History Characters / XMenExternals

* DeathSeeker: Became one of these in the 2017 ''Cable'' series, throwing in with Gideon in exchange from a promise to end his life. Ironically, during his original appearances Absalom was very much ''afraid'' of death, having a VillainousBreakdown in response to being infected with the mutant-killing Legacy virus. [[spoiler:When he reappears in ''[[ComicBook/Excalibur2019'' he has gotten past this and actually begs for his life]].

* EvilMentor: He played this to Sunspot for a time, believing him to be the new External Burke had foreseen.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: He refuses to associate with the likes of HYDRA and even briefly allies with Nick Fury and SHIELD against them.

* WizardsAndWitches: Candra, Saul and Selene are all proficient mages. Whether they get it through a mutant proclivity for magic or just hard work remains unknown. In ComicBook/Excalibur2019 we learn that Apocalypse also has been a proficient mage although we had not seen it before this title.

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Their name was occasionally stylized as the X-Ternals. As of 2023, this definitely seems to have been dropped.

* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: One of the factors separating the Externals from other superpowered mutants is that they're all LongLived or TheAgeless. Some of the youngest, such as Gideon and Absalom, are only a few centuries old (Absalom, born in TheWildWest, seems to be less than 200 years old). At the other end of the scale, Apocalypse is at least 5000 years old and Selene was born around 15000 BCE, “after the sinking of Atlantis but before the rise of the Sons of Aryas”. Some, such as Saul, are white-haired and appear relatively elderly, but without seeming feeble - however, most appear to be adults in their twenties, thirties, or forties. In a few cases their youth needs something else to maintain it (e.g. Selene's LifeDrinker powers), but for most there's no such requirement.

[[Characters/XMenSupportingCharacters Supporting Characters]] | [[Characters/XMenMutants Mutants]] | [[Characters/XMenXavierInstitute Xavier Institute]] | [[Characters/XMenKrakoans Krakoans]] | [[Characters/MarvelComicsSavageLand The Savage Land]] | [[Characters/MarvelComicsShiar Shi'ar]] | [[{{Characters/Starjammers}} The Starjammers]] | {{Characters/NYX}} | [[{{Characters/Cable}} Cable's supporting cast]] | [[Characters/{{Deadpool}} Deadpool's supporting cast]] | [[{{Characters/Wolverine}} Wolverine's supporting cast]] | [[Characters/{{X23}} X-23's supporting cast]]-]]]]]

[[Characters/XMenRoguesGalleryAToI Rogues Gallery A To I]] | [[Characters/XMenRoguesGalleryJToR Rogues Gallery J To R]] | [[Characters/XMenRoguesGallerySToZ Rogues Gallery S to Z]] | [[Characters/XMenVillainousOrganizations Villainous Organizations]] | [[Characters/XMenAcolytes Acolytes]] | [[Characters/XMenArakko Arakko]] | [[Characters/XMenBrotherhoodOfMutants Brotherhood of Mutants]] | [[Characters/XMenClanAkkaba Clan Akkaba]] | '''Externals''' | [[Characters/XMenHellfireClub Hellfire Club]] | [[Characters/XMenHellions The Hellions]] | [[Characters/XMenMarauders Marauders]] | [[Characters/XMenMojoverse Mojoverse]] | [[Characters/XMenMorlocks Morlocks]] | [[Characters/XMenMutantLiberationFront MLF]] | [[Characters/XMenOrchis Orchis]] | [[Characters/XMenSentinels Sentinels]]\\

* Apocalypse was this to the Externals as a whole. He killed Saul in the 12th century, by the 19th century the group had sworn a collective oath to never meddle in his affairs (and they punished Candra harshly for attempting to), and in the ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse the surviving Externals (Gideon, Candra and ''maybe'' Crule) all worked for him.
* Mr. Sinister also subjected Candra to this personally, acting as a sort of envoy on behalf of Apocalypse, the 'judge to (the Externals') jury' is how the issue puts it.

* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: They vary in age. Some, like Gideon and Absalom, are fairly 'young' by immortal standards, with the former having born in Southern Europe (either Spain or Portugal) in the middle to late 15th century (he was one of the crew of Christopher Columbus) and the latter having been born in North America (one of the Wild West states) in the middle to late 19th century (he was one of the last cowboys). Others, like Saul and Nicodemus, are considerably much older, with Saul having already been active in Mongolia during the 12th century, but himself claiming to be much older, telling Apocalypse when they first met that he had trod lifetimes beyond En Sabah Nur's imaginings (and En Sabah Nur was already a few thousand years old at this point) while Nicodemus is considered to being even older still, being supposedly as old as the Swiss Alps where he now currently resides. Candra was said to have been the youngest of them and newly-born during the time of their last general assembly in the 12th century (when 4 of the 5 male Externals at the time —- Saul , Nicodemus , Crule , and Apocalypse —- indulged her wishes [due apparently to her status as their “younger sister/youngestsibling”] by agreeing to perform the magic ritual that created Candra’s horcrux of a Heart Gem, but “older sister” Selene refused to join out of envy/jealousy and “older brother” White Sword was absent because he was trapped along with the rest of the Okkaran mutant civilization in the hell-dimension of Amenth). Burke claims that his first notable death was in the 17th century (but of course he may have been activated centuries earlier, but it is canon that he is younger than Candra and older than Absolom and Cannonball, but it is not known who is older between him and Gideon). Crule, the resident AxCrazy madman who still swears by the relatively-obscure Indian Vedic god Mitra (or perhaps he was actually referring to the much more known Persian/Iranian god Mithras, assuming it was a misspelling typo) and the Sumerian goddess Ishtar, and who styles his appearance like an Indian Kapalika ascetic (literally "skull-bearers", think Street Fighter's Dhalsim), is canonically originating from supposedly somewhere in "North Africa" (which consists of the region historically known as the Maghreb and the rest of the African continent above the Sahara Desert) but is otherwise implied to maybe have been a member of the ancient Aryans who originated from Southwest Asia (though both Northern Africa and Southwest Asia are right next to other, linked by the Arabian Peninsula, all being part of the region that was historically known as the "Levant" and is now known as the "Middle East") who were the direct ancestors of both Iranians/Persians AND Indians, as well as supposedly the stereotypical blond-haired blue-eyed White-skinned Nazi ubermenschen, since he supposedly was an actual Nazi in World War 2 (and they are infamous for being the most racist of White supremacists) and even ran a concentration camp for them , presumably somewhere in Europe. Apocalypse is canonically at least 5000 years old , having been born in Egypt at the time of the construction of the Pyramids . The self-proclaimed oldest among them is Selene , who reveals that she was born in Central Europe around 15000 B.C. , “after the sinking of Atlantis but before the rise of the Sons of Aryas”. But the recent introduction of the forgotten External, the White Sword (who wears armor with a winged helmet and wields a broadsword, like an ancient Norse Viking) was of Okkara , the “One Land of Mutants”, “which was ancient when the world was young” , upends the age comparisons, as he may be at most even older than Selene or at least just younger than Apocalypse, or anywhere in between, with the only certainty about his age being that it is canon that he is older than Candra , Burke , Gideon , Absolom , and Cannonball .

* EvilerThanThou: Apocalypse was this to the Externals as a whole. He killed Saul in the 12th century, by the 19th century the group had sworn a collective oath to never meddle in his affairs (and they punished Candra harshly for attempting to), and in the ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse the surviving Externals (Gideon, Candra and ''maybe'' Crule) all worked for him.
** Mr. Sinister also subjected Candra to this personally, acting as a sort of envoy on behalf of Apocalypse, the 'judge to (the Externals') jury' is how the issue puts it.

* VillainHasAPoint: When Gideon captured the ComicBook/NewWarriors he berated them for their presumption, executing a violent sting operation against someone they not only believed to be a normal human, but someone they had no solid evidence of committing any crime at all. Despite being a raging asshole, Gideon very much has a point there, which the New Warriors themselves realize.
** [[spoiler:Twenty years later in the pages of 2017's ''Cable'' Gideon gets another one of these moments, scoffing at Cable's attempt to stop him from meddling with the timestream. Given Cable's multiple time-jumps through history, he's not exactly in a position to be casting stones there]].

* {{Irony}}: [[spoiler:The External who most wanted to die is now one of their few surviving members]].
** Another irony to the character is that he supposedly represents [[HeroicWillpower Fortitude]], yet has given up on life and only wants to die. [[spoiler:Although, having been reincarnated, he may find fresh reason to embrace life]].

* ArchEnemy: To Gambit, having repeatedly fought him for control and influence over the Thieves and Assassins Guilds. She was also this on a lesser level to Storm, who stole her heartstone during her young thieving days.

* TheDogBitesBack: After manipulating and tormenting Gambit for years, [[spoiler:the Ragin' Cajun finally gets a chance at revenge when Apocalypse puts her in the crosshairs for his External gateway ritual and takes it, throwing Candra's heartstone over to Big Blue to be rid of her once and for all]].

* Really700YearsOld: Her exact origins are unknown, but she's at least 1000 years old, stating once that "nearly a millennium ago" a mortal gained possession of an External heart and it cost her dearly.

Possibly the Eldest of the Externals, Selene is an [[OurVampiresAreDifferent energy vampire]] mutant born over 17,000 years ago during the Hyborian Age. Like Candra, she is more aptly described as an associate of the group rather than a full-time member, allying herself with them when it serves her ends but otherwise acting independently of the High Lords. She was even responsible for killing most of them off in the so-called "Great External Purge", a massacre it took the Externals decades to return from.\\
See her entry on [[Characters/XMenHellfireClub the Hellfire Club]] page for more on her.

!![[Characters/MarvelComicsApocalypse En Sabah Nur / Apocalypse]]

As Selene is the eldest of the Externals, Apocalypse is the most powerful of their number. Born in the days of AncientEgypt, a series of unfortunate events (and a ''lot'' of meddling from various {{Time Travel}}lers) led this former desert raider and slave to embrace his "destiny" and become one of the world's greatest threats. After a clash with Saul in the 12th century, the High Lords accepted his superiority, swearing an oath never to meddle in his affairs. Like Candra and Selene, Apocalypse only associates with his External brethren when it suits him.\\
See his page for more on him.

* [[DroppedABridgeOnHim Dropped a Bridge on All of Them]]: The 'Great External Purge', a three-issue storyline that played out in ''X-Force'' issues #52-54 where Selene basically chewed them up and spat them back out for the hell of it, although they all got better.

* [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Spell My Name With an "X"]]: As their profile image shows, occasionally their name was stylized as the X-Ternals.

* Really700YearsOld: They vary in age. Some, like Gideon and Absalom, are fairly 'young' by immortal standards, with the former having born in Southern Europe (either Spain or Portugal) in the middle to late 15th century (he was one of the crew of Christopher Columbus) and the latter having been born in North America (one of the Wild West states) in the middle to late 19th century (he was one of the last cowboys). Others, like Saul and Nicodemus, are considerably much older, with Saul having already been active in Mongolia during the 12th century, but himself claiming to be much older, telling Apocalypse when they first met that he had trod lifetimes beyond En Sabah Nur's imaginings (and En Sabah Nur was already a few thousand years old at this point) while Nicodemus is considered to being even older still, being supposedly as old as the Swiss Alps where he now currently resides. Candra was said to have been the youngest of them and newly-born during the time of their last general assembly in the 12th century (when 4 of the 5 male Externals at the time —- Saul , Nicodemus , Crule , and Apocalypse —- indulged her wishes [due apparently to her status as their “younger sister/youngestsibling”] by agreeing to perform the magic ritual that created Candra’s horcrux of a Heart Gem, but “older sister” Selene refused to join out of envy/jealousy and “older brother” White Sword was absent because he was trapped along with the rest of the Okkaran mutant civilization in the hell-dimension of Amenth). Burke claims that his first notable death was in the 17th century (but of course he may have been activated centuries earlier, but it is canon that he is younger than Candra and older than Absolom and Cannonball, but it is not known who is older between him and Gideon). Crule, the resident AxCrazy madman who still swears by the relatively-obscure Indian Vedic god Mitra (or perhaps he was actually referring to the much more known Persian/Iranian god Mithras, assuming it was a misspelling typo) and the Sumerian goddess Ishtar, and who styles his appearance like an Indian Kapalika ascetic (literally "skull-bearers", think Street Fighter's Dhalsim), is canonically originating from supposedly somewhere in "North Africa" (which consists of the region historically known as the Maghreb and the rest of the African continent above the Sahara Desert) but is otherwise implied to maybe have been a member of the ancient Aryans who originated from Southwest Asia (though both Northern Africa and Southwest Asia are right next to other, linked by the Arabian Peninsula, all being part of the region that was historically known as the "Levant" and is now known as the "Middle East") who were the direct ancestors of both Iranians/Persians AND Indians, as well as supposedly the stereotypical blond-haired blue-eyed White-skinned Nazi ubermenschen, since he supposedly was an actual Nazi in World War 2 (and they are infamous for being the most racist of White supremacists) and even ran a concentration camp for them , presumably somewhere in Europe. Apocalypse is canonically at least 5000 years old , having been born in Egypt at the time of the construction of the Pyramids . The self-proclaimed oldest among them is Selene , who reveals that she was born in Central Europe around 15000 B.C. , “after the sinking of Atlantis but before the rise of the Sons of Aryas”. But the recent introduction of the forgotten External, the White Sword (who wears armor with a winged helmet and wields a broadsword, like an ancient Norse Viking) was of Okkara , the “One Land of Mutants”, “which was ancient when the world was young” , upends the age comparisons, as he may be at most even older than Selene or at least just younger than Apocalypse, or anywhere in between, with the only certainty about his age being that it is canon that he is older than Candra , Burke , Gideon , Absolom , and Cannonball .

Characters/ChildrenOfTheAtom | [[Characters/ExcaliburMarvelComics Excalibur]] | Characters/GenerationHope | Characters/GenerationX | Characters/NewMutants | Characters/NewXMenAcademyX | Characters/{{SWORD}} | Characters/XClub | Characters/XCorp | Characters/XFactor | Characters/XForce | Characters/XStatix | Characters/XTerminators\\

* Really700YearsOld: They vary in age. Some, like Gideon and Absalom, are fairly 'young' by immortal standards, with the former having born in Southern Europe (either Spain or Portugal) in the middle to late 15th century (he was one of the crew of Christopher Columbus) and the latter having been born in North America (one of the Wild West states) in the middle to late 19th century (he was one of the last cowboys). Others, like Saul and Nicodemus, are considerably much older, with Saul having already been active in Mongolia during the 12th century, but himself claiming to be much older, telling Apocalypse when they first met that he had trod lifetimes beyond En Sabah Nur's imaginings (and En Sabah Nur was already a few thousand years old at this point) while Nicodemus is considered to being even older still, being supposedly as old as the Swiss Alps where he now currently resides. Candra was said to have been the youngest of them and newly-born during the time of their last general assembly in the 12th century (when 4 of the 5 male Externals at the time —- Saul , Nicodemus , Crule , and Apocalypse —- indulged her wishes [due apparently to her status as their “younger sister/youngestsibling”] by agreeing to perform the magic ritual that created Candra’s horcrux of a Heart Gem, but “older sister” Selene refused to join out of envy/jealousy and “older brother” White Sword was absent because he was trapped along with the rest of the Okkaran mutant civilization in the hell-dimension of Amenth). Burke claims that his first notable death was in the 17th century (but of course he may have been activated centuries earlier, but it is canon that he is younger than Candra and older than Absolom and Cannonball, but it is not known who is older between him and Gideon). Crule, the resident AxCrazy madman who still swears by the Persian/Iranian god Mithra and Sumerian goddess Ishtar but styles his appearance like an Indian Kapalika ascetic (literally "skull-bearers", think Street Fighter's Dhalsim), is canonically originating from supposedly somewhere in "North Africa" (which consists of the region historically known as the Maghreb and the rest of the African continent above the Sahara Desert) but is otherwise implied to maybe have been a member of the ancient Aryans who originated from Southwest Asia (though both Northern Africa and Southwest Asia are right next to other, linked by the Arabian Peninsula, all being part of the region that was historically known as the "Levant" and is now known as the "Middle East") who were the direct ancestors of both Iranians/Persians AND Indians, as well as supposedly the stereotypical blond-haired blue-eyed White-skinned Nazi ubermenschen, since he supposedly was an actual Nazi in World War 2 (and they are infamous for being the most racist of White supremacists) and even ran a concentration camp for them , presumably somewhere in Europe. Apocalypse is canonically at least 5000 years old , having been born in Egypt at the time of the construction of the Pyramids . The self-proclaimed oldest among them is Selene , who reveals that she was born in Central Europe around 15000 B.C. , “after the sinking of Atlantis but before the rise of the Sons of Aryas”. But the recent introduction of the forgotten External, the White Sword (who wears armor with a winged helmet and wields a broadsword, like an ancient Norse Viking) was of Okkara , the “One Land of Mutants”, “which was ancient when the world was young” , upends the age comparisons, as he may be at most even older than Selene or at least just younger than Apocalypse, or anywhere in between, with the only certainty about his age being that it is canon that he is older than Candra , Burke , Gideon , Absolom , and Cannonball .

* AbsoluteCleavage: Her outfits usually leave her cleavage quite exposed.

* TookALevelInJerkass: Previously one of the more benign Externals, he reveals a nastier side in ''ComicBook/JonathanHickmansXMen'', expressing contempt for the younger mutants of Krakoa and refusing to sacrifice himself for their sake.

Characters/ChildrenOfTheAtom | [[Characters/ExcaliburMarvelComics Excalibur]] | Characters/GenerationX | Characters/NewMutants | Characters/NewXMenAcademyX | Characters/{{SWORD}} | Characters/XClub | Characters/XCorp | Characters/XFactor | Characters/XForce | Characters/XStatix | Characters/XTerminators\\

* BlondesAreEvil: She's blonde and is quite manipulative and willing to kill others.

* RoguesGalleryTransplant: In her last (as of 2017) appearance Candra was imported as a villain for ''ComicBook/ScarletSpider2012''. Not only had she never interacted with the new Scarlet Spider Kaine, neither she nor any other External every interacted with ''anyone'' from Spidey's corner of the Marvel Universe (unless you count that time Gideon captured the ComicBook/NewWarriors). However, Kaine's series established him as having bad blood with the Assassin's Guild who were working on resurrecting her--she was effectively a DiabolusExNihilo to him while he was trying to kill Belladonna.

[[Characters/XMenSupportingCharacters Supporting Characters]] | [[Characters/XMenMutants Mutants]] | [[Characters/XMenXavierInstitute Xavier Institute]] | [[Characters/XMenKrakoans Krakoans]] | [[Characters/MarvelComicsSavageLand The Savage Land]] | {{Characters/Shiar}} | [[{{Characters/Starjammers}} The Starjammers]] | {{Characters/NYX}} | [[{{Characters/Cable}} Cable's supporting cast]] | [[Characters/{{Deadpool}} Deadpool's supporting cast]] | [[{{Characters/Wolverine}} Wolverine's supporting cast]] | [[Characters/{{X23}} X-23's supporting cast]]-]]]]]

[[Characters/XMenSupportingCharacters Supporting Characters]] | [[Characters/XMenMutants Mutants]] | [[Characters/XMenXavierInstitute Xavier Institute]] | [[Characters/XMenKrakoans Krakoans]] | Characters/TheSavageLand | {{Characters/Shiar}} | [[{{Characters/Starjammers}} The Starjammers]] | {{Characters/NYX}} | [[{{Characters/Cable}} Cable's supporting cast]] | [[Characters/{{Deadpool}} Deadpool's supporting cast]] | [[{{Characters/Wolverine}} Wolverine's supporting cast]] | [[Characters/{{X23}} X-23's supporting cast]]-]]]]]

[[Characters/XMenSupportingCharacters Supporting Characters]] | [[Characters/XMenXavierInstitute Xavier Institute]] | [[Characters/XMenKrakoans Krakoans]] | Characters/TheSavageLand | {{Characters/Shiar}} | [[{{Characters/Starjammers}} The Starjammers]] | {{Characters/NYX}} | [[{{Characters/Cable}} Cable's supporting cast]] | [[Characters/{{Deadpool}} Deadpool's supporting cast]] | [[{{Characters/Wolverine}} Wolverine's supporting cast]] | [[Characters/{{X23}} X-23's supporting cast]]-]]]]]