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Leech (character)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Leech
Leech as depicted in X-Men: The 198 #2 (April 2006). Art by Jim Muniz.
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceThe Uncanny X-Men #179 (March 1984)
Created byChris Claremont (writer)
John Romita Jr. (artist)
In-story information
Alter egoJames "Jimmy" (X-Men films)
Dorian Leach (X-Men: Evolution)
SpeciesHuman mutant
Team affiliations
Notable aliasesThe Cure
Kid Incredible
AbilitiesPower suppression

Leech is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

Leech made his first appearance in Uncanny X-Men as a Morlock, a group of mutants whose deformities force them to live in the sewers under Manhattan. He is usually depicted as being around twelve years old (his exact age is unrevealed). He speaks in broken English and refers to himself in the third person.

Publication history

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Leech first appeared in The Uncanny X-Men #179 (March 1984), and was created by Chris Claremont and John Romita Jr.[1]

Leech appeared as part of the "Morlocks" entry in The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition #9.

Fictional character biography

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Leech in his original depiction with a more elongated skull. Art by John Romita Jr. and Dan Green.

As a child, Leech is abandoned and left to die when his mutations become apparent. He is found by the Morlock Caliban and taken to Annalee, who raises him and several other young mutants as her children.[2]

In Mutant Massacre, Annalee and many other mutants are killed by the Marauders, with Leech being among the survivors. X-Factor takes him and Artie Maddicks in until they can be enrolled in St. Simons, a private school that accepts mutants.[3] The two later become junior members of Generation X.[4]

Leech and Artie Maddicks come to live at the Massachusetts Academy under the care of Emma Frost and Sean Cassidy. The school later goes bankrupt, forcing Emma and Sean to open the school to human students. To keep Artie and Leech from being isolated, Emma gives them image inducers that will disguise them as humans. Soon after, the school is exposed as a home for mutants, and Artie, Leech, and Penance are sent away to protect them.[5]

At some point, Leech is captured by the revived Weapon X program and is used to keep imprisoned mutants under control. When the program is about to be discovered, those responsible attempt to erase all information surrounding it by killing the prisoners. Leech survives and is one of the estimated 198 mutants who retain their powers after M-Day.[6]

When Nitro's destruction of Stamford, Connecticut causes the public to turn on superheroes at the start of the "Civil War" storyline, Domino, Shatterstar, and Caliban break out the 198 and take them to a bunker in the middle of the desert. They are sealed inside with nuclear weapons that are activated for self-detonation, but they are eventually freed from the bunker.[7] Leech accompanies Caliban to the Morlock tunnels, where they are attacked by an extremist group of Morlocks led by Masque. Masque kidnaps Leech, but he is rescued by the X-Men and Skids.[8]

Leech and Artie Maddicks are invited to Franklin Richards's birthday, and as a gift, Franklin invites them to live with the Fantastic Four.[9] The two are enrolled in a special class with several Moloids and Alex Power of the Power Pack, among others.[10] Leech later joins the Future Foundation.[11]

Powers and abilities

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Leech can dampen or completely suppress, for an undetermined amount of time, the powers and abilities of any superpowered beings within 50 feet of him.[12][13][3]

Reception

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In 2014, Entertainment Weekly ranked Leech and Artie Maddicks 23rd in their "Let's rank every X-Man ever" list.[14]

Other versions

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Age of Apocalypse

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An alternate universe variant of Leech from Earth-295 appears in Age of Apocalypse.[15]

Days of Future Past

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An alternate universe variant of Leech from Earth-811 appears in Wolverine: Days of Future Past.[16]

Ultimate Marvel

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An alternate universe variant of Leech from Earth-1610 appears in Ultimate X-Men.[17]

Ultimate Universe

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An alternate universe variant of Leech from Earth-6160 appears in Ultimate Wolverine #5.[18]

In other media

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Television

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Film

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Leech (right) as depicted in X-Men: The Last Stand.

Leech appears in X-Men: The Last Stand, portrayed by Cameron Bright. This version is named Jimmy, possesses a human appearance, and was used by Worthington Labs to create a "mutant cure" before joining the Xavier Institute.

References

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  1. ^ DeFalco, Tom; Sanderson, Peter; Brevoort, Tom; Teitelbaum, Michael; Wallace, Daniel; Darling, Andrew; Forbeck, Matt; Cowsill, Alan; Bray, Adam (2019). The Marvel Encyclopedia. DK Publishing. p. 211. ISBN 978-1-4654-7890-0.
  2. ^ Uncanny X-Men #179 (March 1984)
  3. ^ a b Power Pack #27 (December 1986)
  4. ^ Generation X #5-7 (July - September 1995)
  5. ^ Generation X #69 (November 2000)
  6. ^ X-Men: The 198 #2 (April 2006)
  7. ^ Civil War: X-Men #1–4 (September - December 2006)
  8. ^ Uncanny X-Men #487–491 (August - December 2007)
  9. ^ Fantastic Four #574 (February 2010)
  10. ^ Fantastic Four #578 (June 2010)
  11. ^ Fantastic Four #586-587 (February - March 2011)
  12. ^ Marvel Encyclopedia: Updated and Expanded.
  13. ^ Avengers Academy #10 (May 2011)
  14. ^ Franich, Darren (June 9, 2022). "Let's rank every X-Man ever". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
  15. ^ Age of Apocalypse #2 (March 2005)
  16. ^ Wolverine: Days of Future Past #1 (December 1997)
  17. ^ Ultimate X-Men #81 (April 2007)
  18. ^ Ultimate Wolverine #5 (July 2025)
  19. ^ a b c "Leech Voices (X-Men)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved September 1, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  20. ^ Simmons, Charlotte (April 21, 2024). "Meet the Morlocks, the Most Vulnerable Demographic in X-Men '97". The Mary Sue.
  21. ^ Matadeen, Renaldo (April 12, 2024). "Every Character Death in X-Men '97 Episode 5". CBR. Retrieved September 9, 2024.
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