Hellfire Club. Thunderbird developed a bond with his fellow leader, the Cheyenne New Mutant, Mirage aka Dani Moonstar, and there were hints that their mutual admiration might’ve evolved into something more, in time. However, they were only granted a few private moments, as the duties to their teams kept them on opposing sides more often them not.
X-Force
With his desire for revenge diminished, James returned to his reservation. After returning from a trip to New York, James found his entire reservation slaughtered. Evidence pointed towards the Hellfire Club being responsible. He accepted Cable‘s offer and joined X-Force under the name Warpath. He figured he’d be able to use his new team to get revenge against the Hellfire Club. While being a member of X-Force. With their old headquarters devastated following an encounter with Weapon Prime, Warpath offered to let the team use the abandoned Camp Verde reservation as a base of operations. As they had no other options, X-Force accepted and relocated to Arizona. It wasn’t until the X-Men temporarily incarcerated the entire X-Force team at the mansion (over a misunderstanding, them believing Cable to have assassinated Professor Xavier) that James learned that the fledgling Upstarts had assassinated and incapacitated the entire old guard of the Hellfire Clubâs Inner Circle, including Fitzroy putting Emma Frost in a coma and murdering nearly all of the remaining Hellions, Jimmy’s old teammates. With his revenge now a moot point, Warpath continued to serve with X-Force to give his life some meaning and he accompanied Cannonball and Firestar to Nova Roma, to inform Magma and Empath of the Hellionsâ fate. Afterwards, X-Force decided to move on and find themselves a new purpose.
However, before they left the mansion, James convinced Siryn to make a copy of the X-Menâs database to help the team getting started again. Warpath had no such quarrels stealing from the X-Men, where he was concerned they had never given him much. First, they had cost him his brother, and now they had locked him up. Besides, he reasoned, the ends would justify the means and the copied data would surely help X-Force to catch some bad guys. Unbeknownst to James, Xavier telepathically noticed the theft, but didnât do anything about it.
Warpath had another reason for staying with X-Force – him developing romantic feelings for a Theresa Rourke Cassidy, aka Siryn . He would make her a few compliments every now and then, and was rather protective of her. As such, he noticed that she began drinking more and more, but Proudstar found himself still caring for her in this state, getting her to bed after a binge and cleaning her up.
The only other person on the team to recognize was Cable and, upon his advice, James ultimately confronted Theresa with her alcoholism and his feelings for her, even though it meant risking to ruin any chance he might have had with her. At first, Siryn didnât want to hear anything of it, but eventually she admitted her problem and Warpath provided her a shoulder to cry on. Wanting to reconnect with herself, Theresa felt that a visit to Cassidy Keep in her native Ireland was in order, and she asked James to come along.
However during the first two weeks there Sirynâs alcohol problem increased. Only after Warpath got in contact with the Juggernaut to bring Theresa together with her “uncle,” Black Tom Cassidy, and the two of them seemed to find peace with each other, did Siryn get a handle on her drinking. Theresa still wanted to remain “just friends” with James, though, and while he was willing to accept the situation, his heart was still broken.
After their return, X-Force got involved in the Younghunt, a competition of the Upstarts with all former members of the Hellions and the New Mutants being their targets. In the aftermath of this conflict, Magma ended her long relationship with Empath because of the way he had manipulated her. Though he never liked him that much, Warpath felt obliged to offer his former teammate a spot among X-Force and to help him get over the break-up, but arrogantly Empath declined. Some time later, it was discovered that Professor, the computer program running Cableâs equipment, had gained full sentience and built itself a body out of spare machine part.
However, as his presence began screwing up Cableâs techno-organic body parts, it was decided that Prosh, as he called himself by then, needed to leave Earth. Though capable of designing himself a spaceship, Prosh needed to absorb a lot of mass to do so. Warpath had no objection for him to use the remains of Camp Verde, in fact he found it rather symbolic for some new life to grow out of the ashes of the reservation. He only asked for Prosh to leave alone the tribeâs ancient burial ground; the rest of Camp Verde was for him to use. Naturally, this also forced X-Force to relocate to another headquarters.
A couple of weeks after Emma Frost awoke from her coma and began teaching Generation X at the Massachusetts Academy, Warpath went to confront her about the massacre at Camp Verde. She revealed to him what James had already known deep down inside his heart – she was not responsible for the attack on his people. They had a long discussion about how Jimmy needed to find his place in the world.
Emma pointed out that Warpath wasn’t really committed to Cable’s view of the future and his unrequited love for Siryn was hardly a reason to stick around on the team. She also mentioned how he originally left the Hellions because he had no longer wanted to grow up like his brother, yet today he was still copying his brother’s appearance, wearing a variation of his costume and generally living in his shadow. Although James pointed out that Emma should listen to her own advice, after all she too was repeating her past mistakes, he couldnât deny the truth behind her words.
Warpath began making changes in his life, starting with a new buzzcut and a change of wardrobe. Cable was on a similar line of reasoning. at the time for the entire team, deciding to move X-Force into Xavier’s Mansion alongside the X-Men,
make them wear costumes all patterned in the same colors and push them to explore their powers and create new boundaries for themselves. In Warpath’s case, Cable had James begin practicing with a bo staff as a personal weapon for combat, something which he wasnât too fond of. James was worried sick when Siryn went missing, though actually she had only been sent away by Cable on an undercover mission.
When she returned a few days later, Warpath was at first overjoyed to see her, but as she gave him a cold shoulder, not even bothering to explain where she had been, he was rather let down. An encounter with Mimic led Warpath to explore his powers in ways he hadn’t conceived of before. When duplicating his abilities, Mimic cried out in pain, asking how James could stand the increased sensory input. Up until this point, Warpath had never been aware of his heightened senses, a trait that his late brother possessed, as he had always relied on his strength. Jimmy soon began demonstrating superhuman running speed and highly developed senses.
Romance with Risque
Reeling from the rejection from Siryn, another woman became prominent in Warpath’s life. Risque (real name: Gloria Munoz), a mysterious vixen found herself in the middle of several of X-Force’s missions, taking a particular interest in helping James against attacks from Mister Sinister and Selene and the Externals.
During a mission against the latter, Risque blindsided Warpath and tranquilized him. She then nursed him back to health and introduced him to a much more carefree lifestyle as opposed to the angry, revenge-driven path he had taken since the slaying of his tribe and the death of his brother. The pair eventually returned to the X-Mansion to inform X-Force about James’ whereabouts. Siryn was suspicious and jealous over James’ infatuation with Risque. The two women began a rivalry and Siryn voiced her concerns about Risque to Caliban.
Among the couple’s many activities were hitting the club scene of which Risque was very popular. During a particular night, Risque and Warpath were attacked by The Blob and the Mimic. While Warpath’s brute strength was not enough to defeat the Blob, Risque used her powers to cause the floor beneath him to collapse, forcing the large mutant to fall several stories downward. Little did Warpath know that The Blob and Mimic had arrived only to get an update from their co-conspirator, Risque, on her mission to retrieve Warpath for their boss Sledge. When the chaos had settled, Risque drugged Warpath and took him to Sledge’s lair.
X-Force were alerted of Warpath’s disappearance and instantly began searching for Risque for answers. Caliban sensed her mutant signature to an amusement park named Wacky Land, a place of her childhood. There the team chased her through the crowds, with Risque successfully evading them. In the middle of the chase, Caliban began to have a seizure. While she the opportunity to lose X-Force once and for all, she tended to the fallen X-Forcer. X-Force believed she had done harm to Caliban and aggressively took her into custody. Upon demand, she then lead the group to Warpath. It was revealed that Risque had been working for Sledge after he had bailed her out during her troubled childhood, where she constantly ran into trouble. Bound to him, she was forced to complete her mission despite developing genuine feelings for Warpath. However, she also knew Warpath would remain unharmed and instead was offered a deal to gain information about the person responsible for killing his tribe in exchange for finding the Vanisher, who was lost in another dimension. Risque tried to apologize to Warpath, but he angrily rejected her advances and made it clear the relationship was over. Despite this, they would reconcile when she returned to X-Force, helping them defeat a Demon Bear that had attacked the entire city of New York.
In his absence, though, X-Force had broken ties with Cable and the X-Men. After picking him up in Detroit, Warpath and the remaining members of the team began a road-trip to Nebraska, where Sledge’s information said he would find Whitecloud. When their car broke down and they ran out of money, Warpath and Siryn separated from the others, continuing on to meet Michael. In Nebraska, they found the Apache perpetually drunk and living in a tenement building. Michael Whitecloud explained to Jimmy how one of his sources had information on illegal genetic experimentation under the name Project: Stepladder.
Michael’s investigations got too close to the truth, and an extermination team wiped out Camp Verde in order to kill him and his source, and destroy any evidence of Stepladder’s misdoings. Only by a stroke of luck, Whitecloud escaped the massacre and had been on the run for the last few years. However, he had apparently not been completely successful in evading capture. After telling James where to find another set of his notes he had hidden, Whitecloud attempted to name the monster behind Stepladder, only to have his head explode from the effort. Stepladder had apparently implanted a fail-safe in Michael’s brain at some point to prevent him from revealing too much.
Tracking down the notes, Warpath and Siryn were assaulted by Edwin Martynec, the psychotic doctor who years ago was poisoning Jimmy’s mother as part of his own experiments. Capturing the mutants, Martynec explained how Cable’s arch-nemesis, Stryfe, was actually behind Project: Stepladder, and by extension the massacre at Camp Verde. Michael Whitecloud had been tagged and released in the event that he had hidden more evidence and eventually tried to lead others to it. Eventually, the two mutants broke free and managed to defeat Martynec, though not after he injected Warpath an amphetamine compound that sent him into cardiac arrest.
Even in the afterlife, James was disturbed. His spirit was snatched away by Stryfe to some netherrealm ruled by Blackheart. Stryfe wanted to trade in Warpathâs soul in exchange for his own freedom but, before the deal was made, the rest of X-Force arrived, Moonstarâs status as a Valkyrie having given her the means to follow James. However, though not even they could defeat Stryfe, seeing his friends in peril, Warpath gathered all of his strength and anger and managed to overcome the villain. As Siryn had applied CPR to Jamesâ body for the entire time that the battle lasted, there were no after-effects to his âdeathâ when his spirit reunited with his physical self.
Afterwards, Warpath called up Emma Frost and had her arrange for Whitecloud’s notes to get to the proper authorities, and ensure that Project: Stepladder was dismantled and the people involved brought to justice. This adventure seemed to clear the air between James and Theresa, as from then on they both seemed comfortable with each other as best friends, without any unresolved romantic tension. The mystery regarding the Camp Verde massacre finally solved, James was ready to move on, though he confided in Moonstar that he was a little bit afraid of forgetting his friends and family. Every day his memories of them seemed to fade a bit more.
Dani helped him by using her mental powers to reach out into Jamesâ head and recreate an illusion of his family for him. Interacting with his late brother and mother, James realized that all the time he had been obsessed by the way they died, when actually the way they lived was much more important.
After their teammate, Sunspot, got his assets unfrozen, X-Force ended their time on the road and permanently took up residence at a warehouse in San Francisco, California. Sometime after setting up their new home, James had a startling encounter with Tarot one of his old teammates from the Hellions who was supposed to be dead. Her mysterious warnings about the future were an omen, as X-Force came into conflict with a new group of Hellions, whom Tarot was somewhat reluctantly working with.
Two other former friends, Magma and Feral, were also working with the Hellions. Tarot’s lover and team leader, King Bedlam, had a plan to use a mutant known as the Armageddon Man to blackmail the US government for a large sum of money. X-Force successfully routed the Hellions and got the Armageddon Man back into stasis, but not before Feral lashed out at Siryn, severing her vocal chords with her claws. After the doctors told her she may never speak again, Theresa decided to take some time off to herself, in order to cope with her loss. As she went, she left Jimmy a note thanking him for his friendship and letting him know that his influence was the only thing which kept her from going back to the bottle.
Only days later, the High Evolutionary unleashed a reverse-mutagen wave over the entire world, completely robbing every mutant on Earth of their powers. Though the effect was eventually reversed, X-Force was left feeling particularly vulnerable after Cannonball nearly lost his life when the wave swept over the Earth. Feeling as if they had been adrift without a purpose in life for too long, Cannonball and Jesse Bedlam contacted former intelligence agent and Excalibur member Pete Wisdom, who they had recently gone on a mission with in Genosha.
Wisdom offered to turn X-Force back into an elite strike force, seeking out and putting a stop to covert evils committed on mutants in the “shadow worlds” of international intelligence fields. Proudstar, Cannonball, Bedlam and Meltdown agreed to work with Pete under this new parameter, and he began training them in new tactical skills and uses for the mutant powers. It seems the activation and removal of the High Evolutionary’s effect had “rebooted” the genetic codes of mutantkind, allowing some of X-Force to access aspects of their mutation that were previously unknown to them. In Jimmy’s case, it turned out that he had apparently been limiting himself to the abilities of his late brother but, under Wisdomâs training, his strength level apparently increased to some degree and he developed the power to fly under his own command.
After uncovering a deep-rooted Russian conspiracy, X-Force faked their own deaths to go underground and anonymously take out anti-mutant organizations and targets. They were successful for a few months before they were found again, only to fake their deaths once more. The teamâs undercover status turned out to be a weakness, though, for some new organization consisting of mutants that wanted to get rich and famous thought the name up for grabs.
After buying legal rights to use âX-Forceâ as their name, this group went public and soon became popular. By the time the original X-Force learned of this, coming out of hiding and confronting the new guys about the name and violating the original concept behind the team, it was already too late. Apparently, the original X-Force disbanded after this, retreating from their recent hardcore offensive stance on mutant issues.
X-Corp: Mumbai
Warpath was recruited away from his X-Corp duties by Cable, in order to deal with the coming menace of the Skornn. This reformed X-Force squad confronted the Skornn in brutal combat in New York City, and only succeeded in driving it off through Cable’s self-sacrifice. Both James and Risque would later join X-Corporation, but were assigned to different branches (in Mumbai and Hong Kong, respectively). There, James would learn Risque was murdered after she interfered in the U-Men‘s mutant organ trafficking.
Joining the X-Men – Rise & Fall of the Shi’ar Empire
After picking up Darwin to come on the mission, the team head to find an old Shi’ar base located inside of an inactive volcano, as they need a Shi’ar ship to head through space to find Vulcan. There, Polaris, Havok, Warpath and Nightcrawler head to the access tunnels. As they open the door they find several robots inside, and Havok is about to dispatch of them quickly with his power, but Warpath refuses to let him have all the fun and begins attacking. Havok goes to shoot another, but Warpath gets in the way again. Warpath asks can’t he shoot, and he does, just missing Warpath. The team enters the lifeless volcano, and goes deep into the Shi’ar base. Inside, they are attacked by experimental humans, who have orders to protect the place. After Polaris and then Havok are injured, Warpath spots the three attackers up above, displaying his ability of acute senses. He, Nightcrawler and Marvel Girl rush into battle, and Warpath is quickly knocked over by one of the monsters. He stands up, and begins to fight. After finding out that the creatures want to die, Warpath breaks the neck of the first and then stabs the next through the head. Xavier, after they’ve found the the ship, informs Warpath that X-Men don’t kill, and Warpath just tells him that he was putting some people out of their misery.
After getting into space, the team is stuck because Vulcan destroyed the gates that allow them to move faster through space, so they have to travel to the outer rims to get to the other gates. They stop to fuel up, and while Nightcrawler, Darwin, Polaris and Havok head off to find supplies, Warpath stays with Marvel Girl and the Professor in the main area. “Ray” (as Warpath calls her) then gets a headache and begins to kneel, and then it’s revealed that the workers of the station are War Skrulls.
Warpath quickly pulls Marvel Girl underneath a swipe of the War Skrulls blades and alerts the Professor. Warpath engages in battle, strangling the one Skrull while on his back, while convincing Marvel Girl to do something as she’s not just a telepath. The many Skrulls begin to overpower Warpath, but luckily, while looking for the chip that was giving Marvel Girl a bad headache, Polaris knocked the Skrulls out, leaving Warpath to be dropped on the floor. He then tells her that he had them, and she points to one that’s still conscious, and he boots it.
After returning to their ship with two Shi’ar workers who weren’t killed by the Skrulls, Warpath sits in the main deck with Nightcrawler, claiming “Space travel is boring”. Nightcrawler swiftly replies, asking if he’s joking, but he says that they haven’t seen anything but supernovas and asteroid belts for weeks. He then jokingly states that if he wasn’t training Darwin, he would of chucked himself out of an airlock by now. As they continue to talk, he replies to Nightcrawler’s previous comment, telling him he might get the chance to stare into space for weeks as they’re still far away from Shi’ar space.
He then says his senses are going crazy, and he can’t even remember what grass smells like, and that he needs to put his feet on some earth. Nightcrawler suggests that Marvel Girl could do it telepathically, but he says that doesn’t work for him. He later meets Darwin for a sparring session, but Darwin doesn’t want to, and Warpath tells him that’s fine just don’t mope around, and they carry on to talk and are then passed by the Shi’ar from the fuel station, claiming that they are going to get supplies. Suddenly there’s a security alert, and something is entering the docking bay. Warpath tells Darwin to follow the Shi’ar people, while he goes and sees who’s come on board, pulling his knives out ready for combat.
He passes Nightcrawler, Havok and Polaris who come with him to the docking bay to see what’s happening, and they find Korvus (allow though they do not know his name then) and Warpath comments on his sword. Korvus says that he needs the girl who’s been “touched by the Phoenix” and that he’ll do what he has to in order to get her. Warpath yet again quickly engages in battle, telling him to do what he has to. He hits the swords with his knives, but is then quickly dispatched, exhaling what appears to be blue energy from the sword.
The team are sitting in the main deck, with Korvus there too (Professor X has been kidnapped by the Shi’ar and Darwin hung on to the end of their space craft). Warpath tells Nightcrawler that he’s talking now, and asks why are they listening to the guy who attacked them, and says that he can’t be the only one with “trust issues”. Korvus then provokes him by saying if he wanted to kill him, he would have, and that’s when Warpath is about to fight him but the two are stopped by Havok.
Havok tells him that they have to focus on getting the Professor and Darwin back, and since Marvel Girl trusts Korvus that’s good enough for him, and Warpath is quiet. After Korvus tells the group they can make their own jump, he, Warpath and Nightcrawler head to fix the engines. As Warpath sits, he asks Korvus if his dad was a mechanic for the empire, and Korvus tells him about how he learned while he was a slave. Warpath then gets up and yawns, saying he’s no longer needed as all the heavy lifting has been done, and he and Nightcrawler leave the room. The two talk, and Warpath says that he gets a weird sense off of Korvus, but tells Nightcrawler that he trusts him with the engines because he doesn’t seem suicidal.
As the star gate is put in to test, it’s a rough ride, and Warpath (talking telepathically) asks Havok from the main deck what’s going on, and Havok tells him to be ready to send the message when they come out (to the Starjammers). After teleporting, Nightcrawler is about to check on the four down in the engine room, when Warpath tells him to wait as someone has replied to their message. On board the Starjammers ship, and Nightcrawler and Warpath are walking with Hepzibah and Corsair, who explains that Marvel Girl, Polaris, Havok and Korvus are drained, but their fine.
Warpath tells them to tell him and Nightcrawler what’s going on, as it looks like their getting ready for war. Corsair explains about the coup, and Warpath asks what the plan is. Hepzibah tells him bluntly that they’re going “to blow little birdies right out of the stars”, and Warpath questions if they have enough firepower to do that. When Corsair explains the battle plan, and Hepzibah comments on the plan, he replies with “I like your style, cat lady”. With the Starjammers, the group attack the ship where Lilandra is being held captive, and while the distraction team battles, Warpath scouts ahead with Nightcrawler on their way to get Lilandra. He and Nightcrawler then take down a bunch of guards, Warpath slamming two guards head together.
On a screen in the X-Men’s ship, Warpath with Hepzibah and Lilandra watch as Vulcan and Deathbird get married. Nightcrawler joins them, and the group prepare to jump as the Starjammers just have. As Vulcan and Deathbird seal their love with a kiss, the rebellion attack, and the group are teleported into battle.
He makes his way with Hepzibah and Raza through the crowd of guards, quickly dispatching them. As they continue the battle and after Darwin and the Professor are thrown into the M’Kraan Crystal, Warpath shouts that they should get to Lilandra, as the other two are lost. As Vulcan declares himself as the new emperor of the Shi’ar Imperium, Warpath watches with the others, holding a guard up with his one hand, preparing to punch him with the other.
After Vulcan kills Corsair and Havok battles him, Hepzibah is about to jump in. Warpath leaps and pulls her out of the way, telling her not to be an idiot and that she cannot take him. Back on the X-Ship, and Warpath explains that when Hepzibah is done raiding the weapons locker, she doesn’t want to be waiting around, as she has blood on her mind. Darwin, Professor X, Hepzibah, Nightcrawler and Warpath are then locked on the ship by Lilandra, Warpath explaining that she’s trying to save the Professor. The jump engines begin and the group are sent back to Earth.
The ride becomes rocky, and Warpath asks what’s happening, Hepzibah telling him that they’re going through Earth’s atmosphere. Quickly after the crash, Nightcrawler teleports them all out, and the X-Ship (or X-Bug) then explodes. Hepzibah says that she’s stuck on Earth, but Warpath replies that the Starjammers will be back for her. Later in Hepzibah’s room, as she looks out the window, she can see Warpath standing in the doorway.
World War Hulk
James then sets about helping Hepzibah to settle into life on Earth. He takes her along with him on missions, and attempts to help her adjust to life on Earth. James was on one such mission, along with Hepzibah, Nightcrawler, and Darwin, when the Hulk returned from space and came to the X-mansion looking for Xavier. After the Stepford Cuckoo’s sent out a psychic distress beacon, showing them exactly what was happening they doubled their efforts to get back to the mansion. Warpath and the others arrived just as Hulk finished defeating Cain Marko, having gathered the members of X-Factor as well, ready to defend their founder.
Warpath leaps into battle along with his fellow X-Men. After trading blows with the Hulk, he falls back allowing his fellow X-Men to keep Hulk busy while waiting for an opening. Just as Hulk knocks Rhane and Siryn from the battle, Warpath seizes his chance. Leaping on Hulk’s back he drives his knives into his shoulders, explaining that their vibranium blades are keeping Hulk from raising or using his arms. This still doesn’t stop Hulk, who manages to flex the knives out, and throw them at Warpath calling him useless. In anger, Warpath lashed out at the Hulk, but only managed to put himself within reach leading to his being taken out of the fight.
Messiah Complex
When the first new mutant birth since M-Day, the Mutant world was sent into turmoil. As the different forces began to maneuver against one another for the fate of the child and the future, Warpath was among the X-Men kept at the Mansion. As he was in his bedroom with Hepzibah, the Sentinels turned against the X-Men, attacking the mansion. Warpath launched himself out the window at the nearest Sentinel, complaining that he’d known it was only a matter of time before this happened. Working with Cyclops, Hepzibah and the others he helped defend the students and defeat the Sentinels, being responsible for the destruction of 2 of their number single-handedly. The betrayal with the sentinels served as enough incentive for Cyclops to call for the assembly of the X-Force, all of his best trackers and deadliest X-Men, after Cable to retrieve the child.
They first returned to Alaska and the birth town of the child to search for clues. Upon their arrival and entrance, Warpath went against orders and attacked the Cop set at sentry, though later after explaining his reasoning Wolverine let it go. Wolverine then assigned him to work with Wolfsbane, partially to prove a point and also so she could discern if he’d be able to do the deed if it came down to that. While they searched Warpath confided in Rhane on his feelings about the mission, while Cable was like a father to him, and while he would like to save him, he trained him that the mission always comes first.
Upon hearing gunshots they rushed towards the sound, Warpath taking point, to find that Hepzibah and Caliban had taken out the Cops. Warpath revealed that he had researched the building, and found an alternate escape route. Using it they are able to avoid the authorities and return to the Blackbird.
Following the trail they are able to catch up to Cable as he is busy fighting the Reapers. Warpath and the others join the battle. While he attempts to help Hepzibah, Caliban places himself in a gunman’s path to protect her, taking the fatal wounds himself. Without hesitation Warpath flings his knife, killing the reaper. He then goes over to his friends body to mourn.
When Cyclops and the others arrive they set out after Cable again, following his path after they figure out that he’s been going in a straight line. While waiting for Cerebra to come back online, Warpath broods upon the loss of his friend. When Monet attempted to talk to him about it, he tells her to let it lie, promising that he would make those responsible pay.
Warpath is with the X-men as they arrive at Forge’s workshop, finding the aftermath of the Bishop/Marauders battle. When Cyclops sends them back out on the mission, Warpath attempts to have Hepziabah left behind, not wanting to be responsible for the loss of anymore of the people he cares about. Hepzibah and Wolverine both disagree on the idea, and she comes in the end. They continue to track Cable and the baby, attempting to get it back from their enemy forces. In the end they meet up with Sinister’s forces at their new base on Muir Island and are joined by Cyclops and the rest of the X-Men.
During the final battle X-Force is tasked with destroying Predator X. Warpath leaps up on it’s back to stab it, before discovering that is has a healing factor. He and the others fight the creature, redoubling their efforts after it apparently eats Wolverine. In the end, Logan is the one who kills the creature, disemboweling it from the inside. Warpath looked on as Cyclops gave the baby to Cable to take to safety in the future, and as Bishop shot the professor. After which Cyclops decides to disband the X-Men.
Divided We Stand
Traveling with Hepzibah, James was supposed to meet his fellow “former” X-Men Warren and Bobby in San Francisco. Upon their arrival he, along with the others find themselves to be in a city reliving the 60’s. He is soon caught up in the “Hippie Paradise” that Martinique Jason has used her powers to create out of the entire city. Now calling himself “Rising Sun” he found himself, like the rest of San Fran, in Jason’s thrall. When sending the police after Scott and Emma didn’t work, Jason decided to send Running Son and his fellows instead. After Scott and Emma manage to defeat Jason, ending her illusion, James returns to normal along with the rest of the X-Men. They then begin to work together to re-establish the X-Men in San Fransisco.
X-Force: Angels & Demons
X-Force disbanded after Messiah Complex, but Cyclops secretly reformed them, to take out some threats, permanently. The team consists of Wolverine, Warpath, Wolfsbane and X-23, and in their first arc, they aim to take down the Purifiers. When X-23, Wolverine and Warpath entered a Purifier Church in Dakota (Wolfsbane went in ahead) all guns blazing, Warpath seemed startled after he killed a Purifier (by stabbing him through the back of the neck, and the knife coming out his mouth) that was about to “kill” X-23. The three continue to raid the church until they are brought to a halt by Matthew Risman who was holding a gun to Rahne’s head.
While Wolverine is startled, Warpath is the only one who show’s out right concern for her, screaming her name after she was shot in the knee. After Risman’s threat to kill Rahne unless they stand down, they do as he asks and surrender. However as they go to bind X-23, we see she’s holding a trigger, which she presses, blowing up the whole place. Warpath is buried under rubble, but is helped up by Wolverine, and yet again asks where Rahne is, Wolvie telling him Risman made off with her. The three follow Risman to a helicopter, Warpath still concerned, but Risman gets away.
Back at Angel’s Aerie, both Wolverine and Warpath give X-23 a thrashing for her actions, Warpath asking what’s wrong with her. When Angel arrives and asks what’s going on, Warpath blows a fuse and begins to rant about what happened, specifically about Rahne. Warpath also reveals that he and Rahne know each other quite well, she told him about Reverend Craig and he told her about John. The search continues as the three storm various Purifier Churches throughout America. At one, Warpath questions X-23 on how she and Wolverine are “so indifferent to all this blood?”, but she doesn’t understand him.
Later, the three hit a Purifier base in Montana. Warpath internally monologues about how he’s going to make the Purifiers pay for Caliban’s death and taking Rahne, and over the past few days he had done things he didn’t know he was capable of and how he plans on killing Matthew Risman with his bare hands. They find Rahne at the base, bound to a chair, and Warpath quickly sets her free and carries her out of the place. He later leaps out of the Blackbird into Angel’s Aerie, still cradling Rahne, and he continues to hold her until Elixir turns up to heal her. After she’s healed, Warpath cools off, even pulling Logan off X-23 after she insulted Rahne for her apparent insolence.
Afterwards, Warpath and Wolverine return to the Aerie, to find Rahne gone, having torn off Angel’s wings also. He is then seen trying to hold down Angel during his transformation with Wolverine. He and Wolverine then engage Archangel in combat, he jumping onto Archangel’s back only to get shoved into the ceiling.
X-23, Wolverine and Warpath yet again head out, this time to raid the main Purifier base. The three take on as many Purifiers as possible, killing many. X-23 heads off, and Warpath follows. She confronts Eli Bard, who had bonded with Magus’ offspring, and who was also holding Risman hostage. X-23 shoots Risman through the head before Bard can feed on him, and she is left to fight Bard. The two battle, but she is unable to harm him, and just as he is about to feed on her, he is struck in the back by one of Warpath’s Vibranium Knives. Warpath gets Bard to flee, but not before Bard announces that the thing between him and Warpath: it’s personal.
Old Ghosts
Heading into a new arc, Jimmy tries calling Hepzibah in San Francisco, but he doesn’t speak to her. When Wolverine comes in to ask what’s going on (seeing Warpath’s packed bag), Warpath tells him that he Wolverine was right: “You told me to walk away, and I didn’t listen.” He then tells Wolverine how angry he is about not being able to talk to his friends about what he’s up to, not even Hepzibah, so he’s going to talk to the only one he can tell: his brother. Later, we see Warpath entering New Mexico in his truck, his Vibranium Knifes at his side in his bag.
As Warpath continues to drive, listening to music on the radio also, the front of his truck is suddenly sliced and comes off, causing the truck to explode. Luckily, he survives, picks up his knives, and heads out to see what happened. As he arrives in Arizona, just outside the Camp Verde Burial Site, Warpath is confronted by the Demon Bear. Warpath leaps into action, attempting to stab the Demon bear, only for it to dematerialize and then rematerialize and brush him aside into a mountain face (several miles away Ghost Rider turns around hearing the Demon Bear’s roar). Believing that he will be killed by the Demon Bear, Warpath begins to shout and rant about how he will die as an Apache, leaping at the Bear, only to get brushed aside and stood on, but this time, he notices a skull like blade in the Bear’s neck. Suddenly, Ghost Rider rides in and whips the Bear around the face, and rides off with Warpath.
Later, outside Camp Verde, Ghost Rider is applying paint to Warpath’s face, as he explains that he will help Warpath kill the Demon Bear by helping him reconnect with his dead tribe via “The Ghost Dance”. The two then head out to find the monster, Warpath now perceiving it with a red aura because of the mysticism of his tribe. He and Ghost Rider attack, Warpath yet again internally monologuing about how he never liked magic. The two continue to battle it, and Ghost Rider draws attention to the blade Warpath saw earlier, and as Ghost Rider distracts it, Warpath flies for the first time in a while and pulls the “Demon Blade” out, releasing what was the Spirit Guides of his tribe, Ghost Rider informing him that the Blade had corrupted them. The Spirits, animal and humans alike (including John), inform Warpath who did that to them.
Back at Angel’s Aerie, and Warpath, looking awful after the battle, is asked what happened, and he informs X-Force that it was Eli Bard who dug up the graves of his tribe, and at this time internally monologues: “My name is James Proudstar. I don’t want to be a killer. But now I have no choice.” He then informs the whole team about Bard’s life, telling them what his ancestors told him.
Suicide Leper, Messiah War and Not Forgotten
Yet again here Warpath returns to being frantic, worrying about the disappearance of Rahne and the fact they haven’t found Selene or Eli Bard, but his worries are brushed off by his team mates, and he is informed of their new mission. He and Vanisher are then teamed up and sent to Providence, Rhode Island, where they’re supposed to stake out at a Friends of Humanity rally after hearing of the set up attack involving Beautiful Dreamer. Vanisher tries to convince him to let him teleport them outta there to a brothel in Portugal, with Warpath basically ignoring him.
Warpath and Archangel head back to the latter’s Aerie, that had been used as the team’s base, only to find it completely destroyed, and as Archangel complains about the cost of rebuilding the establishment, Warpath reminds him that he grew up on a trailer, and that he doesn’t elicit his sympathy. He then tells Archangel that the snow has covered the tracks and finding Wolfsbane would be hard, just to have Hrimhari jump down with the unconscious Wolfsbane in his arm into the room from the large hole in the roof. The two X-Force members turn, alert before Hrimhari reverts to his human-like form, explaining that he needs their help in finding Elixir.
Necrosha
The four then proceed to fly from the Aerie back to Utopia, with Hrimhari explaining what happened to the two, Warpath explaining that she better be okay, implying he’s about to explain about Elixir’s inactive status when the jet is hit by a bolt of electricity, and the jet heads down towards the sea (Warpath was flying).
Warpath walks from the sea carrying Wolfsbane, questioning whether they were hit by lighting. Angel, who’s reverted to Archangel once more, says it came from the ground, and Hrimhari stresses they have to get to Elixir, and as Warpath is about to tell him about Elixir again, Archangel cuts over telling him he senses death on the island. Hrimhari confirms this, and the three prepare for battle, and the two curse when they’re confronted by the revived Pyro and Berserker. Pyro fires, but Archangel protects the four with his wings, Warpath questioning his appearance since he’s supposed to be dead. As Pyro finishes replying, Warpath hurls one of his knives at his head, telling Hrimhari to get Wolfsbane inside before leaping into action with Archangel.
Warpath is then seen being thrown through a wall where Blindfold is, telling her to run, but she does telling him that she’s “seen” his brother and he’s waiting for him. Before Warpath can finish asking her to elaborate, it is revealed that his enemy is his former lover, Risque, who warns him to run if he cared about her. She explains that Eli Bard resurrected her, and Warpath swears, before she warns him to run again before attacking, Warpath luckily dodging it before it hits.
Next Warpath is seen walking from the sea, monologuing to himself about how he plans to cut off the heads and alight their bodies in an attempt to kill the enemies, before seeing an explosion and cursing. He is then attacked by Risque and again, who tells him to run again and being threatened by her companion. Before they can fatally attack him again, Archangel swoops in and flies him away, Warpath explaining that it’s all Bard and Selene. The two then join other members of X-Force and the X-Men, either one slicing either side of Darkstar in half, and Warpath is then seen telling a fallen attacker that it wasn’t his fault when he apologizes, before witnessing the entrance of Selene’s inner circle, then entering battle again with the team.
Warpath knocks Wither away from Wolverine as he attacks, before Eliphas attacks Warpath, who tells Warpath this is personal. The hero threatens him, before Eliphas says the only reason he’s alive is because he needs his mistress’ blade. Warpath continues to attack with his blades, but his enemy constantly reforms, then asking Warpath to bring him the Spirit Blade, telling him if he doesn’t there will be no lives left on the island, Warpath running away to retrieve the blade. Running through the doors of his quarters by knocking them off their hingers, he rummages through his bag until he finds it, telling himself that he plans to stab Bard in the head with it, before the Inner Circle arrive and he is restrained by Senyaka, and Blink takes them all, including Warpath, back to Necrosha.
Teleported back to the presence of Selene, still restrained, Warpath witnesses the murder of Eliphas, apparently seeming shocked at Selene’s killing of him. She then summons Thunderbird, instructing him to place Warpath in the dungeon along with Destiny believing that she still has use for him, and Warpath begins to shout, longing for his brother and attempting to boost his sense of free will by getting him to escape that of Selene’s, but his dead brother smacks him across the face and drags him away.
In the dungeon, with Blink watching, Thunderbird rams a knife through Warpath’s hand as he’s curled up, injured on the floor, Thunderbird continuing to beat him. Warpath keeps telling him that he must fight, but Thunderbird rags him up by his hair, telling him that Selene will soon rise to be a goddess. Thunderbird then tells his brother that she will feed and she will grow so hungry that she will feed on the world and then move to the Spirit Realm, then warning his brother that he must stop her, all the while using Warpath’s blood to draw a sigil on a pillar, then warning Warpath to kill him before he kills him, Warpath telling him that he’s unable, Thunderbird telling him that he must find some way of doing so.
Blink questions this, but Vanisher teleports in, crying out for Warpath. Blink teleports his left arm away and Thunderbird leaps to attack, as Vanisher manages to teleport to grab Warpath and escape. Vanisher does this with the other members of X-Force, and as they question what’s happening, Warpath tells them that Selene is now a goddess and he knows how to stop her.
Warpath narrates what his brother told him during the beginning of the next issue, saying that those who could do something about her ascension, sorcerers and such, would be hit that heaviest and would be unable to do anything to stop it; he then explains how the souls will feed her and how her hunger will never cease. We then see him telling the members of X-Force that his brother told him how to kill her as they paint themselves, telling them that his ancestors were able to travel through the Spirit Realm, and they are about to do a Ghost Dance, designed to kill evil spirits, Warpath stating their intention “to tear out Selene’s black heart.”.
The Inner Circle gaze up at Selene’s new form, as X-Force burst onto the scene, Warpath running away to do what must be done to kill Selene. He’s then confronted by Thunderbird, and the two battle, Warpath promising to save him in death as he couldn’t in life, and when his brother challenges his fighting abilities compared to his, Warpath tells him he isn’t the kid his brother once knew, and proceeds to break Thunderbird’s neck, Selene seemingly sensing this, and Warpath telling his brother’s corpse that this will end soon.
Outside, as Selene fights X-Force, Warpath tells her to get ready to die, having taken the Spirit Blade from his brother. X-Force holds her while Warpath proceeds to run and leap, stabbing her in the chest, and her powers slowly begin to deplete until her body explodes. After this, Warpath and Wolverine joke before Warpath sees a conjuration of his brother’s spirit, telling him to let go, and Warpath thanks him. Wolverine later explains to Cyclops back at Angel’s Aerie that Warpath will no longer be a member of X-Force as he has made his peace.
Regenesis
After Schism and the fight between Wolverine and Cyclops, Warpath is seen in the X-Men series. The team is lead by Storm and the other team members are Colossus, Domino, Psylocke, and Jubilee. The first mission to the team is to stop a war in East Europe. After that Jubilee is kidnapped by vampires and they have to save her.
ResurrXion
Warpath was the target for the newly revamped Weapon X Program and was opted to join Old Man Logan’s new team. James and Logan eventually left the team, when Sabretooth changed the direction of the group.
Krakoa and return to New Mutants
Warpath becomes a citizen of Krakoa nation after the events of X of Swords he rejoins the New Mutants.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
Warpath is a mutant possessing various superhuman physical attributes, some of which have fluctuated considerably over the years.
After the powers of all the world’s mutants were restored by the High Evolutionary, Warpath’s powers were enhanced slightly due to his training with Pete Wisdom and the realization he was limiting himself to the powers of his older brother.
Superhuman Strength: Currently Warpath possesses some degree of superhuman strength, though the exact amount of weight he can lift isn’t known. It has ranged over the years from Class 5 to Class 90 levels. As a teenager and member of the Hellions, his strength level was roughly equivalent to his brother or Sunspot at the time, able to lift 2 tons. He grew substantially in height, muscle mass, and strength as he got older. Cable once remarked that Warpath just kept getting “stronger and stronger”. In his early X-Force days, Warpath possessed Class 75 strength, with a Class 90 potential.
It seems the activation and removal of the High Evolutionary’s effect “rebooted” the genetic codes of mutant kind, allowing some of X-Force to access aspects of their mutation that were previously unknown to them. In Jimmy’s case, it turned out that he had apparently been limiting himself to the abilities of his late brother but, under Wisdomâs training, his strength level apparently increased to some degree and he developed the power to fly under his own command. Warpath may have reached the previously mentioned Class 90 level at this point, or even beyond.
In recent years, however, Warpath’s strength level has presented as extraordinarily weaker than his X-Force days. He struggled while fighting a single sewer alligator and otherwise has consistently not demonstrated his previously Hulk-range strength.
Superhuman Speed: Despite his great size, Warpath is capable of running and moving at speeds much greater than even the finest human athlete. At his peak, Warpath is capable of running at speeds up to 100 miles per hour. His current speed is unknown.
Superhuman Stamina: Warpath’s physical stamina is such that he possesses greater physical stamina than any ordinary human and can exert himself at his peak for up to 24 hours before the build up of fatigue toxins in his blood began to impair him.
Invulnerability: Warpath’s body is harder and more resistant to certain types of injury than the body of an ordinary human. For instance, he can withstand the force generated by great impacts. He can withstand impact forces, such as falling from several stories, being hit by certain level energy blasts, and being struck by a superhumanly strong opponent, that would severely injure or kill a normal human. He can withstand high caliber bullets, exposure to temperature extremes, vastly powerful energy blasts from the likes of Exodus, and great impact forces such as being repeatedly punched by the Juggernaut without being hurt. His current level of durability is unknown.
Superhuman Agility: Warpath’s agility, balance, and bodily coordination are enhanced to levels that are beyond the natural physical limits of the finest human athlete.
Superhuman Reflexes: Warpath’s reflexes are similarly enhanced and are superior to those of the finest human athlete. He is even capable of evading gunfire.
Superhumanly Acute Senses: Warpath’s senses of sight and hearing are enhanced to levels beyond the capabilities of an ordinary human. This was first hinted at when Mimic mimicked enhanced senses from Warpath during a battle. Jimmy soon began demonstrating enhanced senses himself. He is able to see, with perfect clarity, at much greater distances than an ordinary human. He retains this same level of clarity, even in near-total darkness. His hearing is similarly heightened, enabling him to both hear sounds that ordinary humans can’t and sounds that they can detect but at much greater distances.
Flight: Warpath is able to propel himself through the air without any aid. The exact limit of his flight speed is unknown, but it is considerably less than the Speed of Sound. Like his peak strength level, Warpath first gained the power of flight while working with Pete Wisdom, but has stopped employing it in recent years. Domino made a joking reference to the ability in X-Force Vol 3, and Warpath appeared to be flying once at the end of Messiah War, but the current state of the ability remains uncertain. He still retains his ability to fly as was the case when dealing with a remotely manned chopper sent by the restarted Weapon X project.
Regenerative Healing Factor: James recently showed regenerative capability, the extent of which is currently unknown but seemingly he can heal minor injuries ranging from minor cuts, bruises, and abrasions to more extreme physical trauma like internal rupturing, perforation, and deep lacerations caused by incredibly dense substances like Adamantium-enhanced cyborg horses.
Apache Shaman Abilities: Ghost Rider activated the abilities within James, in order to help him fight the Demon Bear. He could perceive the creature’s wounds and the resulting spirit energy when it was destroyed.
Abilities
Warpath is a formidable combatant, both armed and unarmed. He is also an expert tracker and hunter, even without the aid of his superhuman senses.
Weaponry
Warpath wields two large Vibranium Knives, gifts given to him by Storm. The Knives have been perfectly weighted so that they are also good for throwing. James has practiced extensively with them since they were given to him, becoming quite skilled in their use.
He is almost never shown without his blades in battle. He has incorporated his knives into his fighting style and they are almost always at hand.
Characteristics
- Gender: Male
- Height: 7’2
- Weight: 350 lbs.
- Eyes: Black
- Hair: Black
- Known Relatives: John Proudstar (Thunderbird, brother, deceased)
- Citizenship: U.S.A., Apache
- Place of Birth: Camp Verde, Arizona
- Marital Status: Single
- Occupation: Adventurer; former soldier
- Education: Unrevealed
Alternate Realities
Earth-2182
In Nocturne‘s home reality James was a member of the X-Men and was in a relationship with Nocturne.
On Asteroid H-12, Warpath and Korvus prepare to take out the signal tower. They luckily run and engage in battle, tearing through many guards as they go. As they battle the guards, Warpath explains that he doesn’t have a problem that Korvus beat him in a battle, as that doesn’t happen very often, but it’s about Marvel Girl. Korvus and she just met last week, and Warpath explains that that is why he doesn’t like “telepathy and all that mind-screwy stuff…”, because people then believe they have a connection, but really they don’t.
The guards shout as the duo continue to rip their way through until they get to the command panel, where Warpath asks did they make it in time, and Korvus explains that don’t worry, he managed to “countermanded” the distress signal, but it won’t be long until the warships arrive, but Warpath says that they’ll be long gone by then, and he alerts the two teams. Outside, and Korvus, preps a space-like motorbike and side-cart, and Warpath tells him to hurry up as the battle started, Warpath explaining he can tell because of enhanced senses. Warpath then leaps into the side cart, and as the two drive off, he shouts, throwing his hands in the air “THIS IS MORE LIKE IT!”
He and Warpath later join in the big battle, both jumping in again, and Warpath taking out several guards at once by basically tackling them. Later, onboard the Starjammers ship, Warpath, with several other members of the rebellion, watches as Hepzibah dances on a table for them, Warpath looking impressed.
Earth-105709
In the reality depicted in this world, it was not only Thunderbird who died, but all of the X-Men. Both old and new perished in their battle against the mutant island Krakoa, leaving only Professor Xavier and ex-X-Man Beast, who took care of the Professor, due to his depression. When several weeks later, Count Nefaria threatened the world and none of the other heroes were available, the Beast used Cerebro to contact several mutants and teleport them to Nefaria.
Among them was James Proudstar, who only agreed to come along as he wanted to meet Xavier and exact revenge for his brotherâs death. However, risking his own life during the new teamâs battle with Nefaria, James realized that the telepath was not to blame. Just like he, his brother had known the risks involved but he had joined the X-Men of his own free will. Adopting Johnâs codename as his own, James remained with the new X-Men.
Ultimate – Earth 1610
Shaman was among the members of Alpha Flight sent to capture Northstar. While fighting the X-Men, he was able to overpower both Cyclops & Havok. Whilst at Department H, Shaman was defeated by the raged Banshee and powered Colossus.
Shaman’s activities during and following the Ultimatium remain unknown. Shaman stated that he is not a mystic, but a mutant. So while his abilities seem mystical in origin, they are in fact biological.
Other Media
Television
Animated
X-Men: The Animated Series
Warpath was seen on Genosha in the episode “Slave Island,” and also showed up in cameos in a few other episodes. He could also be seen in the series intro, strangely fighting alongside Magneto’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants rather than the X-Men. According to Larry Houston, this is because there weren’t enough characters on the villain side featured in the opening credits, so Warpath and Gargoyle were quickly added in to create a better sense of balance.
Wolverine and the X-Men
A mutant who resembles Warpath is seen in episode 9, trying to escape the Sentinel prisons of the future.
Film
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Actor Booboo Stewart portrays Warpath in X-Men: Days of Future Past. This version is part of the future team of X-Men alongside Blink, Sunspot, and Bishop in a world ravaged by the Sentinels. At the beginning of the movie, he’s seen fighting along with the rest of the mutants but quickly dies in the process. Once Kitty Pryde sends Bishop back in time, the events had been erased. The mutants soon join the X-Men, sending Wolverine back in time. After a while, they are attacked by Sentinels. Warpath is once again burned alive by one of them, but not before the timeline is erased. It is unknown about his current whereabouts in the new timeline.
Video Games
- Warpath appears in the mobile app game Marvel Future Fight as part of the X-Force event.
Merchandise
- Warpath was featured in ToyBiz’s X-Men: X-Force line of action figures.
- Warpath was featured in Hasbro’s Marvel Legends line as part of a two-pack with Deadpool.
- Warpath was featured in Diamond Select’s Minimates line as part of a two-pack with Angel.
- Warpath was also featured in an exclusive Marvel Legends X-Force box set, which was only available at San Diego Comic-Con.
- Kotobukiya released a Warpath statue
- Warpath was included as part of an X-Force diorama from Sideshow Collectibles.
- Warpath was featured in Hasbro’s Marvel Universe line.
- The 90s version of Warpath was featured in Hasbro’s Marvel Legends line as part of the Strong Guy Build-a-Figure wave.