The Marauders

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The original Marauders

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The new Marauders

"Hi there, we're the Marauders. We kill mutants. Who's next?"

—Scalphunter

It's 1986, and just one Knight of Cerebus isn't enough to threaten the Uncanny X-Men anymore. Who You Gonna Call? You call these guys — the Marauders.

Created by Chris Claremont and debuting in the aptly-named "Mutant Massacre" crossover story, the Marauders are a team of Professional Killers organized by mysterious new villain Mister Sinister to exterminate the Morlocks an underground community of mutants living in the Absurdly Spacious Sewers of New York City. The ensuing clash between the Marauders and X-Men was, to this day, one of the darkest and bloodiest X-Men stories ever told. No X-Men were killed, but several were maimed, even with the assistance of The Mighty Thor and Power Pack. And the Morlocks? Almost completely wiped out.

The ensuing Inferno (1988) event saw the Karma Houdini Warranty expire for the surviving Marauders, most of whom were killed in a showdown with a demonically-influenced team of X-Men. And that would have been it for the Marauders... until subsequent storylines revealed that Sinister, now established as an accomplished Mad Scientist, had harvested DNA from his mutant murder squad and could clone them again and again at will. And thus began a long slow spiral into Villain Decay for the Marauders, at least as a team. Individually, several Marauders experienced Character Development over the years, not enough to headline any books but enough to score some surprising adaptational appearances in the X-Men Film Series.

The Marauders reconsistuted in a big way during 2008's Messiah Complex event, a Bat Family Crossover in which the whole team was pulled back together and gained several new members, including Lady Mastermind, a new-and-improved Malice, Mystique, and Sunfire. Entering into a fragile alliance with the fourth generation of Acolytes, the team attempted to kidnap the baby that would become the future Hope Summers, but were stymied at every turn by the X-Men and ultimately defeated once more. This marked their effective end as a team, although a second, smaller iteration would appear in 2015's Extraordinary X-Men, now led by the villainess Chimera.

A curious offshoot from the Marauders are the Nasty Boys, a team briefly featured in X-Factor after Inferno but before The Reveal that the Marauders could come back as clones. Existing primarily to be a Lighter and Softer mook team for Sinister, the Nasty Boys were adapted into the 1990s X-Men: The Animated Series cartoon, where they featured far more prominently than they ever did in the comics. They were Killed Off for Real in Uncanny X-Men (2018), but let's be honest, everyone was killed off in that book. At least two of them have been resurrected in X-Men (2019).

Note that the Marauders are not related in any way to Kitty Pryde's Marauders, a team of superheroes who decided they wanted to be A Pirate 400 Years Too Late. For information on those Marauders, see their page.

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Tropes related to the Marauders in general

Aborted Arc: Some issues and tie-in novels released during the early nineties indicated the Marauders were just a band of mercenaries that could and did operate independently of Sinister.
Ax-Crazy: Apparently a requirement. Any outfit Sabretooth is not the craziest, evilest member of, you want to run away from.
Bloodbath Villain Origin: Here's a hint: there's a reason why their origin story is called the Mutant Massacre.
Breakout Villains: An oddly reliable source of secondary villains for the X-Men films. Arclight, Riptide and Sabretooth have all crossed over to the big screen, albeit in massively reimagined ways.
The Big Guy: Scalphunter & Sabretooth.
Blue-and-Orange Morality: Explored in one story where Nightcrawler goes after Scalphunter for his transgressions and easily defeats him, only to decide he cannot entirely blame the Scalphunter he has been hunting for the Mutant Massacre, since that Scalphunter died years ago and the one he's got on his hands now is a clone of a clone of the original. One can take the premise to its uncomfortable conclusion: that it can be applied to almost all the Marauders, since Sabretooth is the only one of the original bunch who has survived over the years.
Body Backup Drive: Most, if not all of them, have been killed over the years and replaced with clones, sometimes repeatedly. Interestingly, the Magneto solo series indicates that most of them aren't especially bothered by this.
The Brute: Blockbuster and Arclight, though Blockbuster more strongly fits the role.
Came Back Wrong: During Hellions, with the exceptions of Greycrow (formerly Scalphunter, as of 2020) and Vertigo, who is absent without mention, all of the Marauders were tortured and turned into zombie-like monsters by Madelyne Pryor.
Cold-Blooded Torture: Blockbuster and Harpoon deliver a particularly brutal round of this to Archangel just for shits and giggles.
Death Is Cheap: For all of them, thanks to Sinister's cloning.
Equal-Opportunity Evil: Say what you will about Sinister, but he doesn't discriminate. His team consists of a Native American (Scalphunter), an Inuit (Harpoon), a Canadian (Sabretooth), a German (Blockbuster), a Korean (Scrambler), and an artificially evolved neanderthal (Vertigo). All they're missing is an African American, and some fans speculate that Prism is one underneath that crystal body of his.
Expendable Clone: All of them at this point.
Flat Character: The Marauders get varying degrees of fleshing out. Some, like Arclight and Scalphunter, have fleshed out backstories and personalities that raise them above rank-and-file Mook status. Others, like Blockbuster and Vertigo, suffer from being Out of Focus and so little is known about what makes them tick. The worst case is Prism, who exists purely to be a Running Gag and has no personality aside from being cocky despite being shattered in almost every appearance he makes. Unlike most of the team, he's never even gotten a full name.
For the Evulz: Primarily why Sabretooth joined the group.
Heel–Face Turn: As of 2020 and the founding of the mutant nation of Krakoa it looked like the remaining Marauders were going to go for either this or Retired Monster like Scalphunter did — until it was revealed that all the others had been captured by Madelyne Pryor and were being subjected to mystical torture as punishment for their transgressions against her.
Hunter of His Own Kind: They're mutants who hunt and kill other mutants.
Jerkass: Scalphunter especially, although they all apply.
Kick the Dog: Their specialty. Just ask the Morlocks and Threnody. Special shout-out to Malice for taking the trope literally; during a plot to possess Havok, she murders an elderly tourist's poodle for barking at her. Evil Is Petty indeed.
Kick The Son Of A Bitch: The ending of Hellions #1 reveals the Marauders (except Scalphunter) refused to have anything to do with Krakoa. As a result, they're now being held captive by Madelyne Pryor who is routinely torturing them.
Knight of Cerebus: Their debut was and still is one of the bloodiest X-Men stories ever told. From Scalphunter gunning down an elderly woman and her children in cold blood to Harpoon spearing Angel's wings to a wall (the damage was so severe they had to be amputated), the Marauders pushed the X-Men into darker territory than they'd ever visited before. This was even recognized in-story, with Gentle Giant Colossus snapping mentally and physically snapping Marauder Riptide's neck a moment later.
Lack of Empathy: All of them.
Laser-Guided Karma:
- At the beginning of Inferno, the X-Men swore to make them pay for what they did to the Morlocks. With the exception of the possessed Polaris, all the Marauders got dispatched one by one during the arc.
- While he didn't exactly know who they were, Nate Grey recognised them for what they were when Sinister sent them after him and Threnody in his solo series, and promptly tore straight through them.
- Magneto tore through them in his 2014 solo series, exacting his own form of retribution two decades after the fact. While he dispassionately killed most of the team, Scalphunter got singled out for a more brutal punishment: he was left alive, with both his arms and both his legs forcibly amputated.
Lethal Joke Character: All of them. You wouldn't guess from their flamboyant attire and their devil-may-care attitudes that they're one of the deadliest villain groups the X-Men have ever faced.
Lighter and Softer: The Nasty Boys, a gang of delinquent mutants created to be Mister Sinister's minions in the animated series as the Marauders themselves were much too dark for a children's cartoon. They had a short-lived stint in Peter David's run on X-Factor but were not used too often after that.
London Gangster: The Further Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix revealed the original Marauders to be a gang of these in the days of Victorian Britain.
Mook Horror Show: On the collective receiving end of one at the hands of Nate Grey in X-Man - hunting an Omega Class Living Weapon? Not a good idea. Some years later Magneto subjects them to similar treatment in the pages of his own series. Then they get it a third time at the hands (well, pyrokinetics) of Chamber.
Mooks: Frequently used for this after the revelation that Sinister could clone all of them at will.
Murder, Inc. A gang of mutant hitmen who specialize in killing other mutants.
My Greatest Failure: Gambit considers the Mutant Massacre perpetrated by them to be this, since he was the one who organized the team for Sinister.
Personality Powers: Some of them manifest this and others don't. Blockbuster in particular is the cliched case of The Brute manifesting brutish powers, though Arclight (also brutish with brute powers), Scrambler (a Troll with the power to induce Power Incontinence) and Riptide (Ax-Crazy guy with super spinning) also qualify. On the other hand, Prism, Scalphunter and Vertigo all manifest powers that don't really fit their personalities (or in the case of Prism, there's not enough personality to go by).
Psycho for Hire: All of them!
Quirky Miniboss Squad: If an incredibly dark one.
Red Right Hand: Malice manifests a skull choker around the neck of anyone she possesses.
Red Shirt: Prism and Blockbuster to the group as a whole. They die the most often and have the least-interesting powers. Prism especially. His energy-channeling powers require the opponent to be using an energy-blasting power, and his body is made up of a material similar to glass. Pretty much every fight with him goes thusly: Cyclops shoots. His Eye Beams get deflected/returned/scattered. Someone hits him. He shatters into a gajillion tiny bits. It's not known whether he can pull himself together, or if every single appearance of him is a new clone after the last died two seconds into his first battle.
Sadist: Just about all of them, though Sabretooth, Scrambler, and Blockbuster are particularly bad in this regard.
Send in the Clones: What Sinister does whenever one of them dies. This has also resulted in at least one instance where an X-team stumbled upon one of Sinister's old hideouts where multiple clones were unleashed. More recently Sinister himself created multiple clones of assorted individuals whose DNA he has collected over the years to swell his ranks.
Slave Mooks: It was revealed in X-Men #34 that all the cloned Marauders are these, as Sinister manufactures them with gene imprints that shut them down if they ever try to turn against him. Decades later Magneto takes advantage of this to turn them into his Mook army.
Sixth Ranger: Mystique and Exodus were both recruited to the team during Messiah Complex. Neither of them stick around for long, though.
Smug Snake: Scalphunter and Scrambler are the two most prominent, but they all qualify.
The Sociopath: Almost all of them, but Scalphunter especially qualifies.
Super-Persistent Predator: Sabretooth all the time, and the team as a whole during the Morlock Massacre.
Two Girls to a Team: Arclight and Vertigo in the original group. Subverted with the new Marauders, which has numerous female villains such as Chimera and Lady Mastermind join up.
Villain Decay:
- In their first appearances, the Marauders ripped through the X-Men, inflicting brutal injuries on several of their members. While they've always remained a serious threat, they've never quite reached that level of menace again, and in some cases (most notably during the Comic Book/X-Man series - though in that case, they were up against someone who knew all about them, backed up by one of the most powerful mutants in history, Nate Grey a.k.a. the Marvel Comics: X-Man himself, who had beaten his version of Apocalypse to the brink of death), they were even degraded to We Are "Team Cannon Fodder"-grade mooks for the heroes to mow down.
- Sabretooth in particular was generally a much less fearsome presence as a Marauder than he normally tends to be, and was often the Marauder most singled out for punishment by Sinister when they'd fail an assignment.
We Are "Team Cannon Fodder": Sometimes used this way.
What Measure Is a Mook?:
- Having a kind of Joker Immunity thanks to Sinister's cloning banks means the Marauders get killed on a fairly regular basis. They're treated kind of like organic versions of the Sentinels because of this, with the heroes often ripping through them despite their various oaths to not kill.
- Magneto also shamelessly exploits Sinister's genetic failsafes to turn them into his army of Slave Mooks, presumably to remind the readers that he is a Villain Protagonist.
Zeerust: The Marauders debuted in the mid-80s, and... well, they look it.

The Master

Mister Sinister

Dr. Nathaniel Essex / Mister Sinister

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You are power incarnate, It's true. Crude, uncontained power. But I, child of the atom... I am control.

Nationality: British

Species: Human mutant chimera

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #221 (September, 1987)

"You haven't understood at all. You can't kill me. There is no "me." Sinister is a system. Sinister is a species. Everything is Sinister. And if you're not Sinister, your time is over."

Debuting in Uncanny X-Men #221, Dr. Nathaniel Essex was a respected Victorian scientist and a contemporary of Charles Darwin, who read Darwin's theories with interest but thought they did not go far enough. Uncovering evidence for the existence of mutants and viewing them as the next stage in human evolution, Essex put a radical kind of eugenics forward to the scientific community, arguing that children from the families of these unique bloodlines he was discovering (i.e. the children or descendants of mutants) should be taken and raised as lab rats in order to direct the human race more clearly and quickly to its future. Unsurprisingly, the scientific community were horrified and turned against him, and on her deathbed even his wife denounced him as "Sinister" after she discovered he had dug up their dead son for his increasingly twisted research.

But Essex found a patron receptive to his ideas, the ancient mutant Apocalypse, who transformed him into an immortal and inhuman creature who takes the name his dead wife gave him- Sinister. Though he eventually turned against his master for his genocidal creeds, Sinister continued his unethical experiments throughout the ages and has cast a dark shadow over the lives of many young mutants and innocents. Magneto knew him as "Nosferatu", a Nazi Mad Scientist who took blood samples from children in the camps in exchange for sweets; Juggernaut, Prof. X and Sebastian Shaw were amongst a group of children experimented on as part of a long-term Grand Theft Me plot in the unlikely event of his death, and Cyclops was raised in one of his orphanages, after he recognized the potential for the Summers' bloodline as part of this he created a clone of Jean Grey called Madelyne Jennifer Pryor. Sinister was behind the massacre of the Morlocks and a host of other atrocities over the years, but with centuries of study backing him up he is likely the foremost expert in mutant genetics in the world. The combination makes him one of the X-Men's most intelligent, despicable and dangerous enemies.

For Sinister's tropes, see his entry on the X-Men: Sinister page.

Original Marauders

Greycrow

John Greycrow / Scalphunter

Nationality: American

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #210 (1986)

It's amazing what you can put together with a few pieces of scrap metal and a little know-how.

A Badass Native of the Comanche tribe who has been alive since the days of World War II and serving Mister Sinister for nearly that long. He's the tactical commander of the team, and since Malice's departure has been The Leader of the group, with only Sinister himself ranking higher. On Krakoa, John wanted to atone for his crimes, and was drafted onto the Hellions, a makeshift team for those deemed to violent for the peaceful land of Krakoa to do some good, led by Kwannon. She and John would bring out the best in each other, and eventually become a couple.

Abusive Parents: Implied. When cleaning guns with Orphan-Maker, he told him he learned how to do it from his dad. Orphan-Maker told him this seemed nice but he replied it wasn't any time he made a mistake.
Atrocious Alias: Aside from being a murderous sociopath in-story, the character's codename is also an uncomfortable semi-slur against Native Americans. Recent appearances and merchandise have referred to him by his real name, John Greycrow, instead.
Ambiguous Situation: He is brought before Krakoa's Quiet Council in Hellions #1 under the charge of attacking the reborn Morlocks on the anniversary of the Mutant Massacre. However, the previous pages revealed Callisto brought the Morlocks together to attack him first. For some reason, John doesn't argue about being attacked first with the possible implication he's willingly taking the blame as a means of atoning for his past actions.
The Atoner: The 2020 Hellions leans into John becoming reflective on his past atrocities. He accepted the offer to join Krakoa and has been consistently portrayed as following all of the rules of the new society. His placement on the Sinister's team ultimately comes down to his Reformed, but Rejected status.
Badass Native: He's easily the team's best-trained and deadliest member.
Battle Couple: With Kwannon. They were two of the members who were offed the least on the Hellions, and would eventually become a couple.
Beauty Equals Goodness: He was uglier in the comics where the narrative portrayed him as an irredeemable killer, but is much more attractive in the stories where he's making a conscious effort to be good.
Birds Of Afeather: On the Hellions, it's only Greycrow and Kwannon who care about redeeming themselves in some way and serving Krakoa, everyone else has a darker motive or is there unwillingly. She notices this and encourages him to be a better person, and he develops a noticeable attraction to her. by the time the team disbands, they become its sole happy ending as an Official Couple.
Challenging the Chief: Unwittingly set up by Sinister for this when he tasked Scalphunter, along with Arclight and Sabretooth, with killing Polaris. The hit was unsuccessful, and after beating them "Polaris" revealed that she actually Malice, the whole thing being set up by Sinister to see which of them was most fit to be leader.
Character Focus: As might be noticed from the rest of his entries, the Krakoa era has been pretty good to Greycrow, character-wise.
Combo Platter Powers: His plate combines Technopathy with a Healing Factor.
Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: He is a technopath who has had most of his body replaced with cybernetics. He was also characterized as one of the most sociopathic members of the team, at least in its early days.
A Day in the Limelight:
- One of Greycrow's iterations got a story in a one-shot released after Messiah Complex, with him on the run in Mexico.
- He is promoted to a team member in the 2020 Hellions title.
Defiant to the End: When sentenced to death and asked if he had any last words, the future Scalphunter's response was to spit in his executioner's face and laugh.
The Dragon: He was retconned into being Sinister's first Marauder, but it was Malice who served this role during Inferno.
Earn Your Happy Ending: In Hellions, John is the only draftee to genuinely make a go at being a good person and channel his dark instincts for Krakoa's sake without ever performing any serious betrayals on the team. This is despite having to fight deformed clones of the original Marauders, learning that the one person he thought he could trust (and had feelings for) had her own ulterior motives, and then almost giving into his darkest urges to kill someone for her anyway. He ends up free as any other mutant and in a relationship with Kwannon like he wanted.
Evil Counterpart: To Cyclops, they're both field leaders for a team working towards the goal of someone who, to spite being a powerful mutant is generally a Non-Action Guy. The difference is while Cyclops genuinely believes in Xavier's dream of peaceful co-existence between humans and mutants, considers him a father figure and has his complete trust. Greycrow is a Sociopathic Soldier who never really liked Sinister, only working for him to put his killing skills to use and Sinster sees him as a disposible Mook who if killed can easily be replaced with a clone.
Fallen Hero: Before he started scalping his superior officers in World War II, Greycrow fought under Nick Fury. Sure, he was only a part of Fury's squad briefly, but still — working under Nick Fury in World War II? That's as good a heroic origin story as any Marvel character could've asked for.
Fights Like a Normal: Since his powers aren't meant to be used in a fight, he compensates with his skill in guns.
Fire-Forged Friends: With the rest of the Hellions, particularly Alex Summers and Wild Child. At the end of the series the team is clear that they will do anything for each other (with the exception of Hellion himself, who they all despise).
Fugitive Arc: The Scalphunter clone that was active during the Messiah Complex event went through this after the story's end, getting a job in a greasy diner in the middle of nowhere to hide from the X-Men and his surviving teammates both. Someone still found him, of course.
The Gunslinger: His technopathy skills combined with his advanced weapons make him one hell of a shot.
Hand Cannon: He's been known to carry a few of these, including an M1 bazooka and M79 grenade launcher.
Healing Factor: While not as good as Wolverine or Sabertooth's he has one strong enough to allow him to survive a firing squad.
Heel–Face Turn: He signed up with the mutant nation of Krakoa and seems to be aiming for this or Retired Monster.
Heel–Faith Turn: Attempted, after a severe talking-to from Nightcrawler, but it didn't stick.
Hidden Depths: He learned how to cook from his mother, and if Nightcrawler's taste is to be trusted, he's damn good at it. He also plays a mean game of poker.
Machete Mayhem: He doesn't use it very often, but he carries a huge machete on his back. He tried to use it to kill Shadowcat during the Mutant Massacre, but fortunately for Kitty she was phased.
Older Than They Look: Scalphunter is pushing somewhere in his 70s at this point, but you'd never know by looking at him.
Papa Wolf: Come the finale issue of Hellions, #18, the Quiet Council's decision to place Orphan-Maker in the Pit of Exile has Greycrow screaming first protests that Orphan-Maker is just a boy, and then threats that he will burn the Council hall (or possibly Krakoa) to the ground.
Parental Substitute: To Greycrow's own surprise, he becomes something of a surrogate father figure to Orphan-Maker during their time together on the Hellions.
Porn Stache: Rocks this look without a hint of shame. In fairness, it was still being used as a facial shorthand for manly military dudes at the time he debuted.
Professional Killer: He considers himself "a serious man, engaged in a serious business" and while he will kill women and children, he considers himself above taunting them or making them suffer.
Progressively Prettier: When he first appeared drawn by Marc Silvestri, John was downright haggard and pretty ugly. By the Hellions series under Stephen Segovia and Carmen Carnero's pens, he's a downright Hunk with a gorgeous head of hair.
Sociopathic Soldier: He fought in World War II respectively, and gets along best with fellow ex-soldier Arclight. Perhaps not coincidentally, they are often depicted as lovers.
Team Killer: During World War II he earned his name from "scalping" his superior officers and earned himself a ticket to the firing squad in the bargain. Unfortunately, his mutant abilities kept the trip from being one-way.
Technopath: He suffers from Crippling Overspecialization, being able to use it only to put together guns. That said, he more than makes up for it with his combat expertise.
Those Two Guys: He's taken AoA Sabretooth's place as the handler of Wild Child as of Hellions.
Took a Level in Badass: Once he was able to expand his powers beyond guns and build an airplane from scratch, which he called the Dirty Bird (possibly the one Annie's always so mad about?)
Took a Level in Kindness: Played with, as his time with the Hellions shows Greycrow has a definite softer side as part of his subdued desire to genuinely atone for his actions. It's reached a point where even Kwannon acknowledges John doesn't want to be a killer anymore.
Villain Team-Up: He and Sabretooth came to an "understanding" in the jungles of Vietnam and he even helped Vic backstab Sinister himself once. He also once joined an alliance of assassins including Bullseye, Taskmaster, and Sabretooth again, all working together against the super-assassin Cape Crow.
Walking Armory: Literally. His "costume" is actually just a woven-together mesh of components he can use to reassemble and disassemble whatever firearm he wants at will.
- An unusual example overlapping with Anatomy Arsenal is seen in Hellions #14, where an unarmed Greycrow partially disassembles his own cybernetics, stripping away extraneous armor plating and components before interlocking them into a large, fully functional and very nasty gun.
Would Hit a Girl: Scalphunter has no qualms about shooting Madelyne Pryor.
Would Hurt a Child: Related to the above, he also showed no hesitation when killing Annalee's children.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Played with in Weapon X, where he helps Sabretooth figure out how to beat his boss Sinister's latest creations and commits Betrayal by Inaction because he fears that if they're not beaten that Sinister will have no more use for him except as a test subject. Amazingly, the plan worked, and even more amazingly, Sinister never punished him for this.

Malice

Alice MacAllister / Malice

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Malice’s original body before mutation and also currently courtesy of Krakoa’s resurrection protocols

Species: Human Mutant / formerly Psionic entity

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #210 (1986)

The original field leader of the team, Malice is a psionic entity who was once a disaffected teenage girl who became disembodied when her mutation manifested. She maintained a longtime possession of Polaris, in whose body she menaced the X-Men. Eventually she was expelled from Polaris's body and presumed dead, only to turn up years later as a 'digital entity' that possessed the Omega Sentinel Karima Shapandar. She was eventually forced to vacate that body too, and waited to squat in another mutant before finding one in Betsy Braddock.

However, she was kicked out of Betsy's body and given her own original body back on Krakoa, as well as a blanket pardon, like all the other Marauders.

Alas, Poor Villain: She had been portrayed as quite horrible since her debut, stealing bodies and leading the Marauders, but her back story reveals that she was just a troubled and possibly suicidal teenager who “died” after an argument with her mother who she never saw again. This is implied to be why Kwannon and Betsy argued to have her forgiven despite her crimes which included going after Betsy herself.
Artifact Domination: Her possession is always signified by the host suddenly gaining a cameo choker. Whether it's an actual, physical object varies.
Back from the Dead: She’s essentially been dead since her debut appearance, having been disembodied when her mutation activated leaving her body behind decades ago. In the pages of Excalibur (2019), she’s given a cloned reproduction of her original body and walks among the living as herself for the first time in her publication history.
Be Careful What You Wish For: In her belated backstory, her mutation activated for the first time when she got in an argument with her mother and wished herself to be dead. Fortunately, it was only her physical body that expired, but it still must have been awfully inconvenient.
Body Surf: She can freely jump between nearby bodies, making her highly evasive in crowds.
The Corrupter: Her shtick is usually to offer a better life to her target through selfishness and evil.
Death Seeker: Implied to have been this before her powers emerged and showed these traits again while fighting Betsy.
Demonic Possession: Like the Shadow King, she's a psychic entity that exists entirely on the astral plane and has to possess a victim in order to interact with the regular world.
Distaff Counterpart: She's essentially just a weaker, female version of the Shadow King.
Easily Forgiven: She did a lot of really horrible things, especially to Polaris and Havok, but has seemingly been forgiven for them. On the other end of the trope, she doesn't seem to hold any particular grudge against Mister Sinister, perhaps because the one currently serving on the Quiet Council is a clone of the one that used and abused her.
Evil Brit: Originally from Doncaster.
Eviler than Thou: Sinister subjects Malice to this after she goes off the reservation and possesses Havok in X-Factor.
Fusion Dance: Something about Polaris's psionic physiology caused Malice to become trapped in her body after possessing her, something that Mister Sinister knew was going to happen but neglected to warn Malice of because he had plans for the Malice/Polaris merged being.
Gender Bender: She can possess men too, although she seems to prefer women for long term periods. Cyclops, Havok, and Wolverine have all been her unwilling hosts at points.
Living Shadow: Like the Shadow King, she exists on the astral plane and has no physical body of her own.
The Mirror Shows Your True Self: She is fond of revealing herself to her hosts through mirrors to play mind games with them.
Only Known by Their Nickname: Malice's original human name wasn't revealed until Excalibur #20, where it turns out to be Alice MacAllister.
The Power of Love: This, along with the Heroic Sacrifice, led to her defeat and (ultimately temporary) death in the 90's, as Polaris begged Malice to re-possess her rather than force her lover Havok to suffer Malice's presence. Malice tried to re-enter Polaris under threat of death, but couldn't do it since Havok was holding onto her, determined not to let Polaris suffer that fate again. Caught between the two lovers and unable to possess either, Malice was torn away from both and killed by Mister Sinister.
Powers via Possession: Subverted. Malice gets the powers, not the possessed person.
Psychopathic Womanchild: With the reveal that she was a disaffected teen before becoming a supervillain, Malice's actions that previously seemed to be just For the Evulz now seem to have their roots in this trope.
Red Right Hand: You can always tell if she's possessing someone by seeing whether or not they're wearing a skull choker.
Sealed Evil in a Can: Spider-Man was able to remove her from Cyclops' psyche and trap her in a containment box.
Staying Alive: Having the ability to survive on the astral plane even if her physical body is killed, she's very hard to permanently get rid of. Mister Sinister tried to kill her but failed, and she can apparently survive transitions between an astral and digital state.
Steven Ulysses Perhero: Alice MacAllister
Unwitting Pawn: She raged and threw tantrums about it, she plotted and schemed to do something about it, but no matter what Malice did she could never stop being this to Mister Sinister, who even taunted her for being "such a wonderful pawn" before killing her.
Vague Age: Her exact age was never specified, which allowed 2020s-era writers to give her an Age Lift of sorts and make her Younger and Hipper. In her original appearances, her astral body was always shown as being a mature woman's.
Villain Decay: She was the original field leader of the Marauders, but Scalphunter took up that role post-Inferno (1988). When she possessed Karima in Messiah Complex, she was treated like any other soldier of the team.
Virtual Ghost: For a time she was digitized into a computer virus, as justification for being able to possess Karima for some reason.
You Have Failed Me: In the 90's Sinister seemingly killed her for defying his wishes. She vanished for years, but turned up again a decade later as a 'digital entity'.

Arclight

Philippa Sontag / Arclight

Nationality: American

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #210 (1986)

One of the team's most prominent members, Arclight is the main team brick, boasting superhuman strength and durability along with the ability to project shockwaves. As Scalphunter's lover / partner, she usually leads the team into battle alongside him.

All Women Are Prudes: When she was recruited to the Marauders by Gambit, she told him to tell Sinister that she does violence, but not sex.
Ascended Extra: She is one of the lucky few villains who has been blessed with an adaptation on the silver screens, appearing in X-Men: The Last Stand as a member of a mutant street gang that joins up with Magneto.
Blood Knight: During the Mutant Massacre she was disappointed at how little fight the Morlocks were putting up, and downright giddy when she realized she'd be going up against the X-Men.
Cool Shades: She started wearing these in the nineties, and ditched them after that decade's end.
Dark Action Girl: As a former soldier she has the most training out of all the Marauders and is a lethal and ruthless combatant.
Dishing Out Dirt: Has some degree of this, in addition to limited Super-Strength and Nigh-Invulnerability.
Freudian Excuse: She has PTSD from Vietnam, though most of her behavior can be summed up as just plain sadism.
Humiliation Conga: Getting punched out by Jack Power of Power Pack was not her finest hour.
Lightning Bruiser: She moves fast and hits hard.
Meaningful Name: Her codename comes from Operation Arc Light, a military campaign during the Vietnam War.
Nigh-Invulnerability: As one the team's two powerhouses, her strength makes her difficult to put down.
Only in It for the Money: Along with Vertigo, she joined the maniacal misandrist villain Superia's army of superpowered women called the Femizons. She's no Straw Feminist, though — she was paid $100,000 for signing on.
Refugee from Time: Subverted. Even though she's from the increasingly-dated Vietnam War, her status as the latest in a series of clones since the original died in the 80's allow her to keep her backstory, unlike other Marvel Vietnam vets like The Punisher.
Shell-Shocked Veteran: Arclight served in the Vietnam War and it's implied that whatever she saw and/or did there left a lasting impression on her, though she's done plenty of inexcusable things since.
Shockwave Stomp: How she usually projects her shockwaves, unlike her adaptational counterpart who prefers the Shockwave Clap.
Sociopathic Soldier: Like Scalphunter she is former US military, fighting in the Vietnam War. The two of them get along well and are often depicted as lovers.
Super-Strength: She can lift over fifty tons.
Your Size May Vary: Usually she's of average height (her official height is 5'8) but Depending on the Artist, sometimes she's unusually tall and/or depicted with an unusually muscular physique.

Blockbuster

Michael Baer / Blockbuster

Nationality: American

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Factor #10 (1986)

The other strongman of the Marauders, Blockbuster is a former political terrorist with a fragile ego. Notable for being the only Marauder dumb enough to try brawling with The Mighty Thor.

Adaptation Expansion: His past is given eyebrow-raising attention in, of all things, a gamebook for Marvel Super Heroes. His blurb (as part of the Marauders entry) notes that he was an American expatriate in Europe by his teenage years, that he worked as muscle for German street gangs and picked up "a radical political philosophy" from them, that he eventually fell in with a terrorist group called the Fists of Victory, and that he was recruited to the Marauders after all the other Fists were killed by police. Given the group's name, country of origin, and "radical political philosophy", this seems to suggest that Baer was a Neo-Nazi.
Bald of Evil: The guy is bald and is the most brutish of the Marauders.
Beard of Evil: Blockbuster has a beard.
The Big Guy: At 6'6, he's the tallest of the Marauders.
Boom, Headshot!: He's killed on the spot when an angry Thor throws Mjolnir right into his face.
Combat Pragmatist: He ambushes Thor during their second fight, breaking Thor's arm and trying to finish him off before Thor can recover. When Angel distracts him, that's all the time Thor needs to get Mjolnir spinning and smash his face to a pulp.
Dumb Muscle: All he is good for is hitting stuff.
Eaten Alive: One of his incarnations got this treatment from Predator X during the Messiah Complex.
Fisticuff-Provoking Comment: Sabretooth teasing him about not being as good as Thor leads him to pick a fight with the Thunder God, one which he does not survive.
Good Old Fisticuffs: He's noted to have proficiency in "street fighting techniques" (likely picked up from his German street gang days) making him a tough customer even without his mutant powers.
Neck Snap: One of his favorite ways of killing, as seen when he and the other Marauders fought a squad of Purifiers in Messiah Complex.
Nigh-Invulnerability: His strength makes him impervious or resistant to a lot of damage. He's still hurt when Thor bashes him in the head with Mjolnir, and killed on the spot when Thor flings the weapon into his face at full speed.
Superpowered Evil Side: Well, more evil: during the Inferno (1988) event he was the only Marauder who survived battle with the X-Men, and ended up transformed into a giant demonic form of himself.
Super-Strength: The upper limits of his strength is unclear, but he can at least lift seventy tons.
Terrorists Without a Cause: He is noted to have done some work for German terrorists before joining up with Sinister.

Harpoon

Kodiak Noatak / Harpoon

Nationality: Inuit

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #210 (1986)

A dour Inuit who is one of the team's more professional killers, he hunts and kill his targets with harpoons charged with bio-energy. Depending on the Writer, he can be one of the team's few reasonable members, or he can be a sadistic little shitheel who'll pin Angel's wings to a wall for funsies.

Anti-Regeneration: His weapons impair healing factors and can harm psionic beings such as Chamber.
Country Mouse: His one character trait besides being a sociopath is this. His teammates would occasionally tease him about it between rounds of mutant murdering.
De-power: He lost his abilities on M-Day.
Evil Redhead: He's got red hair and when he's evil, he's very evil.
Insistent Terminology: In 80's stories, he was referred to by both his teammates and the X-Men as an Eskimo. That word no longer being so kosher, he's only ever referred to as an Inuit.
Ki Manipulation: He requires an object to channel them energy into, usually his signature weapons. He's kind of like an evil Gambit.
Knight of Cerebus: He might not have managed to kill any X-Men, but boy did he mess a few up. Colossus and Shadowcat were both trapped in their altered states (metallic and phased respectively) because of his attacks, and Angel had to have his beloved wings amputated because of Harpoon. Kitty regained physical form quickly enough, but Colossus was trapped in his metallic form for years, and Angel became Archangel to get his wings back.
Meaningful Name: It's believed that he was named for Hodiak, an Inuit god who is the grandfather of Alpha Flight's Snowbird.
Mortality Phobia: Unlike the other Marauders, he maintains a healthy sense of self-preservation, as seen in Magneto's book when he had reactivated the Marauders to hunt them down for his personal revenge; the survivors were trying to decide what to do and Harpoon told them that maybe they might think they're immortal because they always get brought back, but the clones are not them.
Only Sane Man: In UXM vol. 5. He tries to explain to the X-Men that they didn't kill the Morlocks (this time) and when the team attacks, he immediately surrenders. Chamber still toasts him along with the other Marauders.
Taking You with Me: When Chamber incinerates the Marauders in a fit of rage, a badly-burned Harpoon stabs one of his spears into Jono's chest before dying.
Your Size May Vary: Like Arclight, his physical size varies Depending on the Artist, sometimes being of average height and sometimes being taller and more muscular than Scalphunter (but not as much as Blockbuster). Officially, he's 5'7.

Prism

Robbie / Prism

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Factor #10 (1986)

By far the weakest of the Marauders, Prism is a man with a body made of Gem Tissue. Little else is known about him.

Attack Reflector: His crystal body can absorb and redirect any energy attacks thrown his way.
Body to Jewel: Subverted, unfortunately for him. He's always in his crystal state and has no way of turning back to human.
Butt-Monkey: All the Marauders are vulnerable to death, but Prism breaks every time.
Crippling Overspecialization: Prism's power is only useful against opponents who use use energy beams. Against everyone else, he's just a really brittle guy.
Flat Character: While most of his fellow Marauders have gotten fleshing out over the years, Prism remains almost a complete cipher. Nothing is known of his past before joining the Marauders, nor is the extent of his powers (specifically, whether or not he can put himself back together after being shattered) known, nor even is his full name known. He's just a crystal guy there to talk big and get shattered.
Gem Tissue: His body is made of a crystalline material that is useful for absorbing energy attacks, but even more frail than a normal human body when it comes to taking punishment.
Glass Cannon: He is a literal one, being a man made of solid crystal who is usually broken in whatever fights he shows up for.
Humiliation Conga: One of his clones was institutionalized in a psychiatric ward around the time when M-Day happened.
Informed Ability: His power grid lists his Durability with a rank of 3, which corresponds to "enhanced" and suggests that he's as tough as Spider-Man and Captain America. As anyone who's read even a single one of his appearances can note, this is very much not the case. He's also given a rank of 4 for fighting ability, despite exhibiting no particular hand-to-hand combat skill in any fight (in fact, he's usually shattered well before anybody closes to melee range).
Leeroy Jenkins: He has a very aggressive personality and always charges into battle despite being so very fragile, leading fans to suspect that he might be capable of pulling himself back together after being broken.
Light Is Not Good: His powers are light-based and he's a milky white being, but he's definitely not a hero.
One-Hit-Point Wonder: Prism is a rare non-video game version of this, being a character that is invulnerable to energy attacks but will shatter into a million pieces if a pebble so much as drops on him wrong. He's so fragile, in fact, that him getting killed is a kind of a Running Gag when it comes to the Marauders.
Only One Name: He's called Robbie but his last name (as with most of his past) is unknown.
Running Gag: He's been killed at least 8 times, far more than any other Marauder. Everyone from Jean Grey to a rank-and-file Purifier to demonized cops has had a turn at breaking him.
Weaksauce Weakness: His body is very brittle and all that is needed to get rid of him is to smash him against a wall.

Riptide

Janos Quested / Riptide

Nationality: Mexican

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #210 (1986)

A frighteningly homicidal man who can strip the flesh from his victims' bones with his high-speed spinning attacks and deadly barrages of organic shurikens. Notable for driving Colossus to break his Thou Shalt Not Kill lure during the Mutant Massacre.

Adaptational Nice Guy: Neither his film version discussed below or the cameo version of him that appears in Marvel Anime: X-Men are anywhere near as evil or as sadistic as the original Riptide.
Ascended Extra: He is one of the lucky few villains who has been blessed with an adaptation on the silver screens, appearing in X-Men: First Class as a younger (and mute) mutant who works for the movie's Big Bad.
Ax-Crazy: Even by the standards of the Marauders this guy is nuts. It's why he's one of the first of them to die, since he attacks Colossus without any sense of self-preservation.
Bad with the Bone: Those shurikens he throws are actually calcium shards he generates from his own body.
Glass Cannon: He is probably the most destructive member of the team next to Arclight, but he's more or less screwed if someone can get past his barrage.
Neck Snap: Had one inflicted on him by Colossus. As seen in the Messiah Complex story, he remembers this.
Psychotic Smirk: Usually sports one of these in battle.
Purple Is the New Black: Like Catwoman in the 90's, he has a purple suit.
Razor Wind: His primary mutant power, which he generates by spinning himself in place like a top at extremely high speeds.
Secretly Wealthy: You'd never guess it to look at him, but apparently he comes from some wealth. When Gambit recruited him for the Marauders (an event seen only in a single-panel flashback in X-Men Legacy), he was in the private library of a sumptuous mansion, dressed in fine clothing he's never worn on-panel since.
Smarter Than You Look: He doesn't have a particularly intellectual appearance or attitude, but he was in a library when Gambit recruited him, and he was informed enough to know who Nathaniel Essex was at a time when not even any of the X-Men knew. He's got more brains than you'd think.
Spectacular Spinning: Unsurprisingly, since his mutant power depends on it.
Spin Attack: His stock in trade.
Tornado Move: Almost always depicted using one. Interestingly, he can somehow keep his head stationary and keep talking while the rest of his body below him is spinning.
White Hair, Black Heart: His hair is white and his heart black enough to slaughter children without a shred of remorse.

Scrambler

Kim Il Sung / Scrambler

Nationality: South Korean

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #210 (1986)

The youngest member of the team, Scrambler is not the ruler or related to The Rulers of North Korea, despite what his name suggests. He's one of the more reckless members of the team, having the ability to induce Power Incontinence through touch but no defensive abilities to go with it. Accordingly, he dies a lot.

A Day in the Limelight: The Scrambler clone that appeared in Messiah Complex has definitely had the most attention and character development of all Scrambler's incarnations, getting a redemption arc after that book's end and getting to hobnob with everyone from Deadpool to She-Hulk to even one of Odin's ravens!
The Dandy: Scrambler's the only member of the team who dresses in normal clothes instead of some kind of supervillain costume, and his foppish personality certainly fits the trope.
Forced into Evil: Arguably, as a flashback in X-Men Legacy of Gambit recruiting the Marauders showed him finding Scrambler and pinning him down, with Scrambler frantically saying he'd come in a way that clearly showed he was under duress. That said, he was certainly willing enough once had actually did join the Marauders.
Gutted Like a Fish: Inflicted on him by X-23 during the Messiah Complex storyline.
Happy Ending Override: Possibly, depending on whether or not the Scrambler that has been captured and tortured by Madelyne Pryor is the same one who achieved redemption.
Heel–Face Turn: Losing both arms below the elbow and nearly dying in his own spilled entrails turned out to be the incentive that Scrambler needed to turn his life around, and he even gets a Happily Ever After complete with a beloved wife and stepdaughter, his own business, and a nice chunk of land.
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: Possibly, as he has now ended up in the claws of Madelyne Pryor and is being used as a minion by her alongside most of the other Marauders. It's not clear if this captured Scrambler clone is the same as the redeemed Scrambler, though.
Hero Insurance: Subverted for the redeemed Scrambler, who manages to defeat a number of his former teammates when they come after him only to find himself living in "an insurance nightmare" when they trash his house.
Informed Ability: His power grid gives in a 4 Rank in fighting, classifying him as an "Experienced Fighter" of combat skill equal to Spider-Man and Doctor Doom. As you might guess, he never even remotely lives up to this high ranking, although he is good at finding a way to touch foes before they beat him unconscious or just kill him outright. The redeemed Scrambler, on the other hand, has more than earned this ranking.
Me's a Crowd: Like Vertigo below, there may possibly be two Scramblers in the world, the clone who redeemed himself and the one being tortured by Madelyne Pryor (who is likely one of Magneto's activated clones if he's not the redeemed Scrambler).
Mundane Utility: The reformed Scrambler uses his power to get a job as an auto mechanic, "unscrambling" the cars that get brought in.
Power Nullifier: : As you might have guessed from his name, Scrambler messes with other mutants' powers via touch. He can also use it to mess with machines, ala Shadowcat. On a 1:60 time ratio (meaning if he touches someone for 1 second, the effect of his power lasts for 60 seconds; 2 seconds equals a 120 second interval, and so on).
Retired Monster: As noted above, one of his clones tried to become this. Sadly, it didn't take.
Shout-Out: His real name is Kim Il-sung. Yes, as in that Kim Il-sung. No relation, at least none that we know of.
Starting a New Life: After his disastrous fight with the claws-and-hairballs duo of Wolverine and X-23, he was found and saved by paramedics; this, along with some persuasion from the She-Hulk, led him to turn state's witness and testify against his former teammate Scalphunter; in exchange, the government put him on parole, got him a pair of prosthetic hands, and cleared his record. He got a job at an auto garage, got a girlfriend, and truly had made a new life for himself, and depending on if the Happy Ending Override is in effect, he might still have.
Technopath: His powers work just as well on machines as they do people, and he can even reverse his abilities to repair them. He learned how to use his powers on his prosthetic arms to gain greater dexterity.
Took a Level in Badass: The redeemed Scrambler, who made Scalphunter and the Vanisher soil themselves the first time they came after them and outright beat them (along with Blockbuster and Harpoon!) the second time, even though they were wearing collars that were supposed to protect them from his powers (since he can short out electronics, he just fried the collars and then their powers).
Weaksauce Weakness: He needs to touch people to negate their powers, which leaves him very vulnerable to long range attacks. His power also doesn't do squat against mutants with physical weapons, such as Wolverine and X-23's claws (although he is able to negate their healing factors).
Yellow Peril: He is a minor example. He's Korean, but dresses in a nice suit rather than any stereotypical Fu Manchu garb.

Sabretooth

Victor Creed / Sabretooth

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sabes.jpg

First Appearance as Marauder: Uncanny X-Men #211 (1986)

Mister Sinister's dealin' a game that don't allow for wild cards like the Morlocks — or you X-chumps.

A savage, violent mutant Serial Killer. Deemed too uncontrollable by Mystique, Mister Sinister was more than happy to sign him up, and thanks to The Worf Effect he actually ended up being the Butt-Monkey of the Marauders, being manhandled by Mister Sinister just to show how much the master meant business. He stayed on with the team through the Mutant Massacre and Inferno events, but hasn't been affiliated with them since.

See Sabretooth for more on him.

Vertigo

Nationality: Savage Land

Species: Human mutate

First Appearance: Marvel Fanfare #1 (1982)

One of the few Marauders who predates the team, she was originally a member of the Savage Land Mutates, a band of indigenous peoples who were mutated by Magneto to act as his Mooks. With the power to inflict Sensory Abuse on others by projecting waves of psionic energy, she's always a headache for the X-Men to deal with.

Adaptational Job Change: In the X-Men: The Animated Series cartoon, she was the closest thing Mister Sinister had to The Dragon.
Alternate Company Equivalent: To DC's Count Vertigo, as both characters disorient their foes and are named for that effect.
Amazing Technicolor Population: When she appeared in the New Avengers book, for some reason she had blue skin and red hair. She also manifested a power to make victims fall into a Forced Sleep that, like the different skin and hair color, hasn't been seen since.
Author Appeal: It's not the most prominent of his interests, but her co-creator Chris Claremont does have a fondness for characters getting their senses messed with. And Vertigo helps provide that in spades.
Boxed Crook: Along with the other Savage Land Mutates, she was once arrested and jailed only to be released so they could help defend the Savage Land from the Hauk'ka, an invading force of evolved sentient dinosaurs.
The Dog Bites Back: One of her counterparts rebelled against Sauron, although he quickly killed her regardless.
Eaten Alive: One iteration of her was eaten by Predator X during a battle between the Marauders and the X-Men. Ironically, she was the only non-mutant in the fight.
Evolutionary Levels: Vertigo was originally an Neanderthal from a Savage Land tribe known as the Swamp Men who was evolved into a human-like woman. Every now and then back in the day she would get de-evolved, only for Status Quo Is God to kick in and show up human again later.
Glass Cannon: Her powers can disable almost anyone who attacks her and are strong enough to even affect gods like The Mighty Thor. If you can get past them somehow, you don't need much to take her down. She's also vulnerable to her own powers, as Thor once reflected them back at her with Mjolnir.
Humiliation Conga: Apparently after the defeat of the Savage Land Mutates in Marvel Fanfare she left the Savage Land somehow and found herself in a city, where without money she was destitute. When recruiting her for the Marauders, Gambit found her huddled in a gutter and she was glad to join him just for the promise of food.
Me's a Crowd: It is possible (though unconfirmed) that there are two Vertigos in the world at any time, the original and Sinister's clone. The original Vertigo was thought killed during Inferno, but she later appeared among the Savage Land Mutates once again, a group that unlike Sinister doesn't have the advanced technology required to clone her. She has appeared in multiple stories since, as has the Marauder clone Vertigo, leading to a fan theory that the original Vertigo never actually left the Savage Land at all and was merely cloned (though this would seem to be contradicted by X-Men Legacy).
Mind Manipulation: She has an extremely limited degree of this, being able to induce sensations of intense dizziness and nausea in others.
Only in It for the Money: Along with Arclight, she joined the maniacal misandrist villain Superia's army of superpowered women called the Femizons. She's no Straw Feminist, though — she was paid $100,000 for signing on.
Only One Name: Since she comes from the Savage Land, she doesn't have a last name.
Required Secondary Powers: Unfortunately for her, she doesn't have them, and while it's rare, if a being comes along that can reflect her own psionic waves on her, she'll be struck down by their effect too. To date the only being that has been able to do this has been The Mighty Thor.
Rogues' Gallery Transplant: While she's primarily an X-Men villain, she's also fought Spider-Man and Captain America at points.
Squishy Wizard: Like Scrambler, she has no defensive powers and is as fragile as any woman of her thin build would be if someone can get ahold of her.
Support Party Member: As mentioned above, she's on the team solely for the supportive nature of her powers, and while she can make people wish they were dead, she has no killing power on her own.
Unfriendly Fire: One of her clones was killed this way when the Marvel Comics: X-Man, Nate Grey, took control of Riptide and had him fling his shuriken barrage at his own teammates.
Weak-Willed: Like all the other Savage Land Mutates, she's psychologically conditioned to follow leaders and has no initiative of her own. Most of her clones follow suit, though one was able to find enough willpower to attempt rebellion (for all the good it did her).

Later Marauders

Lady Mastermind

Regan Wyngarde / Lady Mastermind

Nationality: American

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Treme X-Men #6 (2001)

One of three known daughters of the deceased mutant Master of Illusion Mastermind, Regan surpasses her father in both power and bloodlust. Given the opportunity to redeem herself as an X-Man, Regan chose instead to become a Sixth Ranger Traitor. She later joined the Red Queen's Sisterhood but after nearly dying of the M-Pox had a change of heart and as of 2020 is a citizen of Krakoa.

Avenging the Villain: When she found herself face-to-face with the younger, timeshifted Jean Grey, Regan attempted to trick her into killing her friends as revenge for driving her father insane.
Badass Family: Her father was a powerful mutant, as are both of her sisters, and of course so is she.
Convenient Coma: Fell into one after her introductory appearance. She was comatose through M-Day but woke up thanks to some psychic meddling from the Children of the Vault.
Daddy's Little Villain: Unlike her sisters, she grew up knowing that her father was a super-villain and still took his name as a way to honor him.
Dark Action Girl: She wears black and is much more fond of superhero brawls than her father ever was.
Dual Wielding: Like her sister Martinique, Regan carries a pair of handguns and usually wields them both at once.
The Family That Slays Together: A variation. Regan, Martinique and the X-man Pixie a.k.a Megan Gwynn are the 3 daughters of Jason Wyngard, the original Mastermind. All three have inherited his powers and have worked together multiple times. And while Martinique and Regan are renowned for their bitchiness, even if they're not antagonists, Megan is definitely the "nice one" out of all Mastermind's daughters.
Lovely Angels: With Martinique with whom she often works in conjunction.
Memory-Wiping Crew: Sebastian Shaw hired her to do this to his former attendant Sage (formerly Tessa) in her introductory appearance. If not for Rogue and Lifeguard, she would have succeeded too.
Navel-Deep Neckline: Most of her outfits have her top split open with an Impossibly-Low Neckline, leaving almost her entire torso exposed. It's a miracle she doesn'texpose her assets every time she takes a step.
Not in This for Your Revolution: Like her father, Regan doesn't care too much about other mutants or mutant rights. She signed on with the Marauders more for the action than for any grand goal Sinister might have, and when Mystique broke her out of prison Regan was more than happy to join her campaign of personal enrichment, mutantkind be damned.
Psychic Powers: Like those of her father, only with greater efficacy. She's used them in the following ways:
- Jedi Mind Trick: She can make herself and others invisible at will, or alter perceptions to make Let's You and Him Fight-type scenarios happen.
- Master of Illusion: To a degree far greater than the original Mastermind, as her powers also come with Your Mind Makes It Real, allowing her to place her victims in life-threatening illusions that cause them to kill themselves.
- Telepathy: Unlike her father Regan is capable of true telepathy, though not at the level of the likes of Professor X or Emma Frost. She usually uses it to find what her victims are afraid of and confront them with it.
Sadist: She can kill victims very easily with her powers but prefers to torment them instead, betraying a sadism even the original Mastermind didn't have.
Sixth Ranger: To the X-Treme X-Men. She helped them against the Children of the Vault and the Hecatomb, but betrayed them to Mister Sinister, thereby becoming a Sixth Ranger Traitor.
Squishy Wizard: Like her father, Regan is an ordinary human physically and can be physically subdued by anyone who can snap out of her illusions. She has had some combat training, though, so she's not quite as squishy as her dad.
Statuesque Stunner: She counts at 5'9"/175cm tall.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Her meta character origin is actually rooted in this, as due to a communication mix-up writers Chris Claremont and Joe Casey both had stories that were planned to release at the same time and both would have been using Martinique Wyngarde, the first introduced daughter of Mastermind. Realizing what had happened, Claremont reworked his story by creating the character of Regan and using her in his story instead of Martinique.
Taking You with Me: When she contracted the M-Pox Regan's response was to trap as many people around her as she could in illusions, planning to make them all die with her.
The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter: Jason was average-looking at best, Regan is a total bombshell.
Would Hurt a Child: She once trapped the junior X-Man Anole in a fear-based illusion just to test the limits of her powers.

Chimera

Species: Human mutate

First Appearance: Wolverine #97 (1996)

An inter-dimensional Mutant pirate of questionable sanity, Chimera lives to plunder the space-time continuum and travels with her "plasma-wraiths", super-strong half-starved creatures wrapped in black bandages with sharp claws. See her entry on X-Men: Rogues Gallery A to I for more information.

Coda

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: Extraordinary X-Men #1 (2016)

A more recent addition to the Marauders who works under Chimera. He and his allies were sent to capture Nightcrawler.

Bad with the Bone: His mutant ability seems to be this in some way, as he uses protruding blades on either wrist as his weapons ala Baraka of Mortal Kombat fame.
Bandaged Face: His face and large parts of his body are covered in bandages.
Blade Below the Shoulder: He comes with some sort of bone-blades.
Mysterious Past: His past before joining the Marauders is completely unknown, and accordingly he has...
Only Known by Their Nickname: His human name (or if he even has one) is unknown, leaving him only known as Coda.
Snake People: Has a bifid tongue and the exposed parts of his skin look reptilian.
Sssssnaketalk: And befitting that tongue, he hisses his speech in proper serpentine villain fashion.
We Hardly Knew Ye: He only appeared in 3 issues before being Put on a Bus.

Azimuth

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: Extraordinary X-Men #1 (2016)

Mister Sinister is trying to help us. He just wants to keep us safe from the Terrigen.

A more recent addition to the Marauders who works under Chimera. She and her allies were sent to capture Nightcrawler, and it was her personally who took the Fuzzy Elf down.

Amazing Technicolor Population: Her skin is purple.
Good Thing You Can Heal: She apparently has some sort of healing ability, as Magik put her Soulsword straight into her chest yet two issues later she was back up and none the worse for wear.
Gravity Sucks: She can use her black hole maw to ensnare teleporters, keeping Nightcrawler from being able to teleport to safety.
Monochromatic Eyes: She has no visible irises or pupils, being completely white.
Mysterious Past: Her past before joining the Marauders is completely unknown, and accordingly she has...
Only Known by Their Nickname: Her human name (or if she even has one) is unknown, leaving her only known as Azimuth.
Unrealistic Black Hole: Like Xorn of the X-Men, except instead of the black hole being in her head it's in her mouth.
We Hardly Knew Ye: She only appeared in 3 issues before being Put on a Bus.

Aries

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: Extraordinary X-Men #1 (2016)

I'm gonna rip that little old Wolverine apart.

A more recent addition to the Marauders who works under Chimera. He and his allies were sent to capture Nightcrawler, and afterward they tangled unsuccessfully with the Extraordinary X-Men. His current whereabouts are unknown.

Amazing Technicolor Population: His skin is red.
Beard of Evil: His beard might be badass, but he's evil enough to work for Mister Sinister.
Evil Old Folks: His actual age is unknown, but he sure looks like he's getting up there in years.
The Big Guy: His actual height is unknown but he's easily the tallest and largest of the new recruits.
Horned Humanoid: Fitting for his codename, he has some impressive ram horns.
Mysterious Past: His past before joining the Marauders is completely unknown.
Only Known by Their Nickname: His human name (or if he even has one) is unknown, leaving him only known as Aries.
We Hardly Knew Ye: He only appeared in 3 issues before being Put on a Bus.

Nasty Boys

Ruckus

Clement Wilson / Ruckus

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Factor #75 (1992)

The field leader of the Nasty Boys, Ruckus was an effeminate young mutant more concerned with beer runs and making a quick buck than executing the byzantine schemes of Mister Sinister.

Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: Once used his powers to rob a convenience store for some beer, which Sinister was none too pleased about.
Brought Down to Normal: After the Nasty Boys disbanded he came to feel guilt for his supervillain past and took the "mutant cure" X-Cise, which not only took away his powers but also his higher brain functions, reducing him to a childlike mentality. Later made an Unexplained Recovery.
Butt-Monkey: Life was more or less a nonstop Humiliation Conga for Ruckus ever since the Nasty Boys broke up. After the incident above, he tried to rob a bank in England, failed and was arrested by normal humans, tried to assassinate Senator Kelly (because why not, every other evil mutant takes a crack at the guy), failed and was arrested by the X-Men, then had to be saved from Terrigen death by the X-Men. Then he got killed in the notorious 2018 UXM series. At that point, he probably welcomed death's sweet embrace.
The Cameo: Ruckus and the other Nasty Boys briefly appear in the X-Men Mutant Empire Trilogy, journeying to Manhattan after Magneto takes it over and fighting the X-Men on his behalf.
Evil Counterpart: To X-Force's Siryn, though he lacks Theresa's soundwave-propelled flight.
Dropped a Bridge on Him: One of the many, many characters pointlessly slaughtered by Matthew Rosenberg in Uncanny X-Men (2018). Along with the other Nasty Boys, he's killed by the resurrected Upstarts because... well, more or less just "because".
"Flowers for Algernon" Syndrome: As mentioned above, he was subjected to the losing end of this trope, though per the trope's rules it didn't last.
Killed Off for Real: He and the rest of the Nasty Boys were killed offscreen by the Upstarts.
Make Me Wanna Shout: Like the X-Men members Banshee and Siryn, this is his mutant power. Specifically he absorbs and amplifies ambient sound. He can't fly with it like they can though.
Mysterious Past: His nationality and past are unknown, as is the story of how he came to be in Mister Sinister's service.
Number Two: Mister Sinister favored him over the other Nasty Boys (to the extent that he 'favored' any of them) and kept him in reserve on missions.
Real Men Wear Pink: Played with, as he has pink hair and is the team leader but isn't terribly manly otherwise.
Teens Are Monsters: His actual age is unknown but he is younger than the other Nasty Boys, and it is once stayed that his youth makes him arrogant. Additionally, he's called a kid by a convenience store clerk.
Unwitting Pawn: Mystique once hired him to carry out a hit on Senator Kelly. Since she also tipped off the X-Men to the hit, he didn't get very far with it.
Villainous Rescue: He and the other Nasty Boys rescued Polaris from a murderous Malice on Sinister's orders.
We Hardly Knew Ye: Made more appearances in the animated series than he ever did in the comics.

Gorgeous George

George Blair / Gorgeous George

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/george_blair_xmen.jpg

Nationality: Australian

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Factor #75 (1992)

A young Australian mutant with an amorphous physiology, Gorgeous George was killed by the Upstarts after the Nasty Boys disbanded but resurrected thanks to the Five in X-Men (2019).

Addled Addict: He once drunk himself into such a stupor that he forgot how long his arms were supposed to be.
Alliterative Name: Gorgeous George.
Alternate Company Equivalent: Obscure The Flash villain Tarpit is his DC counterpart, being another tar-based shapeshifter.
Awesome Aussie: Averted. He hails from Australia, but he's stupid, gross, not really a very effective super-villain and on top of all that, is kind of a Jerkass.
Blob Monster: His mutant physiology makes this his natural state. He can form himself into a more humanoid shape, but if he loses the ability to maintain his cohesion, he'll degenerate into a formless goo.
The Cameo: George and the other Nasty Boys briefly appear in the X-Men Mutant Empire Trilogy, journeying to Manhattan after Magneto takes it over and fighting the X-Men on his behalf.
Companion Cube: He has a pet mold that he is apparently quite attached to and waiting for it to attain sentience. Mister Sinister's reaction to it is polite disgust.
Death Is Cheap: So far he is the only Nasty Boy shown to have been resurrected by the House of X.
Dropped a Bridge on Him: One of the many, many characters pointlessly slaughtered by Matthew Rosenberg in Uncanny X-Men (2018). Along with the other Nasty Boys, he's killed by the resurrected Upstarts because... well, more or less just "because".
Drugs Are Bad: Alongside Hairbag and Slab, he ran a drug lab for a little while that manufactured the mutant drug MGH, until Magneto's X-Men shut them down.
Jerkass: In House of X, where he makes fun of redeemed X-rogue Black Tom and starts a brawl just to be a dick.
Karma Houdini: His actions on Krakoa will make readers wonder why the Five even went to the trouble of resurrecting him.
Mysterious Past: We know he's Australian, but the rest of his past is completely unknown, as is the story of how he came to be in Mister Sinister's service.
Purple Is Powerful: Averted, as he's one of the stronger Nasty Boys but that really isn't saying much.
Supernatural Suffocation: He can suffocate people by plugging himself up their olfactory orifices, as he once attempted to do to Strong Guy.
Villainous Rescue: He and the other Nasty Boys rescued Polaris from a murderous Malice on Sinister's orders.
Voluntary Shapeshifting: He can shape his tar-like body into any continuous shape he can imagine. Unfortunately for him, he doesn't have much imagination, so the most he really does with it is stretch, wrap himself around various disgusted X-Men, and reform himself from whatever injuries he takes.

Hairbag

Michael Suggs / Hairbag

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/michael_suggs_earth_616_from_uncanny_x_men_vol_4_15_001.jpg

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Factor #75 (1992)

Think of a junkyard dog given human form and you've got Hairbag. After a brief career as a Nasty Boy and MGH dealer, Hairbag met his end alongside the other Nasty Boys at the hands of the Upstarts.

Adaptational Nationality: Inverted, as he has a very distinctive Jamaican accent in the cartoon but his nationality in the comics is never specified.
Beast Man: Like Spoor of Magneto's Acolytes, he's not themed after any specific animal but has a generally feral mutation.
Breath Weapon: Had the power to exhale some kind of toxic gas in the cartoon, though he hasn't demonstrated it in the comics to date.
The Cameo: Hairbag and the other Nasty Boys briefly appear in the X-Men Mutant Empire Trilogy, journeying to Manhattan after Magneto takes it over and fighting the X-Men on his behalf.
Dropped a Bridge on Him: One of the many, many characters pointlessly slaughtered by Matthew Rosenberg in Uncanny X-Men (2018). Along with the other Nasty Boys, he's killed by the resurrected Upstarts because... well, more or less just "because".
Drugs Are Bad: Alongside Gorgeous George and Slab, he ran a drug lab for a little while that manufactured the mutant drug MGH, until Magneto's X-Men shut them down.
Evil Counterpart: To X-Factor's Wolfsbane, who he usually went after (and was beaten by).
Guys are Slobs: When introduced he's sitting next to a spilled carton of milk and what looks like a bar of butter, neither of which he bothers to clean up.
Killed Off for Real: He and the rest of the Nasty Boys were killed offscreen by the Upstarts.
Mysterious Past: His nationality and past are unknown, as is the story of how he came to be in Mister Sinister's service.
Prehensile Hair: Has some level of control over the hairs of his body, as befits his otherwise-ignoble codename.
Scary Black Man: Whether he's Jamaican as he is in the animated series is up for debate, but either way he's a big black supervillain and is quite scary for ordinary folks to face (although superpowered folks never have much trouble with him).
Scary Teeth: Per his feral mutation, he has these.
Slave Mook: After the Nasty Boys disbanded he was captured by William Stryker and brainwashed into a hound hunting mutants for Stryker's Purifiers. He was rescued by Sabretooth and joined up with him to help take Stryker out for good.
Sudden Name Change: According to the All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, Hairbag's first name is actually Shaun, not Michael. This may have been an error, as Slab's name is stated to be Kris, when that's actually a diminutive of his real name. Then again, it could mean his full name is Shaun Michael Suggs.
Super-Senses: He's got low-level ones in keeping with his feral mutation, not anywhere near Wolverine's level (or anyone else of any note), but he does have them.
Verbal Tic: He has Wolverine's habit of using "flamin" to describe things.
Villainous Rescue: He and the other Nasty Boys rescued Polaris from a murderous Malice on Sinister's orders.
We Hardly Knew Ye: Made more appearances in the animated series than he ever did in the comics.

Slab

Christopher "Kris" Anderson / Slab

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/christopher_anderson_earth_616_from_x_factor_vol_1_75.png

Nationality: American

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Factor #74 (1992)

The Brute of an already brutish group, Slab is noteworthy for being the first of the Nasty Boys to appear and for being the only one who escaped death at the hands of the Upstarts. As a member of S.W.O.R.D., he's also the only Nasty Boy who has cleaned up his act.

Big Ol' Eyebrows: Sports a pair of distinctively forked and long (if thin) brows.
The Cameo: Slab and the other Nasty Boys briefly appear in the X-Men Mutant Empire Trilogy, journeying to Manhattan after Magneto takes it over and fighting the X-Men on his behalf.
Combo Platter Powers: Slab's a Sizeshifter who gets the you've-seen-it-a-million-times-before combo of Super-Strength and Super-Toughness when he increases his sizes.
Dumb Muscle: None of the Nasty Boys are especially bright, but Slab is easily the dimmest bulb of the bunch.
Drugs Are Bad: Alongside Gorgeous George and Hairbag, he ran a drug lab for a little while that manufactured the mutant drug MGH, until Magneto's X-Men shut them down.
Early-Bird Cameo: He actually debuts one issue before the rest of the team is properly introduced.
Even Evil Has Standards: He's outraged when Guido bites him during their fight.
Evil Counterpart: To X-Factor's Strong Guy, who he develops a strong animosity for after being beaten by Guido. He even has a similar body type (which is played up when he is first introduced in shadow).
Guys are Slobs: And he's more of a slob than most, as he doesn't actually ever wash his socks but just leaves them standing to step back in later. Nasty boy, indeed.
Heel–Face Turn: He is among the many villainous mutants who have accepted amnesty on Krakoa, going so far as to join S.W.O.R.D. as a security guard.
Idiot Houdini: The dumbest of the Nasty Boys is, ironically, the only one who managed to avoid being killed by the Upstarts, as his body was not seen alongside the others.
Light Is Good: Since joining S.W.O.R.D. he's ditched the grody Goodwill discards in favor of a neat and clean white uniform. Hopefully they also made him change his socks.
Monumental Damage: His debut appearance has him fight Strong Guy at the Washington Monument, which is predictably destroyed during the fight.
Place Worse Than Death: He and his sister both hail from Detroit.
Produce Pelting: Hurls tomatoes at a TV broadcasting the recap of his fight with Strong Guy.
Siblings in Crime: He has a sister who is also a mutant supervillain, the shrinking Thumbelina from Stryfe's Mutant Liberation Front, and she cares about her brother enough to have convinced Stryfe to send the MLF on a rescue mission after Slab and the other Nasty Boys were arrested.
Villainous Rescue: He and the other Nasty Boys rescued Polaris from a murderous Malice on Sinister's orders.
What Happened to the Mouse?: He's the only Nasty Boy whose fate is unknown, as he is not seen among the others killed by the Upstarts, nor has he been seen on Krakoa. As if his story wasn't ironic enough already, the mutant who can grow to freakish size seems to have vanished into thin air.
- He reappears in an issue of S.W.O.R.D. (2020), having joined the Krakoan space agency as a member of its security force.

Ramrod

Patrick "Roddy" Mahony / Ramrod

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/patrick_mahony_earth_616_from_extraordinary_x_men_annual_vol_1_1_001.jpg

Nationality: United Kingdom

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Factor #75 (1992)

The only Nasty Boy who never appeared in the cartoon, Ramrod was the poor man's Black Tom Cassidy. Whether he's from Scotland or Ireland, they weren't sending their best when they let him cross the pond.

All There in the Manual: His real name is never stated on-panel, and it is only known of through the Marvel Handbook.
Dropped a Bridge on Him: One of the many, many characters pointlessly slaughtered by Matthew Rosenberg in Uncanny X-Men (2018). Along with the other Nasty Boys, he's killed by the resurrected Upstarts because... well, more or less just "because".
Dumb Muscle: When Ruckus tells him to empty a cash register, he empties it... on the floor.
Green Thumb: He's a low-rent Black Tom Cassidy, having the latter's plant control powers (which he also channels via a shillelagh) but not Tom's laser-shooting ability nor the power to turn into a plant outright.
The Illegal: Which comes back to bite him, as after the Nasty Boys are arrested he is deported for being in the country illegally (where exactly he is being deported to is not stated).
Killed Off for Real: He and the rest of the Nasty Boys were killed offscreen by the Upstarts.
My Friends... and Zoidberg: He's the only Nasty Boy who never appeared in the animated series and is usually forgotten about, although he did get the dubious honor of being killed alongside them by the Upstarts.
Mysterious Past: His nationality and past are unknown, as is the story of how he came to be in Mister Sinister's service.
Oireland: His nationality has never been definitively stated but his name is Patrick Mahony, he carries a shillelagh, he's not American, and he's basically a Black Tom Cassidy ripoff. It's safe to say he counts.
Progressively Prettier: He was hunched and ugly originally but in later appearances was drawn much more attractively, in a way that emphasized his youth.
Villainous Rescue: He and the other Nasty Boys rescued Polaris from a murderous Malice on Sinister's orders.
We Hardly Knew Ye: He didn't even appear in the animated series and has only appeared in half a dozen issues since his introduction nearly 30 years ago.

Characters / X-Men: Marauders

Edit Locked

The Marauders

The Master

Dr. Nathaniel Essex / Mister Sinister

Nationality: British

Species: Human mutant chimera

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #221 (September, 1987)

Original Marauders

John Greycrow / Scalphunter

Nationality: American

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #210 (1986)

Alice MacAllister / Malice

Species: Human Mutant / formerly Psionic entity

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #210 (1986)

Philippa Sontag / Arclight

Nationality: American

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #210 (1986)

Michael Baer / Blockbuster

Nationality: American

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Factor #10 (1986)

Kodiak Noatak / Harpoon

Nationality: Inuit

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #210 (1986)

Robbie / Prism

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Factor #10 (1986)

Janos Quested / Riptide

Nationality: Mexican

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #210 (1986)

Kim Il Sung / Scrambler

Nationality: South Korean

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #210 (1986)

Victor Creed / Sabretooth

First Appearance as Marauder: Uncanny X-Men #211 (1986)

Vertigo

Nationality: Savage Land

Species: Human mutate

First Appearance: Marvel Fanfare #1 (1982)

Later Marauders

Regan Wyngarde / Lady Mastermind

Nationality: American

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Treme X-Men #6 (2001)

Chimera

Species: Human mutate

First Appearance: Wolverine #97 (1996)

Coda

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: Extraordinary X-Men #1 (2016)

Azimuth

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: Extraordinary X-Men #1 (2016)

Aries

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: Extraordinary X-Men #1 (2016)

Nasty Boys

Clement Wilson / Ruckus

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Factor #75 (1992)

George Blair / Gorgeous George

Nationality: Australian

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Factor #75 (1992)

Michael Suggs / Hairbag

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Factor #75 (1992)

Christopher "Kris" Anderson / Slab

Nationality: American

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Factor #74 (1992)

Patrick "Roddy" Mahony / Ramrod

Nationality: United Kingdom

Species: Human mutant